enough with the black uhlans already // uncommercials

For the benefit of all those folks who google the 'Black Uhlans' and find this reference, here's some links:

Chopper quizzed over missing crim [The Age, 2002]
Bikies enter fray with their Knuckles backing them up [SMH, 2002]
Bikies sue to recover clubhouse [SMH, 2002]

And here's something else Black Uhlans-related:

[Believe it or not, Powderfinger had a] month-long residency at Club ACs, a biker den in the centre of the band's hometown, Brisbane, where members of the Black Uhlans would congregate and listen to the sound of Powderfinger covering pub rock classics by the Stones, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Steppenwolf ("Magic Carpet Ride," not "Born To Be Wild") and a few less likely numbers from Rodriguez and Neil Young. The band played Thursday through Sunday, four sets between midnight and 4am, surviving thanks to the protection and patronage of a limping gentle giant/local legend who went by the name of Klepto (a Black Uhlans leader who was known around town for having the guts to monster Maoris at the bar of New Zealand's Expo '88 stand).

"We we just these little nerdy white boys playing in this biker club where the Black Uhlans used to hang out," Fanning explains. "It was pretty rough. There were lots of fights and shit like that, and the manager got stabbed - that usual biker madness."

On the other hand, the club was happy to lend its support to the struggle to free unionist (and Trinity Grammar graduate) Craig Johnston in 2004, as well to do what it could to help put an end to racial violence in Cronulla last year, so they're obviously not completely Ken Bruce. And while Johnston was hardly the first militant to go to jail as a result of an industrial dispute, given HoWARd's ramping up of the class war with his new IR regime, he certainly won't be the last. Meaning that sooner rather than later, the Black Uhlans can be expected to again incur the wrath of the Tory press.

On a completely unrelated note, here's some uncommercials:

one of the cool things about working at an anarchist infoshop is the stuff you get sent in the mail. one example is megawordsmagazine. and while the ms.films DIY Guide to Film & Video sounds neat, when i went to the po box all i got was a lousy postcard. anyway, it's published by Parcell Press -- "100% independent and devoted to increasing access to zines and emphasizing the legitimacy of independent publishing as a creative, productive and progressive alternative arts culture". (a quick look at the dependent press is all i need to be convinced it's more than "legitimate": having independent media is vital.) i should also mention 'Practicing In The Space of the Everyday' by jason workman, an "essay which considers a type of politics that operates within the complexity of a pre existing context" by way of the Situationists, in particular [workman_js(at)hotmail(dot)com]. finally, tamara wyndham sent a copy (no.88) of her poem ('artist book'?) 'I Don't Want NONE', which I really, really... like. thanks tamara!