Robert Hampton

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22nd April 2012

On y va!
Posted by at 7.43pm | Liverpool | 1 response

Photo of Sea Odyssey Banner at St George's HallWhen I first read of the plans for the Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular, I was sceptical. These big set-piece events cost a lot of money and effort, but do they have any lasting impact?

My cynicism was increased further when Merseytravel published a list of bus diversions which ran to 12 pages, but could have been succinctly summarised as, “if you use a bus, you’re in trouble”. Was it worth causing this level of disruption to the normal life of the city?

As it turned out, yes it was.

For the uninitiated, The Sea Odyssey is a show based on the story of three giants: a little girl, her dog, and her uncle (a diver) who end up roaming the city in search of each other before finally being reunited. The giants are extremely sophisticated marionettes, animated by a squad of talented French performance artists who operate numerous ropes and pulleys to make the giants move. The show has been developed and designed specifically for Liverpool’s streets, and is a one-time-only event.

What set Sea Odyssey aside was the sheer scale of it. The Guardian previewed the event and noted that “Sea Odyssey will be – the Olympics aside – the largest outdoor event staged in the country this year.”

It started on Friday with events centred around Stanley Park in the north of the city, but I was in work so missed out. I took advantage of my lunch break, however, to stroll down to the Albert Dock, where one of the giants – the Diver Uncle – sat in the water, waiting…

Photo of Diver Giant waiting in Dock

He was due to wake up at 2pm, but I was expected back at the office by then, and to miss even a second at my desk would violate my strong work ethic (stop laughing, you).

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7th August 2011

Liverpool Pride in Tweets

Liverpool Pride 2011 logoYesterday was Liverpool Pride 2011 which I attended with my friends Scott, Andrew and Jamie. It was an amazing day and a fun time was had by all. It was great that the event was able ahead despite budget shortfalls and an enforced change of location.

I was going to do a full write up of the day, but my heat-of-the-moment Tweets from yesterday seem to capture the atmosphere quite well, so they are reproduced below for posterity.

10.33am: Why is there no “Straight Pride”?

11.01am: Sufficiently disorganised that I managed to leave the house without my phone. Quick dash back and I’ve missed the train I wanted to get.

11.33am: Crowds are gathering! #liverpoolpride

Photo of people assembling outside St George's Hall

12.05pm: And we’re under way! #liverpoolpride

Liverpool Pride marchers get under way

12.14pm: #liverpoolpride

Photo of Liverpool Pride marchers

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16th December 2007

Liverpool Nativity
Posted by at 11.16pm | Liverpool, Television | No responses

Ooh, that were good. Sound seemed a bit dodgy in places, but when you’re performing live on a Mersey Ferry, these things can be forgiven I think. Less forgivable were Onslow‘s attempts at singing, but never mind; it was great to see Liverpool as a backdrop to a highly-publicised show like this.

Best of all, the plot revolved around the perfect red-rag-to-a-bull phrase — “asylum seeker” — meaning that the letters pages of the Liverpool Echo and the phone lines of the Roger Phillips phone in will be red hot for weeks with moaning pensioners. It’s political correctness gone mad!

Anyway, after four and a half-years of crap, BBC Three has finally produced something worthwhile. If you missed it, try to catch the repeat on BBC One on December 23rd and again on BBC Three on Christmas Day.