Hardesty, though, is the exciting pick, the one with the high upside who could turn into the next great thing. Don't let the fact it is unlikely to happen hold you back, right? Trying to hit a home run also can mean striking out.
No, Harrison is not the best player in the league. But do yourself a favor. Don't take the wild gamble at a point in your draft when you still need reliable contributions. Take ignored Harrison, take the production and don't expose yourself to a potentially wasted pick.
Based on my rankings, these are other players likely to be undervalued and available in the middle to late rounds.
•QB Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals. The addition of Terrell Owens has turned some sentiment on Palmer, but the injuries and lingering memory of last year's 26th-ranked passing offense are too much for many to overcome. Plus, the depth at quarterback this year means there really isn't much reason to take a chance on an uncertain player.
If, however, you wait to take a quarterback, Palmer is a player you can snag in the eighth or ninth round. That gives you the luxury of freeing up one of those early-round picks to use elsewhere — on a top tight end, for example.
•QB Matt Leinart, Arizona Cardinals. If you really want to search for a dark horse, Leinart might be your guy. With how poorly he is thought of, you can get him in about the 12th round and will want to draft him as a backup. Leinart's upside is huge, given the low expectations. He has star Larry Fitzgerald to throw to, as well as Steve Breaston and Early Doucet. Coach Ken Whisenhunt will protect Leinart with a solid ground game and let Leinart gain confidence. Take him as a backup and use him as midseason trade bait.
•RB Chester Taylor, Chicago Bears. Matt Forte might wind up being a very good starter for Chicago, but it's a wild guess at this point. He is coming off a poor, injury-hampered season, the Bears brought in offensive coordinator Mike Martz and then they signed veteran Taylor. Taylor has long been one of the league's best third-down backs, and third-down-type backs often are what Martz wants.
Forte is being drafted as the no-brainer starter, which is not reality. If the playing time is closer to 50-50, the two should be drafted close to each other. I lost faith in Forte last year and rank Taylor ahead of him.
•RB Carnell Williams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Williams is a relatively boring veteran with limited upside on a likely low-scoring team. At some point around the ninth round, that is exactly what your team will need, and Williams will probably be sitting there.
He made it through 2009 after returning from a serious knee injury and had his best season since his rookie year in 2005. The Bucs did not bring in anybody to take Williams' time, and he can expect a modest increase in work. That gets him near 1,000 yards and six to eight touchdowns. There is a spot for those numbers on anybody's roster.
•WR Steve Smith, New York Giants. A groin injury in training camp took a little luster off Smith, but he should be fine well ahead of Week 1. For a player who was second in the league with 107 catches and one of five receivers with more than 100 receptions, Smith gets little respect.
The knocks are that Smith has had one big year, the Giants Larry Fitzgerald might run more and the team's other receivers are ready to step up. Smith should be a top-10 receiver, but it is easy to let him slide because of the uncertainty around him. If you have a chance to add him as your No. 2 on the cheap, take it.
•WR Donald Driver, Green Bay Packers. Looking at Driver, I see a player with six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and an automatic No. 3 receiver or flex starter. He also is 35 and going into his 12th season, with some younger teammates itching to take his playing time.
When a player has been consistent and productive for so long, you can assume he will continue at that level until he proves otherwise. For Driver, that means adding him as a third receiver in the seventh or eighth round.
•WR Santana Moss, Washington Redskins. Moss has been a perennial disappointment, but that generally has been the fault of the Redskins, not of Moss. He essentially remains an afterthought, being drafted as if Washington will drag him down again. The odds of that happening with coach Mike Shanahan and quarterback Donovan McNabb appear slim. And Moss has almost no competition at wide receiver. Moss will not suddenly turn into one of the league's elite receivers, but Shanahan's offense will demand a high-catch player (80 to 90 receptions), and that almost has to fall into Moss' hands.
•TE Zach Miller, Oakland Raiders. He seems to be getting punished despite his success and the Raiders' upgrade at quarterback. Miller has improved his year-to-year stats in each of his three seasons and should be on the brink of something huge with Jason Campbell taking over at quarterback. Miller should be an automatic top-10 tight end pick and has a chance to wind up being the best of the second tier at the position.
Signing former Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck was a nice pickup, especially since he's been so productive and pretty much sets the standard for professionalism. He's projected to move from outside to middle linebacker for the Giants, but would that be the best fit?
Bulluck didn't play against the Jets on Monday night as he continues to recover from major knee surgery. Jonathan Goff, Gerris Wilkinson and Phillip Dillard took turns with Goff starting. By all appearances, all three played fairly well. Film breakdown could tell otherwise but the need to move Bulluck inside might have been marginalized.
I was with the Titans last week and there were some folks wondering how Bulluck Anquan Boldin would do because he's not so much a masher -- as the middle spot lends itself to -- as he is a playmaker. New Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell might be looking for that style of Mike 'backer instead of the type New York had for years with Antonio Pierce. In the meantime, Wilkinson, Goff and Dillard combined for 12 tackles, two stops for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Not bad.
Bulluck, based on his resume, could still be more effective than either three -- that's why the Giants signed him and changed his position. New York is being cautious with Bulluck so he'll be ready for Week 1. We'll see if they need him by then.
Next up vs. Pittsburgh on Saturday: Bulluck could be held out again, but should he play, the Steelers will come right at him as they hope to improve their running game.
The wife of a rich man fell sick, and as she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, "Dear child, be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you."
