Thursday, October 16, 2008

It Is Whatever It Is, Know Worra Mean Like?

On the day that Dr (Nice, But Dim) Tim Leunig visits Liverpool for a debate, fuelled by the Policy Exchange report he co-authored, at the city's Anglican cathedral (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/10/14/dean-hopes-to-win-apology-from-city-storm-academic-64375-22026774/ ) it's worth noting an interview with Phil Redmond by David Ward in yesterday's Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/oct/15/phil-redmond-european-culture-capital ).
There is, however, a misleading prelude to Ward's piece, probably the work of a lazy sub-editor at the Guardian who's misread one line in the article, asking if Redmond has mayoral ambitions in the city. The limp & muted denouement to culture year is also ignored in Ward's interview.
Instead, Redmond performs his "we're so special in Liverpool" routine which he always reserves for the national media. Ward allows Redmond to dreamily muse about 2008's legacy stretching out into a seemingly infinite "we can do anything we want to do" future. It's a risible combination of hazy hippy ambiguities & Culture Company bollockese:
"People are now beginning to get hold of the project and are starting to wonder what they can do with it and where we go next...[ ]. The big question on everybody's lips is legacy, and there are four separate groups flowing out of the city council looking at this, in terms of structure and bureaucracy. They are not actually looking in terms of what has been achieved, which is the renewed confidence of the people. It's not about bureaucracies and structures; it's about taking the confidence of the people and letting them keep it. It's about reminding them that they can do things of their own accord, that they can work collectively, can do what they have always done."
I've re-read this quote several times but still can't make sense of Redmond's Scouse stream-of-consciousness bullshit. If anyone can translate it into plain English, I'd be extremely grateful.

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