Saturday, October 29, 2011

Julian! Eat Up Your Greens!

"Koichi Andoh - who came from Japan to work as a chicken sexer in Hebden Bridge in 1935 ..........." 

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 at C.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]

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Traitor Doge,The Blind Doge,The Prophetic Doge.


I own a lovely book called "Venetian Legends And Ghost Stories" by Alberto Toso Fei. One of my favorite tales in it is The Traitor Doge,The Blind Doge,The Prophetic Doge.
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.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The best of Sandy Denny's music inhabits the shore or the riverbank, or drifts upon the sea in the company of it's dislocated sailors

The Internet .She is taking over my life. [now that's a point .is the internet female or masculine?Is it "Le" or "La"?].Yesterday it was my mirror:today my reading companion..........................
"When I write songs,I often picture myself standing on a beach or standing on a rock or a promenade or something. I just put myself there sometimes and without realising it I find myself describing what I'm looking at and often it's the sea.I keep promising myself  I'll put myself somewhere else when I'm writing songs but I really can't imagine anywhere that's nicer than that........." Sandy Denny~ 1973

I'm busy reading my Folk Book (see previous post)
Sandy Denny:Wiki; 6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978:R.I.P. I saw her play at Krumlin in my yoof.
Anne Briggs :wiki

[n.b. This is a companion to my The Legendary Lost "Carry On Hippying" Movie Script! post.]
On the subject of Folk Music ,my thanks to Kimy for pointing me in the direction of the fine American  Smithsonian Folkways site.Free Downloads & much magic can be found!
I came across these two photo sites.Some striking Images of the London Riots.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Nick Drake, new glasses and old maps. : Very Nice.

Sorry Folks..A Busy Week.I Will Come A Visiting Tommorrow (Saturday).In The Meantime, why not visit some other great Sepia Saturday Posts.

Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun from Phil Bebbington on Vimeo.
i'm in the middle of reading the splendid Electric Eden.A lovely romp through the history of British Folk Music & Culture.William Blake,Nick Drake,Morris Dancing & Beyond. Many of the people mentioned I have seen/loved.Plus hosts of characters new to me.A Real Treasure of a Book.
I heard last night that Capo Martin is off to Nepal in October! I am jealous !
(Not That I'm vain, You Understand?) I bought 2 new pairs of glasses today.Here I am trying trying them on this afternoon. I'm using my blog as a mirror.Which is the bestest pair I wonder.....
webcam gif

New on the web is The Gough MapThe first map of Britain from the 14th Century.You Can View it Online.Below, a detail of Manchester (couldnt find "Hebden Bridge" other than something looking like the craters on the Moon)
[A Cryptic Map of sorts...........]

Monday, August 22, 2011

not fade away


In 1911, Bobby Leach survived a plunge over Niagara Falls in a steel barrel.
Fourteen years later, in New Zealand, he slipped on an orange peel and died.

“We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it.” — John Steinbeck
“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.” — Will Rogers
“Where is the Life we have lost in living?” — T.S. Eliot
[via]

Phil's Birthday

  My friend of 60 years Phil got married just a week ago to Iris . (He died last Sunday ) .  Today was Phil's Birthday . We went o...