London Millennium Boink

 London!

A city of magic, intrigue, brilliance...

Massive literary heritage looms everywhere...

World capital of the English Language...

And general headquarters of the aue boink!

And that's what this page is about...

This is the pub where we boinked. It's in the Village of Marylebone in London's West End.

Let's have a look at some of Marylebone's tradition...

 Charles Dickens lived at the corner of Marylebone Road and Marylebone High Street.

His monument there is a bas-relief showing several of the unforgettable characters he created during his time in Marylebone.

 On this site was a house which provided the model and imagery for both Miss Haversham's house and Ebeneezer Scrooge's house. The original house was razed last year to make way for luxury flats.

Just north of "Scrooge's" house, this building contained the undertaker where Charles Dickens worked as a child. It provided the imagery for Oliver Twist's tenure at an undertaker. It has been completely restored and now houses a furniture store and restaurant.

The portcullis leads to an adjacent street where Elizabeth Barret Browning lived...

 And, of course, Sherlock Holmes was a neighborhood resident, as was his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle.

 Across the street from the "undertaker" are the ruins of the old Saint Marylebone Church. This monument marks the burial spot of John Wesley.

 Here's a shot of The Globe! Not the theatre, but the pub, which was elected as the best pub in London in an FHM survey.

This plaque provides information on the etymology of "Marylebone"... 

Looking down Marylebone Road, here's the Planetarium, The Wax Museum, the Royal Academy of Music, and York Gate... 

Here's a closeup shot of York Gate and the entrance to Regent's Park...

As shown in the picture, "Notting Hill", here's the spectacular churchyard of Marylebone Parish Church.

 Here's the clock tower at Abbey House

(at the celebrated address of 221-b Baker Street)

Andrew making his first ever boink appearance...

Fabian being Fabian. 

Soon to be a boink host himself (in Watford, Herts).

Renowned Scrabble Master Graeme... 

Linz accepts a phone-in greeting.

I quite like the phone-in thing, we had one transpondial and two UK greetings this time; and it was such a delight to hear from people who couldn't make it, but still wanted to greet the boink.

Well done, chaps!

Dame Laura and Mike.

Dame Laura is proudly sporting her newly acquired neck orders.

And a tip of the hat to Mike for the Way Excellent minutes of the proceedings!

Andrew, Noah, and I debrief, cap off any open items from the agenda, and adjourn the boink until next time...

Totally Official Linz! 

 Thanks for dropping by!