MERCURY FUR at the Ramshorn

An extraordinarily intense power packed play went on for two hours straight without any letup , brilliantly acted by a fine young dynamic caste.

The the genre has been explored in a last few years , notably in Cormac mccarthys The Road , this play was written in 2005 , at just about the first time in which questioning the direction and moral depth of progressive western values in the mainstream media was on the brink of establishing itself from the self-imposed guideline censorship imposed by self elected moral guardians operating in the cultural field.The history behind the writing and performing of the play ,in which the writer lost friends and was almost friendly-blacklisted from his publishing house which refused to publish it , a very odd counterbalance to those who preach over the right to publish when it come to Rushdie but then refuse to publish anything that questions if the western world is going in the right direction.

The play itself has two emerging themes , the state can not look after the citizen from cradle to grave , if it ever could , and will ultimately let everyone down , and , there is always hope with family bonds finally picking up the pieces and delivering and ultimately saving those let down and betrayed by current transient civilisation.

THE PROCLAIMERS at the SECC

We had a fine Fish Pie and sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream before setting of for the venue.

I had seen the proclaimers musical two years back and loved the songs.Rather than an overtly acoustic set they have a band which can rock quite hard when the need arises.
A very good concert full of masterfully constructed catchy songs overflowing with lofty meanings.Not that a portion of the crown with Scotland strips ; kilts and half to quarter jaked would have got much of the finer subtle points that make proclaimers music such a meaningful sublime joy.

Here is an example of what they do best , a track from the new album:





And a superb version from a stunningly spiritually romantic song:




As a counterbalance they season things with songs about romantics being brought down to earth and breaking teeth on a hard bitten reality sandwiches , but always hope is ever there.



I would love to have included 500 miles and letter to America.but there are just no versions on tubistan which capture the feeling engendered for those at the gig

GLASGOW SLAVERY WALK by Stephen Mullen

As part of the GARA commemoration of The Black History Month there have been a series of walks with Historian Stephen Mullen guiding participants through the sites and locations of Glasgow link to slavery through the massive wealth accumulated via the Tobacco trade.
Glasgows link to the trade was established by a set of circumstances and a much denied pro-active participation from the Scots in colonisation and empire building.A history that runs counter to the narrative in which Scotland was seen as the first victim of English hegemony.A unique blend of the primacy of Scottish education , with some of the most established and innovative Universities at the time , and a superb business acumen enabled Scottish graduates to become able administrators of the Empire and Scottish entrepreneurs to become the architects on the efficient management and processing of the newly acquired wealth to be found in the colonies.Glasgow , in particular , benefited by becoming the major port for the shipment and distribution of the highest grade tobacco from the Americas and Sugar from the Caribbean.Newly built state of the art constructed Ports like Port Glasgow handled over 98% of the trade in Scotland and about 60% plus for the entirety of the UK.

The reason for the primacy of the trade in Glasgow was the better standard of education and administrative skills as well as a much better system of interlocking trading.Glasgow used a system developed by Scottish entrepreneurs called the Store system , this made masterful use of the triangular trade of weapons and refined goods to Africa; slaves to the colonies; and the highest grade sugar and tobacco from Jamaica being brought into Europe.The store system was effective because the traders were permanently stationed point men ( called apprentices , something which Rabbie Burns nearly became) in the New World who would personally deal with the plantation owners to get the highest quality yields.The English traders dealt with a system called the Distribution system which would be more adhoc and less well administered than the superb streamlined Scottish one.Another vital component to the Scottish lead in this field was a highly established Scottish Banking system which fully understood the Store system therefore allowing the scope for longer term loans with big yields as opposed to the Boom -Bust short term constraints of the Distribution model.

The walk itself began inside the Glasgow Cathedral , the first time i have been inside there despite growing up in the vicinity , in which guide Stephen Mullen pointed out 2 large stain glass windows funded by and honouring Families with links to the Tobacco trade.One has the depiction of a negro receiving the sacraments from a priest , the other shows a scene which may resemble plantation type buildings from the Caribbean with mottos highlighting the "civilising mission" which is the reputation the traders would like to ascribe to themselves , and be known in prosperity as having undertaken.

Then we were shown the burial plots of the Oswald Family inside the Cathedral and a portion of the plot belonging to the Buchanan Family.

Further on we were shown the original site of Glasgow University halfway down High Street.One of the many paradoxes is that the University was not only churning out the administrators and architects of this trade but also some of the primary Moral Advocates which , in time, would become the most outspoken and effective voices for action that would challenge the process.One important aspect in this was the University was highly established , receiving most of its funding from ecclesiastical sources and was not , as we perturbingly find today , wholly dependent on funding from the Trading Lords ( todays corporations) with the ultimate ability to use this as leverage to temper any radical trends the University may produce to counter the moral points of the trade.This is very important to remember because Universities today are funded by the Modern day version of the Lord traders in the form of multi-national Corporations to such an extent some University departments even bear the name of the sponsor.The Independence the University enjoyed a couple of centuries ago does not exist today , which will mean that it will not churn out the radicals it did in the past to counter negative global trends.One of the great claims to fame Glasgow University has to its credit is that it produced the first Black graduate from the slave colonies.This student was rejected in every University in the Americas , but received entry in Glasgow.

