Archive: » 2008 » June

Giant Webcams etc.

The Telectroscope was installed in London at the start of June, linking London to New York. It was described as a “secret tunnel running deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean”, but in reality, it was a snazzy giant real-time webcam.

So we queued up in the rain and got to see this!

Hello random New Yorkers! At least they’re getting good weather. There wasn’t much else to do apart from wave and grin. Me and my friend did try to think of something original to do but all I could think of was to jump, so basically look like a freak. I passed on that idea.

The organisers had kept boards to write stuff on, but apparently people had been writing nasty things so they were removed. Boo.

The woman below had planned to “meet” her son on the other side.

Surely it would have been a better idea to just webcam at the computer or to make a phone call! Nice idea, though.

Randomness around London:

It seemed to be a shoot for a music video – it sounded very ambient and trip-hop like.

Bush was in London for his farewell tour, so naturally there a protest against this. What a ridiculous waste of tax payers’ money to pay for all the security to protect this man. I must have got to the protest too late because I didn’t see any of the chaos that apparently ensued. This was about the most interesting thing I saw:

I was in Newcastle for the day and stumbled across a Yoko Ono exhibition called Secret Piece III. This consisted of three blank canvases which the public could stick messages to, relating to their idea of love.

Maybe I’m a snob, but I still haven’t figured out why it’s so “cool” to write “ur”. In text messages, fair enough, but in normal written text on a piece of paper?! I guess it’s a pet hate of mine. Spell properly, people!

George Sampson was the winner of Britain’s Got Talent, if you’re wondering.

The canvases are going to be shipped to Yoko Ono in the States once the installation is over. The whole thing had an air of tackiness about it, but nevertheless I liked it. I’m all for interactive art installations.

I was also back in Dublin recently.

Windmill Lane is the only place in Dublin where graffiti is legal. It’s not exactly Cans Festival-esque graffiti, but still a nice sight I think, particular since it’s located in quite a bland area of Dublin.

It’s also known as the U2 Wall as U2 recorded their first three albums in Windmill Lane Studios.

Taken in the famous Temple Bar area:

“No to Lisbon” relates to the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland which the Irish voted against recently. If you want to read more about the Lisbon Treaty, click here, and good luck!

I can’t remember the last time I saw a rainbow..

I always look forward to going to Dublin. The people are so friendly and charismatic, from taxi drivers, to shop keepers to random people on the street (minus the druggies and chavs!).

Anonymous vs Scientology – June

14th June, 2008 – Protest against Scientology, London

So it’s already the 5th month that Anonymous have been protesting globally against Scientology.  Each month the demonstrators pick an aspect of Scientology that they disagree with, and this month’s campaign was called Operation Sea Arrgh, in response to Scientology’s Sea Org.

Naturally, this was a perfect excuse to dress up as pirates.

At last month’s protest, a demonstrator known as Epic Nose Guy was given a court summons for failing to remove a sign that depicted Scientology as a cult – http://tanya-n.com/4chan4/IMG_2597.jpg.  The  Crown Prosecution Service ruled that the word “cult” was “neither abusive or insulting” with no further action taken.  He turned up again and was pursued by the “pros”.  

It was amusing really – they told him exactly where to stand, to tilt his sign and to look towards the Church of Scientology building.  The photographer in the foreground below then took around 20 pictures using burst mode (why?) from various angles.

The demonstrators took full advantage of their freedom to call Scientology a cult!  Just in case you missed it:

As ever, these protests are amusing, although becoming a tad monotonous.  I wonder if the demonstrators plan to mix things up and maybe do something a little different to perhaps gain a bit more publicity?  Alas, I won’t be around for the July one, but I’ll be looking out for the pictures!

I’ll end with a shot I took just after I left the protest, of a very kind man, who randomly decided to call me a “terrorist” and “Taliban”, and to go back to my country  A tad confused, I turned around and asked him to repeat what he said, and he did.  He wasn’t drunk and didn’t appear to be on drugs – in fact, he was speaking with a slight accent (somewhat ironic) and quite eloquently.  He carried on ranting at me so naturally, I took a snap.

Clearly camera-shy, but not shy to air his racist thoughts.

I didn’t feel threatened at all by his stupidity – in fact I found his comments hilarious and yet infuriating.  I told him to stop being so ignorant and that this *is* my country.   Sad, really.  My first experience of racist abuse!

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February – http://tanya-n.com/?p=104

March – http://tanya-n.com/?p=107

April – http://tanya-n.com/?p=110

May – http://tanya-n.com/?p=114

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