Love Edinburgh, Bonnie Polish swimming friend, Joanna !Farewell. Take good care of yourself. Please, have a good life.Admiring your style from the slow lane.! X . Fascinating coincidences .You move from Poland to Halifax and, after five years move again (today) to live in Edinburgh. 'Like my family history, in reverse...... Below.[ Still playin with my new Canon IXUS 240 HS.] Images taken in Halifax, Burnley, Hebden Bridge & Manchester thru this week....... The BBC tv show "ONE SHOW" broadcast live from Hebden Bridge on Tuesday. My car broke down earlier that day & i got a red courtesy car that day & drove for my daily swim& sauna to Halifax Baths. I went to Burnley St Peters for a swim& sauna on Saturday. On Thursday me & Cath went to Manchester Art Gallery: looked around Chinatown & ate stuff........ https://zimnoch.smugmug.com/Dropbox/Various-photos-february-2016/
Hi Tony ... hope you dont mind ...
I have joined you to my group which was started by a musical partner of mine who lives in Greece...
we have been raising funds for the poor souls fleeing the guns and wars.
I have some friends doing a lot of work out on several islands and we are going there in a few months to do some practical stuff and a concert.
The album isn't everyones cup of tea but my track is getting the most downloads and it has had some really good reviews. I go under the name of Karyae.
I cant imagine anybody is interested in what i thought about David Bowie: besides which , far too much none sense has been spoken on the subject this week.Except to say,he wasn't the Messiah. He was a very naughty boy.........
I went to Halifax tonight.Drinking with Comrade Ken& Phil the Ex-Fireman.
It was a colleague's leaving do (being relocated out of the area for the time being,, because of the floods)
The bad news is the only pub still open is The White Lion ( the dearest pub in town .....,oh the irony..I actually paid for a pint tonight.that cost £ 4.80p!.)
{The Trades was also open ,doing a fund raiser ,but i was on this "do" so I didn't go there......}
Prior.I went around Hebden Bridge & took photos of some closed pubs ( I forgot The Crown on my travels.....-& , to be honest, Marshall's doesn't look any more wrecked than before........................!)
Photo taken by Martin Parr:1975: Manikinholes Methodist Chapel [near Hebden Bridge].
It was suggested less than two years ago that my town of Hebden Bridge should be designated the UK's second city.
Today,as I write this ,the only businesses now left open in the town are Nathan's Barbers: Marco's Italian Greasy Spoon
,2 small charity shops: Bonsalls DIY shop; The White Lion Pub.; Boots Chemist &The Town Hall.That's all that left open/ habitable!
Destroyed in Hebden Bridge alone are...2 churches;.3 Banks:8 pubs;The Post Office& sorting office; The Library:The Theatre:The Cinema:The Council's Elderly Day Centre:many hundreds of homes wrecked and/or evacuated: The Coop Supermarket & approx 200 shops & business:factory units:are not habitable :bridges have collapsed:the only road out has a dirty big crack in it between Hebden bridge & Mytholmroyd.
Even 2 days ago 500 other homes in Hebden Bridge were without electricity.
This was just one town ! Others along the valley were just as broken or,arguably, even worse.The towns and villages of Mytholmroyd:Todmorden;Copley:Sowerby Bridge:Brighouse:Midgley.etc etc all got hit .......
A Million things happened this week.Here are just a few Vignettes that will have to act as a taste of things. Over the New Year Weekend, the local Town Hall is where the volunteers are organised. A huge room (the size of a half a football field) has free dry foods that have been donated & you can come in and help yourself.Plus cleaning products.etc:a kitchen & cafe were the Muslims serve the free hot food. Legal Advice etc etc is also given. Local People offer their skills for free so,[Hebden being Hebden ] you can even get free Reflexology! Today (new year's eve) I went to our only remaining barber to get a haircut.The owner Nathan (with beard) was offering haircuts/beer & disco.A interesting combination........The kids & Mums seemed to enjoy it..!
Loyds Bank: Hebden Bridge: last Saturday morning.
