Tonight, I booked with Guided Walking Tours in Brighton and Sussex (!). They advertised an online talk entitled Hallowe'en Penny Dreadful Online Show - The Art of Victorian Horror. I have to say, online has become much more of an option since lockdown. And this'd be a night I could move stuff from my desk - we have to clear them out by the end of the week, as we're moving office next month!
Well would you credit it - the guide messaged us during the day, said he wasn't feeling well. But he kindly provided us with the link to a past recording. I stayed on in the office for a bit, watched the one soap I still follow (I can stream it), then took some stuff from the desk and made my way home - earlier than expected. Where I decided I might as well watch the recording!
Well, I'm glad I did! He's hoarse in the recording - apparently just out of a bout of Covid - but that doesn't detract from his excellent storytelling skills! He also chose a nice, spooky background, and appropriately spooky background music. And what an excellently structured talk, starting with modern horror, which had him hooked from an early age, then turning to the origin of the penny dreadfuls in Victorian times. So we get a good dollop of history to go with our tour through the popular titles. Well worth watching, very entertaining, and a nice run-up to Hallowe'en.. Highly recommended, for horror fans! He gave us another link too - and there are some links at the end of this recording. All in all, great value, with five for the price of one!
Tomorrow, I booked another walk with Invigorate - this one was a tour of (the outside of) Christopher Wren's churches. Starting even closer to the office than the last one, handily. Rain is forecast - I hoped it wouldn't get too bad. Well it seems that the guide had the same thoughts, because checking what turned out to be a dreadful forecast for tomorrow, he postponed it to Thursday! Instead, for tomorrow, he's taking us to a free "Anniversaries" concert by the band of the Royal Yeomanry, at the Guards' Chapel. Tickets also available from Eventbrite. And funnily enough, this is where he took us, for another military concert, on what was my last Meetup before my long lockdown.. and as on that occasion, we're meeting in the Old Star. All I can say is, I hope it's not as crowded as it was that day - not least because, with pretty much nobody following precautions, the UK now has the highest number of Covid cases in the world..
On Thursday, I can't go on the rescheduled walk, because I have an online storytelling double-bill - I'll have to see how that pans out. First, I'd booked Universe, a Crick Crack Club (CCC) show happening in Oxford and live-streamed. Clare Murphy - and I've seen it before, and it was the best show ever! And then I saw that Martin Shaw from the CCC was doing an online show, earlier in the evening.. this one, in association with Watkins Bookshop, is called The Smoke Hole, and it's free. So I said, hey, why not? (And this is realistically the last night I can move stuff from my desk.)
On Friday, back with the London European Club for a concert - Balkan Music, courtesy of Raka & Balamuc, in The Post Bar, Tottenham. Sounds like fun. Even if I have to bring my work laptop, as we won't have access to our desks by that night. Then I'm back to Ireland - another Saturday flight - and with a few days off, I'm not flying back until the 28th. At least I'm not working from home this time, so don't have to bring the laptop on the flight!
But on the 29th, back with that group again, for Carmen - contemporary flamenco at The Place. (Might work from home that day, as we won't be in our new office yet, and I'd have to carry my laptop around with me.) Funnily enough, someone in the group said there were no individual seats left, and asked whether anyone wanted to double up with her. I offered, if there were no other takers - but she never got back to me. So, since I was now up to that date in my schedule, I decided to check for myself - and got an individual seat! So I've booked it.
And on the 30th, I'm doing something nice and Halloweeny - a ghost story event entitled Night Owl - changed from Scared to Death in the Woods, which they're now doing on Hallowe'en itself, and which has sold out. Tickets from Design My Night. So, an organisation called London Dreamtime is leading us off into a undisclosed location, somewhere around Hampstead Heath.. we're to dress warmly, and bring a blanket to sit on, and a "candle in a jar" - I actually went out and bought an LED flickering candle in a lantern-style holder. Well, thought it was the most practical! Now I just need batteries..
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