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Name: Morris Telford
Age: 33
DOB: 18/04/70
Occupation:Unemployed
Hobbies: Enlightenment, Philosophy, Bingo
Favourite
book – Ordnance Survey Map of Shropshire 1999 edition
Favourite
foods – Pickled Eggs
Favourite
film – Late For Dinner
Favourite colour – The delicate cyan of the dinnertime sky
in Moreton Say.
Favourite British County – Shropshire
Favourite Place – Moreton Say
Favourite Postal Code Area – TF9
Favourite sound – The gentle breeze rustling through the leafy
glades of Moreton Say
Favourite
band – *(shameless plug)
Biggest
inspiration – |
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MESSAGES
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Is
Morris a madman, a genius - or both? Have your say on our
- and see what other people
are saying about him.
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The
sun is shining with the ferocity of a five-card bingo player who
needs just one more number , my pale Shropshire complexion is suffering
a bit and I am forced to stay indoors. IÂ’ve been looking on
the Internet for signs of Camilla Edwards and how I might contact
her directly. I looked on Internet Search Engines under "evil",
"anti-Shropshire propaganda" and "dirty lies"
and could find nothing on her.
It
may not be the same person, but if you look at the credits for the
2001 childrenÂ’s film "Monsters Inc", under Miscellaneous
it has the credit - Assistant To Co-Director: Camilla Edwards.
ThereÂ’s
something deeply wrong somewhere.
Just
to be on the safe side I feel very strongly that we should all boycott
Monsters Inc, just in case. Now I come to think about it, Shropshire
is not mentioned once in that film. Go and see the 1950 classic
"Gone To Earth" instead. A fine film, written by a Shropshire
woman, set in Shropshire and filmed in Shropshire. Who needs computer
generated one-eyed monsters when you can watch the glorious Shropshire
countryside coupled with the story of a beautiful but innocent country
girl who loves all the creatures around her, especially her pet
fox cub?
I bet
Camilla Edwards wouldnÂ’t appreciate it though; sheÂ’d probably
give it nought out of ten. SheÂ’d probably watch the first five
minutes and go and watch a film set in Devon instead, I canÂ’t
think of any decent films set in Devon, there probably arenÂ’t
any.
Much
as I expected, George and Tony have ignored my advice. Instead of
looking to Shropshire for an example of how to get on with each
other, they have taken a course of action more in keeping with the
actions of someone who knows nothing of Shropshire life. They have
started bombing Iraq. I wish they hadnÂ’t, it puts a real dampener
on my quest for world peace and happiness when people go starting
wars.
People
in Alabama seem very concerned about the war starting. They all
seem to be buying supplies, water, and tinned foods and duct tape.
IÂ’m not quite sure what the duct tape is for but I bought a
couple of rolls and keep them with me at all times. Just to be on
the safe side.
There
was an Anti-War demonstration today so I joined in. I had kept some
of my anti-Country Life banner rolled up in my bag and was able
to re-use them.
On
reflection, using a protest against war in Iraq as a platform to
incite hatred against a magazine nobody in Alabama seems to have
heard of was not my finest hour. I did get three hundred and seventy
four people to sign a petition asking Country Life for a second
opinion on Camilla Edwards research, but to be brutally honest,
most of the people who signed it probably thought they were signing
an anti-war petition.
IÂ’ll
be sending the petition to Country Life anyway, at least some good
can come of all this.
I got
talking to girl at the protest that was called Polka; she looked
a bit like a young Mexican Judi Drench. Polka had written on her
white T-Shirt in black marker pen (sheÂ’d used permanent marker
in a moment of anti-war frenzy) "DonÂ’t Bomb Iran".
I tried to explain to Polka that Iran wasnÂ’t getting bombed,
but she misunderstood and started screaming, "itÂ’s over!
ItÂ’s over! ", over and over. The news that Iran was not
being bombed spread like wildfire and the anti-war protest soon
turned into a street party, people were celebrating the end of a
short-lived bombing campaign of Iran. I climbed a lamppost and managed
to convey to the crowd that Iran was not being bombed, Iraq was
being bombed, someone shouted "Not there as well! Bush he is
a crazy man." and the protest began again. As I left I saw
Polka making the ‘n’ on her T-shirt into a ‘q’.
A small victory for truth.
I know
this all sounds unlikely, but I was there, it happened, the level
of confusion surrounding me is very high. I saw an elderly woman
duct taping shut her front door "to protect me from the nuclear",
I pointed out that not only had she just duct-taped herself out
of her house, but that it was a woefully inadequate countermeasure
to most weapons of mass destruction. She ignored me and climbed
in her window.
I rang
home, Mother wants me to come home now a war has started. I told
her that my war started the day I left, my war against any oppressor
I come across, any wrongdoer I disturb, anyone called Camilla with
the slightest connection to Country Life magazine, no-one is safe.
Mother tried to make me promise not to try and personally sort out
Saddam Hussain. I explained that though it was unlikely IÂ’d
be able to hitchhike as far as Iraq, no-one was beyond the reach
of my grip of justice and it would be against my principles to make
such a vow.
