In our first article* we revealed the huge corporations behind some popular, fashionable and supposedly ethical or organic brands like Green & Black’s, Body Shop, Prêt A Manger, Ben & Jerry’s & Tom’s of Maine. That was almost a year ago and the sad fact is that we have even more bad news. Now, more than ever, it takes a bit of amateur detective work to find out who’s making loads of money when we purchase our favourite products. If you took the blue pill, best stop reading now and pretend everything’s as you always thought it was......

Last Wednesday was another dark day for civil liberties in the UK. Not the first or the worst, but sadly probably not the last. Gordon Brown led his beleaguered government to a nine vote victory for extending the limit for pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects from 28 days to 42 days. Democracy had a bad day and few people come out of the campaign with clean hands.  TTRP looks back in anger and looks forward in faint hope......

OI! YOU! Yes you, the one sitting there nodding to something on your MP3 player, thinking that’s as good as music gets. Fine, it may be a great track but it’s still recorded. With due respect, could we suggest that you take the headphones out, get your shoes on and head out to hear a bit of live music*. Yes, even if it means not reading the rest of this article. But if you do have a moment to read on, we have a new band to recommend that you try to catch live. Oh, and you can always put your headphones in again when you get back. Best of both worlds, eh?

I don’t mind people disliking me for my beliefs or principles, but when someone gives me a mouthful of abuse because they’ve misread my t-shirt, I really have to draw the line. Enough is enough! I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant in Croydon, waiting for a friend and minding my own business. Really looking forward to some good company and decent food. Then I noticed a bloke staring at me as if I’d just taken a pee in his chicken chow mein. I checked over my shoulder but there was nobody there – he was definitely eyeballing me and he didn’t look impressed......

TTRP continues its musical journey with a trip to see Cuba’s finest, the truly world famous Buena Vista Social Club. Taking a break from watching four piece indie bands with jangly guitars and pretty black fringes, we spent an evening in a theatre, in the company of lots of very English people, being wowed by thirteen amazingly talented musicians. With an average age kept down only by a young pianist, this was no youth orchestra event but it was a night which had quality – calidad – written all over it.

I don’t really do clothes. I don’t mean I wander naked round the villages of Northamptonshire like some crazed Old Testament prophet. It’s just that I’m very happy with my beloved Blackspot boots, my favourite jeans, one long-serving pair of shorts, a rapidly deteriorating jumper and my faithful furry-hooded parka. I do have one weakness in the clothes department.   T-shirts. Occasionally I like to give my mouth a rest and let a slogan do the work for a while. So when I came across some “sporting outfitters of intellectual distinction”, my bank manager was afraid. Very afraid.

Late last year we reviewed a single by Glasgow band Parka. We were suitably impressed by Disco Dancer and suggested that you watch this space. Now a nice man called Daniel has sent us a copy of Attack of the Hundred Yard Hard Man, the band’s debut album, and we want to see if the wait and watch was worthwhile. After a couple of listens, we can confirm that it may not be to everyone’s taste but it does confirm that Britain continues to produce music to cheer us up on another Great British tradition - dreary Sunday afternoons....

I love reading books which educate me or challenge me to get off my bum and actually do something, but occasionally I enjoy a break from a diet of serious non-fiction. Recently I read a string of novels which were all highly entertaining and, as a little bonus, still made me think about some important issues like the plight of illegal immigrants, the irrational fear of bearded Muslims and just how hard it is to be a teenager. So here are the TTRP reviews of three of those novels but first, a brief plug for independent bookstores.......

It was the perfect election for the reactionary media. Evil left wing, whisky-drinking, newt-loving, car-hating tyrant slain by loveable floppy-haired buffoon. The Evening Standard had a field day with its relentless attacks on Ken Livingstone while no-one really bothered to find out what Boris Johnson actually stood for. It wasn’t so very surprising that Boris Johnson got elected as London Mayor but the campaign and the result did cause us to reflect on one or two other issues. Issues that might have an impact on all of us in the years to come.

Maybe I got lucky with having a couple of decent teachers, but I've always enjoyed history. Always from a distance, mind you, as I’ve never had the urge to travel back in time. I imagined I’d arrive at precisely the wrong moment and my time travel would be cut short by a sword while trying to explain my mobile to an aggressive man in a suit of armour. No, I’m happy to let writers educate me. Unfortunately many of them tell only one side of the story and, even worse, fail to hold my attention while doing so. In this series, we’d like to highlight one or two honourable exceptions.......