revolution - spacemen 3 and lord jamar, plus 'the night of'

Two songs called 'Revolution' today, and neither of them is the famous Beatles one. Lord Jamar's version is pretty recent, and has just been featured in 'The Night Of.' TV series, while Spacemen 3's version is donkey years old. Jason Pierce from Spacemen 3 later went on to form Spiritualised. 'Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to' indeed, but both of these versions are excellent in their own ways.
Oh, and The Night Of series has also been excellent, highlighting the horrors of the American justice system, and the boredom and coping mechanisms of serving time in prison. As an ex lag myself, I know of what l speak!






toodle pip

letter from prison and education for the poor

My English leaves a lot to be desired, but that is mainly because l hardly had to write anything until the last few years, as l worked in jobs that did not require much paperwork.  I passed my English exams (language and literature), but my spelling and grammer was a lot better back in the day (although my vocabulary has increased).  However, this is put into perspective with the people l come into contact with and communicate with, both at work and away from it.  I then find that most people are not as good at using and understanding the language, and some are shockingly bad at it.  To demonstrate this, l accidentally opened a letter that had been wrongly addressed to my house, and it turned out to be from a prisoner, writing to try and get a visit from somebody.  The letter was resealed and handed back to the postman the next day, and l was obviously not going to scan it or reveal it's full contents, but before l resealed it, l couldn't help but be amazed at some of the mistakes.  The grammer was terrible, but these are a small selection of the words spelt incorrectly (with the correct spelling afterwards)

wiv - with
were - where
dose - does
thay - they
intill - untill
wot - what
anuff - enough
afhter  - after

Now the prisoner may well be dyslexic, but l have a sneaking suspicion that they have been poorly educated, not encouraged, come from a broken home or violent background,  and had no opportunities, therefore leading to a life of crime.  A lot of it may be their own fault, and they have made their own choices in life, but what real chances do they have of gaining meaningful and rewarding employment with so few writing skills and lack of education.  Unless something miraculous happens, this person will probably be a habitual re-offender, and may go onto major crime.  Surely it's better to throw money at educating and providing for the poor while they are young and a difference may be achieved, as it will only cost a lot more money (and harm to society) in the future.  Capitalism needs a poorly educated and cheap to employ workforce, but there are limits.

toodle pip 

russell brand and peter hitchens on newsnight

While we were at the caravan at the weekend, Robbo mentioned to me about Russell Brand arguing drugs policy on Newsnight with Peter Hitchens, so l thought l'd have a look, as l like Russell Brands humour (most of the time) and am interested in the different views on drugs policy.  Although Russell did deflect some of the questions with humour, l would still rather that, than Hitchen's unswayable belief in his own self worth and righteousness.  With Brand being an ex addict, actor, author and articulate, of course he has a right to have his views heard, despite Hitchen's not thinking he should be.   I assume that Hitchen's thinks his own opinions are more important, because he is an author and columnist for the Daily Mail.  They already have history (see the second clip) and were never likely to agree to anything.  His brother Christopher was so much better, also opinionated, but you didn't want to slap him.

My own view is a mixture of theirs (or what l could gather theirs were).  I don't think locking people up will  deter people trying drugs or prevent  them becoming addicts, and if they become addicted, they should be treated with compassion, as they are ill, with a disease, and require help and assistance.  Saying that, l don't think methadone is a great solution either, as it's swapping one addiction for another, and is equally as (if not more) difficult to get off.  People will only quit when they are ready, but for me, it has to be through detoxing and support.   There can be all sorts of reasons for the initial taking of drugs (of any kind), and just because some are illegal, doesn't mean the takers do not deserve help.

toodle pip

eminem in clockwork orange mode

 I saw this photograph of Eminem in Clockwork Orange mode for the first time today, and think it looks great. He's a pretty good looking guy anyway, but l have always loved the (much imitated) Droog look, and this certainly highlights his eyes.
Easily one of my favourite ever films, first seen when l was about 15 at the pictures. No wonder l got into music, drugs, ultra violence and a bit of the old in and out, until l too, was 'rehabilitated' in prison (with the help of 'Bronco').

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sing sing prison

I've been reading about Sing Sing prison in upstate New York (about 30 miles north up the Hudson river). It was opened in 1826 and was extremely brutal, ensuring the prisoners remained silent by copious amounts of beatings and whippings. The prison (Correctional Facility) is still open today, but no-where near as harsh. The cell above is one of the earlier examples, and does not look like it was a lot of fun to live in. The term "Going up the river" meaning to be sent to prison, originated from when prisoners were sent up the river to Sing Sing. The electric chair photograph is of Ruth Snyder, who was executed in the chair in 1928, and the picture was sneaked out by Tom Howard, a newspaper reporter who had a camera strapped to his leg, so he could capture the image at the moment of execution. It all makes Durham prison (where l went) seem pretty boring (although Bronco, who l shared a cell with, was certainly a character).

toodle pip