Sister Seagull

"Sister seagull, oh you're flying me too high
Feels so dizzy underneath your open skies
And it's strange the games we play to hide the crime
Sister seagull you're the reason I survive
 
I am a prisoner who has thrown away the key
My soul has vanished with the bird who flies so free
And the wings of change have spread themselves o'er me
Sister seagull you're the reason I survive
 
I am waiting here for the tide to turn
And the pathways of the air to open
Will you meet me there
By the golden stairways to the clouds
To the clouds
 
I am a changeling
Like the wind across the waves
Though in the end there will be nothing left to save
I will return one day
With all the time you gave
Sister seagull you're the reason I survive"
 
Be Bop Deluxe – Sister Seagul
 
A trip out at lunchtime today, as always, with the camera.  Since starting to blip, I have found that I am conscious of having a camera with me all the time, even if it is only the one in my phone.  But today I was carting around the DSLR in the sunshine and managed to catch this gull, who (along with lots of others) was making a bit of a nuisance of himself stealing the bread people were throwing to the swans and ducks in Bristol’s docks. Thanks to Incredibish's advice I remembered that taking pictures of birds in flight needed a fast shutter speed.
 
I’m not a fan of urban seagulls, they are enormously disruptive and can be pretty aggressive.  However, I am a fan of Be Bop Deluxe and their creative mainspring: the brilliant, if quirky, Bill Nelson, from Wakefield.
 
Bill is a genuinely gifted guitarist and songwriter, a unique talent.  He was packaged as a guitar hero in Be Bop Deluxe but was never really comfortable with having to play that role. After bringing Be Bop Deluxe to an end in 1978 Bill has released an enormous number of albums but has struggled to achieve commercial success. In part because he has always gone to great lengths to avoid repeating the rock guitar band formula. 
 
   
Sadly Bill has recently become deaf in one ear and whilst he is still recording, it is unlikely that he will ever play live again.  I met Bill once, at a guitar show at the NEC in Birmingham, when he was helping to promote a brand of slightly quirky guitars.  I recognised him and stopped for a quick chat. I didn’t chat for long, I didn’t want to bore him by being too much of a “fan”.  I sort of wish I had chatted for longer now, its great to meet one of your heroes and find that they really are every bit as interesting as you thought they might be.