Thereupon she closed her eyes and departed. Every day the maiden went out to her mother's grave, and wept, and she remained pious and good. When winter came the snow spread a white sheet over the grave, and by the time the spring sun had drawn it off again, the man had taken another wife.
The woman had brought with her into the house two daughters, who were beautiful and fair of face, but vile and black of heart. Now began a bad time for the poor step-child. "Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlor with us," they said. "He who wants to eat bread must earn it. Out with the kitchen-wench." They took her pretty clothes away from her, put an old grey bedgown on her, and gave her wooden shoes.
"Just look at the proud princess, how decked out she is," they cried, and laughed, and led her into the kitchen. There she had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash. Besides this, the sisters did her every imaginable injury - they mocked her and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes, so that she was forced to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked till she was weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the hearth in the cinders. And as on that account she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella.
It happened that the father was once going to the fair, and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.
"Beautiful dresses," said one, "Pearls and jewels," said the second.
"And you, Cinderella," said he, "what will you have?"
"Father break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home."
So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for his two step-daughters, and on his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the branch and took it with him. When he reached home he gave his step-daughters the things which they had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the hazel-bush. Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother's grave and planted the branch on it, and wept so much that the tears fell down on it and watered it. And it grew and became a handsome tree. Thrice a day Cinderella went and sat beneath it, and wept and prayed, and a little white bird always came on the tree, and if Cinderella expressed a wish, the bird threw down to her what she had wished for.
It happened, however, that the king gave orders for a festival which was to last three days, and to which all the beautiful young girls in the country were invited, in order that his son might choose himself a bride. When the two step-sisters heard that they too were to appear among the number, they were delighted, called Cinderella and said, "comb our hair for us, brush our shoes and fasten our buckles, for we are going to the wedding at the king's palace."
Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go with them to the dance, and begged her step-mother to allow her to do so.
"You go, Cinderella," said she, "covered in dust and dirt as you are, and would go to the festival. You have no clothes and shoes, and yet would dance." As, however, Cinderella went on asking, the step-mother said at last, "I have emptied a dish of lentils into the ashes for you, if you have picked them out again in two hours, you shall go with us."
The maiden went through the back-door into the garden, and called, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick
the good into the pot, the bad into the crop." Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at last all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the rest began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good grains into the dish. Hardly had one hour passed before they had finished, and all flew out again.
Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother, and was glad, and believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to the festival.
But the step-mother said, "No, Cinderella, you have no clothes and you can not dance. You would only be laughed at." And as Cinderella wept at this, the step-mother said, if you can pick two dishes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour, you shall go with us. And she thought to herself, that she most certainly cannot do again.
When the step-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amongst the ashes, the maiden went through the back-door into the garden and cried, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick
the good into the pot, the bad into the crop." Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at length all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the doves nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the others began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good seeds into the dishes, and before half an hour was over they had already finished, and all flew out again. Then the maiden was delighted, and believed that she might now go with them to the wedding.
But the step-mother said, "All this will not help. You cannot go with us, for you have no clothes and can not dance. We should be ashamed of you." On this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
As no one was now at home, Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree, and cried,
"Shiver and quiver, little tree, Silver and gold throw down over me." Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She put on the dress with all speed, and went to the wedding. Her step-sisters and the step-mother however did not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought of Cinderella, and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt, picking lentils out of the ashes. The prince approached her, took her by the hand and danced with her. He would dance with no other maiden, and never let loose of her hand, and if any one else came to invite her, he said, "This is my partner."
She danced till it was evening, and then she wanted to go home. But the king's son said, "I will go with you and bear you company," for he wished to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged. She escaped from him, however, and sprang into the pigeon-house. The king's son waited until her father came, and then he told him that the unknown maiden had leapt into the pigeon-house. The old man thought, "Can it be Cinderella." And they had to bring him an axe and a pickaxe that he might hew the pigeon-house to pieces, but no one was inside it. And when they got home Cinderella lay in her dirty clothes among the ashes, and a dim little oil-lamp was burning on the mantle-piece, for Cinderella had jumped quickly down from the back of the pigeon-house and had run to the little hazel-tree, and there she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away again, and then she had seated herself in the kitchen amongst the ashes in her grey gown.
Next day when the festival began afresh, and her parents and the step-sisters had gone once more, Cinderella went to the hazel-tree and said,
"Shiver and quiver, my little tree, Silver and gold throw down over me." Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress than on the preceding day. And when Cinderella appeared at the wedding in this dress, every one was astonished at her beauty. The king's son had waited until she came, and instantly took her by the hand and danced with no one but her. When others came and invited her, he said, "This is my partner." When evening came she wished to leave, and the king's son followed her and wanted to see into which house she went. But she sprang away from him, and into the garden behind the house. Therein stood a beautiful tall tree on which hung the most magnificent pears. She clambered so nimbly between the branches like a squirrel that the king's son did not know where she was gone. He waited until her father came, and said to him, "The unknown maiden has escaped from me, and I believe she has climbed up the pear-tree." The father thought, "Can it be Cinderella." And had an axe brought and cut the tree down, but no one was on it. And when they got into the kitchen, Cinderella lay there among the ashes, as usual, for she had jumped down on the other side of the tree, had taken the beautiful dress to the bird on the little hazel-tree, and put on her grey gown.
On the third day, when the parents and sisters had gone away, Cinderella went once more to her mother's grave and said to the little tree,
"Shiver and quiver, my little tree, silver and gold throw down over me." And now the bird threw down to her a dress which was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were golden. And when she went to the festival in the dress, no one knew how to speak for astonishment. The king's son danced with her only, and if any one invited her to dance, he said this is my partner.
