Evolve gills or drown trying!

Rain, rain, rain, rain and rain with more rain forecast.  Probably time to wave goodbye to places like Keynsham out on the Avon flood plain but hey, as long as the rail line to Bath stays above the water level who'll notice?  Meanwhile my bender out in the woods is coping surprisingly well.

Begging in Bristol

The Post has published not one but two articles in the last few days reporting homeless charities urging people not to give money to beggars.  As one of the 80 homeless people cited in the article I'm in two minds about this.

Free - to squat again!

The police have dropped all charges against me and the other five people arrested in Broadmead on 27 October - YAY!

Brrrrr - Spent my first night in my bender in the first frost of the year

I thought it was a bit chilly but was still surprised to wake up and find it was all icy outside.  Anyway I did manage to get some decent sleep in my bender.  Just as well it was clear and cold really as I don't think it's rainproof yet and I'd rather be cold than wet.

Stormy Bristol

Wow did it piss down yesterday - I was out-and-about in it and it was great!

Sleep pattern confusion

For the last few days I've been sleeping pretty much all day and wide-awake at night.  Annoying but kind of useful for poking around places at night looking for stuff.

GoCycleTour of Bristol docks

Yesterday I did a tour round Bristol docks led by Graison Hill of GoCycleTours.  It was excellent and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting a quick and meaningful introduction to Bristol's fascinating history.

Anarcho religious meeting confusion

7.30pm 26 November at Kebele they're holding a discussion night on anarchism and religion - at least according to Bristol Indymedia.  I'd definitely avoid any discussion about that on the internets so won't be going on the night.

Facebook revolutionaries hit Bristol

I dunno about Facebook.  Given recent experiences with the cops (getting accused of being a domestic extremist, asked about the mobile phone burners and so on) I'm reluctant to join a facebook group called "global revolution Bristol" under my real name.

Israel Palestine protest today - very secret and short notice!

Ho hmmm yet again the left in Bristol call a demo and don't let anyone know - and guess where it's going to be?

Saturday. 1st December midday on College Green - Defend Our NHS

Advance notice of Bristol's next lefty demo - you won't read about this anywhere else, it's top secret with no advance publicity other than a strictly limited edition of badly written flyers being handed out.

Secret anti-austerity demo in Bristol 5pm today opposite the Hippodrome

I just found out about this.  It's not technically a secret but Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance (or BADACA to their friends) haven't publicised it so no-one will turn up.

Looking for empty properties

Out on a walk round Easton looking for empties to squat earlier today.  The change in law has had a big impact, good potential commercial squats are harder to find and harder to get into.

Bristol's finest soup kitchens

I'm between squats at the moment so with no cooker, washing facilities, utensils or fridge I haven't been skip diving so much.  Instead I've been hitting the homeless cafes and soup runs.

My Victoriana HELL!

Just as well we got evicted from the Bonmarche shop on Broadmead as the strip outside is now occupied by the tackiest Christmas market on the planet.  Bristol is a Georgian city and this psuedo-Victorian tat is arse-clenchingly awful.

Hello, Avon and Somerset's finest!

I got told today by a couple of plod they read this blog.  Anyway, we've now got our computers, mobile phones and whatnot back from the police as apparently we're not domestic extremists just smell a bit funny.

Stuff left behind by the tide on the River Avon

A fire-extinguisher (still charged), several odd trainers, three yellow plastic ducks, two toy boats, one real boat, trees, several soft toys, and a full can of beer.

Housekeeping

Various random bits and bobs.

Yay - we can get our phones and computers back from the police

The police have agreed to hand all our phones and presumably other stuff back.  Yippee!

Bristol squatters visit Gremlin Alley, Cardiff

Gremlin Alley is a squatted cinema on City Road in Cardiff.  We drove up on a visit on Saturday, 3 November 2012.  It's a good crew who've occupied the place and they deserve lots of support.

Bristol squatters visit Yorkley Court land squat

Yorkley Court's land squat's been going for about five months.  They've set up homes in unused buildings, started growing food, raised pigs and are making a good go of it with local support.

Finally I get a wash - what could possibly go wrong?

It's been a week-and-a-half since I last had a wash and boy am I starting to hum.  Not as bad as P's knock out socks of course - they nearly had to evacuate Southmead police station when he took his shoes off.  So finally I'm round at a friend's last night and get a bath.

Grinding along

With no base, rain, possessions everywhere, no where to wash clothes, people meeting here and there to pass on info, rain, no blanket last night, finding food, no pushbike, wind and rain it's all a bit of a grind at the moment.

Above the Free Shop

I've spent the last few nights in the rooms above the Free Shop.  Overall the project is failing and probably won't be turned round.  It's a good idea and the people involved are good at heart but there are a couple of reasons why I don't want to be associated with it.

Too much tat

I'm trying to get my stuff down to - roughly - a backpack's worth.  It's difficult though - what to get rid of?

BHAM meeting Monday, 29 October 2012

Not much to say. 

Meth forecast

What happens in America usually turns up in the UK sooner or later.  The place has had raging methamphetamine use for the last decade - now it's our turn.

Cops, Squatters and Zombies!

In the last few days I've been stopped and searched as a domestic extremist, arrested, illegally evicted from our new squat in Broadmead, surrounded by 5000 zombies and am now camped up in the Free Shop.

