"In Africa, almost every cultural group has its own version of the crossroads god. Legba, Ellegua, Elegbara, Eshu, Exu, Nbumba Nzila, and Pomba Gira are African and African-diaspora names (in several languages) for the spirit who opens the way, guards the crossroads, and teaches wisdom. ........"[read more about Crossroad Lore Worldwide]
This is a Sepia Saturday post.OK this week's post is about blokes in hats (& indirectly boats).
My photos& Videos from John Billingsley walk in Heptonstall here
"As trickster, Eshu is associated with disorder and destiny in the Yoruba pantheon. As "orisa orita" or "esu orita", orisha of the crossroad or the corners, Elegba represents the transitional or center point of the crossroad where one must make a decision. In this position, Elegba represents all the bewilderment and confusion one faces when attempting to make the proper choice. Once the choice is made, he is involved in the consequences and through his own devices guides us towards and along our proper path....." Who Is Elegba?
a photo i took in 2009 on The Albert Dock in Liverpool.
If you want to help me celebrate you might want to know I am PAYPAL;WONGA & CHURCH of ENGLAND ®. compliant.
To celebrate my birthday, British Sea Power rode into Hebden Bridge on Friday.(they brought a couple of their Bi_Polar Bears with them!) See my photos HERE
A series of 16 short films each detailing a crime of the British monarchy, based on Heathcote Williams' poem "Royal Babylon: The Criminal Record of the British Monarchy": RB opening - The Sex Pistols argument, Killing an Ibis, Mad Monarchs, Michael X, Harry Trouble, I Danced With A Man, Foot in Mouth, Folk on the Hill, Knighthoods, Milton Gas, Glitter Freeze, Swift Justice, Raj Doubt, Gaunt etc, Koh I Noor, Paine & Thoth/Blake Acres Zappa.
Royal Babylon: The Criminal Record of the British Monarchy
“Heathcote Williams has devised a form of polemical poetry that is unique”
Peter Whitfield, author of ‘The History of English Poetry’
“I admire a poetry that is no-holds-barred personal and political. Heathcote Williams’ serial poem ‘Royal Babylon in the relaunched International Times is proper political poetry”
NIall McDevitt in the Morning Star
“It’s a phenomenal piece of work”
Jeremy Hardy
“Where are the Poetry Police when we need them ?”
JC/Times Literary Supplement
www.royalbabylon.com
Above are some of my weekend's photos.
No "big sticks" but I did find this photo of a bar (Gateshead,19th Century)
It's been warm here in Blighty.Hot nights:vivid dreams.
Have you ever dreamed people? People who,in the dream,you think know intimately .You seem to comprehend their back-story & they yours.
Not just one person ,maybe dozens, a searing mass of characters before your eyes .You are best buddies with them all!
And have you ever woken & realized this knowing was an illusion.Rather sad when a friend becomes a stranger in an instant.When a meeting becomes only a theatricality.........
I was always surprised I had sufficient imagination to create a whole cast of characters out of thin air......Then recently on the radio I heard another explanation .It was suggested we never forget a face.
The person I dreamed last night might be somebody i saw on a London street in 1979.Maybe we smiled at each other for a few seconds as we brushed past one another on The Romford Road.The moment was quickly forgotten.But maybe that memory;that image remained....and I used as my template for last night night dream?
It doesn't really matter in itself.But the mind as camera is a nice concept. A belief that nothing is ever lost or deleted..........Nature Wastes Nothing!............
As I say, it's warm:I ramble............
And So (the gentle author wipes sweat off his brow and sips his beer).Sepia Saturday's prompt is "You can choose; or go with armour, helmets, shields, fancy dress, pantomime, theatricals, warlike women or big sticks". .....ok (another sip)
But Sepians,I have a problem here.I need to talk about Margaret Downes .But nobody today knows her.There are no photos or paintings of her (sepia or otherwise).We know nothing about her life.I know more about the Blonde Chick in last night's erotic dream!
All I know about Margaret is that she lived in Manchester until 1819,she died on August 16th that year.She was murdered with a sabre by a (possibly) drunken British soldier.
She was one of 15 murdered that day.(between 400-700 others were injured)
Which doesn't help me find out about Margaret's Life.
She died in what was to become known as "The Peterloo Massacre".60000 working people held a rally in Manchester that day.They wanted to complain about their lives (Poverty:no Vote:etc)This was the biggest even crowd seen in Britain at the time.To placate the authorities ,the organizers asked the crowd beforehand to be peaceful and "Wear Your Sunday Best".
