*Bob*

At one time it was called 'Pink Drinks', but it was decided this might exclude potential attendees. Ditto 'Brown Drinks'. 'Black' or 'White Drinks' too - for obvious reasons. So 'Rainbow Drinks' seemed to be the best option, except that no-one went anyway.

I'm blushing! I suppose I ought to randomly name someone. I'll go for Macroban, because when you're going on holiday and the plane's about to take off, he's the one sitting next to you asking if you remembered to turn the iron off.

No need to feel excluded, Will. Straight folks are perfectly entitled to not go to it as well.

Will, It's the ongoing Lesbian / Gay meet-up which never happens.

What game was it, Keef? Was it 'Hungy Hippos', or 'Operation'?

I explained it badly. (One should never try to type and play the kazoo at the same time). What I meant was: when you 'join the club' a lot of people automatically assume that (now you've got one) you must 'like children'. ie all children. Especially theirs. People say all sorts of things on internet forums. I'm afraid that Britain is a nation of child-haters. And London is it's capital city.

I didn't quite mean that. Hardly anyone 'likes children' before they have them. And rightly so.

A few random thoughts... Barring a few essentials you can't avoid, children are as expensive as you make them. 'Liking children' (that oft-touted phrase) - or not - is a bizarre concept and this becomes especially apparent when you've had them and mix with others. They're just little people, and you'll like and dislike just as many of them as you do the bigger versions. There's no need to start wearing cardigans and washing the car every Sunday just because you're a parent. You get still do all the things you did before, only less frequently and with a bit more planning. Hardly anyone ever regrets having them.

Keef's more of a Merrydown man, I think.

MadWorld, If you're using characters form 'Little Britain' to further your understanding of social history and its impact on the benefits system in Britain, then you really do need help. Especially as the character you mention isn't even Welsh.

MadWorld74 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The cock percentage in South Wales is now off the > chart..... That's right - look at all the silly lazy welshmen and their silly decimated mining industry. Ha Ha Ha!

If 'the social' paid for your Ocado run, wi-fi, a couple of motors, two holidays a year, childcare and a loft conversion we'd all be on it, asserting our right to entitlement - just like him. Unfortunately, it doesn't. All it gives you is a shit life. Yes, It's irritating that this bloke doesn't seem to mind (after all - we'd all feel better if he cried himself to sleep every night on a urine-soaked mattress, wouldn't we?). Justice! Job done. You can tell yourself that you're not like him because you've got more self respect blah blah blah, but the reality is that you're not like him because you don't want a shit life.

Scrounging off the state is open to anyone so there's no need to feel jealous of this man and his cushy life. So, if anyone here fancies fathering a dozen children, bringing them all up on benefits, living in squalor and basically having a totally shit life - go for it.

Alan Dale Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- ..I do think it's an > interesting idea to move into very central London > when the kids leave home and it is therefore > interesting to hear of people who've actually done > it. It might be an interesting idea, but this advertising feature (as I think they call it in the trade) hardly sheds any light on it. And neither does seeing a picture of their dining chairs, anally spaced apart with a ruler.

I'm a little suspicious of anybody who protests too much, so to speak; be they either 'for' or 'against'. I have more understanding for the 'against' camp though; being told every other day (in one small way or another) by society that your life is meaningless must be incredibly irritating when you've had the balls to make your own mind up. And anyone who considers having children to be the pinnacle of fulfillment needs to get a life: ie their own.

Aw, c'mon Georgia.. Five more: Child Benefit Bunking off work (sick child ruse) Legitimate reason to be tight-fisted with cash Avoid dull social events with people you secretly despise (no babysitter ruse) And they might be good to you when you've lost your marbles and start putting your trousers on backwards. So be nice to them.

Turn-on the wankometer: Considering how much they enjoy entertaining (ding), it may seem strange that Ed and Lucy Rigg have swapped their three-bedroom house in East Dulwich for a one-bedroom basement flat in central London. But when you see their friends crowded (ding) into the small sunken garden (ding) or gathered around the long black dining table in the open-plan living room (ding ding), it is clear that downsizing has in no way cramped this sociable couple?s style (ding ding ding). PLEASE BUY OUR JUICE galleries theatres nightlife cobbled mews three pugs natural light open-plan low coffee table lime-washed oak mirrored end wall cocktail market bars and nightclubs (ding ding ding ding) PLEASE BUY OUR JUICE

Here are some pictures of my house, wankily dressed for said photoshoot. Here are some details of my cool life.. see how cool I am. WHO GIVES A SHIT

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- It's just a fact that in the last decade or > so, Rye Lane has gone down hill and is now rough > and, in parts, smells a bit grim. So we're all in agreement then: Rye Lane is dirty and it smells* *Like lots of other places in London but then we're not talking about them we're talking about Rye Lane.

Markets are dirty and they stink. Rye Lane is a market. Rye Lane is dirty and it stinks. Can someone pass me my pointy white hat? - I have work to do.

Just because there's no more evidence of an appearance by M&S doesn't mean we can't rehash the same old 'debates' again. Hands-up everyone who thinks M&S represents the Zenith of supermarket shopping! Hands-up everyone who reckons people who shop in Iceland need a wash! etc!

Police have just been called to the scene of a tricycle abandoned near Nunhead, and have recovered 6Kg of sherbet lemons and a jar of flumps. The vehicle is now being sugared-down for sticky fingerprints.

I agree. SE15 interlopers should take their opinions elsewhere. This is no place to discuss the price of African pots. Please limit your observations strictly to SE22-relevant subject matter: Estate agents, organic produce, yak's hair cushions and Keef's band.

snoozequeen1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SE22 - in a shop devoted to uselessness, you can > buy an African cooking pot, next to the Rajasthan > throws and the bamboo whatsits, for ?15 > > or 500 yards away in SE15 you can buy the same > African cooking pot, in a shop devoted to selling > African food, shopped in by actual living African > people, who you could actually talk to, and > enhance your retail experience, for ?1. Best bet: Live in SE22 Travel to Peckham to buy said pot for ?1 (whilst conversing with actual living African people etc etc) Stand a better chance of not being burgled (four times) whilst you're out buying it.

Insurance companies and councils love cutting down trees 'as a preventative measure'. It's a cheap fix so some pencil-pusher can sleep easier in his bed about not having a subsidence liability letter arriving on his desk in the morning. The water table can be just as adversely affected by cutting a large tree down as it can be by letting it grow. 90% of the time the best option (for property and streetscape) is to maintain the status quo. But then maintaining trees properly costs more than cutting them down.