Culture

Tom Lehrer, the US scientist turned satirical singer-songwriter, gets “rediscovered” from time to time, delighting a new generation of admirers. But they have to discover his old material, rather than anything new, since he famously gave up writing satire in despair the day that Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize. (Historical note: Kissinger was a warmongering US Secretary of State responsible for much of US policy in the Vietnam War era, winning the prize after the war stopped.)…

Despite weak reviews in the mainstream left press, I really wanted to like this album.

Having nominally followed Franti's musical career since his early work with the Beatnigs in the late 80s, through Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy in the early 90s, and later into Spearhead, I feel like I have witnessed a decline in musical passion over the years. Perhaps age, fatherhood and a penchant for weed have mellowed him a little too much. However, Spearhead's numerous albums have spanned an…

Formed in 1991, Fun Da Mental have been producing urgent - sometimes frenetic - music, constantly crossing styles and boundaries.

All is War is the band's fifth studio album and continues in a similar musical vein as previous endeavours, mixing up intense and driving electronic beats with traditional tabla, strings and vocal styles, socially conscious rap and an emphasis on race and religion. It was recorded in London, Pakistan and South Africa. I have two earlier albums (…

Ever get that feeling that only you in the whole world cares for the things that you care about; that the rapaciousness of global capitalism knows no bounds; that every High Street looks like every other High Street; that all governments are the same government; that Tesco has more pull than the UN?You do? W ell, at the risk of sounding like Samuel Smiles, let me tell you that mutuality, self-help and a 25-quid investment in Common Ground will work wonders.

Now,…

We all like to be entertained don't we? And isn't it great that the hero gets the girl, the poor get rich and the good guys (us) always win?

Yes. The enemy this time is the sweetest of all - Hollywood. After all, how could anyone criticise that which gives pleasure to millions? Well. Hollywood might have been making us laugh and cry for generations but beyond the glitz and glamour there's the reality. A reality of oppression, exploitation and propaganda. So go on - add your pennies…

Years ago I wrote admiringly (in NvA) of Pat Arrowsmith's poems and illustrations, Drawing to Extinction (Hearing Eye 2000), but now - with too little time and too few words to do them justice here's another clutch of books from Hearing Eye (hearing_eye@torriano.org). This is recommendation in itself and I envy the poets for being so chosen.

Miroslav Jancic (1935-2004), who was born in, exiled from, and returned to die,…

“It's always too soon to go home. And it's always too soon to calculate effect.” Activists who feel despondent and or just plain tired will read this book and take heart in our work and find purpose in the creative search for a better world. Solnit believes we've had many successes; we can and should rejoice - and then carry on.

“I once read an anecdote by someone in Women Strike for Peace, the first great antinuclear movement in the United States, the one that did…

On Thursday 2 February, Vancouver City Council voted 6-5 to cut funding for the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities (IAPMC) and Mayors for Peace annual conference, due to be held from 23 to 26 June.

In March 2005, Vancouver had agreed to host the event, to be held alongside the World Peace Forum, and pledged $50,000 to cover the cost. Mayor Sam Sullivan rescinded this decision stating, “We are facing some very tough decisions in the 2006 budget process and I was not…

Now in its fifth year O-I-L, Operation Infinite Love, is still bringing people onto the streets to celebrate.

But what is there to celebrate? Venus, spokeswoman and founder of O-I-L, explains why O-I-L is still in operation. “Rather than highlighting the things that appear to divide us as a human race, I wanted to bring attention to what appears to unite us as a human(e) race. It is my opinion that love is the one thing that truly unites us ... problems mostly arise when there is a…

Jarhead is yet another Sam Mendes tour de force. This time bringing the Anthony Swofford memoirs of a US marine scout/sniper in the first Gulf War in Iraq to the big screen, once again Mendes has brought the same intensity and throw-away realism that his previous Hollywood adventures have also had.

Just like his previous big-budget outings, Jarhead adds an abstract or almost surreal quality to the very real and mundane nature of one aspect of the US way of life -…

The first time I saw this film must have been shortly after it was released some 35 years ago. I felt that what was being described within this pseudo-documentary could happen to both me and my mates - really scary!

I remember it as a film which had a greater shock value to me than the more famous Watkins film The War Game, and even after all of these years I still feel that it is a stronger and much more shocking movie. The film is set in the America of the not-too-distant future in…

What do Chinese opera, Sikh comedians, kicking racism out of football, and human rights lawyer Louise Christian all have in common? Answer, they're all part of this year's Fennerfest held in Slough.

Inspired by the legacy of Fenner Brockway - Slough's MP from 1950 to 1964 and co-founder of CND - and organised by the Slough4peace group, the festival is a heady mixture of theatre, film, comedy, music and debate.

Organiser Liz Cochrane said, “Following on from the success of…

Between 25 and 27 November Undercurrents hosts the 6th annual video activist festival with clown rebel army and video workshops.

Hosted in the very heart of Swansea Marina, South Wales, this year sees the first MISTY awards to celebrate media activism, together with homegrown and global films and great music. See p12 for events details.

More than 150 people gathered at Faringdon's Corn Exchange on 8 October to launch the local peace group's month for peace - in celebration of 25 years of peace campaigning in the Oxon village.

Guest speakers included Bruce Kent, Felicity Arbuthnot and Juliet McBride. Congratulations Faringdon!

I've always liked Shelley's life: its passion, poetry and politics.

When he went to Oxford he and his friend Hogg immediately set about writing a pamphlet titled The Necessity of Atheism. Shelley noted that "my mother fancies me on the High Road to Pandemonium" and she was proved right. Their pamphlet duly set the Master of their university college by his devout ears and he summarily expelled the pair of them. Thus, at age 19,Percy Bysshe Shelley's life was launched upon the…