The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin (Faber and Faber 2006)

The night it happened  I was drunk, almost passed out, and I swear to God a bird came flying through my motel room window. It was maybe five degrees out and the bird, some sorta duck, was suddenly on my floor surrounded in glass. The window must have killed it. It would have scared me to death if I hadn’t been so drunk. All I could do was get up, turn on the light, and throw it back out the window. It fell three stories and landed on the sidewalk below. I turned my electric blanket up to ten, got back in bed, and fell asleep.

A few hours later I woke again to my brother standing over me, crying uncontrollably. He had a key to my room. I could barely see straight and I knew then I was going to be sick. It was snowing out and the wind would flurry snow through the broken window and into my room. The streets were empty, frozen with ice.

Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin (Harper Perennial 2010)

When I woke up that morning it was still pretty early. Summer had just begun and from where I lay in my sleeping bag I could see out the window. There were hardly any clouds and the sky was clear and blue. I looked at the Polaroid I had taped to the wall next to where I slept. It shows my aunt and me sitting by a river; she has on a swimsuit. She’s my dad’s sister and she looks like him, with black hair and blue eyes and she’s really thin. In the photo she’s holding a can of soda and smiling as I sit next to her. She has her arm around me. My hair’s wet and I’m smiling. That was when we all lived in Wyoming. But it had been four years since I’d seen her, and I didn’t even know where she lived anymore.

My dad and I had just moved to Portland, Oregon, and we’d been there for a week. We didn’t know anybody. Two days before my school year was done we packed the truck and moved out from Spokane. “We brought our kitchen table and four chairs, dishes and pots and pans, our clothes and TV, and my dad’s bed. We left all the rest.

Tramps, Workmates and Revolutionaries edited by H. Gustav Klaus (Journeyman Press 1993)

The military had taken control of the tiny station, but he hung about aimlessly, thinking to be of service to the indifferent officers. As the day waned parties of troops filed out of the village, 'pickets' the officers called them. They would be on the watch, he thought for  . . . for federals, bands of fellows like Nat Sayer, Jimmy Algood, Geoffry Field and young Chris Wrigley, and others who had gone from Wickworth. It wasn't pleasant to think of their being shot down by these crisp soldiers. Somehow they seemed too much alike, the troops and the rebel villagers. But it was no business of his, Ben Thatcher's; he was a loyal subject - never got himself mixed up with politics.

(from 'Sabotage' by H. R. Barbor)

Listening In

Socialism Or Your Money Back blog carries a nice wee piece about the late, great Studs Terkel.

With These Hands I Demand the Future

Simple, but brilliantly effective.

From the Coalition of Immokalee Workers website.

May Day - a link or three

Happy May Day, and all that. The day when workers (should be) celebrating their strength as a class, and when Liverpool (should be) dumping Chelski out of the Champions League. A couple of links to throw your way:

May the First - Workers Day Alan J. does the honours at his Mailstrom blog with a reprinting of this piece on May Day from the Socialist Standard from a few years back. Still relevant . . . and then some.

Rosa Luxemburg's 'What are the Origins of the First of May?' Rosa Luxemburg: still relevant . . . and then some.

Mondo MayDay 2007 Larry states that his blog carries: "The most complete preview of MayDay 2007 worldwide anywhere on the web". And who am I to argue?

World Socialist Party May Day Statement - May Day 2007 Shamelessly nicked from the WSPUS MySpace page.

Wofür? Der Text eines Flugblatts anläßlich des 1. Mai 2007 Two years of being a smart alec - who always came bottom in the exams - and all round pain in the arse to Ms Allen means that I can't read this May Day statement. However, I have to give it a plug nonetheless, as it is penned by Norbert, a good comrade from Frankfurt who has set up a German language blog promoting the politics of the WSM and the IWW.

And before I forget, I have to agree with Matt that it's nice to see Socialist Courier blog carrying an image to mark May Day that is not more outdated than Alan J.'s record collection.

And don't forget, May 1st is also International Shalamar Day. So be sure to sit back and listen to this plastic piece of genius, whilst singing the praises of Howard, Jody, Jeffrey and the International Working Class.

International Workers' Memorial Day

As today is International Workers' Memorial Day, I thought I'd post the following article from the forthcoming May 2007 Socialist Standard:

Underlying Cause

It's just one example of many where the pursuit of profits take primacy over the lives of working people.

What's International Workers' Memorial Day?

"The purpose behind Workers' Memorial Day has always been to "remember the dead: fight for the living" . Two million people are killed at work around the world every year according to the International Labour Organisation. This is greater than the numbers killed in wars, by AIDS or by alcohol and drugs."

Hope people find it of interest.