Halo tyres

my bike now has white halo tyres. It looks like a chav in white trainers.

cycling

Today i cycled 28 Poker Face - Lady gaga. Yes a new measurement: what it means is that i listened to this song 28 times during cycling today - the song is 4 minutes long so if we multiply 28 x 4 then we get 112 minutes of cycling.

My arms hurt more than my legs and i blame the pulling on the handle bars when i lift my body to cycle up the hills or accelerate. Physical pain sometimes feels good as it takes over the emotional pain,, so hooray for the arms that hurt.

Anyway, I discovered another interesting looking cafe
http://www.2and4.co.uk/

another link:
http://itswhereyourat.blogspot.com/2009/06/2-cafe-and-design-shop-southgate-road.html

but i did not stop as i was racing (against myself)...i made it home within 38 minutes - from work to home. Which is good time especially as there were bits i had to slow down and also because within the 38 minutes there was a 2 minute phone call so that’s 36 mins! not bad not bad! this is a better time than getting the tube!zooooom!

anyway, here is another nice cafe
http://www.macondo.co.uk/
i was shown this on saturday and thought to paste the link here so i can find it again.... nice

The aim is not so much to be read, but to be written.

close my eyes and start anew.

Smash EDO demo

i went to Brighton for the anti-arms demo. I got bruises as a souvenir from the cops. Marie got killed cycling there.

G8 2007- Germany

So i decided to go to Germany for the G8. I travelled alone but i knew i would meet in germany some lovely RoR people. During my traveling i also met a hippy reiki guy and his girlfriend. We decided to travel together as train tickets in Germany are cheap if bought as a group...

Wednesday 6th June 2007.

G8 Heiligendamm.

Thousands of people marched through the fields to the east gate (gate 2) where the road and the rail track were both successfully blockaded for 2 days and 2 nights. There was no violence even though the blockade was right at the fence and it soon turned into a friendly peaceful festival. A small group from Rhythms of Resistance and the Clown Army entertained the blockaders while they transformed the space between the blockaders and the riot police into a space of frivolity and humour.

7 helicopters landed in a row by the field but surprisingly some protestors started walking towards them with peace flags and balloons. The helicopters unloaded some more riot police and took off continuing their circular flights around the area. Police on horses was also by the nearby field without intervening.

Apparently the water cannons were initially unable to reach the blockade by the east gate due to another blockade a few meters away.

The locals were keen to support the blockades with supplies. The Police, though, warned them that they were associated and equipping an illegal act but this did not seem to stop their generous supplies.

After the first day of the blockade, magically food, blankets, toilets, water and soap appeared. the material that was used by the police to keep protestors on one side was turned into hammocks. The soundsystem from Queeruption, metal bands and Rhythms of Resistance supplied the music and all was kept pleasantly peaceful.

The East Gate blockade (also called the Peace blockade) had the concept of total non-violence and no barricades using objects; just people. And it seemed to work well…

Things were not as peaceful at the blockade at the West Gate. There, the water cannons were in full effect, but even with that the blockade held well for quite a long time as hundreds of people from the East Gate blockade marched to the west gate to reinforce the west gate blockade.

The east blockade was very successful as the gate was kept blockaded for over 48 hours. But it left a few puzzled. Was the East gate a stage for the Police’s public relations with the media while other protesters were brutally beaten up? Or was the Police plainly unable to control all the blockades happening at the same time with thousands of people?

Location: germany

Art and Activism - Athens

7th June 2006

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2006/aa/

My visit in Greece coincided with the Art and Activism Caravan’s visit so I decided to join the Samba workshops as fellow Rhythms of Resistance sambistas were spreading creative activism and samba to rebellious Greeks.

I arrived in Athens at 3 am and headed to the Villa Amalias squat. A squat going on for 14 years! I wandered around for quite a few hours with my backpack and repinique (a small drum), (and a stray dog keeping me company) as instructions of where the squat was, were…well…not that accurate! I finally found it: a huge building on a corner! The walls full of graffiti and posters; I peeped through the little hole in the door – a huge yard but no one to be seen. I had a nap outside where I also found out that a 10-inch repinique can easily hold my weight and act as a comfortable chair!

Finally when I woke up I spotted a guy getting in the squat. I followed him and asked if he knew where the Caravan was. He directed me to the Polytechnic University– now when I think of greek polytechnics the first thought in my head is the 17th November 1973 events when the junta police drove a tank in the university killing students. I remembered all the chants the students were shouting back then – it was in our school curriculum: “edo Polytechnio, edo Polytechnio”… I started walking towards the university chanting “psomi pedia eleftheria” (bread, education, freedom) while also wondering if I could find the caravan as university campuses can be massive.

At around 12 noon I walked in the University yard. The Caravan was at the corner with a few people sitting in the shadow next to it. A Greek girl was making a huge orange saying “Boycott Israeli goods”. On the building walls there were hundreds of graffiti against authority and hierarchy. On the red wall there was a Rhythms of Resistance graffiti, with a little cross on a spelling error. I smiled and had a chat with the guys. They were planning a samba workshop in the afternoon and welcomed my offer to join in and help.

15 people who surprisingly were able to play the tunes after only a few workshops and at the same time smoke a cigarette and chat on the phone (this was part of student culture I was assured), attended the samba workshop. The students were all enjoying the samba and enthusiastically screamed that now they were too samba addicts!

After the workshop we all went to the university cafeteria. There was a strike and the university was squated by the students (due to their disagreement to the government’s decision to support private universities) and the staff at the university cafeteria where serving lunch for free. That was a good strike! Over a generous and tasty mixed vegetable dish I discussed their thoughts on creative activism: the students all thought drumming could be a beneficial addition to their protests but also pointed out that tactical frivolity could be misunderstood by other Greeks. Some of them pointed out that it was important to show they were very serious about issues and did not want to give the impression that they were fooling around or taking things lightly by making it look like they were having fun. They wanted their chants to be heard out clearly and loudly. But they all wanted drumming and samba to be part of their protests too.

The students decided that they wanted to play samba on the big protest on the 8th June 2006. We agreed to meet at 11 am to practice and then head to Propylaia (where the protest would begin).


student demo in greece
8th June 2006: The Protest

I arrived at the University and joined the samba practice. At 12:30 we went to Propylaia where thousands of people started gathering for the protest. While we were playing samba journalists were maniacally interviewing people and taking pictures – people were openly graffiti-ing walls and pavements – stencils against the commercialization of education and against the government. It was going to be big. We decided to leave the instruments when the march started as the students warned us that the protest was going to be a tough one: and they were right.

By Syndagma, the police (MAT : the ones with gas masks, tear gas and clubs and shields) attacked the protestors. There was blood and tear gas. Students and professors were crying in pain, still linking arms forming a strong chain of thousands of people. Some protestors were grabbed and beaten up. I was not ready for this. I had nothing to protect me from the violence and the chemicals. I lifted my t-shirt to cover my nose but this did not help. My eyes were burning. My throat was burning; even my skin. Tear gas was evil! I started spitting hoping it would help my throat. I found myself in a war zone: molotovs, chemicals, tear gas. People were running. Even police men (not equipped with gas masks) had the terrified face of not being able to breathe. I realised that once again I left my asthma inhaler behind. This was nasty. No street medics, no water. Shop keepers, old ladies, kiosk people, office workers in their suits were caught in it too. Everyone caughing, crying, running. One of the chants “to potami den girizi piso” (the river doesnot flow backwards) echoed in my head, as every single demonstrator was shouting it out.

There was the black bloc, the communist bloc and the student bloc. I joined the student bloc or as they called it “the polytechnic bloc”. After hours of tears and pain the students I was with, decided to get to the polytechnic – police is not allowed to enter the polytechnic or any university in Greece. We ran while some people were smashing bank, cars and shops. A mercedes car was set on fire. There was a blockade outside the university of burning skips. A fire started on the road and the firefighters in the middle of MAT and the angry molotov warriors, were trying to put it out. I went in the university through the side gate. Thousands of students were gathered with white faces. They were using a malox and water mixture on their eyes to ease the pain from the chemicals. They looked like the “choros” of a Greek tragedy. There was a call for a meeting. I stayed with the Caravan people for a bit but then decided to see what was going on outside. It was around 7pm and there were still molotov wars. I sneaked out of the university and was surprised to see that life was going on as usual on the parallel street: youngsters in internet cafes playing war games, men in kebab shops having a chat. I bought some beer even though I do not usually drink it! I just needed a drink!

The people at the Squat Villa Amalias were having a performance in the night: a greek play. Although tempted to join them to wind down after the eventful day, I decided to dedicate a few hours trying to wash the chemicals and tear gas off me.

On that night, I watched the news on TV. Surprisingly mainstream media spoke of the unnecessary police violence – this was because the police attacked a journalist too. There was a talk show with “innocent office workers who were attacked by the police” Mainstream media was interested in the black bloc, the burnt mercedes, the molotovs and the police. It was also said that the government wanted to stop having Universities as places where police cannot enter, which was a very scary thought – would the events of 1973 happen again? Ok may be without a tank, but seeing the violence today, I would not be surprised of students brutally being killed.

Location: Athens