bigmac -
the last big ass-embly i ever got dragged to was wembly--london--UK--about 1970 (?). it rained the whole time.
Yes. I was there sitting in the empire pool. It was crap.
Really enjoyed the CONvention....why?
by punkofnice 50 Replies latest jw experiences
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punkofnice
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Calebs Airplane
Punkofnice...
It was probably the usual "We Thank You Jehovah" song at the end of the convention... That's their signature convention closer... After singing that song with the full orchestra track, everyone generally feels "uplifted" albeit not seeming to remember one single thing they've learned from the entire 3-day snore-fest...
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punkofnice
Caleb - Argh! Now that song is in my noddle. If I ever remembered anything it was the illustrations rather than their application. I remember a talk that kind of recapped Paradise Lost by Milton.
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gypsygirl
I remember sitting at Dodger's Stadium and/or Padre's Stadium for 4 days in a row roasting in the heat of mid July or August. The only slight relief was a small clamp-on umbrella which would help with some shade the sun but do nothing for the sweltering heat. One summer in the mid 80's my whole family and many people I know got food poisening from something we all ate at the convention. So I spent a whole day in bed at our motel and several other witnesses went home, and one sister ended up in the hospital. That was when they made sandwiches for sale and stacked them on tables outside the stadium, sometimes directly in the sun, without ice or refridgeration. The sandwiches had been made ahead of time and then transported to the stations in plain cardboard boxes, not coolers.
Once I had children of my own, I would often times be fortunate enough to sit in the shade under one of the decks, but not always. Sometimes the kids were right there in the sun with me. I am ashamed that I allowed that now. I thought we were enduring for Jehovah at the time. Trying to stay awake in that heat sometimes felt like agony and I spent hours trying to avoid going to sleep, rather than listen to that droning loud speaker. I still have a photo I snapped one time at a convention of the entire row I was sitting in where every single person in it had their heads drooping and their eyes closed. It's very funny. And the craziest part was that the reason I had my camera out was because I was trying to sneak a picture of Michael Jackson who was sitting 10 seats to my left and one row behind. LOL Yes, I counted. That day we were reprimanded from the podium to allow celebrities who may be attending to enjoy the convention in peace and to treat them like we would any other attendee and to stay in our seats and not to wonder to other sections causing commotion over them. I'd gotten up to go to the bathroom at one point and then was stopped and questioned by an attendant when I tried to go back down that row to my seat. I can't say that wasn't an interesting convention due to the buzz over MJ.
But as for looking forward to the conventions, for me it was definitely a deviation from the daily routine. I was a stay-at-home mom w/4 kids. So for me it was fun to get away and what I really looked forward to each year was making new dresses and clothes for all the kids. So we all had a new outfit for each and every day, and I spent a lot of time admiring everyone else's clothes too. It was like being at a fashion show! And of course it was really fun to spend time with friends and family and to see people you may not have seen in a while. We looked forward to meeting them for dinner and socializing in the evening.
I have to laugh at myself now when I think of how excited we would be looking forward to the "drama" which was nothing but people dressed as Bible characters waving their arms in exaggerated motions, walking back and forth across the stage and mouthing the pre-recorded stories. And when you're at a stadium they appear to be nothing more than colorful dots on the stage so I'd always wondered why they still had to memorize and mouth the dialogue. There was a time though back in the 70's when I first attended a 5-day convention with my mother, when the program went on until late in the evening and the dramas were quite different. I remember that first one and there was this big red heart that lit up and a brain too. The drama dealt with the treachery of the heart and each organ would light up and the heart would beat loudly. I was only 10 so it did catch my attention. Just something I remember.
Last time I was at a baseball stadium for a ball game I was miserable sitting in the sun ,and for only a few hours. I wondered how I'd ever done it during those conventions for so many years. I still have no clue, and I guess it doesn't matter anymore.
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punkofnice
GG -
I have to laugh at myself now when I think of how excited we would be looking forward to the "drama" which was nothing but people
dressed as Bible characters waving their arms in exaggerated motions,
walking back and forth across the stage and mouthing the pre-recorded stories.
Agreed. Some of the dramas were just OTT, banal or infomercials for doing more.
I remember a CONvention at Norwich (UK) where the dust was blowing like crazy everywhere and getting in my eyes. The same happened in Nottingham but some blokes went around with watering cans to dampen the dust.
I don't recall a single 'point(TM)' from those monumental wastes of time and money.
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rmt1
They should have showed Ben-Hur or Spartacus.
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punkofnice
rmt1 - They should have.................or Mad Max.
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RAYZORBLADE
My goodness. I remember going to the big conventions. The only thing I recalled that I loved: was the trip itself going there.
I would studiously take notes. I thought it would help me remember everything: it didn't. I tried ... heaven knows I tried.
Some of the conventions I remember enjoying the drive to were: Victorius Faith 1978 in Montreal. The following year again in 1979 in Montreal, and then attending a couple of assemblies in Portland, Maine (1982 and 1983).
The 1979 Assembly in Montreal, they split one side of the Olympic Stadium in English; the other side in French/francais. They were really hammering down on the 'Disco' music and backwards-masking music interpretations. I hated that one. I remember brothers and sisters dumping perfectly good records because of what the old folks in Brooklyn were thinking. Damn!
(years later I went out and bought every one of those albums back)
The 1982 assembly in Portland, Maine was memorable due to the fact I was being reunited with my then girlfriend who had NO idea I had moved back to Atlantic Canada from Toronto. I remember that assembly and the fun of the travel from my buddy's place in northern Maine, down to Augusta. Then meeting up with my crew in Portland, the next day.
1983 was not as much fun. I remember the road trip and it wasn't as fun as the 1982 one. Seemed to lack any spark whatsoever.
Then I was gone, gone, gone ... gone! Hard to believe that that was almost 30 years ago.
What a huge relief I don't have to take in any of those anymore. -
punkofnice
RB -
I remember brothers and sisters dumping perfectly good records because of what the old folks in Brooklyn were thinking.
I never did Mwuhahahaha
I do however, remember a JW that I was in one of the dramas with. He was a bit of a country bumpkin type.
He said that he was told ELO were demonic and when he heard a song by them he ''went all dizzy''.
Even in those days as a fully indoctrinated JW I thought to myself: 'Twat!'
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cult classic
LOL