Counago & Spaves

Two of my staff produced this abstract at work today. They shall remain nameless but shamed.


In an interview, Indian-born director Mira Nair discusses such topics as the changes she has seen in the United States toward Muslims since the September 11 terrorist attacks and her new film, Vanity Fair.

A picture of Brozo here. Sadly, it would appear Victor Trujillo has jacked in the show following the death of his partner. Shame. He looks like he could have been the new Beelzebozo. Maybe we can persuade Ms Leen to do a translation on this page.

Cat Stevens denied entry to United States.

There's an excellent article here in the New York Review of Books explaining why the foremost arbiter of Mexcian politics is a clown who runs a TV show called El Mananero (slang for 'The Morning Quickie'). I'm only sorry this page doesn't carry a photo. If I locate one, I'll post a link.

he would have put grass in the sky.

R.I.P. Cloughie

This Sunday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Oo-ar!

Reviewed by Janet Maslin in today's New York Times:

In the midst of an especially bitter political season, the troublemakers at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart can be seen regularly on Comedy Central, shamelessly exploiting current events for their own gain. Now this crew carries its mischief even further with a mock textbook that purports to describe American democracy. It tells us, among other things, that the Oval Office has no corners in which the president can be made to sit in if he shames the nation. It also tells us that if The Daily Show had its way, the world would be a vastly funnier place.

In spirit, America (The Book) is a direct offshoot of The Daily Show. A little of it is silly. ("If the president were the longest recorded flight by a chicken, he would be 13 seconds.") A little, like a picture that claims to show the Supreme Court justices naked, is just plain unforgivable. But the rest is the devil's own comedic handiwork, a side-splitting guide to the abuses and absurdities built into our political processes and institutions. The responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration, this book maintains, is to provide the second halves of prescription drug commercials, the parts about nausea and diarrhea.

America can be opened at random, the way it will be in college dormitories when it becomes much loved and indispensable. But it can also be read straight through, thanks to sustained clever writing and a smart, durable premise. This brightly illustrated guide (with a handsome design by Pentagram) follows the rise of democracy from prehistoric man through the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites in 1300 B.C. ("Nothing bad ever happens to Jews again.") It moves on to early American history and then to the conundrums of the present day.

"I did some research," writes Rob Corddry, one of the show's hilarious on-the-air correspondents, "and it turns out if Betsy Ross was alive and sewing American flags today, she'd be a 13-year-old Laotian boy." The book also has Alexander Hamilton touting the Constitution as "the must-ratify document of the summer" and John Adams describing it as "a decent jumping off point" for a president.

"A good ambassador knows the little fork is for salad," notes the section of the book devoted to diplomacy. Other chapters describe the role of Congress as the gastrointestinal tract of the American body politic and explain the work of lobbyists, "whose sole job is to insure, through persuasive argument and financial remuneration, that Congress never forgets the people's wishes.'' It adds, "Especially the people's wishes for deregulation." After a bill has been drawn up and debated, the book notes, "it's amendment-sneakin' time."

Illustrations explain the stages of democracy, from infancy to "once-great'' nation. A map of a presidential library (which appears to be made of Lego blocks) shows where the "Faustian Bargain" is displayed. A chart of the judiciary branch identifies United States Tax Court as "the place to argue that the bubble-jet printer on your kitchen counter constitutes a 'home office.' ''

As with Mr. Stewart's priceless anchorman persona and his show's hawk-eyed editing for real news gaffes, there is enough truth here to make America almost as instructive as it is sly.

The exigencies of an election year do not go unnoticed. The good news for Democrats, for instance, is that after the Rapture occurs they will regain control of the House and Senate. In its attempt to be even-handed, the book presents a Bush-Kerry boxing match ("The Thrilla in Vanilla") and even analyzes the power of political endorsements. The backing of The New York Times, it is said, "shores up support among Lincoln Center season-ticket holders."

. . . but if I have to break the law to keep fox hunting alive, by God, I shall do it."

My favourite quotation from today's protests against the fox hunting bill, spoken by a very posh lady with the collar turned up on her shirt (do posh birds still do that?)

