MrBen

Trains are the new planes. Air travel is no longer sexy.

What's that smell?

Annette Curtain Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Pot roasted Pheasant with celery & sage. ( Nigel > Slater-The kitchen Diaries ) He doesn't come across great on telly but he is my (non-celeb) chef of choice. Understated, cares about it all, no gimmicks and just does great simple recipes. The Kitchen Diaries is a classic and my favourite comfort food out of its hallowed pages is the sausuage, lentil and salami casserole.

I swear I saw a robin on a spade handle at Elephant roundabout.

Meanwhile 40,176 and 185 buses are all fine as at 7am. I know you were all hoping to chuck a sickie but haul yer asses into work. There's an economy to get moving here!

Home ownership here seems more of an obsession than elsewhere. What's actually wrong with renting? It tales ownership / prices and thirst for equity accumulation out of the equation. And it works just fine for the Germans and the Swedes....

Sazzle - I will do, many of the classic spots are still going strong but I'm due a refresh. Like anywhere else you can have a very tacky, tourist spew-on-Bourbon St experience OR you can do some of that but combine it with some places (real gems) off the beaten track. On my last visit for example I went to a neighbourhood bar on my tod and ended up joining a table at a Crawfish boil with a friendly but totally plastered cop (who put his loaded handgun down next to his beer) a dodgy property developer and a clarinet player. And all they wanted to do was show me how to eat Crawfish, talk about Crawfish recipes and music. It's that kind of place.

And on Hester - I think he should have been allowed to keep the bonus. They had to get someone of his calibre and to pay him that just to take the job or he would have gone to one of the many other banks. Anyone in the city knows that just about every other bank (including some part owned by the tax payer) will pay even their CEO's a package that makes Hester's look like small change - even now in 2012, despite what's just happened. But it's not widely reported in the press. If Hester helps the taxpayer get their money back...and that is already a below market pay packet BTW...then that's money well spent in my book.

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wow that's a bold pledge ! > Easy to pledge things that are not yours and never > will be, 'as if' they were yours. > > Everyone suddenly seems to know how wrong > (ex-)Sir-Fred was in running the bank, a lot of > experts, who weren't posting a jot about him > during his successful and golden period as he grew > and merged banks, but, having read the papers > suddenly have a heap of after-the-fact moral > guidance to spew, very evangelic, like. > > The guy took risks and he got knighted for his > success and the good it did the country and > banking industry. There's no man here who can > honestly say he would have run the RBSG group any > differently or 'better' than Fred Goodwin. > > I'm sure theres plenty EDF posters working in > banking or related positions who have seen the > strategies adopted by banks (domestic and > international) chasing ever decreasing margins in > an increasingly difficult, complex and hostile > sector, ungoverned by financial and Governmental > authorities. > > Who was Prime Minister at the time that > regulations were failed to be derived and applied > ? > Well sack him too eh ? And if it's been a problem > of flawed governance let's strip the previous > 30-40 years' ex-Prime-Ministers of their > Lord/Ladyships too ?! > > Knee-jerk pointless gesture in stripping Fred. > Solves nowt, worse, allows other seniors who > contributed (across the industry and Government) > to step back and look on with disdain as if it was > all done by one man. > Seems a really pathetic gesture, one that's all > too easy to jump on and shout "yeah, right that'll > teach him". > > Farm ? New Zealand ?!! Huh ? All said tongue in cheek KK. I agree with what you say, the sometimes medieval vilification and wider systemic failure. The FSA have a lot to answer for as do the ratings agencies who are still, remarkably, viewed as a voice of sensibility. They all fucked up. BUT...that doesn't take away from the reality of what's happened to Fred. He can't show face in an Edinburgh street without getting it. So yes, rightly or wrongly, New Zealand would be a smart move. OR he now opens the gates and figures whom in the establishment he can take down with him. Stripping the knighthood has set a dangerous precedent - Lord Ashcroft anyone?

If it were me I'd be relocating to sheep farm in New Zealand, growing a beard and changing my name to "Derek Smith". I would take up yoga and after downsizing would spend the rest of my net worth on charitable causes (anonymously).

With big thanks to Jah Lush who has singlehandedly sorted my Christmas reading out for the next 12 years. *tips hat*

Thanks all for some excellent suggestions. Moos and Snr Chevalier - two excellent links there (I'm loving the modernhouse.net especially). My early January optimism has already been tempered by a nasty bank balance and a distinct lack of phones ringing at work (a second recession is already underway). So three planned trips have now become one and it's all been spunked on a musical trip to NY for weekend (village + harlem jazz bars) then flights to Memphis for 2 nights of blues on Beale then hire car south to New Orleans for 5 days of Jazz Fest, Kermit Ruffins and general bar life. I was last in NOLA 2 weeks before Katrina hit so it's time to go back. And after watching the whole HBO box set of series 1 of The Treme (if you liked The Wire...) it was a no brainer. It's unlike anywhere else in America or anywhere else in the world for that matter... and if you like the music it's magical.

