Tonight, I was back with London Speaks Sessions for "True Crime: Survivor Stories and Straties (sic.)". Yes, that should have read "Strategies". This is a talk about survivors of extreme situations - and delivered by the excellent Jennifer Rees, whom I've seen a couple of times before. Not only that, but I got to use my loyalty Funzing discount for it, having cancelled a previous event for which I'd used that!
Nice, late start and a nice, close venue - even if that was Cafe 1001. At least I could walk. I headed off in good time - and on the way, just up from the venue, passed a number of quite confused people who, it transpired, were looking for the same place! Unfortunately, they'd paid too much attention to the address - 91 Brick Lane it officially is, but as you go along Brick Lane, you pass a courtyard with a sign outside that reads "91". This is not it. What you want is the alleyway beside it, past the fast food stall (closed at this hour), and into the cafe beside. Yes, I remember having terrible trouble finding it the first time.
Anyway, didn't look like they were doing much business when I arrived this evening, so they must have been glad of the talk upstairs - indeed, there wasn't even anyone to guide us to it, although I daresay they'd have done so if asked. When I'd had my name checked off the list, I could see it was pretty full - I ended up on the sofa at the back. But I did have a straight-on view! No pillars in my way, which is an issue here.
She admitted at the start that this is a new talk for her - and that she's always nervous when that happens. You might say that she works her way up to the exciting stuff - she starts with rape, then stalking, abduction - it isn't until the second half, after a brief interval, that she gets on to cults, terrorist attacks, and serial killers.
An interesting opening, with some fake news that's apparently been doing the rounds for years - oh, and spread by someone who teaches self-defence. No, FYI, most attacks do NOT happen in car parks - they're too busy and well-lit, with good CCTV coverage. Most violent attacks - apart from sexual ones - are, of course, perpetrated on men. Quite a high percentage of attackers are armed - and no, it's not a good idea to fight back on the assumption that they'll get tired of it after a couple of minutes.
There is also a very interesting piece on cross-racial profiling, where people have to identify a perpetrator of a different race from their own. She uses an extract from The Good Wife, and also tells us how even children raised in a family of different ethnic origin to their own exhibit the same difficulties in distinguishing the faces of people whose race is different from theirs.
A lot of common sense advice about things like how to tell if someone is following you, and what to do about it. Stop frequently, would you believe - it's hard to tail someone who keeps stopping! I was particularly struck by the story of a woman who saw a man trying to get into her building, who spun her a story about needing to get in to see his grandmother. So she let him in. And then he offered to help her with her shopping - and accused her of being a militant feminist when she hesitated. Assured her that he wouldn't come in, he'd leave the bags at the door. Which is how he came to barge into her flat and assault her - indeed, she was lucky to escape with her life. Goes to show, if something feels off.. forget the social niceties.
Advice about what to do if the worst happens, and you're abducted - pay as much attention as possible, it might help. Mind you, when she got on to the advice from the ex-Navy Seal, I got a bit dubious - I mean, how many of us are really going to pick the lock on our handcuffs with a hairpin? and I don't think it's quite that easy to escape a zip tie. Still, common sense is a valuable commodity in any situation.
Afterwards, most people left - but it was worth staying for the Q+A, where she told us that a good pathway into working in psychology like she does, particularly of extremely troubled individuals, is to volunteer for a suicide hotline for 18 months or so - that'll test whether you're up to it. And yes, as someone asked her - she DOES think everyone's out to get her! So, an enjoyable evening, despite the subject matter - and despite the constant sound of trickling water from the adjacent bathroom. It was cold in there too - all in all, a terrible venue for a talk.
Froze my hands off on the walk back - when it also drizzled on me! That's supposed to warm up the weather.. Tomorrow, I had arranged to go with the London Jazz Meetup - but gee, it's all the way out in Ealing! So I said sod it, I'd go to the pictures again. Now, three films are currently tying at the top of my list, all at an IMDB rating of 8.1. Njan Prakashan, however, is showing no closer than the Odeon Lee Valley - forget it. The other two are - much more attractively - on in Curzon Bloomsbury. And the winner is - Roma. Partly because it's on later, and I have an evening meeting - and partly because it's directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Seems it's a year in the life of a Mexican maid in the 70s, and is based on his childhood memories.
Showing posts with label Cafe 1001. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cafe 1001. Show all posts
Monday, 21 January 2019
Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Talk: Seven Wonders of the Solar System
Tonight, finally back with Funzing! LDN Talks @ Night (I thought they were changing their name to Funzing Talks - perhaps not yet) and London Speaks Sessions were talking about the Seven Wonders of the Solar System, at Cafe 1001. Yeuch - can't stand the place: hipster central. Still, at least I could walk there..
