Well, it's been another weekend of activism for me, after leafletting around Wigan last week for the Hope Not Hate campaign.
On Friday night, I found myself in Liverpool at The Picket to see Billy Bragg perform, along with Attila The Stockbroker, David Rovics and Allun Parry. All were on top form, proclaiming anti-fascism to a typically 'lively' crowd and a quite frankly brilliant night was had.
Unfortunately, this did allow me only 4 hours sleep before I was crawling back out of bed to make my way over to the UNITE offices of Salford TGWU for another day out on the streets with Hope Not Hate.
Rather than the simple leaflets of last weekend, drawing closer to the election and in a far more volatile area, the more heavy duty newspapers were called for.
All in all, the morning past off peacefully, despite a hefty number of BNP stickers in windows, man eating letterboxes and more rottweilers and pittbulls than you can shake a stick at, something I wouldn't recommend.
I suffered only one unpleasant encounter, in the form of an angry old Scotsman, who marched out of his door bellowing "How dare you darken my door with your anti-racist filth!" as I closed his gate, thrusting the paper back at me from his fistfull of sovereign rings. I offered him one last chance to take it, but duly obliged and added it back to my pile. On walking back past the bottom of the road about ten minutes later, I saw him leaning against his gate ranting animatedly at his next door neighbour. Some people, it seems, are just beyond hope.
Other than that, the reception was good, I was approached by several groups of younger children, including one little boy determined to show me both his dreadlocks and his house with great excitement, who certainly made me smile in my somewhat worn out state.
On returning to HNH temporary HQ for the the day, we were greeted with plenty of food and drink, and the promise of a short acoustic set from Mr Billy Bragg himself.
So, I settled in with doughnut and camera, and Bragg delivered another excellent performance, interspersed with the usual combination of witty and passionate anecdotes and outbursts, and finishing on a rousing verse and chorus of The Internationale. There's something to be said for a room full of tired voices singing out such a great anthem.
Overall, a brilliant day and a great turn out, with around 1600 papers delivered in the morning. Searchlight's coverage of the day can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OalqQ4yfO6I
My footage is viewable here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc-EGofdtHA
Or as single photographs here:
http://shes-so-1970s.deviantart.com

Please visit http://www.hopenothate.org.uk for more information, and remember to vote on June 4th to stop the BNP.
Becky x

My review of The Boomtown Rats gig at Baby Blue in Liverpool on the 10th February 2009

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An hour and a half of waiting, briefly interrupted by a rather excellent and amusing acoustic set from ex-Alarm guitarist, Dave Sharpe, had given me plenty of time to ramp up my concern over the idea of The Boomtown Rats without either Bob Geldof or Pete Briquette, the latter being the inspiration behind me taking up the bass guitar. But within 30 seconds of 'Close As You'll Ever Be' I was entirely won over, and by the time they'd set into the second song of the night my grin was set in my face for the next three hours.

Original drummer, Simon Crowe, was quick to point out that new band members Peter Barton (vocals and bass) and Darren Beale (guitar) may be 'a bit different to Bob and the rest were back in the day', but both did a well above par job of filling the void left by Geldof, Briquette, Johnnie Fingers and Gerry Cott. It would be simple enough for Barton to have battled through as a decent impersonation of Sir Bob, but as it was he made it his own, without detracting anything from the original. Visually, he brought up the somewhat disturbing image of a Briquette/Geldof lovechild, and had a Meatloaf-esque air, with less bolsh. My immediate reaction to Beale was to awh at what appeared to be a little guitar playing psychopath, but he certainly had the talent to accompany his presence.

As a fan born a good five years after the band originally split up, I was definitely in it for Crowe and guitarist Garry Roberts. It seemed the new members were well aware that this was an additude that would be shared by the majority of the audience and were completely acceptant of the fact, taking numerous opportunities to bellow the names of the duo to the small but tightly packed crowd.

