Poo

Good time of the day or night to
you all, brothers and sisters, men 
women and children, citizens 
outcasts and perverts of The World. 
May I both welcome and draw your 
attention to the following page. Here you 
may observe a selection of writings and 
tales gathered for your enjoyment and stuff, 
a mixture from both my imagination and the realities 
i've encountered. Enjoy.



Framedink Interview.

My most recent interview, for the great website framedink.com back in September 2010.
Note, although it says I am a pacifist in this interview, I'd like to add that 'non
aggressive' would probably be more accurate.

“Tomo is a feral Scouse street urchin made in the peoples republic, 
‘Straight Outta Huyton Two Dogs Fightin’ – he travels the highways and byways 
of the world plying his trade as a Painter, Decorator, Hitcher, Hiker, Waif, Stray, 
Squater, Globetrotter, Pacifist, Illusionist, Sofa Surfer, Scavenger, Printer, 
Sprinter, Recycler, Cycler, Illustrator, Paster (Not a Preacher), a Teacher, a Sun, 
Star and Sea Reacher who puts people before profit… You’ll Never Roam Alone”

Q1. Delete or Save?

A1. Save, everyones had a daydream where they were saving the day have they not? I 
remember this one time I came up with a great idea and it was looking to become true,
I was about to become the man who would save the day! But then I let one go and 
followed through by accident, I had to go back home and peel my kecks off and then I 
was too late to save the day properly.

Q2. Where your from OR Where your at?

A2. Where I’m from is where I was at and where I’m at will become where I’m from. I’ll go with where I’m at, no time like the present!

Q3. Technology OR Tradition?

A3. Tradition, although technology can be quite useful when it’s not going shit. Although if the house was burning or the shit was about to go down, I’d always grab my swiss army knife before the computer.

Q4. Home OR Away?

A4. One can have many homes. Like a sailor.

Q5. Its what you know OR Its who you know?

A5. I’d prefer to think that what you know is more important, but then we cant exist alone, where would the fun in that be?

Q6. Wall OR Canvas?

A6. A nice bit of wall is what I’m feeling more right now.

Q7. Keeping it real OR Selling out?

A7. Keeping it real of course, you cant break a man with integrity.

Q8. Underground OR Mainstream?

A8. I think the underground is more fun, just look at that scene in the film Escape From New York when the crazies start to come out from underground.

Q9. Personal OR Social?

A9. Personally I’m quite sociable.

Q10. Sight OR Sound?

A10. Some of these questions remind me a bit of when one of your old mates keeps giving you those imaginary scenario’s where the outcome is particularly dreadful no matter which answer you choose and they just laugh at whatever answer you choose. I really don’t know which one I’d go for here.

Q11. For the love of OR For the money?

A11. For the love! FUCK money.

Illicit Exhibitions Interview

Here we have the interview I gave for the nice street art blog Illicit Exhibitions back in February, for some reason I forgot to put it up back then. Check out the website sometime: illicitexhibitions.blogspot.com

Friday, February 12, 2010

Friday Profile: Tomo

Last year, Remi/Rough gave an interview for the Tate Modern’s street art exhibition that touched on graffiti’s arrival in the United Kingdom. He mentioned break dancers, hip hop culture, and (of course)Subway Art. Once the medium arrived in England, writers added their own touches to create unique styles. Tomo’s arrival on the scene parallels Remi’s experience. “I’ve always liked scribbling on things,” he confesses. “As a teen, I would walk around town tagging up at night, going to hip hop nights, and watching Wild Style.” After working as a glass collector in local night clubs, he’d take off and paint in old tunnels or bridges before heading home.

“It wasn’t like I was particularly great as a traditional graffer,” Tomo admits. “Besides, I always had other creative ideas floating around in my head.” For a while, he took a break from the scene before he schemed up new ways to hit the streets. “I reached a point where I felt the need to evolve,” he explains. “I was drawing and painting as myself by day. By night, I donned a pseudonym and crept into the shadows. After some contemplation, I ditched the double personality and unified these two lifestyles.”

