Early Saturday morning. I’m talking to one of the people who works at the station. We are always comparing notes as to when we might be able to retire.‘I just want to go now’, she says, ‘I like my job, but there’s too much politics and too much unfairness’.I totally agree with her. And byContinue reading “Ramsgate, the welfare state and a new born baby”
Author Archives: DannyB
The train from Dresden to Berlin, Monday 9th May
The German railway system is resting on a reputation which was tarnished long ago. It is a terrible service. Long delays, cancellations, unexplained stops in the middle of nowhere. It has been like this for years. One never looks forward to travelling by train in this country. There is always a sense of gloom andContinue reading “The train from Dresden to Berlin, Monday 9th May”
Hufeisensiedlung – One & One is Three
A list of streets were written by hand into a small notebook. This is much easier to use than any sort of digital device. There is no signing on, no search button, no need for a G4 or wifi connection. The list is important because sometimes you arrive at a place and you are notContinue reading “Hufeisensiedlung – One & One is Three”
Siedlung Schillerpark
Most of the good stuff about housing, urban topographies, planning, environments, living space has already been written. Jane Jacobs, Catherine Bauer, Christopher Alexander, Raymond Unwin, William Morris, Bruno Taut, Camillo Sitte and many others. I doubt anyone is going to improve much on that substantial mass of work. And if even 10 percent of whatContinue reading “Siedlung Schillerpark”
Ceciliengärten
I phoned my mum from Berlin (or Ber-leene as she says it). I spoke in a formal voice.‘Guten abend’‘Guten abend’ she replied. There was a pause.‘Wie geht es dir?‘Ja gut’.‘Ich bin in Berlin’.‘Ja….’‘It’s me….I’m in Berlin…’We laughed so much. People might not realise that there’s still an older Germany in existence. An older Germany thatContinue reading “Ceciliengärten”
A Short Ride on the U-Bahn
The apartment is just off the Kurfürstendamm, on the top floor of a building constructed around 1910. It is light and airy and quiet. It has a central location but there is no sound of motorism. The building is created around a courtyard which has large mature trees and a glorious spread of flowers andContinue reading “A Short Ride on the U-Bahn”
The revolution is magnificent; Everything else is nonsense
Rosa Luxemburg It’s possible that there will be a map of Berlin in the local branch of WH Smith. That’s what I really want. A large, fold-out, paper map of Berlin. Something that shows the edges of the city, and then the places beyond the edges of the city. The villages and forests and lakes.Continue reading “The revolution is magnificent; Everything else is nonsense”
Boulevard Leon Gambetta
The ship was delayed due to a storm in the channel the previous day. A storm at sea, a storm in Putin’s head. Everything is in collision, roaring, squawking, screeching, screaming. A global domination by despots, dictators, false democracies, hysterical right wing newspapers, shock-mouth personas, foul intoxications of hate, lies and hypocrisies. Ordinary everyday workingContinue reading “Boulevard Leon Gambetta”
Pimlico, revisited
I walked through Pimlico several times earlier this year. Before more war had started. There was the brink of a new war then in those nervous days in January and early February. Threats and violations. No one was sure that it would happen. When it did, I remember thinking, ‘so this is how it starts’.Continue reading “Pimlico, revisited”
We Refused to Moor the Ferries
‘We refused to moor the ferries. They can’t make us’. The man telling me this was fishing on the beach. A big guy wrapped up for all sorts of weather. Sun, snow, wind, calm, lashing rain. He had the hood of his jacket pulled over his woollen hat just in case.‘They should have put aContinue reading “We Refused to Moor the Ferries”
Commodity Fetishism 