The Brixton Citizenship Test

[Johnny Canuck3]

What questions would you ask to find out if someone was a true and worthy citizen of Brixton?

Can a two-year-old be a citizen of Brixton? They probably can't answer any questions about it.

 

[RaverDrew]

i'm more brixton than you

whether south west nine or south west two
one thing is irrefutably true
i can't use tact
so face the fact:
i'm more brixton than you

i put yuppies under verbal attack
some of my friends are even black
i'm living proof
of an essential truth
i'm real brixton - you're an act

i keep the brixton spirit alive
without my cred you'd never survive
i knew the edi-TOR
even before
i'd ever been on urban 75

coz i'm class A and you're plan B
i'm so cooltan wild and free
while understand
on the other hand
you lack "edge" and "vibrancy"

and when it comes to the whys and the wherefores
i'm with the crew not the meeja whores
and one more thing
worth mentioning
i bet my mortgage is less than yours

coz i'm mean street - you're avenue
and mr. fake here's what to do
get outta my face
i rest my case
coz i'm more brixton
i'm soooo brixton
i'm more brixton than you

fancy a cocktail?

by vic lambrusco

@isvicthere?

 

[stuff_it]

Me neither. I live in a small village called Hundleby, in Lincolnshire.
And I'm not really an Orang Utan.

Whoa, dafuq? MY first proper BF was from Hundleby.

Is Paul the signwriter still alive? He lived on main street - indeed who doesn't

 

[Casaubon]

Who remembers the full-sized Prince of Wales, including what is now KFC?
Who remembers Brixton's two Wimpy Bars?
The used car sales lot on what's now Windrush Square?
Dogshit park on Rushcroft Rd?
When the Ritzy was a really fun place?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Who remembers the full-sized Prince of Wales, including what is now KFC?
Who remembers Brixton's two Wimpy Bars?
The used car sales lot on what's now Windrush Square?
Dogshit park on Rushcroft Rd?
When the Ritzy was a really fun place?

Yes, I used to go to the full-sized Prince of Wales when it was a gay bar. The loos were not the nicest from what I remember but it was a very busy pub

 

[fractionMan]

Were you born less than a 1.5 mile walk from the centre of brixton according to google maps.

 

[teuchter]

Do you remember Brixton tube before it was refurbished?

Wait - have they actually finished the refurbishment now????

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Were you born less than a 1.5 mile walk from the centre of brixton according to google maps.

How far's King's College to the centre of Brixton?

 

[el-ahrairah]

Do you remember 121 Railton Rd?
Do you remember the Hobgobblin?
Do you remember escape from Samsara?
Do you remembet Pendragon records?
Do you remember the Cannabis march & festival?
Do you remember Arteria Space?
Do you remember reclaim the streets?

i remember all of them and they were all gone before i had a brixton address.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Wait - have they actually finished the refurbishment now????

erm, not sure

Ok, change that to before they put middle escalator in or closed off Station Arcade

 

[fractionMan]

How far's King's College to the centre of Brixton?

1.8 miles to walk

Let's call it a 2 mile radius

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

1.8 miles to walk

Let's call it a 2 mile radius

 

[teuchter]

erm, not sure

Ok, change that to before they put middle escalator in or closed off Station Arcade

Do you remember before they built the Victoria Line Minnie?

 

[Orang Utan]

Who remembers the full-sized Prince of Wales, including what is now KFC?
Who remembers Brixton's two Wimpy Bars?
The used car sales lot on what's now Windrush Square?
Dogshit park on Rushcroft Rd?
When the Ritzy was a really fun place?

Rubbish questions again. Do I have to repeat myself?

 

[Orang Utan]

Can a two-year-old be a citizen of Brixton? They probably can't answer any questions about it.

Only adults have to pass citizenship tests

 

[editor]

The places that really depress me in London are where everyone appears to be the same. Fuck that.

Sadly, that appears to be the direction a large chunk of central Brixton is currently heading in, at least at weekends.

