Two buses, Google Maps recommended - and to change in Bloomsbury. I got off the first - which was cramped - just in time to miss my second bus: which turned out to be a good thing, when I checked. Because I'd only be going one stop on the second bus, which would let me off at Cambridge Circus. Four minutes, they said it'd take to do that journey. Yeah, right - this is not a journey you should attempt if you're in a hurry. It rarely makes it that quickly, that's a real bottleneck! Anyway, I could walk from there, so I did.
It's just as well I already knew the box office, where I had to pick up my ticket, is in the crypt - there was nothing to tell me! Well, I made it with 10 minutes to spare - seating was unreserved, but pretty sparse by that stage, so I ended up taking an empty spot behind the pulpit. Not too bad - I could peep out under it. Someone in front of me remarked that they should sit in the pulpit - best seat in the house.. and in the second half, someone did!
Ah, I missed this place. Anyhoo, the mc for the night was Reem Kelani, who informed us that this would be an evening of early Arabic Christian chants. First up was an excellent singer - Najib Coutya; it was a pity I wasn't familiar with any of the melodies, and of course I had no idea what words he was singing, but it was most evocative of hot, sandy deserts..
I was more engaged with Joseph Tawadros, who followed him on the oud. A "Coptic Aussie" and four-time award winner, sporting a huge, bushy beard and a fez, he finished the first half and started the second - he was miffed to be given the mic in the second half, when he said his Aussie accent completely destroyed the myth! "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", we got from him. V catchy.
However, the highlight for me was the trio of Shafiq Abouzayd (the senior Melkite Greek Catholic priest in Britain), Merit Ariane Stephanos, and Jon Banks on instrumental. Absolutely mesmerising. And familiar - I know I've seen them before - somewhere..! They could entice me time after time.
And by running, I just caught the bus back! Tomorrow, it's cinema - first in a while. Top of the List came King of Boys, a gangster Nollywood film, of all things. Closest showing is in the Odeon Greenwich - so I booked, which works out cheaper. It'll be my very first Nollywood film - and it's on really late. I'll have to ring my mother beforehand and pretend I've already been..
On Wednesday - back for the New Year with the Crick Crack Club! They're doing a new series on archetypes - Wednesday's is on Wise Ones Wild Ones, in Rich Mix. We're spoiled with the lineup - the night's storytellers are Ben Haggerty, Jan Blake, Daniel Morden - and Laura Sampson, who used (nominally) to run their now-defunct Meetup group. Never mind, for once the London European Club is going, under the stewardship of Henning! It'll be good to see some friendly faces there - and it's been ages since I saw these people! About time. And it'll be my first proper Meetup of the year.
On Thursday, in contrast, I'm with a completely new group - London Sci-Fi Horror Hide-Out, for their first ever Meetup! Hem - this is Miskatonic LDN - Remakesploitation: The Horror Meme. Fairly trips off the tongue, the whole thing! So it seems that Miskatonic LDN is actually an institute of horror studies, and based at the Horse Hospital. Well now. This specific event is about the many international horror film remakes through the years. Would you believe it though, it took a co-worker, today, to let me know that "Miskatonic" is a Lovecraft reference! Well, it's years since I last read him.
Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. And next Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Pinter at the Pinter again! This is Programme 5 - The Room / Victoria Station / Family Voices. And this evening includes a free Q+A with the cast.
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