The Maggot Sandwich reaches FaceBook.

I am blogging from my favourite, and somewhat neglected in the recent past location, the incomparable Robin Hood & Little John pub in Lion Road, Bexleyheath. I am sat at my favourite corner table with a refreshing, hoppy pint of Shepherd Neame Early Bird golden ale, and will shortly be enjoying one of their excellent lunches from an extensive menu of home cooked food - nothing is microwaved. The landlord, Ray has just informed me that next Friday is Saint George's Day, and that the RH&LJ will be hosting a group of traditional Morris Dancers in the evening; on top of this they will be serving British Bulldog Ale from the Westerham Brewery (an ale originally brewed especially for Sir Winston Churchill) and Dragon Fire seasonal ale from Shepherd Neame. The RH&LJ has won Bexley CAMRA pub of the year every single year for the last ten years; it has got to the point where CAMRA have changed the competition rules, so that a pub that wins one year cannot compete in the next year; a tacit confirmation that the competition is really about who comes number two to the Robin Hood & Little John. The photo above shows the framed award certificates and press cuttings about the truly outstanding free house. Apologies for the slightly less than premium image quality, I took the photo using the rather weedy 1.3 megapixel webcam on my Asus netbook, and it falls a little short of the results I would expect with my Nikon D300.

My journey to this restful paragon of English civility was preceded by a rather annoying walk along Bexleyheath Broadway. Aside from the expected buskers and assorted street entertainers (which rather reminded me of a Mediaeval market scene, as interpreted by Channel 5 on a tight budget). My ire was provoked by an army of evangelical Christians who were accosting passer by with leaflets; they were led by an old fashioned “fire and brimstone” preacher, who certainly had a strong vocal resemblance to Brother Stair – a well known American evangelist who regularly broadcasts on short wave radio to Europe and the UK. In accordance with my strongly held personal libertarian philosophy of “if it works for you”, I ignored them and made my way past Bexleyheath Library, only to have a teenaged girl pursue me, waving a religious tract in my face. I suddenly twigged; not for the first time, someone thought the book sized, leather bound article in my hand was a Bible. As regular readers will recall, it was actually something infinitely more dangerous – it was my Asus EeePC Netbook computer (photo above). I politely told her that her time would be better employed elsewhere, and she eventually gave up the pursuit. Since this is far from the first time such a mistaken identification has happened, maybe I should exploit it and follow L. Ron Hubbard and start my own religion – it certainly made him a fortune.

Erith bar Potion is apparently in trouble yet again; after the public order issues that caused their licence to be changed, forcing them to close at 8pm on Friday and Saturday evenings due to trouble and violence from a number of their customers; they have now fallen foul of Bexley Council planning department. As I covered at the time, the owners of Potion blatantly disregarded the rules regarding changes permitted to the listed building, and ripped out the Victorian salt glazed tiles on the exterior, to put in a generic plate glass frontage, as well as destroying the historic ironwork on the exterior of the building. Apparently the council have given the owners a number of chances to rectify this, but have been ignored, I understand that legal action has now been started. More news as it happens.

Wonders will never cease. Someone has started a Facebook site for fans of the humble Maggot Sandwich. Apparently it has around twelve members already. It is certainly nothing to do with me, as I detest any website that forces you to register before you are able to view any content – on top of that, Facebook is notorious for scavenging and reselling users personal details, This is another reason I don't have anything to do with the site. Still, It is flattering – you can see it here. Click on the image above for a larger version.

The Cyber Khazi in Erith town centre is now fully up and running, though I have my doubts as to if it is actually getting any use, as there are free municipal loos close by, and the local winos have in any case been known to poo in waste bins. It seems a very expensive billboard for the Council to post anti drugs information on the exterior.

Erith Riverside Centre is now home to betting shops galore – it would appear to be one area of local growth; I am totally unqualified to comment as to their relative merits, as I have only crossed the threshold of a betting shop once in my entire life, and that was back in 1988. Looking at most of the clientele, I am glad that betting is not something that interests me.

I also note that the old Wise Furnishings shop in Erith Town Centre (shown above, shortly before it went bust last year) appears to have a new occupant – a place selling discount beds and mattresses; the cynic in me would tend to think that it might well be Wise Furnishings re opening the place in order to start selling off old stock to try and realise some capital, as I think the company as a whole is struggling to survive. The whole endeavour is definitely low rent and smacking of desperation.

BBC 2 have been re – showing a reality TV show with a difference. The programme is called “Electric Dreams” and it follows the ups and downs of a family from Reading who for thirty days forgo their comfortable high tech existence to travel back in time. They spend ten days living as people would in the 1970's, with the year incrementing a year a day, then the same in the 1980's and 1990's. Each day (year) a team of technicians and historians provide them with the latest gadgets and technology appropriate for that year, and a “fly on the wall” camera crew record how the family cope with things. The show was created and produced by the Open University, so it was far more educational than sensational. Of the three decades, my personal favourite was the 1980's – it was when technology first really made itself known in the average household, most notably with the advent of the fledgeling home computer, and a telling scene from the year 1983 really made me hoot – one of the children is explaining to another that the incompatibilities between the VHS and Betamax video formats could be likened to today's DVD and BluRay systems. You can see the shows' website here.

