The poetry of Vratislav Brabenec

In December last year I was challenged - or "commissioned" as I like to regard it - by Eva Turnová to produce an English version of Vratislav Brabenec's poem, poď .

I have lost count of the versions and I am not totally happy with this one but here it is. There is plenty of psychedelic intertext which I shall leave for the reader to wrestle with. I would draw your attention to the neologism, supersticians, which conjures up images of lying politicians, spin doctors, along with religious leaders and other quacks. (Well, you need to know that it isn't a typo!).

This poem, along with several others, has been set to music by the wonderful plastic people from Prague. You can catch up with their universe on Maska za maskou, released in December last year and premiered in front of an international audience in London in January.

Anyway, enjoy!

COME

Come look inside the flesh of the melon
and leave behind the knives,
burn the laws of the gorgon,
swimming is easier with an empty head.

Be a frog or be a fish
in evolution, a blemish,
a dream of birds, a secret
underneath an ocean of wreckage.

To taste the absurd is sweetness
to ride in melon juice, treacherous,
the soul is a burden and so is thinking of it,
in the garden of god there is time enough.

Stop giving birth to ghosts,
supersticians and hopes;
it's a leap in the clouds,
the bush burns within
and slanders in a coffin.

Be a frog or be a fish
in evolution, a blemish,
a dream of birds, a secret
underneath an ocean of wreckage.

To taste the absurd is sweetness
to ride in melon juice, treacherous,
the soul is a burden and so is thinking of it,
in the garden of god there is time enough.

Leaders' debate less rivetting the DIY SOS

I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to watch The Leader's Debate as it was announced with some fanfare a few months ago. The notion of a ""British TV First" seemed important to various mainstream media organisations and thus of little importance to me.

However, curiosity got the better of me and I persuaded my children to let me have a peek about eight minutes into the "show", for that what it was. I should point out, that the only time our children are allowed to use swear words without being told off, is when a politician comes on the telly. Though not encouraged to use such phrases as "duplicitous cunt" or "fuck off, shithead", I will not deny that a certain feeling of pride wells up when my daughter uses such phrases.

Anyhow, I digress. I managed to catch ten seconds of Gordon Brown sounding like an angry old guard dog before switching back to what my children were watching before. DIY SOS is more suitable viewing for your eyes and ears.

Nick Clegg was pronounced the winner of the debate by the Guardian and the other paper I bothered to check. Quite how Clegg could fail to beat a psychotic bulldog and a deluded poodle seemed to elude those same papers. He did and that's what they think is important, so it must be....Therefore I must be some sort of deviant for thinking the opposite.

Karel Schwarzenberg invokes Malcolm X in Prague today

I do love a bit of posturing especially by those pigs snubbed at the high trough. The trough doesn't get much higher than the dinner this evening in Prague after America's historically black President Obama signs something with Russia's histrionically puppet-like President Medvedev.

Quite what this something actually is will not be discussed much beyond this evening, as it is really all a polite bun fight.

One of those refusing to be part of this horrendous narrative is the delightfully anachronistic and aristocratic Prince Karel Schwarzenberg. A man who has campaigned forcefully, if at times comically, about pigs eating at troughs. (Or localized Czech corruption as the less well-born would describe it). He was quoted in the Prague papers this morning saying he will not attend this evening's meal as he and the other non-global diners are only there to act as waiters.

What does he mean?!

This invokes the memory of one Malcolm X, the straight talking black American unfortunately airbrushed out of online histories but you can find him speak here about house niggers eating better than field niggers. Not on that clip is the statement, "I'm not a diner unless you let me dine. Then I become a diner". Brother Malcolm was referring to the rather unfortunate history of the United States when it comes to looking after its own citizens.(Though this could apply equally to Russia and elsewhere for that matter).

However, in a moment of petulance rather than intelligent irony, Schwarzenberg does remind us of Malcolm X. Obama won't be paying attention but we should. Those gathered at the baroque trough this evening are dining on the future of this planet, paid for by the suckers who let them be there.

UCL, London's Illegal University

I must confess surprise that The Independent ran a story about how the CIA now holds data on 900 current and former members of University College London's Islamic Society. After all, it is 1 April and the student body itself and their representatives don't seem bothered that they have not only broken the union's own data protection guidelines, they have also broken British and EU law.

Never mind, Britain's own secret police aren't concerned either. Not only did they act outside Britain's Data Protection Act when they gathered the data, the secret police also acted outside the act by passing on the data to the CIA.

