So, I made it back again - last night's flight was a whole three minutes earlier than the previous one. Mind you, there I was blaming Ryanair, until another misfortunate soul - waiting for departure, as I was, with no definite word - suggested I check the Stansted website. Sure enough, it was an absolute litany of severely delayed flights - including the one to Shannon, which was presumably due to take us back again. I assume they're bursting at the seams with summer travellers.
Anyway, they at least redeemed themselves with the baggage claim - last time, I had a 45-minute wait once I got to the baggage hall, before our baggage arrived. Last night, I was absolutely stunned to discover, upon arriving in the hall, bracing myself for another lengthy wait - and another call to my mother from the hall, pretending I was home already - that the baggage was already there, waiting to be collected! See, they can do it if they want.. Within a couple of minutes, I had my bag and was headed for the buses. Called her from the queue (pretending I was home), and caught a bus nearly two hours earlier than last time! Despite a lengthy wait for the city bus home, I was still home over an hour before last time. Mind you, it was still 4:16am..
Which is why I was rather tired today. What the hey, tonight I was back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again. I had a late meeting - when I discovered that yet another had been scheduled, to which they'd forgotten to invite me, I demurred; enough was enough. I left instead.
Boy, was it hot! I panted my way to the bus - which turned out not to be going the full way. Never mind, I changed straight on to a #19 that dropped me just across the road from the theatre. As it happened, I was the first of our group to arrive - I collected my ticket from the box office, then schlepped out again to join the queue, as the house wasn't yet open. Where a couple of the group joined me.. we proceeded to the stalls bar, which turned out to be largely inhabited by what seemed (from the accompanying fliers) to be a gathering of female musicians. Well, I proceeded there - the others needed the facilities first. Seeing me standing alone (holding a glass of wine that was rather on the expensive side), looking for the others, one of them kindly introduced herself and drew me into her group. Where they were astonished to find that I wasn't an "M. D.".. (musical director?)
Happily, the group finally arrived and rescued me. And we stood and chatted for a bit until it was showtime, and time to climb all the way up to (for me) the Upper Circle.
Don't ever, ever get the side slips here - they are dreadful. I don't usually make such an error - I can only guess that there weren't any Seatplan reviews of seats near mine when I booked it. The seat itself would have been comfortable - if I hadn't had to sit sideways, half on and half off of it, splayed across the wide barrier, in order to see anything at all! In retrospect, I'd have been better off standing - there wasn't a row behind me to disturb, after all. As I was sitting sideways, legroom was fine - there was a whole heap of empty space beside my seat - but had I been sitting faced forwards, I might have been a bit squashed. No, I must try to remember to avoid these seats like the plague in future.
It was actually exhausting, and really spoiled the show for me. I kept getting stiff from the strange way I was being forced to sit, and had to keep shifting and sitting back - which meant that I followed a lot of the show by sound, unable to see what was going on. I couldn't see the near corner of the stage, even when I was contorted as far as I could go! At the interval, I noticed one man who'd forsaken his slips seat in favour of sitting on the steps at the back - I'm sure it was much more comfortable. He and his companions were gone after the interval, and I don't blame them.
Having said all of that, the show was good, as ever. Suggestions yelled by an enthusiastic audience were duly noted by the mc, and we ended up with a hotch-potch musical, set in a retirement home for superheroes, done in the style of a bunch of musicals. Of the suggested ones, I'd only heard of Phantom of the Opera - which saw them sing "operatically", but they didn't take that very far.
For me, it took off when they landed in the Wild West (don't ask - something to do with a fake time machine). They also decided to throw in some Hamilton, though the crowd didn't ask for it. But hey, you have to admit that it requires no small amount of quick thinking to draw a musical around a clutter of random suggestions, and make the whole make sense. Funny, manic - always a good night out. And gee, they now have loyalty cards! I forgot to look for one on the way out..
A quick chat outside - where it was now chilly enough that I was glad I'd brought a coat, after all - and a dash for the #19 going in the other direction, and glad to be in earlier tonight. And it was great to see people I hadn't seen in an age! Tomorrow, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.. sadly, I hadn't seen the code TALKS20 when I booked it, which gets you 20% off. Too late now to cancel and rebook.
On Wednesday, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!
On Friday, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..
On Saturday, Funzing is advertising an ice skating display in aid of the victims of Grenfell. Via Funzing UK. The usual 10% discount applies.
On Sunday, Let's Do This is headed to the World Illustration Awards exhibition at Somerset House.
Next Monday, I'm headed to storytelling by Crick Crack again, finally.. I haven't been able to make any of their more recent ones. It's in Soho Theatre, and it's Sally Pomme Clayton, with Crow. Blood. Snow. Oh my God, it's been ages. Naturally, you'd never know from their Meetup group that it's happening at all. Our boss was supposed to be in London that week, so I decided to leave the rest of the week free, for now.
Then he pinged us, last week, to say it'll actually be the week after. Cue me booking things frantically for the week that was now free - happily, I did well. On the 19th, something very interesting - Up in the Cheap Seats is off to Whist, at Sadler's Wells. Now, turns out that this is an immersive, VR experience! Definitely different.
On the 20th, London Literary Walks is off on Pop the Weasel, and I'm delighted to be able to accompany them.
On the 21st, back to Sands Films for Fete de la Musique - Belcirque is performing, and they do sound quirky. Then it's Ireland again at the weekend.
On the 25th, I'm indulging myself with a premium seat to see Andrew Scott perform the one-man show, Seawall, written especially for him. It's at the Old Vic, two weeks only.
On the 26th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Sadler's Wells. It's the Nederlands Dans Theater again - I remember good things about them from before. As I say, the boss is now in the office that week - well, he'll just have to manage without me, those two nights. I'm keeping the rest of the week, and the weekend, free, just in case. Hey, I do have to move that week as well, so could probably do with the time!
And on the 2nd, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at the Gielgud Theatre for Imperium I - Conspirator. The first part of a double-bill, but viewable independently, it is told from the point of view of Cicero's secretary, as he watches how his master's work is used to bring about an end to the Roman Republic. I should probably have booked the second part at the same time - there's a discount for that - but well, my schedule is generally so packed..!
Tuesday was a non-going-out day in the end, as our visiting colleague took herself off home for the night. I did look for something last-minute for myself, of course, but there was still nothing on Meetup, and unlike Monday, everything from my cheap ticket clubs was sold out! I guess Tuesday is that much more popular than Monday, eh? Finally, I thought about a film - but I had to go so far down the film list to find something showing that night that, by the time I did, it was too late to go to anything. So I had an early night in, and shocked our team lead by beating everyone in the team into the office on Wednesday..
I'd booked with London Literary Walks on Wednesday night, for another Sculpture in the City walk. But wouldn't you know it, he just realised beforehand that the display only starts later in the month! He's postponed it to next month. Which left me free to head back to Sands Films, where Eleanor, courtesy of TunedIn London, and advertised via the London European Club, was hosting a blues concert by Errol Linton. Lovely!
Weather was a bit warmer, thankfully, and the traffic gods were with me - this time, I was given several suggestions for my first bus (although the 43 doesn't go from that stop, tsk!), and had under 10 minutes to wait for the 47, which I picked up at Monument this time, at one of those bus stops that attracts about one bus per minute. And so it was that, despite terrible traffic on the first leg of the journey, I was in Rotherhithe half an hour earlier than last time! So when I got to The Ship, I decided to risk ordering chips.
More photos - and videos - here. Hmm. I guess they didn't have the cooker turned on, because it took over 20 minutes for them to arrive, and when they did they weren't fully cooked. Never mind, they were piping hot and very welcome. Funnily enough, while I was waiting, from the conversation I overheard at the bar, I discovered that, not only is the barmaid Irish, but has the same first name as I do! Anyway, I didn't stay to chat - legged it as soon as I'd finished.
Now that my leg's better, it was only a hop, skip and jump to Sands Films - not a full house this time, unusually, and happily my favourite chair was free - a nice, comfy armchair, into which I settled. Wasn't long before the concert started - a glorious evening of rhythm n blues, Mr. Linton fronting four others - one on keyboard, one on bass, one on percussion, and one on guitar that reminded me of Bill Murray!
For the next couple of hours, the house rocked to the music of these five men, in the most head-nodding, toe-tapping, concert I've been at in an age. Oh, it's so long since I've listened to r n b! By the end of the night, they were dancing in the aisles. Eleanor mentioned that he's the artist she's invited there the most - I can see why. A great, relaxed evening, a real tonic for the cares of the day.