Within moments of them opening there were shouts of requests, the most noteable being 'Dunlaoghaire', the name of a b-side and the band's Irish home town, but noteable due to Barton's inability to pronounce it correctly (dun-leer-ee). Another favourite heckle came from the same 'merry' scouser next to me, calling for Roberts to "do the rat! Come on Garry, down on all fours!", with the response "do it yourself!" in spectacularly laid on Irish accent.

Roberts and Crowe have obviously had plenty of time to age, but both were still easily recognisable. As soon as Crowe shuffled through the crowd to the stage I knew it was him, despite having seen only one photograph of him since the bands' demise in 1986. Worryingly, having for many years been adamant that there was nothing attractive whatsoever in the baby-faced drummer, faced with the same man at the age of 54, suddenly my opinion switched completely. I can only hope that it was hearing a voice that played a big part in getting me through my early teens at such close quarters that did it for me, though I fear I may be lieing to myself and you. In appearance, Roberts has changed much more, as he noted in reminiscence, "back in the good old days, when I was about half the size I am now." But one thing he has maintained that is distinctly his own is his 'guitar face', a particular expression of concentration when he really gets going that made me laugh when I noticed it was still there.

Musically, The Rats are as good as ever, nothing has been lost, perhaps a little gained with time, and every song stressed this. Their revamped version of the band's most famous hit, 'I Don't Like Mondays', easily overcomes the lack of keyboards (originally Fingers) with lively guitar riffs and repeated catchy breakdowns. It would have been easy if not obvious for The Rats to completely evade any mention of Geldof, after a turbulent period of threatened court cases amongst other things, but there was no such coldness. On several occassions they conceded to Sir Bob's writing power in the songs, Barton commenting mostly on the high quality of the lyrics, something that cannot be overlooked. Barton even sported a pair of red and black skinny jeans, almost identical to a pair frequently donned by the original frontman.

The full on Boomtown tirade was broken down by three Dr Feelgood songs (the band spent a few years playing mostly songs from Dr Feelgood's first two albums before they began writing their own material), giving both Garry Roberts and Simon Crowe the chance to stretch their vocal chords, the former taking the lead for 'She Does It Right', and the latter for 'Riot In Cell Block Number 9', with all four having a pop at the mic for 'Down By The Jetty'.

I won't deny that I cried during 'I Can Make It If You Can', a song I haven't listened to in a good two years for that very reason, but I was at the same time amazed and pleased that this 'version' could have much the same effect on my tearducts. I loitered around for a good while afterwards listening to Crowe and Roberts talk, sign and pose for photographs, but was entirely lost for my own words, so just observed.

My only bone of contention throughout the entire evening was Rat Trap. It still felt like blasphemy for anyone bar Briquette to play that bass line, one that inspired me to take it up myself.

All in all, it's safe to say that these men have lost nothing of their musical skill with their youth, and as I screamed along to the final chorus of 'She's So Modern', half leaning against a brick column in a slightly dingey cavernous bar, surrounded by Rats fans, that until this point had only been a thing of the internet, they just weren't in my real 17 year old world, it was right then that it all felt perfect. It left me thinking, if any live band can create that kind of feeling, surely they must have a certain something?

