RED RAG August 18th - 31st Free fortnightly! Reading's Only Floating Free Newspaper Next Co-ordinator: Lynn: 65955. Copy date: Thurs 29th Aug. News: Clive or James: 595605. Events: Mark: 92-680051. Going out: Mark: 782178. Advertising: James: 595605/ Distribution: Pogle 92-680051. Red Rag, c/o Box 79,17 Chatham Street, Reading. - - - GREENHAM SCAPEGOATS TRIAL On Wednesday 14th August, Jill and Claire, the 2 women scapegoated by the M.O.D. police for the demonstration at Greenham Common on Oct 29th 1983, were on trial in Reading Crown Court. They decided to plead guilty to the third version of their charge, now £60.76 after being raised from the original charge of £25 damage to £5397.65 damage. There was therefore no trial by jury, and the judge merely listened to the prosecution and the defense, summed up, and passed judgement. About 20 minutes in all, after two years of uncertainty. Jill and Gloria were obviously under stress after their period of waiting, and Jill had developed a very bad skin rash over the previous weekend, due to her anxiety. This means that she has probably lost the MSC job she was due to start this week. Despite this and a relatively sympathetic summing up the judge gave them two years conditional discharge plus costs of £30, to be paid back at £2 a week. Surely a further two years is unnecessary in the light of the two years punishment they have already been through. But no, once again stiff treatment is being used to intimidate other activists. We should all take note of the experience of these two women and ensure that, particularly with the public order acts and resulting stiffer charges (including conspiracy) for people picked out at mass actions, that we develop support systems for individuals isolated in this way. We cannot allow the political manipulation of prosecutions and the law's ever increasing role in the treatment of political activists, to go unchallenged. J. - - - GREENHAM BENEFIT NEWS Reading Women's Greenham Support Group would like to thank all who helped with & came to the 30/- Disco on 2nd August at the Centre for the Unemployed. It was held to raise money to help Greenham Women pay fines amounting to £370 for entering Aldermaston AWRE. When he placed this judgement, the judge said the women were to pay at a rate of 30/- a week. We raised £140, including a donation from the High Thyme Food Co-op, who supplied a great selection of food. Special Thanks to Tim Hill and Pat Thomas on sax and piano, and to Pete and Graham who juggled under disco lighting. Thank You also to Lynn and Wendy who co-ordinated the evening. - - - VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE Women in Reading now have a maximum of 6 weeks left at the Women's Centre in Old Shire Hall. From the end of September, we have no base for the dozens of groups that make use of the centre at present - services like Pregnancy Testing won't have a guaranteed private space; there'll be nowhere readily available with a large room for workshops, performances; no central store for the library or information service; no meeting place where new women can turn up: we'll be back to each other's houses again. The Women's Centre Campaign Group has been meeting weekly for the past months - writing letters, meeting councillors, identifying properties, etc, etc, in an attempt to find somewhere to go, if only temporarily. We have got the Borough Council to acknowledge the need for premises - and to arrange a meeting between us and the Borough planning officers to discuss our needs - but we're still centre-less in 6 weeks. The campaign group is small, mainly women from the centre collective - but we need all the help we can get. Any woman with ideas, energy, enthusiasm, please come to the next meeting (6.30, Tuesday 20th at Women's Centre). Anyone with cash, please donate something because we'll soon have no way of letting each other know what's going on other than by newsletter. Anyone who wants to sell things from a car boot, support our sale on Sunday 1 Sept at Kennet Valley School, Carters Rise, Fords Far, (cars 1pm, open 2pm). We affirmed the need for a centre at the party on 19 July - don't let it slip away. Sue. - - - DORIS'S PARTY Some of you may recall, back in the misty past of last Winter, a series of Free Festival Benefit Gigs. A few of you may recall brief mention of meetings in recent Red Rags. Well now the suspense is nearly over. Doris's 20th Birthday Party (A) Free Festival Live Bands, Jugglers, Fire Eaters, Sand Dancers, Theatre & Mime, Fun & Games, Comedy, Children's Play Area, Dead TeeVees! Everyday Life, Camping, Dub Tent, More Live Bands, Relaxation, One Love. Plus whatever you can contribute!!! Noon Friday 6th September Dawn Monday 9th September The benefits raised about £700, which we shall use to provide basic facilities. What then happens with those basic facilities is up to anybody who wishes to do something. There are loads of ideas around; we just need to get our acts together, and make some of them happen... So why a Free Festival? "State Control and Rock'n'Roll Are Run By Clever Men" (Poison Girls) We could choose to act like clever men. We could put together a package of delights for your consumption. We could order it, arrange it, take lots of decisions for you. We could present you with a weekend labelled "Leisure", and sell it to you at a very moderate price. We could help you hide from all the things in life that make it a drag. We could lure you into the trap called "Escapism". We don't choose to be clever men. Society keeps demanding of us that that we conform, that we play the role allocated, that we compete, calculate, try to dominate. That we get one over on somebody else (or, if we think we are really smart, get one over on the "system"). We would rather choose to be free. To live in a world of equals. To have fun, to create something worthwhile. To stop being too scared to relax, to stop being lonely when the TV closes down at night. Tb live as we each choose, in accordance with the natural rhythms we are part of, not in opposition to them. To be free to be nice to people. To be respected for smiling instead of saying "Sir". The whole peace, harmony and excitement lark. That is why sane of us are anarchists. We would like to pretend that we know all the answers, but try not to. We want to learn what each of us really thinks is important, and recognise what is ugly for what it is, not what a salesman would like us to believe it is. We like to celebrate beauty just because it is beautiful. There have been anarchist groups in Reading for 20 years now, of one sort and another. That seems a good enough excuse for a party. And everyone who likes the taste of freedom, the smell of a healthy planet, and the sounds of friends