Talented Losers

Colin Shaddick and Sexton Ming

Colin Shaddick and Sexton Ming have joined forces and released a book of poetry and some very odd short stories. The title of their book is 'Talented Losers'. The chapbook will be launched in London on the 18th April 2010.

Sexton Ming is a cult poet, painter and musician. He was born in Gravesend and tells the world that he was diagnosed as suffering from 'Thick Disease'. As a result of that shocking discovery, he now has to consume copious amounts of 'Brainy Pills' to compensate for this intrusive impediment.

At the tender age of 16, Sexton applied for a place on a foundation course at the Medway School of Art and Design, but was deemed unsuitable and was refused entry.

Sexton has appeared on over 20 LPs and CDs. He has been widely published. His musical and poetic output is unique. For more information about Sexton please go to:
http://www.sextonming.co.uk/

Colin Shaddick is a poet, musician, singer/songwriter and cartoonist. He has been widely published and his songs are regularly played on various radio stations. For more information about Colin please click on my 'inclusifolk' website link below.



Jotting Without Blotting

I sometimes compose
little poems that rhyme.
It's an amusing way
to pass the time.

But after several years
of free-form jotting
I no longer want my book,
or its copy, blotting.

The difficult part
in writing poems, for me,
is deciding where
the end should be.

It's so different when
one writes stuff in prose:
there's plenty of time
to plan just where it goes.



Eccentrically.
Colin.

http://www.inclusifolk.com/
http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk/

I'm William Blake - Just For Short Periods

Dreaming can be such a beautiful experience.




I was alone,
by the River Taw.

The cry of distant birds

reverberated
through the still
and chilly morning air.

I was looking up;
looking down
and mixing colours
on a palette
made from pale slate.

Hanging on the back
of my folding chair
was an Allen Ginsberg
Tee-shirt.
The one I should
have bought
in San Francisco.

I was painting you
as an angel
drifting through
my bedroom.
You passed below
the Gyson print
I taped to the ceiling
many years ago.
Burroughs was visible
through the curtains.

Your beautifil head
was inclined to the right:
long hair flowing
like a stream over your skin.
The morning light
was playing with your eyes,
making them sparkle
as you looked out at me.

Mr Coltrane was playing
A Love Supreme
as he looked obliquely
from the bottom corner
of the large canvas.
He didn't notice
that you were in the picture.
My old guitar
was resting in the corner
of the bright room.
All was peaceful
and I felt that I was part of life

Each time I dream,
I dream of you
and I fear the picture
will be finished all too soon.



Eccentrically.
Colin.

www.inclusifolk.com
www.eccentricclub.co.uk

Eccentrics can be open to abuse

Here's some interesting (and amusing) information about the ups and downs in the life of an eccentric performance poet.

"Don't worry. No experience in life is wasted. Good or bad: it's all possible material for poems and songs."

I have found that being labeled 'Eccentric' can mean walking a narrow and sometimes lonesome path. To stray from this narrow path of acceptability can often mean a short period of isolation, or even worse: being expelled from part of a group that I had previously thought of as an understanding gathering of welcoming friends. (You'll quickly find out who your friends are).

Labels can be so harmful. I am no different now than I've always been. So one has to ask this question: why the sudden change in the attitudes of a few individuals, when I do something that is narural for me, but is now seen as emanating from someone with the label: 'Eccentric'? It's as if the label has now become an invisible target; people taking potshots at me from hidden vantage points along my given path. For what reason, I cannot fully understand. I will continue to ponder.

Labels can easily be attached and removed too. My 'Eccentric' label has been attached to many things locally, and the individuals who've tied it to their own particular pet cause, or event, have been very happy with its positioning, but a lack of a true understanding - by some people - of what eccentricity really is, can lead to the once appreciated label to be ripped off and cast aside.

But it is not all bad. If you are thinking about coming out of your eccentric closet and are now having second thoughts, don't be concerned. If you are true to yourself everything will work out fine. Yes, we'll get our knocks from time-to-time, but whats a few knocks when they're shared between true friends. The people I know and mix with understand that we are not all cast from the same die, and we all celbrate this fact. Let yourself go. Let your eccentricities flow!

* According to studies, there are eighteen distinctive characteristics that differentiate a healthy eccentric person from a regular person or someone who has a mental illness (although some may not always apply). The first five are in most people regarded as eccentric:

1 Nonconforming attitude
2 Intense curiosity
3 Idealistic
4 Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
5 Known very early in his/her childhood they were different from others
6 Highly intelligent
7 Opinionated and outspoken
8 Unusual living or eating habits
9 Not interested in the opinions or company of others
10 Mischievous sense of humour
11 Single
12 Usually the eldest or an only child

* Wikipedia


* So long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him - Pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?

* Laurence Stern (1713-1768) British Writer.


Want to have some fun? Why not become a friend of the Eccentric Club? To do so, please click on the Eccentric Club link below. Once the site is accessed it's there you'll see the friends section.


Eccentrically.
Colin.

http://www.inclusifolk.com/
http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk/

The fly mows

In my previous blog I posted a piece of hastily assembled, but highly creative work and I called it Desk Art. Well, since then I have received a number of pieces of work from readers of the North Devon Journal who now call themselves desk artists.

Some of the pieces are not suitable for publication due to the content matter, but here's a wonderful piece of desk art (see above). It was created by that very lively local folk performer and teller of bad jokes, Mr Martyn Babb. Martyn informs me that he 'turns out a lot of this kind of stuff.'

If you are a desk artist and wish to have your work represented on this page, please get in contact with me.


Eccentrically.
Colin.

http://www.inclusifolk.com/
http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk/