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| if you click and look at it larger, you can see prison in center |
today was another in-port manning day, so i didn’t go ashore in port arthur… i did look up and read about it’s history, tho, and it’s fascinating, if dark… it was a penal colony for england’s and ireland’s worst offenders, and they ran a youth prison, too… their experimentation over the years with psychological rather than only physical punishment also facilitated the construction of an insane asylum… it’s considered one of the most haunted places in australia.
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| island of the dead |
yesterday i managed to avoid any big encounter session dynamics among the lovelorn, and that was a good thing… i got my writing and set prep done in time to even enjoy a nap, which has been many days coming! a cool and cloudy day, and a bit breezy... lovely!
my set tonight was “if i could talk to the animals” (“tie me kangaroo down, sport” “stray cat strut,” etc.), since australia is noted for it’s critters (especially the ones that can kill you!)… after two early port days, and with immigration yesterday, people were a bit glassy eyed, but there… i don’t grill them for requests on these nights, you can look out and just tell when folks are a little fried, so i drive the bus when that is the case… we also did a few moon songs for the full moon and some rain songs in honor of the weather… my late night friends were in, and we caught them up on a few port songs they missed (when bob comes out, he’ll help me record all the port songs and put them on a download service so people can get them online)…
i was so excited to hear from nino that he was picked to join the school news paper staff for his senior year next year! he is busy, humbly minimizing this a bit, but i am psyched that he put himself out there, made it through the application process and was chosen to join; i am glad he wanted to go out for it. when i was in high school, the newspaper was one of the only things i excelled at, and i relished writing controversial editorials about the administration, our student council and other stuff… it was one of the only satisfying experiences i really remember having academically in high school… there was a true sense of ownership and acheivement among the writers and contributors, and we did it all ourselves with minimal faculty supervision or input… it truly felt like ours, and the excitement on paper day was big… i still have all my issues in a box somewhere, and remember how victorious i felt when one of my editorials about our rotten principal preceded her sudden retirement, and, i had hoped, been part of what caused some people to look closely at a few of the questionable things going on… whether it really had been an instrumental influence or not, the thought that we could make a difference in our community empowered us at a time in our lives when you feel, as a teenager, somewhat without a voice in the world… as a staff artist and contributor, i know that nino’s intelligence, quirky (sometimes darkly amusing) sensibilities and unique worldview will both amuse and provoke the readership at his school, and i couldn’t be more proud! way to go, bean!!!
port song for port arthur, tasmania, australia
(to the tune of johnny cash’s “folsom prison blues”)
i hear the tenders comin it’s early mornin time
and i live down on by the gangway where they all go stand in line
i’m stuck on in port manning but i still wrote this song
and those tenders keep on going to port arthur all day long
back when to old tasmania the criminals were sent
because on makin mischief they were so hell bent
it was a prison island with shark infested bays
tho some tried to escape there most spent their dying days
they say port arthur’s haunted by convicts of the past
some slaved and some were tortured until they breathed their last
they built an insane asylum conveniently next door
any ships who stopped by had to check in their sails and oars
so they could stop the prisoners from fleeing from this place
they used some vicious half starved dogs who’d tear off their face
but once upon a time a man named martin cash did flee
two others also busted out too and beat the odds and broke free
there was once a desperate convict, george billy hunt, his name
who because of his bizarre escape attempt earned himself some fame
and 150 lashes cause he dressed up as a kangaroo (it's true!)
and the guards they nearly shot him to supplement their meager food
one place that’s super haunted, The Island of the Dead
was the destination for all who died in unmarked graves it’s said
over 1600 bodies, recorded there to stay
only 180 are marked of staff and soldiers there laid
The prison closed in 1877, but guided tours they’ll give
and you can check your family history to find your convict relatives
or hear some good ghost stories, or visit the café
at the port arthur prison colony on this lovely gloomy day
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