Tomo started with stickers and worked his way up. As his stickers became more intricate, he turned them into posters. “The poster is such an accessible medium unlike tagging,” he argues. “It can be used to cover a whole neighborhood quite efficiently. Years ago, I had earned a bit of money by flyposting for local bands and club promoters, so this seemed like a fitting progression.” Unlike his early graffiti days, Tomo feels like he hit his stride with street art. “I really felt like this was my time,” he insists. “I was in the right place. Here were dozens of artists demonstrating some really different and creative ways of getting up. It would’ve been nearly impossible to be unaffected by all that.”

Although he possesses graphic design sensibilities, Tomo prefers the path of greatest resistance as opposed to making easy cash. “I became disillusioned with graphic design, which for a large part is just used to sell shit people don’t need and make uncool companies look cool,” he says. “I didn’t exactly choose the most profitable of paths, but it’s not like I care much for that anyway. Whenever I haven’t been able to afford the right materials, I would often take to improvising in one way or another. Over time, this recycling ethic has become a prominent feature and much more important to my work than merely saving money. Transforming waste into art is a kind of alchemy.”

Sometimes, things get wild in the street. After one of his friends died [Note: a friend of a friend - Steven Owen, a forgotten ex heroin addict.], Tomo and an accomplice hit the road and tagged the deceased’s name everywhere. "It started in a quiet fashion," he recalls. "We'd just paint on roadsides next to other hitchhiker graffiti, service stations, toilets and the like. Eventually, we got to Berlin and felt the need to bring things up a few notches in order to give a proper tribute. We took turns rolling out massive letters. As we were leaving through a gap in a fence, the security guard was right there in front of him. We walked right past him and he gave us this completely shocked 'Oh dear, I'm not doing my job!' look. We gave him a nod and replied with a 'Yes, you're completely right and now you're too late' look. It was magic."

In the future, expect to see more projects with a creative twist from Tomo. "My next project is going to heavily involve the work of the security firm I run," he hints. "We're called Tomo Securities. Our favorite colors are black and yellow. We like to hold it down with a bit more style than your usual security firms and we're coming soon to a neighbourhood near you."

Thanks, Tomo! For more updates, check his website regularly. That's all for now! I'm off to New Orleans for Mardi Gras on Sunday, so I'll report from the Deep South all next week. Have a good one!

The Non Stop Adventures of Person One and Person Two.

The following set of tales have arisen as a byproduct of one of my regular projects - designing a monthly newsletter for a local art organisation. As there is never quite enough events to fill the whole newsletter I find myself every month penning a short story to pad things out. May I note here that these stories are completely fictional and have taken no inspiration from the actual real world and that the two main characters do not promote or condone any of the activities or ideas mentioned herein.

The Non Stop Adventures of Person One and Person Two. Part Four. December.

Person One. I don't think we're too far off now, we should definitely reach home before the night is out, anyhow its probably best like this, under the cover of darkness and all.
Person Two. I do love being away but it's nice to be back, I hope we're not being followed.
Person one. Nah of course not, things have been pretty uneventful since that what do you call it? the other little incident down at Watford Gap, and I know it wasn't your fault, you didn't know that that was the toilet attendant, plain clothes. Anyway lets get off this main road.
Person Two. Oh I know where we are, if we take the next left and carry on we should be able to cut through the park. No one goes to the park this late, only the gangs that run in from past Ullet Road after they rob folks and they'll be in for a suprise if they try and fuck with us.
Person One. (Shortly thereafter) I love the park at night, so quiet and spooky, especially at this time of year just look at that mist in the moonlight. In fact if i'm not mistaken were not too far from the Quango Wango tree, it's only down this slope if you fancy a slight detour?
Person Two. Well we can't say no to that can we, gotta go and say hello to the tree...
Person One. (leaving the Park, a short while later) Hey I think I can hear music somewhere.
Person Two. Oh I know that one, it's one of my old favorites, Revenge Of The Prophet Part 5 by Jeru The Damaja, produced by DJ Premier in 1996 for Gang Starr Productions. The song itself is Jeru's existential critique on modern society, as he manifests in the form of his alter ego 'The Prophet' and takes on his arch nemesis 'Ignorance' and his two henchman 'Trigg Knarly G' (Technology) and 'Greedy Lou'. Of course the tale is a kind of modern parable, events are narrated as though we are in the midst of a Hollywood action film with bloody street battles erupting between Jeru 'The Prophet' and his enemies. One may read this in a number of ways but really it is about the artist standing alone struggling for a greater good while society almost innocently sleeps. Also of note is the insinuation that this struggle is perpetual, almost necessary to maintain the balance of things and after releasing several chapters of the saga over the years, still in this tale both sides are still at large and still at war.
Person One. Word up, but one must question Jeru's ego and how serious he is when he goes round calling himself 'The Prophet', also if I remember it well 'Greedy Lou' does get killed by Jeru (twice) which would put the good guys at least slightly in the lead.
Person Two. It's coming from that house over there, a party eh, I say we crash it. If anyone get's suspicious we'll just pretend we're students.
Person One. (Knock knock) Alright mate Nigel popped by our halls earlier and invited us to your little do he said you'd be playing some fat Jeru shit, you know and Lootpack, real Hip Hop.
Eddie. Oh do come in, things have died down a bit but were all just chilling.
Nigel. Yes yes yes good to see the two of you again, what was that website again? the art one.
Person Two. Oh you must mean www.pashet.com some very nice pictures on there.

The Non Stop Adventures of Person One and Person Two. Part Three. November.

Person One. Mmm i do love this time of year but it's turning out to be another cold night.
Person Two. Praise the lord for long john's, no need to worry about a thing, in fact sometimes when i'm cold i like to think of Europa, Jupiter's sixth moon, that shits like cold as fuck covered in ice with an ocean underneath and the surface rotates faster than the core because it's only attached by water, i think we're better off here.
Person One. Yes and like we'd have to drill holes through the ice to go fishing, ideally you'd also put a stick in your hole so that if it starts to freeze over again you just jiggle it about.
Person Two. You're right i seen it in a Ray Mears book, there's different ways of jiggling it, some prefer it nice and slow but steady and others like more unpredictable movements, i suppose it depends on the situation really. Hey i think i can see one coming.
Person One. You're right, lets get ready... Come on, come on, come on... (Pause)... Ah no i thought that was gonna be the one for a minute then. What were you saying, yes obviously it depends on the stick too it's a real art form (Long silence).
Person Two. I'm just going to run up there and back to warm up a bit (Short silence).
Person One. Anything going on up there?
Person Two. Not much just another four branches of Tesco, i lit one of them on fire, should be able to see the smoke rising over the hill any moment now.
Person One. (A moment later) Wow it's extremely beautiful, i can even see some flames too.
Person Two. It's a welcome change from burning Guy Fawkes i think. That poor fellow has been burnt enough times by now, we need to be more creative about burning things and think carefully about which things most need to be burnt rather than just burning the same old things over and over again because we're told that's what we're supposed to do.
Person One. Hey get ready again here's another one coming.
Person Two. (Getting ready) Hood's down.
Person One. (Getting ready) Look smart, I'll do the talking, your turn to sleep.
Driver One. Nice to meet you, was wondering if either of you had mixed reactions when hearing the Afro Samurai Soundtrack for the first time.
Person One. Yes but are you by any chance traveling east on the E50 this evening?
Driver One. Sure i'm going as far as Wankaum, jump in.
Person One. Thank you so much i'm _____ and this is my good friend _____.
Person Two. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzz zzzzzzz zz
Driver One. You're lucky i seen you back there no one would have picked you up at that spot.
Driver One. Back in the days i used to salt pork and send it out to Africa, if you salt that shit up like a motherfucker you can make it last like 380 years. Ideally you need to set up a company over there to make sure it's getting out to all the people who really need it otherwise corruption will take over....
Driver One. (Five Hours Later) Oh dear i've just missed the petrol station, i'm going to have to drop you off in the middle of nowhere instead.
Person One. Oh not to worry just a minor inconvenience, if past experience is anything to go by this will probably add major spice to our humble live's.
Person Two. Where are we, are we there yet?

The Non Stop Adventures of Person One and Person Two. Part Two. October.

Person One. Mmm whats that? It's a hat! look i've found a hat! What are you doing?
Person Two. I'm rubbing my ear in a circular motion to scramble any potential mind controlling frequencies. That busker for instance, he could be employed by a corporation and when he does that twangy thing it could be a message to buy like a Ferrari kettle or to join the army?
Person One. But do you think that hand thing is that effective? Hang on this hat has a message inside it, it says - "Congratulations to Mary from The Fens for winning our September secret spellling mistake competition." The rest of it seems to be missing...
Person Two. Thats definitely a message all right, but what does it mean?

The Non Stop Adventures of Person One and Person Two. Part One. September.

Person One. (entering the room) Shit man what the fuck are you doing, all these electrics all over the place, thats my i pod you've got there in peices.
Person Two. Dont worry they're shit anyway, you've just been tricked into wanting one by the propaganda. I'm working on something much more important. Also i'm going to have to ask you to remove all your clothes and put this cling film on instead, the slightest bit of dust or lint could interupt these delicate circuits and make it all go wrong.
Person One. (undressing) Ok but what is this thing your making?
Person Two. Well my latest invention is a device which you attach onto you'r bike and it emits this special signal which stalls the engines of every car within a 230 metre radius.
Person One. Wow would that mean that there's never any danger of being hit by a car?
Person Two. Exactly, every car will be perfectly stationary by the time you reach it and they wont start moving again till you're well clear. Hang on was that the doorbell.
Person One. Shit the police are outside.
Person Two. Dont worry, you go dowstairs and keep them busy while i hide all this stuff.
Person One. Good day officiers, what can i do for you? would you fancy a nice cup of tea?
Officer One. Dont mind if i do actually, just a routine check.
Officer Two. Yes i'm sure we can make a bit of time.
Person One. Oh but i'm afraid i'm going to have to ask the two of you to take off your clothes and put this cling film on instead. You see i follow this special religious faith where i cant come into contact with conventional textiles.
Officer One. Well were not really supposed to but we wouldnt want to offend your beliefs.
Officer Two. (undressing) This is quite good actually its not too often we get to do this kind of thing whilst on duty. By the way whats that you're cooking? it smells really good.
Person One. It's Quinoa, a sacred South American grain with mad protien in it. The Inca's held it to be sacred back in the day but the Conquistadors banned it as it had a vital role in some indigenous non-christian ceremonies where the emperor would sow the seeds with gold tools.

Up By The Fruit Market.

Not so long ago I was up by the fruit market it was nice and sunny and the fella with the grey beard was there. So you know i'm just chilling and as usual there's a massive pile of discarded cardboard, but not just any cardboard I tell you, you see it's off the fruit and it comes from all over the World. So i'm there just checking out the graphics and stuff, you know, the Lettice crates with the rasta colours, the crazy spot colours, all kinds of styles. Anyways the folks at the fruit market are cool they let me take some then I continue down the hill on foot with an armfull of cardboard. However as I turn the corner I hear footsteps followed by "Here you are lad take this, go and get yourself a cup of tea." A fellow citizen had trailed me and was now trying to force a two pound coin into my hand, I politely recline telling him that i'm ok and he's got me all wrong but he persists saying that I "Need to sort myself out" and that I "Can't live like that." gesturing towards the cardboard, my (fingerless) gloves and general style. Having no real plans for the cardboard I say the first thing to come into my mind "Oh the cardboard, it's just for painting?" he immediately looks embarrassed and begins to apologise, backing away, and away, and then... he was gone! but it was still sunny.

