A much needed face lift.

Pete Burns says; '' Time for a new face for Dire Credentials, comments please''

Scientific racism in the inter-war period

Tacky delights of Tooting

So I hope you can welcome me back.

After an inspiring trip around the bargain shops of south London I feel inspired to write some of London’s less known artistic heritage;  a coupling of two of my favourite things; Tack and religious art. A match made in well, Somewhere…..

Tacky according to Urban Dictionary is;

gaudy, flamboyant, and flashy in apparel;

wearing lots of gold jewellery;

Sacred art is in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of religion. 

-None of the following fail in this.

LED Cruxifix

6 pack Souvenir mugs from the Mosque of the Rock, Jerusalem

Mosque alarm clock, you press the minaret to stop it

More glowing crucifix's, great for these dark winter evenings

Back in 5.....

Sorry for not writing for a while. 

Remember to recycle your reptiles, then buy them back cheaper second hand

An awesome bag found in a junk shop in Brighton. I thought the arms gave a rather personal feel. Outside the eastern block fur is a fashion taboo, but with the death of Steve Irwin people seem to care much less about crocs.hmmmmmm

Rare delights of Japan that aren't turtles

grilled eel  lunch in Osaka

Akimo- Monk fish liver

Uni- Sea Urchin

Fusion sushi salad

Papal Pop Art

 can you find me?

Engrish; The last lingua Franca?

So last year Nicolas Ostler, a pioneer in the field of Socio-linguistics publishes his best seller, The last Lingua Franca: English until the return of Babel  in which he hypothesised the gradual decline of the English language due to the changing nature of the world politics/economics etc.Ostler describes how former ligua francas have survived  through an evolution in the manner of their use. For example Latin, the language of the Holy Roman Empire was displaced by German and evolved into the universal language of academia. Following social changes local languages replace Latin in academia so Latin adapts by becoming the language of biology and the catholic clergy amongst other things. Lets have a look at a possible future of the English language. Again more holiday pics;

Sustainable tourism, where money is better spent.

Top 7 LGBT Interest groups and political factions

Are you Gay/bi/Lesbian/questioning? 

Does your local LGBT not quite cut the mustard? 

...well check these out

1)Hijra colonies of India/Pakistan. Transvestites, transgendered, hermaphrodites and/or sexually ambiguous men living in colonies under gurus.Often castrated and and earn money dancing at weddings.Supposedly possess magical powers to curse and bless at will.

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/29/hijra-pakistan-transgender-rights

2)Queercore/homocore. creating an alternative LGBT voice. Criticises the mainstream Gay pride movement as being a commercial'rainbow machine' which marginalises as much as mainstream society.Queercore has a DIY approach with activities including zine making and music events such as Scutterfest. Musically Queercore or the gay punk scene is associated with bands such as the Gossip, Gravy Train!!! and Lesbians on Ecstasy and Limp wrist. Quuercore film producers include Bruce La Bruce (responsible for must see Gay Zombie flic 'Otto or up with dead people')and early John waters.

3)Gay skinheads GAYSKINS, and gay Neo Nazis. Evidently not a contradiction.. some follow the skinhead imagery and masculinity while others join for the violence.Broderskab or Brotherhood in English,a gay Nazi flic won top awards at the 2009 Rome film festival. Artist Attila Richard Lukacs uses this subculture as his subject,apparently Elton John is one his most avid collectors.

...Also Check out http://www.webring.org/hub/gayskinheadring

4)New York Radical Women, Shulamith  and Firestone's feminist groups....What's barbaric and feels like 'shitting a pumpkin'?... Labour obviously.Part of second wave radical feminism these groups implicated the ideas of Ms Firestone (below). In her Dialectics of Sex , 1970 Firestone advocates unique methods (especially Lesbianism) to overcome  patriarchal society. These included replacing the nuclear family with communes, sex selection and en-vitro fertilisation to replace pregnancy, which an associate of hers describes as ''barbaric", later comparing labour to ahem, "shitting a pumpkin.''

5) Gay Rights Uganda. Perhaps the most challenged group operating in the land described by the BBC as 'the worst place to be gay'' LGBT persons in Uganda are find themselves subject to beatings, media witch hunts and some very strange rumors spread by the African evangelical movement... 

http://www.gayrightsuganda.org/index.php/about-gay-rights-uganda

6) The Minoan Brotherhood; Gay male witches forming new queer identity against gender bias of traditional Gardnerian wicca. 

7) Radical Faeries; Started in the Sexual revolution of 1970's, this group redefines queer identities through spirituality.Practices include co - creating, sustainable living and Earth-based spirituality. Nearest sanctuary located in Folltare France.

Wicked witches of the South West?

Explore the folkloric heritage of Britain they don't teach you in school. 

..Also a damn good day out.

 My thoughts on Magic; Witchcraft is something that can't easily be shaken off. Ronald Hutton (see below), A professor of History at University of Bristol and appointed Commissioner of British Heritage  has written dozens of books on the subject and his appearances of BBC documentaries always raises view counts (though I have a suspicion this may be partly due to his Dickensian dress sense... )

Aside from reintroducing the cravatte into respectable society, Ronald Hutton has a special place in my heart as he has provided social space for wichcraft, paganism and magic within scholarly discourse, whereas it had previously been the occupation of toothless crones and quacks, it is now a legitimate area of scholarly enquiry.

