Protests, Parades and Poetry

Stumbled on a website with ideas to encourage weightloss....they ask the members to nominate a charity with whose views they disagree to receive the money should they fail. They work on the theory that it`s an incentive to get people motivated. They dangle the carrot with suggestions, how about global warming, abortion or gay marriage? How sensitive of them.

Just watched In Bruges, not usually keen on Colin Farrell, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film, nowt like black humour.

Passed two blokes, the first greeted his pal with

Blokie 1 "By, you`ve lost a lot of weight lad."
Blokie 2 "Aye, aa`ve been too near the bacon slicer."

Are there any clear guidelines on swine flu, apart from "Just stay at home." Why do I suspect that someone has made a medicines deal and needs to sell stockpiled tablets for, say, American drugs companies? Are wars started to sell weapons, probably, did the Americans film the moon landing near Las Vegas? There are so many conspiracy theories around, some of them very believable and their success depends on scaring us. Lately, I feel guilty when I need to cough, do people think I`ve got swine flu? Well done on causing mass neurosis. Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough they tell us...of course, a splash of Domest-arse will kill all germs. I still laugh to recall the advice we were given when the threat of nuclear attack was feared, we would all be ok if we hid under a door, yeah, right, we have three minutes to run around for a screwdriver, take the door off it`s hinges, then a family of four will fit nicely under there. What we have all learned by such lies and nonsensical statements is that we are on our own.

Making my way through town on Saturday,on my way to a poetry event, lots of rights groups parading through the streets, some fabulous costumes and banners. Six of us read in turn at the Oxfam book shop in town on, it was a really good day, people wandered in and out, listened for a while, chose a book and moved on. We also read from Hope Filled Seeds, a compilation of poems in support of Oxfam.
Also spurred me on to make a resolution, sort out books that I have read to donate.....of course this didn`t last long, an hour in Oxfam and I bought four from the shop!!!! I think that I need help, maybe I should search for a website to wean me off spending on books, but, if it goes to a good cause, I`m in.

Shatila Social (Peter Morgan pictured)

Over £500 was raised at the Cumberland Arms on Monday 13th by performers for the Shatila Refugees Camp in Beirut. Peter Morgan had worked with the children at the camp school resulting in a 30 minute play of music, dance and physical theatre. 10 young actors and 4 of their teachers were brought by Peter to Tyneside to perform the play in the Autumn.

Poets, slammers, singers, comedians and spoken word artists performed to raise the money. Two ex members of Lindisfarne, Billy Mitchell and Ray Laidlaw with Billy`s son gave an electric performance,Annie Orwin, blues singer and actress astounded everyone with her gritty songs, I`ll certainly be going to see them in the region. Turns out Annie often plays at the same venues as a friend of ours Bob Barton from the band Old School, small world.

The funeral of Jimmy Forsyth today at the West Road crematorium, our group The West End Picture History Group were there to see him off. Kelly, his carer was there and going back to work afterwards. Met some good people, a fella who was in the squad who pulled down all the pubs along Scotswood Road, loved his stories of how Jimmy would position himself right in the thick of the demolition to get a good photo "You`d see the dust rising up and he`d be standing in among it all with that box brownie camera. Also people from the newly set up Westgate Past photo collection group who are archivists and photographers,we went to the Fox and Hounds afterwards.

Crook Hall`s ghost of the White Lady

Support this poetry event, Mark Speeding is performing a set of his poems.

At Durham on Saturday for the 125th Miners Gala, lots of banners,bugles and banging of drums. A hen party was in town, about 30 lasses all wearing horns and black T shirts saying Gemma`s Hen Party, when one of the bands came parading up towards the cathedral, one of the lasses, pint glass in hand did a wiggly dance right in the middle of the lane as they approached. Great atmosphere in the town, apparently 50,000 attended last year.

Then on to the Crook Hall Gardens to take part in a poetry slam, got into the last four, great people there and the surroundings were magnificent. Art installations around the house and gardens, They have an orchard, maze and many themed areas such as the Shakespeare Garden. We also took part in a project by artist Barrie West who gave us paints of regimental colours to add to a piece about Iraq soldiers. I`ll be back

There is the ghost of the White Lady who haunts, the leaflets advise sensitive souls to avoid the Jacobean Room, so that is where the slam was held oooooooooooooo. In the next room there are two paintings of what is supposed to be the lady. Didn`t give much of a mind to it and didn`t experience any activity. But, we were all sitting in the garden, a lovely day and a young lass was playing and singing for us, then I looked towards the house at a lower window, nothing scary there, but as someone walked past the window and cut half of the reflection out, I saw a face exactly like the one in the painting and the same hair, it was smiling, then it vanished, weird.