enjoying themselves is very welcome too. No doubt plenty of people will cone and consume. Sit, watch, passively accept whatever is going. Have a few senses titillated. Wash their hands of responsibility by putting some of their cash onto the money-go-round of "alternative" capitalist life. You're welcome. Hopefully some of what you see and hear will help you question what you are, what you have been made. If not, McAlpine billboard the revolution! Besides we're confident that enough people have enough life coursing through their veins that they know how freedom feels. Alive, growing, willing to experiment, to risk failure, ridicule, to learn. Understanding how freedom can make responsibility enjoyable and liberating. Having the positive power to create; rejecting the power to destroy. Sharing each others' confidence, living each others' dreams. We care for the dying, the hungry. We care for life, fulfillment. We want to show our hopes, our confidence, our vitality, to share it, to create a better world. Here, now. Bring whatever you would like others to find. We have a stage sorted out, with p.a. Lots of bands willing to play. Toilet facilities and a water supply are currently exercising our imagination and ingenuity - come and be amazed at what can be made out of very little... And now for the practical bit: If you could provide any of the following list of things, please let us know. However small or large your contribution, we want it. Marquees; Generators; Tarpaulins; Carpets; Firewood; Fire-extinguishers; Chairs; Fire-eaters; Clowns; More jugglers; Water containers( large-ish); Trestle tables; Mirrors; Partitions; Rope; Banners; Flags and flagpoles; Old building timber; Dressing table; Bunting; Paint; Large litter bins (any old oildrums ?); Toys; Lighting (especially strings of bulbs); Strawbales; Hardboard; Foodstalls; Sideshows; Old TVs; Large polythene sheet; Information displays; Smiling faces; Kids' activities; a Pickaxe; more Jugglers; Transport (especiallly a dropside truck or flatbed). It Will Be What We Make It Meetings every Monday evening to plan, prepare and "co-ordinate" things. Contact Box 19, Acorn Books. Special Meeting on Thursday 22nd Aug: to discuss performers/bands available and where/when during the festival they want to play. All information about bands etc willing to play to us by then? Please? If possible. We expect there will be a wide variety of things happening, but it won't be a just-come-along-and-watch occasion: there will be plenty of scope for spontaneous "things" to happen. So what is a Free Festival? If one person (or even a few) tried to tell everyone what it was going to be, it wouldn't be a free festival any more. It may be an occasion for people to come together, in a joyful spirit, to live and create as they each choose. So what is freedom? Can you buy it? Can you put a fence around it? Can you put some in a box and save it till later? Box 19, Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham Street. - - - READING BETWEEN THE LINES 1985-6 Last call for information and help for the next edition of Reading's Only Guide. Contact c/o Box 200, Acorn Bookshop, or ring James on 595605. - - READING FOR KIDS Reading for Kids is a directory of facilities for young children and their families in and around Reading. Produced by the Reading Working Mothers Group (c/o 12 Instow Road, Earley) and printed with a Council grant, it costs 20p from the Civic Offices. Lots and lots of information about all sorts of things. Very highly recommended! James - - - CRUISE RUMOURS It is pleasing to note that 'Red Rag' is considered suitable reading by the Berkshire Girl Guides Association. An item of particular interest to them appeared in this column a few issues ago. It was a photograph, of a USAF display in a childrens' park in America which offered, "Kids! Have your photograph taken with a cruise missile!" The Girl Guides concern was due to the fact that the association was celebrating its 75th anniversary at Newbury Fair and the USAF base had offered to send a 'static display'. A call was made. "What form," asked an apprehensive Brown Owl, "would this 'static display' take?" There was relief all round when it was revealed that the USAF only intended to send a fire engine. Such was the relief that only afterwards was it pointed out that, as a firestorm is a classic result of a nuclear explosion, the fire-engine itself was not in the best possible taste. In its own back yard the USAF is much more up front about a lot of things. Remember all the fuss about whether US troops could open fire on British civilians? On USAF bases in the USA no such ambiguity exists, as the sign below reveals..... The Americans of Greenham Common have always had a good friend in the Newbury Chamber of Trade. With true shop-keeper logic it pointed out to its members that the 1,800 personnel at the base, and an additional 2,200 wives and children, all had full pockets and a need to eat, drink, shop and be entertained. The Chamber even did a lot of 'bridge-building' when a local publican banned all USAF personnel and local shopkeepers added to a growing dossier of complaints about American drunkeness and shoplifting. The USAF has now announced its plans to build a $250 million on-base 'welfare-and recreation' complex. The complex will include a restaurant, school, gymnasium and bowling alley as well as a 5,000 sq.ft. supermarket open seven days a week. The supermarket, in common with FX's on all USAF bases, will stock American branded goods shipped in from the USA. Alcohol, in common with petrol sold on the base, will of course be free of all U.K. taxes. The Newbury Chamber of Trade would do well to ponder the words of a great American who pointed out over fifty years ago that consumer capitalism expanded in line with one golden rule - "There's a sucker born every minute." Zed Feecher - - - (paid ad) NEWTOWN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION meets every 2nd Weds of the month at the community house. Are you looking for premises in Newtown? The community house offers you space and time for new and exciting community groups. 117 Cumberland Road. Contact Kate 68158 / Hazel 662720 - - - TRADES COUNCIL Their July meeting lasted a couple of hours: reports about various TUC and SERTUC thingies. The minutes also refer to MSC, YTS, RCU, ICFTU, TCJCC, BATC, CHC, W Berks DHA, RBC, RSG, HMG! News of various jolly events: Sept 2nd SERTUC Womens Rights Open Meeting in London, to discuss "Equal pay for work of equal value". Sept 4th Community Health Council Public Meeting. 