London Still Rocks!

Last Monday,  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) was off to another spooky thing -  It Walks Around the House at Night  has an actor playing the ghost that inhabits a remote manor house, scaring visitors.. only to discover that he's not the only one there! Mwah-hah-haa.. Showing at  Southwark Playhouse  ( SP ).  My sometime dinner companion suggested we eat afterwards, it being over early - as I suggested, we could try the   Mercato , although it was closed   last time   we tried to do that, despite the website saying it'd be open much later! So I left later - has been a feature all this week, and is very handy for organising myself! Arrived right after our organiser, and managed to give her a jump scare as we approached the box office. :-) We got a table in the bar, and the others arrived in due course. The Barbie doll on the bar is now wearing a paper boat as a hat.. I fully meant to get a picture, but was a bit rushed, trying to navigate...

Back in London - and bah humbug, the cold weather has followed me! Anyway, two more nights of   Up in the Cheap Seats   (UITCS) in progress. Last night, we were at   Southwark Playhouse   again, and again with their now-expired PAYG discount, for  Beautiful Little Fool , the story of  F. Scott Fitzgerald  and his  wife , as told by their  daughter .  I planned to eat in The Rockingham Arms beforehand - but it was completely full! Pretty good, for 5.30pm on the Monday after Valentine's Day - they must be doing good business. Never fear, there's a Nando's right next door - I ate there. Found myself sat beside an elderly man and a young boy - got talking to them when I realised they didn't know you have to get your own cutlery, and told them where it was. Of course, it was a grandfather taking his grandson out for the day - he informed me they'd been to the War Museum . Not my idea of fun, but I'm sure they had a good time. They're fast ...

So, last night saw me with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Cockfosters , at the Southwark Playhouse  (SP) (Borough). I booked this on the Pay as you Go subscription - which I recently renewed: and I have to urge you, if you want the same, to hurry and take one out, because they're not accepting any new applications after the end of the year! Provides a discount and never expires - well worth it. Well, I headed off early to grab something to eat in Mercato Metropolitano  (MM) - but lordy, what's happened to the place?! I know it's some months since I was last there - but every place I used to like to eat has disappeared! The katsu places, the pasta place - even the good burger place, which I tended to avoid because they didn't provide cutlery. At least the wine bar is still going.. I finally plumped for an Indian street food stall , and ordered butter chicken. Unusually for here, he didn't give me a beeper, just said it'd be 5-7 minutes. Hmm.. well, I got m...

Last night, was thinking of film again - as my co-worker says, it's my movie night -  Urchin  is at the  Curzon Bloomsbury . BUT then Mandy got in touch - her Meetup groups ( BoB in London and London Herstory Walks ) were headed to see Gwenda's Garage , in Southwark Playhouse . Now, I'd seen this advertised a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to go with them - but it was already sold out. However, someone was now unable to go, and Mandy wanted to know whether I wanted the ticket! So I said yes please - I hadn't booked anything else - and waited for the ticket; I didn't want to commit to travelling down there without confirmation that I could have it. About 5.40pm, it finally came through - and I legged it, catching the bus , which came before too long.. and it duly stopped for the essential change of driver that happens nearly every time. I wasn't in time to eat - headed straight for the theatre bar, where I snaffled a couple of packets of Tayto and a glass of...

Tonight, second   Meetup   in a row, back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  for  Lifers , a prison drama at  Southwark Playhouse  - was delighted I still had credit on my  PAYG  subscription with them. I'm in walking distance. I fully intended to walk - but lo, arguably the daftest team at work wanted me to expunge the documents in the folder they wanted to add to the published build. They'd reviewed one, they wanted everything else gone. That rang warning bells.. as I said, are you sure all these others aren't needed? I'd already edited two others.. I checked with the person in charge - sure enough, there were three more that needed to be included. Three that they hadn't reviewed yet.. so there I was, all afternoon, zipping from A to B to C to B to C to A to.. whatever they had last looked at and decided could be tweaked. When someone decided that the new screenshots were a bit blurry.. so they'd have to provide new ones.. and it was about 5...

These two days are with  Meetup . This evening, back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  - this time, at  Southwark Playhouse , for  The Frogs . Based on a play by  Aristophanes , this version actually has music and lyrics by  Stephen Sondheim . Got a free ticket on my  PAYG  subscription. Funnily enough, also starting tonight in the other theatre there was  Who Is Claude Cahun?  starring  Amelia Armande , who was at the  storytelling .. and promoting it.. Planned to eat beforehand, as usual, in Mercato Metropolitano - which I could walk to. Except.. firstly, I left it a little late (ooh, surprise!) and secondly, it was too damn hot to walk for half an hour. So I was on the bus - and just in time for it, again. Made it to the Mercato in good time - the Wine Bar, I see, has changed their menu of wines by the glass! Gone is the Albarino - I had Sauvignon Blanc instead. Had to go to the back to order it, where I found all the sta...

Tonight, back with   Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) - this time, at  Southwark Playhouse , for  Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll , the true story of a  rockstar  who was told he had a limited time to live, only to defy the predictions. Well, for here, Mercato Metropolitano is always my go-to for food. I was delighted to discover it's under half an hour's walk from me! Never checked before. So, off I set, in brilliant sunshine (although still not that warm). A lovely evening for a walk, you might say - except that, with the sun in my eyes most of the way, I could neither see where I was going, nor see my phone, to see where I was headed! Google Maps did lead me through a fascinating warren of backstreets though. Arriving at last, I was dubious about what to eat; I'm a massive fan of katsu, but didn't much like the katsu rice bowls I'd been getting here - more rice and veg than chicken, and a miniscule amount of sauce. So I was delighted to find anot...