Yesterday.. same problem as Wednesday last week, with little on Meetup. Until just recently, when the London Classical Music and Theatre Group advertised a London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the Royal Festival Hall for that day! I managed a Black Friday discount too! ;-) So I went to that.
I have an awful lot on my to-do list these days. So my trip to the Royal Festival Hall had a few stop-offs - first, recycling, which is on the way. Second, food - Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which is friendly, and has excellent food - but almost never onion rings! I suggested there's a shortage of onions - the man wasn't offering any opinions. But the burger was yummy, as ever.
Third, a new passport photo - with the Photo Me booth not having given me an acceptable photo, I headed to have a human do it for me, and someone had recommended Snappy Snaps. Wouldn't you know it, there's one on the way! No appointment necessary - so I stopped in and did that. The poor man was rushed off his feet, so many customers wanting so many different things. Anyway, I got the photo and have resubmitted it - fingers crossed. Stupidly, mind, I restarted the application, rather than just submitting an alternative photo to the original application, which might have slowed it down somewhat - well, but they can't have got very far with it, the photo being the first thing they look at.
With all of the stop-offs, it was feasible to walk the whole way! Happily, the weather wasn't bad for it.
I was first to arrive, occupied myself with a highly overpriced glass of sauvignon blanc (£12.75) and the paper. The only other person to show up at the meeting point was the organiser, just as we needed to head in - we agreed to meet at the Level 5 bar at the interval, which was convenient to us both, and knowing that we were unlikely to meet the others.
First up were Five Mystical Songs by Vaughan Williams. Now, I've had a very hectic week, and as I remarked to the organiser at the interval, it was just so good to sit back, relax, and not have to think about this. Lovely. Quite short, mind - I looked at my watch in some surprise; I hadn't expected it to be that short. Ah well, out I went and joined my companion - who was kind enough to buy me a drink. I didn't require a sauvignon blanc of him - I got the chenin blanc instead, which was very nice, and we had a good catch-up.
And so, after the break, to Bruckner's Ninth Symphony. Ah now, if the first "half" had relaxed me - this energised me! The music soared.. a spectacular sound, highly expressive. Quite modern in style.. it quite transported me. What a lovely evening, in fact. Delighted I came, and it was good to catch up with the organiser again. And I got the bus home, having no more stops to make!
Today - well, my contract has been extended, I quit tomorrow (officially, although my computer account has already been disabled, I discover), and I start with the new company next week. I had booked an online talk, The Life and Times of Magnus Folk, from the Surrey History Meetup. One of the earliest electrical engineers in England, it seems. Anyway, it's free, and I've since cancelled - I found something more interesting while I was waiting for the play last Thursday night. The Arabic Music, Dance and Party Meetup Group advertised an evening at the Bethlehem Cultural Festival - tickets from Eventbrite - in which there was a talk about 19th century travellers, as well as discussion of a forthcoming book, and a talk from a female artist in Gaza. Not that the group advertised it, but there's also an Arab dance after, and another talk - you could go to some, or all. Happening in The Tabernacle. So, I booked a ticket - stopped short of joining the group though - we shall see.
Well, it ran too late to do the blog last night. I had meant to do it at some point during the day - but Lordy, the busyness continues. I had booked a haircut for lunchtime today while waiting for my food yesterday - so I didn't have time beforehand. Went to Rush, the closest one to me, BTW - and well, I am very pleased with the result! Convenient, good job, and very friendly - I'm sure I'll be back. Anyway, when I got back, it was to the news that UPS had tried to deliver my computer for the new company - but got no answer. (Yeah, that'll probably be the time today that the buzzer went, stopped by the time I got to it and there was no answer when I asked who was there.) So now, they've delivered to the depot - to be fair, only a few minutes' walk away. But how I'm going to carry all that equipment back is beyond me!
Meantime, my new boss contacted me with the heads-up that he wants to meet me, Face-to-Face, in Reading on Tuesday. Only for half the day, happily. Cue me booking a train ticket - with GWR, as he was kind enough to tell me. Just as well he mentioned that the journey was only half an hour - the website didn't tell me that! I had to go digging to find a fast train. I am not joking - it took me a solid hour to book that ticket. The website was faulty, the app doesn't work - and on top of it all, you can't get a mobile ticket except on the app. So I had to choose to collect it at Paddington! Uhh.. and I have to get a train at 8.50am. Bah humbug - I expect to expense this. I also foresee lots of Reading in my future, as it's halfway between me and the other writer..
So, all of that ate up all my time today and I couldn't blog. Indeed, I had to rush out to eat. Tried O' Neill's, which is convenient to where I'd have to leave from - the ground floor was packed, so I headed upstairs, as usual. Which was closed! On a busy Thursday! I can only conclude that they hadn't the staff to open it. Well, I was damned if I was going without - hang the event I'd booked, I schlepped off down to The Lucas Arms, where I hadn't been in a while. And despite the crowd - there seemed to be some group, all of whom just arrived before me - I scored a table down the back, in the unlit section by the gents. And was very well fed.
Was actually in two minds about whether to head out all that way at all - but decided to give it a try. It was going to have to be Tube. Of course, to top off a stressful day - I took the wrong entrance, for the wrong lines, not paying attention, and had to retrace my steps. So, naturally I missed the train I was supposed to get. Had to wait nearly 10 minutes for another - at least I got a seat after a little while. And when I got out at Royal Oak, spent a full five minutes just trying to figure out which road to take.. for future reference, just turn left. So I was a bit late.
This turns out to be a converted church - downstairs is where they sell books, crafts, and whatever else is associated with the people appearing.
