... at a bus stop opposite Putney Heath I have just been to visit with Ramblin’ who was on good form. By the way it was Ramblin' who put together the Free Tibet pic on our home page. Over a couple of cups of tea we listened to some music while we chatted about the origins of Stone Henge and the sword and relics found at the site at Sutton Hoo, mental illness involving hearing voices, collected psychedelic experiences and a host of things interesting and challenging. He always shows me his latest photos and I am always surprised by some quality or small thing that draws the eye. I left later than planned, as usual, and headed home for the bus. The bus stop is opposite the edge of Putney Heath.
Soon after arriving at the bus stop I met a young guy who was obviously very unwell mentally. He began a rant about the music business and the internet thieves who rip him off by stealing his tunes. He told me he made his tunes in a studio somewhere and the business people tapped into that and they can get it all. Four months ago he was arrested for carrying a firearm in Clapham Junction. It was all over the news at nine oclock in the morning. I remember it well. He told me that he wasn’t carrying one but they, the police had confused him with some one else who was carrying a weapon and who was pretending to be him. He kept telling me “ They know. They know everything”. He told me how he didn’t need any one and as he continued the rant he became more and more animated. He told me any one who is going to call the police and say a man has a gun when he does not have a gun must have a plan. He said “He didn’t care because God had a plan for him and so that was it. When I get to Wembley I’m gonna stand up and tell every one I did this by myself”. He continued “ I am my own body guard and every thing. I am my own business and I don’t care about them thieves business”. He waved his arms around, swore a lot and paced up and down as we waited for a bus. I wondered if we were going to get on the same one. Eventually a bus came up the road. He put his arm out and I watched as the driver looked hard at him and drove on by. I asked him why he thought the driver had done that. He said “ He knows me and he knows who I am”. He asked me if I had seen him on TV with a young local rap group I used to work with some years ago. He didn't know about this and had no idea who I was. I wondered how they might have hooked up with him and can’t wait to see what the clip was about if it actually exists anywhere other than in the guys mind.
I could see that to passers by this guy seemed very threatening and they moved as far from him as they could as they passed. Suddenly he asked me if I was part of the music business. I answered “No” in the same moment his bus came. I said, “Take care” he said “ You too man”. He disappeared inside the bus and was gone. I wondered how his difference impacted on his life on a regular basis.
There is no simple moral or out come to this story. The streets are full of unhappy people it is just that they don’t all come up to you and say so. To be mentally unwell is a double affliction. As well as having to contend with their illness a person also has to put up with blatant prejudice engendered by the fear many people have of all mental illness and all sufferers. In a time like ours you might think we would have evolved to a point beyond this but sadly we have not. I think that as a society perhaps we will be judged in the future and may be for ever, by the way we love our children, our elders and the most vulnerable. Being at all different can make you very vulnerable. Its is hard to imagine us ever getting it right while we live in a place where teenage men kicked a twenty year old woman to death because she dressed in the "Goth" style.
The competition continues. Leave your entries either at the foot of the blog or in the previous one. What is Art thinking ?
Usual rules. As many entries as you like with different names.
Leave suggested captions in the comments section. Art will be the sole judge of the best caption. The winner can email postal details and we'll send you the ONE picture disk with extra tracks . Competition ends on Friday the 9th of May when I expect the EB Band will be rehearsing.
copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2008
This is my kind of place. It is a tidal, inland stretch of a large river. The estuarine shore is cold and damp at this time of year but full of atmosphere and interesting things to look at such as the fallen tree. I plan to fish for bass here some time soon.
Spring is almost here and the fish are spawning. I have heard that it is possible to catch a carp on a lure at this time of year though I don't know any one who has done so. While fishing for pike with lures on a favourite lake, I caught the specimen pictured above. I knew it wasn’t a pike as soon as it took off but was shocked to land a carp. Beneath the surface of any fish holding fresh water a war of attrition is waged by the predatory species at this time of year. Carp will eat small fry where as most other times of the year they are not predatory. During the day light hours and the first hour or so of dusk whole sale carnage is usual. Happily it mistook my lure for a real fish. You can judge the size by comparing my glove and tools in the pic. The fish was quickly returned to the water unharmed after a swift photo or two. I will always remember that catch and it was on the last day of the fishing season. Amazing!
The harbour is still an evocative place for me. I always think of all the many sailors who set sail from there down the centuries. The clipper in the photo is the one on the Bandages sleeve.
The people look well and affluent. Norway is a very wealthy country and appears to have retained its individual character with out losing its connection with the rest of Europe. We flew out on the Friday evening and arrived at around 11 oclock. We settled in to our hotel rooms and stayed up quite late doing what the EBB does at such times. Later we walked down to The Garage to check things out. It was obviously a well appointed venue and the list of people having played there is quite a who’s who of contemporary stars.
You might have read about the truck crash and subsequent theft of some of my gear in the previous blog. While at the club our old friend Dennis showed me an old Marshall speaker cabinet ( pictured above on the left ) that I had lost in that crash. It had the legend Eb 1 on the back which Steve remembered painting. I must admit I felt a bit odd when next day, as we set up equipment, it was wheeled out as part of my back line. It did sound nice though. I have decided to appeal to The Garage to return it to me so we will have to wait to see what happens. Watch this space.
Dennis worked tirelessly all day dealing with every thing thrown at him by the band and local crew. The sound engineer Runne ( hope I spelt that right ) was very professional and achieved a good out front sound with out any fuss. Some of the onstage monitoring wasn’t to every ones liking but it was great for me.
My thanks to Vemund Grimstad for the three photos above taken during the show.
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