Banter around the brazier? Political point-scoring on the picket line? SPGB, SP(EW) and the Swell Maps currently playing on iTunes? Leaflets, lickspittles and (a)lliterations?
So we've broken through your blogger's block? Glad we achieved something today! Now tell us all about that book on the Communist Left that you've been reading for the past month or so....
No, the blogger's block is firmly in place and won't be melting away for the foreseeable future, but I was tickled by your barricade badinage and thought I had to mention it on the blog.
Mmm, that Communist Left book? I've only had it on the shelf for six years now, and I've dipped in and out of it before now but, as you might have already noticed, I've read five or six other books since I first listed it on that Booktracker App.
I will get around to reading it eventually.
What was that joke with Geoffrey Palmer, Fairly Secret Army and the Dick Francis novel, again?
Are you really telling me a member of the SPGB would miss an opportunity to denounce the Militant (fake left reform 'socialist' party) for stealing their name?
I dunno, I'm not buying it.
Also this bit doesn't ring true:
Speebeegeebee: Yes, it is. Anyway, unite against the common enemy eh?
"denounce" is a bit strong . . . more a bemused look followed by, 'What the hell were you thinking?
"Yes, it is. Anyway, unite against the common enemy eh?"
Well, it was a picket line but you may have a point about the hostility clause bit. My kingdom for a rule book. West Midlands comrade, if you are reading this, turn yourself in for your flagrant centrism and vacillation.
Duncan, the conversation is edited for readability, relies on memory, and merges the contributions of two SPGBers (yes, two! I know, it just gets more unbelievable by the minute, doesn't it?!) into one voice. But I made nothing up.
You seem to be saying that you can't believe that me and my comrade did not act like utter arseholes when chatting with young, pleasant, dedicated, working-class activists that happen to be members of a party we have our differences with. Well, fuck you, is all I can say to that!
I'm joking of course...
All the best Stuart (one half of the gestalt entity referred to as Speebeegeebee)
To be clear, the "I'm joking of course" line refers to the "fuck you" bit, not the rest of it! I'm sure Duncan is every bit as lovely as the Militants we met on the picket line. Actually, we had a very pleasant time, chatting both to Millies and Swuppies and normal people too. Miracles do happen.
Very true! What I would like to see is hostility towards the SPGB position. I would genuinely welcome it. It would make such a lovely change from hostility towards the myths.
Just in case any neutral and interested observers are watching, who want to clear their heads of myths and so prepare some hostile barbs that actually hit the mark, read this:
"Just in case any neutral and interested observers are watching . . . "
Nobody's watching. Not even me. These comments posted under my name are auto-generated from comments I previously made on the blog between the months of August and November . . . . 2007.
Ha ha! Well, you never know. What I do know is that that short piece of reported gossip won my blog the biggest readership since... whenever it was I last reported a bit of gossip, back in the days of From Despair To Where. Note to self: forget all that ploughing through thick books and acres of journalism and agonising over proper essays. Just get out more and write up the gossip!
The table where the revolution was planned to the finest detail but once you were five feet from the table all memory of the plans had evaporated and couldn't be remembered?
Darren; I do still read what you post on here as well. There hasn't been a lot up recently apart from posters and bits of books. And to be honest I had enough of the Militant in a former lifetime to last the next ten thousand or so promised by Lord Krishna. Did I ever tell you the one about the Hare Krishna I knew who was also a member of the SPGB? Had to keep it quiet from both. Gouranga.
Hare Krishnas in mufti just look like other balding guys trying to disguise it. They also do better curry (try Govindas in Soho, London or that place near the Bowery in New York, which is actually a splinter group of ISKON) than most trot groups. Or indeed any trot groups.
I've tried their curry already – very fine indeed. And they dish up free slop at the Glastonbury festival too – or they used to. Which is more than any trot group did. The curry at the SPGB ADM last year was better though, and not vegetarian either, I believe on principle! Are we turning Darren's blog into a restaurant review?!
As a veggie have I discovered another, hidden, reason for "hostility"? (PS If its restaurant reviews you want, then the best curry is to be obtained at either Ravi Shankars or Chutneys both on Drummond St next to Euston Station. Both veggie and thus, apparently, out of bounds to SPGBers.Lily's in Ashton under Lyne serves a similar variety, although they also do Chindi meals, largely based on Haka noodles. And they do a battered deep fried muffin stuffed with spicy mashed potato. Sounds terrible but strangely very good.)
"Lily's in Ashton under Lyne serves a similar variety, although they also do Chindi meals, largely based on Haka noodles. And they do a battered deep fried muffin stuffed with spicy mashed potato. Sounds terrible but strangely very good."
Stuart,
sounds like you'll have to make it to this year's Manchester Day School.
"I do still read what you post on here as well. There hasn't been a lot up recently apart from posters and bits of books. And to be honest I had enough of the Militant in a former lifetime to last the next ten thousand or so promised by Lord Krishna. Did I ever tell you the one about the Hare Krishna I knew who was also a member of the SPGB? Had to keep it quiet from both. Gouranga."
