Concert: Falla 150

Have to give kudos to the driver that got me to work this morning.. not only did he stop, having pulled away already, to accommodate someone who was running, but I happened to be last off, with my rucksack on my back, and as I alighted, he closed the doors a little quickly and kind of caught it. Would you believe, as I walked past the door, he called to me to apologise! Honestly, there are some really nice bus drivers out there..

Tonight, back with TAC for Falla 150, a tribute to the Spanish composer, Manuel de Falla, at St. Clement Danes church - part of the Echoes Festival of Latin Classical Music. Regular tickets from Ticketsource. Booked to eat at Cote Covent Garden beforehand. Well, I could - and did - walk from the office, arriving slightly late - 2 minutes - and was seated pretty quickly. And then forgotten about - until the maitre d' glanced in my direction and sent someone to take my order. And then I was kept waiting for the wine, until the guy who'd taken my order glanced my way, and put a rush on the bar order I'd heard him put in straight away.

And then I was kept waiting for my starter, until the maitre d' glanced in my direction again. The main came reasonably quickly, and it was all good.. and then I was kept waiting for the bill. I stood for that bit - I couldn't risk wasting any more time. Anyway, when the maitre d; came with it, she made sure to get me to scan my app.. so now I'm entitled to a free dessert. Huh, if I ever have time for it! Mind you now, three tokens is a free cocktail, and six gets you £50 off your bill! Must remember that, in future. I tell you though, this place is notorious for delays in service - of course, they do have everyone arriving at the same time, heading to shows at around the same time. But honestly, other places manage it without pissing off the clientele..

With all that, I arrived at the church with five minutes to spare. Wanted a programme, and was encouraged to give a donation - jeez, it took me ages to sift through all my Euros for something they'd appreciate! (No card payments.) No drinks here, hmm. Got a seat fairly near the front:

A pianist and a soprano - most of the pieces were sung:

The only piece I recognised was Granada by Albéniz. And I loved whenever I could detect Spanish touches.. unfortunately, her style of singing is that kind of operatic style that I've always found overblown, and I'm afraid I just didn't enjoy it so much. Ah well.. I didn't pay much.. The Echoes Festival runs right through to the 1st of December, if you're interested. 

Next, it's six days of Meetup! Tomorrow, I'm back with The Hideout, for Roar, a comedy documentary about Tippi Hedren, her daughter, Melanie Griffith, and her husband, who directed and co-wrote it.. and some lions. Apparently Tippi Hedren is a real lover of animals. And as the blurb says, no animals were harmed in the making of this film - 70 cast and crew, including all of the above, were! It looks ridiculously OTT - and as someone says, this makes a mockery of Tippi Hedren claiming she was traumatised by Hitchcock attacking her with birds on the set of The Birds! Anyway, showing in The Nickel.

On Saturday, back with Museum, Art & Culture Socials at the Museum of Soho for an exhibition, The Magnificent Mr. Mole, about a local artist. Meeting at Cafe Boheme beforehand, and with a quick look at The French House bar & restaurant, where the late Mr. Mole used to hang out, afterwards, before a pub social.

On Sunday, hosting my first ever Meetup event, woo! It's with London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ), and hey, it's where I've finally found an outlet to advertise storytelling, which regular readers will know that I love. So, this is a Crick Crack Club event, which I was going to anyway - it's Agni & Amor: Tales of Love & Fire, and happening in The Master Shipwright's House. Ben Haggarty and Steph Brittain will be performing, but there'll also be music and food - a real end-of-summer festival. Part of the Thames Festival Trust. We're meeting in the Dog and Bell beforehand, and optionally afterwards as well. A lot of newbies coming to this one - hopefully they remember to buy tickets, which are limited.

Monday is a bank holiday, so I managed to slot in my friend Helen, who wanted to come visit. We're having a long lunch at Bella Italia Cranbourn Street.

And that evening, and indeed on Tuesday as well, I'm with Up in the Cheap Seats. On Monday, we're at Holy Fool at the Park Theatre. It's the story of Shostakovich, who trod a tricky line living under Stalin.

And on Tuesday, we're seeing How the Other Half Loves, a romcom at the Old Vic. Eating beforehand at Bar + Block Southwark - which looks like to be my last time there, or in any Bar + Block, as the chain is closing down next Thursday!

On Wednesday - I'm hosting another LoMAZ event! This one is part of our Dracula series.. The Nickel is showing Dracula in Istanbul, and I said I'd run an event. Made in 1952, it's apparently the first film to depict Dracula with fangs.. and has Mina as a showgirl! Should be fun. We're headed to The Wilmington afterwards. Connor has signed up, which is nice.

Next Thursday, I'm back with CT for Never Let Go, part of the Fringe Fix at Underbelly Boulevard. It's a comedy, one-man, gay retelling of the film Titanic.

And then - with a last-minute reschedule of what I was supposed to be doing - I finally have a weekend free to get back to Ireland, phew! Took me ages to get the flight booked, mind - the Ryanair app was down, I had to use the browser. And both Ryanair and Stansted Express have forgotten my account, I book so seldom any more.. hopefully meeting the friend I usually lunch with when I go back.