I went up to the dentist's this morning (just the six monthly check up, thank goodness), so I passed the bus queue waiting for the Hereford bus - which was a bit late.
When I came out again, they were still there.
It seems that someone broke into the bus depot last night, and siphoned off large amounts of diesel, damaging some of the buses in the process, so this morning there were delays in the service.
The buses did turn up eventually, no thanks to the thieves.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
National Express Memories
There was a customer in the Cinema the other day who said he hadn't been in the shop for about 35 years.
Back in the 1970s he was a National Express bus driver, and they ran a route through Hay from Cheltenham to Pembroke Dock. He used to dash down from Hereford so he arrived in Hay ten minutes early, then run round the corner from the bus stop to the Cinema to stock up on theology books (he was studying theology in his spare time).
Back in the 1970s he was a National Express bus driver, and they ran a route through Hay from Cheltenham to Pembroke Dock. He used to dash down from Hereford so he arrived in Hay ten minutes early, then run round the corner from the bus stop to the Cinema to stock up on theology books (he was studying theology in his spare time).
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Le Crunch....
...which is not an advert for French Golden Delicious apples, but a mini arts festival at the Globe.
(says she, getting the best joke over first - well, the only joke, really).
The Globe is running a weekend on ephemeral art from Friday 13th November to the Sunday, with music, talks, video art and so forth.
One quite nice touch is "a unique collaboration between local residents, Hereford College of Art and London's most promising emerging talent".
On the talks side of things, the question seems to be "Is ephemeral art the superficial product of a transient, superficial world? Or is it a profound rejection of the marketplace and a return to the authentic?" I'm sure that one will bring forth lots of different opinions.
Oh, and there's also a man who is apparently a legend in London, Brighton and Ibiza - Aubrey Fry and his dance music. The programme says 1am till late - I have a feeling the neighbours will not be delighted.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the month, the Globe will be celebrating the films of Clint Eastwood, hosting the B&R for a question and answer session, holding a Ladies Night for Jo and Annie to raise money for their (mad) scheme to run 152 miles across the desert next year (men can come as long as they dress as ladies - time for Derek Addyman to bring out that glamorous black sequinned number again, maybe!), and there'll be various kids' movies throughout the month. And more, of course. I'm just picking out the highlights that interest me.
(says she, getting the best joke over first - well, the only joke, really).
The Globe is running a weekend on ephemeral art from Friday 13th November to the Sunday, with music, talks, video art and so forth.
One quite nice touch is "a unique collaboration between local residents, Hereford College of Art and London's most promising emerging talent".
On the talks side of things, the question seems to be "Is ephemeral art the superficial product of a transient, superficial world? Or is it a profound rejection of the marketplace and a return to the authentic?" I'm sure that one will bring forth lots of different opinions.
Oh, and there's also a man who is apparently a legend in London, Brighton and Ibiza - Aubrey Fry and his dance music. The programme says 1am till late - I have a feeling the neighbours will not be delighted.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the month, the Globe will be celebrating the films of Clint Eastwood, hosting the B&R for a question and answer session, holding a Ladies Night for Jo and Annie to raise money for their (mad) scheme to run 152 miles across the desert next year (men can come as long as they dress as ladies - time for Derek Addyman to bring out that glamorous black sequinned number again, maybe!), and there'll be various kids' movies throughout the month. And more, of course. I'm just picking out the highlights that interest me.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Transition Towns latest
I got the newsletter for Transition Towns the other day, and it looks like they're keeping busy.
They've joined up as a group to the 10:10 campaign, which is aimed at reducing the participants' energy/carbon consumption by 10% over the next year. They have a website at www.10:10uk.org and some good ideas about how we can reduce our energy bills and general consumption.
On Sunday, 8th November, there will be an Apple Day at Ty Glyn in Cusop Dingle, with juicing and so on, in association with Marcher Apple Network. There will be juicers and crushers and apples there, but anyone going along is encouraged to bring more and share their knowledge. For more information, phone Ainsleigh on 01497 820332.
Then on the 19th November, the Chamber of Commerce are meeting with Transition Towns in the Council Chambers. They've already had one meeting, last month, and Chattels shop said they'd almost halved their energy consumption by fitting low energy bulbs! At the next meeting, they'll be talking about trade waste and landfill.
