DannyB

Northfleet

I really went to look at ships. And took a copy of James Bird’s ‘The Geography of the Port of London’ with me. It’s an interesting book, particularly as it was published in 1957. I can’t remember where it was bought. But it’s lovely, it was once part of Norwich library until it was sold,Continue reading “Northfleet”

Tilbury Docks

A vast industrial area continues to accumulate capital along both banks of the Thames. However, dock work and ship work have changed from being labour intensive to capital intensive. This process produces yet more competitive pressure on capital to accumulate yet further capital. While I was standing in a piece of waste ground taking photographs,Continue reading “Tilbury Docks”

Drivers

An afternoon on the beach reading Robinson Crusoe and watching ships. Context reading is good fun. Reading art books in art galleries, books about trains while traveling on trains, cookery books in restaurants, history of Germany in a bar in Berlin, books about ships on cross channel ferries.

Adventures in capitalism, April 22

Or, more signals from the Society of the Spectacle. I’ve been reading ‘Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution’ by Richard Stites. This lead me once again to Boris Kagarlitsky’s The Thinking Reed. I thought I’d lost the book. There are fond memories of the time and place in which itContinue reading “Adventures in capitalism, April 22”

Bremenhaven to New York City

The Sealand Illinois, container ship, Bremenhaven to New York City. Or rather, to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal. The main port for containers arriving and leaving the New York metropolitan area. It handles around 20 percent of all goods imported from Germany into the United States. It will take the Sealand Illinois eight days to crossContinue reading “Bremenhaven to New York City”

Infrastructure

These were taken a few days ago during a day of fine weather. The sea always suggests travel and adventure.

Spring light, and Varne lightvessel

The light was fantastic; like lucid dreaming. It was so clear the Varne LV (light vessel) could be seen. Samskip Endeavor – container ship – Rotterdam Waalhaven – Dublin. ….and the Varne LV (lightvessel). Varne LV warns shipping of the Varne bank – which is right in the middle of the busiest shipping lanes inContinue reading “Spring light, and Varne lightvessel”

To the Finland Station

I would love to visit Russia. Take the train from Helsinki to the Finland Station, St Petersburg. Spend days dreaming in the Hermitage and the museums of the Revolution. Edmund Wilson’s book To the Finland Station remains a favourite book. And then to Moscow, reading Gorky and Pushkin, Trotsky and Kropotkin. From there to theContinue reading “To the Finland Station”

Canterbury Cathedral

The cathedral itself is currently closed, but the precincts and the cloisters are open. There was hardly anyone else around. I sat for a long time, within the stone, alone. It was fantastic. It will take many visits and a great deal of study to properly work out the political, social and architectural history. TodayContinue reading “Canterbury Cathedral”

‘Let us now transport ourselves…

…from Robinson’s island, bathed in light, to medieval Europe, shrouded in darkness. Here, instead of the independent man, we find everyone dependent – serfs and lords, vassals and suzerains, laymen and clerics. Personal dependence characterizes the social relations of material production as much as it does the other spheres of life based on that production.Continue reading “‘Let us now transport ourselves…”