Ladies and Gentlemen I have to be the bearer of bad news.

The playground on Tommy rec (Tomkinson Road Recreation Ground for any non Stockingfordians reading this) may be removed by Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

The maintenance costs of the playground this year to date have been in excess of £19,000.  The vast majority of this is entirely due to vandalism.

This patch of grass which seems to be out of keeping with the grass around it is where the ever popular trampoline used to be.

Replaced once already after being previously burnt out the second time was too much and the pit was filled in.  Believe it or not a trampoline such as this costs thousands to replace.  The specification for a trampoline for a public children’s playground is far higher than anything that you would find on the home market.

The charred remains of the See Saw stand as forlorn evidence of this formerly popular play feature.

Many of the smaller children came to the rec purely because of this piece of equipment.

Their shrieks of joy as they went back and forth ever faster will not be repeated by either themselves or future generations if the playground is removed.

Will you push or shall I?  the question is moot now that the roundabout too has been burnt out for the second time in twelve months.

It is a sad fact that there are people who destroy and something needs to be done about them.

Last year a row of trees was planted alongside the footpath to enhance the area.  I saw them and they looked lovely.  Do not be surprised if you did not see them though because they were ripped up the very same night.

Removing the children’s play equipment
is not the answer!

The location of the playground is ideal for malcontents because it is not overlooked from either homes or roads.  Warwickshire Police have done all that they can with the PCSO’s and patrols looking in as often as they can to reduce anti-social behaviour but they cannot post someone there all of the time.

I believe that the answer is to fit lighting to the top end of the playground facing away from the homes so that there is no light overspill onto housing.  With the playground properly lit a camera can be installed.  This combination of lighting and cameras has worked wonders on otherwise unmanageable parks in the past.

I shall be doing all that I can to persuade the relevant portfolio holder not to close the playground.  I shall also be contacting local newspapers to try to raise the profile of this issue within the community.

columbus indie rocks favorite crew aka columbus super crew PBJ apparently has gotten there hands on a “magic stick”

The drummer of the german band “ton, steine, scherben”, who were  famous in the 1970s, destroys a table in a live television show.

Holiday cheer from Reuters…

OSLO (Reuters) – The people of Bergen rolled out the cookie dough Monday as local police tried to sniff out vandals who destroyed the Norwegian city’s traditional Christmas decoration — a town of gingerbread houses.

Saturday vandals entered a massive tent in central Bergen and crushed most of the 650-cookie-house town, topping off the ruins with paint and fire extinguisher foam.

Police in Norway’s second largest city asked the public to offer information that could lead to the perpetrators.

“The people who did this must be full of gingerbread dust, They will smell a long way,” police inspector Erik Sveaas told news agency NTB.

Local media reported that the destruction had shocked the residents of Bergen, a picturesque city on the North Sea coast where children decorate hundreds of gingerbread houses every year before Christmas.

Steinar Kristoffersen, who runs the Bergen Sentrum foundation behind “the worlds largest and greatest gingerbread town,” said the opening of the exhibit will be postponed well into next week due to the vandalism.

“We are rebuilding the whole landscape and are receiving a lot of gingerbread houses. Many want to lend a hand,” Kristoffersen told Reuters.

In an Internet campaign, some petitioners suggested the perpetrators be pilloried, but local Bishop Halvor Nordhaug cooled the atmosphere and told local paper Bergens Tidende: “We must not lynch anyone over a few gingerbread houses.”

Members of a Boulder fraternity are fed up with vandalism at their University Hill house, and they’re taking steps to fight back.

Matt Ullrich, president of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at 911 17th St., said Tuesday that the organization has been the target of multiple acts of vandalism in recent weeks.

“I’ve been here for three years, and I’ve never seen stuff this bad,” Ullrich said.

Ullrich, 20, said someone, either Friday night or early Saturday morning, used a rock to smash a window on the second floor of the ZBT house. The window backs up to the organization’s parking lot and a park behind University Hill Elementary School.

Boulder police are investigating a similar string of vandalism that was reported on University Hill early Saturday morning, although a police spokeswoman said no one reported the incident at the fraternity and so police are unsure if the events are related.

