St. Paul's Late
Tonight, back with London Social & Cultural Detours for an evening late event at St. Paul's. Sold out a while ago. Happily, it's not a long or complicated trip from where I am - so it was a relaxed trip, and I got there early.. to find most of the group already at the meeting point. Where we waited for quite a while for our last member.. it was nice of her to do that actually, it's not everyone that would: and honestly, we had plenty of time. During which we discussed the state of the world, through the lens of Randy Rainbow..
When our last attendee arrived, we made for the (very long) queue - but it was fast-moving, and people were handing out maps of the interior, denoting where "spotlight talks" and "spotlight music" were happening. The upper galleries were closed, it was just the ground floor and crypt. And I wasn't the only one taking not a blind bit of notice of the sign that barred photography after 4.30pm..
This chap was walking about, decoratively:
My, it's somewhat overwhelming though.. could have done with a guided tour, to tell us what to look at..
We came across a curious pair of matching sculptures - closer inspection of the information panels revealed them to be memorials to the dead of WW1, reminiscent of the white crosses left on the graves of unidentified soldiers:
The finer detail is reminiscent of the ruined state of cities in modern-day wars.. as a lady beside me remarked, we haven't learned anything. "No," I replied, "and I don't think we ever shall.."
Well, we decided to make for a talk - apparently, they were pop-up talks that would start once a small crowd had gathered. Great - unfortunately, the speakers were all very softly spoken, and after gathering under the dome, and completely failing to hear anything that was being said about it, we gave up on the idea..
The High Altar:
We walked along the side of the quire:
..and were about here when we got a bit of religion, someone on the PA leading us in a recitation of the "Our Father":
Leaving the quire, we headed towards the practical demonstrations, which were rather cool - embroidery, a lady depicting the cathedral in thread, and examples of embroidered book covers and stoles:
We came across the tomb of Samuel Johnson!
And I see they're old-school with the candles - no collecting the wax or anything! Guess they feel it adds authenticity:
We also caught some examples of stonemasons at work - and it was great how the public could have a go at whatever they fancied! After a bit though, we headed down to the crypt - where I'd never been - and which, with its lower ceilings and lesser ornamentation, was much more accessible:
And so we decided we'd seen enough, and repaired to the cafe - where I had a very nice ham n cheese baguette. Not equal to the dizzying standards of those at the British Museum, but they did toast it for me. Funnily enough, they had red wine (in cans) and advertised white, but I didn't see any - so I was on water. And we had a lovely chat, about this and that and all sorts.. and one of us even had his outfit admired by a passerby, who wanted to know where he got it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..
We also passed a fascinating timeline of the history of the cathedral, juxtaposed with a timeline of world history. Hey, I see Charles and Diana weren't the first heir to the throne and his bride to marry here!
..but I was on the bus again:
I have to say, it's nice to get home in time to shop, and with some hours before I need to go to bed. Not that I'm not now past my bedtime, but ah well..
Next, it's three days of film. Tomorrow, I'm heading to California Schemin' at the Curzon Aldgate. It's a comedy about two youngsters from Dundee trying to break into hip hop, who discover it's much easier if they pretend to be from California! Looks funny, and is James McEvoy's directorial debut - he stars as well. And it's based on a true story! Funnily enough, I'm not using one of my free tickets (well, £65 for five, pay upfront, then they're free) for this, it works out cheaper to buy a discounted one.. I've booked to eat in the Cote St. Katharine Docks beforehand.
Then two days with my somewhat neglected horror film group, The Hideout! On Thursday (first of three days with Meetup), we're seeing I Saw the TV Glow, a psychological horror that I was disappointed to miss at the time, now showing in the Prince Charles. Meeting in Victory House beforehand as usual - and yay, I've booked for Bella Italia before that. Leaving an extra hour for eating, after the rush last time, and the organiser is joining me again. And again, I have a £15 voucher for there, lovely..
And on Friday, we're headed to see Lee Cronin's The Mummy - details TBA, but we're apparently having a mummy quiz beforehand!
Finally, on Saturday I'm on another walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies -this one is The Backstreets of Islington. And no, the issue where the event demands prepayment with PayPal has NOT been resolved! So he's just keeping an offline list of who's going.
And that evening, finally back with La Isla Flamenco (having had to miss a couple of theirs) for A Sip of Spain: Flamenco, Folk & Copla at Pulse & Pickle CIC.. tickets from Humanitix.
For Sunday, a friend asked whether I was interested in Patel's Millions 2, a Bollywood-inspired musical comedy (sequel, by the sound of it) about the owner of a corner shop who comes into money, then loses it, but his family are still spending like there's no tomorrow. Does sound good - showing in the Beck Theatre, which I've discovered I can get to in under 1.5 hours. Isn't that nice? However, she's selling two tickets, so she said she'd try to sell them as a pair, and would sell one to me if she couldn't. Failing that option, it'd be cinema again, and I was looking at My Father's Shadow, in which a father shows his young sons the sights of Lagos during the inflammatory election of 1993 - closest showing to me (that's not too early) is in Picturehouse Hackney.
Ah, but then Movie Roadhouse London advertised a trip to see Father, Mother, Sister, Brother in The Barbican. So I'm now going to that instead - the trailer does look good.
On Monday, second day in a row, I'm also looking at film - and thinking of Project Hail Mary at last! It's one of those that a lot of people I know have seen, but I haven't gotten around to it - stars Ryan Gosling in a dystopian future where the sun is dying, and he has to go into space to perform some kind of rescue mission. Along the way he meets a cute little alien being. I've heard people rave about it, and he's always watchable, so perfectly happy to give that a shot! Closest showing to me is in the Everyman Borough Yards.
Next Tuesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats to see Heart Wall, a drama about a woman returning to a home where she no longer feels she belongs. Showing in the Bush Theatre.
On the 22nd, back with the Crick Crack Club at Folklore, where Nell Phoenix will be delivering a show called Uncanny, a set of apparently true scary stories. Tickets from Dice, as ever, and I'm eating beforehand in The Blues Kitchen Shoreditch, as usual.
Next, two nights of cheap shows courtesy of CT. On the 23rd, I'n seeing Ancient Grease, a parody of the famous musical, Grease, but - well - set in Ancient Greece! specifically, on Olympus, and focusing on the love affair between Hera and Zeus. Showing in the Vaults Theatre.
And on the 24th, Down to Chance is a comedy play about the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964, and a local radio operator's role in helping. Showing at the Pleasance Theatre.
Finally, on the 25th.. well, someone from LoMAZ suggested creating an event to eat sachertorte. Apparently the Lanesborough Hotel is hosting a temporary pop-up, giving you the chance to eat sachertorte and apfelstrudel prepared to the original recipe of the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. However, wouldn't you know it, that's the only day this month that suits James to meet! And he, Mark, and Martin aren't members of that group, and it's a private group event.. the group is headed to a ceilidh that evening, but I said I'd skip it and hang out with James and Mark and Martin, if it suits.. ah, the difficulties of scheduling!
But then, when I asked about timings, the organiser said he'd completely forgotten about it - and was it on the 25th or 26th? Well, I don't have anything for the 26th, so asked for that, and he was fine with it.. but a couple of others aren't. So he's put up a poll.. I really hope he moves it to the 26th, it'd make my life so much easier..
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