Afterwards, again I was on the run, knowing how long it takes to get home from there - well, not too bad this time, with buses coming quickly, and especially since it wasn't as cold as last time. Still, it ran too late to blog, and I was just too busy to blog at work yesterday, what with California panicking over a late software release.
Yesterday evening was the office's monthly social - this month, it was in Junkyard Golf Club. Well, it beats feckin' ping pong! We had yet another late meeting - so many people in North America to talk to - and I walked down afterwards with the one other writer who was in. It's a basement venue, and I was glad I decided to leave my coat in the cloakroom, before anything else - it was boiling hot! Worth the £1 charge.. £2 for bags, BTW, and they ran out of space for a while!
We got wristbands from the evening's organiser - there are four different courses here, and our wristbands detailed which we were to go to, and at what time. We found the course without problem - basically ignored the start times, after the initial one, just streaming in, taking clubs, balls, scorecards and pencils from the guy at the entrance.
Our course was "Pablo":
Something of a jungle theme going on. Nine holes of crazy golf followed, in somewhat stifling heat, despite the ice-cold air being blasted out by one air-conditioning unit, somewhere in the middle. To mitigate the effects, there's a treetop bar halfway through! The holes themselves? Very entertaining! Lots of tricky challenges. The first is 3 par - they give up on estimates after that, but do have the odd sign warning that there's an eight-shot maximum! I'm sure I was improving by the end.. good fun, good choice of venue!
Afterwards, we writers had a drink in the bar, only to discover that everyone else had decided it was too hot and headed outside. Someone was sent back to tell us that they'd headed left - so when we finished, that's where we wandered. We found them sat at a food stall at the end of the lane, bearing the name of The Orange Buffalo. Ooh, I thought, food! They do wings and chips - I thought wings would be too messy, so stuck to chips. Thought I might also have some onion rings, but they didn't have any ready, so I didn't.
Turns out that pretty much any of the choices of sauce you can have were a bit too hot for our crew! I'm not sure anyone finished their portion. Anyway, we sat and chatted until it was pretty dark, and we started to lose people. A couple of us then mooched over to the nearby bar - when we went for drinks, we discovered it was Juju's Bar and Stage! I thought it sounded familiar - seems I was at a talk there, last year. Well, a few of us stuck it out to the bitter end - and many thanks to both who bought me drinks! A really good, really social night.
Now I'm back in Ireland for the weekend again. Gotta say, it's warmer here, way more humid. On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again.
On Tuesday, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.
On Wednesday, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!
Next Friday, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..
On the 16th, Funzing is advertising an ice skating display in aid of the victims of Grenfell. Via Funzing UK. The usual 10% discount applies.
On the 17th, Let's Do This is headed to the World Illustration Awards exhibition at Somerset House.
On the 18th, I'm headed to storytelling by Crick Crack again, finally.. I haven't been able to make any of their more recent ones. It's in Soho Theatre, and it's Sally Pomme Clayton, with Crow. Blood. Snow. Oh my God, it's been ages. Naturally, you'd never know from their Meetup group that it's happening at all. Our boss was supposed to be in London that week, so I decided to leave the rest of the week free, for now.
Then he pinged us, this week, to say it'll actually be the week after. Cue me booking things frantically for the week that was now free - happily, I did well. On the 19th, something very interesting - Up in the Cheap Seats is off to Whist, at Sadler's Wells. Now, turns out that this is an immersive, VR experience! Definitely different.
On the 20th, London Literary Walks is off on Pop the Weasel, and I'm delighted to be able to accompany them.
On the 21st, back to Sands Films for Fete de la Musique - Belcirque is performing, and they do sound quirky. Then it's Ireland again at the weekend.
On the 25th, I'm indulging myself with a premium seat to see Andrew Scott perform the one-man show, Seawall, written especially for him. It's at the Old Vic, two weeks only.
On the 26th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Sadler's Wells. It's the Nederlands Dans Theater again - I remember good things about them from before. As I say, the boss is now in the office that week - well, he'll just have to manage without me, those two nights. I'm keeping the rest of the week, and the weekend, free, just in case. Hey, I do have to move that week as well, so could probably do with the time!
And on the 2nd, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at the Gielgud Theatre for Imperium I - Conspirator. The first part of a double-bill, but viewable independently, it is told from the point of view of Cicero's secretary, as he watches how his master's work is used to bring about an end to the Roman Republic. I should probably have booked the second part at the same time - there's a discount for that - but well, my schedule is generally so packed..!