I understand that history is repeating itself, the newly launched Apple iPad has the same kind of WiFi connectivity problems as the early G4 processor MacBook Pro had about six years ago. Those turned out to be caused by looks over function; the slick brushed aluminium case effectively blocked the 802.11 WiFi signal, unless it was at full strength – with the laptop sitting next to the wireless router. I suspect that this will prove to be the same with the first version of the iPad. A word from an expert – never, ever purchase version one of any kind of technology. It is a mug's game – you are merely acting as a late Beta tester for the manufacturer.

Ian has been surfing the Planet Rock website, where he came across details of the forthcoming cinema documentary about the Canadian virtuoso super-group Rush. A clip of the movie is shown below. Please let me know what you think.

Talking of cinema, am I alone in regarding the current trend for releasing films in 3D as being the “Emperor's New Clothes”? I actively avoid the headache inducing 3D format, and will never watch or buy anything that employs this wasteful and pointless fad.

The current air travel ban over much of Northern Europe, due to the eruption of an Icelandic Volcano does make me think. Back in the days of Classic Doctor Who, whenever there was the threat of alien invasion or some other happenstance, UNIT would conjure up a cover story, not unlike the current volcano eruption. Bearing in mind I know of no - one who has seen the slightest scrap of volcanic dust (though having said that, the air in Erith is already amongst the most polluted in the United Kingdom, so there is a fair chance we might not even notice!) Who knows what is really going on?

Erith Museum used to be housed in the imposing and architecturally important building donated by the millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It is now relegated to a small corner of the new, cheerless and characterless box that is the Erith “Library Plus” building opposite the health centre. The old, listed building now lies semi unused, with only a small staff forming Bexley racial equality unit occupying the space. What a waste of a lovely building; I just hope the council find a new use for this impressive, yet under used public space.

Bongo has now quit his freelance sound recordist exploits, and has taken a staff job with the BBC in Glasgow; he phoned this morning to tell me he and Claire have found a nice place in Paisley, which I gather is close to Glasgow town centre. An update from him in due course.

I had quite a bit of head scratching to do when thinking of something for the traditional closing video. I feel it is far too long since we had some quality 80's cheese, so here it is in spades, from the master of macho hair metal, David Coverdale and Whitesnake. Enough back combing and hair spray to create his own personal hole in the ozone layer; and you wonder where Steel Panther get it from...

The Cyber Khazi.

Erith has now got a brand new landmark in the Riverside Shopping Centre, on Pier Road, directly opposite the Health Centre - an automated super public toilet, that I am naming the Cyber Khazi. Quite what the authorities were thinking of when they commissioned the beast is entirely beyond me. We have public toilets literally around the corner from the new loo (albeit they are semi permanently locked to prevent local smack heads using them for a doze, after they have picked up their methadone from the nearby Payden's Pharmacy). Who, I wonder is going to spend their money to have a wee or drop their guts? In extremis, I certainly would, but I get the feeling I am very much in the minority. Bearing in mind, as I have recently reported, "street drinkers" have been seen pooing in kerb side waste bins locally, and there are a number of strategically placed dark corners and dense bushes in the vicinity. One is not filled with confidence that the Cyber Khazi will actually get used for the purpose intended. I predict it will be a burned out shell within a month.

OK, so we have the snow, and it is only a week before Christmas, but personally it does not feel at all Christmassy this year; I can't put my finger quite why, but I know that I am not alone in feeling this way. I think many people are planning a low key festive period this year, after a painful year with the credit crunch and the (supposed) global warming doom and gloom. It does seem that this country falls apart at the merest hint of snow.

I have to give an honourable mention to the woman selling The Big Issue by the pedestrian crossing between the Erith Riverside Centre and Morrison's car park. She was out in the driving snow and icy wind all day on Friday. I think Erith must be an exceptionally hard gig for Big Issue sellers – very few locals have much in the way of spare change – I doubt she got many customers; a hard and uncomfortable way to earn a crust.

On a related note, The Royal Alfred pub on the corner of Manor Road and Appold Street closed down quite a while back. It was sold to the family the own the Londis corner store on the opposite corner, and I gather that in due course they plan turning the pub into a small supermarket. In the meantime they let the upstairs rooms to a number of Eastern Europeans. I have noticed that they leave all of the upper windows open, even in the recent sub zero temperatures; I cannot for the life of me think why. It must be utterly freezing inside.