Once more, I am reaching the end of my tether. This blog will be more ranty than the other's I suspect, with no real purpose, but to expel some of this anti-Capitalist anger that's brewing in me. Again. It hasn't been suitabley expelled in several months, around the time I made this: http://shes-so-1970s.deviantart.com/art/My-Sixth-Secret-103225546
It's not just Capitalism, it's Conservatism, in all it's forms. Obviously, as a lefty from an originally working class family, there is an expectation to be strongly Thatcherite hating, and by goodness that I am. Even at her 'fragile old age' I could still happily deal her a hefty blow to the nose and feel absolutely no remorse. But it's not just her and her cronies and her unfortunate but inevitable legacy, it's the One Nation 'cuddly' Tories, the Traditional Tories, the Advanced Liberals, the whole bleeding lot of them that huddle under the umbrella of the British Conservative Party, and seep out into that of New Labour now too.
But to start breifly with Capitalism, I'm afraid I do not believe that all competition is healthy, I do not believe in private provision in the sense that a superior standard should be offered to those who can afford it, the best possible standard should be offered universally, I am inevitably disheartened by the profit rates of companies that are released so often, I can't help but point angrily at the 'Free Market' and its 'forces' when I look around at the current economic crisis, I will never come to terms with the idea of materialism for materialism sake, I have very strong issues with the ownership of land, and I believe, in much the same way that anti-Theists do about religion, that Capitalism is an oppressive force. You may well have guessed that this is just the tip of a very deep sea iceberg, but I think you get the idea.
Then we hit on Conservativism, and I have little choice but to first and foremost address one of the most prominent and long standing beliefs of the Conservative 'ideology' ["it's not an ideology it's a set of beliefs" oh shut up you cynical arses] and that is the belief that human beings are naturally flawed. I have always laboured under the belief that people are naturally good, even in my worst moments, I stoop to society, or see those angering me as exceptions, not some biological or God given trait of 'badness'. I mentioned this to a classmate not long ago and he immediately threw out the 'what about Hitler?' argument. Well, what about Hitler? That's like me using Ghandi or Mother Theresa as evidence that all human beings are good. Firstly, I don't believe that Hitler was born that way, I think the way he was brought up and his life experiences led him to that level, as did the people around him, who no doubt suffered similar socialisation. Secondly, Hitler is an exeption. There may be numerous dictators and murderers out there, but they're so very far from being in the majority. Even with Fascist groups like the BNP on the rise in this country, a great deal of their support grows out of fear for livelihoods and families rather than anything else. Which links back to my thought of Capitalism as oppressing, seeing as it has a powerful ability to scapegoat groups. Take the economic depression of the 1970s. Blame lay at the top, but a media machine promoted the image of black people as 'muggers', a then fairly new piece of terminology, and so divided the working classes against each other, to the point that they were so busy fearing and hating each other, they ignored the mess of the system they were in.
I cannot believe that these people are naturally bad. People don't steal because they were just born to, they still either for the material gain [hello Capitalist values!] or for the buzz, the power that they can't get from being at the bottom of the chain [oh look, do I sense Capitalism at fault once more?]. Much though I'm reluctant to praise psychology, as I have many the scepticism, when it comes to deviancey of whatever sort they've found numerous disorders that can lead to the types of people who will kill, and who will lack the ability to reason. Take Hitler again, the fact is, he thought he was doing the right thing. Most of the time, in my experience, people genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing, save for bouts of ignorance or if they are trying to make a statement for something they believe is more important. So, surely then it's the society that raises those people, be it the parents, education, the media, the state, all these aspects and everything else they come into contact with will affect them, and will build them into a 'bad' person, but they will still believe what they're doing is right. And as far as I'm concerned, it's when you do the wrong thing and know you're doing the wrong thing, for no reason except to do so, that's the only time I can see any sign of genuinely 'flawed' beings. And I have no examples of that anywhere in my memory banks.
The idea of 'paternity' has always struck me as patronising too. I don't have any real foibles with the results, but this top down idea still implies that because the rich have money it is their 'duty' to stop the poor hitting rock bottom. I've always leaned more towards the Social Democratic ideal of 'fraternity', we are all equal after all, and it's not for one to suffer or feel 'dutiful', it's a brotherhood. It only takes one episode of the military TV series of that name (brotherhood) to see the power and the beauty in that. If that bond was instead a group of soldiers being treated with great kindness by a senior officer, sure it would be nice, but it would be far from the best it could be.
Ultimately, that's what an ideology is, belief in the best it can be. I believe we're far from it. I love my country, and I'm admittedly terrified of the power that groups like the BNP have of dividing its people, but that doesn't mean I don't think there's drastic room for improvement.
If you sat through that, you deserve a medal. I could go on, but I have a commentary to complete.
Becky x

