Walking trail: Missorts

There is an app for Android that I accidentally discovered when I was in the Central Library. I tried to download the app into my phone more than once but every time, there was an error before the installation was complete. I finally succeeded when I installed in my tablet and last weekend, I did the trail.

Missorts, "an urban soundwork delivered directly to your smartphone", is an app created by Tony White in 2012 which you can download for free to your Android or Iphone smartphone, and listen ten stories by ten distinctive new writers. The GPS tracks your location all the time and Missorts delivers stories to your headphones when you get to certain locations around Temple Meads area.

As you can see in the above picture, I have created a 4km trail starting and finishing in front of the Arnolfini which goes through all the story locations in Missorts.  I did it on my bike and it was obviously faster than doing it on foot, but less comfortable at the same time, as I had to stop to take my tablet to listen to the stories. If I were on foot, I could walk around while listening to the story at the same time. More fun!

The first stop (1) is located in Friary where we will be introduced to Betty, one of the characters in the stories. The second stop (2) is located between two buildings in works. There are stone benches in the third stop (3) in front of a business building where a woman's voice will share her thoughts with us, about the surrounding area, the noise, the traffic... and she will explain that, once upon a time, there was a fairground located at the same place we are.
The next stop (4) is the first one in Redcliff Way, where you will be able to admire the St Mary Redcliffe Church perfectly while listening to the poem "Witness to the tides". Further in Redcliff Way (5), a woman's voice will tell us about an island between Bristol and Redcliffe, about how landwater wants to be the sea. 

Taking the second exit at the roundabout, we get to (6) and listen "A bricked-up doorway". When you get in front of the St Mary Redcliffe Church (7), a woman will complain about how did this happened to them in "Losing her again but forever this time". "Everyone heard the scream" when you get to the back side of St Mary Redcliffe Church (8) and as you follow Colston Parade until Prewett Street (9), you will realise "How it happened". The last stop is located close to the Ostrich Inn, just on the other side of Thekla, where you will travel "Forward and backward in time".

I found the project very interesting, the fact of creating an artwork from a simple thing as a walk. However during the trail, I had some issues regarding the app. In between story locations, there is an organ background music that is cool at the beginning, but gives headache after a while. Some of the stories were triggered before the background organ music finished, and I missed the first part of some of the stories. As the app does not allow to stop or rewind the story, the only way to restart is actually restarting the whole application. 

LINKS

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Website: http://www.missorts.com/

About Tony White: http://www.situations.org.uk/projects/tony-white-missorts-2012/

Download the app for Android here and Iphone here.

When the Mongoose Hunts

Mongooses are small carnivorans who live in southern Asia, southern Europe and Africa. They are between 0.3 and 1.2 metres long and there are 33 species; some lead predominantly solitary lives, seeking out food for themselves, while others travel in groups, sharing food among group members.

You will probably ask: "Why is she talking about mongooses when mongooses cannot even be found in Bristol?" And you are right, mongooses do not live in Bristol. We cannot find mongooses in the city. Nonetheless, there is a story written in Bristol and that's how I first heard of this animal.

When the Mongoose Hunts is a short story written by Simak QaQa, a friend of mine from Bristol. The story was written some years ago and has recently been published by Amazon for Kindle. 
A mysterious man goes about the dangerous business of a professional assassin. The attention to detail, the meticulous planning and the ability to take decisive action make this particular assassin a credible employee. However, not everything goes to plan, and the successful assassin needs to also learn to adapt when things go wrong.

I encourage you to read the sample of the story available in Amazon. Even if you don't own a proper Kindle, you can download the app for your Android for free.
Read the beginning of the story, I'm sure you will be intrigued to read the rest! 

"The taxi was an old vehicle, a lot of the interior had already wasted away, and the damp and rank smell of unwashed cloth lingered heavily. The driver didn't have much English, if he did, he might have asked what a blatantly non-Asian face was doing in the heart of the slums of India. It was dangerous for any man to be here, let alone a foreigner that wore decent clothes and was well fed. The driver slowed down the car, he was turning roung in his seat for his fee. The fare, to the delight of the driver, handed over was about 8 times as much as the normal citizen would pay. Fool, he thought.

The foreigner now walking towards an Indian bed and breakfast knelt down and tied an imaginary shoe lace, putting his suitcase on the floor next to him. As he got up, he left the suitcase on the floor and carried on. If anyone was following him, they would jump at the chance to get his suitcase, leaning on the fact that the foreigner would either think it was stolen or that he left it on the taxi. But he had made sure there was no one in close proximity when he got out of the taxi, anyone who would take his bag now would be a tail.

He carried on in his direction towards the bed and breakfast. Walking in through the open door, a damp, rancid smell descended on him. He looked around. There was a man sitting on a desk in one corner, with the rest of the hallway bare, apart from a door that probably led to the rooms. The walls were yellowing at the top, and they all had a dead creamy colour. He had picked this particular place because he had been informed that the landlord could speak some English. He spoke to the man on the desk. After a few short minutes, a room was arranged, and the foreigner paid for seven days in advance.

The foreigner was led up to his room, then, as he was being shown his quarters, he dramatically noticed his briefcase outside. This was good, there was no tail, walking down to retrieve his briefcase, he reflected on his decision to pay the taxi driver excessivelly. Although the driver was suspicious he was content, this would be better than having him suspicious and ready to jump at the opportunity to earn some points with the law.

No time could be wasted, although seven days rent had been paid for, three days would be the maximum time allocated for this task, two days would be ideal. He walked out of the bed and breakfast. He had learned the map of these streets by heart, and headed towards a preplanned destination. The time now was approximately 12pm. The streets were similar to all countries that were called the third world, dusty and broken up with garbage littering the streets. With the clothes he had borrowed from the landlord, and the heavy turban on his head, his white face would hopefully be unnoticed. Maneuvering throught the streets, he reached a row of small shacks. He approached the back door of one such shack and knocked in pre-arranged code. The door opened slightly, and a muzzle protruded from the crack. 'Even the rich get sick these days,' said a heavily accented Indian voice. 'Then I'll hide the medicine' said the foreigner. The door opened and the man was admitted. 'So, you are the wolf.' He could tell the man was looking him over. Analyzing the stiff facial features, the athletic build. It almost seemed like he was sizing him up. This worried him. 'What shall I address you as, my friend?' the indian asked. 'Call me by the code you have been given', came the reply. 'Then you shall be called Mongoose"

Fragment of When the Mongoose Hunts by Simak QaQa

LINKS

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Buy When the Mongoose Hunts HERE

The man with the ticket machine

Outside Bristol Zoo, there is a man with the ticket machine. In a car park, he charges £1 per car, £5 per coach bus. That is his duty. It is what he has been doing for over 23 years. Families, kids, couples, buses full of tourists... everybody stops in front of the man with the ticket machine, pays and leaves. Nobody pays attention to him, although he is a very pleasant guy. He is just "the man with the ticket machine".

Then, just one day like today, the man with the ticket machine does not turn up for work. Nobody knows what happens, nobody knows where he is. And nobody in charge of the car park.

Bristol Zoo Management then phones up the City Council and asks them to send a new parking attendant. But the City Council replies the parking is responsibility of the Zoo and explains that they have never sent anybody to work there.

Sitting in a villa somewhere on the coast of Spain is the man with the ticket machine, who had been working for over 23 years in a car park, where nobody noticed his presence, earning around 400 a day at Bristol Zoo.

And no one even knows his name.

It is up to you to believe this story or not.