We've got a colleague visiting from abroad today and tomorrow, so I left these days free, although I'm keeping an eye on what's on, in case she's interested. Mercifully, it's a lot cooler today. Well, despite me having a late meeting, it didn't run on very long, and I was out before my colleagues left. I know, because I saw them leave.. walking right past me, nary a glance in my direction. Charitably, I'm assuming they hadn't noticed I was there, packing up.
Well, that was me at a loose end, then.. happily, I'm very good at dealing with that. Nothing on Meetup, predictably, but my £3.60 club had a few things, and I decided on a Kafka play, A Report to an Academy, which was on in Baron's Court Theatre. Handily, since I'd left it so late to book, they were giving the tickets away for free! They are for tomorrow night as well, already. Time was, I'd have been walking distance from there.. Now, though, buses would take too long, so I Tubed it, there and back. Many thanks, too, to the lady who tapped me insistently to let my know I'd dropped my Oyster card on the way in, and hand it back to me - I'd never have found it, in that crush!
Oh, the smell in King's Cross, where I had to change.. I don't miss taking the Tube regularly. At least it was easy to get a seat on the Piccadilly Line, this far east. I finally disembarked at Baron's Court station, from where it's a short walk to the theatre. Oh, I miss living out here, when I worked in a friendlier office. Anyway, turns out the theatre is in The Curtain's Up! Used to be one of our local pubs, in that office. Well, unusually, here the theatre is downstairs - the box office is actually in the theatre, and unless the theatre door is open, the house isn't. I found this out the hard way, walking in on a last-minute rehearsal. Never mind, she was sweet about it!
So I went back upstairs, had a glass of wine. Careful with that, by the way - the wine list is quite large, and you could end up ordering something much more expensive by mistake. They do food, but I couldn't see anything quick. I'd finished my wine by five minutes before showtime, and as I headed down again, they were just opening up. The nice man checked off my name, and I took a seat - open, cinema-style seating. A perky young lady loitered around the place, sporting a top hat.
It's a cast of two - turned out to be half the size of the audience, so I was glad I'd come, to swell the numbers. The story concerns an ape that was captured, and figured out its best route forward was to act as human as possible - and the finale comes with a presentation by said ape to us "an academy". They swap the top hat between them - whichever has it is the teacher, the other the ape. The moral of the story seems to be the point that the ape doesn't remember anything about being an ape, and has reinvented itself to suit its new reality - you could apply this analogy to any group of people who adapt to new circumstances, forgetting their former selves in the process.
It's really well performed, quite engaging. Minimal, friendly audience interaction. I think the reason for the poor attendance might be the price - I'm glad I got it for free, considering that full price is £12! which would be fine, except that the performance only lasts half an hour. For goodness' sake, I've been to hour-long performances that only cost £10. They need to drop the price on this considerably. Anyway, runs till Sunday. And so home, with the nearest supermarket being Marks & Spencer, five minutes from closing. No wonder they're not doing good business - they're one of the earliest-closing supermarkets I know! And there are several in the vicinity, to provide an alternative.
I'd booked with London Literary Walks on Wednesday, for another Sculpture in the City walk. But wouldn't you know it, he just realised that the display only starts later in the month! He's postponed it to next month. Which leaves me free to head back to Sands Films, where Eleanor, courtesy of TunedIn London, and advertised via the London European Club, is hosting a blues concert by Errol Linton. Lovely!
Thursday is the company's monthly social - this month, it's in Junkyard Golf Club. Well, it beats feckin' ping pong - I might even have a go! Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
Next Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again.
On the 12th, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.
On the 13th, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
On the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!
On the 15th, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..
On the 16th, Funzing is advertising an ice skating display in aid of the victims of Grenfell. Via Funzing UK. The usual 10% discount applies.
On the 17th, Let's Do This is headed to the World Illustration Awards exhibition at Somerset House.
On the 18th, I'm headed to storytelling by Crick Crack again, finally.. I haven't been able to make any of their more recent ones. It's in Soho Theatre, and it's Sally Pomme Clayton, with Crow. Blood. Snow. Oh my God, it's been ages. Naturally, you'd never know from their Meetup group that it's happening at all. Our boss is in London that week, so I'm leaving the rest of the week free, for now - he'll just have to do without me on Monday evening. Then it's Ireland again at the weekend.
