PennyDreadful

I was just about to suggest Celia Hammond - the number is 0208 694 6545. Good luck!

Bruges is lovely - and bloonoo is right that wandering around on foot is really all you need to do. But I?d also recommend a boat trip along the canals ? there are various different start points near the Burg and boats leave regularly throughout the day, with the round trip taking about half an hour. Things to see: the obvious place to head for is the vast Markt square with the Belfort - the bell tower which you can pay to climb up (and up and up)... be aware that the steps do narrow tremendously the higher you get! Adjoining the Markt is a smaller square called the Burg, where you?ll find the Staadhuis (with a grand frescoed hall), and the Heilig Bloed Basiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood). My tip is that if you visit the Basilica, you?ll find that everyone heads up the wide staircase to the big, ornate church but few notice the door tucked into a corner near the foot of the stairs; this opens into the much plainer and more peaceful vault, which we found made a lovely contrast to the grandeur above and the crowds outside... We also really liked the Gruuthuse Museum ? the grand 15th-century house of a wealthy merchant. It?s in a lovely spot by the canal and right next door to the huge Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady)...and the wealthy merchant cheekily got permission to build a special viewing room jutting out from his house right into the church so that his family could worship without leaving the comfort of their own home! It?s amazing looking down from the windows of this room straight into the church and seeing people wandering around oblivious to you peering at them... Food (1): I?d recommend a restaurant called Poules Moules (9 Simon Stevin Plein) - a lovely old building; friendly/attentive but not bothersome service; great food ? not over-fussy, just good, fresh stuff, beautifully cooked and delicious. We had pasta, can?t vouch for their poules or their moules... Food (2): Friends who?ve been to Bruges swear by Restaurant Jan Van Eyck (12 Jan Van Eyck Plein), which also seems to have a lot of rave reviews online...if I ever get back to Bruges I plan to eat there. Food (3): Just to echo what bloonoo said about restaurants closing earlier than you might expect (both at lunchtime and at dinnertime...) Bar: Lokkedize (33 Korte Vuldersstraat) Not the kind of place where you can watch the Grand National (can?t help with that, I?m afraid) ? but Lokkedize is a great place for a drink. Cosy, quirky, frequented by locals as much as visitors. Does food, too ? Mediterranean meals and snacks. And often has music: jazz/blues/chanson. It?s something of a Bruges institution. Hope some of this is useful. Have a great time!

The Hole In The Wall pub at Waterloo (Mepham Street, SE1 ? right next to Waterloo station) has a great Irish session on Sunday nights from about 7pm onwards. Loads of ace traditional musicians play every week ? if you were to go along, I?m sure you?d find someone whose band could play at your party. In fact, I?ll PM you with contact details for William Barr, who organises the sessions ? I know he?s sorted out bands for private functions in the past.

Surely was written with East Dulwich in mind...

A lovely Scouse lad called

Insanely catchy song by local lad

The Winter Fair outside the South Bank Centre had a stall with some great hats last year, including the ear-flappy ones you seek...not too pricey, either.

Sergeant Buzfuz - great south London band - are bringing out a series of songs covering the entire history of the papacy - check out (I also heartily recommend Part 4, which boasts a truly magnificent bassline and the striking opening couplet 'Anacletus the Second liked to rape nuns / His sister was the mother of some of his sons'...)

My friend shot a two-part video of the race from an upstairs window about halfway down Barry Road. (The video's in two parts because he thought all the runners had passed, but then suddenly the second phalanx hove into view!) Here it is on YouTube: Champions all - bravo!

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have a question- why can't women write good > lyrics? Or can they? If they can why no mention of > any here? > > Answers? Theories? I mentioned Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family - she's female (just has a deceptive name)! But you've made a good point.

Twenty-odd years down the line, I still love

Cathal Coughlan - any and every era - absolutely! Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family Georges Brassens

Come now - would a force for good be responsible for THIS ? Actually, now I think about it, yes! You're right after all - Rolf is the man!

