The pet dog. The faithful hound bounding along at your heels as you stride over the land, looking up at you from time to time, seeking your acknowledgement before proudly looking about so as to see off any potential danger. Then running off to play with other dogs or gleefully chasing a ball, and returning to your side as soon as you give a whistle. Obedient to a turn, the bond between dog and man seems to be almost tangible, as if you can communicate on a higher lever, anticipating each other’s thoughts and actions…er, yes, well, maybe that’s not quite how it goes down. In fact, I can honestly say my dog will let me down, run away, ignore me and generally disappoint me every single time I take her out.

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Is swimming the most efficient exercise possible? It’s one of those pub trivia questions that divide groups of friends as they rage at the madness of each other’s stupidity. Swimming’s advocates will argue that the sport uses every muscle in the body when done properly, efficiently exercising every limb together, while opponent’s will disagree, claiming that the water only makes it ‘feel’ efficient and that in fact the purest and therefore most efficient form of exercise is walking. The debate rages on but either way, something we can all agree on is the swimming is bloody good fun.

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Bristol’s waters aren’t just home to ducks and other aquatic wildlife but a stable community of people who relish in the fact that boats aren’t just a form of transport but also an ideal way of living. Bristol’s harbour and the River Avon are not shy of people who settle along their banks to moor up for the night or even their whole life time.

Bristol’s city centre waterfront boasts a buzzing nightlife with well established bars and eateries, some of which are boats themselves offering a unique way of dining and drinking off land. Because of its popularity, settling along Bristol’s waters doesn’t come cheap as Kerry Smith and her boyfriend, James, have found. Put off my the mooring costs, the couple decided instead to settle their canal boat just down from Bristol and Bath in a place called Avon Cliff in Bradford-on-Avon. The idea of eating, sleeping and living on a canal boat may have never crossed your mind, it certainly hadn’t been the first place I would have thought about moving into long term but after reaching the picturesque surroundings of Avon Cliff, I can see why Kerry and James have resided here for 15 months.
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The Bristol streets are alive with the sound of cyclists. Since the city was awarded the status of Cycling City in 2008, there has been a new and improved cycle infrastructure, increased amount of cycle training for adults and school children and a general shift of attitude towards this more sustainable form of transport, but is this enough to get new cyclists on the road? If 21% of car commuters’ time is spent stationary and 45,000 car trips of less than 5km to work are made each day in Bristol (Joint Local Transport Plan 2006-11) then surely it’s about time cycling became the main mode of transport for the city? For those uninitiated to cycling, there really is no better time to get yourself a bicycle and start peddling around the city streets and beyond. Changing your transport habits can be a big, daunting prospect though so here is a short guide for a few keys things to remember if you’re new to city cycling:

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“…like a church. Church of the Good Hustle” - Fast Eddie Felson, The Hustler (1961)

What makes a good place to play pool? Guess it’s all down to the individual and players are as individual as the tables themselves. It’s all a matter of what you want out of your game: A place to kick back and relax with mates? Somewhere to play against more serious players or join a team? A place to just practice?

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If you were to take an educated guess as to the profession of a celebrity whose activities include raising AIDS awareness in Namibia and contributing regular articles to the Observer newspaper, you’d be unlikely to presume this person would be a footballer. Unlikely indeed then that these are the side-projects of new Bristol City Football Club signing and veteran England goalkeeper, David James.
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Is it just me, or is the love of the game slightly obscured by the cash and the gossip these days? As befitting any Premiership football chasing team, Bristol City FC currently have their own big dollop of controversy that’s obscuring the beautiful game and, well, it’s a sorry state of affairs.

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My old man is a life long Bristol Rovers fan. Since he was a slip of a lad he has supported the boys in blue so when it came to deciding my footballing allegiance, I had no choice in the matter, no choice whatsoever; I was a gas head! ‘Them’s the rules’ and I have stuck by them through thick and thin. At times they have disappointed and frustrated, at times they have made my heart burst with pride and elation…such is the journey, such is the beautiful game.

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SY has a foreign writer, a foreign writer who has been asked to write an article about conkers, or more specifically, conker fights - the problem is I have no idea what conkers are! You see I have lived in the UK for quite a few years now and while I’ve have been introduced to the joys of many a British tradition (everything from Yorkshire puddings to poppies), I’ve never heard of conker fights. Who enjoys conker fights? Where do you get conkers? Should I be concerned by the violence involved?

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Friday 17th and Saturday 18th September 2010 @ Various Venues, Bristol

Igfest is Bristol’s very own interesting games festival - street games, outdoor spectacles, mass social interaction, the reclamation of public urban spaces for play and adventure.

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