Well, my very close friends will know this about me, as will avid fans of the band in question who I've come across and let fly my angry views upon them. It inevitably comes as a suprise, and I always find myself having to explain in great detail what my problem is with the band. That band is Queen. That band broke the United Nations cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa. And for this I will never forgive them.
Those few who have any knowledge of the subject tend to witter about how they apologised and that their music is still good and so on and so forth, but this piece of information has tainted every single hearing of every Queen song since the very first. The first time I consciously heard the video rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody on Top Of The Pops 2 all those years ago, my dad immediately left the room in disgust, to return minutes later feeling the need to explain to a young and baffled me. The explanation he gave is almost identical to that given by John Harris in this Guardian article, one that I have cited to many since it was written - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/jan/14/2
My anger reached a whole new level when I heard that Queen would be playing for Nelson Mandela at his birthday concert last year. My dad worked in a mine in South Africa during apartheid and so it's always been a highly held issue in our household, and one of the three times I've seen my dad cry was when Mandela spoke during one of the Live 8 concerts in 2005 that we were at. So, since the very first time I heard Queen, I was greeted with this information, I have never been able to enjoy them. Everytime I hear them or hear of them I immediately connect them to this. You might think this is unfair, but I'm afraid no amount of fanwank or therapy will wipe this image from my head. To me they will always be the high profile band that stood against the rights of South Africans, despite knowing exactly what they were doing.
And that is why I hate Queen, Saint Freddie or no Saint bloody Freddie
x

It has been my belief for a long time now that the more channels and services piled onto our TVs, the lower the quality of service to the audience. I'm frequently then told that we have 'choice', such wonderful, wonderful choice! Except we are choosing between varying standards of tripe, so the choice to watch anything of real standard has been irradicated before. Call me old fashioned, as no doubt most of you do already, but if to have choice means to lose truly original and interesting programmes, from the comedy greats of Monty Python, now shadowed by hundreds of mediocre double acts with as little bite as a toothless mosquito, to kids shows like Thomas The Tank Engine, now toyed with to the extent that, though recognisable, they're not worthy to maintain the same title. Childrens' TV greats like Brian Cant, the older, fatherly figure, perhaps more like the mad uncle on occassion, are replaced by oversized versions of the kids themselves, do we really believe that kids actually want to see 'grown ups' acting like emphasized versions of there classmates? Now that every gritty drama regurgitates the same message in a half arsed way, yet when something truly original comes along, it is almost inevitably pitted against some brainless gush like the XFactor in the timeslots, which provides its viewers with a thought free way to pass the hour. I don't deny that there is a place for reality TV and soaps and so on, but when they overrun the schedule of every channel, along with piles of sitcoms ferried in from the US, at the expense of potentially brilliant programming, usually then buried into the light night schedules of BBCs 3 and 4, surely something is amiss?
Enough of my rambling, for now anyway, and I put you into the far more wordily capable hands of the great playwright, author, once comedian and forver genius, Alan Bennett, as taken from the audiobook "Alan Bennett at the BBC", the full 2 hours of which are available from iTunes, and provide a interesting and amusing eye over his past works. I should point out that the extract came as part of a night of programmes headed by Alan Bennett for BBC2 in 1992, prior to the national take over of digital TV of all kinds.
"Now some thoughts on television. To be required to look back on television is like being asked, "What are your memories of the hall stand?" or, when you think of the 50s, what role was played by the side board? Television is, after all, part of the furniture, and in those early days very much part of it, embedded in cabinets, behind doors, disguised, much as the comode used to be disguised, looks like a chair, it's actually a lavatory. And people were slightly shame faced about television when it came in, just as they were about the radio 20 years before. Anthony Eden had to listen to Chamberlain's ultimatum, in September 1939, on a wireless borrowed from the housemaid. Of course some people are still a bit shame faced about it now. "Well, you know, we don't watch the old telebox very much, quite frankly far too busy. I mean, we watch Yes, Minister, of course, marvellously funny, Inspector Morse and the news, but, quite honestly, I mean, where does one find the time?" The tragedy is that it's very often those kind of people to whom it falls to legislate about television, the Hurdes, the Rentons, the Reese-Moggs of this world, not the people for whom television is a lifeline, and educator and an eye-opener. With a limited number of channels, TV is still a topic of discussion, a play or a documentary talked about the morning after at work or whatever. It's something we share. The more channels there are, the less this is going to be the case. Of course, if there is no such thing as society, then this is of no consequence. But the very same people who make a fuss about the nation losing its identity in Europe are quite happy to see national television lose its identity and go the european way, so that we end up with a diet of pap and crap, such as they get in France or Italy. As some ninny in the Sunday Telegraph said when broadcasting changes were first mooted in 1988, "When Mrs Thatcher's satellite revolution comes, it will be rare for an entire salloon bar or dinner party to have all watched the same television programme the night before. There will then be a healthy decline in the importance of the programme cheifs." But that there will also be an unhealthy decline in the programmes, didn't seem to concern him. One wants to ask such people, "What is it that you think helps to hold the nation together? A shared interest in the novels of Lord Archer?""
So long from a slightly ill Becky x

