cEDric

Got into work in Canary Wharf no bother. 185 bus to Lewisham and then DLR. Waited no longer than usual and as there were no kids due to schools being closed the bus was less busy. Totally painless, though there were a lot of people who obviously don't normally get the bus, including one chap who asked me as we pulled into Lewisham whether it went on to Victoria - he'd got on it in the wrong direction.

Myself and Mr cEDric are waiting to watch Season 5, having decided with great difficulty to resist the temptation to watch a poor quality download. At the weekend, a friend inadvertently let slip a MAJOR spoiler about the 5th season, which she has now watched. We had done so so well avoiding spoilers and we're now cursing our decision to wait. So be careful folks!

I am starting to worry I have developed some kind of phobia about this. Male or female, stranger or loved one, it makes me irrationally upset. I have found myself having to get off buses and trains to get away from it. The sound particularly, but also the sight and even the smell of it, makes me feel ill and has driven me to tears before as I find it impossible to tune out (even when I stick my fingers in my ears). What I find interesting is that if you ask most gum chewers, they will swear they only do so with their mouth closed, but when you watch people, very few actually do in practice. I also can't help thinking that mints or regular teeth brushing would do the trick if worried about bad breath...

Carver is one of my favourite characters mainly because, as Sean says, you see him grow and redeem himself after what happens at the end of Season 1. We watched the first episode of season 5 the other day. The quality was really poor though so we've decided to wait until July when it is shown on FX. Am going to struggle with the wait even more now I have had a tantalising taste of the new season. But I know it is for the best.

Like spadetownboy, I prefer Gent to Bruges - still amazingly beautiful (more listed buildings than the rest of Belgium put together), but less touristy / chocolate box and more edgy. It just seems more real somehow, perhaps as it is university town, whereas Bruges, though definitely worth visiting, feels a bit like a theme park as it is so perfect. And as well as the beer, they have genever! I would agree that Belgium is under-rated - we've been twice in the past year (to Bruges and Ghent) and have had fantastic weather, great food and drink and found the locals very friendly. The last time we went we took the car through Eurotunnel and enjoyed the flexibility that gave us, although the rail system over there is indeed fantastic and very easy to use. I'm not a massive fan of Brussels, but that is perhaps because every time we've been it rained. And Nero's right, the Eurostar fare to Brussels is valid for onward travel to any Belgium station.

Myself and my other half have started using some of the street slang (just between ourselves mind). We're particularly fond of "ain't no thing".

When we were there there was a veggie option on the Sunday lunch menu - Aubergine Manchego bake - with all the usual roast trimmings (veg, roasties etc). Not sure how it would work with the trimmings and we stuck with the beef that day, but I had the aubergine manchego bake when we went for tapas at Tapastry in Honor Oak Park and it was seriously delicious. Even my very carnivorous, and generally aubergine hating, other half enjoyed it.

It is under new management. They've made some structural changes (e.g. linking the front and back bars), and given it a paint job (it is now much lighter - think it was painted a deep red before) but they've kept all the original features like the wood panelling etc and they still have the mismatched furniture and old, battered chesterfield sofas. We've been once for Sunday lunch. It was their first day serving lunch and think they were feeling the pressure a bit, but what we had was very nice. I agree with Sue about the friendly vibe - the only negative (which might be a plus for some) was that they had the football on when we were having our lunch in the back bar when some music would have been better suited to relaxing with sunday lunch/papers. And yes, that painting is still there.

Did any other Wire fans spot Wee-Bey's (well, the actor who plays him) recent cameo in Entourage, another HBO production, which came hot on the heels of an appearance by Domenick Lombardozzi who plays Herc? We also noticed Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) makes an appearance in American Gangster, although it took us a while to realise (he looked like he'd been at the pies). Meanwhile Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar) shows up briefly in Ben Affleck's directorial debut Gone Baby Gone (as a cop!!) as does Amy Ryan (Beadie Russell), but we may not get to see that as the UK release has been suspended indefinitely due to similarities with the Madeleine McCann case. Seeing the cast, who bizarrely feel like old friends now, pop up here and there causes me great excitment (pretty sad I know) and is keeping me going until Season 5 comes out next year.

Of the new breed of gourmet hamburger joints, the best by far in my view is Hamburger Union. Doesn't do hundreds of fancy variations but what it does do it does simply and well. Their burgers, as far as I know, are hand prepared on the premises each day and come perfectly chargrilled on outside, soft and juicy on the inside and served in a Portuguese roll. And I believe you can specify how you want it cooked. My one experience of GBK (not the LL branch) was so poor I doubt I'll go back, so was dismayed to find they've now sown up the market in Canary Wharf where I work.

Does anyone know what is happening with the Page 2? Am I right in thinking it has now reopened and if so, has anyone been yet?

Carver, the mixed race detective is one of my favourite characters... He is, like most characters on The Wire, a flawed individual and sometimes morally reprehensible, but he really matures over time both as Police and a human being. Plus, as you say, he's hot. We've just downloaded The Corner but are saving it until we have a completely free weekend.

Have lurked on the forum for a while but I have finally been compelled to post by the chance to talk about the best thing on TV with people who have actually seen it (and love it). Have also seen (gorged on) all 4 series - 2 on DVD and 2 downloaded and almost couldn't bring myself to watch the last few episodes of series 4 as I knew that would be my lot for a year. Started to watch the repeats of the first series on FX and it stands up brilliantly to a second viewing, although it also made me realise how bad the quality was by comparison when watching it downloaded on a 18" computer monitor. (Another problem with watching downloaded copy was that I could't switch subtitles on when I needed to which was quite often until I got the hang of it). Bodie and Carver are probably my all time favourites, for the way we get to see them grow up. Omar and String for being so much more than one dimensional bad guys (and both incredibly cool in very different ways). Sergeant Jay Landsman for the comedy (especially when on screen with Bunk). And Snoop, particularly the first scene of episode 1 of series 4 but I won't expand on that as most people probably haven't seen it... Actually, there isn't really a bad character and that's why it is so great.