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Dot in the Sky ([personal profile] dotinthesky) wrote2006-08-19 05:41 pm

The Longplayer's Lighthouse

Trinity Buoy Wharf lighthouse


Longplayer is a 1000 year long piece of music which started to play on the 1st January 2000 and will continue to play, without repetition, until the 31st December 2999, when it will come back to the point at which it began - and begin again.
- from Longplayer.org

Kevin and I went to visit the Longplayer today at the Trinity Buoy Wharf lighthouse, literally just down the road from us. We stopped by the Canary Wharf's Idea Store first so I could borrow Will Self's The Book of Dave, for a book club I just joined at work. We reached the Thames from the DLR station and followed a path past silent condos facing the river, black cranes resting on old docking rails and a bird sanctuary which was the kind of place serial killers dispose of bodies. Further on, near the lighthouse, we walked past derelict factory warehouses -- again, the kind of place where innocent gay couples could easily witness the execution of someone on the hands of the Polish mafia and never live to tell the tale. There was nobody around.

The lighthouse's door was closed so we knocked on it. An old man, who was sitting beside a radio transmitter with a fat blonde bloke, told us we could go up to the top. On the second floor, there was another table set up, with more old men and radio machines tweaking and flashing. We sat at the top of the lighthouse, watching seagulls dip and dive and, further away, just under the dark clouds, the silent Millenium Dome standing out like an expensive eye-sore. We could hear what sounded like gibberish coming out of the speakers and soon two of the radio transmitter men came up to tell us that the Longplayer had been turned down because the lighthouse was being used for their club: they were in the process of sending morse code to other lighthouses across the globe as part of an exercise they routinely perform there. We took leaflets and made plans to come back on the first Sunday of the next month, a day when the lighthouse is open for the public and the Longplayer can be heard in its full glory.

Just before we headed home, we went into Fatboy's Diner, a bizarre piece of 50s Americana resting just by the dock's wayside, as if a tornado had dropped it there after crossing the Atlantic. I ordered fries with coke and Kevin had a go at their burger. The jukebox on our table hadn't changed its songs since 1989. If I had a token, I would have played Roxette's "The Look".

[identity profile] live-life-like.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Roxette?

uhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha....


omg!
have i told you i love you!?

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Many many times... and the same can be said for me. :-)

[identity profile] live-life-like.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
yay!!

[identity profile] idioticpoet.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
cool diner.
I see you ordered fries, but I'm wondering, did their menu include pancakes?
-the reason I'm asking is because, You once told me something about how you long(ed?) for pancakes.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh man! I forgot to look! But no, I don't think they had it (or if they did, it was only for breakfasts)... yeah, good North American pancakes are hard to find. I imagine you must be a pro in making them. ;-)

[identity profile] vilia64.livejournal.com 2006-08-21 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Pancakes are an artform, my friend. Those who appreciate that art are alright in my book. :)

[identity profile] idioticpoet.livejournal.com 2006-08-23 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
They're edible.
I like topping them with a maple orange rum sauce.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-23 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmmm... that sounds great! I've never heard of it though. Is it a type of maple bought ready-made, or something you put together?

[identity profile] idioticpoet.livejournal.com 2006-08-24 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
It's something that I make.

2 parts Orange Juice (as low pulp as possible) to 1 part rum.
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-combine the above ingredients, frequently stirring WITH A WOODEN SPOON, simmer on med-high heat in a wide, shallow pan until volume is reduced by half (or until syrupy consistency is achieved). allow to cool at room and incorporate into 1 1/2 parts real maple syrup.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-24 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! That sounds divine.

[identity profile] idioticpoet.livejournal.com 2006-08-24 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
oh, use a dark rum, preferably captain morgan or something similar.

[identity profile] kevyn-kronycles.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Roxette's The Look is an awesome song!

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
You must be cold-hearted not to love that song.

[identity profile] dilvsy.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
that lighthouse sounds cool!

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't wait to hear the song. It's apparently made of recordings gathered from ship transmissions, interweaved together and added on top of previous sounds. Brian Eno is one of the people involved in the project.

[identity profile] dilvsy.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
that sounds so cool, i never even knew about this, until you posted!

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't know until today, when Kevin bugged me to go there with him.

[identity profile] la-magarita.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Que louco!!! 1000 anos de musica sem parar! KKKKK

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-19 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Pois eh. Nenhum de nos vai estar aqui para ouvir o final...

[identity profile] naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 09:25 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, I had no idea Longplayer existed either. That's so totally cool. There must be so much weird stuff like that in London that I don't know about. It's sad, really.

Especially given how near to that Lighthouse I work.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 11:25 am (UTC)(link)
We should go there sometime. I was thinking that Fatboy's Diner would be a perfect place for a weekend lunch excursion (more for the novelty factor than for the food -- plus it's cheap). Burgers, milkshakes, french fries... plus the river and the lighthouse.

[identity profile] naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounds absolutely sublime. We should do it. :D

Also, are you interested in anything at FrightFest next weekend?

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I heard it was all sold out. :-(

[identity profile] sparkx.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 10:10 am (UTC)(link)
Isn't Trinity Buoy Wharf excellent? Casp and I wanted to live there in one of the containers but none are available. I find that it's like an isolated culture down there, whenever we've visited wonderful weird exhibits and parties have been taking place.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 11:27 am (UTC)(link)
It's very weird! I only noticed the container-homes when we were leaving. We eavesdropped a conversation between the owner of Fatboy's Diner and a regular: he was saying that he worked for an American circus and, if it weren't for the diner, he would have to walk quite far to get any food. I suppose that's the downside of living somewhere so isolated.

[identity profile] msanthropist.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 02:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm frightened for you, Ollie. Do not venture there alone. Sounds like ~ (gulp!) Pod People!!! RUN AWAY!

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2006-08-20 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I would never venture there alone! It's a truly creepy area of town.