View Full Version : Brixton Electric (Ritzy) Winterlights Switch-On
IntoStella
03-12-2003, 15:30
I saw the most extraordinary sight earlier.
At the Brixton Road/Coldharbour Lane crossroads was waiting that Victorian-style horse-drawn hearse that you see occasionally -- a very high, glass sided black carriage with the drivers in black frock coats and hats and two perfectly matched jet black horses with long black plumes on their heads, looking as though they have just driven up out of the underworld. Amazing.
And coming across the road at the crossing directly in front of them is a gaggle of stiltwalkers -- two of them costumed to look as though they were riding extremely unruly, huge pink flamingoes. They had been going around doing this comical emu-style routine but fortunately spotted the horses in time, as one of them was looking pretty spooked. Anyway, it was one of those jaw dropping Brixton moments.
As for the Electric-sponsored Winterlights thingy, as well as street walkers, jugglers (where is NVP when you need him?) and kids' entertainers, they have got some sort of special guest in Windrush Square and are switching the lights on at 6.30. I dare say I shall pop out to see it.
But I really can't understand why they didn't do it at the weekend. Seems odd to do it on a Wednesday, especially as Weds is Brixton's comparatively dead early closing day. Also, I had no idea this was going on until I was accosted by jugglers earlier, so it doesn't seem to have been very well publicised. :confused:
Richard Blackwood and Curtis Walker are the switcher-on-ers and then there's free wine in The Fridge.
Kick off 6pm. :)
Minnie_the_Minx
03-12-2003, 15:49
didn't Hatboy or Hatter mention it yesterday?
Personally, I think Brixton's Christmas lights are a pretty poor display. Half of them probably won't be working by the time Christmas comes and why they even bother to put anything up Acre Lane is a mystery. Either do them properly or don't bother.
:o ;) :D
(starts digging a hole)
Those funerals are good though (if you know what I mean) - with the Dixie bands
IntoStella
03-12-2003, 15:57
There's some sort of sound system thingy out there now <hmmmm, too many years in the Anna Key Ivory Tower of Leclair* Flute Sonatas, methinks...> Whatever it is, AK would certainly call it ''wretched pop music''.
I live right by Windrush so it's a good thing I wasn't planning on a nap.
(*Impossibly obscure French Baroque composer, in case anyone wondered. :rolleyes: )
Minnie_the_Minx
03-12-2003, 16:11
Originally posted by IntoStella
I live right by Windrush so it's a good thing I wasn't planning on a nap.
Bit early to be napping innit:rolleyes: :D
saw the stiltwalkers milling around the bus stops and getting some bemused/scared looks from some of the kids. Can we have them everyday please for pure entertainment value...
lang rabbie
03-12-2003, 16:22
Originally posted by IntoStella
Leclair* (*Impossibly obscure French Baroque composer, in case anyone wondered. :rolleyes: )
Not totally obscure - although he is only remembered for being murdered! (http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2002/Oct02/Leclair.htm)
See also unusual musical deaths (http://member.melbpc.org.au/~tonkit/tonmus/death.html)
Candidate for a biopic? "Tous les matins du monde" meets "Sunset Boulevard" would be my pitch.
avenginangel
03-12-2003, 22:24
does anyone know how to get hold of any circus-type acts, should the need ever arise...
miss minnie
04-12-2003, 00:18
i usually find the best way to get hold of a circus act is by flinging a rope around the stilts. acrobats are usually caught with a net and mimes with an invisible box. ;)
academia
04-12-2003, 02:34
Originally posted by avenginangel
does anyone know how to get hold of any circus-type acts, should the need ever arise...
How do you kill a circus troupe?
Go for the juggler
:)
tarannau
04-12-2003, 06:59
Bugger. I was wondering when then lights would finally be switched on.
And then I read this and find out that it was yesterday, just a stone's throw away from my house.
Thanks for the notice eh Lambeth. Marvellous marketing and publicity as ever. Will have to wait till next year to see Rasta Santa again. Bah...
:(
Anyone see the lights/get a chance to egg Blackwood?
There wasn't a Rasta Santa or any other sort :( No carols either:(
A band called Big Brothers did a song, and all the young uns enjoyed that, so that was good. And when same band switched the lights on, nobody could be sure whether they'd actually come on, given their relative paucity round Windrush.
But the Library looked brilliant lit up blue.
That's about it, really.
IntoStella
04-12-2003, 10:11
Originally posted by lang rabbie
Not totally obscure - although he is only remembered for being murdered!Yeah yeah, we can all use google. :p :D
You won't find him anywhere on Chillout Classics Volume 10, anyway.
IntoStella
04-12-2003, 10:26
Originally posted by pooka
There wasn't a Rasta Santa or any other sort :( No carols either:( You were hiding from me, weren't you?! :p I looked all round the square for familiar faces and saw dum dum, Mike and Mrs Raverdrew, but not you. Or were you up the front, screaming at the band? ;)
You were hiding from me, weren't you?!
Nooo - I too looked around around and found some familiar faces but not all the ones I expected. And no, fortunately I wasn't near the front, in the vicinity of the publicly peeing lady! Muddy shoes is one thing................
Oddly enough, I was walking down Acre Lane earlier just as the horse drawn hearse was driving through - so we must have been opposite sides of the street. Small town....
