Me & Cathy went with Capo Martin to St.Michael's de-consecrated church in Ancoats.
It was the first ever gig in a place that the Roman Jesus had just vacated.........
(On the night, I think we all struggled with what the correct ceremony for such an occasion might be......?)
All i can say is that the acoustics in the place are superb.Its clean,it's light & it has a good vibe.
A lovely sweet venue (tho the Bar charges Old Trafford prices!)
Simone was his usual Spiritual Self........a most underrated soul.
He had flown in from New York that morning.He had been detained in a small room alone for 4 hours at Gatwick because of passport irregularities
He seemed unimpressed with UK Border Control.......
I am nearly 65. Yorkshire Born & Bred! I was brought up in Halifax in the 50/60/70's . I always throught it "a grimy republic" . I love the place, but i still think it dark.......
Although ,a case in point, clickthis Martin Parr photograph of Old Halifaxto see a photo very similar to some of B.H.'s photos. Now Martin Parr is probably my favourite English photographer. Remember ,me & Cath went to his curated exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery recently.I beg to suggest that several of B.H. 's unseen photos stand comparison with Parr's?
n.b. I wrote this very brief overview
of Martin's work.
This is a Sepia Saturday post.
My previous post here reports of my visit last Sunday night to Hope Baptist Church in Hebden Bridge .
I heard the political commentator & journalist Owen Jones speak.
He talked about how we English are becoming disenfranchised from the politics in our life.We start to believe poverty ,hunger& unemployment etc are all'Acts of God' .Inevitable ...just like the rain outside......
As it happens, the BBC are filming a new series of Happy Valley at the moment ,in Hebden Bridge.
Two nights ago, on the street that I work, they were filming this scene.
Given the nature of Yorkshire weather,dig the irony.It wasn't raining,so they had to use artificial rain!
As a Halifax child of the 50's, I remember during our Wakes Week some people , not themselves away on holiday, would climb to the top of Beacon Hill to admire the view.
We live in a beautiful place.During Wakes Wake all the factories shutdown spewing smoke,so it was the only time you could see the beauty!
The photos I share here show plenty of washing-lines.All those white clothes! How did they keep'em clean within the smoke & rain?
To me,the clean washing look not like white flags of surrender ,but defiance .
I believe we see the same defiance in the works today of Jeremy Corbyn & that fine American Bernie Sanders.( a tad strained link....but there you go!)
Incidentally,Mr Sanders name was respectfully mentioned several times at the church on Sunday
Halifax
I must admit,i cringed a little when i saw this on the telly live.('seemed a little bit too "Bono" for my taste ) But I agree with the sentiment , and it does make for a cracking end to this post.....
.
Although!This is a Beautiful Englishman singing the song to its best
.Everytime i hear Robert Wyatt's voice ,i sort of roll myself into a ball & weep gently...it's so beautiful in my humble opinion.
Me ,Cath & Martin Thorpe went to the annual Peterloo Massacre Memorial in Manchester today.
Approx 600 souls attended. A Choir;a folk band and actors Maxine Peake:Christopher Ecclestone (eg Dr Who):John Thompson (eg Fast Show);John Henshaw (eg Early Doors) gave readings.
A minutes silence was observed to respect those who were murdered.
For my American friends, Peterloo (1819) was England's Tiananmen Square(1989): England's Sharpville (1960): England's Kent State (1970 )
Peterloo was the subject of Shelly's poem The Masque of Anarchy
Maxine read Shelley's Masque of Anarchy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_Anarchy
i took a wee video clip of her reading some of it tonight......(Shelly on a Saturday night!) which i will add here soon.A splendid night.A full house.
same song i recorded live in Heben Bridge Trades Club on Friday night.
Friday, July 31, 2015
It was my Birthday yesterday.
Me , Cathy & Chris went for a meal at The White Lion in Hebden Bridge.
Afterwards, we caught the train into Manchester's Royal Exchange to see Maxine Peake in The Skriker. Here are some photos i took of the day.
David Byrne :Psycho Killer (Also featuring) Joe Henry, Greg Cohen and Duisburg Chamber Orchestra Live at the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum, Germany, August 19, 2006.
Cath took this photo of me in Hebden Bridge last Sunday. I really dont smile a lot, do I ?
What is that all about ? Bad Teeth ?Slavic personality ? a chronic lack of humour & empathy ...?
Its a mystery......
the last time my smile was ever captured on camera was here, 15 years ago, entering a club toilet in Blackpool.So perhaps its better i dont make a habit of it......?
Click [HERE] to see other sepia saturday posts this weekend .....
The Rolling Stones;Start Me Up:
Live at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana; July 4, 2015.
Fuga Hirundinum (Birds Requiem Suite):DHAFER YOUSSEF ظافر يوسف.
