Album Review

One of my albums, "War and Peace", got a very favourable review on the "Recent Music Heroes" blog here:

http://agier.blogspot.com/2011/08/speculativism-war-and-peace-2010.html

Data Painting and Dreaming and Painting

When I was at art school, in the 1990s, there was one tutor who thought we had to either embrace digital art or stay with conventional painting and sculpture. I was an annoyance to him, I think, because I had this bee in my bonnet about working back and forth between digital art and painting, finding the relationship between the two. I'm interested in painting in relation to the electronic and the electronic in relation to painting. When I followed a module of digital art with a large oil painting on canvas the tutor in question called it a "retrograde step". Anyway, I've stuck with it over the years since then, painting, drawing and creating digital work. One of my favourite inspiring images is that of Data the android, from Star Trek, painting on canvas in the 24th Century. I love the concept of a positronic brain who still cares about oil and canvas. As so he should.

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11001001 Stardate: 41365.9 Original Airdate: Feb 1, 1988

[Observation Lounge]

(Data is painting an image on glass)
LAFORGE: Well, what do you think?
RIKER: Tell me what it's supposed to be, then I'll give you my opinion.
DATA: It is an attempt at pure creativity.
LAFORGE: What we're investigating is, can Data be creative?
DATA: And this is my attempt, with guidance from Geordi.
LAFORGE: I suggested the zylo eggs.
RIKER: Is that what those are?
RIKER: Keep notes. This project might turn out to be of interest to scholars in the future.
LAFORGE: Really?
RIKER: Well of course. Think about it. A blind man teaching an android how to paint? That's got to be worth a couple of pages in somebody's book.

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A Matter of Perspective Stardate: 43610.4 Original Airdate: Feb 12, 1990

[Art class] (A life class is in process, and a young woman is posing as a semi-reclining nude)
DATA: Captain, we have arrived at Tanuga Four. The away team has completed its survey of Doctor Apgar's work and is ready to return to the ship.
PICARD: Good.

Please. And feel free to examine the work of the other students too.
DATA: Ensign Williams' striking style is heavily influenced by geometric constructivism.
DATA: Lieutenant Wright has effectively fused the incongruities of the surrealists with the irrationality of Dadaism.
(Then back to Picard's tall canvas)
DATA: Interesting.
PICARD: Oh, thank you. In what way?
DATA: While suggesting the free treatment of form usually attributed to Fauvism, this quite inappropriately attempts to juxtapose the disparate cubistic styles of
Picasso and Leger. In addition, the use of colour suggests a haphazard mélange of clashing styles. Furthermore, the unsettling overtones of proto-Vulcan influences
PICARD: Thank you, Mister Data.
DATA: You are welcome, sir. If I can be of further assistance
PICARD: No! Thank you.


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Birthright, part 1 Stardate: 46678.4 Original Airdate: Feb 22, 1993

[Data's quarters]

(the painting has developed a lot when the doorbell rings)
DATA: Come in.
LAFORGE: Data, what are you doing? We were supposed to meet at
(There are lots of paintings stacked around the walls. Corridor, hammer striking metal, hand. Data is working on two more at the same time.)
LAFORGE: Data, what are you doing?
DATA: I am painting.
LAFORGE: I can see that. How long have you been at this?
DATA: I have created twenty three individual illustrations in the past six hours, twenty seven minutes. I believe you could say I have been inspired.
LAFORGE: I'll say.
DATA: I have done as Captain Picard suggested. I have tried to explore the images.
LAFORGE: Has it helped?
DATA: I am not certain. I began by painting the image of the blacksmith. Then I painted the corridor. After that, the anvil, the hammer, and Doctor Soong's face. The thought then occurred to me that I should paint smoke.
LAFORGE: Smoke? Why smoke?
DATA: I cannot explain it. It is not an image I saw during my vision.
LAFORGE: Well, you have the smoke coming out of a bucket of water. Blacksmiths used to use water to cool the metal. Maybe that's why you painted it.
DATA: Perhaps. After I painted the smoke, it then occurred to me to paint a bird's wing. I then drew an entire bird. A flock of birds flying in formation. An individual feather. If the image of a bird is related to my vision, I do not understand how. I am left with more of a mystery than ever. Geordi, I would like to recreate the experiment which caused my initial shut down.
LAFORGE: What for?
DATA: I do not know how much longer my vision would have continued had I not been reactivated.
LAFORGE: Data, that plasma shock almost fused your neural net. I don't think it's such a good idea to try that again.
DATA: I am aware of the risks involved. But I can think of no other way to investigate my experience. Will you help?
LAFORGE: Yeah. Yeah, sure. I'll go find Doctor Bashir.
DATA: I will prepare the power transfer.