Stories I've Heared #2 The Carpet Merchant.

Again whilst hitching, and it is very true that such an activity will now and then bring to the surface an interesting tale or two. This time, I dont remember where i was or where i was heading, probably towards London, after waiting around for a while i got a ride from one of the services. Not an unusual scenario, a middle aged fella in a pricey car travelling for some business reason, not that i remember the details but it transpired he was an entrepeneur of some sort, a man with money and property and all that stuff. So he began telling me about his humbler roots and how he started out working as a carpet salesman over in Manchester. In the run up to Christmas one year a couple of Scouse lads came into the shop selling knock off booze, he peers into a wooden box containing about twenty bottles of whiskey or whatever, checks it all out and replies "How much for twenty cases like this?". They shake a deal and make arrangements to go together in his van to Liverpool and pick it up. Not that he could afford any of this however, his plan was to take the money out of the company account to which he had access, sell the booze, make a profit and then put the money back before his employer noticed. So his journey takes him to the backstreets of Toxteth one cold afternoon, his business partners give him directions to their headquarters and upon arrival there is a predictable dispute "Ok lets load up the van and i'll sort you out with the money." "No you pay us first and then we'll get the drink ready" and so on. Anyway before long he was outnumbered and with a knife to his throat, they stuck him up properly and told him to get going and as the one in the back of his van took the money he said "And let this be a lesson to you, you greedy bastard". He told me it was a lesson.

Stories I've Heard #1 The Stowaway

I remember one of the first times i ever got a lift with a trucker. He happened to be a Scouser and said that his wife was a champion Kick Boxer who would give him a good kicking whenever he got out of hand. Like most truckers he'd been driving for time and told me a frightening tale about something that happened to one of his trucker associates. This fellow had a run he'd do through the Italian Alps delivering logs on an open top, something i think he did fairly regularly. Apparently it gets so cold up there in midwinter that it's commonplace for drivers to carry a flask of hot salty water to wipe the fast forming ice from their wing mirrors. Anyhow This fellow made it through this dangerous stretch without incident, or so he thought. He arrived at his first stop off in nothern Italy, this was a place where they strip the bark from the logs and then stack them back on his truck. As he pulls in, the fella at the yard approaches with a worried look on his face and exclaims "I think you have a problem." the trucker replies "No, i havent got any problem.", "I think you have, come and look at this.". So he climbs out of his cab and is led along the side of his truck by the log man, when one set of logs ends and the next set starts there is a small gap, nestled in this gap he see's a fellow curled up in a ball clutching a blanket. "Shit" i say to the driver who's telling me this story, "He was frozen?" and he replies with a nod "He was blue, He was fucking Blue!" However that wasent it, there was more and it gets worse. So the story goes these two fellas are starting to panic in the yard out there in the middle of nowhere and with the driver not wanting to get done big time for his negligence they come to a conclusion. They pick the frozen stowaway up with the crane and drop him into an enormous woodchipping machine, the woodchips from which go directly into a process which turns them into barbecue charcoal. I diddn't know what to say after hearing this one.

A Recent-ish Interveiw

Local artists TOMO and EVEN have a new exhibition approaching this September, our friend Lewis Biggs caught up with them earlier this week and brought us this exclusive interview via the Liverpool Biennial website;

Biggs; So I believe you two boys are sparking off this years Biennial with your new show at the old Titos cafe on Slater street, can you tell us more..

Even; Yeah, we will be starting with an empty space and building our show over the two weeks. It will become our studio and people can pop in for a cuppa or some two slice and watch it grow. The final weekend will mark the opening and closing in one party which will herald anew era for Titos as MEME...

