yesterday
while waiting at doctors to do my treadmill stress test
i read an article by bryce courtney
and he said that theres 2 types
writers and story tellers
he said most people were one or the other
he mentioned an indian writer (k.s. narayan)
whom he considered “that rare thing, both…”
i guess i am a writer
i’m not a very good story teller
i cant sustain a huge plot
with all the mechanisms
i dont have that kinda imagination
i’m more of a make stuff up and fuck continuity
i use my surrealism n prose poem malarkey
to cover up the fact that i just cant sustain a story
i’d say tolkien more of storyteller
i’d say peake more of writer
i’d say our c.s. was a bitta both
oh my my
gee theyre different things arent they
i met rick grossman from the hoodoo gurus in the street yessaday
we were talking about rock auto bios
he said mark seymours book was fucking hilarious
we both agreed ronnie woods was abysmal
despite him having an amazing tale to tell
he just wasnt a writer
(amazing painter tho)
(now hes holed up in some pub with a 16 year czech girl or sumpthing!)
the best rock read i ever read was “hard road” about stevie wright
from the easybeats (friday on my mind)
written by jack marx
(seek this book out…you wont put it down)
scintillating dark stuff indeed
it has stayed with me…
i drifted into science fiction in my late teenage days
but not asimov et all
i liked science fantasy
which was kinda an updated tolkien inspired thing
tolkien is the father of almost all science fantasy
as well as that guy who wrote conan the barbarian
(i devoured those books too)
michael moorcock wrote a series of interconnected novels
about a “hero” who comes back to different planes n times
sometimes an albino addicted to his heroin-like sword
sometimes as dorian hawkmoon with his inlaid skull jewel
sometimes as corum a kinda disenfranchised “elf”
in one incredible climax
the heroes join up as one huge conglomerate….wow!
but so much of sci-fantasy is like a re run of tolkien
you red the back cover n you red the book:
when the queen of nimbob
lady goosequill
loses her enchanted unicorn
bombo
she must fight the evil lord
nasty-sodd
journey through the land of grong
where the bing bangs dwell
and so hazard a quest that will imperil her lovely magic ring
part 3 of the silver butterfly trilogy
now being made into a film
starring sean connery and justin timberlake as snoggo the dwarf…
anyway
dylan thomas is a marvellous writer
straddling the border of poetry and prose
hes a writers writer
and his use of english is extraordinary
like seeing a master pianist fly over the 88s
in one sentence you are completely floored
bob dylan who named himself after thomas
wrote an unreadable book of poetry called tarantula
and then wrote that wonderful chronicles book
which was a little time being-ish
in its ability to blur facts and fiction
i guess that is my goal with this blog thing
to blur the line between…everything
just like dylan
a lot of things are written as exaggerations
or imaginings
or mere possibilities
into my mix i throw
real life
my deepest n realest feelings
my memories
my memories of memories
my lyrics my art my music my poetry
my ranting n raving
after all i am a self opinionated old mufo
i am a self proclaimed genius n i got a lot to say
this is a crazy crazy world
we think its sensible n sane
but its wildly illogical and anything can happen
and writing is a powerful thing
mightier than violence they say
in its ability to persuade men
for example the bible
the bible is just a book after all
a book some geezer wrote
or a few different geezers actually
some of em get credited
some of em dont get credited
some of em didnt want credits when they edited n chopped n changed it
a meeting of editors got together
probably drank some wine n
visited some brothels
and finally they would have shouted each other down
in nicae
and whole bits got kicked out
like thomas n jude etc
bits that didnt suit the kinda propaganda
that the editors were trying to shape
i was presented with this book as a child
it was printed on strange flimsy paper
it was written in archaic language
(that SEEMED to possess authority)
and it was illustrated with guys tearing down temples blinded
or whales swallowing down geezers etc
i did not dare question it
it had all the weight of the ages
i thought the fact i couldnt find the “good” in it
was my fault
that i was somehow evil etc
you see…?
presentation is everything
i was told…it was implied…that this was all true
not just the myths of some forgotten wandering desert tribe
it was given to you as verbatim
at the risk of yer soul burning (FOREVER!!!)
and thats a long long time baby
so its a bit like whatever radioheads new record is
its like
DONT QUESTION IT!
and people sit at home silently saying to emselves
i dont like or understand kid a at all
but the force of the myth is everything
but now im digressing
but digressing is what i do
turn yer weaknesses into strengths
i’m a stoned old ninny
my thoughts wander hither n thither
so i disguise my weakness as a deliberate device
and i build on it
and it becomes a feature of what i do
go with that instinct
that instinct to be you
oh influences are hard to shuck off
as a musician i am basically the sum total of all my influences
as a painter i have no influences
as a writer i am half half
seeing i never really wanted to be a writer
i aint slavishly imitated anybody particularly
its an advantage to jump disciplines sometimes
lyricists are different from writers
lyricists have the music to fall back on
and the way its sung
i rate the following lyricists
dylan lennon mccartney harrison jagger
patti smith verlaine springsteen bowie bolan
strange foxx devoto dulli calvert kate bush
and more that i forget
jimbo of course
jimi hendrix wrote some good words too
yeah
but its a different ballgame
i still cant finish this here
tomorrow : final installment
ps
test results
heart good
lungs good
pancreas good! (i feel so sorry for poor patrick swayze!)
kidneys good
prostate good (whew)
liver not so good…bad enzymes from too much abuse
cholesterol not so good…amazingly as a vegan
i have some naughty “bad” cholesterol
jesus…imagine if i ate dead meat…?
thyroid not so good
i have the beginnings of hypo thyroidism
which means my thyroid is working under
me : what does thyroid do?
quack : everything!!
this accounts for my constant freezing n feeling cold
and for my dry skin n my coarse lifeless hair
actually the thyroid could be fucking up the cholesterol too…
anyway
its more tests
but you know
im pushing sixty n stuff is gonna start clapping out!
so
so far
my eyes(dim)
my ears (self inflicted!)
my liver is shonky (ditto)
my thyroid (pass the iodine)
my cholesterol (cholest we forget!)
my mind (clinically in sain!)
my ego (swollen)
my inner fucknuckle (rampant)
my inner brute (i know who you are!)
anyway
no more medical news for now
will keep ya informed
killer