bawdy-nan

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oh come on sir, you underestimate your talents - you are a fount of historical knowledge, concilliator, photographer - I'm sure you've lots to offer

ooh I love this moon stuff A policeman in Brighton recently spent a good deal of time cross referencingphases of the moon and the incidence of violence on the streets of his seasidey town. He said he found a clear correlation. Lookeehere

Jowell, I mean. She's just lost her job in Gordy's cabinet reshuffle

I think there's a Letts scheme in Peckham ... but nothing in East Dulwich. Its a great idea but I'm not sure it would go down too well here. Maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that folks in these parts like to hear the rattle of cash in their purses and probably wouldn't go for a non-commercial exchange. I hope I'm wrong - and there certainly seems to be lots of people with lots of skills. Why not set one up?

is out of a job now - wonder if she'll take a white stuff unit?

Well - I suspected her but have had my knuckles rapped in the past for daring to question the veracity and intergrity of posters lest they be local businesses ... I can see that the way to challenge the suspect interlopers is to rat on them to admin - but in this instance I just stepped away from the table

I read the script of "Rash" which is an extraordinary piece. Its on at the Pleasance. Its a one woman show written by a woman who was a human rights observer in Rwanda. She's from Glasgow and now lives in New York. Its very funny and very touching and is, at its heart, about taking risks - def worth a look.

Back in the olden days I worked the summer holidays in a restaurant in Cambridge. I earned ?5 for a 7 hour shift but was "allowed" to keep my tips. If the tips exceeded ?20 I have to hand ?5 to the chefs. Any credit card tips were kept my the restaurant. Very very bad. Now, of course, I only tip in cash and make sure the waiting staff get it. The Inland Revenue do tax tips.

I'm bringing up a family in a rented home and I don't feel like a second class citizen. We have a reasonable landlord who's evidently doing rather well for himself. I don't expect to be able to own my own house anywhere I wish, but there's a large proportion of ED who do rent (check out the census info). I've lived here for 7 years, beginning as a singleton renter on a reasonable salary. I worked as a freelancer in tha arts (not, before I get forum mugged, as an actor). Had I not fallen in love and had children perhaps I'd have been able to scrabble up onto the ladder and would now be gleefully rubbing my hands at the equity I'd accumulated. As it is, my financial positions been compromised by having kids and I don't imagine I'll be in a position to buy anywhere for years and, unless there's a shift in the housing market, not in London. I feel stymied - stuck in renting with very little security other than the good will of our (so far so decent) landlord. Many years ago we might have been candidates for social housing - earning but on relatively low incomes. These days, of course, thats not likely. Personally, I don't think owning a house is so important. What is important is being able to consider the place you live your home - make improvements, put up shelves, do the garden, redecorate. All of this feels difficult if you have no security of tenure. Rents do keep rising despite the pirate landlords and the growing buy to let market. If ours keep rising we may have to consider moving. Our kids attend local nurseries and are about to start school. This a community I've become deeply embedded in and it feels odd to be told that as we're not wealthy enough we should move out. Perhaps I'm not undrestanding the posts correctly, but do you really want to live in a homogenous community of people with pretty vast wealth? The national average income is around ?23k. The fact is that, aside from housing costs, you don't really need that much money to live. You just stop buying stuff. You can eat well and cheaply. There's stacks of free stuff to enjoy in London and children, far from costing masses of cash, enable you to see that "things" matter less than you think.

http://www.harrisboysacademy.co.uk/ Here's a link to the school's website. There's a feedbackl form on there too.

There's not a lot of choice - there's Charter which is tricky to get into - then there's some up by Forest Hill I think. The Peckham Academy fingerprints its kids and has a very bad reputation. Its all a bit of a nightmare really. The area is desperate for a new school and there's been much argy bargy between the council and Ms Jowell about who'd to blame for it being delayed and delayed. Its a shame the academies just get swooped into place, I think in Lambeth parents grouped together and managed to get a new school built. Is 950 really that many? I think this is great news.

Well, from what I can see - they're making an outdoors pub at the back with an open-on-one-side extension which will be permanently heated and brightly lit (not making local residents very happy at all - as there's been no consultation at all on this and its been built without the planning application going through). Inside they're got a big open kitchen area. Great to have a decent place up this end but shoddy shoddy behaviour by the landlords and boo hiss to patio heaters. THey should just give it a whirl and help the smokers give up ...