[Engineering]

LAFORGE: Okay, Data, we're going to monitor every subsystem in your positronic net. If I see any neural pathways overload beyond sixty five percent, I'm shutting down the experiment.
DATA: Agreed.
BASHIR: We're ready.
LAFORGE: Initiating energy transfer. Get ready, Data.
BASHIR: Power levels are rising.
LAFORGE: It should be any second now.
(the energy burst knocks the tricorder out of Data's hand)

[Corridor]

(Once again, Data finds Soong at the anvil. He plunges a bird's wing into water, and steam rises. When it clears, Soong is gone and a raven is there. It flies off down the corridor)
DATA: The bird did not appear in my original experience. This vision is different.

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And, to finish off this inane rambling about Data's and Picard's paintings here's...........

...........Data's painting of his cat, "Spot".

Comic Book Art

I grew up reading and collecting comics. One of the favourite comics in my collection was Space Mysteries #9 which was published in 1964 (when I was 11) and reprinted the entire issue from Planet Comics #73 (originally published in 1953 by Fiction House). Here are some pages. Click the image to see a larger version and then use magnify to read. I loved the Bill Benulis artwork on this 1953 story of an electronic brain gone mad: "Cerebex":

And the artwork here (by Jack Able) perfectly compliments the spooky story. I loved this story so much when I was eleven!

I can post these because the're old and in public domain. I'd like to post the pages from the first comic book to ever make me cry tears. Unfortunately I can't post all of it because it's from a 1980s Marvel Comic and is still in copyright. Nevertheless, under the rules of Fair Use here's one page from New Mutants #045 - Novenber 1986 The first comic to ever make me cry. The story is about a mutant artist who makes sculptures of pure light.

Comics. A potentially serious artform shackled to a funny name.

The Slippery Slope to a Fascist Europe

Thanks Morris, for reminding me about these events. I've always worried that a lack of democracy in the European Union was the start of a slippery slope downwards into fascism. This timeline seems to confirm my worst fears:

2001

2005

Ghosts of G8 haunt Genoa By Chris Summers and Irene Peroni BBC News Website More than 70 Italian police officers, many of them senior commanders, are about to go on trial accused of orchestrating a campaign of police brutality at the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001 and then organising a huge cover-up. Before 9/11 and the arrival on the scene of al-Qaeda, the western world's Public Enemy Number One was the violent anti-globalisation protesters who disrupted several major summits. “ We are prosecuting the commanders, those who had the responsibility for the whole action. They are the ones who ordered it and then ordered the cover-up ” Enrico Zucca Prosecutor Certain anarchist groups, such as Black Bloc, revelled in attacking police and smashing up shops belonging to global brands such as McDonald's, Nike and Starbucks. The level of violence at summits rose from Seattle in 1999 (World Trade Organisation summit) to Washington DC the following year (World Bank/IMF summit). There were also riots at an EU summit in Gothenburg in June 2001. So when the leaders of the G8 nations, including Tony Blair and George W Bush, arrived in the Italian city of Genoa in July 2001 everybody knew what was in store. The vast majority of the 100,000 anti-globalisation protesters were peaceful but a small minority were intent on violence. They clashed repeatedly with police on the streets close to the Red Zone, the fenced-off area where the summit was taking place. On the Friday a protester, Carlo Giuliani, was shot dead by police and his death ramped up the tension and mutual hatred. The summit ended on the Saturday afternoon and the clashes died away. But just before midnight on 21 July 2001 a squad of around 200 masked riot police officers, armed with batons and shields, arrived at a school two miles from the Red Zone. The Armando Diaz school complex was being used to house dozens of protesters. Across the street was an alternative media centre being used by Indymedia journalists such as Mark Covell, who was one of five Britons staying at the Diaz. Mr Covell was beaten unconscious and received several broken ribs, a fractured hand and the loss of all his front teeth. British victims Mark Covell, then aged 33, from London Norman Blair, 38, from Newport, Wales Dan McQuillan, 35, from London Nicola Doherty, 26, from Elgin, Scotland Richard Moth, 32, from London Other injuries included an American who was kicked so hard in the groin that he will never be able to father children. Forty of those arrested at the Diaz were taken to a holding centre at Bolzaneto, outside Genoa. There they were submitted to physical and verbal abuse, including being threatened with rape by officers who were singing fascist-era songs. The international media was then duped into believing the Diaz was a hotbed of violent resistance. Two Molotov cocktails were planted and police also showed off an array of knives, sledgehammers and pickaxes which they claimed to have found on the premises. One enterprising officer, Massimo Nucera, also claimed to have been stabbed and produced a damaged jacket to prove it. Tests on the jacket later showed the stabbing was faked, and it later emerged the penknives had been used to prepare food in the school kitchen and the tools were from a nearby building site. Mr Covell told BBC News Website: "Everybody staying at Diaz was peaceful. We had nothing to do with Black Bloc. They found nothing in that building which was incriminating. It was a conspiracy to justify the brutality with trumped-up charges." By the time the truth emerged the world's media had lost interest in Genoa and the public was left only with the memory of riots by unkempt hooligans. A Downing Street spokesman said at the time: "The Italian police had a difficult job to do. The prime minister believes they have done that job." More than 70 officers, including the second-highest ranking officer in Italy's anti-terrorist unit, Franco Gratteri, face charges ranging from false arrest to aggravated slander and abuse of office. There are separate trials relating to Diaz and Bolzaneto. Because police at the Diaz that night were all masked and did not have numbers or names on their uniforms - such identification is not required by law in Italy - it was impossible to attribute acts of violence to individual officers. Only one, Luigi Fazio, has been charged with assault. So the prosecutor, Enrico Zucca, has targeted the commanders. He told BBC News: "We are prosecuting the commanders, those who had the responsibility for the whole action. They are the ones who ordered it and then ordered the cover-up." He said he had come under political pressure from all sides to drop the charges but he insisted the trial would go ahead. "Every political party in Italy wants to keep their distance from this matter. We have come under political pressure to drop it, not in a direct way but indirectly," said Mr Zucca. “ Everybody staying at Diaz was peaceful...They found nothing in that building which was incriminating. It was a conspiracy to justify the brutality with trumped-up charges ” Mark Covell The SILP police union represents several of those on trial. National secretary Claudio Giardullo told the BBC News Website: "In the months before the G8 in Genoa, the government built up a law and order strategy of a military type, which was meant to have a heavy-handed approach in maintaining law and order. "The focus was more on this than on preventing violence and defending the city of Genoa. "I am not saying there were any written guidelines or orders in this sense, but by not saying that clashes (between police and demonstrators) must be avoided at any cost you create all preconditions for incidents to take place." 'We trust the judiciary' He added: "The Italian police trust the judiciary and want the truth to be ascertained as soon as possible. Personal responsibilities must be established, and those who have made mistakes must pay. “ The Italian police trust the judiciary and want the truth to be ascertained as soon as possible. Personal responsibilities must be established, and those who have made mistakes must pay ” Claudio Giardullo National secretary, SILP police union "But generalising would be a mistake. A relationship of trust between police forces and society is fundamental, because this prevents divisions which don't allow a democracy to work properly." It is not only the police who are facing justice as a result of the events of July 2001. The trial of 26 alleged rioters began last year and is only halfway through. The Genoa Justice Campaign, set up by the mother of Sara Bartesaghi, one of the injured demonstrators, is demanding a full apology for the police's actions by the Italian government. It also wants those injured, arrested and deported to be fully compensated. Preparing for next summit The events of Genoa 2001 are a salutary reminder to British police as they prepare to "welcome" anti-globalisation protesters to the next G8 summit at Gleneagles. The hotel, near the Scottish town of Auchterarder, is hosting the next summit in July. Its remote location has been chosen to help security arrangements. Chief Superintendent Brian Powrie of Tayside Police, who is in charge of policing the summit, told BBC News: "We have been planning for a year now, looking at all the contingencies to make sure we have a fully equipped, highly trained, flexible resource to police both the summit and any other events related to it. "We have also been looking at the security surrounding a number of large scale events, including previous G8 summits, sharing intelligence and working with other agencies." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4217629.stm Published: 2005/02/07 10:09:30 GMT © BBC 2011

