To: haggis@smells.nice
Subject: cleanse fold manipulate
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 04:18:52 PDT
well a short note, I've been busy preparing for scotland.
I leave thursday morning on a slow coach tour.
head to bath and stonehenge then llanegan or whatever then somewhere
else then the Lake district where I'll be for 3 nights then to edinburgh
then I break away from the tour there and move around scotland for about
a week.
nothing much else has happened here.
funny facts : fanta here has the same packaging but it is yellow in
colour and tastes like a diluted version of our fanta, very yucky !
the other when I went to petticoat market I came across whitechapel and
checked out the gallery there of 'modern' 'art'.
and naturally in such an nice lovely arty establishment there was a
piece of work there that was simply a canvas with black paint on it !
If I looked closely I could tell there were different shades of BLACK in
there.
Next to it was a similar painting but it was brown. If I looked closely
enough I could see it was 5 different shades of shit.
On sunday I checked out camden markets and it just blew me away, totally
big. you definitely need 2 days to do it !
later
darryl
From: "De Fish!" Save Address Block Sender
To: hoots@mon.com
Subject: darryl where's me troosers ?
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 01:36:34 PDT
Reply Reply All Forward Delete Previous Next Close
hi all
a short note !
Since my last missive I've taken a tour of bath,llangolen (in wales),
the lake district, and now here I am in Castlerock Hostel literally
under the shadow of edinburgh castle !
I have a tour to go to in 20 mins.
Tomorrow I'll head to Inverarary then Oban then back to here or London.
This place really is GREAT I never imagined it would be this good up
here !
Apart from all that I'm doing ok. I've written up a few notes over the
past few days so will send them off later on.
love
darryl
To: where@the.wind.blows
Subject: stephen king would be pleased
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 12:27:28 PDT
okay a freebie if you can guess where I am in Edinburgh, the subject
line is a clue !
well here's some notes I've composed over the past few days !
Oh yeah before I forget, to my workmates whom I sent stuff to, it seems
that some people may have got stuff meant for someone else, I thought
it'd be obvious to each person, who would've thought that so many of who
would share common tastes !
Anyway, if you did grab something from the package, please email me and
I will tell you if you guessed right or not, and then you can have the
fun pleasure of being father/mother xmas !!!
Though I can safely say that the arsenal cd single was meant for Terangi
!
oh yeah, no doubt about it !
okay, I left grotty london on thursday morning the 4th of June.
got on the luxury coach at with 8 australians and 2 danes !!
(plus one siamese!)
the first stop was windsor castle to pick someone up nearby, this was my
first wee glimpse of london in transit and not on the tube, looks very
much like home actually !
we head over a flyover and I see a massive massive cooling tower which I
thought was a nuclear power tower but found out it wasn't. Saw n ice
cream exhibition, passed by ascot race course. Went to Stonehenge and it
was great ! got some good snaps, couldn't help it, even though I
could've got a postcard ! nowadays it has a rope circle around it as
people were chipping bits of it home.
The camera I have got is a chinon zoom with "Advanced photo system" so
it means I can shoot panoramic shots. Around here is an army base and it
was funny to see the 'tank crossing' symbols/signs along the roadside !
At stonehenge it reminded of my an earlier interest in ley lines and a
bti of celtic myhology etc. ("oos oos ooby oss")
Oh yeah the wednesday before I went to see a movie, in leichester sqaure
there is a 8 UKP theatre but around the corner is a cheap one for 2.50
UKP which shows movies a little later than others. On the prompting of a
good friend I decided to see 'my best friends wedding'.
funnily enough it was packed, and I thought I was the only one who
hadn't watched it !
any it was a bit teary for me, I headed out into the square and a busker
played 'here comes the sun' then some other great song, so I just
started bawling my eyes out !
I made about 3 pounds in loose change !
anyway I left the busker when he started singing 'american pie' !
back to thursday. I saw Alton Barnes chalk horse, where people dig up
the grass on certain hills which have chalk underneath, also saw some
crop circles, which funnily enough were featured in the days copy of the
"Daily Sun" !
by the way, today I am in edinurgh and today scotland played brazil so
it is a bit of a buzz about the place, though the students have got
exams at the moment so last night in town was a bit dead.
Anyway we saw Avesbury circle which was a village sized stone circle.
past a 'deer crossing'. someone had stuck a red circle on its nose !
Got my photo taken in a church graveyard along with another cemetary
hound - may see a ghost !
We went to Locock which is a tradtional village and has to be kept that
way. It was where some british shows like 'pride and prejudice' are
filmed. Bought some cider and then hit Bath which was pretty darn nice.
We stayed at the yha. I headed off to walk around the town.
Went to a local pub and got roped into a game with some Bath girls,
jackie and helen.
the game was a video trivia game ALL on music !
so it is mostly multiple choice questions ! so we were winning pretty
well !
I know you music buffs out there will know how I felt to find this game
it is pretty easyish and real recent music trivia and songs etc !!
This night I dnank 'badger ale'.
friday : we saw wells cathedral which was magnificant. those you know me
will know I have a sense of dramatic. so without having sighted the
cathedral from where we were parked I turned the corner and sure enough
the cathedral appeared in front of me !
it was great - I joined a tour briefly and there are little bits of
trivia that one picks up.
on the pulpit where the minister gives his sermon the letters ge
squashed up to the end, because the callographer (?) misjudged the
spacing so at the end had to cram all the words in.
the catherdral has the 2nd oldest working clock in the world it has
little things like the phases of the moon on it.
plus little jousting knights.
the stain glass windows were of kings etc, but tucked tucked away in a
little corner one saw the gruesome scene of john the baptist and salome.
the cathedral was originally built for a few years then the bishop (?)
had a fallout with the king so it stopped construction until 30 years
later when architectural designs have moved on and were slightly changed
so one can see changes where this has happened.
