Tag: holiday

A Greek holiday in other people’s misery – 13th September 1994

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Swing sweet sexy mistress
Come play concertos on my porch
as the night time glows dimly
into small hours, lay awake with me
dance your mysterious dances
cross white sheets, sticky in the heat
as roosters cackle the glory of the day
you are about to see through deep mists
sun breaking low, sky, a water colour
grey, orange, yellow, blue, engulfing stars
forgotten now in numbed and hazy glow
like playful seals, we jump in icy fresh waters
jump and dive, race and rest, submerged
let glory of nature rise from our toes
out through our fingers into the earth
parched and tortured, sunbeaten into submission
light trees stand and fight, dip and sway
in hot dusty breeze, the breath of god
all over this earth, our little island
inside our minds, our simple souls,
and touch these people in their simple lives,
made them worthy, made them whole
weary and tired, ignore the bustle
too simple, their lives, to even contemplate
a different, new improved way
sad we are with all our knowledge
blinding us from this, it’s just a holiday
it’s fun in the sun, week away from cloud
and sad you can see, the way I feel
taverna empty of locals
full of Krauts and Brits, getting drunk
emptying their pockets (as I have too)
and it’s just like home, where I am the local
and wouldn’t frequent these holes
here, set in ancient cities, cobbled streets
castles, cannonballs. The jewel of an empire
some thousand years before
now left to sell Pepsi and pizza in the ruins
of it all.

So here I sit on this double edged sword
in awe of the country and nature’s wonder
toads and lizards creeping up our wall
with old people struggling to live
by selling sun-hats to tourists
who breathe economy into lost cities
of generations ago, many before
here, paying my contribution in sun lotion
Agfa film and cocktails, endless.
Maybe tomorrow I will
contemplate the suicide of the world.

Breathless at the marvel of Acropolis stones
stood so long against the brunt of it all
now desperate to find a balance in the
modern world.

The new gods and goddesses hustling punters
for pocket money, for deck chairs on
the beach of fag butts and empty bottles of UV25
sweet green sea tempting sore feet
to tread through the barbed wire barricades.

Oh, soft clean waters consume us
Let us all fall into the sea, drag us under.

Take it all away.

The Week That Was – 12th August 1979

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

Record of the week: The Dickies – Walk Like An Egg
Highest entry: Angelic Upstarts – Teenage Warning

25th May 2022 – My ‘record’ of the week seems to be just different songs from the Dickies album. Well, it is that good, I suppose. Angelic Upstarts – fantastic youth anthem, Teenage Warning – classic. I wonder if I could play it on guitar? Definitely not the guitar solo though!

12th August 1979
Might be watching the match on Saturday vs Forest

25th May 2022 – I think this would be the first of two times I saw Ipswich play. The other was in Bristol, vs Bristol City, though I’ve no idea what mum and I were doing in Bristol. Maybe just visiting Bath?

13th August 1979
I’m writing this on Thursday and I can’t remember what happened today
2p 93p* 86p* 179p*

14th August 1979
Went to Sharon and Ken’s
2p

25th May 2022 – Before moving to Dorset to live with my grandparents, we lived in Devon. I also don’t really know why we moved to Devon from Cumbria, though I would guess it would have something to do with my mum’s then-boyfriend committing himself to more than one girlfriend at a time. I never really saw my mum with another guy after that. Anyway, in Devon, my cousins, Sharon and Ken lived about 3 miles away from where we did. After leaving Devon at the end of 1976, Sharon and Ken moved too, also to Dorset, about 10 miles away from us. I used to enjoy Ken’s sense of humour and playfulness. Also by this time, they must have had a least one of their two children, Mungo followed by Kim. I was deemed to be close enough in age to play with them and get out of my mum’s hair for a while.

15th August 1979
Came back from Sharon and Ken’s
2p

16th August 1979
1. Boomtown Rats
2. Cliff Richard
3. Ian Dury
4. EWF
5. Abba
6. Hersham Boys
7. Police
8. Dooleys
9. Darts
10. ELO
2p 173p*

17th August 1979
Go on holiday to East Anglia
Not Dead
2p 171p*

25th May 2022 – Hehe – I’m not sure why I wrote ‘not dead’. I suppose it was a long drive. I was excited to be in the county of my team and to be going to see them play the following day. Here, we stayed with my Auntie Eileen and Uncle Dick, after them having stayed with us last week or so.

18th August 1979
Up until now because I’ll be giving Ipswich’s scores
Ipswich 0-1 Forest – Boo
Watched the match live.
2p 169p*

25th May 2022 – In East Anglia I remember being allowed to drink Cinzano, which was Eileen and Dick’s favourite tipple.

I also managed to convince my mum to buy the Sham 69 Hersham Boys 12″ which no one else was very impressed with but didn’t stop me from playing it. Especially showing these ‘old people’ how angry and mature I was by enjoying the beeped-out swearing on the live tunes.

We also went for a walk across a heath with lots of brackens and their old dog trailing behind. But the football match that I was so excited about I don’t remember a thing, except perhaps, being disappointed at losing.

The other time I saw them, they lost too and that trend continued many a time I went to watch the Swans play in Sydney too. There was a very big difference in the atmosphere at matches between English football and Aussie Rules.

In England there was always a tension, a palpable possibility of violence, not even my mum could protect me from. In Australia, everyone is there to have a good time and enjoy watching the sport. Overzealous fans tend to be frowned upon. There is also no separation for supporters because it just isn’t necessary. Fans would poke gentle fun at each other, that was as violent as I ever saw at a game. Even opposition fans could make me laugh when one time, Collingwood scored their first point and shouted ‘You’re losing, Sydney!’