Silence! The Musical & pre-Transylvania Zoom chat

Last Wednesday, I was supposed to be back with London Literary Walks (LLW) for Ian Fleming, Winston Churchill, Isadora Duncan. Meeting in the Bag o' Nails pub beforehand- and wouldn't you know it, it's another Greene King! So I booked to eat there beforehand. But the day before, he checked the weather forecast - and discovering that it was supposed to lash rain, he postponed it - to a day I can't go! Ah well - so I cancelled that dinner as well. Instead, I headed with TAC to the opening night of Silence! The Musical! a parody of The Silence of the Lambs, of all things! Well now, I could hardly resist.. especially since there's a chorus of, eh, lambs. Showing at The Turbine - and I booked Cinnamon Kitchen, next door, for dinner. Where I thought I probably wouldn't have lamb..

Again, far enough away that I had to use the Tube. Happily, the Jubilee Line wasn't too crowded. First time I've taken the Northern line branch to Battersea Power Station - I see the're quite frequent - and what a modern, shiny station it is! Just fitting for the posh, unaffordable new apartments in the area:

I had to walk right around what used to be the power station - there's a circular path. But it wasn't far to the restaurant, where I was seated pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the menu I'd seen online wasn't the same as I was now looking at, which didn't have what I wanted - I decided to plump for the roganjosh, although it's spicier than I generally have. Oh, and.. it's always made with red meat, I believe. And in this case, lamb..!

It turned out to be very tasty, actually - and I managed the spice. Lamb was a bit greasy, though. The rice that came with it was about a large spoonful - but hey, I never finish the rice in an Indian anyway! Still, I was glad of the naan I'd ordered with it - which I would have, regardless. The wine was definitely on the expensive side - but excellent, I have to say. And service was flawless - I had no problem getting someone's attention when I needed to dash.

Happily, it's only two doors down from the theatre - where they were just announcing that the house was open. He didn't even give me a ticket, just told me my seat number and let me off!

It's very good.. although I was wondering throughout, and had to come to the conclusion that yes, you do have to have seen the film to make sense of it. Not that you couldn't follow the story - but without knowing where they got their inspiration, you'd probably think it was pretty weird! And actually, the plot doesn't make a lot of sense for a stage production - worked as a film, of course. But between the lamb chorus, Agent Starling's exaggerated accent, and the emphasis on particular plot points - yes, it's more an homage to the film than something that stands on its own merits. But if you have seen the film, it's quite enjoyable - runs to the 28th.

Managed to get buses home..

Now, it was very overcast when I arrived, and there was a fair breeze - but rain? Well, a few spots as headed home. To be fair, you can never trust the weather apps.. As to blogging, this has been seriously the busiest week I've had in years - between the film list, work, and whatever else. So, no time to blog that night, what with having to be up early yesterday to go to the office - and I stayed up far too late, doing that film list!

So, yesterday was a groggy day. Lashed rain in the afternoon - for about five minutes. Last night, ironically, for once I headed towards home from the office - I had a pre-trip Zoom meeting with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners for our trip to Transylvania! Just finally got my holiday approved by work last week - my boss was probably prompted by the head of HR, trying to chase everyone to book their holidays by year's end! Anyway, booked my local Côte for dinner that evening.

With so much work on my plate, I left it late enough to leave that I was on the Tube again! Arriving at the restaurant, I was greeted by an enormous queue - we couldn't even all fit inside, and (typically here), they were in no hurry to deal with us. I finally got to tell the guy about my booking - whereupon he showed me to a table in my usual area, right at the foot of the stairs from the door. Uh-oh, the area that service forgot..

Sure enough, I was seated - and forgotten about. I spied a menu under my napkin - I had no wine list, but at least I knew what I wanted from it. Anyway, it hardly mattered - NO-ONE wanted to take my order. Minutes passed, I was staring at people, gesticulating at waiters - they were passing, looked right through me. One was even patently looking for something to do! I stared at him pointedly, but he decided he'd be better employed clearing a nearby table that had just been vacated.

The final straw came when two waiters started a chat, right beside my table! I took my menu and waved it at them furiously - finally, slowly, one extracted her tablet to take my order. And no matter how sharp I was when addressing her, her beaming smile never wavered. I gave her my food order, and the number of the wine I wanted - pointing out that I thought that was it, I had no wine list. Her response was infuriating - "but you know what you want from it anyway!"

My baguette arrived promptly - cold, unlike other branches where they heat it, but at least they had butter with it this time. (I know from experience how hard it is to get butter if they don't bring it straight away.) I was mostly finished it by the time they deigned to bring the wine. And oh, the steak frites arrived shortly after - he didn't even help me to clear space on the table for it, just left it on the far edge and walked off, as I was trying to find somewhere to put the baguette. I don't know what it was - they seemed to have no problem serving the couples on either side of me; perhaps it was because I was on my own that they seemed to forget I existed. (On a side note - have they opened ladies' toilets downstairs now? The ladies beside me seemed to head around the corner to the toilet - however, when I asked, once before, I was told the only ladies' loos were upstairs..!)

