AND I'M STILL SEARCHING
And I'm still searching
Yes, I'm still searching
For a way we all can learn
To build a world
Where we all can share
The work the fun
The food the space
The joy the pain
And no one ever
Ever need or want to seek
To be a millionaire.
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Friday 3 December 2010
Mickey
After filming scrap metallers around Bethnal Green last year, I am spending time with Mickey, perhaps the most prolific scrapper of all. Although now retired, he still has a keen eye for those things others might throw away.
Thursday 2 December 2010
A Boston Butcher and a New Cross Barber.
A butcher in Boston's North End, 2008
and Patrick, a Barber in New Cross, London, 2010.
Thursday 7 October 2010
Alfred Stern
In 1940, Alfred Stern joined The Almanac Singers after Lee Hays was dropped for his heavy drinking. He clashed with and was intimidated by Woody and "he refused to indulge in the rural proletarian façade".
He wrote a parody that made me laugh:
My name is Woody Guthrie, the great hysterical bum,
Highly saturated in Whiskey,rye and rum.
I wrote a million pages, but never read a one
And that's about the greatest thing that Guthrie's ever done.
St Ives
This trip was before Pembroke, but ah well.
The Mackerels we bought from a nice guy by the beach at St Agnes were the best things I have ever cooked on a barbecue. We marinated them in a tescos bag with lemon and olive oil.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Friday 3 September 2010
Woody blows New York, a Joe Klein extract.
By late December, Mary was beginning to suspect that something was wrong. On Christmas Eve, Cisco came by and Woody choreographed the celebration over to the nearest bar-much to Cisco's embarrasment, Mary thought- and didn't return for several days. On New Year's Eve, some of the cast from "Back Where I Come From" piled into Woody's Pontiac and went up to Nyack to play a fund-raiser at Will Geer's new house (only Will Geer would have a fund-raiser on New Year's Eve). A good slice of Broadway was there that night, dressed to nines in gowns and tuxedos, and Woody got Ornery drunk. He sang three or four songs rather poorly, his eyes closed throughout.
"Why do you have your eyes closed?" Geer asked.
"All them white shirts and diamonds are blinding me."
The ride back to the city was accomplished at speeds ranging from 20 to 80 miles per hour, although the speed at any given moment had little to do with the difficulty of the road. When they reached Harlem, Woody insisted on screeching to a stop at each corner and asking pedestrians, "How do we get from here to the United States?" Leadbelly, in the back seat, scrunched and mumbled, "Please, Mr. Woody, please..."
Several days later, Woody arrived home and announced to Mary, "Get packing. We're getting out of here."
Mary was numb. He'd blown New York too.
"Why do you have your eyes closed?" Geer asked.
"All them white shirts and diamonds are blinding me."
The ride back to the city was accomplished at speeds ranging from 20 to 80 miles per hour, although the speed at any given moment had little to do with the difficulty of the road. When they reached Harlem, Woody insisted on screeching to a stop at each corner and asking pedestrians, "How do we get from here to the United States?" Leadbelly, in the back seat, scrunched and mumbled, "Please, Mr. Woody, please..."
Several days later, Woody arrived home and announced to Mary, "Get packing. We're getting out of here."
Mary was numb. He'd blown New York too.
Thursday 1 April 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)