Dolphins & David Bowie

‘Heroes’ by the David Bowie is in The Time Virus – see the Official David Bowie page here: davidbowie.com and please consider buying Heroes and other Bowie music here: itunes.apple.com/au/album/heroes/id696008912

Diane’s father loved dolphins.

And, when he was in his teens, he swam with dolphins in the Derwent River in his home town of Hobart. (See the story below.)

Diane’s father always told her she was wonderful. He made her feel like one of his heroes.

We have always loved David Bowie, and always will. Diane was lucky enough to see him at the MCG in Melbourne when she was quite young!! What an amazing concert.

With its lyrics about swimming like dolphins can swim … it was only right that Heroes was played by a band, on a beach, at a birthday eve party in The Time Virus.

You can see Bowie singing Heroes here.

See below for an excerpt from Chapter 10.0111 – Full Swing

Escher and Solo were madly dancing with Sixx and Jem, and Stella ran over to grab me. Frank, Ben and Minnow formed a trio and we all cavorted down the beach and into the water. It was so warm that before too long we were involved a wild splashing dance. A troupe of merpeople came into the shallows and joined in, jiving all around us.

Then, a school of dolphins sped right up to me, inviting me to swim with them. I felt as if I’d morphed into a dolphin, but as far as I could tell, I was still human. Back on the beach, the band was playing a song about heroes and dolphins swimming. I could hear it so clearly, even though I was way out to sea, and I felt like I would burst with happiness. It was the song my parents had chosen for their wedding!

After the longest time, the dolphins led me back to shore. 

I lay in the shallows, as waves of bio-electricity flowed through my veins. With the electricity came little messages of happiness. I can’t describe it any better than that, but it was wonderful. It was as though I’d become an honorary dolphin.

Because Frank says, ‘Let’s Dance!’ … let’s have another Bowie song … with a film clip made in Australia at a time when Bowie spoke out about racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia.

If you’d like to buy Let’s Dance, go here: itunes.apple.com/au/album/lets-dance/id696325864

Here’s Diane’s father’s letter about dolphins

Written by Diane Caney

When living in Melbourne in 1990, I saw a wonderful performance of some poems written by Heathcote Williams. Knowing that my father loved dolphins, I sent him a hardback copy of Falling for a Dolphin, a poem which describes an incredible encounter between a man and a dolphin.

Afterwards, I received the following letter from Dad.

I think Dad’s letter is so beautiful.

At the end of all things, what will stand out as the pivotal moment in our lives?

This story answer’s Dad’s response to that question.

He asked to have part of this story read at his funeral.

And, we did that today.

It’s a wonderful story.

Enjoy,

Diane

To Diane, Friday, Eleventh of May, 1990

After receiving Falling for a Dolphin on the morning of Friday the eleventh, and reading it immediately, I was inspired to write to you ‘instantly’ to relate to you my experience with Dolphins.

Reading this book has unlocked memories of a lot of sea-related experiences, or more aptly, treasures of my mind, which I would like to share with you. I am very emotional at this stage of writing to you, which I can only put down to feeling that the things I am about to share are the closest things to my soul.

Lots of tears … now.

The experiences happened when I was between the ages of 11 to 18 years of age. I lived in a house on Bellerive Bluff, a little to the east of the Bluff, towards the beach. My bedroom was at the rear of the house, and on the beach side. Money was scarce, so I slept on a straw filled mattress and the smell of straw was always with me while I was in bed. You would have to experience this to realise that having to use straw by necessity actually became a bonus, except that after a period of time the straw flattened out.

My first feeling for the Sea was when I was in bed at night, and for the previous two to three days the wind had been blowing from the South West before stopping to a dead calm, only leaving the ground swell that had built up. This swell would catch the beach on the quarter and after starting at the Western end the waves would clap all along the beach on a roll which seemed to last for minutes, but was probably only a few seconds. This was a marvellous experience and I yearned for these conditions to occur so I could go to bed early and soak them up and dream of the Sea.

