Concert: London Philharmonic - Bruckner and Vaughan Williams & Bethlehem Cultural Festival

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.

Concert: Landscapes and Love Songs

Tonight, back with London Classical Music & Theatre Group, for a concert by the London Philharmonic in the Royal Festival Hall. Decided I really must make an effort to meet the group this time - but it can be tricky, if they don't bring a sign or indicate how they can be recognised!

Work was frying my brain - happily, at just the right time the internet seized up, and I took that as my cue to leave. The bus schedule was all over the place - didn't even look realistic online, and certainly bore no relation to reality. That worked in my favour though, and I got there quite early - just before another member, as it happens! We kind of gravitated towards each other, as I checked my messages - forget the free WiFi at the Southbank Centre, it was awful! So, that was tricky.

Still, she spotted me, and we had a nice chat - and even drew a third member to us! Not the Man of Mystery that is our organiser, though - we hadn't a clue where he was, or really what he looked like, so in due course we headed upstairs. And she and I were on the same level - indeed, the same row! which, as I passed several people en route to my seat, someone remarked was almost the only row booked in the rear stalls, with a blatantly empty row in front! Indeed, the fellow to my left moved to the row in front for the second half.. and why wouldn't you?

Anyway. You know, one of the emails I got before the event had a link to the programme - and promptly sent me to the wrong one! Anyway, THIS concert started with - well, it actually started with the guy to my right (actually two seats to my right, the one beside me was empty) giving what sounded like a lecture on classical music to his friend, who was sitting behind him. Maybe he was supposed to be in the seat beside me, and if so, I'm grateful he moved - it's always nice to have the extra space. Seriously, you'd have to wonder - "So, these are the violins, and that's the first violinist - they do all the violin solos - and no, they're not starting just yet, they're tuning up. No, the piano isn't on stage yet, they'll bring it on later - oh look, there it is.."

We were treated to Grieg, for starters - then the piano was wheeled on, and a young pianist took pride of place, for Schumann's Piano Concerto. Absolutely beautiful music, stunningly played - what more can I say? What a lovely antidote to work. The applause afterwards, of course, was tumultuous - and he came back onstage for a lovely little party piece: as someone near me gasped, "Ah, Liebestraum!"

At the interval, we convened at the bar - where she kindly bought me a drink. (I must reciprocate, some other time.) We agreed, with a bar on every level, there wasn't much point in trying to find the others - the one we'd been speaking to was certainly on a different level, and we had no idea where the people we'd never met were sitting. And we chatted about how well the place is looking now, and how we hope it doesn't revert to lockdown. One quibble - why do they not let you take drinks in, even in plastic?! They're the only ones that don't..

The second half was actually what I was most interested in - I love Sibelius. And neither he nor the orchestra disappointed, with a magnificent performance - there's a certain majesty to Sibelius, I think, and it was nice to end the evening with him.

So, we met again after, and were down together - no sign of any of the others, of course. Well, as she said, "third time's the charm!". And it was a lovely evening, regardless. Heading home, I managed to find the steps that lead directly up onto the bridge, and I knew I had a choice of two buses. Happily, I just missed the one that involved a bit of walking, and managed to get the one that would bring me all the way home. Nice new departure screen at the stop, BTW - pity it never seems to be working..

Tomorrow, the Crick Crack Club is back - online - with Trickster, live-streamed from Oxford again. Well, assuming it works, this time.. and today, I got an email, assuring me - again - that it would be recorded, and that it would be available for a week after. Well in that case.. So now, I've booked with Up in the Cheap Seats for Rare Earth Mettle, at the Royal Court. And if that recording gets stuffed up again - well, I'll just get another refund..

Concert: London Philharmonic

Scorchio! Hottest day of the year, yesterday, apparently. So when I noticed that Ken's Events (and one of his subsidiary groups, London Art, Comedy & Culture Lovers) were off to a free concert by London Philharmonic in Canada Square Park.. well, that sounded just perfect. Mind you, Ken was charging £2 extra for the privilege of going with him.

Hmm. You know, there are groups that would be worth the extra; regular readers will guess which groups I mean. Ken's groups just aren't worth it - well, not to me, at least. Of course, to a great extent it depends on whom you'd meet. So anyway, I decided to go - independently of Ken. Which would be easy enough - for the couple of times I've met him, I doubt he'd remember me. I also doubt I know anyone who would be signing up with him. And it was great when someone (whom I met through one of the groups that would be worth paying to go to..), upon hearing what I was up to, said she'd go too..

