The Betamax challenge.

I took the photo above on Saturday evening; the light was excellent, and it was such a change from the earlier torrential rain we suffered. The shot shows Abbey Car Breakers in Wheatley Terrace Road, behind Morrison's car park. The area is notorious for fly tipping on an industrial scale. I have personally witnessed tippers in action on a number of occasions. The Police and Council have worked together to make the road a surveillance zone, as per the no - nonsense lamp post sign above. You may also notice a fairly innocuous addition to the roof of one of the warehouses used by Abbey Car Breakers. It is a high definition digital CCTV camera, dedicated to recording any local criminality such as fly tipping and vandalism. You can see a close up of the camera and mast below - click on either image for a larger version. I regret the need for such measures, as it does push the area one step closer to the "Truman Show" style police state, but to be honest, I just don't know what the alternative is. If people were more honest, upright and trustworthy, then maybe another course of action could be taken - as it is, the illegal dumpers and fly tippers are such law breaking scum that the authorities have to use whatever sanctions are available to them in order to protect local people and the environment.

I saw a most perplexing and surreal scene whilst waiting for a train back to Erith from Plumstead after visiting my Dad on Monday afternoon. I was waiting on the Kent bound platform, for a train to convey me back to Erith. I saw a shadowy figure on the opposite, London bound platform. She was dressed in a flowing black robe with a grey hijab. She was lurking around the back and side of the long closed and abandoned coffee kiosk on the London bound side of the platform. Her furtive actions spurred my interest - I am always fascinated by anything out of the ordinary, and this piqued my attention.  It was around 2pm and I noticed that she was holding a takeaway pizza box - and furtively stuffing her face with pizza. Nothing exceptional there then in a normal environment. The thing that made me think was that she was from her behaviour and dress quite obviously Muslim, yet she was eating, in public during the daylight hours of Ramadan. I don't think that she was ill or pregnant either - why else would she be acting in such a secretive and furtive manner? I get the impression that she was just getting one over on the system which she did not necessarily agree with. Mum reminded me that some time ago she was a passenger on a bus with a similar situation - a burkha clad woman was eating a sausage roll - just when did pork get the OK from the Mullahs? It was a bit like seeing a nun clasping an opened can of Stella.

Earlier this week Erith McDonald's Drive Through (NOT "thru" - please!) Had a huge branded promotional barrage balloon floating in the sky above the building. I began to wonder exactly why the balloon was there - were the management expecting an air raid from the Burger King Luftwaffe or something? Utterly pointless - apart from being a major distraction to drivers passing the junction of James Watt Way and Queen's Road.

In the aftermath of the Woolwich riots, there has been a backlash of community spirit and plain common sense. This can be epitomised in the website We Love Woolwich. Do give it a look.

James May has come up with an interesting theory relating to the purchase of used cars; one should aim to outlay no more than £1 per cc of engine capacity for a general purpose run - around, or what he calls "an old biffer". For example, if you purchase an old car with a 2 litre engine, he postulates you should expect to pay no more than £2,000 for it. This is an interesting and somewhat thought provoking concept - your thoughts and comments below if you will.

Something that might quite surprise you is that the price of old Betamax video recorders is currently going through the roof; a couple of years ago you could not give one away if you tried. Suddenly they are turning up on Ebay and the bidding competition is fierce. Prices of £250 and upwards have been noted. What is the reason for this? Well, it does not seem to be down to any love for the outdated video format (which whilst it failed in the domestic home market, it was the cornerstone of many TV news and outside broadcast units for many years).  It would appear that people are coming across family videos recorded on Betamax cassettes and wish to digitise them. Most professional video transfer services can handle VHS and the common broadcast formats, but very few are capable of doing anything with a Betamax format cassette. People with old recordings of weddings and family events realise that if they wish to be able to see them again, they will need to locate a device capable of playing the tape format - hence the sudden upsurge of interest. The ironic thing is, it is pretty likely that the tapes will be unwatchable even when a suitable player is used. Both Betamax and VHS cassettes deteriorate over time, even when stored in ideal conditions. A thirty year old video tape will have demagnetised and printed through so much that it will almost certainly show on screen as a mess of flickering static with a few undersaturated, ghostly images of what remains of the original recording now.

I recently have read quite a lot about the format wars between VHS and Betamax back in the early 1980's. From all that I have read, it became apparent that Sony, the creators of the Beta format were pretty much to blame for the demise of what initially was a far technically superior video format than the relatively pedestrian VHS system. The real Betamax killer was that for the first few years, the maximum length of recording was limited to one hour on Beta, whereas VHS could stretch to four hours, critically long enough to record an entire American football game (the lucrative mass American market both systems were looking to crack). Sony had the attitude of "We know best" as to what the market wanted, and ignored requests for features that quickly became standard with their competitors. Consequently Betamax is now considered alongside the 8 - Track cartridge as a dodo technology. You can read about the history of the video format war by clicking here. If you are of the opinion that Betamax is far too mainstream, well known and commonplace, do yourself a favour by visiting the Philips V2000 web site here. You can also read more about other format wars by clicking here.

I was standing at the 99 bus stop in Erith town centre yesterday morning when a local family rolled up - mother and father about 20 years old, and a brood of three kids ranging in age from about six to maybe a year old child in a push chair. Bearing in mind this was about 11 in the morning, they were all already eating a greasy McDonalds meal. the parents were talking (okay, grunting and swearing as is the Chav norm) and as they did so, they opened up their cholesterol laden burgers and nonchalantly tossed the pickled gherkin slices from the patty, onto the floor without so much as a beat. I was livid - the little slices are very slippery and plenty of elderly and infirm people use the area; it was the incredibly casual attitude to littering that really annoyed me. I bit my tongue as if I went into one it would have been in front of very small children. The Captain Tweed element in me wanted to knock their gel encrusted heads together - I don't think I will be so reticent if I ever see it happen again. The sad irony is that the gherkin would have probably been the only green vegetables the social inadequates would have ingested all week had they not chosen to decorate the path with them.

Now that the Maggot Sandwich has attracted so many regular readers - currently at nearly 45,000, there has been some pressure on me from a number of vectors to accept advertising, and actually make some income from the Blog. I am not keen on this particular course of action however - despite pressure from a number of sources otherwise. The problem with accepting advertising is that one becomes beholden to the advertising source  - I would lose my independence and ability to whinge as I see fit. I would rather keep my independence than sell out to make a few quid at the expense of my ability to express my opinion.

Walking through Morrison's car park on Saturday afternoon, there were a number of badly customised Citroen Saxo "acne carriages" parked together, with their owners lounging about and chatting; I clearly overheard one chav saying to his compatriots (whilst pointing at his designer trainers) "I only wear shoes to weddings, funerals and going to court". I somehow don't think he was a Magistrate or other justice official. What a pity.

The video this week is the recipe for a simple Chinese fried rice - do leave a comment below and let me know what you think. All comments will be moderated and published within 24 hours.

The Belmarsh Express.

The photo above was taken by me yesterday afternoon, round at the back of Morrison's car park, adjacent to the river. It has been rumoured for some time that they wanted to extend their opening hours, and here finally is the smoking gun. Morrison's in Erith have now formally applied to the Council for permission to extend their opening hours. The actual situation is slightly different to that I outlined the other week; the hours they wish to open are from 6am until Midnight, seven days a week - click on the photo above for a larger view. This would apparently include the alcoholic drinks sales, though details in this regard are still a little vague. I do wonder what effect this will have on the local gangs of feral kids, who are wont to hang around the supermarket at all hours – will this be a prompt for them to increase their criminal activities? There does not seem to have been much in the way of analysis into the effects of longer opening hours on crime and anti social behaviour in the local area. It will be something to monitor and observe. I do note that licence applications are meant to be displayed in plain sight, whereas this was sneaked round the back of the store by the river side residences in Wharfside Close (see the photo below for an idea of the location) in a part that few people use. It is a bit on the sneaky side, I feel.

On Tuesday of this week I witnessed an event that was both coincidental and timely. I had just got on the 380 bus in Woolwich (known locally as the Belmarsh Express, due to its' final destination). I sat down and waited as the other passengers boarded. A woman in a full Burkha got on and showed the driver some kind of season ticket, with an accompanying photo card. The driver looked at it, then at her and said she would have to remove her face covering in order for him to be able to identify her; she refused, and for thirty seconds or so there was a stand off, with a couple of passengers grumbling. The woman eventually gave up and got off the bus. This echoes the current rather confused and awkward legal situation in France, where they have enacted a law banning the covering of the face in public, but the authorities seem somewhat shy of actually enforcing it. I am pretty much a civil libertarian, with the view you should be able to do what you like, providing it causes no distress or harm to others. It strikes me that the wearing of costumes deliberately designed to conceal the identity is something that sends a statement from the wearer that they don't want to be a part of the society - they stand apart as “other”. If the desire for separation is so strong, it strikes me that perhaps the individual would be more comfortable in another society.

Google Earth / Google Maps have re - photographed the Erith area, and have just made the new images available online. The original scans were from 2006 and were beginning to look a little long in the tooth; the updated imagery is now less than a couple of months old. You can see Erith River Front Gardens and a portion of the town, courtesy of Google in the photo above - click on the image above for a larger view. The campaign to preserve and protect Erith Riverside Gardens is gaining both pace and publicity. The latest proposals by the Council have been once again thrown out by FORGE (Friends Of Riverside Gardens Erith) and several of the local residents associations. It does seem that Bexley Council are incapable of recognising the desire for Erith people to keep full access to the river front – they don't want the unique river front views and access to the Riverside Gardens to be removed. It is the one area of Erith that no other part of the Borough can offer. After meeting with the Police last week, it would appear that the Erith Police Office should be opening shortly. It has been ready for use for some time, but I gather that internal Met politics have caused the delays. More details as they become available. For more about local security and policing issues, do check out the Erith Watch website here.

