h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah, Kentish Town remains defiant. Some quite close shaves though, Anne missed the blast at Kings' Cross by ten minutes, and the bus that got blown up is one that pgj-associate Gerry gets once a week.

To be perfectly honest, though, if that is the best Al Queda can do, it isn't very impressive. Yeah, bad if you have just been blown up or bereaved, but if you compare it to New York or Madrid, it wasn't all that. Although a lot of it is to do with just how London *is*, or whatever. We had the Irish trying to blow us up for twenty five years, so you kinda get used to it, and the emergency services were for real proper impressive.

Other than that, printing t shirts almost literally round the clock, to get stock ready for the companys festival debut next Wednesday. Loads of filming today, as well.

yeah, blowing up london would be a daunting task, at which many have indeed failed. america doesn't have the history yet to build up that kind of defiance, what with the advantage of having an ocean between us and most of the people who want to kill us. you can imagine the reaction if some subway over here had gotten bombed. though it would probably be a great release of tension for some people... i mean, it's got to happen, sometime. meanwhile the orange alerts and security measures and interrogations or whatever must be working. it's kind of like that tiger repellant joke. (i don't see any tigers around, do you?)

as for me, the chicago trip is on, as i basically let heather bully me into it even after i raised the question of whether it was really worth it to drive through the night and get 10 hours of sleep in 3 days just to see the decemberists (actually i am going to see the decemberists, will oldham, andrew bird and prefuse 73 plus a ton of other hip acts. so it's kind of worth it. it'd be even more worth it if i didn't have to put up with heather). and of course she doesn't have the no-sleep problem because she can't drive, so, as lenna phrased it 'it's all peaches & cream up the *ss for her'. yet i caved. so the only way for me to save face now is to have a great time, and i intend to. i'm not even going to drop her off somewhere in south chicago and drive away, not even if she chooses to bait and abuse me for the whole trip. ah yes. heather. we do go back.

Yeah, most Londoners have family members that lived through the Blitz, and all of us over 25 can remember the IRA blowing up a ton of stuff in the 80's and 90's. Last Thursday is old news already here, everything is back to normal, market busy, trains and buses all packed. They will certainly have to do better than that to get my attention.

Just in the latter stages of getting the Guilfest stock ready. Getting nervous now. I think the company will do ok, but one can't help worry. Between Gerry and I we are taking over a thousand shirts and three thousand badges. We couldn't find a proper marquee, so we have what can only be described as a very large Wendy house. There are sundry minor things to be ironed out, but we have a clear day between setting up and the festival starting, and the event is very close to the town centre, so we will be able forage for additional stuff we need. It does remind me of ages ago when we were preparing to trade at Camden. I have various targets I want to hit sales-wise, but really I just want to see how the company will perform in front of a new audience.

Ah you and Heather. I have never really fathomed what exactly the relationship was there.

me and heather: friends in high school because nobody else liked us, and we didn't really like each other. now she's basically a sister to me, out of habit and history. i don't quite fathom it myself... except that if i abandoned her she'd have nobody, at least nobody worth a damn. obviously not the kind of relationship that forms between healthy people with self esteem.

not sure what you're describing with 'Wendy house.' but will look forward to hearing the results of guilfest. sounds exciting. i am so envious of anybody who's got anything going on. i need to break free, but am too spiritually anemic. meanwhile i'll wear some pgj apparel to the festival.

Ah yes, I thought 'Wendy house' might be too culturally specific. It's like a sort of playhouse kids might have. It's a tent which looks like a house, basically.

Have been very tired today; it has been a pretty stressful week or so what with work and such, I think it finally caught up with me today. Did some printing, have a load of stuff to do tomorrow, but have run out of vinyl *again* so, rather frustratingly, I have nothing to cut designs on. And I appear to have acquired a charming but rather too young (at 14) admirer. Have to be a bit careful how one handles these things. It has been a very long time since I was 14, and I tend to forget what a raging mass of frustrated hormonal activity a person is at that age. I have a couple of these, actually, although she is the youngest. I always make sure I mention Anne as much as possible, just so as I am absolutely not seen to be leading them on. Like I wanna get fresh with an adolescent. Shudder. But they are all nice people, at least.

So how come no-one liked Heather at high school? I have kinda gathered over the years that you were a bit withdrawn there.

underage groupies. cool. you're on your way to becoming some kind of rockstar of fashion. dangerous waters indeed.
i can only hypothesize what others think/thought of heather, i have too much personal experience with her. plus i am a bit turned against her at the moment because she showed me her btch-face the other day and it was extremely disturbing and melted my skin off. but, a few things are probably apparent to the casual observer: obsessive, neurotic, immature, overbearing, self-righteous, disproportionate sense of grievance, i could go on and already have... she's always been the sort of person who scares people away, probably for good reason. or maybe it's just because she's overweight. i don't know. at any rate, not possessed of the winningest combination of traits. and under stress she's a real btch. she'd probably say the same about me.
fck, i spent forever writing that.

Just checking in, waiting for the transport to arrive to take us to Guildfest. Am quite nervous: worrying that I don't have enough stock, or too much, or the wrong lines, blah blah. There are potential pitfalls ahead, but fingers crossed and all that. If nothing else, it's good drill training for doing festivals in a big way next year. Was let down very badly (again) by my badge supplier, so I short of 1500 badges, which would do well there. Might be able to rescue it, and am on the case. But I suppose what you learn from this is that there is *always* something that will go wrong. Ha, we don't even know if all the bits for the marquee/Wendy house are present and correct, which will be a very poor turn of events. But Gerry and I get on well, and in fact have an excellent working relationship which I am keen to pursue. And we are due a stroke of luck, as the run up to this event has been dogged with problems and minor disasters.

From the miniscule exposure I have had to Heather via the occasional trawl through JL, I would have concocted much the same list as you. But, I dunno, most people are like that to a greater or lesser degree.

Not sure when I'll be in next. At the latest, Monday, but there will probably be netweb facilities at this event.

shame about the badges. i too would expect them to do well, there's just something about the badge format. fashionability, for one. do you get a good profit for that kind of thing? cheap to make, or not? anyway.. come to think of it, i really must get my own set of those.
you make a good point about heather vs. everyone... who does have a proportionate sense of grievance? and who can deal humanely with people? sure as hell not me. anyway. i guess i'll be out of touch for the weekend, too. hooray for adventure. may we all return victorious.

Well, here I am back again. Back again on Monday, actually, but basically too shell shocked by what was ultimately a pretty severe defeat to post. Basically, we were stitched up with a horrible pitch miles away from anywhere; people who could actually find the stall liked it and on the whole bought stuff. But they just couldn't get to us. So, although we live to fight another day, not a day like that one. Gerry is pretty much bankrupt as a result: his stuff does not sell particularly well anywhere. However, we have regrouped and have a handle on the situation. It's going to be tough tough tough for the rest of the year, but as far as pgj is concerned, I can more or less stabilise the situation.

On a personal level, however, it was hugely enjoyable. I had a whale of a time throughout, and if nothing else we have cemented a good working relationship for the print company, should we decide to press on with it. Five days in a 14 x 14 tent while losing a lot of cash in an already pressurised situation tends to make or break a relationship. And having a bloody film crew poking around got a bit old very quickly. Mostly, they just filmed us playing football in front of the stall. Band wise, the Pogues were the highlight for me. They played the Turkish Song of The Damned, one of my fave tunes of thiers. Not sure if you are familiar.

Pip has swung to our aid, giving us a free rail on his pitches at three upcoming festivals, in return for general help. Which you need - festivals are very hard work. I was absolutely shattered on Monday and Tuesday, I suppose as a result of coming down from all the adrenaline and all the hard work we put in in the three weeks leading up to the thing. All that said, though, if we *could* do a summer of festivals next year, and make them pay, it *would* be the greatest job in the world. We would just sit in front of the stall until 2 in the morning, and passers-by would give us drugs. In the morning, they would give us booze. Great. And two seperate females said I was gorgeous. Which can't be bad. Gerry had a bit of a fling with a steward.

