mockney piers

Oi, I was there last night! And yes, it is. Today I'm wearing lady's stockings over my head, it's a perfect match for my sawn-off!

It may have been different in Hemmingway's day, but these days the horses are cloaked in thick padded armour, and i'd be surprised if any got hurt any more. Citizen, it's pronounced pon (to rhyme with con) th (hard th like throw) e to (with the e pronounced as that in pet). Accent on the o. In the Americas and some parts of southern Spain the th will be a hard s as in see

tbh I can live with it during the day, nowt wrong with it as such, it's just too busy and noisy late-on at the weekend and have often encountered attitude there. I really like it's sister pub, The Florence though.

She seems far too happy, uncomplaining and unassuming to be a real Dulite I must say. Bless her *pretends not to have slight crush*

worked :-(

I suspect that any club that has been having curries in one road for 15 pages probably has!! http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,78792,81112#msg-81112

The Mash on Woolies. Even more on the money. Cheese and Onion Crisps go into Administration

Don't worry Bob, I was simultaneously arguing with you while backing up your point. Double think or something. Thinking about it my room 101 would probably involve a matador's outfit. I'm much better looking in fishnet tights!!

The whole thing is pretty ridiculous, we're not talking about black & white here, this isn't homeopathy, it's culture. I'm not trying to explain why a cross dresser in spray on gold lame with a sock down his pants going out and killing a large farm animal when he could just go to the supermarket and buy some sirloin makes sense. Of course it doesn't. Tell me why 2 sets of blokes kicking a leather ball up and down a field for 90 minutes arouses such ridiculous passion (yeah *bob* I know already) and weird personal identification, it doesn't bear much analysis, yet it does these things. I can't explain why I feel so very Spanish at the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza in Sevilla, but I do. I love the whole pomp and ceremony, and the feel of the hot stone under you buttocks, and the sweltering at 40 degrees under the evening sun and the taste of the red wine from the leather wine squirty thingy, even though I know at the back of my mind it's all utterly absurd and yes cruel! Is there anything here that makes people feel so very English? Tea and scones, a game of cricket at a village green on a summer's day perhaps? Noone ever said the Spaniards were civilised, hugely cultured maybe, but civilised, not so much. DaveR hits the nail on the head (right through the Bulls frontal lobe...oh sorry), which is why this is culture and LozzyLoz is being reported to the RSPCA should he give in to his urges to kill kittens with a knitting needle.

I get the feeling we're not helping Declan's son much ;-) Here's about a minute's footage of Enrique Ponce who I've seen about 3 times. There is blood, but no killing, say what you want about the cruelty, but the guy has balls, I've seen those bulls up close and they scared the bejeezus out of me. THough thanks to the civilising influence that Bob pointed out, soon the Bullrings will have sand on the ground to cover up the blood spilled in the deeply ritualised spectator sport of 'Post Bingo/12 pints fighting', a noble sport indeed. Armed only with a special pool cue and a red handkerchief on their head the Bingoreador steps out into the ring....

Does anyone else think that the only winners in this interminable and farcical saga are the lawyers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/7716286.stm

Generally, if you ask a Spaniard what they think about all those British campaigns to ban bullfighting, even the ones that dislike bullfighting (and there are many) will say something to the effect of FOAMYOB. Or in Spanish ?Vete la mierda!

"If I do a perfect little pirouette dressed from top to toe in Chanel Couture before cleanly slicing off your pet dogs head with an extra sharp meat cleaver, would this be acceptable on the basis of artistic merit?" Isnt that one of this year's Turner prize entrants?

I feel lethargic, on a badly planned overbudget project that is a paragon of how not to manage the client's expectations (ie i have a lump of cheese on a toothpick that took me 5 minutes and 29 pence, they were actually expecting the moon on a stick for that). I am currently giving a masterclass in displacement activity. Christ I wish I was drunk.

And just out of curiosity Admin, how, and more to the point, why would we want to oil a ninja?!

I, you, we, they, jeez I've some identity issues haven't he.

You great lily-livered pinko pansies the lot of you. Tis a noble sport and no mistake in this sanitised age when even our bombs drop bloodlessly in black & white, to have a bit of technicolor death in the afternoon. In seriousness the English part of me wanted to be appalled when I first went but I have to say I was rather seduced by it all, perhaps appealing to something atavistically in me. Never go and see one outside of Andalucia, they don't know what they're doing, though if you do see one in Madrid, be sure to go at the height of the season when the best toreadores are there and pay through the nose for a good 'un. As D_C says, a skilful corrida is impressive and strangely beautiful to behold. The varas, or lancing is somewhat brutal and is done simply to tire the bull out so it doesn't go on for hours; it's not pretty, but the lance should go in the hunk of fat at the back of the neck, that has no nerves, although I have seen it pierce shoulder even lung when done badly. The skill and bravery of the banderilleros is quite a sight to behold, and then the paseos and the estocada (literally sticking with the sword) can be breathtaking, and if done correctly the bull dies instantly. Plus the bulls live a pretty good life, unfettered by human contact, eating, roaming and shagging freely, until a moment of glorious death and hey, they even get to kill a bullfighter once in a blue moon! I've been to one in Barcelona that was none of these things, it was ugly, brutal, savage and entirely lacking in art or aesthetics. Avoid at all costs. If you're not inclined to get it then I don't suppose you ever will, nor do I expect you to try, why would you? And though it's popularity was ebbing, it has enjoyed something of a cultural revival over the last decade or more and it is part of our culture and heritage and I'm glad it exists and would probably be so even had I actively loathed it that first time; it's part of what I love about Spain, they're so in touch with who and what they are as a people. You know we should learn a thing or two from them and stop being so down on Morris dancing ;-)

It's pretty convincing, but then I used to think Horace really did go skiing, so I'm probably not the best person to ask.

hurrah, many happy returns fru/ant

This video footage is pretty convincing that it may have all been faked http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk1nA4SdMus

Japi Verde!!!

This will make a few people happy http://counterknowledge.com/ "Dr Gillian McKeith Widely derided as ?that awful poo lady? and stripped of her bogus qualification by the ASA, Gillian McKeith continues to be a menace to the public?s understanding of biology and nutrition through her ignorance. This year we laughed at her woes and we threw our hands up in despair at her obnoxious stupidity." and here's Echan Deravy exhibiting near flawlessly rigorous historical analysis; "[The Stone of Scone] was principally used as the stone on which Kings sat to become annointed [sic] monarchs and that is a ceremony that clearly has its origin in Pharaonic Egypt. It is thus highly likely that this stone was first carried to the distant shores of Spain and Ireland from Egypt, and then on to Scotland by Scota?s descendants. " brilliant.

Time to shut down, feeling instantly better for it!

It wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was far from terrible, clearly something rubbed you up the wrong way. If by "the black man who's been on Spooks" you mean the wonderful Paterson Joseph, you've probably know his face because he's been on practically everything except spooks - dangerously Motty of you there Nero ;-) , though as buggie hinted, once you've seen his wonderfully OTT character in Peep Show it's hard to take him seriously. Everyone in the office here has had a bit of a chuckle at the hetrogenous range of survivors, but hey, maybe that's part of the nefarious government organisation that caused it all in the first place ;-) I'm going with an insane Trevor Philips creating a special virus that leaves precisely one of every race alive in each country as he takes his remit just a little too far!!

I did think about the old survival skills whilst reading World War Z, I think mine more or less amount to zilch. Maybe something about dock leaves being good for stinging nettles, that's about it.