A Short History of Here 2

A friend of a friend of mine was beaten unconscious a week ago.

I've not seen the report in the press; possibly the police are keeping things quiet if their investigations are at a delicate stage. She, yes, it was a female, was beaten up in the city centre because she dared to pull a drunken youth back from an oncoming taxi cab. She saved the youth injury, and in return her jaw was broken on both sides, she lost most of her back teeth, and God knows what mental anguish will result. There are also some suggestions that a girl who was with the youth stole money and a mobile phone during the attack.

Scum, eh?

It's hard after that to sit here and say how wonderful Liverpool is. Clearly, it's a dangerous place to be. But, of course, so can be anywhere. There are violent sumbags lurking in all our cities, and the trick is to be wary and ever vigilant, sad though such a sentiment might be.

And for the record, I've been down town many, many times--I've lost count of the number of times I've even walked home at two a.m. in my youth---and never seen the merest hint of trouble.

This is the 'suitcase' sculpture in Hope Street. It's a work created by John King, and each suitcase is labled to belong to a famous Liverpudlian. It's a celebration of Liverpool culture, yet given the opening tone of this posting, I think there's a certain irony that maybe these suitcases are packed so Liverpool's famous can get the Hell out as soon as they're able.

A Short History of Here 1

Who, what, where is Liverpool?

If you’re British, you probably have an opinion about Liverpool and its denizens. Much is often said about the city and its people, some of it even good :-)

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to allocate some space on this blog to offer you an ongoing virtual tour of Liverpool and what it means to be Liverpudlian. If, along the way, one or two myths are dispelled, then so be it. But I don’t want to preach, and I hope not to flinch at the good or the bad.

There is no truth that we’ve personalised seats down at the unemployment offices. But there is the possibility we’d mud wrestle our granny for a tenner.

• Scouse (noun) Scow-ss - A cheap, thick broth or stew made from left over meats and vegetables originally favoured by the poorest population of Liverpool.
  
  
• Scouser (noun) Scow-sir – A person who comes from Liverpool.

It’s also true that all Scousers are comedians. Even the miserable bastards are usually good for a quip or two.

The city is steeped with a rich history. It has more listed buildings than any other city outside London. Its wealth is built on the shame of slavery, though in truth it has existed as a port since the middle ages. In modern times it suffered from the German blitz, and from the subsequent blight in urban renewal. For many years the name Liverpool was synonymous with Militant Unionism, a brush its labour force struggles to rid itself of to this day. 2008 sees Liverpool acting out its European Capital of Culture year. It's not clear to me whom of the visitors or the resident Scousers has seen this as the bigger culture shock.

But it is clear to me there's a lot of good in this city, and hopefully I can blog this in an interesting and informative way.

Thank you for reading this far.