Samuel Beckett.

As it happens I was thinking that when I look back on that part of the 20th century with which I cohabited, I ask myself what stands out?

Culturally, I mean.

What can touch us -- what touches me -- today with full on, no holds barred meaning?

I surely had my favs back then. In the day. As one does.

But you know what speaks to me the most? Today. That rambles around my head like a perennial house guest?

Samuel Beckett.

Supposedly Beckett was the high priest of meaningless. Like with all that existential crap.

But for me his words and his 'situations' explore the frustration of being human in a society that discourages us to be who we seek to become.

Like his 'Waiting for Godot', we wait...and wait...and still, things stay the same.

In this age of neoliberal bottom line ledgers, this is no minor point.

Is this all there is?

I suppose, if we were to tweak Beckett for today what we ask to wait for is so horrendous that our words would need to be even more strident and urgent than those deployed by his characters:

“Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for one the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! What do you say? It is true that when with folded arms we weigh the pros and cons we are no less a credit to our species. The tiger bounds to the help of his congeners without the least reflexion, or else he slinks away into the depths of the thickets. But that is not the question. What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in the immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come -- ”

― Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

---

VIDEO Sell the Vatican, Feed the World

I appreciate Sarah Silverman's lateral take on things. Maybe an acquired taste perhaps but it confronts you to negotiate a rethink.

She may not be so well known -- profile on Wikipedia -- but I'm sure she makes a lot of people nervous.

...like the pope, perhaps?

I also like this video for it's simply come together and build. Not bad for a quick grab.

VIDEO Origins of CHAT - German Philosophy -- Andy Blunden

Talk given at the Monash University Monash Education Research Community, by Andy Blunden . The talk is the first of a two-part seminar for the International Course on Cultural Historical Activity Theory. It covers the contributions to this current of thought derived from Descartes, J G Herder, Goethe and Hegel. Part Two, to follow, deals with Marx.

Origins of CHAT - German Philosophy from Andy Blunden on Vimeo.

Cultural-historical psychology (also called the school of Vygotsky, sociocultural psychology, socio-historical psychology, activity theory, cultural psychology, cultural historical activity theory, and social development theory) is a theory of psychology founded by Lev Vygotsky at the end of the 1920s and developed by his students and followers in Eastern Europe and worldwide.

VIDEO SATIRE Make homosexuals get married (like the rest of us)

If you disagree with the homosexual lifestyle, why not overturn prop 8 and make them get married, like the rest of us?

VIDEO When the Dust Settles -- Uranium Mining and the ETU

A movie explaining the decision by the QLD ETU to take a stand against the expanding uranium mining and nuclear power industries in Australia and around the world. We can only hope the lessons learned from the use of asbestos are applied to this dangerous industry. Some things are more important than $$$.

VIDEO SATIRE This is the Story of Your Enslavement...

This is a truly masterful exposé of our  collective existence from a libertarian POV.Wow! If there were more vids like this we'd create a new dialogue .

Love the tone: black, bleak, shocking, mocking...scary.

We can only be kept in the cages we do not see. A brief history of human enslavement - up to and including your own. From Freedomain Radio, the largest and most popular philosophy conversation in the world.http://www.freedomainradio.com

VIDEO Resistance Conference Thirroul , Illawarra, 2010

Watch this news report of the 2010 conference of Resistance, socialist youth conference, titled 'the world can't wait'!

Featured are Jess Moore, conference organiser and Richard Downs, spokesperson for the Alyawarr people, NT.

VIDEO SATIRE Capitalist bail outs -- what's in it for Jobless Jack?

This satiric animation video by Mark Fiore from the USA is called Goldman Sachs to Jobless Jack.

Nifty title, eh? there must be a song in it somewhere.

Tip Dear kitty

VIDEO SATIRE Capitalism in 13 minutes -- Isle of Flowers

 "An acid and entertaining portrait of the mechanics of the consumer society. Following the trajectory of a simple tomato, from planting to be thrown out, the short throw wide the process of generating wealth and inequalities that arise in the middle of the road.'

Documentary Jorge Furtado
Source You Tube TV

Tip: Kasama. 

Isle of Flowers (Portuguese: Ilha das Flores) is a 1989 Brazilianshort film by Jorge Furtado. It tracks the path of a tomato from garden to dump with the help of a monotone voiceover and a collection of bizarre images. While a very humorous film, the message it delivers about how human beings treat each other is anything but such. The director himself has stated that the film was inspired by the works of Kurt Vonnegut and Alain Resnais, among others.

The film has been denounced as "materialistic" because one of its early credits displays the phrase "God doesn't exist". Nevertheless, critic Jean-Claude Bernardet defined Isle of Flowers "a religious film", and the Brazilian National Bishop Confederation awarded the film with the Margarida de Prata (Silver Daisy), calling it "the best Brazilian film of the year" in 1990. In 1995, Isle of Flowers was chosen by the European critics as one of the 100 most important short films of the century.