Badges always do well. And yes, there is a good markup (ie profit) on them, although being a very cheap retail price you have to be turning them over pretty quick.

Read about your adventures on JL. Glad that turned out ok. I suppose both of us could have come out a sight worse on our seperate jaunts.

yeah... sorry the festival was a disappointment on the financial level, but at least you had a decent time while losing money, as you said. my situation was somewhat the opposite, in terms of the *actual purpose* for the trip. for me, that purpose was to venture out and enjoy music, and in that i was successful, because the music was, as i said, great, plus there was the added surreal enjoyment of spending 2 days lying on the ground in extreme heat, surrounded by a lot of people who were all weird in more or less the same fashionable way. and even the 2+ days with heather went ok most of the time, though we couldn't, of course, avoid having a huge fight the last night. too bad you're not on heather's friend list or you could read her side of the story. gripping stuff. i am referred to throughout as 'the driver'.
so how much longer is that film crew around for? are they following you for the whole year? i'm sure you've told me this already.
also, no, i don't know the Turkish Song of the Damned. sounds great though. was there a lot of music at the festival too? er..was it a music festival? Intonation (the name of the festival where i was, in chicago) also had a pretty cool little vendor area where people had a weird array of stuff for sale, handmade jewelry, shirts, cuddly pillows shaped like dogsht, and kind of a record fair... but i guess i missed what Guilfest was actually all about.
well, i say we resume our respective weeks of post-festival taking-it-easy. glad you have some kind of a plan for what's next, i sure as hell never do. though i will be spending the next month or so fixing up a piano we got for free from a church, might ultimately make a couple K profit on it if we're lucky. just for practice really, and a further expenditure of time...

Yes, Guilfest is a music festival, in Guildford. Hence, 'Guilfest', you see.

The telly crew are, I think, pretty much finished now. They are sending a photographer to Camden tomorrow to take pictures of me.

As you have probably not noticed, everyone's trying to blow us up again. Four suicide bombers had a go yesterday, but in each case only the detonators went off, while the explosives themselves failed to catch. Which was pretty lucky, really. One of them was shot dead at Stockwell station this morning, complete with a load of explosives strapped under his shirt. Yesterday, I was stranded at Brixton, south of the river, as one of the bombers was at Oval. Another at Hammersmith, one at Warren Street, and one on a bus in Hackney. I changed from the Northern Line to the Victoria Line at Warren Street a couple of hours beforehand, on my way south from Kentish Town. Why not download a tube map and trace my journey for extra activity points?

Anyway, after being searched twice by police I retired to a pub in Clapham and got drunked with Dave. Typical London response, really: after all the houses were evacuated in Shepherd's Bush Road (in Hammersmith), there was a huge street party. And this is why it is pretty futile trying to unhinge London. Don't believe any of the 'City of Terror' headlines you may read: yeah, it's a city of people wondering how long it will take them to get home from work, but that's about it. Mind you, it doesn't help us much at the markets, as a horrific showing at Spitalfields today. Camden quiet as well, according to the traders I spoke to. It all adds to what is a very trying time for those of us in the market trading community. Things are getting tighter for pgj with, it would appear, every passing hour.

Hooray. Am at a World Music and Dance Festival in Reading for the next few days, with some reservations, as per JL. Hi ho.

yeah, i've been kept pretty up to date on your bombings. our college radio has ABC news breaks every so often. and if there's one thing the news stays on top of, it's bombings. bad stuff. i thought it was pretty strange that they all failed; that particular cell must have had a bad recipe. our turn again soon, i suppose.
not much happening here. have been avoiding the internet because i haven't really felt like talking to heather; had an aunt in town for the weekend; have started rebuilding a 6ft grand piano, vintage 1918 or so, which we got for free from a church; went on a long bike ride with lenna. at the moment i'm missing my daily Three Stooges so i'd better check in with you later.

