So we’re driving south in Liverpool.\u00c2\u00a0 From the docks to the city center.\u00c2\u00a0 And
Tony points out this giant edifice.\u00c2\u00a0 And tells me it’s an air vent.\u00c2\u00a0 For the
tunnel.\u00c2\u00a0 ACROSS THE MERSEY!<\/p>\n
Hanging with Tony Wilson is like hanging with a living encyclopedia.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s an
endless river of facts, quotations and insights.\u00c2\u00a0 On the way back from
dropping off Yvette’s dry-cleaning, Tony pointed out the world’s FIRST TRAIN STATION!<\/p>\n
You see the industrial revolution began in Manchester.<\/p>\n
But it’s not only home of the first railroad station, it’s also where the
COMPUTER was born.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, fuck that machine in Philadelphia, that was a glorified
calculator.\u00c2\u00a0 The one in Manchester, it was the first computer with a MEMORY,
wherein you could load a program.\u00c2\u00a0 Did I want to SEE IT?<\/p>\n
Then we pull up to a gate, where the attendant waves Tony through, since he’s
a trustee of the museum.<\/p>\n
Then, the dudes in the museum give Tony the keys, so we can get to the top
floor, to see "Baby".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what they called it.\u00c2\u00a0 I could never figure out why.<\/p>\n
And on the third floor of what turned out to be the world’s first railroad
WAREHOUSE stood this rack of metal and wires and tubes.\u00c2\u00a0 What a contradiction,
in a building sporting the original beams, which looked like they’d ignite if a
lighter ENTERED the building, was the genesis of the next modern age, today’s
modern age.<\/p>\n
And then, after a management panel at the library, which I enjoyed because
the drummer for the SMITHS was on it with us, we went to lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 And, after
catching up with Seymour Stein and the Atlantic crew, I accompanied Tony to the
kennel, to drop off his dog.<\/p>\n
The kennel was almost an hour away.<\/p>\n
Tony asked if I noticed the bumps in the road.\u00c2\u00a0 That was a result of being
built on moss, which constantly heaved and settled.<\/p>\n
The land was lush and green.\u00c2\u00a0 It was like a flat Connecticut.\u00c2\u00a0 But the main
roads here were like the back streets there.\u00c2\u00a0 With Tony driving at light speed
on the wrong side of the road it was an endless thrill ride.\u00c2\u00a0 And, after
dropping the dog off, in a place that looked like it’d been there HUNDREDS of
years, Tony pointed the Jaguar towards Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Oh yes, I wanted to see the home of the Beatles.\u00c2\u00a0 But, Tony wanted to SHOW IT
TO ME just as much.<\/p>\n
The city’s depressed.\u00c2\u00a0 All the shipping moved to Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
And it’s starting to pour.\u00c2\u00a0 But Tony insists we’ve got to see this art
installation by his favorite artist.<\/p>\n
Like a typical male, Tony wouldn’t stop and ask for directions.\u00c2\u00a0 But finally,
after circling the area, we accosted some wetsuited windsurfers, who pointed
the way to a…parking lot.<\/p>\n
And you’ve got to get this.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s RAINING!\u00c2\u00a0 Not pouring, that came later,
when we walked down by the pier, which was like an English Venice.\u00c2\u00a0 But we’ve
come this far.\u00c2\u00a0 Tony had his Burberry, me, I braved it in my summer jacket.<\/p>\n
We’re walking.\u00c2\u00a0 With nothing in sight.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m dead tired from the jet lag.\u00c2\u00a0 The
wind is blowing.\u00c2\u00a0 And then, the better part of a mile on, we ascend a
hillock.\u00c2\u00a0 And, there are PEOPLE, standing in the sand, staring at the Irish Sea.\u00c2\u00a0 It
was so STRANGE!\u00c2\u00a0 That they were all mesmerized by..?<\/p>\n
God, it turned out these weren’t real people, but bronze SCULPTURES!\u00c2\u00a0 A
HUNDRED of them.\u00c2\u00a0 Spread out over two miles, on this beach.<\/p>\n
It was the highlight of my trip so far.\u00c2\u00a0 Art is supposed to take your breath
away.\u00c2\u00a0 Give you insight into life.\u00c2\u00a0 The juxtaposition of man and nature.\u00c2\u00a0 The
raw conception.\u00c2\u00a0 One got the concepts of loneliness, desire and humanity all
in one vision.\u00c2\u00a0 I couldn’t stop looking.<\/p>\n
It’s here till 2006.\u00c2\u00a0 Then it moves to a complete different country.\u00c2\u00a0
Actually, that’s the name of the installation, "Another Place".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s where it
takes you.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s by Antony Gormley.\u00c2\u00a0 The sculptures are all casts of him.<\/p>\n
And, as we’re walking on the firm sand, Tony points into the distance and
says "Over there, that’s Wales."<\/p>\n
It was like a living history book.\u00c2\u00a0 Tony could be the best teacher I’ve ever
had.<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So we’re driving south in Liverpool.\u00c2\u00a0 From the docks to the city center.\u00c2\u00a0 And Tony points out this giant edifice.\u00c2\u00a0 And tells me it’s an air vent.\u00c2\u00a0 For the tunnel.\u00c2\u00a0 ACROSS THE MERSEY! Hanging with Tony Wilson is like hanging with a living encyclopedia.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s an endless river of facts, quotations and insights.\u00c2\u00a0 On the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-2Q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}