I was working from home, and had to nip out in the late afternoon to shop for food. Well, it was a good taster of the journey ahead of me - it was actually uncomfortably hot to breathe: so I did my shop in the closest place possible, making sure to include a cold drink for the journey. So, when I eventually set out, it was with a cold drink, and a hat for the sun.

Knowing my companion was going to get there before me (and also not wanting to spend more time on public transport than I had to, in this heat), the fastest option was required. So, train to Waterloo, Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf. Now, trains from Clapham Junction to Waterloo are generally very frequent on weekdays - one per minute, at least. So imagine my surprise to find that there wasn't one due for 10 minutes! From Platform 7, unusually - well, I dragged myself to that unfamiliar platform, only to have the display change after a few minutes, to show the next Waterloo train departing from Platform 10. Down the stairs again, up the stairs - not appreciated in the heat - and got there just in time for a Waterloo train. Thankfully - I don't know what the problem was, but there definitely was one, and I was glad to get out of there.

Also glad to get a seat, given the overheard remark of a disembarking passenger earlier that it was 40 degrees on the train. And so to Waterloo, and the Jubilee Line - where I didn't get a seat - and into baking heat at Canary Wharf. Must be all that concrete and glass - temperatures are always more extreme out here, either too hot or too cold. And, as usual, I was completely lost - despite having printed a map of the short walk to Canada Square Place. See, skyscrapers all look pretty much the same, if you're not on first name terms with them, and there are almost no other landmarks. One map I found actually pointed me in the wrong direction! No, the only way to find your way, out here, is with GPS. Get your phone out, open a maps app.

Wandering around confused on hot concrete isn't a great way to spend your time, and while I was - and just before I found my way - I got a text from my companion to say she was utterly lost, too. Mind you, that had been some minutes before, when I was underground and couldn't receive it - and by the time I arrived, relieved, at the stage, she'd plonked herself on the verge of the grassy bit, near the front to the left of the stage. Good location-spotting: we were also just in front of the large screen, to the side of the stage:

(Isn't it nice I have a working camera again?) Anyway, she'd also obligingly brought nibbles! Well, Ken had advised his attendees to bring a picnic - I just hadn't really had the opportunity to shop for it. Good one - I must return the favour. As for the official rules about not bringing glass - rubbish, there were tons of bottles of prosecco around (and no officials in sight anyway). In fact, there was a marquee bar a short distance behind us, selling bottles of prosecco doubtless.. and as for the furniture ban, it only applies on the grass.. put your garden furniture on any spare patch of concrete you can find.

When I arrived, the orchestra were actually playing - despite it not being anywhere near time. Turns out they were rehearsing - in their summer clothes. Sure enough, when it came to time (well, slightly after), out they came again in evening dress. As my companion remarked, the ladies had it easier - they could wear strappy dresses. Although the gents did forego their jackets - with the exception of the conductor, who valiantly wore a tailcoat throughout.

The repertoire for the evening was the Barber of Seville Overture, followed by Mozart's Symphony #40 in G Minor, and, after the interval, Beethoven's 5th Symphony. All widely known and popular pieces, and it was lovely to see the City workers coming out to enjoy them.

And while some bored teenagers present had obviously been dragged along, it was a joy to see those with a real love for the music, absolutely enthralled. And it's a lovely thing, to bring the Arts to this expanse of concrete and glass..

Afterwards, we made our (mostly separate) ways home, noting what a short and easy walk it is in the other direction, from Canada Square Park to Canary Wharf Station! It helps that you can see the Underground roundel almost immediately..

From Waterloo, I took the bus home, since the concert had finished so early (by 9), and since it was now cool enough to risk it - and all along the way, could see folks in their lightest summer clothes, and still looking sweaty and uncomfortable. Still didn't get home early enough to blog, given that I'm in Guildford today, and I've now made it a general principle, I think, to come earlier and leave earlier - the traffic is unbelievably lighter!


Tonight, the Man with the Hat is off to Top Secret again: and so am I. For tomorrow, I got a cheap ticket to a magic show; Champions of Magic is showing in Logan Hall. Mind you, I'd just booked the thing when I got an email from ShowFilmFirst, offering free tickets..! And on Friday, Helen and I are off - again with cheap tickets - to the Best of Bare Essentials, a set of short plays by new writers, showing in the Seven Dials Comedy Club.