On the 25th, I'm indulging myself with a premium seat to see Andrew Scott perform the one-man show, Seawall, written especially for him. It's at the Old Vic, two weeks only.
And on the 26th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, at Sadler's Wells, again for the first time in ages. Presumably my leg can manage the stairs by then! It's the Nederlands Dans Theater again - I remember good things about them from before.
For today, a film called Raazi slipped into the top spot in my list - it does actually look good, but the closest it's on is in Vue Westfield Stratford City, at 10pm. A bit far out, for one so late. Instead, I decided to accompany Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group to the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. Someone in the group on Friday was quite interested in my description of that - there was more than racing going on, with tai chi, food, music, dance.. hoped we'd get the weather for it! It was promised good.
So, I woke that bit earlier and could already see the sun streaming through the curtains. Good weather, huh? I checked the report, and duly started to dig for light clothes - and sandals. Kitted myself out appropriately, and headed out nice and early, catching two buses to Tower Gateway:
More photos here. Happily, not having seen the entrance to the DLR station on my trip so far, I headed around the other side, and discovered a massive entrance. Now, in my defence, I didn't see a touchpad for Oyster users.. I just swished past the ticket machines, since I didn't need one, and hopped on the train, which was about to depart. It wasn't until further down the line that it occurred to me that I should have touched in somewhere! Ah well, never mind - they don't seem to check on weekends.
And so I alighted, cheaply, on Royal Albert Dock. It was like stepping into an oven - I was glad for every stitch of clothing I wasn't wearing. I could see the crowds and pennants from the station, so decided not to wait for the group - what point was there? The organiser had posted, just as I was leaving, to say that we'd probably split into small groups. How can you manage a large group at an event like this? So, I took a seat before heading off into the sunshine, and messaged to say that I'd do my own thing.
Then I had a stroll:
Wow, we were close to City Airport - in fact, if you heard a loud roaring noise, it was a plane taking off from there. Someone in the group later took a photo that looked as though a plane was going to land on one of the boats.. planespotters' paradise! It's a pity that it sometimes drowned out the drumming from the boats, which gave the rowers their rhythm. I don't know how they managed in the heat.
Me, I'd soon exhausted the stalls - there wasn't anything to buy but food, they were team stalls and advertising, most of which had given up and gone home. So I decided to get some food. There was plenty of choice - mostly Asian, one crepe stall. Unfortunately, the one I chose (Bite Mi) - for its teriyaki chicken noodles - while having a queue that, while long, was no longer than the others, was served by people who were moving really slowly. Like, they have perfected the art of meditative cooking. Which meant I was queueing, in the baking sun, feeling my skin burn, for half an hour or more. Should've done like the Chinese there, and hidden under an umbrella. I'm not joking when I say that, by the time I finally made it to the stall itself to order, I was feeling really woozy - I'm no good at standing anyway, my back goes. And I think I was starting with heatstroke. I was barely able to stand by the time they took my order.. Was I ever grateful to take it, and a fork, and leg it out of there - no napkins visible.
Unable to see anywhere else decent to sit, I decided to take it back to the benches in the DLR station - where I'd have a proper seat, in the shade. And so I ate - it was ok, not terrific - and recovered my strength, and read the messages flooding in from various group members, who were trying to find each other. The messaging stopped when the organiser finally weighed in, to say that some of them were sitting in the shade behind a particular stall, looking at the stage.
Funnily enough, I was now headed over that way again - to the adjacent ice cream van, now that I felt up to it. The queue was about as long as before - but I was through it in a fraction of the time. Because why? Because this guy knew how to serve people quickly! Actually, I have tremendous respect for the stallholders today - the queues were relentless, the work can't have eased up all day, and in this heat.. that noodle stall had literally hundreds of styrofoam containers, ready in packets at the side, to put individual portions in. I was afraid this ice cream guy would run out of something before I got to him.. like ice cream..
But no, I was in luck. And as the people left, he was constantly calling to the next people in the queue - see, that's the way to do it! I'd been going to have a single cone - sod it, I ordered a twin. With a Flake. And a 7Up chaser. Just handy I had the cash from Friday. As I was queueing, I'd spied the group leader, sat in the shade as described - but you know, there wasn't much space there, and frankly, what was on stage was shit. So I went back to the DLR station to eat these. The ice cream wasn't inclined to melt, but it wouldn't have had time anyway, I wolfed it down so fast. And I didn't move again until the 7Up was gone, too.