 

[co-op]

Do you remember when there used to be loads more pubs and they opened before 5.00pm?

Bah! Do you remember when they used to bloody shut at 3pm?

The first day they allowed all day opening I decided an afternoon boozing session was the only right and proper way to celebrate and I wandered the streets of Brixton trying to find a pub that was staying open and dammit they were all closed. The only one I could find open was the Railway (aka Brady's) so we spent the afternoon in there in the company of an old irish geezer and his dog who were taking turns having bites of his pie.

Ah the craic!

 

[editor]

Ah....the legendary lock ins at the Queen and Bradys.....

That said, I much prefer having grown up licensing hours now.

 

[co-op]

Do you remember when every story that appeared in The Standard was either riot/weapon/drug/Lambeth Council Corruption related, rather than Brixton Village related?

They used to do fantastic "I went to Brixton and survived" reports by dumbarse journos full of alleged mayhem and ghetto stuff and which always seemed to end with some variant of a world-weary, "just another day in the inner London suburb they call Brixton".

That phrase became a catchphrase among me and my friends.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Bah! Do you remember when they used to bloody shut at 3pm?

The first day they allowed all day opening I decided an afternoon boozing session was the only right and proper way to celebrate and I wandered the streets of Brixton trying to find a pub that was staying open and dammit they were all closed. The only one I could find open was the Railway (aka Brady's) so we spent the afternoon in there in the company of an old irish geezer and his dog who were taking turns having bites of his pie.

Ah the craic!

Yeah, and especially on Sundays. Sunday between 12-3pm, pubs were rammed!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Ah....the legendary lock ins at the Queen and Bradys.....

That said, I much prefer having grown up licensing hours now.

George IV was legendary for lock-ins

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Do you remember before they built the Victoria Line Minnie?

Despite being in London at that time, I don't think I lived in Brixton. I lived in Streatham at some point apparently

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Sadly, that appears to be the direction a large chunk of central Brixton is currently heading in, at least at weekends.

As long as you lot all live there, it will continue to be colorful; maybe even a bit picaresque.

 

[Orang Utan]

Whoa, dafuq? MY first proper BF was from Hundleby.

Is Paul the signwriter still alive? He lived on main street - indeed who doesn't

I have no idea. I've only ever been there to visit. A long dead aunt lived there.

 

[Orang Utan]

As long as you lot all live there, it will continue to be colorful; maybe even a bit picaresque.

Are you suggesting we are all rogues and adventurers?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Are you suggesting we are all rogues and adventurers?

Some maybe. Mostly, individuals, not part of the herd.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Are you suggesting we are all rogues and adventurers?

Well it was you who went on a jaunt to exotic lands

 

[OpalFruit]

Ah....the legendary lock ins at the Queen and Bradys.....

That said, I much prefer having grown up licensing hours now.

The legendary lock-ins at the Hamilton Arms. LKJ, the landlady (what was her name? there were a couple of women, one lived in Mayall Rd,who practically lived in there and would sometimes have a fight) bringing out sandwiches, the Bill looking through the letterbox and sometimes coming in for a drink...

 

[Brixton Hatter]

Do you remember 121 Railton Rd?
Do you remember the Hobgobblin?
Do you remember escape from Samsara?
Do you remembet Pendragon records?
Do you remember the Cannabis march & festival?
Do you remember Arteria Space?
Do you remember reclaim the streets?

All of those except from Atreria - where/what was that?

121 Railton Road was great. I still have some copies of the 'South London Stress' newsletter they used to make somewhere. I've been meaning to dig them out for years and scan them in here, but I keep forgetting. I'll do it one day. Another job I've been meaning to do for years is to scan all my analogue photos from reclaim the streets. Really must do that

We used to do a monthly house/techno/old skool night at the hobgoblin. One of the best parties we ever did was after the cannabis march/festival. There must have been 500-1000 people packed into the pub & garden blazing up all the weed in the world, and the dancefloor was so fucking rammed you could hardly moved. Good times!

 

[Manter]

I appear to have failed every test set so far