Best Britton Street Signage Segment

[Urpal]

Now the only thing bright is my name in lights
And the night has only just begun


because it's enigmatic and mysterious I suppose. Don't know if it'll have any resonance with passers-by though.

The last couplet sounds pretty good to me.

[glee]

There will also be some text explaining why the plaque's there as well, to be decided later, I presume. And an image of some sort? Someone suggested seabirds. Just reading through the lyrics again today and yesterday I was particularly struck by the nostalgic feeling Estuary Bed evokes, not suggesting any of those lyrics would serve our purposes, just cast into a daydream by those words.

[Urpal]

I was particularly struck by the nostalgic feeling Estuary Bed evokes, not suggesting any of those lyrics would serve our purposes, just cast into a daydream by those words.

Just re-read Estuary Bed "cold" on here and it is very evocative of childhood moments at the seaside for me. Many of the lyrics could serve well.

As I've said elsewhere the lyrics are replete with possibilities as with memories.

[Eke]

Shall I add some of these and any others proposed in the next 11 hours and make this a three voter?

I think a three-voter would give a "compromise" result - and I'm not entirely sure whether that would be a good or a bad thing.

[Urpal]

Uncompromising, I'd say. The trouble is that if we add too many options the vote may end up being spread too thin on the ground to provide a lump of clarity. So we either add options and votes or maintain the status quo. Any statisticians able to provide some guidance?

[Urpal]

Just to prove a point, how about:

"I hold you not,
But I see you still"

[Adam]

Could I piss on the chips and suggest that the inclusion of a quote might not be all that practical?  We're looking at a plate which is probably going to be at 1st Floor level, given the way they tend to look around London, and which probably won't be all that large given we're asking a lot of a probably indifferent owner simply to let us mark their building in the first place.  In order for Joe Pavement to be able to read it we ought probably to confine ourselves to text  saying something simple and informative like "The Triffids recorded 'Born Sandy Devotional' on this site" and the date as close as we can get it.  That should be enough in itself to get the halfway interested passer-by to visit Google later in the day.

If we want a lyric included as well it is going to have to be short and pithy simply to fit on and remain legible but I doubt we can pick a single line from this extraordinary record that will do it justice, that stands alone with absolute conviction when taken out of context.  Several of you have already said that you've identified common themes running through the whole record so one single line isn't ever going to pack the punch it ought to and will risk looking a bit weedy and inadequate.

So I think "Hold yourself up to the light" does the job best within those mean-spirited perameters, in that it is a thought-provoking sentiment expressed from a peculiar angle, but I'd probably vote for 'no quote'.

[lonesomesquare]

Hey Adam, it now looks like not only you're wife is going to kill you!

In the mean time I have found another suggestion in the booklet of In The Pines , without fully realising where these lines come from, how to split them and what they mean exactly I might add :

Born under an all-godless star
Born Sandy Devotional
Feather-and-Tarred

But hey, they don't sound too bad and I'm sure someone will come to the rescue pretty soon!

[Urpal]

Could I piss on the chips and suggest that the inclusion of a quote might not be all that practical?

You may, Adam. It's a good point. I've stepped outside again to measure the blue plaque outside my office pictured in the Sign O' The Times topic. It's about 16 inches in diameter - that's a 12" elpee plus a small hand job all the way around. Here is the plaque in the context of the building as a whole - and another version of the plaque close up to keep things simple.

Admittedly there's no railing twixt pavement and building to distance Josef Pisspublic and his squinty blurred vision from the plaque, but that one has room for a coat of arms (ie. something pictorial), some chunky lettering of roughly "Born Sandy Devotional" length highlighting the watercolourists name and almost a chapter of small print giving her life story, dates, times, places etc.

It looks to me from your photos that there might be room for a similar sized sign, or maybe just the long playing vinyl (which would be appropriate and something we could all understand), on the left hand side of the portico around the main entrance door or possibly above it by the alarm box on the front of 27 Britton St.

You're right though. The quotation is gonna have to be reasonably snappy to avoid being written in microprint.

I'll also add a "no quote" option, because the "we've just come to get the facts" argument might have it's supporters.

[Urpal]

Right, I've updated the poll to include all proposals and the polling station door is open.

Since there are 16 options and a typical one vote poll seems to get about 20-25 votes, I've allowed members to cast up to 5 votes. Of course, you are free to only use one of them - or as many as you wish to get the job done.

To reinterate, the door is now open for you.

Place your bets please.

[lonesomesquare]

Done!  Proud to have been the second voter (after you), Urpal!

[Urpal]

Done!  Proud to have been the second voter (after you), Urpal!

Step right on up, lonesome and others. Don't wait on me.

[Urpal]

I should mention that this poll is set to close in mid-June so if you haven't yet voted please do so before too long or you may find the polling station closed and the count being taken.

[Johan]

I should mention that this poll is set to close in mid-June so if you haven't yet voted please do so before too long or you may find the polling station closed and the count being taken.

And while you're at it, don't forget to vote in the other polls as well (for those who haven't done so already...)

As for this poll, I think we have a clear winner, although there still must be 10-20 of us who haven't voted here.

[Urpal]

Of course, those 10-20 could change the apparently already clearcut outcome if they vote and can only find out which option is leading by casting a vote (I think).