July 2005 Archives

Thanks, guys.

I feel a lot better, mostly because of good people who have posted here or written me or called.

I'm back to listening to music that was my favorite when I was young:

Stravinsky's Sacre du Printemps (Von Karajan)
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (Von Karajan again - the man's a genius)

I can't find Saint Saen's Carnival of the Animals; I'm looking for the version that has Noel Coward reading Ogden Nash poetry as an accompaniement during the interludes. It was a clever album. I hope Maman and Papa still have it.

Right.

So, how do you know you're a losing your mind?

Well, here are four warning signs:

With many London metropolitan area police diverted to Edinburgh to protect the G8 summit, London had fewer security staff covering the transportation infrastructure.

There were somewhere between four and seven incidents, depending on to whom you listen. The Transport London website lists four bomb attacks, three on train/tube stations and one on a bus.

The BBC is reporting six bombs, five on train or tube stations and one on a bus. There was additionally a collision that killed at least four and may be unrelated. A timeline has not yet emerged.

Here are some photos that my friend Dave Duffy took while he was up on Princes Street.

As a side note, one of my friends was working in the building that the folks supposedly got into - this didn't happen. They didn't occupy a single building, although he said a few windows got smashed. He did say that one guy managed to get inside the Standard Life building, climb on top of it and moon the cops - which pissed them off to no end.

Anyway, cheers to the Edinburgh police for managing to contain most of the disruption.

Another observer has reported in by mobile phone.

~ 12 police vans went tearing into Edinburgh, apparently in the direction of the city centre.

No further information.

My instinct is that these might be leaving the city centre by a circuitous route rather than entering.

Also, there are reports that Princes Street Gardens have been heavily vandalised.

Further reports later. I'll also try and get some footage.

The police are now saying that Edinburgh is safe to travel in and have advised that the difficult folks are mostly cleaned up and carted away.

Reports are that the 400 or so down by Jenners - across from the Balmoral, up a bit from the Burger King, right near the Bridges - were causing a kafuffle and some of them got arrested.

I'll check it out later.

- Nathan

Still in lockdown.

Here's two 'eyes-on' reports

From about an hour ago -

About 2000 total rioters on the streets, broken down as follows:

~ 400 outside Jenners; riot police have been called in. Some property damage has occurred - smashed windows, broken pottery.

~ 1000 in various streets on the West End; still occupying a Standard Life building

~ 600 on The Mound and The News (steps)

From about half an hour ago:

Between 2000-5000 protesters, relatively peaceful.

The busses are running again, and so are the trains; it's safe to travel, but don't be stupid.

The second observer was wearing a fairly smart suit; she said that, with care, it took forty-five minutes to read the crowd and cross Princes Street.

The first observer said that Princes Street was a no-go area; he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

Last week the leaders of the G8, the world's seven richest nations plus Russia, met at Gleneagles, a posh golf club outside Edinburgh. I live Edinburgh.

The G8 is supposed to be here for just shy of a week, so they're still around.

The schedule of events is roughly as follows:

1. Friday was "White Band Day" where everyone is supposed to show their solidarity for ending poverty by wearing a white band. You could buy the bands for £1, or you could get them free with a copy of The List, Edinburgh & Glasgow's entertainment magazine.

2. Saturday was the Make Poverty History march. The police expected 100,000 but 220,000 showed up. Some of my favorite shops on Princes Street were shut. I wanted to shop for a present for Ange, whose birthday is the 5th of July, so this was irritating. (Happy Birthday, Ange!) There was also this thing in London, a concert or something.

3. Sunday had two alternative summits, one entitled G8 Corporate Dream...Global Nightmare, obviously titled after consultation with Clive Cussler, and another entitled G8 Alternative alternative summit, from the Department of Redundancy Department.

4. Today, trailer parks across the UK have emptied and vomitted their genetically disadvantaged detritus at The Carnival for Full Enjoyment, organized by the same assholes who brought us May Day riots and got people killed at Genoa.