onionbagblog

Lido Life Begins at… 80

Giggsy? Murray? Strauss? Nah. Highlight of Sports Personality, 2009, will be a lido loving pensioner lifting the Unsung Heroes award. Step doggy paddle forward 86 year-old Doreen Fitch, aka Mrs Tooting Lido. Doreen has been involved with the South London Swimming Club since the 1940′s, and has led two successful campaigns to keep the SW12 outdoor pool open. It’s the blueprint that has helped Brockwell Lido Users to become so influential. Oh how we could do with the passion and campaigning skills of Doreen, down in the Rotten Borough, right now.

Hyper Hyper Local Level

This is rather lovely. From the charming couple that brought you Stockwell Stories (I’m simply the shop front,) Bill and Jayne from around this manor have started blogging – and with real purpose as well. The couple are remarkable campaigners for local housing rights. Bill is currently the Chair of the Grantham Road Residents Association, holding Hyde Southbank Homes to account over recent lease hikes. A real purpose for the hyper local model.

And finally…

The South London / blogging / cycling / lido loving / @lambeth_council disliking xmas tweeup will be on… well, you decide. Dates between 20th – 23rd have been suggested. @Jason_Cobb for further dialogue.

@INQ

As predicted, back in the distant past of, oooh, six months ago, INQ have ditched the Facebook Phone in favour of the Twitter handset. It’s a tough market out there in the world of iPhone lite. Good luck INQ Mini – it’s priced competatively, but I can’t see many of the Twitterati taking a backwards step from iPhone addiction.

Thou Shalt Not Cap

And so here’s the manifesto for the modern interweb. It’s a striking, challenging and inspiring call to arms. We need ‘nu journalists’ now, more than ever – if only to correct the capping up of the modern [i]nterweb.

Lights! Camera! Chapeau!

The brilliant Bicycle Film Festival is almost upon us once again. Cycling and the cinema make for strangely compelling saddle fellows. The big screen captures the beauty of riding a bike like no other medium.

Chapeau!

Tone Deaf

A really, really clever online tool for facilitating tone and pitch. Oh, go on then – it’s the Simon for the modern interweb generation. I came across all Brian Eno, so to speak, for half an hour, programming at random a sequence of pitch changes, all played out with a rhythm last heard on a, um, Bentley Rhythm Ace remix. Can’t wait to play with it with the kids back at school next month.

txt: none of the above

Good work @lambeth_council (blimey) for taking the annual pain out of confirming that I haven’t prematurely popped my clogs and yep, I’m still available to spoil my ballot paper at the next round of local elections. Registration is now not only online, but also via txt, Bruv. It worked a treat as well, with a confirmation ping back once I had submitted.

We Will Remember

Speaking of effective use of technology around these parts, the lovely (and very resourceful) @StockwellNews has published a new blog, documenting the names found on the Stockwell War Memorial. For anyone interested in local history (rallying call for the first meeting of the Stockwell Oral History project later on this week…) then this is a wonderful data resource to share.

#??????

A lovely little tool for analysing the html colo(u)rs found on various modern interweb sites. Brilliant for designers / bluffers.

Mapping the Modern Interweb

As the hyper-local model gains ground, @paulbradshaw calls for submissions for his database of local bloggers. Get mapping.

Formal Complaint

Speaking of local online media representation, from the paper that brings you the End of South London Civilisation as we know it (every Tuesday and Friday,) SLP Editor in Chief Hannah Walker has got a new job. I hope the doom of gloom contained within the dying dinosaur of the SLP print edition isn’t extended to to one of the most influential positions within the profession.

Smashing

Pedal power and escalators, never the twain.

Ayup – the Return of Raleigh

Raleigh never went away to be honest. Sir Walter remains my (non-Moulton) ride of choice.

Get Orf My Land

The metropolitan liberal within wants to write how the dispersal zone around my little patch of South London is an infringement on human liberties. But I’m actually a flag waver for the scheme, and hope the local police use their full power to move on the nasty people that are making living around SW8 such a pain right now. It comes to something when the very values, morals and principles that you pride yourself upon, are pushed to the opposite end of the political spectrum because of the behaviour of others. It pains even more when those ‘others’ are the very people that your values, morals and principles should naturally try and protect. Time to move on, in more ways than one.

Location, location, location

Lock ups for le velib continue to become a political pawn around my little patch of South London. Le velib bikes need to be put in the places where bicycle usage is currently at its lowest. That would be Windmill Row then, right where the Love Me I’m a Liberal lot have successfully campaigned to have them re-positioned elsewhere.

Put me back on my bike…

@Wiggo goes in search of the spirit of Tom Simpson on top of Ventoux.

“It was different between @lancearmstrong and Contador. It got to the point where I wouldn’t have been surprised if they got off their bikes and ended up fighting each other. Everyone knew there was bad blood and it looks like, reading the war on Twitter between them, it’s not yet over.”

Our cafe by the water

A new lease of life for the lovely art deco lido cafe. Out of season, and the plan is to open up the exterior of the lido along the Dulwich Road side, and serve food and drinks throughout the year. Best of luck (and weather,) with the project.

Al Fresco Aquatics in SE18

It may no longer have a football team playing in the top two tiers of English football, but Charlton does still have a lido. Sort of. Good work by the Greenwich Phantom for digging around and finding out why the SE18 outdoor pool is closed this summer. Apparently a new lease has been handed over to private contractor Open Waters (no webage) on behalf of Greenwich Council. A refurbishment and re-opening is planned for next summer. There are obvious parallels here with the running of Brockwell by Fusion. Any Charlton lido locals would do well to follow the excellent BLU working model if they want to retain an interest in the running of their pool.

Heads up @darryl1974.

Dun Run Tags

A great use of @audioboo by @thebikeshow – rallying riders on the annual Dunwich Dynamo ride this year to record audioboo updates throughout the evening. It’s this kind of collective online, instant use of the micro-podcast service that shows its true potential. An obvious omission on the night from this particular audioboo user. I blame the Moulton being out of the fleet, work commitments and um, sleep.

Chapeau!

On Yer Bike

My three Love Me I’m a Liberal local Councillors aren’t quite anti-bike, but they’re doing themselves no favours around these parts by putting up resistance to extra cycle bays for le velib scheme. Writing about the proposed velib bay positioned at Windmill Row, the ever smiling trio of LibDems state:

There is very little space for parking as it is.

And that’s the exact point of le velib – encourage cycling and reduce the reliance upon cars.