Benches outside Tesco

David

I'm for benches. I also think removing them and having people lying around the pavement instead has made the vibe worse around Tesco's.

kreuzkav

David, I'm not complaining about buses but about late night bars that leave their benches and chair out all night. Something that the bar in question has addressed but not always adhered to. I think bars whether on quiet roads or on busy roads should respect the surrounding residents. Bars can act in a reasonable way by taking a few simple measures.

I don't expect people to whisper and never complained on here until the situation got out of hand this summer. I am a reasonable guy and never complained to the council, as is my right as I think it's illegal to leave tables and chairs out past a certain hour.

David

Like I said much earlier, I think we'll just have to disagree.

kreuzkav

I guess so! However, we live in zone 3 and not Camden or the West End. I'm not complaining about the unavoidable noise of a zone 3 street but about the anti-social, illegal and unneccessary noise.

miss annie

Your nearest tube is in zone 2. I take offence to being called right wing, and although I disagree on many of your other points I'm not going to revisit them again and again (someone teach me how to do italics please). I don't want to bore the people who might still have relevant things to say about benches. @tamsin I sympathise. If you ever have occasion to take small children out you'll notice the lack of functioning or clean public toilets too. I took my young nephew to one that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Bosch painting recently as it was the only one we could find.

Philistine'sMonster

Mrs. Annie, a toilet would look out of place in one of dear old Heironymous's paintings on account if it being anachronistic. You should know better. However, I'm curious to know more about this Flemish-inspired lavatory you visited with a child. Were there people with flutes protruding from their posteriors? Was there an egg with legs? Were there pies on the roof -- hang on, that's Breugel, innit?

X

miss annie

An egg on legs and people with protruding flutes would have positively thrilled my nephew. I was thinking of 'Hell' in 'the garden of earthly delights' in terms of the levels of splatter, gore and general unpleasantness. I like the gothic fantastists.

Philistine'sMonster

Ah, yes. Skeletons on horses riding -- bloody hell, that's that bastard Breugel again. He's really pissing me off now. Sod off, Pietre!

Are you familiar with some of the work of 70s illustrator Patrick Woodroffe?

He's not as good as you.

miss annie

I'm not at all familiar with him, is he worth investigating? Just had a quick look on Google and there's one that looks a bit like Richard Dadd who's also a favourite of mine.

Philistine'sMonster

"is he worth investigating?" I honestly can't answer that. You'd be interested in that he's self-taught and experiments (or used to experiment) in all mediums: tempera, oils, etching, watercolour, etc. His work is -- as he admits himself -- kitch, and his influences are varied. His early work was very "Bosch", and his drawings are heavily infuenced by our local fucking artistic genius Heath Robinson (a Sgepherds Hill resident). He's worth a look.

Phil

sincers

I've got a Bosch. 12v, cordless - its great.

miss annie

I will find out more Philistine, thank you. I'm not at all averse to kitsch and have been enchanted by Heath Robinson's bonkers contraptions since I was a child.

Pumpkin

I'm in favour of the benches going back as I agree that the area looks worse without them - people sitting on the ground etc.They were actually quite new and looked good. I didn't get to try them out as the drinkers etc were a bit intimidating but I still want them back. I wonder if placing them so that they face the road away from the pedestrians walking past might help.
Obviously this won't help with bongo man though- who sadly lives in a tent in finsbury park.

ADGS

Surely that's illegal? Indeed, the Finsbury Park byelaws, if you ever check them out, are ridiculously strict, and mostly not enforced at all. I presume they exist precisely so that they can be deployed when necessary, to make sure that anyone who is genuinely causing a problem will be in breach of several of them. And when it comes to bongo players, then the full and rigorous application of the most draconian legacy statutes is the way forward.

miss annie

Oh, I wondered if that tent was a permanent home for someone. Wouldn't fancy that today, it's brass monkeys outside. Still no excuse for the bongos though.

Ali

William Heath Robinson was born on Hornsey Rd, there is great little exhibition about him in the Bruce Castle Museum

miss annie

Thanks Ali, I knew he was a local but I didn't know about that exhibition. I will go and have a look.

Philistine'sMonster

Cheers Ali! There was a great exhibition of his art 'n' shit at the Dulwuch Picture Gallery around 2002 when I got beaten up on that bus.

Ali is my favourite Stroud Greener, actually. Wonder if we know each other in real life?

I'm sitting at home drinking gin in my tights but if you're, like me, at a loose-end and non-gender specific, pop round and I'll give you a stiff one.

Phil

Ali

The rest of the museum is also quite interesting

miss annie

Thanks for the kind offer Philistine but sadly I'm at work, although clearly not doing much actual work. There was a good exhibition of his work at the Chris Beetles gallery a couple of years ago too. I like Dulwich Picture Gallery very much but it's such a schlep to get to and the bus goes through such dicey parts of town, as is proven by your experience Philistine.

Ali

The Bruce castle thing is very small with a working model of one of his machines and is part of the much larger history of Haringey and it’s famous residents. The current house is one of the oldest surviving English brick houses and is quite interesting in itself.

ADGS

I'm just back from the Cuming Museum on Walworth Road, and was amazed by what a tiny local affair that was. Given which, and that their Austin Osman Spare exhibition was plugged by Alan Moore on last week's culture show, it was also packed, even on a rainy weekday afternoon.

kreuzkav

An Austin Osman Spare exhibition! I must check it out. I remember seeing an exhibition of his drawings nearling 15 years ago somewhere near Notting Hill. I feel like scrying tonight!

ADGS

You'd better hurry, it closes Sunday - but opening hours are extended for the last week. <a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200162/the_cuming_museum/1607/temporary_exhibitions/2">Details here.</a>

Philistine'sMonster

Mrs. Annie the offer was made to Ali, not you.


I have standards. xxxx

kreuzkav

@ADGS Thanks for the information, I have a busy weekend but I'll probably go on Sunday.

kreuzkav

Thanks!