On top of everything else - the frites were tough; I couldn't finish them. The beaming server's smile finally slipped when she asked how my food was and I told her that - she offered to replace them, but for goodness' sake, how long was that going to take?! I did manage to catch someone's eye for the bill - debated not paying the service charge, but I was tight for time, and it was faster just to pay it and get out of there. I WILL not be back again, this was a disgrace. One of two bad Cotes.. such a disappointment. But in London, you do always have a choice. After I left a scathing review, management contacted me to ask me to email them to resolve this - I couldn't be bothered. Let them lose business - I wouldn't darken their door again if I were starving.

I just managed to make the call in time - and on top of everything else, had to join on my phone because it would take too long to boot up the laptop! Plus, I was simultaneously trying on my laptop, but it required me to update my Zoom version.. and in the end, told me I had the wrong credentials to join the call. So I gave up and stayed on my phone. The call just lasted half an hour - and lo, I seem to be the only horror fan on the trip; my statement of being a horror fan went down like a lead balloon. Ah well - it's not like that's the only thing I'll be interested in! And I'm very glad to hear we'll have an evening tour of Bucharest when we arrive - I thought we'd miss the city tour, being on a later flight!

Finally decided on films after that - at least I got finished the call early - I couldn't have done the film list in the office. And then started booking ahead. Which took all night, so I missed out on more sleep. Looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow. Read on..

After the film list was done, I decided what was on top wasn't as interesting as what Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) are going to, tonight - the play is called 23.5 hours, is showing in the Park (where I haven't been in a while), and sounds good and suspenseful.There's a 30% discount with the code 235WB, apparently, although it wouldn't work for me..

Tomorrow is my monthly ex-co-workers' meeting - Martin mixed up his days and can't make it, but Ivan has rescheduled his rehearsal, yay! And although James' mother is in hospital, he's visiting her tomorrow instead. Crikey, it isn't easy to organise these folks.. anyway, we're in the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch, one of my favourite venues.

Sunday, methinks I'll head to a film - the first of three in a row - and after eliminating a lot of dross, top of the list is the French remake of The Count of Monte Cristo! A nice, swashbuckling way to spend a few hours - and it is a long one. Closest showing is in Picturehouse Central, but they have a couple of showings that day, so I'll have a look-see what suits.

For Monday, I had a ways to go down the list, there were so many only showing on Sunday - but I came to an interesting one; Robin Redbreast was part of an old TV series called Play for Today, and the BFI is showing this episode! Out of several at the same rating, this caught my eye, with its sinister, folk-horror theme.. so I booked, as it was already over half booked out. Eating at Black & Blue afterwards, because it's not a long one.

And on Tuesday, start of three Meetups in a row, I'm back with The Hideout! Well, I was hardly going to miss the last of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi - showing in the Prince Charles again. Of course, they're in conjunction with Movie Roadhouse London (MRL), as usual - the alternative choice is Blade. Meeting in the Clubhouse beforehand, as usual - and yay, my favourite restaurant had space! so I booked.

On Wednesday, LLW is headed off on a walk entitled Cold War Russia. Meeting in The Champion beforehand, right across from the Russian Embassy - and they do food, but don't take bookings for just one person. So I'll have to wing it.

And on Thursday, The Hideout (and MRL) have their late summer social! Delighted the vote was for this day - it's the only one I can make. In the BFI Riverfront Bar (Balcony), as usual. I've booked Black & Blue again. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On the 16th, TAC is offering free tickets to a Baroque/classical mandolin concert at Cadogan Hall! They do ask for a donation to a cancer hospital of at least what you would have paid - apparently the concert is in aid of that - mind you, they don't say which one! I've booked for Cote Sloane Square beforehand - they, at least, fixed their service issues!

Then, three more Meetups in a row. On the 17th, I'm with UITCS at The Old Vic for The Real Thing, by Tom Stoppard. Eating beforehand in The Duke of Sussex - which does sell out, so it's better to book.

On the 18th, back with LLW for The Magic Toyshop. Meeting in The Alexandra, Clapham, which only does pizza - but I'll manage.

On the 19th, back with UITCS for a play called The Lightest Element, at Hampstead Theatre - and there's a terrific deal with Time Out!

On the 20th, I'm back with CT for the Backyard Comedy Club, first time in ages!

And on the 21st - yay, he's back! Laurence Summers is taking the 45+ Not Grumpies on a walk around Shoreditch & Spitalfields..