Reflecting the Reflecting Pool

Willesden Herald Exclusive

The new colour ("color" in the US) is officially to be known as "covfefe".

From SJMoran on Bluesky

Fame at last (or hallucination?)

AN "AI OVERVIEW" OF "THE THOUGHTS OF RED WOODWARD"

[QUOTE]

"The thoughts of Red Woodward" typically refer to the humorous, cynical, and observational aphorisms of Irish writer and wit Redmond Woodward. His musings cover everything from the absurdity of life to the futility of certain self-help concepts, often balancing dark humor with sharp truths.

APHORISMS AND OBSERVATIONS

Some of his most notable recorded thoughts include:

- On Life and Guilt: "In life, you either do something and feel guilty about it, or do nothing and feel guilty about it. There is no in-between."

- On Waiting and Doing: "There's no such thing as waiting. You are either doing something useful or you are doing something useless."

- On Modern Wellness: "Meditation? It's a racket."

- On Creative Tastes: "Minimalism is the biggest load of crap ever."

- On Mortality: "You can put me in a box when I pop my clogs but not before."

CULTURAL CROSSOVER

The name Red Woodward is sometimes confused with a few other notable cultural figures:

The Musician: Red Woodward was a bandleader for the country and western swing band Red Woodward and His Red Hawks, who were popular in the American Southwest during the 1940s.

The Politician: Councillor Woodward, a local political figure, made headlines for his own "thoughts on the Red Wall" regarding the decline and political shifts in working-class, post-industrial areas of the UK, such as St Helens.

[UNQUOTE]

It's a shame that this Irish writer and wit is sometimes confused with other notable cultural figures. Yes, I am sometimes confused. So there you have it folks, "Man Bites Dog". AI Overview link to see for yourself 

Redmond Woodward

Omnibus donkeybus Willesdensis

When someone brought a donkey upstairs on the number 8 omnibus to Willesden

Chiltern Line view today

Chiltern Line train going away east, not stopping just passing by Sudbury Hill Harrow station in the distance. By the way, if you look very closely, you can always see a bit of the Wembley arch from this viewpoint.

AI: "Rubbish in, rubbish out"

“Voi” eBike pavement hazard

Before

After

So, the eBike that's been lying on the pavement like that for at least three days in quite a hazardous way for certain people... I took it upon myself to move it aside today. Photos before and after. (Ed.)

Tuesday's ebikes

Now imagine you are visually impaired or even just make a misstep, perhaps in the dark. “Be a good citizen and lift them up and move them”? Have you ever tried to lift one of those things? They’re very heavy. And dirty, of course, as you can imagine in this foul weather of late. (Ed.)

Kid’s Songs and Games, Belfast 1971

Lots of wonderful songs and games from the streets of Belfast 1971. Absolutely superb. Do these songs and games still exist? How much poorer we are now, if all the children have are phone screens with artificial rubbish.

Happy New eBikes (?)

Greenford Road near Sudbury Hill, Saturday 10 January 2026

These "Voi" brand eBikes are blocking the pavement beside the busy A-road.

The Voi (on this occasion) eBikes are also partially obstructing the service road.

Ealing Council please take note.

Click the eBikes tag to see our previous posts about eBike hazards and nuisance.

Happy and Peaceful Christmas to all

Crowded eBikes blocking footpath - Greenford Road

Greenford Road 12 December 2025

This crowd of "Voi" and "OnLime + Uber" ebikes completely blocked the footway for pedestrians today, forcing them into a bike lane. A bike lane! They are dumped near an official parking place for them but there are too many to fit in that space.

Viewed from the other side

Update: It's no better today.

Sunday 14 December 2025

"The Blue of You" by Amanda Huggins

In my office at Herald House (SM)

What happens when you go back to your hometown after many years away and find that everything you thought you knew about people has gone adrift and all you feared, everyone you loved, and the town itself is different but only to you. You had it all wrong. And there is newness in the old place, new people and new decisions to be made.

A book about love and loss, exile and return. You may recognise some of the chapters from stories first published right here in Stories of the Month. It’s a page turner from Amanda Huggins.

Buy from Waterstones or direct from Northodox Press or all online booksellers.

Stephen Moran

The Grand Union canal at Ladbroke Grove

Afternoon, Thursday 13 November 2025

 

Willesden Sports Centre by moonlight, 2009

Photo, 2 November 2009

WB Yeats "The O'Rahilly" set to music of a sort (demo)

Follow this link to see what that moonlighting so-and-so has to say about chords(?). How he has time to do all this while supposedly working for me, I really cannot fathom. Feargal, any thoughts? (Red) 

Circus Brazil at Ealing Common Fri 24 Oct - Sun 2 Nov

Poster on Whitton Avenue West

How to make quince jelly - illustrated

Is this thing working? Hello? I really don't know how Moran has time to produce something like that when he can't lift a finger to help our flagship newspaper blog. Give me patience! Will you give him a rocket please Feargal. (Red, via AudioBlagger™)

Accident at South Vale, Harrow

Don't know what happened here but I have previously seen a car almost do the same as it swung around this bend. That time, the driver swung the steering wheel the opposite way and the car then came straight at me but luckily slowed to a stop.

Ed.

Michaelmas daisy time is here

Michaelmas daisies in bloom, Whitton Avenue West, Sunday 5 October 2025

Chiltern Line fast train

Oncoming Chiltern Line fast train speeds past Sudbury Hill Harrow station, 11 Sept 2025

Looks a bit fierce, no?

Welcome to Harrow

Greenford Road, 31 August 2025

Welcome to Harrow, the noble and ancient borough of London, sponsored by Himalaya Carpets Ltd. - Lowest Prices on Carpets, Vinyl and Flooring

Update 12 September 2025: The advertising panel has been removed from this unlit roadsign.

Iceland store closed for days due to "IT system failure"

Thursday 28 August 2025. Iceland's popular local supermarket on Greenford Road close to Sudbury Hill underground station has been closed since Sunday.

A handwritten note in the window

Customer Notice in the window

Customer Notice
Due to an IT system failure we have had to close our store
Sorry for any inconvenience caused

Iceland supermarket, Greenford Road, North Greenford / Sudbury Hill today

Why Bluesky is better than Threads or X/Twitter

Link to post in Stephen Moran's Museum of Illusions

Physics

Some "How To's" for publishing

Here are links to some guides I wrote about how I setup and published printed books for Ingram Lightning Source and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and eBooks for KDP. The examples I use are my own Ghosts and Pigeons and some of Willesden Herald's New Short Stories book series.

WordPress Links

How to Use Ms Word to Format Books for P.O.D.

How to Format an eBook Using Ms Word

About Royalties and Pricing on Amazon KDP

If you want to see how the books and eBooks turn out using these methods, well - let me think now - how could you do that? Oh yes, by buy some of those I mentioned above. If you do, thank you very much.

Steve