It’s been a really busy weekend, designing, printing (that new A3 printer’s come in handy) and making things to take up onto the plinth for use in the various experiments I’m now just about ready to carry out on Tuesday.
Having done a lot of preparation, this afternoon I was finally ready for a run-through. I pretended 16.15 today was 12.00 on Tuesday, wheeled my heavy suitcase (well, it does have four bricks in it) into the plinth-sized area of my garden and got things started.
Several things became clear over the following hour:
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It’s really quite hard to do experiments and hold a microphone. Apologies in advance to people in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday – I’m probably going to have to put my mic down from time to time and hope you can hear me when I shout!
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I can’t possibly do everything I’d hoped to do in just one hour. The only ‘20-minute sink-in’ I suffered was the sinking in of the fact that I was nowhere near a third through what I had to get done!
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Unpacking and setting up all my stuff is one of the most time-consuming and frustrating aspects of the whole thing. I thought I’d prepared things to make this as quick as possible but even then it took up a lot of valuable time.
For this reason I actually abandoned (even before this rehearsal) one of the few things I was originally set on from the start – taking up an internet-connected laptop and going on Twitter etc. from the plinth. I just don’t have the time.
I’ve also – since the rehearsal – decided to drop the few bits of music I had intended to play at opportune moments. I’d already scaled this back from playing on the laptop to playing on an MP3 player using a pre-configured playlist, but even this wastes valuable time I just can’t spare when I’m up there, so it had to go.
Also out (I “threw it out the window”, as Alec would sing) is the experiment that started it all, the ultra-scientific cat swinging experiment. I did include this during my rehearsal today, and can confirm mittfh’s prediction that one can indeed swing a cat on the plinth is correct. But I’ve since consulted with a wildlife expert (she told me to say that) and been advised against doing this on animal safety grounds… Well, actually, I’ve just dropped it to save time because the outcome was entirely predictable and I do actually have so many experiments whose outcomes aren’t that it seems silly to spend time demonstrating that.
Apart from that, and a few experiments which I will inevitably end up dropping when I run out of time, I’ll essentially be carrying out just about all the experiments which had received four or more votes by the time voting closed yesterday afternoon. So if you see any you like the sound of there, make sure you tune in on Tuesday!
It’s all getting a bit nerve-wracking now but I’m at work for one day tomorrow so will have to put all this to the back of my mind for now.
I’m seriously considering a second run-through after work tomorrow but it’s difficult: on Tuesday I can be as haphazard as I like when I come to chucking everything back in the suitcase at the end, but for now I have to handle it all with care so it’s still in good condition for the real thing! Perhaps I’ll just leave it at the one run-through and hope I remember to do all the things I wished I’d done today on the day without further practice. *gulp*
I’ll put a final post on here before the big day tomorrow night – if I have time! Otherwise, I’ll be back here afterwards to write about the experience. I’d love to hear from you all in the comments about how you think it goes, too! And don’t forget to pledge to watch, on the right-hand side of my profile – thanks!
