In his film The Rebel, slated on its release in 1961 but currently regarded as something of a cult classic, Tony Hancock indulged in a none-too-subtle attack on some of the more glaring pretensions of modern art. I don’t know what prompted the idea for the film, but I suspect Hancock had just received the latest Arnolfini programme through [...]
Entries from May 2008
May 29, 2008
Bristol Refugee Week
As part of National Refugee Week 2008 there will be a terrific range of events running locally from 12th to 22nd June. They include exhibitions, drama, music, story-telling, dance, discussion, sport and kids’ events. An array of talent from all corners of the globe has been assembled, from Angolan drummers to Tibetan sand artists, from Polish [...]
May 23, 2008
You Don’t Have To Be Mad To Vote Here, But It Helps…
John Rees (pictured above) and his fellow SWP Central Committee members seem to have finally realised that there’s no mileage in continuing to use the Respect name in elections. Mac Uaid’s blog and the Socialist Unity blog have both carried stories on SWP-Respect’s recent circular to members. The circular informs branches that given the recent ‘confusion’ during [...]
May 20, 2008
Bolton Bottles Out
Well, it’s a small victory but a real one nonetheless. Faced with the opposition building against his visit (see earlier reports, eg here), John Bolton has announced that he is ‘too busy’ to carry out his speaking engagement in Bristol on 29th May. Of course, anyone believing that’s the real reason for the cancellation is probably so [...]
May 14, 2008
The Ruling Class
Ask your average film buff about the most vicious celluloid portrayal of the British ruling class and they’re likely to steer you in the direction of Lindsay Anderson’s ’If…’.
Nowadays Anderson’s film, made in 1968, is a staple of the re-runs on Film Four, it’s social satire blunted by over-familiarity and some rather romantic illusions about the revolutionary potential of young [...]
May 9, 2008
Khyber Impasse
If you’re looking for a short, sharp overview of the current state of play in the Afghan war you should check out Tariq Ali’s editorial in the latest New Left Review (March/April 2008). Its admirable brevity doesn’t prevent its author from packing in much of the salient information about the war and its background, including [...]
May 8, 2008
Lindsey To Demand Recount?
From our London Correspondent:
Having had nearly a week to mull over the mayoral contest, I think it’s about time that Lindsey German followed the example of the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai in the recent Zimbabwe elections and formally challenged the result. After all, there has clearly been some tampering somewhere in the system. How else to explain Lindsey’s final total of [...]
May 6, 2008
Respect and the Election Results - Nick Wrack and Alan Thornett
[Note: the following important article by Respect executive members Nick Wrack and Alan Thornett is reprinted from the Socialist Resistance website]
The New Labour project is falling apart at the seams. Its local elections results were the worst in 40 years, with only 24% of the vote and coming third behind the Liberal Democrats. This is [...]
May 1, 2008
Are you local?
If not, the chances are you should be out there voting instead of in here surfing! There are no elections here in Bristol, but there are local seats up for grabs in most other parts of the country. And if you think it’s not worth the effort, here’s a little something that might just change [...]