When evening came, Cinderella wished to leave, and the king's son was anxious to go with her, but she escaped from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The king's son, however, had employed a ruse, and had caused the whole staircase to be smeared with pitch, and there, when she ran down, had the maiden's left slipper remained stuck. The king's son picked it up, and it was small and dainty, and all golden.
Next morning, he went with it to the father, and said to him, no one shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fits. Then were the two sisters glad, for they had pretty feet. The eldest went with the shoe into her room and wanted to try it on, and her mother stood by. But she could not get her big toe into it, and the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut the toe off, when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot." The maiden cut the toe off, forced the foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the king's son. Then he took her on his his horse as his bride and rode away with her. They were obliged, however, to pass the grave, and there, on the hazel-tree, sat the two pigeons and cried,
"Turn and peep, turn and peep, there's blood within the shoe, the shoe it is too small for her, the true bride waits for you."
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was trickling from it. He turned his horse round and took the false bride home again, and said she was not the true one, and that the other sister was to put the shoe on. Then this one went into her chamber and got her toes safely into the shoe, but her heel was too large. So her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut a bit off your heel, when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot." The maiden cut a bit off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the king's son. He took her on his horse as his bride, and rode away with her, but when they passed by the hazel-tree, the two pigeons sat on it and cried,
"Turn and peep, turn and peep, there's blood within the shoe, the shoe it is too small for her, the true bride waits for you."
He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of her shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking quite red. Then he turned his horse and took the false bride home again. "This also is not the right one," said he, "have you no other daughter." "No," said the man, "there is still a little stunted kitchen-wench which my late wife left behind her, but she cannot possibly be the bride." The king's son said he was to send her up to him, but the mother answered, oh, no, she is much too dirty, she cannot show herself. But he absolutely insisted on it, and Cinderella had to be called.
She first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the king's son, who gave her the golden shoe. Then she seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted like a glove. And when she rose up and the king's son looked at her face he recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried, "That is the true bride." The step-mother and the two sisters were horrified and became pale with rage, he, however, took Cinderella on his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel-tree, the two white doves cried,
"Turn and peep, turn and peep, no blood is in the shoe, the shoe is not too small for her, the true bride rides with you."
And when they had cried that, the two came flying down and placed themselves on Cinderella's shoulders, one on the right, the other on the left, and remained sitting there.
When the wedding with the king's son was to be celebrated, the two false sisters came and wanted to get into favor with Cinderella and share her good fortune. When the betrothed couple went to church, the elder was at the right side and the younger at the left, and the pigeons pecked out one eye from each of them. Afterwards as they came back the elder was at the left, and the younger at the right, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness all their days.
Four words describing the conditions that prevented us from riding last week. Finally got back in the saddle last night. I could really tell it had been a long time. Not sure who was happier, us or the boys?
Brad also started lunging Harmony after we ride, to keep her limber. They are figuring each other out, and she seems to enjoy it. Nemo on the other hand watches his human’s every move with **gasp** another horse. He is handling it well, and gets extra love from me while they are busy. It’s not the same, but he suffers and takes what he can get. He is such a sweetheart. Nemo knows he has to share his Brad, but he doesn't have to like it. He just patiently waits and watches.
On another note, I finished the ground poles! Won’t win any awards, but they’ll work just fine for our purpose. I ended up painting 19” bands of red. Painting 8 poles took much longer than I expected. If I had it to do over again I would sand the poles first, and use better tape. However, I’m pretty sure our horses don’t care either way.
I am so sorry about the lack of blogging. This winter, as I think I may have already mentioned (cue eye roll) has been really getting me down and, quite frankly, I have so little positive to say it seems that for me, it's better to say nothing!
Over the last couple of days I have been playing with a new facebook app I have discovered called 'Befunky' so thought today I would share some of my photos that I have 'befunkied' with everyone.
Not a lot else to share. It has rained, pretty much non stop, since my last post. We may have had a day or two of sunshine but rain clouds and mud puddles are pretty much par for the course right now. Roll on summer I say! Libby is not looking at all imminent even though she will be at 342 days from last date of service in five days. I am picking this will be a September foal and that suits me just fine!
I have decided to have a stud open day in February. It gives me something positive to plan for and look forward to and, as we don't 'do' the stallion parades (they go in the 'too hard' box), it seemed like a great way to encourage people to come and meet the boys and our other horses as well as offer some tempters for next season . I have never done anything like this before so, if anyone has any handy hints, I am all ears! So far I need to organise a portaloo and some helpers and have a good think about how the day is going to work.
I have also decided, in a bid to tempt mare owners to use Brennan, to offer him at a greatly reduced stud fee of $250. He needs some foals on the ground as nothing really advertises a stallion better than the stallion's progeny and I really hope we can encourage owners to bring their quality performance mares to see him.
On Sunday, Dave and I went to the fair. This is our 24th year. We started showing ponies when Amber was four so that makes this our 24th year at the Iowa State Fair. We've only been to the Fair twice just to look around but, on Sunday, we did go down to see our friends show. They are Belgian people.
We first went on the sky ride so we could check out the Fair from above.
Then we walked around a bit. We went up on the hill to see the Butter Cow. This is only the second time I've ever seen the Butter Cow and I believe Dave said it was his first! Can you believe that? This year was a tribute to Dr. Seuss.
Honestly, there are just too many people for me.