And walk there I did! first time since I moved. When I eventually tore myself from a friendly, but overly chatty, co-worker I haven't spoken to in a while. I could just feel I was going to be late - so, ASAP, off I dashed. I might have taken the bus instead, except Google Maps got the time wrong again - when I got to the stop and saw I had another 10 minutes to wait, I realised I'd be faster walking! At least I was already going in the right direction.
Not hard - straight down Commercial Road, hanging a left eventually - I was coming at it from the opposite direction to usual, but it was easy enough. Unfortunately, I was a little late - good job I knew where I was going, as there were no signs, and nobody to guide me. So, through the crowd listening to the band - as I figured, the music proved quite distracting during the talk; this is a terrible venue for talks. Still, for once, there were people that took it upon themselves to close the doors if things outside got too loud.
Someone hopped up when I came in, and checked off my name on his laptop. The room was mostly full, but not entirely - I had no trouble getting a seat. She'd started already - but the guy who checked my name assured me that she hadn't gone far. Indeed, I can only have missed at most one planet - I don't recall her saying anything about Mercury. No problem about me arriving late, at least - and I wasn't the only one, someone crept in half an hour later..
She proceeded to make her way out past the planets - starting with the moon, then Venus, then each of the planets in order, heading out to the edge (and including Pluto, yay! Hated it when they downgraded that.) The images in her slideshow were awesome - I was soon lost in them. It's hard not to be, when faced with real-life wonders like this - the sheer size and scale of what she was discussing are unimaginable. The colours, which she assured us were real, were incredible. And much of the talk centred on massive volcanoes, craters.. the feasibility of life.. the vast distances involved.
There was an interval, which she extended because she'd got through the first bit so quickly. I got a drink at the bar, and asked about nibbles - nope, I'd have to go to the cafe downstairs. Nuts to that - I sat down again. After the interval, we were onto her pet project - Saturn. I can see why - with its famous rings, it's easily the most photogenic planet. The amazing pictures in this section, she explained, were the result of the Cassini Mission - and she enthralled us with talk of how a mission could last for 35 years, and how upset the people working on this mission were when the probe crashed into the planet, a few months ago. She revealed how one said that the data returned would take 100 years to analyse properly..
Plenty of people were taking pictures of the slides. I might have myself, but my phone was practically dead, and I needed to check my walk back.. This was a really great talk, delivered by someone obviously well used to public speaking. Scholarly rather than entertaining, this was one that didn't need a song and dance act - the planets spoke for themselves.
Outside afterwards, it was pissing with unforecast rain. And on the walk home, one of my principal irritations was having to skirt great hordes of joggers! I wonder whether this is a year-round thing, or just for the more uncomfortable months.. At least my phone lasted long enough for me to find my way. Tomorrow, I had RSVPed with London Science Talks and Museums Meetup, for a Science Museum late. But hey, it's free - so I had no problem cancelling when Let's Do This advertised a meal the same evening. Turkish, I believe, with a drink at the George Inn beforehand. Closer to me, too.
I start February with two from Up in the Cheap Seats. On Thursday, I'm at John in the National. And on Friday, my now-nearby venue, finally - I'm at Sadler's Wells Sampled. Hey, I can walk there and back, again..
On Saturday, I'm finally back with Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group (fairly trips off the tongue, that!) for a free walk - Secret Diaries and Public Spaces: the Legacy of Pepys and Wren. As run by Walk London. I had a great time with this group before - it's a shame they so frequently clash with other things I'm doing.
On Sunday, another walk, with Funzing, via Walking in London - Forgotten Old London is one I've had my eye on for a while. And that evening, someone suggested a classical concert in King's Place - well, whyever not? So I booked. Close enough to walk home after, too.
And on Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Hampstead Theatre, for Dry Powder.
And walk there I did! first time since I moved. When I eventually tore myself from a friendly, but overly chatty, co-worker I haven't spoken to in a while. I could just feel I was going to be late - so, ASAP, off I dashed. I might have taken the bus instead, except Google Maps got the time wrong again - when I got to the stop and saw I had another 10 minutes to wait, I realised I'd be faster walking! At least I was already going in the right direction.
Not hard - straight down Commercial Road, hanging a left eventually - I was coming at it from the opposite direction to usual, but it was easy enough. Unfortunately, I was a little late - good job I knew where I was going, as there were no signs, and nobody to guide me. So, through the crowd listening to the band - as I figured, the music proved quite distracting during the talk; this is a terrible venue for talks. Still, for once, there were people that took it upon themselves to close the doors if things outside got too loud.
Someone hopped up when I came in, and checked off my name on his laptop. The room was mostly full, but not entirely - I had no trouble getting a seat. She'd started already - but the guy who checked my name assured me that she hadn't gone far. Indeed, I can only have missed at most one planet - I don't recall her saying anything about Mercury. No problem about me arriving late, at least - and I wasn't the only one, someone crept in half an hour later..
