Trading the Seas of Night

The Overside of an Unbalanced Life

Bankside - that ancient area of land upon which the Romans stood and said "Let's build a city - but on the other side of the river where things look generally better". So they built a bridge and never looked back. Shakespeare moved here, so did Marlow and the prostitutes: all to avoid the London love of regulation. Now the Bankers of Olde London are ready to head to the southern side of the River Thames - possibly for the same reason.

Over the next little while (this could take some time to be honest) I have set myself the task of making Bankside the coolest place to live, work and visit in the UK. That means, to the dismay of the bankers with dreams of mass land clearance for huge buildings, proper regulation but with new dreams: no more of the same old, same old. Let's not parody Covent Garden or York's Shambles or even Canary Wharf. Everyone who matters is up for it, but I don't think anyone has a clue where to start but maybe I do. My team of loosely confederated co-residents seem ready to fight for all that is good and right anyway.

The question is: Do I feel lucky today. Well do I?


The Keeper of Mislaid Secrets

The Phoenician Trader sails on the sea of night in a ship made from wrought gossamer and sails of woven wishes. When the world quietens, my ship slips amongst those who lie in repose, stopping along side their beds, tied up against the mattress. There I walk among the dreams of the asleep: buying thoughts and selling ideas. The unbrearable thought that drags in one dreamer's mind seeds the fantasy of an unlived life in another's.

The dawn approaches, the ship draws away, its hold filled with the cares of mind and the burdens that had pressed the dreamer's head down to the pillow so hard during the night. The sails fill, the Phoenician Trader stands at the tiller, the ship riding the crest of the sun rise, the leading edge between light and darkness, skimming the the surface of the world back to my small house. There I unload the secrets of the newly unburdened: a rich treasure ready to trade when the sea of night stretches out again and where lonely souls trade the pressures of the day for dreams.


The Underside of an Unbalanced Life

When I used to live and work in Adelaide, South Australia. I did very different things
  • Footy: I umpired my last game in South Australia and I was invited to the big party (normally only the very best umpires are invited - i.e. not me). After 12 years it was time to depart.
  • Church: assisting the sacristan at the local Cathedral occupied the entire Christmas holiday shutdown period.
  • Wine: normally founnd a few hours on a Sunday afternoon for a winery or two. Given the shortage of other activities, I put some more effort into this one.
  • Film Projection: volunteering at one of the city's art cinemas for the Cinemateque programme filled those evenings I was not running around training. Alas now I can't even go to the BFI without noticing aspect ratios, colour registration problems on their digital projectors and poor use of the screen's curtains.
  • Work: fills in those few hours when I am not doing anything else. Hmmm, finish this on Thursday - anyone spot a pattern here?
I used to spend so much much time travelling around the Adelaide area as I could, stopping for coffee, wine or beer whenever the opportunity appears.

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Phoenician Trader

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