Category Archives: labour history

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on April 22, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch…Caramel, (2007) set in Beirut in a beauty salon, this film concentrates on women’s lives, rather than the politics of the Middle East. In beauty salons across the world women gather together to chat, exchange secrets and seek support from … Continue reading →

Posted in films, interesting blog, labour history, Manchester, Middle East, music, poetry, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

And down with all kings but king ludd!

Posted on April 11, 2012 by lipstick socialist

“Riots in our city streets, the worst economic crisis for decades, a long war fought abroad with no sign of progress. Sounds familiar? Welcome to England 1812”.  Mikron Theatre’s latest  production  “Can You keep a Secret?; the rise and fall … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, drama, education, labour history, trade unions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Le Havre a film by Aki Kaurismaki. Set in Le Havre in 2012, the film is about a man who shines shoes for a living and helps save a refugee African boy from the French police. It’s more than … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, drama, films, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, music, North of Ireland, Socialism, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My interview with Ken Loach; remembering the dreamers and the builders…….

Posted on April 5, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Ken Loach at the Working Class Movement Library, March 2012 “This is my truth, tell me yours”, Nye Bevan Last week I met up with Ken Loach at the Working Class Movement Library in Salford, where he was researching and … Continue reading →

Posted in films, Ken Loach, labour history, NHS, trade unions, TV drama | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on March 25, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Happy People (2010) A year in the Taiga by Dmitry Vasyukov. Siberia extends from the Urals to the Pacific and is one and a half times the size of the USA. 38 million people live in this area, but … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, Communism, education, films, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, music, Socialism, trade unions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on March 18, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Ken Loach at the BBC. During the 60’s and 70’s at the BBC he directed some of his most innovative work with Tony Garnett and Jim Allen which is now collected on this excellent DVD. It includes Cathy Come … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, drama, films, labour history, music, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, TV drama, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on March 11, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Passion Fish(1992). A film by John Sayles (US equivalent of Ken Loach). The story of the relationship between a soap star, who is paralysed and returns home to rural Louisiana, and her care assistant. Not just the story of … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, education, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, music, Socialism, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reclaim the Day!

Posted on March 7, 2012 by lipstick socialist

What does IWD mean to women today? International Women’s Day was started in 1909 in America by the Socialist Party and was first celebrated internationally two years later. It was originally called International Working Women’s Day, its aim was to … Continue reading →

Posted in International Women's Day, labour history, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, women | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on March 4, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Shabby Tiger. Made by Granada TV in 1973 it’s the adaptation of  a novel by Howard Spring. Set in 1930’s Manchester,  it’s the love story between an artist and an Irish waitress,  and  the story of how the depression … Continue reading →

Posted in Communism, drama, films, labour history, Manchester, music, novels, radio drama, Socialism, TV drama, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop! Look! Listen! a weekly selection of some of my favourite films/books/people…

Posted on February 25, 2012 by lipstick socialist

Watch… Army of Crime (2009)  French film about the Resistance. Directed and co-scripted by Robert Guédiguian,  son of a German mother and an Armenian father,  who is best known for his leftwing movies about working-class life in the Marseilles area.  … Continue reading →

Posted in films, human rights, Irish second generation, labour history, music, novels | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment