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Glastonbury 2007 pt1: the build-up

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JTG said:
bollox, less time to slack off if I'm on first shift then :(

we're being encouraged to wear fancy dress on our first shift with a theme of climate change. What should I be?

A giant dreaded poo.
 
Ok, I am increasingly thinking I'm going to lose some of my party (or, one in particular), and as it's likely our phones will be out of operation for large amounts of the festival I'm thinking it might be smart to invest in some walkie talkies.

Trouble is, I know shit all about walkie talkies. Any suggestions anyone :confused:
 
I may have made some flippant half true remarks but you have known me long enough (ish) now to know i tend to not do stupid things or endanger myself, apart from the badger incident life with me is safe and usually my sense of direction is good! :D
 
I'm not worried about you killing yourself for fuck's sake, just losing you at 1pm on Wednesday and not finding you again until September.

One of the points in going to Glasto with mates is that you experience at least some of it together!
 
But ANYWAYS its been forever since i've urbaned, finishing university kind of got in the way, lol but i am BEYOND excited...it all seems so big! Oooh it's going to be FUN :D
 
Have a fixed, standing arrangement to meet at x pm (an easy to remember, on-the-hour time), every day, at the Cider Bus, or similar obvious landmark, if your phones really aren't working ... :confused:

<reminded of the good old days before the mobile era in Glastonburys gone by :p >
 
Diana said:
I think you're wrong. Not that it matters to me but my friends always get there as it opens, and they don't know about the 8am thing!

Maybe more people should know!

The Official Site said:
Gates open at 8.00am on Wednesday 20th, with camping fields, markets and performance fields accessible at that time. Smaller venues open on Thursday 21st, and the main stages kick off on Friday morning, finally closing midnight on Sunday 24th. Once gates open on Wednesday, they remain open 24 hours a day until the site closes to the public at 5.00pm on Monday 25th.

Thanks, Lord C. I had a minor paranoia attack about this last night when so many people were reacting surprisedly to the 8 am thing, but I was fairly sure I was right really ...

Bloody early though -- good job I'll be in the area already :)
 
William, for your piece of mind, the 8am has been publicised for a while :D

I still haven't managed to find out though from any TOS infomods whether the gate opening time is just pedestrian or both car & pedestrian. I'm hoping that it will be around 7am for vehicles, or maybe even earlier.
 
Lord Camomile said:
Ok, I am increasingly thinking I'm going to lose some of my party (or, one in particular), and as it's likely our phones will be out of operation for large amounts of the festival I'm thinking it might be smart to invest in some walkie talkies.

Trouble is, I know shit all about walkie talkies. Any suggestions anyone :confused:

spend your money on another battery for your phone.

Cheap walkie talkies are rubbish, low range and very prone to interference. Good ones have powerful transmitters, so they have big, heavy batteries, which they eat their way through. Even good ones aren't as reliable as a phone, the layout of the site means there are a lot of places they don't work properly.
 
William of Walworth said:
Have a fixed, standing arrangement to meet at x pm (an easy to remember, on-the-hour time), every day, at the Cider Bus, or similar obvious landmark, if your phones really aren't working ... :confused:

<reminded of the good old days before the mobile era in Glastonburys gone by :p >


much easier to rely on serendipidy, if the universe wants you to meet up you will, if not you'll do something else :)
 
newbie said:
spend your money on another battery for your phone.

Cheap walkie talkies are rubbish, low range and very prone to interference. Good ones have powerful transmitters, so they have big, heavy batteries, which they eat their way through. Even good ones aren't as reliable as a phone, the layout of the site means there are a lot of places they don't work properly.

This is not entirely, or even mostly, true. I've taken a bunch of cheap two-ways to Glasto the last few years (it helps that I sell and hire them for a living!) and found them quite useful.

The trick is to avoid the UK/European "PMR446" licence-free ones, because although these work, lots and lots of people use them, and the airwaves get crowded. I have bunch of US-spec GMRS radios, which can be bought very cheaply off Ebay, and have more power. They will work right across the site, I find. ANd a set of AA or AAA batteries will last a day or two - especially if you remember to switch em off while you are crashed out!

The biggest drawback is not hearing the radio, which can be resolved with earpieces.

We had some of these radios at the Download festie a couple of years back, and an unexpected and amusing side-effect was that people here the crackle of a voice through a radio, and think that you are old bill or something. Several occasions we noticed - no kidding - people looking up on hearing this sound, and then hurriedly hiding their stuff!

Giles..
 
Dub was telling me about this performer called Scanner who used to search airwaves and broadcast what he found as his act. Apparently one year at Glastonbury he got quite a lot of drug dealers on their phones :D
 
Interesting stuff, and worth knowing. Are the US ones legal for use here? If so, I wish you'd talk to the festie organisers, because the standard ones used there are licensed Motorolas which don't work everywhere by any means and sometimes require mid-shift battery changes.
 
Dubversion said:
it was Phoenix, and it was funny for us and possibly a bit scary for him :D
Must have been in the days of analogue phones - it's prety tricky to snoop on GSM phones.
 
newbie said:
Interesting stuff, and worth knowing. Are the US ones legal for use here? If so, I wish you'd talk to the festie organisers, because the standard ones used there are licensed Motorolas which don't work everywhere by any means and sometimes require mid-shift battery changes.

The USA-spec GMRS radios are not really supposed to be used in the UK, however loads of people have them. They have 1 or 2 watts ERP, more than the 0.5 watt allowed under PMR446 rules. But not as much as the 5 watt Motorola VHFs used by the "official" users.

I hire and sell all types of walkie-talkies, so I know a bit about them.

I'm not saying the US ones are better than the 5 watt professional ones, or that they work everywhere. Just that we found them useful and a bit of fun.

Giles..
 
William of Walworth said:
I am right about this 8 am Wednesday gate opening thing, surely?

A lot of very clued up people are reacting as if it's a shock.

Moose, Tort, others .. please (re)confirm .... :eek:

Why the fuck should I care. I'll be there Monday! :p
 
Superape said:
I still haven't managed to find out though from any TOS infomods whether the gate opening time is just pedestrian or both car & pedestrian. I'm hoping that it will be around 7am for vehicles, or maybe even earlier.
Jesus, don't tell him that - he's already trying to do us out of our breakfast! ;)
 
crustychick said:
good grief, the unthinkable has happened, and I might not actually be able to come.....

shit...

there's no-one important enough in the entire world who could have died.
 
oh, and my ticket has arrived too. i did a dance in the office, and got all embarrassed.
 
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