MrBen

I love the obligatory and courteous "bonjour m'sieur dame" from all customers on entering a local bakers in France. Try walking into Iceland at 9am to get your loaf of white sliced with a loud "GOOD MORNING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" and see what happens....?

I've had Sunday Paella out back once on a crisp, sunny October day and with a nice chilled Albarino and it was great. I really like it there - agreed on prices being high but it's still a good shout and slightly closer than Angels and Gypsies. Both beat Barcelona in my humble opinion.

I agree with something another well known poster said recently. Which is that the days of a good independent start up restaurant on a central Lordship Lane location are now pretty much over. Rents are prohibitive, even in the current climate. As a result, the only buyers of new leases are more likely to be chains who can work on lower margins due to their economies of scale. And so South London's best independent high street risks becoming further homogenised. I'd also agree that Camberwell and Peckham are now the domain of more interesting start ups (Silk Road, Angels and Gypsies, Frank's etc).

France are 7-1 to win. Not great value eh?

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 8.45 am ? > > Most self-respecting pros are well into their > working day by then. > You're lucky you're not lamenting the 0609 train's > times. > Clearly you're om the afternoon shift. > Or just working part-time. True KK. The earlier trains have more than their fair share of well tailored execs and it gets less career orientated towards 9am - peaking at 8.45 for the bare minimum 9-5'ers. But go past 9am and you get the creatives. The ad men, jingle writers and wacky spec's who get to start at 9.30 /10am after a Starbucks latte. I envy their cargo pants.

Hilarious thread. Vintage *Bob*. Classic, camp, Curtain. "And I can't fight this feeling anymore, I've forgotten what I started fighting for... It's time to bring this ship into the shore And throw away the oars, forever" REO Speedwagon (tu)

The 8.45am? Every day? Generally speaking the earlier trains (pre 8am) are more timely as the log jam effect has yet to set in. You also get a seat and it's a far nicer experience all round. Mix it up a bit perhaps?

Croze D'Oglandais?

I'm a fan. The one about middle class horrors. People who have too many kids eating fried chicken on the bus. And pitbulls. I could really relate to it....

Is it smugness though do you think? Or could it be that these people are just (shock horror) happy?

Never understood why mum's get a hard time on here. I'd rather that than the unemployed, drunken air stealers that spend their benefits in the bookies all day. In addition to all that joyous thrusting, mums are spending their cash in local businesses which are otherwise dead during the day, and they smile a lot. Anti-mum gags are mainly from grumpy old loners who cant get laid OR 20 somethings who seem to forget what will happen to them in just a few years time... Civilservant - your post only makes sense if every parent who lives here stays here. Forever. What really happens is that they have sprogs, use the decent local school system for 10 years, cash the house in and out move to Surrey/Hertfordshire/France etc but you knew that didn't you....

Yep....roll up to buy your authentic French tumblers. From an online store in Virginia, USA.....

Nice observational there Maxxi But your post is a little depressing and reminds me from one circa 2007, when the first decent baker opened in the area and a poster had a pop at someone "walking smugly down the street in their floral dress and sunday flip flops to buy their sour dough". A pop at increasing gentrification/sophistication when it was crap before. In reality is it not just different people at different stages of life out buying shit. And as I think Asset said at the time, "so f***&%g what?". *hides cardigan /loafer combo*

There's definitely a weekend crowd now. And I don't know why but I reckon they're better looking. On a weekday its mainly: - Happy mums doing the buggy /coffee thing - Unemployed people - Pensioners - Thieves casing the streets /Romanians in old white vans looking for metal - Estate Agents Edited for reasons of personal safety.... *ducks*

RosieH Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Depending who my guests are for dinner, I often > serve wine in tumblers - less likely to get > knocked over - I've lost many a crystal wine glass > to a cack-handed piss-head, Your dinner parties sound kind of fun. Do you have any rubber sheets on the spare bed? When do I get an invite?

> I hope you were being ironic, because if not, you > appear to have become a pretty selfish arsehole. Now that is no way for a Lady to speak LadyD! Shame on you.... ;-) Laden with irony.... but don't forget that Southern used to run this service, albeit once an evening. And it kept a lot of people happy. It's normal for train companies to adjust their services to cater to ever changing passenger patterns. They should, in theory, strike a careful balance between catering to the majority whilst maintaining vital services to all areas. All I'm suggesting is that the balance perhaps needs to be readjusted to reflect the fact that there are way more commuters by volume using the rush hour service from ED and Peckham Rye than there are from QR Peckham or South Bermondsey. Now clearly, I haven't done a passenger count but hop on any train between 7.45 and 9am and its pretty obvious. In morning and evening rush hours we're now blessed with 6-7 trains not 4. Things have already improved. So what I'd propose is 1 train out of 7 (in rush hour only) stops at Peckham Rye and East Dulwich only (both ways) which would make for less crowding on the other services and a better commute for the majority based on current patterns. And no this is not some kind of train social exclusion policy (before anyone starts). Just common sense. And as to nutters, no train can compete with the freebie No 12 Bus which, after hundreds of trips I can confirm to be a true "freak zone". Anyway, let me know what you think.

That made me chuckle Jumpinjackflash! I agree. At the Actress it's just a lame gimmick, rather than any attempt authenticity. And we're not French are we?

Happy?

Imagine you had baked some hotcakes Annette. And then you wanted to rent them out...and...and...er.....*scratches head*. Toss it into the "MrBen talking bollocks" bin. It's filling up fast. Despite recent valiant efforts from dear Mockers to catch me up. I think you've been generous. Rescored as 1/10.

In contrast to around 2003 odds when I first moved here, I've noticed that your average rush hour train home out London Bridge now spills around 70% of its nine to fivers out at East Dulwich. As such, is there not now a clear case for an East Dulwich express train? Southern used to run one (known locally as the "magic train") which left Lon Bridge at 5.47pm and stopped at Peckham Rye only before reaching home ground in just 8 minutes. This would cut down your commute by 4 minutes and reduce the nutter count that seems to increase with stops at South Bermondsey and Queens Road Peckham. Just one train an hour like this would keep me happy. Anyone else agree?

I rent out my old 2 bed flat for a simple reason. I couldn't sell it at the price I wanted, and I could make a profit on renting in the meantime as long as interest rates stay at nowt. I've only had two changes in tenant and the last was swiftly handled by a private ad on this (great) forum and a two hour viewing period in which 3 suitable tenants turned up, all wanted it for ?1200 pcm, all with references etc in hand. I wasn't going to be a C$^%t and start a bidding war so just gave it to the first one that had turned up as that seemed fair. There is a huge renting demand at the moment locally. Flats renting like hotcakes.

Remember that thread you started *Bob* which was all a "should I or shouldn't I get one " angst about the iPad. I think I called it a "giant iphone". I feel we may have since swapped positions. I suspect you never bought one whereas I've now woken up to where tablets sit for mutimedia use adn will get one when I can afford it. But then I was never hip, always a late adopter....

Very well said that (Marmora) Man. Weird EDF reaction....mawkish sentiment agreed but thats just symptomatic of a collective behaviour/human reaction that was there long before Twitter and FB. And clearly if it was as simple as painting shit pink then selling it you all could have done better right?

Everyone's still on the lofts round here Chris. Digging down for multi media room / personal dungeon are still mainly Chelsea/Kensington or at a push Clapham. What did you plan putting in yours? Please say a poker room......

- Dunlop Greenflash (THE classic white canvas sports shoe) - A cashmere sweater in black or navy - A proper bow tie (clip ons are for clowns)