steepholm

Another walk through the People's Republic of Stokes Croft, another couple of graffitti pictures. This one has recently appeared in one of the more sheltered locations:

( Tara Very Much )

And, in a more familiar style, there's a garish temple to a grungy Santa Muerte ( here )

Finally, what is it with children's characters and illegal immigration these days? First there was poor Dora the Explorer, after her ill-advised trip to Maricopa County:



And now, Paddington Bear has turned up in Stokes Croft:



Actually, thinking about it, there is an awful lot of illegal immigration in children's books. (Yes, Lucy Pevensie, I'm looking at you!) Hmm. That may be a post for another day...

Before I trip off to dance around my own lonely Maypole-for-one, let me show you a couple of signs that I saw in the last week.

( Random signs 'n' stuff )

( Random political grumbles )

To the trained observer, signs of the recession are everywhere to be seen. Today for example I received this flyer, which suggests that estate agents are being forced to diversify into private medicine to drum up new custom.:



Seriously, I wonder how many people who actually do need a new hip will have been unaware of the relatively-new requirement for Home Information Packs, and phoned them up on the off-chance? I bet I'm not the only one to do a double take - and nowhere on the leaflet has the writer thought to explain what HIP stands for, so subdued to what they work in are the hands of estate agents.

( Meanwhile, in Stokes Croft... )

Walking to the shops through the local park this afternoon, I was drawn by the plonky-tonk sound of a piano being played by toddlers. I moved in to investigate, and what did I see?



As you will discover if you type in the url on the lid, the piano is one of 15 spread across the Bristol, as part of a city-wide installation by local artist Luke Jerram. (Click on the links at the site to view the others.) What better post-Banksy pick-me-up could there be? Graffitti is, of course, encouraged.

Before coming here, the installation had been to Sao Paulo, Sydney, London, Birmingham and, er, Bury St Edmunds. It seems like a lot of fun, but predictably has faced some difficulties on the way:

When the project was installed in Birmingham 2008, the city council financially supported the project, yet we were banned (for the usual health and safety reasons) from placing any piano on council owned ’public’ land. To enable the artwork to happen in London 2009, organisers have had to apply for individual music licences, for each piano location.

Worth the hassle? Sure. Why not contact Luke, if you want the musical fun to come your town?

ETA: And wow, turns out there's another one right in front of my favourite electricity substation!