London Still Rocks!

My mother's funeral took place on Thurs day morning - and wow, such weather! The service was lovely, the graveyard is on a hill with a lovely view: a great day out, if not for the occasion. And I did actually get slightly sunburned - what a difference from when my father was buried there, all those years ago.. I didn't hang around - happily,   Aer Lingus   provided a flight at a suitable time! So I could make it - my case was packed, and in the car, in preparation. In the event, I even managed to get a much-needed wash on. Because I was in a rush - that evening, I was back with  The Hideout  - for  The Lighthouse , lovely! A psychological horror directed by  Robert Eggers , who so recently blew all of our minds with his new version of  Nosferatu , and co-written by him and his brother,  Max , this stars  Robert Pattinson , and the always-excellent  Willem Dafoe , as the sole occupants of an isolated, 19th-century lighthouse - where...

Today, again, was horror - I went with the  London Horror Film Group  to the  Satanic Spring Market . It was good fun  last time , although I didn't find anything to buy.. My, I had fun with buses again. A really blustery day saw me wait ages for my first bus (at least I was sheltered).. then change to a route that required two more.. then change to one I should have got in the first place, except it hadn't arrived.. and throughout, the LCD displays on bus stops were an act of fiction. Except to warn us that an "event" in town could cause disruption to our route. This turned out to be the London Landmarks Half Marathon - and yes, it did disrupt my journey slightly, requiring a slight detour - but I doubt that was the explanation for all the delays! Not even the small but curious protest we passed: This one seemed to combine a choral movement against climate change (singing truth to power) with some movement about the judiciary being allowed to follow their consci...

O n Wednesday, well, there wasn't a lot advertised on  Meetup  - I thought about heading to the  Winter Light Festival  at the  Southbank Centre  that day. But then, yay, the  London Horror Film Group  advertised informal  drinks  at the  Imperial  for that day! So I said I'd trot along to that - they were starting at midday, which I couldn't, with work, but I was sure they'd still be there when I was free! Now, I was working from home that day - but we have to work core hours, so I said I'd set off after that. Thought the core hours lasted until 4.30 - but there's one guy on one of my teams who keeps clocking off just after 4, so I figured I must be wrong! 4pm came, I left. Got to the pub a bit earlier than anticipated, then - ironically, it's only a short distance from the office, so I got the exact same bus that I get to work.. They were down the back - naturally. And one of the organisers said he'd have his Frightfest t-sh...

On Saturday, I met James at  The Anchor  - Martin was to join us later.. and Ivan was going to try to come, after his rehearsal. He didn't make it in the end, of course - well, I did manage to get them all in the same room once; I live in hope! Overnight rain had cleared - but the effects were still there, and it was windy as hell! I had some fun struggling against the wind on my walk to the pub - made it just after the booked time, and a member of the bar staff showed me to my table - which was just as well, considering it was occupied! They were nice enough about moving. It was a snug little table, hardly enough room to move - there was a handy bag hook though, and we were nicely positioned beside a scale model of the Globe ! James' train was delayed. When he arrived, we ordered - my wine, and our food, arrived in good order. He had steak - I mulled it over, but decided I'd prefer chicken kiyev. And then, staring at our food, we realised we had no cutlery..! As he remarke...

Last Saturday, at  The London Horror Film Group 's  Christmas Social  - again, at  The Angel on St. Giles High Street . Now, I missed not doing a   Laurence   walk on a Saturday - but I appreciated the lie-in! It was to my surprise that I noticed, that afternoon, that it was starting at 4..! Hey-ho, off I went - terrible traffic though, and I was slightly late in arriving. Was slightly confused about what door to go in by (we'd been upstairs last time , were now downstairs, and this pub is complicatedly segmented) - until I saw a Frightfest hoodie, and followed that! No matter that I was a bit late - hardly anyone came for ages after that. My first order of business was food - decided it was cold enough to try the steak and ale pie. And gee, that was a good idea! It's not as large as the Greene King one - more manageable. Recommended it to two others sat near me, who seemed to appreciate it as well - plates were cleared all around. Conversation was good, a...