Tonight I'm heading to a meeting of Wigan & Leigh United Against Racism, connected to the anti-fascist Hope Not Hate campaign, at Wigan Transport and General Workers Union.
So, before I go, I thought I'd leave you with this link, a chance to star in the latest Hope Not Hate video, be it through a video clip, a photograph, whatever tickles your fancy, but the more people involved, the more powerful the message.
Go here:
http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/starinourvideo
To find out more.

This article offers a revealing insight into the real British National Party, and is well worth a read.
http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/the-real-bnp/

There's lots of information available around the site, as well as at http://www.stopthebnp.org.uk and the Hope Not Hate page also contains details on local action groups and how to get in touch.

Most importantly of all, remember to vote in the upcoming European Elections of June 4th. It tikes a tiny percentage for the BNP to make their way into the EU parliament, earning them money and legitimacy that is just too risky.
Please, do your bit to stop the spread of fascism across our country.
Becky x

They say every generation believes they've discovered sex, but will their ever be a generation that doesn't 'rediscover' The Sex Pistols?
It seems to have become the norm for atleast fifty percent of any given high school year group, somewhere amongst the first few years of their teens, to fall head over heels with Johnny, Sid, Steve and Paul, and claim them for their own. A massive proportion of every generation will experience the same sensation, some carrying on the fanfare into later life, but most dropping them in favour of whatever modern spin-off or replacement has emerged at the opportune moment.
But why The Pistols? What about that kind of punk keeps bringing them crashing back into the lives of teenagers across the country, and to some extent across the water too?
I was definitely one of those kids, and to some extent I still am, although perhaps my awareness of it nullifies it, but I'm certainly still a massive fan, as long as Johnny doesn't open his mouth unless it's set to music, I'm a happy bunny. But for me, looking back, The Pistols were more the public, almost commercial, face of punk in the 1970s. As far as I'm concerned, as an 18 year old who's grown up on a vast variety of music, from punk to new romantic to trance, with everything in between and beyond, their were much better bands than The Sex Pistols about. From where I'm standing, The Clash will always be the pick of the crop, and bands like The Damned and Siouxie & the Banshees still hold a high place in my heart, but clearly The Pistols struck a nerve that would reverberate down generations.
Why The Sex Pistols have taken the shine over so many other fantastic punk bands of that era is a question I just can't answer, and would take far too long to weigh all the possible answers, but why punk as a whole, and due to their high status in the movement, consequently The Pistols too, why these continue to be such an important part of teenage life decade down the line, this is a question I have more firm ideas about.
It doesn't take a specialist to see that the musical and cultural influences of punk since the 1970s have been massive. From the customised clothes to that anarchic attitude, punk certainly lives on in various forms, if often watered down. Barely a band graces your ears that hasn't taken some influence from punk past. Really, when such a firecracker hits the world of music, it's no wonder that the effects echo down for years to come, leaving many a much needed scar on what could've been a repetitive and tedious time for popular music.
Atleast since the 1960s at the latest, there has been a real need for Britain's youth to challenge authority, at whatever level, so naturally the likes of The Sex Pistols, rather than the innocent pop they've most likely been brought up on, offers a welcome method of breaking through those barriers.
Of course there will always be new bands to reflect all the stages in a persons life, and there will always be bands that try to appeal to teenagers, with varying degrees of success, but now most of those will have their roots in punk. The early teenage years are such a revolution of the individual, it seems that it takes a similar social movement to create bands that genuinely mirror those feelings. Whatever the national press says about teenagers today, even the daftest of the lot won't turn down the original over a cheap mimic. Even the time span lines up, a few manic years, almost months, of madness, excitement and fear, that gradually settles into something slightly different, an edited version of what came before the rush.
So really, in a world where titbits of punk can be taken from almost every band you hear, it's no wonder that each generation of teenagers finds a pure but accessible form falling into their hands, ripe for the taking, that screams and shouts everything their feeling back at them, at a time when they need it most.
And so it is written, that human nature might yet immortalise The Sex Pistols.
I leave you with a classic, Anarchy In The UK, live in 1976
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TZ_9-rbslo
And a personal favourite, The Clash, with White Riot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9eLeZS9OeY
Goodnight! x

