I could've done with more of a lie-in, but dragged myself out in good time. With the forecast temperatures, I made sure to dig out a hat, a light top, and sandals. Had to get two buses - and Lordy, the crowd at the bus stop in the City! I actually couldn't get on the first bus - I managed to cram onto the second, whose driver was optimistically letting anyone on who thought they'd fit. It was packed with foreigners, who started to compare origins - two young Chinese guys, a middle-aged Spanish couple, and a couple of Israeli girls, for the record. Happily, I wasn't going very far - people had to get off to let me off, and what a relief when I did!
We were to meet by Chancery Lane Station - I'd hoped to find somewhere to buy a small bottle of water for the walk, and something to eat for brunch, and happily there was an M&S just nearby. So, I then checked the Meetup page, and she'd said to meet outside the Northeast exit to the Tube - ok, ascertained where that was and went over, to eat the sandwich I'd just bought. In the sweltering heat. As I ate, I noticed another lady hanging around, and wondered whether she was waiting for the same walk.
Handily, there was a bin nearby that I could use when I finished. And we ended up talking to each other - yes, she was one of the other people who hadn't been able to use the code. In due course, a third person happened along, on the same mission. Now, once it came to a quarter to, I began to get suspicious.. this guide has typically made it that early for walks in the past. At maybe 10 past, the other lady decided to ring her, as she happened to have her number from before - back when this group was worth being a member of.
She didn't answer the first time. When my companion tried again, she did get through to her.. and here's what happened. Although the organiser advertised on Meetup, she never again bothered to check the page. Or the notifications from the page. So she didn't know about the problem with the code that we had flagged - sounded as though she was amazed, on the phone call, that anything had gone wrong! We assured her that no, we had indeed tried it, and it didn't work. And since we all had the same idea - to pay on the day, as to pay online without a discount meant we'd just have paid an extra booking fee - nobody paid online. So she thought nobody was coming, and stayed home. Never bothered to cancel, mind.
Funnily enough, this is the second time in a row that an event that I've booked for with this group just hasn't happened - remember last year's treasure hunt, where two of us stood at the assigned place for 45 minutes, unable to see the group, only to be marked as no-shows?! Hmm. If she's not going to follow through with Meetup, she shouldn't advertise there. If she can't be bothered with her customers, she shouldn't be in the business of guided walks. And it's looking very much as though she just couldn't give a ****. As I remarked on the page, I'll have to think seriously before I book with them again. Oh, and she promised a formal apology - still waiting for that. Naturally.
Well, it was lovely chatting to the two others who showed up, anyway. And we all wended our separate ways - him to the footie, her to make up her own walk, as she had a step quota to meet for the day. Me.. film again. Now, I needed to consult the list, and would have loved to do so in a cool cafe, imbibing something cold. Plenty of cafes around, too. But would you believe it, Caffe Nero had run out of ice, that branch of McDonald's only does takeaways, and there were other cafes whose only cold options were fruit juices, whereas I'd have preferred ice cream. Sod it, I ended up back at the bus stop, where at least nobody objected to me sitting, and I was in the shade. I still had my water, anyway.
Well! That film list has undergone something of an earthquake. I've seen one film off it this week already, which left for today, at the top, with an IMDB rating of 7.7, Ryuichi Sakmoto: Coda. Documentary about the composer. Neh, not that interested really. Eliminated that. Would you believe, with all the 7.6s now gone from the listings, I was now right down to Sicario 2: (Day of the) Soldado! Ah, now that did interest me. Nearest showing was in Curzon Bloomsbury, at 3pm - it'd be after 2 by the time I got there, so that was perfect! Off I set.
It was a hot walk - I was glad, really, that the longer one I'd been supposed to go on had been cancelled. In the cinema, I could buy my ticket on any floor, but realised that I didn't know which screen it was in! Quick check online, and I headed downstairs - these are all in the basement. And ooh, how lovely and cool, with subdued lighting, dark, soothing colours, plush furnishings. I bought my ticket and a large glass of wine, and brooded about the cancelled walk, and the guide's lack of interest. Meetup is full of chancers.
When it was time, I finished my wine and went in.. the screen was largely deserted, and I had a perfect seat, dead centre. Pullman, too! Curzon aren't the cheapest, but you do get a great experience.
I was dying to see this film, too. It started out rated higher than it is now - the sequel to Sicario, a truly impressive thriller about America's battle with the Mexican drug cartels. Benicio del Toro plays a sicario (assassin), and the plot is a brilliant composition of politics and connivance, written by the supremely talented Taylor Sheridan. Also beautifully directed, it is anything but a tourist ad for Mexico, with fast-paced car chases and shootouts, and plenty of muscle machines on display.
The sequel is more of the same. Same writer, different director - same feel, though. Benicio del Toro is back, and Jeffrey Donovan reprises his role, as does Josh Brolin. We also have Matthew Modine as the Secretary of Defense, who has this brilliant idea to classify the drug cartels as terrorists so they can use more sweeping powers against them. Catherine Keener is the liaison between him and Josh Brolin, who's leading the current campaign.
As usual, it's a sneaky one - the U.S. is meddling (secretly) in the cartels' business, hoping to cause mayhem. There's plenty of funding for planes, armoured cars and the like, plenty of border-crossing, lots of convoys tearing up the dirt roads. Guns n gore. Another bad day for the Mexican tourist office. But hell, what an enjoyable film - a sexy, bass soundtrack, fast-paced action, and another clever script - although I thought it had one flaw, when Benicio del Toro, the heartless assassin, develops a heart. Needlessly, surely! Never mind, it redeemed itself. Highly recommended.
On the way home, I was delighted to find that my local Tesco stays open late every day! Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at the Gielgud Theatre for Imperium I - Conspirator. The first part of a double-bill, but viewable independently, it is told from the point of view of Cicero's secretary, as he watches how his master's work is used to bring about an end to the Roman Republic. I should probably have booked the second part at the same time - there's a discount for that - but well, my schedule is generally so packed..! The same group was going to the double-bill yesterday, but I'd already booked this. Only one other person going - I have a late meeting, so have said I'll let her know when I'm on the way.
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