Archived news 2
Updated 1st August 2003
Well, then... I'll be doing some more bookreadings/signings in the autumn... if you fancy coming along, it'd be lovely to meet you!
Here are the dates so far...
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September 24rd: LONDON, WATERSTONES (Islington branch) - CHANGE OF DATE
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October 1st: NORWICH, WATERSTONES (7.30pm)
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October 4th: BRACKNELL ARTS CENTRE, BRACKNELL COMEDY FESTIVAL (6.30pm)
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October 15th: BRIGHTON, BORDERS
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October 22nd: BRISTOL, BORDERS (7pm)
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November 12th: OXFORD UNION (time TBC)
(If you haven't got a copy
of the book but want one, I recommend BOL, currently doing one of their
'Hot Book' deals, and shoving 'em out at £3.99...
go to www.uk.bol.com for more...)
Blimey... well, first of all,
I should apologise for not having updated the site in a fair few weeks...
there's been a bit of a Join Me-related
media storm of late, which has had your fine and noble leader up at all
hours... still, consider the word well and truly spread, thanks to Richard
and Judy, This Morning, The Wright Stuff, Terry
and Gaby, Heaven & Earth,
BBC TV News, Radios 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, The
World Service, just about every
regional BBC station there is, the nation's regional press, The
Guardian,
The Telegraph, The News of the World, The
Daily Mail, The Scotsman, The
Times, The Evening Standard, The Mirror, The
Big Issue, and... well...
you get the idea. So that's why I've been busy.
But it didn't stop there. Denmark sent a journalist over to join the Karma Army for a day. The Spanish ran a huge piece in one of their national papers. I broadcast live to millions of Hungarians. The Italians put the Join Me song on a covermounted CD they gave away free with a national magazine. I was phoned up out-of-the-blue by Radio Columbia and confused 9 million Columbians. Join Me was front-page news in the Malaysian Mail. Quite without me knowing, the Australian newspaper The Age ran a full-page story on us. A Puerto Rican TV show filmed a news story on what we do. And the London borough of Brent put a link on their website. So it's all happening.
But you lot have been busy too. I'm currently getting dozens of new passport photos every single day in the post (current record: 103 in one day), and the sheer volume of e-mails I've been getting caused a bit of a technical meltdown and a concerned phonecall from my ISP... don't worry if you haven't had a reply... I've had to add thousands of e-mail addresses to the mailing list, so bear with me, my people. I'll mail you soon!
Many, many, many random acts of kindness have been happening all over the world as word has spread... well done on all your efforts. It's truly fantastic, and you're making a real and discernible difference to people's days. Well over 100,000 of these little acts of unexpected niceness have taken place... keep on making every Friday a Good Friday, and don't be afraid to post what you've done on the forum (which Gold Joinee Whitby is planning on rejuvenating and poshing-up...)
Thanks to everyone who's read and bought the book. It's had a great reception and I'm really pleased you like it. There have been some incredibly exciting developments with the book of late, and I'll let you all know about that as soon as things are more concrete... and, best of all, it seems that the people who are reading it want to join up afterwards... the more the merrier, I say...
Now, you must always remember that all joinees are equal... but some are more equal than others. I was delighted to receive a passport photo from new Joinee Emma Freud. Early joinees will remember that if you can get five other people to join up, you are automatically promoted to Silver Joinee (making you even more equal still)... well, Joinee Freud provided me with a photo containing not just her, but her three children, her pregnant tummy, and her husband, Joinee Richard Curtis. Five-in-one is a new Join Me record.
Well done, Silver Joinee Freud!
Thanks to all those American joinees, who saw my advert in the New York Village Voice recently and responded... I'll be adding more to the www.joinmeusa.com site soon, and I'll also be popping over again very soon in order to meet more joinees and spread the word. When the book comes out in the USA next year, I'll also be doing a ten-city US book tour, so please do keep checking the site for more details...
