Also had to go to great rounds to get the extra, emergency, day off - my boss' email address didn't recognise mine, and I don't have work email on my phone, or his phone number, so I thought of LinkedIn. But he wasn't a contact - I ended up taking out a free trial of LinkedIn Premium (subsequently cancelled, of course), just so I could message him! Which all worked out ok.
On Monday, the Crick Crack Club was back again - Ben Haggarty was in Soho Theatre with Grim Grimms - a dark take on fairytales, highlighting four lesser-known tales of the brothers Grimm. With musical accompaniment. Tickets weren't available when I noted this in my calendar - they did, predictably, sell out. Sadly, of course, because of my changed plans, I missed it. Roll on the next one.. and hopefully I'll get another chance to see this show at a later time.
A lovely, comfy room with a widescreen tv and a lovely, comfy bed, and blackout curtains - I slept deeply before I got up at 5.30. Had a very nice cooked breakfast in an almost empty dining room - the only ones to beat me to it were a couple of Chinese-looking ladies. And then, with a minimal amount of packing to do, it was just a short walk across the car park to the terminal. Just as well, as it was very cold, and had been all week!
Back in London, a long, long Tube ride got me home - where I noticed that some of our neighbours are getting in the spirit of the season!
And then I walked to work - I tell you, I was lucky to make Tuesday's event at all! On Tuesday, I tried to persuade the social group from my former company to come with me to a Design My Night event - Fright Night Cinema was showing Hallowe'en in the Rivoli ballroom, with a themed cocktail bar and people dressed in spooky costumes. Now, that sounded like fun.. I booked, at least, and a couple of others indicated they'd come.
Unfortunately, the Rivoli ballroom turned out to be a bit of a trek - my first time on the Thameslink! There were only the three of us, in the end, from that group - one arrived before me, one decided to drive, as public transport would take so long - she arrived last. Naturally, I took the wrong exit from the station - but I found my way, through housing estates, back onto the main road with Google Maps. Where.. there were crash barriers all the way down both sides! For goodness' sake, how they expect people to cross.. well, I ran into the first person to arrive (or rather, she ran into me), and we trekked down to where there was a gap in the barriers. On both sides. We arrived at the door of the ballroom - to discover they weren't open yet. Now, I was quite miffed at this - yes, we'd got an email in the morning to say the box office would open at 8, but I really thought we'd have time beforehand to hang out; the film was starting at 8.30 (sharp)! Which didn't leave us much time at all.
In the end, they opened at 7.50 - and we were told, at the door, that it was a cash-only bar. Gee, that was something they really should have told us in advance! Well, cash was available, back across the road.. we went in relays. Inside, it was certainly ornate, and I did wish that I'd taken more pictures. But then, as I say, we didn't really have much time outside of the actual screening.
We nabbed a table at the side, and the one who'd come last snuck in a take-away, as all they were offering at the venue was hot dogs and popcorn. The bar (discreetly hidden on the way to the toilets) was even more ornate, if possible - I wished I'd taken my camera in with me. A huge queue meant that was my only trip of the night. As for the "themed" bar? Didn't happen. The "dressing-up" was restricted to one of the bar staff, who wore a cat-ear headband. There were cocktails, but I stuck to a bottle of wine - which, of course, I shared with the others.
Would you believe, neither of them had ever seen this film before! I had one of them asking me beforehand what it was about, just as it was starting - "You'll find out!", as I said. And I, for one, had a great night - although the sound quality wasn't terrific. I'd said to them that it was a classic.. for one, there's the incomparable soundtrack, right up there with the best of suspenseful music! There's the relentless chase scene, so naturalistic. And there's the classic horror trope, of being chased by something or someone, barely seen, hardly more than a shadow, and pretty much unstoppable. Not much gore in this, either. But let's not forget that this can be viewed as quite a funny film - the characters are likeable, and Carpenter throws in a lot of humour before things get serious. Some unintentional gags, too.. the audience had a lot of fun with it, as did my - slightly nervous - companions!
