Blog archive August 2005

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30.08.05 / 01 / back from greenbelt

back from greenbelt, sorting through laundry, feeling tired etc.

yet another warm sunny year for greenbelt. more people again - must be at the 20 000 mark this time, which puts the festival back up to 'the old days'. the constant talk of the festival was how many people there were, how crowded venues were. this was a real problem at one or two alt worship events, not helped by how hot and airless the new forms 1 venue is.

also like the old days was the site layout. in previous years at cheltenham the venues and food were in and around the racestands, and the central field was just camping. last year the children's area and one or two food outlets were in the field, which felt a lot better. this year about half the venues and food were in the field, and it felt like a real festival again. the organic beer tent proved a huge success - better beer, better venue than the noisy winged ox bar in the racestand. one noticed how many more people came to the alt w/em church 'zoo' get-together now that it was held in the beer tent. the food stalls were better quality this year, deliberate policy by greenbelt. and the way that food and merchandise stalls were scattered through the whole festival rather than being concentrated in one place.

the downside of these moves into the field, plus the increase in numbers, was the displacement of some of the camping into very distant parts [i never went there!].

i mostly went to services in new forms 1 - there were new groups to be photographed for smallfire. some great stuff but a rod for my back - hopefully it won't take too many months to put up the new sections. new groups on smallfire mean the menu on every page has to change. apart from services/installations i didn't do too much - talked to people, sat in the tiny tea tent rebuilding alternativeworship.org on my laptop.

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15.08.05 / 01 / ten years ago

10 years ago today since the fall of NOS

which precipitated the journey out of conventional church that brought me here

i saw these people on tv and said to god, i want to be with them doing that kind of stuff. but i didn't expect it to go this far.

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12.08.05 / 01 / tube mice

it isn't only bad things that happen on the tube. if you sit on the bench at the end of the central line platform at liverpool street, several mice will come out of the nearby grille. tube mice are normally timid and only seen at a considerable distance, or scurrying away to hide. but these mice approach, very cautiously and with many alarms, to within a couple of feet of you. they watch intently, begging with their eyes for food like dogs. they rush back to the grille at sudden movements, but reemerge one by one a moment later, hesitantly, cuddling and grooming one another. people laugh at the spectacle of these bold and timid creatures. perhaps they laugh at the bold and timid commuters.

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04.08.05 / 01 / ipod my baby

i just had to blog this, for the record. [from ipodmybaby.com, long gone]