Be quiet in Bristol today

I didn't get a minute of sleep last night so am distinctly GRUMPY so just SHUT UP, ok?

Wow - check out the Cube gallery on Park Row

Ok it's not on Park Row it's on Perry Road but anyway toddle up that way next time you're in town and check out the paintings on display they're awesome.

What did people do before electricity?

Gather round a smoky fire not saying much, probably.  At least that's what we've been doing for the last couple of nights.

In the Kings Arms

No gas, no electric, no running water and a hole in the roof you could drop a caravan through.  Oh - and the last lot of squatters didn't do much tidying up, that's for sure.

Eviction day today

We're all tatted down and ready to move.  Bailiffs have a bit of a track record of being late but we'll leave by mid-afternoon even if they don't show.  We're going to be camping up in a semi-derelict building in central Bristol 'till we work out what to do.

Squat Crack Fail

Oh poo.  We tried everything to get into a building last night but had to retreat defeated.  We're getting evicted from our luxury squat at midday tomorrow and at the time of writing have nowhere to go.

Squat Tech

Squatting back in the early 1990s we were high tech with an old Spectrum, a black and white telly and a geek with a computer screen strapped to his face.  Nowadays we have notepads, internet dongles and mobile phones.  This makes a big a difference both practically and psychologically.

WTF is a "showcase walking route"?

Bristol's launched a walking strategy.  Be warned, whoever did the design work for the PDF has over colour saturated the piccies so it all looks horribly 1970s.  The walking strategy comprises creating five showcase walking routes.  Obviously I'm not the sort of loser who's actually going to read the document to find out what these are.

Bailiff date midday Monday, 22 October

Hey we got three weeks out of this place - more than we expected - and it's been lovely.  But now we've got a definite bailiff appointment so it's time to move on.

Cops and Squatters

Relations between police and squatters can be difficult on both sides.  Currently the police are lurking around the Bristol squat scene digging for info.

Love of money, etc

I'm down to one pence in my wallet!

No bailiff date yet

I popped into the Bristol County Court this afternoon and was told no date has yet been set for bailiffs to come and evict us from our squat.

BHAM meeting Monday, 15 October 2012

BHAM's been kicked out of the Emporium so the meeting was in the Free Shop next door.  Executive summary: not much happened.

Re-squat surprise

Our old squat has been re-taken by some travellers.  Who are steadily finding out how long it takes to fill a large basement with water from a broken pipe.  Oops!

Gost Log at the Arnolfini mostly crap

The current main exhibition at the Arnolfini - Gost Log by Matti Braun - is mostly crap.  The handout is TL:DR.  The only good bit is a cut up tree in a room full of water.

Eat burgers to save the Emporium

I bow to no-one for my love of lentils but the current proposal to convert the Emporium into an organic, vegan, GM-free food collective is sticking in my craw somewhat.

Bristol's crap anarchists attacked our squat!

Not when we were in - but back a couple of years ago when it was being used as a Lloyds TSB private bank.

Friday gossip roundup

Various titbits of gossip from Bristol's pallid underbelly today.  It turns out W. wasn't dragged out of the free shop and driven away by gangsters.  A shame as it could have solved an otherwise awkward situation re. the stolen bikes that keep turning up.  A friend of W's was driven off by gangsters last night but from a different address, something to do with a ket deal gone hilariously wrong.  C. - who asked to move in with us but seems to have changed his mind and is trying the nightshelter - new on the squat scene had blagged a night in the free shop but ended up in the place that got gangstered.

Last chance to catch Ded Posh at the Emporium

Ded Posh's graffiti show finishes at the Emporium today, 2pm to 7pm.

annoyances #1 - students

Squatters are cool as fuck.  We can't help it, we just are.  Yeah - and anyone who wants to say different can say it into the iridium flame lenses of my Oakleys.

oh noooooooes - we're being evicted!

Oh well, this place was never going to last long.  Today Lloyds TSB got a possession order from the County Court.  We're now trying to find out roughly when the bailiffs will be coming so we can clear out first.  Chances are it'll be after the weekend, sometimes it takes a fortnight or so but probably they'll be quicker on this building.

Court today

10.00am at the County Court in Redcliffe.  Lloyds TSB are going for full possession forthwith for our building.  We'll be attempting a proportionality defence - it won't do much good but might get us an extra fortnight.

H. on BCFM Friday Drivetime

H. from our squat will be interviewed on Tony Gosling's Friday Drivetime radio show on BCFM.  The show is at 5 - 7pm on 12th October on 93.2fm.

Free food

Since moving to Clifton we're pretty much living out of the Waitrose bins.  Breakfast was marmite on toast, lunch was peppered sausage sandwiches and the late dinner was a range of cheeses with wine followed by chocolate brownies and cream for pudding.

Looking at empty buildings

Phew - it feels like I walked all over Bristol today.  Really just a stroll around town and then out to Bedminster.  Lots of possible empties.

No Housing Benefit for people under 25?

The Tories have said they are looking at cutting HB for people under 25 almost entirely.  This is a terrible idea.

Four days to find the next squat

"Best Squat Evah!" is in court next Thursday so we're all out looking for the next place. Earlier tonight I checked out some seriously posh places near where we are in Clifton, Bristol. One might be possible - there are boards at the back only screwed in place.