Idle Encounter #1
Hello and a Happy New Year to you, one and all!
A loose bunch of Idle Activists – not as oxymoronic as it sounds 😉 – are meeting this Friday (January 7th), midday (that’s 12pm) outside Sheffield Train Station at the corner of the fountain nearest the main doors.
Image by Mark Finn, originally posted on Stoppedclocks.com (insert your own Withnail quote here).
We will then amble down to the wonderful Rude Shipyard bookshop and café where we will be discussing the Northern Idling Society and the proposed Northern Idler Academy weekend seminar we plan to host somewhere in Sheffield late spring – just in time for the elderflower fritters!
The creative, the knowledgeable, the enlightened and the just plain curious are all invited to come along and join us. We’d love to hear your ideas and idling stories – though we must warn you that Idler contributor, Warren, is a self-confessed I.O.Utopian who may well try and tap you for a pint 😉
Other Idle luminaries will include writer and activist, Tom; bush-craft and permaculture expert, John; and illustrator and designer, Jonathan…
…so – even if we accomplish nothing else on the day – stimulating conversation, a full belly and mild inebriation will be guaranteed (which, along with warmth, shelter and a comfortable pair of shoes, pretty much covers the essentials of a happy life). Hope to see you there.
The Abandoned Bicycle
Jonathan Penney, the man responsible for the Northern Idling Society’s ‘Northern Snail’ image, now has his own website which can be found by clicking here… The Abandoned Bicycle.
Check out the series of Idler posters he’s been working on.
You can meet Jonathan at our forthcoming meetings… details soon!
WORK KILLS: Don’t Do It!
Greetings from the Northern Idling Society
Tom Hodgkinson’s plans to open an ‘Idler Academy‘ café, bookshop and classrooms in London next February has inspired us to create a temporary Northern Idler Academy event of our own. To these ends we have formed the Northern Idling Society which will meet regularly in Sheffield – starting in January, 2011 – to bring the project to fruition. The wonderful Rude Shipyard independent bookshop, café and jamming lounge have already agreed to host the meetings.
If you are a fan of The Idler and you live north of the Watford Gap why not come along? If you have a skill that you’d like to share why not host a workshop? Better still join the society and get involved with the most exciting thing to hit Sheffield since ABC (with the possible exception of Pulp reforming, of course 😉 ). Simply email northernidler[at]gmail[dot]com for more information.
We’ll be using this blog to keep people informed about the development of the society and next year’s academy event. We’ll also use it to reproduce articles on various idling related subjects. If you want to give up the day job and escape the rat-race, watch this space!
Northern Idling Society 