Tomo; Indeed, basically a shitload of our latest works and stuff in progress. We work together often anyway, normally these types of shows are known as 'Battles' or 'versus's' but we are going for a more collaborative vibe here, collaboration not competition.

Biggs; I remember years ago, Old Man Tito used to host these crazy all night acid party lock-ins there. I remember one night he had all these snakes in there running loose...

Tomo; Definitely, we've heard some mad stories about the place, I wish id been around back then, from what i've heard he was quite a character. Rest in peace Mr Tito.

Even; Yes, all respect due, he sounded like a really cool guy. He lives on....

Biggs; Yeah,the snakes were fucking mad, just slithering all over you, he had all kinds, Turkish Vipers, Black Adders, Mojave Desert Sidewinders, White Lipped Tree Vipers, Midget Faced Rattlesnakes and Spitting Cobras, Old Man Tito really knew his snakes.

And then there was that other fella who was always there, whats his name... Adidazzler Rahman, he couldn't eat anything off the usual menu because of his religion so Old Man Tito used to rustle him up some turnipped beaver with fried cracker jacks. He could get hold of anything you wanted, he'd come round with his big black holdall and he would only ever sit on the floor. Every now and then he would poo himself and people would have to peel his kecks off. Those were the days.

Even; Erm, wicked, im sure we want to keep that spirit alive during our show, pay homage to Mr Tito. Afterwards though we are going to explore the continent for a bit, put ourselves to good use.

Tomo; Good use yeah, I know some good night club spots in Berlin where the girls have slightly curly hair and an appreciation for comedy vandalism in the early morning. Also I know a good place where we can grow some crops In Barcelona.

Biggs; I used to have a girlfriend who was into crops.

Even; Nice...

Biggs; I cant fucking wait, i'm getting turned on already, word up my niggaz.'

Another Night Bus Adventure

Was coming back from town with my mate Cookie (me sober, Cookie pissed) on the nightbus about 2am, as usual the bus is a circus. I noticed a dodgy looking fella near the front clasping a blade or some piece of metal beween his knuckles but i keep it to myself as Cookie most likely wouldnt react appropriately, so as we walk to the front to get off this fella says to Cookie, something along the lines of (excuse my language) "If you fucking stare me out again you little prick i'll get off
this bus and bite you nose off." I tried to reason with him saying how my friend had no ill intentions (he probably was staring a bit but not in an aggressive way, such are his mannerisms) but this seemed to just make it worse and then he was talking about biting off ears as well as noses, mine too. I'm just like "Whats your problem mate?" and he says to Cookie if he laughs or smiles at him when he gets off the bus that he's gonna get off and do us both in. We get off the bus and of course what does Cookie do... he gets right up to this fella on the other side of the window and yells "PSYCHOPATH" quite loud, by the time were half way accross the road the bus stops again and i'm like "Get ready for a fight Cookie Monster" and this fellas running straight at us probably with his blade, i'm ready to fight waiting for him and i turn round and Cookie is on foot, running and i'm shouting at him to get back here but he doesent listen. When the fella is almost close enough for a good kick and Cookie's not coming back i decide we should stick togeteher and join him for a sprint, so were just running and the fellas fitness levels couldn't handle the run, but it was a fun run and a good old adrenalin rush, Cookie was shitting himself especially when halfway through the run i mentioned the blade and he was running superfast then. It reminded me of our old days when we used to run round the same streets just for fitness.