I think when people think of us at the Fair, they think of someone who is seeing all the exhibits, riding the rides, eating all the food on a stick. But that is just what we don't do. In all of our years showing at the Fair, our girls never saw the midway. They didn't get far from the horse barn.
Anyway, we saw the Butter Cow, had lemonade, walked some more, had a Hot Beef Sundae at the Cattlemen's tent, walked some more and then decided it was time to head to the new exhibition arena for the horse show.
We went to watch our friends, The Robys, show their horses. Of course, part of our time at the fair, I spent walking around alone or sitting in the arena alone because Dave just cannot stay out of the barns. My allergies were bad enough so I was happy to stay put.
The Robys have two girls and their girls and our girls grew up together. Everyone always thought they were sisters. Now the oldest Roby girl has three little girls of her own. Kaylynn is the oldest, then there's Jade and the youngest is Mya. I've never seen three little girls who do not look alike in the least! Anyway, Jamie drove in the show with little Jade by her side. It made me think of Dave and Amber showing at the State Fair.
Jade's gramma tells me that Jade LOVES being a princess. She only wears dresses and she loves to dress up. So when I saw her up there on the wagon with that great big smile, that's all I could think of. I know she was in heaven up there.
I love watching a new generation out there in the ring.
Oswald’s great devotion and faith in God was made evident by the miracles that took place after his death. For at the place where he was killed fighting for his country against the heathen [Aug. 5, 642], sick men and beasts are healed to this day. Many people took away the very dust from the place where his body fell, and put it in water, from which sick folk who drank it received great benefit. This practice became so popular that, as the earth was gradually removed, a pit was left in which a man could stand. But it is not to be wondered at that the sick received healing at the place of his death; for during his lifetime he never failed to provide for the sick and needy and to give them alms and aid. Many miracles are reported as having occurred at this spot, or by means of the earth taken from it; but I will content myself with two, which I have heard from my elders.
Not long after Oswald’s death, a man happened to be riding near the place when his horse suddenly showed signs of distress. It stopped and hung its head, foaming at the mouth, and as its pains increased it collapsed on the ground. The rider dismounted, removed the saddle, and waited to see whether the beast was going to recover or die. At length, having tossed this way and that in great pain for a considerable time, it rolled on to the spot where the great king had died. Immediately the pain ceased, and the horse stopped its wild struggles, then having rolled on its other side, as tired beasts do, it got up fully recovered and began to graze. The traveller, an observant man, concluded that the place where his horse was cured must possess special sancitity, and when he had marked it, he mounted and rode on to the inn where he intended to lodge. On his arrival he found a girl, the niece of the landlord, who had long suffered from paralysis; and when members of the household in his presence were deploring the girl’s diease, he began to tell them about the place where his horse had been cured. So they put the girl in to a cart, took her to the place, and laid her down. Once there she fell asleep for a short while; and, on awaking, she found herself restored to health. She asked for water and washed her face; then she tidied her hair, adjusted her linen headgear, and returned home on foot in perfect health with those who had brought her.”
"A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer." ~Author Unknown
"Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express." ~Joseph Addison
"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart." ~Author Unknown
"A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again." ~Enid Bagnold
"Daughters are like flowers, they fill the world with beauty, and sometimes attract pests." ~Author Unknown
"The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, "Daddy, I need to ask you something," he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan." ~Garrison Keillor
The following interview with British musician John Otway was originally published in FFanzeen magazine, issue #6, in 1980. It was conducted by RBF.
In celebrating the release of John Otway’s second book, I Did It Otway (2010), which is reviewed in the blog directly below this one, I have pulled out my old interview with the man from 1980.
Interviewing and meeting England’s John Otway was another bonus from my association with publicist Janis Schacht. To be honest, I never heard of him until she passed him along to me, first in the form of his Deep Thought album, recorded with then hetero soul-mate and usual collaborator “Wild” Willy Barrett, whose split was imminent. Since none of his previous music had been released in the United States, this one by Stiff Records was a compilation of some of his earlier material, mixed with some new recordings.
It’s kind of hard to describe Otway’s style of music, except to say that is reminiscent of Boston, Massachusetts’s Willie Alexander. Both men have a distinctive and yet somewhat similar vocalization and arrangement style that is non-status quo, with variously elongating and contracting vowels, while playing with pitch, tone, and timing. They also both have been known to take covers and totally transform them into their own (Alexander with “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling,” Otway with “Cheryl’s Going Home,” for example). Unfortunately, the one thing they both have most in common is that they both never really rose above a cult level in North America, though both were signed to major labels at one point in their career (and both have a stronger fan base in Europe).
Taking Alan Albramowitz with me to the Ritz on the night he was to play, we talked to him after the soundcheck. He is an affable man whose humor is strong both on and off the stage. ‘Attaway Otway! Issue 6, Year-end 1980
John Otway, out of Alyesbury, England, has had three tours in the United States. The first two times, the response was only fair, due mainly to his previous recordings being on private labels, or only available in England. The States knew very little of him. This time around, he appeared with an album called Deep Thought, just out on Stiff Records. It is a wonderful release which has covers of Bob “Elusive Butterfly” Lind’s “Cheryl’s Coming Home” and Gene Pitney’s “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”
After a tempestuous childhood of torment and fear, Otway struck out of Alyesbury to seek life as a performer – the wilder the better. He and childhood friend/musician Wild Willy Barrett started recording their own material and was later helped by Pete Townshend’s production wizardry on two of their songs, “Louisa On A Horse” and “Murder Man” (both of which appear on Deep Thought).