I think Dulwich Leisure Centre is fine. There's quite a lot of equipment and you can also use the other fusion gyms - ie Pulse pool.

Apparently the idea is to put the prices up and have food. From the plans it looks as though they're mainly focussing on the smoking ban - the outside is a big focus and they're planning to have year round heated outside covered smoking area. I assume that's what lots of places will be doing but its pretty bad, I think - energy wastage wise.

The game for estate agents would be the SE22 topple during which you stand on a small upturned bucket and your team hand you more and more bags of things (cash) til you become overloaded and fall off your perch. One could understand this as a fable about greed or explanation of the imminent house price crash.

Ideas for sports day events: organic egg and spoon hemp re-usable bag race 3- wheel buggy slalem carrying 4 pints dash the librarian 25 yard dash (can also be witnessed bang on closing time at the library) the dog-poo obstacle race / the potato race but with dog poos to be pickd up rather than bean bags pin the "chain" on the Lordship Lane (like pin-the-tail on the donkey but you mark the spot most likley for development) bash the rat (subsitute your SE22 villain of choice: buy to let landlord / dog-walker / dog hater / newcomers / old-timers etc) Incidentally Ithink the top end of LL ir really rather nice and we get much the best of the community facilities as it is: library which triples as bargain dvd hire place and free wifi spot, lovely library garden, the park and the really rather marvellous Bread and Life cafe, as well as some mighty-fine local shops and a plethora of cash-points.

Each of the council wards has money to spend so the more"deprived" areas have their own grants. Something that fosters community involvment would be good and allows the different tribes to mix - what about some Somerset House style fountains on Goose Green, or a street party on Northcross Road, or an East Dulwich sports day on Goose Green.

When I lived on Landells Road about 3 years ago parcels would often just be left on the doorstep even when I was in. Never really resolved it. I think that we're just lucky now and have a pretty good postie ...

I wonder if the fining thing is reciprocal ... we dutifully compost our suitable kitchen and garden waste and put out our recycling every week. Quite often the recycling truck just drives past the end of our street without making a collection - could I fine the council I wonder?

If you're unsure (and you can afford it) you could always consider hiring an independent midwife who'll help you give birth at home or in hospital. You could also consider hiring a doula - someone who isn't a midwife but provides support and acts as your advocate if you are in hospital. They're usually someone who has had a baby already and has been present at many many births. Having them there means you can just get on with the giving birth thing. I do think that lying to get a place with a group of midwives is wrong, both in a moral and a practical sense. It rather smacks of the sudden development of religion that seems to affect the middle classes when school admissions crop up...Brierly and Albany work with people who want to have home births as well as those who are particularly vulnerable because of mental health problems or social deprivation. I'm not sure taking a place with them us the right thing to do if you don't really need the services they offer. Secondly a really important part of being able to give birth "easily" is being able to trust the people who have around you and I just don't think lying to them is a good start. Its a different kind of relationship to that with your GP or other "service" provider. Of course, its clear there is a big need for more of these kinds of midwifery teams. They provide excellent service. I had two homebirths each time with the Brierley. I wonder if the local WI or very active NCT mightn't start a campaign to lobby the head of midwifery services at Kings to provide more teams ...

I agree that it feels a very sad thing if dogs are always to be kept on leads. Interaction with animals is a good thing for humans. If I think of a park one of the things that springs to mind immediately is dogs having fun and I'm not even much of a dog fan. I've never owned one and I am infuriated by the mounds of poo I have to negotiate down crystal palace road. I don't think its surprising that children are scared by dogs, especially of they re running at them with their big mouths open and a lolloppy hammy tongue heading towards their face... and, if your dog responds so badly to being stroked or approached by humans, perhaps it really ought to be on a lead when it is amongst humans ... My kids like to see the dogs in the park but they mostly like to see them from relatively far away. Is there any indication as to why southwark feel it is necessary to introduce these restrictions? In Hammersmith it was in response to some attacks, evidence of illegal dog fighting and training for fights in parks and the "nuisance" of professional dog-walkers clogging up streets with excess pooches and poo.

ah ... not ED then - surprised this hasn't been banished to the nether regions

His very very very big house?

What is the the "Florence"? I am lost.