hmmm_tea

I seem to have been scooting around the country quite a bit already this year, and although it's nice to get up north or into the countryside (and even better when you can do both), there's still something magical about London that you don't find in places like the Peak District (where I was last weekend).

This city is like one big vat of cultural soup. You've got all different ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, hair colours, shoe sizes, etc, etc all in one place, and other than a few nutters who want to rid the world of all the people who's toe nails are too long, everyone gets on fairly harmoniously.

However, this doesn't stop us getting all protectional about any other cultures coming into the soup, as they might steal our jobs. Strange really, as I've never met anyone who's owned a job, only people who get paid for doing them.

This evening, I wandered over to a debate on "Capitalism vs Socialism". The Capitalism side was given by someone from the Adam Smith institute with the SPGB arguing for Socialism, so it was more "this capitalist system is pants, what's the more ideal theoretical alternative free markets or common ownership". One of the arguments came down to which would be more efficient at providing aid to the third world.

Certainly one of the major problems of the world inequality of wealth, especially between nations. While it's nice that everyone has been enthusiastic about sending aid to Haiti recently, there's always suffering and those worse off than us even when it's not hitting the news headlines.

However much we try to do things like growing crops in the desert, we are always going to be in a situation where some places have more abundant supplies of certain resources than others. If I'm hungry in a room with a buffet at the other end, it's going to be far more effective for me to go over to the buffet to get food rather than for others to bring it to me.

Come winter when food becomes short, birds don't lay down in their nests and have aid flown in from their friends on the continent to help them survive. Instead many of them fly south to where the food is, but then they don't have to worry about passports, visas and immigration controls.

It's good to provide aid to these places, but if you truly want to give them equal access to the resources we have, the only way to do this is to give them the access to come and get them. Then the fundamental issue of a system based on competition such as capitalism, whether or not you have free markets, is that competition isn't about being equal anyway. Who plays games aiming for a draw?

Is capitalist competition necessary to drive our development though? I'm not convinced. OK, you get product innovation from companies trying to get one step ahead of their competition, but you've also got things like free software. OK, some of these have more than a little capitalist input, but you've also got the millions of little applications written by people tapping away at their computers in their free time in the middle of the night (who know why they do it, but they seem perfectly happy). Many of these may be pretty much dead, only going ping if your really lucky and poke them enough, but in amongst these you get Goliath programs that can sort your entire life out, whilst creating world peace and making the tea.

Even if you put the equality issues to one side, you still face the fact that, if you drive the production-consumption flow from the production end, then you will end up with people consuming far more than they actually need and place a greater burden on the world's resources. If you buy the top of the range mobile phone one week, there is really no need to upgrade to the next model the following week just because it's got an extra pixel in the bottom right hand corner, but the producer will try to convince you otherwise as it's in their best interest to do so.

I still remain unconvinced that the world's problems are solvable within a capitalist system as it seems to push us in the entirely wrong direction no matter how you tweak it.

It's Freaks in the Peaks this weekend.

This time it's in Hathersage.

It's a friendly social kind of morris thing with huge sets of people performing in a village in the peaks, some of whom have only just learnt the dances a few hours beforehand.

I imagine it's going to be something like the one I went to back in September with social sessiony dancey stuff in the evenings on Friday/Saturday, a workshop to teach the dances followed by dance out on Saturday day and a walk and dance out on the Sunday.

If you suddenly finds yourself in the peaks this weekend at a loss as to what to do then the details are here

Given all the euphoria regarding Rage Against the Machine in the run up to Christmas, I should probably I have got around to writing about this album sooner, but I didn't. The next album is Rage offshoot band Audioslave's third album "Revelations".

Audioslave was formed by the remaining members of Rage after vocalist Zack de la Rocha left the band. De la Rocha's place is taken by Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and it's clear that he must have in creative control in terms of the direct Audioslave moved in, as they sound more like Soundgarden with Rage influences than vice-versa. Lucky really, as I was never a big fan of Rage.