Firstly, Happy St George's Day everyone!
Today, Billy Bragg spoke at the St George's Day Community Cohesion Conference in Dagenham, the main point on his agenda being the force of the BNP in the Barking area. You can read a breif report of the event at the Barking and Dagenham Recorder website (http://www.bdrecorder.co.uk). The resounding statement that's come from the speech was Bragg's criticism of the British National Party for trying to turn Barking into 'the racist capital of Britain'. With this criticism, I agree, wholeheartedly. In fact I agree entirely with dear old William Bloke, as a massive fan of his music and strong supporter of near everything he stands for.
The problem comes with the BNP's response to this. Firstly they described Bragg as a 'left-wing Labour puppet', which firstly, has nothing to do with the issue at hand, and clearly, just isn't true. Bragg's dissilusionment with New Labour has been no small secret.
Secondly, they complained that Bragg no longer represented the working class. Now the only argument to support this would be that Bragg is no longer technically working class, which is true enough. But there are again two problems with this, one being that in a society that is now 'technically' two-thirds middle class, it is more class perception and social status rather than official listings that shape a persons class identity. Secondly, considoring the assumption in the statement that therefore the working class can only be represented by the working class, then obviously none of the main parties (by which I mean Labour, Conservatives and the Lib Dems) are fit for the job, as most belong to the middle class, but neither are the BNP. Just take Nick Griffin, party leader, a privately educated Cambridge Law graduate. I don't think anyone can argue that that isn't a priviliged upbringing. Even working down the party line to the likes of Mark Collett who has caused the party immense difficulty for his outspoken comments, most famously that 'AIDS is a friendly disease, because blacks, drug users and gays have it,' a quote I have wrestled with and ranted over on numerous occassions. Even Collett attended a fairly respectable grammar school and manage a 2:2 from Leeds University. So when it comes to representing the working class, the BNP are no more fit for the job than any other politician or political icons such as Bragg.
But the most obviously ridiculous and utterly inexcusable comment to come out of this event came from the man leading the party on this occassion, Bob Bailey, who occupies one of the 12 BNP seats on the 51 seat council. Bailey's response was this; 'Billy Bragg is no patriot, he's no friend of England. He hates the English, he hates Britain and what it stands for.'
Now I am not Billy Bragg, and I do not know the ins and outs of his feelings towards this country, however, I think I can be quite assured in saying that this is, quite frankly, bollocks. I'm in the process of reading Bragg's book, The Progressive Patriot, Bragg's discussion of what it means to be English or British, when the likes of the BNP repeatedly hijack symbols like the Union Jack for their own cause. On thing that is evident even from the title, is that Bragg certainly does not hate his country. I think we can all agree that even the most open minded thinker would not be fighting for the protection of a country and a people that they despise. It seems quite fair to judge that the statement 'he hates Britain and what it stands for,' could easily be a misinterpretation, deliberate or not, of Bragg's disdain for the BNP view of what Britain stands for, a neo-Nazi take in which 'foreigners' are divided off by skin colour, accent, religion or ancestry, but the idea that Bragg hates what Britain really should stand for is ridiculous to my eyes.
The question of what Britain does stand for can be saved for another day, there are so many conflicting views that they would overwhelm the point of this blog, but the fact remains, in their reactionary response to Bragg's speech today, the BNP have managed to churn out a series of sensationalists quotes with apparently little thought, leaving plenty of space for those of us paying attention, to not just pick, but to rip holes in their argument.
It seems unlikely that this story will reach the national press, but should any other reports of this speech or the reaction emerge, expect updates.
Becky.

