BookCamming
Jun. 10th, 2005 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skyringThis is sooo much fun!
BookCrossing is a voyeuristic activity at the best of times, so much so that I actually feel uncomfortable when someone appears in one of my shots and then places the camera down my throat. Very uncomfortable.
But this is safe.
Alerted here by the BookCamming yesterday when BookCrossers and "civilians" grappled for the controls of the webcam, observed by the entire population of ChitChat, I dived over there this morning to catch ArJohn doing his release.
The actual web cam was about as boring as you could get short of pointing at a brick wall, come to think of it, that's exactly what it was doing, save that there was a street in between and people would drive by on the wrong side.
As the hour of release got closer, I discovered that the webcam hung up and sometimes didn't refresh and I figured that we were overloading the poor thing in the well-known "herd of BookCrossers" effect and that as the excitement built there'd be hundreds of BookCrossers looking on and not too many would be able to see anything.
So there was an opportunity. I roughed out a script as I made my cup of coffee and simply told the story. It pretty much happened as I foresaw, except that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thebiblioholic also got in on the act and yokospungeon laughed herself silly. And a few clever people figured out it was a load of gammon, especially those few who had a feed.
The thread is here, but for those who find it all a bit choppy, here's my description of events:
I have an image. I'll give a play-by-play.
We're looking from a fixed webcam mounted at roof height showing a street. Perhaps this is Tinley's beauty spot and they haven't upgraded their bandwidth.
Cars and trucks and a few people are passing up and down the street.
Across the street is a bench, presumably the one on which ArJohn will lay the book.
Behind is a red brick wall and beyond that is the penitentiary, I think. Maybe this is part of a surveillance system.
There's someone slowly pushing a shopping trolley full of green bags down the street. Perhaps this is ArJohn? Does anyone know what he looks like?
Wait, here's ArJohn. Definitely him.
He's stopped at the bench.
He's holding up something and waving it. Can't see what it is, book-sized.
He's still waving. He's stepping into the road to come closer. Looks like he's smiling.
Oooh, that truck just missed him!
Yes, definitely a book. A red and white cover on it.
Yikes, a red sports car just drove past really close and winged ArJohn!
He's lying in the road, the book is out of his hands. This doesn't look good.
No, he's up! He's alright, folks!
The book is in the road. A truck just ran over it. I can see the pages fluttering.
He went back into the road and picked it up.
He's on the footpath now, holding it up.
Waving at the camera.
Looks good.
He's put it down on the bench and is walking away. He's passing the guy with the trolley. He stops and looks back.
Oh no!!!
The homeless guy has picked up the book. He's looking at it!
This could be the world's quickest catch!
No, he's put it back down. No luck, folks.
He picked it up again and a couple of the pages fell out. They are on the ground near the bench.
ArJohn walks back and picks up the pages. He wants to put them back. The homeless guy is holding the book.
I've got a good stream.
They are tugging at it. More pages fall out. ArJohn is not happy.
A lady comes up and picks up the pages.
This isn't going to plan.
ArJohn has the book!
He's put it on the seat. He's now collecting the loose pages.
The lady gives him the ones she has picked up.
The guy with the trolley has picked up the book again!
There seems to be a struggle. The lady is helping ArJohn.
Another person in a coat just ran up and joined in.
They are hitting each other with plastic bags.
Stuff is spilling out.
This doesn't look good. Can't see the book.
Wait, a car has pulled up.
It's a police car, I think. Not like Australian police cars.
Two guys in uniforms got out and joined in.
They are pulling people away.
A crowd is gathering. The police have sorted things out.
ArJohn has something, I think it's the book.
He's holding it up, it's the book!
Someone just knocked off the cop's hat and threw it into the road.
It wasn't ArJohn.
Oh no, they are all fighting now.
I can't make out what is happening.
There are people lying down near the bench. The trolley is on its side.
This doesn't look good. ArJohn has staggered clear.
He's leaning against the cop car.
He's smiling at the camera.
He has the book.
Most of it.
Another cop car has pulled up. Four guys got out.
One of them is chasing ArJohn, who is on the hood, no, the roof now.
He's jumping up and down.
He's surrounded. One guy is crawling onto the trunk...
ArJohn leaps into the crowd. He's free!
Can't see him now, everyone is fighting.
Someone has just collided with one of the police cruisers.
Smoke is rising. Maybe it's just steam..
The picture is getting murky, I'll keep describing the scene as long as I can.
More cars and vehicles are pulling up.
Everyone is fighting.
Here comes a fire truck. Guys in uniforms are getting out, hooking up hoses.
They are trying to put out the fire with extinguishers.
There's ArJohn! He has control of the hose!
Water is spraying everywhere!
They can't get close to him.
He has the book in his hand!
He is waving at the camera!
People are running everywhere, the guy with the trolley is arguing with the lady in the green hat, ArJohn has climbed up on the wall and is taunting people.
He drops the hose and is dancing on the wall!
ArJohn is waving for the camera, he looks pretty good considering.
Shirt is in tatters, policemen are trying to drag him down, he stomps on their fingers.
Hard to see through the smoke and flames.
Assault troopers are setting up weapons just under the camera, fighter jets are strafing the rubble.
ArJohn has disappeared...
He's got past the police lines and barbed wire.
He gave something black and falling apart to one of the soldiers, waved to the camera and was gone.
I look forward to seeing if the soldier makes a journal entry after combat.
Pete, signing off now
Needless to say, I was only able to see as much as anyone else - a few images here and there.
