Spooky Isles Walpurgis and Beltane Social Evening

Well, I was in the office yesterday - and we had a talk from the board of management of the company that's just acquired ours. So we were all asked to come in - handily, it was my office day anyway. So I needed to get in early. I was certainly out earlier than usual - caught the bus at about 8.45am. And so, imagine my frustration when, first, we paused for 15 minutes to "even out the gaps in the service" - before having another delay to change drivers! I got into the office about 9.30.. and sure enough, there were no desks left. I spent the day - when not in meetings - at a coffee table right inside the door. Comfy seat, but nowhere to plug in my laptop - which died in the middle of the day. Really doesn't do well on battery. So, with half an hour to go before my next meeting, and not wanting to be obviously not working in the office, I went for a walk - and found myself in Outernet:

And, of course, I left pretty soon after my meetings ended. Last night, second night in a row of five doing "spooky" things, delighted to be back with Spooky Isles! Well, when I say "back".. once upon a time, I knew them as "Spooky London", when they were a great Meetup group, we'd meet in pubs with a spooky history and conversation was fascinating. Sadly, it died a death over the pandemic.. but was resurrected (appropriately, I guess) as Spooky Isles on Facebook! This was their first face-to-face event since, a social evening in honour of Walpurgis Night and Beltane, featuring a talk by a paranormal researcher, and happened in my old stomping ground of the King & Queen - I used to live right next door! Tickets from Eventbrite.

I needed to eat first, and they don't do food there - at least not in the evenings - so I searched around for eateries, and came up with The Fitzrovia - a Greene King pub, as it turned out. I'd left early, so found it easy to get a table - inside; all the outside tables were occupied on this sunny evening. And yes, the menu change seems to be throughout Greene King - so I had the katsu again, asking for just chips this time. I got more chicken here than in the Prince of Wales - more sauce too, and thick and delicious as it was, by the time I'd finished, I had had enough - it's very rich and a bit salty.

A couple of excellent quotations were hung right beside me:

I had another glass of wine and hung on there until just after 6, not wanting to arrive too early at the King & Queen. Not a long walk - delighted that this was one of the easier evenings with my laptop. I was just about to grab a seat when, lo, the organiser passed me - he'd come downstairs for drinks and was headed back up again. I caught his eye as he opened the door - and he confirmed the upstairs was open. So I took my things upstairs first - my name was checked off the list and everyone got a free badge, and a sticker on which we wrote our names. And then came back down for a drink - running into someone I know from The London Horror Film Group! Gosh, haven't been to anything with them since their spring social, last year.. as I told him, quite often it clashes with something The Hideout is doing. "Ah," said he, "the competition.."

And handily, I got a seat near the end of a row, where the tables, which had been moved out of the way, were lined up against the wall. Which provided a very handy ledge for both my drink and my bags! The talk didn't start till half past, and it was nice that questions were allowed throughout - with the speaker talking about one haunted location he'd visited, many people had things to say about other locations, other hauntings.. I didn't contribute anything, but it was nice to be around chats of this nature again, it's been far too long. And indeed, the chat was good all night - and it was good to have our own private room. I hear they're going to be holding these seasonally, so every few months - terrific! Look forward to this becoming a regular thing.

Of course, I was too tired to blog last night. Tonight, speaking of The Hideout, I'm headed to the first of two films in a row, back with that group. Was supposed to be for Deep Water, a thriller about a plane that crashes in shark-infested waters - Ben Kingsley is one of the pilots. But then there was some distribution issue - so instead, they've renamed the event "Spontaneous", and we're going to vote on what to go see. They have included some suggestions, but I'm sure, if there are enough votes for something else, we could do that. Personally, I'm hoping for Exit 8, a new Japanese psychological horror film based on a video game - a man is trapped in an underground station, and to find his way out, he needs to find anomalies - if he finds one, he must turn back. He must not turn back without finding one, he must not continue if he finds one.. I loved the trailer. Anyway, whatever we see, we're meeting in Victory House as usual, and I've booked for Bella Italia before that! And nicely, with the sun out, the bank holiday weekend upon us, and the acquisition finally completed yesterday, the CEO has said we can all knock off at 4! work permitting. So i could move my dinner booking a bit earlier to allow more time - lovely!

And tomorrow, thinking of Rose of Nevada - I saw the trailer and thought it was interesting. A fishing boat reappears after being missing for 30 years.. two men join the crew, and after one voyage, find themselves transported back in time and mistaken for the original crew.. Closest showing to me is in the Barbican.

And on Sunday.. mwah-hah-haa, 'tis the long-awaited launch of Dracula Interactive! It's a LoMAZ event, but to be fair, they didn't come up with it - it developed during the pandemic, based on the fact that the novel, Dracula, is written as a diary. Anyway, a website was set up whereby you could have the section of the novel corresponding to a particular day emailed to you on that day! So.. LoMAZ has decided to read along. Oh, but that ain't the half of it.. we're meeting in our regular haunt of the Union Jack, and dressing up (preferably vampirically) is encouraged. Plus, apart from hopefully deciding the ongoing schedule of readings that day.. we also have a couple of tie-in travel events.. because the action moves to Whitby in August, and to Transylvania in November! And I had so many ideas for the trips.. I was asked to be a co-host. This is going to be a record-breaking Meetup - and with a terrific bunch of people. Ooh, looking forward to it..

The next two days are looking like film. On Monday, thinking of Coup '53, a documentary about the Western coup in Iran in 1953 - and of course, showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury.

And on Tuesday, well, there's a new Irish horror film, Hokum, that I might check out - it's certainly highly rated! The Hideout is actually going to it on Sunday evening, hopefully late enough that those also coming to the Dracula launch can do both, if desired. Closest Tuesday evening showing to me is in Peckhamplex.

On Wednesday.. well, it happened before and it's happened again. There's a Meetup group called LGBTQ Culture Lovers - and they're off to a performance of Brahms Symphony No. 1 at St. John's Waterloo. I don't swing that way, but nothing to stop me going on my own! It's called a "rush hour" concert, and certainly it's on early - so I'm eating afterwards in The Archduke.

On Thursday, back with London Social & Cultural Meetups for a talk at the LSE about Trump's Foreign Policy in Historical Perspective. Couldn't miss that..

Next Friday, I've booked with TAC for an improv show called Fabled: The Improvised Fantasy Adventure, showing in The Free Association Theatre.

And on the 9th, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies for a reprise of his walk through the Old Jewish Neighbourhood. Yes, I've done it before - but I'm sure I don't remember half of it, and it's been years since.. I do remember it being good, though. Also delighted to see that prepayment is no longer required for attendees, whatever setting was changed!