London Still Rocks!

Last night , back with  Movie Roadhouse London  at  The Garden Cinema  (complete with member's discount) for a mystery called  Islands , set in the  Canaries . We were eating in  Caravan  beforehand - had never heard of it, but as the organiser is how I found out about the Toulouse Lautrec , I was happy to give it a shot! I was in the office yesterday. Have no idea what's happened to the traffic - it was terrible as I got the bus in in the morning! I wasn't that much later, in the end - but I was glad that the evening's destination was a short walk from the office, no bus required. And I made it just about the time we'd agreed - he was there with one other. Unsure whether anyone else would be joining, we ordered - in the event, two more arrived, one having just a main (lamb) and dessert, the other just dessert (both tiramisu - in fact, three portions of it were ordered). They'd also asked whether we wanted everything as it came - which meant we g...

Today only, the  Cinema Museum  was showing  The Big Heat , a film noir with  Glenn Ford . Jocelyn Brando - Marlon 's big sister - plays his wife, and Lee Marvin is the thug in the upper echelons of the crime syndicate he's investigating. Booked to eat beforehand in the  Toulouse Lautrec . I was glad to see the bus stuck in traffic again - I'd have missed it otherwise. Its destination sign said Waterloo - that was fine, I was to get off well before that. However, this traffic didn't let up all the way there - the journey took over three times as long as it should have, and me with a 15-minute walk or so to the cafe. I disembarked with two minutes to go till my booking.. and legged it down the road, nearly halving Google Maps ' estimate of how long the walk would take me! In the end, I got there just over five minutes late. The nice man said that was no problem - well, the place was practically empty! I chose the cosy corner table - had a large Sauvignon Blan...

A few more films coming up - tonight, decided on another  Palestinian  documentary; this one was  From Ground Zero , a collection of short films made by  Gazans . Produced by  Michael Moore . I saw the trailer when I was in the  Curzon Bloomsbury , but this week it's showing in the  ICA . It was on gloriously late - which gave me time to finish what I'd planned for work for the day, which had taken longer than anticipated. Got the bus in - no traffic immediately, this evening. Not until we got onto Tower Bridge Road.. where it was like treacle. It didn't come as a surprise when the driver announced a change of destination - just to Waterloo , this time: but that was fine, as I was to change to the #176 before that. And wouldn't you know it, we passed the #176 just before that - so I knew it'd be along shortly when I got off. Sure enough, I didn't have to wait 30 seconds.. and, of course, I also skipped having to wait for the change of drivers that w...

Completing a trio of   Meetups , last night I was back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  for the only non-film of the week - we were seeing a female-centric version of  Dracula  at the  Lyric Hammersmith . Far enough to take the Tube - funny how I never usually do, but since the strike finished, I've been doing it every day! I walked to the station - though it didn't rain, it was very breezy, and I was wearing a cape that billowed around me (figured that was appropriate, for this play). Happily, mainly - as the saying goes - the wind was at my back. And on the Tube, I got a seat after a couple of stops. I got there early enough to eat beforehand - was thinking the William Morris , which is right across from the theatre. But wouldn't you know it, it was completely full.. I ended up in The Swan , on the other side of it, where I had a very nice chicken schnitzel. It occurred to me that's four days in a row now, I've had that.. well, I do like it. And hey, the gar...

Yester day,  The Hideout  was off to see  The Long Walk , based on the  short story  by  Stephen King , writing as  Richard Bachman . It was actually the first thing he ever wrote, and deals with a dystopian future in which a walking contest sees the losers executed, and the winner achieve whatever he desires - for the rest of his life. Excellent book - was intrigued to see how they'd do with the film! We were seeing it in the  Vue West End , meeting in  Victory House  beforehand - and of course, I booked to eat in   Bella Italia   again before that. And given that I'd be having chicken with garlic there again, I should really have had the pie on Saturday - ah well.. I was late for the bus - so was delighted, when I got to the stop , to see it was still stuck in traffic, further down! The driver let us on before the stop, saving us a few minutes more standing. Unfortunately, the traffic that had let me catch the bus then held...