From Palace, with love...

Boiler still bust, so have spent the weekend pottering around Penge and the neighbourhood... getting cold again...

Jess and I sat and watched From Russia With Love last night.

I've got back into my Bond of late, after a gap of two or so years (these things usually go in cycles, alternating with my fanaticism of the Beatles - odd how these two icons of the Sixties somehow sit easily side by side in my own personal appreciation of popular culture?) - just finished reading a couple of the old Fleming novels and now onto the latest Young Bond book, Blood Fever (announced in my local book to the world as a children's book by a surly member of staff, just as I bought my copy.... well, Harry Potter it ain't, and it's certainly got more plot than The Da Vinci Code!)

Penge East vs West

Been spending a lot of time down there of late, what with the shambles in the Sham at present (STILL waiting for a return of service re heat and warmth....)

Interested to hear conflicting reports regarding the fate of good old Penge West station - I heard last week that it was due to be demolished and replaced with ticket machines (yes, because the problem wasn't the vandalism of the ticket machines in the first place now was it...?!!) - but now I've heard that they are planning to re-build...

I tend to use Penge East nowadays anyway - proof (if it was required) that a station can be improved with helpful staff, a nice station manager, a news stand and a much needed coat of paint...

Stag vs Hen

Five inane thoughts (plus one so I guess that's six) I had last weekend in Amsterdam:

1. Who thought a rodent was a good symbol for a local chain of supermarkets?
2. Who thought Comfort was a good name for a bank?
3. Live sex shows? Is there anything that's less sexy?
4. What's wrong with going to a museum when you are suppossed to be on the stag, particualrly if half the party is still in bed and it's two in the afternoon? (And I more than made up for it later, when everyone burnt out and went to bed early!)
5. Double decker trains are quite cool...

Will my boiler STILL work when I get home? (Answer this time NO! And I've been without adequate hot water or heating ever since...)

Five inane thoughts I had this weekend in London:

1. Is brown a good colour for a new suit?
2. Was crashing my sister's Hen night okay on the first night? (particularly as no-one seemed to mind as they were having a night cap in the hotel bar after seeing a show, before gearing up to what was the main event, i.e. the second night, which I stayed well clear of! And I wanted to see my family on one of their rare trips to the capital)
3. Why is it so busy out? It's only two weeks after New Year and everyone is suppossed to be broke...?
4. Is All Bar One really as bad as I've been making out all these years, or is my sudden acceptance of it as "alright" indicative of my older age?
5. White wine is evil. Period.

Back seat driver

In a rush to get things done over lunchtime in preparation for my trip to The Dam. And I literally have to walk into the middle of the road because of this person walking down the middle of the pavement in front of me, hogging all the pavement, blissfully unaware that anyone else is there... (I'm in the middle of the City at lunchtime, it's hardly quiet)

The thought occurred to me that these same floaters who wreak havoc on the pavement probably cause similar anguish on the Motorway, occupying the middle lane for hours and hours whilst one puts one's own life at risk whilst having to overtake them in order to avoid the inevitable pile up....

I'm all for living life a little slower this year, but not like this!

**

More snow on the way - my trip to Amsterdam may yet prove interesting....

Pointless inane graffiti: Part One

Right, I'll get this in before I sound like a Tory MP: I accept graffiti is an artistic expression and can be pretty powerful stuff... ...but some of it is pointless.

Like the one I saw today above the doors of the train I got on, I mean practically on the roof so no-one would see it unless they were over six feet tall or above the train...

...all it said was: "Pubes"

(I didn't even snigger like the schoolboy I can be sometimes!)

Pretty poor tag - indeed, quite inane

2005 vs 2006

2005 went by way to fast - and everyone I talk to seems to agree with me (of all ages, well, adult ages - my nephew just looked at me like I was some sort of mad man when I asked him)

Is the pace of life just getting faster? Will 2006 be slower? Is there anything we can do to hold on to it a little longer?

I blame rolling 24 hour news myself....

Resolution No. 2 therefore is: live slower


***


Other inane thoughts I've had over the festive period:

Will I ever find anyone to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit with me?

Why did I leave The Aviator, Greenwich on July 9th, Shameless and Jem off my various pointless yet fun end of the year lists?

Yet again, will my boiler still work when I get home?

How will Dad (60 today!) react to forced entry into a stip bar in Amsterdam on my brother-in-law-to-be's stag do this upcoming weekend, when I myself am not looking forward to the prospect - in fact, I'd rather find myself in a coffeehouse with Dad than suffer the embarrassment?

(Follow on thought: How would Dad react to THAT?!)

How was I persuaded to play Westlife TWICE during my latest return to DJ-ing on Boxing Day? I mean, HOW? ME? Westlife???

Why was the BBC countdown to midnight clock so woefully out of kilter with Big Ben on New Years Eve? (Or had I had to much to drink?)


Happy New Year to all and Best Wishes for 2006!