London Still Rocks!

Today, with no job, I signed up for  A Summer's Day in Hyde Park , with  Paul and Tim's Greater London Talks and Walks . But I looked last night, and it was promised to rain, and frankly I couldn't really be bothered. Instead, I looked on TAC, and booked a play called   Playfight , at the   Seven Dials Playhouse   (used to be the Tristan Bates Theatre). First, went to see whether my new glasses were ready - naturally not. They've given me a new delivery date of Thursday for them. Anyway, I was hungry by the time I came out - so went to Nando's , remembering my excellent meal last time! And so it proved again - for once, I was sat down the back.. After my actual meal, I had time to spare - it was an easy walk to the theatre. So I had another glass of wine. And then the waiter cajoled me into a third! Well, it was cheaper than I'd get elsewhere - so I had a third, and set off. And had another at the theatre, once I confirmed that we could take them in.. Well, I wa

(What a combination!) On Thursday, it was looking like film - what was coming up was a documentary, again in the  Curzon Bloomsbury , called  Iraq's Invisible Beauty .  Squaring the Circle , which is higher rated, wasn't on that day. Well, until just recently,  Barbie  came higher-rated than what I'd planned to see! Again, the trailer looked excellent - stars  Margot Robbie , with  Ryan Gosling  as  Ken . Will Ferrell is the CEO of Mattel , which makes Barbie, and Helen Mirren narrates. Lots and lots of pink. Showing in - you guessed it - Curzon Bloomsbury - at lots of times, which should have worked well with my removal to my new flat that day. I made an executive decision to see that one. If it had to wait until evening - well, it was also on in the  Barbican , which is closer to my new place. My removal was booked with Any Van , and I paid a little extra to ensure they didn't come in the morning - I specified 12 to 6pm. The day before, as promised, they sent me a t

Tonight, was with  Up in the Cheap Seats  for an opera at the  Arcola , as part of  Grimeborn  - this was  No for an Answer . Hardly ever performed, it seems - I hoped there wasn't a good reason for that.. I had to catch a bus near King's Cross , so decided to eat in Nando's . With perfect timing, the rain that was to last all night started just as I was thinking of leaving. At Nando's, unusually, I was sat straight away - first time I haven't had to wait at that one. I tried to order on the app - at least I had it pre-installed this time; last time , it took me 15 minutes to align my account with my card. This time, mind you, it hung on one dialog and wouldn't let me progress - I had to restart. Well, it is supposed to be a beta version. I ordered my usual - and sure enough, just like last time, the food came before the wine. I said it to the waiter, who seemed completely unconcerned: and sure enough, no wine came before the lady came to ask, as is protocol, wh

Tonight, booked with TAC to see  The Pioneers  in  The Forge . Last I heard, it was closing down - I guess it's under new management. Looking for somewhere to eat beforehand, I saw there's a restaurant at the venue, which overlooks the concert floor and you can sit there and eat during the concert! which would have been nice. They were booked out until the weekend, though. Looking at the map of the area, I spied La Patagonia , an Argentinian steak restaurant, five minutes' walk away - so I made a reservation there for 6pm, when they open. Wow, I never realised Camden was walking distance - from the place I'm about to leave. (sniff*) The evening was fine, so I headed off, arriving slightly before they opened - I waited politely until they switched the sign on the door to "Open". Had my choice of tables. The decor is pretty standard, from my experience of Argentinian steak restaurants - but with more pictures of footballers than of bulls! The specials looked g

Today, it was film - but a couple of big releases were not yet rated when I wrote this preview the other night. Failing those, what was coming up was  Squaring the Circle , a documentary about  Hipgnosis , which handled the artwork for many iconic albums.. Can't say I've ever heard of them, but it sure does have famous contributors! Showing in the  Curzon Bloomsbury  - so not a hardship. But now that those major releases are rated.. it came out to be  Oppenheimer , which has an unusually high rating for a mainstream film! Directed and co-written by  Christopher Nolan , it has  Cillian Murphy  in the title role, with  Emily Blunt  as his wife,  Matt Damon  as  Leslie Groves , the general and engineer who oversaw the  Manhattan Project ,  Robert Downey Jr.  as  Lewis Strauss , the politician involved,  Kenneth Branagh  as  Niels Bohr , who was part of the British mission to the Manhattan Project, having fled to Britain by that stage,  Tom Conti  as  Einstein ,  Matthew Modine  as

Today, I was with  London History and Culture: Experience London/Britain/Europe , for  In the Footsteps of the Tudors - Free In-Person Guided Walking Tour with Maggie . Another new group for me. Tickets from Eventbrite - and it's just as well someone put a reminder up yesterday that we had to book through Eventbrite, because that had completely escaped my notice. Rain died off in the morning, and it was a bit warmer, mercifully! This walk wasn't until evening. So I wasn't too rushed, for a change! Slightly, though - and with the buses delayed again, I took the Tube . Arrived with a little time to spare - bless the location finder on the Meetup page, which links straight to Google Maps . I wasn't the only person slightly confused - but in due course, saw the group at the bottom of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth memorial : Wow, what a change from yesterday - it was warm and sunny, to the extent I wished I'd brought a hat. Anyway, we next meandered around the