The population of well is 9800, it is classed as a CITY though as it has
a cathedral !
Next we went to the home of cheddar cheese, whos names escapes me at the
moment. Did the tour of caves here which was a bit blah. We then went to
Ironbridge which is the first wrought iron bridge in the UK. built
during the industrial revolution.
I got a good shot of the bridge withe some cooling towers in the
background. up from here is a pub whos name I forget but it won best pub
last year in the UK. and recently celebrated it's 150 birthday so they
charged victorian prices to punters dressed in victorian dress.
so it was 1p a pint/handle.
Did a canal cruise through the shropshire. didn't look to be fun first
but it was worth it at the end.
reminded me of 'three men and a boat' written by [whom].
soundtrack for the past day has been : bittersweet symphony, walking
wounded, weather with you (damn aussies!)
Should mention one of the aussies in a 40ish teacher from tasmania, who
ribs me no end about being a nzer and sheep etc.
I'm am always tempted to insinuate certain things about being from
tasmania, a teacher in a catholic boys school but I have to bite my
tongue each time.
oh yes, a few days ago when I did that all niter I ended up in berkeley
square, no signs of THAt certain type of bird though.
nearby is the royal academy of arts and they have their special day
comeing up and a guy has about 30 bronzecoloured mannequins hanging
around the buildings or posed on the lawn, very popular and I grabbed a
shot of it in construction.
on friday we ended in wales in llangolen. funnily enough the locals give
us no trouble and make no eye contact even the drunken yobbos !
finally have my first taste of fish'n' chips and it is pretty shit.
lots of grease. though the chips are pretty big, but $6 for a fish is a
bit too much !
High on a hill I can see some abbey ruins. there is a massive aquaduct
here which is quit freaky to go on.
imagine being in a small canal boat and looking over the edge and it is
a SHEER drop down, and all that's holding you in is the bouuancy of
water and an ageold boat design !
On the prompting of hostel staff me and the driver head out to a pub
which had pretty goldarm bad service !
the minute we walk in the local who are all huddled around the taps look
up, and the female bartender says 'whadyya want?'
anyway we drink a pint of theakstons here, and for the 2nd night in a
row I stumble home in the dark.
saturday 6th june. head to machester and pick up 2 aussie lasses. the
soundtrack here is bob dylan yay !
don't stop for long. we then head to the west coast and to the resort
town of blackpool, it is wet and wild weather. I jump off the bus and
buy a ticket for the horror show thingie.
in front are 2 yorkshire men "eh, this'll sober us up from last night",
me "I hope this place has loos...", 2 girls and a guy "eehh I'm grabbin'
hold on this fellas jacket in front of me already". and we hadn't even
gone in yet !!
anyway suffice to say it is a good little thing to go on. imagine
walking through darkened corridors and seeing various ghoulies on the
other side of cemetary gates etc....
and then imagine when they come at with a spade/pitchfork etc.
imagine the noise as they scrape their imstruments against the railing
making a terrible umm...scraping noise......
then imagine them running around and chasing after you !!!
sure enough the girls screamed and I got someone's fingernails in my
neck we botled quick smartish outta there. so basically after that first
one I was laughing all the time.
other ghoulies we see are a witch, the girl from the exorcist, a vampier
than flies/jumps from wall to wall around you, leatherface, freddy
kreuger etc. infact you have to rush past and slightly under leatherface
with the chainsaw to get out !
naturally they don't touch you though but it is scarey !
especially if you are at the FRONt or at the back of the line I was ok
heh he heh !!!
It's all in the planning !!
Okay that was done so we head to the LAKE DISTRICT of England. a large
area where there's about 16 or so lakes, so you can imagine the views.
unfortunately it rained a bit !
Neaby was a supermarket so I grabbed food here and cooked for myself for
once. I spent 3 nights here. Had my first Guinness the first night and
it tasted great. Met JAnet from Christchurch we're joined by a canuck
Travis. As you know, England pubs shut at 11pm so out here there's no
exception. so we ended up talking and then I remember a had few pints
of cider still on me, so basically from 11:30pm to 2am we sat and drank
and shared drinks with a norwegian and a german.
ben elton show was on as was top of the pops etc so it was all fun !
Should note that tonight, Bic Runga was playing in London.
Earlier in Tv was Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday concert so you can
imagine who performed and what songs were played, it was great.
They played new songs from 'Whistle Down The Wind' performed by Bonnie
Typer, sounded a typical Jim Steinmann motorcycle fetish thingie.
Got talking to a greek sydneyite who's been to every theatre show so he
recommends 'les mis' and 'aspects of love'.
sunday 7th june - take a boat trip on the largest lake here.,
Windermere. we headed to some settlements along the coast here. a bit
blah.
at night I was telling some melbournites about my walk earlier to the
catholic church cemetary and the roman fort ruins and they pitched in
with there TRUE ghost tales which really freaked me out !
(or maybe it's cos aussies have such wide eyes when they talk)
anyway I'll leave that till the next email.
at the moment I've been in edinburgh for 2 nights and it is a reall
great city, you can get lost here and enjoy it, unlike london.
the buildings here are so grand |!
those of you that want WOOLY COO softtoys etc, place your orders now.
darryl
To: last.days@edinburgh.hotmail.com
Subject: the muddy painful path less travelled
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1998 10:44:19 PDT
okay back to 7th June about the ghost story.
