Sky Saved!

News from a day or two ago, but the BBC have reprieved The Sky At Night.  As we've noted before, it means a lot to us.  And we recognised the seven hundredth episode in these pages.

So Hurrah!

Nunhead Chinese Willow Damaged

The chinese willow by Nunhead Greed - mentioned more than once in these pages, and at different times of year, was damaged in St Judes' storm on Monday morning.

Now, we aren't experts on this sort of thing but the damage, although significant, looks survivable.  Let's hope so!

Tour: Touring

So, to get around we decided to hire a car.  We'd driven in Europe before, but only with our own car - right hand drive.

Suddenly faced with driving on the left, in a car whose controls we weren't familiar with, and which was left hand drive.

And it was that last fact which proved to be the hardest to get used to.  At least the pedals were still the same way around.  But the gear change on the right, and positioning the vehicle in the road were significant challenges.  However, most of all was the continuing temptation to look up and to the left for the rear view mirror, only to see the sky of a bit of a building.

All quite scary.  And this was after practising for around half-an-hour in an underground car park first.

New Prince

Today Programme: 'A Newly-Christened Prince'.

So what do we call him now?  "The artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as..."?

Bake Off Runner-Up Response

See here.  From The Grauniad.
Including:-

"I am tired of defending myself against the boring, inevitable accusations of flirting with Paul Hollywood, of emotionally manipulating the judges and of somehow surfing into the final on a tidal wave of tears. I'd rather eat my own foot than attempt to seduce my way to victory, and even if I had any intention playing that card, it's insulting to both the judges to suggest that they'd ever let their professional integrity be undermined in that way."

"It's a culture of frilly baking versus macho Michelin stars, of real chefs versus domestic goddesses. Food has become divided and gendered, torn between the serious sport of haute cuisine and the supposedly antithetical world of women pottering around in home kitchens."

"If a show as gentle as Bake Off can stir up such a sludge of lazy misogyny in the murky waters of the internet, I hate to imagine the full scale of the problem. But it's not something I'm willing to tolerate. Sod the haters. I'm going to have my cupcake and eat it, too." 

Crikey Penfold!

... and now a programme about Cosgrove Hall and Danger Mouse!
Jamie and the Magic Torch, Chorlton and the Wheelies!
And Captain Kremmin!

Gaiman Live

On the Execrable Saturday Live this morning, Neil Gaiman as studio guest and the man who played the chief Yeti in the recently recovered tapes.  So they say.

I may have to stop hating it.

The Newspaper that Hates Britain

"The immigrant-bashing, woman-hating, Moslem-smearing, NHS-undermining, gay-baiting Daily Mail." Huge round of applause.

So now we know. They should put it on their masthead.
See here...

IT Overheard

Early last week, overheard during the morning rush hour at the excellent Blackbird Bakery/Café in East Dulwich, where we were paused for coffee and a danish.  One of the staff explaining to the other a mightily complex story about some people behaving very strangely, whose names she couldn't recall.  We earwigged of course.

And then it struck us.  She was recounting the entire plot of the last episode of the IT Crowd...

A café with class.

Going the Rounds

How much are YOU hated by the Daily Mail?  Try this free online quiz...

Safe

Going the rounds on social networks currently, reflecting the budget arguments in America and close down of Government services:-

"America has shut down in an uncontrolled manner. We should reboot in safe mode.  No guns and free healthcare!"

"NASA is closed at the moment.  So if the aliens do get in touch mankind's first response may be an out-of-office message..."