I am reminded of this lackadaisical attitude to data protection when I think back to UCL Union's Annual General Meeting held on 23 February, this year. The students' union were the very opposite of lackadaisical in the build up to that meeting. Emails to clubs and societies reminded "to send two representatives to this meeting, as important decisions about the future of UCL Union and about Clubs and Societies get made there" and threatened non-attendence with reduced funding.

Unfortunately, the lackadaisical attitude returned in time for the meeting:

James "Tubby" Hodgson, the Student Activities Officer responsible for handing over the Islamic Society membership lists was asked to give a report on his activities this year. In questions afterwards, only one student of the 400 assembled, actually asked whether he had acted illegally. He said that it was Christmas, no-one at the University was available to give advice, he felt under pressure to act to prevent further terrorist acts. That being the scripted way of saying, "yes".

And that was that. The "important decisions made" were that the student body was bullied into accepting minutes of meetings that remain unpublished and unattended and worse, that a paid officer of the students' union acted illegally was not viewed as "important" at all.

The AGM then continued on its merry way with its various gimmicks and novelties such as the wi-fi voting gadgets and the comedy French chair, who did hid best to sound like Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau.

Maybe the students were distracted by the entertainment of Dave Spart's grandson invading the stage to protest about the proposed staff cuts. Maybe the students just didn't know one of their own representatives acted illegally by handing over those lists and now the CIA holds that data, too.

UCL's branding, "London's Global University" has bothered me for a long time. Not because it isn't catchy, not because it isn't true. It has bothered me because UCL invests more in publicizing its brand than its staff or complying with basic human rights legislation. "Global University"? Well, its data is shared among global secret services. That bothers other people.

Shagger Norris still not in jail

A man cannot live by bread and poetry alone. The more rounded individual must, by definition, have other interests. One of mine is Britain's toy transport infrastructure.

Like other human beings, I simply cannot understand how train operators think they can get away with leaves on the line, or the wrong kind of snow, as credible excuses for rail delays. My current favourite comedy excuse was provided by Eurostar during one of the many cold snaps this winter. Apparently such cold temperatures were not anticipated....o deary me! This is funnier than Obama winning the nobel peace prize.

Today, the news was released that Jarvis, once Britian's largest construction company, has brought in the administrators, which is code for they've gone bust. Some of us with memories, will recall their involvement in a number of fatalities on the railways in recent years. They and Balfour Beaty between them created the need for corporate manslaughter legislation in this country after deaths caused by poor maintenance work carried out at Potters Bar, Hatfield and other places.

Jarvis chairman, Shagger Norris blamed the recession, a well-worn narrative that strangely ignores the fact that Jarvis's three main competitors have managed not to go bust in the same tough trading conditions.

One wonders not only how he found time to make this statement, as he seems to be a director of many other companies, but how on earth does this idiot remains out of jail? Other companies that have killed people simply fire their board, change their name and carry on counting their profits. (I think of Union Carbide and the Bophal disaster in particularly here). Alas, Shagger didn't even have the wit to do that and neither did the Jarvis shareholders despite years of manipulating trading statements.

No amount of obfuscation was able to persuade Jarvis's creditors from forcing settlement of their debts and yet Shagger still remains in charge. How can this be?

As none in the media seem surprised by Jarvis going bust, none ask why this fool remains out of jail. Then again, there are more deserving cases to pursue and those felons remain outside jail, too.

Joe Karafiát speaks about the Plastics, Havel, Stoppard, Rock ‘n’ Roll and audience antics at the National Theatre in Prague.

This is a translation of an interview which appeared in the Czech national daily newspaper, Právo, on 9 February 2010 under the headline "Joe Karafiát from the Plastic People: Vaclav Havel is a non-playing member of the group". The Original Czech version can be found here.

You launched your new album on 15 January in London, before the home launch. Why?
It was more to do with PR, nothing else. Our English fan, Mike, decided to organize the concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. It is the kind of big theatre where the audience is seated. We played there three years ago and it sold out. Now we’ve played there again. Our friend, Tom Stoppard, the English playwright, also came to see us that night.

We sang in Czech, despite the largely British audience. Since we had sold quite a few copies of our new CD, and it contains a booklet with our new lyrics, also in English, so the language barrier was partly resolved. However, I think that the Czech language is interesting for foreigners.

