G8 CLIMATE CRIMINALS CRITICAL MASS - A SAMBISTAS PERSPECTIVE

"People need the G8 like a fish needs a bicycle"

Coming straight from the High Court for the Fairford trial, the sambistas gathered in the cafe of the Royal Festival Hall to have a chat over coffee. We were already joined by some of the police, but spirits were high and we were ready to visit some of the climate criminals haunts.

A big crowd started to form under the bridge, made up of fish on bikes, snokellers on drums, fishermen with banners and the like, trying to convey an image of London in the year 2050 if we don't do something about these big companies messing up our planet.
The band played and drew attention to the flyer wielders, and after a short speech, the walkers, drummers, dancers and cyclists headed east along the river.
After an accidental detour, we arrived at the first stop, Exxon Mobil. After a short explanation we were off to Trafalgar Square, the band playing all the way as the rain began to fall. We took a while to cross the road as we neared the Square and were met by the Carnival Forum on the biodiesel bus that went from London to Baghdad carrying the human shields. We made sure that the petrol users got a chance to hear our point!
We were outside the National Portrait Gallery, sponsored by BP (that's quite a blatant attempt of trying to find some positive stuff to tell the consumer. They reckon they can dupe us. Get your hands off the arts).
The speech outside the gallery left some tourists contemplating the news they heard. Then we could smell the food. The Hare Krishnas had come, and on an unscheduled stop, we restored our energy. The drums soon started up again and we headed round the corner to Canada House.
There were so many police - on bikes, in vans, on foot, with cameras. As the MCing started up from the Carnival bus, it felt vaguely reminiscient of the annual school photo; right in your face, unavoidable.
'Grabbed a camera for a few minutes - fancied being subversive in the spirit of carnival and all, but got barged around by the cops a lot and got a bit frustrated by it all. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO SAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL PLANET AND IT'S PEOPLE!
So, there we dispersed into the rain, 4 stops short, but hey, point made.
The biodiesel bus chugged off up to Ally Pally, it's perfume leaving us hungry. Critical Massers pedalled off. And the band..?
You'll hear us.
All that was left was a hoard of police with their vans looking rather like they'd just had sex without an orgasm - a bit unsatisfied and on edge.