1994.Me & Chris on The Road to my Dad's Village in Poland.I love this photo.I always imagined Chris was shyly holding the whole Globe under his arm...........
Uncle Lenny has this new album out at the end of the month.(And probably a new hat too!)My Dear ßenchers I really am not very well this week... I even cancelled a night out in Halifax last night with Phil The Ex-Fireman & Ken! Totally out of sorts.Cold:Chest:Not Sleeping.......I feel older than Len...........his music fits the bill perfectly!
here are my 2008 photos of Unky playing The Opera House in Manchester.I stood in front of Jarvis Cocker as we went into the auditorium!How Cool was I !
This is a Sepia Saturday post.The Theme this week is "Hats"As a bonus ,here is me & Chris outside a Mall near Northampton,Massachusetts in 2005.
Slight Lap-top problems at the moment...I can go on for short spirts, but longer stuff like reading other blogs & comments is difficult ....Stay tuned....I normally read & return comment from previous posts...but from the 24 comments left on my last post I only got to #6 & it crashed repeatedly......I will get get around visiting you all soon.Computers really drive me nuts sometimes!i type this expecting to vanish at any second!
Me & John last night at the last ever "Rochdale hamam Xmas curry".
I felt a wee bit sad last night.I have been going to The Rochdale Turkish Baths on a Friday night for 30 years.It closes in April.They knock my history down to make a Car Park! See my photos from both last night & the past 30 years here P.S.I Think This Photo Of Me & John is the reverse Of last week's one of Alex & Martin! Non?
Jackie Leven playing Hebden Bridge Trades Club,August 2010.Phil The -Ex-Fireman lends an ear ,far left of the photo.
Jackie Leven [wikipedia] died from Prostrate Cancer on Monday night at 8pm.
[In a Shivering Blaze by Jackie Leven]
Usually ,media announcements of death leave me cold.To mourn a passing you must,i think, have some physical connection.Only friends & family have the right of grief.
Look .I like Bob Dylan.I have seen him play often.But when he dies i doubt if I should really care.I have never had a wish meet him.[I suspect he's as mad as a bucket of frogs]
I will mourn Bob's back catalogue.I will mourn the fact that it indicates my own mortality.But, Bob's Pulse itself doesn't really touch me individually .
Jackie is different.in the late 70s in my grotty East London ;Acid-Soaked bedsit, i had developed a fairly eclectic taste in music.[I talked about this period of my life in this old post ].The likes of Nick Drake,The Only Ones, & a couple of LPs by a punkish band called Doll By Doll graced my turntable... I knew little about Doll by Doll:never saw them play. +Eventually I forgot..........
In the middle 80's i was introduced to a cd by Jackie.I was attracted by the Leven /Fife connection.My Mum had lived as a child in Leven.It was only later I realised Jackie was the Voice of Doll by Doll....so it goes...
My first Jackie Leven cd had contributions from the likes of Robert Bly & the whole Mens Movement thing.
At this time I was having all sorts of Stress & Depression Problems with my teaching career . Jackie helped me find my balls again. [Defending Ancient Springs by Jackie Leven]
From then on I was hooked.I saw him play live 5 times at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club & once at The Bury Met.It was at Bury in 2008,with Cathy,Don& Margaret, I saw Jackie play the week betweenmy Mum Dying & My Burying Her.
Unknown to Jackie, he told a wildly funny story about him trying to scatter his own Mum's ashes.In a very counter-intuitive way, I laughed for the only time that week...it really helped me to cope with my own loss.
I only took up 2 minutes of Jackie's Life.
Twice I talked to him in The Hebden Bridge Trades.Once ,just a simple "Good Gig Jackie".The other time, we talked about how Jackie had had a "dodgy curry in Bradford" the night before...and his fear of having to leave the stage midstream to go to the bog..........(a conversation held appropriately ,during the Interval,in The Trades Club toilets) God Speed Dear Jackie.I Love You but,for fuck sake, say well away from that Jimmy Savile! X
Jackie with Princess Di.She was the patron of the CORE TRUST that he help set up for addiction.She was one person who encouraged him to return to singing+performing after he got his throat cut.
Below another of my photos of dear sweet Jackie in Hebden Bridge...........
Me & Cath went for a meal to Greens Vegetarian Cafe In Hebden Bridge on Friday night (And very nice too) .Who Should walk in after us butJulian Cope:[wikipedia] !He walked in with half a dozen mean looking leather-geezers .All Tats & leather (his band?).......They looked like they had been eating raw meat for a decade.I thought the guys deserved a break.
He was playing Hebden Bridge Trades Club later that evening. [The gig was sold out within 24 hours of tickets going on sale .I had no chance,]
I don't know an excessive amount about his music, but it would have been interesting to see him had i got a ticket.