A lady Janet recounted an event way back in the 1950-60s when she was
renting a flat in Sydney she came home one day and in the hallway was an
old lady who scowled back at her.
Janet was struck with indignation and followed the old woman who went
into her young baby daughter's room. When she got in of course there was
no old woman in there. Janet notes that her daughter whilst living
there did sometimes giggle or 'look' at things moving around her.
OKay maybe not so scarey but imagine a dark night next to a lake told
to you by a wizened old woman........
She enquired and there used to be an old lady living there but not the
way she described her. She seemed to be wearing clothes of the current
time. I suggested that it could've been her come back to stop something,
or maybe even her daughter come back.....
And then she shut up !
Another person Katrina recounts back in Melbourne that her grandad
wasn't very popular - dark family secret, some things happened but no
one will say. Anyway she recounts her uncle and his fiance as late
teenagers decide to visit his father's grave, (you know just as a bit of
a lark!), they walk to the grave and look around it and then both stand
above it and look down - then do deathly grey and run back to the car
and look the doors - but say they could see through the ground and see a
skeleton looking back !
Katrina also works in the markets at melbourne and being bohemian she
got talking to a painter. As they talked she realised the person knew
things about her. As it turned out it was the ghost of her brother !
Nah, she found out that he lived in the same district as her father used
to. A rural district. She further found out that he lived in the same
house/dairy farm that he did ! Anyway the painter was quizzical and
wanted to know who had lived in a certain bedroom in the house, as it
was always forboding and cold and even people who are not told about it
do not want to sleep in there. Katrina the next day brought her father
along to the market, but the only information he would impart with is
that it was his parents bedroom...
8th June
Anyway back on track, the next day I decided to shell out and take a
coach tour through the region, many to choose from and too much to see
anyway. It was ok but the weather was terrible so wonderful views
weren't so wonderful but I think I got some good ones. Got talking to an
american who says the US is craving computer/IT people now and making it
easier for overseas to work there, as opposed to the long arduous
process before.
During the lunchtime and being in a secluded place I decide to be dandy
and 'phone home'. I phone up my brother Matthew and tell him to email
you all, which he did !
Later that night I hit the nearby pub again and sunk a guinness.
9th June
before I forget, there seems to be ANOTHER 70/80s retro thing happening
here ! Culture Club is reforming and touring and in support will be
Human League and Howard Jones - yay !
also next month in fact the 4th july before the Princes Trust concert it
is the gay pride march/concert. It should be good. Cheap it is : 5 UKP
($15 NZ). And bands playing are hopefully Texas, Pet Shop Boys, Boy
George and others and djs !
Today we left The Lake District taking in some scenic routes and headed
to Glasgow for a short while to pick some people up, I felt like
staying, but the people coming on said it was 'a bit of a hole'.
We head north a bit to check out loch/lake lomond.
Actually when crossing over the english/scottish border we ended in
Gilders Green (?) which incidentally had several marriage houses, in
fact one on the border that proclaimed 10,000 marriges since....
As this was a popular place to elope to. And as it happened the 50ish
old lady sitting in front recounted a similar tale that she went
through. Now divorced and onto her second husband now though.
At here we picked up some groceries and whilst I was being a miser
trying to work out the savings on 3 packs of biscuits this scottish lass
with beebee in tow comes up and says something, gigles and walks away !
Anyway at Loch Lomond it was grand but wet so we stayed under shelter.
This was an important stop for me as I'd had a big swig of coke
previously and was bursting. The first toilet way across the other side
of the carpark was closed for painting so I had to make my way back and
taste sweet relief !
Back at Glasgow we picked up Janet, Travis and others again. Including
one fanatical US music fan who had books and all sorts of things that
she was going to/had visited. She recounted how she went to that road
where The Verve did the video for 'Bittersweet Symphony' supposedly it
is in Brixton but I don't think so.
Enroute we check out the climb the William Wallace Monument (braveheart
and all that), in fact at the base there is a statue of Mel Gibson,
Strange as the original person was a big big man.
Anyway we arrive in Edinburgh at 6pm at Castlerock Hostel right under
the shadow of Edinburgh Castle where there are workers putting up the
seats for the forthcoming festival in August.
This hostel has computers here !
They are on Virgin Net and they have a script/icon set up so that you
doubleclick onto it then it brins up a customised window where you click
connect/disconnect etc. Click Connect and it dials and connects and then
runs Netscape. So it bypasses any need for a Dial Up Networking Window,
which is course ain't too friendly, though I wonder if IE 4.0 causes
any problems ?
Anyway I've noted down their login and pwd - it's a flat rate 12 UKP a
month for unlimited usage and it is darn fast !!
I head out for dinner and decide on Pizzahutt - me and my companions are
struck by the age and the buildings and roads and how quaint it is.
Anyway we eat and then settle into our rooms of which there are 13 other
people. But with a bit of space so it's not too bad.
The next morning I log on to the net and send all of you a big message,
and then I rushed off for a free tour of what is called the 'royal
mile'. Basically Edinburgh is divided into the Old and New Town. The old
town is what was originally the city centre and as you would expect is
high on the hills. All the old buildings are here and there is actually
for ONCE a lot of INTERESting history.
Too much to note down but I've taken a few photos for ya. Though some
things seem to be a bit gory and ghostly.
We heard about Deacon Broadie who was the inspiration for Dr Jeckyl & Mr
Hyde, he was a tax/town councillor who by night stole things.