And on a lighter note, there will be a social on Friday, 4th December, at the Swan (which is something I'll be able to get along to, and the one last year was fun).
They've joined up as a group to the 10:10 campaign, which is aimed at reducing the participants' energy/carbon consumption by 10% over the next year. They have a website at www.10:10uk.org and some good ideas about how we can reduce our energy bills and general consumption.
On Sunday, 8th November, there will be an Apple Day at Ty Glyn in Cusop Dingle, with juicing and so on, in association with Marcher Apple Network. There will be juicers and crushers and apples there, but anyone going along is encouraged to bring more and share their knowledge. For more information, phone Ainsleigh on 01497 820332.
Then on the 19th November, the Chamber of Commerce are meeting with Transition Towns in the Council Chambers. They've already had one meeting, last month, and Chattels shop said they'd almost halved their energy consumption by fitting low energy bulbs! At the next meeting, they'll be talking about trade waste and landfill.
And on a lighter note, there will be a social on Friday, 4th December, at the Swan (which is something I'll be able to get along to, and the one last year was fun).
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Busy Weekend - Hay-on-Fire
I did have various things planned for the weekend - I was going to go into Hereford for the Climate Change Hallowe'en Carnival, and there was a Fairtrade committee meeting, for instance - but all that went by the board when my sister phoned to say she was coming down for the weekend with her husband and my little nephew.
I don't get to see them that often.
So we went for dinner to Kilverts, and greatly enjoyed the steak and ale pie (and James ate almost a whole pizza! He's only four.).
In the background, there was a continuous loop of short films on the big TV screen. Hay-on-Fire 2007, the beheading of King Richard, Kilvert's beer festival, and the biker wedding, most of the films being done by Marches TV.
They couldn't stay for the whole of Hay-on-Fire - they had to be back home for Sunday morning - but they did get to see the afternoon entertainment. It started with Japanese drumming in the Buttermarket. The group is from the Abergavenny area, and the leader said it was only their second public event! They were very good - and there was even a real Japanese lady drumming with them. James sat near the front of the crowd with his hands over his ears.
There was also a parade of giant costumes made by various local schools - we'd been in Booth's Bookshop earlier, and seen two of the models, a witch and a wizard, on the big table upstairs. They had two days of workshops in there for the children to make them.
Then there was Morris dancing, with a tiny girl in a pink frock dancing away to the side of them. James enjoyed the dances where they banged sticks together. One of the dancers rather enjoyed dancing off into the back of Llewellyn's shop - and the other way into the British Legion - during one of the dances they did outside Kilvert's, re-emerging just in time to join the rest of them as the dance continued.
There were some good costumes around, too - I was particularly taken by the black cloak with thick gold embroidery, worn with a black feathered hat.
I missed the procession going through town in the evening - I was having tea with my sister just before they went home, already in my Goth dress and cloak. I caught up with the tail end of the procession by the church. The road was solid with people right down to the track to the Warren, and the track to the Warren was solid with people all the way down as well. I heard a few grumbles at the slow pace of things - until we all got to the liquid mud puddles which had been causing the bottleneck.
I got a drink at the (expensive) licenced bar - XOX Organics were there too, and an ice cream van, and a couple of other vans - and joined the back of the crowd overlooking the bend in the river where everything was set up. I thought at first that I was at the back of a crowd that was three or four deep - until I looked down the slope and realised that the crowd was actually about twenty or thirty deep!
The Japanese drummers were there, in a tent, and an a capella choir who sang 'Money - That's What I Want'. There seemed to be a money theme - there were burning dollar signs, and a pound sign on the chest of the wicker man that was burned near the end. There was a samba band, and fire poi (swinging flames around on the end of pieces of chain) and cross-dressing Morris men (I spotted Derek Addyman in a gorgeous black sequinned costume).
The fireworks were AWESOME!
They must have blown three quarters of their budget on the rockets, and they were WOW!
Hay-on-Fire's displays are always good, but I think the last time I saw anything like this was at WorldCon 87 in Brighton, when the fireworks were let off from Brighton Beach, and could allegedly be seen (and heard) in France.
Then there were the after-display parties around town, and bunches of costumed people wandering round.
A man in a sombrero asked me if I'd like to come to Cairo with him, while I was walking the dog!
A man outside Kilvert's, seeing my costume, said "If you're off to celebrate a black Satanic mass, we're coming too!"
