In an essay last term, students Làu Cẩm Tú and Hồ Phạm Ngọc Trân brought out the problems and possibilities inherent in Ruth Benedicts work style – though there is still a very strong prejudice in anthropology that you must go to a place to see for yourself. The argument against this is an elaboration of Benedict […]
https://www.redspark.nu/en/theory/flp-announcing-the-upcoming-release-of-the-selected-works-of-mao-zedong-vol-ix/ This is how to do an announcement!. It is well worth reading for both what it says about translation work (as I work on the difficult texts of Bác Hồ) and for its deeply cautious and researched engagement with the GPCR “It does not serve the interests of the bourgeoisie to train younger generations […]
The blue plaque for Ho Chi Minh on the site of the former Carlton Hotel, where he worked as Van Ba. It is on New Zealand House in Haymarket. Google maps seems to indicate its on the east side. Fairly obviously there should also be a plaque on the Drayton Hotel in Ealing where Bac […]
The integument bursts asunder (worst translation ever of Marx) Die Hülle … wird gesprengt. – Discussion [coming out soon-ish]. Introducing the Commodity — Capital Course – multiple iterations
15 minutes approx per paper, what can we make of the lectures, reading and discussion that offers arguments to challenge readers and convey the relevance of anthro texts for contemporary issues and concerns (still).
From the very first Tecoma Youth CYSS(tem) one to a few neat things already linked here – The Paper, Invisible Finger – I’ve always enjoyed the Zine scene (not too seriously): Monoscop has a pretty handy, somewhat US-ocentric, list of links: https://monoskop.org/Zine_culture Contents Events Tokyo Zinester Gathering, Café Lavandería, Tokyo, annually since c.2014. Zine Camp, […]
“La richesse des sociétés dans lesquelles règne le mode de production capitalistes’annonce comme une «immense accumulation de marchandises1».L’analyse de la marchandise, forme élémentaire de cette richesse, sera parconséquent le point de départ de nos recherches.’ Marx Le Capital 1872 The first sentence of Marx’s Das Kapital rendered in French (by Marx) has the riches of […]

The bit where haunted buildings are mentioned strangely has the sound drop out, but there are some great things to explore still… and the drone and inserts could have been cheesy however they work very well. Credit due.
GandhiMarx Cooch Behar pdf slides Youtube link https://youtu.be/eGl7CZvEC6c
Ah finally… a subversion of the bargain mentality, which is of course, a myth, and precisely the culture that has caused consumption to be the only means to economic recovery (apparently).. well.. short of a cultural revolution anyway…
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a cultural revolution is not a start, its the continuation… but es, this is pretty special, slightly mad, and smarter than your average prank. Maybe kate Moss can do the modelling?
Ahh, the alarms have just been set off in CCS – all out! No work.
Might go to the cafe and plot out plas for a chain strore called Trinketization. Much to learn from the 100 pound shop, but I do believe they need to attach a reading list.
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Hi John and Alison.
Armstrong and Miller on TV the other night (I paraphrase): “Excuse me madam, I notice you’re interested in buying expensive organic produce with idiosncratic imperfections – but I know of a farmers’ market a few streets away where you can buy the same apples for three times the price!”
The logical consequence of bargain-buying’s contribution to global capitalism: £100 “bargain”-buying’s contribution to local regeneration.
Now I have a second purpose aside from being a my first (“the purpose of a customer is to buy from retail businesses”): I’ll pop into the Waitrose in Islington for lunch.
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In a similar vain… there’s an episode of The Simpsons where in the title sequence Marge goes into a $ Mart and sees her dress for a third of the price she bought it for… so she buys three…
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yes, Mo, there is a great comic tradition that should be referenced here Pythons: ‘Went shopping, bought a piston engine’ ‘Why?’ ‘It was a bargain’. The piston of course must have been going cheap in the wholesale sell off of the countries’ industrial base, in favour of the comically named service economy and other affective scams. I think the 100 pounders are onto something here, Stephen Fry should do the knock-off ethnography of it (to match his mock cod-autobiography).
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Having just been back to Dalston in May after a couple of years away, I think this is a great commentary on the regeneration process going on there. Add a few brightly painted, cheaply constructed condo units and the neighbourhood is “transformed.” Same Dalston, twice the price.
It’s also a nice send up of the “value added” promises of the creative economy. The thing is, with a little care and devotion, those pound store items really do look pretty fantastic. I’m saving up for the Victorian Lady Bust.
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Vaguely on this topic – my current favourite pound-store product – which could have been a 100-pound-store product were it not for the fairly obvious fundamental flaw – laser-guided scissors!
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/laser-guided-scissors-1-poundworld/797522
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yep, I want some of those. I can see other potential applications too. Laser-guided back scratcher, lazer-guided slingshot, laser-guided champagne glass… laser guided budget cuts..
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