In my defence

I finally capped Best Defence, but thanks to P-Bucket, I can only load pictures from the computer. Not that they have a vendetta against me over there or anything.

It's not one of my favourite episodes, but my goodness, there are a lot of great hand shots in it.

Does he look perfect in this picture or what?Have I ever said that before?


Do you think your manicurist could fit me in?My nails suck compared to yours.


Ah, the towelette thing.


The gizmo.


I'll have double-delicious with lashings of lashes, please.

A Little Tour

I thought that after seeing the seamier side of my local area, you might like to see some of the pleasanter surroundings that are within a few miles of my home.

I'm sure Lewisham grew up where it did because it was at the confluence of two rivers - the Ravensbourne and the Quaggy (which only surfaces briefly near the town centre, otherwise it's culverted). Here's the Ravensbourne

and here's the Quaggy.

Believe it or not, they both used to look much worse than this!

OK, apparently I loaded these wrong. Photobucket won't let me into my album, so I had to do this straight from the computer.

This path is between two beautiful streets where the richer members of Lewisham society reside. It's actually in Blackheath, parts of which are in the borough of Lewisham. As Ientered the path, two mounted police officers came out.

The second picture is from an almost derelict staircase leading from an observation platform preserved for its wonderful views over London. As you can see, it's a good hunting spot for cats!

Then there are two pictures of the views from this vantage point. I was desperate for a pee at this point, and the area was so deserted, I just squatted and watered the plants.

At the bottom of this section is one of the old houses on the old Earl of Dartmouth's estate.

Above is another of the very old houses on the same street.

Below is a pair of houses which are some of the oldest semi-detached houses in Britain.

Another 200-year-old house on the Dartmouth land.

This is a close-up of the blue plaque on the wall.

Now you know who to blame!

The Ranger's House was built to house the Ranger of Greenwich Park.

It now houses the Werner Collection, and amazing collection of jewellery and other fine pieces of gold and other precious stones and metals. Greenwich Park was close to the road the Romans built to the Kent coast. It's the same road that Chaucer's pilgrims used to go to Canterbury in the Canterbury Tales.

This was the hunting park for Greenwich Palace, where Henry VIII was born.

From this hill, beside the Royal Observatory, you can see the National Maritime Museum, with the Queen's House in the centre. I've made posts about these before. Beyond is the Royal Naval College, which is now part of the University of Greenwich. Then there is the Thames, and on the other side, the Isle of Dogs, with the tower blocks of the new business district at Canary Wharf.

To the left you can just make out the new big wheel, the Greenwich Eye.

This view shows the Millennium Dome, or the O2 as it's now known.

Ahm the 24-hour clock on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich,

the place where the day begins and ends.

It shows Greenwich Mean Time, which is an hour behind the current British Summer Time.

There are some incredibly old trees in the park.

This sign tells the story of the Elizabeth Oak, which managed to stand for centuries till modern technology failed to save it (they put a metal stanchion inside to support it, but failed to attach it to the ground, so its weight pulled the tree over some time after a heavy storm).

This is the view back up to the Observatory. This is probably no more than a tenth of the park, maybe a lot less than that. You can just see a statue in the middle, which is of General Wolfe, the man who subdued Quebec. Apparently, today was his 239th birthday.

Ladywell Assembly

I mentioned yesterday the meeting I attended on Wednesday night. It was for the co-ordinating committee of the Ladywell Assembly. The Assembly is open to any and all local residents, businesses etc. The co-ordinating committee is made up of volunteers.

Although I live in the London Borough of Lewisham, my ward (an electoral division) is Ladywell. It is a village, and thanks to the local council - doing the Government's bidding, no doubt - we now have our own Assembly. As do the other 16 wards of the borough, not all of whom are villages.

Now the first thing you have to understand is that, due to boundary changes, some places that bear the Ladywell name are no longer actually IN Ladywell. An example is the Playtower (the old Ladywell Baths):

It is no longer as pretty as this. It is now boarded up and in danger of becoming derelict. But it is across the border in the Lewisham Central ward. Nevertheless, we spent a fair proportion of our evening discussing it.

