gordonzola

Sometimes themes appear by accident. The Friday before I came home was my day of contrasts. How else to describe a day filled with going to the Imperial War Museum, an anarchist info shop, and Harrods?

I resisted the idea of the Imperial War Museum because of the name. I probably should have listened to my instincts. Most of the museum is made up of war-glorifying propaganda and de-fanged killing machines. The exhibit on intelligence gathering is full of corny videos and display cases eliding Nazi propaganda with "Communist-controlled" union rallies.

However, the reason I went was for the special exhibit on camouflage. Did you know that the use of camouflage patterns came from Cubist-inspired French infantrymen experimenting in the field of battle? Or that during WWII the Allies painted all their ships with crazy patterns to confuse the German submarines? Well, me neither. The exhibit wasn't long on theory, I would have loved to know more about whether more well-known Cubists knew of this and what their thoughts would have been, but those tidbits were worth the trip. They also had a whole Public Enemy S1W outfit as an example of "modern uses" of camouflage.

From there I walked to the anarchist info shop. Info-shops are anarchist community centers and almost every big city has one. While there are often some CDs, books, and zines to buy, the main purpose info shops serve are as a community center and a place to hang out for free. Flyers adorn the walls, there are often libraries and they are open to, if somewhat wary of travelers. This one was much like every other info shop in the world except that it also had a food co-op attached to it.

Happily, it was open. When I did some traveling back in the early '90s, especially in Eastern Europe, for many of the places we visited we only had an info shop address to connect with the local goings on. This was about a 50:50 proposition. If the info shop still existed, it was often locked. Those were also the days of frequent street battles between anti-fascist radicals and skinheads so there was an element of suspicion and fear in standing outside or trying to get into one. I don't recall what country it was but after searching for an address and climbing up stairs of a deserted, un-windowed building I thought we had finally found the right door… and then the lights went off, leaving us in pitch black. I really thought I was going to get attacked or mugged. But nothing happened. Eventually we worked our way back to the entrance and it turned out the lights were just on a timer that needed to be reset.

At this London one, I resisted buying CDs by The Ex and just picked up a couple of zines on London radical history. Otherwise what happens in an info shop stays in the infoshop.

From there I rode the Tube to Knightsbridge. Now, as any good American political punk of my generation would, I can't help hearing Clash lyrics as I walk around London. Police sirens remind me of "White Riot", The Hammersmith and City Tube line makes me hear "White Man in Hammersmith Palais", I even get that stupid "This is England" song from the Fake Clash in my head. The stop for Harrods was no exception, the line from "1977", "Ain't so lucky to be rich/ sten guns in Knightsbridge" played on an endless loop in my head.

When I walked in I realized I had confused Harrods with Marks and Spencers which, while still overpriced, is not quite so extreme. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to figure out where that was so I was committed. Harrods, which bills itself as "The World's Most Famous Department Store" is fancy-fancy. There's a doorman, of course, but that's only the beginning. It's opulent, if not actually exclusive. Plenty of tourists like me were there buying overpriced presents for relatives. Still it was upper-crusty enough that I was clocked by the undercover security as soon as I walked in and followed around the chocolate department until I made my purchases.

I felt like I finally understood why the IRA bombed this place in the '80s. But hey, my Mom likes her marzipan.