Further along , not far from the street i grew up in , we saw the Ramshorn Cemetery , where many Tobacco Lords are buried and the Glasgow City Halls , a place that became a major platform for articulators of the abolition of slavery , playing host to many speakers at the time including a visit by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Then we saw some locations of the Mansions of the Tobacco Lords , including the Glassfords.Stirling Library , now the MOMA Museum is one of the former Mansions ( it is the middle segment of the building which you can clearly deduce if you look at the side of the Museum).

Finally the walk ended with a symbolic full circle with the statue of a latter day Oswald in George Square , he was a descendant of the former highest placed Tobacco Lords.In a very British way he was a major player in bringing the end to this formal Slave Trade , though cynics would argue the slave trade had run its course and Banking had taken over the role of the efficient extraction of wealth in the Americas.

To his very great integrity and credit Stephen Mullen categorically states that , unlike Liverpool , Glasgow is in denial about its links with the Slave Trade and has to do more to acknowledge its role and to accept its place in the colonial empire rather than hide behind the veneer of victimhood.

For example , there is no mention of the slave trade in this years Homecoming celebrations and a recent commissioned report of the trade had nearly two hundred alterations enforced upon it by government officials much to the outrage of the academics who produced it.

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP by Jackie Reem Salloum

" The Culture of Hip Hop and Rap is at its most Powerful and yet its most tender in Slingshot HipHop" , This quote by Public Enemy rapper Chuck D just about sums up the eloquence and quality of not only Palestinian Rap but also this high calibre multi-international award winning film.

Palestinian rap is not to be confused with some of the US variety.The Palestinian version would never be calling a Woman a "bitch" nor making explicit physical references.The Palestinian rapper is a poet using the beat to speak for his People.A cross reference at the Palestinian rap concert will include an audience from 6 year old grandchildren to grandparents over 80.It is not in a flippant way many consider if Darwish was starting out on his poetic career today he would be heavily into making rap anthems for his People.Translators for the arabic lyrics into english are constantly taken aback by the depth and sophistication of the language used by rappers and readily approve of comparisons to the vast heritage of national and international poets of this region in the far and near past.

Below is a trailer for the film which records the story of Palestinian Rappers in present day Israel ( always referred to as 48s or the originals) and Gaza and the West bank.



One of the remarkable things is the plight and degradation of the Arabs in present day Israel , one can be forgiven for only noticing the repression of the People in the Occupied Territories without realising Arabs in Israel proper are a highly victimised and discriminated against long deprived community compared to their Jewish neighbours.

Below is the song "Who is the Terrorist" which exploded the popularity of rap throughout the Arab world.




And this is an interview with the group DAM ,giving an insight to the beginnings of the movement which has continued to snowball.



After the film we had a post-showing talk from the director and DAMs Suhell Nafar.The director told of the difficulties with the Israeli customs , including the vandalism and smashing of her equipment , resulting in her getting her Jewish friends to bring in stuff which she would then use before they would then smuggle out for her.Suhell also told of the craziness of the militarised Israeli mind , including tales of Israeli schoolteachers teaching kids with guns in their holsters.

One illuminating story was the reason she has not made a film about rappers both Israeli and Palestinian doing joint ventures across the boundaries.The reason is , she said , the number one selling Israeli rapper has song titles and and lyrics to the extent " Kill Arabs".

PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS by Shohei Imamura

Having just read Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson , it was an intriguing coincidence to have the exquisite pleasure of seeing Imamuras 1961 depiction of the shady goings on in a US naval base town with a black underworld economy based around the waste and needs of the base infrastructure and personnel.

Petty crime and madcap schemes of a local mafia living off the needs and requirments engendered by the dynamics of the base are interspersed with the code of honour of traditional family way of life.A split personality culture is very much in evidence as the market orientated way of life in the basetown erodes all the values that sustain a community over a long period of time.In the end the director comes up with a compromise of sorts with things ending up in a continuous farce.

A nice symbol is portrayed in the end when the surviving character is forced to get on a train to get away from the place to a location more blessed with values and tradition than this war economy dependent ravaged town.

FORGOTTEN TRANSPORTS TO LATVIA by Lukas Pribyl

It will be a very sad day when one becomes so completely desensitised to the brutal events of the experience of the ordinary victims of the Holocaust that it does not raise any harrowing emotions.When that happens the countdown to the next Holocaust has already begun.It will happen in its subtle , imperceptible slow manner.First we will get extreme race and ethnic based right wing views becoming fashionable in the mainstream , then we will get these views being expressed as free expression and the right to articulate ideas in an open society , then we will get extreme parties winning sizable votes and seats in local and national elections and then , well , we have a track record in Europe.

Then again , watching a documentary about the Holocaust is never any fun.But it is something that has to be watched or we will fail to learn the lessons of the past and walk into a future that has already brought us , in Europe , a rise in the right , especially in countries that never went into a process of de-nazification and Atonement like Germany.

This film draws of the testimony of victims drawn from all over the world talking about their experience from being collected and hounded out of their ghetto in Czechoslovakia and sent to Latvia.The disconcerting aspect is the tacit meek approval as well as full blown participation of the neighbours of the Jewish population and the enthusiastic participation of the Latvians in the extermination process at the other end.The Germans may have been the facilitators , like the British in International slavery , but the Holocaust was a pan-European extermination in which many communities and nations were willing and pro-active enthusiastic participants.

History is not static , supporters of Justice need to be alert and this film is a timely reminder telling us we all have responsibilities , if we dont defend lessons learned from it then others will take advantage of it to bring back times we thought we had moved on from for ever..

One has to be careful in this and age , and take the advice carried in this song: