dan burgess // all life is an experiment

derek does glastonbury

i thought this competition from Orange was brilliant, put together by the smart folk at Poke, using the unpredictable nature of a real life, large farm animal as the focus of the idea is genius.

i played it twice and only went and bloody won! yes! i've never won a competition in my life, apart from a spelling prize when i was 6, it was a tennis ball i think?

i shall be going with my kids, it will be the first time in many years i don't go as a performer. oh yes indeed, a performer, that's what the ticket used to say. i would grace the turntables on the Radio 1 stage on the thursday night for several years and a number of shifty soundsytems over the weekend.

This year will be very different, i'm very excited by the prospect of an alternative Glastonbury experience as i take Findley to his first festival, seeing (interesting in itself) other sides of this truly marvellous event. Anyway, nice one Derek, your position last thursday at 3pm was spot on.

the wooden walking man

Image332.jpg, originally uploaded by Dan Solo.

he's everywhere in the peaks. and he's different on every footpath sign, sometimes a bit heftier, sometimes with a club like foot, often ambling along and sometimes taking big strides. here's some different flavours of the wooden man. who makes him? is he different intentionally? or is it down to an ancient stencil used for many centuries to make the wodden walking man?

Regardless, what he communicates is consistent, (walk this way) but the fact that he's slightly different each time, makes him much more interesting.

it would be fun if we could tweak signs in urban environments a little. make them a touch unique to their location.

so here's the second post in succession about rural vs. city observations. i shall probably do another at some point soon. i'm looking forward to hearing dan's country musings when he moves.

country rules

i was in the Peak District at the weekend. wonderful walks in vast green open spaces, cleared my foggy mind. I find it brilliant that people sell things randomly outside their homes in more rural areas and there's an unspoken trust and etiquette, take what you want, leave the money in the pot. it's not about making cash, but covering costs, sharing produce, thinking local. this would be cool in the city, it would be interesting to see what different households in a street might sell, if it might lead to more connections within local communities. i'm sure i could shift some cake. unfortunately it would no doubt be abused. Could you leave a box of coins on your doorstep? Would people take something and leave money?
I bought some beans back, i'm hoping they'll grow into magic beanstalks.

the streets are paved with, er, fridges and hoovers..

stuff, stuff everywhere. what do we do with it? leave it for someone else to deal with? this fridge still had food in it.
this hoover looked, well, absolutely fine.

i'm noticing more random objects left on the street. where does it go? who takes them? consume, throw out, consume, throw out, aaaaaaahhh. i wonder if someone like comet could do a pick up and recylce scheme. i found a flickr group called homeless fridges though