2.30pm 10 Gun Street, Reading, about the proposed closure of Prospect Park Hospital, and strategic and capital programme, 1984-1994. (The next ten-year programme of health service cuts?) Sept 25th: Pensioners Action Day. RTUC is concerned that problems with childcare may prevent some people in being involved in Union Branch and RTUC meetings. They invite information from existing and possible delegates about childcare responsibilities and possible solutions. Information to Alan Hooper, 26 Morgan Road, by 9th October, please. - - - ACORN: BLURB TO FILL A SPACE Hello bods Acorn person here calling all people who have a box number at the shop please collect your mail on a regular basis as it can get awfully congested on the shelf sometimes. Also we have some new (to us) magazines in stock - The Wire improvised music jazz in many forms Crowbar the mag that tell you how to do it properly if you want to do it squat that is full of useful tips new ish. of Green Anarchist dont forget we're here and there and more than just a bookshop, the collective will be in the shop from tuesday to help you recondition your mum and dad an to ease aside all those old institutions the church the government the council and any other state run con that you'd like to see the end of dont forget an idea for Doris - - - LETTERS Dear Red Rag and all, We've been in Reading for a few days with a travelling exhibition and information stall. The exhibition is really about the extent of the involvement of our own mentality in the creation or justification of abuses all around us, whether they are abuses to each other, to fellow creatures or to the planet. If we like to think in terms of enemies, then there really is an "enemy within", but it is not within an easily identifiable group at which we can point an accusing finger, but uncomfortably nearer home - within each one of us. Unless we recognise and find the courage to accept that we shall forever fail to inspire change. This is the source of real change, not intimidation not even information, but inspiration -- the cutting through of the dead layers to the life source within each one of us. Moreover, it is the desire to do exactly that which lifts any idea of anarchy from a self indulgent theorising to a practical possibility, for if anarchy is about freedom, then compassion is the life blood of that freedom. As unpalatable and unrealistic as it may seem to some, love and love alone makes anarchy actually possible. Without love, anarchy degenerates into "survival of the fittest". Not essentially different, and perhaps worse than our present "state." Authority can not be reclaimed by any individual for themselves without the associated responsibility which goes with it, they are totally linked, to deny one is to inevitably lose the other. "Believed to be unique, this magnificent dwelling has been sadly neglected in recent years. Some outstanding features have been lost. However it still offers an exceptional home to those prepared to maintain it with care." Part of the words to the travelling exhibition, to which there is accompanying artwork. Good wishes, good news, and good luck. Pete Haywood Peace by Peace, Travelling Exhibition. Have those of you with tell-lies noticed how whenever there's an entertainment on with 'a bit of social comment' at certain points in the proceedings every viewer has something to say on the subject, then a while later, for no apparent reason, they all shut up and carry on viewing for a time? Also, during the 'heavy emotional scenes' they just talk amongst themselves, and nobody seems to remember what anyone else said. And those programs. They've got something for all of us. But rarely the same stuff at the same time, unless of course it's topical or subversive ha-ha. the medium of course is telling it like it does / is innit? and none of us believe a word of it ...of course. sam ex-tract from Illusion In Nature & Art-Ed. by r.l.gregory & e.h.gombrich publ. duckworth p. 224... What characterises play is the element of social compact, the exclusion of the 'spoilsport' whose uttered disbelief will 'break the illusion', in the game the consistency test with the outside world is deliberately dispensed with, it creates an enclosure in which the 'hypothesis' that we are cops and robbers is applied to the best of our ability. There is no delusion, but plenty of illusion, for in the heat of the game the outside world may sink beyond our awareness. Maybe the robbers will even begin to look different from the cops, once we have entered into the spirit of the thing. - - - MORE FOR THE 'VANISH THE RICH' DEBATE Maybe we could set up 'Wealth Asylums' where those who get their kicks from moneygrubbing could be left to their own unwholesome practises and allowed to get on with it? As 'money' is valueless without scarcity to back it with, perhaps we should dole out just enough raw material to let them scrape an existence off each others claws, or a bit less? to leave room for their precious Survival Of The Fittest add extra spice to their lives. who knows, we might really get up their noses by showing them just how wonderful our alternative production & distribution set-up is. sam - - - THE GROWING PGINS OF AMANONDA DOLE, (l6-65) Mon. 19th. Woke up. Got out of bed. Pulled a comb across my head. Ate breakfast. Wandered around town, popped into job centre after lunch. No luck. Wandered around town again and then went home for supper. Watched T.V. then went to bed. Tues. 20th. Woke up. Got out of bed. Ate breakfast, wandered around town. Popped into job centre. No luck. Light lunch followed by a stroll home. Watched T.V. went to bed. Weds. 21st. Woke up. Got out of bed. Wandered around town. Went to job centre. Small supper. Watched T.V. went to bed. Thurs. 22nd. Woke up. Got out of bed. Went to job centre. No luck. Solo T.V. Large supper. Went to bed. Fri. 23rd. Woke up. Got out of bed. Light lunch. Went to bed. Sat. 24th. Woke up. Sun. 25th. wo... WIMP - - - READING CAMPAIGN AGAINST BENEFTT CUTS "Reform of Social Security - A Programme for Change" - the name of Norman Fowler's new green paper - "an assault on the welfare state and all the social progress our forebears worked for" say RCABC. The changes are designed to hit anyone who's not rich:- family income supplement will no longer be collected by the mother, but "Family Credit" will go into the breadwinners wage packet; free school meals abolished; no more Income Support if the "main breadwinner" is not working; the abolition of SERPS; the loss of an estimated 3,000 jobs in DHSS. Women, children and unemployed workers will all be hit. (What's new?) So, what are you going to do about it? Reading Campaign Against Benefit Cuts (RCABC) have produced two leaflets, one outlining the proposals of the green paper, the other how families and pensioners are affected by it. Leafletting sessions in town and around have been successful - if you want to help or want sane leaflets