My sincere thanks to all those joinees who've been helping to spread the word - especially Joinees Saunders, Whitby, Jones, Cobbett, Jess, Woollven, Joan, Dan and Price (who had his own page in the Liverpool Echo!). New Join Me websites are also starting to appear all over the place, which is fantastic... if you fancy doing one, do let me know, and I'll get a links page up soon. The Belgian and Puerto Rican pages are going up soon... spread the word! Get people out and about on Good Fridays!
Cheeky old Raymond Price must not know what's going on... for one thing,
Gold Joinee Whitby has been hot on his tail for the past month or two (you
can read about his exploits at www.joinee.co.uk), but for another, nearly
every national newspaper and TV show to cover Join Me has mentioned him
in one way or another... he's had his name bandied about by Phillip Schofield,
Melinda Messenger, Annabel Giles and Stuart Maconie, he's been front page
news in several London papers, he's been the central figure in a debate
on French TV, he's had columns written about it, songs written about him,
and the drummer of a band supporting Status Quo next month has offered
to paint his face on the front of his drum kit. If you're out there, Raymond,
and you're reading this... get in touch. It'd be lovely to buy you a pint
and have a chuckle. If you promise to knock the scamming on the head...
Joinee Joan of Brussels is thinking of organising another Belgian meet-up on September 20th in Brussels... fancy it? E-mail me on danny@join-me.co.uk and I'll pass it on...
Some fantastic things have been happening lately, kind acts-wise... For example...
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Gold Joinee Saunders has been buying gift vouchers and hiding them in copies of JOIN ME... so when people buy it, and start reading it, they're eventually rewarded with a random act of kindness... a gift voucher!
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I've started to receive letters from people who haven't bought the book, but instead have had it handed to them, completely out of the blue, by total strangers...! This is a marvellous way of spreading the word AND doing a random act of kindness at the same time... if you've finished with your copy of the book, why not write a little message in it, and hand it to a bored-looking stranger on a train, at a bus stop, or down the pub? Ask them to hand it on when they've finished with it...
Please! Don't send me money!
If you've got money to spare, give it to charity, or do a weird little random act of kindness for someone... a lady called Patricia recently (and incredibly kindly) sent me £50 cash... but didn't leave her full name or address... if you're reading this Patricia, you will be pleased (I hope) to know that I split the money into fivers, and sent it to ten random joinees, asking them to go out and commit random acts of kindness on the streets and report back... I'll let you know what happened as soon as I know myself...
OLDER NEWS
Well, Join Me (the book) is released in
all good bookshops across the UK on July 3rd, and I'll be doing a few
bookreadings 'n' signings along the way. The first two are already
confirmed...
June 24th -- Ottakers Banbury -- 6.30pm
June 25th -- Borders, Oxford Street, London -- 6.30pm CHANGE OF
TIME!
I don't really know what I'll be saying, and I apologise in advance if I'm rubbish. But it'll be nice to see any joinees, if you're not busy!
A huge thank you to all those fantastic joinees who took the time
to pop down to London for a casual Join Meet organised by the News
of the World...
Joinees Smin, Jones, Bond, Whitby, Jess, Woollven, Burnley, Peters, Sansom, Tarnesvik,
Nicholls and Reardon joined journalist Nick Harding and watched in awe as he
undertook many and varied Random Acts of Kindness under their gentle supervision.
I, The Leader, made an impromptu speech at Speakers Corner and you will be glad
to hear that several people joined up as a result.
A few of the first-ever copies of Join Me (the book) were presented to those
joinees whose efforts to make it along exceeded my expectations.
Well done Joinees! The article on our day in London will appear in the News of
the World on June 29th.