2007

Genoa riot evidence 'disappears' By Adam Blenford BBC News Key evidence in the trial of 29 Italian police officers charged over violence during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa has vanished, police say. Two Molotov cocktails allegedly planted by police in a school used as a base by anti-globalisation protesters can no longer be found. The bombs are seen as crucial physical evidence against many of the defendants in the high-profile trial. The police are accused of brutality and perjury over a raid on the Diaz school. The petrol bombs - expected to be a key piece of evidence in the case - were due to be presented in court this week. Prosecutors now fear that the case could collapse, allowing many of the high-ranking defendants to walk free. Case at risk The apparent disappearance of important evidence sparked strong reactions within Italy. “ I'm a bit shocked and numb at the state of the Italian judiciary ” Mark Covell British journalist injured in Genoa The presiding judge called for an immediate explanation. The Reform Communist party - part of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition government - has asked for a parliamentary investigation. Mark Covell, a British journalist who suffered serious injuries in the Diaz raid, told the BBC News website the disappearance could endanger the whole trial. "They have spent 20 million euros (£13m) on this and if these Molotov cocktails aren't found it could all be for nothing," he said. "I'm a bit shocked and numb at the state of the Italian judiciary. "But we can't calculate the full impact of this yet. We will have to wait and see." Police hopeful One police officer, Francesco Borre, told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper that police routinely kept records of what they received and handed over. He said he believed the responsibility for keeping the Molotov cocktails rested with Genoa's police, known as the Digos - the same unit under investigation by the court. The secretary general of the Italian police union, Claudio Giardullo, held out hope that the trial could continue. "Because the Molotov cocktails were actually photographed before they disappeared, the material need to have the bottles has been lessened," he told the BBC. "It is up to the magistrate to decide whether the evidence is fundamental to the trial. "Police will hold an investigation about this - it is in their own interest," he added. Political priority The trial centres on a raid carried out on the night of 21 July 2001. Nearly 300 officers, most dressed in full riot gear, forced their way into the Diaz school, which was being used as a base by anti-globalisation protesters. Dozens of people were injured in the raid, as police also smashed windows and destroyed computers. The two Molotov cocktails found inside the school were originally cited as evidence that the protesters were planning violence. But reports soon emerged that the bombs were planted in the school by police themselves. Prime Minister Prodi has made the swift conclusion of the trial a priority, and has promised to investigate the conduct of the police. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/6278311.stm Published: 2007/01/19 14:33:17 GMT © BBC 2011

