FRANK MALARKY CHECKS OUT DAVID BLAINE

Heh check this out, Took time to recover from the glasto festie back in June. Can you do some crazy things down there or can you do some crazy things? Took me a few months to get back down to earth, I can tell you.

Went up to the stone circle on the second day I did...... and then... before I knew it I found myself floating over towards the Pyramid stage and coming to a stop about 300 metres in the air above the main crowd. Good view, watching what was going on on stage and all……….. the only difficulty was when I discovered I couldn't actually manoevure myself back to the stone circle or for that matter anywhere at all?!! Anyhow, I thought I would check out what was going on and make the most of it and all that which meant watching all the Pyramid stage stuff.

All was going well until Monday came: no more bands, no more bands, no more bands. The mass populace packed up and buggered off leaving me on my tod wondering what was I going to do??

Well, there wasn't a lot I could do!! Sixty days it was, in total, I did up there. Of course no-one waited around for me. Bored, cold, lonely………. not to mention bloody starving. That said, lost a few stone in weight, I did.

Anyhow, enough about that, what I wanted to talk about was my Sunday experience with Mr Blaine, David to most. You see I went down to Tower Bridge back in September on the eleventh day of a total forty-four to check out all the hype. And there he was looking down at me from about 55 feet of the ground in a secure box suspended from a crane. Not exactly the same as being 300 metres off the ground. What's more he had a sleeping bag and appeared to be reading a book at one point.

What's this all about I thought, forty-four days in a perspex box with water. How difficult can that be? I mean we all know the man Jesus did forty days and nights without water and met the devil and all. And I should know after all I recall seeing the devil in the crowd on the first day of my experience but I remember him coming back in a cloud on day 33!! So I thought I would check out what the crowd around Tower Bridge were saying. There were evidently some supporters but people I asked were not so impressed. A number of reasons were put forward for why it's not so difficult: Jesus was just short of 44 days and did it without water.

About 11 years ago, some Australian student got stuck on an ice ridge somewhere in Nepal for about 49 days with 2 chocolate bars and melted snow for water. He too had a sleeping bag but it was freezing cold with no transparent box to stave off the wind chill factor. He survived. Millions of Africans and many others do the stunt every year without the attendant publicity or emergency services on standby.

Maybe Blainey boy wasn't hoping to please everyone and appeared not to have considered that many would think the stunt was in poor taste. And then when he waves at the crowd like the Queen Mother used to, no wonder he became the subject of daily ridicule. Others complained about local traffic jams, some claimed the locality benefited with the new tourists.

As for me, I was in the Tower Bridge area on the Sunday so I popped up to see the man on the final day, day 44. Big crowds, ………….Uuuuummmmmm, seems to be good way to generate cash…………. Over and out-Frank Malarky

People - Franks first night at Glastonbury Festival
	by Alfred Lawyer It all seemed to be looking up for Frank Malarky, Dance DJ extraordinaire and full-time Law Man - loved by the masses if only they had heard of him. At last a chance to strut his stuff, shake his (ample) booty and impress the young ladies at the festival he loved the most; Glastonbury. Read more...

People - Hull By Muthoni Kamau
	I am a post-graduate student at the University of Hull. I am from Kenya in East Africa, one of God's little and wee kept secrets! I have been in Hull for just over a month now ant it's been quite an experience. I am bound never to forget it. It's one strange town! Read more...

People - Wanted Dead or Alive
	I've known Diane for most of my life. For most of that time she's been battling to get out of the rat race. She's a straightforward, straight-talking woman. She's bright, funny and has always - ALWAYS been on and around motor cycles. Read more...

People - Hullo Sammy
	Sammy moved to Hull about a year ago after meeting Arthur at a car boot sale in London. They are firm friends and enjoy whiling away a few hours of the day watching the world go by, hoping they might raise a smile from the passing crowds. I met them in the city centre Read more... about Sammy and Arthur.

Places to Visit - Our Samhain Visit to Avebury by Janie Spencer
	Before we start on our journey, let me give you a bit of background on Avebury. It is a beautiful stone circle, so big that you can in fact fit a village inside it, as you can see from this overhead map! As well as being a tourist spot, it is both a home and a gathering Read more...

Places to Visit - Burton Constable Hall.
	Burton Constable Hall has collected several ghosts and stories from its 450 year history, the most frequently seen ghost being that of Nurse Dowdall, a much loved nanny to the children of the household during the 19th century. Read more...

Places to Visit - A day by the beach - Bridlington Harbour.
	This Sunday I was spoilt for choice - either to visit a Buddhist centre in "Kilham" or attend a strawberries and cream party. Opted to go and find Zen so duly arrived with my offspring (Katie and Oliver) at my friend's house (Cilla) punctually (for a change) at 11.30. Read more...