What is doubly strange about my relationship with Mr Cope is that we were in the same year atC.F.Mott Teacher Training College in Liverpool. I remember seeing him a lot at College but we never really moved in the same circles .He did English.I did Sociology & Special Educational Needs.
I wanted to rush over and reminisce about our none -existent friendship ,but it hardly seemed the place........
We seem destined to continue eating on separate tables.
Never Mind! I nabbed the above blurry photo as a memento.............
Above,Julian .Below (restoring a certain Zimnochian balance),one of Chris's Videos from this September.
After Greens, Me & Cathy went to the monthly Story Telling at The Stubbing Wharfe Pub A Ghost-Themed Evening. Very Nice.Being Halloween, lots of ghost stories & things that go bump in the night...Cath introduced me to Ursula one of the organisers of Story-Telling in Hebden Bridge.Cath said Ursula used to be in Emmerdale.Ursula said they had "killed her off 5 years ago".
It told her "she was looking good on it......." [Ursula Holden Gill:wikipedia]
Essentially, Its a scary story about 3 ghosts who share the same patch of Venetian Canal Bank for eternity.......But it's a funny story because although all ghosts ,they are eternally unaware of each others existence ! So every time they bump into each they scare themselves! [Imagine the irony, being a ghost who is scared of other ghosts!]
I am thinking a lot about ghosts myself this week.My old,loyal longtime readers will be aware that I am a regular user of The Rochdale hamam.I have been going to it since 1984.The old place is falling to bits.Things dont work too good these days.It's due to be knocked down early next year.A wee bit of my history will disappear.......
Someone visiting it for the first time today will only see a sparsely populated tatty building.To Modern eyes it looks,I'm sure, unimpressive.But to my eyes, it is rich in memories & ghosts.
I invited Ken there yesterday for the first time.In his innocence, Ken said .."A Lot Of Bloody Doors In Here......."
Now ,although Ken is not a Ghost, he represents another strand of my life over 40 years around Halifax.I am one of those people who tend to compartmentalize my friends+situations.Things seem to be seeping through more now.
Anyway.Yesterday.I thought it would be fun to mix two distinct parts of my history together.
It was.
..a few photos from my week..i look a bit ropey & trippy because I have had a bad back & am on (for the first time ever!) painkillers [Naproxen]......
Last night, having a Whitworth Curry,Cappo Martin showed us his Photos from his recent Charity visit to Nepal on behalf of Comic Relief .Also, thanks for the online album [one photo above].I have to say that your own photos are as good (better, infact) than the "official" ones!Martin,you are far too modest!
While making this post I got The Above facebook message from Veronica in Buenos Aires. The beautiful South American branch of my family will be the subject of my next post.
The Internet .She is taking over my life. [now that's a point .is the internet female or masculine?Is it "Le" or "La"?].Yesterday it was my mirror:today my reading companion.......................... "When I write songs,I often picture myself standing on a beach or standing on a rock or a promenade or something. I just put myself there sometimes and without realising it I find myself describing what I'm looking at and often it's the sea.I keep promising myself I'll put myself somewhere else when I'm writing songs but I really can't imagine anywhere that's nicer than that........." Sandy Denny~ 1973
On the subject of Folk Music ,my thanks to Kimyfor pointing me in the direction of the fine American Smithsonian Folkwayssite.Free Downloads & much magic can be found! I came across these two photo sites.Some striking Images of the London Riots.
Sorry Folks..A Busy Week.I Will Come A Visiting Tommorrow (Saturday).In The Meantime, why not visit some other great Sepia Saturday Posts.
Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun from Phil Bebbington on Vimeo.
i'm in the middle of reading the splendid Electric Eden.A lovely romp through the history of British Folk Music & Culture.William Blake,Nick Drake,Morris Dancing & Beyond. Many of the people mentioned I have seen/loved.Plus hosts of characters new to me.A Real Treasure of a Book.
I heard last night that Capo Martin is off to Nepal in October! I am jealous !
(Not That I'm vain, You Understand?) I bought 2 new pairs of glasses today.Here I am trying trying them on this afternoon. I'm using my blog as a mirror.Which is the bestest pair I wonder.....
New on the web is The Gough MapThe first map of Britain from the 14th Century.You Can View it Online.Below, a detail of Manchester (couldnt find "Hebden Bridge" other than something looking like the craters on the Moon)
In 1911,Bobby Leach survived a plunge over Niagara Falls in a steel barrel.
Fourteen years later, in New Zealand, he slipped on an orange peel and died.
“We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it.” — John Steinbeck “Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.” — Will Rogers “Where is the Life we have lost in living?” — T.S. Eliot [via]
The UK government is poised to start measuring people's psychological and environmental wellbeing, bidding to be among the first countries to officially monitor happiness. Despite "nervousness" in Downing Street at the prospect of testing the national mood the Office of National Statistics will shortly be asked to produce measures to implement David Cameron's long-stated ambition of gauging "general wellbeing"........... [read more]
My Car's had a bit of a funny sqeak for the past week.On Monday I booked it in the garage in Hebden Bridge this morning with a view to catching the train into Manchester for a few hours while they checked it.