As the speakers on the stage began the speeches..the crowd applauded them and shouted agreement.The soldiers on duty around the crowd (many drunk) mistook the noise for hostility and charged them.
Then Margaret died.You can read the detail
here
I must take some photos of the St Peter's area (if you know Manchester,it's near the Midland Hotel)
The Irony is that many of those killed & injured were themselves former troops who had fought in The Battle Of Waterloo.War Vets..they had been demobbed:were out of work;in poverty......Hence it became know as "Peterloo".
Shelley wrote the famous Poem The Masque of Anarchy about Peterloo.It contains the words "Ye are many — they are few" which was used by the Recent Occupy Movement.
Which still doesn't get us any closer to Margaret does it........
SATURDAY UPDATE: Today I went to Rawtenstall for a cheeky little Sarspararilla atMr Fitzpatrick's Temperance Bar.It's Britain's last such pub/bar.
I remember, as a kid, they had a Temperance Pub up Haley Hill in Halifax.
Temperance Bars were particularly common in 19th century Northern England.
I must say the brew were very tasty on a warm Lancashire afternoon.I raised a glass to John Wesley
.
Sunderland Madge (Phil the X-Fireman's Mum )who i mentioned last week ,is out of Intensive Care and in an Ordinary Ward.I visit her tomorrow. 'Got her a bottle of 'Mr Fitzpatrick Blood Tonic Cordial'.Lord knows what she will make of that............
wikipedia:history of Temperance Bars
The album was gloomy and perverse.the producers had visited diverse groups of indigenes around the world, remarkable only for their persistence in chanting to no avail. Here were the Ketchem of Belize with their muttering eructation 'Fall Out of the Water-Fish'.The I-Arana of Guinea ,disillusioned cargo cultists who moan gently,'Get Me Room Service', and many others too tedious and depressing to mention.
......
My son James didn't help.He'd picked up a couple of the failed chants and as I put him to bed that night he said,in passable Uraic 'Lo!The crops are withering'.Somehow, even among the cartoon stickers and the bright bendy limbs of bendy toys,this didn't sound as incongruous as it perhaps should have.
..........
Rain isnt "sexy" is it? Sun IS:Floods ARE...but nobody ever wanted to get their camera wet did they?Above is a photo taken on Sunday morning 1970 as Me & the Krumlin survivors left defeated........
Photos From My Hebden Bridge Fashion-Shoot on Thursday, [here]
{above.Sunday 14th July 2013:White Eagle Lodge:Rawden,Leeds}
Don't Worry! I haven't "Found Religion"...I went to the White Eagle Lodge in Leeds today supporting someone's healing. I went there 9 years ago.....(that time i just had a cup of Tea then buggered off to Bramley Russian Baths while Cathy went to a Service.This time I stayed.It was good.A long meditation in the middle of the service.A Nice Touch)
I also went to a White Eagle service once in Kensington ,London a few moons ago.
It's Christian...with Spiritualism/Buddism /Chakras thrown into the mix:"1930's New Age".Pre-Hippy/Beatnick/World War 2.............
I gather times are hard & they are having to sell the Kensington Lodge.A lovely Building with a cracking & very eclectic library.A Shame,
They are actually nice people .Middle Class & elderley ..The physical Leeds Lodge is in a beautiful setting,~albeit a former Council Mortuary building in a (pun) previous life~ A Cheeky Thought did occur to me while I was there.....the building & setting would make a perfect location for a Turkish Bath......Maybe,if I win the Lottery,i could make those Eagles an offer they couldnt refuse?
The Church's Manners are very low key,yet warm & friendly.......Imagine Jesus had been born in a stable in Surrey instead of Palestine..this is the sort of religion we have here.The whole religion reminds me of something created by William Morris and/or Eric Gill............
White Eagle:wiki Eric Gill:wiki Finally.Seriously. I was due to visit The Beautiful Madge from Sunderland in her home yesterday.But just before I arrived ,she had been rushed into Halifax Hospital (again).She is hanging on today,but it is serious.I said several prayers for her today.I hope & your Gods might do the same too?
I dont know how my image for this week's Sepia Saturday. fits the Theme.......It's a group of people.They share a common purpose (unknown).It's not not prescriptive,you can imagine your own narrative around it.I find it hopeful in a strange sense.I also cant help thinking it compliments Mike Garry's words ......................
I dont know anything about the image itself, other than it was taken in 1967.In South Parade Halifax.
When his Mum died two months ago, Michael Garry's family asked him to write this poem for her funeral .He also read it on stage at The Hebden Bridge Picture House on Sunday 30th June.(which i recorded for you here). Michael is from Fallowfield in Manchester.