Perfection at Pink Lane Poetry and Performance. Jazz Cafe`

Pink Lane Poetry and Performance, some of the entertainers. The cast from Cabaret were holding their end of show party downstairs, the musicians were amazing. Wayne Sleep is such a lovely person, very friendly and agreed to a photo. Look out for the next Burlesque event there.

Nicely out of Tune Flip Flops

After a trip to Greece it takes best part of the day to get used to not putting toilet tissue into the pedal bin, but seriously...

At checkout on the outward journey to Kefalonia and D asks the assistant how much for extra leg room, £30 each is the reply.

D "I`m not paying that, it would be £120 there and back!"
Y "So you`d rather have deep veice thrombosis then?"

Luckily we weren`t served square egg, the hunter`s chicken was nice enough. The kid behind was saying to her mother "What`s sticky and purple... and...I spy with my little eye." The flight attendant was demonstrating where the emergency exits were and the in flight telly showed the safety slidy, the kid pipes up
"Mummy, do I really have to go down that" mummy replies "No dear, now be careful where you`re putting your Fruit Shoot." and "Are your ears ok...now lets play I Spy again."
Has anyone got any razor blades, and we have another three hours of this. Forgive this dark composition as my thoughts were dark at this time

Dying Abroad

The windmill turns
And the dogs bark
By the flags of three nations
She is returning home without him
Their life together
Gone in the blink of an eye
Happy holidaymakers
Make their way to the beach
He lies alone
Entombed in a foreign land
She passes through airport control
His case and hers
She asks:-
"My husband died
His heart gave out
Can I still use his duty free?"

The heat was marvelous, good food, hotel and we met some lovely people. Hired a car to get around the island. Took a wrong turn from Poros, travelled down and under instead of up, passed a woman whitewashing her house and by the time we got back she had finished.

An old donkey lived in a field opposite the hotel.

Donkey looks out
From his breeze block home
Fury ears flap flies away
No water that I can see
People pass by and say Ahhhhh
You stand there while I take a photo
We`ll bring sugar lumps.....
Tomorrow.

Memories of my holiday in short bursts.

Towels flapping from veranda
Tree trunks painted white
Massive green and yellow crickets
Slide around the back of an ornate fence
Slyly thinking that they are hidden
Rubber flip flops
Sunburn in varying degrees
Dried out geraniums
Couple in the next room
Listening and singing along
"Why am I soft in the middle...
I can be your long lost pal."
I wonder if they are called
Betty or Al
A woman walks past
Wearing a fabulous cerise hat
Al says "She`s been to Ascot"
Sings
"He looks around around..
Call me Al"
Betty doesn`t speak
And the hire cars move in and out
While I sit on the veranda
Listening to the tapping
Of out of tune flip flops
Cicadas and a faint snoring sound
From the bedroom.

Talking to L from the Picture History Group as we sort through the archive photos, she is just back from the Netherlands. Recently recovered from a double knee replacement operation she says

"I caused a panic at the airport when the security men scanned me with the paddles, I set the alarms off."

When on holiday we miss out on the news, we speak about the death of Michael Jackson and agree that he was a creative genius, but don`t suppose we`ll ever know if the allegations were 100% true or a way to get money out of him. It set me thinking about the gun carriage that Lady Di was carried away on, she would have hated the thought of that, she was so against everything it represented, and like so, Michael Jackson spent all of his time hiding his kids from publicity and his siblings take them on a world wide stage after he`s gone, talk about rubbing one`s nose in it? And suddenly, people who never listened to his music are rushing out to buy it now. Science fiction scenarios are about to come true once more, I can remember films where the women ruled the world and men weren`t necessary, so a team in my home town, Newcastle have engineered sperm.Methinks this could be the thin end of the wedge, Jabba the Hutt and Jar Jar Binks here we come. Maybe we have all been here before, second time around, Pegasus may not have been a myth?

I love to go away on holiday, but, Jazz Club on Thursday, there`s something good about being back in my home town.


Andeeo.