BookCrossing is a voyeuristic activity at the best of times, so much so that I actually feel uncomfortable when someone appears in one of my shots and then places the camera down my throat. Very uncomfortable.
But this is safe.
Alerted here by the BookCamming yesterday when BookCrossers and "civilians" grappled for the controls of the webcam, observed by the entire population of ChitChat, I dived over there this morning to catch ArJohn doing his release.
The actual web cam was about as boring as you could get short of pointing at a brick wall, come to think of it, that's exactly what it was doing, save that there was a street in between and people would drive by on the wrong side.
As the hour of release got closer, I discovered that the webcam hung up and sometimes didn't refresh and I figured that we were overloading the poor thing in the well-known "herd of BookCrossers" effect and that as the excitement built there'd be hundreds of BookCrossers looking on and not too many would be able to see anything.
So there was an opportunity. I roughed out a script as I made my cup of coffee and simply told the story. It pretty much happened as I foresaw, except that
thebiblioholic also got in on the act and yokospungeon laughed herself silly. And a few clever people figured out it was a load of gammon, especially those few who had a feed.The thread is here, but for those who find it all a bit choppy, here's my description of events:
I have an image. I'll give a play-by-play.
We're looking from a fixed webcam mounted at roof height showing a street. Perhaps this is Tinley's beauty spot and they haven't upgraded their bandwidth.
Cars and trucks and a few people are passing up and down the street.
Across the street is a bench, presumably the one on which ArJohn will lay the book.
Behind is a red brick wall and beyond that is the penitentiary, I think. Maybe this is part of a surveillance system.
There's someone slowly pushing a shopping trolley full of green bags down the street. Perhaps this is ArJohn? Does anyone know what he looks like?
Wait, here's ArJohn. Definitely him.
He's stopped at the bench.
He's holding up something and waving it. Can't see what it is, book-sized.
He's still waving. He's stepping into the road to come closer. Looks like he's smiling.
Oooh, that truck just missed him!
Yes, definitely a book. A red and white cover on it.
Yikes, a red sports car just drove past really close and winged ArJohn!
He's lying in the road, the book is out of his hands. This doesn't look good.
No, he's up! He's alright, folks!
The book is in the road. A truck just ran over it. I can see the pages fluttering.
He went back into the road and picked it up.
He's on the footpath now, holding it up.
Waving at the camera.
Looks good.
He's put it down on the bench and is walking away. He's passing the guy with the trolley. He stops and looks back.
Oh no!!!
The homeless guy has picked up the book. He's looking at it!
This could be the world's quickest catch!
No, he's put it back down. No luck, folks.
He picked it up again and a couple of the pages fell out. They are on the ground near the bench.
ArJohn walks back and picks up the pages. He wants to put them back. The homeless guy is holding the book.
I've got a good stream.
They are tugging at it. More pages fall out. ArJohn is not happy.
A lady comes up and picks up the pages.
This isn't going to plan.
ArJohn has the book!
He's put it on the seat. He's now collecting the loose pages.
The lady gives him the ones she has picked up.
The guy with the trolley has picked up the book again!
There seems to be a struggle. The lady is helping ArJohn.
Another person in a coat just ran up and joined in.
They are hitting each other with plastic bags.
Stuff is spilling out.
This doesn't look good. Can't see the book.
Wait, a car has pulled up.
It's a police car, I think. Not like Australian police cars.
Two guys in uniforms got out and joined in.
They are pulling people away.
A crowd is gathering. The police have sorted things out.
ArJohn has something, I think it's the book.
He's holding it up, it's the book!
Someone just knocked off the cop's hat and threw it into the road.
It wasn't ArJohn.
Oh no, they are all fighting now.
I can't make out what is happening.
There are people lying down near the bench. The trolley is on its side.
This doesn't look good. ArJohn has staggered clear.
He's leaning against the cop car.
He's smiling at the camera.
He has the book.
Most of it.
Another cop car has pulled up. Four guys got out.
One of them is chasing ArJohn, who is on the hood, no, the roof now.
He's jumping up and down.
He's surrounded. One guy is crawling onto the trunk...
ArJohn leaps into the crowd. He's free!
Can't see him now, everyone is fighting.
Someone has just collided with one of the police cruisers.
Smoke is rising. Maybe it's just steam..
The picture is getting murky, I'll keep describing the scene as long as I can.
More cars and vehicles are pulling up.
Everyone is fighting.
Here comes a fire truck. Guys in uniforms are getting out, hooking up hoses.
They are trying to put out the fire with extinguishers.
There's ArJohn! He has control of the hose!
Water is spraying everywhere!
They can't get close to him.
He has the book in his hand!
He is waving at the camera!
People are running everywhere, the guy with the trolley is arguing with the lady in the green hat, ArJohn has climbed up on the wall and is taunting people.
He drops the hose and is dancing on the wall!
ArJohn is waving for the camera, he looks pretty good considering.
Shirt is in tatters, policemen are trying to drag him down, he stomps on their fingers.
Hard to see through the smoke and flames.
Assault troopers are setting up weapons just under the camera, fighter jets are strafing the rubble.
ArJohn has disappeared...
He's got past the police lines and barbed wire.
He gave something black and falling apart to one of the soldiers, waved to the camera and was gone.
I look forward to seeing if the soldier makes a journal entry after combat.
Pete, signing off now
Needless to say, I was only able to see as much as anyone else - a few images here and there.
