BOLAN FAN COWARD

I periodically Google to see what's happening in relation to Marc Bolan's Shrine. I found a not that recent, but still good page.

But with it was a comment. The nameless person with no profile left a very hateful comment about me. Naturally he didn't use my name, but as there are two females in TAG and the younger one is my daughter who cannot be described as  "main love was Steve Took", so that logically only leaves one other person he could be talking about ... Me. 

As for Steve Took ... I'm writing his biography and since when did it become illegal to like more than one musician? This I cite as an example of what a nut man is. 

I am pretty sure the man who wrote this and many other similar messages on You Tube and Social Media Sites is is safe and secure in Belfast, writing, as cowards do, from inside his home and with even a stretch of water between him and us. 

Cowards like him insult, poke, prod and purposefully disseminate lies to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Cowards like him are NOT men. 
Men do not stoop to this level of patheticness.

Cowards like him pick on disabled women. 
Men address the husband who is the actual correct person to address any grievances to.

Cowards stalk people for the kudos the get from their 'friends'. 
Men do not stoop so low. 


Below is what he wrote.

Electric Wind said...Been to the TREE many times, it's such a pity that the lease is owned by a woman whose main love was Steve Took,and who just uses Marc Bolan as an ego trip. A very nasty woman who is disliked by 99.9% of Bolan Fans. We appreciate the work done eg the steps,but the bust looks nothing like Marc Bolan,this is were are Hero died and it belongs to ALL fans of Marc. KEEP A LITTLE MARC IN YOUR HEART.June 8, 2010 at 11:34 AM

If you notice, that insult has been loitering on the internet without the man who wrote the original blog having the good sense (IMHO) to take it down.

My reply Fee said...Dear All. It is a great regret that a small percentage of Marc Bolan fans are quite frankly deranged. There are so many wonderful fans, and nameless idiots like this one give the impression that all Marc Bolan fans are raving loonies. 

Dear Electric Wind. What a pity you hide behind a faceless image and a silly pseudonym. As for who I am a fan of. The majority of people consider me to be a huge Bolan fan, because of what I and the other members of TAG have done. 
What have you done Electric Wind Nothing, other than spread hateful jealous lies about me. ? 

I, like people knew actually knew Marc Bolan know he had good and bad points. Sadly some of his fans only ever want to hear 'nice' things, which detracts from him as a human being. Flawed, but with a fabulous talent and a smile that can still set hearts racing around the globe. 

As you well know Electric Wind, the lease is owned by four people and you REFUSE to target your nastiness at the Chairman - Mr. Kevin Warner, because it is easier for you to pick on a disabled woman, than face-up to another MAN. 

If I was truly the "very nasty woman" you say I am, I would have had a fence put around the whole thing to ensure people like you could not get to it and vandalise the site as your friends have done in the past.

I am just one of of the four members of TAG. All of us have worked very hard to make and keep the site looking a tribute to Marc Bolan and his band T.Rex, which makes your comment that my main love is Steve Took sound laughable, otherwise I if I was so minded I would have made a Shrine for him, though all who know Took would probably agree that a 'Shrine' for Took would be quite inappropriate. 

If I was not a Bolan fan, I would NOT have spent my money (and no one else's) on the Bronze of Marc Bolan which his own Brother described as "a wonderful likeness". I actually 'bailed out' the sinking project because the sculptor had been let down after 18 months and 500 hours of work by the "official" fan club. He was out of pocket and the sculptor was done when they canceled the project and backed out of the deal taking the money they raised with them, rather than pay it to him as they should have done.  :-( 

Only after you pay for a second Bronze of Marc will you FAIRLY be able to criticise the one there. One final point - if, as you say, the site belongs to ALL fans, then YOU can pay for the tree surgeon to rectify the mindless vandalism to the tree. 

Off you go. 

Let's see how many of these "ALL" want to put their hands in their pockets and fund a professional Tree Surgeon. As we have the lease, please let us know when he is doing the work and ensure that all the correct paperwork with regards to the Highways Agency and the Local Council has been done. 

It is a weight of my mind that you are going to do the fund raising for it. You shouldn't need more than around £700-£1,000. 

Finally, Electric Wind - Do come to the Shrine on the 16th September and express your thoughts to the TAG Chairman in person.

April 16, 2014 at 1:19 PM

Wine Crucifix 1957/78 by Arnulf Rainer

An earlier piece from my writing course. This one I really liked and so did a lot of other people. We had to choose a postcard and then write whatever thoughts came to mind as a result.

