Another Week 35 - #Kanye West, #Duck Dynasty, #Dumbo Arts Festival, Hawaii Rainbows, Mark Rothko, A New Banksy Mural and

Paradise

The Riviera

&

Western Civilization

taking care of business

And what the travel brochures don't tell  (or show) your ass

in bloom
apparently

The walk along Old Christchurch Road appeared even smellier than usual at 10.00am today; a mixture of urine, vomit and stale alcohol does that to a nose.., or perhaps that's just my imagination.. I contemplated looking the other way.., however... The garbage, cracked and boarded up windows and plastic trash bags (still awaiting to be picked up).. and this is the road from both the bus (and coach) station and the train station.., which in turn means that any new visitors walk the same route I just did and enjoy this first local impression of their visit.. Wiz bang man..

Student accommodation is also on route, as is the University.. Lot's of out of town students, including those from overseas also get to 'digest' the daily local pungent sight and first impressions..  Stale bar smells and a couple of vomit patches within 25 meters added to the ambiance.. I couldn't help noticing the two guys asleep on the bench with their 'worldly' belongings by their sides..; several others were making use of supermarket carts/trolleys to move their bulging plastic bags containing their 'wardrobe changes', while the strangely colored liquid in the plastic bottle one was carrying certainly didn't look drinkable., to me.., but certainly I saw him take a hit of it..

I passed two separate Big Issue guys asking me to buy a copy.., as indeed they did on my way back... The policeman had a female sat on the floor facing the wall with her hands behind her back while he was on his radio.. and the two guys walking towards me didn't move or 'breath in' forcing me off the pavement. ; I turned round to see one of them throw his empty can 'of something' onto the poorly patched up sidewalk/pavement.. and this was all in a distance of about a couple of hundred meters..
I tried to ignore the negative and combative cell phone conversation I was overhearing and following, but knew there was a 'problem' with his benefits as it wasn't in his bank today.. I wasn't sure how he was able to afford his roll ups, but hey, that's not for me to form an opinion over.. A siren sped by..

The litter was left discarded in the gutter., from the night (?) before and the empty beer kegs awaited being picked up.. There were a couple of bikes chained to the fence that looked like 'a' wheel had been stamped on because they were definitely buckled.. 

Looking up I noticed someone's faded  red laundered underwear blowing out of the opened window.. and the open tattoo door below provided me with the sounds of a needle doing it's 10.15 am work... The girl coming out of the door looked as though she was taking on the walk of shame, I overheard one of the two guys sat in the closed bar's doorway say that his ex "is a right c**t" while both of them then proceeded to spit right in infront of me.. The two guys in the white 'rusting old work van' driving by whistled at the girl and shouted out something that sounded to me like "hey, wanna f**k.?" ., but I can't believe that's what I actually heard.. Romance filled the pungent air..

A couple of horns being blown and a car revved by.. Some dude came out of the store with a RedBull..; I hate the smell of RedBull, don't like RedBull and don't need a 'kick' before 10.30 am.., but his cigarette stained fingers popped the can and he took an audible gulp.. just as I noticed that he obviously hadn't any visible teeth for what appeared to be probably a good long time..

I should add that this is all within 30 minutes and a walk across town and along a street that visitors would take from either the bus station, rail station or visiting car parks.. My skin crawls, my stomach heaves.. and I'm glad of my dark glasses 'cause my eyes are dead to this world.. and people wonder (?) about my 'observations'..; perhaps this is all a backdrop to a B movie .. and I'm not in on the action.., or maybe I'm not seeing this stuff like those who see paradise..- I've only been to Fiji quite a few times an' this ain't no Fiji.. man..

____

I heard  a male voice behind me talking to himself.., or more like mumbling incoherently.. and the hairs on the back of my neck, stood on end at the anger in his rantings..; I heard him throw something onto the ground and glanced back to see that he had thrown a crumbled Tesco's sandwich box away.. There was a half eaten chicken thigh bone left by the bus stop., next to a pile of cigarette butts and an empty coke bottle.; someone had also obviously finished with their cigarette lighter and decided that it was best left behind.....

I looked into a car as the driver was exiting it and thought it was probably about time she 'spring cleaned'  the interior as I'm sure some of that stuff was possibly left in there from the last century.. and the previous several owners., but that was just my opinion, whereas the other stuff I was experiencing couldn't be 'glossed' over..

*

oppression


*

35

&

out
almost

  

Kerb Appeal

&

Pride

or maybe it's just my imagination




?

 

Perhaps I'm supposed to just 'look' the other way

But

Bloom

away

Bomo

(are all these O's really necessary)

 &

now I'm done


_____



The Invisible Puppeteer 
is
a must see
though



Thank god for live performance, women's shoes 
&
closing tech' issues

One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person,

perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years

 To read is to voyage through time.

CS



deferring

Thanks this week go/goes to Arts and Entertainment - Walt Whitman - Eddie Adams - Dishwalla - Spinal Tap - Elephants - Gene Yale - Logan's Square and Chicago's Annual Fall Bridge lift