Bexley Blogbrary

2012-01-26T16:53:00.004Z

The great lost apostrophe catastrophe…

Whats your view’s?

Greeting’s, Blog-followers’!

Now, keen eyed reader’s may have seen that the well known chain of bookshops’ WATERSTONE’S have decided that apostrophe’s don’t matter (insert gasp of astonishment HERE!) and wish to be known henceforth as, simply, WATERSTONES. (They claim that the apostrophe is redundant, apparently, and unhelpful in the new e-media age…(Goodnes's only knows what Eddie Royle might say!)

Well, its true…I confess…apostrophe’s arent really my thing either, and I often struggle with the little wriggler’s myself, as I cant always see the point of em, but even so I was a bit surprised about this new’s. (I know its driven some of my Research Team colleagues’ into paroxysm’s of rage).

As one of them wisely pointed out: imagine your local library service devising the slogan “LIBRARIES – We’re here to help” but omitting the little ‘ bit…then wed be in a right old can of worm’s, eh?

(Luckily, dear reader's, we do have lots of tip-top punctuation guides available, so thats a relief)

So: heres the question: apostrophe’s – doe’s it matter? Wed love to have your view’s.

Just use the comment’s box below.

TTF’N

2012-01-11T12:17:00.003Z

“Psssssstt!!!! ...

Call the Midwife ...

this one’s going to be BIG”!

Pssssstt!!! – Pass it on:

What-ho, Blog-followers…
Some books get big by word of mouth, don’t you find? They don’t get much mention in the press when they’re first published, they don’t get picked up by Richard & Judy, and they don’t win prizes…

But what they do is get lodged in your mind…you can’t stop reading them…you can’t stop thinking about them…you just have to tell someone about them…
Personal recommendation and enthusiastic word of mouth reviews are what we’re about, and it’s wonderful when others enjoy ‘em too…The Dig, Alone in Berlin, Dark Matter and a Month in the Country are just a few of my own *`Psssstt – pass it on choices`, but the one that ‘s really done the rounds (pardon the pun) and made it big is Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth.
I was first told about this a few years ago at a very posh publishers' soiree (I must’ve been invited by mistake!) by a very grand lady, who looked not dissimilar to my untutored eye to Barbara Cartland: (I`m fairly certain now that it wasn’t her in fact, as this particular lady told me two of the coarsest jokes I`ve ever heard**).
Anyway, she huskily whispered to me: “Young Man!” (for I suspect her eyesight must have been not of the keenest variety) “If you only read one more book again in your life then you MUST read Call the Midwife. It’s stunning, stupendous and will be one of the biggest books of the decade”. And – by crikey – she was right! It is stunning.

It’s become a real word-of-mouth phenomenon, and everyone I`ve recommended it to thinks it’s stunning too. And now, blow me down, the dear old BBC have heard about it and are going to make it their big blockbuster drama event of the spring.

So...Psssstttt! Take it from me – this one’s going to be BIG!
Get in quick!
Read it NOW!

TTFN

* But I’d like to hear about your own `Pssssttt! Pass it On’ choices., obviously…

** See the Blogbrarian in person for more details.

2012-01-06T11:08:00.011Z

The Borrowers...

(Or: "There's something about Mary"...)

“Never a lender nor borrower be” goes the old saying, to paraphrase The Bard….but where would that leave the great British public library service, eh?...No, no dear readers – lending and borrowing, particularly during these straitened times, might very well become a more common currency…

I was pondering this whilst watching the excellent BBC production of The Borrowers this yuletide past (did anyone else see it?...what did you think?)
Wasn’t it splendid!

I seem to recall reading the book as a young blognipper, but – confess – I know little about its author, one Mary Norton (1903 – 1992)…

Hence, I have mobilised my research team to investigate, and here are their findings, condensed into an exquisitely compact and thimble-sized FIVE FACTS:

1) Mary Norton devised the idea of the tiny Borrowers, as she was immensely short-sighted a child: she remembered peering close up into grass, tree roots, beneath the furniture, cracks in the floorboards and such like…it made her wonder what life would be like for tiny little creatures, and how they’d cope with such obstacles in their way, and that’s how the idea began…

2) Mary seems to have been universally liked and admired: “She was as thin as a wasp, and very pale and quiet and gentle” wrote one contemporary, while her publisher said “there were few authors quite so charming and distinguished as Mary, so vital, and with such a marvellous sense of humour”.

3) During the war, Mary’s husband served in the Royal Navy, and the family were based in New York – it was here that she published her first children’s books `The Magic Bed-Knob` and then `Bonfires and Broomsticks` - back in England, her publishers (wisely) revised the titles into one volume: ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’!

4) Despite her wealth and social standing, Mary had an acute social conscience, a deep sympathy for the underdog, and a growing awareness of green issues – it’s been suggested that The Borrowers actually represented the real “little people” of post-war Britain suffering economic and social hardships, poverty, rationing, unemployment and hunger: Arrietty is the forerunner of many an anguished teenager, and the destruction of the Borrowers’ environment represents ecological and civic decline…All very modern!

5) Despite this, Mary Norton remained an optimistic and cheerful campaigner for children, and the value of reading, with a refreshingly anarchic tinge…"Children nowadays are encouraged to invent, but still in ways devised by adults: `Clear up that mess!’ has destroyed many a secret world…chaos and destruction worries grown-ups far more than it does children…if imagination and the raw materials are there to hand, they simply build again”.

Mary Norton – I like the cut of your jib, and I salute you!

Now, where was I? And where did I leave my thimble?...Ah, yes! – I remember…

"Borrowing” – sorry, Shakespeare old chap, but the idea of borrowing and lending has never been so important, in so many ways…WHOOPS!

And don’t forget, dear readers and borrowers; YOUR LIBRARY NEEDS YOU!

MAKE DO AND MEND!!

YOU’VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD!!!

TTFN

2011-12-29T09:15:00.000Z

“Old Blogger’s Almanack,

A Big Book Look, and a 2012 Delve..”

What – ho!

Well, Blogfollowers…Happy New Year, and all that; now, I don’t want to alarm you, but… according to this book about the ancient Mayans, we’re all doomed in 2012…

Here’s the ‘blurb’: “2012: The Year of the Mayan Prophecy is a literary and metaphysical epic that binds together the cosmological phenomena of our time, ranging from crop circles to quantum theory to the worldwide resurgence of shamanism, supporting the Mayan prophecy that the year 2012 will bring an unprecedented global shift. In tracing the meaning of the prophetic Mayan 'end date' of 2012 to our present society, Daniel Pinchbeck draws together alien abductions, psychedelic visions, the current ecological crisis and other peculiar aspects of 21st century life into a new vision for our time. 2012 heralds the end of one way of existence and the return of another, in which the Mesoamerican God Quetzalcoatl returns, bringing with him an ancient - yet to us, wholly new - way of living. There are many hints, both in quantum theory and elsewhere, that humanity is precariously balanced between greater self-potential and environmental disaster. Pinchbeck's journey, which takes us from the endangered rainforests of the Amazon to Stonehenge in England, tells the story of a man in whose trials we recognise our own hopes and anxieties about modern life”.