July 2008

Italy officials convicted over G8 An Italian court has found 15 officials guilty of mistreating protesters following violent protests at the G8 meeting in the city of Genoa in 2001. A judge handed down prison sentences ranging from five months to five years to the accused - who include police, prison officials and two doctors. Another 30 defendants were cleared of charges including assault. Protesters said they were beaten after being strip-searched by police. The prosecution said they were tortured. All of those convicted are expected to appeal against the guilty verdicts. The BBC's David Willey in Rome says it is unlikely that any of those sentenced will actually serve time in prison because their offences will have expired under Italy's statute of limitations before the appeal process is completed. However, the Italian government will be forced to pay out millions of pounds to those who were victims of police brutality during their detention. Organised brutality The 2001 meeting of the G8 in the northern Italian city of Genoa was one of the most violent in the group's history. Tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on the city. Street-battles between demonstrators and police left one protester dead and hundreds of others injured. Police were accused of organised brutality after launching an unauthorised raid on a high school where protesters were camping during the summit. Scores of people were arrested during the raid and taken to a temporary prison camp outside Genoa, at Bolzaneto. Among them were protesters from Italy, Britain, Poland and Ireland. Prosecutors said those arrested were beaten, made to sing fascist songs, and that some women were stripped naked, had their heads shaved and were threatened with rape. Doctor jailed The commander of the camp, Biagio Gugliotta, was sentenced to five years - the heaviest penalty handed out on Monday. The chief doctor at the Bolzaneto camp, Giacomo Toccafondi, was given a 14-month sentence. He was accused of failing to inform authorities after some of the detainees were sprayed with asphyxiating gas. Most of the others convicted were police officers. One of the prosecutors in the case, Patrizia Petruziello, said that 40 protesters who were arrested suffered "four out of five" of the European Court's criteria for "inhuman and degrading treatment". The trial has lasted nearly three years. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/7506609.stm Published: 2008/07/15 10:32:06 GMT © BBC 2011

Nov 2008

Top Italy G8 riot police cleared The most senior police officials charged in connection with the handling of riots at the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, in 2001 have been cleared. A court in the northern Italian city sentenced 13 officers to prison and acquitted another 16. There were cries of "shame" from the public as the acquittal of the police chief was announced. The clashes were some of the worst in the summit's history. One protester died and hundreds of people were hurt. School operation This was the last of three major trials arising out of the rioting. Charges ranged from beating protesters to planting evidence and conducting arbitrary searches. The BBC's David Willey in Rome says many of the police officers on trial are still in service and some have even been promoted. Two of them are currently holding high-ranking posts in Italy's anti-terrorism unit and in the secret service. The prosecution had asked for sentences totalling more than 109 years but the sum was 35 years and seven months. A key focus of the trial was a police charge into a school where protesters were staging an alternative summit. Vittorio Agnoletto, a summit protest organiser and now an MEP, told Reuters news agency: "Today is one of the saddest days in the post-war history of the republic. "From now on police chiefs who allow their men to smash the heads and the backs of people sleeping peacefully can be sure of impunity and the guarantee of a fine career." But interior ministry undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano said the verdict showed the Italian police force was "healthy and deserves everybody's gratitude". Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/7728583.stm Published: 2008/11/14 00:21:50 GMT © BBC 2011

