Nero

Mince pies on sale at the Forest Hill Road Co-Op (though they'll probably run out very soon, true to form).

I second Forest Hill to E Croydon (or is it W?) and then change. It is cheap and takes less than an hour.

Try upstairs at Coach and Horses, the 'legendary' boozer off Old Compton Street. They used to, not a long time ago either, hire it out cheaply. They had a bar up there and can lay on sarnies etc. I don't think there is draft beer up there but there is bottles. You cannot take your booze from downstairs upstairs I have been told. They'll allow you to bring a DJ I understand.

Take a picture, explain the story behind it, email it to your MP, your councillor, the local rag, the super at the local constabulary (letting each recipient know which others are receiving it too) and see what happens.

A very soft pink.

Love Action - The Human League Car Trouble - Adam and the Ants Painter Man - Boney M

Two chubb locks are much better than one. I use them even when in the front room after 1030 or so. The police put through flyers around Goodrich School last weekend, urging people to be vigilant and to lock up doors and windows when asleep/out of the house.

I think that, one the whole, the market is good, but fear that in trying to make it bigger/better, it will end up looking like a shadow of its former self because it won't have the diversity of products or sufficient buyers to make it work. The cakes, coffee and on-the-hoof food are good, and I am sure the other, static businesses Pretty Traditional, Hope and Greenwood etc. benefit. I agree with the poster who complained about the smelly waste left from the fish van. If you are reading this, Mr or Mrs Fish, why not flush and disinfect after you've gone? It wouldn't take long and it is really the least you can do.

THere is a great caff with outside space on Barry Road, near to the junction with Overhill Road, which does fantastic egg buttes/bacon buttes/muesli/teas/coffees. I also recommend Dulwich Library for a good collection of novels, biogs, DVDs, CDs ESPH is a good gym. Dulwich Picture Gallery is a gem, with a good caff (which is cheaper if you join the Gallery). Transport is not that great, really, compared to Brixton and Clapham, so put your best foot forward and walk a bit more, but buses are pretty good if you're not tied to them in rush hour.

Note well: When a dentist says 'I'm just pushing a bit at this moment' it really means 'I'm using all my strength to try to yank your deep-rooted tooth from your skull'.

Yeah, all open, and some* still - in best community spirit - are dumping their rubbish out on the streets as per usual, and others are allowing their delivery vans to park illegally so that buses and other vehicles can't get past. Situation normal! Nice to get back to how things were, eh? *NB use of this word.

Does anyone else get glitching, mainly on HD stations, with associated daleking of voices? I really do not want to change to Sky or to get an aerial fixed for Freeview but this ongoing problem is very annoying and spoiling my viewing (and listening) pleasure.

My advice re gin is to buy it 20% stronger and 40% cheaper from duty-free. When preparing a G and T, take a thick-bottomed tumbler, add a big handful of ice cubes, some cucumber/citrus peel/rosemaray and a big slug of icy liquor, topped up with fizzing tonic water. (I just shake the bottle if it looks a little flat!)

It's marketing claptrap on the part of Hendricks to say that only it can be savoured with cucumber. I add tangerine zest to my gin, or a splash of beetroot juice, or some rosemary. Enjoy!

Perhaps the police support officers that often patrol the really-not-so-mean streets of SE22 in broad daylight, often in threes, could spend more time where offences are currently being recorded. Cd you effect this, Gavin?

No, still don't get it. I am human and humane, so would never do as you suggest. I know neither the family involved nor the disgruntled neighbours, so the chance of my having to perform a bit of doorstep lecturing is near to non existent. As said, I don't know these bereaved people (just like you, I think, given that it took you all your time to understand that something was amiss, despite the thrice-times-three days of obvious mourning right on your doorstep) so why should I picture myself in an ITV3 diorama just to accommodate your opinion of me? I don't like being told to fall in line simply because it might be seen as culturally/socially insensitive to point out that the death of a much-loved individual is not more important than the ongoing lives of scores of other people who have to endure continued late night wake-related disturbances. Perhaps I was brought up to respect the wishes of other people too much and to understand that I am not that important at all, really, even if you think the opposite of me.

I went today with my friend who is over from Australia, her two children and her mother. The place was almost full, but the service was quick (though the waitress's English was poor) and the food was tasty, well-presented and reasonably priced.

Prissy to you, respecting of others to me. Perhaps you think there is some cultural/racial/class undertone to my comments, but I assure you there is not. I just do not think it acceptable for anyone to keep awake other people by congregating in the streets well into the early mornings because of extended mourning. We live hugger-mugger in London, practically cheek by jowl, and what might have worked in other parts of the country/world doesn't always work as well here.

Maybe it is nothing to do with the colour of her skin, but her attitudes? Is she too 'right-on' for the majority of the parents? Is she, conversely, too strict? I doubt people automatically think 'black = bad', but they might - subconsciously or otherwise - equate her race to certain political and cultural leanings that they don't like. I have no idea either way in this case, but I would prefer people to sit and think a while before taking up a cudgel.

No, I am coming across as fair and balanced. Did you read the line in which I praised the mourners' commitment to honouring their bereaved friend/relative? Did you understand that I support their sticking to their cultural practices? My point is (see the word 'solipsistic') that well-functioning societies require thought about others at all times, and that waving the 'this is my tradition' flag doesn't mean you can do what the heck you like, no matter who you are.

Why can't the mourners do both? Why not be respectful of the deceased and his/her relatives as well as the people who live nearby who have their own lives to get on with? The idea that the whole of the street should genuflect to another, non-local group (ie. the mourners who, if coming by car, are obviously not from the exact locale) is erroneous. It is sad that someone should die and it is commendable that her friends and family should pay their respects so fulsomely, but it is also sad - and very solipsistic - that that any mourner should think he has the right to ignore those of the living people around them.

The man in the newsagent's near to Curry Cabin said it was 'Spooks' that was being filmed this morning on LL.

An effective solution is to put the bags on top of the bins, rather than at the side. Southwark litter pickers do just that (at least in SE22) and it has prevented foxes from getting hold of them.

I would attend and possibly buy. Why not search our Skip Sisters, all of whom live and work in SE22, to see whether they are interested.

That is good news. The bus stop at FHR, near to the HH tavern was not displaying info for the 63 when I caught it yesterday lunchtime. On the way back from King's X much later, the info board there for 63 was not showing services either. I told both drivers but I don't think they were too bothered.