to distribute in your local community, contact Chris Borgars on Reading 477073 or 581144 ext 358 (day). There is a petition you can sigh (at Acorn and RCU), and more copies of this are available from Chris (as above). You can write to your MP or DHSS, Room D4C6, Alexander Fleming House, Elephant & Castle, London SEl (by Mon. 16th Sept.) even if it's just to say the proposals are horrid. A Public Meeting will be held on Thurs 12th Sept. at the Avenue School, Basingstoke Rd., Reading (time?). Speakers so far confirmed are Fran Bennett (CPAG) and Alistair McCrea (NUPE). And there's money too (of course) - donations are needed to cover printing and hall hire costs. Ted Berrow at 27, Carlton Road, Caversham Heights is the person to send your contributions to. - - - THE VERY FAMOUS GOING OUT GUIDE * * Fuelled by Special Brew and an abdicationist desire to inform Sunday 18 August: Butler, Chatham St - modern jazz: Clem Adelman, 8.3, free. Readifolk, Caversham Bridge Hotel - 8ish, free (I think) - Barbeque plus Sonny Blacks Blues Band. Sound system in Palmer Park, 20p - weather, chaos & environmental health officer permitting. Let off!! Windmill Theatre, Bagnor (Newbury), - Kenny Ball: N. 46044. Univ. Plant Science Lab Gardens open - 2-6, 50p. Guided walks & plants. A must for vegetable rights activists. Forbury Gardens - Salvation Army Band, 3-4.30. After the (Lord Mayor's) Reading Show - Kings Meadow. zzz.. Angies - Elevator Music (jazz / rock). Ha ha ha - in spite of "the Management" not sending me info, here we are. And there it is. Strikes me as well Snooty to avoid paying for Members' say you've come down from London "just for this gig"... SHP - 101 Dalmatians. It's booked up completely. SHP - Terrace Bar - Ian Smith (who?) jazz quintet, lunchtime. Monday 19 August: DIY Hedonism - free festival meeting: Box 19 Acorn (contact, not actually in it). Happy Birthday Dorris. Is the folk club at the Bull, Nettlebed closed? Albion, Oxford Rd - Pete James Jubilee Jazz Band. 8pm free. Thatchers, Fairwater Drive (on Woodlands Ave), Woodley - jazz / funk / soul til 11pm, free. Silks, Thatcham - minimal publicity about for any live bands... Going out staying in - 106FM, 9.30-11.45, tune in with Bonny Prince Charly, Coolo Perator in the Tower, Roots Reggae Pirate Radio. SHP - 101 Spotty dogs. Still sold out so why list it?? Tuesday 20 August: Tudor Arms, bottom of Station Hill - Disco in a so-called gay pub from which gay people have been banned for criticising sexist beermats, amongst other things. Anyway, is it a Gay Disco? Even the defenders of the Tudor implicitly acknowledge its faults - time for a fresh start? Paradise - Live Aid Benefit? No-one's said anything... Out of Town Club, Padworth - live bands. SHP - Damn, Damn, Damn... Wednesday 21 August: Princess Margaret is 55 today. I'll drink to that. Paradise - Soul & Reggae but again, no-one seems to know what... New Yorker - fab 60s disco. 8-11. Whither the Jive Dive? European Folk Dancing - Friends Meeting House, Church St (off S'ton St.). 7.45. £1. Damn. Thursday 22 August: Free Festival meeting - very important as the "organisers" will be trying to decide which bands etc want to play, to help publicity. If you want to take part, contact Doris c/o Box 19, Acorn. Paradise - Unity Hi Power / Young Lion Massive. Two very good dance hall style reggae sound systems, laying in competition 8-2. £3. Cross Keys (nr Butts) - country music, 8.30, free. Angies - Fast Furious Stuff with Friction Groove. Stag & Hounds, Pinkeys Green, Maidenhead - folk: Martin Simpson, 8pm, free. SHP - Cinema changes at last: "Caravan of Courage" (U) 2pm - soppy space Odyssey... SHP - Cinema - "Brazil" (15) Terry Gilliam visual fantasy, image piled on image. 7.45 £2.50. Friday 23 August: Tudor Arms - disco - see 20th. Paradise Club - Jah Shaka: roots & culture sound system, 8-2, £3. Personal opinion - not to be missed. Ranikhet School, Spey Rd, Tilehurst - one for the kids - playscheme music festival for Ethiopia: Indian dancing, breakdance crews, disco, Graham Ledge (2pm, 210) and Roots Dimension (roots rock reggae band. Hello Colin.) All day til 4pm - 20p entry. Lamb, Eversley - folk club, singers nught - 8pm free. SHP - "Friday Live" - 10-2: Smokey Joe Blues Band £3, food available. Angies - The Crackshots. Lord Raglan, Wokingham - Dixie Jazz, 8.30. The acceptable face of southern chattel slavery?? SHP - cinema: both as 23rd. Saturday 24 August: Reading Lesbian and Gay Celebration: details from Acorn 584425. Why can't gay people be allowed to have socials like "normal" people, i.e. openly??? Paradise Club - King Dick sound (ho ho nudge nudge) plus Hurricane Force Steel Band - all in aid of Ms.(!) Paradise Club 1985 contest. £3/£3.50. Bilge. "Lot of surprises to full an entertaining evening." Emmer Green Youth Club - Reading mini-festival (not to be confused with the Free Fest.) Boys from Brazil, Red for Go, Big Shots & Shooting the Rapids, 7pm-midnight, £2 adv / £3 on door. Angies - 1000 Mexicans. Theale Show - Theale Green School - 12 noon. Tel. 411646. SHP - just cinema (Caravan of Courage / Brazil) - as 22nd, with Brazil also al 10.30. £2.50. Sunday 25 August: New games - 2pm Palmer Park. Reading Center for Unemployed, 4-6 East St. (596639) - Gay theatre group to meet at 4pm. Bring ideas, musical instruments and laughter. 1st workshop. Red Rag COllective - 4pm, 87 Nightingale Rd, Woodley (nr Bulmershe College). Tea with Liz?? Phone 691135. If you don't/do like something in the Raf, turn up and say why. Meet the enigmas behind the pseudonyms. SHP Terrace Bar - (nice draught cider) - Katesgrove Steel Band, lunchtime, free. SHP cinema - as 22nd. Swallowfield Show, Whitehouse Farm, Spencers Wood - produce, displays, show jumping. £1/50p/day. 883575 for details. Butler, Chatham St - Pricy Fuller beer & the modern jazz stylings of Clem Adelman, 8.30, free. Monday 26 August: so important the banks are on holiday Free Festival meeting - Doris, Box 19, Acorn Books, 17 Chatham St. Carnival Carnival Carnival. Check out Shaka in Brixton... Tune in, Stay in, to the sounds on 106F, 9.30-11.45 - pirate radio reggae. Waterloo Meadows Summer Fete - 1.30-4.30, games, face painting, buying things. 