I shout. I scream, but the sightseers pass me by as if they cannot see me. The tourists continue their slow gait, looking at everything but me. Maybe I smell. It's hard not to smell under the circumstances. Occasionally their offspring look my way, but a parent quickly chastises them and pulls them away as they protest, "But Mum! MUM! Look at …" 

I watch them disappear as they always do. Some return from time to time. Some linger for a while, where I have been for so long. They sense the pain, agony, and despair. For a brief moment, I hope they will look me in the eye, but they never do. I still stand unseen, unacknowledged. Maybe it is the smell. I do smell, but there doesn't seem to be any way to stop it. 

The crosses may appear virgin white to the sightseers glowing in the warm sun. They imagine the leaves smother the trees like admirers around Lillie Langtry. "Shall we picnic here?" they ask each other.

Picnic? Are they mad? Here?

Maybe the entire world has gone mad?

Maybe that is why they ignore me?

I am forever concerned that they cannot comprehend that the crosses are not white. Why do they not see they are stained red? An ignorant glance might suppose it to be red wine. But it can't be, it's too thick, too rich. The rich ruby red that fountains down the crosses is blood. The finest our country ever produced. Blood, which soaks into the mud of no man's land. The twisted shards of humanity doomed to remain, rotting in the blood and mud of no man's land. So many hopes, and dreams, that were lost in the blood and mud of no man's land. Young men, barely out of short trousers seemingly doomed to lie forever in the blood and the mud of no man's land. They are remembered with a cross as a symbol of their sacrifice, their pain, and their agony in the blood and mud of no man's land.

Why did we die?

For the neutrality of Belgium? Surely not?

Suddenly there is a change. A cool breeze pulls me away from the long lines of marble crosses and tourists who never acknowledge me, to a field in the middle of the no man's land. Now I remember, the shell hole, the water. A sea of faces look as I am what apparently is termed "excavated", intact, with my kit and my dog tag. My family have been traced and are soon here photographs and I have grand children. My biggest regret is that my own wee son died before I ever held him. I am found. I am recognised.

BELOW THE ORIGINAL POSTCARD I CHOSE

I hate the Commercial Ethos of Science

My final assignment for The Art and Craft of Journalism Course

I hate the commercial ethos of science because it has caused peoples' trust to be eroded to such an extent its duel plinth of fact and truth is ready to topple. Most, but not all of those chiselling away at the pedestal are those without scientific backgrounds. They not only mistrust the results, they mistrust the scientists motives and unlike fifty years ago, when science was seen as the way to a 'Brave New World' which would be the answer to all our needs and wants, in the 21st century, numerous people see science as the road to ruin. Are those, who like me mistrust science due to its commercial ethos right? Or is it just a sign of 21st Century Cynicism?

“This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

If the drive for scientific knowledge was truth and scientists were obliged to admit when they were shown to be wrong there would be more trust in science and scientists. If research was for the betterment of all, there would be more trust, but I hate the commercial ethos of science because scientists won't or can't hold their hands up and say, "Our experimental design was flawed so our results mean nothing."

I hate the commercial ethos of science because profit, ego, and reputation now drive the majority of research. In academia, supervisors push researchers to manipulate data to allow the supervisors to achieve more publications to their name, so they can move up the ranks from simply being a 'Doctor' to achieve the coveted title 'Professor'. Meanwhile, University funding budgets are based on quantity of research, no matter how flawed it will be shown to be a few years down the line. Quantity over quality dilutes real advances as well as instilling mistrust in the well-informed, increasingly sceptical public.

As an example of why I hate the commercial ethos of science, I am using genetically modified (GM) crops. In the pure altruistic theory of science, GM crops could feed the whole world, by developing strains that are more drought resistant, or could cope with having their roots starved of oxygen by water logging. I hate the commercial ethos of science because GM crops are not developed for the benefit of humanity. They are created to make offensively large, offensively powerful global corporations even more offensively rich. The profit and loss spreadsheets have no room for sentiment or, ethics.

I hate the commercial ethos of science because the science behind the growth of GM crop strains is linked to the development of GM specific herbicides and pesticides. Together these combine to ensure that farmers the world over become trapped in a circle of dependency. Farmers' not only have to buy the seed, they are forced to accept the high prices for the chemicals without which their crop will fail. This results in the latest form of subjugation and exploitation by addiction, equal to that seen in the 18th century in China when the British Government traded opium for China Tea. This time it is on a potentially worldwide scale.

I hate the commercial ethos of science because even those who choose not to buy GM seeds will suffer. GM crops are already spreading their made-manipulated genes via pollen that can travel 10's or even 100's of miles from the source, so that even those who chose not to use GM seed will find their crops becoming addicted to the expensive pesticides and herbicides developed by the profit driven multi-national corporations.