Apparently
Toby is moving in with Sophia, she feels unsafe given the current
political situation and didnÂ’t want to be alone in her house
at night. I hung up before Mother explained anything about the sleeping
arrangements, IÂ’m sure Toby is just doing what any neighbour
would do to make a vulnerable woman feel safe.
I once
went to a café in Market Drayton where the cheese and onion
pie had not been sufficiently microwaved and there was a crunchy,
frozen bit in the middle, but even that did not prepare me for a
restaurant I went to today that sold nothing but raw fish. They
had gone to a great deal of trouble to present it on little dishes,
but neglected to cook any of it.
Despite
my complaints they insisted it should be raw and spurned my offer
to buy them a deep fat fryer. Some people just refuse to be helped.
I can only presume my media campaign has been overshadowed by the
war in Iraq, no-one has replied to me, no-one has contacted me asking
for interviews, no radio stations are fighting to get me on air, no
TV stations are desperate to speak to my people and when I walk down
the street, no-one notices me.
I expected
to have made more of a difference by now. If anything the world
is a more unsettled place now than when I set off two months ago,
what am I doing wrong?
Thanks
to Mike Batt for his concern about my safety, I noticed this message
- "Morris where are you? Are you ok? Shall I post you a pasty?".
Mike
was concerned because my ´óÏó´«Ã½ web diary was not updated for a few
days, donÂ’t worry Mike, all is well. In answer to your question,
the ´óÏó´«Ã½ do not currently pay me, I offer my gems of enlightenment
without
the motive of personal gain, I seek only to enrich all lives by
sharing the rich and noble path that I have chosen.
I played
Bingo for a bit today at a local hall, had an argument with the
caller who refused to use the accepted pre-number phrases opting
instead for topical pro-war puns -
"Drop
that bomb - Twenty One"
"Support
the War - Number Four"
"Watch
that Landmine - Thirty Nine"
"Way
to go Mr Bush - Twenty Eight"
Aside
from supporting all this death and war, it made it impossible to pre-empt
the numbers and optimise my marking off.
Packed
my bags and hit the road again this morning, IÂ’m near to entering
Pickens County now, the countryside here is beautiful, not as lovely
as Shropshire, but stunning in its own way. Country Life would probably
give it one out of ten.
The
sunrise this morning over the cotton fields made me homesick for
the simple pleasures of life in Moreton Say. I miss the quiet pace
of life there, the lengthy conversations with old Mrs Randall about
her wide-ranging and exotic medical problems, the familiar symphony
of Mother and Aunt Felicity arguing about which low-fat spread was
superior, lazy afternoons watching Countdown with a calculator,
a dictionary and some cheese.
A couple
driving an enormous camper van have picked me up. A lovely couple
called Roland and Uma. Uma looks like an overweight Bette Davis
and Roland bears a quite uncanny resemblance to Stewart Kidder,
only without the wooden leg. They tell me they spend their retirement
travelling the States and are more than happy for me to join them
for as long as I like, my faith in human nature is restored.
They
call their camper van a "Winnebago"; it has a wide screen
TV, kitchen, shower, lounge and even a guest room. ItÂ’s like
a house on wheels, only nicer. They also have some sort of lizard
living in there, like a pet that roams free. IÂ’m not sure what
sort of lizard it is, but I do know itÂ’s called Murray.
I slept in the WinnebagoÂ’s guest room, very cosy. The only thing
that stopped me having a perfectly good nightÂ’s sleep was the
enormous portrait of Roland and Uma on the wall; they are both naked
and riding unicorns. I say ‘naked’, they both have hardhats
on. That isnÂ’t a euphemism. Yellow, plastic, hardhats.
Roland
and Uma are incredibly hospitable, I stayed up late last night,
past 11 oÂ’clock, talking to them about Shropshire and my goal
to tell the world about how marvellous it is there while at the
same time righting wrongs and freeing the oppressed masses. They
seemed genuinely interested, a response I am not accustomed to.
Today
Uma is driving leaving Roland free to ‘surf’, which apparently
is one of RolandÂ’s favourite things. He strips to his Y-Fronts,
stands on the roof of the Winnebago on a small platform constructed
especially for this purpose, straps his feet to the platform, smears
himself in grease (to protect from the cold) and puts on his ‘magic
hatÂ’. His hat looks to me like an industrial hardhat with the
word "Happy" crayoned all over it, but Roland insists
it is, in fact, a family heirloom and of great mystical importance.
Then Uma puts her foot down and Roland spends the day waving at
passing motorists and causing minor road accidents. I find it all
very exhilarating and IÂ’m not the one strapped to the top of
a speeding Winnebago.
While
Roland rode up top, I spoke to Uma as she drove. Uma tells me she
is 107 years old, IÂ’m not sure I believe her.
IÂ’m
going to try ‘surfing’ now, Roland is letting me wear
his special hat.
Wish
me luck
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