Hi
I was there on Sunday (a bit too shy to talk to anyone though).
Gordon Rutter: Spirit Photographs
An amusing demolition of the subject, also providing a pretty good overview.
Alan Murdie: Ghosts frightening people to death
Interesting, but a little low on ghosts frightening people to death. Can't change the facts, though, eh? A couple of good stories: the one with the tower, and the Colombian one. A lot of good stories mentioned and not pursued, frustratingly. I managed to ask a question! Slightly rued not going to see Ivan Mackerle and his exciting, rollicking adventures in Siberia.
Paul Screeton: Forteans Vs Folklorists
As others mentioned, this was a bit weak. This, I thought, was down to the fact that it was the first talk he'd done in 25 years, and he was terrified and absolutely dying on stage. I couldn't work out what the talk was actually about as he mumbled and slurred his words, looked at the floor and blushed so much. I can understand this as a similar thing happened to my dad last summer, doing his first talk in 19 years. I felt terrible for him.
Vaudeville/illegimate entertainments etc
Definitely my highlight this year. A wealth of very interesting material on offer, though a little skimmed; the speaker kept mentioning that she could do an hour's talk on each of the 15,000 performers she had notes on, and I wished she would at times. Worth it though, for all the playbills with boxing midgets and parachuting cats on, and the films at the end were a treat, especially given the venue.
Mark Pilkington & John Lundberg - the Mirage Men
I liked this, though I must admit that I'm a sucker for anything stamped 'real life X-files'. I don't mean 'Britain's X-files' - it's gotta have missile silos inside remote mountains, secret tests and men in mirror shades with hokey accents to match, or it ain't worth a dime. Great title too. Pilkington's delivery was a little flat, and I really felt that this would have worked better in a more anecdotal/travelogue style - you know the drill, Louis Theroux/Jon Ronson hit the alien weirdos with a stick. Still, it was really interesting to see the evidence they'd uncovered for a high-up disinformation program. It was highly convincing and I can't wait for the film and book. FT article?
Kitty Claw Burlesque.
This was absolutely shockingly dreadful, I can say with no reservations. What's a cabaret when the players can't sing, can't dance, can't act, and can't be funny (even if their very lives depend on it?). My idea of hell is to be trapped with the teenage devil and his ukelele for that eternity of five minutes.
So we left and went to:
Peter Brookesmith, david clarke, andy roberts: looking at the policeman abduction case thing
This was very interesting, was sad to have missed the start, where they presumably outlined the case, with which I am unfamiliar. I came in when Brookesmith, (looking too cool - who can wear sunglasses, after dark, inside, with the lights off and not be in the Cramps?) was demonstrating - with excellent slides- the disparity of alien abduction reports before the narrative had crystallised into the one with which we are all so familiar today. Then David Clarke, standing in for Jenny Randles, put forward her thesis, which he then rather spoiled by saying that he didn't believe a word of it. Andy Roberts then put forward his explanation. I do think that 'altered state of consciousness' is a little glib - maybe it's a bit more plausible than aliens but they didn't seem to think too hard about exactly what this 'altered state of consciousness' was.
There was a bit of a feeling of a sneering schoolground gang of sceptics (only a little bit, though), but they had good points, very well presented.
The venue was pretty nice. I liked the paintings in the Fyvie hall best. Very convenient - I didn't have to get any public transport once off the bus from Oxford.
I'm sad that I missed the first day, but I really couldn't afford it. That's not a reflection on the price, which I thought was good, but on the current status of my bank account.
All in all, thumbs up, but not perfect.