Book Club: The House on the Borderland

Tonight - my first Meetup of the year - I was back with the Horror Book Club - and yay, I got the book finished on Monday! It was The House on the Borderland, which is absolutely weird, and an early example of cosmic horror - had something of a profound influence on Lovecraft.. and Terry Pratchett, it seems! Well, it'd be interesting to hear what people had to say about that - they were meeting in the Prince of Wales, as usual.

Not as cold as previously, with last night's rain - and I'd just missed my bus, darnit! Happily, Buses Due assured me there'd be another along - and lo, there it was, fully five minutes before the estimate! And would you believe it.. it said it wasn't terminating at Aldwych, it was going all the way to Tottenham Court Road! The very evening I didn't need to go past Aldwych..

Well, I got there about on time, ordered my usual downstairs - garlic bread, onion rings, Karaage sticky chicken. Someone, seeing it, subsequently ordered the same, but with fries instead of garlic bread. Can't blame him - my garlic bread was cold. The rest was lovely though. And I saw someone I know from other groups, which was nice.

As to the book - I was delighted that everyone who'd read that far agreed with me, that the first half was much more readable. Mind you, some accurately described it as action-adventure, the protagonist having to fight off strange creatures of unknown provenance, apparently intent on breaking into his house and annihilating the occupants! The second half, in contrast, sees him in a dreamlike sequence, a passive observer to the apparent end of the solar system, as it is absorbed into the sun, which itself is absorbed into another star..

All very trippy - and not that easy to read: I agreed with the one who complained about the excess of commas! Still.. I guess something in it reminded me of Lovecraft, of whom I'm a fan, and so I went a bit easier on it than I otherwise would have. The associated discussion was interesting though, all about the author's life, and how it might have informed his writing. However, of those of us who finished it, we pretty much agreed we wouldn't be reading it again.. Very good to get back with this group though, and very good to be forced to spend some time reading - I really don't do enough of it, these days.

I was just in time to miss my bus on the way home too. But despite it not being listed on Buses Due at all, it popped up out of nowhere before too long. Ah, they do like to keep us guessing. 

Let's hope that bus is still going all the way tomorrow, when I need it for the office! The next two days, I was to be with CT at the Backyard Comedy Club.. again, it's been a while! However, then Over 40 Living the Life advertised a trip to the immersive Macchu Picchu exhibition, which sounded much more interesting, for Friday. However again, the Meetup page didn't work from Norway, would you believe. Which turned out just as well, because in the meantime, Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) advertised a trip to Marty Supreme. Based on a table tennis champ, played by Timothée Chalamet, who also co-produced, also stars Gwyneth Paltrow. They're seeing it in Cineworld Leicester Square, meeting in Victory House beforehand. And of course, I'm back in Bella Italia before that!

So, that's the first of five days in a row of Meetups, incorporating six altogether! On Saturday, a walk titled Southwark: Seedy and Sublime with none other than Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! Haven't seen him since September, would you believe.. 

That evening, I was supposed to be back with The Hideout (TH) for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, but the release has been postponed. Heard about that during my trip, but I was so busy I completely forgot about it! So now, instead, their sister group, MRL, has advertised The Housemaid for that evening - looks a bit like a comedy horror, with Amanda Seyfried advertising for a housemaid, but apparently turning out utterly psychotic. Sydney Sweeney is the unfortunate job applicant. And gee, as per the trailer, they seem to have equally really long hair.. They're seeing it in Picturehouse Central, drinks beforehand.

On Sunday, back with London Museums A-Z for T is for Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection. Advertised, would you believe, while I was looking at my phone but not especially busy, in The Rockingham Arms - and this being the next unscheduled date in my diary, I was one of the five to snap up a place in the first minute! Social afterwards at the Marquis Cornwallis.

On Monday, with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) again, for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - a dark comedy set in Iraq - at the Young Vic. Booked for Bar + Block Southwark beforehand. Ooh, another place I haven't been in an age..

And on Tuesday, I'm back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Makropulos Affair, by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at the Barbican - one of the group with a wildcard ticket couldn't go and kindly offered it for free, so I snapped it up. Eating at Cote Barbican beforehand - it'll be fun trying to get the discount on my app. And gee, you guessed it.. Haven't been there since September, but was with the group slightly more recently, in October..

I was having terrible trouble finding anything for next Wednesday - and then Nell Phoenix came to my rescue, with another storytelling evening at Torriano Avenue! (I see she's still advertising it as £7, but it's actually £10.) Anyway, that evening, it's Yamamba, with Laura Sampson!

Then a few more days of Meetup. On the 15th, back with UITCS for Safe Haven, at the Arcola - the true story of Operation Safe Haven (1991), which protected, and provided humanitarian aid to, Kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq after Saddam Hussein defeated the Kurdish rebellion. Jeez, hard to imagine it happening these days..

On the 16th, back with La Isla Flamenca Club, olé! This show is called Light & Shadow, and is happening in The Gold Bar in the COLAB Tower (walkable, lovely.. as long as the weather warms up a bit) - tickets from We Got Tickets. I managed to get an Early Bird ticket, but they're now sold out - regular and student tickets available.

And on the 17th, that postponed trip with TH to see 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple..