Greenwich Council is far too late

I'm extremely disappointed that most of the events that I was interested in this weekend have already been sold out. I keep my eye out all the time for interesting days out and all that, but only came across the Open Weekend events through the Greenwich Council email alert, which I received this afternoon.

I was interested in a piece of theatre at Charlton House on Sunday. It's free. Bonus. When I phoned up, I was told it was sold out. A fat load of good alerting me to events I can't attend.

Ditto for the free Blow Up event in Maryon Park. No mention of requiring a ticket so I never booked it. Sold Out.

I'd like decent publicity for all these great events. Given that I work for a living, I don't have much spare time to stroll into my library or council office and browse the local events boards.

A busy weekend

The more observant of you will have noticed a countdown timer on Plumsteadshire. It is linked to atomic clocks on Easter Island, Jodrell Bank and Bryn Terfel's Barber Shop on Dallin Road.

We are counting down to 'Plumstead Live!', the premier cultural event on Plumsteadshire's calendar. Looking at the weather forecast, the weekend looks like it'll be nice and sunny for the concert. Keep yourselves free on Sunday 26th July between 3pm - 8pm and come to Winns Common. Spread the word, bring a friend. What the hell, even bring the family too.

There is a very exciting event this Saturday. It's called The Great 'Blow Up' Party In The Park. It's in Maryon Park and forms part of the Greenwich Film Festival. There are tours of the locations used in the film. Shaky bush number 1. Shaky bush number 2 etcetera as well as other goings-on culminating in an outdoor showing of the famous '60s film.

Before you get too excited, do check with the organiser's of the Greenwich Film Festival as the Greenwich Council website has noted that this event has been SOLD OUT. The promotional leaflet I have has no mention of it being a ticketed event, so do double check and if anyone has confirmation of this, please do let us know by posting a comment at the bottom of this blog post.

On Friday (tomorrow), evening there is a similar event at the Well Hall Pleasaunce in Eltham. This time it's the The Railway Children. I don't think there will be tours of famous herbaceous borders, but there definitely will be an outdoor showing of said film.

Share and share alike

When my close personal aides, Margaret and Nick are out of the country, I seek advice from a friend. He is a marketing genius, he is a man who fights fire with fire, he sees lights turn on before the switch has flicked, he wears the same watch as Steve Wozniak, he is The Stig of global branding. He goes by the code name 'Deep Throat'.

Deep Throat read about The Woodman dilemma we have in The Shire. In the dead of night, he phoned me. I pick up the receiver and he says, "www.wooshare.com", then gently puts the phone down. From his SAS training, he knows to get straight to the point.

Maybe this is a way forward for the future of The Woodman?

Komedie Nacht

Oi va voi!!!! How did it slip my mind that tomorrow night is comedy night at the Plumsteadshire Festspielhaus und bierkeller.

Doors open at 7pm

Pay £7.00 on the door

Have a glass of Quinta do Vesuvio, kick your Testoni's off and let the comedy wave your working week away.

mobile phone directory

You may already have heard about this but early next week all UK mobiles will be on a directory which will mean that anyone will be able to access your numbers. It’s easy to unsubscribe but it must be done before the beginning of next week to make sure that you are ex-directory. You may want to suggest it to all your friends and family who have UK mobiles or they could be swamped by unsolicited messages and calls. Removal is recommended by the dear old Auntie BBC.

To remove your number click on the link below, you need your mobile
phone with you to do this as they text you a code

1, http://www.118800.co.uk/

2, Click on ‘Ex Directory’ at top right hand side of page, from
there it’s straight forward.

The Woodman is our big opportunity

One lovely listener has pointed out that The Woodman pub is up for sale. I can confirm this as I sent my aides, Margaret and Nick to take a look. The pub will be sold at auction very soon (this week I think), and has a guide price of around £175,000. I don't know what the sale includes, but a pub overlooking The Common with lacklustre competition sounds a bit of a snip to me. This could be our best chance of a decent gastro-pub. The local demographic is shifting and the demand is definitely here. If I had the resources, I'd be sitting in an auction room with a very twitchy arm.

Extraordinary tennis

I don't follow sport. I don't have the time for it, nor do I want to go through the angst that work colleagues push themselves through every Saturday afternoon; seeing their minor depressions on a Monday morning as their team obviously lost at the weekend. I just don't have the nerve to say, "it's just a bloomin' game. Get over it" as I know that to them it's not just a game, it's a way of life. In a very tiny way, I envy that they know every single statistic to every game of their football team over the past two decades. I don't envy what they know, but the fact that they remember stuff. I'm sure that since becoming a parent, my memory has stopped working. I tell myself that my brain has decided to readjust and work in a very different way - maybe it's a denial of anything like dementia creeping in really early. Where was I? Oh yes....... I don't follow sport.

I don't follow sport, but I was channel flicking on the TV and came across wheelchair tennis!!!! Back in the day when I had time to watch a whole TV programme, I'd treat myself to 'Transworld Sport' on Channel 4 on Saturday mornings. It was great to learn about the Jamaican bob-sled team (it's true), or utterly queer contests in the Far East, but man alive wheelchair tennis left me gob-smacked. Their serves looked pretty fast, but how can you serve when seated? I can't serve when standing up!!?!* So the ball made it over the net and the opponent knocked it back, but then to get back in position on the court, they'd wheel around in swirls which was completely balletic. Truly amazing. You can keep your Anita Roddicks and your Federererers and your Williamses. Brute force and power serves are SO last year. Wheelchair tennis needs more coverage.