No worries, Mike.
If I can't be arsed with the blog, I can't get the arse if other people can't be arsed to comment. (Though I was half-hoping that people would love the excerpts from the just read books on the blog, and promptly career down to Book Discount Warehouse to purchase said tomes.)
Militant and a former lifetime? Sounds interesting. If it wasn't for your devotion to Bolton Wanderers, I'd claim you're Michael Crick and wangle my free copy of the Archer biography.
A Hare Krishna SPGBer? I believe the World in Common people have 'Hare Krishna' + 'SPGB' on google alert, so expect to be lovebombed for information within the next few days.
I do remember from Barltrop's Monument a similar scenario where, years ago, there was a Party member in the North East - and this was back in the day when the Party membership was heavily concentrated in London - who revealed in passing, in correspondence to the EC, that he was also a Buddhist. Barltrop doesn't go into too many details, but I'm sure it didn't end well.
I'm sure it's heresy on my part but the SPGB and Sky Pilot question has never really bothered me much, so I can never work up a lather about it either way. Sitting on the fence, I guess.
Mike, Chutneys was a regular haunt of the SPGB following conferences, meetings and demos and so on! We dragged the carnivores along, who grumbled but seemed relatively satisfied!
a. Militant. Wasn't a member you understand. b. Crick. No - don't support Trafford United, and certainly don't own any blazers. But there are a couple of stories...... c. The Hare Krishna thing was a joke. The Buddhism thing, on the other hand, is interesting. How do the SPGB define a religion? Is it religion that your rules forbid, or a belief in God? d. Chutney's. Yes. My heart says Ravis, but my head always points to Chutneys. Its that Thuran curry they do. I think its pretty much unique to them. I'll have to work out my line before the 17th April. Which kind of reminds us why OC chose Bolton and didn't go to Celtic.
32 comments:
Ha ha, that's funnier than our lame Life of Brian banter!
Erm, no it's not.
. . . . but it is my first proper(ish) blog post in the longest of times. ;-)
So we've broken through your blogger's block? Glad we achieved something today! Now tell us all about that book on the Communist Left that you've been reading for the past month or so....
No, the blogger's block is firmly in place and won't be melting away for the foreseeable future, but I was tickled by your barricade badinage and thought I had to mention it on the blog.
Mmm, that Communist Left book? I've only had it on the shelf for six years now, and I've dipped in and out of it before now but, as you might have already noticed, I've read five or six other books since I first listed it on that Booktracker App.
I will get around to reading it eventually.
What was that joke with Geoffrey Palmer, Fairly Secret Army and the Dick Francis novel, again?
More barricade badinage:
"Christ Lynn, good job you didn't get religion, you'd have been dangerous. Thank god it's only socialism."
"[As car whisks by] Who was that? Was that X? We'll break his headlights later."
"Or his kneecaps."
Hope you enjoy the Communist Left in Britain. Must be a very short book!
"Hope you enjoy the Communist Left in Britain. Must be a very short book!"
It's a pamphlet with a spine.
Are you really telling me a member of the SPGB would miss an opportunity to denounce the Militant (fake left reform 'socialist' party) for stealing their name?
I dunno, I'm not buying it.
Also this bit doesn't ring true:
Speebeegeebee: Yes, it is. Anyway, unite against the common enemy eh?
Whatever happened to that hostility clause eh?
"denounce" is a bit strong . . . more a bemused look followed by, 'What the hell were you thinking?
"Yes, it is. Anyway, unite against the common enemy eh?"
Well, it was a picket line but you may have a point about the hostility clause bit. My kingdom for a rule book. West Midlands comrade, if you are reading this, turn yourself in for your flagrant centrism and vacillation.
Duncan, the conversation is edited for readability, relies on memory, and merges the contributions of two SPGBers (yes, two! I know, it just gets more unbelievable by the minute, doesn't it?!) into one voice. But I made nothing up.
You seem to be saying that you can't believe that me and my comrade did not act like utter arseholes when chatting with young, pleasant, dedicated, working-class activists that happen to be members of a party we have our differences with. Well, fuck you, is all I can say to that!
I'm joking of course...
All the best
Stuart (one half of the gestalt entity referred to as Speebeegeebee)
Careful now.
(Damn, no jpegs allowed.)
To be clear, the "I'm joking of course" line refers to the "fuck you" bit, not the rest of it! I'm sure Duncan is every bit as lovely as the Militants we met on the picket line. Actually, we had a very pleasant time, chatting both to Millies and Swuppies and normal people too. Miracles do happen.
I'm sure Duncan knows you were only joking.
Anyway, if nothing else, at least the SPGB are prepared to put their hostility clause in writing.
And I'm only half-joking.
Very true! What I would like to see is hostility towards the SPGB position. I would genuinely welcome it. It would make such a lovely change from hostility towards the myths.
Just in case any neutral and interested observers are watching, who want to clear their heads of myths and so prepare some hostile barbs that actually hit the mark, read this:
http://bataillesocialiste.wordpress.com/2005-anglo-marxism-the-spgb-buick/
"Just in case any neutral and interested observers are watching . . . "
Nobody's watching. Not even me. These comments posted under my name are auto-generated from comments I previously made on the blog between the months of August and November . . . . 2007.
