London Still Rocks!

This evening, I'm heading to the cinema - what was coming up was GroBe Freiheit (Great Freedom), a post- WW2 German prison drama, focussing on a man who's repeatedly jailed for homosexual acts. Showing in the Close-up Cinema . But, with more comprehensive film listings out, instead I went to Everybody Digs Bill Evans , a jazz biopic with Anders Danielsen Lie as the titular pianist and Bill Pullman as his dad. Seemed very mellow, which suited my mood. Showing in the Barbican . And I booked to eat in Cote Barbican beforehand. All nice and late, so I could attempt to catch up with myself. I did get a few things accomplished as a result, before taking buses to the restaurant, arriving a little early, despite diversions for roadworks. I was in time for three courses - and lo, even though I'd forgotten to scan my app the last time I was in a Cote, because I'd booked, I was credited anyway! Delighted to see that claiming my free dessert still didn't reduce my points...

Today, The Hideout 's sister group,  Movie Roadhouse London , was off to see  The Devil Wears Prada 2  - but that's really not my thing. Instead, I decided on   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 was in the  Barbican   - or alternatively in the BFI , for 50p more, so I went with the Barbican . It wasn't booking out, so I didn't bother to book - I decided to get the ticket there and save the booking fee. I did book  Cote Barbican  for beforehand, though. It was a late showing - and boy, was I glad to have a few hours to catch up with myself! Left in perfect time to catch the bus - which was then diverted. For a wee minute, I thought the diversion might work in my favour, taking me closer than I should have be...

On Saturday 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 . I decided to go straight from Islington , although I had a ton of time to kill - to while away some of it, I elected to go by bus, although it'd take over an hour. And a hot journey it was too, the sun beating down. By the end of it, I needed the loo - I alighted at Walthamstow High Street , and walked down it till I found my destination. I was hours early though, so sought a pub to hang out in and whose loo I could use. By 'eck, they're thin on the ground there - I eventually came up with Friends Lounge , further down the street. When I made my way down there, a few people were sat at tables outside, but the inside was pretty empty. I chose a table, checked with the server that it was ok just to have a drink, and used their loo. I decided I'd better have a look at the ...

These next two days are courtesy of my cheap ticket groups! Tonight, I was with TAC for a  Beethoven concert  at the  Milton Court Concert Hall  - and what was handy was that the tickets were from the venue, with a promo code - so we didn't have to pick them up at the venue, and could choose our own seats; naturally, I picked the most expensive I could get away with (£25 seats for £5 - not bad). Booked to eat beforehand at  Cote Barbican . The bus arrived almost perfectly when I did, and whisked me as close as it was going - including a short stop to even out the gaps in the service. I then had a bit of a walk, but for some reason, Google Maps stopped updating my ETA as I walked. Never mind, I arrived on time - and took a seat by the window. Have to say, I had the loveliest meal - most of this chain are terrific places to eat, great service, great food. And tonight, the worst I could say was that the calamari were a little chewy - but they were tasty, the stea...

Yesterday, third Meetup in a row , I was with  Movie Roadhouse London , at  The History of Sound , starring  Paul Mescal  and  Josh O' Connor  as two young  Americans  travelling around and collecting folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Showing at the  Barbican , and the organiser wisely suggested we meet at the cafe on  Beech Street  - that building is a maze! (Funnily enough, on Saturday , when I mentioned this, some people thought I'd said " Ministry of Sound "..) Google Maps threw a hissy fit, telling me how to get there - gave me several options involving catching the #47 and changing, then one taking the #47 direct - only to strike through that option.. and seemed to say my bus stop was closed, and the service cancelled! (Or at least I think so - it's hard to tell, they never specify which stop they're talking about.) The #381 , on the other hand, which stops at the same place and runs the same route for a w...

Yesterday, booked with  Rewind Tours of London  for his  Death, Disease and Fire Walking Tour . Was to have been the last in a run of four Meetups . Was curious to see how similar it is to his  Hallowe'en walk .. I set out in what should have been good time, but I was going on information from the night before - yesterday, as I was checking instructions on how to get to Barbican Tube Station , where we were to meet, Google Maps wasn't giving me anything like such convenient options - and certainly didn't seem to have heard about the roadworks that meant some buses were diverted off my route. I finally realised I'd have to get a bus to Liverpool Street , and the Tube from there - it was the only way I'd be there on time. Worked a charm, in fact, and I was there early. Stood in the place we'd met before, played my phone game .. and when the time to start came and went, I figured he wasn't coming. I left a message on the event page, and thought about what to...