She proceeded to make her way out past the planets - starting with the moon, then Venus, then each of the planets in order, heading out to the edge (and including Pluto, yay! Hated it when they downgraded that.) The images in her slideshow were awesome - I was soon lost in them. It's hard not to be, when faced with real-life wonders like this - the sheer size and scale of what she was discussing are unimaginable. The colours, which she assured us were real, were incredible. And much of the talk centred on massive volcanoes, craters.. the feasibility of life.. the vast distances involved.
There was an interval, which she extended because she'd got through the first bit so quickly. I got a drink at the bar, and asked about nibbles - nope, I'd have to go to the cafe downstairs. Nuts to that - I sat down again. After the interval, we were onto her pet project - Saturn. I can see why - with its famous rings, it's easily the most photogenic planet. The amazing pictures in this section, she explained, were the result of the Cassini Mission - and she enthralled us with talk of how a mission could last for 35 years, and how upset the people working on this mission were when the probe crashed into the planet, a few months ago. She revealed how one said that the data returned would take 100 years to analyse properly..
Plenty of people were taking pictures of the slides. I might have myself, but my phone was practically dead, and I needed to check my walk back.. This was a really great talk, delivered by someone obviously well used to public speaking. Scholarly rather than entertaining, this was one that didn't need a song and dance act - the planets spoke for themselves.
Outside afterwards, it was pissing with unforecast rain. And on the walk home, one of my principal irritations was having to skirt great hordes of joggers! I wonder whether this is a year-round thing, or just for the more uncomfortable months.. At least my phone lasted long enough for me to find my way. Tomorrow, I had RSVPed with London Science Talks and Museums Meetup, for a Science Museum late. But hey, it's free - so I had no problem cancelling when Let's Do This advertised a meal the same evening. Turkish, I believe, with a drink at the George Inn beforehand. Closer to me, too.
I start February with two from Up in the Cheap Seats. On Thursday, I'm at John in the National. And on Friday, my now-nearby venue, finally - I'm at Sadler's Wells Sampled. Hey, I can walk there and back, again..
On Saturday, I'm finally back with Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group (fairly trips off the tongue, that!) for a free walk - Secret Diaries and Public Spaces: the Legacy of Pepys and Wren. As run by Walk London. I had a great time with this group before - it's a shame they so frequently clash with other things I'm doing.
On Sunday, another walk, with Funzing, via Walking in London - Forgotten Old London is one I've had my eye on for a while. And that evening, someone suggested a classical concert in King's Place - well, whyever not? So I booked. Close enough to walk home after, too.
And on Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Hampstead Theatre, for Dry Powder.
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
Talk: The Science of Psychedelics
Funzing has gotten big into talks - dozens are scheduled in the coming months, and with four different Meetup groups (all of which I'm a member of), I certainly do hear about them. Well, The Science of Psychedelics sounded interesting, and I booked - with Funzing, you can always cancel without penalty up to 48 hours in advance anyway, so if something better comes up I have no trouble doing so. So I signed up with LDN Talks @Night, London for a Tenner or Less, and London Speaks Sessions.
So, off I headed to Shoreditch yesterday evening. (Perfect location for it, full of hipsters.) Bus as usual - you'd have to take one at least part of the way, anyway. Google Maps (when it finally decided) sent me up to Oxford Street to catch it - via a tangle of backstreets that I'm just getting used to navigating. Nothing like practice..
I had a choice - ended up on the 25. Eventually got off at Adler Street, back, and next right up Brick Lane - my, it's an age since I'd been here! Can't remember whether that Indian arch was there the last time.. anyway, probably because it was a Monday, I was nearly at the venue before I was invited to try someone's restaurant!
Good thing I was here before - Cafe 1001 is a little tricky to find, since you can't see it from the street. Signs at the venue itself were helpful, though - and this time, the person checking names was all the way inside, so those signs were needed. Oh, and it seems that since I was last at a Funzing talk, they've come up with loyalty cards - he asked me whether I'd been to a talk before, I said yes, and he asked whether I could remember the name of the talk. "Eh, Fly First Class for Free"? I've been to more than that, but couldn't remember off the top of my head. Anyway, this earned me an extra stamp, and when I have three, I can have the fourth talk for free.. whee.. now, how that works with booking online, I'm not sure. Maybe you have to buy your ticket at the door!
I really don't like this venue. It's deliberately grungy - which is ok, but the seating is eclectic, and mostly consists of stools and converted boxes with no backs. By the time I'd got a drink, it was 10 minutes to start time, and the place was packed. I ended up with a stool, near the back of the room, with a huge pillar right in the middle of my view of the screen. Well, what can you do? Meantime, I noticed vouchers scattered about - picked one up. WELLBEING30 gets you 30% off for 45 days (44 now, I guess). I see they have the EnjoyFunzing10 code on the website again too, for 10% off for a limited time - really, they inundate you with these codes.
