Recently spent a while looking at the Situationists, Dérive and projects like Random GPS.
I know there's been some interest in the crackyverse for Urbexing, and the occasional pilgrimage. Would anybody be interested in a semi-directed tour through Oxford at some point in the future?
I think if we were to start off at one of the significant locations and use a tool like http://www.brokencitylab.org/drift/ to move about we'd have a fun time. Since Crackyfolk are largely unfamiliar with eachother in real life, the combination of company and wandering through a semi-familiar landscape would be a really interesting experience.
Perhaps we could discover something of the psychogeography of a cracky chan in learning how she moves about the town (subjectively and figuratively of course). Or maybe we'd just lark around in Oxford and get lost a bit and have some lunch and go home.
There was a beautiful late night cinema just up the road, and a two-level pub that served pitchers of beer instead of pints. Both are probably gone, now.
>discover something of the psychogeography of a cracky chan
That you will, if you do this. Oxford's winding, brick walled backstreets are liminal spaces, easy to get lost in ourselves. The architecture of some of the colleges are steeped in real, genuine, working magic. Have a lunchtime calzone at Cafe Cocos, and then work the route up to The Eagle via The Bear, that will pretty much take in the city. Then taxi to the field and cracky's old house, you'll be done by dinner time. I recommend Browns, back up by The Eagle, affordable decent old fashioned English resturant with the best cocktail bar, also affordable.
Wish, you've had a good idea!
Anonymous
>>194 Is that the Phoenix Picture House? I've just taken a quick look and they do films at 23:30 on Saturday nights.
If we pick the right time we can do this too http://www.oxfordrooms.co.uk/
Yes indeed, The Phoenix. Good to see they revived it. I saw Eraserhead there for the first time: we went in blind, came out disturbed, it was awesome.
Also, that's a really good idea for accomodation if we're travelling cross country, as the alternative is expensive four or five star hotels in the centre of the city. Obviously don't believe the Dreaming Spires sales guff, the rooms are like all college accomodation i.e. a combination of soiled and monk's cell, but the colleges themselves are very beautiful when there are no students in them, for sure.
Summer? Oxford terms are 8 weeks, so that would probably mean July-Sept for the college rooms.
Anonymous
>>201 I usually end up staying in youth hostels, but the price isn't much more for the college rooms. Summer is best, but it's so far away.
The problem with Oxford is that it's geographically in a dip, which means it amplifies shitty winter/spring weather.
I remember travelling up by coach from London, it was a beautiful spring day in the Capital, and we were quite invigorated. We crossed the county border into Oxfordshire on the motorway and drove directly into a heavy rainstorm that lasted for a week. It became a joke that we knew when we'd crossed into Oxford without looking at the roadsigns, we could tell by the jarring weather blanket that wrapped around the motorway.
when it goes grey, it stays that way for ages. Oxford in the summer however, is quite magical. Typically it's when the students are turfed out, which is very unfair on them. Nice place to visit, not too cheery to actually reside there. It didn't suprise me at all to find out The Sky Queen manifested herself in The Dip. Shame about the cheap new buildings in the alleyway she took the streetlamp photos in, but they shouldn't detract from a wander at the wonder of it all.
Anonymous
>>203 The river runs through it, never having wet it. The spring breeze passes through it, never having entered. There is no place to put the great heart of compassion.
