London Still Rocks!

This evening, I was  with TAC for Way Upstream , a dark comedy performed by final year students at the Court Theatre Training Company , at their onsite theatre, The Courtyard . Booked to eat beforehand in Schnitzel Heaven . I left in good time for the bus - which was doing its usual schizophrenic thing of saying it's coming later - then sooner - then later - and there I was researching my options because it wouldn't come in time, when it decided it was coming within five minutes. Happily, the driver was one of those lunatics who drive too fast whenever they can, and right up to other traffic.. I got there in record time, and was actually early for my booking. Again, it was empty when I arrived - 6pm seems to be ideal for that - but filled up soon after. Oh, I should know not to have a starter, the portions are so large - but the trio of cheese croquettes sounded interesting, so I had that. You can choose to have both courses together, but I figured that'd be too much f...

Back to London, and this evening, back with Up in the Cheap Seats in Soho Place for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - a musical based on the true story of a boy in Malawi who built a wind turbine from scrap materials and provided necessary power to his community. Chiwetel Ejiofor , who starred in, and directed, the film , is executive producer. I got my ticket on Seatplan , which I used a Seatplan voucher for, and which garners me extra Seatplan points! Booked to eat in Bistro1 beforehand. Was in perfect time for the bus .. which, despite a stop to even out the gaps in the service, plus the inevitable wait while drivers changed over, still got me there 10 minutes early! I was debating the wisdom of booking at all when I went in - the place was almost empty - but the wisdom was soon proved about half an hour later, with several groups arriving: and listening as they came in, it seemed that, like me, most - if not all - had booked with The Fork ! Not surprising, when they gave a 50%...

I'm finally back on an overdue trip to Ireland for the weekend - first in two months..! (And it's looking likely to be something the same before I'm back again.) One thing I do miss about these trips is the downtime during the flight - no internet, just fluffy clouds out the window for an hour or so.. time to sleep, or on this occasion, to get almost half of my work's book club book read!  Arranged to have lunch with my friend from there today, in   Jade Cottage   as usual.. beat him there this time (only just, as he pointed out), and we had the lunch menu. I decided to try the satay for once, for my main course - I love the General Tso's Chicken, but it always defeats me, and the szechuan is too hot for me. My friend had that, with a satay starter, out of curiosity since I was having it. My starter was the chicken spring rolls, as usual - they're so tender. So, with chicken in each of those dishes, as I remarked, many chickens died in service of this meal.. An...

Tonight , more storytelling with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) - this was a Story Pick+Mix, with Laura Sampson and Minnie Wilkinson delivering Beowulf , at Next Door at Theatre Deli - an unusually early start, so we could have an interval in what is a long piece. Well, I did my required hours in the office and, work completed, headed out - perfectly in time for the bus ! And as that was the terminus , no problems getting a seat. And just as well I dressed for rain today - it poured on me as I walked the last stretch to Nando's . Where I was most excellently fed - and had time for their delicious choc-a-lot cake. In fact, as I was preparing to leave, the girl at the next table asked me all about it - and I raved about it! Hope she had it, she certainly seemed interested.. A short walk to the venue, where Laura Sampson was pacing up and down outside, having a fag. I got there about 15 minutes early - and they took some care with tonight's sweet display, depicting a treasure...

Tonight, I booked with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - unusually, because lately, most of what I was seeing advertised with them was already sold out - for Stage Kiss , an acting drama, in Hampstead Theatre . But wow.. the friend I was supposed to meet yesterday got in touch; he'd mixed up the days! and wanted to meet this evening instead. And hadn't checked his messages in the meantime, of course. Now, the whole afternoon was thunderstorms and hail showers - I wasn't in the mood to traipse all the way to Hampstead . And I hadn't seen him in years - so I cancelled my poor UITCS companion, who ended up going on his own, and said I'd meet my old school friend instead. The weather was supposed to clear by the time I went out - so I optimistically didn't wear a hood. So, of course, it rained on me.. and as I was approaching a bus stop , I decided to take shelter and see whether a bus was due. And lo, as if on command, there was one , which I promptly took. Now,...