Meetup Christmas Social & Film: Cover-Up

On Saturday, our Christmas social with The Hideout and Movie Roadhouse London was back, happy days! Unusual to have it on a weekend, that's just the way it went - but it was very lucky this was my only free Saturday before Christmas. In the Main Bar at the BFI - and again, I booked The Archduke for beforehand.

Funny incident as we were getting off the bus - a young couple wanted to get off at Waterloo too, but got confused as we were stopped at the lights, before the stop. Oh my, the confusion as they couldn't get the doors to open - the panic as we moved off again! Bless.. when she was about to ask the driver, I told her what the situation was.. oh, the embarrassment! As he remarked to me, "You'd know we're not from around here!"

And so to The Archduke again, and their gorgeous butternut squash soup - and this time, I had the beef bourgignon, to be different. I have to say, it's a lovely spot for a late lunch, very relaxed at that time of day (my booking was for 3pm). Wandered over to the BFI, found the first arrivers near the back. It was a much earlier start than usual - as Mark said, he just wasn't capable of being his full, fabulous self from 4pm - he came later. Indeed, people were arriving through much of the evening - and the great thing about these socials is the variety of people that show up - we had over 40! The organiser was heading back to the States for Christmas next day, so it was a great send-off for him! And I tell you, I was involved in so many discussions all night - from film to PhDs to politics to.. who knows what! Not only that, but our organiser provided chocolates and biscuits.. he's too good to us! We stayed till we were chucked out.. Always love these socials, it's great to see them back.

Now, I had great plans of getting up to date with the blog after that, as I wasn't on till the next evening - but wow, some virus or other has struck me pretty hard, and I spent yesterday in a pretty miserable state - was very glad I wasn't actually meeting anyone yesterday! I went off to the Curzon Bloomsbury to see Cover-Up, a documentary about Seymour Hersh, the investigative journalist who broke the news about the My Lai massacre, during the Vietnam War. To GBK first, and had a lovely meal - which I couldn't finish; honestly, I was too tired to chew!

A mild cough troubled me slightly during the film, but nothing major. Ay me, I was tired though - but the film was worth seeing. We also learned how he broke the news about torture in Abu Ghraib, and he's written about Syria, now Gaza. Truly, what a lifetime of covering misery.. but he seems well able. Still sparky as the old man he now is, he threatens to end the interview if his interviewers persist in trying to get him to name his sources. It's a balanced portrayal too, pointing out how he was fooled over letters that seemed to prove a relationship between JFK and Marilyn Monroe. A very important reminder of the importance of free press, in an age when it's so much under attack..

Bought myself some medication on the way home, and have been sleeping a lot. See the next post for more information.