However, on listening to the album you would not be forgiven for mistaking the band for either of it's predecessors as it has a clear character of it's own. It's got far more aggressive punch than soundgarden and a sense of rhythm never attained in Rage. The rhythm especially gets central focus in a lot of the tracks with a lot of influence from R&B and funk. Morello's immensely powerful riffs get wah-wahed into another dimension.

The true highlights of this album have to be the tracks that show off Morello's innovative guitar work and Cornell's vocal range best, including "One and the Same" with it's wah-wah into heavy guitar explosion opening, "Sound of a Gun" which sounds almost like a conventional rock anthem until it hits the guitar solo and Morello just goes off into space and "Original Fire" which shows off the shear power of Cornell's voice while Morello's guitar appears to morph into Donald Duck.

The whole album's available on last.fm, but have a link to One and the Same.

All in all Morello wasn't too far wrong when he described the sound of this album as like "Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind and Fire". This is brilliantly inventive, it's a shame it didn't have the same commercial success as their earlier albums.

So, yes, erm, telephone sheep...



These examples by Jean Luc Cornecs are currently on display at the museum of communication in Frankfurt.

(via inhabitat)

As I've just got back from Ely, it seems an ideal opportunity to post a photo that's not at all related Molly, so here's a photo of me and some of the other members of Blackheath holding 2 sticks on our heads and going "moo", as is traditional in the cotswold village of Iddington.


Blackheath Morris, Boxing Day 2009
Originally uploaded by quitekate


You obviously don't get the moo, because it's a photograph and they're not that clever.

(via bagrec)

(via engrishfunny)

Gogs are dancing out in the villages around Ely on Saturday as part of Ouse Washes' Day of Dance (lots and lots of molly)

We're going to be at

11.00 - The Cutter, Ely
12.00 - off to The Plough, Little Downham
1.15 - down the road to The Anchor, Little Downham
2.30 - off to Five Miles, Upware where we dance until about 4.30.

Thrales are out on Friday, in Westminster from 8pm.

Rough itinerary:

• Marquis de Granby
• Royal Oak
• Strutton Arms
• The Albert (tbc)
• Slug and Lettuce
• The Speaker (tbc)
• The Old Rose (tbc)
• The Barley Mow (tbc)
• The White Horse and Bower (tbc)
• Westminster
• The White Swan (tbc)
• The Morpeth Arms (tbc)

Map
Facebook event

This is a good idea:

Using recycled shipping containers as shelters in disaster zones such as Haiti



(via inhabitat)

So the TV Licensing people are after me again.

For those of you, who have licensed TVs and are unaware of their supreme inability to comprehend that someone may not actually have a TV, the way it works is like this.

Firstly they send you a letter along the lines of "You don't have a TV license, you are therefore clearly an evil criminal mastermind stealing the airwaves. In fact we suspect you are probably smuggling them out of the country and selling them on the black market to fund Al-Qaida. You probably even butcher babies on the side. If you continue you will be fined for all your worldly possession and locked up for a gazillion years so you stop being such a menace to society." At the end of this as an after thought they add "If you do not watch or record television programmes as they are being shown on TV, just let us know".

So, you respond and explain you're not actually a baby butchering terrorist, but you just don't own a TV, which they promptly ignore and send you the letter again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... 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Eventually, they give up, and send a letter saying "Right, you still don't have a TV licence. You've therefore left us with no choice but to send around the TV Licensing Enforcement Division to shoot you, so society doesn't have to put up with your evil airwave stealing presence anymore", which is the stage I've reached in the latest saga with them.

Last time this happened to me, I was living in a block of flats with a communal front door, which I answer to find that their way to deal with this supreme evil terrorist I'd apparently become was to send around a small man with a clipboard who just accepted my word that I didn't have a TV and left. He didn't even seem too bothered about the pile of butchered babies on the doorstep.

Inspite of that, I still think TV licences are a great concept. All those overpaid people out there who spend extra subscription fees to ensure they have constant access to every single commercialised TV station shipped in from the US, also get to pay for me to listen to ad-free radio for nothing! All we need is an exemption for all those people who aren't overly rich bankers and the system would be perfect.

