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Was sent this link about plans afoot to nibble away at Brockwell Park. Those of you who live in South London will know what an excellent recreational and place of sanctury the park is and I can only see these changes in legislation as bench marks for future development of the green space.

From the petition:

Brockwell Park object to the plan to take more than 1,000 sq metres from the Park for a new road scheme. I also object to the Herne Hill public toilets being demolished. I believe traffic congestion can be eased by taking a minimal amount (a few metres) from the Park and the current proposals are completely out of proportion.

For more info: Friends of Brockwell Park

Sign the petition if you oppose it: http://www.brockwellpark.com/membership/petition.htm

One of the best moments in a parents’ life… the child’s first steps! Adeola has been working towards taking them, standing up, jumping, getting her balance for the past month or so. In the past week or so, Foluke and I have on separate occassions seen her take one step but on Sunday 25th March she took her first 2 steps in succession. What a moment!
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.mrbootle.com/swf/adeola-first-steps.swf” height=”422″ width=”360″ /]

…I have become more emotional. Foluke and I keep on finding ourselves on the settee in front of some mild human interest program bawling our eyes out. Even more so if there are babies or young animals or people dancing or singing their hearts out.

…I seem to spend many Saturday nights washing dishes.

…when people ask how am I, I have to stop myself from saying, “Tired”.

…I really have to pinch myself. I’m a dad for fuck’s sake! How weird is that?

We’ve been in the house for 10 months now and despite our best intensions we still have boxes to unpack. I’ve been working on a set of shelves for the past 6 months, snatching time away from Adeola and Foluke on a weekend to measure eight times and cut a little less than that. The shelves are for the stereo and music collection in the lounge room and we are both eager for me to get it finished so we can play some vinyl again! As I am now painting 3 of the shelves I have cut and fitted, there is a little more space but there still is plenty of wood in what will be my studio/den and loads of stuff clinging to shelves.

Now, every bloke needs some kind of “shed”. When we found this place I pissed in a corner of this passageway come room and warned Foluke off. Since then it has just been full of boxes from the move, boxes of unsold Pop Gun records, books, broken guitars and other junk I’ve been hording for years. Now to be fair, we have had a baby and there have been other priorities but it’s now been time for me to sort it out as I am missing my own little space to muse and create.

Jesus, can’t beleive it’s been a year since I last wrote in this blog. Well I can really, words are not my strong point and writing them is even weaker. But I am making another burst of self venting spleen in order to passify my soul, save my teeth and reach out to anybody who is interested.

So what’s happened in the last year? Really big things, very big… I am now firmly entrenched into the world of domesticon. Foluke and I have moved into our own home. A very lovely end of terrace a stone’s throw from Brixton in West Norwood (just had to have an Adelaide reference in there). It has a bloody huge backyard, ala more like homes back in Oz rather than the brazillian you usually get here. There has also been loads of nature, something I have really missed leaving Australia. We have foxes poo in our yard, loads of bird life, exquisite brilliant green parrots, jays, woodpeckers, robins, coal tits, magpies; I have also had a stag beetle and bat fly and circle over head. Truely amazing!

Anyway, we have also become parents! About this time last year we were getting our ultra scans of her. Seems crazy to think she is out now and establishing herself in the crazy world. Our lovely daughter Adeola is now 7 months and going strong. She’s crawling and has started to pull herself up to get onto her feet, getting ready for walking. She loves yabbering away and practicing her voice range. She is a sheer delight and despite the lack of sleep, the complete upheaval of our lifestyle the experience is truley incredible and one I wouldn’t swap for anything.

So, there you have it, that’s a little update. There will be more, can’t guarentee how often. But get in touch you good people.

Cheers
Jase
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