London Belongs to Me is the name of a rather good book by Norman Collins. It’s a rambling novel about London life before, during and after the Blitz with a cast of strong and intriguing characters. Who could write a book today with such a name? The film of the book is much chopped andContinue reading “London Belongs to Me – or does it?”
Category Archives: Cities
Hufeisensiedlung, Berlin
Berlin is waking up. In every house and apartment bells are ringing, chiming, clanging. The sleepy population rises from their beds; big comfy doubles with another human close beside (some loved, others not so much, if at all), single beds, bunk beds, sofa beds, mattresses on the floor, piles of rags in unusual corners. TheContinue reading “Hufeisensiedlung, Berlin”
Edinburgh; inner life within the city
The bus pulls into Princess Street. I consider how it is that the blue of the sky that I noticed the day before had made its presence felt in my dreams. A blue silk and movement and something so close and yet; a phantom, not real, to try and touch, an impossibility. In the street.Continue reading “Edinburgh; inner life within the city”
Rabenhof, Vienna: A Radical Walk
You can start where you like with a visit to the Rabenhof estate in Vienna. Walk all the way around the perimeter, explore the alleyways and passages, watch the world go by, sit and read a book, sketch the buildings; what ever you do, make sure to explore. If you need a meeting place, theContinue reading “Rabenhof, Vienna: A Radical Walk”
The train to Paris, a city of Capital
There’s a crowd of people slowly moving toward platform 7 and the 13.31 train to Paris. I become aware of a young woman and man in close proximity. Why them? There are plenty of other people within a few inches or so. And yet no one bumps another and if they accidently do, they generallyContinue reading “The train to Paris, a city of Capital”
Waitresses of the world, unite
‘The plan never works out’, my friend the dust cart driver said, and laughed, knowingly. His plan is to return home to Africa and farm maize. But for now, he’s still driving the dust cart as he calls it. ‘But it’s no longer just a truck’, he continues, ‘it’s an office’. And describes the useContinue reading “Waitresses of the world, unite”
Gateways
A Bulgarian shopkeeper who gave me a box to recycle paper, a physiotherapist from Kerala who described the history of the Communist Party there, a Rumanian woman on the street who explained she has always worked and paid her taxes and doesn’t care much for the way some people go on about immigrants, an AfricanContinue reading “Gateways”
Automation of Production – Self-Autonomy of the Soul
The voice of a London girl floated up the stairwell of the bus. ‘Thank you’, she said to the driver as she alighted. It was the 319 bus and now it crossed Battersea Bridge. Far away, downstream, the North Sea had pulled the water from the river and houseboats and the occasional steel clad ligtherContinue reading “Automation of Production – Self-Autonomy of the Soul”
Micro-Electronic Capital
A Bob Dylan song, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (demo version) came up while I was listening to music on shuffle mode. It was like a rip in the time-space continuum. It evokes a memory so painful it takes my breath away. It’s not so much to do with the lyrics or the musicContinue reading “Micro-Electronic Capital”
Rue de Mars, Reims
Reims has an atmosphere of wealth and understated power; the old power of landed aristocracy. These may just be ideas rattling around in my head, but these ideas have power over us. It is curious how the immediate impressions we have of an unfamiliar place can form. These things should be studied closely. For atmosphereContinue reading “Rue de Mars, Reims”
Commodity Fetishism 