Film: Kokomo City & Concert: Songs from the Shows

Yesterday, if I was at a loose end, it looked like film. Top of the list was Kokomo City, a documentary about transgender sex workers in the United States - showing, of course, at the Curzon Bloomsbury. Only at 3pm, mind - by which stage I hadn't heard from my friends. Neither was I ready to go out at that stage. Later in the evening, I did, however, identify another showing at 8.45pm at Picturehouse Central - just giving me time to eat beforehand. I knew my friends were in that area yesterday, and messaged to see whether they were free to join me for dinner - but they didn't get the message in time. Never mind - I had my heart set on the Angus Steakhouse, and that's where I went.

I was seated without issue - the service here has to be the friendliest of all restaurants I've experienced. There was a small problem with my drink order - did the waiter think, when I ordered a carafe of wine for myself, that I didn't know what I was doing? Another appeared with a single glass for me! which I sent back. That was the end of the problems, though - I had the Chilean Chardonnay, which was lovely (the Sauvignon Blanc was too expensive); the calamari was probably the best I've had anywhere.

The steaks - being their speciality - aren't cheap, but well, if that's what you want.. I never manage more than an 8oz, and of those, I had two choices: the fillet, or the flat iron Black Angus. Which is listed on the separate, Black Angus menu, and costs £2 less than the fillet. So I thought I'd go for that. Good choice - the gentleman at the table beside me asked what I'd had, and told me he'd had the fillet; he was curious as to how they compared. As I told him, the flat iron isn't quite as tender, but was still beautifully cooked and tasty. Tasty enough that I really didn't need the garlic butter I'd ordered - I used a knob of it, to justify the £4.50 price. My other side was onion rings - I prefer the taste to that of chips. But wow, what a great meal.. I was duly stuffed. As I told the waiter, I simply didn't have time for dessert - just as well, considering the bill came to £70! including service.

And so up the road to the cinema, with five minutes to spare till the scheduled start time. And with their typically slow serving time, and only one till open - despite the queue - it was start time by the time I had my ticket and went to have it checked. Only to be told the screen wasn't ready yet, and I was to take a seat and he'd tell us. Ehh..? So it was maybe 10 minutes after the scheduled start time that we were let in. The ads were on.

I liked the trailer for this - that's what made me decide to go see it. It's sexy, it's sassy.. the full film does not disappoint. The screen wasn't very full - one of the other patrons remarked to me, as we were on our way out, how fabulous it was! I had to agree. As I said to him - and he agreed - so many documentaries are a bit po-faced; it's kind of like going to school. They can be worthy, insightful - but not entertaining. This, on the other hand, is entertaining.. the four interviewees are gorgeous, sassy (as mentioned) - the editing is great, never losing our attention. Terrific soundtrack. And it really doesn't matter how distanced you are from this world - you will be fascinated by what you see and hear in this film.

Despite the confident, capable demeanours of the four ladies, one does display a moment of weakness, talking about what it's actually like.. and in a shock reveal in the closing credits, it transpires that she's since been killed.. a wakeup call for sure. Anyway, this is an informative and, crucially, entertaining, film - recommended. For all audiences (well, over a certain age). I was way too tired to blog last night, though.

Today, London Social Detours headed to the free concert at King's Cross - Songs from the Shows. Part of the Summer Sounds Music Festival. The group, mind you, charged £3. So I thought I'd like to go on my own - well, with my friends. And finally, they agreed! We decided to meet there - I got there first, mind, and took a seat I wouldn't be able to get later:

The weather stayed fine - but was very blustery! I was to be glad I'd brought a coat. Anyway, when they arrived, we went in search of food - but with the wind, and us all being rather hungry (not to mention wanting to get back for the concert), we didn't go too far, eating at the Granary Square Brasserie. Where I was impressed that they could seat five, with no notice - she did say she could give us a "quick" table. Just two hours. Which we thought was just fine.

I wasn't in the mood for two expensive dinners in a row, so gave the steaks a miss - I had shepherd's pie. When I ordered that, the waiter asked me whether I'd like a side - and I suddenly had a flashback to when I had the same in the Ivy, for the same reason. The portion had been very small - so on this occasion, I also ordered thick-cut chips. We were kind of nonplussed at the wine prices - the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was £72 (actually cheaper by the glass), so we ended up ordering a Pinot Grigio for £40. Mind you, we ended up being served the Pinot Grigio for £46 - beware of that, if drinking here.

The food was all good, the chips hot and crispy. The pie was maybe a bit salty, but tasty. Service was a bit erratic, but ok. No dessert - we just had the main course, and frankly, that took us more than an hour; we might have been pushing the time limit to order a starter or dessert. The poor waiter had terrible trouble trying to split the bill.. thankfully, he had the assistance of a mobile phone. Anyway, interesting - but I wouldn't rush back there; unlike the Angus, it wasn't a memorable meal..

And so back to the concert, where all the seats were now gone. But we found a spot at the front of the steps - they were letting people sit on one side, keeping the other side clear as a fire escape. We couldn't actually see anything from there - but hey, we certainly could hear! And while we didn't recognise all the songs, those we did were terrific. Really, it's a great thing - something like this happens every summer, to advertise the musicals - and long may it continue.

Tomorrow, Mandy from London Herstory Walks is doing Whitechapel Women - I've signed up, on the basis that my friends are never available early anyway, so they're unlikely to clash with it! I might do something with them afterwards, if it suits.

On Monday, Up in the Cheap Seats is off to Laurel and Chaplin: The Feud, at the Cambridge Theatre. Which I've now booked for. Mind you, I got a cheaper ticket on CT..

The rest of the week is all about cheap tickets. For the next two days, I'm on TAC walks - on Tuesday, it's the Southwark Walk.

On Wednesday, it's the Fulham Road Back in the Day Walk. As also advertised - slightly more expensively - with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners.

And on Thursday, I'm with CT, who have slightly cheaper tickets for the Backyard Comedy Club. First time I'll have been there in years! I always remember them being good, though. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.