Sand Dusky and Calexico...
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I remember meeting up with him for a Drive-by Truckers show in Camden a couple of months before:
Hmmm...shall I meet you at that pub (The World's End)? Say, one o'clock?
I'm easy! Any time, any place, I'm there!
Don't know if I'll be drinking or not, though! Might just stick to coffees! I'm serious!
Let me know what you wanna do.
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We didn't exactly stick to coffees. But managed to get there within 15 minutes of each other which isn't bad considering the distances involved.
Ben got drunk a lot, and (like in this thread) sometimes senselessly so.
When I was 8 or 9 years old, my neighbour in Gamvik had gone from a party half a mile away, drunk. He was found by the snow plow at our doorstep early in the morning frozen stiff and dead.
In a way, as long as Ben kept to the urban areas, the gentle lanscape and clima of Hampshire and London, he would always come out of it with just a memory loss and shit stained clothes. When he took that train, he was met by a force of nature, and nature knows nor shows any mercy for drunks. The sea takes and the sea gives.
I remember Gamvik. How the flatscape would let the eastern, and the western winds blow without hinderance. How the sea would go endlessly to the north, and to the east, and to the west. How you could wake up in the morning and all you could see was white and black. As a kid I was terrified of being blown out there and never come back.
I think Ben was lucky to have managed 33 years the way he kept on it. He had a rough time with his dad going away when he was young and they never spoke again. His cocaine abuse got him out of college, and after that it was reading Bukowski, working nights at the post office, reading about boxing, smoking, drinking, writing poetry. I guess the only thing he did that Bukowski didn't was listening to our music. Son Volt, Richmond Fontaine, Rolling Stones, Paul Westerberg and more.
You were a mess Ben, a real fucking mess. But oh what a wonderful human being you were. Miss you lots.
Hmmm...shall I meet you at that pub (The World's End)? Say, one o'clock?
I'm easy! Any time, any place, I'm there!
Don't know if I'll be drinking or not, though! Might just stick to coffees! I'm serious!
Let me know what you wanna do.
.........................................................
We didn't exactly stick to coffees. But managed to get there within 15 minutes of each other which isn't bad considering the distances involved.
Ben got drunk a lot, and (like in this thread) sometimes senselessly so.
When I was 8 or 9 years old, my neighbour in Gamvik had gone from a party half a mile away, drunk. He was found by the snow plow at our doorstep early in the morning frozen stiff and dead.
In a way, as long as Ben kept to the urban areas, the gentle lanscape and clima of Hampshire and London, he would always come out of it with just a memory loss and shit stained clothes. When he took that train, he was met by a force of nature, and nature knows nor shows any mercy for drunks. The sea takes and the sea gives.
I remember Gamvik. How the flatscape would let the eastern, and the western winds blow without hinderance. How the sea would go endlessly to the north, and to the east, and to the west. How you could wake up in the morning and all you could see was white and black. As a kid I was terrified of being blown out there and never come back.
I think Ben was lucky to have managed 33 years the way he kept on it. He had a rough time with his dad going away when he was young and they never spoke again. His cocaine abuse got him out of college, and after that it was reading Bukowski, working nights at the post office, reading about boxing, smoking, drinking, writing poetry. I guess the only thing he did that Bukowski didn't was listening to our music. Son Volt, Richmond Fontaine, Rolling Stones, Paul Westerberg and more.
You were a mess Ben, a real fucking mess. But oh what a wonderful human being you were. Miss you lots.
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Well all i did was help carry him out of the Bar to the taxi. Cal deserves the kisseshighlandcreek wrote:Really, you guys are sweethearts!sand dusky wrote:Well as the taxi journey was nigh on 100 miles it wasn't logistically feasable. Plus Ben hasn't got much hair.
And just to prove that Cal is really a big softy, he paid for the taxi.
I'm sure Ben would love to give you a great big, foul-breathed kiss when he wakes up.
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I doubt it. They were playing Son Volt in the Bar were in though.BoogieMan wrote:One question, does she also like the Corrs and U2?sand dusky wrote:Cals wife was lovely (and evidently a great judge of character) and I'm sure she is proud of his act of kindness.highlandcreek wrote:I would've LOVED to hear the tongue-wagging that Cal got from the missus after he paid like ... a bazillion pounds or whatever ... for the taxi ride from London to Winchester!Lawrence Fan wrote:Dudes, Kel. Dudes.highlandcreek wrote:Not a one of you got in the taxi with him to hold his hair back out of his face as he lost his lunch?
For shame!
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Really, you guys are sweethearts!sand dusky wrote:Well as the taxi journey was nigh on 100 miles it wasn't logistically feasable. Plus Ben hasn't got much hair.
And just to prove that Cal is really a big softy, he paid for the taxi.
I'm sure Ben would love to give you a great big, foul-breathed kiss when he wakes up.
One question, does she also like the Corrs and U2?sand dusky wrote:Cals wife was lovely (and evidently a great judge of character) and I'm sure she is proud of his act of kindness.highlandcreek wrote:I would've LOVED to hear the tongue-wagging that Cal got from the missus after he paid like ... a bazillion pounds or whatever ... for the taxi ride from London to Winchester!Lawrence Fan wrote:Dudes, Kel. Dudes.highlandcreek wrote:Not a one of you got in the taxi with him to hold his hair back out of his face as he lost his lunch?
For shame!
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Cals wife was lovely (and evidently a great judge of character) and I'm sure she is proud of his act of kindness.highlandcreek wrote:I would've LOVED to hear the tongue-wagging that Cal got from the missus after he paid like ... a bazillion pounds or whatever ... for the taxi ride from London to Winchester!Lawrence Fan wrote:Dudes, Kel. Dudes.highlandcreek wrote:Not a one of you got in the taxi with him to hold his hair back out of his face as he lost his lunch?
For shame!
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- Posts: 3777
- Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 2:54 pm
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Well as the taxi journey was nigh on 100 miles it wasn't logistically feasable. Plus Ben hasn't got much hair.highlandcreek wrote:Not a one of you got in the taxi with him to hold his hair back out of his face as he lost his lunch?
For shame!
And just to prove that Cal is really a big softy, he paid for the taxi.
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- Posts: 3921
- Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 2:08 pm
- Location: G'ville, Nevada
I would've LOVED to hear the tongue-wagging that Cal got from the missus after he paid like ... a bazillion pounds or whatever ... for the taxi ride from London to Winchester!Lawrence Fan wrote:Dudes, Kel. Dudes.highlandcreek wrote:Not a one of you got in the taxi with him to hold his hair back out of his face as he lost his lunch?
For shame!