Take a look at the top of the keyboard. Does it say "Commodore 64" per chance?

We all know that when alighting at Peckham Rye and in need of "Hot Drinks + Snax", then you should make a beeline for Motown Caff?, Peckham Rye. However...I take SE15's soulful offering and trump it from the Enid Blyton-esque idyll of North Dulwich where a new morning offering that I call "M-Treble-C" (Middle Class Coffee Cart) has just started up. As of this week, an plucky entrepreneur has been serving "quality ground coffee plus snacks" from 7am and I'm a fan...

Football and HMRC have never really got on since the money started flowing. Football has always thought it was special with it's own rules but that's changing. HMRC have a target to hit and a strong mandate in the current climate so I do think he'll get clobbered. The smarter guys are always one step ahead and you cant help thinking old school Harry has an old school accountant.

And you're really boring for everyone else to read.

Annette Curtain Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Who actually manages the leases. > > I know it's the "Estate" but who is MR/MS BIG at > dishingoutdulwichvillageleases.com > > Are they from Bromley or somewhere tedious like > that. > > WHOEVER it is I imagine they are a marks & sparks > suede-cardigan-wearing-Rover-driving nitwit. > > They've got a wife called Barbara or a husband > called Roger. S/he's booked the same holiday with > the same travel firm for the last 20 years. Their > children are accountants or surveyors or > conveyancing solicitors. And they have 2 > grandchildren, one called Aimee and one called > Christopher. > > I dispise them and their Primula Light on Nimbble > bread Chardonnay drinking frikkin sandwich faces. > > I hope they go on holiday and for once take a > different tour bus which goes up a mountain, never > to be seen again. > > Then and only then, will we get something > different in the village of the damned. Surely this is the best post of the year to date.

the-e-dealer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mr Ben can you give us a rough idea of location. > quite understand not wanting to say exactly where. Be honest, does it really make a difference where it was? It can and does happen on every street. Unless there are certain specific burglar proof roads I don't know about....just use your mortice / deadlocks!

Another ED mate broken in to yesterday (Monday) at 7pm in central ED. He got home from work to find the burglar still in his house and after a brief exchange the guy pushed past and ran off down the street. He didn't have anything on him but a lot of stuff had gone so there must have been a second who had just fled the scene with the loot. One other house nearby was also broken into just before, probably the same team. Pretty brazen breaking in just when everyone's getting back from work on a monday evening. Like the foxes, they don't seem to care anymore!

Beagle - that's what I thought but then Karter (who seems to know about these things) quoted the rates for the latest village unit let (Oddbins, retail use )and they were not too far off "indie" ED rates per annum / sq ft2. ?70-80k was it? The Estate is actually a registered Charity so it's interested in maximising rents like anyone else - but they could do with looking a bit beyond that at the "true amenity value" and spin off from doing stuff that's more inspired. Dulwich Village has literally everything else going for it apart from a decent (i.e. above average) commercial offering.

Whilst Fazer was a bit of a knob on that Rocca thread I'm also backing his general view of The Dog. The Village businesses are (mostly) lazy in their service offering and frequently outdone by what you'll now find on Lordship Lane. The Dog trades on it's prime location and past glories but beyond that it's crap food, service and uninspired staff. They really need to up their game but the tragedy of it is they don't really have to. I like the idea of the hotel if executed well and hope that will lead to new management downstairs and the place improving.

karter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > MrBen, are you saying that there isn't enough > demand on the strip for another coffee chain/shop? Yep - that is what I'm saying. Granted, big chains can trade on much lower (or even loss making) margins, but only up to a point. Just drove past Nero's and it was 1/5 full, lunchtime on a Wednesday.

Much better than the old one. That was pollocks.

There is, I think I've been to that plaice.

The product is ok (ish) but I just hate everything else that Starbucks stands for as a corporation. for example, their Fair Trade stance just feels like lip service to keep shareholders happy they're meeting corp social responsibility targets. I'm surprised if they are looking as they were actually shrinking 2 years back and closed almost 1000 stores worldwide after over expanding. Nero's is busy(ish) on Saturday's and at some points during the day (with mums) but its also empty a fair chunk of the time. So not much market share to grab really is there?