Gosh!

Our old pal Sting liked the book, too: "'An intriguing and deeply personal odyssey of transformation… robust, and original”

Gosh again!

The end of time?

It seems that the ancient Mayans deemed that 2012 would mark the end of recorded time, and didn’t think it be worth prophesying any further…

Gulp!

Our old friend Nostradamus, too, expressed concerns about the forthcoming year… “A great smell will emanate from Lausanne but its origins will be unknown” he writes (although this isn’t mentioned in any of the current travel guides). “People from far away will be put out; fire is seen in the sky, a foreign people is defeated” he goes on, and “The seven branches will become three…the elder ones will be surprised by death. Two will be attracted towards fratricide, the conspirators will die in their sleep.”

Goodness, that is a worry…

Then “At the turning of the great seventh number, it will appear at the time of the games of great public sacrifice” (the Olympics, perhaps?...) and finally “The dethroned woman will return to her reign, her enemies found amongst the conspirators. More than ever she will rule triumphantly, at seventy-three she will assuredly die.”

Well, that’s all a bit of a worry too…Happily, though – I`ll be alright – I’ve purchased some earmuffs and have laid down some nice new thick carpet in my garden shed, so that should see me through the worst eventualities…

Anyway, in keeping with this theme of foretelling the future, my Research Team have been busy: they’ve polished up the Bexley Library Service Crystal Ball, read the runes, and divined their entrails (I never knew librarians had such guts!) and here’s what they’ve come up with for 2012…

It’ll be a leap year, and the Chinese Year of the Dragon…

On the sporting front, we’ll have the Olympics, of course…Plus the European Football Championships (alas, my researchers can’t foretell whether Wayne Rooney will start play or – indeed – how luxuriant his new hair will be)…

Looking ahead, we’ll be celebrating a cornucopia of historical events – our own dear Queen will be marking her Jubilee (I`m particularly excited about the Thames Cavalcade)…It’ll be 100 years since the Titanic went down, and 200 years since Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow…

On the literary front, we’ll be celebrating Mr Dickens’s 200th birthday, The Hobbit’s 75th, and Adrian Mole’s 30th. What larks!

So, there’s lots to look forward to in 2012, as long as the Mayans were wrong…Enjoy reading all about it with Bex-L and Bexley Libraries!

...(Oh, breaking news, dear readers – sorry, but the proposed Bexley Librarians’ inaugural psychic fair and soothsaying seminar has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances…Boom boom!)

TTFN, dear readers, and a Happy New Year!

2011-12-13T10:13:00.007Z

'Twas the Night before Christmas - a seasonal advent catablog, with clicks to open and bits that pop up!

By (and with apologies to) Clement C Moore 1779-1863

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

*****

And, dear readers, on behalf of the Blogbrary Editorial Board, his extensive Research Team, and all the Library Elves, can we wish everyone a very happy, peaceful, and joyous Christmas….

TTFN!

2011-11-29T10:28:00.005Z

LEONARDO v LIBRARIES...

What's the hottest ticket in town?...

The hottest ticket in town?

My research team tell me that tickets for this National Gallery ‘Event of the Decade’ are rarer than hen’s teeth…Only one of them has been granted an ‘access all areas pass’ to visit the show, and he says:

“We went on the first Saturday having bought tickets last March…

I wasn’t sure what to expect. We were at first surprised at how small a lot of the pictures were; sometimes only 8cm x 6cm but the exhibition proved to be utterly fascinating and introduced us to da Vinci’s world and his fascination with different ideas and subjects - his willingness to paint in a revolutionary way and in a style not seen at that time. Leonardo wanted his portraits to evoke a living individual possessed of thought and will.

The exhibition was compelling and thought provoking, and transported us into a sumptuous world that required us to think about beauty and love, religion, character and emotions, anatomy, technical measurements and the importance of detail”….

(The identity of my ‘Secret Shopper’ must remain confidential, dear readers – suffice to say that he – or she – is lightly bearded, and writes in a not dissimilar style to Brian Sewell – who, by the way, has an autobiography out very soon…)

Apparently, dear readers, the queues for tickets are simply ghastly – interminably long and prone to occasional bouts of ‘malpractice’…Why! I’ve even heard reports that £16 tickets have been offered on “a certain online auction facility” at many hundreds of pounds – a price beyond the pockets, even, - alas - of the Blogbrarian…Have any other Blogfollowers been?...

And even once you get there, apparently, the exhibition has only nine paintings…Nine! …NINE!...Why! I`ve even got more than that number hanging on my shed walls, and personally I find the crayon-work on them to be exceptionally fine….

No, no dear reader...the more I consider it, the more certain I am; the “hottest ticket in town” isn’t for the National Gallery, but for our very own Bexley Library Service!

Compare those nine paintings to our (last time I counted ‘em) quarter of a million books! Imagine that, Leo!

Now, I do grant you that the chap was a genius, no doubt about it…A scientist, a mapmaker, a musician and a linguist: the father of modern anatomy, a geologist, the greatest architect of his day, and the most influential thinker of Renaissance Europe: an inventor who designed the prototype computer, helicopter, parachute and self-propelled motor vehicle; the world’s leading authority on optics, hydrology, and military engineering: the greatest sculptor of his generation; and a fairly decent jobbing painter – whose work “developed greater significance and complexity in composition, chiaroscuro, and physical insight than has ever been surpassed”…But apart from that, well, what did he really have to offer us?...

He looked so glum…

He wasn’t even the best Ninja Mutant Turtle...

And could he turn his quill to a better adventure yarn than the splendid Dan Brown?...I don’t think so!

No, no dear readers…I remain convinced that a Bexley Library card represents far greater value for money...(We're FREE to join, by the way!)... With a selection of our books, you can read all about him AND learn to paint –(can you guess what it is, yet?) - and you’ll still have 261,403 books left to read. That’s the potential for a lifetime of adventure, leisure, and pleasure – no?

Remember, dear friends, your library card really is the hottest ticket in town!

Libraries? – Good show! – Enjoy!

TTFN

2011-11-21T12:08:00.005Z

Polar scares?...

Northern frights?...

Snowy howls?...

This is a Dark Matter…

What-ho, Blogfollowers!

Now, I’m not a chap lightly frightened…Firm of jaw, and resolute of purpose, not easily scared; stiff of sinew, bold in the bone and sanguine in spirit, I`m a 'rufty-tufty' Librarian of the Old School …

In my time, I’ve fearlessly catalogued rare books without regard to AACR2 or Dewey guidelines (and all without safety gloves!)…

I’ve wheeled an un-oiled trolley across a wooden library floor, heedless of the murderous glare of any readers…

Why! I’ve even faced down and read nursery rhymes to a baying horde of toddlers!