Because money for food was scarce, I thought perhaps there may be fish in the Sea around the Bluff. I had trouble getting the old green line to cast out over the rocks, so I fashioned a fishing pole made from a piece of bamboo stolen from a fashionable garden nearby. This pole was most successful and the fish – squeaker, perch and cod – were there in abundance. There were also mussels which I cooked in an old tin on the rocks, using she-oak twigs. I found the mussels tasted good, as well as being excellent bait. So, I now had lots of high-grade food that I’d found, discovered through necessity. The Sea seemed to call me and encourage me to use its contents, as if it had all been put there especially for me, and just me.

While foraging for mussels I noticed some tiny fish in the rock pools. I was told they were called ‘Bullies’ or ‘Bull Fish’. I can’t imagine why, as they were so small, although they did have tiny, poisonous spikes. I had an urge to catch them, so I modified a small tin by creating drain holes so I could use it as a scoop. I then collected the Bullies out of their pools and put them into a smaller observation pool after first testing the temperature to see that it was not too hot, as this caused them to get distressed. I would spend hours watching the Bullies, enjoying each one’s personality and differences.

So, the Sea had now provided me with a leisure activity that could be enjoyed each day, and it was always changing as the tide ebbed and renewed the experiences with variations every time. At the waterline, in the more exposed area of the Bluff, the various sea slugs and different types of coloured sea-weed were always there to be appreciated as well. My days were long and enjoyable, and it seemed as if they would go on forever.

Living near the Sea, I was always interested in the various types of boats, so when grew older and had an income, I built an eleven foot yacht. It was extremely stable and I found in light weather, if I balanced the sails correctly, I could tie the tiller centrally to the floorboards and set it on a windward course. I could then travel on one long tack with the sails cleated off. I would travel in quietness, except for the natural noises, such as the waves slapping against the bow and the sea birds making the occasional call.

So, the Sea was still providing me with enormous pleasure and it always seemed as though it was put there just for me.

One day there were several of us in our yachts on our favourite course from the Bluff to Long Beach, Sandy Bay. There was an average strength sea breeze and the Sea was quite choppy when an enormous number of Dolphins appeared all around us. They seemed to be greeting us and wanting to play. 
The more they stayed around us, the more excited I became. Eventually I called to one of my brothers on a nearby boat and said, ‘I’m going to jump in with them and swim over to you. Be prepared to pick me up.’

I dived in and started to swim.

The Dolphins streamed past me, so close that I could touch them, but they were moving too fast, as if they were on another mission, but still had time to pass with us. I can relate to the idea that there is an enormous field of bio-electricity given off by Dolphins, especially when there are large numbers of them in a confined area.

Being with them was the greatest feeling.

It was the best experience I have ever had.

It might have been excitement, or adrenalin, but I think it was the electricity which was all around, in the air and in the water – it seemed to pass though me in pulsating waves of ecstasy. The feeling, in my body and on my skin, and in my head, lasted for hours after the Dolphins had dispersed and I was back on land. So, I will be forever grateful to the Sea for giving me the pleasure of a lifetime, as well as all the other pleasures, which became minor after the Electric Dolphins.

The Sea is still calling me to settle closer to it, so as it is more able to continue to pass on to me all its teachings and all its pleasures.

And I still know that they are put there just for me.

Many thanks for the book.

I think that you will understand how much it means to me from this letter.

Les

Postscript

Les passed away on Friday 14th June 2013 in Hobart, two hours after Ryoji Ikeda’s Spectra lights were switched on to make an enormous beam stretching 15 kilometres into the sky. His children, Diane, Frank and Steven sat with him for a while with their mother and aunt, and then went and wandered by Les’s beloved Derwent River in the rain, staring up at the amazing, brightly lit pathway to the world beyond. They believe that Les is sailing the balmy seas of heaven now, under halcyon skies, regularly ditching his yacht to take a dip with divine pods of Electric Dolphins.

Copyright, Les Harris and Diane Caney, 2013

I can’t find any readings for Falling for a Dolphin but here’s an excerpt from another Heathcote Williams poem, Whale Nation. I saw this performed in Melbourne in the 1990s. It was breathtaking.

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