tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post7403507161857720518..comments2024-03-18T08:20:19.461+00:00Comments on Transpontine: ‘God, it's so f**king Croydon!'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-80366184841493355482009-01-10T20:39:00.000+00:002009-01-10T20:39:00.000+00:00We disagree about culture. Myself I've never agoni...We disagree about culture. Myself I've never agonised about my attitude, which has been constant all my life and arose long before I'd heard of the Situationists. Of course most people into the latter now are well into culture and posing. But let's leave it anyhow.<BR/><BR/>I think seeing the big city lights as providing wider horizons is just as passive as it would be to stay in the suburbs and accept the horizons there (albeit more schizoid). There are people who make their own horizons in all sorts of places.<BR/><BR/>Re 'Croydon facelift' and that crap, the same sort of anti-working class hatred was evident in the books on "Crap Towns". Notwithstanding a few good bits (although often repeated) in those books. But there are some true things in many vile books.<BR/><BR/>It's cool to go on about how the so-called "white working class" are Neanderthal racist scum.<BR/><BR/>So how come the first black councillors in Britain were elected in working class London wards, with one becoming the first black mayor?<BR/><BR/>Re 'chavs'. I recently went round the register offices in a few boroughs to do family-tree research, and whilst most places the staff were very nice and helpful, they were absolute shits in Lambeth (Brixton). The guy who came out after I complained about someone else's attitude was whinging about how they were 'under-staffed', all in a sarcastic and contemptuous tone of voice toward myself. I said something about how they must have a lot of old records because in the past the borough had a very big population. Not sure how it compares with today, but there are certainly parts which had highly-concentrated working class populations which today don't. He sneered, "Yes, that was because of the all chavs", followed up by an attempt at complicity: "...but I didn't say that". Funny guy, huh?<BR/><BR/>If he'd said "niggers" he'd get the sack, but of course the meaning and attitude are exactly the same.<BR/><BR/>He should be lucky I'm not his boss, because I'd have sacked the f*cker on the spot.<BR/><BR/>Curiously I was thinking how he was coming across exactly like a bullshitting estate agent or second-hand car salesman who chose such a conman-parasite type of occupation whilst originating from a working class background.<BR/><BR/>banAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-22260866240282837162009-01-10T18:12:00.000+00:002009-01-10T18:12:00.000+00:00Yes, you are right that anti-Croydon rants are som...Yes, you are right that anti-Croydon rants are sometimes not very sophisticated code for anti-working class sentiments (see for instance disgusting Chavscum and the notion of the 'Croydon facelift'). But also there is a critique of the suburbs from (often) working class people who refuse to accept what they see the narrow horizons imposed on them.<BR/><BR/>As for the 'celeb/fun boy' stuff, when I laboured under the situationist curse and agonised about liking the products of the capitalist leisure industry I would probably have agreed with you. Now I tend to see that stance as just another avant-garde twist on bourgeois disdain for popular culture..https://www.blogger.com/profile/17026835814805695527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-86533544309824615362009-01-10T11:15:00.000+00:002009-01-10T11:15:00.000+00:00Media/club types who hate working class people who...Media/club types who hate <B>working class people who refuse to be trendy</B> (and also despise those who don't, but at least can make money out of them) seem to have adopted Croydon and sometimes Sutton as favoured references. E.g. Popbitch, which overlaps with Urban 75 socially.<BR/><BR/>I can confirm that the hatred and contempt is returned (when we show any interest in this particular faction of our enemies, this is!)<BR/><BR/>I have long held the view that the culture of middle class people and professional and rich people of all descriptions is principally based on two ideas: 1) the workers smell, and 2) the workers f*ck like rabbits.<BR/><BR/>Your socialist orientation does not sit well with all this fanboy and celeb stuff...<BR/><BR/>banAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-39569130011790046082009-01-06T17:32:00.000+00:002009-01-06T17:32:00.000+00:00Sid Vicious worked as a cleaner at Croydon tec bef...Sid Vicious worked as a cleaner at Croydon tec befor fame claimed him and killed himAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-90538943192441229012009-01-03T20:04:00.000+00:002009-01-03T20:04:00.000+00:00Big IKEA too. Quite a nice drive down from Brockle...Big IKEA too. Quite a nice drive down from Brockley.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-48477378456950127592009-01-03T14:37:00.000+00:002009-01-03T14:37:00.000+00:00home to Roberts cycles, too. (http://www.robertscy...home to Roberts cycles, too. (http://www.robertscycles.com/)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-63959126327980685892009-01-02T11:38:00.000+00:002009-01-02T11:38:00.000+00:00Other okay Croydon things:Good street marketSome g...Other okay Croydon things:<BR/><BR/>Good street market<BR/>Some good restaurants eg Galicia Tapas Bar<BR/>Some nice pubs in sidestreets eg The Cricketers on West Street<BR/>Curious shops in some of the older arcades<BR/>Democratic mix of people<BR/>Electric Dreams nightclub!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-89609982154129422362008-12-30T18:33:00.000+00:002008-12-30T18:33:00.000+00:00Yes, Deptford was definitely in Kent, though not s...Yes, Deptford was definitely in Kent, though not sure all of the old borough of Deptford was, as it was a much larger area. The Kent/Surrey border cuts through the area - there is a boundary post on Vesta Road..https://www.blogger.com/profile/17026835814805695527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-20361078986509597322008-12-30T12:57:00.000+00:002008-12-30T12:57:00.000+00:00Wasn't Deptford, Kent rather than Surrey?Wasn't Deptford, Kent rather than Surrey?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-90295665111481223952008-12-29T20:53:00.000+00:002008-12-29T20:53:00.000+00:00No no... what I mean is - leave the links to other...No no... what I mean is - leave the links to other sites in where you can, but edit them so they link to gbcycles.co.uk and not web.archive.org/blah/blah/gbcycles.co.uk (which doesn't work)... if that makes sense?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-89873995382076687092008-12-29T18:17:00.000+00:002008-12-29T18:17:00.000+00:00Ok I've removed the links that don't work, but lef...Ok I've removed the links that don't work, but left in the ones that do even if they have an archive URL - reason being that these now only exist in the archive, as the original blog has been deleted..https://www.blogger.com/profile/17026835814805695527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8650332.post-32314490008949509142008-12-29T16:44:00.000+00:002008-12-29T16:44:00.000+00:00psst...you don't need to link to the archived vers...psst...you don't need to link to the archived versions of the things he links to (indeed, some of them dont work - so remove the precluding archive URL if you can)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com