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BJC96 Edinburgh Review, Part III - Where

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Michael Ferguson

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Apr 27, 1996, 3:00:00 AM4/27/96
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I noted that many of the British jugglers that I met at Norwich last
year didn't make the trip to Edinburgh this April. Was it that they
didn't know where Edinburgh was situated? Couldn't find it on the
map, or something? Was it the expense of the rail, plane or auto
trip? Or something else? Who knows? Not to matter though, the
1000 or so jugglers that did make their way to the 9th BJC in
Edinburgh made for a strong convention and the missing were the ones
that missed out.

The Cramond Campus of Moray House College, located adjacent to the
Firth of Forth on the outskirts of Edinburgh, seemed well suited for
hosting a convention of this sort. Most of the facilities were
located in the main Cramond Campus building with the 24 hour Games
Hall only a short stroll away and the campsite and marquees only a
bit beyond that. The only thing missing on-site was an auditorium
large enough to accommodate the public show, so it was necessary to
bus everyone into the city for that event.

It seemed like there were fewer of the colorful marquee tents this
year, but the campsite still added a special flavor to the BJC.
There's a certain sense of community that develops when hundreds of
tents sprout up overnight -- and a feeling of loss too, a few days
later when they all disappear. Even for those of us who booked
dormitory rooms at the campus, the campsite with it's tent stage,
it's food vendors, and it's force nine gale blowing in off the Firth
of Forth was the place to be for late night social activities.

It wouldn't take much arm twisting (ouch!, please not the left arm)
to get me to come back to another juggling convention in Edinburgh.
You could hold a BJC, or an EJC, or an IJA there every year if you
wanted to, and I'd be flying over! With wine and cheese shops and
Chinese restaurants seemingly on every block, large meadows and
parks for open air juggling , and one of the largest ratio of pubs
to citizens anywhere in the world, well ...

And there's a pretty active juggling community in Edinburgh, too. I
stayed over after the convention to attend their regular Monday
night juggling session. In my honor, the local jugglers cancelled
their weekly meeting and a bank holiday was declared. [Such an
honor. Guess they'd just had their fill of Yank jugglers at the
BJC, eh?] No problem though, I wouldn't have been able to juggle
anyway, so instead, I spent the day wandering around Edinburgh
and managed to find my way to the local juggling shop -- Wind Things.

Wind Things is your prototypical juggling shop -- juggling clubs and
rings and bins of beanbags along one wall, flying discs in one
corner, and kites and color everywhere, with little space left to
turn around in. The proprietor was quite friendly and surprised me
after only a few moments of conversation by asking if I was "that
nine ball juggler from America who makes the beanbags". I pointed
to my left arm and gave my tale of woe, lest he challenge me to
demonstrate my nine balls skills (or lack thereof), wondering all
the while who had been in his shop touting Fergie Bags prior to my
arrival in Edinburgh. Hmmm?

Juggling shops are cool! Too bad we don't have many of 'em here in
America. But you got plenty 'em there in England and Scotland,
that's for sure, so use 'em! Buy stuff from 'em! Support your
local juggling shop!

Edinburgh was cool too! [Insert joke about the weather here.] The
people (jugglers, convention organizers, and townsfolk alike) were
quite warm and friendly, which is what made it so *cool*.

--Michael Ferguson (a.k.a. Fergie)


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