"Damn!" I answered, "and I forgot the black cockerel!"
I don't get to see them that often.
So we went for dinner to Kilverts, and greatly enjoyed the steak and ale pie (and James ate almost a whole pizza! He's only four.).
In the background, there was a continuous loop of short films on the big TV screen. Hay-on-Fire 2007, the beheading of King Richard, Kilvert's beer festival, and the biker wedding, most of the films being done by Marches TV.
They couldn't stay for the whole of Hay-on-Fire - they had to be back home for Sunday morning - but they did get to see the afternoon entertainment. It started with Japanese drumming in the Buttermarket. The group is from the Abergavenny area, and the leader said it was only their second public event! They were very good - and there was even a real Japanese lady drumming with them. James sat near the front of the crowd with his hands over his ears.
There was also a parade of giant costumes made by various local schools - we'd been in Booth's Bookshop earlier, and seen two of the models, a witch and a wizard, on the big table upstairs. They had two days of workshops in there for the children to make them.
Then there was Morris dancing, with a tiny girl in a pink frock dancing away to the side of them. James enjoyed the dances where they banged sticks together. One of the dancers rather enjoyed dancing off into the back of Llewellyn's shop - and the other way into the British Legion - during one of the dances they did outside Kilvert's, re-emerging just in time to join the rest of them as the dance continued.
There were some good costumes around, too - I was particularly taken by the black cloak with thick gold embroidery, worn with a black feathered hat.
I missed the procession going through town in the evening - I was having tea with my sister just before they went home, already in my Goth dress and cloak. I caught up with the tail end of the procession by the church. The road was solid with people right down to the track to the Warren, and the track to the Warren was solid with people all the way down as well. I heard a few grumbles at the slow pace of things - until we all got to the liquid mud puddles which had been causing the bottleneck.
I got a drink at the (expensive) licenced bar - XOX Organics were there too, and an ice cream van, and a couple of other vans - and joined the back of the crowd overlooking the bend in the river where everything was set up. I thought at first that I was at the back of a crowd that was three or four deep - until I looked down the slope and realised that the crowd was actually about twenty or thirty deep!
The Japanese drummers were there, in a tent, and an a capella choir who sang 'Money - That's What I Want'. There seemed to be a money theme - there were burning dollar signs, and a pound sign on the chest of the wicker man that was burned near the end. There was a samba band, and fire poi (swinging flames around on the end of pieces of chain) and cross-dressing Morris men (I spotted Derek Addyman in a gorgeous black sequinned costume).
The fireworks were AWESOME!
They must have blown three quarters of their budget on the rockets, and they were WOW!
Hay-on-Fire's displays are always good, but I think the last time I saw anything like this was at WorldCon 87 in Brighton, when the fireworks were let off from Brighton Beach, and could allegedly be seen (and heard) in France.
Then there were the after-display parties around town, and bunches of costumed people wandering round.
A man in a sombrero asked me if I'd like to come to Cairo with him, while I was walking the dog!
A man outside Kilvert's, seeing my costume, said "If you're off to celebrate a black Satanic mass, we're coming too!"
"Damn!" I answered, "and I forgot the black cockerel!"
Friday, 30 October 2009
Yarn Bombing
The ladies from Stitch and Bitch were out last night, scattering yarn around the town. Keep an eye on http://yarn-craft-revival.blogspot.com for photos of what we were up to!
Monday, 26 October 2009
More Missing Street Furniture
I don't go across the bridge every day, but it was mild and sunny this morning, and Islay wasn't quite as stiff as she has been, so we headed for the Offa's Dyke Path.
On the town side of the bridge, up until now, there has been a road sign, powered by a little solar panel. When cars come across the bridge fairly slowly, it stays dark, but when they approach at over 30 miles an hour, the sign lights up '30', to warn them to slow down for the impending junction.
Or at least, it did. It's disappeared entirely now, though there is a sort of socket in the pavement where it could be put back.
On the town side of the bridge, up until now, there has been a road sign, powered by a little solar panel. When cars come across the bridge fairly slowly, it stays dark, but when they approach at over 30 miles an hour, the sign lights up '30', to warn them to slow down for the impending junction.
Or at least, it did. It's disappeared entirely now, though there is a sort of socket in the pavement where it could be put back.
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