I hate the commercial ethos of science because it is inducing global addictions to the one thing all life needs to survive. Food. I hate the commercial ethos of science because for worldwide food production this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. In the near future, countries will find themselves controlled by faceless offensively powerful global corporations, who grow more powerful aided by complicit and corrupt governments. I fear for the future of our children's children because it is they who will be chosen to live or die, as food becomes a viable method of regulating and reducing world populations. 

A tangential peek at Phil Ryan

As I continue through my writing course this is the piece for Week Six

To Dream The Impossible Dream

A tangential peek at Phil Ryan

Phil Ryan is an attractive, well-dressed multi-facetted man of 55, described in Wikipedia an “entrepreneur” Behind his achievements which can be Googled in an instant, lies 'the man', who made it all happen. The inner persona, driven to 'run where the brave dare not go' and 'to be willing to march into hell, for a heavenly cause'. It is his sense of pure enthusiasm, which has allowed him to embrace a far broader range of topics than most are willing to attempt. He modestly describes himself as a "Jack of all trades and a master of some" and says one reason for his varied works is that he is "able to compartmentalise” his life, but in his heart, he says, "I am a singer, songwriter and guitarist" and yet his influence on the lives of others, must not be underestimated.

One key aspect of his character is his fascination with Storms. This can be seen by the titles of two of his albums 'Storm Warning' and 'The Storm House' and his publishing Company Storm Books. He recalls as a child being taken on the water in a boat by his daredevil father during thunderstorms. Phil remembers pleading, "Dad this is dangerous" to no avail, but he did grew to love storms so for him the word is charged in many ways. Not only was he aware of the deafening noise and the power of the Storm, but also the utter silence directly after it as the scent of Ozone hung in the air. This assault on all the senses and the deep emotional reactions are probably vital characteristics, which makes Phil Ryan the man he is.

Briefly skimming his biography (so save you the Google), his biography shows a range of skills many aspire to, but few could achieve, unless you were to find yourself fortunate enough to work on a project with the man himself. The complete biography of Phil Ryan, includes his work as an author, playwright, gag and script writer, founder of the 12-bar Club in London, founder of Storm Books, but his "real love", he says is as a singer songwriter, guitarist. One achievement, ingrained into his memory, is fronting the legendary band The Animals to a crowd of 100,000 in Moscow in the early 1990's, where the choking control of communism was only just starting to release its grip. Phil recalls with emotion the audience singing "We gotta get out of this place" which gave the words far more meaning given that every single voice wanted to leave with the band at the end of the gig.

It is clear his willingness to engage with those individuals, young and old written off by 'society' as 'no hopers' show his fundamental character. Phil Ryan is someone who instinctively sees the positive aspects in human beings and allows them to achieve their own previously 'impossible dream'. One part of his career is the formation, with John Bird (MBE) of The Big Issue in 1991. He proudly tells of one homeless man who came to him wanting to write an article about the way some charities use far too much money helping themselves, rather than the homeless they represent. The Big Issue allowed this man to become what Phil Ryan saw - "a brilliant writer", though to most people he was just another person on the street to be 'not seen'. Phil talks of the Big Issue Vendors who "take the brave step to stand on the streets in all weathers," to work themselves out of homelessness. "That is hard," he adds.

"I had a great deal of help when I was young" and his advice to everyone is "Don't stop believing in what you do. People will tell you what you do is not commercial and will try and mould you to their idea of what you should be." These are wise words as are the advice "Be true to what you do." Phil gives advice hoping that those who receive it will listen, because when he was given advice at a pivotal moment in his life he didn't take it. "I don't regret it," he says, but "I do wonder how my life would have been different if I had listened." It is clear his willingness to engage with people written off by 'society' as 'no hopers' show his fundamental character as someone who instinctively sees the positive aspects in human beings and allows them to achieve their own previously 'impossible dream'.

Asked what he would do if he became Minister for the Arts Phil replied enthusiastically. "Give Councils bigger budgets, because that creates jobs. I would change the law to allow empty commercial buildings to be used to allow people of all ages to positively engage with each other to share experiences and skills." In this aging society, Phil is enthusiastic that all ages should be engaged equally. "We live in an ageist country that ignores older people." He explained how these disused buildings could be brought back into use with only a small budget and that older people could feel both useful and appreciated as they pass on the wisdom and experiences to teenagers and younger people, who currently roam the streets through having little to do. 

We do not need Phil Ryan as Minister for the Arts. We need his as Arts Czar so he can implement his plans, without the dreadful soul destroying game of politics needed to become Minister for the Arts. Maybe without realising it Phil Ryan's quest is and always has been to allow others to realise their Impossible Dreams.

Photograph from: 

www.frostmagazine.com/2012/09/londoners-life-40-overheard-by-phil-ryan

The Impossible Dream (The Quest) written by composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion inspired by Phil Ryan dedicated to Liberace.