plonq | Name Game

I was reading an otherwise uninspiring article from the BBC News online about some questionable hiring practises by the Gloucestershire police force, when I noticed the following line buried down in the story:

Ian Anderson, chairman of Gloucestershire Police Federation blamed unrealistic government targets for their illegal recruitment drive.

While I didn't really think that he'd hung up the flute to pursue another career, it still called up an amusing mental image. I have long been a fan of his band. Having a flute as lead instrument lent it an air of quirkiness and sophistication that appealed to my inner counter-culture rebel. Although most people, if pressed for the name of a JT, could probably only name Aqualung, if I was asked to name an album or two that represented the quintessential Tull, most die-hard fans like me would list Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses.

On the other hand, although most would probably not include A Passion Play in their list of top tens, I think it's worth listening through at least once to hear the delightfully whimsical spoken piece midway through the album.

This is the story of the hare who lost his spectacles.

Owl loved to rest quietly whilst no one was watching. Sitting on a fence one day, he was surprised when suddenly a kangaroo ran close by.

Now this may not seem strange, but when Owl overheard Kangaroo whisper to no one in particular, "The hare has lost his spectacles,'' well, he began to wonder.

Presently, the moon appeared from behind a cloud and there, lying on the grass was Hare. In the stream that flowed by the grass -- a newt. And sitting astride a twig of a bush -- a bee.
Ostensibly motionless, the hare was trembling with excitement, for without his spectacles he was completely helpless. Where were his spectacles? Could someone have stolen them? Had he mislaid them? What was he to do?

Bee wanted to help, and thinking he had the answer began, "you probably ate them thinking they were a carrot.''

"No!'' interrupted Owl, who was wise. "I have good eye-sight, insight, and foresight. How could an intelligent hare make such a silly mistake?'' But all this time, Owl had been sitting on the fence, scowling!

Kangaroo were hopping mad at this sort of talk. She thought herself far superior in intelligence to the others. She was their leader; their guru. She had the answer, "Hare, you must go in search of the optician.'' But then she realized that Hare was completely helpless without his spectacles. And so, Kangaroo loudly proclaimed, "I can't send Hare in search of anything!''

"You can guru, you can!'' shouted Newt. "You can send him with Owl.''

But Owl had gone to sleep.

Newt knew too much to be stopped by so small a problem -- "You can take him in your pouch.'' But alas, Hare was much too big to fit into Kangaroo's pouch.

All this time, it had been quite plain to Hare that the others knew nothing about spectacles.
As for all their tempting ideas, well Hare didn't care.
The lost spectacles were his own affair.

And after all, Hare did have a spare pair.

I caught Jethro Tull in concert back in 1984, and a few more times over the years (the last time being about 6 years ago). Even though he had trouble hitting some of the higher notes in the later concerts, he always put on a very classy, refined show with a real high-brow appeal. Even so, I was a little surprised when I did a GIS on him to see what he was up to lately.

Ian Anderson

He seems to be sporting a different look these days. He is also ageing very gracefully compared to some of his peers from the same generation of rock - though I think at lease some of that can be attributed to the fact that he and his band mates eschewed the hard narcotics of the day.