bob dylan in an art gallery

y’know that story of someone shouting judas at dylan in the royal albert hall for playing an electric guitar instead of his old acoustic one?
well apparently it’s a myth…what really happened was some chap with a lisp on the balcony saw his girlfriend lost among the cheap seats below,and then hollered “judith! judith!”

earlier in the week i woke with a bad dose of the blues,so thomas generously decided to take me for a sail around london.
we had no plans..we just jumped in the car and followed our noses.my spirits lifted in a second..t’was real sunny..not even eleven a.m yet.it’s a trip how big cities are completely different beasts before sundown.i’m always looking on with awe at the able bodied labourers who just get on with their manual work regardless of any weather.they came into my mind again and again as we boogaloo’d past the high flying fashion houses.
i was watching a costumer..a big self satisfied nelly,obviously flushed with lots of lolly…he was trying on some serious shit,but no matter what he tried on,he still looked like a sausage…something of his mind-set came through in the body language…his arse was like a big flat pinched kipper,and all i could think of was how the builders i saw earlier would look mighty in those lush suits, and would fill them trousers a whole lot better too.money can’t buy it,and the people who could wear it,are the people who can’t afford it.

i might be wrong about that though,cause as we dandered down new bond street i saw this fella who stood out a mile…motorcycle boots…threads that truly cut a dash…handle bar moustache…prescription glasses..fuck me ridged ..it’s adam ant.i love that man.he’s made some of the most original sounding pop records ever.

the high point of our little trip was stumbling on an art gallery that had *bob dylan mood swings* in big letters by the stately door.
dear reader if you’re in or near london,i highly recommend this.it’s only on for another week..entry is free..so if you’re interested you’d need to pull your finger out sharpish,but it’s bound to show around other cities too,cause this is one formidable exhibition.the opening works were these big gates that he’d made out of spare iron parts from farming machinery that he collects through scrap yards…he’d also done loads of terrific paintings,but the things that really grabbed me were almost hidden at the back of the gallery…
he’d done silk screens of old magazines,and played about with the subject matter,demonstrating how easy it is for the media to fuck around with our perceptions of famous people….he did a great one that took the piss out of those health/lifestyle magazines,and he called that magazine’rehab’..it had a nubile naked reformed female addict standing by a lake.. a really crappy gravelly lake.i nearly pissed myself laughing..bob dylan clearly has a bone dry sense of humour.

the halcyon gallery is real nice…friendly staff who actually come up and talk to you about the art.http://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan-mood-swings

anyway dear reader…here’s to making the most of these winter months,and that we don’t just wish our lives away waiting for summer.

all my loving…
mary of the wilderness