Much about Paganism endures and has become part of Christian imagery; If you have ever hung up a holly wreath, given or eaten Easter eggs or taken a day off on May 1st then you have practiced Paganism on some level. While Wicca as seen on Buffy and Charmed has occupied dissillusioned teens, Neo- paganism has found its way into respectable society;

The Prince of Wales still holds a position on the British Bardic society while the Druid orders are some of the few people that are allowed inside Stonhenge. Hutton esitmates  40,000 (0.1%) to 250,000 (0.4%) people make up the Neo-pagan movement in the United Kingdom, which includes a variety of paths. A reconstructed pagan past is more evident in the USSR where the spiritual vacuum is filled with all manner of practices.

Clearly many of us have a compulsion towards such practices. Margaret Murray a now largely discredited Anthropologist and president of The Folklore Society between 1953 and 1955 , described a common pagan myth network of sacrificial kings of which Jesus was one. Murray propagated  her Witch cult hypothesis describing an enduring prehistoric cult of a horned god which in forms endured to this day. Taking into account the writing of Hutton and Murray The modern interest in Paganism could be attributed to a variety of sources; reconstructing of an imagined golden age (as favoured by Hitler), Re- gaining a connection to the land (Hutton) or simply a space in which to exercise a compulsion towards ritual which modern society simply does not have; Interestingly 'Fetishism' according to Anna Freud, describes a very common human compulsion towards attributing specific powers to certain objects. As main- stream society shuns this practice in its origional magical context it is unsurprising that Fetishism has taken on a sexual role in order to comfort and empower its practicioners.

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The Harbour Boscastle, Cornwall PL35 0HD 

+44 (0)1840 250 111

So that was a long rant (Sorry) on why I think Magic endures. What I  wanted to write is... if you are in the UK and are curious to explore this further bop along down * to THE MUSEUM OF WITCHCRAFT in Boscastle, Cornwall I went a while ago and loved it. One of the areas most popular museums it contains a wide variety of artefacts (such as the one right) many of which were found locally, as well as a library containing over 3,000 books. The gift shop sells a  variety of souvenirs and also deliver within the UK. So if you are want to explore some of the less known areas of Britain's heritage or simply want a good day out go on and give it a go!

* (indeed assuming you have no broomstick, although the gift shop does sell them ) 

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Slow and steady richens the broth; Some not so sustainable dinners for less discerning diners...

So I was reading this article on treehugger.com entitled 'US Turtles Being Unsustainably Harvested for Asian Cuisine' Some people's reactions might me 'ewwww' Indeed after a sharp pang in my chest (in this instance guilt rather than heart- burn caused by the high fat content of turtle flesh) my reaction was 'Oops' I found that turtle (or in this case Suppon 鼈, or Japanese soft shell turtle ) tasted a lot like a particularly calorific tuna steak with an astronomic fat content. 


Origionaly a  treasured nibble of the Imperial court, Suppon cuisine has its roots in Chinese medicine and continues to be eaten by Japanese cancer patients for its miraculous properties. While fashionable ladies eat this for its skin  -rejeuvinating collagen some say Suppon is 'special food for men; 男性が食べたらもと元気になるよ'


Aside from quasi-medicinal purposes Suppon has crawled into the kitchens of humble folk which is why I can write this post. While not being one of the handomest bites the Japanese have seem to do a decent job in making it look presentable. Here's some holiday photos of a multi-course turtle supper;


第一血酒 Blood sake, actually didn't taste bloody, just boozey.

第二おつまみ－ひらめとふぐ Nothing goes better with blood sake more than aquatic nibbles; Fugu, flounder and Cod.

第三内臓刺身On our third course of sashimi of internal organs. The severed head-garnish added a 4 dimensional touch as it continued to twitch; clearly the master chef did a better a job than the guy in zombie holocaust. 

Nothing makes a heartier meal more than a heart!

第四--鍋 Fourth course of stew ( nabe is sometimes translated as hotpot) cooked on a table- top brazier. This contains turtle flesh with leeks and Tofu, quite rich. At this point a feel the need to efface my face in case turtle lovers hunt me down. I've already had one slap in the face as a result if this meal...well a boys got to eat.

Close up! neck or maybe a paw? note the high fat content.

第四鼈だしのゾウシ、写真無い Next course was zousi also called Congee in China. After the flesh was picked out the chef boiled rice in the remaining stock. This created a porridge which was served with takuan pickles. There were no pics so here's me with the leftovers; I used the shell as an ashtray for a while before it got too smelly... 

Well now you know where non sustainably sourced turtles end up when they're not beating up villains and eating pizza...

Will they be wearing it in Paris? Burkas; Dare to wear?

Add caption

Pretty cool

Malaysian Fashion Show entry

Burka by MIA 2010 

                                                          Burka by Antoine Peters