London Still Rocks!

Tonight, I was tempted back to the  Horror Book Club , who were reviewing  Out There Screaming , an anthology, edited by  Jordan Peele , of short horror stories by black authors. Handily, of the specific stories they intended to review, two were on the free  Amazon  sample! and I liked enough of it to sign up. In the  Prince of Wales  again -  Tube strike  permitting.. Yesterday, I finally finished the stories we'd be reviewing.  On account of that same Tube strike, work designated tomorrow a WFH day, so I went in today. Still pertains, despite the strike being postponed, although people can go in if they want - for me though, today suited nicely, what with what I was going to today being closer to the office than what I plan to go to tomorrow. Wednesdays are usually busiest in the office, but this week, I think people were staying away in general - there was plenty of space! and knowing that I could eat at the pub, I stayed nice and late. Walked there, arrived early - to find our

Tonight, back with the  World Music Meetup , for another concert at  St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace  - again, it's nearly a year since I was  last  here, or with this group. It's a lovely group, but so often clashes with other things.. This time, the  concert  was with  Delband , who perform traditional  Iranian  music with a twist - and sold out quickly. I planned to eat in the Lord Aberconway - cheers for another great eating suggestion, Laurence ! But the concert was at such a time that I could choose to eat before or after. With work I wanted to finish, I chose after - and yay, managed to get what I wanted done! Happily, it wasn't far by bus, and I arrived at the venue in good time. The t-shirts are cool - we discovered that the design incorporates lyrics from the songs, and were designed by a member of the band. As we waited for them to come on, I nearly fell asleep.. it's been a long day, a long week. By 'eck, I wasn't much in th

Yesterday, back with Meetup in the form of  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS), for  The Buddha of Suburbia , at the  Barbican  - lordy, it's over a year since I was  last  there! And wouldn't you know it, with everything I was trying to do yesterday, I actually mistook the venue.. jeez, that's twice in three days.. well, I realised my mistake before it got too late, happily, and switched buses. Only lost about 10 minutes. I'd been thinking about eating in the local Cote - used to be my go-to for the Barbican, and I never needed to book. And it was a Monday. But when I got there.. it was rammed! With the queue, and it looking as though every table was booked.. it didn't take me long to decide this wasn't going to be a runner. I was now a little tight for time.. and then it occurred to me that I might get something in the Barbican itself. I didn't fancy anything in the cafe, but headed for the Barbican Kitchen, around the back. Feels like eating in a college ca

This evening was also film. And what came up that was interesting was  Black Box Diaries , a documentary filmed by a  Japanese  journalist to document her fight for justice, after she was raped by a man with very important government connections! Threatened by those in power, stigmatised by many in this conservative society, she shows great bravery in telling her story to the world. Showing in the  Curzon Bloomsbury . My one non- Meetup   day in a run of them! I left a little later than intended - and then the buses decided to go on a go-slow. Not to mention an "emergency diversion" that sent us on a huge detour to come pretty much exactly back to where we left from. So I arrived at the cinema 10 minutes late. And when I went to get my code to prove membership - lo, the damn app had logged me out! Looking at it afterwards, I can only conclude that they'd changed the password rules without notice, and I ended up having to change my password to log back in again. Plus, the

For yesterday, I signed up with  Cultureseekers , who were doing a  Haunted London Treasure Hunt , in  Holborn .. bonus points if you wore something scary.. but then Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) decided to go to  Juror #2 , directed by Clint Eastwood (at 93!) and starring Nicholas Hoult in the title role of a juror who thinks that the woman who's supposed to have been murdered by the defendant might actually have been knocked down by himself! Also stars Toni Collette as the prosecutor, and J. K. Simmons as a juror who turns out to be a retired cop. Showing in Cineworld Leicester Square  - and so I decided to go to that instead. Could have gone to both, I suppose.. but nah, not bothered about Cultureseekers really! Ah, it made a nice change only to be going to one event, after the last couple of days.. I booked in Bella Italia beforehand, of course. Well, I say "of course", but when I first booked the film, I couldn't actually book the restaurant, it wouldn't

Now, with Hallowe'en on a Thursday.. and me taking it off.. well, I said it'd be a shame not to take Friday off too! So I did. Which left me free to join  Laurence Summers  and the  45+ Not Grumpies  on a walk about  The Wonderful Women of Westminster ! My quickest route involved a walk across Westminster Bridge - but the views are always great! I had fun pushing through the crowds, of course. We were to meet outside Portcullis House , which I could find - unfortunately, I started out on the wrong side of it! When I actually checked the address given on the event page, mind, I realised it must be on the river side .. and sure enough, there they were, and I even made it on time, this time. More or less. And sure enough, we were standing beside our first "wonderful woman of Westminster" - the statue of Boudicca : Crossing the river, we came to something I'd never seen before - the Covid Wall ! So, volunteers paint red hearts on the wall, and whoever wants can write