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

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“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.

“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!

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.!

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

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

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