I was coming on the tube home tonight (well the bus and the two tubes, working in Staines sucks), reading the London Paper as usual. I have for the last week or so tried to delude myself that there is NO finacial crisis and everything is NOT going to get more expensive by reading various books on the way to work; however having stayed at the Boys house I was today without any books and therefore having to deal with reality.

Why is it that whoever writes in to do the columns, no matter who they are, they are griping? About the tourists, the grumpy barmaids and the cyclists… The men who WILL stand up for women and the whatever else it is happens to piss them off. I just think its kind of weird that if you have only 400 words to represent your point of veiw that you would spend it griping. Theres so much nice things going on.

For example there is the Optimists Society. these guys are a bit kinda freaky - I discovered them at a Pirate Party, where they gave me a card and told me that they’d spent the majority of the Day on Southbank in Pants and Babygrows - this is before becoming pirates. They also charged people cash to have their piccies done with the panted people and gave all the money to Charity!!! On further investigation I found that these guys do regular events promoting a “glass is fuller” attitude - I’d love to tell you more but the Dude never replied to my email, however you can find the facebook here

OOOH And the Pirate people are having another Party by the way - but more of that another soon…

mystery symbols

I’ve been working in Soho for many years, and have always wondered about the weird little symbols that one sees carved into kerbstones.

What are they for? How old are they? Are they cut into the stones before or after the kerb is laid? Maybe some of London’s kerbs are cut from ancient Celtic megaliths?

What does a triangle mean? A cross? An X with dots? A little arrow?

I always thought they were only to be found in central London - but I saw some in Twickenham (well St Margarets) the other day.

The thing is - I’m not sure if I want anyone to tell me what they are for. It’s bound to be something really boring. For surveyors? Something to do with quarrying? Highway maintenance schedules? I prefer to think that they are some kind of masonic language. Maybe something to do with ley lines. I’ll ask Julian Cope.

Stoke Newington is CRAWLING with police this morning. You’ve never seen so many police. All over the frigging place.

“What are they doing?”, you ask. Busting a major crack ring? On the trail of a terrorist cell?

Nope.

Catching cyclists.

Yep - you heard me right. They have Stokey on lock-down so that they can bust people for riding down alleys without dismounting, running red lights, etc.

OK - bad cycling annoys me as much as the next person. I can’t stand the little toads that ride at speed down the pavement - I just shout at them: “are you too frightened to ride on the road?” And running a red light when there are pedestrians around is a no-no for me too.

But seriously - a police crackdown, utilising this many officers to catch a few mildly anti-social cyclists is just absurd. Is this what I pay them for?

A friend of mine was fined £30 by a copper the other day. The crime: going across the pavement with his bike in order to lock it to a railing. He freewheeled the bike, standing on the pedal, like you do. Result a £30 fine. Frigging ridiculous.

So - the question is: now that cycling has begun to really take off as a form of green, healthy transport for Londoners (post-Olympic effect too), who has ordered the police to crack down on cyclists in this absurd manner?

Hey police cadets - looking forward to a glorious career of hassling cyclists?

Those of you who are aware of Twitter may be amused to hear that Tower Bridge is now at it. What a happy, eventful and productive life the old girl seems to be leading. Hurrah for Tower Bridge, and her endless opening and closing!

If you feel tempted to become a follower of Tower Bridge (and, let’s face it, who could resist?), here’s a link

North side post rain - click for the bigger picture!

You know it’s going to be grim as soon as you wake up. As you slowly inch over into consciousness, there’s that unnerving noise somewhere in the back of your mind. Kettle boiling flatmate’s tea? Hot water pipes rattling? Leaves rustling in the wind?

No. The early morning (and ultimately) depressing mental effort is just about enough to wake you up sufficiently to realise that the taptaptap-tap-taptap is the rain. It’s turning the soil in the garden to mud. The normally inoffensive concrete outside gets transformed into a putrid grey mess - partly because it’s reflecting the equally disgusting sky. The tarmac on the roads is fairly ugly at the best of times, but a coating of water on the surface seems to turn them into a beastly, black, organic slab of tar.
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Merry Christmas / 聖誕快樂 / 圣诞快乐 / Feliz Natal / Frohe Weihnachten / Glad jul / Feliz Navidad / メリークリスマス / 즐거운 성탄 / buon natale / Joyeux Noël / Καλά Χριστούγεννα / веселое рождество / wesoły Boże Narodzenie

Last weekend we welcomed into the world our baby daughter, Victoria. Weighing in at a healthy 7lbs and 4 oz both mother and daughter are doing well.

We clocked a few firsts today. The first trip outdoors, the first ride on a bus and the first trip to a Supermarket, sheesh. What a day ;-)

I am officially the happiest man in the world. Watch this space for ocassional updates.

Cheers

Sean

10.00am Friday 29th June
BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LN
INFO HERE

This is the second anual event. Last year’s event included information stalls, seminars and networking with people in film and TV. The event is free, and so are the seminars.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I am so there.

Seriously, people… for the love of God, be careful out there. Just one off-key note could land you in A&E. And don’t even get me started on the dangers of dancing. You might as well just play Russian Roulette.