London Still Rocks!

Made it back from Ireland - eventually. Our flight back was delayed by two hours - apparently, another of their planes broke down, and our plane was diverted to rescue the stranded passengers. Hence the lateness. Sadly, two hours ain't enough to give us anything more than vouchers.. at least they told me before I'd left my mother's place, so I could do things like get my phone charged / do my blog before I left! Tonight, I was at  Bellringers , back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) at  Hampstead Theatre . Got a good seat from someone in the group who couldn't use it in the end. Met someone from the group at Ye Olde Swiss Cottage for dinner beforehand - sadly, they didn't have the schnitzel, so the barman asked whether I'd like the burger alternative (Korean spicy burger). He explained that it had the same sauce - just not on the side, as with the schnitzel. I like the sauce - so I had that. It wasn't spectacular.. sadly, having the sauce integrated with...

I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Mind you, it wasn't a fun journey - again. My flight was delayed - I found out on the plane - so I thought I'd grab something to eat in the airport . My misfortune was to figure that my best bet in the departure lounge was Terracotta , an Italian .  Oh wow, was that a mistake. First off, as I was being seated, the person attending to me warned me that they closed in half an hour (9.30, like everything else here). It took some argument before she conceded that that meant I had to have ordered by 9.30, not finished eating! All right - so I ordered a glass of wine, a chicken Milanese, which comes with pasta. Ugh. The wine was insipid, the chicken was tough, the tomato sauce covering the pasta was watery - and I see previous reviews confirm that. Not to mention that, for all that I was assured that yes, I could keep eating - I have never been made to feel so uncomfortable. They told me to pay at the till when I was done.. then decided I wasn...

Tonight,  The Hideout   again! Promised to be a much better night. Now, this time they beat off some stiff competition - but the film promised to be excellent.  The Substance  stars  Demi Moore  as an ageing star who finds her roles drying up as her looks are fading. So when she comes across a miracle drug - "the substance" - on the black market, which promises to restore her to a younger, more beautiful version of herself.. she jumps at it. Of course, it doesn't work out quite as planned.  Dennis Quaid  plays her boss, who fires her for not being young enough for her TV fitness show. And honestly, I can't remember when I saw a new-release horror film so highly rated.. few enough of any genre are so highly rated! It apparently got a standing ovation at  Cannes , perhaps for its castigation of the emphasis on beauty in the media. We were seeing it at the  BFI  - and after my  previous experience  with  Black & Blue...

Tonight was another work social - darts this time (!) at  Oche .. now, I'd never thrown a dart, or even watched a darts match, in my life. Well, they didn't tell  us not to come in to the office: but as someone pointed out yesterday, it'd probably be packed. Anyway, I could do without having to drag myself up in the morning. And indeed, I had a lovely, long sleep. Headed in about when I should - the bus , of course, wasn't stopping in Lancaster Place , where Google Maps was telling me to get off - that stop has been closed for months. Not that they pay any attention to my telling them that. I walked from Aldwych , therefore, and arrived at the same time as others from the office, who I think had nipped out for a fag. It was nice to be recognised by so many, this time.. we were directed downstairs, where the company had booked three lanes. I suppose you could call them lanes - each has a dartboard, three darts, lines on the floor delineating "Easy", "Hard...

Tonight, back with  London Social Detours  - first time in  nearly six months  - for a  talk  about  The Players' Theatre . Tickets were all gone when I looked - just as well she pre-booked! Unfortunately, it meant I had to leave work pretty early - but I managed. Could have got the bus, but I ended up on the Tube , for two reasons - faster, and I figured it'd be easier that way to figure out where the Palmer Street exit to St. James's Park Station was. At least the Tube was less busy at this hour than when I normally take it! Mind you, why Google Maps wanted me to walk from Westminster , when I could quite easily take the Tube, remains beyond me.. As for the Palmer Street exit - yeah.. no. The only signs were for " Park & Broadway" and "Victoria Street". Neither sounded right - eeny-meeny.. I chose "Park & Broadway", and happily, that was where our leader was. We waited there for a while, as she redirected people to where we were, ...

This evening, I was off with TAC to see  The Band Back Together , a play with music, at the  Arcola . Headed off in decent time - and oy! were the buses packed. The #149 , I was lucky to squeeze on at all - spent several stops standing near the driver because there was nowhere else, as he sped past group after group of passengers, whom we just didn't have room for. I finally did manage a seat, at least. Beside a bell that didn't work - but there was always someone else to ring for the bus to stop, anyway. I planned to eat at Nando's , as always around here, and arrived just around 6, as planned. Got a table down the back, ordered on my phone - happily, they always have good WiFi at this branch - and waited. I was a little worried after 10 minutes had passed - the show was early, starting at 7, and was a few minutes' walk away. And then the wine and food arrived in quick succession. And ooh, they hadn't even burned the garlic bread, as other branches so often do! I...

Today - well, I wasn't crazy about seeing the film, but I love hanging out with the group, and it was the best option I seemed to have! So joined  The Hideout  for  They Live  - at the  Prince Charles Cinema . Meeting beforehand at  Clubhouse 5 , as usual. It was supposed to pour rain all day - but as usually happens, that fizzled out, and although it looked threatening, we didn't really get any rain. What I did get was a problem with buses. Oh, I got to Waterloo all right - and was waiting there, until a kind passerby pointed out that signs on the bus stops indicated that there were diversions for the London run today, and he hadn't noticed any buses moving on from there. Sure enough, when I looked around, neither could I - so I took the Tube the rest of the way. Seems I was lucky, mind - another of the group later remarked that he'd had terrible trouble with it, awful delays.. At Clubhouse 5, I was met by a doorman with a two-page list of reservations!...