The weekend incident at the ZBT house is the second time in as many weeks that the fraternity has been targeted, Ullrich said. Last week, two windows at the house were broken, along with a sliding glass door that opens to a bedroom.

Earlier in the semester, the fraternity members found five cars in their private parking lot with broken side mirrors. Two cars had cinder blocks tossed through the windshields.

In recent weeks, Ullrich said people have also thrown eggs at the house and yelled slurs at members of the fraternity, which was founded as the nation’s first all-Jewish fraternity.

In response, Ullrich said he’s seeking permission from the national chapter of the fraternity to install video cameras, motion-sensor lights and a gate on the parking lot.

Ullrich said most fraternities deal with random acts of vandalism once in awhile, but he thinks ZBT is being targeted specifically.

“I feel like it was a planned attack,” Ullrich said. “I don’t know why people have such a hatred toward our house.”

Ullrich said ZBT has been on a “social probation” since the beginning of the school year for violating a rush rule, which he declined to describe in detail. He said the punishment for the violation means the fraternity isn’t allowed to host gatherings at the house, which have historically sparked the most damage at the property.

“Issues in the past happened when we were having a party and had to kick somebody out for being belligerent,” he said. “We’ve been dry all year.”

He said the group has been “trying to improve our image in the community” this year and doesn’t know why someone would target the house. The only reason Ullrich can think of: “People outside of the Greek system in Boulder have a profound hate for fraternities.”

Marc Stine, a Greek advocate who works for the 14 off-campus fraternities, said there are “people who will walk by and throw a rock at a fraternity house who would not throw a rock anyplace else.”

But, he said there hasn’t been an increased amount of vandalism reported elsewhere in the Greek system at the University of Colorado.

“Aggressive vandalism against fraternity houses comes and goes in cycles,” he said. “There’s usually a little more during break times.”

He said he doesn’t think a rival fraternity is involved in the recent attacks on ZBT.

“We have chased and chased over the last couple of years and found very little fraternity-on-fraternity” vandalism, he said.

The geography of the ZBT house, he suggested, might lend itself to more acts of vandalism than other places. The house is located alongside a secluded park, with rocks readily accessible around the property.

“Vandalism is pretty much a crime of opportunity,” he said.

Stine plans to work to increase security at the ZBT house.

from the Daily Camera.

Video.

Residents in a University Hill neighborhood say vandals who left a path of destruction this weekend went way beyond typical mischief.

Boulder police received at least seven reports of vandalism Saturday morning.

Police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said someone, or a group of people, pulled out a parking sign from the First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St., and threw it through the church’s front glass doors.

No one went into the church, Huntley said, and it appears the damage was done just for the fun of it.

Elsewhere, a motorcycle was intentionally tipped over in the 1000 block of 14th Street, and a huge boulder weighing 60 to 70 pounds was lobbed at a parked car in the 1000 block of 10th Street.

Rocks also damaged the hoods and windows of vehicles in the 900 and 1000 blocks of Lincoln Place and in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.

One homeowner’s lawn furniture was stolen in the 1000 block of Ninth Street.

The estimated damage to vehicles ranges from $500 to $1,500, Huntley said.

Investigators think the incidents happened sometime overnight Friday or early Saturday morning.

“Based on the timing and the proximity of the incidents, investigators believe this was probably a spree” by the same person or people, Huntley said.

One Ninth Street resident called it “a pretty serious path of destruction,” saying she and her neighbors reported huge rocks tossed through car windshields, as well as stolen and destroyed property.

Earlier this year, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner met with University Hill residents who were upset about a similar wave of vandalism. In one August incident, rocks were thrown through windows of houses, cars and the St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish.

Beckner told residents then that the department takes problems on the Hill seriously. Of 35 to 40 officers on patrol on a given night, 18 to 20 are assigned to the Hill.

Huntley said it’s too soon to know if Saturday’s vandalism is related to the incident at the beginning of the school year, but investigators aren’t ignoring the possibility.

Weekend vandalismBoulder police have taken at least seven reports of vandalism in a University Hill neighborhood. Here’s a look at what people reported:

 

1128 Pine St. — A parking sign is thrown through the glass doors of First Congregational Church.

1000 block of Lincoln Place — Two vehicles are damaged, one with a side mirror torn off, one with a rock on its hood.

