kennethw

Is it bring your own parrot?

Hi everyone, really sorry but I'll not be able to make it this evening. I vote for Treasure Island. Kenneth

Hi everyone, will have to miss this again, unfortunately. Will definitely try to get myself along next month. And I vote for Huck Finn. :) K

Hi, I won't make it this evening. Please don't vote for Villette. It's the most miserable book.

Hi, I've been following this thread for a while and will definitely try to make this Saturday. Kenneth

Well, you asked me to compile a list on Russia. So in no particular order, here are my final 5. See you all tomorrow. Yevgeny Zamyatin ? We (256 pages) In the 26th Century, in a glass city, the citizens of OneState live under the totalitarian rule of the Benefactor freedom - until D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul. ?We? was written before George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It was finally published in 1988 after being suppressed for 60 years. Alexander Solzhenitsyn ? One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich (144 pages) The story about the fate of millions of Russians under Stalin. Here safety, warmth and food are the first objectives in an atmosphere of incarceration, brutality, hard manual labour and freezing cold - and participate in the struggle of men to survive both the terrible rigours of nature and the inhumanity of the system that defines their conditions of life. First published in 1962 and a real milestone in the de-Stalinisation of the USSR under Krushchev. Ivan Turgenev ? Fathers and Sons (256 pages) Turgenev?s study of conflict between the generations is best known for the character of Bazarov, the energetic, cynical, and self-assured `nihilist' who repudiates the romanticism of his elders. The image of humanity liberated by science from age-old conformities and prejudices is one that can threaten establishments of any political or religious persuasion still resonates today and is the main reason why this novel is hailed as Turgenev?s most durable work. Boris Akunin ? The Death of Achilles (368 pages) Erast Fandorin returns to Moscow, only to find himself instantly embroiled in court politics and scandal. His old friend General Sobolev - the famous 'Russian Achilles' - has been found dead in a hotel room, and Fandorin suspects foul play. He embarks on an investigation, during which the political and the personal may become dangerously blurred. With the assistance of some formidable martial arts skills, acquired whilst Fandorin was in Japan, our eccentric and ingenious hero must endeavour to discover not so much whodunit, as why... Leo Tolstoy ? Anna Karenina (817 pages) Now, the other 4 choices have been cribbed from the back cover, but I can take this one from here. This isn?t a story about a woman who dies under a train after a love affair goes wrong. It?s about going on a journey. It?s about gradually unveiling a portrait. It?s about discovering and looking at things that seemed familiar with a fresh pair of eyes. It?s about thinking you?ve got it right and then realising you haven?t. It?s about going out on a limb. It?s about questioning where you are and where you?re going. It?s much easier to read than the length suggests, and I really hope we pick it. Kenneth

Sorry everyone , will have to leave tonight, had a bad attack of hay fever.

Great night everyone. I'll be back next month. Kx

Will definitely come along. Kx

I was told by one of the staff at Camberwell that the swimming only membership is going to be re-instated later this month.

No lunges this week, and no pain afterwards. Are the two perhaps related? Good to finally meet the elusive McCabe too.

True, Gimme. Sitting here tonight is nothing like the way it was last night, the sirens and copters have disappeared (I'm in the Gardens btw) Here's hoping for a quiet night and an end to all the nonsense.

The pool is big enough to accomodate 4 lanes rather than 3.

Thanks everyone, glad I came along, will see you all again soon. Kx

The swimming only membership was put in place when certain centres (Camberwell and Dulwich) were still under refurbishment, apparently. I asked about it last week. I got it last year and it's been great value for money. Have you written to Fusion about this? Let them know your situation, if enough people do this they might see there's a demand for it.

I love the pool, but they could do with having 4 lanes instead of 3 in the "lane swimming" session. It would make it a lot more comfortable for everyone, particularly if there's a lane where folk can swim freestyle only. Given that there's a lot of leisure swim time, there isn't too much need for a massive "slow lane" at these sessions. Councillor James, are there any plans to extend the "swimming only" membership? I bought that last year as it was fantastic value for money, but it doesn't seem to be advertised in any pricing literature now.

Hi, have registered tonight and will try to come along tomorrow morning. Thanks Kenneth

Hi Wayne, I rang the bell at the student gate tonight and got told there was nobody in because it was the holidays. Did we go to the wrong place? :(

We should be along tomorrow night Wayne. I could have up to 4 people as well. See you there. Kenneth

i've tried every evening session and weekend lane session. like other posters have said it can vary, but i regularly find myself too slow/fast for one lane or the other. it's not the end of the world, instead of swimming for sustained periods at a regular pace, i now do things like swim really hard in the fast lane and then relax a bit in the middle lane. i do find the weekend allocation of lane sessions disappointing, my old leisure centre at mile end would regularly have half the pool laned off and half left for leisure swimmers and families, and it's the same size as dulwich. for those of you don't mind hopping on a bus, the camberwell leisure centre has re-opened, and has a separate swimmming area for lessons and tots. it's colder than dulwich, but not as busy and the lane sessions at the weekend are longer.

Hi there Wayne, I'm hoping to come along on Friday, bringing someone who's working over here with me. Good to hear there is racquet hire, but is there any changing rooms? We'll be coming from work, probably. Cheers Kenneth

There was a piece in the Metro about supermarkets finding that people had re-arranged the herbs on the shelves to spell out rude words. I went into the Co-op on Forest Hill Road tonight and someone had mucked about with the jars and had spelled BOOBS. Gutted that someone else got to do it first. :) It's a bit childish, but it's not hurting anyone and cheered me up. Anyone else see this?

i was in this afternoon and the pool seemed a bit cleaner, so the visibility was a bit better. it *could* have had something to do with the new goggles i was trying out, of course. :)

I'll be going in tomorrow so I'll have a check. I find the temperature OK, although it has cooled a bit in the last few weeks. What I really can't stand is all the bits of hair, hair clasps and plasters floating about. It's a nice enough pool and I love having swimming facilities nearby again, but a little more care would make it great. And yes, staff who enforced the showering rule a bit more closely would be welcome too.

My only gripe is with the council tax helpline, they weren't that helpful and took 2 months to reply to an email I sent them. Other than that, I think they do well. They did give us blue wheelybins in place of the small garden bins for recycling, which is much more practical for a box of flats. We had large garden bins which just took up space and lay empty before.