Scrapbook: Week 32

August 8-14, 2026

SATURDAY 8 Andy Beckett makes a good point about the ubiquitous Lime bikes that litter London’s public realm these days…

Lime riders in a hurry represent the revenge of a generation priced out of living near tube stations.

📌 For obvious reasons the word CURMUDGEON popped into my head while reading Simon Jenkins’ views on “vertical drinking” and its alleged crimes against humanity. But then I turned to a story in The Londoner, which claims to tell “the truth” about this seemingly controversial social habit. According to The Londoner, the issue is a stoked-up non-story based on the “misreading” and negative spin of a Guardian article, the “truth” actually being that Westminster Council does not intend to stop people standing with a drink at a Soho bar. It has merely issued a reminder that its existing licensing laws require new businesses to not add to the overcrowding of noisy drunks and pavement obstruction in London’s busy West End “impact zone”.

SUNDAY 9 Just had my first lesson on the sewing machine. My wife is the teacher and I think it’s fair to say she is not a natural. The “show don’t tell” rule seems to have bypassed her.

📌 Reform UK are now in 3rd place in the national polls.

MONDAY 10 On two occasions recently I’ve heard about train journeys cancelled because of “trackside fires”. My wife is still arguing with a shameless train company for a refund from one such cancellation (they say the fire had been extinguished in time for the return journey from the place she couldn’t get to because of said trackside fire, so not entitled to be refunded). The fires are a pointer to the lack of infrastructural  resilience cities have to rapidly changing environmental events linked, say, to climate change. Jonty Bloom is fascinated by this kind of super-failure, mainly because it fits one of his pet theories of catastrophe: “What guarantee do we have that a city will continue to work?”

What means do we have of ensuring that huge population centres will always have reliable power, water, lighting, transport, sewerage and food?

It’s a good question, and the only consolation I could find was that when the day it all goes to pot arrives here in London I won’t be alone in facing it.

📌 Jennifer selected three of my stitchworks to go into the anonymous Secret Sale she is organising. It will be interesting to see if any of them sell. I will be especially pleased if one of them does.

📌 My wife has now been notified by Greater Anglia Trains that she will get a full refund.

📌 At the Barbican’s Cinema 1 we saw the Spike Lee concert film of David Byrne’s American Utopia project, which certainly lives up to its description and even manages a few surprises. Byrne’s Utopia is MULTI everything – cultural, ethnic, national, gender, rhythm – with a band of 12 musicians and dancers who roam the stage with their instruments, connected wirelessly to a sound system. It puts new meaning to the expression “freedom of movement” but serves also to remind us that America is a nation of immigrants and a much better place for it.

TUESDAY 11 My first taste of the Over 55’s fundraising group at St Luke’s went off without difficulty and a couple of nice slices of Bakewell tart. June had a big moan about people taking other people’s seats on the recent coach trip to Windsor. The accounts show that Bingo and Nails are the chief sources of revenue that subsidise the coach trips, so in future meetings I will try to encourage the formation of other revenue streams. I will make some Islington tote bags to sell on St Luke’s Day in October. Maybe some Christmassy ones too.

📌 Donald Trump’s war with Iran has practically used up the US’s entire stock of missiles.

📌 One of the boffins at the Conversation has a few good ideas on how Andy Burnham can reduce the prison population without releasing killers on to the streets. They include cutting the vast number of people put back in prison for breaching petty bail conditions.

WEDNESDAY 12 Nigel Farage is expected to win tomorrow’s by-election in Clacton because none of the other major parties are standing against him. But they can’t  continue to step away from the fight with Farage, says Rafael Behr. He has already changed the tone of political conversation far too much.

It doesn’t take a great leap of political courage to draw a line between rigorous migration control and racist demagoguery.

📌 I think my right arm is longer than my left arm. Whenever I roll up the sleeves of my shirt, three rolls either side, the result is not, to my eye, symmetry. The left cuff is now noticeably closer to the elbow than the right side. Could this be related to the shoulder injury (left) I sustained in 2023? I might ask my wife to measure me for full confirmation.

📌 At Tate Modern, in what was intended to be a cultural hookup with Martine and Brian from Brighton we simply sat in the bar getting more and more drunk, laughing and laughing, waiting for the solar eclipse, which for us turned out to be a total nonevent on Platform 4 of Blackfriars Station.

THURSDAY 13 Days when you just feel so stupid. I sat quietly at 9.30am waiting for a phone call from my doctor to discuss the results of a recent heart scan. At 9.55am my wife asked if it was DEFINITELY a phone consultation. Turns out it was meant to be a face-to-face appointment and I’d obviously missed it. DOH! The doctor then later tried to call me and I missed that too. It will be several days before the shame drifts away.

📌 Very embarrassingly Michelle got Brian to make a special display unit for the ceramic pendants I made ages ago. They will go into the Clay open studio event in a few weeks.

FRIDAY 14 Nigel Farage increased his vote share by 1,000 at the Clacton by-election. Count Binface won a staggering 27% of the vote share.

📌 Amazon tech billionaire Jeff Bezos is in talks to buy a 30% stake in Liverpool Football Club. Fans are said to be considering a protest. Publicly burning their Prime memberships is not, I’m told, one of the options.

📌 Not much could be more alarming, but I guess that’s the point. As I sat comfortably scoffing through my harissa chicken salad pitta pockets, a very loud screeching sound came from an unknown part of the apartment. On further investigation the screech came from my phone, on charge in another room, which carried a warning that wildfires are highly possible given the weather conditions, so be careful, watch out, and get ready.

Read all of my scrapbook diaries…

PLEASE MESSAGE WITH ANY CORRECTIONS, BIG OR SMALL.

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