Jazz à Vienne, Théâtre Antique, Vienne, France; June 29, 2015
Tunisian Dhafer Youssef is a composer, singer and oud player. He developed an interest in jazz at an early age and clandestinely listened to it during his education at a Qur’anic school. He later left Tunisia to start a jazz career and has lived in Europe since 1990, usually in Paris or Vienna
.[ - wikipedia]
Patti Smith:Live at Glastonbury, Pyramid Stage, Worthy Farm, Pilton, UK; June 28, 2015.
Smith explained that it was the spiritual leader’s 80th birthday on July 6.
“We are grateful to him for all his love of humanity and making people aware of the importance of saving the planet,” she said, before reading a poem she had written for him.
Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis then brought The Dalai Lama onto the stage to huge cheers from the crowd. “I think it would be nice if Glastonbury wished The Dalai Lama a happy birthday,” said Smith, before leading the audience in a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.
The Dalai Lama then blew out a single candle on a cake made of fruit, before cutting it.
“Thank you, thank you,” he said. “Dear brothers and sisters, I really appreciate so many people’s expression of warm feeling.”
He then went on to joke about the age of Smith and her band. “These singers and musicians have white hair, but they look very youthful! That gives me encouragement, I should be more like you - more active!”
[click below to listen}
Me &Cathy went to Bury Met with Don & Margaret to see Robin & Bina Williamson play
.[Robin is ex-Incredible String Band.]
I love the music.
Robin has a refreshing lack of Ego & a grand sense of humour.
He comes from Portobello , just outside Edinburgh..where my Mam came from.
In one or two of these photos i fancy he looks a little like me.........Something genetic :)?
Here are some of my photos from day (unfortunately,my audio recorded didnt work..I would have like to have shared their music here tonight ...but some fine pix none the less)
By sheer chance on Saturday night (2oth June) i sat down to watch the dvd Wisconsin Death Trip.
The visual motif that punctuates the film throughout is that of the local newspaper Editor typing out his news reports. .....
[I got this film out from Hebden Bridge Library.Part of their current "American Gothic" promotion]
At the same time,i borrowedthe book of the same name..
it's stuffed full of glorious sepia photos.Something of a Sepians Bible .
Tricky one this. Sepia Saturday this week has the topic of "typewriters"
. I have no photos of them.....
.I suppose in the those olden ,sepia, days folk were more economical with their film.? Typewriters were ubiquitous & we thought they would live forever.We thought them immortal as we were .....ha! fools, little did we know........
The nearest I have is this photo taken in my late-20th century office in Halifax with my work colleague Calla.
I like Calla, she is my type of woman.......
Finally.check out the ever excellent lost gallery blogspotfor gallons of sepia typewriters......
And the sheer bonkersness of Wisconsin Death Trip makes me think of similarity with this photo of my grandparents life in Saranac ,New York State. see more here
More developments since last week's post concerning my stable~ come~ £6000 Italian Ruin......
I found out this week that the 'mystery offer'comes from an Italian government/EU initiative to regenerate the region.(details below) .
It's a bit like a 'compulsory-purchase'.
Nominally , the price is negotiable .
However (because my & some other buildings are rundown /that's why I got it cheap in the first place) if i don't negotiate a selling price ,I will be ordered by the commune to bring it up to a certain (new) standard. This will be expensive.
Basically it's double or quits.
Which,realistically means that the cost would have to make it become my first & only home.
Now, even before any haggling, they seem to be offering me a fair price (just above what i paid initially plus any legal costs involved in the
selling....).
Take the money & run?
I,ve no idea yet what time deadlines are involved.....
....... it does feel a bit like selling a dream.
I always suspected the area had potential.I guess it will have to develop without me.
A shame.
*
in other news....I booked tickets to see Simone Felice at St.Michael's Church in Ancoats on 8th October ( Manchester's "Little Italy"){buy TICKETS}
Today Me Chris & Cath buried Chaz's Ashes in the Yorkshire sun above Hebden Bridge.
.........in case you didn't know,the Tories got in again.Britain is not happy.Mr Cameron has grounded us.Sent us to bed early,without our supper........It shall end in tears........
Really ,the British election can be summed up quite easily.The Scots want to become more Scottish:the English want to become more American........
Life, they tell me, goes on.....So I went out in Hebden Bridge last night.
Its never happened before , but one of the people with us drinking throughout the night is rather famous .(Listen to his music!) Richard Bedfordcame drinking with us in the Fox&Goose & Railway Pubs!
We sat in the Railway and Ken said "is that you on the jukebox?".Richard said "yes".
You can see his photo below& above if you look ( and know your onions...}
Richard is a very lovely bloke.
A nice night. Hopefully we will do this again soon.
