Marx argues for legalisation of Class As

Uncle Bill’s yage expedition

After my Marx lecture on tuesday evening I was talking to some intrepid fellow travellers about William Burroughs anthropological expedition to sample Yage in South America and I mentioned his letters (as well as doing some pretty bad imitations of uncle bill’s Benway routines). Even though the second volume of letters is about to be published, the first volume [...]

Recycled: notes for Satanic Majesties Request paper

Recycled post: notes for Satanic Majesties Request paper October 23, 2006 ‘wa-what can a white boy do, but to sing for a rock and roll band?’ S. S. Sisodia, in Salman Rushdie’s politically incorrect Satanic Verses, stammers: “The trouble with the Engenglish is that their hiss hiss history happened overseas, so they don’t know what [...]

Russell Brand’s Elegantly Addled Drug Career Takes Flight in New Cross

In his now bestseller celebrity self-justification fun version of the footballer/popstar’s premature autobiography, former drug-fiend and co-winner of the year before last’s Big Fat Quiz, Russell Brand has done good (even though he came last in the quiz this NYE). “My Booky Wook” is erudite in a way that may surprise some, but since it [...]

A Battalion of Druggies

Apropos the picture in the previous post on Kendra of star fleet, imperial stormtrooper, colonial marine – whatever kind of junkie – I am shocked to hear that UK soldiers are succumbing to the evils of drug use as well. In particular cocaine is the battle-friendly powder-of-choice. We are told today by a UK military [...]

Poppies

Poppies seem to spring up on people’s lapels earlier each year, and on younger lapels than ever before. Walking through London Bridge tube station last night I saw them on teenagers, and then later that evening caught a few minutes of an inane interview of Girls Aloud (a pop band apparently) on the BBC and [...]

narco-analysis

Dave Boothroyd’s book “Culture On Drugs” (2006) is a sound and entertaining read, and is just as much a carefully argued account of the influence of various substances on theory and theorists across a wide field – Freud and Cocaine, Benjamin and Hashish, Sartre and hallucinogens – as it is a commentary on, and plea [...]

Heaven and Earth

Once more in Shimokitazawa, where there is a small 5th floor club called Heaven & Earth, and where, after dancing sweaty hot electro and hip hop all night (and gospel for Charlie K), you can sit on the balcony as the typhoon rolls in over Tokyo and then you can get noddles on the way [...]

Spectres of Marx – A Christmas Carol?

Cadavers, lifeless bodies, the return of the dead. Over the holiday period the quiet streets of London have been bothering me a little. Alarmed as I am with Christmas carols and hangings on the news – a veritable hauntology has me walking about as if in a dream. Yet people keep on bringing me ghosts. [...]

notes for Satanic Majesties Request paper

‘wawhat can a white boy do, but to sing for a rock and roll band?’ S. S. Sisodia, in Salman Rushdie’s politically incorrect Satanic Verses, stammers: “The trouble with the Engenglish is that their hiss hiss history happened overseas, so they don’t know what it means”. True enough, but this should in no way be [...]

This Rolling Stone

An amazing image of Keef Richard – as (mis)represented by The Sun newspaper yesterday (10 May 06), after his second brain operation. Story goes that he fell from a coconut tree, and/also maybe from a jetski, had an initial op, is rumoured to have checked himself out of hospital – rock and roll! – but [...]