London Still Rocks!

Last night  second in a row of six days of Meetups , and of three days of mythology - whee, I hosted storytelling with London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ) again! The Crick Crack Club  (CCC) - in the form of Lucy Lill - performed  Doom Scrolls - The Never-Ending Prophecies of the Sibyls in Folklore Hoxton . Female prophets, the theme - and I was still getting new sign-ups practically up to the end. It sold out at least two days beforehand, as they tend to do - two people cancelled after I said it. One person, mind, went on the CCC's waitlist and got a last-minute ticket! I booked to eat in the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch beforehand. Made it a bit early - the guy at the door recognised the name, and led me quickly to a booth - at that time, it was pretty empty anyway. Service, I have to say, was better than I've experienced here before in general - quite attentive. I had the roast chicken for the first time.. it came with a lovely, thick gravy, but on a bed of chickpeas, which I wo...

Tonight , yet more storytelling from the Crick Crack Club (CCC)! This one was Downright Rude! with TUUP (wow, it's ages since I'd seen him), Sarah Liisa Wilkinson , and Nell Phoenix , in Folklore . (How they'd all fit in there, I didn't know - it's tiny!) Booked to eat beforehand in The Blues Kitchen Shoreditch . You know, it wasn't forecast to rain.. well it did, as I went for the bus . Typical. And the bus was doing its magical disappearing act, now on the board, now not.. it did come in reasonable time, and deposited me near the Blues Kitchen at about the right time. More rain, of course. I was immediately seated.. and lo! They've changed the menu! Sadness and grief.. Gone is the delectable fried chicken - in its place, a "half roast chicken", a number of things I wouldn't be bothered with, or a couple of steaks - a 200g fillet, or, for £5 more, a 400g sirloin. I had the fillet - 200g is fine for me. With fries. Meh, the steak isn...

Tonight, back with the  Crick Crack Club  at  Folklore , where  Nell Phoenix  delivered a show called  Uncanny , a set of apparently true scary stories. Tickets from  Dice , as ever, and I was eating beforehand in  The Blues Kitchen Shoreditch , as usual. This strike  promised to be over by evening. Well now, I guess nobody told the bus passengers that, because the buses were rammed. Crazy busy, I was lucky to get on, glad to get off. Plus they were all delayed. Happily, today's was a short journey - at that, I couldn't get a bus quite close enough, and had to walk the last bit. I was five minutes late, but hey, they were practically empty! I got a table without issue, was served at lightning speed - and oh, it was good. Had one glass of wine, and when I was finished all that, it was late enough that by the time I got to the venue, the doors would be open, so off I went. Pity really - Wednesday is cocktail night, they're all on sale.. Got mys...

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...

Tonight , yet more storytelling - I was back at  Folklore Hoxton  for  A Dance with the Minotaur's Sister , told by  Steph Brittain  and presented by the  Crick Crack Club  ( CCC ) , tickets with  Dice , as usual - completely sold out, as they tend to. And wouldn't you know it, I've been so busy, it completely slipped my mind to book the  Blues Kitchen  for beforehand! Got it done in time, phew. Well, I headed out when Google Maps told me to - to discover that the bus was delayed. Never mind, it still got me there within five minutes of my booking.. and service, while slightly slow, wasn't disruptively so. Happy to say the chicken is as moreish as ever - and wow, the chips are a lot less salty, mercifully! Someone must have had a word.. I see the cocktails were reduced to £6 today - but I didn't fancy them with my meal, and hadn't time afterwards. Pity - I do like their ginger margarita. The bar at Folklore was unusually non-busy - I o...

Tonight was the  Crick Crack Club's Christmas Carols show , at  Hoxton Hall , starring  Ben Haggarty ,  Tim Ralphs , and  Steph Brittain , with  Sheema Mukherjee  on music. Booked the nearby  Breeze Bistro  for beforehand, and never did get confirmation.. so I gave up, and booked  The Blues Kitchen  again. Left all my work to today - and still got it done early! so said I'd leave early, only to find a backed-up line of traffic and no #47 coming, as promised by Google Maps . Not within the next half hour. Well, the next option was to take a different bus from London Bridge , and hopefully take the #381 as far as there. One was due - however, when it finally showed, it had changed its destination, and wasn't going anywhere near as far. Which was when a few of us decided to walk. Unfortunately, the unexpected exercise proved too much for my weakened chest, and when I was nearly there, I dissolved into a violent coughing fit - actuall...