15p. Thatchers, Fairwater Drive Woodley - jazz / soul / funk, 8-11 free. Silks, Thatcham. Nought out of ten for publicity. Angies - Nik Turner's Inner City Unit. Phone 789912. Albion, Oxford Rd - Pete James Jubilee Jazz Band, 8pm free. Folk at The Bull, High St. Nettlebed?? SHP celebrate with the same 2 films (see 22nd). Shinfield Grange Garden, Cutbush Lane, Shinfield - open garden. Afternoon. Proceeds to charity. No dogs. Palmer Park - Athletics trophies meeting. Littlewick Green Show - Shottesbrooke Park, White Waltham, M'head. Tuesday 27 August: Lily Hill Park, Bracknell - Countryside Orientated Playschemes for 8-14 year olds, turn up on the day, 25p/dat. Phone Charlotte 0344 482021. Tudor Arms disco - there's no party line which says it is / is not "a gay pub". But either way: is it ideal? Paradise - Royal Monkees (Fab, Falling Angels as was. Don't like the name change). Gothic? SHP - Caravan of Courage & Brazil. Still. Wednesday 28 August: More pond dipping, screen / lino printing, beastie bashing, weed collecting (...), keeping the little ones rustically enchanted at Lily Hill Park, Bracknell. Paradise - reggae / soul? Come on George, tell us. New Yorker - Time Warp 60s disco til 11pm. Eurofolk Dance - see 21st. Martine's, Station Hill (opposite BR) - Gay Disco, 8-2am, £1.50 with Gay Switchboard's membership card. (597269 8-10 Tues / Thurs). SHP - cinema: Brazil (7.45) & Caravan of Courage (U) 2pm. Thursday 29 August: Lily Hill Park, Bracknell - as 27th - rustic solutions to new town, infant ennui... Board Head, Friar St - Fat Cat Band. 8pm (i.e. 9pm & 2 pints). Free. Video. Jukebox & cattle market ambience. Only consolation: Funktion at the Junktion play there sometimes (next on 12/9/85). (Spot the Sun-approved Falklands Bar Display.) Cross Keys (nr Butts) - country music, 8.30, free. Stag & Hounds, Pinkeys Green, Maidenhead: folk: singers (8.15). Angies - Little Sister (sounds mindless). Paradise - local sound system clash... Stalingrad / Lion Roots, Young Dread / Graphics. Five Horseshoes, Remendham - In Berlin. Rag Editorial - make your own entertainment. Phone 65955 for details. SHP - cinema - "The Never Ending Story" (U) 2pm/7.46, £2.50 - fantasy of school boy becoming enmeshed in the story of a book he reads. Friday 30 August: Lily Hill Park, Bracknell - more rural playschemes. Why do Bracknell District Council take all the cred for cutbacks in their own summer playschemes? Sod the internecine war, these are OK - ask Charlotte 482021 (Bracknell)/ Tudor Arms - "Gay"(?) District - see 20th. Paradise - Black Expression Roadshow from Radio 210. Reggae music. SHP "Friday Live" - Soca with Hot Syndicate, £3, 10-2, food for sale. Lamb, Eversley - folk, Richard Cox-Smith (8-ish free). Macrobiotics Meal / Meeting, 7pm, 100 Northumberland Ave, please phone Wendy in advance on 860813. Angies - Rickie Cool and the Big Town Playboys. (Sic.) Lord Raglan, Wokingham - dixie jazz, 9ish, free. SHP - "The Never Ending Story" (U) 7.45 / 2pm - not yet finite. Saturday 31 August: Brunswick Lodge Fete - 2-4pm, refreshments, stalls, <> 53 Argyle Rd - phone 599267. Lily Hill Park, Bracknell - last day of grasshopper countryside playschemes. Cowgum Party - Rag pasteup - see front cover for details. Central Club - Raiders Hi-Power Sound. Paradise - Francine (Barbadds Soca Queen), <> Odyssey & support & Star Rhpasody, disco, £4ish. SHP - "The Never Ending Story" goes on. St Mary's Church House, Chain St - Arthritis Care Market 10-4pm. United Reform Church Hall, Wokingham Rd - Horticultural Show, 4.30-6.30pm, free. Hattons, Cemetery Junction - gay evening - see Reading's Gay #3 for details (from Acorn / Wholefoods / Sloppy Joe's) or contact Box 150, Acorn Books, 17 Chatham Street. Angies, Jazawaki. Hex - Graeme Hewitt Trad Jazz Band bar, 11.30, free. Sunday 1st September: Butler - Chatham St the modern jazz of Clem Adelman, 8.30. Readifolk, 8pn, Caversham Bridge Hotel. Singers? Angies - Darryl Way (electric viola, ex Curved Air). Kennet Valley School, Carters Rise, Fords <> - car boot sale to raise £££ for Reading Women's Centre. 2pm start (1pm for cars). Collective hangover therapy at Acorn - fold the Rag then brave the bracing breezes of Reading to distribute it. 11ish onwards. Hex - Peter Skellern, 8pm, £3.50 plus. Forbury Gardens - Reading Spring Gardens Band 3-4.30pm. Wellington Country Park - woodcraft day - all sorts of recuperated/con country crafts, Heckfield 444. £1.50 / 70p kiddies. Key Hex - Hexagon Theatre - Reading 591591. SHP - South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell - 0344 484123 Paradise - Paradise Club, 112 London St, Reading - 576847 Central Club - 36-42 London St, Reading New Yorker - Queen's Walk, Reading (nr Hex.) Angies - Cantly House Hotel, Milton Rd, Wokingham - 789912. Members and signed-in guests only. £5 to join. No admission after 11.00, at £1.30 members / £2.30 non-members. Theatrical Guide: Hexagon, Wilde, Progress & Wokingham theatres closed. "Rattle of a Simple Man" - Charles Dyer (comedy), The Mill at Sonning, 20/8-21/9, Rdg 698000. Grotesque Folk Theatre at Reading Borough Council meetings, Civic Offices. "Pack of Lies" - Hiugh Whitmoore, Redgrave Theatre Farnham, 28/8-21/9, Farnham 715301. "Chicago" - Musical vaudeville, Alfred Sutton Centre, Crescent Rd, 21/8-24/8, 665550 / 869420. Majestical Festival Guide: August 17-23: Whitby Folk Festival: 0482 634742 August 23-26: Free Dance Traditional Music Festival, Llatowle, Co. Kerry, S. Ireland August 23-26: Fowersley Village Fair Oxon. 084 421 2241 August 23-28: Northern Cosmic Bears Picnic, Heapy Moor, Chorley, Lancs. Free August 23-30: Sussex Free Holiday Festivities. Chatenbury Ring nr Brighton. August 24-26: Notting Hill Carnival. August 24-26: Rainbow Peoples Pilgrimage to Glastonbury. August 29-2 Sept: Women's Free Festival, Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire. Sept 1-22: Strawberry Fields Forever, Rator, nr Old Airfield, Camelford, Bodin Moor, Cornwall. (Thanks to Windsor Free Press & Green Collective info sheet) Look out, look out... September 2nd - open season declared on partridges September 5th - Undercover Club at South Hill Park (for local bands) relaunched. September 6-9 - Doris 20th Birthday Party: a special celebration - see this Rag for details. Would that I had not been so boring & prosaic... what do you want the Going Out Guide to be? Tell me on 782178 (messages / calls before 10:30am). Please send info to me. Love, Mark xxx - - - ME AND MY SHADOW Yeah Yeah Yeah; Well let's see. Slopping whitewash, cutting out plastic bunnies, calm diligence of our progress down Oxford Rd., then the top half of Broad Street. Fifty minutes, an hour, an hour and a bloody half!! before, instead of being stoically ignored by nocturnal tradespersons and uniformed agents of the mail, our brave boys in blue Starsky and Hutch'd it into Broad Street: screech flash flash screech smile. No No No: fucking policemen - I mean why does the Thames Valley Regiment clock 11 out of the 44 grand total of arrested in Britain? Only bleedin Kirklees is "better" than that. On piece work laddies? Noticeably nasty with anyone who refused (as is their bloody right, in spite of all the chat and cajoling) to give their occupation or place of birth. Top sadism points for releasing us all slowly over a one hour period. We may come and see you