street furniture

Here’s the view from the back of Scootercaffé in Lower Marsh in Waterloo. The wall art depicts a film-maker poised above the guttering. Just visible, a strand of ivy. To the right a bridge. And a road sign for three destinations: Kennington, the Elephant and Brixton. Each has played a part in my life. Kennington is home to Oval Theatre where I performed in plays from my late teens to early 20s. Elephant and Castle is where, as a child, I watched Saturday morning pictures... so many cliff-hangers. Brixton is where I lived for 10 years. And Scootercaffé  is where, just the other day, I enjoyed an excellent cappuccino; something that would have been impossible in my youth. Unless I went to Italy. Which I didn’t. Not then, anyway. 

Oh, and here’s one of the lamps in the café: a converted hair dryer. See below.

mirror man

This hair-drying contraption is in the window of a hairdressers in Wales. Don’t worry.  They don’t use these head-frying things any more. It’s a retro window to make you smile… and be grateful that things have moved on since then.

What would Julia Gillard’s hairdresser partner make of it, I wonder?  I know what I made of her speech taking on Mr Misogyny in the Australian parliament. Wonderful. And to Tony Abbott, go take a hike (don’t forget your mirror).

New apprenticeship scheme?

You can never start ‘em too young! This headline conforms to the image Peckham holds in the imagination. They’re all out nicking, aren’t they?

Well, no. On Peckham Rye at the weekend, there were A-4 home-made posters tacked to trees and railings appealing for help in finding a ‘loved ferret’. There was the couple walking at the right pace for their three-legged Yorkshire terrier. And, a game of five-a-side football; three of the players were women. A land of contrasts.

rather too much spirit

Looking at photos taken in mid-70s London during the Winter of Discontent (the photo of men warming themselves on the street with a meagre fire fed with cardboard boxes, stood out) I overheard one of the Hairy Bikers say: ‘God, it looks Victorian!’ We were at Tate Britain’s photography exhibition: ANOTHER LONDON, International Photographers Capture City Life 1930-1980. The images ranged from foggy romanticism or destitution to funny and touching; the usual class consciousness and displays of British spirit. One photo showed a young married woman, on her knees, scrubbing her doorstep. Who does that now and who thinks their neighbourhood status is connected to their doorstep?

In the spirit of Victorian-looking poverty pictures, I offer this, taken a few years ago from a bus as it made its way through Peckham.

Star lunch

Photo taken today outside a Peckham café. As it happens I know the man who ate everything on the plate, bar the crusts. He works in pest control and once came to my house to eradicate it of mice. I, too, ate lunch at this café: £2:50 for bubble and squeak, fried egg and tomatoes. Delicious, filling, convivial and all this for £2:50!

Moving up a register. On the radio this morning it was said that, following on from his Olympics/Grand Slam success, Andy Murray stood to earn One Hundred Million Pounds. Achieving millionaire status… it’s so yesterday.

War: what is it good for?

I came across this painting on a wall in Peckham. The image is powerful and the words puzzling. If war’s not a man’s thing, it certainly ain’t a woman’s thing. Does it mean that war is a technology thing… played out with and by  machinery? For sure, the soldier is lumbered with weaponry and gadgets. Or does it mean that being a man does not equate with being a warrior? Whatever. It’s a statement to stop you and start a debate, even if only with yourself.

Do I look pretty in this?

Dogs feature large at the annual Peckham Rye Fete. Held this weekend, the fete, as usual, attracted lots of people who ambled and did things like eat cakes, buy ephemera, watch Punch & Judy, chat and generally gather on the common land as if we were at a medieval fair. I bought books, garden plants (six for a fiver), and a pot of ‘sunrise’ marmalade, which is a layer of lemon over orange. Last time I came across the word sunrise attached to something I could consume, it was a tequila sunrise but that was a long time ago. The greatest attraction of the fete, though, is always the dog show. This boxer was a contender in the fancy dress competition. He didn’t win, but he was a contender.