Journalist (and new Joinee) Nick Harding rescues a small boys' football from
a tree, as a fantastic act of kindness
The
Leader convinces a troublesome old man to sign up
Speakers Corner
- conquered, thanks to a shoulder lift from Joinee Bond
Free
books for fine joinees
Well done to new Joinee Crook, who has decided to organise a Joinee Dating Service. Should be you single and in need of some hot joinee action, I am sure Joinee Crook will be able to help you. Check out the forum for more details. Well done, new Joinee Crook!
Well done to Gold Joinee Whitby, whose website, www.joinee.co.uk, continues to go from strength to strength. Well done, Gold Joinee Whitby!
Well done to Silver Joinee Woollven, who has secured a valuable slot in his local paper, which I hope will become the official Join Me newspaper for the whole of the Northampton catchment area. I will publish his efforts on this page when they are printed. Well done, Silver Joinee Woollven!
Well, it's
still all go here at Join Me HQ.
The official Join Me book is being printed as you read
this, with plenty of joinee action included in it. It's
out in the UK in early July (delayed by a few weeks thanks
to an extra special promotion by WH Smith, which is ace)...
you can pre-order
a copy at Amazon.co.uk, if you wish...
It's all very exciting, and should rack us up plenty more
joinees. But equally exciting -- I'm thrilled to say that
the book has already been bought by the American publisher
Plume (an imprint of Penguin) which means that in April
2004 we will be one step closer to taking our message to
right across America!
The word of the Karma Army continues to spread!
Huge congratulations go to Joinee Saunders of Inverness... I've made him the second-ever Gold Joinee in recognition of his outstanding random acts of kindness and constant willingness to do good... here he is accepting the honour at a special ceremony in Scotland...
Work
has begun on the official Join Me Concept Album. The official
Join Me band, Joinees Wayne and Christopher, met up with
me last week in order to thrash a few ideas around. Wayne
brought his guitar to the pub, and Christopher had a small
xylophone with him, and pretty soon we'd worked out the words
and music to such future classics as 'Song of the Happy Old
Man', 'The Raymond Price Blues' and 'The Ballad of Danny
and Hanne'. The album should be available on this site by
the end of June.
Well
done to Joinee Riley and her pals, of London... Joinee
Riley recently surprised me by having many hundreds of
Join Me badges printed at her local badge shop. I think
you'll agree they look fantastic. I will work out some
way of making them available to joinees who wish to spread
the word through lapels.
Congratulations
to Joinee Xave of Melbourne, Australia.
Joinee Xave writes: "Here I am wearing a 'Greetings
From Tropical Melbourne' t-shirt, here in tropical Melbourne.
I have been using it to greet friends and neighbours, and
also strangers and tourists when they arrive here in tropical Melbourne
at the airport or bus stop. And then I tell them all about Join Me and
they look
at me."
Excellent work, Joinee Xave!
The first Join
Me signs hidden in the upcoming PlayStation 2 game Destruction
Derby 4 have been spotted... If you look closely at this
screengrab taken from the current issue of PSW magazine,
you might be able to spot a tiny picture of your Leader...
I expect an influx of teenage joinees any day.
I have just returned
from a second trip to Norway, to meet some of the people
who signed up after last year's appearance on Norwegian news
and in their newspapers... here are a few of them, proudly
wearing Join Me stickers and spreading the word through looking
quite cheerful.
Well done, Norwegian Joinees!
Gold
Joinee Whitby has had a very fruitful trip to New York...
As well as spreading the word through leafletting, Joinee
Whitby got up very early one morning and crafted his own
Join Me sign, which he then held aloft for an entire morning
in the background of the live TV show, Good Morning America,
broadcast to the entire nation.
He then spent quite some time convincing the anchorman, Charles Gibson, that the Karma Army is a very good thing indeed.
Plus, a piece
of Karma Army-related art he created on a whim so impressed
his hotel owner, that it now takes pride of place inside
the art gallery of The Gershwin Hotel, New York.
Well done, Gold Joinee Whitby!
Er...
I'm not quite sure what's going on!
