Tuesday, March 10, 2015

the Bowie Brixton Banknote

hello there

oh indeed yes i am still in the recovery phase from my adventures with the tooth mender. actually, not too much recovery has been required, thank you for asking. a touch sore and challenging and i am a bit groggy, look you see, but none of the pain i both feared and anticipated.

anyway, you are not really interested in my tooth mender plight; you want what is promised in the title of this post. and it was in the post today that i got this most splendid looking thing. well, not a thing as such, but a banknote. well, a banknote of sorts.



yes, this is indeed one of the fabled, mythical and somewhat legendary Brixton banknotes that are available and used in certain areas of Brixton. nice one Spiros, who sent me this.

how is it that Spiros got one? by all accounts he has become quite the local, or if you like native, of that particular area of London, due no doubt to the proliferation of cheap meat sellers and low cost friend chicken vendors that operate within the borough.
 
there will be more on the bank note later, but in the mean time i thought some of you might quite like or be entertained by this somewhat vintage badge. although, reading the statement on it and considering the current "profit not market" approach of the company, you hardly need me to tell you that it is vintage.

no, picture and badge not mine - it seems to be floating around the internet, or if you like the web, and so i thought i would borrow it and put it here to make sure you, dear reader, get to have a gander.

Apple, of course, still trade on, or rather cash-in, on the idea that they are some hip, "down with the kids" sort of company - the antithesis of the corporate world, if you like, something "different". the truth is that they are just another soulless, profit driven corporate monstrosity. things would not be so bad if they didn't pretend otherwise. making money and being a success is not a bad thing or even a crime, but lying about it just causes ill-will. pretending that you do not have a factory full of kids making something does not make it better or make it go away.

actually just did an ebay search and could not find the above badge, but i did see one that says "Apple Product Professional". i might well get one. but for now, kids, yes, and back to the banknote of Brixton that features Bowie.



the thing that surprised me the most about this banknote - other than the fact that Bowie's lawyers have not been on to them to stop using his image - is the quality of the paper. i was expecting these Brixton notes to be printed on some coarse stuff, procured either from whatever the London version of the Pound Shop is (probably "tenner world" or "monkey emporium" to use their slang) or off of some cockney barrow boys' market stall down Camden way.

no, then. no is the answer to what i expected. it is printed - all shiny and with holograms and watermarks - on what you would consider to be proper banknote paper. nice one.

a bit more info, and a look at the reverse, of the banknote just now, but here, have a look at an amazing, class and brilliant double bill of movies that someone i know is watching tonight.



no, not me. also no, not Spiros. but someome that is very much connected to Spiros. i would think, though, that Spiros would like totes want to watch these films too.

the only thing really wrong with Sharknado and Sharknado 2 is that Jedward are not in either film. i am happy to say that they have fixed this, and Jedward will be in Sharknado 3, so that will be the best of all the films they have made in this series so far. for my American readers - Jedward is like the Irish version that Justin Bieber thing you consider to be so brilliant.

yes, i agree, enough of sharks; more Bowie banknote of Brixton for you. here, then, have a gander at the back of the note, beautified as it is with a peace symbol and some sort of bird congress.



the big question you probably have is just what is this bank note actually worth. well, as is the case with all things, i suppose, it's worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. for me it's priceless - not only does it have an image of Bowie on it, but my mate Spiros sent it to me.

for those of you who get all excited about "real" terms or "actual" terms when it comes to finance, however, i can inform you that the £1 Brixton is locked in as being worth exactly £1 Sterling under some sort of exchange rate mechanism agreement. which to my mind makes the whole banknote pretty pointless, except that the people of Brixton really seem to like it, so fair enough.


yes, this picture is of me post-tooth mender, so that you can see i am pretty much OK. well, as good as i get, i suppose.

not everyone, Spiros would like it to be known, in Brixton loves the banknote. far from it. certain florists accept them, as do a few meat sellers and various shops that stock sundries.

people who certainly don't accept them are, somewhat surprisingly, those Hackney carriage type of London cabbies, or if you like taxi drivers. they, in the experience of Spiros, are only interested in accepting notes - and, rather begrudgingly, coins of money - which feature an image of the Queen, gawd bless 'er, on them. if you offer them any sort of other banknote or currency, well, as we have seen in various posts on this blog from last year, fisticuffs are likely to follow. whenever he has a spare moment and cannot find anyone to have a punch up with, Spiros has been known to board a black cab with nothing but Spanish or Egyptian money on him.

cheers for the £10, then, Spiros, although it is worth far more to me than that!

hope that this insight into the Bowie Brixton Banknote has been of interest!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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