London Still Rocks!

Currently in Ireland for the weekend - a little earlier than anticipated, but I'll be busy for the rest of the month, so figured I might as well go now, before things hot up! The flight was fun, apparently full of members of some girls' team or other - given the Irish accents, I'd guess they'd been over in London for the week and were now coming home. Anyway, I did manage to get a nap in - also read a bit more of that work book club book I never finished - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes . And it continues to be hilarious.. Today, decided to go and see  The Secret Agent , finally - a political thriller set in  Brazil  in 1977, highly rated, and happily still showing in  Ennis , which is handier. There was only one showing today - at 3.20pm - so I managed to get myself out for that. A bit late leaving, of course - and my heart sank as I entered the cinema and saw the queue at the box office. Never mind, I persisted - and wow, still made the film in perfect time! The ...

This evening , back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) for  Blink , at  The King's Head . A romcom that asks, in the digital age, when we can see everything someone is doing, what does it actually mean to know someone? An early start - but a quick bus trip from the office, so worked fine, as today was my office day. I nipped off in good time - just in time to miss a bus , but I did have plenty of time to catch the next. And as I arrived at The Bull , in time to eat, it occurred to me that it'd been quite a while since I was last there! August , in fact. Anyway, I got a table I've often had before, near the bar - ordered the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a chicken schnitzel. He had run out of the NZ in the bar, ran to check in the cellar while I paid. When he returned, he apologised and said they were completely out of it, asked what I'd like instead - well, since he'd offered me an alternative of South African Sauvignon Blanc , of course I had that, and took my...

Tonight, back with storytelling - and the  Crick Crack Club  (or more likely, Laura Sampson ) has a new idea, the Story Pick + Mix, organised by what she seems to be calling The House of Rumour - rough cuts, experimental work. This one,  The Bodies on the Beach , is the story of the legendary Irish hero,  Fionn MacCumhaill , and is said to combine elements of 15th-century manuscripts, archaeology, and folklore. And these shows are happening at Theatre Deli , right in the  City . Booked to eat in  La Spezia  restaurant next door beforehand - not a long journey, happily. In fact, close enough to walk there. Boy, it was cold though - and foggy, most of the tops of the taller buildings obscured. I found the restaurant readily enough, but slightly late - not a problem, I probably didn't need to book; it looked pretty empty. The nice man took my coat and showed me to a really out-of-the-way table, with a great view of the underside of the stairs, hmm. I orde...

Last night , back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) for  Ukraine Unbroken , a set of five short plays at the  Arcola , incorporating  Ukrainian  music. And as I was nearly there, a wailing beggar got on the bus, pleading for £2, just £2 - traipsed all over the bus until a woman near me got out her wallet. At which, interestingly, the price rose to £5, please, just £5.. in fact, she only had coins, as she told him, digging them out and giving him what she said was about 40p, and that that was a start. He got out at the next stop . I got out at the stop after , and made my way to Nando's , where I sat down the back - and after I'd ordered, quickly ran to the loo - the afternoon had seen me consume a packet of Terry's Chocolate Orange Minis , and I now had the runs. Anyway, dinner was lovely - although the mash wasn't up to the buttery wonderfulness of Nando's Brunswick (I forgot to mention), whose mash was practically dripping with butter! Started to eav...

Lovely, sunny day today - a real feel of spring! I headed off to the chiropractors ' before lunchtime, following Google Maps ' directions - got there just in time, and they had no record of me. It finally transpired that I was actually looking for the place on the other side of the road ! Thanks a bunch, Google Maps.. Anyway, I found the right place eventually, signed in, and the doctor came down to meet me. Over the course of the next hour, he was pleasant, friendly, and very careful to assuage any doubts I might have - he took my details, examined me, and gave me an initial treatment that, I have to say, was slightly alarming; I'm sure he was kneeling on my spine at one point. Not to mention clicking various bits into alignment. Anyway, afterwards, I'm much improved, and will be seeing him next week to see how things are going. Fascinating discipline really.. This evening, back with  Shake it Up! The Improvised Shakespeare Show , at the  Hen & Chickens . And my di...

Today, decided on another film - second in a row - and what came up was  The President's Cake , set in  Iraq  when  Saddam Hussein  was in power, and schoolkids had to prepare a gift for his birthday.. the rating has dropped, but I preferred it to anything higher-rated. It's showing in a couple of  Curzons  - I decided on the  Curzon Bloomsbury , it's handy for shopping. Later showing, obviously - at least giving me time to blog first! Before setting out, I decided to book the ticket - I still have credit for free tickets, and it's handier to do the booking in advance. Now, when I checked, it looked as though most of the seats were free - however, it turns out that Curzon has an annoying policy of displaying the free seats in black, the occupied ones in a pale colour: the opposite of what you'd expect. So I was to discover that, in fact, there were only two seats left, in the front row! I booked one straight away. Headed off in good time. The...