The World’s “Biggest silent disco” was made up of only 200 people but they danced for over an hour to all the music they had on their ipods, mobile phones and other mp3 playing devices. It was very amusing. I arrived over an hour early and scouted out the area seeing where the event would be most likely to take place. As I did this I looked around, seeing which people were likely to participate. I saw two or three groups of friends, then some more. Around 1830 a lot of people were standing around and waiting. Within a few minutes more and more people were coming and you could see them all watching the clock. They saw the counter switch to 18:42 but it took ten to twenty seconds before people started dancing. My camera was ready and rolling as soon as 18:42 was on the clock. I was listening to my own music and was filming. I saw lot’s of people start dancing and laughing. I saw some individuals synchronise their music, others shared. Some came with only small earphones whilst others came with big headphones. Some of them danced in groups. Overs danced alone and many people took photographs and video. Conga lines and waves were formed as the individuals listening to their music formed into groups of people who danced the evening away under the arches of Paddington station. I filmed for fifty seven minutes and I’ve got over 300 individual shots of a variety of people dancing, interviews being carried out(I can’t be bothered with interviews and I didn’t have a mic anyway) and more. There was a small police presence but they did not intervene until the very end when some musicians started to play. The crowd loved it though. When I started editing last night was the first glimpse of how surreal the event must have been for the by-standers watching the dancers. I can hear lot’s of squeaking shoes and conversations can be heard loud and clear since there was no loud music. It’s hilarious to see such an event and when it happens again I’ll definitely participate in as many as I can. I’ve been looking at what people say about it on facebook and there are many people that I recognise from the video footage. Overall it’s a great bit of random fun at a random time on a random day and it’s great to see....
Posts tagged “culture”
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World's biggest silent disco was small — Feb 11, 2007
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World Television — Apr 23, 2023Now that I know that I can treat Netflix as an international film festival I do. Last night I watched the first episode of Crash Landing on You. A South Korean film about a woman CEO who goes for a parapente flight, gets caught in a storm, and dropped in North Korea.... -
The Contrast Between French and Swiss News — Nov 23, 2021As I struggled to find a neutral topic to write about I noticed the distinct difference between how the French and the Swiss media are speaking about the fifth wave. The swiss say that it is “pre-occupying” and that it “has won the French speaking part of Switzerland” and “no long term impact on Swiss finances.” Switzerland is not taking the pandemic seriously anymore and reminds me of England. It is denying that there is a problem and taking reactive rather than pro-active measures.... -
Netflix - Browse By Language — Apr 16, 2023Recently Netflix added a Browse by Language option which means that you can browse for content by original language. Yesterday I saw that I can browse for content in French, Italian, Polish, Korean, German and many more languages. I could list more but that’s dull. Instead I want to focus on the opportunities it opens up.... -
Google Arts & Culture — Jun 13, 2017Google Arts & Culture App...
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Burning Man 2013 - Beyond The Fire — Nov 26, 2014This is how edits are meant to be. hundreds of shots, lots of diversity and a good choice of music. You feel that the person shot a lot of material and spent quite a bit of time editing....
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La Venue De L'avenir Outdoors in Gland — Jul 3, 2025Two or three weeks ago a friend asked whether I wannted to go to the outdoor cinema so I thought “maybe” and last night I did. We went to see La Venue de L’Avenir by Cédric Klapisch.... -
Lending Libraries in the Twenty First Century — Feb 19, 2025There was a time when you got an Audible Subscription and you had access to 24 credits per year. You could choose 24 books per year. That’s a new book every two weeks. Eventually, after many years the plan and offer changed. You can now buy books from Audible, or you can borrow others from the Audlbe plus catalogue. In this manner you have access to thousands of books for “free”, as if you had a paying library membership.... -
The Platform - Thoughts — Oct 10, 2024Two nights ago I saw that Netflix was recommending that I watch The Platform 2, so I watched The Platform instead. The Platform is a Spanish film that takes place in a pit/prison. Within this prison every cell is stacked vertically and those on the first floor get first dibs on food. Those at the bottom fall victim to the greed of those on the top level. If you have not watched the film yet, stop reading now as I will include spoilers...
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The Absurdity of Driving Culture — Dec 7, 2023For a long time I thought that driving would give me freedom. I was impatient to be old enough to drive, and then I was impatient to pass my driving test. I failed the theory three times in Switzerland, zero in England, and the practical in England once, and once in Switzerland. Eventually I did pass my driving test in England, on Valentine’s day. I then drove to see the girlfriend of the time....