dear people in September if the Council are mindless enough to press a charge of criminal damage: I'm quite prepared to face that charge with a round "not guilty" and see how much money and publicity the council can be screwed for. Yeah Yeah Yeah: It's nice to be formally recognised as a "peace campaigner" by the Heaving Post. It's nice to have people singing to you in the cells. It's also very strengthening to have groups of people coming together to do this kind of thing, even if it's just a publicity stunt. Passers-by are still gaping at the shadows of shadows to-day. Mark R. ON BEING ARRESTED, 6th August 1985 I was one of the eleven people arrested in Hiroshima Day for my involvement with the Shadow Project. We are currently on police bail awaiting possible charges. These are some thoughts, not about the issues involved, but about my experience of being arrested. I hope they may be of use to others who one day find themselves in similar circumstances. Our group of three were arrested at 5.30 am on Broad St. I asked the arresting officers to confirm that we were being arrested and for what reason. I noted this down (suspicion of causing criminal damage) along with their numbers. I also asked than to confirm that what I had written was correct. This was done fairly amicably and is a useful protection against any police distortion of events should we end up in court. At the police station, we were interviewed separately. The interviewing officer records your answers on a standard form. You are only obliged to give your name and address. Such information as your date and place of birth is not obligatory and makes it easy for police to search for or store information on centralised computers. I found it best to respond with quiet assurance and firmness, entering into no discussion after my first response of "According to my understanding of the law, I am not obliged to answer that question". Silence and eye to eye contact effectively stopped their persistence. This wasn't as easy as it sounds and some roleplay might have been a useful preparation. Personally, I feel that an "us and than" attitude when dealing with police or other power groups is unproductive and leads only to both "sides" retreating comfortably into their own stereotypes of each other. My own experience as a teacher enabled me to step out of the role relationship (authority figure versus naughty boy) and gave me the strength to talk person to person with several police officers. Two were sympathetic and interested. There are three points really in all this: know your rights and challenge the police whenever they are not observed (the NCCL pack "Know your Rights" available from Acorn is useful for this); be sure of a support network and have pre-planned procedures; and learn some songs! With love to all the shadow conspirators D. SHADOW PROJECT OVER-SHADOWED? The police hadn't got a clue. They didn't know what to do. All these people out on the streets at four in the morning, whitewashing the pavements. It must be illegal. Normal people are in bed at four in the morning. In the end they decided to arrest us. If you can call it arrest: I was just bundled into a van by someone in plain clothes who refused to identify himself, merely for having whitewash on my clothes! The police station is a very bizarre place. The 'charge room' and cells are underground, apparently in expectation of rocket attacks. Nothing in the way of furniture or decoration - a nuclear blast would leave some very clear shadows. Very definitely designed to intimidate. We must actually have created rather an unusual atmosphere of solidarity, pride and good humour. I even tried to make a joke to my interrogator: I said I couldn't remember where I was born, because I was very young at the time. I don't recommend this approach. "It may be a day out for you, but it's a job of work for us," I was told. It's a hard life, kidnapping people off the streets. Of course they were fed up because they didn't know what to do with us. So they locked us up while they thought about it. Criminal damage, they'd arrested us for(!), but even the police could see this was a bit feeble. Late into the morning they were trying to find a bye-law which prohibits whitewashing shadows onto the pavement. The cells at Reading are fairly grim - one to a cell, with your own toilet so they don't have to let you out. Cold. But they do have the most incredible acoustic, They wouldn't let me have my book, or even my glasses(!) so, like everyone else, I settled down to a long vocal workshop: singing, shouting, reciting. You can hear each other, which is nice. Being physically locked up really makes you think. There are people who can just grab hold of you and lock you up! And you just have to wait until they get bored and let you go again. Which they did eventually, around one clock. They didn't charge us, just ordered us to pay them a visit on Sept 18th, with the option of going to prison if we don't... Being let out into the company of some comrades in a little waiting room, I noticed a gigantic coat of arms on the wall. It's motto, in rather clumsy Latin, read 'sit pax in Valle Tamenais' (shouldn't that be Tamensi?) - 'let there be peace in the Thames Valley'. Just so. James Matthews - - - ORGANISATIONS Anarchists: Mondays. Box 19, Acorn Bookshop, 17 Chatham St. Amnesty 2nd Thurs of month, St Mary's Centre, Chain St. Jean 472598. Berks Anti-Nuclear Campaign / CND: General meeting 2nd Tues. PO Box 158. West: Ed Wilson 594855. East: Steve Cavin 663177. South: Stanley Plimsoll 861183. Cav'm: Ruth Winchester 482681. Berks Conservation Volunteers: Sundays: practical conservation Keith, Bracknell 56796. PO Box 165, Reading. Berks Humanists: 2nd Fri. 774871. Communists: 2nd Tues, AUEW, 121 Oxford Rd. Eileen 477913. Reading Cycle Campaign meet 2nd Monday of the month at The Sun, Castle St. at 8pm. John 64667 or Amanda 598506. Cyclists' Touring Club: Richard, Bracknell 50849. Direct Action Group: Tues 8 pm Wellington Arms in Whitley St. Ecology Party: 1st & 3rd Mon, 8 College Rd & 38 Long Barn Rd respectively. Maria 55415. Friends of the Earth: John or Anne Booth 868260. Greenham Support (women): Fortnightly meetings. Night watch every Thurs. Contact via Women's Centre. History of Reading: 1st Tues, Abbey Gateway, the Forbury. Labour History: Monthly. Mike 867769 or Kathy 590139. Labour Militant: Ian 666734. LPYS: Weds, Fairview Centre, George St, 8pm. Men's Group: Weekly. Box 28, Acorn Bookshop. Miner's Support: Thurs, TGWU, 36 King's Rd. 590311. Nat. Council for Civil Libs: 2nd Mon, St Mary's Centre, Chain St. Paul 861582. Newtown Community Ass.: Alternate Weds, 7.30, 117 Cumberland Rd. Peace Pledge Union: Monthly. 