After the huge excitement of getting a letter from Prime
Minister Tony Blair last week, imagine my surprise when
I received another letter completely out-of-the-blue...
this one from Prince Charles!
It seems that those in a position of power in this country
are lining up to lend their support to the fine work you
joinees are doing...
The only explanation I can muster for this latest letter
is that at some recent posh event or other, Tony must have
taken Charles to one side and told him all about us.
Well done, Tony Blair!
And well done, Joinees!
Well,
it seems that one of you joinees has been mixing in some
pretty impressive circles. Someone, somewhere has told
Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tony
Blair about Join Me... and he's been in touch to say he
approves of our work.
I've no idea how he heard about us, or why he took it upon
himself to ask someone to write a letter, but it's very
lovely all the same.
He didn't join, though.
Well done
to Joinee Wilkins, who works as a videogames designer,
and has done his best to help secure us some more teenage
joinees by inserting dozens of 'Join Me' signs into the
upcoming PlayStation 2 release, Destruction Derby
Online. Anyone playing the Las Vegas level will
also be... er... 'treated'... to a picture of your Leader
smiling like a loon and begging you to join. Joinee Wilkins
has been Silvered as a result.
Well done, Silver Joinee Wilkins.
Well done
to Joinee Joan of Brussels... she recently showed Joinee
Willis of Leeds and his girlfriend around the Belgian capital,
all in the name of Join Me and the Karma Army. She has
also designed a Guide For The Joinee In Brussels, which
she will send to any joinees who need to know what to do
and where to go in Brussels. Joan also arranged a meet-up
in Brussels recently.
She has been Silvered, as a result.
Well done, Silver Joinee Joan.
Look
at the pretty picture!
Well done to the Dutch illustrator whose Join Me-related
artwork has now featured in one of Holland's biggest newspapers.
Several Dutch people have joined as a result of seeing
it.
Well, the
first-ever "JOIN MEet" happened
just before Christmas... a special page
is now up, with photos from the event... well done to
all those who either met me at the bottom of Oxford Street
and took part in a magnificent wave of good karma... or those
who turned up at the pub later on and had to hear me sing...
or those who made it right until the end, at some dodgy curryhouse
on one of Soho's seedier streets...
At the height of the meet-up, there were around fifty of
us, including about seven brand new joinees.
Well done, all!
Well done to
Joinee Els, who decided to launch a poster campaign in Belgium
this month...
Posters saying
"For Everyone A Happy Christmas? No.
Not everyone's gonna have a happy Christmas.
There are a lot of people who are poor or lonely,
also in your neighbourhood.
Invite a lonely or poor man with Christmas.
Do it! The Karma Army"
Posters were plastered all over Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels.
Well done, Joinee Els!
And it wasn't
long before they were spotted!
One poster was spotted in Antwerp by Joinee Reeves,
who took a picture of it and sent it to me...
Well done
to Joinee Woollven and Joinee Douglas, who plastered a
monument in their home town of Northampton with Join Me
posters and tried to get people to join up... they also
wrapped up some presents and handed them to complete strangers,
creating some excellent Random Acts of Kindness as they
did so.
Well done Joinees Woollven and Douglas!
Many joinees
have been asking me where they can buy their own
Joinee Gaz mug or Joinee Jonesy t -shirt
(below).
Well, I'm afraid you won't find them in the shops until a
proper deal is done, but in the meantime I can provide instructions
as to how to make them. The t-shirt should cost around £15
to make, the mug around £12. For details, e-mail
me.
Well done to Joinees Liv and Morten of Norway, who did a fine job of leafletting in Moscow. One Russian joined as a result of just forty minutes' flyering!
Well done
Joinees!
Well done
to Joinee Sansom of the Bath Collective, whose recent factfinding
mission to India went well.
Joinee Sansom did various random acts of kindness while
he was out
there, including giving the porter at his hotel a cricket
bat. For no reason
whatsoever. The porter was said to be 'delighted'. Well
done, Joinee Sansom!