My thought for the day / week is this: Im from Hastings, a place with a bad reputation which recently has been undergoing what has been referred to as gentrification that is; a better class (if you believe that shit) of people moves in and house prices go up and there is more than just an Iceland to get your food from etc. Another thing that has come with this gentrification thing is people trying to impose their idea of culture on the town. I remember a campaign that Hastings council put fourth a few years ago to counteract the towns bad reputation Talk Up Hastings i.e. lets pretend that no bad shit happens here. Well I would like to suggest this; no culture is a culture if it is in denial about its true self, it is down to people who come from or know this place and talk about its dark side as well as its beauty to convey the real culture of the town and create something significant from it. Much like John Waters did with his native Baltimore. Hastings is an interesting and richly cultured place already, but a dark and complex place too. Everyone from Aleister Crowley to Alan Turing and Grey Owl and many, many others have their links with here, it is also the birthplace of television. I think its writers such as Salena Godden who are helping convey the real culture of Hastings, I hope I have a role in that too. Im happy to see the town expand and evolve and become cultured but lets be true to its spirit and soul, the good and the bad, because believe me this place still has a way to go. That is my thought written with love for the place that spawned me. Bed now.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 01:49:37 +0000
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