588459, 374532 or Box 10, Acorn Bookshop. Reading Birth Centre: 3rd Tues. 61330. Rg. 0rg. for Animal Rights: 1st Tues., the Crown, Crown St. Dave 54098 or Geoff 476529. Shelter: lst Thurs, Centre for Unemployed, East St, 8pm. Mark Goldup 863153. Socialist Workers: Weds, 8pm, Red Lion, Southampton St. Vegans: lst Sun, 1 Orrin Clo, Tilehurst. Liz or Steve 21651. Workers' Power: 584558. Women's Centre: Open Sat 11-3. Basement, Old Shire Hall, Abbey St. No tel. All women & kids welcome. Meetings on 'first of the month', 7.30. Reading Centre for the Unemployed (RCU): Open 9-30-4.30 M-F not Fri mornings. 4-6 East St 596639. Reading Between the Lines. Red Rag's guide to Reading, has details of many more groups and organisations than are listed here. It costs 50p from bookshops and other outlets. - - - HELP? Alcoholics Anon: 597494 24hrs Age Concern: 598097 Family planning clinic: 24 Craven Rd. 864621 10-1. Gingerbread: (l-parent family support) contact via CAB Citizen's Advice Bureau: St Mary's Butts. 598059. Incest Survivors' Group: write c/o Rape Crisis Line. Housing & Welfare Rights: Centre for Unemployed 596639. Housing Aid Centre: 55911, Civic Offices. Nightline: 872268 6pm - 8am in Univ. term time. No.5: 585858. Help for young people. 24 Sackville at. Pregnancy testing: Tues 7-9, Women's Centre, Abbey St. Free. Bring urine sample from first pee of the day. Parents Anon: 587154. Rape Crisis Line: 55577. Staffed Sun 7.30-10.30; 24 hr answerphone. Readibus (transport for old & disabled): 591121 Reading Gay & Lesbian Helpline 597269, Tues and Fri 8-10pm. Info and support. Samaritans: 58454, 24 hrs. 154 Southampton St, 9am - l0pm. Special clinic (VD etc): 863355 before 12 noon. - - - THE RAG... Red Rag has been produced for nearly 6 years by an ever-changing group of people - the Red Rag Collective - and anyone can join in. The possibilities for helping produce your very own newspaper are endless, no offer of help is ever refused. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rag - The Collective Is everyone who helps on the Rag but in practice it's the people who go to Collective meetings held once every 6 weeks or so on a Sunday afternoon on an alternate w/e to the Rag. It should be announced in the Events Guide. The minutes of these meetings are available, if you are interested you should ask for them to be delivered with the Rag. Articles for the Rag 12cm wide single spaced if typed (the prod, team reduce). Please state if you don't mind editorial scissor work or if you want the article to remain untouched. Articles should be signed in some way. Without a contact phone no. or address then the editorial group can't discuss changes etc. Beware! Copy deadline is usually the Thurs. before publication. P.S. There is a collective policy of no poetry. News and information If you don't want to write but have something you would like to see in the Rag, then you can phone Clive or James 595605. They have the same copy deadline as everyone else so give them plenty of warning. The "Box at Acorn" Red Rag lives in a vegetable tray at Acorn Bookshop. Articles, letters and small ads. (free) can be deposited here or sent by post. Events and Going Out Mark (92 680051) is our new Events person - thanks to all those who filled the gap - and hello Mark. The other Mark (782178) (before 10.30 pm please) is our resident Going Out person. These listings are absolutely Free so keep them informed. Distribution Pogle (also on 92 680051 - is this a takeover bid?) has just inherited this job from Guy. Thanks Guy. Hello Pogle. Phone him with additions, changes, deletions to the delivery list. If you are a distributor going on holiday/away/unavailable let him know or if you fancy a fortnightly stroll in your neighbourhood and would be willing to deliver the Rag to as many or few addresses as you can manage then he's dying to hear from you. Car drivers who want to see it all happen on a Sunday early afternoon are always needed to collect bundles of Rags from the 'fold-in' to take to distributors all over Reading. It's a great excuse to avoid Sunday lawnmowing, car washing, other peoples relatives. Regular volunteers would be nice, but doing it just once would be a great help. ... but were afraid to ask. - - - SHADOW PROJECT IN READING When the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6,1945, human beings were instantly vaporized, leaving behind only their shadows. The remnants of these innocent victims provide the image and theme for The International Shadow Project, a solemn memorial with a singular purpose: to help people imagine and comprehend the disappearance of human life through nuclear war. The shadows that you will see painted on pavements in Reading are representation of a sight which, if a bomb had been detonated, would be seen by no one. Unlike the shadows left by a nuclear holocaust; the images painted on the streets are non-permanent. SHADOW PROJECT 300 POLICE 0 The estimated 300 shadows whitewashed onto the streets of Reading in the early hours of August 6th, were the result of a very successful project. Successful because its message reached people. People claimed to be deeply affected by the eerie representation of nuclear shadows and, aided by national news coverage and the local press, the thousands of people who had seen the shadows during the day learned what they were about. Successful because of the feeling it gave to those taking part. The freedom of being out on the streets, our streets, working together in the early hours of the morning, to make our message heard. And successful due to the things that can be learnt from it about organisation, and the police's inability to handle actions like this. The Reading police were really left with egg on their faces. The 11 arrests were the failing of the project, but they showed up the stupidity of the police, who obviously had no idea what was going on. They assumed that the two people taking part from London were the ringleaders, sent down to tell Reading people what to do. They failed to understand that the shadows would wash off after a few days. They were therefore reduced to taking the law into their own hands (surprise, surprise) and kept everyone in the cells for 7 hours, to teach them a lesson for being so terribly, terribly naughty. Despite the fact that the Shadow Project happened in at least 100 towns in Britain, and in at least 17 countries in the world, its success lay in the fact that it was not centrally organised. Those taking part had heard that it was taking part internationally, but in every locality the project was initiated by interested people getting together with people they knew, and taking responsibility for organising themselves. Therefore these people made the decisions for the way they wanted to act within their own communities and there was