But, dear readers, I have just been made afraid.

Very afraid…

Very afraid indeed, and it’s all because of a book that I`ve just read…

I’m not usually a fan of horror stories, but this one was thrust upon me by members of the Erith Library Reading Group (not an organization to trifle with, I assure you…)

And the book in question?

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver…

Here’s the blub: January 1937. 28-year-old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he's offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition to Spitsbergen, he jumps at it. After they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year, Gruhuken, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave..

Gulp.

Now here’s a diversionary thought…

Why is it that horror has cold connotations? Frozen with fear?... Blood running cold?…Shivers down the spine?... Chillers?… Cold terror?... Not to mention Scaring the pants off anyone… (not a good idea, naturally, in the polar regions or the high latitudes) …

But I digress, dear readers. This is a wonderful book. Try it. But be warned…(And stay warm!)

TTFN

2011-11-09T16:30:00.004Z

BLISTERING BARNACLES!

Tintin, Belgians, and book-fights…

Now, dear readers, help me out here, please:

Clear your throats...

Stand up straight, breathe deeply, and approach the nearest microphone…

Adopt a gravelly, authoritative and vaguely mid-Atlantic accent…

Now proclaim loudly and boldly “HERGÉ’S ADVENTURES OF TINTIN!”

……

Well, I don’t know about you, but that made me go quite weak at the knees! You see, I used to love Tintin on TV when I was a mere Blognipper, and those few words at the commencement of the show always heralded a guaranteed fun time.

Stirring stuff!

I loved the books, too – Snowy, Captain Haddock, The Thompson Twins, Professor Calculus – all fine, upstanding chaps or hounds.

Superb penmanship and design, too. Faultless!

……

Hence, it is with no little trepidation or anxiety that I am canvassing your views upon the latest cinematographically enhanced version of our little, quiff-haired Belgian plus-four wearing pal –(why! I even believe that they have rendered him in a revolutionary `three-dimensional` format…)

Has anyone seen it?...

What did you think?...

Did it give you blistering barnacles?...

Do tell me, using the comments whotsit below.

……

Belgian?

And while we’re on Tintin’s case…the little fellow’s actual nationality has been causing a quite heated argument within the Bexleyheath Ladies Library Staff Philosophical and Debating Society…Half the group ventured that Tintin was French, the other half were adamant that he was of sound Belgian stock – well, what a fight ensued! Blood, bent hair-pins and torn fingernails all over the catalogue drawers! Nasty.

Luckily, my extensive research team have taken the cause to their hearts, and unearthed the following five facts:

• Tintin first sprouted in a Brussels newspaper cartoon in 1929

• His creator, Georges Remi, was a Belgian artist – better known now as Hergé

• ‘Hergé’ is in fact, merely the French language pronunciation of his initials – G.R. – but in reverse. (Cunning devils, these Belgians, eh?)

• Remi’s middle name was ‘Prosper’ – and prosper he did! With over 200 million copies of his books sold, he became one of Belgium’s richest men.

• Not that he led a contented or uncontroversial life…he had a “terribly thin skin” wrote one biographer, and was “an emotionally retarded workaholic who cared nothing for his art, disliked children, and allegedly collaborated with the German occupiers during the war”…He suffered numerous breakdowns, endured recurring tortured nightmares, divorced badly, came to loathe Tintin himself, and turned – eventually – to Zen Buddhism.

So now we know. Belgian, beyond a doubt!

……

Meanwhile, my colleagues in the Library Debating Society are still going at it “hammer and tongs!”:

“How many more famous Belgians in books can YOU name, then, clever-clogs?”

“Hercule Poirot, of course!”

“And wasn’t Maigret a Belgian?...And I seem to recall that his creator, Georges Simenon, developed quite a reputation for his extra-curricular activities?”

“Quite so…then there was Rene Magritte, obviously – although his work tended to be more canvas-based than paper?”

“Not forgetting, of course, Gerhard Mercator - the great Sixteenth Century Flemish cartographer, who coined the word ‘atlas’ and who also solved the riddle of converting the three-dimensional globe into a two-dimensional map while retaining true compass bearings…”

(You can now see, I trust, the intellectual fervour lurking behind the furrowed brows of our Library Debating Society?…)

So, to sum up:

• We need your comments on the Tintin film itself – a ‘hit’ or a ‘miss’?...

• We need to know if there are any more famous Belgians in books? …

• We need to know – precisely – just what “Blistering Barnacles” actually means – literally*

*(See Blogcast for 17th October…)

Now, I must dash…“Run, Snowy!”

TTFN

2011-11-01T14:23:00.019Z

We will remember them….

The Great War in words…

At the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month in this – the eleventh year –
We will remember them,

and the words they left behind:

In Flanders Fields:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae 1892 – 1918

.................................................

.....................................................

2011-10-26T14:29:00.008+01:00

“Remember, remember – the fifth of November…

Gunpowder, Erith, and plot”…

Five Fawkes and Fireworks Facts…
A Wise Guy’s Guide…

Is it me, dear readers, or has Bonfire Night lost a little of its – ahem – sparkle?...

When I was a young Blognipper, it was one of the highlights of the year; sausages, baked spuds, “penny for the guy”, steaming mugs of cocoa, bangers, rockets and scorched eyebrows – but now?...

Are bonfires banned?...

Are we forgetting Fawkes?...

So, in my never-ending quest to bring you sound, reliable and trustworthy nuggets of public interest information, AND to keep this traditional English festival at the forefront of our thoughts, I unveil for you, dear readers, Five Fawkes and Fireworks Facts:

1. Mr Fawkes was, historians now believe, a ginger northerner…(and we all know what that leads to…)

2. The Gunpowder Plotters actually met in Erith…honest!

3. Fireworks were first used in ancient China…they originally used their vast reserves of saltpetre (a key element of gunpowder) to preserve food – but, surprisingly perhaps, not to barbecue it.

4. Bexley Libraries have a rather fine collection of books with a Gunpowder Plot…but, obviously, not this one…

5. Want the biggest, best and boldest Bonfire Night around? Well, Bexley has it…BANG!

Have fun!

TTFN.

2011-10-17T10:58:00.001+01:00

“It’s Literally”…Driving me bananas...

Just a – literally – “quick one” this week, dear readers…But I want your help with this particular blogcast…I`ve become troubled by something…

Have you noticed how often the word `literally` is cropping up in everyday conversation? – it’s literally everywhere! (And, frankly my dear, it’s “doing my crust in”).

Pin your ears back – (not literally, of course, as that would be painful in the extreme, and quite probably contravene various health and safety guidelines) – and take a listen. You’ll be amazed - literally.

It literally makes my blood boil…

So much so, dear readers, that sitting around the radiogram of an evening in front of my hearth, I have taken to sounding off an antique car horn each time I hear this particular word mentioned (much to the surprise and discomfort of the present Mrs Blogbrarian): believe me, dear readers, you’d be literally astonished at the regular cacophony of enraged honking that emanates from our cosy parlour!

