Semiotics, Britain, Norway, Helly Hansen, Poetry and Greenygrey

Hi, it’s Grey Greyvara, social conscience at the Greenygrey. The image of my human parallel Che Guevara became a cultural icon, so I’ve been chosen to present today’s blog on semiotics. My subject for the blog is Dr. Marc Latham, who studied semiotics for his PhD around 2000-2002, before adapting it to framing for his media analysis. Marc was a critical theorist, supporting more media freedom and social liberation. The Islamisation of the left sent him to the Greenygrey centre.

New Brands Theory, Brand New Poetry

Towards the end of Marc’s studies in 2005, branding became the new buzzword in Communications.

Many industries are still discovering branding,
five to seven years behind the Greenygrey.
Not because we searched words to say,
the theories just passed our way.

In 2012 Marc bought a Karrimor coat,
it had a British flag on its front.
In 2013 he wrapped it around a Norwegian tree,
reminding him of another Communications theory.

Helly Hansen, Karrimor and Greenygrey

Helly Hansen is a Norwegian clothing company with a HH logo, as the Greenygrey is GG.

Helly Hansen is proud to fly the Norwegian colours.

Helly Hansen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Karrimor is a British clothing company with a Union Jack logo.

While that may seem racist-nationalistic to multicultural fascists trying to eradicate any historical Britishness from Britain, the logo is black and white, as the Greenygrey is greenygrey.

When Helly Met Greeny, in Cultural Neutrality

In 2012 Marc Latham bought a new jacket. Having seen a greenygrey one in a store he thought about buying it, but when he looked online he found a Karrimor one much cheaper.

So the decision to buy Karrimor was based on greenygrey colours and price rather than its logo.

Travelling to Norway Marc had no qualms about wearing it, knowing that Norway and Britain have a good relationship, and especially since they were strong allies in World War Two.

Social Consciousness (Photo credit: Marisa | Food in Jars)

Cultural Meaning

So while to some people in the world, and increasingly in Britain (non-sporting Britain anyway, with British sportspeople of all races and colours proud to represent Britain) the British flag might symbolise nationalism and colonialism, in Norway it should represent the fight against Fascism and oppression.

Returning to semiotics and branding, that is how names and images start from human creation, and then grow to mean something in human culture; that meaning is dependent on the culture and individual.

Che Guevara and Winston Churchill are both heroes and villains depending on your political viewpoint, and what issues you focus on.

Communist Che Guevara helped topple an island’s corrupt dictatorship, but executed many people afterwards.

Conservative Winston Churchill helped save an island from corrupt dictatorship, but had presided over the shooting of demonstrating miners.

While their politics might have been different, they both became heroic historical icons to the majority of the people they represented.

Winston Churchill in Downing Street giving his famous ‘V’ sign. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Che Guevara t-shirt (Photo credit: Paul Stainthorp)

Mental Time Trap, Under Tree Top 

So what happened when Helly met Greeny? There are a lot of ways to interpret the tree and Karrimor jacket photo.

It could look like it was all planned, if Marc hadn’t seen Eidfjord trees wrapped in colourful knitting beforehand.

Marc might have thought nothing more,
but with time to spare,
in the Eidfjord forest,
he thought he’d copy
the knitted-kitted trees,
and create a greenygrey display.

Bringing us back to that other theory,
highlighted by Derren Brown cleverly,
of time-delay traps advertisers like to lay.

To show that we’re not rabid anti-capitalists and anti-advertising, and in line with the communist world’s embracing of some capitalism; and to try and sell some books (we’d much rather be working on a grant and giving them away for free, but might have to give up some of our freedom!) which have lots more information like that above, they’re available at Smashwords and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).

Politics in the U.K. and World: Labour’s Saviour

Hi, it’s Grey Greyvara, the Greenygrey’s political conscience, and werewolf parallel to the human Che Guevara. Today, we start to round off working-class week with a summary of how and why we view the current U.K. and world political situation.

When Marc Latham was in university he felt prejudiced against, like a microcosm of the British situation told in Chavs: The Demonising of the Working-Class, with an international emphasis on everything, and the old working-class being framed as backward; being blamed for holding Britain back.

University Life During New Labour 

Britains Floral Garden ~ memories from my childhood (Photo credit: shrinkin’violet)

Marc started his PhD in line with the far left of Noam Chomsky and the Glasgow Media Group; socialist criticism of the British and ‘Western’ establishment; hoping for a more equal Britain and less international conflict. At the time he thought he was quite rare in his outlook.

But under New Labour’s revisionist internationalism, criticising Britain seemed to become the norm, while criticising other cultures was ‘racist’, and risked social exclusion. Islamism replaced socialism as the likely successor to Western capitalism in British and world hegemony.

New Labour and the Working-Class 

Che guevara (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

While Marc’s hopes for hegemonic theory supported all races and genders gaining more equality under a more socialist Britain, like Che Guevara’s philosophy, New Labour’s multiculturalism seemed to be supporting other cultures while neglecting or persecuting the traditional British working-class; and women under Islamism.

Gordon Brown seemed to confirm this when he called Gillian Duffy a bigot in Rochdale for asking about immigration near the end of the New Labour tenure. Rochdale later emerged in a related infamous story, with a Muslim paedophile ring having been targeting poor and vulnerable children for years during the New Labour government.

Current Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has now admitted New Labour got it wrong on immigration and multiculturalism.

Tony Blair, Christianity and Islam

Tony Blair and New Labour’s policy on Islam and war seems naive at best, and perhaps criminal:

1. Allowed mass immigration of Muslims.
2. Gave safe haven to known Islamist terrorists.
3. Allowed hate preachers to radicalise ordinary Muslims.
4. Went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq against Muslims.

I think Tony Blair was naive, and as a Christian thought he could work with his fellow monotheist Muslims; preferring them to the pagan communist Slav Russians and allies.

Fuhrer Tony Blair (Photo credit: acidrabbi)

This was shown by New Labour’s first war; supporting Muslim Kosovars against Communist Serbs. Blair was also the only Allied leader not to attend the Russians’ VE Day 60th anniversary celebration.

Tony Blair has now stressed that Islamism is the big threat to world peace.

British Post-Modern Political System 

Marc had wondered why some working-class people supported the Conservatives, as he grew up under Thatcher, but the New Labour government showed him why!

The British political system is no longer like the one Marc grew up under in the 1980s anyway, and is now more post-modern issues based.

Che Guevara mural (Photo credit: Contrabland)

While Marc had called for a wider hegemony in his PhD thesis, hoping for more access for the old socialism, politics in the U.K. and the world overtook him; especially as he was held up (both time-wise and financially!) by his department.

The rise of the extreme right-wing Islamic hate preachers in Britain (and I include George Galloway!), and extreme right-wing fascists in southern Europe showed him that a wider access to the political debate has as many negatives as positives.

The old communist systems were full of poor treatment of people as well, and even Che Guevara didn’t do as well in peacetime as he did in war.

So Marc is now in the Greenygrey middle, reacting to policies as much as political ideologies and traditions, and a little disillusioned with it all really. Funnily enough, that might be in line with the ‘Third Way‘ policy supported by New Labour!!!