The Hoblothian Heart which is a cobbled stoned heart near Giles
Cathedral which marks where the old jail used to be. Becuse of various
injustices where an innocent man almost got executed, people spit on
this heart as they walk by, so don't walk in it and lick up show sole !
I've got various good pictures to show you all later.
Also I finally found out the grave robbers Burke and Hare.
Who would kill people staying at their inn and sell them to the doctors
school for research. They got done cos one day they killed an irish
woman but were drunk so left her body in the bed.
After the free 2 hour tour I head to Newtown where you can find all the
shops etc. It is pretty dire but I managed to find some good music
stores. I picked up another All Saints collectable. To fill you in, the
band was actually formed in 1995 and was just Mel and Shazney and were
actually on the ZTT label (home of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Seal etc)
! They released 2 singles that did nothing. So now they are popular,
fans are trying to search out this stuff. So far I've picked up 2 old
singles for resale.
Anyway later on this afternoon it rained so I ended up in the NAtional
Gallery and like I said in the last email it is small compared to
London's so it was time well spent. Saw a few famous paintings.
My original intention was to stay here for 2 nights but as you can tell
I've been here 4 nights, one more and I think I'll have done just about
everything.
Also went on the recommendation of someone to check out a hotel called
the DOME which the bar is a converted Bank, (Andrew and Nusi can
describe it better I am sure). Anyway I have a guiness here and perhaps
because we were a party of 3 we get a goodsized bowl of nuts which I can
tell you are darn expensive so that was pretty good.
The next day I walked up the hill nearby, Arthur's Seat. Instead of
taking the reasonable walking route I decide to follow those whos tracks
were lain out before me and head straight up the slope, it was well
worth it as it definitely cut quite a bit of time ! To cut a long story
short it commands greats views of everything and I got some great shots,
though you must give me a chance to defend myself for taking photos of
some young kids that were up the top with me there !!
It is a great story I assure you.
At the top it started to rain so I head back into Newtown and check out
the National Portrait Gallery which is very small but had an exhibtion
'The Science Of The Face' which was based on a recent book, and WOW it
was absolutely amazing covering topics such as attraction, perfection,
symmetry, genetics and dabbing into cognition and psychology a bit. Lots
of great little eye tricks to look at.
Now as I recall this night was the first night of the Soccer World Cup
so everything was a bit chaotic. Shops closed around 3:30pm-4pm.
Pubs with Widescreened tvs were booked out. I headed out for Pizza again
and found a place cheaper than Pizzahutt (in fact pizza is pretty cheap
around here as we are near the University as well). Should note that
nearby a 3 australian bars. We grab pizza and decide to check the town,
unfortunately it was about 9-10pm now and most people you see around are
hardout drinkers, so the pubs were emptying out now. We walk around and
finally settle on one place to share a drink.
The next day.... well it was thursday and I can't remember what I did,
though I think I had shopping in mind !
That night I walked the 'royal mile', I forgot to mention before that I
live in the Old Town and the main streets is called the 'royal mile'.
Anyway I walked it at night taking some snaps, yup, I've relented and
decided to take photos for the benefit of you guys back home, even
though I won't be in the photos.
bastards !
Along the way I got a bit scared are it was 10pm and it was dead quiet -
when I passed the house which is supposedly haunted with a boy who
killed and ate a girl - and the girl's ghost as well I decided to head
back. Before this jaunt they were showing 'Trainspotting' in the lounge
which I finally saw and found quite good.
Though I'm not sure how you're supposed to pick up the New Order -
Temptation song in it !!
Today, Friday 12th June I went to the post office. Followed the Royal
Mile again and took snaps for you guys, I just hope in 1 year or so I
can remember the info.
So I have used plenty of film today - a visit would not be complete
without checking out Greyfrairs church and the grave of Bobby the dog
who for 14 years 'hung' around the grave of his master.
Tonight if I feel fit I will check out the nightclub.
Tomorrow on Saturday I will take the coach to Oban on the west coast for
2-3 nights then to Inverary then possibly to Edinburgh and then to
London in time for the De La Soul Concert.
more to write I am sure but I can't remember anymore.......
lots of pissing everywhere.
darryl
To: hielin@coo.hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 00:55:07 PDT
okay when I last emailed I was about to get the coach to Oban.
but still have a day in Edinburgh to tell you about.
so 12th June 1998 Friday.
I wandered into town to buy the darn ticket. Had a longing for junk food
so woofed down some KFC.
Checked out Greyfriars and bumped into Tazzy Tim again - we kept bumping
into each other a lot, even though we are at humourous odds.
Greyfriars is best known for the scottie dog called Bobby who hung
around his master's grave for 14 years or so.
So there are statues here in his honour etc.
I bought some summer apparel, as Oban is a beach town I
thought...........
well the shorts and jandals did come in handy anyway.
I've decided my hair is too long to push forward now so it's going
backward now, well trying to, it's sortof up in the air.
Okay Friday night, I bump into a corker from Cork - we have unisex
bathrooms here. (actually did I tell you about the whalers I met from
Wales ? howabout who I met in Bath ? or the people from Felchershire ? -
pls ask Andrew Read about all that!)
We discuss some clubs and the one called The Kitchen which she
recommends - it's funny as the club of the same name in Dublin is owned
by U2.
Anyway I head out for a drink with canadian Travis and met Terry who
smothers us with affection and kisses and almost got his tongue into
me... when we leave he tries to follow us and just sits in the round on
his stomach seeing us leave ! fun !
We head to the local pub for the hosel and it is a nice mix of ages.