I schlepped back briefly to see whether I could grab a photo of the tai chi I'd glimpsed earlier, but there was no sign of them. Still shit on stage - so I decided to leave. Tapped in this time. And Google Maps was of the opinion that it'd take me over an hour, now, if I involved a bus, so I didn't - changed to the Tube and walked downhill from Angel, delighted to find that it was cooler around home.
We've got a colleague visiting from abroad the next two days, so I'm leaving those days free, although I must keep an eye on what's on, in case she's interested. Mercifully, it's promised cooler. Then I'd booked with London Literary Walks on Wednesday, for another Sculpture in the City walk. But wouldn't you know it, he just realised that the display only starts later in the month! He's postponed it to next month. Which leaves me free to head back to Sands Films, where Eleanor, courtesy of TunedIn London, and advertised via the London European Club, is hosting a blues concert by Errol Linton. Lovely!
Thursday is the company's monthly social - this month, it's in Junkyard Golf Club. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
On the 11th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again.
On the 12th, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.
On the 13th, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
On the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!
And on the 15th, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..
Today, it was a film - would you believe it, with none of the films at the very top of the list showing over the weekend, A Quiet Place - which has held a high rating for ages now - finally came to the top! Awesome - I've been dying to see it. Stars Emily Blunt and her real-life husband, John Krasinski, who also directs - they're trying to keep their family safe in a dystopian future where creatures are stalking them that hunt by sound. Supposed to be terrifically suspenseful - the best kind. And it's showing near me, in the Vue Islington! which means I could walk again. Need the exercise. The only showing today was very late - but what the hey, it's Saturday! I booked it, as it's cheaper on the website - and it certainly is the least I've paid in years for a cinema ticket. I was looking forward to the lie-in, and the lazy day, almost as much as the film.
Wow, it was a lazy day - after staying up late to do the blog, I woke late, ate a bit, went back to sleep, went out to Tesco for supplies - God, it was hot! - came back, ate, slept.. that was basically it. Needed that. And finally, just as my noisy flatmates were turning in for the night, I set out - taking a coat over my arm, as I wouldn't be coming back till after midnight, and didn't trust the temperatures.
An uphill walk, but I managed it easily - for once, I felt it in my thighs rather than my chest or calf. An improvement. On the bus last night, I'd passed the cinema, so knew where it was - or the big sign for it, at least. So it didn't prove hard to find - interestingly, here, they just have up escalators, with stairs to come down.
I'd considered getting something at the concessions stand, but I was running slightly late and didn't really fancy anything by the time I got there, so just went straight in, having my ticket scanned from my phone. I do love the cinema - the seats are so comfy, always great legroom. Found myself sat beside three teenagers, who were unusually well-behaved (well, they sounded French, which might explain it), although the one beside me wriggled around as though she had ants. And, of course, felt obliged to check her phone at one point - I swear, someday humans are going to be genetically modified to have phones attached, they find them so essential.
Speaking of phones.. lovely touch, to have the instruction to turn off mobiles (which she didn't) couched in the setting of the film. The screen goes completely dark, and an ominous voice warns that we are about to enter a quiet place, and any noise is dangerous. Such as talking. Or mobiles. Or loud eating. Kudos to the audience, they were pretty quiet, in a screen that was mostly full, despite the film having been out so long - a testament to its popularity.
This is not one for those of a nervous disposition - I think nervous people already knew that, though. The warning from the censor is of "sustained threat" - at the start of the film, we're told that we're 89 days into.. something. Turns out that something is the invasion of a nasty bunch of creatures, some of the scarier-looking monsters I've seen, owing something to Alien, but improving on the appearance, I think. The things are completely blind, but have evolved terrific hearing, which they use to hunt. So - SHH! We follow the fortunes of one family, mainly - parents and three kids - society has pretty much broken down by now, and people live in isolated pockets, fending for themselves. Our family almost always speaks in sign language (captioned for our benefit); they have a head-start, what with the daughter being deaf.