Oh, and it's next door to the Coroner's Court. Lovely.

Ladywell Fields are really our village green, but more than half now falls in adjacent wards, as does the athletics track at one end.

On the other hand, the water tower is in neighbouring Brockley, but it's actually in Ladywell Ward. It's just about the only landmark that now is.

Ah, the police station. They've built a vast new one in central Lewisham, complete with stables. It is so effective that the pub next door had to shut down. Not because the police put the dampers on drunken fun. Quite the opposite. You can't get them outside the station even if someone is being murdered on the steps. Yes folks, this has actually happened.

Anyway, the old one has been bought by developers and is supposed to be turned into flats.

One of the problems discussed at the meeting was local shops. This one is subsiding round the back and the owners are supposed to put it right. If the Council has to do it, the owners will have to sell up to pay the charge on the property. That could take 2 years. Meanwhile...

The Ladywell Tavern isn't bad, though. I've never actually had a drink there (not much of a drinker even now smoking is banned) but it looks quite respectable.

Apart from the Playtower, the shops, crime and vandalism, my old favourite - traffic - was big on the agenda. It just didn't get much of a look-in, though, once the dominant member of the co-ordinating committee finished having everything explained twelve times over.

As for the purpose of the Assembly and the co-ordinating committee? The Assembly at its first meeting put forward these issues of concern. A Council employee collated them. Those of us who volunteered for the co-ordinating committee were supposed to prioritise them. Or not. Maybe we are supposed to sit at discussion tables at the next Assembly meeting and help those who attend to prioritise them. Then? They go to the Council, which doesn't actually have to do anything about them, except maybe claim lack of funds and bury them.

For this I missed Bobby.

Oops!

I still haven't capped Best Defense, so it's Free Rein Friday.

None of these pictures is mine (note the flashy grammar!) so thanks to those who provided them.

I think I have something you might prefer to suck on, Vincent. And you certainly have something I'D prefer to suck on...


I love his little nose and his kiss curl.


This picture lives beside my bed.


The tie is off-centre - it doesn't quite point the way today.


Remember the promo? Hey, ring my doorbell, Vincent.

Hiatus

I have to stop my wander through the seasons because Best Defense is the next one I should post - and I've never capped it! So I'll just have a random trawl through my V-pictures and see what appeals.

Apart from everything...

Oh, look - The War At Home. It was on last night and I was AT A STUPID NEIGHBOURHOOD MEETING where one woman dominated so much we overran by 15 minutes and STILL didn't get all the way to the end of the agenda. I got home in time for the last 10 minutes, and then, of course, I had to watch the recording before I went to bed.

Bobby looks SO sad. He needs me to hug and comfort him.

Big Bang

Post 1600

In celebration of the switching on of the giant collider at Cern in Switzerland - with which they are trying to recreate the Big Bang, and possibly to DE-create the planet with us on it - I have put together a wide-ranging video of Vincent getting physical.

In all sorts of ways :)

Bobby's White Whale

First encounters.

Health Warning! Unpleasant sighting in final photo!


Extrapolation from a rap song.


Bobby's talking to Valerie!


Have I ever said he looked perfect before?


The Camp Couple.


Just look at that view.No, not the one out of the window, the one in front of it!


How handsome is he?


Bobby talking to the stunt hair.


JUST LOOK AT THAT HAND! Can I borrow that LOOOOOONG middle finger, please :)


Trying to remember what SWMNBN said? As if.


Oh. My. God.


This is a very handy episode.


He knows his hands are gorgeous, right?Hand cream has never been used to better effect.


Pure hate. Beamed from us through him.


Why wag that finger at the stunt hair when you could be wagging it at ME!


Now it's loathing. No mistaking that expression.


Contempt, if I'm not mistaken.

And who would argue with that feeling?



Sorry to those who did not survive the shock.