London Still Rocks!

T onight, off with CT to  Shake It Up - The Improvised Shakespeare Show , at the  Hen & Chickens .. My sometime travel companion was coming too, and we agreed to eat at  La Pasta  beforehand. She'd thought she wouldn't make it till at least 6.30 - in the event, she said she'd get there for 6.20, which left me scrambling to get out - and as I was en route, she announced she'd made it already, at 6.05. Well, my buses made good time, and I got there at about 6.20 - I'd asked her to order the pinot grigio, the only real choice from a limited wine list. Ay me, it was unpleasant outside - cold, windy, and wet.. it was a delight to get into the warm restaurant! Unfortunately, that was the last thing that was a delight. The pasta she'd already ordered - being hungry - was a bit dry for her taste, so she asked for an extra bowl of sauce. I ordered the chicken in creamy mushroom sauce, as usual. The sauce was lovely, the carrots were al dente, the fries were delicious...

Tonight, headed to   Shake It Up - the Improvised Shakespeare Show   (always good) at the   Hen & Chickens . Ticket from CT. Started off in good time to eat beforehand - saw I could get there in just under an hour by bus. Now, what happened next is slightly complicated.. I was waiting for the first bus when I noticed I had no internet on my phone. Blast it.. I spent the whole first part of the journey trying to figure it out - more particularly since I hadn't memorised the route! I knew I had to change, and remembered it had recommended the #21 - but where, and where to get off, I had no idea.  Well, I wasn't sure, but figured I could catch that at London Bridge - so I got off, and while I waited there, I pondered my phone. Fiddled around with the settings.. and discovered the internet was disabled for it, apart from WiFi! FFS.. I didn't do that.. what must have happened was it disabled itself automatically, after our WiFi went down last night and I used the ...

For these two days - yep, a small Meetup drought again - I'm with CT again. Improv both nights - tonight was  Shake It Up - The Improvised Shakespeare Show ! It's at the  Hen & Chickens , first Monday of the month  - and phew, I still have my membership card, given out automatically at every show there, and good for a year. After all, I was there for horror films at  Hallowe'en . Another breezy day.. all day, I could hear it from inside, and then in the evening, it wasn't the pleasantest to be out in. Dinner beforehand was, as before, at La Pasta - no need for a reservation, certainly on a Monday! I ordered my usual - forgot, mind you, that the garlic bread is treated as a side here. Well, it is listed with the sides.. anyway, as I waited, a student came in, obviously a regular, and started chatting to the guy in charge. Who turns out to be Albanian , interestingly! As I ate - and it was good as ever - who should come in, and take the table at the end, but the ...

Well, across town I schlepped to Hackney on Saturday evening. In the rain. Buses proved uncooperative, and I spent ages waiting - Martin was coming across town and predicted he'd be there around 7.30. I should have made it earlier, but, well.. We were convening at Pirate Studios . My first mission was to buy wine - I wasn't familiar with the area, and a quick search revealed no off-licences nearby. There were supermarkets though, and it wasn't that late.. there was one five minutes' walk away, and off I went, bought some supplies, and stuffed them into my trusty rucksack. As I headed back to the studio, Martin messaged to say he'd just arrived, and I told him to hang on, I was nearly there. And a few minutes later, there I was. Damned heavy, my shopping.. anyway, Ivan had given us the codes for all the doors. And when we arrived at the particular studio, he was in there with a bandmate. Martin was to remark that this was much more salubrious than back in the day, a...