Storytelling: The Goddess of Spreadsheets

Tonight, more storytelling - seems to be the popular day of the week for it at the moment! This was The Goddess of Spreadsheets, by Tim Ralphs, at Torriano Avenue.

This far away, it had to be Tube - the Northern Line, to be specific: and isn't it ironic that, with it closing early on weeknights, I, who usually don't take the Tube at all, ended up on this very line two nights in a row.. Anyway, this evening, a bus heading by the station was due as I passed, so I took the sensible option and waited for it. And so I arrived early at Nando's. The tables by the window, where I usually sit, were full - I ended up beside the door to the toilets. Handily, it's also beside the cutlery etc. And that's where I was when he came with my wine, looking all confused to see an empty table.. I wonder what the issue is. Quite possibly they're supposed to check that the person receiving it isn't underage, which means they're in a bit of a quandary if no-one is there.. I reassured him it was mine, and it was safely delivered.

I was finished eating so early, I had time for a dessert (joy!) - entertainment was provided by the woman at one table advising the woman at the next table how to feed her baby, and indeed, offering to help so that woman could have a bite herself. The woman with the baby had quite the time persuading her no, she was fine, thanks! Honestly, with babies, everyone's an expert.. When I was finished, I set off at a relaxed pace, and got to the venue at about 7.10 - doors were at 7, for a 7.30 start. Nell Phoenix let me in herself - and wow, I'd never seen the place so empty! I was, in fact, the first there, and she borrowed my phone's internet connection to get her phone payments working. The internet did eventually work for her - her Sum Up app didn't though, and I, along with several of the others who eventually arrived, ended up paying in cash.

Indeed, they were quite late arriving - I think she was relieved when they did. Perhaps the title put some people off..? What was nice was there were a few people whose first time it was, who'd read about it online. Hope they come back, it's always good to see word spreading. What I could have done without, however, was the slightly overenthusiastic young lady right in front of me (not a first-timer), who kept feeling she could add something to the show by interjecting. Tim Ralphs dealt with her graciously, but it must have been distracting.

As usual, Nell asked for volunteers beforehand - a storyteller whose name I can never remember sang a song in Scots (I think), apparently about murder, although frankly, I hadn't a clue what she was actually singing about - and the guy sitting next to me popped up on stage to tell a wee story about one trickster outwitting another. And then it was the turn of Tim Ralphs - who had the creative idea of finding stories about, well, bookkeeping or the like, and proposing the protagonists as the executives of a kind of celestial committee! As he said, these are the people who manage the details to get things done.. 

And so we had the ancient Egyptian goddess Seshat, goddess of wisdom and knowledge, who in particular introduced writing - she was a scribe, whose skills measured the flooding of the Nile, so that the people could manage to cultivate crops. We met the imp of idle gossip, and his pal, the imp of bad spelling, who combined.. and we popped over to Chinese mythology for the story of a young man, about to study for his civil service exams, who ended up killing a dragon and going to hell. However, the dragon has given him a charm to help him, and he manages to negotiate a return to life, in a much better position, having aced those exams..

And trust Tim Ralphs to make it interesting, to make it funny.. as Nell said herself, when he'd finished, he can be guaranteed to turn out the most original version of any story..

Massive queue for the Tube on my way home, stretching up the road, given that it was finishing at 10 - but I got on without issue (I needed the next one anyway, so most of the crowd was gone). I didn't get the very last one, like last night - but as I disembarked at London Bridge, announcements warned that the last one would be leaving there in 10 minutes..

Tomorrow, heading to a film - Wasteman is a prison drama, closest showing to me in the Everyman Broadgate. The trailer looks really powerful, as an inmate close to parole, and looking forward to seeing his son, gets a violent new cellmate and finds himself in danger of losing his "good behaviour" status. Because most of the seats in that screen are sofas, tickets for which have to be booked in pairs, I thought I'd better book an armchair while they were going. Eating in the Red Lion Moorgate beforehand - a Greene King pub. Now, I'll be in the office again during the day, and it closes at 7 - I wanted a booking around 7.45, but I have to go a little later, at 8pm; they're booked up till then.

On Friday - way-hay! I've become a big fan of the Irish comedy trio Foil, Arms & Hog, from their online videos. I've never seen them live - and was very keen to see them when I heard they were performing their latest show, Skittish, at the Palladium! For some reason, however, I could never get the booking link to work - and just as well, because tickets then came up on CT and I snapped one up. Eating in Shakespeare's Head Soho beforehand - second night in a row in a Greene King pub.. well, they're central, and the food is good..

On Saturday, absolutely delighted to be seeing the medieval music group Rune again. They're now artists in residence at the medieval church of St. Bartholomew the Great, and I'm on their mailing list - they've announced a programme of four concerts there for the year, but only the first two are so far available to book. This one is Soave Dolce Melodia: Music of the Trecento (14th Century Italian). I emailed the Old Red Cow for a dinner booking beforehand - and they confirmed the same night! Maybe they're speeding up.

Sunday is when they're celebrating St. Patrick's Day in London - I think I'll take myself along to the festival. A Meetup group called Explorers is going, but I don't know anyone in it well, so I think I'll do my own thing - besides, 210 people have signed up! It'd be like a small army..

On Monday, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) is off to another spooky thing - It Walks Around the House at Night has an actor playing the ghost that inhabits a remote manor house, scaring visitors.. only to discover that he's not the only one there! Mwah-hah-haa.. Showing at Southwark Playhouse.

Then, two days of films, catching a couple I've had my eye on for a while.. On Tuesday, Paddy's Day itself, my thought was to go to a film with an Irish connection.. not a great choice of them amongst the highly rated though! I finally plumped for seeing Hamnet at last, my justification being that it has two Irish stars - Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. They play Shakespeare and his wife, respectively - although her name seems to have changed from Anne to Agnes! Mind you, it is based on a novel. Deals with the death of their son, Hamnet, and how that provided the inspiration for the play Hamlet. Closest showing to me is in Rich Mix - which I've booked, because I also booked to eat in The Blues Kitchen beforehand, and figured I'd better book the one, since I'd booked the other.

And next Wednesday, finally heading to see No Other Choice, a dark comedy about a middle-aged Korean man who, finding himself unexpectedly unemployed and with a family to support, and faced with competing with younger, brighter applicants in the jobs market, decides that the only reasonable course of action is to eliminate them.. Handiest close showing to me is in the Curzon Bloomsbury - I've booked it with the last of my year's free tickets. Always good to use a free ticket for something that's not a documentary, and so is priced higher..

And then three days of Meetup. On the 19th, back with UITCS for the opening night of Body and Soul at Sadler's Wells, eating at The Wilmington beforehand as usual.

On the 20th, back with The Hideout at last, to see Dead Lover - the trailer is so ridiculously OTT, I can only hope the film is worth it! About a gravedigger, finally finds the man of her dreams, and he goes and dies! Naturally, what can she do but resurrect him..? Showing in the Prince Charles, and we're meeting in Victory House beforehand. Now, I'd normally book at my favourite restaurant for this - but would you believe, by the time I decided what I was doing, they were fully booked for early evening! Eating at the Bear and Staff instead, I know they're good.

And on the 21st, finally back with LoMAZ for their bi-monthly birthday bash - meeting at Benugo in Waterloo, then having a self-guided history tour (ahem) within the station, and repairing to the Union Jack..