1000 block of 10th Street — A vehicle is damaged with a 70-pound rock.

1000 block of Ninth Street — Lawn furniture is stolen from a house.

900 block of Lincoln Place — The windshield of a pickup is smashed.

from the Boulder Daily Camera.

900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue — A tree branch is used to break out two windows of a parked vehicle.

The Bobbie Jean Memorial Library reported an act of vandalism on November 23rd, 2009. The perpetrator had thrown a large rock in the front door of the building and apparently left the scene. There was nothing missing from the library and the incident has been reported to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. If anyone has any information regarding this incident please contact the proper authorities.
The library has been forced to take certain measures in order to protect the library further. Wireless access to the internet will now only be available during library business hours. The wireless connection will be turned off every day after the library is closed.

The library is very sorry for the inconvenience, but must protect the building and it’s patrons.

Thank you,
Librarian Laura Hubler

Steve visar sin preview på Rollin’ som kommer ut på hans Year Book den 30-onde november. Så jag tar tillfället att visa den för er så att ni inte missar den.  Allmänt om låten, skön låt med Pryda känsla.

Steve Angello – Rollin’ (Original Mix)

Vill också dela med mig två andra låtar som jag tyckte var bra.

Spencer & Hill – I Want You 2010 (Johnny Max Remix)

Sharam feat Kid Cudi – She Came Along (Vandalism Remix)

I’m going to London tomorrow. Sort of. Really I’m only going to Gatwick Airport and Clapham Junction train station. I was last properly in London almost 4 years ago.

Me and my friend went to one of the big ‘parks’ in London (I think Hyde Park, but it might have been St James’ Park) and there was a big boulder with the following words written on it.

I just love (which I know I shouldn’t because it’s vandalism, and vandalism is bad and wrong) that someone wrote this on the same boulder…

Ahhh….classic British sarcasm.

Firstly, may God bless the one who wrote this there, it surely wasn’t by chance that I sat there today.

once somebody believes in that, it’s hard to turn back.
extremely.
I used to believe in that. A lot.
Now?
I’m trying.

hard. but at least.
Christ is not dead.

Do I love?
Probably not.
yet.

God bless you, too.
(and let’s not vandalise, shall we.)

It’s quite disturbing.

EDWARDS, Colorado — Windows were broken, white paint was splattered on walls and other damage was done by vandals this weekend at the Eagle County Charter School in Edwards in Colorado’s Vail Valley.

from The Vail Daily.

The feral slumdogs from the shithole subcontinent have gained a reputation for being dangerous, uncontrollable criminals. In the latest incident of their subhuman behaviour, 12000 slumdogs descended on their capital slum city and went on a spree of violence, vandalism, theft and sexual harassment.

Farmers run riot, hold capital to ransom

NEW DELHI: No less than 12,000 farmers descended on the capital on Thursday to protest against the Centre’s freeze on the base sugarcane price. But many of them did a lot more. For three hours, they ran riot in the heart of the city, Connaught Place — damaging public property, looting shops and teasing women, with cops watching…

…Hundreds of protesters allegedly vandalized public property, looted shops at Janpath and attacked vehicles. Shopkeepers said some of them sat down on the footpaths to drink liquor and teased girls on the arterial stretches of CP…

IndiaTimes

Subhuman beastly slumdogs! Dangerously unstable Hindu hoodlums! Violent uncivilized scumbags! Untouchability practising perverts! Female fetus killing, eve teasing, cowpiss drinking pieces of stinking subcontinental shit! Squalid sons and dotheaded daughters of slumdogs and slumbitches!

Nu har det hänt igen att en Wikipedia-sida har blivit vandaliserad genom div ändringar (Ab). Denna gången är det den engelska versionen som blivit utsatt.

THE OLD HEDON AFC sports hut on the corner of Draper’s Lane playing fields has lain derelict for years now.

It is an eyesore. Despite a police notice it has become a playground in ways that are totally different from its original purpose.

This article constitutes a simple request to the authorities responsible for the hut and the land it is on: What is planned for this building? Is it eventually going to be refurbished and brought into community use – or is it going to be properly demolished?

