the internets' tubes are tied

What the hell is wrong with people? I scored a pathetic 1.9fucking6 out of 5 for my t-shirt design. That's a fail in case you didn't notice. And two of my classmates (whose designs I really liked, though granted the standard at Threadless is very high), didn't fair fare any better.
Like this one.
Or this one.

Sour grapes? Fuck yes. I didn't think I'd win. I also didn't think I'd loose so badly, either. Then again, I don't have anything to compare it to. I'd be interested to see how all my peers went.

My theory is that some people deliberately score others with 0's or 1's to drive down the average. Yes, that's it. I'm not shit at all, it's the others who are cheats.

…What the fuck am I doing? I have a major assignment due tomorrow and I'm blogging.

UPDATE: Apparently my score was rather good. Winning scores are around 2.2 - 2.5. So there you go. And check out my friend Lilly's awesome submission.

vote for my t-shirt design on threadless!

I'll be spamming everyone I know about this, so please vote early and often.

being a chum is fun

A poster I did for class using the Chummy Fleming quote I blogged awhile ago.

Sexytarian

One thing that always bugged me when I was involved in student politics (which I regret and my involvment causes me many moments of self-loathing) was that, if one chose to criticise a leninist (that's a communist, to those readers not interested in disecting that particular corpse), one was accused of being 'sectarian'. I am not sectarian. I just don't truck with red-lacquered fascists.

While it is true that there are a number of areas where the activities of anarchists and leninists would seem to overlap but, as I'm fond of pointing out, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

I bring this up for a couple of reasons. Regular readers might remember my admiration for Maurice Brinton's pamphlet The Bolshviks and Workers Control. Recently I found a video on YouTube that perfectly summarises the Bolshevik/Leninist approach to the working class and the seizure of state power.



Thought provoking indeed.

@ndy published this amusing piece on his (very popular) blog on a dispute between the Sparticist League (the one true party of the communist left in Australia [M-L]), and the Democratic Socialist Party (the other one true party of the communist left [formerly M-L]*). It's hard to explain how whacky the Sparts are, but they're very consistant, if nothing else. And the DSP? Well, they're a bit like the unpopular kid in class who really wants to be popular. In lieu of anything of interest to say in this post, I thought I'd publish my comment that I left on @ndy's blog.

I had a weird interaction with a DSP-oid at the Industrial Relations rally earlier this year. I was talking to a group of anarchists and we were standing around, trying to look tough in our black hoodies. He came over and tried to sell a paper. I snorted (rude, I know, but it did seem strange) and said “No, thank-you.” I was actually very polite considering they support oppressive regimes and aspire to be one themselves.
The guy started to walk away, then turned back quickly and said, “What’s so funny?”

I said, “You trying to sell me a copy of Green Left Weekly.”
Then he said, “Why don’t you get it printed on a t-shirt!?” I have no idea what this meant, but I slowly started to undo my jacket as I replied, “As a matter of fact, I have my ‘Don’t try to sell me things, you dickhead’ t-shirt on today.”
He walked off, but still had his head in my general direction, muttering obscenities.

I choose to believe this was “Alex”.

If we go back even further in history, there was an incident at La Trobe University in the early 1970s, when a Spart was pushed through a plate-glass window by some Maoists. The incident caused a fracturous split in the Left, prompted a rapid descent of Maoist power and helped the Anarchists to become a very influential group on campus.

The lesson? Sparts are the leprechauns of the Left. Punching them is bad luck.

Sigh. Remember when I used to publish cool shit like interviews with pop stars and such?

*If you get that joke I hate you.