While I was in Manchester I took these photos.You will notice several taken in Picaddilly Gardens.Hundreds of [mainly ]Young Folk [via facebook] can been seen collecting brooms to sweep up the broken glass & debris from last night's riot.I say "riot" but Im not sure that's the correct word?"Riot" implies some sort of Purpose + Aim...........
Dont get me wrong.Things are bad in Britain at the moment, and if they had looted Buckingham Palace or Downing Street or Harrods I would have had some understanding,But,really, it is bad form to shit in your own backyard. Manchester Evening News report +Views from fine Manchester bloggers ....here & here
I listened today tothis rather good BBC 5 Live podcast .An Interview with Adam Ant..He talks about Mental Health issues and suchlike....... "Beirut is an American band which was originally the solo musical project of Santa Fe, New Mexico native Zachary Francis Condon, and later expanded into a band. Their first performances were in New York in May 2006, to support the release of their debut album, Gulag Orkestar. The music combines elements of Eastern European and Balkan folk with Western pop music, fusing the American mainstream and indie-rock culture and the World Music market................"
download a free+legal full DVD of early Beriut here
From 1913, John Alfred Charlton Deas, a former curator at Sunderland Museum, organised several handling sessions for the blind, first offering an invitation to the children from the Sunderland Council Blind School, to handle a few of the collections at Sunderland Museum, which was ‘eagerly accepted’. ‘They were so successful that Deas went on to develop and arrange a course of regular handling sessions, extending the invitations to blind adults.’
( Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums)
It's My Birthday today! Looks Like I'm travelling The Brighton Line for the next 12 months!
I got to Harrogate Turkish Baths at 9 am this morning.Above is a photo Chris took of me there.
Last night I went with some of the Lads from The Rochdale Hamamfor a Birthday Curry in Whitworth.
[This Time next Year Rochdale Turkish Baths Will have been knocked down.I have been going there for 28 years..what will I be doing then?]
This afternoon I went with Cath & Chris to The Stubbin Wharfe Pub in Hebden Bridge for a meal.
Italian Mick was due to finish my plumbing today in my place in Italy.Now it's already 80% complete (even before today) which might sound fine , but 20% missing is a worry if you need a "#2" when you go powder your nose, if you get my drift............
Once that's sorted out ,I can invite people over to stay in it + help.Me & Phil The Ex-Fireman should be going over to Pennedomo late August..to start internal decorating.
The 3rd week in September I return again to Abruzzo to help Mick & Shelley with a LA VITA Italian Workshop.
If Push Comes To Shove; I Love This Bit Of Popery Above All Other.Think Of It as A Birthday Gift To Myself.............Is this the power peace
Or merely the connection ?
My Sepia Saturday post is on my Hebden Bridge blog this week.
.........In Sociology, the Harrogate Effect pertains to occasions where something awful happens to someone in the company of a group, but no one does anything to help. The phenomenon was first observed by the renowned sociologist Jeremy Clarkson on a visit to the town in 1987. On that occasion, a child laid dying in the street whilst Clarkson and a number of the town's residents stood around giving the child a severe ticking off for increasing traffic congestion and lowering house prices. .........[read more]
From: See Jack's Photos here
Jack Uttley (1918 - 2003)
was born in Heptonstall. He grew up living at Mytholm and later moved to Mythomroyd where he lived for the rest of his life.
At the age of 14, he started work at Maudes Clog Soles, Hebden Bridge where he was employed until his retirement in 1975.
Throughout his life he had a keen interest in photography and, over the years, was fortunate to be given many old photographs in the form of glass plates, postcards, prints and 35mm negatives.
These, together with his own photographs of the local area taken over the period 1950 to 2000 have resulted in a significant collection.
After retirement, he was free to concentrate on his main interests of Photography and Local History. He combined both interests in slide show presentations and illustrated books about the history of the local area.
He was a member of the Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society, The Calder Camera Club and was heavily involved in establishing the Mytholmroyd Historical Society.
To put a selection of the photographs on the internet, it was necessary to give the collection an indentity. We have therefore named it:
"The Jack Uttley Photo Library".
Jeeze.These Images Are Blurry.They Look Like They Have Been Faxed From Outer Space.
The Photo Below Is Of Me & My Big Brother Ziggy.
This Week's Sepia Saturday theme is in & around the subject of Space Travel.
I have no family photos of such things.West Yorkshire in the 1960's was a tad short of Rockets & such like (except in our heads!)But I remember following all those spacecrafts and stuff......it seemed to me, Russians;Dogs;Americans;Everybody was going up there.I pondered, maybe everyone was going there & pretty soon , I would be left alone here on Earth! Happily , they all seemed to return (in one fashion or another) Gravity Is Such A Wonderful Thing!
