northlondoner

brave

Smiler. A northerner perchance? Old girlfriend (patriotic northern lass) used to rave about gravy and chips. Or - believe it or not - curry "sauce" and chips. That will not fly down here, bro'. Ever.

FH gym is one minute walk from station. Am heading there to sign up tomorrow (Monday) evening, so will post contact details.

Quids, actually I'm a parent too. And when my lad were a nipper (back in the late 1800s) we survived quite well without parent and child parking. But then again, we are talking about a pony and cart. I'm not against p and c parking..I;m sure I'd be the first one in there if my boy were of a portable age. But Likansuk does have a point (as well as a porny user name). Many ED parents do need to get a grip and realise that not everyone is charmed by their rosy cheeked offspring rampaging around "expressing" themselves. Pip pip!

Clever MF

Uh, i don;t get the whole children and parent parking thing.Why do they need special parking places? Just asking, like.

Yes, I am also dead against loud, annoying noises disrupting the peace. Particularly when I'm trying to enjoy a quiet coffee in one of the cafe's around the area. You know the places - where doe eyed parents watch adoringly as their children charge about without hinderance of adult supervision. Bless. Liloli: What is MIL?

BCoffee, they are also redevloping the gym at Dulwich Baths and it looks like its gonna be a really good health centre - once it's actually finished. Sadly won;t be ready for at least a year. In the meantime folk have got to put up with the dilapidated, off-putting conditions there - for pretty much the same price as the spanking new gym at FHill. I'm heading for the Hills. Spark67: yes the delicious irony of a gym replacing McDonalds! Tidy!

Beard, glad to see you're feeling calmer. Perhaps those stern words from SMG have had an impact. But the point remains, the danger of alienation doesn't really apply to the crims - they need an entirely different approach.The real concern is the 99.9% who get stopped time after time even though they aren't knife wielding maniacs. They're the ones who will "turn" - and may not become an active problem in the future - but the sure ain't going to lift a finger to help combat crime or cooperate in any way. SMG: Mate, where is that Leffe?

Uh, wtf?

Was awoken at about 0300 by unidentified noise saturday morning on NOrth Cross rd, jct with Hindmans. What with all the crime we're hearing aboout I decided to peek outside. I was half expecting to see another mugging/stabbing/shooting. Instead was greeted by the moonlit scene of a young couple (slightly inebriated perhaps) walking hand in hand down the middle of the road, utterly absorbed in one another just enjoying each other and the balmy night. Rather charming I thought - although some people on the forum would advocate stopping and searching them. This is my East Dulwich - the one where ordinary people do ordinary happy things. Is it yours too? Or am I being daft? Of course, wicked, tragic things happen here. Look at what happened last week on LL. But which sums up the nature of our little 'burb. The hand holding couple - or the knife wielding hoody? Discuss. SMG: Oi...where's my Leffe?

Deal. Mine's a Leffe!

Sorry for your trouble BG. What Legal Eagle said.

Hey, don;t forget Jimmy Two Times, Jimmy Two Times...

Don't encourage Beard....

...Off topic, I know...but SMG are you American perchance? Never heard a Brit use the term "sketchy" to mean dodgy. Just interested...

Twisting your words, eh, Beard?I guess that happens a lot, right? No one quite gets your point? It's all so, so...unfair. Everyone misunderstands you. All that RAGE building up....

Ok Beard you are now officially scaring me - and not just through the slightly IRRATIONAL use of CAPITALS. We are all nervous about crime. Many of us have actually have experienced it ...and not merely seen it/read about it through Trainspotting. But to base an entire approach to law and order on happy smiling youths being being searched by suave good humoured French police in Paris is slightly bonkers. Hope that isnt too LIBERAL for your delicate stomach.

Beard - where are your does this rant about the "typical" person involved in this kind of thing? The telly? The papers? That call-in show on LBC? Your mate who knows someone who's a social worker? Your call for mass stop and search of "youths" is misguided. I would argue that its indiscriminate application (which ALREADY happens) does not help matters - in fact it is counter productive. We need more intelligence led action. I would suggest that the situation is so serious we should be adopting the kind of thinking employed in major criminal -or even counter terror investigations ie aggressive intelligence gathering followed by targetted action, including stop and search. But the mass use of random stop and search, based on some kind of profilng, just pisses people off and makes them far less likely to cooperate with the police or indeed any authority figure. Just at a time when we need all the help we can get in cracking down on violent crime. Picture this - it's you, your son, your sister's son or your neighbour's son being stopped and searched in public by the police every other week. I have seen the anger it causes at first hand - and believe me its not pretty. That line about "if they've got nothing to hide" only works for the first couple of times they are stopped. After that bitterness sets in. I have seen this explosive anger at first hand and its not pretty - and it augers ill for any future cooperation with the police. What happened on LL is not pretty either. But stopping people at random - based on lazy, half thought out assumptions - is not the answer. It leaves us all more vulnerable to the spread of crime by alienating the very people who can help us tackle it.

Hope you ok. I heard shouting, but when looked out, saw nothing. Hope the Bill informed.

A friend was working on Michael Barrymore's last-century comedy drama "Bob Martin". After filming she took possession of a shoulder bag he used in the show. I now have that bag.

Nowlives...ED is a pretty cool vibey (sp) little area....lovely eateries, good bars (some of them) and a kind of small-town semi-cosmpolitan vibe. I know, sounds like a contradiction in terms - but ..somehow the area seems to manage it. Actually caught myself grinning with pleasure when i got off the train at ED and walked up the Lane the other evening...so many happy people milling around taking in the chilled ED atmosphere. May becone a haven for wankers when the 4X4s proliferate and the displaced clapham set launch a full on invasion. But at the moment, its a fun, relaxed place to live.

Franklins

well done!

I hear Mackie is heading for regular role on Heartbeat....