Puca Project!
Nov. 5th, 2006 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowanberries(X-posted to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
puca_project - if you have no clue what I'm going on about, go there!)
Well, there had been numerous hitches to this one - mostly that only two of us could make it, and secondly that it had to be postponed a week due to my illness! But yesterday, on the 4th November, Kate (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
avariel_wings) and I journeyed to Covent Garden.
Photos are to come when Kate's computer does not hate her.
I was dressed as a pirate of the vaguely Sparrowish kind, and Kate as a Norrington-ish Commodore of the Royal Navy, and we each had a bagful of sweets - chocolate coins, jelly tubes, lollipops and mint humbugs. We got a few odd looks on the tube getting there, but such were our high spirits that we were not dismayed. On arrival, however, we were a little daunted - Central London on a Saturday is traditionally so crowded that elbows have to be employed to get anywhere in a hurry. But we weren't, not really, so we divided up our sweets, then pondered how to begin. Fortunately our confusion was short-lived, as a little boy shyly approached with a longing gaze directed at the overflowing sweet bags. He went away with a handful, and with a shrug, we entered the fray.
We targeted mostly children, to start with - with a nod to parents to prevent the impression we were being creepy, or whatever - and though most were shy, or confused, it's amazing what a few sweets in hand will do for their mood. Only a few parents shook their heads, or steered away from us - Covent Carden's famous for being populated by street performers and people promoting, so we didn't stick out too much. As we got more into the flow, people seemed more open to being approached - I think people sensed our nervousness at the beginning, when we weren't sure how to begin. But as we began to make a circuit, people were far happier to accept sweets. Many seemed not to understand why we were doing it, and the looks on their faces when told we were just dressed up and giving them away for fun were really very touching. We went into a few of the less-crowded (and scary) shops, too, to give some to the staff and customers, and they were possibly the best recipients of all. In Lush, they were so delighted that we went away with free samples which had to be worth more than the handfuls of cheap sweets we were distributing.
As we got into the swing of it, our bags began to diminish at an alarming rate (my fault - but the look on people's faces as they went to take one sweet and were given a handful was too great to stop doing it after a while.) We wondered whether or not to stop for lunch, but then Kate spied a nearby Tescos! One very confused cashier later, and our bags were restocked. This time we approached more adults - no reason they should be left out, and also we worried that the new, harder sweets might not be suitable for younger kids - and they were just as delighted. In the case of the market stallkeepers, possibly even more so, for us breaking up the routine of the day for them.
And it wasn't just shoppers' attention we were attracting. As we went down one side alley, a man with a video camera caught up with us, and asked for an interview! It was very quick, mostly just us introducing ourselves to the camera and explaining what we were doing. Why? "Well, there's this thing called Puca Project - our friend Sophie started it. It's... It's for fun. Fun for everyone." It was indeed. We were lastly asked to say, in unison, 'Goodbye TBTV!' (No, we'd never heard of them either.) We were laughably bad at keeping in time, but managed it once we had a count-in. Oh yeah. Professional, that's us. ;)
Steadily, our bags continued to dwindle. The street performers, despite being distressingly mime-like, got a handful in their change-baskets, and we nobly refrained from telling them to Learn The Words. A street-singer with a microphone pointed us out rather obviously to his audience: "...And there's a couple of pirates... uh..."
Amy and Kate: "ARRR!"
It was lovely. Some idiot teenager started to heckle, only to change to an expression of :D! on being handed sweets. A few people asked us what we were promoting, unable to grasp the fact that we were just distributing sugar and good will on the high seas. Tourists asked to photograph us. Old ladies told us how lovely we looked. And finally, our supply ran out, and we retired happily to a nearby Cafe for some well-earned grog.
So, very definitely a success - hopefully to be repeated with a bigger group in Cardiff in December, all in piratical gear, where we also plan to re-enact scenes from Pirates of the Carribbean. Roll on the good times!
puca_project - if you have no clue what I'm going on about, go there!)Well, there had been numerous hitches to this one - mostly that only two of us could make it, and secondly that it had to be postponed a week due to my illness! But yesterday, on the 4th November, Kate (
avariel_wings) and I journeyed to Covent Garden.Photos are to come when Kate's computer does not hate her.
I was dressed as a pirate of the vaguely Sparrowish kind, and Kate as a Norrington-ish Commodore of the Royal Navy, and we each had a bagful of sweets - chocolate coins, jelly tubes, lollipops and mint humbugs. We got a few odd looks on the tube getting there, but such were our high spirits that we were not dismayed. On arrival, however, we were a little daunted - Central London on a Saturday is traditionally so crowded that elbows have to be employed to get anywhere in a hurry. But we weren't, not really, so we divided up our sweets, then pondered how to begin. Fortunately our confusion was short-lived, as a little boy shyly approached with a longing gaze directed at the overflowing sweet bags. He went away with a handful, and with a shrug, we entered the fray.
We targeted mostly children, to start with - with a nod to parents to prevent the impression we were being creepy, or whatever - and though most were shy, or confused, it's amazing what a few sweets in hand will do for their mood. Only a few parents shook their heads, or steered away from us - Covent Carden's famous for being populated by street performers and people promoting, so we didn't stick out too much. As we got more into the flow, people seemed more open to being approached - I think people sensed our nervousness at the beginning, when we weren't sure how to begin. But as we began to make a circuit, people were far happier to accept sweets. Many seemed not to understand why we were doing it, and the looks on their faces when told we were just dressed up and giving them away for fun were really very touching. We went into a few of the less-crowded (and scary) shops, too, to give some to the staff and customers, and they were possibly the best recipients of all. In Lush, they were so delighted that we went away with free samples which had to be worth more than the handfuls of cheap sweets we were distributing.
As we got into the swing of it, our bags began to diminish at an alarming rate (my fault - but the look on people's faces as they went to take one sweet and were given a handful was too great to stop doing it after a while.) We wondered whether or not to stop for lunch, but then Kate spied a nearby Tescos! One very confused cashier later, and our bags were restocked. This time we approached more adults - no reason they should be left out, and also we worried that the new, harder sweets might not be suitable for younger kids - and they were just as delighted. In the case of the market stallkeepers, possibly even more so, for us breaking up the routine of the day for them.
And it wasn't just shoppers' attention we were attracting. As we went down one side alley, a man with a video camera caught up with us, and asked for an interview! It was very quick, mostly just us introducing ourselves to the camera and explaining what we were doing. Why? "Well, there's this thing called Puca Project - our friend Sophie started it. It's... It's for fun. Fun for everyone." It was indeed. We were lastly asked to say, in unison, 'Goodbye TBTV!' (No, we'd never heard of them either.) We were laughably bad at keeping in time, but managed it once we had a count-in. Oh yeah. Professional, that's us. ;)
Steadily, our bags continued to dwindle. The street performers, despite being distressingly mime-like, got a handful in their change-baskets, and we nobly refrained from telling them to Learn The Words. A street-singer with a microphone pointed us out rather obviously to his audience: "...And there's a couple of pirates... uh..."
Amy and Kate: "ARRR!"
It was lovely. Some idiot teenager started to heckle, only to change to an expression of :D! on being handed sweets. A few people asked us what we were promoting, unable to grasp the fact that we were just distributing sugar and good will on the high seas. Tourists asked to photograph us. Old ladies told us how lovely we looked. And finally, our supply ran out, and we retired happily to a nearby Cafe for some well-earned grog.
So, very definitely a success - hopefully to be repeated with a bigger group in Cardiff in December, all in piratical gear, where we also plan to re-enact scenes from Pirates of the Carribbean. Roll on the good times!
