"I'm A Dark Little Poet Tonight"

"I don't mean to sound cold or cruel or vicious, but I am so that's the way it comes out."

-Bill Hicks, 1961-1994

... it's 1993, and my good friend Jo Young introduces me to a recording of comedian Bill Hicks (Rant in E-Minor), I was hooked and immediately became a complete fan. 1 year later, Bill was dead; he was 33 years old . RIP you dark little poet...

Now I know I'm not the only person to say this, but there's always been a special place in my heart for Hicks. He was, after all, something of a poet of our times. He did not dress up political confusion, and he certainly didn't have all the answers, but he did make you think about shit that was under the surface, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Couple of books that are either about him or written by him. Both are definitely worth reading, as they say as much about the times & Political climate Bill lived in as they do about the man himself.

Of course, Bill was gaining something of a cult status in the UK for his outspoken Stand Up Routines; some of the official recordings are here, but it's really not hard to find his stuff.

interestingly, and unlike some of his peers, Hick's material does not seem to have dated at all, in fact, it's become eerily topical , and there is also a Poignancy to his work - not least one of his most memorable comments during the "revelations" shows that were aired not long before he passed away. (insert lump in throat here)

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and around and around and it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud. And it's fun - for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question; is this real? Or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, and they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because... this is just a ride."

- Bill Hicks

"Don't Drive a Car When You're Dead"

...Wise words Graham, wise words. This is Graham "Two Bob" Branch. (I know his face might look familiar, but I promise you, he is not from bumfights. I've known Graham (about as well as he'll let you know him) for about 10 years. he was the first person I ever served, on my first shift, Shakespeare's Head Pub, Brighton. I haven't been able to get rid of him yet. (Just look at his face....)

I never thought I'd say this out loud, but I think everyone should have a Graham Branch in their lives. I mean, how else would I have been educated on the genius of Thelonious Monk ("Thelonious Monk me up, buttercup!") , The Grandeur of Graham Green's Brighton Rock ("You're milky Spicer!") or Henry Holland's Architecture of Brighton's Pavilion. Similarly, I would never of had the pleasure of listening to the entire history of Grahams' teeth (pictured are his brand spanking new ones), or stories of his terrible depressions (I'm terribly depressed) , not to mention his interesting choices in female company. The many, many faces of Graham include; Graham the Hospitality Rep, Graham the Taxi Driver, Graham the Estate Agent, Graham the Gardener.

There's something poetic about seeing him glide through my local pub, drunk as a lord, whirling dervish arms flailing, as if after a session of Electro Therapy. and it's all down to the this "little slurpette"

Graham, I salute you, and all that sail near to you!: "Get a Lifestyle"

As tribute, today's blog is devoted, in part, to those rogue imbibers, old soaks, grand lushes, those royally tanked and oiled amongst us: to the pissed and the damned!

Some people just know exactly what to say:

• "I feel sorry for people that don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day": Frank Sinatra


• "An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools": Ernest Hemingway


• "A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her": W.C. Fields


• "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy": Benjamin Franklin
  

"Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends"

I've always had a fascination with the self destruction and degradation that often comes with a drinkers life (Fact: I have woken up with my face in sick at least a once in my adult life. Not pretty, or romantic, or something you tell a women on a first date.) Charles Bukwoski, Jack Kerouac, John Fante, George Best, Oliver Reed, All of them beautifully fucked up and hideous and wonderful:

Some other Glorious & Beautiful Freaks:

• Dylan Thomas: At the age of 39, Doctors' told Thomas that to continue to drink was to die, but he drank on. "Do not go gentle into that good night," he wrote. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." He died suddenly of acute alcoholism in the midst of his 1953 U.S. lecture tour.


• Edgar Alan Poe: A college classmate once wrote; "Poe's passion for strong drink was as marked and as peculiar as that for cards . . . without a sip or a smack of the mouth he would seize a full glass and send it home at a single gulp." Poe, at 27, married. She was 13 years old and tubercular at the time; when she died, Poe, in his anguish sought relief in alcohol and drugs. He died after a drinking bout, at the age of 40. "Nevermore!"


• Jackson Pollock: Pollock kept himself sober for the purposes of splattering enamel paint over floor-bound canvas . But when drunk, Pollock raged, and chose to do a lot of public pissing . Stunted by the pressure of sudden stardom, he got depressed, drunk and unproductive. He was killed after driving his a car into a tree, killing one other passenger. It was rumoured to be suicide. My guess is he may have been drinking... dribble: