Julian Assange Extradition trial.

On recent visit to london to see Prime Minister's Questions I heard on the radio that Julian Assange was to be Fancing a trial headed by 7 judges at the supreme court that day. Naturally I figured something was going to be going down so as it was just a hop across the road I thought i'd have a look.

 

The crowds were by no means overwhelming, it was a cold day though. A few policeman and a gaggle of foreign reporters clutching at any bit of information that they can gather from the public before deciding that it was too cold and blowy before bailing out to the pub is all that you can see. Incidently my hands went numb 5 minutes into this drawing so considering that I'm rather pleased with the results

Union march bristol

More cuts to the public sector sees a lot of people facing redundancy. Naturally this gets the unions up in arms so mass rallies are held in  most major cities around the UK.

Bristol's rally heads from college green, round boldwin street (past the banks) towards castle park.

 

Unite flags en-mass. 

 The rally ends in Castle Park with speakers in the pavilion.

Occupy London

Protesters try to occupy the London stock exchange in a bid to highlight excessive bonuses given to bankers but their attempt is stopped by police and they end up setting camp next door on the grounds of St Paul's cathedral. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise as the church finds themselves unable to use force to evict them and couldn't say that they disagreed with the movements ideals. Lets call it a crisis of conscience.

 

The movement is inspired by the occupy Wallstreet movement in America. Many famous faces stop by to give speeches.

 

there's a free speech stage for anyone that wants to share their view and lots of information about what they are doing.

St Pauls Carnival

Here are a few drawings I did of St Pauls carnival in 2011 before having a good old dance.

This sound system was Called Negus Melody, I stayed here most of the night. You wouldn't believe the bass.

These people are dancing a t the Instrument of Jah soundsystem

 

looking down City road you can see system after sytem. I had the impression that as you walk from the heart of st Pauls through the carnival toward city road and eventully Cheltenham road the music and demographic turns progressively from largely Caribbean with reggae and ragga and that sort of thing to largely white K heads with dubstep and drum and bass and is on the whole less social. doesn't that say it all? On the whole I think this event is great event for st Pauls to show what its got and long may it continue!

Spanish revolution

Now its the turn of the Spaniards. A movement starting in spain spreads across the world with people occupying spaces in various cities to highlight the injustices created by our polictical systems. If you're thinking that it sounds a bit vague then well yes it was, but by god those spanish do it with passion. It so happens the Bristol Acampada was situated right behind the coffee shop where I work.

They were pleasant people but by the end of a long stint camping out in Bristol city center the camp was deserted leaving it to a handful of British conspiracy nuts. To their credit they knew when to quit whilst they were ahead and even if it didnt put an end to injustice they certainly showed that a protest can last a fair time if you treat the space you occupy with respect.

Telepathic Heights eviction

Do you remember the day of the Royal wedding? I do for it was the day that Telepathic Heights actually did get evicted. One thing to note is that there was a massive police presence yet there was no riot resulting from it. One of the ways people justified the riots was by saying that it was the police presence that made them do it, deteching themselves from responsibility. You always have the choice to not throw a brick or taunt the police. On this occasion the police and the public were getting along just fine.

Ready to go!

Right! I know i haven't been updating but i have been using someone else's scanner which was a bit of a hassle but now i have my own! so expect updates as soon as I get back from the events. There's a bit of a backlog so ill have to upload some fairly quickly but much to show including a dabble into the world of court drawing!.

stay tuned...