Afterwards, we chatted - briefly - before we were thrown out: the last to leave, not half an hour after the film finished. Really, for something that was supposed to be an "experience", this was a dead loss - it was pretty much just a straight film showing, no extras, no time even to stay and talk. I guess I'll know in future. We went our separate ways - it was at least great to see the others - and I got a couple of buses home. Which, thankfully, didn't require me to cross the road! I was supposed to have morning meeting next day though, which meant I couldn't blog - of course, it didn't happen, in the end! Spent most of yesterday doing the film list - watch this space..
Last night, back with Meetup at last - Up in the Cheap Seats was at the last night of a mixed programme by Birmingham Royal Ballet, at Sadler's Wells. I'd seen part of it before, which I found excellent. More trouble though - the blasted tablet I bought my mother for her birthday, last week, seems to have some trouble running Skype, which she depends on to get to see me. So I was frazzled, after an extended phone call with her during which she completely failed to explain what was going wrong, but still felt like complaining about it a lot. I walked off some of the stress, on my way to the theatre - I see I still have to go around a ton of roadworks, but this time I didn't get lost, for once! Still, by the time I made it there, and up all those stairs, I was well ready for a drink, which I took to where a couple of others who'd arrived early were sitting. Kudos to them, it's hard to get seats in the lobby here!
We stayed and chatted for a bit before it was time to take our seats.. and again, I was in my solitary seat to the side! although there were plenty of free seats in the middle, and lots of people moved down before the start.
Three pieces, two intervals - the first, A Brief Nostalgia, was my favourite. With no narrative to speak of, this was nonetheless a visually stunning piece, the audience split between watching the dancers, frantically moving, and the cavorting shadows they cast on two screens, one to either side. Clever lighting was used to maximum effect, plenty of visual tricks lending sometimes violent imagery to proceedings - helped along by particularly ominous music. Suitably creepy for the week that's in it!
The Suit, by Ballet Black, I've seen before. The only piece in this show with a narrative, it tells the story of a man who leaves for work, but forgets his briefcase. Upon his return for it, however, he finds his wife in flagrante with another man! The lover flees, leaving his clothes behind. The jealous husband makes a thing of the suit, insisting that his wife take it everywhere with her..
The final piece, Nine Sinatra Songs, saw the cast dress in their glad rags, and treat us to what reminded me of nothing so much as an episode of Strictly. (More acrobatic, mind.) A glitter ball was suspended from the ceiling as a series of couples came on and performed sundry ballroom dances.. For me, not all the pieces worked, but mostly it was lovely to watch. I was far more interested in the music though, with a couple of songs I hadn't heard before, and two renditions of My Way. So, in all, a very successful evening, and great to see everyone! Nice to be back with Meetup again.
For Hallowe'en, The Embers Collective stepped up to the plate, with a storytelling performance called Witch, at The Jago. Let's hope they do a good show.. I need some distraction, with the ongoing techie problems on my mother's side.
Tomorrow, meeting Ivan, at a friend's house. It'll be a late one. Good chance to blow off steam.
And on Saturday, I booked with Best Authentic Walking Tours in London, for a Royal Maritime Greenwich Ghost Tour. Now, this is - as with all their walks - with Funzing, so I can get a refund up to 48 hours beforehand. Which I knew I'd probably do (have, in fact, done for this twice already), as I might have gone to a film that day - depending what was on - or, if I didn't like the offerings, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is off to Blood Wedding, a new adaptation of the Lorca play, at the Young Vic. But that since sold out - was bound to happen. Well, I finally did come up with an alternative that made me cancel the ghost tour - another ghost tour! specifically, of the British Museum, with Spooky London. I mean, technically I could probably go to both - I just couldn't be bothered rushing the first to traipse all the way out to Greenwich, for an event that wouldn't be at all sociable! Might get on that walk some day.
No comments:
Post a Comment