randombloke

Rolf Harris has been found guilty of probably the worst most vile crime by the best justice system in the world. The crimes he has committed are a living hell for any of the victims. Making jokes about it is in very poor taste. Irrespective of the motives of any of the accusers, if he did these awful crimes he should be punished. As has been suggested paedophiles are extremely skilled at hiding their crimes. We tend to disbelieve they could possibly have been guilty of them. And that is the main issue. Had he admitted his crimes then perhaps his victims could have avoided a harrowing time in court. He, or his defence team chose not to. Without going into detail I know someone very well who was abused for over 15 years starting as a 4 year old. She tried to "tell" on him but was never believed. It was something she never recovered from. Like everyone else I wanted to believe that he had been wrongly accused. It seems he was not. Part of my childhood has gone. But that is as nothing to the life of shame felt by the victims. They are the ones we should feel sorry for.

Tommy Bolin...Astonishing Jake E Lee Steve Hillage...back in the day a hippie now a dance producer Walter Becker Joe Walsh Brian Robertson & Scott Gorham & Eric Bell Joe Perry and Brad Whitford BB King Segovia Rory Gallagher Uli Jon Roth Seen all the above but the most astonishing playing I have ever seen was Gary Moore on the Still Got the Blues tour, Midnight Blues was amazing. Joe Bonnamassa covering it well..on Rory's Stratocaster..

We went to Elvedon in October. They were just about to open the new water slide which looked pretty interesting. It's a much smaller site than either Longleat (which is massive and VERY hilly)or Sherwood. It is a bit in need of a spruce up but all the usual attractions are there. The main difference between this visit and the last one (2006-LaWhinfell Forest), is the appearance of big chain restaurants/cafes like Cafe Rouge and Starbucks. The other major advantage is it's about 90 minutes from East Dulwich which means if you time it right they will sleep in the car on the way. I took my son when he was about 10 months old and he had a great time, admittedly that was 22 years ago, but he loved the toddler pool and the slides and especially the ducks and ducklings and squirrels that are so tame they came to the chalet and he was able to feed them. He can't remember it but he had a great time nonetheless. There is a creche, baby-minding service and lots of things aimed at kids so I'd recommend it very highly. They also offer a take away/delivery service offering pretty decent Chinese, Indian or Pizza. It's not cheap though. We had a very happy dusk watching Muntjack dear, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Rabbits, Bats and various other wildlife in the hide. No good for 2 year olds but wonderfully calming for adults. Go for it.

I think it's Dawson's Hill underneath the Dawson Heights estate on Overhill Road but I may be wrong. Living nearby I can attest that you do get great views of the fireworks without having to fight your way through thousands of revellers.

For people to stop bleating about the bloody place on The East Dulwich Forum It does my cake in, really it does.

Well, Atticus, all I can say is b*llocks! As someone who suffered from testicular cancer at 23 if I had not been back to the doctors THREE times I'd have died and my son wouldn't be the same age now as I was when I was diagnosed. Sure it doesn't take much to grow a moustache, but it makes men consider their health issues. I'm now of an age where I will be making sure that my prostate gets checked out. Movember helps men realise there is no stigma in losing a testicle, having a per-anal prostate examination and to be less afraid of facing up to their fears. Testicular cancer holds the stigma of being less of a man, and allowing someone to penetrate you even for medical reasons is complete anathema for some men. Testicular cancer is eminently treatable. Prostate cancer is a silent killer because it is virtually asymptomatic. Movember helps fund research into both the cause and treatments for diseases. Trust me you would rather have your prostate shrunk via microwave than someone shoving a telescope the size of your little finger up your urethra. I know, I used to sell them. I wonder, would people criticise women for just wearing a pink bow for breast cancer, or should they also do a genunine act of goodwill? We are all entitled to an opinion, however I really do think you are 100% wrong Atticus. Perhaps this post will help you reconsider.

Absolute genius post. Encapsulates EDF in one fell swoop. Guilty as charged with several other offences to be taken into consideration both here and elsewhere.

