Interview: Chris Patten

Tonight, I booked with TAC to hear an interview with Chris Patten, the last UK governor of Hong Kong before it was handed back to China. Happening at Conway Hall. Walking distance from both home and office, but slightly closer to the office - so goodee, I could avail of the free food! Stayed late, as it was such a short walk..

I arrived 25 minutes early, and they were already going in. Checked my name off the list, and I was given directions - left to the bar, straight ahead to the book signing (yes, there would be a book.. mind you, he wasn't doing the signing), right to the auditorium. So I headed left.. they had a choice of small or medium for the wine, I guess because of the size of the glasses! I asked for "the larger", and confused the poor lad behind the bar, who pointed out they only had small or medium, bless. We sorted that out, I got quite a decent tipple (actually a bit extra, as he gave me the dribble from the end of the bottle), and headed in. I really don't need another book (especially hardback) cluttering the place up, even if it is signed! by whomever. And I'm sure it's interesting.

Inside, seating was free - and an Oriental-looking lady swapped seats with me to be more on the edge, because as she said, she was expecting some friends. As you might expect, the place was thronged with people from Hong Kong, Taiwan.. perhaps other places, I don't know. The event started five minutes late - possibly delayed because of the people gettings books signed - and got pretty hot, with all those bodies; it was fairly thronged. Meanwhile, I snuck a look at the copies the people around me were browsing through - apart from some interesting maps (TBH, I always find maps interesting), the acknowledgements carried a caveat that many people the author would have credited were not mentioned - for their own good. This, of course, is standard when talking about Hong Kong - the fear of reprisal against dissenters is ever-present.

For all that, this was a very pleasant evening! Both interviewer and interviewee were convivial souls, whom you could imagine being excellent company as dinner guests. And Chris Patten proved himself a political being by practically never answering the questions he was actually asked! However, what he had to say was consistently interesting.

We got the sense that he really enjoyed his time there - although he never did rise to the bait of answering the interviewer's question of how he came to get the job. Of course, he was too much of a politician to give his true feelings about the Chinese government - generally. Although, during the Q+A at the end, when someone asked him whether there were anything he regretted, his reply was that he sorely regretted wasting time trying to negotiate with the Chinese. He said the chapter in the book that deals with this is called "Round and Round the Mulberry Bush" - he was always urged to go the extra mile: and for what? They've scrapped it all now anyway.

While I haven't bought the book, I wouldn't be averse to reading it, some day..

Of course, someone else at the Q+A asked the inevitable question of what he thought of the current state of the Conservative Party, of which he is a member. Cue laughter at his long silence. His first response was that he had remarked to his wife that he really did hope that tonight would be a "Boris-free zone"! Not a hope. Well now, given that he had already criticised the Chinese government for not sticking to their treaties, he'd hardly be a fan of Boris, would he?! That man wouldn't stick to a treaty if you superglued him to it. Chris did go so far as to say that it's sad, being a populist party if you're not popular.. he also reminded us that he was responsible for reforming the PSNI after the Good Friday agreement - and lamented the lack of consideration for that agreement that is being shown with the NI Protocol. Well, you know what they say - those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it..

Nice stroll home, through an area I haven't visited much..

Tomorrow, I booked again with Free Stuff and Free Events, for their Free Tuesday Sing-a-Long for Health and Pleasure. Online, and one where you're muted, so you don't even have anyone hear you sing! Great for the shy. But of course, I wasn't too pushed - hence the redoing of the film list. Now top is Emuthi Puthi, an Indian (of course!) comedy about a teenage girl who decides to run away from home, and is accompanied by her grandmother, who has this obsession with finding the fish of life (or something). Anyway, looks ok - showing at the Ciné Lumiere. Years since I was last there, of course..

On Wednesday, I'm finally succumbing to Anything Goes, at the Barbican. Now, I got my ticket for this from Time Out, which is the first place I saw the offer - but it turns out that any number of outlets have £25 tickets! If they're all for the same seats as Time Out, then I'd have to feel sorry for people that bought tickets for £38, which is cheaper than the original price of £45 for the seats on offer! Assuming anyone did. Anyway, with no bad seats here, you'd have to be crazy to pay more.

On Thursday, back with Bucket List London (BLL) - who obligingly is doing something midweek! I'll have to skip off work early - this is for vespers in Westminster Cathedral, and starts at 4.30. He is actually in Westminster all day, attending Ministerial Question Time earlier - but not only do I have a job to go to, but jeez, I do believe this would just infuriate me! So that, I'm not attending..

