Back in Ten

See you in the New Year,folks. Hope everyone has a good holiday.

Don't Mention Harry Webb

Aye, everyone either goes for either the Pogues 'Fairytale of New York' or Noddy Holder shouting and bawling 'Merry Xmas Everybody', but the best Crimbo song bar none has to be this one. Christ, I even like the Spice Girls version

Hat tip to Spiked Candy

Obscurantism Knocks

This is my 300th post to this blog (473, if you were to also include the posts I've started, only to delete), and rather than try and attach any significance to that milestone landmark figure, I will instead just post a link to a quiz that Kara has already done.

I'm not as interesting as Kara, so instead of a quiz solely about myself, I've instead concocted a daft political quiz that intersperses personal political trivia, ultra leftism and an unhealthy interest in 1980s pop culture. I've typecast myself in this role, and nothing short of years of expensive personal therapy and retro electro-convulsive treatment will ever break me from it.

Take my Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com!

That Reminds Me, I Better Return That Copy Of 'The Anarchist Cookbook' To Brooklyn Public Library

Men in Black asking after the Little Red Book.

Infotainment

Fellow SPGBer, Piers at Border Fever, alerts us to the mid-seventies classic 'Understanding Marx' by Red Shadow (The Economics Rock & Roll Band).

Anybody know anything about Red Shadow? There is too much wit in the lyrics for it to be straight faced. Though, saying that, the mid-seventies was a weird period for lefty politics. How else can you explain the then popularity of the WRP?

For My One Reader In Zagreb

Dobrodošli na stranice WMS-a

Introduction To Socialism 101

Tonight's repeat of Seinfeld carried as good a definition of socialism as I have ever read or heard outside the pages of the Socialist Standard. Trust me, it's sowing the seeds and, with a few more repeats of that episode, I can say with assured confidence that I will see socialism in my lifetime. Kramer and Mickey, take it away lads:

[Street]
KRAMER: Each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

MICKEY: What does that mean?

KRAMER: Well, if you've got needs and abilities that's a pretty good combination.

MICKEY: So what if I want to open up a delicatessen?

KRAMER: There are no delicatessens under Communism.

MICKEY: Why not?

KRAMER: Well, because the meats are divided into a class system. You got Pastrami and Corned Beef in one class and Salami and Bologna in another. That's not right.

MICKEY: So you can't get Corned Beef?

KRAMER: Well, you know, if you're in the Politburo, maybe.

More red propaganda from Seinfeld can be gleaned from this excellent website. MIA better watch out; Looks like there is a new old sheriff in town.

"A Sare Yin."

And no, it's not me. Anybody who knows me, knows that if I were to ever get a tattoo it would be this inscribed on the inside of my eyelids in gothic script.

At the time of posting, Walter Crane was unavailable for comment.

Update

John at A Revolutionary Act has sent me the following link in connection with the above post.

Yep, I would have used the Joe Strummer lyric as well.*

But surely we are all products of . . .

Not as cheeky as that washing powder ad on British TV a few years back that called upon you to Demand The Impeccable,** but just as brazen nonetheless.

Hat tip to Histomat.

*Ask Reidski, he'll sing you the line.

**Ask John, he'll supply you with the reading list from the Kate Sharpley Library.

Blogrolled

Another WSMer with a blog has been added to the sidebar.

That's the easy bit; the hard bit is that it is in Italian and my crash course in learning Italian isn't pencilled in until 2009 (same year Livorno is scheduled to win the Scuddetto). Nevertheless, I want to extend a warm welcome to Movimento Socialista Mondiale, which is written and maintained by a comrade from Milan Verona.

Thought for Today

Where the hell is Hampstead Norris, and why is somewhere from there looking at this blog?

"I would like to thank everyone who has ever met me."

My cheeks are moist . . . and the cheque is in the post.

Arise Ye Blogger From Your Slumber

John at A Revolutionary Act has finally got his *cough* act together in updating his blog in recent days.

Click on the day-glo link for recent - and not so recent - posts on Chavez and the Venezualean Revolution; the Bush Administration's use of "rendition to torture" and a post where he sticks a well aimed boot into Blair and his threadbare claim of a commitment to an open government.

UPDATE

A Revolutionary Act does the hard sell on the cheap commercial tat advertised in the post below. Downloaded thirty thousand times in the space of five months is an impressive figure and, yes, I can say I was there when an ordinary punter recognised its star, Paddy Shannon, just off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh one Sunday late last summer. First time I've ever witnessed the bloke speechless in the 15 years I've known him.

Cheap Commercial Tat - What Christmas Is All About

Harry Hacked

Looks like Harry's Place has been hacked. Hope that the site is up again by the time I write this post; otherwise, what else will I have to occupy my time?

Update: Interested parties have just heard the bad news