Music is mainly 80s and 60s standards. This is my first glimpse of Scots
in party mode and it is an infectious energy I get off them which I
would act upon if the pint of McEwans wasn't making me queasy.
Travis has to hit the sack and get ready for the bus tomorrow so we
exchange email addresses and go our separate ways. I head to the Kitchen
and DARN I strike out again ! It is just a normal top 40ish club. I
hang here for abotu 2 hours anyway finally getting to listen to loud
music and watching the crowd's reaction to songs they would've dance to
a week ago as well. I hit the sack at 2:30am.
Get up at 8:30am and head to the bus station. The coaches are quite
cool in that it is quite easy to just turn up and buy the ticket
straight away. It is a 3-4 hour drive to Oban on the west coast and
without a doubt it is the most scenic drive I've had so far. Loch
Cruincrauch (?) is a hydrodam and looks magnificent - it is actually a
hollow mountain which you can take a tour through.
I arrive in Oban and I COULD'VE SWORN SOMEONE SAID IT WAS A SMALL
FISHING VILLAGE ! but it is pretty darn bigger than I expected.
Imagine driving into a main beach road on a luxury coach and the sun is
beating down ! great feeling ! I ditch my stuff at the backpackers
hostel which is much closer than the YHA one a few minutes walk further
down the road. Met another canadian who's a bit unfriendly as he keeps
giving me funny looks when I acknowledge his worthless presence so he
can go $%^&* himself - he father probably has. [various bitchings here
which I'll censor out about old lady and barefeet to be filled in by me
later for myself cos it's too......]
I stroll down the main street and pick up some postcards. I realise
this is the first time I've smelt the seaair for a while. Whoah, I
recall a conversation with Travis where we trade trivia - he knows the
deriations of POSH and TRIVIA and tells me if SWEET FANNY ADAMS.
Supposedly earlier this century or so the navy started rationing food in
tins, especially pork, it was supposedly pretty vile and looked a right
mess and unappetising. Around this time a girl was killed and cut up and
scattered around the murder site or so so hence when the navy officers
opened their tin of pork they gave that utterence.
go figure !
I grab some fish'n'chips - same price as in London, 90p for chips and
about 2 UKP for fish, but this time I get 2 good sized fish. YAY ! I
grease myself up and walk up to McRaig's Tower which is a monument that
looks like a roman coliseum structure which looks down onto the town. I
take some snaps here. I grab some tourist brochures and hit the
supermarket which is a good move. Head back to hostel and cook dinner
and get talking to Tanya who on first sight you can tell she's
"different". She is a south african [before I forget, my last night in
edinburgh, last night I bumped into a South African who said only the
strange SA women travel - and I believe he is right] who got a calling
to go to the ISle of Iona here - which among other things is pretty much
recognised as a spiritual place. It's on a leyline and supposedly
various formations for the 'Star Of David'. Anyway she is a healer/
spiritualist/ new agist/ tantric something and was recently blessed by
PAN ! Goes to people in need who are supposedly ACTUALLY in need ot
searching for something. Have a fun conversation with her (tried to
catch her out but she seems to have an answer out of the air for
everything). As we part we dramatically say we will meet again.
Now I need a stiff drink. Decide to head go for a walk first though
and head up the coast but the sun is in my eyes so head back down and
walk up Pulpits Hill which looks over the inlet. Up there are a proper
english couple and an old man who I have fun explaining modern
technology to - like cameras etc. Anyway the sunset here is great and I
hope my photo of just the silhoutte of us turns out okay. The male of
the couple is quite wordy and keeps describing the sunset as marvellous.
I head back to town and see the locals wandering around basically
eating fish'n'chips. At 9:30pm everything looks a bit deadish as most
pubs have the soccer on. I bite the bullet and head into the Oban Inn. I
immediately see a place I can be inconspicuous (standing in front of
some people who are watching the telly). The game is Belgium vs Holland.
I try a McEwans EXPORT and is it wonderful - this becomes my drink of
choice at the moment. After the game everyone lolls about. I realise the
jukebox has finished playing 3 Robbie Williams songs in a row (forgot to
mention that while canalling in Shropshire I saw one of his houses,
supposedly). I don't have 50p for 2 plays so chuck in a pound for 4
songs. Not wanting to bang on some fats techno and possibly alienate the
small town folk here - that's big city stereotyping for ya !
I put on :
deacon blue - real gone kid
boyzone - she moved through the fair ( a classic traditional song which
I love in any form)
verve - bittersweet symphony
black - wonderful life
beach boys - god only knows (dunno how I got an extra song in).
Now one of the reasons I came to Oban is because a great friend back
home suggested I came here as she had worked here. So I asked around to
see if anyone could remember her. I said do you know someone called
Nuscrankulator ? NO Nusilator ? NO Nuselengine ? aye...errr...NO
Nusty jacks ? NO I finally try Nusmeister !!!!! but NO NO NO
Maybe it was my accent, or maybe she never was here in the first place,
the plot thickens !
[apologies to all for this private joke]
I find myself talking to another visitor an old fellow Henry , a
northern irish who lives in Worthing in the sound coast of England and
is here is Scotland using his sister's flat. At the same time Roddy
McNeil approaches us and he is 1/2 maori and scottish born in
Dargaville. You can't tell though. We chat for a while and go our
separate ways. I make my way back feeling strangely warm allover and
happy - same as the feeling down the front of my shirt...
as I held the fish'n'chips closer to my chest.
NOW ! during the course of the night there are a bunch of pubcrawlers
replete (?) with two bagpipes and a drum. Whatever pub they go into they
cause great whoops of laughter and joy. ANyway they they pop into the
irish pub and I join them.....
gotta go now, but I'll tell ya about the people I met down there later,
including SCOUSERS !!!
