[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

The Dark Times



Hey all, hope you're all well.  Been away and/or lurking for sometime now.
Life has been good, despite some of the usual hurdles, but the State of The
Who, particularly Mr. Townshend has really put a wild mindfuck on your humble
narrator.  But first, kudos and congrats to everyone who did what they could
to show support for Pete.  Especially Lela, Johanna, Jon, et al.  Nice work;
it felt good knowing that something could and was being done at a time when I
personally felt rather helpless and powerless to do anything about it.  I
don't think Pete is a pedophile.  A knucklehead yes, but a creep who gets his
evil jollies out of child porn?  I just can't believe it.  Maybe WON'T believe
it, but somewhere deep down I think it's impossible.

This is a hard time on a billion different levels for us, The Faithful.  Scott
Schrade's current state is a perfect example of what it's like to be a
disciple of Pete Townshend nowadays - anger, despair, humiliation, confusion,
etc, etc, but hope (I hope), as well.  It's tough right now, real tough; I'm
still sort of reeling from it.  A whirlwind of feeling and thought and
uncertainty within my own mind has been echoed by just about everyone here at
one point or another, and I've gotten a sort of healing from reading
everyone's posts.  Well, most everyone's - the current trend in
paranoid-liberal grandstanding is old and tired.  But like that other bad
time, less than a year ago when the Ox checked out, The Who list has been
helpful and healing.

I don't know if it's been touched on here, but what's hit me deepest has been
shock of this entire odyssey down to my central core.  It's very hard to put
into words, but to put it plainly, the man who has written the soundtrack of
my life; the man who has been one of the few true inspirations to me, has been
accused of arguably the most unforgivable of crimes.  A crime in which,
whether he's guilty or innocent, he's finished as the man we knew him to be.
The man who's inspired and touched each one of us here in one way or another,
gone.  I believe Pete's account of his actions and I will stand by him, as it
appears now.  But what if the police find more?  What if his computer
incriminates him and proves what our deepest fears regarding him warn?  I
think this is the depth of my personal agony over this nightmare.

Aside from very few others throughout my lifetime, Pete Townshend has perhaps
had the strongest influence on my life.  Like many of us, Pete's art has been
a way of life to us.  He's a part of us, it doesn't matter that we may have
never have met him.  He's in us.  He and his art are a part of me.  Which is
where the terrible dilemma enters the picture.  If he's guilty of such an
awful thing and, paradoxically, a true part of me, then what does that say
about me?  Could it be a part of my character to let such a horrible creature
be such a huge influence on my psyche?  By default then, what does it say
about me if my "hero" is a pedophile?  The answer of course, it says nothing
about me, but it's still quite a heavy issue to be confronted with and damn
that big nosed moron for putting himself and us into this mess.  These are the
dark times.

But there's a sweet irony to this problem.  As I've said and I know many can
relate, The Who, Pete, has touched us so deeply that it's become a part of us.
Speaking for myself, I'm pretty happy with the success rate of my instincts so
far in my life.  I didn't choose to become a disciple of Pete, I knew it by
instinct.  So I'm sticking with them now and feeling pretty confident that
Pete will not get charged or convicted, simply because he is not a sicko freak
pedophile.  There will be more to come in this matter as we know and the
jury's still out.  Someone said a few days ago, that just "knowing" Pete is
innocent isn't enough.  For me right now, it's more than enough.  Hey, I like
to think I'm a pretty good guy, hell it's even been said of me once or twice.
So if I am a good guy, I like to think I've had some good influences.  Pete
Townshend has been a huge influence on me.  The cynic might say that I've been
duped or "fooled again" by Pete, but I don't think so.  I've got pretty good
instincts.