I first Blogged about the hideous Erith Fish Sculpture way back in October 2006. Since then it has been the location of a failed suicide bid, when a bloke deliberately drove his car at it. The guy got off with minor injuries (if you wish to kill yourself in a modern car, it is a good idea to disable the air bag first); He was patched up in hospital, only to jump off the top of a local tower block a week later. There's no pleasing some people. Anyway, after the local council shelled out £60,000 of council tax payers' hard earned cash to commission the garish monstrosity pictured above, only eighteen months later they have had to call the artist back again as the thing is already falling apart. The mosaic tiles appear to have been laid on top of Polyfilla! As you can see from the photos above, the thing is undergoing fairly major restorative surgery. A couple of pounds of Semtex under what has become the wart on the hairy bum that is Erith would surely be preferable.
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I think a vast majority of the residents of South East London and North Kent have completely forgotten all forms of manners and decency; nobody (apart from myself and a small number of civilised people) bothers to queue at bus stops - there is generally a rabble and each person for themselves. It is not just children, many of the parents are just as bad. I always have a go at anyone who pushes in front of me - what amazes me is most of them don't even realise they are doing anything wrong! The same thing can be said of holding a door open for someone; most times you are deemed lucky if you get so much as an incoherent grunt of thanks, most of the time there is no response at all.
My photos of both the Erith River Festival and last Saturday's FarnFest have gone down well, with many people viewing them. If you wish to have a look you can find them here.
I am hoping to attend this years Chap Olympics, held in London during July; you can read an account of the goings on at last years' event here.
I have been experimenting with a terrestrial digital TV receiver for my new iMac. The small plug in receiver is almost the same size as a USB memory stick; once the supplied software is installed all looks OK until I try and get a signal. The first desktop digital antenna I purchased did not work at all - in fact it looked like it had been returned as faulty then put back on the shelf at Argos. I got a replacement and all I can pick up is Sky Sports News and Sky Three, and both of these pixillate, pop and fart - it is easier to watch BBC iPlayer. I think I must live in a terrestrial digital signal black hole! Any suggestions are welcomed.
Do watch the clip below - it is only three minutes long and is quite entertaining if you are a Dr. Who fan like me.
Now, I gotta say I quite like the fish.
ReplyDeleteOk let me clarify that I like the idea of public art and your never going to please EVERYBODY but I don't like "the fish". They look amateurish and pretty garish but I am for having "art" and it is a talking point, mind you in the case of the bloke who tried to top himself a target.
Here's a quick thought, why do people when committing suicide often interrupt of cause disruption to others? Think jumping in front of a train or the case in point (the road had to be shut) is it a last act of defiance or something? Why not do it somewhere off the beaten track? Just wondered…sure there's books out there that could tell me.
The Fish statue (which is based on the DeLucie family crest the local big-wigs of yesteryear) is better than Erith's other public artwork the 4 stainless steel columns just to the right of the Fishes (next to the kebab shop), they are supposed to represent Earth core samples of Erith as a link to Erith's "rich" history BUT they are quite detailed and almost invisible unless your within 2 feet of them so where were they positioned?
The other side of a pedestrian barrier next to the busiest roundabout in the bough…
Mind you if they were in the Town centre the local ner-do-well's would scrawl all over them I suppose…
Oh yeah come on everybody, the Maggot Sandwich gets a 1000+ hits a WEEK I can't be the only one dumb enough to post a comment! Join in! LOL!
Ah a subject close to my own heart.
After years on driving to work I now get the bus (it's easier as no parking available) and am amazed by the lack of thought people display. Even at my suburban bus stop where they're say 8/10 people waiting and it's like a rugby scrum for an empty bus…
Pointless.
Mind you the worse individuals are…um…how can I put this.
"Not local to this continent?"
One large lady springs to mind, she has a face like she's sucking a lemon and ALWAYS pushes to the front but if someone get's in front of her she subjects them to a tirade of (polite but very loud and accented) indignant abuse.
Very much a case of "Me! Me! ME!". Actually I stood up for her the other week when she had ago a bloke in a van who almost run her over and he was VERY aggressive and I thought he was going to thump her (he was totally at fault) but did she say thank you or even acknowledge my existence did she shite…well she's pissed on her chips for the future.
My way of dealing with people like that is to be quite loudly overly polite or in the case of opening a door for someone making a loud comment like "No problem! Fuck you very much to!" while grinning like a loon.
Politeness costs nothing and I quite enjoy it.
To quote a Jessie Custer "therse too many bad men in the world so you gotta be a good guy".
Nice clip, still strange to hear David Tennant in his natural Scottish burr.
I think your wrong for using Semtex Hugh, I'd suggest a Laws M72. The good news about this is that if you miss you can only improve on the surrounding area ;)
ReplyDeleteThe fish are an eyesore I hate them and how much did they cost? Thats our council tax monies.
ReplyDeleteNow come on, you are seriously expecting to get a decent signal from a desktop antenna? for christ sake you live in the depths of hell, Erith!! Wrotham's pathetic digital signal(reduced to prevent interference to the bloody French) can not offer a decent SNR unless you live within spitting distance!
ReplyDeleteOf course a mutlti element wideband yagi mounted on a 30 foot pole on your roof may just give you a decent signal but from your place I would suspect that pointing towards Sudbury or Sandy Heath maybe just as good!
Dave Martin
Check out the Zattoo, . They have a MacX client that can receive almost all of the channels available over the air and it includes an EPG. Downside is you are not able to adjust the quality which at times is slightly better than youtube. That being said, it is free to use.
ReplyDeleteLast time I looked, Erith wasn't a beach city. I'd expect that kind of statue near the sea. Weathers well there and won't rust in the sea air. Here, I'd expect something more progressive and modern to at least give passers by an illusion of such. Not necessarily chrome wheels for a Punto but similar to painting it a smooth clean silver.
In all fairness, when I first arrived in the UK, I didn't even realise I was meant to queue for the bus. I would just allow the elderly/pushchairs and those in front of me on first. Then follow the person in front of me. If you ever want an ordered system here, you'll need at least some sort of railing or at the least a sign. Upon realising that those in the polite, queue, I started to also; but again, you have to be polite in the first place to realise.