Too much to cover for too many niceties so I thought I’d do some Westway Traffic this morning. I have to offer my American hosts a ‘happy independence day’ so as not to be impolite, just don’t chuck any fireworks at each other and remember pets absolutely hate the noise – oh and thanks for keeping the language (somewhat) intact . Right then, public service duties over let us commence seeing what Clash related news is filtering through. One small favour, if you like the blog, have a twitter account and want to help the blog grow – please ‘retweet’ my posts by clicking on the handy green retweet box in the top right of the story. Much of the success of the blog is viral – it won’t come as a shock to know this isn’t bankrolled by Sony (although it should be!) maybe some bigwig at the record company could cover my annual hosting as a Clash goodwill gesture. More worthy of fireworks than revolution tonight – it’s 34 years today since the first ever Clash concert. We looked at that famous concert and venue last August if you’re interested.

Ray Lowry Auction pricing: As we’ve covered the exhibition in some depth the last few weeks I thought I’d post a link to the auction reserve prices. The auction already took place so I’m actually saving you money, I know a few readers did place bids so let me know if you were able to acquire the piece that you were after. I’ll never have the cash for such a thing but that’s alright I can view from afar. The exhibition is wrapping up now and I’m trying to get hold of some of the Ray Lowry shirts they are selling (see left) and see if they will ship to the USA. If successful and you’re located in the States/interested let me know asap so they only need to ship once and I can forward.

Strummer print worth a look: There is a lot of unofficial Clash merchandise, art and clothing out there. Some of it is awful but a lot is really nicely done. For most Strummer items I’d suggest you check out the well stocked shop over at Strummerville for your gift needs – or self satisfaction (delete as appropriate). This one caught the eye and seemed to get approval on the clashblog facebook page – so I hope you like it. $34.00 isn’t bad also for something as tasteful as a nice jet print. They have a few interesting things in their online store so do have a look.

Punk in Toronto: If you’re a regular visitor you’ve probably noticed I’ve a large soft spot for great concert photography for the bands we grew up on. In the pre-internet days unless you lived in a town where the bands played you’d have to count on the music papers to catch a glimpse of your heroes up on stage. For whatever reason black and white seems to capture the most evocative side of almost anything pre 1981 or so. To that end I recommend the linked post to the Guardian which features a series of shots of bands that came through Toronto in the earliest days of post punk. Toronto seemed to have been a great supporter of British acts back in the day, a tradition that remains until today. The feature highlighted a special Canada Day in London exhibition. See…I told you I was behind reporting on events already a few days old!! Check out the photos they are pretty special.

What Would Joe Strummer Do? You’ve perhaps heard about this line of t-shirts. They’re ‘cute’ I suppose and as likely to be purchased by me as the ‘converse clash’ footwear. I’m not the fashion police so I thought I’d share the link to the t-shirts with you, ideal for a kid perhaps? Or an ironic gift for someone you dislike to replace that what would ***** do shirt that is so trite.

Images from Stummerville campfire: I’ve yet to complete my Glastonbury trawling for recollections, images and video but in the interim here are some nice shots via flickr from the Strummerville Camp and around the famed campfire.

Then I must close with this – I’m fairly certain it’s 100% legit and just radiates Joe’s sense of humour – a 1996 interview with ‘wineonline’ where Joe is asked a series of stock questions:

“First of all Joe, thanks for talking to Wine on Line, the most innovative wine magazine on the Internet (plug plug) you look like a man after my own heart, is this true? Do you enjoy wine?”
J.S. “No not really, I find I have to force it down most of the time!”
W.O.L. “We find that difficult to believe Joe, do you actually take your wine drinking seriously?”
J.S. “Yes I do.”
W.O.L. “From which countries do you prefer your wines?”
J.S. “The cheaper countries.”
W.O.L. “Do you have a favourite type of wine?”
J.S. “Yeah Red, White and Pink.”
W.O.L. A favourite White?
J.S. “Champagne.”
W.O.L. A favourite Red?
J.S. “Shiraz (Australia).”
W.O.L. A favourite Rose?
J.S. “Navarra.”
W.O.L. “What is your favourite dish, and which wine would you choose to drink with it?”
J.S. “Tortilla, Torrez.”
W.O.L. “Would you ever consider buying wine at auction?”
J.S. “No!”
W.O.L. “Do you have a favourite wine store?”
J.S. “Yes, Oddbins”
W.O.L. “Do you enjoy Champagne?”
J.S. “Yes.”
W.O.L. “Do you have a favourite Champagne?”
J.S. “No.”
W.O.L. “What is your all-time, best-remembered bottle and occasion?”
J.S. “Vino Salvana, and a 4a.m. swim.”
W.O.L. “Which restaurant/airline would you say serves the best wines?”
J.S. “Iberia.”
W.O.L. “Do you keep a wine cellar?”
J.S. “I’m going to dig one.”
W.O.L. “Can you give us an insight as to what it’s contents might be?”
J.S. “Mud.”
W.O.L. “Thanks Joe, for answering these questions which, by the way, will be available to 35+ million Internet users world-wide.”
J.S. “Thank You!”

Have a good Sunday ~ thanks for stopping by and we’ll natter soon. Tim