IntoStella
04-12-2003, 11:11
Originally posted by pooka
And no, fortunately I wasn't near the front, in the vicinity of the publicly peeing lady! Oh lordy, not her again -- the one who hitches up her skirt and pees standing up? Oh dear. Given the high police presence, I'm surprised she wasn't carted off, especially given that it was meant to be a family event. :eek: Originally posted by pooka
Oddly enough, I was walking down Acre Lane earlier just as the horse drawn hearse was driving through - so we must have been opposite sides of the street. Small town.... Could the fates be trying to tell us something?? ;)
Oh god, what a palava. No Rasta Santa this year, no Patrick and acrobats. But...... Big Brovaz! They were fun and a surprise. Hilarious that they didn't know whether the lights had come on or not, but as Pooka said the floodlit library looked excellent.
Then we all got pissed at the Fridge. :)
Oh lordy, not her again -- the one who hitches up her skirt and pees standing up? Oh dear. Given the high police presence, I'm surprised she wasn't carted off, especially given that it was meant to be a family event.
She did! I thought the posse of burly policemen descending on the corner of the field at teh end of the performance were after Big Bothers'/Brovas' autographs ;) - but no, it was Brixton's own, live manequin pis, our ow version of the statue-people in Covent Garden perhaps. Electric? Creative? I'll say ;)
IntoStella
04-12-2003, 11:45
Perhaps her performance could be incorporated into the Tate Gardens fountain? It would be appropriate somehow.
PS I now realise that you must have been hiding behind Hatboy, who in turn must have been hiding behind the stiltwalkers. :p
It's "Big Brovaz" dear! :)
http://www.jjc2uk.com/BB/pictures/big%20brovaz%20Nuflow.jpg
Brixton Hatter
05-12-2003, 12:54
Well I got a letter from the Brixton forum when i got home last night - inviting me to the light switching on!!! A day late! :rolleyes: :(
Anna Key
05-12-2003, 15:15
Originally posted by Brixton Hatter
Well I got a letter from the Brixton forum when i got home last night - inviting me to the light switching on!!! A day late! :rolleyes: :(
So did I! As did a businessman friend on Coldharbour Lane. So you were the only one. The words "piss up " and "brewery" come to mind...
Brixton Hatter
05-12-2003, 15:28
yes - and we missed the piss up! (Although it was in the fridge, not the brewery :D )
Originally posted by Brixton Hatter
Well I got a letter from the Brixton forum when i got home last night - inviting me to the light switching on!!! A day late!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So did I! As did a businessman friend on Coldharbour Lane. So you were the only one. The words "piss up " and "brewery" come to mind... says anna key...
now now leave poor brixton forum alone, they're awfully good sorts don't yer know and can't help anything the council's doing!!! bless..... :)
f'rinstance, they are successfully using our money to subsidise xmas decorations for commercial premises. isn't that sweet!!!
;)
Can we do anything to get more coloured floods? The library looks great. But why no coloured floodlights on the KFC facade, St Mathews, above Mcdonalds and the town hall? It would have been easy. Why didn't B'Electric do it?
IntoStella
14-12-2003, 11:50
They've got ones that change colour in Croydon! It's like being in one big Croydon-shaped fibre optic lamp!
Fenian is correct.The Council through the Forum are subsidising the "entertainment" sector to promote Brixton as a happening place.U would have thought the "entertainment" sector could have coughed up some of their own money and put some lights up.
The lack of lights is due to the fact that the Council bought them second hand years ago.They used to disappear because people climbed up the lamp posts and took them home.They have gradually got less over the years.I agree with Minnie the Minx on this.I think they are looking straggly this year.
Looks like it was worth going for the Big Brovaz they all look fit;)
Originally posted by Buzz sw9
BuzzSW9 (dave) [/B]
So this is the new Borg BuzzSW9:D How many are of u are their now?
Originally posted by Gramsci
Looks like it was worth going for the Big Brovaz they all look fit;)
...but why couldn't they get suga babes?
:D
squidlet
15-12-2003, 00:03
Originally posted by Gramsci
The lack of lights is due to the fact that the Council bought them second hand years ago.They used to disappear because people climbed up the lamp posts and took them home.They have gradually got less over the years.I agree with Minnie the Minx on this.I think they are looking straggly this year.
I remember hearing a while ago that the current crop were Blackpool rejects, bought about 8 - 10 years ago after the previous lot were nicked / lost. It's that irritating flashing star that I really can't stand. There are some interesting extra-terrestial type globes floating down the Elephant end of Walworth Rd
And here's how Christmas used to look in Brixton - it makes the current offering look rather miserly, doesn't it?
Christmas, Electric Lane 1908
http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/siteimages/pic06/medium/05239.jpg
IntoStella
15-12-2003, 10:06
Originally posted by Buzz sw9
I take it from your post that English isn’t your first language *Choke*
Buzzsw9, I have noticed that quite a few people are irritated by your confusing setup but they tolerate it nonetheless. If you are going to be rude and patronising, as above, I think you'll find that they will soon become a lot less tolerant. It's all getting a bit attention-seeking, if you ask me. If your other selves aren't even capable of setting up and posting under their own identity then I'm dubious as to what they can contribute to the boards.
I've said it's OK. But, the Buzz's, just do it and stop going on about it. Well see how that goes for awhile. If it's a problem you may need to register the Buzz household separately.
It's OK for now, but no more going on about it. I believe Gramsci was asking a lighthearted question which didn't require a humouless half a page of an answer.
:)
Originally posted by Buzz sw9
If you can think of a better way please let us know. Log out, clear your cookies and register each member individually with their own user name.
Originally posted by editor
Log out, clear your cookies
Drink your milk and off to bed.
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