To: STFU@performance.hotmail.com
Subject: have you seen the horizon lately?
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 08:57:43 PDT
hi all
well I'm gonna give you a rundown of yesterday and then head you back to
Scotland later on - as this is more fresh in my mind.
well Thursday 18th June was darn busy !
woke after having the WORST sleep of my time here as in a dorm room of
14 people 2 guys must've been sleeping on sandpaper. (well they were
making some funny painful noises anyway).
Anyway I get up catch the bus to London at 9:30am - not much happens,
the countryside is boring like New Zealand's boring parts !
Arrive in London at 7pm.
I check the De La Soul ticket and it says 7pm - well that'll be when the
doors open so I'm planning to get there at 8pm. As things always happen
a little bit later than stated.
I manage to get a bed at my old place which is good cos they still have
my stuff locked up there for safekeeping ;-)
I finally hit the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town (in the opposite corner of
the tube station) at 8:20pm, see a long line of people trying to get in
so quickly go grab a bite for the day and hit a supermarket selling
sandwiches for half price so I'm in like Flynn.
Go and eat outside the venue and stand right next to two of the band
members (the large one and a thin one) - I am too shy to talk to them
though. (Though they were pretty friendly as a lot of people went up to
them after the show).
I cruise past the 10 or so people trying to get tickets - they are
playing 4 nights tuesday-friday here, I bought my ticket 3 weeks ago, I
tried to get Friday tickets then but they were already sold out.
The venue holds about 2 thousand. The support band on stage has 3
turntables, a beatbox and a rapper and are ok.
At 9:15pm the De LA Soul dj comes on and plays a few new tunes from the
US and warms us up and in 15 minutes the band comes on !
well what can I say !
it was an awesomely great performance, very dynamic - a lotta movement.
They played for 2 hours, pausing for 10 mins to let a local band do
their thing - it was impromtpu as I was standing beside one of the
rappers who was dressed to the nines so on stage kept complaining
someone could've told him cos them he would've dressed more cooly.
They did about 9 songs in the first half and maybe 7 in the latter.
They did not play 'Doin Our Own Thang' [though of course this is not
possible because.......] and did not play 'Say No Go'.
But they did play : eye know, a rollerskating jam named saturday, stakes
is high, ponyride, me myself I, ring ring ring...........
From about the 3 song onwards the atmosphere was overwhelming, the smell
of cigarettes and other things were in the air and everyone was getting
into it, the band had a great presence really getting into the crowd. I
was on the far right of the stage and they were so close (to slap palms
etc) I could've spat and hit one. I managed to get some photo snaps. I
hope the lighting was good enough. From the 3rd song onwards 'crowd
participation' was the key and they got us all to join in and do various
hand actions/movements !
At one point they decided to go 'funky' (and donned shades) so played
some George Clinton etc and had about 4-5 [probably planned] false
starts to get the crowd pumped up. Finally they got some of the audience
on stage to lead us on and one again the track started..
but no ! one more false start -- there are some audience members not
getting into it so we all have to point to them and embarrass them and
clear the space around them them !!
Also the did a stint of 'old skool rap' (using older technology in the
music etc) and this really got the crowd going.
Well they finished at 11:30pm after 2 hours but the dj/rapper stayed on
for another hour to play tracks and keep the audience moving.
Basically all the songs segued into another or they gave them a GREAT
GREAT GREAT
buildup, especially the songs everyone knows which really got the crowd
going wild. A lot of chat between songs as well.
Unfortunately there was no merchandise.
If tomorrow wasn't sold out I'd be tempted to go again.
ON an r'n'b note, I did expect a good concert with 3-4 people on stage,
though I wonder how a single performer fares ?
We'll probably see when Coolio and guests hit town next month.
okay I head back to the hostel afterwards, I've just missed the fun as
some guys were pissing in the hallway and there was a fire alarm !
I hit the sack and wake at 9am for breakfast. I muck around for 3 hours
and finally head down here. I am rewriting my CV I'd better start
looking into work soon. Tonight I'll watch a cheap movie then go the the
BLUENOTE club where they play drum'n'bass and jazz etc then if I'm still
alive I'll go back and watch the NZ vs England rugby test at 3:30am.
On Saturday when I arise I'll probably hit Camden Town to pick up
something for a US friend stateside !
till the next missive !
darryl
From: "De Fish!"
To: please.send.money@scotland.yard
Subject: help dad !!!!"!
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 12:19:48 +0100
hhhhi alllll
weeeeeeell a quick rundown of my current situation - I'm currently
sharing a room with a burly fellow
called 'biffer' and a wino called 'slldjsfdvsdfg'. (sp?)
how didd i get heere in such dazzling company ? (biffer told me to write
that in)
okay well as you all know last night I went to the opening preview night
of andrew lllloyd-webber and
jim sssteinman's musical "whistle down the wind".
thee day went as well as could be expected I got up and had a hearty
breakfast at the hostel headed around the market places for sopme cheap
shoes, in the weekend i managed to pick up a cheap jacket and trousers
so today i went to earls court and knightsbridge (don't ask why) then
remembered that petticoat lane had some dodgy stuff when last i was
there so heeeaded that way and thge carbon monoxide fumes in the
caarrriage almost put me to sleep....
anyway i got the shoes and headed back to the hostel to get prepared for
the 7:45 pepformance..
i decided to don my normal outgoing clothes of black etc, my shoes have
taken a bit ofg a battering lately - more about and my nightclub
exploits later if i am allowedd. i tuirn up to the aldwych [not a typo]
theatre, just down the road is 'buddy' and 'miss saigon' outside the
theatre there are thenormal set of people plus a few policemen (ggrr
bastardsss) - no policewomen (ggrr bitches), i take a couple of snaps
from outside to taken in the scene. the hotel next door is hosting the
south african cricket team (ggrrr - ummm nice guys!!).