Well now. This talk is, of course, about psychedelics. And it's given by someone who knows his stuff - senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Greenwich. As the talk progresses, you discover just how much he knows about it - lacking test subjects for one experiment, he just tested himself.. 20 times.. Now, it's a fascinating subject, but just thinking about the structure of the talk, he'd have been advised to get into the juicy stuff earlier. He does eventually, but the very beginning is a bit dry. After all, this was a non-academic audience.
Some interesting topics are raised. He describes the effect of psychedelic drugs as a decrease in "convergent" thinking (the ability to perform everyday tasks), but an increase in interconnectivity and "divergent" (creative) thinking. And he has the stats to back him up - although (for you statisticians out there), I had to chuckle at some of the p-values he's finding statistically significant - but then, social scientists have more relaxed standards than, say, physicists. (And some of the p-values, even physicists would be happy with!)
He speaks at length about South American tribes, with their drug-inspired art - he's spent a lot of time out there. During the Q+A afterwards, he was rather coy when asked what his list of best drugs was - but a lot of mention was made of DMT, although he explained that even that has three different variants, and the effect is different with each drug anyway, so he didn't want to compare. (If you're looking for its natural origin, the Amazonian indigenous peoples apparently get it from something called ayahuasca - which he mentioned usually made him throw up..) Someone at the back brought up the thorny issue of a couple of people he knew who committed suicide on the effects of psychedelics - about which the speaker was duly respectful, but did point out that that is quite rare, and probably indicates an underlying propensity for psychological problems.
Yeah, interesting talk, for sure. Oh, and I did sympathise when - after someone had finished drying their hands, having used the toilet - he thanked them. When the dryer finally stopped, you see - it's ridiculously loud, and drowns out whatever's happening in the bar / talk area. That was the only time it happened.. This talk is repeated on 3 April, if you're interested. Afterwards I headed straight home -
Google Maps had told me "Stop E" but it was actually Stop D, as I discovered - where a whole host of buses would take me home. I decided to get on one to Tottenham Court Road, so I could swing by the shops and grab something to eat - the bus ended up terminating just shy of there, but no biggie.
Tonight, I'm with London European Club (LEC) for Carradine's Cockney Singalong, at Hoxton Hall. Had some fun with this a few weeks ago, when I noticed another group member had confused it with something at a different venue, and thought it wasn't now happening..
Tomorrow, I'm headed with LEC again - with a different organiser - to see 2 Cellos in concert in the London Palladium. Cool - never seen them before, never been there before, and I can probably walk there! Unfortunately, I heard a couple of days ago that it's one of those steep venues.. oo-er, I'll just have to manage somehow.
So, off I headed to Shoreditch yesterday evening. (Perfect location for it, full of hipsters.) Bus as usual - you'd have to take one at least part of the way, anyway. Google Maps (when it finally decided) sent me up to Oxford Street to catch it - via a tangle of backstreets that I'm just getting used to navigating. Nothing like practice..
I had a choice - ended up on the 25. Eventually got off at Adler Street, back, and next right up Brick Lane - my, it's an age since I'd been here! Can't remember whether that Indian arch was there the last time.. anyway, probably because it was a Monday, I was nearly at the venue before I was invited to try someone's restaurant!
Good thing I was here before - Cafe 1001 is a little tricky to find, since you can't see it from the street. Signs at the venue itself were helpful, though - and this time, the person checking names was all the way inside, so those signs were needed. Oh, and it seems that since I was last at a Funzing talk, they've come up with loyalty cards - he asked me whether I'd been to a talk before, I said yes, and he asked whether I could remember the name of the talk. "Eh, Fly First Class for Free"? I've been to more than that, but couldn't remember off the top of my head. Anyway, this earned me an extra stamp, and when I have three, I can have the fourth talk for free.. whee.. now, how that works with booking online, I'm not sure. Maybe you have to buy your ticket at the door!
I really don't like this venue. It's deliberately grungy - which is ok, but the seating is eclectic, and mostly consists of stools and converted boxes with no backs. By the time I'd got a drink, it was 10 minutes to start time, and the place was packed. I ended up with a stool, near the back of the room, with a huge pillar right in the middle of my view of the screen. Well, what can you do? Meantime, I noticed vouchers scattered about - picked one up. WELLBEING30 gets you 30% off for 45 days (44 now, I guess). I see they have the EnjoyFunzing10 code on the website again too, for 10% off for a limited time - really, they inundate you with these codes.