Can the revolution be far behind now that the gentry have tasted the iron fist of Blair's fascist police state? It's only a matter of time before the SWP take over the WI.

is the genuine name of a political prankster who tormented the late Richard Nixon with some excellent stunts, some of which are described on this amusing site at the Museum of Hoaxes. My favourite is Tuck telling bandleaders at republican fund-raisers that Nixon's favourite tune was "Mack the Knife," so they used to play it when Nixon came on stage.

I kid you not, this is the new slogan accompanying adverts for Bewley's new iced coffees - I saw a poster on Nassau Street at lunchtime.

Do you not think they could have identified some other feature of their product to highlight? And just who, exactly, are they targeting out there? People who've never experienced the coolness of ice. Who the hell are they?

Coming soon:

Ballygowan - Taste the wetness of water.

I've activated the comments function for the blog, so you can leave remarks, insults, better jokes than mine etc., under each posting. Just click on the hash symbol next to the name of the poster (usually me) to add a comment and to see any previous comments that have been made.

According to today's Independent, Leicester band Kasabian are the "spiritual heirs of the Stone Roses." All I can say is, poor bastards.

Well, not only that. I can also say, "spiritual heirs"? I can understand, maybe, if they were the musical heirs, since there was something identifiable about John Squire's guitar, but who the fuck would want to be the spiritual heir to a twat like Ian Brown? That'd be like being the spiritual heir to a rabid vacuum flask.

An empty one.

With a chimp's face stuck on it.

The September 10th article at this blog more or less conforms to arguments I presented previously concerning support for the resistance in Iraq. I particularly like this blog's self-description: Being a journal of left-wingery, but with a decided preference for discussing how the late Christopher Hitchens is a twat.

Talk about Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire.

That is how Lenin has characterized the school hostage-taking in Beslan. Usually I have plenty of time for Lenin, despite his SWP sympathies, and I loathe those on the right who insist that either 'these people are just evil' or that 'liberals who try to understand the perpetrators are nothing but apologists for them.' But there comes a point where you really have to ask, 'how much oppression justifes the killing of schoolchildren?'

My inclination, in this case, anyway, is to regard this as nothing to do with Chechnya; these seem to be Islamists drawn to the Chechen struggle because of its religious dimension, and the Chechen nationalists have a legitimate grievance in objecting that events in Beslan have nothing to do with their cause. Nonetheless, regardless of one's grievance, and no matter how much one has suffered - even if one's own children have been killed - anyone fighting for their freedom should sooner die, surrender, or submit before taking the lives of children. No cause, no freedom, is worth it.

Once upon a time, those struggling for freedom retained a sense of dignity, of self-respect. Indeed, their argument for liberation rested upon the premise that they were entitled to be treated as fully human, with all the rights and obligations that that entailed. And one of the consequences of this argument was that, in the pursuit of their freedom, they demurred at stooping to the levels of their oppressors. There was a logic to this approach: It demonstrated that they, even though oppressed, were still able to avoid engaging in the sort of behaviour and actions that the oppressors engaged in in the process of depriving them of their rights. Thus, they demonstrated both their own dignity and the shameful nature of their oppressors' actions.

Now, however, it would appear that the pursuit of freedom can be used to justify arbitrary murder. This is post-enlightenment thinking.

To most people I would have thought it obvious, but let's just be clear on this: The pursuit of freedom, of human rights, of equal rights for all, cannot be achieved by depriving the innocent of theirs.

It has to be Naomi Klein's in the September issue of Harper's. I can't find the article online, and I read the bloody thing at work, which was an opportunity to cut and paste it, sorry, but DO get down to your nearest decent newsstand and get it.

Klein describes how Paul Bremer tried to privatize the entire Iraqi infrastructure, laying off hundreds of thousands of workers in the process and offering sweetheart deals to foreign multinationals to encourage them to invest (including the option of repatriating 100 percent of all profits). This has proved to be entirely illegal, so now the Coalition Authority is trying to strong-arm the Iraqi government to sell off nationally owned industries.

If you want to know where the resistance is coming from besides Muslim fundamentalists, it's here: Sacked coppers, soldiers, workers in former state-owned industries. Think they don't have a legitimate grievance? Well, as Klein shows, the new Iraq was meant to be a neocon utopia all along, and we all know what that means.