(biffer is south african I think so I'd better put that in!)
lots of people dressed up very spiffy in tuxes and low cuts tops - the
women folk wore stuff that l;eft little to the imaghination as well,
lots of jewellry.
anyway a couple of weeks ago i bought the tikcet for the first preview
show dated 22nd june. vut a little after that i saw papers mention it
was the 17th june was the start date./ eh ? I thought ?
well as it transpired by reading a fellowe patrons program the 17th was
supposed to be a royal gala performance thingie but the ceiling or some
of the set broke down so it was put back to this date !
what swell luck.,, the royalty attending was hrh princess alexandra -
nah i have never hearad of her before eioyther.
anyway while waitig i get talking to the photographer fgor ok magazine,
there a re a few papparazzi around
and a few barriers which aren't actuallt neeeded as we are all
wellbehaved at the m,oment.
we wait longily for perhaps an appearance by lloyd webber or steinamnn.
but no go, the princess arrives and we have tpo part way for her, i
think about taking a snap but decide against it, not wanting too look
like a tourist. whioklst waiting also i got talking to an old lady, and
she was in nz for 30 years before coming back home. okay so we file in,
- looking down from above are the 'better people' (toffeeee niced cunts
- biffer wrote that) the theatre is about the smae size as the st james
so it's pretty small and fels intimate.
(whoosrsr thhhats what ai lieke to read abotuaf - the wino worte that)
(nooo eye ddidd notttt !!!"!"!"£!¬ - the wino again yes you did - me)
we walk past the notices saying that yhere willber livesnakes during the
performance.
okay well the performance starts off in a church and sound s great, very
choral and great !
by the way I am siiting 6 rows from the ront, I was lucky to get it cos
I was a single person.
the kids int he choir take off and the stage literally lifts off thre
stage to reveal the other stage which is used for outdoors scvenes !!!
okay well to cuta long story short the story is about some children who
find
an escaped convicty in their barn and believbe it is jesus christ (the
first utterence he says when they find him ;-) the feed him and shelter
him and ask things of him, anyway the townsfolk find out so go to catch
him but he sets the barn alight and disappears, okay a lot happens
inbetween.
the show was 2 hours, the songs were okish, out of about 12 there are
about 2-3 standouts. to me that got the crowd going and had the steinman
touch to it, that is, they were bombastic and loud 9whichI don't tbiunk
much of the audience appreciate) and like all him othert songs they went
on for a while.
the best parts the audeine loved were tyhe chilkdren singing, and the
first solo performance buy the lead male whjich was very powerful and he
was in great voice.
during intermission i hobnob at the bar and stand next to one of the
famous people her, but forget his name but he is on uk english tyv
shows, an old fellow with distinguished mustache etc, not windsor davies
thopugh.
i approach him and say 'what a wheeze eh ?' no recognition ;'did you
bag another of those fuzzie wuzzies again ?' still nothing 'so england
are doing well in the gaem aren';t they ? (in ref. to any sporting thing
that may be happening at the moment ?' still no reply but he goes red
for a bit.
one last try i say 'how do you make your moustache stand up like
that?' "I use liquid conrete"
yay , so he isn't canandidan or a happy dad.
oh yeah after the performance for those people there isa dinner on a
boat with sir john mills etc.
i also shout a girl that looks like ytheone from captain kremmen an ice
cream cos the smallest note she had was a 50 pound note.
okay back to the show. oh yeah the last song was goodf in that the top
stage went halfway down so people were underneath it singing /psarring
against the people above.
probably like everyone else i was worried the stage would fall down and
crush summa.t
okay well it dragged a bit near the end buty at the end we clapped,
though no standing ovation a shame.
oh yeah thelead lady lottie mayor (whoosaar) was great sounded just
like julie andrews !!!
(whoosarss !)
we file back out again and i grab 2 programs and decide to wait for
ropyalty and get my camera at the ready after 20 mins or so after she
congratulates the company she comes out and the pavement is awash with
bright flashes. the papparazzi shout out to her and move up front, i say
what the hell so push my way up as well.
they shout ;look over here your royal highness; and she does. i shout
the same but she doesn't respond.
after a few halfhearted attempts i
suggest a different tack and shout out "SHOWS US YER PEARLY WHITES!!!"
as ipush past the copper and accidently fell to the ground at her
feet.........................
well as many of you know i have a great love of the english language and
tyhe thing called cock-knee.
but how was i to know the rules had changed and that what i had said
actually nooowwww translatyes to
"shows up your tights" - well as you can guess the cooppers quickyl
pounced on me, it wasn't rea.lly needed.
my glasses surevived but not my 2 front teeth or 3 of my fingers,
reallyt not necessary at all.
' no speekee ennnglesh' i say, they reply 'goddam commie' and kick me
even harder.
suffice to say i survived and i am now residing for an indeterminable
period at the victoria street poilice station.
they did not allow me to pmake a phone call as isaid iwanted tyo call
home to nz, he he they do not have a sne of hujmourr here . as you can
tell they gave me a laptop to use as they would not alllow me to use a
pencil to write on paper as they say they are not sure of my psychiatric
state so won't allow me any sharp objects in the cell and i refused to
write in crayon - sly eh ?!
it's is pretty good here free boarsd just what i was hoping for so so
far my by overseas trip is going to plan. the roomates are good and keep
giving me funny adoring looks.... (cos we loves ya soonny - biffer)
whooah, the winoe just upchucked on the kepybooaarrddddddddddd
ssssssssso betteeeeeeeer finshhhh nnnooowww
aaaaanyway so that is why dear readers iiii do nnnnot have a photo of
hrh prinnnnncess alexanddddra and lord ogilvey when they pppppassssssed
by right in front me...
so dont' ask me if i ever get home to new zealand why i passed up such a
terrific photo oppertunity, i tried i really am.
-----
From: "De Fish!"
To: back@the.chain.gang
Subject: allegro non troppo
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 16:07:34 +0100
weell i am back heree again things weeree looking up toiday.
last night i didn't get much sleeep as it was quite noisy in the room.
and i did't .like the way the other guys weree looking at meee.
i did manage to get my one phoencall so i phoned up richard heere, a
londoneer i know for a chat. he told me of a shooting for i think 'men
behavving badly' in which the episode/movie is based on new romantics
from the 80s music eetc, so there will be gary numan and other 80s music
stars there so i will try to turn up for that as they are calling for
background crowd etc. problem is it is the same day most possibly as
the princes concert in the park - i should explain about this actually.
the conert is to raise funds for the princes trust (as in charles) for a
fund for something similar to yougn achievers. i have managed to get the
list of artists performing, the whole concert is from 1pm to 8:15pm !¬
playing will be ; all saints, boyzone, gary barlow, julian lennon,
lionel ritchie, ultra nate, lutrecia mcneal, the mavericks, connor
reevers, eternal, natalie imbruglia, simple minds.
the latter band jhave released new album here plus there are a slew if
techno remixes of all their old songs e.g. jam and spoon remixing don't
you forget about me (if I remember correctly).
anyway back to the clink i managed to pleead diplomatic immunity by
baffling them with bullshit and babbling insanely. they reckoned i was
coping pretty well with london so let me go with a warning and one last
kick to the teeeeth - i manged to head back to the hostel round
lunchtime and just hit the sack for a weell-deesvered sleep.
anyway one I woke up in the evening and went to a chinese place down the
road that sells punnets of rice/noodles etc for 1.50 pounds which is
darn cheap, i got duck with my rice as well !
well i was feeling on the top of the world !! so decide to shell out and
head finally to the walkabout pub (aussie/nz pub) for a quiet drink and
made a note to try to stay outta nooise and troublee.
on the way I pass crowds if people trying to buy tickets for the sold
out dave matthews band concert at the venue next door (shepherds bush
green).
anyway back to the walkabout pub, as it happened it bodded pretty well
cos inthe pubb were hundred of yougn brazilians to watch the game
against norway. GREAT ! i thought after the match it'll be party time as
it'll be joyy all around and great loving in the streets !!
...
anyway after the police and bouncers settled everyone down after the
game i breathe a sigh of relieef as i most certainyl would've been
picked by my black eye, bandaged fingers and mising teeth etc as an
engilsh football hooligan.
anyway all was nice and calm for the free music acts coming on... first
was a 3 girl r'n'b group called honeyz who sang 3 songa nd they got
eveyrone dancing as best they couldll.
next up was someone i wanted to seee lloyd cole ! the crowd was still
bouncing and expecting more dancery music etc but behind the curtain
emerges a man and an acoustic guitar who mangeeed to sing 5 songs
(including easy pieces, she's a girl and i'm a man, brand new friend)
before the crowd got nasty expecting some more upbeat music .. i tried
to calm them down explaining in whos great presense they were basking in
but no go (as this entailed having to explain the whoel decade of the
1980s music scene, what a flock os seagulls is and what a 7 inch is)
anyway after cries of 'show us show us' the staeg was mobbed and i was
caught up in it..,.
so here i am again sharing a cell with a lively bunch of brasillians
still chanting somethingg and waving their flags about, the scots are
inthe corner having withdrawal symptoms and some norwegians are prompted
up against the bars takign some blows to the back of the headd....
anywa i have to go , the the brazillians have made some friends with the
norweggians want to use the powerpoint here and have some strange
looking wirey thing in their hand...
hopefully tomorro will be a brighter day for all conerned, i need to get
out by this comign saturday cos the premiere drum'n'bass club called the
blue note is closing down on saturday due to noise restrictions - it is
in a residential zone, so all metalheadz such as goldie will be
performing there from 6pm onwards until they get closed down....
the flyers looks really good so i will try to score some for some of
you...
darryl
p.s. someone pls call my da...
From: "DE Fish!"
To: help.me@hell.co.uk
Subject: death and the maiden
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 18:02:54 +0100
well they're leting me have a short note out...
i am still tryiong to get hold of the new zeealand consull here but no
joyy.
because opf the nature of the crimes i am being put into solitary
confinementtt so i may be off the net for a few days though there is a
power plug here int he room for use of somethingg.
at the moment they are cfracking down on hooliganism due to the world
cup fiascoo and monica seles legs so to stop any furhter problemss they
could be locking me up fgor the duration of wimbledon.
food ain't badd and i feel i am getting healthier.. i have got some
facial and body cleansing syuff here, it comes high speed out of a
industrial strength hose so i can feeling the cleanest i have been for a
long time. though my teeeth are a b it 'rattly' now.
i feel like jeff goldblum, oh yes, george michael sends his love !
see you all laterr,,.
pls write to anmes......