The Missing Finger

In response to a mysterious advert:

It is rather perculiar that you should advertise your missing finger as I have experienced two finger related incidents of recent. Firstly, sometimes when I sit in the Quango Wango tree for any length of time, and as i'm sure others may testify, one may experience (amongst other things) a subtle yet abstract vision of a moving finger that points in a direction. A bit like that old funk tune "The moving finger writes, and having wrote moves ooooonnnnnnnnnnnn". Although secondly (and unfortunately much more likely) I recall an incident outside a chippy late one afternoon. I noticed some sort of group scuffle, upon investigating I noticed a finger being torn back and forth between some local vagrants and some others that I did not recognise. It was terrible, women were screaming, children were falling over, beverages getting spilt, then out of the crowd shouted the scottish fella who I normally give some pence to (he's one of the goodguys) "help, we need to get it back...Help, before its too late". At that moment I realised what was actually happening... It must be the finger of some student, I told him to go check out the Haigh round the corner for any clues while I took on the enemy. Unfortunately I was knocked unconscious and into a void of amnesia, my last memory is that of being in a chair the morning after a party on Roscoe st just over a week ago. I hope these stories may be of some use to you, I am sorry I could not have helped any further, if I can be of any more use on the matter please dont hesitate to contactme. My name is Tomo.

Then in response to my above response:

Dear Tomo,
Thank you for this information, it has been most helpful, much more helpful than that passed on from most people about how my finger hass been a sexual deviant, something which i myself find rather disgraceful, my finger will, when it is found get a severe telling off.
Onto the more important issue, would you be able to identify these indivuals that were fighting over my finger in a line-up? one of them could, possibly, still have my finger about thier peson. I have as i am sure you have noticed assumed my finger lost, but possibly it could have been, dare i say it, STOLEN!!!
I think i may know this scottish man that you speak of, do you generally see him on hardman street, if you do i may have misplaced my finger on my way to work, which gives some clues to where it may now be. please respond with any futher information that you may have, i feel the answer is getting closer. Thank you for what you have already passed on.
Yours Faithfully,
Kate

A Date With Merseytravel

It was a new day and the air was fresh. I found myself wandering the pavements of my native Huyton. I was pondering over the intricacies of the human condition. I placed my hands within my pockets, discovering a small amount of money previously given to me by my mother, it was then that i had the sudden idea to ride the bus for a change and rest my aching feet. I purchased a day ticket, i cannot remember the price but it was fairly reasonable. As i sat there reading my book, occasionally pausing to gaze beyond the window, i received a mobile telephone call from a friend informing me of a social gathering that evening. Upon coming to the realisation that i would unlikely use my ticket for any consequent journeys i decided to give my ticket to an adjacent passenger as she disembarked from the vehicle. She seemed pleasantly suprised and smiled at me, i remember thinking i should have started conversation with her, but it was too late. Either way i was pleased to have performed such a good deed, people need to look after one another more often i thought. People before profit. However as i'm sure you are aware my story was to take a twist. Ticketless i was soon greeted by the ticket inspector and upon hearing my quick abbreviation of this story he abruptly ordered me off the automobile to explain my situation to the police. he spoke to me with harsh vocal undertones, almost intimidating. Believeing i was responsible for no wrongdoing, i done just as so speaking to a young community support officer, he seemed more empathetic and spoke softly as he recorded my details. I was told to wait for a few minutes before being released. I was not informed that any legal action would be taken against me. I decided to continue the remainder of my journey the old fashioned way - on foot. I thought to myself, they were only doing their job. This made me think more of my own path. Many weeks after these said events i find myself here, summoned to this courtroom and i would like to stress that i cannot afford the aforesaid three hundered pound fine. In terms of employment i have none, i also no longer claim jobseekers allowance as i am not seeking a job. Instead i follow the path of a visual artist, striving to dedicate my time to fullfilling my personal vision. ** ******* ******* *** ********* *** * **** **** ** ****** *** ******* ** ***********. I must also add that my bank overdraft exceeds its limit of ******* ******* pounds and i owe *** ******* **** ******* somewhere in the region of **** ******** pounds. May i finnish by asking what manner of justice shall be served or hope to be achieved by these proceedings? Can it contribute towards any greater good other than providing employment for those involved? Thank you for your time.