When he left home, he was an unknown, and more or less the town joke of Alyesbury. Not having the capital to go it alone, he worked as a dustbin man – or garbage collector – where he would sing in the streets as the cans rattled. Once again, he was not taken seriously. The change came when his mum and dad mortgaged their home to pay of his first recording. He has since paid them back and come back a town hero, putting Alyesbury on the musical map, after many a tour and a documentary film based on his stage appearances.
Alan Abramowitz and I caught up with him at the Ritz, September 16, 1980, backstage before his set, as he rolled his own (tobacco) cigarettes.
FFanzeen: Why does it seem that so many rock’n’rollers have had trouble as a kid? John Otway: I think it sort of gives you a fighting start. It seems that all the kids that have had it easy in school, and always good in sports and things, always end up in the most boring, downbeat jobs in the world. The kids I knew who had problems, they all did something interesting – they had to go find themselves interesting jobs.
FF: Why did you have such problems? Otway: I don’t know. I think it was a number of things. One was the way I looked. I was always a bit gamy, which didn’t help. I had a bit of a speech impediment, and they used to call me smelly and things. I remember when I was about 14, suddenly everything changed; everything that had been a complete disadvantage suddenly started to be an advantage. Instead of finding it to be a disadvantage to be rack and ruins, I started finding it to be an advantage, because people knew you ... and so I was probably playing on being even more smelly. Looking even more gamy. Dressing in a sort of way that would attract attention.
FF: In what way did this effect your view of music? Otway: It made me an exhibitionist. The big show. It essentially came out on stage in terms of playing songs straight and then, if there was something I could do that would get a bit more applause or shock and get a better reaction, then I’d do it – like ripping my shirt off and crawling across the stage – bursting into tears. Everything. At that time I was doing a lot of folk clubs and things and, well, it may have been acceptable in a rock medium to sort of run around the stage and sort of terrorize the audience; in folk clubs, that certainly wasn’t the case. Then, what I had was just an acoustic guitar, which I couldn't even tune.
FF: What tunes did you play? Otway: I started off playing a lot of Dylan songs. I ended up generally writing because to find something I actually found comfortable with, I found easiest to write, rather than search out something to do. As far as writing is concerned, that didn’t come about through a necessity of finding something to perform, it was more of a desire to actually write songs.
FF: This is digressing a bit, but in the bio that Stiff gave out, it says you did “dangerous athletic feats,” which got me curious. Care to clarify? Otway: When I was ... 13 or 14, I started doing things like picking fights with the biggest kid in the school. I’d really make a mess of me and my face, and do it to attract huge audiences. Especially to advertise the fact that, even if you pick a fight with a huge bully, you could clear the whole school playground, who would come to see you. They’d come just to see you get completely paddled. Things like downing a bottle of ink in one, you know, you could sort of guarantee an audience of at least 200 just to see you do it. Then I was into things, like really dangerous stunts on canal bridges over solid concrete, sort of 50 or 60 feet in the air. Just that sort of thing – completely stupid things. I was a compete showoff. A couple of tours ago, I was taking 10-foot scaffolding towers around and doing tightrope walks. It was a relief that I didn’t carry on doing that because I thought, “With the next tour you’d have to take 15 foot scaffolding towers and the next 20 and then, one day, you actually are going to kill yourself, so ...”
FF: What musical instrument did you pick up when you played in your school orchestra? Otway: Violin, really. I studied classical violin for seven years. I was awful at it. I was in the orchestra for a little while. I’d just make sure that I was bowing in the same direction as the orchestra and the bow was a quarter-inch from the strings. I use it a bit on stage now, but my style of violin playing goes more for what it looks like than what it sounds like.
FF: And guitar. Otway: My guitar playing is basically straight chords. The way I play, there’s really nothing to it, but my violin playing is really quite good – when it’s in tune.
FF: How did you get together with Wild Willy Barrett? Otway: Well, we both came from the same town. Willy lived about 150 yards from me. In terms of ambition, I think we were the two most ambitious people in town. Willy, being a great musician, started playing (guitar) when he was four. He was sort of the musical hero – I mean, everybody in town admired the way he played – me, the complete joke. The reason we got together is, I just think Willy sort of admired what I did and I admired what Willy did. We just sort of found something we enjoyed doing – meanwhile I was writing as well. He was always into being a producer and arranging stuff. Being such a small town, you just stared working with people you know.
FF: Aylesbury is about 25 miles out of London? Otway: About 50. It’s got a little club called Friars. It’s a good club.
FF: I know it was obviously for the money, but why did you become a garbage collector? Otway: The reason why I did it – I don’t know, I hated all the other jobs I tried. It took me six years to actually make a living out of performing. I hated office work. I also fancied that it was good for my career. I started off with the idea of being a loo attendant. I always thought it would be great later on to say that I was a lavat’ry attendant for two years. Convenient job.
FF: Sort of “from the toilet to the toilet.” Otway: The jokes were endless, but I couldn’t do it to my parents. I mean, you can just imagine people going up to my mum and saying, “Oh, what what’s John doing now?” “Oh, he’s working at lavat’ries ... He’s working at the loos.” A garbage collector is sort of an acceptable step for me, and I thought my parents could live with that. Also, it was a handy job since it finished about two in the afternoon. That way I could get a basic gig anywhere in the country.
FF: And you could sing in the streets. Otway: Actually, I wrote about three songs when I was working the dustbins. Walking up to collect the garbage. It was sort of a standard joke on the cart that I sang all the time.