Surprise, surprise. From the Miami Herald.

Is coming up soon. Here's a link to the Hideout web site. And here's Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune's preview of last year's party:

A neighborhood Hideout

Katie and Tim Tuten run their hotspot with an eye on the community

Greg Kot, Tribune rock critic

"The Hideout's 7th annual block party may be among the smallest of the city's annual spate of summer street festivals, but it's also among the best--and not just because the music is bound to be good. Sure, in past years the block party has been a forum for breakout performances by bands such as the New Pornographers, the Electric 6 and Bobby Bare Jr. But Tim and Katie Tuten, who have co-owned the Hideout with Mike and Jim Hinchsliff since 1996, have done more than simply book bands in a cozy, affordable setting. They've brought a sense of community that extends far beyond music. Like the late, great Lounge Ax, the Hideout has an identity that makes it more than just an anonymous watering hole tucked amid warehouses on the Near North Side.

"I love the idea of a public house," Tim Tuten says. "A working person's bar, a regular guy's bar, that has a high level of conversation--like what bars used to be, before television took over. People would come together and discuss politics, art, cars, sports. That faded in the '80s and '90s, so we decided why not have a place like that for us and our friends?"

Since 1934, the Hideout had been an anonymous watering hole with an unlisted phone number that served workers from nearby factories and warehouses. It opened at dawn, closed at dusk, and was shuttered during weekends. Katie Tuten's father, Tom Nicholson, was a regular since the '60s, and Katie and her future husband, Tim, began hanging out there in the mid-'80s when they moved to Bucktown. A decade later, the couple bought the place with Tim's grade-school friends the Hinchsliffs."My father told me, `You don't really own the bar. We own the bar, one beer at a time.' And it's true," Katie Tuten says.

At most shows, the club asks for donations rather than charging a flat entrance fee, and proceeds from the block party will go to benefit three charities: P.L.A.Y., which provides music and arts education for abused children ( http://www.causesforchildren.org ); Tuesday's Child, a parent education group ( http://www.buildinghappyfamilies.org ); and the fund for ailing Texas musician and Hideout regular Alejandro Escovedo, who is battling Hepatitis C ( www.alejandrofund.com ). The children's charities tie in with one of the Hideout's many facets: as a hang-out for adults who have started families but haven't stopped going out. On Saturday, the block party's annual tradition of providing kids activities and music will continue, including afternoon sets by Twang Bang and ex-Coctails' Mark Greenberg and John Upchurch.

"We were 35 when we bought this club, and by that time you're supposed to be too old to be running around in bars," Tim Tuten says. "Your friends are having families, settling down, moving to the suburbs. But I look at people like Jon Langford and Doug McCombs [both playing the block party with the Waco Brothers and Tortoise, respectively] who are our age, and who haven't stopped being involved in music and going out. I'm not a musician, but we can provide a space for these people to play and have a drink and talk. We want this to be a place for people who aren't just going through a phase, but for people who have made this their life."

For Escovedo, who thrilled everyone by showing up at the second block party with his band and jumping on stage to jam, it's payback time. Escovedo was a longtime fixture in Austin, Texas, where Katie Tuten attended college, and his generosity and the city's musical camaraderie have been an inspiration.

"A lot of bands are playing the block party as a way to repay Alejandro, because he's always been there for everybody else," Katie Tuten says. "There's a big Austin-Chicago connection anyway, because of South by Southwest [the annual music conference], and the fact that Austin is blessed to have so many outdoor events. So the idea for doing the block party was to say thanks to all our friends and play music outdoors--that's definitely in the spirit of Austin."

The Tutens' friends include most of the bands playing this weekend, in particular Langford's hillbilly-punk band, the Waco Brothers, and the Gothic country duo the Handsome Family. "Those two bands pretty much define us and define Chicago," a one-time prairie town transformed into a big city, Tim Tuten says. "They have a western sound, they are country bands, but they're singing about Wal-Marts and urban blight."

Though there are several performers who could headline their own concerts at larger clubs--Tortoise, Bobby Conn, Poi Dog Pondering's Frank Orrall and Susan Voelz, Detroit's Dirtbombs--the bands that best capture the Hideout's scope are Erase Errata, an angular post-punk female quartet from San Francisco, and the Contractors, a cover band consisting of guys who hang out at the Hideout in between building jobs.

"It's only fitting that regulars kick off the shows," Tim Tuten says. "Plus they're the only garage band I know who can actually build a garage."

The 7th annual Hideout Block Party

When: Friday and Saturday (hours vary)

Where: Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.

A Web site produced by journalists assessing the accuracy of statements made by the Bush and Kerry campaigns in the current election campaigns. Entertaining and conducive to cynicism.

Here's a little piece of nostalgia from a former class-struggle anarchist that largely conforms to my own recollections of the uselessness of the anarchist movement in the 1980s (not that I'm entirely guiltless). I don't agree with some of what he says towards the end, but he has a legitimate grievance against supposedly pro-working class movements, and he offers a generally valid outline of the state of anarchy in the UK.

From the Associated Press:

Bosnians to honour Bruce Lee
By Samir Krilic in SarajevoSeptember 2, 2004

IN Bosnia, where one man's hero is often another man's villain, citizens have decided to honour someone Serbs, Croats and Muslims can all look up to - kung fu great Bruce Lee. Lee is best remembered for single-handedly taking on dozens of bad guys in a series of kung fu flicks.

But the statue of the Chinese action hero in the ethnically-divided city of Mostar is intended to remind people of Lee's lesser known values - "loyalty, friendship, skill and justice", said Veselin Gatalo, a writer who helped come up with the idea.

Lee acted in a series of Hong Kong films in the early 1970s that propelled him to stardom first in Asia, then Europe and eventually the US.

His Hollywood debut came in 1973 with the hugely popular Enter the Dragon, a box office success Lee never lived to witness. He died a month before the film hit US theatres of a swelling of the brain, aged 32.

But can a monument to a karate-chopping, high-kicking B-movie star unite Mostar, a town that was both physically and psychologically scarred in Bosnia's 1992-95 war? Even now, Roman Catholic Croats and Muslims still live apart, sending their children to different schools, watching their own television stations and cheering for rival soccer teams.

"Lee is a true international hero and is a hero to all ethnicities in Bosnia and that's why we picked him," Mr Gatalo said.

Bosnia's war killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Croats and Muslims and left the country divided into a Serb republic and a Muslim-Croat federation. In Mostar at least, Gatalo, an ethnic Croat, hopes a statue to Lee will help erase the city's tarnished image as a place of bitter ethnic rivalries.

"We want that people, when you say Mostar, respond: 'That's the city that has a monument to Bruce Lee,'" Mr Gatalo said.

Mr Gatalo and a friend, Nino Raspudic, grew up on Bruce Lee movies. They persuaded Boris Jovanovic, a sculptor from Mostar, to create the statue of Lee "as if he was alive and kicking".

They hope to install the statue by November this year and invite Lee's wife, Linda Lee to the opening ceremony, Mr Gatalo said.

The site picked for the statue is symbolic - the Spanish Square, in the centre of the divided city some 70km south of the capital Sarajevo.

This is just the opening paragraph of a fine review by Alex Ross in the August 9-16 New Yorker:

"“A ray of light: the Grail is fully radiant. A dove floats down from the dome above.” These are Richard Wagner's stage directions for the maximally transcendent final moments of Parsifal, his last opera. Christoph Schlingensief's production at the Bayreuth Festival last week gave us instead two dead rabbits, their rotting bodies intertwined, their images projected on a screen above the stage. We then saw a sped-up film of one rabbit decomposing, its body frothing as the maggots did their work. I've seen a lot of stupid, repulsive, irritating, befuddling, and boring things on opera stages over the years, but Schlingensief's dead-rabbit climax was something new: for the first time, I left a theatre feeling, like, ready to hurl."

They'd better keep yer man away from Oberammergau.

Yes, a whole nine (go on, count em), nine years of glorious wedded bliss. Thank you, my sweetheart. You are my proletarian revolution every day.