Blog extra: more Ghosts

In the end I was in a bit of a hurry when I posted Ghosts of 1923 (Isabel lit a fire under me to get me moving), and a bit rusty when it came to using WordPress so I missed the best “ghost” picture’. So here it is, with a couple more. This is a close up of the picture of the bus stop I did use in the main post.

The figure on the left is the ghost of a very stylish looking young woman. Smart coat, smart hat and a perfect stance. You see enough of her to think she was probably very attractive. Not enough to identify her, perhaps fortunately. The man next to her is dimmer, but stylish in his own way, hat and overcoat.

The picture below, used in the last post shows all the ghosts waiting at the bus stop.

Here is the “man behind the fence”. I have seen instances of only part of a person’s body being visible on the print. Can you remember the disembodied pair of legs in a Hedderly photo? So he could have been in front of the fence. But I prefer to think of him standing behind the bars.

And here is a woman standing next to a container for grit or sand. A woman’s face, I think and a coat. The lower part of her body is also dim.

Finally, this group of three women, looking at the photographer. Note the odd piece of street furniture on the right, also a kind of ghost.

Michael Nesmith

Nesmith was the only member of the Monkees to have a musical career after the heyday of the Prefab Four. I remember the TV show obviously but also his carefully crafted sometimes tongue in cheek solso material. As I sometimes do, I commemorated the news of his death by dowloading a couple of tracks for my MP3 player. The other day “Rio” came on while I was in Marks and Spencer, making me smile. I have the vinyl version of the LP “From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing”. A lovely relaxed song I haven’t heard for years. On the way home I selected one of my favourite songs by him or anyone, “Some of Shelley’s Blues”. A special song for me, and perhaps others.

Anne Rice

Soon, an author will be interred in one of those distinctive mausoleums in New Orleans. Quite appropriately. Vampires are ubiquitous theses days, possibly past their peak, but still hanging in there. (By the skin of their teeth?) The trope has given us plenty of rubbish, including the sparkly vanilla vampires, but we have had many entertaining versions of the idea- True Blood (and the novels the series was based on), Kim Newman’s historical fantasies,to name but two. But apart from Stoker himself, it was Anne Rice, who in her first few books gave us the modern vampire.

Thank you, Michael and Anne.

Another Covid Christmas is heading towards us, so I hope you all stay safe and happy. Next time I’ll be revisiting my experiences in the last Christmas season, but before then, have a good Christmas.