FF: The first album you did, John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett [1977], was on a private label. How well did it sell? Otway: We didn’t really go for that long. It was sold for about two weeks. Because it was selling well, Polydor took it up. We made a deal with them and they took over the record as it stood. We were over at Track Records just before that, and they put out our single, “Louisa On a Horse.” We wanted to do an album and we kept arguing about who would produce it. Eventually we borrowed some money and went into a studio and put it out on our own. We took the album to Track Records and they heard it and fired us on the spot. And so we called our label Extracked. And Track went bust about six months later, which was quite good.
FF: How did you get hold of Pete Townshend? Otway: Long time before that ... in the early ‘70s, I did a few demos with Willy. And a couple of them turned out really good. It was just ... with one overdub. I pressed around 500 records because I’d always found records easier to deal with than tapes to send them around and sell them in the shops, get your money back and things. Pete Townshend got hold of one through a friend of Willy’s. He just sort of got in touch and said, would we like him to produce a few tracks for us, and so we said “Yes.” A week later, we were in the studio ... The interesting thing is that I was not a Who fan at all before I worked with Townshend. In fact, a friend of mine who was a huge Who fan, was sort of fanatical about it. I was always having big arguments with him, saying that the Who were just a back-up band. I always hated the Mods and I still do. I was sort of horrified when it came out that Townshend was working with us. But it was good in a way because ... he wasn’t like a big hero and I could really appreciate what he did working with us in the studio, because he’s ridiculously talented. He’s got great ears as well. As a producer, he was an exceptionally hard-working professional. I came out with bloody more admiration than not liking him before.
FF: It’s kind of strange that one of the tracks he did, “Louisa On a Horse,” sounds almost country and western. Otway: That’s because both me and Willy came out of folk clubs, really, rather than rock music. I did that largely because the best places to go to is folk clubs so you can take your guitar and do a few songs. Willy was doing folk clubs, as well as bluegrass stuff ... “Murder Man” and “Louisa On a Horse” are based on country stuff. We just picked up electric guitars (four years ago). We were playing in England at some New Wave clubs, playing sort of punk versions of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” with electric banjo. Sort of this really aggressive country music. All the punks used to love it – pogo to it. Especially when this punk thing started, a lot of people took themselves (too) seriously.
FF: And they still do. Otway: This is great, that they’ve sort of picked out this niche ...
FF: Do you find it strange to come in to the New Wave from the folk side rather than the rock side? Otway: I suppose it is because, essentially, I have no great love for rock’n’roll. There’s quite a bit I like, but there’s not general love for it. My love was performance in that particular style of music.
FF: I guess that’s why the media call you a “pop” star rather than a “rock’n’roll” star. Otway: I prefer to be a pop star because when I was a kid about nine, I decided what I was going to do. We (made) heroes of people like Cliff Richards and stuff. Little nine-year-old kids. Well, I basically set out the rules for my life that I was going to be famous. I took pictures of my hero and he was what I wanted to be like. It was my first ambition, and you never sort of lose that. I wanted to be a pop star ...
FF: Was “Cor Baby That’s Really Free” released in the United States? Otway: No, the only thing that was released in America before the Stiffs, MCA released one of the Townshend things, around ’73. I don’t think it got any sort of push or anything. MCA released “Murder Man.”
FF: On Stiff’s Deep Thought album, it was just called “Really Free.” Otway: In England it was “Really Free” as well. In the package, they put “Cor Baby That’s Really Free.”
FF: How were you approached to do your TV documentary, The Dustbin Man? Otway: The director came backstage once. He was looking at the club ‘cause he was gonna do a documentary on the club and I was on that night. I explained that I did a free concert every year (in Alyesbury) and this year I was doing one in the market square.
FF: 1,500 people showed up. Otway: Yeah. He just really liked the idea of the sort of local guy who comes up in this home town and sort of comes back to conquer it. He closed down all the roads in the center of the town and takes over for a day. I sort of explained that I was doing that.
FF: So it turned out instead of him doing a documentary about a club ... Otway: It ended up being a documentary about ...
FF: About you. Otway: Yeah.
FF: Great. How did it go over? Otway: It was really good. I thought it was a really good documentary just because most documentaries of rock music or rock musicians tend to sort of have a lot of backstage footage. They tend not to deal with an everyday sort of (subject) or probe too much apart from the music, where our documentary wasn’t really about the music, it was more about a person. Whether that person be good or bad, I thought it was an honest look at what I was doing.
FF: Do you know if it’s going to be released in the United States? Otway: I hope so ... Something this great should make it.
FF: Totally objective, I’m sure. [laughs] Otway: I might be a little biased. (My comment on the film) is praising the director more than it’s praising me.
FF: That’s film. What about video? Otway: I want to do some work with it. I really feel the rock industry is dying and I think it’s seen its best days and I do think more visual art forms will (be used) in the next couple of years.
FF: Do you have any videos of the songs you’ve already done? Otway: No, but I sort of intend to try and get the record company to get in the habit of making a video very time I record a song.
FF: I’d love to see one for “D.K.50/80” (from Deep Thought). Otway: It was (released as a) 45 in England just before we came a-ways.
FF: The background vocal is, my guess, backwards and speeded up. Otway: Well, it’s backwards, but not speeded up. It’s two girls from a band called Sausage. They had had a song called “K.D. 80/50.” It’s quite a rude song, but we just use the chorus, which isn’t too rude. When you play the turntable backwards, it goes “K.D. 80/50 / You’re so nifty / K.D. 80/50 / You’re so nifty / Tie her up / Tie her down / Turn her over / Turn her ‘round.” The first verse of that song went “Big tits, bondage and belts / You name it, anything else.”