Google have been quite uncharacteristic in their recent publicity campaign for their Chrome web browser. There are road side billboard adverts, posters on the tube and they even took the whole front and back covers of the Metro free newspaper this week. I cannot make my mind up about Chrome – although it has been out for nearly a year on Windows, it only got released for Apple OS X and Linux a week ago. I don't particularly like the way it handles bookmarks, and the settings import wizard is a bit of a mess; overall though, it is nice to see the web browser market get a boost. I also use Firefox and Opera (though Opera does not render the Maggot Sandwich correctly – my little JavaScript clock looks all wonky). Anything that puts a serious dent in the previous dominance of Internet Explorer has to be a good thing.

A small snippet of information gleaned from the CAMRA magazine “The London Drinker” is that the One Bell pub in Crayford has been purchased from Punch Taverns by former Hull City and Fulham footballer Jimmy Bullard. The pub will be refurbished and then run by Mr. Bullard's father, Jimmy Senior. Nice to see something positive happening when one hears of so many pubs closing down for good. Recently both the Stile and Winch, and the Harrow pub on North End Road have closed and are either going to be demolished, or converted into social housing. I will have to visit the One Bell once it re-opens and report back.

I am not the world's greatest champion of Web 2.0. I don't use FaceBook or MySpace, and quite frankly I completely fail to see the point of Twitter. One thing I do use and greatly appreciate is Flickr, the online photo application. It is powerful, easy to use and somewhat unsung in comparison to its' better known siblings. I store and share over 3,000 of my photos on Flickr, and have met some interesting people through the service. You can view my photos online here.

There has been much copy written online about the (dreadfully named) car scrappage scheme. I won't vent my spleen on the anonymous knuckle dragging Visigoth who coined the grammar mangling phrase, but suffice to say I sincerely hope a special ring of Hell is reserved for them. I digress; something far more relevant and important than a minor subsidy on a new car purchase has been announced to very little fanfare or public awareness. The government have announced a scheme to provide a substantial cash subsidy for householders who replace their old and energy inefficient central heating boilers with a new, greener replacement. I will most definitely be interested in this; my own ancient combination boiler sits in the corner of the bathroom, clicking and hissing malevolently. Every so often it launches into life, sounding like a Mig 21 afterburner on full chat. It has a nasty habit of blasting RF (radio frequency) energy through my study, wiping out whatever broadcast I am listening to on my trusty JRC NRD 345 H.F communications receiver (photo below). If money were no object, I would add a Ten - Tec RX340 to my shack - but I don't have a spare £3,500 for another receiver right now.



The beast that is my old boiler seems permanently on the verge of exploding and burning down Pewty Acres - or so it seems to want me to think; I reckon it is just keen on keeping me on my toes. If a bunch of feckless and misguided politicians can just for once get their act together and do something worthwhile, I am not going to be one to discourage them.

After my recent complimentary missives about Bristol Cars, I found a very enlightening article online from the English language "Arab News" newspaper "the Middle East's premium English language news" - you can read the piece by clicking here.

Back in the early years of this decade, I was a keen supporter of what was then the very first distributed computing initiative - this is where the power of thousands, or indeed hundreds of thousands of personal computers are harnessed together to run complex calculations that would normally require an expensive supercomputer to run. In essence you download a screensaver that runs when you are not using your computer - it takes a chunk of data, quietly processes it in the background, then spits the results back at the master computer. There are a number of projects organised by the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing - part of Berkeley University. These included molecular analysis of potential anti cancer drugs, mapping the human genome, and best known of all, the SETI at home project. This is part of the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), which is searching the skies with the world's largest radio telescope in Arecebo, Puerto Rico, looking for signals from alien civilisations. I recently downloaded their latest screensaver / signal analysis software for my Apple Mac, as I thought I would give the whole thing another crack of the whip. You can see a screen shot of it in operation below.



As I have been typing this, I have been listening to Weekend Music Radio from Scotland. They used to be a regular shortwave pirate radio station, but have been off air for a couple of years due to the lack of sunspot activity, and consequent poor signal propagation conditions. They are back on 6.400 kHz short wave. You can see their website by clicking here.

One other thing - since it is that time of the year once again: Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, but with respect for the religious persuasion of others who choose to practice their own religion, as well as those who choose not to practice a religion at all. Additionally; a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions have helped make our society great, without regard to the race, creed, colour, religious, or sexual preferences of the wishes. (Disclaimer: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her / himself or others, and no responsibility for any unintended emotional stress these greetings may bring to those not caught up in the holiday spirit).  That has got that out of the way for another 51 weeks!

You may have seen a story in the popular press over the last week discussing a independent movie maker from Uruguay, who, after posting his latest amateur short film onto YouTube, has subsequently been offered a $30 million movie deal under the tutelage of cult film director Sam Raimi. You can read more about the story behind this unusual approach to getting a film directors' job in this article from the Los Angeles Times. Suffice to say the short film is called "Panic Attack" and shows the invasion of the city of Montevideo in Uruguay by a army of giant killer robots - watch it below and feel free to leave a comment.