{In The Interest of Balance, here is some beautiful writing to celebrate a Father.}
For some reason (?) on some browsers,this don't play to above audio automatically...if you don't hear it ;here is a direct link for it.
you may find Michael's facebook here
I have started loading images of the night here although one long video is a pig to download/takes ages...& is not on yet.I also have quite a bit of audio (example above) tho I havnt got around to doing anything with it yet.
thanks again to Bob Piper for your help.I will wrap up an audio cd for you at the end of this week. .John Cooper Clarke was as funny as fuck! A grand night.
She was explaining it to me this week.I asked for a translation.........she said....
"yetonynho,
BULLETinPortuguesecan meanbulletorcandy, hall is abreath mint, eucalyptus, so they preferhallsmentolyptosxxxxxxxx"
(When I say Friend.I mean friend).As with several other
people on the internet .........i have been talking to her for nearly ten
years, on various platforms.The irony of the internet is that although its quick
to find people:but equally quick to "lose" them.In some respects,it's harder to
keep in touch this way.But we have!
Thanks for the tickets
Bob Piper .Me & Billie owe you one!
[More photos [here] from our night out in hebden bridge.]
'End of the month,me & Chris go see British Sea Power at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club.We Look Forward! I understand the band is thinking of re-releasing the song "Waving Flags" as far more people are waving flags now than in 2008 when it was first released! Maybe it could become the UKIP general election campaign song in 2015?
Les Gentle Authors are returned! Our Photos are here
Photo taken 1:30 pm this afternoon.....Chris in Carlisle Turkish Baths.A good trip! The architecture is rather cool.Early William Morris meets Late Genghis Khan............
I went to Sowerby Bridge Library on Saturday night.Thanks to James for organising another good gig there.
Smells & Chemistry is my interpretation on this week's Sepia Saturday
When i go Harrogate Turkish Baths I will also go & fill up an empty Pop Bottle full of Harrogate Sulphur water
I use on it my skin (great for Athlete's Foot & suchlike !)
also once when in Italian Mountains,Me & Chris both had Sulphur Baths
I found out this week that a Sulphur Spring exists only 3 miles from home.I must visit & fill-up.
Local children in their Sunday Best “taking the water” in 1911
In medieval times and earlier, winter was a very difficult time for local inhabitants. The long season of cold and darkness, with limited food, caused hardship and ill health. Consequently, people looked forward to the onset of spring with warmer weather and more food. It was the custom in early spring for people to gather at the spa to drink the water and cleanse themselves of their winter ailments, and to give them strength to face the coming year. Whether or not the water had a medicinal effect is debatable, but the waters were a way of celebrating the passage of winter and the beginning of spring – and there are anecdotes from a number of local octogenarians of the curative and restorative properties of the Spaw waters, attributing their long standing to regular draughts of Spa water!In the 19th century this event usually occurred on the first Sunday in May and was called “Spaw Sunday”. It was said that on this day the water at Cragg Spa took on “an especial different taste”. Local children in their Sunday Best “taking the water” in 1911 All you needed was a medicine bottle, filled with the spa water, liquorice was added (to make it more palatable for drinking) then the mixture was thoroughly shaken and – if you didn’t want to look like a cissy! – swigged down in one. The sulphurous water from the spa was deemed to be excellent for making tea, although some recommended a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to take the edge off the “bad eggs smell”. As time passed these gatherings became quite popular, and attracted tourists and early socialists as well as local people. At the beginning of the 20th century the Independent Labour Party saw an opportunity to play an important part in the “spaw” celebrations locally, and the early religious orators gave way to those of a political nature. In 1906, a report on a pilgrimage to the Cragg Spa and then onto Blackstone Edge, noted that numbers at the event were becoming fewer and only 500 people went onto the White House where the Hebden Bridge band was playing.The Second World War ended “Spaw Sunday “celebrations at Cragg Spa.........{source:} Below the old stone bridge almost forgotten
Water gurgles quietly from subterranean fault The surface air scented with sulphurous stink. Contrasting with earthy woodland and river mix
The nose turns towards the Spa lending it’s name
to nearby cottage row and farm. Celebrated in past times with ‘Spaw Sunday’
Religious and Political gatherings drew crowds in hundreds
After the confinement of winter, a time of Cleansing
Parents and children dressed for the occasion
‘Taking the Waters’ with a little Spanish to stop the Retch
“Get it down, it’ll do you good” Black Crow and Gray Heron watch from a distance
Speeding Dipper stitches the torn river with a bubbling silver thread
Brown Trout pushes against the flow avoiding the throng {Graham Ramsden}
Blessing the spa with a rosemary bough. Hold your nose. It's tradition...................
