In his debut novel, The Silver Linings Play Book, Matthew Quick shows courage in taking on the issue of mental health. The story is told in the first person by Pat, a twenty-something man who has spent some time in a mental institution for a reason we don’t discover until near the end of the book. One reviewer describes the novel as ‘a captivating, life-affirming read, guaranteed to be the feel good book of the year’. Considering the subject matter this seemed a bit unlikely but I was willing to be proved wrong so I decided to give it a try…..

Environmentalists don’t get a very good press in general. They are often portrayed as being dull, a bit too earnest and too busy hugging trees to form proper relationships with other humans. More recently they’ve been likened to pseudo-religious fundamentalists who refuse to discuss their dogmatic beliefs. It’s a shame one of these journalists hasn’t come down to a meeting of local Greenpeace activists at the Labour Club in Northampton or, even better, joined us on a protest. They’d find that environmental activism is alive and well, and lots of laughs……..

The world can be a miserable place at times and it’s easy to lose hope when we see people mistreating each other. It needn’t be something huge like a UK citizen being tortured with the permission of his own government. It might be a relatively minor matter like discourtesy on the road or in the street. So it’s always good to spot the positives when they come along and to appreciate them and be grateful for them. That’s why a small incident at a recent gig brought a smile to my face.

We don’t know the true motives behind Gordon Brown giving MPs a vote for a referendum on electoral reform. We don’t think the proposal for an AV system goes anywhere near far enough down the road towards change. We’re just glad that, at long last, the issue of electoral reform has got beyond the talking stage. Take the Red Pill is strongly in favour of radical reform of our voting system. Unlike the Tory leader, David Cameron, who is strongly opposed to proportional representation but, like Blackadder’s Baldrick, has a cunning plan……

There was a great story in the news last week. Tosco, that supermarket bastion of all things posh, decided enough was enough when it came to sloppy ‘in store’ dressing. One of its hideous outlets in Cardiff put up a notice which in effect bars customers who are barefoot or wearing pyjamas. At first we thought we should protest at this outbreak of fashion fascism but then we had a better idea. Let’s make dress code rules for everyone associated with the retail disease more commonly known as Tosco Horribilis……..

Christiansen, De Uralde, Schmutz and Thijssen may not be household names like the contestants in lame TV show The X Factor but history may view them as the heroes of a much greater contest, the fight to stop governments and big business killing off our planet. While slimy corporate lobbyists and spineless politicians were toying with the earth’s future at the Copenhagen UN Climate Conference, these four – and several colleagues - carried out a daring piece of non-violent direct action. Here's why we think they’re heroes and the Danish authorities aren't.

Some books about the environment can be the modern day equivalent of the Pharisees. They tell you everything that you’re doing wrong and make you feel really guilty about it while not offering any help in solving the problem. When I come across books with words like eco in the title, I tend to get a little bit cynical and suspicious. Even the informative ones can be really dull. So it was a real pleasure to find one was that wasn’t preachy but left me feeling both educated and entertained.

What do most people think about when someone says East London? Pearly Kings and Queens? Jellied eels? Bobby Moore? Brick Lane curries? The Krays? The Blitz? Petticoat Lane? Maybe even Barbara Windsor in that crap TV soap? Thankfully, beyond the stereotyping and, despite cynical attempts by corrupt councils to gentrify parts of the East End, there is still a multicultural community fighting to thrive. Ok, so East London might still be more famous for Reggie than reggae but things are changing for the better, thanks to people like the Skints.

It’s a damp, cold November day in Northamptonshire, England. You’re with a bunch of mates outside a country pub which has a wide selection of drinks, delicious food and a roaring log fire. What do you do? That’s right, you all troop into the soggy garden and start reading poetry. Welcome to the world of local Greenpeace activists....

Someone had been hard at work in the lead up to Halloween. We left a dull Kettering street and entered through black bin liner curtains, past a toilet pan with decorative pine cone and onto a thick carpet of dry leaves. Through the wardrobe into Narnia or what? Well, what actually. Amputated hands poked through crates on the walls, foliage abounded, fake blood was smeared on the toilet walls, and bloody footprints led away from the toilets. Some creative fancy dress and the obligatory hammer horror films completed another normal night at Sawyer’s.......