Put on music and strobe lighting!

An all-round good day, begun at the Portobello Market (first Saturday of the month) with delicious pastries, a stroll around the Meadows Festival, seeing Populaire at the Filmhouse and the evening at home watching a DVD of Morecombe and Wise that Dr T picked up for a couple of quid. It's a little concerning when you notice that your partner picked up some of his characteristics from Eric Morecombe.

In and amongst this lovely day we went to a rally set up by United Against Fascism (partly organised by Dr T) because the Scottish Defence League decided to come to the Scottish Parliament. As predicted, groups like the SDL are trying to capitalise on the horrible murder in Woolwich and stir up hatred against Muslims and Islam. I know many people in Scotland think they are not much of a threat. Many tend to think of this as an English problem because the English Defence League, the BNP, the National Front (yes, still going) and UKIP are all more popular south of the border than they are here. I've been going to these rallies for a while now and this time it was noticeable that the SDL's numbers were bigger, with more young people.

I'm a peacekeeping, blue beret kind of Canadian and I don't use words like 'enemy' or 'hatred' very often but if we do have an enemy, it's apathy.

We outnumbered them, again, and our side was certainly the more lighthearted. A lovely woman had a sign saying Scottish Disco Lovers (if only that was the true meaning of the SDL!) with chants like

-Put a stop to racist fighting
Put on music and strobe lighting!

- Don't hate
Gyrate!

- Don't judge others by their race
Boogie down and feel the bass

- Don't drag knuckles
Drag Queens!

My favourite of the day, and hence my choice for blip, was this young woman's sign. I really do believe that love (and tea and cake) triumphs over hate. At one point I was at the barriers, looking directly at the other side. A large bloke was doing his best to be outraged, swearing and making various rude and even inflammatory gestures at us. I caught his eye with my big toothy smile and flashed him the peace sign. This big, threatening bloke broke down in giggles. Smiling is a powerful tool. :)

Other photos from the day, including one of our fairy tale castle on top of an ancient volcano are here.

Peace, Dude.