Protest

Yesterday was a very long day. I was up at 5.30 a.m. and was at Ailsa's place in Yarraville to get ready for the MTAG protest. We got to the intersection at around 7.30 am and already a news crew was in place. We did the media schmoozing thing and waited for people to turn up. At 7.45 a.m. we were getting worried that no one would turn up and that we would have to explain to a horde of angry media people why the protest failed. However, people started arriving and by the time the intersection was closed and the protesters were allowed to occupy it, there were over 200 people there. It was a pretty impressive sight.

The police were great. They stopped the traffic about a block from the intersection so there was an eerie quiet for a half hour in the middle of what is usually a busy peak hour traffic spot - except for the two television helicopters hovering overhead. Yes! We got two commercial news helicopters to cover the protest.

All up we had the major daily papers, three television stations, radio and three local papers covering the protest and coverage ran all day on the television. After the protest we repaired to Le Chien café at Seddon for a debrief and a desperately needed coffee or two. Everyone was incredibly impressed by the media coverage Ailsa and I managed to achieve.

Then it was time to start work.

After work it was on to choir. After it had rained most of the day, although the weather for the protest was fantastic, I decided to leave my bike at Ailsa's and catch the train to choir. Of course, travelling there and then home at 10.00 p.m., not one drop of rain was seen.