This point comes with a story. That story starts under a set of stairs. In fact, Under THE Stairs. Last summer due to various circumstances I found myself joining a group of lovely people in college, who had, until recently, had a happy hideaway under a set of stairs in the Humanities department. There had been friction with the health and safety staff as to whether this posed an issue, but out principal of the time made sure that we were left as we were, posing no real threat or damage to anyone. Unfortunately, in December, he left.
For a couple of months there was little sign of the change, except for not seeing his face about the place, but we didn't see the face of the new principal much either. If we did, chances were we didn't know who she was. At the end of her first half term a jovial email was sent around to all students, apologising for her lack of appearances and so forth, and making the odd joke about her accent. As a belated but nice sign, I think most of us began to warm to her.
Since then, however, there has been increasing pressure for us to 'move out', and eventually a matter of weeks ago, we were forced to move, along with all other students who generally sat in the stair wells or in the cubby holes to the sides of some corridors. At first I was as outraged as the rest, it seemed unfair and illogical, seeing as we'd been there for so long, but it eventually emerged that the order had come from higher, with some fairly weighty threats if the college didn't move people along. So, saddened though I was to move away from Under The Stairs, move I did, along with the rest, and until this week I was quite content with the decision, despite the tensions our lack of a home caused between this and my other friendship group, simply because it wasn't worth the risk that the college apparently faced.
But then the clincher, a tiny act that has turned me back 'to the other side'. On returning this monday from the Easter Holidays, we found that the area under the stairs where we had previously sat, had been completely sealed off. And I don't mean temporary fencing, the old sideways table trick or any of that, they had built a permanent wall, fully equipped with matching paint job and skirting board to disguise the change.
Now this infuriates me for one particular reason, not just because it's nostalgic, and not just because of what was left behind under there in the form of notes and pictures, but because it shows a complete lack of trust. This is one of the top colleges in the UK, with an academic populous and very little trouble from anybody. This is a place made up almost entirely of the 'swats' and the 'nerds' that everyone knew in high school, and where intelligence is genuinely valued. For once in my life I'm not being ridiculed for wanting to learn, and not having to struggle to do so. And one of the joys of this, and that makes the 'learning experience' as the managing types call it, all the more enjoyable and, in my opinion, effective, is the trust. Coming from a typical high school with very little in the way of trust, friendship, even tolerance a lot of the time, between teacher and pupil, the 'chummy' nature of the relationships at college excited me no end.
The example I always point to is one that has occurred repeatedly, whenever a teacher gets snappy, they offer an explanation, even if it's something unrelated to college life, one thing that would never happen in high school.
With a set up like this, how is it possible to take a principal who doesn't trust a group of her students to stay away from an area, even after weeks of sticking by the new rule, how is it possible to take this person seriously?
And without so much as a welcoming wave, with the majority of the college still completely unaware of what she looks like, introducing new 'rules', such as the banning of 'public displays of affection', it really does appear to be a case of demanding respect before earning it.
Something tells me she underestimates this student population, and I don't doubt that there will be more groups in the next year or so willing to challenge her on her various questionable policies. I get the definite feeling that a principal like that was not built for a college like this, and I can't help but wonder just how long she will last before things take a turn for the worse. Maybe I should open a book, place your bets ladies and gentlemen, in the meantime, let's revert to the our old principals one and only rule:
"You can do whatever you like, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else"
Amen to that.
x