I thought several posts here including the OP, LondonMix, Pickle, Nanny, Otta and Michael P?s posts were eminently sensible. Times have changed since my son was a toddler and people now expect to be able to take children into Public Houses, coffee shops etc. He?s now 23 and luckily, he was an easy child to manage. Stick him in the ball pool at the back of the local pub on a summer?s evening in the Yorkshire town he grew up in and he was happy as a clam. He has recently had occasion to work in a very popular Public House on Lordship Lane and was incensed at the selfish, haughty attitude of some of the clientele, particularly those with children whom he regarded as being out of control. As he pointed out last week, it?s the sense of entitlement and self-righteousness that he finds distasteful. For example: arriving at 7:00pm and complaining that after 7 hours Sunday lunch service there is no roast beef left. The clue is in the name: since when do you have lunch at 7:00pm? Then losing your temper when informed that unfortunately it was against the law for him to heat up a babies bottle is hardly the most reasonable of behaviours. At the risk of opening myself up to a huge tide of disapprobation, I do find myself becoming incredibly irritated by the accusatory tone of the question ?Do you actually have children?? As if the mere principle of having progeny suddenly turns you into an expert on childcare/socially acceptable behaviour and impervious to reasonable criticism. The inference being that anyone who does not (have children) is in no way allowed an opinion of their own, or god forbid, to complain. The issue is one of understanding and tolerance from both sets of people, i.e. parents and non-parents. Awareness is key, just because you feel strongly that children should be accepted in public places ? la Europe, it does not necessarily mean that everyone feels the same way. I lose count of the examples of plainly stupid parenting I see in caf?s, supermarkets and pubs. I have to bite my tongue when I see children being ignored by their parents who are more concerned with chatting to friends than giving their children the attention they require. Like Pickle, I also see parents tolerating unacceptable behaviour by children who should be ignored or disciplined. Tired, fractious children running riot and behaving in an antisocial manner is down to a lack of forethought by their parents. It?s simple common sense. If you drag your child around a park for a nice walk, remember that a toddler has to take about three paces to your one pace. So if you walk them 1 mile, to them it?s effectively 3 miles and at a pace they can?t sustain. Imagine an 18 foot giant dragging you around Dulwich Park 3 times faster than you want to go and then ignoring you whilst said giant eats their lunch and drinks with its? chums. Do you think you?d not kick off? Nobody wants to go back to the days of children being scrubbed by Nanny and brought down to entertain the dinner guests, but common sense and give and take is surely what is needed.

Prunella Hope you are feeling better now. I recently attended a tutored foraging day in Oxfordshire with Woodland Ways and this topic came up. They said it is absolutely critical that you make sure you have not inadvertently picked up something toxic in a bunch of something else. We were shown a Poison Ivy plant growing in amongst a bunch of nettle plants as an example! The other thing that was mentioned is that you need to take great care in using the internet for research as a lot of webpages are US based and what may be called one thing there is called something different in the UK. One may be safe and beneficial and the other toxic and harmful. A good lesson learned.

I completely agree they start early in the morning as I live smack dab under the flight path. Because we are just about the highest point in the area they are incredibly noisy, especially if they are making the last turn to final approach they often change the throttle speed which is very noticeable. That said before I lived in Dulwich I lived in West Ealing. I can guarantee you that a fully laden Jumbo going to either Hong Kong or Arab Emirates with the engines on full power as it fights against gravity makes a LOT more noise than a fuel depleted one coming in to land. The building literally shook on some occasions. Unfortunately,wherever you go in the South East it's much noisier than elsewhere in the UK by dint of the sheer number of airports, size of aircraft and number of flights. I also used to live in West Yorkshire and was under the flight path for Leeds/Bradford, and at the time I thought that was noisy too! As Tiger Ranks posted if the foxes wake me up at 2am I can be sure that I'll just be dozing when the Hong Kong flight arrives. Hey ho, I'll just turn up my stero with Matallica and make myself deaf. Result: blissful sleep, however the neighbours might object.

