A couple of people have been kind enough to leave nice comments after my photos of the Sultan’s Elephant in London, and asked about future dates. As far as I know, the Sultan’s Elephant will be appearing in Belgium and France later in the year:
I was discussing Final Cut Pro and video editing in general with some friends the other night. We agreed that cheesy special effects filters are no substitute for good content and editing. I always think of this video as the benchmark for subtle use of effects.
Oh, and on the subject of video, if you’ve still not seen the clip of the wrong person being mistaken for an IT pundit and interviewed live on BBC news, the video is on YouTube and also in Windows Media format.
And finally… there’s a documentary on the Sultan’s Elephant’s visit to London on BBC4 at ten past seven this evening, if you’re interested.
If you didn’t see it last night, Channel 4 News’ piece on the two reports into the July 7th bombings is well worth watching online, particularly for the interview with two of the survivors and the husband of another. Apparently the reports make no direct references to the war in Iraq (robust allied action
), which does suggest that they’re little more than whitewashes. Common sense dictates that in order to be able to take effective steps to prevent a similar act happening again, we have to know the full facts about the July 7th attacks, and what motivated the terrorists. And clearly the only way we’re going achieve that is through a public enquiry. If you agree, you can sign the petition calling for a public enquiry.
A couple of funny spoofs for you: spoof mastercard advert (possibly not safe for work), and a spoof American right-winger blog which contains the inspired Linux: A European threat to our computers post.
Not a spoof, but quite funny anyway: Tom Cruise is Nuts (although not as funny as the South Park ‘Come Out of the Closet’ episode which I downloaded recently).
After watching the spectacle of Royal De Luxe’s Sultan’s Elephant on Saturday, there was no way I was going to miss the final day. Thankfully the weather was really warm and sunny this time, so I left my brolly at home. Got to Piccadilly at about 2.30 to see the elephant, then made our way down to St. James’s Park where a large crowd had gathered around the little girl as she slept in her giant deck chair (apparently earlier in the day she’d nipped round a corner and squatted down on the road to have a pee!). The girl awoke a few minutes later, and was soon lifted to her feet to begin a walk around the park. Every now and again she’d pause to lean forward nearer to people, or to just look around.
After a bit of a stroll, the girl knelt down so that kids could take turns to swing back and forth on her arms. It’s amazing how a marionette can be made to seem so expressive, with a real look of tenderness to the girl’s face as she played with the kids.
We left the little girl still playing in the park and wandered up to Waterloo Place to have a look at the site of the spaceship landing. Unfortunately we couldn’t spot the stitched cars though, and it was getting a little too crowded to go looking (the little girl likes to sew, and had sewed a row of cars together, partly crushing them in the process, with the stitches going into the tarmac).
By now, judging by the noise and the thousands crammed into Waterloo Place, the elephant was nearby. We decided to stop to watch it on the corner where it would turn in to Pall Mall, figuring (correctly) that it would have to swing right over us to make the tight turn. The crowd roared as the elephant came into view (as did the elephant), and it slowly proceeded down Waterloo Place, spraying water as it went. The feeling when the elephant eventually passed by us was incredible; 42 tonnes of power and beauty, ears flapping, trunk constantly exploring, eyes looking around and blinking… Breathtaking. Sod the Olympics, can’t we have Royal Deluxe here every weekend?
Once the elephant had sauntered off down Pall Mall, we returned to St. James’s Park to find the little girl again. We arrived just as she was setting off up the Mall on her scooter, hands gripping the handlebars, the other leg ‘propelling’ her along the road. It was at this point that I started kicking myself for forgetting to charge up the camera batteries, as the camera decided to switch itself off. Bugger. Not sure how many photos I’d have got mind, as the little girl got up quite a speed, and we had to run to keep up with her.
The little girl met up with the Sultan’s Elephant on the Mall and dismounted her scooter, before leading the parade back down to Horse Guard’s Parade (I managed to wring one more photo out of the camera before it died again). I had a grin a mile wide! It was at this point that we found ourselves stood next to Rolf Harris, which added to the somewhat trippy feel to the day (his shoes were covered in multi-coloured paint splatters, which I rather liked).
Horse Guard’s Parade was so crowded that we could only just see the show (and again got a couple more pictures). The little girl donned a leather flying helmet and goggles and was lowered into the rocket. The top was then lowered onto the rocket as the girl sat waiting inside, and once it was in place, the elephant touched it with its trunk. I’m not too embarrassed to admit that I tears in my eyes at this point.
The rocket then ‘took off’ — big pyrotechnics and lots of smoke, then the top of the rocket was removed to reveal that the girl had vanished (I’m sure there’ll be lots of pics on Flickr). The end of a truly wonderful and unforgettable weekend. Thank you Royal de Luxe.
Was it art though? I think so; it was possibly the most spectacular man-made thing I’ve ever witnessed, and it moved me like nothing I’ve ever seen in an art gallery.
Jesus, that’s really big!
was my thought when I arrived to see the Sultan’s Elephant at Trafalgar Square at lunchtime today. Then, Jesus, and it’s sat down too!
.
Unfortunately I turned up too late to see the elephant waking the girl up with a shower, then the little girl going for a stroll and letting kids swing on her arms, but I did watch the parade make its way up Haymarket and along Piccadilly.
Words and pictures can’t really do justice to the spectacle, but I’ll list a few fitting adjectives: awesome, engaging, magical, fun, lovely, enchanting, moving, incredible, surreal, wonderful.
After taking a break to dry off, I caught up with them again at Horse Guard’s Parade, where the Elephant sprayed the crowd and the girl danced, before both settled down for the night.
I’m going back for the final day tomorrow, and if you’re in London, you’d be mad not to do the same — Royal de Luxe’s show is like nothing you’ve ever seen (well, without ’shrooms or acid anyway).
Updated to add: I’d have liked to have gone into much more detail about the Sultan’s Elephant, but by the time I’d sorted out the photos, it was already Silly O’Clock in the morning and I was utterly knackered. I also meant to mention that the day ended on a sad note, when I learned that someone I was at school with had just died of brain cancer. We weren’t really friends as such — I don’t think I’d seen him for about ten years, and I had no idea he was ill — but it came as sad and shocking news nevertheless.
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