The Mud Shark Interview

(album: Playground Psychotics - 1992)

[includes The Look Of Love (Bacharach/David) and Wives And Lovers (Bacharach/David) as background music]

[FZ:] What's your name?
[Mr Tickman:] I'm Martin Tickman
[FZ:] And what is your position here?
[Mr Tickman:] Front office manager
[FZ:] The name of this stablishment is . . . ?
[Mr Tickman:] This is the Edgewater Inn
[FZ:] In Seattle, Washington. Can you tell me, uh, how some rock'n'roll groups have taken advantage of this unique situation?
[Mr Tickman:] They've taken advantage in different ways, and we do encourage, uh, and advertise that you can fish from your room and we are glad to have our guests fish from 'em
[FZ:] Do you supply them with fishing equipment?
[Mr Tickman:] No, but we have a shop in the hotel that does rent the equipment as well as bait
[FZ:] What sort of bait do they usually use?
[Mr Tickman:] Uh, it's a preserved minnow of some variety, I don't know exactly what the fish is
[FZ:] Well, what do they do after they fish from the window?
[Mr Tickman:] Well, rock'n'roll bands and other guests as well often catch shark and squid and octopus and usually we, it lands up either in the bath tub or dribbled on the floor on the way to the bath tub
[FZ:] Mm-mmh . . .
[Mr Tickman:] But it's not reserved to, uh, to any rock'n'roll bands, I mean, other guests do it too
[FZ:] Mm-mmh, but how frequently do you find squids and sharks and octopuses in the bath tubs of the rooms here at the hotel?
[Mr Tickman:] After almost any good weekend of pretty heavy occupancy, say like over half the house filled
[FZ:] If you have over the . . .
[Mr Tickman:] Way, way . . .
[FZ:] . . . over half house filled you'd find one, say?
[Mr Tickman:] Yeah, say, one or something like that
[FZ:] So how often would you say that is each week? Twice a week you'd find a . . . ?
[Mr Tickman:] Well, I would, I don't know that I would say that it would average to anything like that, you may find on four or five rooms with fish from various places, you know, around. But there's not much you can do with the shark after you've caught him, you know, some of these things are pretty big
[FZ:] What would you imagine is done with these, uh, sharks after they've been caught before they are left, uh, for you to be cleaned up?
[Mr Tickman:] Sometimes the guest calls the houseman or housekeeper to haul it away because there's nothing that they can do with it
[FZ:] Yeah, well. Have you ever heard of any other things that were done with them before they were hauled away?
[Mr Tickman:] Yes, a lot of, some people like to, uh, perform vivisection on 'em, or something like that. Occasionally you find that little bit of mess . . .
[FZ:] Yeah
[Mr Tickman:] I'll say that the, the, the "blood on the carpet" syndrome is rather, eh, rather rare, but it did occasionally happen
[FZ:] Do you ever find fish blood on the sheets of your beds here?
[Mr Tickman:] Not identifiable as such, no . . .
[FZ:] I see. Do you know of any stories about, uh, bizarre sexual activities performed with squid, octopus and mud sharks here in your rooms?
[Mr Tickman:] No . . . I should think a mud shark would be a little uncomfortable, since their skin is so sandy but, uh, never heard of anyone having it with an octopus