Never done one of these before. Having no idea what to expect it was a surprise to see quite how sour- or dead-faced many people are as they shuffle past, or how unwilling many are to acknowledge a ‘hello!’. Others (stallholders, customers) very friendly and encouraging, however. I did not lose money once all things were accounted for and it was an interesting learning experience.
I did very little today except print & frame a bunch of photos so I can try to sell some at this craft fair tomorrow (my first effort to do such a thing – you will doubtless hear more about it tomorrow). The light was poor, and there were few opportunities to get more than a mundane shot.
However, as these are supposed to encapsulate the day – it was 11/11/11 today, and this was taken in my home office at exactly 11:11:… and 14 seconds, by the camera’s clock. Well, I did my best. It doesn’t have a second hand.
After having got up at 4.30 (Norwegian time – 3.30am UK) to undertake this journey, I wish I could adopt this position on a plane. But I think those days are past.
This is the job… You find some time to do a bit of research, write it up, hope someone reads it. You go to as many conferences as your limited travel budget will stretch to, you network a bit, you publish a book and try to promote it. You eventually get invited to some other conference where you meet a nice Catalan academic who works in Norway and you write a proposal and eventually get an invite to do the work and suddenly you’re quite big in Scandinavia (or at least, among a very select audience of Scandinavians). It’s quite hard work sometimes but it’s probably better than being, say, a traffic warden.
The first time I came here, in September 2010, I developed an opinion that this might be the world’s most spectacular city – see this pic on my Flickr site for further evidence – and I have seen nothing this time to change my mind. If only things were half the price that they were, because this country sure makes you pay to enjoy its beauty.
Air travel is not a mode of transport designed to deliver many pleasures, but there is a beauty to being above the clouds and seeing them tinged by the setting sun.
The story behind this place is such a long and difficult one to tell – North & Hodson’s book Build a Bonfire will give you the first part, doubtless someone will write the second instalment one day. Suffice it to say that as a Brighton fan making my inaugural visit here this afternoon, when I first entered it, I cried. Just a little bit.
Today’s result: Brighton & Hove Albion 2, Barnsley 0. We won’t mention the failure of Southern rail to get me and a few thousand other fans back to Brighton because of a ‘staff shortage’. I mean, it’s not like they knew we were coming.
I grew up in the South of England but left 20 years ago and don’t tend to come back if I can help it. This place, however, is the one exception. Sometimes I wish they would swap it with Blackpool – the one carbuncle on the face of the North – then all the really good places would be up there and all the naff places down South, But it’s probably better this way round. However, a warning – there are plans to build some huge ‘observation tower’ in front of the ruined West Pier. Remember, if there is anything cool and beautiful, someone, somewhere, is planning to fuck it up.
Bonfire Night (remember, remember, the 5th November) is England’s one genuine nationally-observed folk festival, and even then we are in danger of letting it be usurped by Halloween, which is (in its commercial form) an alien import. But let’s face it, it’s just fun to burn big piles of flammable things. There’ll be a guard on this to make sure it doesn’t get lit tonight, I bet.
I know if I keep repeating it too long this ‘golden light, golden colours’ theme might start to get a little wearing. But surely we can’t sustain this for much longer, so let’s make the most of it while it lasts.
