Dirty Erotic Gherkin on verge of breakdown

Say hello to Mr. Peabody. he was big in the 1800's. It's quite rare these days for the top result in Google for a historical figure or place to not be wikipedia, but good old George manages it. That would be an interesting exercise, come to think of it; working out the average ranking of wikipedia for all things which you'd expect to have an encyclopaedia entry.

I took this photo the day after his 212th birthday. I noted the occasion by stroking his foot. I would've patted him on the back or given him a playful light-hearted punch, but I could only reach his foot. Patricia, who worked for the Peabody Trust when I worked at LSBU does his philanthropical nature proud. I think the persistance of the organisation's having likeable staff is probably testament to his stern yet even-handed guidance back in the early days.

Man , I talk such drivel sometimes. How can I possibly justify wasting my and your time with that nonsense. I'd go back and delete it only that would mean devoting even more time to those ill-fated paragraphs. JesusMaryHolyMotherofGod!

The Peabody statue is in The City, not too far from the building to the right, which will soon be making way for the Leadenhall Building, aka the Cheese Grater (far right). You'll notice two things:

1. A bit of the newsletter (they have a construction of the Leadenhall Building newsletter!) is flared out: "From the period January to March 2007 we will start to decommission the building, draining down the systems, disconnecting electrical supplies..." I have marked in red those bits I'm unsure about
2. "Should you have any queries or concerns please call 020 7553 5950 and ask for Julian Bates or Cliff Wynn who will be pleased to assist"

I'm glad they'll be pleased to assist as I really would like to confirm that I've guessed the missing bits of the newsletter correctly. I'd also like to subscribe to the newsletter if possible.

As Matt pointed out, the building they're knocking down isn't all that bad. You could say people have had it too good these past few years, what with the Gherkin and its strip-lights spiralling upwards like stairs in Top of the Pops in the 80's.

But even the Gherkin isn't invincible to the architectural ageing process:

DIRTY EROTIC GHERKIN
In these shocking images we can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that the Gherkin has the skyscraper equivalent of cellulite. Yes - it's grime. It's a dirty word, for a dirty thing. And it's got it. It's got grime, alright. No mistaking, that's grime.

TRAUMA
We asked for an interview but the gherkin declined to confirm whether or not the lapse in personal hygiene was caused by its very public split with Swiss Re earlier this month.
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This photo didn't work - blurry blurry - but I liked the very small house with country cottage utensils in the shadow of St Mary's Axe.

And one final thing - here's a beautiful song by the Handsome Family I haven't listened to in ages. How about this for a beautifully sad lyric:

"I saw a deer limp across
A supermarket parking lot"

Poor deer. Poor Gherkin.