Help required:

So, can you start literally listening out for me, please?...

On the radiogram or television, on our local trolley-buses and trains, on the streets and paths of Bexley…keep your ears literally to the ground* and let me know how often/where/when you hear the accursed word. (Just use the comments link; it’s literally underneath this bit).

Oooh! I nearly forgot…Are there any more words or phrases that really, literally, get your goat? Then now’s the time to share. Tell us…Let rip, literally!

Cheerio!

* Disclaimer – The Blogbrary can in no way be held literally responsible if anyone does – literally – keep their ears to the ground, as this might – literally – cause them to get scraped or grazed.

Nasty!

2011-10-07T11:11:00.000+01:00

What’s Hot?...

Cool Rules?

Lush Libraries?

“HOLD THE FRONT PAGE!” – Libraries fail to make the ‘Top 20 Cool Icons of the Year’ award…Again.

Well, dear readers, this latest news has left me quite flummoxed, as you can well imagine.

When members of my research team telegraphed me with this latest snippet, I was perplexed in the extreme: I`m a fairly contemporary/cool sort of chap:…my neatly ironed beige polyester safari suit always draws gasps of admiration whenever I saunter around Sidcup in it, and I consider myself to be well-versed in the cutting-edge white-hot world of twentieth century technology.

Furthermore, many of my research staff have acquired reputations for being groovy hep cats…why! - many of them even wear little black dresses with smart corduroy patches on the elbows. (Hence the grooves!)

So, why oh why oh why are Librarians considered (ghastly word insert here) “Uncool”?...

Why oh why oh why is reading a nice musty hardback tome not on the “groovy” list?

And why on earth aren’t libraries considered “temples of the trendy”?...

It defeats me, it really does. Can you help, dear readers?

Answers on a postcard, please…

Or, as a radically cool innovation, I’m now led to believe that you can communicate with us directly and via the medium of the electronic cable network, simply by clicking on the COMMENTS tab below.

Clever, eh? What will they think of next?... how about places where books, information, entertainment, communication, imagination, lifelong learning, heritage, escapism, research, toddling about and singing nursery rhymes, experience, civilization, training, free-thinking, all sorts of people, serendipity, understanding, joining-in, enchantment, events, wisdom, communities, science, activities, contentment, diversity, knowledge, ideas, the arts, companionship, aspiration, short stories and tall tales, enjoyment, media, dreams, conversation, news and views, enlightenment, stories, creativity, re-skilling, partnerships, innovation, sharing, culture, study, being able to think “cor! – that was good”, literacy, guidance, humanity, individualism, the webby web, plus good old unadulterated fun and – even, dare I say it - ‘Romance’ are all gathered together, open to all, free of charge?

No, no…that would never catch on, of course! ‘Cos that would be cool….

Cheerybye.!

2011-09-23T16:21:00.029+01:00

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier….
Library worker?!!!...

What-ho, Blog spy-spotters!

Well now, inspired by the release of the latest cinematic manifestation of John le Carre’s George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy I`ve been inspired to do a bit of snooping myself recently…Spying on customers and colleagues, actually, to see if any of ‘em are ‘lefties`….

Have you noticed how many left-handers there are these days?...What on earth’s going on?...

And all these left-handed authors, too?...

Mark Twain

Hans Christian Andersen

Bill Bryson

Thomas Carlyle

Lewis Carroll

Franz Kafka

Douglas Adams

HG Wells

Germaine Greer …Lefties, every man-jack of ‘em!

And another thing…Have you EVER spied how many library staff are lefties? It’s astonishing how many of ‘em are, dear readers…It’s a veritable phenomenon!

…One lefty library colleague - who wishes to remain anonymous - (let’s call him ‘David’, just to protect his identity) says being left-handed makes him “clumsy”, and prone to cause his biro to leak…Or is he just really what we call in the library profession “a M**** P**?”

Intrigued?...Why not do a bit of spying on our library staff yourselves?...

…Sneak up on one, quietly, of course…Ssshhh...Take a peek…

Are they lefties?...

Or are YOU a lefty?...

Let us know – right away.

Tell me, it’ll be our little secret…(Because, of course, there are NO secret spy scandals here in Bexley, are there?)...

TTFN

2011-09-15T13:34:00.067+01:00

BRONTES ‘R’ US!

Confessions and confusions…

Very well, dear reader…I ”fess up” as young people – apparently – say…

I`m bewildered by these Bronte girls…I get ‘em all mixed up, you know, (Anne, Emily, Charlotte), and can’t remember who was who, or who wrote what…

Jane - heir?...

The ten ants of Wildfell Hall?...

Wurthering originals?...

And where does Kate Bush come into it?

And then there’s the new films, it seems? And, apparently, masses of teenage Goth girls (?...) are flocking back to the books, inspired by their sense of wild, doomed romanticism - whatever that may be!…

No, no…it’s all too much for a doddery old cove like me! Give me good, sound Branwell Bronte, any day – that’s the sort of chap whose jib I can admire the cut of (apart from his opium addiction, fondness for intoxicating liquor, romantic "dabbling" and predilection towards lassitude, naturally….)

So, it’s on with m’cape, m’walking cane, and m’mutton-chop whiskers…I’m off to stride the moors…

But, if you do want to know more about them there Brontes, dear readers, then you could always click here: …

And, naturally, Bexley Libraries have a cracking cornucopia of Bronte biographies.

Enjoy!

TTFN

2011-09-09T16:05:00.008+01:00

It’s OPEN HOUSE time –Splendid!

Bexley’s Best Bits go on display - 17th - 18th September

Greetings, heritage hunters – what ho!

As you can tell, I always get particularly excited around this time of year…

Not just because it’s the season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness … and I`m able to pull on my tweed suits, plus fours, and indulge my passion for raking up copious bundles of damp leaf mould, but it’s also OPEN HOUSE time. Yay!

I love poking around in old buildings, don’t you, dear reader? It’s splendid fun!

And this year, in Bexley it’s even better – take a peek!

Keen-eyed Blogfollowers will, doubtless, recognize the illustration at the masthead of this week’s online broadcast? It is, of course, the russet-tiled turret of the west-wing of my own, dear, modestly proportioned shed – (loosely modelled on Bexley’s own architectural gem, the Red House). And that’s set me thinking, dear reader…What other splendid buildings have we to marvel at here in the Borough?

Big or small, grand or humble - architecturally speaking - what are Bexley’s Best Bits?
Have you a favourite? Do tell. Just use the comments thingummy down below.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions – and, as a further inducement to encourage your input, I shall offer the winning contributor a small trowel-full of my own, special leaf mould*

Enjoy Open House, dear readers, and the wonderful legacy of those historic buildings we still have here, because – in the words of my old gardening pal, Joni Mitchell – “Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone”.

TTFN, my old historical house hunters!