On Friday, back with Civilised London (CL) for dinner at Caravel. Terrific reviews..

At the weekend, I'm back with the man with the famous name - Dr. Stephen King (not the writer) is guiding a couple of walks for London Guided Walks (courtesy of Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts). Both topics / areas I've covered many times before, but gee, he's such a great guide! So I hope I make these - early. On Saturday, it's his Southwark Walk. Sadly, although it's now advertised on TAC, I booked it through the official site (discount of £3 with the code MEETUP3, as usual).

On Sunday, it's his Royal Coronation Walk - not advertised on TAC yet. I just bet he comes up with something I didn't already know..

Next Monday, I'm headed to A Doll's House Part 2, at Donmar Warehouse - sequel to the famous original, where the wife leaves an unhappy marriage; this sequel examines what happens when she returns.

On the 5th - well, I finally saw Up In The Cheap Seats (UITCS)' ad for Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, at the Underbelly Festival! A parody musical, right up my street - I hate how Meetup so often doesn't show me the events I really would enjoy! Just as well I saw this in time, before I booked anything else. So it'll be a hectic evening, with an interview scheduled for 5.30! I'd better quit work early I think, and head home for that - I can't guarantee quiet in the office.

On the 6th, back with CT for a concert by the Royal College of Music Brass Ensemble, at the college on Shelton Street.

On the 7th, back with Guided Walking Tours in Brighton and Sussex, for The London Necropolis Virtual Tour. I pointed out to him that the registration link had the wrong date, and he said it was outdated, and he'd replace it and send me the new link - well, he's removed it, but no new link yet. And then - you guessed it, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again!

On the 11th, I'm going to Favour, at the Bush Theatre - after much effort, as their website wasn't working for days! In fact, it seems to go down sporadically. I chose an unreserved seat, will be allocated one on the day. Anyway, I see TAC has now started selling tickets for this - gee, might be not only the cheapest, but the easiest way to book! Wow, was only there once before, 3.5 years ago..

On the 12th, I'm going to The Southbury Child, at the Bridge Theatre. And now CT is selling cheap tickets for that too, bah. I also noticed that UITCS is going, later in the week - ah well.

On the 13th, back with CL for dinner - this time at The Crown itself, where we usually meet for drinks before heading somewhere else for dinner. Excellent choice. Which marks the beginning of a whole spate of Meetups in a row! When's the last time that happened..?

On the 14th, back with The Garden Talks - this online talk is How Do Languages Evolve?

On the 15th, back with the London Classical Music and Theatre Group for the opera Otello, at the Royal Opera House.

On the 16th, which is a Saturday, I had booked with Discover London for a trip to see a cart making ceremony - and then Eleanor, organiser of TunedIn London, advertised a concert through the World Music Meetup, for that evening, at City Hope Church. So now I'm going to both.

On Sunday the 17th, back with BLL - this time, it's a trip to Sandown Antiques Market. Well, I've never been to Sandown, so this could be interesting.

On the 18th, back with North London Friends! for the first time since before lockdown. This is for an Edinburgh Comedy Festival preview, at the King's Head in Crouch End, featuring Lucy Porter and Rachel Fairburn.

On the 19th.. I'm taking a punt that I won't actually be employed that day, and have signed up again - at last - for a walk with Laurence and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners. This is The Magic of Midtown - and as I said to him, it finishes very near my new home! I also promised to let him know if I can't actually make it - although, even if I have started work by then (which would be surprising), perhaps I could take a day off.

On the 20th, I finish my Meetup run with a trip with UITCS to Leicester Square Theatre to see Frankie Boyle, who has a work in progress show.

On the 21st, I'm thinking of heading - at last - to Summer by the River at More London. This is for a free evening of music, curated by Soho Radio. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On the 25th, I'm headed to see The Throne, a comedy about to open at Charing Cross Theatre, in which the Queen gets locked in a portaloo with a staunch republican. Time Out has an offer of £10 tickets for the cheapest seats for this - a saving of more than 50%!

On the 26th - tan-ta-ra! I finally managed to get a decently priced ticket to Jerusalem, at the Apollo. I have heard so much about this, and it's always at the top of the Time Out listings - nearly as hard as Hamilton to get a reasonably priced ticket for, so I'm delighted to get one, if only not to have to look any more.

And on the 27th of next month, back to Summer by the River again.. for Bumper Blyton: Improvised Adventures for Grown-Ups! Improvised comedy in the style of Enid Blyton books.. sounds jolly good!