Book Club: The Ballad of Black Tom

Tonight, back with the Horror Book Club. This time, it was The Ballad of Black Tom, based on the Lovecraft story, The Horror at Red Hook, but told from the perspective of a black man. I managed to get through the club's book, and read the entirety of the story it's based on, which is much shorter - and less coherent. Again, the meeting was in the Prince of Wales, Covent Garden. Question is, would the kitchen be open..?

I went in time to get something to eat beforehand - still didn't manage to get there first! Hallelujah, the kitchen was open - and people dribbled down at both breaks to order food. Most arrived late, what with all the transport strikes. Interestingly, the lady who took my order, when she asked for my table number, didn't know how to handle "upstairs"! (The club always books the upstairs room.) She had to get a more senior colleague to help - there were to be many more orders for "upstairs", though, so I guess she learned.

My meal was unusually disappointing, for a Greene King pub. Yes, the pie was the same - but it came with mushy peas, which I hate. And on top of the peas, the pie was plonked! so I ended up not finishing it, for the taste of the peas. Not only that, but there isn't a choice of mash or chips, as in The Lucas Arms - no, when I ordered chips, I ended up getting them in a separate bowl! And they were way too salty - when someone else got her meal, complete with chips, she spent the first few minutes shaking the salt off the top ones. So I didn't finish those, either. I will probably eat here again - but not the pie.

And so to the book discussion. I actually started quite the debate, saying that I found the change of narration jarring. Cue a lengthy debate about how necessary it was - with which I completely agree! and for the same reasons. All I meant was that I found it clumsily done - I'd have introduced the second narrator more gradually. But hey. Interestingly, when it came time to give our scores at the end, someone suggested, out of interest, that we also detail how much Lovecraft we've read previously! There wasn't much correlation between that and the scores, though. But as we concluded, previous knowledge of Lovecraft isn't necessary to enjoy this book. Generally very well-received - the only score under 7 came from someone who didn't think this qualified as horror; cue another discussion about how different folks see horror differently. Horror, like comedy, remains highly subjective.

And so home, nice n early.

Tomorrow, I'm on my own for My Son's a Queer (but what can you do?), a musical at the Ambassadors Theatre.

On Friday, my first meeting of the year with London Classical Music and Theatre Group! We're off to Wigmore Hall, to listen to the Hagen Quartet play Mozart. They're Austrian, so that's appropriate.. I just need to remember not to drink the ultra-expensive sauvignon blanc! Meeting my sometime dinner companion beforehand, down the road at Olivelli.

On Saturday, well, Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners are back to Greenwich again. Now, I have been there with him before.. not sure how "new" this one will be, but hey, it was a great day last time! Meeting Ivan that evening.. somewhere..

On Sunday, nothing on Meetup appealed massively - I thought I might go for a walk along the Ken's Events route, if I feel like it! (on my own). Or Over 40 Living the Life has advertised a walk along the New River.. I'd have to see, as I have to pay to sign up (refunds given to those who then come). And I might well change my mind.. which I finally did, when Free Stuff and Free Events advertised a blues concert at the Earl of Chatham, Woolwich. It's a way out, is all - but then, it's free, if I wanted to cancel. And.. now I have, because London Herstory Guided Walks! has finally advertised a walk I can go on. I was recommended this group by someone a while ago - they run guided walks with a female theme. Sunday's is Deeds Not Words! Suffragettes, Spies, & Warrior Queens. Delighted to be able to go on one of theirs, at last - they're usually on during working hours. Only thing is, they don't specify how to pay - cash on the day, I'm guessing, as they don't take payment on booking.

On Monday, my first actual event with the Over 40s. We're off to How Not to Drown at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East - the first event of theirs for which I couldn't get a cheaper ticket! So I decided, if I couldn't beat them, I might as well join them. True story of an unaccompanied, 11-year-old asylum seeker.

On Tuesday, excited to be headed to see Derren Brown in Showman, at the Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue. Cheapest tickets with Official London Theatre again.

Next Wednesday, off to The Lehman Trilogy, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Based on the true story of the bank that collapsed. Got the last £39.50 ticket!

On the 9th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Winner's Curse, at the Park Theatre - an interactive show about a peace negotiation. Turns out North London Friends are headed to it the same night - what, are they now copying this group, as another group did some time ago? (since closed down). And then I'm back to Ireland again.

And on the 13th, I'm headed to Allegiance, starring George Takei in a musical based on the true story of his time in an American internment camp during the Second World War. Showing at the Charing Cross Theatre.