* Terms and conditions apply – click HERE for details

2011-09-06T12:04:00.002+01:00

The Hole Truth…

By Crikey! What an astonishing plethora of road works we do seem to be encountering at present, don’t you think, dear readers?...

Holes here, trenches there, excavations everywhere!

Personally, I always find it strangely fascinating, peering down into holes in the road – archaeology in action! – although I know that some of you are, occasionally, a trifle miffed about them…

(Did you know, though, by the way…you can dig up lots of useful local info about road works in Bexley online, via these marvellous new computer-jobbies…just click here…good, eh?)

Now, being a chap of a more philosophical or literary bent, I`ve turned my few remaining ‘little grey cells’ to the matter of road works, holes, tunnels and the like; or, to paraphrase the words of the late, great John Lennon

“I read the news today oh boy

Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

And though the holes were rather small

They had to count them all

Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

I'd love to turn you on”

Well, what ‘turns me on’ John, old chap, apart from the delights of a neatly turned trench, is BOOKS…and what more exciting tome could I unearth than this one? –London Under.

Splendid stuff! I always like Peter Ackroyd’s books, and this one in particular sounds just up (or under?) my street. Let me quote from the blurb:

“An atmospheric and historical study of everything that goes on under London, from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheatres to Victorian sewers and gang hide-outs. The book also meets the creatures that dwell in the darkness, real and fictional: rats and eels, monsters and ghosts”.

(Now, as you know, I`m not one to gossip or spread tittle-tattle but a very reliable friend of mine – “Mulletman” – once told me that a friend of a friend of his who works “down the sewers” found – actually directly underneath Buckingham Palace – a set of antlers and an antique Bible, in Welsh…Fascinating, no?)

And, if you think that’s fascinating, then you could always try this….

Or visit our wonderful Local Studies & Archives Centre, for all the murky history of underground Bexley…

Well, dear readers, that’s me done. Am off home immediately now to indulge in my new and relaxing hobby (which I`ve just started to practice, alone, behind the back of my garden shed) - road works permitting, of course...

TTFN!

2011-08-25T15:20:00.004+01:00

Book lovers…Does size matter?

(Or “Tell us about your Tiddlers”)…

“One always tends to over praise a long book, because one has got through it"
E.M. Forster

“You will, I am sure, agree with me that if page 534 only finds us in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Well, dear readers...
Are some books just too big?

Are you put off by the prospect of anything too ‘heavy’?...

Then, perhaps, dear book lovers, we can tempt you with some tiddlers?...

Shall I let you into a secret?...

I’ve tried to read Moby Dick half a dozen times – after all, it is meant to be the greatest novel ever written – but, well, it’s 702 pages long and weighs almost as much as a great whale. (I know this, because I’ve taken the book with me to the whale weigh station…). But I’ve given up every time, daunted by the prospect of soooo many pages…

I mean, even if I read a page a day it’d take me a year and a half, and by the time I`d finished I`d have forgotten the start!

Don’t let me put you off, of course – but, if you’re looking for some stimulating but briefer books, then might I present to you my list of – what we in the specialist book business call – “Tiddlers”?...

They’re small, but perfectly formed:

The Dig ~ (Just 250 pages – a light delight!)

Diary of a Nobody ~ (216 pages of polite, petite perfection)

A Clockwork Orange ~ (Just 148 pages – a malevolent mini-masterpiece)

Catcher in the Rye ~ (Teenage turmoil, tiny book – just 192 pages)

On Chesil Beach ~ (A seaside snip at 166 pages)

The Great Gatsby ~ (A classic novel, in a nutshell – 183 pages)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ~ (A slim, prim & trim 127 page slice of prime fiction)…

Or finally, and back to our nautical theme, the Old Man and the Sea … with just 112 pages, this is one tiddler you won’t want to put back!

Can you recommend any other tiddlers? Let us know; just click on the teeny-weeny COMMENTS tab below…

TTFN.

2011-08-11T10:56:00.000+01:00

CELEBRITIES R US

BRUSHES WITH FAME…BEXLEY LIBRARY USERS
BARE ALL!

A couple of members of a Library Reading Group here in Bexley (Let’s disguise the group’s name a bit, shall we?….Let’s call them “SouthCumberland Heath”) recently confessed to various brushes with celebrity…one had kissed an Everly Brother (Don?...Phil?...we need to know which!); another had been on a date with David Essex (swoon, swoon).

“That’s nothing!” said some of my colleagues in the Bexley Library Staff Literary Dining Club… “This hand has shaken hands with Joanna Lumley”

“Well, I can beat that!” added another…”I’ve sat on Gene Vincent’s knee!”

Wow!

Well, that set me thinking, I can assure you.…There’s some mileage in these stories, surely?...

Bexley Library staff and their brushes with fame?

…Bexley book lovers and their celebrity encounters?...

…Bexley Blog-followers kiss ‘n’ tell tales?...

Hmmm, I thought…What can I offer to this important debate? My brother, apparently, once helped park Eric Morecambe’s car…

And I`ve sat on the same lavatory seat – not at the same time, naturally - as Dame Agatha Christie and (allegedly) Hans Christian Andersen…

Oh, and I once - in a pub in Swansea – looked after Dr David Owen’s beer, while he “nipped next door”…

But I`m sure that there are more tales to tell out there…

So, do any other Bexley Blog followers have any more (printable) brushes with fame? Do tell. We love a celebrity link here, don’t we, dear readers?

Just use the comments thingummy-jig.

Must dash…things to do!

Ciao!

Mwah! Mwah!

TTFN

(PS – If any readers should wish to hear my anecdotes about Greg Dyke, Freddie Mercury, a famous cleric, and Brian Murphy of ‘George & Mildred’ fame, then I`m afraid you’ll just have to speak to me “in confidence”…)

2011-07-27T11:46:00.017+01:00

Screamers! Startlers!! & Gaspers!!!…

Arrggghhhh!!!! – I can’t stop using exclamation marks!!!!!!

Dear Friends:

A library user asks us: “Can any reader assist me?...

Please help – am desperate!...I just can’t stop using EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!”

Naturally, the Blogbrary is always eager to help cure your addiction!

Try any of these!! – they’re great!!!

Another ‘Good-Un’ (as we often refer to them in the hallowed arena of the Bexley Senior Librarian’s Dining & Literary Society) would be Anton Chekhov’s celebrated novella The Exclamation Mark, in which the hero of the tale, an elderly civil servant, realises that after 40 years diligent bureaucratic labour, he has never used a single exclamation mark…! The results of this revelation are dramatic in the extreme, if you like classic Russian literature!!!!!!!!!

Still on the classics, I am mindful of the anecdote concerning Victor Hugo, the celebrated but frugal French novelist, who was once desperate to find out how his latest novel was selling, so he sent a telegram to his publisher asking “?”.

His publisher, equally, frugal, dryly replied “!”

Very droll.

