Author: basgallop

Swim Swom Blue

finally made it for a swim down the baths today after a 6 month respite, as my shoulders were grumbling at being continually brawny and tense… the lovely woman on the turnstile was as chatty as ever… and only charged me senior citizen rate, ha, at least the 2 quid saved can go towards oh i dunno a vast vat of lugubrious anti wrinkle cream, else a douse, a 30 secs frolic in the flame of eternal youth. bit like in the movie She?? in the pool it was just me and a couple of grannys all a dawdle breast stroke. i powered past ‘eat my wake ethel’.. 100 lengths. hither then thither. a plod. the long sojourn of lengths. amazing how swimming gets your endorphins (dolphins) flowing. of course it would be perfect to allow thoughts to gently subside, to think nothing, to feel only the whale song softly pummeling from the depths, that which is always there? that which abides? …but nah i’m a sparkle splash about in the shallows fellow, a continual babble of thoughts sound rebounding about my space helmet… mostly i thought of the things i love about the world, in no particular order… my kids, hugging, yoga, dance, the himalayas, poems, trees, my family, snorkeling over a coral reef, jogging, purple, pink, green, orange, india, spain, prague, brighton, meditating, the feel of wood, the touch of a lover, grover washington jnr, washboards, the simpsons, singing, silk, cake bowls, football,spring, summer, autumn, chess, cheese, toboggans, smorgasboard (?), festivals, kahlua, aloha, fractals, dogs, whistling kettles, old uncle tom cobbledy and all! crikey! do i like pina coladas getting caught in the rain? dunno. just dunno

Hanuman

peculiar, around town lunchtime, kept on thinking i saw folk i knew, went over, to find it wasn’t them, an uglier version, my friends are much more beautiful!
which of course raises the preposterous notion that somewhere out there there is a beautiful version of me.
oh and the hanuman pic, groovy bright pic for a rainy eve!..after dance, i found a hanuman amulet trinket thing on my car seat… which isn’t that odd, as it was one of many i got in haridwar
love these memory jolts… of swimming in the fast flowing ganga at vishnus footsteps (during the mela!), the joyful palaver, which combines the vibe of a family trip to the sea side, with powerful ancient religious ritual, head shaving and floating flowers and galloshers of incense!
to be honest i know nothing of hanuman, i’ve always been much more fascinated by female spiritual power.. and think the more of that there is in the world the healthier we all are
… but, theres also something lovely about the male energy of hanuman too, powerful, strong, loyal, wise, loving and above all direct. yep, i’m rather enjoying being a bloke at the mo!

Fu Manchu

ooh i wore my purple thai fishing trousers this morning, bagginess abounds, they always make me feel happy, wrapped myself in a blue blanket (from joya!) and feeling much like Fu Manchu meditated in the equally blue glumness of morning light… mostly attempting to let go of my relentless desire to self dramatise. ha. indeed
…isn’t it amazing how some magical garments always lift our spirits, when i was 8 it was a pair of leopard skin y-fronts.. loved those pants!

Wildheart

full moon, a washed out, astonished light
finally leaving the warmth of the fire (at half past gawd knows!), ambling back to my tent
slivers of cloud, hugging the ground, snake wraith dancing down the broad swathe of valley,…beautiful
… thanks for all the vibrant connections, whether during flung about boisterousness at the ceilidh, sensual caress in biodanza, hula hooping, else just the good natured gabble stewarding at the gate, a delight x

Blackberries

blackberries! the juice is such a colour, not purple, no, yet it refuses to be blue or red or even black
fascinates me the way that nature harmonises
the flower blossoms are washed through with a purple-ish pink premonition of the fruit yet to come
and the ruddy stained colour of the tendrils. Fanged. Barbaric. Snaking
hmm scratched forearms, its not the obvious, avoidable, barbs and tusks which do the damage, rather the small thorns (sleeping beauty?) with their continual rowdy prickling as you go to pick a berry… them and the venomous hidden sulk of nettles
… oh i do horrible love words ….
Somehow the human scale of blackberry picking, its comfortable inevitability
for sure our supple soft minds can …solve quadratic equations, juggle, speak latvian
but mostly they evolved whilst we were wallowing in bushes, eyes grubbing out the ripest fruit, then: nimble of limb, the yogic stretch, to deftly pluck… then greedy stuff and quaff of berry guzzle. yeah!

Bless the Weather

(from back in July, but still love the song)

Nooooooo! in a mood of reckless foolhardy optimism i checked the weather forecast for the next month…. just don’t
the most upbeat quote i found was this, i imagine it intoned in the voice of a lonely weather boffin, forlorn and lachrymorose:
“For southern and eastern areas there may be a lull in the wettest and windiest weather briefly, but confidence in this is low.”

Kind

i love to stomp around, the ego rage of indignation, a pompous preen of arrogance, subsumed by the sudden squalls of feeling
mind and emotion are so closely interwoven, thoughts and feelings topple into each other, a dunken lurch, the waltz round the dance floor
today i woke thinking more of kindness, what is the basis of kindness? why empathy and compassion, often people proclaim their heart centredness?
but with me, what do i achieve, being good to my friends (who does not do that?) being friendly to people i like?
hmm, actually i do not believe that altruism is merely a sop to ego…
i like to think of myself as kind, but i think this is because often i have been stuck on the edge, peripheral
alone, feeling ignored, with nowhere to look but outwards… yeah, many of us knows how that feels… somet
and sometimes compassion flourishes through reluctance, of grumpily not much feeling like helping someone but doing it anyway
or of seeing someone, feeling incapable of acting, but feeling that twinge of remorse.. and i actually think there is merit in that too
of course it works best when heart, emotion and spirit are all in yoke! Be helpful with joy in your heart! cultivate the softness, cherish feelings of gentleness, gratitude and generosity x

o boy obama

yay! tho like everyone else a huge relief!