Well now. This talk is, of course, about psychedelics. And it's given by someone who knows his stuff - senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Greenwich. As the talk progresses, you discover just how much he knows about it - lacking test subjects for one experiment, he just tested himself.. 20 times.. Now, it's a fascinating subject, but just thinking about the structure of the talk, he'd have been advised to get into the juicy stuff earlier. He does eventually, but the very beginning is a bit dry. After all, this was a non-academic audience.
Some interesting topics are raised. He describes the effect of psychedelic drugs as a decrease in "convergent" thinking (the ability to perform everyday tasks), but an increase in interconnectivity and "divergent" (creative) thinking. And he has the stats to back him up - although (for you statisticians out there), I had to chuckle at some of the p-values he's finding statistically significant - but then, social scientists have more relaxed standards than, say, physicists. (And some of the p-values, even physicists would be happy with!)
He speaks at length about South American tribes, with their drug-inspired art - he's spent a lot of time out there. During the Q+A afterwards, he was rather coy when asked what his list of best drugs was - but a lot of mention was made of DMT, although he explained that even that has three different variants, and the effect is different with each drug anyway, so he didn't want to compare. (If you're looking for its natural origin, the Amazonian indigenous peoples apparently get it from something called ayahuasca - which he mentioned usually made him throw up..) Someone at the back brought up the thorny issue of a couple of people he knew who committed suicide on the effects of psychedelics - about which the speaker was duly respectful, but did point out that that is quite rare, and probably indicates an underlying propensity for psychological problems.
Yeah, interesting talk, for sure. Oh, and I did sympathise when - after someone had finished drying their hands, having used the toilet - he thanked them. When the dryer finally stopped, you see - it's ridiculously loud, and drowns out whatever's happening in the bar / talk area. That was the only time it happened.. This talk is repeated on 3 April, if you're interested. Afterwards I headed straight home -
Google Maps had told me "Stop E" but it was actually Stop D, as I discovered - where a whole host of buses would take me home. I decided to get on one to Tottenham Court Road, so I could swing by the shops and grab something to eat - the bus ended up terminating just shy of there, but no biggie.
Tonight, I'm with London European Club (LEC) for Carradine's Cockney Singalong, at Hoxton Hall. Had some fun with this a few weeks ago, when I noticed another group member had confused it with something at a different venue, and thought it wasn't now happening..
Tomorrow, I'm headed with LEC again - with a different organiser - to see 2 Cellos in concert in the London Palladium. Cool - never seen them before, never been there before, and I can probably walk there! Unfortunately, I heard a couple of days ago that it's one of those steep venues.. oo-er, I'll just have to manage somehow.
Thursday was another Funzing talk, with the same three groups, on The Science of Hypnosis. And then, wouldn't you know it, Henning from the LEC advertised.. Hypnosis - Altering Consciousness! With Pint of Science. (What is it about that day and hypnosis?!) Anyway, I do enjoy events with Henning, and I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours in advance without penalty. So I did, and booked the other instead. And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again.. Not sure what I'm doing next week, as someone in our team at work is visiting from another office, and we might be doing something with her. Watch this space..
Thursday, 30 June 2016
Talk: How to Fly First Class for Free
Funzing is represented on Meetup by at least two groups, and one of them - London Speaks Sessions - advertised, some time ago, a talk on How to Fly First Class for Free. (Weirdly, all mention of this talk has been removed from the Meetup site, as of today - go figure.) Anyway, I mentioned it to Helen, she said she'd be interested, and we booked. In the meantime, however, she got a new job - started this week, and was too busy to go, after all! So she sent her husband.
He was coming into Waterloo, and I arranged to meet him there at a certain time. When I arrived at Clapham Junction, even the London Departures board was confused - they never did say anything about the adjacent Platform 3, but when I passed, a train to Waterloo was due in one minute. Didn't actually arrive for a couple of minutes after that, but still.. for once I wasn't late, arriving at Waterloo a couple of minutes before my companion was due, which gave me time to grab cash at the ATMs across from where I was to meet him, outside Boots at Platform 12.
Jubilee Line to Canada Water, Overground to Shoreditch, was the easiest route Google Maps found for me. So off we schlepped, on cramped trains, and when we finally got there, turned right, under the bridge; first left on to Quaker Street, continued to the crossroads. Turned right onto Brick Lane. This much was easy. Now, Funzing has a major fault of being very cagey about telling you where its events are on - they don't even give the correct postcode on the event page. When you book, pretty much all they tell you is the postcode.. I'd thought the venue was one where Hard Facade played once. Nope, as we passed it, it seemed pretty closed. Well, we passed the doorway for no. 91, the address given for the venue.. followed some other folks who were looking for it.. and found Cafe 1001, the stated venue, just around the corner in the alleyway.