Sadly I have heard some terrible stories from neighbouring Mytholmroyd. The (fairly new build) Catholic church The Good Shepard ( a mini Liverpool cathedral / built in-the-round) is totally fucking. I hear the 80 year old Parish Priest was rescued in the dark while wandering dazed & confused down a side street.waist deep in water. Nearby, in a big posh housing estate , rescue services couldnt reach because of water levels.Local farmers went from door to door to check everybody was ok (apparently a lot of elderly people lived there) .They burst into one Living Room and found a silent, immobile elderly gent sat upright in his armchair with water all around his waist.......Two big farming lads had to carry him out to safety....... Read *here* how the town is organising how to mend itself (& how you might wishes to help)
Dec 31st 2015.Beer/Disco/Haircut Promotion:Nathan's Barbers,Hebden Bridge.
This week i having been doing my small bit by trying to help salvage the Council's Elderly Peoples Day Centre.
The British Army are here.So are groups of Muslim volunteers, from as far afield as London, who have been here this week helping us.
A few of the many Muslim Lads from London (300 miles away!)who came this week help us.
The local Muslim Community has been amazing !Halifax Mosques have set up a food kitchen & have been shipping in daily hot free food.
PHIL OCHS:
Live at Salle Claude Champagne, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; October 22, 1966.
This song is from a show long been rumored to have been recorded by the FBI!
Phil Ochs was one the greatest political (or, as he preferred, a topical singer) and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice.
He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and ’70s and released eight albums.
The FBI kept Phil Ochs under active surveillance for 13 years.
The introduction of The Freedom of Information Act revealed pages and pages of information on Phil with the FBI labelling him a “communist” with “un-American thoughts”.
Despite the hundreds of pages in his FBI file, the FBI never found that Ochs ever committed any federal crimes. He continued to be under investigation until his death by suicide in 1976.
Ochs performed at many political events during the 1960s counterculture era, including anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, and organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City’s Town Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Politically, Ochs described himself as a “left social democrat” who became an “early revolutionary” after the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago led to a police riot, which had a profound effect on his state of mind.
After years of prolific writing in the 1960s, Ochs’s mental stability declined in the 1970s. He eventually succumbed to a number of problems including bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and took his own life in 1976.
"One in ten deaths during the Blitz was a child. Because of a fear that the Germans would use poisoned gas in their bombs people were given gas masks. Children were given brightly coloured gas masks to make them more appealing and fun......."http://www.thekidswindow.co.uk/news/ww2 Hey!http://www.viewfromthisside.com/about/ is an important site for us sepians.Well worth checking out. All my photos this week are from this charmant website.
This is a Sepia Saturdaypost. "think of caps, or children, or playground games or any of the hundreds of things Sepians like to think of....."
Me & Cath went back to Liverpool today.
(We were there a couple of weeks ago.) Got me a mess of discount tickets from Northern Rail which 'need using. ......
Although we both had the start of Colds (& I had toothache) If not used today....,they would be lost .
So,....... we went to the Bluecoat Museum.
[Not been there since 1976 when i saw a film there with His Drayness .]
It pissed down. Beggars sat in puddles. England's shame.
Outside Job Centre Plus+ a man with one-leg was begging.I gave him(after much searching) a 50p coin. I told him it was all the change I had on me .
He shook my hand. I could have cried as i left him.....a proud man ,who stands taller than i ever will........
This country is a mess......
Me in the Walker Gallery ,Liverpool ,Yesterday. I studied and lived in Liverpool between 1976-1980. (Teacher Training Certificate & B.Ed(hons) from Lancaster Uniy& C.F. Mott,Huyton.) My life in Liverpool was an in-between time for me. Many memories.Mostly good, tho i never loved the place the way i loved East London where I moved onto afterwards....... Saying that ,Liverpool was,and is ,a Spirited Republic. I wish it well in these dismal times in Dear Old Blighty. God.England is shit at the moment. A type of purgatory.Non?
"The Dinner Party" [1980] by Sam Walsh.
He was a Liverpool lecturer who painted this in the last years of his life.
The sitters , who would never meet all at the same time, are people who from periods in his life.
They include neighbours, solicitor, ex-wife, partner, bank manager & friends.
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)