2009

Genoa killing 'was self-defence' By Duncan Kennedy BBC News, Rome An Italian police officer who shot dead an anti-globalisation protester in 2001 acted in self-defence, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. Mario Placanica was one of thousands of security force members who fought with demonstrators at the G8 summit. But the court ruled the Italian government failed to carry out a full investigation of the incident. It awarded the family of Carlo Giuliani, who died, 40,000 euros (nearly $60,000; £35,000) in damages. The G8 summit in Genoa in July 2001 was the scene of some of the most violent protests in recent years. Thousands of police were involved in clashes with demonstrators from various anti-globalisation groups. 'No excessive force' In the most serious incident, 23-year-old Carlo Giuliani was killed after being shot in the face by Mario Placanica, a police officer who was in a four-wheel drive. Mr Giuliani was attempting to throw a fire extinguisher into the four-wheel drive at the time. The vehicle than reversed over his body. The European Court of Human Rights, sitting in Strasbourg, has now ruled that the officer did not use excessive force. But the court did order the family of the dead man to receive 40,000 euros in damages from the Italian state because it had failed to open an inquiry into the planning and management of the policing operation at the summit. Mr Placanica was investigated for alleged murder but was later cleared. Dozens of other officers on duty have also faced a variety of trials accused of brutality against the demonstrators during and after the street protests. A number of low-ranking officers were found guilty, but are unlikely to face jail because of a combination of an amnesty that has been put in place and Italy's statute of limitations. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/8221227.stm Published: 2009/08/25 18:00:12 GMT © BBC 2011

2010

20 May 2010 Last updated at 16:20 Italy backs convicted Genoa G8 police Italian officials say they have full confidence in policemen convicted by an appeals court over violence at the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. The officers, who were sentenced to up to five years in prison, are to remain in their posts pending a final appeal. In an original trial in November 2008, 13 officers were convicted, while 16 - including the most senior officers - were acquitted. The case concerns a raid in which dozens of protesters were injured. "These men continue to have the full confidence of the security services and the interior ministry," said Alfredo Mantovano, the interior ministry's under-secretary. He said he was confident that the Court of Cassation - Italy's highest court - would "dispel every shadow from the outstanding professionals of the security forces who find themselves in this situation". Late-night raid Among those who had their acquittals overturned on Tuesday were Francesco Gratteri, the former head of an anti-crime unit, and Vincenzo Canterini, the former head of Rome's rapid-reaction force. Gratteri was sentenced to four years in jail and Canterini to five. Also convicted was Spartaco Mortola, the former head of Genoa's anti-terrorism squad, who received a sentence of three years and eight months. A total of 25 people were convicted, and the 13 convicted in 2008 were given higher sentences, Ansa news agency reported. The 2001 G8 summit was marred by widespread violence between anti-globalisation protesters and the police, and several trials have been held. The late-night raid for which the police officers were convicted, took place at the Armando Diaz school, in which anti-globalisation demonstrators had been sheltering. In a separate incident one day before, a 23-year-old protester, Carlo Giuliani, was shot dead by a policeman.

Life in a Blender - YouTube Version

At last I've managed to get a version of this video onto YouTube. The original is in HD but there are upload problems with that. Still, this versions is alright. Koyinaqatsuit! (music: Hergest Bells)

Life in a Blender - Internet Archive Version

I've been having terrible difficulties getting a version of my latest video to upload to YouTube. I'll keep trying. However I've had success getting another version of it onto the Internet Archive. Here it is:

"LIFE IN A BLENDER"

The video clips come from the Open University and are under a Share Alike licence. I put them together in a style originated by Godfrey Reggio. "Life in a Blender" probably translates into the Hopi language as "coyinacatsuit" or something. The music is the title track from my album "Hergest Bells" which I made as an experiment in Mike Oldfield-ism.

Corroded Master and SilverLage (Speculativism Remix)

A mini collaboration I did with Corroded Master and SilverLage:

Speculativism – Corroded Master and SilverLage (Speculativism Remix)

Scenes from My Life - 3

More bits of personal history and memories. A worn out old Mensa card, an old copy of the HSA (Hunt Sabs) Tactics Booklet, an old copy of "No 2"  which was an animal rights special interest group within Mensa in the 1990s, an AFA (Anti-Fascist Action) group sticker, a couple of site crew laminates from the Glastonbury Festival in 1987 and 1990 when I worked in the Theatre Area and Lost Animals Area respectively and my degree certificate from Plymouth University. Under that a photo of a murdered fox, also from the HSA Tactics booklet.