The website had said they had a bbq menu, and sure enough, a covered stall outside the door served a decent range of burgers, with beer and soft drinks. Sandwiches inside the cafe - I fancied a burger though, and that's what we had. We grabbed a nearby picnic table when it became vacant, and our burgers were cooked on the spot - a choice of salad ingredients and sauces. They came with wedges, we were told. We discovered that the "wedges" were (quite spicy) half potatoes.. also that there were neither napkins nor cutlery. Hey-ho, we managed, it was tasty, and we finished just as it was starting to rain - and a lady with a Funzing cap popped up inside the cafe, with a list of names.
My name was checked off, and we were each given the customary 10% discount voucher - for Funzing events booked in the next month. We made our way upstairs, across a landing populated with leather sofas, and through the double doors to where we could see people sitting. As we entered, a screen to the right showed "Miles Mogul" - yes, we were in the right place.
The bar wasn't free, unfortunately, so that obviously isn't a regular Funzing thing. And what she thought I ordered, I may never know, but it was obvious that she'd misheard my order for white wine when she made sure to warn me that they didn't have draught..! Mind you, I can hardly blame her, with the racket coming from the fan to the side. Drinks in hand (and they only seem to do small glasses of wine), we perused the seats.. an eclectic mix of sofas, armchairs, and metal chairs covered in some material that was unravelling rapidly. We picked a couple of those, near the back in the middle.
Well, this is hipster-central, and both crowd and venue were well suited to the area. The crowd? Predominantly young and white (I did see one black guy), men primarily sporting perfectly groomed hairstyles and beards, women generally slim, in jeans and t's, long hair. Photos now here.The venue? Shabby chic. Bare brick walls to the rear, illuminated red bars either side of the screen that looked like enormous heating elements. Eclectic seating, as I say. The lampshades over the bar were falling apart. Really though, the unravelling chair covers took the biscuit - I mean, the damn cover on my chair kept poking and scratching me for the whole talk!
The talk started inauspiciously. With no mic, he had to shout to make himself heard over that blasted fan, whose off switch they didn't seem able to find for five minutes. Nor could they find the switches for the lights they wanted to turn off. The door we'd come through kept creaking distractingly, and at one point, the talk was completely drowned out by the sound of the hand dryer from the toilets! Really, I'd be dubious about coming here for a drink, but for a talk it's a terrible, terrible venue! Avoid like the plague.
Right! Well, we were here for a talk, and a talk we got. Funzing advertises itself as a stepping-stone for people who want to promote their small businesses, and funnily enough, just like at the last talk I attended, this guy's mum was in the audience. He was less proficient than the last speaker, mind - probably less practiced at speaking in public - but what did come through was his absolute passion for two things: aeroplanes, and flying first (or business) class on the cheap.
He has his own website: http://themilesmogul.com/. In fact, he's on loads of different platforms - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, tons of YouTube videos. And as I remarked to my companion as we were leaving, what I found most remarkable about this was the level of opportunity out there to express your inner geek! It's truly fantastic - no matter what your passion, there is a forum for you, there is an online community. He's gone into this in a huge way, and was delighted to find one fellow #avgeek (aviation geek) in the audience (in the front row, natch).
He could've skipped the intro, about how his passion for planes grew, although of course it was a chance to publicise his videos, a few of which we watched. All we were really interested in was the nitty-gritty of how he does this, which he split into two sections - "Basic" and "Advanced" hacking. I really don't remember all the details, but it was all about airmiles - as he pointed out in the Q+A afterwards, he's not one for rocking up to the airport and trying to blag an upgrade. Although one helpful point about that was when someone asked whether prebooking a meal lessens your chances of an upgrade - no, the avgeek in the front row said, not necessarily, unless it's something complicated, like halal or vegetarian. Ditto, you're more likely to be upgraded if you're a solo traveller - less hassle, basically.
Basic: credit cards that are attached to airmiles. AmEx featured, but there are others - he mentioned tricks like partners each signing up to a card, signing up to a card via a referral, in which case both parties get a bonus: and also "churning" - an "advanced" hacking feature, whereby you keep signing up to cards, cancelling them, and signing up again for another signup bonus. The main thing, of course, is to concentrate your credit card spending onto the card that you want to boost points on. Tesco clubcard points can be converted to airmiles. TopCashback featured - this'll be the handiest for me, short-term at least.
Advanced hacking featured, as well as churning, ex-EU (nothing to do with Brexit, this is the idea of flying out of the cheapest European airport for taxes), upgrading to a higher passenger status to earn more points, and tier flights, whereby people fly to far-flung destinations just for the points. A whole world of complicated routes, and price and points comparisons, was unveiled to us, with websites like Flyertalk and the potentially very useful flight matrix from Google. Mind you, you can always subscribe to the Miles Mogul mailing list - the guy is always at it, and is a mine of useful information.
Despite the iffy location, this was really a talk with something for everyone. If you have any cause to fly anywhere, you might consider these sites and what they discuss. And now I know why, on the few British Airways flights I've been on, most of the passengers seemed to be in some higher class than simple Economy..