Ooh yes, they manage the suspense beautifully. I'm not sure whether these creatures ever sleep, but you have to assume they're always alert, so the humans have to be, too - and the audience is always on edge. The amount of quietness in the film (yes, it is broken by the score, but not intrusively) adds to the suspense - we're not used to it. It becomes apparent that the slightest noise could prove fatal - these things are way faster than humans, so if they hear you they'll be on you in no time. And it's not enough to try to be quiet - what happens if you have an accident, hurt yourself for instance and cry out involuntarily? What if you drop something? How do you keep a baby quiet..?
Real hand-to-the-mouth film, for me. I was tense the entire way though, which was the only reason I was glad it was over. Terrific acting throughout, logical dilemmas and solutions. And I have to say, awesome ending for female empowerment! No pitiful, oh-please-rescue-me babes here. Really well-made, highly recommended for people who like a genuine scare.
And I was glad I had my coat on the way home. For tomorrow, a film called Raazi slipped into the top spot - it does actually look good, but the closest it's on is in Vue Westfield Stratford City, at 10pm. A bit far out, for one so late. Instead, I've decided to accompany Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group to the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. Someone in the group last night was quite interested in my description of that - there's more than racing going on, with tai chi, food, music, dance.. hope we get the weather for it! It's promised good.
We've got a colleague visiting from abroad on Monday and Tuesday, so I'm leaving those days free, although I must keep an eye on what's on, in case she's interested. Then I'd booked with London Literary Walks on Wednesday, for another Sculpture in the City walk. But wouldn't you know it, today he realised that the display only starts later in the month! He's postponed it to next month. Which leaves me free to head back to Sands Films, where Eleanor, courtesy of TunedIn London, and advertised via the London European Club, is hosting a blues concert by Errol Linton. Lovely!
Thursday is the company's monthly social - this month, it's in Junkyard Golf Club. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
On the 11th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again.
On the 12th, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.
On the 13th, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
On the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!
And on the 15th, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..
Tonight, back with the London European Club (LEC) for yet more music! The London Jazz Meetup also had an event on tonight, but the LEC's sounded better on YouTube - part of the Songlines Encounters Festival at King's Place, and they were doing the double bill for the evening, which scores a 20% discount. (30% off if you book for three events in the festival, but I'm unlikely to do that.)
As it happens, I casually entered a competition during the day to win tickets to a cabaret. Well, the question was to do with royalty, and I knew it easily, so just fired off a response. Could be I was first with the answer - because I won the damn thing! And wouldn't you know it, it was for tonight. I did consider it - but no, I wanted to go to this concert and meet the people from the group. I could have predicted that nobody would take the tickets off my hands, but I did try anyway.. sure enough, for one reason or another, I could find no-one. £25 value per ticket, too. But it's true what they say, you can never find anyone to do anything. Their loss - I just hate to see tickets go to waste.
Well, I set off in good time. I had had visions of walking, but it turned out to be a little far from the office, so I didn't. A #214 arrived at the stop as I did - but I couldn't remember whether that would do me, and it left while I was consulting my phone. And damnit, it would've done, too! Never mind, a #205 was along shortly, which would do just as well. It was stifling on the bus though - much hotter than outside. It was a relief to get off, at last.
A short walk then, and I got to King's Place first of the group. Collecting my tickets, I had some fun with the postcode - I knew I'd just booked it recently, but had forgotten that the system didn't accept my change of postcode, so I had to stick with the old one. The guy at the box office asked me for my postcode, I gave him my current one, and he showed me the tickets and said, "Is this you too?" So I did get them, at least. I then had time to listen to (some of) this 1000-year piece of music they have on devices in the lobby, which you can listen to on headphones. Apparently, it takes 1000 years to repeat any of its component parts. Can't see it entering the charts any time soon!
Anyway, I'd just done that when the organiser arrived. We took a sofa in the lobby, and another couple of folks duly arrived. With food - which I thought was a good idea, so I got myself a chicken leg. Tasty, if not exactly huge. And then we made our way downstairs for the first concert, by Frigg.
Quite a lot of them on stage - four on fiddles, one on guitar, one on double bass, one on a variety of guitar-like instruments. And yes, they assured us, they could all speak English - although it took a while for most of them to do so, and some didn't bother saying anything. I can't vouch for the Finnish, but the English they spoke revealed a lovely, dry humour.