Scenes from My Life - 2

Scenes from My Life - 1

I case I die or something I decided to get some of my personal history snapshots uploaded. These pictures come from various things I've done over the years, such as interactive drama  for groups of schoolkids, looking after cows, goats and sheep on an animal sanctuary, working with groups of adults who have learning disabilities and various training and studies.

Why I don't like Bill Hicks

When I worked in a supermarket, cleaning the in-store bakery, sometimes the bakers would come in a little earlier than usual and begin work. They would often put on a tape of the late Bill Hicks' stand up comedy routine.

I don't like Bill Hicks. He used do a thing in his act where he tried to make it seem as though creativity comes from drug taking.

Hearing Bill Hicks act makes me angry because, as an intensely creative person myself, I know that my energy, talent and ideas are my own and they don't come from some drug or chemical.

Some creative people like Charlie Parker or Jimi Hendrix have suffered from drug addiction as an occupational hazard but Hicks used to make it sound as if these musicians derived their talent and ideas from the drugs. In reality the drugs destroyed these people's talent, rather than having created it. Frank Zappa lived longer because he didn't use drugs.

Bill Hicks would stand there telling us that if we listen to a track by someone who took drugs we were all hypocrites. Daft idea! As if the drug were giving the musician the ability to make the music!

Sorry to rant about this but Hicks always sets off a bee in my bonnet and there's a history to why it does:

In the 1980s I lived in the town of Glastonbury in the South West of England. During those years the Glastonbury Festival was attracting more and more drug usage to the area and dope dealers tried to take over the house where I lived (at 7a The High Street, Glastonbury, upstairs from Gothic Image shop). They came in and sat on the communal stairs and smoked dope, filling the air with the smoke. I used to have to cover my mouth and nose with layers of scarves and hold my breath in order to get past them on the stairs. I needed to get to and from my rented room and I needed to cook food in the communal kitchen. Life became very difficult with the dope dealers sitting around there every day and laughing their heads off at me as I went past holding my breath and covering my nose. I threw windows open and let fresh air in.

Eventually I took a joint out of a dope dealer's hand and flushed the drug down the toilet. That wiped the smile off his face and stopped him laughing - though he hit me with a knuckle duster and cut my forehead.

Another time two dope dealers came into the house and attacked me, one held me down on the floor while the other one kicked me in the head.

Another time one of them pushed me down the stairs and I went nose first into the bannisters.

Let me emphasise that these attacks were made on me because I was a non-drug person, as opposed to an anti-drug person. I was never anti-drugs, only pro- freedom of choice to abstain. But the paranoia of these people was such that they saw no distinction between the two.

Throughout all of these events the dope dealers had the option of going into a private room to smoke their drugs. A room where they would offend no-one and there would be no problem. They stubbornly insisted on staying in the communal areas of the building because they thought that "Everybody must get stoned". In other words, they were fascists.

These dealers used to dress up like new-age hippies but if they didn't like you they showed their true face - which was low grade mafia-esque punk.

In 1987 a murder occurred in the building. A man in the flat next door to me murdered his girlfriend while they were both out of their heads on drugs. When he woke up and realised what he'd done he came and told me about it and asked me to take him to the police to surrender himself.

So I've seen how drugs destroy people's lives and communities. Nevertheless I continue to believe in the individual's right to choose. My choice is to abstain from drugs or alcohol. Other people must make their own choices. If they choose to take drugs that's fine, as long as they don't force those drugs onto anyone against that person's will. The trouble is, they do try force it.

Anyway that's why I get angry when I hear recordings of Bill Hicks crap about giving the credit to drugs for all the music and creativity. I've been a creative person my whole life. I can assure you it doesn't come from drugs or alcohol. It comes from free thinking.

Waiting for an apology from police - probably waiting until doomsday..

