Convoy.

Every crime fighting super hero needs a costume; usually something along the lines of a cape and a mask of some kind. Captain Tweed makes do with a comfortable pair of casual slacks and when the weather permits, the ubiquitous Harris tweed jacket. I make no claims to having super powers, but my sized 12 steel toe capped boots do make a good persuader. Batman has multiple copies of his costume, and I have multiple pairs of boots, as shown in the photo above. Click on it for a larger version.

I think something must be stalking local buses, for the new 99 buses seem to travel in convoys of two or three together - ostensibly for protection. There is some fault in the planning and operation of the service. The buses are meant to be every twelve minutes between Woolwich and Bexleyheath via Erith. They now travel past Pewty Acres, as covered in a previous Blog posting. What actually happens is that you wait for half an hour or so, then three turn up at once. Ian waited 50 minutes for a bus to work last week, then what seemed like a whole fleet of double deckers turned up at the stop. I will be chasing London Buses by ringing their complaints line on 0845 300 7000 (just in case anyone else also wants to give them a hard time).

FACT (the Federation Against Copyright Theft) have been organising Police raids against criminals in the local area; as can be seen from a story in the News Shopper. This has done absolutely nothing to stop the Chinese illegal immigrants who openly peddle fake DVD's in the car park of the Thamesmead retail park. I was there yesterday, buying a high end combination oven to replace my old microwave, and I saw four blokes selling dodgy DVD's. I know they are merely the foot soldiers in a much bigger game of organised crime, but they are so blatant, standing outside of Argos hassling shoppers. Had I been on my own, I might have said something / sought out the local security guards, but I was not, and could not. I was limited to quietly seething. I get the feeling this problem will crop up again in the future.

I see in the news that the Air Miles scheme is withdrawing some options, and this apparently will mean that some people will lose their air miles. Not something that worries me personally, as I absolutely detest travel, and don't actually own a passport anyway (I try and limit the amount of information that "The Man" has on me). If you Google Search "Arthur Pewty" I now come up as the number one result, over and above the original Monty Python character. If you Google search my real full name you get absolutely nothing , and I aim for it to stay that way. The furthest I normally go is to my company's office in Watford. Anything further just causes me undue stress. I would much rather confine my activities to my locality wherever possible. I am actually pretty much unintentionally green in this respect.



The photo above shows what is left of the old Erith Riverside swimming baths, which has finally been demolished after sitting empty and vandalised for several years. Local Chavs had even gone as far as firing firework rockets into the place before Christmas. No news as to what will be built to replace the pool, though some regeneration outlines can be read here.

I have been playing around with the HTML of the Maggot Sandwich, and you may notice some changes in the size and dimensions of some photos and embedded videos. I am grateful for any thoughts and you can feedback by clicking on the comments link at the bottom of this posting.

Morrison's has been besieged by people from Sky HD, relentlessly plugging their services to the great unwashed of Erith (who might be on benefit and live in a tip, but you can guarantee they will have the latest 50" plasma telly and BluRay player, along with a Staffie in bondage gear and a stash of Stella). I have been collared twice by these sales people. My response is "there is not enough HD content available for me to consider switching yet". Their response is to plug Sky Sports - fair enough if you are a football or rugby fan, but it is not my cup of tea. Seeing a group of under educated and over paid Chavs chase an inflated pig's bladder round a muddy field for ninety minutes, then jump in the bath together is not my idea of fun.

I see an art house documentary has been made of relatively obscure thrash metal band Anvil. It is currently being touted as the next big thing in Cinema Verite. Personally the best film about a rock band has to be the superb This is Spinal Tap. The most famous scene of this seminal Rockumentary is below for your delectation - as they say, it goes up to eleven...