About 90 minutes they were on stage, without interval, and boy, did they entertain us! With all the fiddles, it sounded very Irish - as one of our group remarked, she wondered whether she was at a céilÃ! As an Irish person myself though, I can testify that there was something of a twist to the tunes. The most Irish-sounding piece was, apparently, inspired by a Glaswegian pub - other influences included a certain pub in western Finland, and, eh, ACDC. Yes, there were pieces where you could see that influence. Fantastic concert, which had people up dancing at the end. As they assured us, the dancing was easy - you just jump up and down. And there were people in the aisles doing just that.
A short break - less than half an hour - and we were into the second concert, in Hall Two. This was performed by Tuuletar, who describe themselves as a "vocal folk hop" group. Named, like the first band, for a Norse goddess (this one is goddess of the wind), they have a very different style - the goddess they've chosen is appropriate, because the four of them perform acapella. Straight away, I was blown away, to be honest - their music is so intense. And acapella tends to be more intense in any case - particularly when you're sat nice and close, as we were. One spent most of her time beatboxing - but they're all great singers.. Good audience interaction too, first getting people to pick a page from the Kalevala (Finland's national epic poem), from which they'd improvise, then getting us to sing along, for goodness' sake!
Afterwards, there was a lengthy queue for their debut cd - just as well they brought enough copies. And it gave me time to dash upstairs to the cash machine, then down again. Because yes, I did buy one - as did another of our group. I think their sales went pretty well, tonight! Happily, I had no problems with my Visa, despite the Europe-wide chaos..
Some of us went for a drink afterwards, and ended up in The Lighterman, beside the canal - which was still serving, despite the late hour. And we chatted convivially, heading our separate ways afterwards. A great night, and I was delighted I hadn't gone to the cabaret! What with having gone to the pub, I was now slightly too far from home to walk - so I schlepped up a hill to catch the #153, remarking to myself, yet again, that it's not that long since I wouldn't have been capable of it. And spied the most interesting outfits I've seen in a while:
Sadly, not the best picture, but I was trying to be discreet. They were fascinating - the lady in red had a pot of gold on top of her head, her face and arms covered in gold glitter, and gold, thigh-high boots. The other's face, neck and frontage were painted purple, while her arms and hands were painted greeny-blue, to match her legs. I'd assumed those were tights, but perhaps not.. Lord knows what they were meant to be, but the quizzical expression on the face of the guy on the street where they got off, as he stared after them, was priceless..
Tomorrow, it's a film - would you believe it, with none of the films at the very top of the list showing over the weekend, A Quiet Place - which has held a high rating for ages now - finally came to the top! Awesome - I've been dying to see it. Stars Emily Blunt and her real-life husband, John Krasinski, who also directs - they're trying to keep their family safe in a dystopian future where something is stalking them that hunts by sound. Supposed to be terrifically suspenseful - the best kind. And it's showing near me, in the Vue Islington! which means I can walk again. Need the exercise. The only showing tomorrow is very late - but what the hey, it's Saturday! I booked it, as it's cheaper on the website - and it certainly is the least I've paid in years for a cinema ticket. Looking forward to the lie-in, and the lazy day, almost as much as the film.
On Sunday, a film called Raazi has slipped into the top spot - it does actually look good, but the closest it's on is in Vue Westfield Stratford City, at 10pm. A bit far out, for one so late. Instead, I've decided to accompany Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group to the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. Someone in the group was quite interested in my description of that - there's more than racing going on, with tai chi, food, music, dance.. hope we get the weather for it!
We've got a colleague visiting from abroad on Monday and Tuesday, so I'm leaving those days free, although I must keep an eye on what's on, in case she's interested. Then I'm back with London Literary Walks at last on Wednesday, for another Sculpture in the City walk.
Thursday is the company's monthly social - this month, it's in Junkyard Golf Club. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
On the 11th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the first time in weeks! Another performance of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical - different every night. At the Lyric again.
On the 12th, another Funzing talk, courtesy of London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night - Inside North Korea. I see the code crazy_fun is still getting a 10% discount.
On the 13th, London Literary Walks is taking us to A Circus School and Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
On the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - at the Bridge Theatre this time, for My Name is Lucy Barton, starring Laura Linney. I got the very last £15 seat!
And on the 15th, would you credit it, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts! to see Monogamy, at the Park Theatre. Well, it sounds interesting - and they've sold their allocation for this showing, so we're free to buy our own (gee). My good God, it's August since I was last with them..