 I was assaulted two years ago by plain clothes police officers who hit me in the back, pushed me to the ground and handcuffed me. They admitted it was a case of mistaken identity but failed to apologise. It is now more than two years later. I have still received no apology from the police. Here is a re-posting of the incident from 2009:

I work for the local city council in a minimum wage job. A few months ago, as I was on my way home from work I was beaten up and pinned to the ground by two men.

I'm an old man with grey hair. I get up early in the morning and cycle to work. I then do a physically exhausting job for eight and a half hours and then make my weary way home.

I was walking along, very, very tired, dressed in yellow waterproof city council issue high visibility clothing and wheeling my bicycle along by my side. Suddenly the first of the two men hit me from behind and began pushing me. Then the second man came up from in front of me and gripped me tightly, pinning my arms. The two men sandwiched me between them, the one behind pushing me violently forward while the one in front pushed me violently backward. Then they both pushed me down to the ground on top of my fallen bicycle. They didn't speak.

I shouted at the top of my voice to witnesses all along the street. I shouted over and over again for someone to dial 999 and call the police. The two men held me down to the ground, one of them sitting on me. One of the two men frantically shouted at the other one 'Shut him up! Shut him up! Can't you shut him up?' When it became clear that they couldn't shut me up and that witnesses were beginning to gather one of the two men owned up with the words 'We ARE the police.'

By this time a police vehicle was approaching. I asked the plainclothes man to provide some means of identification. He brought something out of his pocket, possibly a wallet or a card of some kind, waved it in front of my face and then put it back in his pocket. I asked to be allowed to actually read what was on it, to see if it was an ID or not. The officer refused with the words 'Nope, that's all you're getting'.

I was then handcuffed. I was cautioned that I did not have to say anything. At no time was I informed that I was being arrested. I was then searched. My backpack was searched 3 times, by 3 different officers, while still attached to my back and while I was handcuffed, so that I was not able to observe the conduct of the searches. I was asked if could describe the contents of the backpack, to which I replied that, since the 3 searches had all taken place behind my back and outside of my field of vision I had no way of knowing what was now in the bag. The 3 officers who had searched the bag had had every opportunity to take out of or put into the bag any item they wished and I would not have been able to see.

I was then told by a uniformed officer repeatedly to 'relax'. I reminded the officer who said this that it was an extremely stupid word to use when speaking to a member of the public who was in the process of being assaulted by police officers. Obviously to 'relax' in such a situation would be both impossible and undesirable. I was made to stand there handcuffed for a long time and then eventually released without charge. The plainclothes officers who committed the assault made no apology. One of them eventually identified himself while the other one declined.

Towards the end of the ordeal I overheard one of the police officers say to his colleague that the chap they actually wanted wasn't me at all but a man in a white anorak who had just been spotted again, further along the street.

Let's Kill Hitler Parody

This is the funniest YouTube video I've seen recently. I hope the Doctor Who episode will be this good:

It is my birthday. Here are some thoughts...

It's my birthday today. I was born at sunrise on sunday the 9th of August 1953. I had the sun in Leo, the moon in Leo, Leo on the ascendant and it was sunrise on a Sunday! That's an awful lot of sun to have in one birth chart.  In Chinese astrology it was the Year of the Snake.

I am now 58. I'm of the same generation as Tim Berners-Lee, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Tony Blair, Johnny Rotten and Adam Ant.

My favourite number is polyglot. My favourite colour is something different from whatever it was 5 minutes ago. When I die I wish to be cremated and have my ashes thrown into the eyes of bankers and politicians.

New Releases: Songs Wot I Actually Wrote & Apskaft Against Fascism

A collection of Songs Wot I Actually Wrote:

Royalty free music for professional licensing

& Apskaft Against Fascism:
http://www.last.fm/music/various+artists/apskaft+against+fascism

http://www.last.fm/music/various+artists/apskaft+against+fascism

I may have improved this track (?) :

Evil Twin with Bad Homburg (new version)

Evil Twin with Bad Homburg (old version)

The Apskaft against fascism album is coming soon!