Wacky palm fronds and powerful worship

Now some people might fear that this photo is part of my feminist plot to prove that the meeting here is overfilled with balding men but a) the Edinburgh 2010 meeting in more diverse than this picture shows b) your attention is supposed to be drawn to the totally wacky palm trees in the background - I'm hoping there will be some rather better photos of them on the Edinburgh 2010 site. I am not sure why but I really love these wacky cloth palm trees which looked blown by the wind. Standing up amongst them is the wonderful and equally colourful John Bell of the Iona community. This picture is from last night's welcoming songs and words, which was like the palm fronds a wonderfully joyful, colourful and tuneful time.
Scattered around the Pollock Halls conference venue the palm trees decorate special entrances and halls. But in colourful and yet discreet ways there are also coloured cloth leaves scattered in the gardens, often with the word peace, paz, pace embroidered on them.
Anyway I am already trying to work out if they will auction the palms off at the end of the meeting and whether I could carry one back on the eurostar. Wonder if I can convince a colleague to take the interpretation equipment for me so I can carry a wacky cloth palm home. More photos of them soon - they are lovely but somehow impossible to photo.