Posted a few weeks ago on my deviantART blog, shall post here just to bring things up to speed before my first new post here.
Much love.

So I had a well timed illness today, and it is genuine illness, my throat is killing me, BUT, it did mean I spent the day attached to the computer and the TV trying to keep up with reports surrounding the protests and demonstrations in London today.
The irony is that I couldn't afford the journey to London to join the anti-capitalist protesters outside the Bank of England, so instead have made my computer scream by following so many related feeds.
Tweetdeck search worked well when it started mildly, though both Twitter and Twitpic fell apart in no time, the BBC text and video feed was marvellous till they took off the video and the test started repeating itself, Guardian and Telegraph bloggers were good if infrequent, but the only genuinely fantastic source was Twitterfall, which monitors growing trends on Twitter and allows you to edit the speed you recieve these tweets, and whether you include things like @replies [or 'mentions' as they're now known] and reTweets. Excellent stuff, with updates from protesters, city workers and observers from around the world and on all sides. It's passed a day very interestingly.
It is sad that all the focus has been on the very very select few [literally 3 or 4] people who smashed the windows at the Royal Bank of Scotland, when videos from CNN and other news groups at the very front of the ordeal, show other protesters telling them to stop it because they're 'giving us all a bad name'.
I can't help but notice how needless the police pressure has become as the day's gone on, with numerous people injured, battons drawn and horses making an appearance, at what would probably have remained a far more peaceful protest without the prescense of so many riot police.
It was nice to hear of sightings of my hero, Billy Bragg, down there, and Tony Benn speaking in Trafalgar Square, where the Stop The War and CND protests took place, vanishing as quickly as they arrived, and making a good job of it, despite the somewhat questionable appearance of Arthur Skargill. Even Russell Brand was out there, the photo of him amongst the protests is the only time to date where I've not wanted to punch him on sight.
So I'm off to bed hoping that some time very soon the remaining protesters in the financial distract will be allowed to leave [a few hours ago someone inside the barricade tweeted with the message 'Am cold. Hungry. Trapped. GET ME OUT'] and that all remains peaceful at Climate Camp, despite the nonsensical idea to barricade them in. They're a 24 hour camp, shock horror, they were intending to stay anyway. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the official Climate Camp update about being trapped also came with news that they'd started a conga.
My ramble is done, here are some pictures of today's events
[link]
'The sin of property we do disdain, no man has any right to buy or sell the earth for private gain'
G'night x
----
You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
As the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow them higher
-Peter Gabriel

If you do nothing else today....
....Watch this footage
[link]
Ian Tomlinson was announced dead amidst the media furor around the G20 protests
He was not a protester, he was not posing a threat, he was just going home from work
He was found dead minutes after this footage, and in the days following his death there were numerous speculations from all sides as to what had gone on, but no one had suggested publicly that it would be the police that were responsible
I think it's quite clear that they certainly had some influence
Watching this has knocked me sick, hence the fact that I sound like a robot, but even my cynicism is shocked by this
Just watch it
RIP x



Welcome back to 22nd April. Now we know that Ian Tomlinson infact died of internal bleading from a hemorrhage, almost guaranteed to have been caused by his assault. With more and more cases of police brutality at the protests, the pressure really is on the IPCC to get this right. Here's to justice, cheers x