Since February 2007, you have been performing in the old National Theatre building in Stoppard’s play “Rock and Roll”. What is it like performing under the inscription “The Nation for Itself”?

Personally, it was quite a shock. I have played in dingy dives my whole life and all of a sudden I was standing on the stage of the National Theatre. I felt proud. The first performance in particular was quite a triumph. The preview show was even seen by the sort of elderly ladies who go to almost anything the National Theatre puts on. One of them shouted at me from the front row to keep the noise down. I told her to complain to the sound engineer.

It happened again later on, during the performance proper. I think that a lot of season ticket holders weren’t expecting a rock ‘n’ roll band to play on that stage. But that space isn’t very suitable for rock music. The show is now moving to the New Stage. [i.e. the new Nat The. bldg., the glass cube (see top photo), as opposed to the old one referred to in an earlier question]. We begin rehearsals in February.

Former president Václav Havel also attended the Czech launch of the new CD in the Akroplis Palace Club at the end of January. He has never made a secret of his affection for the group. How do you feel about his presence?

Václav Havel declared himself to be a non-playing member of the band, recently, at the Meet Factory in Prague. He took a chair and sat with us on the stage, where he was like a non-playing member of the band for about half-an-hour. The relationship between the band and Václav Havel is a long-standing one; he knows the pre-(Velvet) Revolution members of the Plastics very well, they’re good friends. We enjoy meeting up.

Has he made any comments about your music?

Absolutely none. Under the communist former regime, when intellectuals like Havel and Jirous often talked about culture and politics with rock musicians like Mejla Halvsa. In those days that made sense, today there’s no need for it.

The Mask Behind The Mask is the first Plastics album for eight years. Why did it take so long?

In those eight years, we’ve not only done masses of concerts together, but we’ve also been involved in three huge projects with the Agon Orchestra. We’ve had a hectic schedule, even touring in America several times. Personally, I always wanted to make a new record. Mejla’s stuff is great, but I was convinced that the band should record something new. I’m glad it that it has been released.

You are responsible for the music for six of the tracks on the CD. Was it important for you to match their feel with the traditional sound of The Plastics?

Certainly. Though my main objective was to do what Mejla Hlavsa wanted at the end of his life – write songs. By then he wasn’t quite so keen on writing long serious compositions; he felt more like doing ‘songier’ things, things people would find more digestible. I still write for my other groups, Garage and the Joe Carnation Band. I always respect each group’s sound. When The Plastics started playing my songs, they attacked them with that traditional “creaky” sound of theirs, which was always their hallmark. Though I must say that in this respect, our association with the brilliant musicians of the Agon Orchestra has helped us a lot.

Was Mejla Hlava, who died in January 2001, present in some symbolic way during the production of the new record?

Not so much now; but it felt more like that in the years shortly after his death. But later the group moved on a bit. His influence remains, of course, though we don’t feel it so intensely. However, Mejla Hlavsa was a brilliant composer.

"It's only darkness"

I make an effort to wander through the Tate Modern as often as I can, which means two or three times a year.

I am particularly fond of going on Sunday mornings, before it gets crowded. There is usually something interesting to gaze at and the installations in the Turbine Room are great for young children, well, my children anyway....

If one tires of the art on offer there, one can also walk over the nearby Millennium Bridge and be reminded of Wren's genius in the form of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

However, on a weekday morning last December, I took two visiting Plastic People for a wander into Miroslaw Balka's "How It Is"

One of the many entertaining things about viewing 'public' art is the accompanying blurb...and I quote, "We associate the absence of light both with sleep and more sinister connotations.

The dark, by limiting visual clues that we usually rely on in order to make sense of the world, leaves us open to all possibilities, from the fantastic to the terrifying. How It Is invites us to embrace these potential experiences by plunging into darkness in the company of other visitors. Strangers and friends, emptiness and obstacles, time and space blur into new categories."

One could use that description as one way of viewing darkness, 'emptiness and obstacle blur' and so on.....but really, if one doesn't know what darkness is physically and emotionally, then one isn't human.....but I digress...

Alternatively, one could look at the whole thing as a big box with some dumbed-down PR attached to it. My view would be along the lines of something Vráťa said as we exited the dark box, "It's only darkness".

There's a difference between genius and darkness.

I'm not sure Balka's installation fulfilled any 'public' function other than reminding me I'm a human being who enjoys art for art's sake but only when it alters something chemical, electric or whatever within the brain. Unfortunately, Balka didn't.