The picture shows the front and rear views of the building.  The map below shows the location of the hut as reported on the FixMyStreet neighbourhood reporting website.

Location of hut - purple flag

Priscilla Cairns (Left) and Betty Mitchell (right) survey the damage

By Cara Sulieman

ACCUSATIONS of election rigging were just the start of what has become a power struggle between two different factions at a sheltered accommodation complex.

Now a police investigation has been launched into vandalism at the centre as tensions start to run high between the old rage pensioners.

It is understood that a long-running dispute between different cliques at the Calder Gardens accommodation in Sighthill, Edinburgh has led to the communal pool table being vandalised.

And it is not the first time the table was targeted – a previous incident saw all the balls being stolen.

“Inside job”

Several residents suspect that the fresh wave of vandalism is “an inside job” and just the latest incident in a feud that started with the election of a new residents committee in March.

The pool table was donated to resident Elizabeth Mitchell, 75, by local taxi firm and has been a popular addition to the community hall ever since.

Elizabeth’s daughter, also Elizabeth Mitchell, 45, said: “It was something that a lot of the relatives liked to play when they came round on Fridays, particularly the youngsters and it was well used by residents too.

“We called the police, although it looks like someone at the complex did it. It’s just so unfair. A few people are causing problems for everyone else, but this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable.”

“Out of order”

Priscilla Cairns, 54, has been a resident at the complex for five years and claimed that most of the problems had been caused by the new committee who she described as “a new law unto themselves”.

She added: “It is completely out of order now, and no-one was particularly happy with the elections because it was all arranged in advance so they would win.

“Since then they have just been unbearable. They refused permission for one resident to have a 75th birthday party in the hall because it was bingo night, but they’ve cancelled a bingo night later in the year for their Christmas party.

“The incident with the pool table is just the final straw. We don’t know who has damaged it, but there’s no sign of a break-in so it must have been a resident, or someone else with a key.”

“Shocking”

Elizabeth Hitchin, who runs Picturesque Party Plan in Glenrothes, has been holding events in the hall for 15 years but was recently told she had to cancel her annual Christmas party.

She now plans to put in an official complaint to Edinburgh City Council about the running of the hall.

She said: “It is really shocking what has happened there. It used to be a real fun, happy wee community, but recently I’ve found that people are almost scared to go into the hall.

“It’s like they’re being bullied. It needs to be sorted.”

“Ongoing”

The complex is run by the council, and a spokesman for them said that they were trying to resolve the issues between the residents.

He said: “As with any group of people living together, differences can arise and we are working with the residents to solve them.”

A police spokesman said: “Inquiries are ongoing to locate those responsible.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

We see a lot of this in our neighborhood coming up on Halloween.

When my kids were young, they used to love a popular Japanese cartoon called 「それいけ！アンパンマン」 (“Go! Anpanman“).

This cartoon is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most characters. A new one is constantly being introduced by the 90-year old artist!
I wrote a post about the world record. Click here to read it.

Anpanman’s artist, Yanase Takashi, grew up in the city of Kochi, Japan.
Last month, the city decided to honor Mr. Yanase and the characters he created that have become a part of Japanese culture by renaming a street “Yanase Takashi Road” and placing large, stone statues on the street of the cartoon’s six main characters.

Well, late last Sunday, someone destroyed the statue of the cartoon’s main “villain”, 「バイキンマン」 (“Baikinman“).

Baikinman has two antennae on his head. But some cut off one of the statue’s antennae. In Japan, vandalism isn’t very common.

Here’s what the statue used to look like:

And this is what the vandal did to it:

Yesterday, thanks to our fabulous Sunshine Coast Regional Council – on ya Bob! – I had the opportunity to be mentored by Annette Hughes.

She is a generous, talented, insightful and all round marvelous woman… if what I write from now on is still absolute crap it will in no way be for want of Annette trying to help me.

So buy her book, attend her workshops, and please do all you can to support our Council in their works – yes, silly boyz who think setting the bins outside the library on fire is hectic, I’m blogging at you. Cut it out.

Check out:

http://www.annettehughesbooksandwriting.blogspot.com/