Today, however, such brevity or wit is not associated with the exclamation mark, and is frowned upon by upmarket newspapers, where it is often referred to as a `screamer`, a `gasper`, or a `startler`. Modesty prevents me from describing what red-top tabloid journalists call it, but – suffice to say – it’s not very pleasant, and concerns canine anatomy. (!)

Anyway, should our original correspondent wish to pursue their grammatical studies further, then they could try this!

Or this!!!

Or even this!!!!

I do hope that’ll be of some assistance.

So, dear readers, that’s me done…
But rather than sign off in my usual ttfn fashion, I shall – on this occasion - say merely BYEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-22T15:07:00.006+01:00

WE HAVE WAYS OF MAKING YOU LAUGH…

With Asterix books!

Well, Blogfollowers…What-ho!

I bring news from the wonderful world of the interweb thingy…

Now, I rather like this little snippet…

It seems that a team of Germany’s most eminent scientists, psychologists and physicians have spent years researching a topic of immense significance to book lovers everywhere…

“What’s that about, then?” I hear you ask…

”A reader’s guide to delicious German cuisine?”…

”An in-depth analysis of the world’s most uplifting literature?”…

“The very meaning of life itself?”…

Nein, dear readers! …Nein!

The learned article was intended to “analyse the epidemiology and specific risk factors of traumatic brain injury [TBI] in the Asterix illustrated comic books."

Or, as another eminent researcher put it: “If you want to know about life, read the Asterix books. If you want to know about death, read the Asterix books. And if you want to know about the bits in between - read the Asterix books”.

Good.

So that’s all solved then.

I like Asterix books, too, and am delighted to announce that Bexley Libraries have a stonkingly good selection of `em!

Enjoy, but with care… Read responsibly, now.

TTFN

2011-06-29T09:57:00.002+01:00

NOT BIG IN JAPAN, BUT….

The Bexley Blogbrary seeks global domination…

Well, dear readers, this is exciting news, as we approach the Blogbrary’s first birthday and cast our eye back upon the glorious past year…

Here was I, amiably chuntering away about books, Bexley, buses, beetroot and general badinage , vaguely hoping that people as far afield as Greenwich, Greenhithe or Gravesend might just about be picking it up via their wireless sets …but – blow me down with a feather! - see what spectacular data the Blogbrary’s market research team has just tracked down….

In the past year we’ve had “hits” from not just dear old Blighty (over 8,000 smites) or the former colonies of the United States (234), but Holland, too (101); the emerging world super-powers are represented: Russia (51) and Brazil (34).

Looking eastwards, our Blog has been enjoyed in South (although not North) Korea (34), Thailand (24) and India (21). Our Baltic markets are holding up well – Latvia has 29 devotees, while from the mighty Rockies to the windswept Yukon, from the rolling prairies of Saskatchewan to the loamy turflands of Manitoba, Baffin Island’s rugged granite shores, and the deep, frozen wastes of Hudson’s Bay, 20 of our Canadian correspondents have clicked with us.

But is there any common thread linking these nations, I hear you ask?...

An all-encompassing socio-philosophical zeitgeist?

An atavistic love of Bexley, and its cultural heritage?

Or do they all play cricket?

Who knows…But I`d still like to get hits from even further afield… Pitcairn, anyone?

Seriously, though…If you do have relatives in Rwanda, contacts in Columbia; friends in the Falklands or acquaintances in the Antipodes, then please do forward them this blog, and urge them to dip in. (Anyone know anyone at the South Pole?)

Remember our watchword, dear readers: “Today Bexley, tomorrow…THE WORLD!”

TTFN.

2011-06-23T13:42:00.000+01:00

Doubting Thomas?... Hardly…The only way is Wessex!

Thomas Hardy, tattoos, and transports of delight…

Well, dear readers…

Venturing beyond the bounds of Bexley and entering the bowels of the great wen recently..

I espied a poem on the underground…Here it is:

The thrushes sing as the sun is going, And the finches whistle in ones and pairs, And as it gets dark loud nightingales In bushes Pipe, as they can when April wears, As if all Time were theirs.

These are brand-new birds of twelve-months’ growing, Which a year ago, or less than twain, No finches were, nor nightingales, Nor thrushes, But only particles of grain, And earth, and air, and rain

Now, be honest - that’s pretty good, isn’t it?...

Intrigued, I strained my eyes to read who the poem was by (desperately trying not to catch the attention of the burly tattooed chap with the imaginative body adornments seating directly below the poster…)

Imagine my surprise! The poem was by Thomas Hardy, who I`d always imagined to be a dry Victorian novelist and something of an `old crusty` (albeit with one of the finest moustaches known to man – not dissimilar, in fact, to the tattooed hulk now gazing back at me…)

So, safely back in dear old Bexley, the Blogbrary’s extensive research department did a bit of delving, and they found this rather dapper website…http://www.hardysociety.org/….And they also found some rather splendid Hardy poetry on Bexley’s bookshelves – here, look.

It was Hardy’s birthday recently, too…(he’s 171 you know), and it’s also the 120th anniversary of his Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

And, do you know, the more we delved – the more we unearthed…old Thomas wasn’t crusty at all, he was unique, iconoclastic and fearless; an author who `broke the doll` of Victorian literary convention, and portrayed real characters, strong women, and a real sense of a harsh, unforgiving landscape.

A surprisingly sound chap, in fact…(now, I wonder if he had any tattoos?...`Tess` & `Jude` perhaps, inked upon his knuckles?...A purposeful `Mayor of Casterbridge` etched on a bulging bicep?...And something `Under the Greenwood Tree` perhaps?)…

TTFN, dear readers. TTFN.

2011-05-27T15:02:00.031+01:00

I'LL TRY ANYTHING ONCE....

BUT SCIENCE FICTION?...

Greetings, Earthlings.

Well now, the Blogbrarian likes to think of himself as a cultured, debonair, open-minded sort of chap, happy to indulge in new experiences, and to read almost any genre of book...

Chick Lit?...Bring it on!

Manga?...Groovy, baby.

Supernatural Romance?...Fangtastic.

Mills & Boon?...I`m your man.

Misery Memoirs?...No problem.

Jeffrey Archer?...Er, OK.

But...

But, dear reader, Science Fiction?...I can't quite bring myself to get round to it.

Back at school, when I was a young nipper, I think we were force-fed some HG Wells and John Wyndham. And as a young `cub librarian' I think I did once dabble with Kurt Vonnegut, and that was fine.

But, since then, and with the sad demise of Dan Dare, I've never again dabbled in the dark depths of Science Fiction, or even been tempted to try it again...

Until, dear reader, that was before those bright young things at the British Library alerted the Blogbrary's Research Department to the existence of their wondrous new exhibition - it's OUT OF THIS WORLD.

So, perhaps I'd better get back to a bit of it myself?...Can anyone out there tell me where to start?...(I believe that this Jules Verne chappie is an 'up & coming' new name in the ouevre?)

Just use the cosmic comments facility, below.

TTFN, then..."To infinity, and beyond!"

