In response to the weekly WordPress Photo Challenge: It’s not that time of year without…
Tag: park
Magic Mushrooms
Magic Mushrooms growing in Southampton, England. Causes hallucinations and stomach aches © Southampton Old Lady
In response to the weekly WordPress Photo Challenge: MAGIC
Remembrance
Watts Park leaves fall softly from tall sycamores
fluttering like wounded birds
perch briefly on broad-shouldered uniform
before landing on sodden ground
conkers and grass compressed in to mud
by platoons of polished black boots
Our Civic Centre clock chimes:
‘O God our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come…’
Bishop of Southampton delivers solomn sermon,
and there’s poppies, poppies, poppies…
But my thoughts slip away to you dear Father
I have recycled your values
composting leaves, endlessly reprocessing
The earth reminds me of your grave.
I think of battle fields
bomb craters and dugouts became giant puddles
and there’s soldiers, soldiers, soldiers
Who would volunteer to become a soldier?
You did dear Father
Lied about your age so you could enlist
to join your regiment of pals
blasting out ‘Reveille’ or ‘The Last Post’ on your bugle
marching bravely in your correct-angled beret
through streets of England and Malta
through deserts of Egypt and Burma
over mountains in India and Italy
for Crown and Country
for your neighbours and family
for us that we may live in hope of peace
November 11th, 2013
Dismaland – Reply to Banksy & Co
Much as I love Southampton, which has some wonderful positive things to offer cruise ship tourists (which I shall get around to writing about more – I am usually a positive person) these are some snaps from my home city in support of Banksy’s Dismaland.
All photos © Southampton old lady
If you have not heard of Dismaland then please do an image search online. This is a ‘bemusement’ park that has been opened up in South-West England, for six weeks, by a group of 59 British artists including: Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Jimmy Cauty, Bill Barminski, Caitlin Cherry, Polly Morgan, Josh Keyes, Mike Ross, David Shrigley, Bäst, and Espo… headed by Banksy. Actors (as disgruntled security guards and staff) and writers have also been employed (Julie Birchill re-wrote a macabre Punch & Judy script).
The Tropicana swimming resort in Weston-super-Mare, a one-time holiday-haven, has been turned into an anarchistic statement about Western capitalism – A Disneyland gone wrong.
Banksy hails from near-by Bristol. He possibly recalls as a child, summer days on the sands and pier at Weston-Super-Mare, which have deteriorated now. The type of British family that used to spend their holiday here, no longer have money for resorts. Pictures like this can be found at tourist areas throughout Europe. In London, visitors are sad not to meet people like characters from Downton Abbey.
But don’t book £3 tickets on the Dismaland website, or you will just be trolled. The project highlights the down-side of Britain emulating USA-style boom and bust financial strategies. Our boom from the 1990s sub-prime-type/hedge-funding and such, burst its bubble in 2008. Although the Government has announced that the Country is now “doing well” – giving themselves generous pay-rises; people argue that these strategies have little way of ‘trickling down’ any benefit to the common people. There is also a sense of childhood loss, a feeling of being cheated by the false promises of a fairytale with a happy ending.
You may also want to look at this YouTube video of buskers Phat Bollard performing ‘Millionaires’ in Southampton High Street (contains swearing): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhQBAu0Yypk
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/phatbollard. Downloads can be found at Bandcamp: http://phatbollard.bandcamp.com.