Adam I'm not sure what the point is that you are making? Is you comment that it's a bit unfair of LOCOG in not paying for the time of professional musicians? The fact is they (LOCOG)aren't paying for a lot of things; from volunteer greeters, to medical back up to legal advice. I used to work for the law firm who are their advisers. It's all pro-bono work and in hindsight the rumour is they (the law firm)wish they'd not agreed to do it as there have been so many thousands of hours of unpaid work, plus they are getting bad press for things like suing florists. I know someone who is working at both the Olympics and Paralympics on the medical staff and they are not getting paid for their time either, they are volunteers. Is your concern that the LSO will be paid twice for both recording and then miming to their recording, thereby stopping another professional musician from earning the fees? Or ripping off the taxpayer by being paid twice? That same friend working at the Olympics has been involved with the LSO for a number of years and I'd suggest the fees are the thing they are least bothered about. The rumour is it's about control of the timings. Danny Boyle wanted them to play live but LOCOG overruled him. It's actually a slap in the face and a total nonsense when you consider the LSO sight read in international competition and have to ALL play to the same tempo even in the most trying of venues (they were at St Paul's for two nights this week which is a nightmare acoustic because it all flies up into the dome and then comes back down again so it just becomes a morass of sound). If the LSO have to make a piece last precisely 2 minutes 15 seconds then that is what they do. Plus a conductor, who may well not be involved in the recording, will be wheeled out to wave his arms about a bit and rattle around(the clue is in the description-he's denied it but his diary is free that day). So if the premier orchestra in the country have to mime, so be it. They'd rather play live, with one chance to get it right just as they did in Trafalgar Sq a few weeks ago. They are consummate professionals. Is it a rip-off? I suppose you have to balance the cost of paying them twice against the cost of the entire event. That is, of course if they are being paid at all. As for the future of live or composed music, surely one performance at the Olympics opening ceremony is far less subversive and damaging to the industry than the execrable nonsense purveyed by Mr Cowell and his media empire? If push comes to shove I'd rather listen to the LSO pretend to play something they prepared earlier than the drivel pushed out on a Saturday evening on X Factor, BGT, The Voice or whatever purporting to be music. At least the LSO don't need autotuners and talent enhancing electronics to make them sound as if they are all one the same page. Because, of course they actually are. The issue of miking them up may well be more challenging, but I doubt it would be that difficult. Rock bands like can Metallica set up and down in less than two hours with a LOT more electronics, plus lasers/light shows etc etc. The LSO only need a few mics, they didn't have that many at St Pauls on Tuesday which went out live on Radio 3. One supposes it depends where they are going to be sitting on the day. So, I agree with you that LOCOG have got a brass neck, but if they paid out for everything we'd all be up in arms over the cost for the entire event even more than we are already.

Being facetious I'd hesitate to open fire in the back garden for fear of starting off a "Police Helicopter flies over East Dulwich" thread on the EDF. Gun crime=gang activity.

Hmmmm, are they not going down Lordship Lane? Outrageous!! I shall boycott the entire event.

Have just eaten a very yummy frozen ready meal takeaway from COOK in Chichester. They have a branch in: whisper it: West Dulwich. Have to say it's better than a lot of oh, say Waitrose or M&S ready meals. What if they opened in a derelict shop on Lordship Lane? Would you go? http://www.cookfood.net/shops/west-dulwich

New Waitrose being built?

Stop her in the corridor and profer a handkerchief ask "Excuse me, does this smell of Rohypnol to you?"...OR don't forget the Gold Blend couple.. http://www.childofthe1980s.com/2008/05/26/nescafe-gold-blend-couple/

I'm looking for a band. Played lead guitar in quite a few over the years. Audtioned for Thin Lizzy when I still had hair. Yamaha/Washburn/Marshall/Boss FX etc Know some bass players vocalists etc. Up for a laugh but can be very serious about things too if that's the appropriate thing to do. PM me.

Try this for starters: Starters And this for afters: Afters

There are two good Tapas bars within shouting distance depending on where you live. Barcelona is on Lordship Lane just on the ED side of the A205 South Circular junction, very good selection but quite easy to start spending a lot of money without trying. We spent ?95 for two people on our evening there without having a dessert. http://www.ilondon.co.uk/profile/376335/East-Dulwich/Barcelona-Tapas-Bar/ Try Tapas in Forest Hill is a little further afield but excellent value for money with a slightly smaller selection. http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/view/136/Try

intexasatthe moment Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I can't help wondering about the cost > effectiveness of using helicopters ,especially > since it seems ( I might be wrong ) not infrequent > around here . > I wonder if there are records showing how often > helicopter use results in catching the criminal ? I once visited the copper chopper base in West Yorkshire when I was a member of Round Table and they said they never launch unless there is an extremely strong reason for so doing. They know they have to justify the costs to the taxpayer. As one of the Round table members was a part of the Yorkshire equivalent to CO19 we got shown some CCTV stuff that was a bit more sensitive than the car chases you see on Police, Camera, Action. It could well be that today's operation might be one of those.

