Ant

Good call Marmora Man! (Typing that made me feel that perhaps you ought to be wearing a mask, a cape and some tights with your pants on the outside. but I digress...) Dawn over the alps in winter, no one about and the lights of Grenoble shining through the blanket of cloud in the valley below. I had a large sackful of warm baguettes on my back at the time, which added a certain je ne sais quoi. Dusk in Hong Kong, looking out from the Peak over the South China Sea; islands floating in light and mist and all that. A near-empty pub with a roaring log fire in the middle of a cold and rainy day. Everyone else was a work. Can't remember what I was doing or why I wasn't at work too. I do know that I was cold, tired and thirsty and very glad of a cosy sit down with a pint and the chance to drink it in peace and quiet. It was somewhere in West London; I forget where now. Shame, as it had a lovely, almost Platonic quality of pubness to it that I'd love to revisit. The Venus de Milo. I was in the Louvre but didn't know it was there. Wasn't expecting to see it at all and so, when I stumbled upon it, was able to see it fresh and free of all the preconceptions I would probably otherwise have taken to it.

Very true, Keef. It's the bones in particular that I find quite grim though. More so than other litter. Especially when I encounter them on the top deck of a bus.

I do hate the chicken bones that get strewn about. What responsibility the shop can take in that, if any, is debatable.

Bugger. I was all set to get a Wii and then those GTA IV reviews came along and muddied everything up again.

I totally forgot about Iceland!

If you asked me where's the supermarket in ED I'd say that Sainsbo's. And if you asked me to think a bit more I'd say Somerfield. I wonder how many people would answer the same if asked.

Tho if he'd only had the nouse to take evil mega-chinned Jenny into the boardroom she'd have gone for sure.

I broadly agree with you, Brendan, about the two-party democracy thing, but at the same time I think it's fading. It seems to me that the Greens and Lib Dems are seen as more serious alternatives than they were when I was but a nipper, too young to vote and convinced that my parents and their generation were doing it wrong. Course, just cos it seems that way to me doesn't make it so. And in the context of the mayoral election at least I have to agree it does looks like being a straight Ken v Boris fight. The vote for the assembly, though...

Ah, here's a good one! 2. Giving up on playing a musical instrument. It also includes sub-regrets: a) allowing myself to talked into switching from the violin to the viola b) not making use of the excellent girl-meeting opportunities provided by playing in the school orchestra* c) not speaking up and asking to play something different when I started to get bored of all the classical stuff they flung at us * At an all-boy school and playing in a joint orchestra with a nearby all-girl school. I was too shy to make the most of it. Although perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on myself; the girls were the same. Cool kids we were not.

1. Choosing German over Art at GCSE. What was I thinking? I'll get back to you on the other two...

Doesn't sound as good though, does it?

Not cooking tonight. Having left over pasta with chilli and cauliflower that I made on Monday. Yum.

Erm, you don't get a second choice vote in a General Election Yes, I do realise. I was talking about spoilt ballots. But it's probably best to drop the issue - for now at least - as it's a bit off topic.

I have been in childcare for 15 years... That explains the name then. :D

There's been a fair bit of discussion on it over on this thread in the lounge: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,106687

Stew was lush. And there's plenty left for another meal - funny how stews always taste so much better when they've sat around for a day or two.

I've always liked Macey's and had very good service there. Hope it continues that way.

Brendan, they may be counted but I'm still not sure that they're ever reported. I can't see a mention of them in the results of the last general election, for instance: http://www.electoralcommission.gov.uk/templates/search/document.cfm/13893 (Link is to an excel spreadsheet from the electoral commission.)

...stew. Mmm, stew. I like stew. This one will be a carroty, shallot, peppery, chickeny, winey one. Go on then, what are you having?

I'm always interested to know how many are spoilt in protest. Does that ever get reported? Not sure I've seen it anywhere in past elections.

Yes, I'm afraid it's the only choice left to us.

Are you allowed to vote for the same candidate as both your first and second preference?

Oh great. About to go into a meeting, and after reading that I shall be tittering like a loon.

They stuck it on a spike, didn't they?

Hmph, well I for one shall have no truckle with such behaviour.