"Welcome to the world's shortest pilgrimage" announced James, the vicar, as the procession prepared to set off from the church of St John the Baptist in the Wilderness. This gathering was part of the 'Spaw Sunday' celebrations, ('spaw' being the dialect word for 'spa'.) ...."{The Guardian:Calderdale Religion}
I may have mentioned it before...the fact that my Aunty Brenda was born in Canada. My Grandfather( with his 2nd wife/ my grandmother would later become #3!) moved there in the early 1900's "looking for gold" :"gold panning" Whatever........I will give you more detail when i understand this more myself........{
I have a postcard from Canada as evidence}. Later my Grandfather must have moved South, hence these photos from Saranac Lake in upstate New York. shown
here are 3 of photos my family took at the Winter Carnival there.
My Polish surname is derived ,I believe, from the word "zimny" meaning Cold,standoffish,bleak,stiff......you get the Drift?
Not a lot of 'personal stuff' (AKA "Real") on here at the moment.Winter is a dreamtime,non? I always dream in a more vivid fashion in winter.......no doubt my hiberation will end eventually!
***
In late January 2003 Me & Cathy went to see The Flaming Lips at The Academy in Manchester.On the Bill,supporting them,was an unknown (to me) band called British Sea Power.I dunno...for whatever reason I took a shine to those young lads.I have seen them several times since & championed them here on this blog.A really unusual combo.
Live they are raw&loud.On recordings they are a melody...they are all over the place.Maybe that's the reason I like them...?
Their hobbies (when not reeling&arocking) are Bird -Watching (the Ornithological kind not the Jimmy Savile kind!) & the poems of John Betjeman! .Turns out they are closet Sepians too! Witness their most recent promotional video! Marvel at all these sepian images!How cool is that Guys&Girls,now then now then..... (jingle-jangle)...
A body is found in the frozen North Dakota woods. The cops say the dead Japanese woman was looking for the $1m she saw buried in the film Fargo. But the story didn't end there.....{read}
My Sepia Saturday post this week is off-theme I guess.It's about dogs......which mine aint.Now, it had been about "pets" I would be a least halfway there.Let me explain...........At the end of November I wrote this post [How To Hate The Working Classes] In it I wrote about a few of Halifax's eccentrics. I briefly mentioned a guy who dressed up as a Roundhead Soldier..& used to ride around The Pennine Moors on his horse.I know not why.I remember once,driving along Blackstone Edge in thick fog..and suddenly he appeared silently (from shrubs & grassland) like an extra from The Twilight Zone.
Well! Last weekend I found a photo of him on facebook.I got into a long facebook conversation with Karl Williams who knew my "Roundhead Soldier" ;was a close friend of his for over 10 years.He suggested we meet up for a pint or three.He would give me the lowdown on his friend Dave Shorrocks [AKA Captain Helliwell.AKA Reverend Padgett.] plus bring along a couple of photos.We meet Up in A Halifax Pub next Wednesday at 7pm.Hopefully I will have more information after that.
Karl Williams
Here is a flavour of what Karl has already said.:
He "rode a Shire horse whilst wearing full armour..... committed suicide 10 years ago - decapitation by train wheels..... a very sad loss of one of the areas eccentrics........ "Met him one day on Heights Road, he warned me of the raping and pillaging happening in Heptonstall(it was the umpteenth anniversary) we had a lovely chat and he rode of towards Midgley.I saw him a couple more times when I was riding around the moors we would stop and admire the others horse, he was a real eccentric... very sad loss!"
Another friend (Tony Sharpe) wrote me "His horse was called Oliver. In his guise as Reverend Padgett at Shibden once, he was ranting about all the Popery. I said "Dave, all this potpourri?" He said "Yes, I'm sick of these scented flower petals."
Hopefully I May Have Some Photos & Tales of Captain Helliwell next week.In other news,Jah Wobble plays Hebden Bridge Trades Club again at the end of March.A Must-see for me.I will also be going back to Italy that month.A busy Spring!
You May Wish To See My Previous Photographs of Signore Wobble Here
Claus Friehe
Another connection between Sepia Saturday & facebook this week was regarding the groom in the photo in This post from November It was of wedding I attended at The Guild Hall in The City of London.The groom (who i named in the post )was Claus Friehe.he must have goggled his name and found my post.He contacted me this week on facebook & we are back in touch after 40 years.
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.