Last week was the 50^th anniversary of the first human spaceflight. Pioneering cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was in reality little more than a passenger in spacecraft Vostok 1 – his capsule was remotely controlled from the ground; in his own words he was “ a human monkey”. Though much credit must be given to his grit and bravery. To commemorate the anniversary, there was a musical duet between astronaut Catherine Coleman on the International Space Station, and Ian Anderson of progressive folk rock combo Jethro Tull on the ground. You can see a short video of the event below.With all the talk of space and space anniversaries, NASA are currently coming to an end of their project to find homes for the remaining fleet of Space Shuttles. Most are being donated to museums and educational institutions. They are all offered with rather high mileages, and I don't know what the warranty arrangements are. One might make a good subject for a Wheeler Dealers makeover maybe?

Bexleyheath Broadway is undergoing some changes; the old double shop fronted building opposite the Clock Tower is currently being fitted out as a Nandos restaurant. I passed it recently and there was a great deal of work being carried out by a group of shop fitters. Conversely, on the opposite corner, by the bus stands, the old Lloyd's Bar One, later RSVP site has for months been plastered in posters advertising that it will shortly be opening as a Caribbean Kitchen Afro Caribbean restaurant. The posters originally gave an opening date at the end of March; now the posters say the end of April, though looking through the windows, very little fitting out work appears to have happened, and the little furniture inside is the same stuff used by the previous owners. I think the venture shows all the classic signs of being doomed from the outset. There appears to have been very little financial investment, little will to get the necessary development work completed, and an ever changing opening date. Whilst all this time has passed, the large commercial franchise concern that is Nandos have moved in and are almost ready to open, right on the doorstep of the mooted Caribbean kitchen. The local metal thieves have also been busy – stealing the copper mains power cables from the transformer station to the rear of the building. This is quite ironic, when one considers the proximity to Bexleyheath Police station. 

The photo below shows Shirley on the sofa at my Mum's house, which was taken earlier in the week; she's showing a daring new look (she was feeing cold) - she was sporting a black top with a matching wrap, along with black jeans, accessorised with pink thermal socks (courtesy of Mum) and a rather familiar looking Harris Tweed jacket, which looks big enough for her to move into, rather than wear...

Bexley Beer Festival 2011 is being held on the 28^th to the 30^th April at Sidcup Sports Centre. Unfortunately I missed last years' event, which by all accounts was exceedingly well attended. To be honest, I feel the event has now outgrown the venue, and needs to find a larger home, with facilities to match; I for one do not like having to visit a Turdis when I feel the need to pump the bilges. For some reason Bexley CAMRA have not managed to negotiate the use of the sports centre's own toilets for the last couple of years, and festival visitors have been compelled to use the portaloos in the car park. Further details of the event are below - click for a larger view.

On a similar vein, the St. Georges' Day celebrations are happening next Saturday evening from 7.30pm onwards at the Robin Hood & Little John in Lion Road, Bexleyheath. There will be traditional Morris Dancers and all sorts of festivities. You can see photos of last years' celebration by clicking here.

I see that once again the Thamesmead located Crossness Pumping Station is featuring in a movie; the Grade One listed building has already been featured in the Tim Burton version of Batman, Alien, Sherlock Holmes and now a TV series called The Crimson Petal and the White. You can read further details on the Bexley Times website here. I have visited the place in the past; it is indeed fascinating from both a historical and an engineering viewpoint. The only problem is, it is located in the middle of one of the largest sewerage works in Greater London, and it does rather whiff of poo.

The photo above shows close friend, fellow ex Picardy School pupil and senior Army officer Steve Fraser. I took the picture back in October 2008 when he was awarded the MBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. I was exceedingly chuffed to find out this morning that he has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, effective from the 11th September. If he does carry out his plan to eventually become a science teacher, I pity any future pupil of his who steps out of line...

The main video this week is a nearly fifteen minutes long preview of the mega $60 million budget HBO Fantasy thriller series "Game of Thrones" which starts in the UK tomorrow night on Sky Atlantic. Basically it is Lord of the Rings meets the Sopranos (indeed several of the Sopranos writing team are behind the show). It features an excellent cast, led by Sean Bean, who plays Nobleman Ned Stark. It looks good, but very gory, if this excerpt is anything to go by. I would give the clip a miss if you are not in the mood for a little Dungeons and Dragons style blood and guts. Otherwise, dig in and see what you think - leave a comment below, which will be moderated and published within 24 hours. I hate spammers, so have been forced to enable comment moderation.