2011-05-19T13:30:00.023+01:00

LADY Gaga, great writers, and their sheds: how I taught them all they know...A Blogbrary special!

Two hot news items have appeared of late in the exciting world of Libraries...
1) A colleague has just taken up ownership of his first shed (always a significant moment in a young chap's moral & spiritual development)
AND...
2) My old pal Lady Gaga has - this very week - announced that "I live halfway between reality and fantasy at all times...in that way I am a Librarian". Splendid girl, I tutored her in the finer arts of cataloguing and fashion, you know...

Regular followers of the Blogbrary will know that, along with my admiration for the work of this popular American chanteuse, I am also something of a 'shed buff', and - in my own modest way - I like to think that I have, in days gone by, helped to nurture the careers of some of the world's finest shed-based writers...

Well, as my old pal Virginia Woolf confided to me back in in 1929 "a busy household full of visitors, children, and other distractions is simply no place for a writer"...So, off she tootled to her writing shed, her "Room of one's own" as I described it at the time.

Naturally, being a shed-dweller himself, the Blogbrarian has always been keen to promote the delights of outdoor writing to other fellow pen-men (and dear, dear Virginia). Indeed, I like to imagine that I was, in no small measure, responsible for my old pal Charles Dickens' late burst of creative endeavour once he'd moved into his 'Swiss-style chalet' down the road at Gad's Hill. (Do you know, dear readers, you can still see it on view today in Rochester High Street...it's what we in the trade call a "wooden whopper", and - I confess - made me a tad envious).

George Bernard Shaw had a beauty, a wonderful wooden octagonal summerhouse in his grounds..."Why not build a revolving version, Bernie old pip?" said I one time "then it could follow the passing track of the sun".
"Capital idea, Bloggers old boy" he said "it shall be done!"

Old Roald Dahl's garden hut was a little small for my liking (and, if truth be told, somewhat spartan), but it seemed to do the trick.
Dear Dylan Thomas, of course, had his 'wordsplashed hut' (what times we had there!!!)...His boathouse, was originally built I seem to recall, in the early 1920s to house a rather splendid old Wolseley motor automobile. Poop poop!

Mark Twain (sound fellow) had his sister build a shed for him to write in, and soon his 'cosy nest' was alive with the sound of quill pen scraping parchment.
And dear, dear old Henry Thoreau - and his Walden - was widely considered by us in the know as the shed writer's writer par excellence.
Sound chaps, all...Not forgetting poor Virginia, of course. And my old pal, Lady Gaga.

Well, right-ho! That's it. (Do let me know if you have any comments, of course). It's off to work for me now, and on with my exquisitely cut meat-jacket and tie.
"Uh ra, uh ra ra!" as we so often say in the Senior Librarians Common Room.

Toodlepip.

2011-04-27T13:51:00.028+01:00

Bexley in Bloom…

Blogbrarian’s Question Time for Topical Tips…

What-ho, my old compost companions!....
Well, spring has sprung, and it’s Bexley in Bloom time again – splendid!, you cry.
Even more splendid, Bexley Libraries have a blooming marvellous collection of gardening books for your delight and delectation.

Even better news…(I spoil you, I know) - inspired by the BBC’s Gardeners' Question Time (although I do still miss old Bill Sowerbutts), the Blogbrarian has cleared his busy schedule this week to help answer your own gardening conundrums…I`m no expert (although I know a man who is), but my tomatoes have been “mentioned in despatches”, I subscribe to `Hoof and Horn` weekly, and I know one end of a gnome from another, so I`m willing to give it my best shot.

Here are a few I’ve recently been asked:
Q “How can I improve the girth of my beetroots?”
A Go “By the book”
Q “Is it acceptable to have one’s garden gnomes on view in Bexley?”
A “Perfectly”
Q “I`ve got a bad case of fungal wilting-tip spore blight in my asparagus beds…is it infectious?”
A “Arrgghhh!!!! Get away from me, now!”

We green-fingered library folk like to be able to help, when we can.

So, dear readers & weeders, if you’ve got any more questions, just let me have ‘em, using the comments thingy-dibber at the end here…
And finally, it’s a lot to ask but…can I ask you to click here? Thank you, it meant a lot to me…

TTFN, Old Chums, and “Dig On for Victory”!

2011-04-18T12:21:00.030+01:00

ROYAL WEDDING SPECIAL SOUVENIR 'CUT OUT & KEEP' ISSUE BLOG...

With added pomp & bunting

Well, dear readers & blog-followers, I'm afraid that you'll have to make do with a very quick one this week, as I'm almost too excited to type; my fingers are all of a tremble.

It's the excitement of the Royal Wedding, you see...(I confess, I'm not averse to a bit of pomp & pageantry myself; indeed, I must dash off shortly to add an extra bit of celebratory bunting to the exterior wall of my shed, where my special vintage parsnip & radish wine is already fermenting nicely in anticipation of the big day...)

However, before I do dash off shortly, I must remind you that Bexley Libraries have some absolutely top-drawer Kate & William books available for your particular enjoyment, which will indisputably add to your appreciation of this very special event. But get in quick, dear readers, as demand is bound to be high!

And remember, this exquisitely hand-crafted limited edition celebratory blog is not available in any shops! Download and keep your own unique personal copy today!

TTFN, old chums...

2011-03-27T09:55:00.071+01:00

BEXLEY PUB SIGNS – Signs of the times?

Am I alone in thinking?...
I mustn't grumble, but...
When I was a lad, pub signs actually meant something...
They had style.
They had substance.
They had heraldic significance.
They had ‘bottom’ .

Now, I confess: the Royal Oak makes my sap rise, I drool over William Camden, and am deeply smitten by both the Jolly Millers and the Miller's Arms… (I suspect that the same artiste may have been responsible for both?). The sight of the Duke of Wellington or a glimpse at a Prince Albert certainly get my juices flowing….The One Bell definitely chimes with me, and The Royal Standard is very fine… But as for some of the others, well…

(Do you know, dear reader, I can scarcely bring myself to write down the dread name of one particular hostelry; the very memory of its heinous infamy makes me shudder...I shall have to use code here: XXXXXXX XXXXXX)

Whilst on my various peregrinations around our fair Borough I am constantly struck by the disparity between noble pub signs of distinction and, well, the rest.
Are they post-modern?
Are they trendy?
Are they chi-chi?
Or are they, in the words of our greatest philosopher-historians "just rubbish?"...

You decide, dear readers. Have you a favourite?.. But as for me, I shall remain resolutely in favour Ye Olde Pubbe Sign … (And, while you're deciding, dear readers, don't forget that our splendid Local Studies & Archives Centre might just be able to help you further your researches...sadly, however, they do not serve pints of warm mild or pickled eggs)... Ah well.

Let's hear your voice on this one. What are YOUR Bexley's best signs?

TTFN, topers!