And so home, to bed early, and Guildford today. Tonight, no fewer than four Meetup events were advertising a comedy night in Hammersmith. With John Hastings as the headliner, I was keen - and, it being free, I've signed up for all four! So that's Random London, London Live Comedy, and two (for goodness' sake!) from Funzing's other Meetup group (that I know of) - London for a Tenner or Less. I think the two non-Funzing groups are actually run by the same guy.. so if you will duplicate, well, so can I!
Back to Ireland for the weekend, and next week is all mapped out - first time in a while that's happened. On Monday, I'm finally gong to Kinky Boots, in the Adelphi. Got my ticket on an Amazon offer - always, always shop around for the big shows. On Tuesday, similarly, I'm headed (finally) to Motown, the Musical, at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Best value in that case was from the venue itself. And hey, I got a reminder email from them today! which was nice.
Speaking of value, on Wednesday I'm headed to the National, to see a reading of Stuff Happens, with Bill Nighy. Also in the room will be London Dramatic Arts, who are charging £2.50 more than the standard £10 for this production. It's been a while since I went with them - and at this rate, it'll be a while longer! Anyway, I've booked a seat upstairs, where hopefully I'll avoid them. (Pure badness of me to book at all, I know, but it sounds good.)
In complete contrast, I'm with the Man with the Hat on Thursday and Friday. Thursday is back to the Globe (whoopee!) for a performance of Macbeth that didn't get a great review in the Metro. What the hey, I don't pay much attention to those - and it'll be a great night anyway - great venue, great group. And on Friday, he's taking us back to the Royal Opera House, for Il Trovatore.
He was coming into Waterloo, and I arranged to meet him there at a certain time. When I arrived at Clapham Junction, even the London Departures board was confused - they never did say anything about the adjacent Platform 3, but when I passed, a train to Waterloo was due in one minute. Didn't actually arrive for a couple of minutes after that, but still.. for once I wasn't late, arriving at Waterloo a couple of minutes before my companion was due, which gave me time to grab cash at the ATMs across from where I was to meet him, outside Boots at Platform 12.
Jubilee Line to Canada Water, Overground to Shoreditch, was the easiest route Google Maps found for me. So off we schlepped, on cramped trains, and when we finally got there, turned right, under the bridge; first left on to Quaker Street, continued to the crossroads. Turned right onto Brick Lane. This much was easy. Now, Funzing has a major fault of being very cagey about telling you where its events are on - they don't even give the correct postcode on the event page. When you book, pretty much all they tell you is the postcode.. I'd thought the venue was one where Hard Facade played once. Nope, as we passed it, it seemed pretty closed. Well, we passed the doorway for no. 91, the address given for the venue.. followed some other folks who were looking for it.. and found Cafe 1001, the stated venue, just around the corner in the alleyway.
The website had said they had a bbq menu, and sure enough, a covered stall outside the door served a decent range of burgers, with beer and soft drinks. Sandwiches inside the cafe - I fancied a burger though, and that's what we had. We grabbed a nearby picnic table when it became vacant, and our burgers were cooked on the spot - a choice of salad ingredients and sauces. They came with wedges, we were told. We discovered that the "wedges" were (quite spicy) half potatoes.. also that there were neither napkins nor cutlery. Hey-ho, we managed, it was tasty, and we finished just as it was starting to rain - and a lady with a Funzing cap popped up inside the cafe, with a list of names.
My name was checked off, and we were each given the customary 10% discount voucher - for Funzing events booked in the next month. We made our way upstairs, across a landing populated with leather sofas, and through the double doors to where we could see people sitting. As we entered, a screen to the right showed "Miles Mogul" - yes, we were in the right place.
The bar wasn't free, unfortunately, so that obviously isn't a regular Funzing thing. And what she thought I ordered, I may never know, but it was obvious that she'd misheard my order for white wine when she made sure to warn me that they didn't have draught..! Mind you, I can hardly blame her, with the racket coming from the fan to the side. Drinks in hand (and they only seem to do small glasses of wine), we perused the seats.. an eclectic mix of sofas, armchairs, and metal chairs covered in some material that was unravelling rapidly. We picked a couple of those, near the back in the middle.
Well, this is hipster-central, and both crowd and venue were well suited to the area. The crowd? Predominantly young and white (I did see one black guy), men primarily sporting perfectly groomed hairstyles and beards, women generally slim, in jeans and t's, long hair. Photos now here.The venue? Shabby chic. Bare brick walls to the rear, illuminated red bars either side of the screen that looked like enormous heating elements. Eclectic seating, as I say. The lampshades over the bar were falling apart. Really though, the unravelling chair covers took the biscuit - I mean, the damn cover on my chair kept poking and scratching me for the whole talk!