Speyside malts are your Scotches of choice. Probably The Glenlivet or The Macallan. Try Glemorangie (rhymes with Orangey) Madeira or Sherry cask too. Just a teensy dab of Speyside mineral water too. NO ice...

Keith Floyd used to recommend, and I've never found a better way of doing it: Best quality meat you can find. Leave it out of the fridge at least an hour to come up to room temperature. Griddle pan as hot as it can go. Oil the meat, never the pan. No salt. Do the edges of the meat first then place it on the griddle. Add rock or sea salt once it's sealed, try using celery salt too. I'd also suggest double the resting time to cooking time:- if you cook for 5 mins, cover with tin foil, in a warm place and leave it to rest for 10 minutes. This makes a MASSIVE difference as the fibres have time to relax from the contracture caused by the fierce heat. Jamie Oliver has a great recipe for Fillet of Beef in Barolo. Basically, place fillets in the pan, just cover with wine, couple of peppercorns, thyme. Bring to the boil then turn down and simmer. Serve with celeriac mash. Very nice and tender and totally different to frying the meat. Can't agree with Merlot, it's too soft you need something with some structure and backbone like a good Claret or Rioja.

What about bands that have reformed and really shouldn't have? Thin Lizzy Queen 10CC ELO Van Halen Deep Purple Slade Guns N Roses Status Quo Or those that haven't and God willing won't.. Spice Girls Girls Aloud The Smiths Black Lace (or have they?) OK well it's all a matter of taste isn't it? Some people would love to see The Smiths again or The Spice Girls...Of course the musicians who want to earn a living have the right to do that. Ray Manzanerek and Robbie Krieger said, We tour as The Doors, if we don't have the right to do that, then who does?

Horsebox Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Their wines are pretty good, tried both the red > and the white (not from a tumbler). > > I was eager to try the redchurch brewery beers - > and I did and they were very tasty - but found > them very expensive at ?2.85 for 330ml bottles. Is > this the price of a decent microbrewery not far > from home, or was I ripped off? Good on you for not accepting anything resembling a tumbler as the Actress said to the Bishop. I don't think ?2.85 is a rip off if you consider a bottle of Corona 330ml will cost you ?3.30 in Boho on Lordship Lane, of course you pay for the ambience.... ;-)

I suppose it depends on if you want to taste your wine properly. (I say this having passed my Wine&Spirit Education Trust Diploma way back in 1984 which involves rather a lot of blind tasting when I was managing an Oddbins). Perhaps an appropriate response might be to explain to the barman :- You might be interested to consider the following facts. There is a prescribed method for tasting a wine. The perfect glass for tasting wine is based on the Spanish Copita, it's called the ISO tasting glass. http://www.wineware.co.uk/images/products/main/small/white-wine-peter-stegerx4.jpg It has a stem which allows you swirl the wine around to view the gradation of the colour of the wine which helps you decide on the age of the wine and the "legs" which slide down the bowl help you to decide the alcohol level, and therefore the must weight of the wine. That gives a clue as to it's provenance. The bowl of the glass curves inwards which holds the aroma of the wine so that you can identify the grape variety. Swirling the wine in the glass releases the volatile esthers in the wine which improves the flavour allowing you to decide the balance of alcohol, fruit, acidity and sugar in a white wine, or the fruit, alcohol, acidity and tannin in a red wine. These allow you to evaluate the quality of the wine and decide on how long it will take to mature and be at it's best. Of course in order to best appreciate all this it is of paramount importance that you do ont taint the glass with detergent, or wear aftershave or perfume which might affect the nose and palate of other tasters. Of course if you said that to the staff of the Actress, they'd think you were a pompous tw*t. ;-) Much as I'd think the barman/owner was for forcing me to have a tumbler, particularly if it wasn't a French wine. So that's how they drink Pinot Grigio in France is it? Or Rioja? or Montepulciano? I wasn't aware the French acknowledged the existence of any fruit of the grape that doesn't carry an AOC certificate. Then again maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to taste the wine too carefully. I want a German lager... will you serve it in a Stein my dear bartender? You've got to love the EDF Cheers :)-D