FF: I figured out just about the entire second stanza of “D.K. 50/80.” About Cinderella ... Otway: “Cinde / Cinde / Rella / Rella / Type her / Type her / Letter/Letter ... invite all your sister to the dance / You would like to go / But still you never get the chance.” [www.we7.com/#/song/John-Otway/DK-50-80]
FF: Do you do that song live? Otway: No, I haven’t done it this tour. We did a tour in England to promote the single and we did it. We had Willy singing backwards.
FF: Is Willy with you this tour? Otway: No. He’s getting more and more into production. He’s starting his own record label, which is good ‘cause he’s really happy doing that.
FF: Will he still be backing you at all? Otway: Yeah, I really like working with Willy ... the first time we split [1979], it showed us the position where if I just wanted to do something or wanted to do something together, we can do it and if we want to do it on our own we can do it on our own. We’re not into any intention of working together, which is good ‘cause we can work together when we want to.
FF: How was the reaction to your last two tours across the United States? Otway: It was good. It was hard to do it without a record deal; we only just got the Stiff deal. I mean, things like, the first time we played Minneapolis, we played to 15 people. The second time we played, around 100, 150 to 200 people turned out. I mean, it’s working, but it’s the slow way to doing it.
FF: The promotion for this tour (monikered “In Your Livingroom”) was excellent. An EP of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” without vocal tracks stuck in with regular ones and whomever picked it, you sang it to them in their living room. Otway: A ridiculous idea.
FF: It’s ridiculous but I think it’s an ingenious one. A twelve year old kid won it? Otway: Yeah. That’s why I’m on the news tonight on Channel 7 [ABC-TV]. The 11 o’clock news tonight. We were all crammed with this kid in his room. It was great.
FF: There is a very sharp sense of humor to your music. Why is humor so important in rock’n’roll (e.g., Dictators, Deaf School, The Quick, John Entwhistle)? Otway: Humor is very important to me. It’s such as good weapon because you could be so much more aggressive, so much more biting. You can get a point so much more if there’s an element of humor on it, because humor can be that much more tragic than something serious can be.
FF: Do you think there’s more humor in British music because of the Music Hall tradition? Otway: Yeah, I think so. There is sort of a tradition going right back. The humor is different from American humor as well ... One of my favorite people is, like, [Monty Python’s John] Cleese. He’s higher in my esteem than rock stars. He’s just so bloody funny. Sometimes it’s so bloody cutting as well. I mean, it’s not just because you laugh at him, sometimes it really hurts ... I picked humor because I couldn’t stand being on stage and not getting a standing ovation. I was also the sort of person that people laughed at anyway. I capitalized on it.
FF: On Deep Thought, you have one side of new songs, one of old. Otway: We did it to keep this album separate from the last three [John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, Deep and Meaningless, and Way/Bar]. But also, the next album will be put out on Stiff on both sides of the Atlantic. This album is largely to keep this side of the Atlantic up to date with England.
FF: The album won’t be released in England? Otway: No. Maybe at some stage [I’ll] do a double album which basically covers the rest of the material that was released over there.
FF: Are you going to do a live album? Otway: People keep asking and I keep thinking, maybe, maybe not. I got an idea of doing a double album with a studio album and throwing in a live album ... The live act is essentially me. So much of it is visual, like knocking mikes together and things. If you don’t know they’re two mikes knocked together at this particular point, it sounds like a bang.
FF: While that’s up, do you think people come to see you for the theater, or ... Otway: People sort of try to make that part of me a comedian, but as I said, to me it’s a veritable weapon as well. Things that are funniest to me are sometimes the saddest, as well. I don't just think in terms of straight comedy at all ‘cause I can’t tell a joke.
FF: I know you like to roll off the stage, but you wouldn’t do that here, would you [the stage of the Ritz is more than five feet off the dance floor – ed.]? Otway: Just before I came here, I just dived from the stage – seven feet into the air – and I dived as if I were diving into water. Just sort of threw out my hands and rolled over. I really crippled my back for the next three days. I was limping. I couldn’t sit down, couldn’t lie down. It was horrible.
FF: Then I really doubt if you’ll try it tonight. Otway: I don’t know. I’m sort of one of these people that never learns. You always say, “No, of course not” and then when it comes to a performance, you always feel you can do anything. You’re completely fearless. There’s been a couple of times I’ve really, really crippled up because you hit the same part of your body every night and so you got this great bloody red bruise there. It really hurts. It’s been hurting all day, and you go on stage and somehow you do it again, in exactly the same place. You don’t think about it and then you walk off the stage and it suddenly hurts.
FF: It’s the excitement, the adrenaline ... Otway: Yeah, the adrenaline.
Alan: I was looking through a copy of People while on line at a supermarket and you were in there. Otway: Oh yeah, I saw that. That’s the one where they showed the supermarket and things like that. The camera showed the disbelief in their faces.
Alan: They praised you well. Otway: I was quite shocked. I’ve been quite lucky. With all this press on it, it took a really long time before the really negative stuff started coming. Of course, occasionally – I think NME (New Musical Express) reviewed the first album in one word: “Tragic.” And that was the review.
FF: Do you realize you are one of the few people who use those papers to roll tobacco? Otway: I always feel guilty if I buy cigarette papers over here. And trying to get tobacco is a joke. We’ll I’m going back [to England] tomorrow.
FF: This is the end swing of your tour, then. Alan: How much tape is left? Otway: I think in half the interviews I’ve done on this tour the tape machine hasn’t worked.