Just popped in to say I went to the Big Chill festival, and it was fantastic, trade wise and just generally fantastic-wise. Have the V Festival, then Leeds Carling, then the Isle of Wight coming up in the next few weeks. At this moment in time, I love my life. Off to Norfolk with Anne in a bit for a short break, then back at Camden at the weekend.

yeah, i was glad to read in your LJ that you'd had a good time at the fests. hope you're getting a good rest, and that you continue to enjoy smashing success. all the festival trading sounds like an awesome time, i'm quite jealous.
i'm still just trying halfheartedly to pin down a crappy job. had an interview at a farmers bank 10 miles out of town yesterday, a position i'm not at all confident i will be offered, which is fine by me. though the commute would be scenic.

Just popped in between festivals to assure you that I am still alive and well. Everything very busy. Off to this:

http://www.vfestival.com/vfestival/pages/index.cfm

in Chelmsford tomorrow, and then this:

http://www.leedsfestival.com/displayPage_leeds.asp?PageID=453

pretty much straight after. So forgive me not being around too much - it's nothing personal, of course, and I miss our exchanges. I'll try and get some photards of these festivals to send you.

Blah blah anyway, hope all's well. Will be back and in full effect in about ten days.

i forgive you very much, of course.. i'm hardly in here anyway since i've been toting my computer around with me and using it for writing rather than internet, which is probably a small lifestyle improvement. in the old days when i only had one room i just tended to remain plugged in. the funny thing is, the less regularly you and i are communicating, the better our lives are probably going, coinicidentally speaking. that's the nature of internet-based correspondences. at least until wireless connections go everywhere so that we could theoretically be out enjoying productive, active lives AND in front of the computer at the same time...yadda yadda.
i'm not making any outrageous claims about the productivity and activity of my life, by any means, but being away from the internet is generally a good sign.
but yes, all is pretty much well.
saw a reairing of West Ham beating Blackburne (or whoever the Rovers are) the other day, which was fun and novel for me. we can't actually watch live UK football here, except on pay per view, which is sort of a shame but probably makes little difference in the end.

one hell of a festival lineup there... send SFA my sincerest regards if you see them. while you're at it, sell them some shirts.

Whoo. Yes, I think I once made a comment, years ago, that essentially our entire relationship was born of having nothing better to do. Which is a little cold, but you catch my drift.

Anyway. V was pretty good, not fantastic business wise, but good enough. Saw Oasis, who were brilliant in a huge open air kareoke sort of way, the Streets, who were wicked but a bit out of place, Franz Ferdinand, mental awesome, and my current loves, the Kaiser Chiefs. They were brilliant, and I Predict A Riot *is* teh ogm song of the summer evar!!!11!! Not sure if you would have heard of the latter two, but I will include some in the next bundle of stuff I send over. Go here: http://www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk/media_music.php and check out I Predict A Riot and Everyday I Love You Less And Less. Been dancing to loads of drum n bass over this festival season, too, it is my music of choice for after trading. What with the gallons of vodka and coke and that.

Debuted a new shirt at V, Wasps/Droids, which recieved warm enough approval. Getting plenty of ideas for new stuff, though, and I have to say that I'm only now becoming aware of what the company could do, if I can keep the bootleggers at bay. To my amazement, people *really* like the stuff. I'm kind of used to it at Camden, but at Big Chill on the last night, as we were tearing up the dance floor to a half hour Beastie Boys dub mix the genius of a dj did, every twentieth person had griefjunkie product on. Like, I was getting hugged all the time and people kept buying us stuff. It's very nice, I felt very special. People seem to have great affection for the company, and I find it very moving.

Anyway. I hope all continues to be well with you. I am just finishing some stock off for Leeds Carling, where I shall be until next Monday, when I start enacting the new Grand Plan for world domination.

i think i've heard of the Kaiser Chiefs. but only enough that the name rings a bell. you know how it is.
meanwhile, new orleans finally got hit with the big one, as you may have heard. i've been feeling guilty because i'm sure i could have stopped the hurricane if i'd been there. and as per LJ, am just generally down due to that and sleep deprivation and whatever else. though the sleep study (to determine if i have sleep apnea or some such disorder...currently awaiting the report) was kind of amusing. spent an hour having electrodes glued to my head, and was then told to go to sleep. surreal.