source: thamesfestival.org
just to let you know about an exciting event at the london thames festival. some musicians will be turning water movements into sound waves under the name of ‘flood tide’. it’s taking place on saturday 12 september 2009, 2-4pm, somewhere around london bridge city pier!
image source: water secrets blog
the thames festival is approaching quickly and, with it, a weboceansite full of thames-related questionnaires. most of the questionnaires deal with what people enjoy about their river and what else they would like to be offered around it. as a part-time inhabitant of the river, the mermaid wonders if something is missing in those forms. as the developers of those webocean gatherings are looking for feed-back, the mermaid is happy to provide some from a river user’s perspective.
first of all, the problem with these kinds of surveys is that they only allow for a very limited choice of answers, so the data can only bring a very distorted picture. for instance, the question about getting the boat to work does not consider at all whether it would be practicable for that particular person to use the boat at all. a similar problem appears when one is asked whether the river is underused or overused. i’d say it totally depends on for what and in what way the thames is used: noisy boats, sailing boats, drinking water generation, waste dumping, sports, house boats all qualify as possible uses. however, i cannot express that the river might be overused for the ‘wrong things’ and underused for the ‘right things’. the mermaid thinks that a balance should be considered between what is good for the life in the river as well as on the river and around it. maybe we can attempt a sort of symbiosis?
also, none of the questionnaires ask you what kind of events/sports/restaurants etc you would like to see on the thames. certainly, the mermaid would appreciate homely, less expensive places with lots of interesting stuff to discover (water themed charity shops?) and less of a ‘clone riverside’ with shops and restaurants you find all over the city or the world. but judging by how humans put a price on certain types of land, this is probably fairly utopian.
the mermaid would also like to see more swimming facilities and regular events about the evolving state of the river and its floating, swimming, slithering, crawling wildlife and not-so-wild-life (plants, the sludgy stuff at the bottom). information and events around how to get involved in giving the latter a hand in its healthy proliferation (the emphasis is on healthy, after the mermaid one got caught in an uncomfortably large field of algae, albeit not in the thames) would also be appreciated. some of the river’s mermaids would probably volunteer some stories for this – and not only to children. in fact, the mermaid is puzzled that landfolk seem to think that education is just for the young ones. no wonder the planet is in such a bad shape! in fact, the mermaid knows many humans who would love to know more about this mysterious big body of water that runs for miles through their home. how cold is it? how polluted is it? who or what lives in or on it? does the thames tweet like one of its bridges that tells you when it goes up and down? etc. besides, most real mermaids would be far too scary for children, at least according to landfolk sensibilities.
ah, and also, river and water related art and music events would be appreciated as mermaids tend to like that kind of stuff. the mermaid has also found that they provide a good way of communicating river knowledge to adult landfolk.
back to the bottom now…
source: examiner.com
one of the lifeguards of tooting bec lido whose name the mermaid believes in harry intends to swim the channel in order to raise funds for the training of guide dogs to enable blind landfolk to get about (the mermaid likes the concept of having companion animals or companion humans – we have a similar thing under water, too!). so if you’re going for a swim at tooting bec and have some spare coins, check out the sponsorship list at the ticket booth!
the mermaid was chilling at tooting bec lido today and suddenly spotted a poster for an event called the great swim. of course, when back in her pond, she had to consult the webocean to check what this was all about. lots of landfolk taking to the open waters of the mermaid’s home, the murky thames? of course, the mermaid has to join in! the funny thing is that wetsuits are compulsory – apparently, natural blubber isn’t enough – so the mermaid has to find one in time for the event. what a bizarre thing to look for – for a sea creature anyway…
the mermaid has just heard of a webocean site that tells helps landfolk to make better choices about the kind of merfolk they are eating. it’s called seafood watch. the mermaid thinks that seafood watch needs a team of blue or green clad creatures to make it qualify for a television series so that the cause attracts more attention!
image source: xjkenny/deviantart
anyway, if you are uncertain about what sea creatures to eat, please check out their guide!
there are also a number of other sites like this one for different lands and waters, for instance, the marine stewardship council, the marine conservation society’s fish online and you can even sign up to the sea food alliance’s ‘afishianado’ e-bulletin (that name even makes a mermaid groan!) .
source: wikipedia
the mermaid got sent an intivation to participate in the musical (?) performance of a poem called ‘the rime of the ancient mariner’. apparently, the southbank centre is still looking for some poetically inclined land- and merfolk to creatively advertise the event. here is what they are looking for:
“we would like to create a procession of singers to learn one, possibly two, pieces and to process around the site heralding the start of each show. the idea is that you would be singing and handing out wedding invitations as you process along the route. Some members of [the music group] bellowhead may be marching and playing with you and like the pied piper will draw crowds to the show.”
if you feel like joining the maritime wedding in this way, please e-mail voicelab@southbankcentre.co.uk and put YES I CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE ANCIENT MARINERS PROCESSION in the subject line. the event takes place on the 4 july 2009 – at 12 pm and again at 3 pm.
source: beam
the mermaid is pleased to hear (thanks, stephen!) that in the town whose waters she used to reside in for some years, now houses a fantastically aquatic exhibition. ryumei fujiki’s aqua-scape travelled all the way from tokyo to the wilds of wakefield in the north of england. details about the exhibition can be found here.
source: la times
the mermaid recently found an article about a human who orientates himself with the help of echolocation. now, prior to reading this article, the mermaid only knew about people like dolphins or bats to use this. and maybe andrew bailey. the only ‘proper’ human use of echolocation she was aware of was sonar which she is quite worried about. after all, it tends to provide great discomfort to herself and some of her fellow water creatures, sometimes even resulting in death.
the mermaid is pleased that some humans are campaigning for ’silent oceans’, but according to this article, little is being done about this from an official side. the mermaid agrees: ‘dolphin-friendly nuclear submarines anyone?’
maybe the mermaid should get some scientists and musicians together to do an acoustic demonstration of the effects of sonar. a sort of evil twin of the wetsounds project…
the mermaid thanks everyone for coming! and big thanks to jonathan for giving us the vaults of the foundry! here are some pictures from last night:
plant life
jellyfish themed sweets from osaka aquarium
action shot!
>)))D
the world ocean day 2009 compilation is now out!
tracklisting:
cos chapman – splash
freya black – fish magic
keshco – porthminster pickle
mouth for rusty – joyful under water
kevin zelnio – the ballad of the inarticulate brachiopod
pete um – the blueblack/sea disco/half-cut aquabots/i don’t want to be a sailor
now – water/shore
notebook of a mermaid – light without light/uzu no michi/the pumproom (now cover)
strong city records – the enchanted isles
available at world ocean day sound/art @ the foundry, london, uk or via post!