The talk started inauspiciously. With no mic, he had to shout to make himself heard over that blasted fan, whose off switch they didn't seem able to find for five minutes. Nor could they find the switches for the lights they wanted to turn off. The door we'd come through kept creaking distractingly, and at one point, the talk was completely drowned out by the sound of the hand dryer from the toilets! Really, I'd be dubious about coming here for a drink, but for a talk it's a terrible, terrible venue! Avoid like the plague.
Right! Well, we were here for a talk, and a talk we got. Funzing advertises itself as a stepping-stone for people who want to promote their small businesses, and funnily enough, just like at the last talk I attended, this guy's mum was in the audience. He was less proficient than the last speaker, mind - probably less practiced at speaking in public - but what did come through was his absolute passion for two things: aeroplanes, and flying first (or business) class on the cheap.
He has his own website: http://themilesmogul.com/. In fact, he's on loads of different platforms - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, tons of YouTube videos. And as I remarked to my companion as we were leaving, what I found most remarkable about this was the level of opportunity out there to express your inner geek! It's truly fantastic - no matter what your passion, there is a forum for you, there is an online community. He's gone into this in a huge way, and was delighted to find one fellow #avgeek (aviation geek) in the audience (in the front row, natch).
He could've skipped the intro, about how his passion for planes grew, although of course it was a chance to publicise his videos, a few of which we watched. All we were really interested in was the nitty-gritty of how he does this, which he split into two sections - "Basic" and "Advanced" hacking. I really don't remember all the details, but it was all about airmiles - as he pointed out in the Q+A afterwards, he's not one for rocking up to the airport and trying to blag an upgrade. Although one helpful point about that was when someone asked whether prebooking a meal lessens your chances of an upgrade - no, the avgeek in the front row said, not necessarily, unless it's something complicated, like halal or vegetarian. Ditto, you're more likely to be upgraded if you're a solo traveller - less hassle, basically.
Basic: credit cards that are attached to airmiles. AmEx featured, but there are others - he mentioned tricks like partners each signing up to a card, signing up to a card via a referral, in which case both parties get a bonus: and also "churning" - an "advanced" hacking feature, whereby you keep signing up to cards, cancelling them, and signing up again for another signup bonus. The main thing, of course, is to concentrate your credit card spending onto the card that you want to boost points on. Tesco clubcard points can be converted to airmiles. TopCashback featured - this'll be the handiest for me, short-term at least.
Advanced hacking featured, as well as churning, ex-EU (nothing to do with Brexit, this is the idea of flying out of the cheapest European airport for taxes), upgrading to a higher passenger status to earn more points, and tier flights, whereby people fly to far-flung destinations just for the points. A whole world of complicated routes, and price and points comparisons, was unveiled to us, with websites like Flyertalk and the potentially very useful flight matrix from Google. Mind you, you can always subscribe to the Miles Mogul mailing list - the guy is always at it, and is a mine of useful information.
Despite the iffy location, this was really a talk with something for everyone. If you have any cause to fly anywhere, you might consider these sites and what they discuss. And now I know why, on the few British Airways flights I've been on, most of the passengers seemed to be in some higher class than simple Economy..
And so home, to bed early, and Guildford today. Tonight, no fewer than four Meetup events were advertising a comedy night in Hammersmith. With John Hastings as the headliner, I was keen - and, it being free, I've signed up for all four! So that's Random London, London Live Comedy, and two (for goodness' sake!) from Funzing's other Meetup group (that I know of) - London for a Tenner or Less. I think the two non-Funzing groups are actually run by the same guy.. so if you will duplicate, well, so can I!
Back to Ireland for the weekend, and next week is all mapped out - first time in a while that's happened. On Monday, I'm finally gong to Kinky Boots, in the Adelphi. Got my ticket on an Amazon offer - always, always shop around for the big shows. On Tuesday, similarly, I'm headed (finally) to Motown, the Musical, at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Best value in that case was from the venue itself. And hey, I got a reminder email from them today! which was nice.
Speaking of value, on Wednesday I'm headed to the National, to see a reading of Stuff Happens, with Bill Nighy. Also in the room will be London Dramatic Arts, who are charging £2.50 more than the standard £10 for this production. It's been a while since I went with them - and at this rate, it'll be a while longer! Anyway, I've booked a seat upstairs, where hopefully I'll avoid them. (Pure badness of me to book at all, I know, but it sounds good.)
In complete contrast, I'm with the Man with the Hat on Thursday and Friday. Thursday is back to the Globe (whoopee!) for a performance of Macbeth that didn't get a great review in the Metro. What the hey, I don't pay much attention to those - and it'll be a great night anyway - great venue, great group. And on Friday, he's taking us back to the Royal Opera House, for Il Trovatore.
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