the RAVEN Index Page

He killed a spider.

©02 The Media Desk
http://themediadesk.com
For the USS RAVEN (IFT) Newsletter

      Thursday the Desk had its world put in perspective.

      Dramatically and Unexpectedly.

      It spent the day with the girls at Hersheypark. Then, on the way home, the guy on the radio announced that John Entwistle had died at age 57 in his sleep from an apparent heart attack.

      Hersheypark® was a lot of walking. All the roller coasters your average person will ever need in a lifetime. More walking. Two dollars and fifty cents for a bottle of Coke. Some more walking. Giant carp and tame ducks that want your nachos. More walking. And the best wooden roller coaster the Desk has ever gone on, The Lightning Racer®. And even more... nevermind.
      A day out with the kids. Memories. Something they will remember. Something the Desk... something - I - will remember.

      Many years ago Mr. Entwistle was visited in his room by a 'creepy crawly'. Its rather sudden demise inspired him to write a song (in about eight minutes) that became a classic. 'Boris the Spider' tells about the creature that came to a messy end.
      In today's politically correct world you wouldn't dare tell anybody you killed a bug. But the 'Quiet One' never seemed to mind stepping over that line.
      "Everybody calls me the quiet one, You can see but you can't hear me..."
      Oh, no sir. We heard you. When The Ox played the bass, we all heard him.
            Thunderfingers

      At one time the Who was the loudest rock and roll band touring.
      We all heard, and saw, him.

      But now he is a memory as well.

      We have his music, and video, and our memories.

      Driving down Interstate 74 listening to 'Going Mobile' and some other of the lessor known tracks of albums recorded onto a lousy cassette tape from the radio station the college attending Desk was working at in the middle of the night. That's a good memory of 227 miles of bad road.

      The only reason the Desk was into The Who was that everybody else was either into the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Nobody else was, period. So... it was a natural thing for the Desk to do. It went out and bought a couple of their albums, and played them, loudly, and it was... 'My Generation'.

      So now. On the night of Mr. Entwistle's passing. The desk is drinking Wild Turkey, something else it does because nobody else did (if what is left of the Desk's memory serves, they all thought Southern Comfort or Seven Crown was IT. They did anyway until they got a shot of 8 year old 101 proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky. Nothing else was necessary.) and watching an old tape. The Who Rocks America, 1982 tour.

      Loudly.

            Goodnight John.

                  Peace to 'The Quiet One'

-Selah-

Still waters run deep so be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear
I've got nothing to say
Sticks and stones may break your bones
But names can never down you
It only takes two words to blow you away

Everybody calls me the quiet one
But you just don't understand
You can't listen you won't hear me
With your head stuck in the sand
I ain't never had time for words that don't rhyme
My head is in a cloud
I ain't quiet - everybody else is too loud

Still waters run deep so be careful I don't drown you
You've got nothing to hear I've got nothing to say
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But names can never down you
It only takes two words to blow you away.

            Album Face Dances 1981.
            Song The Quiet One Written by John Entwistle 1944 - 2002

-30-

[NOTE: Hersheypark, and all related names and identifying marks copyright and trademark Hershey Corporation and associate properties.     All song titles and lyrics copyright by The Who and its members. Usage is in tribute to Mr. Entwistle. The Desk is not affiliated with either entity and is making no profit off the use of their property.]

the RAVEN Index Page
back to the desk http://themediadesk.com