PLUGGIN’ AWAY:
A thirst for pop
by Mark Connery
As winter has come to its end, the cumulative effect of too much TV, and, especially, too much Much, has created a thirst for pop music with a bit of substance and ambiguity. Interesting work seems to be coming from the odd corners of hiphop-Toronto’s Mind Bender and K-os, USian MF Doom, and England’s Dizzee Rascal, MIA, and The Streets. I’ve been revisiting the latter’s A Grand Don’t Come For Free (Pure Groove/Universal). This is amongst the most low key of “concept” albums-it’s the guy’s life over a couple of days. “It was supposed to be so easy” opens with powerful Wagnerian horns. Skinner’s misadventures start with returning an empty DVD case, lining up for the bank machine which won’t give him any money, his cell phone going dead, and then losing all his money which was stored in a shoebox by the TV. “Not Addicted” is about betting on soccer without knowing fuck all about it. “Blinded by the Lights” is a beautiful trancey song about going clubbing and not finding your friends. “Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way” is “Blinded”’s twin: instead of going clubbing Mike stays on the couch with his girlfriend smoking roaches.
Taking Back the Streets: Women, Youth, and Direct Democracy by anarchist historian Temma Kaplan is a brilliant piece of social history. Kaplan tells the story of the activities of women activists during the overthrow of the dictatorships in Chile, Argentina and Spain. The social histories are extremely complicated and involved, and I learned a lot from the basic history that Kaplan tells. Her emphasis, and where the book excels, is describing the particular contradictions that women activists played in these struggles. Some progressive women worked to break gender laws and codes, while others appealed to them. One can see this in the instance of the Argentinean Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. By acting as activists and defying the state, these women are breaking rules, but often rely on conservative ideas of the role of motherhood. The chapter I found most engrossing was the second, “Pots and Pans Will Break My Bones,” which deals with the symbolism of empty pots and pans, initially used by right wing women in Chile in the coup against Salvador Allende’s government and then later by anti-fascist women during the struggle against the Pinochet regime. The book is quite dense, and sometimes more detailed than a reader may wish, but it is an important contribution to the history of social movements, the successes, failures, and limits of struggles against fascism, and to the empirically grounded theorization of gender.
Ever wondered if you could snort Prozac? If mint could make you hallucinate? Ecstasy drain spinal fluid? This reviewer has found two fabulous websites based on the culture of mind-altering drugs, which can answer these questions. Erowid, or www.erowid.org, is a non-profit online encyclopedia of mind-altering substances and techniques. It’s best known features are its particular ‘vaults’ on varying chemicals, herbs, plants, ideas and art. It has also put online a myriad of books, essays and other documents about drugs, visionary experiences, visionary art and visionary thinkers. The other is the New Bluelight www.bluelight.nu, also a non-profit, which is primarily a chat and discussion board which originated from Ecstasy & rave culture. On a very basic level these sites offer excellent harm reduction information that encourages the responsible use of intoxicants and provides information and support for people badly affected by them. Erowid, which has tried to stay word-of-mouth, has had some media exposure due to negative statements by “War On Drugs” reactionaries and praise by caregivers who sought honest information on little known drugs. Bluelight also offers an arena for informal peer to peer counseling. Most importantly these sites provide users with information about what is being imbibed and its possible psychological, physical and social effects. A more abstract, but just as admirable, dimension of these sites is they offer a practical alternative way of doing science. Due to the criminalization and hassles involved in researching non-patentible, illegal and/or otherwise difficult to commodify drugs, and the spread of communications technologies, a collective, international and participatory pool of knowledge has been built and continues to be built.
BTW, the answers to the questions above are: Yes, but you don’t want to; yes, Salvia Divinorum is a potent psychedelic mint plant from the Oaxaca region of Mexico; and Ecstasy does a lot of things to a body but doesn’t drain spinal fluid.
Mark Connery is a child care worker and library enthusiast from Toronto. Pluggin’ Away is an ongoing column of reviews in New Socialist magazine.