Mice do seem to be a big issue round here. We got rid of ours (with precious little help from our cat) by using electric plug-in 'sonic deterrent' things which emit a sound humans can't hear but rodents can't stand. For the first few days, we thought these devices were just making things worse, as mice seemed to be charging about all over the place - but we read an online review that said that at first the mice run around as the sound drives them mad but then they simply depart. So we persevered and that's exactly what happened - they just went away and haven't come back! Can't remember the exact brand name of the plug-ins we used, but they were like these ones. I think we bought them at Dulwich DIY on Lordship Lane.

I'd like to put forward The voice of Fife (shame about the video) and The voice of heaven (sometimes you don't even need to understand the words...)

I'd like to offer this rather lovely song, which means a lot to me for a number of reasons (not least 'cause the band are my mates, innit!)

Hello SeanMacGabhann, I'm delighted to meet another Cathal Coughlan fan. As far as I'm concerned, there can never be too many posts about the great man!

1) All the musicians I know who are making amazing music that hardly anyone gets to hear because the big money favours glutinous pap. 2) Cathal Coughlan. Extraordinary, fiercely intelligent songwriter (with a magnificent, Scott-Walker-ish voice) who seamlessly melds beauty and horror, poetry and politics, sorrow and wit, love and rage, the sublime and the ridiculous. And speaking of sublime and ridiculous: 3) Cud. Because they fill me with joy and make me dance - and Carl Puttnam is a big, daft, blubbery love god!

I don?t know you at all; but I was moved by your post and would like to thank you for the care and dedication you?ve shown to someone outside your own family, someone you could easily have turned your back on (as it seems others have). As someone with a chronic illness, I am deeply troubled by society?s drift towards accepting assisted suicide; but I would still echo what others have said here - please do try to somehow find the courage to make one last visit. It wouldn?t be condoning her decision, but rather honouring the way you have mattered in each other?s lives. This is bound to be a strange and painful time, but I can?t help feeling it would be much worse for you if you simply didn?t see her again...then it really would be like the ?sick budgie going off to the vet? scenario that you describe. Whereas by sharing a last visit, you would be acknowledging your shared humanity. If you do go to see her, the hardest part may well be walking across the threshold on the way in...and then on the way out again. Perhaps someone (your husband, or a friend) could come with you to her street and then either wait outside or at any rate meet you straight afterwards? While you are actually with her, it may well be fine ? you will be your familiar selves to each other; you may not even talk about The Matter In Hand as she may not want to, preferring everyday trivialities as light relief. Or she may have things of her own she has decided to say. Either way, the onus is not all on you to come up with the ?right things to say? because there are no right things to say in such a situation. Please don?t let the feeling that you must have some kind of speech prepared put you off going to see her. Just go ? just go in there and be with her a while. Whatever happens, you have nothing to reproach yourself for. You mention appearing cowardly ? not at all: you seem like a brave person in a tough situation. This is the hard stuff of life and many people don?t dirty their hands with it ? it?s admirable that you do. Good luck.

Mystic Mog

Anita Pallenberg Arnold Palmer Andy Pandy Anatomy & Physiology (skeleton outfit?)

Mullet with headlights

So very sorry to hear that it was your cat Woody after all. Just glad to have been able to help you at least find out what happened. If it's any consolation at all, the woman who witnessed it told us that it happened very quickly - in other words, he didn't suffer but died straight away. But I know that despite that, you must just be feeling so sad and my heart goes out to you. Very best wishes from my partner and me.

Hello James, no, the cat wasn't wearing a collar. Size-wise, it was not a huge cat, but not sure I'd actually call it small - just an average, medium-sized cat. Ms Robson the vet (tel.020 7701 6452) could probably give you a give you a better description. The other cat that came over to see what was going on (tabby with white bits) WAS small and possibly lost - it rushed joyfully in through our front door, only to be sent packing by our furious cat. Does your missing tabby have any white markings? Anyway, I'll try to ring your mobile number. Hope your cat turns up safe and sound.