Mark

I find that saying "sorry, I don't speak English" confuses them long enough to get away

Natwest are stupid. They sent me a letter on Saturday saying they had put a block on my card and I should call them to get it lifted as there was suspicious activity on my account. Someone had withdrawn ?100 from a Sicilian bank but, as I was in Sicily at the time, it was me. WTF didn't they just ring me instead? Egg are good, I bought a skiing jacket once using my Egg card (which I hardly ever use) and as I did so my phone rang, it was Egg asking (after the usual security questions) if I was using my card in a shop in Covent Garden at that moment.

Toby wrote to the Forum and asked if was ok to post a message about the Adventure bar (good touch, I know the Administrator always appreciates politeness). He asked about starting a new thread or adding to this one and I suggested the latter, probably best to start a new one closer the time when he can tell us more about what's going to happen. In the meantime he can reassure the regulars that it's not going to be a Wetherspoons or similar and answer any questions.

I'm in need of a good book to read whilst I'm travelling for a few days, so I would appreciate your recommendation? I like Douglas Coupland's work, I don't like reading anything too heavy (in the literary sense) and it should be available in an airport bookshop.

Those who have read Derren Brown's book should know this one... I'll keep schtum for now too [edited once]

I'm cynical too, why start a slagging off article with "apparently", removes all validity as far as I'm concerned. Unless someone can tell us/prove if it was true...

Apparently BJ was in East Dulwich on Saturday see here: http://cllrpeterjohn.blogspot.com/2008/04/boris-johnson-on-east-dulwich-estate.html does anyone know if this is true?

It's a time thing I'm afraid, if I ever get time I will try and get the Nunhead Forum to work but at the moment there's no chance. Unless there someone out there who has a bit of computer knowledge who wants to help...

sidll One person made a joke about the window being broken, no one has used the fact that she was upstairs alone late at night as an excuse for humour. Just because you know the (unfortunate) facts doesn't mean everybody else does, people round here are generally quite nice and decent and wouldn't wish bad things upon the lady you mentioned.

the DogStar Brixton is owned by the same company that own the EDT, I only discovered that yesterday.

In a bored moment of mine back in November I wrote to Mini about this: Hi Mini After reading through a discussion on this website http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,64619 I thought I would ask you, has Mini's reputation been badly damaged by Foxtons using them as company cars? Do you get much feedback from people saying that each time they see a Mini they think of estate agents? Was there a deal brokered between Mini and Foxtons originally and if so are there now regrets? I'm just curious on a personal level as personally I think it's a shame. I liked the look of the new Clubman but I can't shake the estate agent (the third most hated profession in the uk after Traffic wardens and bouncers) image out of my head. regards etc they replied: Dear Mark Thank you for contacting MINI Customer Information. Firstly thank you for directing us to what appeared to be a very heated thread initially regarding parking. Further to your enquiry as to any relationship between MINI UK and Foxtons Estate Agents, all we can say is that no such relationship exists, other than the relationship we have between ourselves and all our customers who drive MINI vehicles here in the United Kingdom. As always it is nice to see large successful companies choosing MINI's to represent their brand and as the commotion on that particular thread displays, the marketing employed by Foxtons seems to be working, as the expression goes, 'All publicity is good publicity'. We trust some of what has been said helps to expunge the bad images from your head, hopefully you will look into the new MINI Clubman and be reminded that the bad image some people feel may not be down to the liveried vehicle, but instead the liveried individual piloting it. We trust this will be helpful to you. Yours sincerely MINI UK So basically saying I should remember it's the nob inside the car, not the car, that I have an issue with.

People who pay for delivery get it seen to first, those who don't get dealt with later. Amazon has a massive fulfilment process that things have to go through and it's not as simple as take it off the shelf, put it in a box, label it and give it to the postman. I expect that when the supersaver lorry is full it gets sent off to deliver stuff, but paid for lorries get dispatched every hour whether they're full or not. So somtimes it's luck of the draw, I ordered 5 items by supersaver in the morning and they came the next day, which was nice especialy as it contained series 2 & 3 of The Wire. :)

yes, go to the Open Mic session at the Plough (http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/13/1375/Plough/Dulwich *) tonight, I've never been before but from what I've heard it's going to be a good laugh. *it's been totally refurbed since the picture on that site

Did anyone see the debate between the three candidates on Newsnight last night? If not you can watch it online here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/ I get the impression Boris thinks this is some sort of grown-ups game and he just has to win, I don't think he understands that there's rather a lot of work to do (for a long period of time) if he wins.

Thanks for letting us know Glen. I guess Emily will be jolly pleased ;-) [edited once]

chap in the wanted/offered section is selling somthing that sounds right up your street, a BMW 318iSE Touring/Estate 2.0i Petrol, 02 plate Black metallic paint SE Specification - air con, cruise control, parking sensor, alloys 72,000 miles - full BMW service history Immaculate/excellent condition - Very Reliable Car ?6500.00 ono. http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,112583 You could probably get the windows blacked out for ?100 then you're sorted

I ordered a Jamesons (on ice) and a pint of Peroni in the Bishop last night and it cost ?10. That's quite a lot.

We did something similar last year but we had about 10 of us talking on Skype from different locations, when eventually one person got through she bought her four tickets then pressed the back button and bought everyone else's etc etc. Worked like a treat. Tip: It's better to be at different locations with different internet connections in case something goes wrong.

Can't be arsed with Glastonbury this year, going to the happier place that is Camp Bestival instead.

My mum says a horse called Simon is worth a flutter. She's not an expert or anything but someone told her about Simon so I thought I would pass it on. ????, our in-house horse racing pundit, what's your tip? Anyone else got any?

I like the idea of a dog licence which includes details of its DNA. Any pooh that's found is tested and the owner fined (plus they pay the cost of the testing). I wonder if Seanmlow has a dog? ;-)

Just to let you know I'll be publishing the results of the CPZ survey we did on the forum sometime this week.

I see it has the accessibility link at the top of the page (instead of the usual bottom of the page) for people who have problems accessing and viewing the site. I like this about the BBC and their non-exclusive way of doing things online.

apparently that didn't work and they're taking a harder stance

yeah, but what if you're driving through and shuffling your ipod tunes or sending a text or lighting your cigar? How can you be expected to see those?