2011-03-25T12:01:00.045Z

WANTED:
Simple pleasures…

In these troubled & turbulent times, many of us are seeking “simple pleasures” – I know I am!
Hence, dear readers, it was with no little sense of delight that I stumbled upon a splendid little tome in our Libraries the other day - Simple Pleasures: little things that make life worth living. (I confess it, I let out a little `whoop` of delight at discovering it…a shameful confession from a practicing Librarian I know, but there we are…)

A slim (though exquisitely bound) volume, it contains a series of short, pithy and whimsical essays from some of our leading writers on the theme of their own `Simple pleasures`…Prue Leith on the joys of a nice hot bath, Antony Beevor on the allure of the owl, Clive Aslet on the delights of Ramsgate Beach, and many, many more…
It’s a National Trust publication, so as you’d expect (being a reader of some discernment) it’s all rather `green wellie & Aga saga` if you get my drift…
Nonetheless, there’s a great deal of wisdom and comfort and pleasure to be gained from reading it…I particularly liked Lucinda Lambton’s article on “looking up at tall buildings” and have been following her advice ever since (you’d be amazed at what you see, even if it gives you a stiff neck!). I also intend to start growing prize vegetables, and possibly even knitting…
It also contains one of the finest ten words of advice I`ve ever read: “If it is to be, it is up to me”…
Anyway, try giving it a read, and see what you think…

The Blogbrarian has been pondering greatly on the concept of pleasure, both his own and others…

The writer and bon viveur Sydney Smith’s idea of heavenly pleasure was eating pate de foie gras to the sound of trumpets…John Mortimer’s was drinking champagne cocktails in the lounge bar of the Royal Opera House…

Mine (being a more rough-hewn horny-handed son of the soil) would be sitting in my shed eating pork scratchings, ideally listening to Test Match Special whilst reading a book from Bexley Libraries…Oh, and possibly getting my garden gnomes ready for the summer season. And if I`m really pushing the boat out, maybe sculpting a life-size papier-mâché model of the late great Hattie Jacques…Or is that just too much to ask for?...

Anyway, at no extra cost, here are six of my seasonal secret simple pleasures:
1) Reading
2) Walking
3) Scratching
4) Watching herons in flight
5) Thinking about how to grow the largest, most perfectly formed vegetables ever seen in NW Kent
6) Using Bexley Libraries…

What are your Simple Pleasures?... Either in book form, or elsewhere?...Share `em with us (if decent) by using the comments feature below. But remember, the Hattie Jacques model is mine!

TTFN

2011-03-17T11:54:00.024Z

Japan in Crisis…A Fragile Earth...

A serious blog, this week, as befits these serious times…

“All things have second birth”

wrote William Wordsworth

“The Earthquake is not satisfied at once”…

And how right he was, as we now see the terrible series of consequences resulting from this earthquake.

We’ve all been dumbfounded, I`m sure, by the recent series of catastrophes endured by Japan. And, I`m equally sure, we’ve all been impressed by the dignity, quiet stoicism and resolve of the Japanese people.

It struck me, too, about how little we actually know about the real Japan, either in fact or in fiction. And how fragile earth is, and our hold upon it.

I wonder what you think?...

2011-03-04T16:19:00.058Z

BOOKS & ADVERTS…

Books!- they're packed full of juicy wordiness, with now’t taken out; eight out of ten cool cats prefer them, because your reading’s worth it…

We’re living in interesting times now, don’t you agree dear readers?...

On the one hand, the BBC is launching a whole season devoted to books, with ne’er an advert in sight. On the other hand, commercial TV is being allowed to increase the amount of time allocated to adverts during its drama programmes, while “product placement” is rearing its all-consuming head…Harrumph!
Well, as you’d expect from a proud, upstanding bibliophile, I`ve no time whatsoever for commercials…None. None whatsoever!
Hand on heart, I can honestly say without fear of contradiction that I`ve never ever EVER been influenced by adverts; books are the thing for me, they’re grrreeatt!

A book a day helps me work rest & play…Any time any place, anywhere.
And remember, these aren’t just books – these are Bexley Library books, from quite probably the best library service in the world.

(And don’t forget our Tweets on Bex-L – the Tweets you CAN read between meals)…
So…why not “Go to work on a book?”
Ours are full of snap, crackle, and pop

And, if you cast your mind way, way back to a distant age, a million housewives every day would pick up a library book and say “Bookz Meanz Finez”…(But not now, of course, because anyone can renew their books ONLINE…)
Can’t find what you want? Should’ve gone to Bexley Libraries…

What advertising slogan can YOU devise to help us promote books?
Or reading?...
Or (“Ssshhh – you know who”)…Librarians?

Just use the comments thingummy at the end here...
Well, that’s me done for another week…now, do you know what?...I`d love a Babycham.

TTFN

2011-03-02T10:57:00.050Z

THE KING’S SPEECH
Celebrity, secrets & speeches…

Well, dearest readers, it wasn’t really a great secret was it?...
The King’s Speech magnificently trumped all its rivals to carry off a hatful of Oscars recently, and all very splendid it is too.
(Surprisingly, the present Mrs Blogbrarian and I have yet to venture forth to our local cinema hall to witness said motion picture, but all our chums say how marvellous it is…do you concur, dear readers? We’d value your recommendations, of course).

What is – however – no secret or surprise, quite naturally, is that Bexley Libraries have the book recounting this splendid tale…Locate its whereabouts by pressing THIS.
While you’re at it, esteemed reader, you might conceivably wish to delve further into the historical background to this story of our own dear departed King & Queen?....Simply press here – BINGO!

Now, if this previous information came as no great surprise to you, would you like to hear a few personal secrets from “close to home?”…
Yes?
Splendid!

Well, then…
* Secret number one…Public speaking:
The Blogbrarian (at moments of intense emotion, heightened excitement, or lecturing to assembled multitudes) has been known to “dry up” or stammer: thank goodness, then, that Bexley Libraries hold a vast treasure trove of books devoted to rectifying this particular difficulty – here’s THE SECRET
* Secret number two…Family shame
A very distant relative of mine (Great Uncle George) once hurled a clod of mud at the infant Queen Mother (both being of very tender years at the time)…No surprise, then, that Uncle George thereafter failed to receive subsequent mention in any honours lists…
* Secret number three…Celebrity secrets
still on an awards based theme, The Blogbrarian himself is no stranger to the lure of the red carpet, the joy of the flashing bulb, the clamour of adulation – how his heart swelled when he came fifth in the prestigious “cataloguer of the year” awards (1963) or was only narrowly pipped to the coveted “Librarian chappie in tweeds on the catwalk (1965)” prize…
Ahh, nostalgia. Ahh, fame…Oh, how I simply adore fashion…

Well, sadly, that’s me done for another week…

Don’t forget to join the debate about the King’s Speech (either book OR film versions) in the comments box below. Have you seen it? What did you think? Do let us know…

And, don’t worry, dear readers - this brush with flame and celebrity will NOT change me.

Ciao!
Mwah! Mwah!