So, time for icelandic pop. The next CD in the pile is the Sugarcubes 1988 debut album "Life's Too Good". Given the number of divorces and remarriages after it's release and the tensions that eventually led to the bands breakup, it clearly it must have been.

The music of the Sugarcubes may have been heavily overshadowed by the solo work of Bjork, but if you're not familiar with them they are well worth a look. While Bjork's solo stuff was far more dance influenced, the Sugarcubes sees the same distinctive vocal style in a more rock-based situation. There is something strangely reminiscient of early B-52s in the result and it's certainly just as eccentric.

That said, Bjork does share the vocals with Einar Benediktsson. While Benediktsson's vocals are more simplistic, being little more than just spoken word, they contrast well with Bjork's. The opening track "Traitor", features Benediktsson taking the main vocals with Bjork providing more abstract backing vocals, which results in one of the strongest tracks on the whole album.

Other highlights of the album include Motorcrash, a cheerful little number about someone witnessing a motor accident and taking one of the victims home with her; Birthday, the single that got the band recognition outside Iceland, particularly from John Peel; Deus, one of the more eccentric ways to declare God doesn't exist; and F***ing in Rhythm & Sorrow, which sees them at their most eccentric lyrically having the style of a caberet song, but about a woman finding a naked man in her flat. The hidden track, Taktu Bensín Elskan, which is sung entirely in Icelandic, is also worth a listen.

As a taster, here's the video of Motorcrash


(Direct link)

Whittlesey was fun with Tyler's yesterday. It was pretty much exactly the same levels of chaos as at the clock's tour in the autumn, but at a festival.

Luckily the council had conspired to make the festival just as chaotic by forgetting to shut the road.

It's just a shame the festival seems to have lost some of the magic it used to have when I first went, but then the whole atmosphere of the place has changed. Every other shop's now closed making it feel strangely skeletal.

The first time I visited the place would have been for my first dance out with Gogs in 2003 for St George's day, where we danced outside the George pub in the market square with a few other sides. Admittedly, every time I visited that pub, it was crap, but it was also the main focus of the market square and it's now been standing there boarded up for a few years. One of many desserted buildings in what should be one of the main focal points of the village. It's turned from a quaint village market square to utterly miserable desolation. Surely someone must be able to do something with those buildings, even if they're just turned into flats or something?

The festival itself also seems to be getting a bit too big for it's boots too, which is unfortunate. Rather than being this friendly little village festival, it seems to have become full of it's own self-importance. A number of people have mentioned to me about sides that have been banned from Whittlesey. What's all that about then? There was even one point during the day, where Red Leceister processed out of town saying they'd just been banned. No idea what they'd done.

All in all, it's still a good festival and it was fun to go there with Tylers', but it just seems the festival needs to just take itself a little less seriously again.

Highlights: (Tyler's are around 1 min in just after Gogs)


(Direct link)

(via Peel Productions)

Aha! the solution to all our transport problems...

...let's make all the cyclists travel on tightropes over the busy roads like this:



(via inhabitat)

and the honour goes to...

*carefully opens large golden envelope*

...Tyler's Men strangely enough.

We'll be at Whittlesea Straw Bear on Saturday at the following spots

10.45 - 11.45 at the War Memorial with Red Leceister and New Rose
12.15 - 12.45 at the Market Place with Northampton Morris and some side called Gog Magog whoever they are
1.45 - 2.45 at the Crown with White Rose and the Kings Morris
3.00 - 3.30 on Station Road with Peterborough Morris, Old Glory, Rutland and Stone Monkey

Was meaning to post about this before Christmas, but it appears to have happened. Oh well *shrug*

A few weeks ago one of the most unusual Christmas trees I've ever seen appeared down the road in Bermondsey Square.


Bicycle Tree 2
Originally uploaded by hmmm_tea


Who said bicycles don't grow on trees...

Haven't done one of these for a while, as the pile of cds is threatening to bury me alive probably should.