Ha ha! Well, you never know. What I do know is that that short piece of reported gossip won my blog the biggest readership since... whenever it was I last reported a bit of gossip, back in the days of From Despair To Where. Note to self: forget all that ploughing through thick books and acres of journalism and agonising over proper essays. Just get out more and write up the gossip!
That's nothing. My most viewed blog post is the one that features Kevin-Prince Boateng's tattoos.
If he retires, it's just me and you kicking tumbleweed about the comments box for the next 30 years.
I heard that the only Socialist Standard ever to sell out had sex on the cover. Is that true? Perhaps a lesson to be learnt there too...
I never heard that story before.
I might have dreamt it. Or maybe it was a joke. Things used to get so blurry round that Head Office table...
The table where the revolution was planned to the finest detail but once you were five feet from the table all memory of the plans had evaporated and couldn't be remembered?
Probably.
Darren; I do still read what you post on here as well. There hasn't been a lot up recently apart from posters and bits of books. And to be honest I had enough of the Militant in a former lifetime to last the next ten thousand or so promised by Lord Krishna. Did I ever tell you the one about the Hare Krishna I knew who was also a member of the SPGB? Had to keep it quiet from both. Gouranga.
Surely the robes, the hair, the bells, would have given it away?
Hare Krishnas in mufti just look like other balding guys trying to disguise it. They also do better curry (try Govindas in Soho, London or that place near the Bowery in New York, which is actually a splinter group of ISKON) than most trot groups. Or indeed any trot groups.
I've tried their curry already – very fine indeed. And they dish up free slop at the Glastonbury festival too – or they used to. Which is more than any trot group did. The curry at the SPGB ADM last year was better though, and not vegetarian either, I believe on principle! Are we turning Darren's blog into a restaurant review?!
As a veggie have I discovered another, hidden, reason for "hostility"? (PS If its restaurant reviews you want, then the best curry is to be obtained at either Ravi Shankars or Chutneys both on Drummond St next to Euston Station. Both veggie and thus, apparently, out of bounds to SPGBers.Lily's in Ashton under Lyne serves a similar variety, although they also do Chindi meals, largely based on Haka noodles. And they do a battered deep fried muffin stuffed with spicy mashed potato. Sounds terrible but strangely very good.)
"Lily's in Ashton under Lyne serves a similar variety, although they also do Chindi meals, largely based on Haka noodles. And they do a battered deep fried muffin stuffed with spicy mashed potato. Sounds terrible but strangely very good."
Stuart,
sounds like you'll have to make it to this year's Manchester Day School.
"The curry at the SPGB ADM last year was better though, and not vegetarian either, I believe on principle! "
I bet that ruffled some feathers!
219 from Piccadilly stops near
"I do still read what you post on here as well. There hasn't been a lot up recently apart from posters and bits of books. And to be honest I had enough of the Militant in a former lifetime to last the next ten thousand or so promised by Lord Krishna. Did I ever tell you the one about the Hare Krishna I knew who was also a member of the SPGB? Had to keep it quiet from both. Gouranga."
No worries, Mike.
If I can't be arsed with the blog, I can't get the arse if other people can't be arsed to comment. (Though I was half-hoping that people would love the excerpts from the just read books on the blog, and promptly career down to Book Discount Warehouse to purchase said tomes.)
Militant and a former lifetime? Sounds interesting. If it wasn't for your devotion to Bolton Wanderers, I'd claim you're Michael Crick and wangle my free copy of the Archer biography.
A Hare Krishna SPGBer? I believe the World in Common people have 'Hare Krishna' + 'SPGB' on google alert, so expect to be lovebombed for information within the next few days.
I do remember from Barltrop's Monument a similar scenario where, years ago, there was a Party member in the North East - and this was back in the day when the Party membership was heavily concentrated in London - who revealed in passing, in correspondence to the EC, that he was also a Buddhist. Barltrop doesn't go into too many details, but I'm sure it didn't end well.
I'm sure it's heresy on my part but the SPGB and Sky Pilot question has never really bothered me much, so I can never work up a lather about it either way. Sitting on the fence, I guess.
Mike, Chutneys was a regular haunt of the SPGB following conferences, meetings and demos and so on! We dragged the carnivores along, who grumbled but seemed relatively satisfied!
a. Militant. Wasn't a member you understand.
b. Crick. No - don't support Trafford United, and certainly don't own any blazers. But there are a couple of stories......
c. The Hare Krishna thing was a joke. The Buddhism thing, on the other hand, is interesting. How do the SPGB define a religion? Is it religion that your rules forbid, or a belief in God?
d. Chutney's. Yes. My heart says Ravis, but my head always points to Chutneys. Its that Thuran curry they do. I think its pretty much unique to them. I'll have to work out my line before the 17th April. Which kind of reminds us why OC chose Bolton and didn't go to Celtic.
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