Nigello

Shows promise but needs work. Perhaps there is an afterschool comedy club that could help...?

Schools are good, beauty is good, neighbourliness is good, kids having positive experiences is good, employment is good, learning new stuff is good (all or most of this has been said by me already but I repeat as a service to those who CBA to read what has come before). What is not good is using state property to advertise selected services or businesses, especially when that is done to the detriment of the locale. Plastic banners with naff designs obliterating generations-old buildings that are publicly, not privately, funded is not good and street clutter in general is ugly. As for 1st world problems - the 2000s rang and want their cliche back. The fact you have access to a computer or smartphone, can communicate effectively in English (using correct punctuation, suggesting a good education) points to privilege.

Hmm - lots of assumptions and Trojan horses. School clubs are great but advertising them on public property isn't, especially when they are naffly designed, placed near each other and left to fall off and flap around and eventually fall off as litter, and detracting from lovely pieces of architecture and when other ways of free and effective advertising are available. As for what I mean by SHOULDN'T - its meaning is really ought not to, not that they are banned by law from doing so. It's my preference, is what I mean, but I have not yet been told definitively by the council whether or not state enterprises, which we all pay for, should be used for advertising. Pretty simple and not something anything or anyone here can dissuade me from.

I am sure, but does it need to advertise on public property? If they do, why shouldn't the local locksmith, wine bar or chippy have the same opportunities? I like private business and the idea of kids doing stuff with their time that is beneficial, just not with a beautiful school being made to look ugly with naff, plastic banners whilst teh teachers and staff can bugger off home and don't have to look at them!

In defence of TfL and the timings, those amber-on-black signs sometimes change from an annoyingly long time to amazingly short in the blink of an eye, probably due to the driver coming on shift, etc. Buses started to get better when they stopped accepting cash so that boarding was quicker. Oyster and contactless and the apps and countdowns have made them even better, though the "new" design was hit and miss.

In practice, Renata, does this happen often? Plenty of householders/tenants don't tend to their trees or bushes and nothing is done, it seems. (I think the council is too slack on people who leave their walls covered in scrawl or have overgrown trees, collapsing garden walls, etc. and think offering to help would be a good way of encouraging good neihgbourliness.)

It could be that because we can now use an infinite number of buses within 59 minutes of buying our first trip, the bosses thought people can hop on and off and make their way to wherever via two or more buses. Eg. get on at The Gardens and travel to Elephant and change to 453 to get to Oxford Circus. This is not good for those who want to go a shorter distance where there are no other options, though.

No, not trolling at all, just pointing out some discrepancies some (not you, but maybe because you seem somewhat invested) and underlining the fact that state bodies (in this case, a school) shouldn't be advertising anything on their property, especially when the ads are tacky and ugly and made of stuff that will take decades to decompose. That's all.

Advertise away, but do it in a 2022 way and not by cluttering up a perfectly attractive environment with polyurethane tat. I thought good parents had STRONG OPINIONS on advertising corrupting their children's minds? Maybe only when it suits.

Oimissus - thanks for your input. I shall ignore it. The school is the one that is putting up the banners, not my MP. I don't think they are needed. As I said, state property ought to be neutral and not used to advertise anything. The schools can have successful outcomes without blighting property with (often amateurish), plastic banners. Use emails, social media, text messages and WhatsApp, etc. Covering up the beauty of the gardens, etc. (paid for by public purse) in the attempt to scrabble a few more quid (because I cannot believe the advertising this way actually garners many new club members) seems counter intuitive and, well, a bit stupid. And as for summer fairs, yes - remove them also once the event is over.

The schools can get cash from the firms that use the premises - after school club/dance club/language club/church group.

If we all pay for the schools, whether we use them or not, then we all have a say. Also, the neutral position is to not use schools (or doctors' surgeries, etc.) as places to advertise private businesses. We have boundless opportunities to do this for nothing on social media or via the school and PTAs, etc. There is too much clutter and advertising are gaining from this, nobody else.

In the past few days I have had mini flocks of sparrows (house, I think - about eight or so) eating from the suet cakes/balls in holders. Tits also but not as many as the sparrows. Where have they been till now? They don't look particularly young so don't think they've been born recently.

There are more tacky and large plastic banners advertising tennis/dance/after-school clubs on school railings. Can state schools do this? I think they?re not right for such public realm places especially when they clash with and obscure the beauty of the architecture and railings (or, even worse, cover up gardens and ponds which we?ve all paid for.) The head of the school told me he needs to raise ?? so puts them up to attract punters to the clubs that use his (our) property. I suggested school emails and social media (you know, like it was 2010 or something) but heard no more. I?d like to know what others think and, more relevant, whether anyone could point to a law or regulation that supports the head?s stance - or otherwise, hopefully.

No more polls - the people who gain are those in and seeking power. Too many politicians and semi-demi similars (quangos etc.) Many people don?t vote and it?s likely that would be borne out in a presidential vote. Slim down the monarchy, have it take up more of a ?direction of travel? mode and leave be.

I suspect a president would be vain, empty and dull, and open to all sorts of biases and even influence or perhaps corruption. Our stock would fall globally and, like the heads of state of most countries where that person is not with political power, the president would be unknown, unloved snd uninspiring.

It?s a shock but so is getting whacked in the face or blinded by overhanging branches/foliage. I?m not condoning the action (which should have been avoided via a conversation and an understanding on your part) but if you don?t undertake to keep within the regulations (which here neatly correspond with common decency and neighbourliness) then this re/action is more likely. (I have seen council workers rather ruthlessly cut back growth so maybe it was Southwark.) The good news is that it?s spring and your plant will grow again, this time with more attention and nurturing. 🌱🌳

I?ve also heard a hoot from (what I think must be) an owl near there, early hours or late night.

There?s now a Grace period of a few days. Turn down your boiler temp and thermostats and plug those gaps and you?ll save a bit of more money (and reduce emissions)!

Floella Benjamin was so good to watch and listen to back in the seventies. She was captivating!

GC - gender critical / Cis - a term that was always around in scientific worlds but was adopted in the early nineties to Basically, such jargon helps people involved/invested in this rather rarified world seem clever and to give themselves an air of superiority. It also helps them (people on both sides) to look like they know best. And oimissus is correct, dealing in facts not feelings. Trans deaths (mainly m to f) are big in Brazil at least partly because of the dangerous work done by some trans. Prostitution is dangerous work whichever sex you are and wherever you are in the world. It is a function of the work not necessarily a function of their (self) identity. China and Russia look at these vanity-of-small-differences ID culture wars and make hay. UK has human rights that are for all humans.

Today I saw two https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/peacock - one near the back of the boys' school, near Upland/Friern and another near Friern/Goodrich. Have they been hibernating?

Putin made reference to the oligarchs and other Russians living abroad in a televised speech a week or so ago. He said that these people liked to think of themselves of a higher caste. Fine, he said, you carry on and think that, and then made a reference to the west's alleged advantages, including "your gender freedoms". It confirms my thought that he, a man who loathes western democracy, sees the over heated and ever present rows over gender and other forms of ID politics as a blatantly obvious and easily hittable Achille' heel of the west, which is so cock sure of itself and vain that it can afford such "luxuries". Does it mean that the debate was started or flame-fanned by his psych-ops people? I don't know but it does make one think.

Yes, and pollen is higher today than in the previous days. Using a bit of Vick's or vaseline to line your nostrils can help a bit.

I saw one of these on C P Road earlier this arvo, nearer to the Goose Green end. https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/brimstone This is the first butterfly I have seen this year.