The next album in the pile is Warblefly's latest: Tenerife to Dover, which I bought after they stalked me through all the summer festivals. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but they were performing at Broadstairs and Wallingford. It's also not a bad album (to follow the exaggeration with an understatement).

Contemporary folk rock at it's finest, Warblefly sound like what might have resulted if the Pogues had decided to try their hand at the indie rock of the 90s/00s and by some miracle had managed to pull it off. This is an album which would happily sit on the shelf beside both contemporary folk and mainstream indie-rock.

Quite often when buying studio albums of bands seen live, the albums never seem to capture the energy of the live performance. Warblefly seem to be an exception to this rule however, with just as much power in their recording. Then again there are millions of them playing (well 8) and they do work together really well. They manage to get all the raw guitar power of some of the best modern rock band without overpowering the traditional instruments. The whole sound sits together without anyone of the players stealing all the limelight. Track after track they just launch themselves upon you as a whole, there's not a single weak song on the album.

There may be a strong influence of the Pogues which comes across in the album, but this blends with many other influences from far and wide. "Shoplifter" may be the only folk-rock-ska anthem I've ever heard, but it's certainly worthy of the title of the finest, and if you've never heard a Zappa influenced folk-rock instrumental "Axle Strumpet" is highly recommended.

The real highlights of the album are Sack of Seeds, which echos the epic songs of the likes of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, but with a contemporary edge; Shrimp Boy, which is like being sliced to pieces by fiddles and Underwater Breathing Competition, a morbid glam-slipjig with attitude.

At which point, I've probably enthused about them enough, so I'll just share a link to Underwater Breathing Competition on last.fm and mention the the rest of the album's on there too.

This Saturday is Boxing Day, which means it's traditional for sulking because you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas Morris Dancing.

Therefore Blackheath will be dancing:

• Princess of Wales, Montpelier Row 12.30pm - 1.30pm


• The Crown, Tranquil Vale 1.45pm - 2.45pm


• Hare & Billet, Elliot Cottages 3.00pm - until we stop

With a session in the Hare & Billet afterwards.

So, over the past couple of weeks a whole load of politicians have spent time having petty arguments about who's responsibility it is to cut emissions rather than accepting their own responsibilities to cut their own.

Upshot of which we have another document that basically says there is a problem and something needs to be done about it, without implementing any real actions to do anything meaningful (and certainly nothing legally binding, so they couldn't back out when the economics don't work out in their favour). The only real compromise seems to be from the developing countries forced into doing so for their own survival as they get hit sooner by the serious impacts of climate change. To top it all off, it wasn't even approved, only ratified.

It may be a "historic first step", but if the steps are all going to be this small, we're going to have to make a lot of them and very quickly. Rather than doing anything to tackle the issue at hand we've opted for the dragging our feet in a global "lets cut emissions, you go first" strategy.

Why did it end up like this?

We live in a system focused on promoting ones own profit rather than sharing resources equally between those that need them. However much the politicians wanted to put in place measures to address climate change, they couldn't do it at the risk of damaging their economic position.

And so we've done another loop of the climate change policy cycle. There will be more protests, more political talks, more academics researching the issues and a million other things that won't mean a thing without being acted on, but at this rate no real action will be taken until it's far too late.

The capitalist system has failed us all, whether your rich or poor, over the past 2 weeks, but we'll still worship it's feet in our millions because that's what we do.

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money."

Village to close after contributing nothing to local tesco

Wouldn't be so funny if we didn't all know that they would if they could.

As if 1 dance out wasn't enough for a weekend (which it clearly isn't!), Blackheath are also dancing out this weekend, on Saturday in the Borough:

We're going to be doing something along the lines of:

12.15-13.25 The Anchor
13.30-14.40 Old Thameside Inn
14.50-16.00 George Inn
16.30 A Deli in Deptford for some reason (Your guess is as good as mine!)

I'll probably run off the London Barndance afterwards as it's Fiddlegang.

Now just to find some dancing for Sunday...