Pendry I see a Bacigalupi stood for Congress in California. One of yours? (Unfortunately she’s a Republican. Fortunately she lost.)

Richard Basgallop oooh really!our tentacles are everywhere ‘el pulpo’, i’m rather glad she lost too! x

Wedding Carousel

……. old blog post for Yuki, from my adventures away travelling last year
………………..
…………………………
Back in Bangkok again
Brush bustling down the Khao San road. Jostled by the endless stream of tourists.
Depressing in their hordes. Feeling part of the great Wilderbeest trek down through south east asia.
Cow Pat Khao San Road
I have grown used to the tatty charms of Nepal, almost tourist free in the chill of January.
But here, oh, oh the heat! A bit like being flopped beneath one of those giant hot towels you get thrust upon you on the airplane. ‘more coffee?’ A teensy snapette of a biscuit and a huge heat steaming hot Flannel!
But the heat in the city is not so cleansing, a great, dirty oppressive heat.
The air bereft of nourishment, all dust and grime.
Mingled nicely with my continual tingle coating of sweat.
Mug swamp hot. Uncomfortable!
………….
Funny I didn’t mind it so much up at Angkor Wat. Banished by good company!
My mind still stirred by thoughts of the Bayonne, of Katie, of Eva and Martin
my friends! an Austrian Woman and a Slovakian couple.
How we’d hire a Moto, a Tuk Tuk for the day and bomb off to the ruins. A cool breeze as we whisked along on the road through the jungle, mostly laughing.
And yes …the Bayonne, a miracle, a temple with over 200 sculptures of the Buddha Alokoshivetas head
Each carved 12 feet high. They are positioned so that wherever you sit amidst the ruins, at least one of them is staring at you and others, in profile or perched beakily at angles.
Like being in a stone, crazy, hall of mirrors
Panopticon.
The all seeing eye
But somehow, really calm. I shut my eyes, now and still clearly see that face, the calm expression, a tease of a half smile. the promise of gentleness. In stone. In me. Forever
……………..

In Bangkok, slumped beneath a twirling helicopter of a fan. Sipping an ice coffee.
My torso pockmarked with bites, machine gun riddled, as itchy as fuck.
Kel, she says they’re from bed bugs. yeucchh.

Relax don’t struggle against the tide of tourists, enjoy it for just what it is
gawp, hopefully not too noticeably, at the girls, a pageant of passing beauty. Both Tourists and the Thais. sigh. joy
But to escape the heat, hop on a tourist boat, the splash, the slap and giggle gurgle of water beneath the prow.
Away, downstream past the huge megalopolis of buildings and swank of brand new sky scrapers.
then on the Sky Train and along to

Siam Square

The biggest shopping center in all Bangkok. a palace of AIR CONDITIONING
Hurrah! Acres and acres of cool
Inside everywhere are fountains and walls of water
up, high on the fourth floor is a Mercedes Showroom. Dozens of cars, Shiney beasts.
How did they get there, somehow winched in? Flown up, to it’s nest by a giant metal eagle? Rok
down in the basement is a pool full with Water Lilys and Lotuses, where enormous Coy Carp and goldfish loiter.

I spend hours in the oriental food section of the supermarket. Free tasters. yum.
A meal from just absent minded grazing
exotic weirdly coloured chutneys which i daub on crackers
next debating the differing merits of a handful of spicey peanuts versus four dried strawberries. hmmm. yum. maybe
We all enjoy the tipple of the conniseur. the contemplative grimace of the gourmand
Too much I’ve got a tummy ache!

Later, the serene swan glide on the up escalator, snoop around a bit, then drift back down on the next down escalator. I could pllay on them all day! My own imagined Prozac Muzak playing in my head.
Super Smooothe
The gentle drift: hither, then thither. Like at the beach, a calm, toe tickling, lap lapping tide.

Up in the loft is an Imax cinema, a ten pin bowling alley. everywhere gaggles of thai teenagers
just out and about. like me, having a fine day
Goodness Gothness Gracious, some of them, mostly in black, with smeared down hairdos are even Emo’s!

A parade of Gucci, Yves San laurent and Dolce and gabbana boutiques.
each displaying one garment and gaurded by a very snooty, frosty shop person.
yeah yeah check out boy.

Finally though i settle in the wedding section
There is a big banner which proclaims ‘We are in Love’
nearby a carousel of mannequins dressed in wedding dresses spins slowly, around and around.
Gently Surreal
There is a 3 piece band, live, in tuxedos
with a hammond organ and much plinkety plonking they churn out songs of embarrasing, syrupy Romantic Noodling
There are row upon row of seats. All empty. I sit there all alone.
Pathos, In the Palace of Romance. beneath the banner ‘We are in Love’
solitary, forlorn and greatly entertained
They finish their set, a little bow.
I applaud. bravo. well done. encore!