VIDEO: John Heartfield

OvationTV — August 22, 2008 — The story of John Heartfield, the father of photomontage and a key figure in the Dada movement. Using archive material and reconstructions, this program reflects on the significant changes in East Germany from the start of Heartfield's career in 1916 to the present day.

LeftClick: making online whoopee flatulence

Having fallen victim to LeftClick's occasional satiric indulgences I have moved it  to a Facebook page of its very own where it can hold jestering court. This, for want of a better nomenclature, is called "Sharing" as this side of socialism the most generosity you can look forward to is at the end of a online Share link. You are not being offered a new society with collectivised wants or  use values, nor even a few more 'good mornings' than before -- only the opportunity to partake of whatever satiric fancies may be on offer parked at that address.

And as pages on facebook go, you may even get yourself a community -- an environment. where intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs,  even risks..may all come together to  make online whoopee.

Mind you I don't really know how online Whoopie pans out....

' Our moto is: make hay while the sun shines, make wooppee while the moon shines .''

Then there's always  the possibility of online flatulence:

A whoopee cushion, also known as a poo-poo cushion and Razzberry Cushion, is a practical joke device that produces a noise resembling a raspberry or human flatulence.

To use it, one must first inflate it with air and then place it on a chair or squeeze it. If placed on a chair, an unsuspecting victim will sit on the whoopee cushion, forcing the air out of the opening, which causes the flap to vibrate and create the sound of flatulence.

The sound of flatulence?

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound off flatulence...

As the greaty German Marxist poet and playwright once wrote (before he was either great or a Marxist ) in Baal:"a fart has no nose." Brecht's philosophical offering has been a meditation of mine for decades....

VIDEO John Berger's Ways of Seeing.

John Berger's Ways of Seeing had a massive impact on me and changed my attitude to the way I see. I came to it via the book form and not the four-part television series.

Thirty eight years later  Berger's ideas ring not only true but remain solidly radical and original while laying out the method and means to comprehend art in the  digital age.

VIDEO Nepalese Maoists do Saturday Night Fever

Over at Links you can watch an extensive review and analysis of the Nepalese Revolution by Ben Petersen.

 Australian Socialist Alliance member Ben Peterson is videoed speaking in Wellington, New Zealand, during his seven-day tour of New Zealand. Videos by Socialist Worker New Zealand.

However, not so well known is the snazzy dance and vocal style of the Nepalese Maoists as indicted by this up tempo number which turns Bollywood style show numbers  on their political head.

 

VIDEO SATIRE The Daily Show: How capitalism bails itself out over and over again.

Chris Dodd announces his own financial reform legislation, and Jon Stewart pretends he’s a corporation.

Capitalist management 101

more about “The Daily Show: In Dodd We Trust“, posted with vodpod

CRIME FICTION Leonardo Padura Fuentes -- the doyen of Cuban crime fiction

The Havana Culture website when not promoting Cuban rum carries a few interesting cultural titbits such as this video interview with Leonardo Padura Fuentes -- the Cuban crime fiction writer.

Leonardo Padura Fuentes is the most widely known author working in Cuba today. He has written movie scripts, two books of short stories and a series of detective novels translated into 10 languages at last count. His political essays serve as teaching aides for university courses around the world.

I love Padura Fuentes fiction and his The four seasons/ Havanna Quartet is an observant window into contemporary Cuba and the outlook of his generation, born after 1959. I highly recommend the read for an insight into the contradictions of the present Cuban experience.

His writing is a seductive mix of outlooks which mesh together and try , you could almost say they compete with one another, to come to some sort of political resolution -- even though the novels don't seem to be  "political " in the ideological sense we may expect. But the stories house an ongoing dialogue that moves back and forth through time in order to give the present a  substance that may give it tolerable meaning. Padura's characters may be alienated but  their estrangement  has neither a meaning nor etiology that can be identified in the way we may engage with our own disaffections.

So if you want to begin to understand Cuba today -- maybe  in the crime fiction  of Leonardo Padura Fuentes  is where you can start.

LEONARDO PADURA / Leonardo Padura's interview

VIDEO Stop Barnett's attacks on the public sector | Sam's Freo Report

The latest commentary from Sam Wainwright, Socialist Alliance councillor in Fremantle




more about "Stop Barnett's attacks on the public ...", posted with vodpod

VIDEO Inside the Revolution: A Journey into the Heart of Venezuela

February 2009 marked 10 years since Hugo Chavez took office, following a landslide election victory, and launched his revolution to bring radical change to Venezuela. While wildly popular with many in the country, Chavez's policies and his strongly-worded criticisms of the U.S. government have also made him powerful enemies, both at home and abroad, especially in the media. Filmed in Caracas in November 2008, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Chavez's controversial presidency, this feature-length documentary takes a journey into the heart of Venezuela's revolution to listen to the voices of the people driving the process forward.

"This is a rare film about Venezuela, a country in extraordinary transition. Watch this film because it is honest and fair and respectful of those who want to be told the truth about an epic attempt, flaws and all, to claim back the humanity of ordinary people." - John Pilger (Journalist, author and documentary filmmaker)

Screenings details, including a discussion with the director, Pablo Navarrete, after the film:

GEELONG

6.30pm for 7pm start, Friday, February 19

Geelong Trades Hall, 127 Myers St, Geelong

$10/$7 conc.

Dinner and drinks available at 6.30pm

For more info ph 5222 6900

WOLLONGONG

6.30pm, Wednesday, February 24

Venue to be confirmed. Phone 4226 2010

$10/$7 conc.

SYDNEY

6.30-9.30pm (film starts 7pm), Thursday, February 25

Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney

$10/$7 conc. on guestlist (to get on guestlist email your name to info[at]alborada.net). Otherwise $13/$10 conc.

SYDNEY (Spanish-language screening & discussion)

7pm, Friday, February 26

Uruguay Fairfield City Futbol Club, The Boulevarde, Fairfield Heights

For more info ph Victor-Hugo Munoz 0425 324 621

MELBOURNE

2.30-5.30pm (film starts 3pm) , Sunday, February 28

Victoria Trades Hall, Cnr Victoria & Lygon Sts, Carlton South

$8/$5 conc. on the guestlist. Otherwise $10/$7 conc.

For more info about the film, visit www.alborada.net

Trailer

Alistair Hulett, 1951-2010

A red salute to Alistair Hulett. Over the years he consistently used his music to build the movements of working class struggle. I cannot take a ferry trip on Sydney Harbour without recalling a memorable harbour cruise in the 1980s with Alistair's blasts drawing the attention of the water police, workers from the then occupied Cockatoo Island shipyards forcing us to make an emergency stop for more supplies of beer...

Peter Boyle

Alistair Hulett, 1951-2010

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that I must convey the news of Alistair Hulett's
passing.

Alistair Hulett died at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow on Thursday
evening, 28 January 2010 (or approximately 5:30am on Friday morning, 29 January 2010 Sydney time).

Alistair's partner Fatima thanks all those who wrote in with messages of support in the past week since news of Alistair's illness became public. The response was overwhelming, and shows just how many people cared about Alistair and his music.

Alistair, a truly great singer, songwriter, activist and socialist, will be
greatly missed by us all.

See also:

• RIP: Alistair Hulett (Roaring Jack) 
• Alistair Hulett: `A truly great singer, songwriter, activist and socialist'

VIDEO:Australia Day: sheep shit in the South Pacific

Australia Day

Sheep shit in the South Pacific. With your baa lambs and your empty sky, you big fella stretched out in sun drying. Sunburnt. Sleepy. Empty. You lucky bastard of a country. You your own planet, your own boss cockie -- claiming all the sheep shit and blowies. My country, my land, my suburban quarter acre block with 3 b/rms, VJ interior, carpeted floors, refurb kitchen and all cons. You it. You girthed by sea. You John Howard. You Kevin rudd. You gloating in your wee little aussie battlers this small. You the underdog. You all mates. You hate boongs, poofs, sheilas ... but love a shag, a beer and a day at the footy. You say: Up there Cazaly! and watch the replay on the box. God! You love this country! (But never say so 'til you're pissed.) You love the RSL (same thing). You can play the pokies, have a beer and feel real proud to be an aussie. Too right! Waltzing Matilda you come a waltzing with me. Green and gold to win. You say: don't put that in your mouth, some Chinaman could have been wiping his bum with it! You say: wog. You say: we're not racist. You say: please explain. You say what they want you to say. You say: let's go for a swim. So you stretch out on the border of sand with the 15+ and the kids, and work on your melanoma. You sleep in this land of the real long smoko; work, breed, and then you die. But first we celebrate this day of all days -- Australia day. Day 1. And with chicken pox and poison baits and murder and rape we peopled the empty place downunder with those who could speak as we do and know an abo when we see one. The day we began, way back when one flag could claim it all.

So with a sprig of wattle in our hand we celebrate from whence we came. Australians! You true blue sons and daughters of Oz! I ask you to charge your glasses and raise your voices. And let's hear it for all the dinky-dis out there: Australians let us rejoice, for we are young and free ... etcetera.

--Dave Riley

Happy Invasion Day 2010 from Fear of a Brown Planet on Vimeo.

VIDEO Haiti -- 'Aid' at the point of a gun

"We don't need the soldiers in Haiti. There's no war here."
"Looks more like the Green Zone in  Baghdad than a centre for aid distribution."