Vauxhall

Be bright and busy while hoaxed astronomers look up and stare from tall observatories, dumb and dizzy, to see a squib in Cassiopeia's chair, a serpent wriggling into Charles Wain, a Roman candle lighting the Great Bear, a rocket tangled in Diana's train, and crackers stuck in Bernice's hair.

Ode to Madame Hengler, Firework Maker to Vauxhall by Thomas Hood.

Introduction.

The word fireworks as a metaphor used either to describe the higher flights of oratory, of literature or of human strife, whether it be in Parliament or the parish hall, or merely descriptive of domestic discord, is familiar, even threadbare.

"In about half a minute off they all went in the most beautiful confusion.

There were silver stars and golden stars, blue lights and Catherine wheels, mines and bombs, Grecian fires and Roman candles, Chinese trees, rockets, and illuminated mottoes, all firing away, cracking, popping and fizzing at the same time.

It was unanimously agreed that it was a great improvement on the intended show." Undoubtedly the gardens best remembered at the present day are Vauxhall and Ranelagh, neither of which were early in the field in presenting firework displays to the public.

The first displays took place at Vauxhall about seventeen ninety-eight, more than half a century after their appearance at some of the less famous gardens, and did not become a permanent feature of the programme until eighteen thirteen.

A lot of fear about you.

You don't wanna do that at, uh, Fire nightclub in Vauxhall.

No.

No.

It was meant to be used for flash purposes, to convince Gao in case he demanded proof that Sybil was the English woman she professed to be.

She also collected the fraudulent green badge used for access to Vauxhall, which Gao would understand marked Sybil as an employee of the British Secret Intelligence Service, called BSIS inside CIA and occasionally MI6, Six, or quite often, simply the Service.

False flagging as a Brit was easily the naughtiest part of the op, so naughty that the sight of the badge made her smile.

She gathered up the twenty thousand pounds cash, should she need to give Gao an incentive.

The woman said that was ridiculous.

Then Hills tapped the green SIS badge.

"As is this." The woman asked if they had called head office at Vauxhall Cross, and neither responded.

Johnson was wiggling the silicone forehead piece through the air.

By 7:56 AM, Pete was talking with air traffic control to ask if he could alter his route and land at the London Heliport in Battersea, London.

It was not immediately known whether it was clear for him to land at the heliport, so he was asked to hold and hover in the area between Vauxhall and Westminster Bridges until he could be given the go-ahead.

Pete's response to air traffic control was, "Lovely, thanks." He then began making his way to the landing site.

But what should have been a smooth conclusion to the morning's travels quickly turned into disaster moments later Pete said a final, "Thanks a lot," to control, but those would be the last words he would ever say.

Because at 7:59 AM, his helicopter struck a construction crane that was situated atop the St. George Wharf Tower in Vauxhall, London.

Oh, no.

Also known as Vauxhall Tower, the building sits 594 feet high, a whopping 50 stories.

When the structure was finished being constructed in 2014, it was the tallest residential building in the whole of the United Kingdom.

My guest today is Adrian Harulin-Entret.

In 2015, they stood for Parliament as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Vauxhall, which isn't far from where I'm recording now in Brixton.

And in doing so, they became the first openly HIV-positive parliamentary candidate in the history of the United Kingdom.

Not the first to have HIV, the first to say so, out loud, before the vote, and on record.

I knew of other friends who were HIV-positive and who had students from Parliament and who hadn't come out about it.

And I always thought to myself, You know, the press aren't the nicest people in the world sometimes.

And I was in a position where I knew I was selected for the candidate as for Vauxhall, which is obviously, you know, an LGBTQ plus space.

And many people know me and supported me through it.

I mean, the closest one in North London is St Anne's.

But I talked about going to St Peter's, obviously, down in Vauxhall.

And one of the sisters, shame on me for making judgments or think I've got it all boxed off in my head.

And she said, oh, yeah, actually, I'm just passing through.

You know, it is a place really to be still and to know that he is God.

Well, you know what? Let's bookend it.

Let's finish as we started, because when I was talking about the Little Sisters, certainly at St Peter's residence in Vauxhall, they have a beautiful garden.

And what consolation that must give to those residents that are in that prayerful, beautiful space.