The lecture theatre upstairs is where the action happens. I felt a tad embarrassed about arriving late - but actually, people were in and out all evening. And as it happens, the first talk was the least interesting to me. You see, there was this 19th Century Swiss explorer called Tobler who wrote a book about his travels in Palestine (in German) - and the new book that's come out is a translation.
The MC identified himself as the publisher - and remarked that it isn't often that a publisher seeks to publish a boring book by a boring man. They identified several problems with the writing - he was no storyteller, neglected to give basic details about his trip (such as how he got there), and ignored the locals, giving just sparse details about them, while describing in detail every European he met! On top of that, he wrote in the complicated, Gothic old German script, which several translators refused to touch, wrote in a longwinded style to which they stayed faithful as much as possible, and wrote so many footnotes that they had to employ a second translator just for those! Yeah - none of this made me want to buy a copy of the translation, and I didn't. Very niche market for this, I think.
I was stunned that the MC had to have pointed out to him that the original author was related to someone who worked in chocolate..! Duh..
Well, this was followed by a talk with two artists - one from Gaza, one English, who had worked with Yazidi women in northern Iraq who'd been kidnapped by Isis, and also with women kidnapped by Boko Haram, who had escaped: and used art as a medium to get both groups to express their feelings and deal with their trauma.
The English girl, extremely softly spoken, was particularly compelling, telling us how many of these women had never drawn anything before - and this was a very interesting talk.
A large group of people left after this - was that the Meetup group? If so, I'm glad I wasn't with them - I'd have missed the most interesting events of the night! Next up was a Palestinian dance troupe, who entertained us royally with evocative, Middle Eastern music:
Last of the night was a fascinating talk with the author of a book about growing up in Bethlehem. He turned out to be a Syriac Christian - a group I'd never heard of, but they're so called because, in religion at least, they speak Syriac - apparently the language of Jesus! He showed us a fascinating map of his family's odyssey after fleeing their native home in Turkey - as the result of a massacre I've barely heard of. And Lordy if there wasn't another Syriac there - a musician, performing in the same venue tomorrow night, who agreed to perform a traditional Syriac chant for us. Yes, quite a special evening - again, delighted I came! More events here tomorrow night, and various events around the UK until the 10th. Tickets from Eventbrite- free, donate what you can. £20 contribution suggested.
Buses home, on what is a very cold night.
Tomorrow, back to Ireland for the weekend again - flying Aer Lingus for a change! My passport is up for renewal, as I say - I don't technically need one to travel between Ireland and the UK, but Ryanair demands it. Aer Lingus doesn't.. Anyway, film for the weekend is looking like - Spirited, in which Will Ferrell plays the Ghost of Christmas Present to Ryan Reynolds' Scrooge, in a musical update to A Christmas Carol. Octavia Spencer plays Ryan's hapless assistant. Well, it looks like fun - Ryan Reynolds is always very watchable - and frankly, it's the best thing on in the afternoon that I haven't seen. Ennis will do - let us pray there isn't a match!
On Monday - yep, the London Chess Community again looked like the best option. Hmm. But just lately - hallelujah! I was saved by London Social & Cultural Meetups, who have scheduled a talk on The 70th Anniversary of the Great London Smog. (Although oddly, we're meeting outside - perhaps the venue is hard to find?) Anyway, I'm delighted - this is that friendly group I joined a while ago for Evensong at St. Bartholomew the Great, and I'm glad to be seeing them again.
On Tuesday, well, Free Stuff and Free Events are holding another online singalong. Again, I cancelled my attendance at the last of these I booked for, so was reluctant to rush off and book again.. Or the Garden Talks have one on How Did Language Begin? Unfortunately, my free trial has long since expired, and they won't let me take out another. Well, I might have paid - but I'd be paying for a month's worth, so I figured I might as well wait until closer to the date, and get the value.. And yay, then Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) jumped to the rescue again, with a comedy called Dinner with Groucho, at the Arcola. The setting is a dinner, somewhere in heaven, with Groucho Marks and T. S. Eliot the guests.. best available seats for £15 with the code FRANK15, until tomorrow.
On Wednesday, I'm back with UITCS for Baghdaddy at the Royal Court. About a little girl, realising she's half Iraqi, just as the Gulf War is raging. I see CT now has tickets for this.. unusually for this venue!
Next Thursday, I've signed up for another Watkin's Bookshop talk! This is Colin Stanley on Colin Wilson's Introducing the Occult. Well, the last talk I was at here was interesting, so..
On the 9th, I'm heading to Lightopia, at Crystal Palace Park. As suggested by Over 40 Living the Life, who are not actually hosting a trip themselves, but just wanted to advertise it. 15% discount if you subscribe to Lightopia's mailing list, 20% discount for purchases of 10 or more tickets. And durnit if Groupon hasn't just advertised cheap tickets..
On the 10th - well hallelujah, Bucket List London has finally scheduled something I want to go to, at a time I can make! He's off to see the Wallace Collection that morning - and so am I.
That evening - I've bravely scheduled another meeting of Those who Do Not Come. It's my last weekend in London before Christmas, you see. Well, so far Ivan and my first boss in London are actually coming! while the one person who came the last two times probably not, for once. We shall see - I've booked The Lucas Arms - O' Neill's isn't taking bookings for that day. Deposit payable, refundable with cancellation up to 72 hours beforehand.
And on the 11th, I was vaguely thinking of heading to see Carnaby Street's Christmas lights.. and then CT advertised tickets for Love Factually - a kind of rewriting of one of the relationships in that classic Christmas romcom, Love Actually. Sadly, all their tickets were gone - but I got a full-price ticket from the venue. It sounds good. Showing at 2Northdown.
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