London Still Rocks!

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,...

Last night, was thinking of heading to a film - and was thinking of Seven Days in May , with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in an Oscar -nominated thriller about an army colonel (Kirk Douglas) who alerts the president about a planned military coup against him - because he supports nuclear disarmament. Showing in Finsbury Park Picturehouse at 5.30. Then I checked the listings again - and decided on The Sheep Detectives , with Hugh Jackman as the farmer who reads detective stories to his sheep, which then use their learned skills when he is murdered! They are voiced by Patrick Stewart , Chris O' Dowd , and Bryan Cranston , among others . Showing in Peckhamplex . And a couple of people said they might be interested as well. And then.. an old school friend I haven't seen in years messaged to say he'd be in town, yesterday only, and would I like to meet? So that was the final plan for a day that turned out to be the most confusing to plan.. we arranged to meet in ...

Tonight, more storytelling - this one was from the Crick Crack Club (CCC) again, and was The Grateful & The Dead , with Ben Haggarty , in the East Dulwich Tavern - and my sometime companion came too. Part of the Dulwich Festival . I booked a table for beforehand in the pub, as Google Maps recommended it. My bus was diverted - wonderful, I thought, it's headed towards where I want to go, but a more direct way! Yeah, it was.. unfortunately, the terminus is on that route, and that's where my bus journey ended! So I had to walk the rest of the way - and as the beginning of my journey was complicated, I got lost, so it wasn't a time saving at all. And sure enough, as always happens, my companion, who never thinks she'll get there on time, was there before me. Never mind, I made it eventually. It's a large pub on a busy junction - I spotted her and made straight for her, and when I caught someone's eye, I ordered; she already had. And ooh, we had the mos...