FF: This is one of the few times it has. Otway: My luck must be turning.
According to Ohio law, the job of City Council President is to "preside at all regular and special meetings of such legislative authority (city council), but the president shall have no vote therein except in case of a tie."
Seems pretty simple. Council President presides over the meetings, and can only vote in a tie. In theory, the council president would run the meetings fairly and apply the various rules of council equally so that each council member is treated the same.
In theory, but not in practice. Not in Massillon, and not with our Mayor for Life's loyal enforcer, Glenn Gamber, as council president.
Glenn Gamber must see his job a little differently. It is clear to anyone following city council that his job isn't to preside over the meetings in an impartial manner, his job is to protect and further the agenda of the mayor, and to give guidance to the rubber stamps. It appears his other job is to manipulate the council rules, fairly or unfairly, to stop the an independent council member from proposing legislation that;
A.) The Mayor for Life does not want and; B.) Would embarrass the rubber stamps by having to publicly vote no to protect their mayor's interests.
In 2009, the city was in the midst of its Annual Summer Financial Crisis. While city employees were taking unpaid furloughs and pay freezes, the Mayor, Auditor, Treasurer, Law Director, City Council members, and Council President Glenn Gamber were receiving a 4.1% pay raise. When Kathy Catzarao-Perry tried to introduce legislation to repeal the city ordinance giving these folks lifetime, annual, unvoted pay raises, Gamber fought this repeal with every trick he had. He wouldn't even allow a public vote. He asked for an off the record show of hands, so council members who wanted to keep the raises for themselves, and for our Mayor for Life, would not be incriminating themselves with a public vote.
Glenn Gamber's machinations were again on view at Monday's council meeting. 4th Ward Councilman Tony Townsend, not a favorite of the mayor, introduces legislation to rename Shriver Park after former 4th Ward Councilman, the late T. Roy Roberson. Roberson served over a decade as councilman, and the park name change had much support in the 4th Ward. "People of the community respect him (Roberson). He's loved by many" (Tony Townsend, The Independent, June 18, 2010). The councilman who's ward the park was in (Tony Townsend) supported the name change. The residents of Ward 4 seemed to support the name change. And for a brief instant, Massillon City Council looked like they would support the name change. Until, out of the clear blue, the rubber stamps seemed to have a change of heart.
Here is where this gets a bit complicated, so hang on. All of a sudden the "Independent" Parks and Recreation Board claims it has a policy "discouraging" the name changing of parks named after a person. Shriver park was named after the original land owner, Herman Shriver. Now, no one can produce any evidence to show where the "Independent" Parks and Recreation Board passed this resolution. It just "exists." For those who have forgotten, the "Independent" Parks and Recreation Board is the five member board that was supposed to administer our parks and recreation department. Of the five members, three are appointed by the mayor, and two are appointed by the Massillon School Board. In effect, the mayor's appointees control the board. It doesn't actually have any real power. Judge John Haas ruled that Massillon City Council has final say over the Parks and Recreation System. This was the result of the Citizens' Lawsuit filed against the city last year. According to Judge Haas, the city may sell park land, and may even take insurance claim money from the parks and use it for anything the city wants to. According to Judge Haas, the mayor and council have final say over what happens to the parks and recreation department. This was our Mayor for Life's opinion all along, and Judge Haas affirmed that view with his decision in the lawsuit.
We are confident that this is merely a coincidence, but allegedly Shriver Park is on a list of park properties that our mayor may be interested in selling off. Can't rename the park after T. Roy Roberson, and then auction it off to the highest bidder. So, the Mayor apparently does not want Shriver park to be renamed after the late T. Roy Roberson. But he can't say that, as Roberson was a popular figure in Ward 4. The council rubber stamps want to do the mayor's bidding, but actually voting against the name change would be an unpopular political decision. They want to kill the name change without actually voting against it. This is where the Mayor's loyal enforcer, Glenn Gamber, comes in.
Even though it is crystal clear that council and the mayor have the ultimate authority over the park system, the council rubber stamps wish to unload this naming issue on the "Independent" Parks and Recreation Board, where Tony Townsend's ordinance will never see the light of day, and never receive a vote. And Glenn Gamber led the manipulation of council rules and procedures to make that happen at Monday's council meeting. Glenn did have help. Councilman Larry Slagle beat up on Tony Townsend pretty heavily to coerce him into acquiescing to moving the ordinance to the "Independent" Parks and Recreation Board. While on one hand claiming he supported the name change, Slagle worked, on the other hand, to effectively kill it.
Gamber and Slagle worked together to give our Mayor for Life what he wanted without actually having to have anyone embarrass themselves by voting against honoring the late T. Roy Roberson. Pretty effective. Pretty disgusting. If they didn't want to rename the park, they should of had a vote, and should have been men enough to vote no. Unfortunately, it appears they lacked the "testicular fortitude," and once more relied on Glenn Gamber's parliamentary slight of hand to avoid an unpopular vote.
I have had the privilege this summer of photographing so many gorgeous senior girls. And I really do consider it a privilege... they have so many photographers they could choose, so I am always thrilled with they call ME! I love hanging out with high school kids anyway, so even more fun, I get to photograph them.
Last week I was thrilled that a girl (whom I happen to adore!) asked if we could do her photos at her horse barn with her horse! I was ready for the challenge and excited to meet this horse I've heard so much about. Although it was hot and humid that day, I had so much fun I hardly noticed. What a beautiful pair they made!
