Uncomfortable media attention

Living just round the corner from the Bristol BBC TV studios, you get used to seeing the local news presenters around and it's not unusual to see your street on Points West when there's lots of snow or whatever. But over the past couple of days, I've found my street at the centre of a real news story. Early yesterday morning, the latest suspect in the Jo Yeates murder case was arrested in a flat on my road and since then, that section of the street (the next block) has been cordoned off and swarming with police and news vans.

Oddly, I didn't actually notice it yesterday, because of a big tree blocking my view of that end of the road! But after I'd been told about it, then seen it on the news, today, I seem to have seen nothing but police cars going up and down the road. It's quite difficult to know what to feel about it ... one of my first reactions is to be excited to see my street on the telly, but somehow, that doesn't feel quite appropriate. Similarly, I'm rather tempted to walk to Sainsbury's the wrong way round the block just to go past, but is that just voyeurism? It definitely all feels a bit odd and vaguely uncomfortable.

The circus comes to town

As it's been a beautifully sunny afternoon - and I'm still waiting for work to come through - I thought I'd wander down to the harbourside to take a look at the media circus that's landed on Bristol for tonight's leaders' debate, being hosted at the Arnolfini. When I got down to the city centre, I was actually rather surprised by how few people there were about. Ordinary people that is - the area was swarming with men in dark suits, armed police and media types talking into their mobile phones or doing pieces to camera along the waterfront. On my way down, I'd been half thinking of appropriately intelligent comments on politics and politicians just in case anyone with a microphone should come up to me, but I didn't bump into Brown, Clegg or Cameron and none of the media types seemed to want my woman-in-the-street opinion today. I enjoyed the sunshine though as I sat on a wall watching the police boat patrol up and down, machine guns at the ready in case of any false move from a passing swan!