A light dusting of the white stuff on Sunday the 6th of April 2008

Low tide on the river Orwell

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.

During the the1980 Olympic Games which were held in Moscow, the USA boycotted the games because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Olympic Committee decided to award the games to Bejing in spite of the growing world opinion against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Currently in Tibet torture is a common practise. Forced sterilisations of women who cannot pay fines imposed for having more than one child, are a common occurrence. The procedure is primitive and the “patient” has to pay for any medical needs the day after the procedure. Women are some times left severely disabled by this barbaric practise. Thousands of Tibetan people have been imprisoned in forced labour camps. Many have died in what has been described as systematic process of genocide. The freedoms of the Tibetan people, both cultural and religious, have been severely curtailed. Still they remain constant to what the Dalai Lama calls “ The middle way” in the hope that reason might prevail through peaceful negotiation and intervention by the larger world community. Sadly this has not been forthcoming so far.
I expect and hope the recent problems around the Olympic torch parades is only the beginning of a growing world wide movement against Chinese human rights violation both at home and abroad. Asda is currently selling a Chinese made DVD player for £22. What is the real cost?

This guy is waiting to hear from YOU - defence_chn@yahoo.co.uk
and so is this guy - culturaloffice@chinese-embassy.org.uk.

As a life long and recently disillusioned cycling fan it was wonderful to see the gold medals pile up for the UK track cycling riders in the recent world championships. Quality racing and all drug free? It is highly likely that the whole British squad is clean. It will be interesting to see if the 2008 Tour De France can resurrect itself from the gutter as far as performance enhancing drugs is concerned. Either way it is time to pump up the tyres on my beloved Bianchi and hit the roads, especially all the flat ones for a while.

I get some strange correspondence, mostly by email these days and here is a short sample from an old friend of the band who used to live in Leamington Spa and now lives in Germany. Bob is also a musician. We go back to the earliest days of the EBB in Warwick and Leamington Spa but only really got back in touch after the EBB re-formed. http://www.bob-poole.com/


----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Poole To: Broughtons

Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 5:43 AM

Subject: Strange dreams

I am asleep in the bedroom. The kids are sleeping next door. She is out again somewhere, not sure who with. The radio is playing softly in the hall. The Dubliners are singing "evening over rooftops" with sweet 4 part harmonies. Suddenly the song has a strong connection to Ireland and Irish inner city problems. I get out of bed and walk into the hall. I fumble with the loose CD's there looking for the Edgar Broughton version of the song as I need to hear it again. There are plans ahead to protest and lobby the government to fix a big problem with Derby's river where it runs through a deep gorge. A newspaper catches my eye with a photo of a man playing the piano under water and how it is feared that he has drowned.
Hey Rob, check the time of this email. It is 6.30 in the morning and I just woke up remembering this dream. The thing is, this kind of thing never happens to me and I am not drinking or smoking or anything. I have never felt more normal and everything is fine with the world so why the devil do I wake to a crazy dream involving your song so strongly?
I must sound like Digger! (Another old friend from the early days)
Hope you are all well.
Best wishes
Bob Poole
-----------------------------------------------------------
You do sound like Digger ha ha ! AND this is the kind of thing that happens when you become at all involved with the EBB. At least your dreams seem quite innocent and not too dark. It could be worse mate. I hardly ever dream these days. I just fall into a deep comatose like slumber - eventually.

The most worrying thing is that you say you "never felt more normal". Oh dear Bob this could be very serious.
Lovely to hear from you.
Best wishes
Rob

----------------------------------------------------------

Been thinking. I did give up cigarettes. That could do it.

When are you coming over here again? Your new fans have been asking. Especially the girl with the long blonde hair.
Never happens tome anymore. Girls used to fancy me once!
Best wishes
Bob Poole

----------------------------------------------------------

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!


Peace




copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2008