no need for central control. Information about the action could therefore reach the police only as rumour. This made it impossible, firstly for them to believe it could happen (they only understand when people have been organised from outside). Secondly they were not able to respond by deploying thousands of police in one area, as they would in a mass action, with a specific target, such as the first Stop The City actions centred around the City of London. Even if they had heard the shadow project was happening they didn't know where and by the time they realised it was taking place in Reading, there had already been hundreds of shadows painted! Finally, they had not been told how they should deal with the participants;: (they do, it appears, have to be organised from above, and were clearly unable to work out what to do themselves). Incidentally, if anyone did commit a civil offence on August 6th, it was the council employees who were sent by the police to check that the whitewash was non-permanent. They caused obstruction on the pavements, and soaked many passers-by whilst cleaning off shadows that would have gone of their own accord when it rained a day later. Nora Spect... ONE OF THE POLICEMAN who arrested us said we had no right to paint on the streets because some people, including him didn't want to know about Hiroshima Day. We were detained till 1pm - I think they only kept us in so long to 'teach us a lesson'. We gave out leaflets where shadows remained - some people who had lived through the war were quite hostile and made comments like "Hiroshima was the best thing that happened" or "What they did at Pearl Harbour was far worse". The evening's reunion was a great celebration. Everyone had exciting tales of the strange morning activities. Photos of some of the shadows had been developed for all to see. The Shadow Project was not a protest, but a commemoration and an illustration. I was proud to be a part of such a large-scale operation (17 counties; hundreds of towns). I would like to thank all those who took part, helped, advised, leafletted or supported in any way Reading's part in the International Shadow Project. It's a shame the council insisted on wiping the streets clean when the rain would have done it soon enough. If a bomb did drop, who would bother washing the walls? E. - - - EVENTS Sun 18th Red Rag collating party. Picnic at Upper Heyford peace camp, details from Derek Rdg. 483416. Mon 19th Coordination and preparation meeting for Doris's party box 19 Acorn for details. Tues 20th Reading Athletic club open meeting Palmer Park. Wed 21st for thrills and spills see going out Thur 22nd Special meeting for all performers and artistes into performing playing acting singing and dancing at Doris's party details box 19 Acorn bookshop. S.W.P. public meeting St Mary's centre 8.00 p.m. Fri 23rd If you're really bored go to the planning committee meeting 2.30 p.m., civic offices. Sat 24th Reading campaign against benefit cuts, stall and leaflet helpers welcome St Mary's churchyard the Butts 10.00 a.m. to late lunchtime bring a brolly. Cycle Touring Club details of ride John Hutton Henley 574693. Chiltern crafts show Stonor Park 10.00 a.m. £l.60 kids/0.A.P. 90p. Sunday and Monday as well. Sun 25th Red Rag collective meeting phone coordinator for detail cycle touring club 70 mile ride details Geoff Clark Rdg 414317. Band concert Forbury gardens 3.00 p.m.. Mon 26th radio tree 106 f.m. 9.3(3-11.45 p.m. toon in Tues 27th all the fun's in going out. Wed 28th Gay helpline benefit sloppy Joes 9 -2. P.P.U. meeting conflicting info so ring Derek Rdg. 483416. Thur 29th Red Rag copy day please also editorial meeting details from coordinator. Fri 30th Centre for the bored outrageous fancy dress patyette 50pence bring all thats neccessary prizes for the most laughs. Greenham vigil Blue gate 12.00 p.m. to celebrate vigil anniversary. Sat 31st Red Rag paste up hassle the coordinator. Sun 1 September Red Rag collating and distribution. Sponsered fun ride start 10.30 a.m. Queen Vic. Statue Reading. Reading campaign against benefit cuts meeting Probably R.C.U. details Andrea 589036 come and stop Fouler Tree club Poplar day Farnham details Catherine Olver 874347 Events plea please send them to box 79 Acorn bookshop Readings New Exciting Gay Theatre Group meeting sun. 25th Aug. outside R.C.U. at 4.00pm. Bring ideas, songs, musical instruments, readings, mimes, charades and laughter for this first workshop. - - - RADIO TREE Radio Tree is the culmination of a concept to combine reggae music, Rasta culture and the promotion of unity and understanding between black and white. The Tropical Roots Party Show means more reggae on the airwaves, more people can tune into the "good vibrations". Radio Tree goes out from Brixton on Saturdays at 11pm for two hours, and also on Monday nights in Reading, from 9.30pm till 11.45, after 210's "Black Expressions" programme. More roots and culture for every colour and creed. Love you all to "choon" in to 106 FM. Special mention to every inmate in Reading Stir - Jah knows, one day Babylon will permit radios inside the nick! - - - RADIO RAG This issue of Red Rag will be available on cassette for people with sight problems. Contact Guy on 669562. Interest in this from readers has been growing and it would be great to keep it going. Anyone who can spare their voice for half-an-hour a fortnight to help record the tape would be welcome with open arms, also anyone with recording facilties, enthusiasm, bright ideas and enough staying power to act as regular co-ordinator. If you can offer any of the above please ring Guy 669562. - - - FREE! SMALL ADS o For sale: car, Vauxhall Viva, M.O.T., good runner, electr0nic ignition, new battery, sound body, all in working order. Offers around £*))100-00. Ring 667O85 if interested. o Two cats, 1 black 1 white, need a temporary home (1-2 wks.) as soon as possible. Expenses paid. If you can help please ring 477913. o Wanted: waste paper for recycling. Can collect. (92)680051. o Wanted: old television. Any condition so long as screen still intact. (92)660051. o 2 rooms to let in family home in Basingstoke area. Veg., non-smokers preferred. Phone B'stoke 51807. Wild thyme food coop.- Vegan/vegetarian catering service for your events, benefits, and private functions. Contact 667936. - - - (paid ad) NEWTOWN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION meets every 2nd Weds of the month at the community house. Are you looking for premises in Newtown? The community house offers you space and time for new and exciting community groups. 117 Cumberland Road. Contact Kate 68158 / Hazel 662720 - - - $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/user/ndl/readings-only-newspaper/issue/1985/1985-08-18.txt#3 $