Welcome to this weblog
Hi, I'm Esther Wilson. When the ´óÏó´«Ã½ invited me to be part of their Free Thinking Festival. I thought, great! A chance to see some good bands, a few bevies, bit of camping.. But it wasn’t that sort of a festival. Doh! This festival is about new ideas, tackling questions relevant to where humanity is at (sounds a bit hmmmm?….know what I mean?) But hang about.
Questions like ‘Who does technology put in charge?’ ‘Will science shape our future?’ and ‘How are we to live?’ Sound exciting? Guess what? It’s going to take place in Liverpool. Get on this.
´óÏó´«Ã½ 3 and Radio Merseyside, along with a number of Liverpool organisations (FACT, John Moores University, Liverpool Culture Company…..to name but a few) have invited eminent thinkers from the world of Science, Technology & the Arts to come together for a whole weekend -3-5 November- of workshops, lectures, debates, competitions and ‘happenings’.
Why Liverpool?
Why not? It may not be a large city but it’s had a huge impact on the world stage since well (bit of shame involved here, like) forever.
How could it not with such a rich, diverse sea of people shading & colouring us? We’ve been part of quite a few ‘social & cultural revolutions’ and we’re also known for our politics, arts & passions so….as we move towards 2008….and we can feel the buzz around us on that one, what better place could there for it?
Why me?
In order to spark things off the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has invited a few of us to post regular blogs. They’ve asked people from the community, the city, the nation & the world. I’m the city blogger/blagger. I’m supposed to talk about the footie, the theatres, the café’s, the music scene, the comedy scene, the Big Issue sellers, the universities, the colleges, the community groups, the pubs, the issues, the schisms, the hopes, the fears, the unbearable scouseness of being…everything that makes up the cultural life of our city …..GASPS FOR BREATH…..as well as what I think about all of the above….so I thought; no. It’s too much for one person but…..
….I know lots of brilliant and remarkable people who live/survive in this ever changing city while doing great, inspiring things along the way. And are willing to mouth off, at every opportunity. So why don’t I just invite them to be my guests now and again?
Here is a list of my future ‘cyber-blogger-blagger’ guests. Once you get acquainted with them….I hope they make your face do odd stuff too.
A homeless bloke who is known in many respected quarters as the best percussionist/raconteur this city has ever produced (Dionysius sitting outside the bombed-out Church.)
A composer who would like to talk about links between the Liver Buildings & Shanghai’s waterfront exact replica building. What a strange time in the world for that one, eh? ‘I’m talkin’ ‘bout a revolution….’.
A singer/songwriter from a local band who has inspired visions of a modern day opera about capitalism/culture/responsibility set in and around Liverpool’s ‘bombed-out Church’ (kick the money lenders out of the temple, lid) led by a Greek chorus consisting of an alcoholic, a smack head & a prostitute.
A musician, on myspace.com, who’s created a ‘scally’ like persona, singing about Liverpool’s ‘disaffected yoof’ while getting 2 to 300 hits a day. (not only are all the ‘kids’ downloading his tunes as mobile ringtones- the major labels are in hot pursuit)
A film maker ‘healer’ who uses hand massage as a way to inspire diverse communities to merge and share. ‘ Let’s cook across the divide’ (Nigerian women) or create a ‘Reggae version of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ (three different groups of pensioners)
A drug addicted sex trade worker who has a very (theoretical) progressive, preventative way of tackling the ‘war on drugs’, in schools.
These are just a few of the guest-bloggers I think would offer radical ‘free thinking festival’ vibes. But if I know Liverpool, once word will gets around…well that’s when things should really start to get interesting.
So, once again, Liverpool portrayed as home of big mouthed blaggers who are incapable of following through.
Carlos
You are a valued contributor to the blogs. But please stop advertising your book. This is not allowed under the ´óÏó´«Ã½ charter.
You have done this before. If this carries on we will have to filter your comments. We have removed the comment. Please help us by abiding by our guidleines.
Thank you
Sorry, it won't happen again.
i hope the city gets better and stop people to litter and have a clean place