Parakeets in South London...

...in February! I spotted parakeets in the summer all over the West and South West of London, but I figured they would migrate. I was wrong, as I saw another one today at lunchtime, just outside work. Apparently there will be as many as 50,000 of these birds in London, throughout the year, by 2010. Is this global warming, the effect of an urban heat island or just nature finding a way?

More information here.

So, this whole pub golf thing

I think it's better recounted in bullet-point format. I do remember most of it, but after about 6pm I don't really know what was going on.

• A few people were drinking doubles as often as possible, in order to reduce their score.
• People were falling over outside The Crown, which was barely halfway.
• Everyone wore some cracking outfits, but I haven't got many photos.
• Matte showed us some excellent yoyo skills in the Bricklayers Arms.
• We played leapfrog on the way to Tottenham Court Road.
• Liz slapped me for making excuses for her drunkenness in Subway (at 3pm).
• Clare said how odd it was speaking without keyboards (we chat on MSN a bit).
• Darren apparently got his ass slapped rather a lot.
• I proposed to the barman in the Bierodrome, as I had hoped I would. He declined, which was a relief.
• I've missed a lot of anecdotes cause I don't want to embarass too many people.
• Emily from work spotted us crossing Leicester Square at about 7pm.
• Apparently I chatted up a group of ladies from Leeds. As soon as one of them showed an interest, I said I'm "not that kind of man" and walked away.
• I failed to recognise Sara when she arrived (sorry Sara).
• Several people fell over outside the John Snow.
• Very few people made it to O' Neills on Carnaby Street.
• When I got home I stayed up til 5.30am drinking cognac, weeping emotionally and chatting on MSN.

Any additional bullet points welcome in the comments. I need reminding. Though there might be bits I'd prefer not to hear about!

Takers for the pub golf so far

New - Click here for photos of the trophy.

In the end we had about 27 people on board:

Me (obviously)
Emma and Ben (all the way round)
Jim E (joint winner with Guy, staying the whole course)
Darren (who made it most of the way round)
Mary (for a few pubs in Holborn) Albert and Phillip
Caroline and Guy (from the start)
Paul (from the start)
Clare (who joined us in Holborn)
Emma Moore and a couple of colleagues (for a couple of pubs on the Strand)
Chris (from about halfway) and Laetitia (see Chris)
Suzy and Matte (who managed about 14 pubs very well)
James D-E (who joined us at the Chandos, looking very dapper)
Jim Baker (joining us on the Strand)
Christian, Andrew and Ruth (from work - for a few pubs in Holborn, round to Strand)
Emily and Elliott from work (who joined us in Soho, and helped me get home)
Liz (right from the beginning) and Thyda (later on, from The Chandos)
Sara (joining us in Soho for a couple of pubs)

More of a writeup later