29 July 2007
We went to see Take Flight! at the Menier Chocolate Factory, a new musical about the pioneers of flight - Wright Brothers, Earhart & Lindbergh. It had all the right credentials - produced by a reputable company, good solid West End actors, seasoned creators including David Shire, John Weidman & Richard Maltby Jr and put together by the creative team of Sunday in the Park with George, which was a triumph. This, on the other hand, was an unmitigated disaster. It was dull, had no overlying story arc, unhummable, didn't move you in the slightest and the conclusions reached were what? Who knows? That it's better to die than to compromise your dreams? The songs were derivative (BB's comment) and nothing seemed new. The direction seemed lazy. The set was quite good but you never once felt that anything took flight or felt like you were seeing people actually fly. Dull, dull, dull and too flaming hot. Actually, Sally Ann Triplett was good, and Clive Carter.
The most exciting thing was that Imelda Staunton was in the audience. I told BB this when we were in the foyer waiting to go in. When we sat down (free seating), BB said, 'So where's this famous person then?' quite loudly. 'She's behind you', I hissed in return. There was a slight pause and then we both got the giggles.
The most exciting thing was that Imelda Staunton was in the audience. I told BB this when we were in the foyer waiting to go in. When we sat down (free seating), BB said, 'So where's this famous person then?' quite loudly. 'She's behind you', I hissed in return. There was a slight pause and then we both got the giggles.
22 July 2007
What a lovely sunny day it has been! It has been a lovely weekend, all in all. The middle blister and family Chakra(ex)hongkies came a visiting. We went to see if the fish and chips in the Sea Cow were as good as the Guardian review said or if standards were going off as I said. Actually, it was pretty good.
Then, we all piled back to the homestead to avoid the intermittent downpours, sadly missing out on fudge from Hope and Greenwood. Not one bookshop in East Dulwich was selling Harry Potter, so I didn't manage to support local business by spending way over the premium for my edition.
Middle blister spent the next two hours reading Harry Potter. The rest of us fought over the X-Box to see who could crash the most in Colin McRae's Dirt. Curly was not impressed and wanted to be taught German from my Usborne's German for Beginners.
Today, we went to town to buy new shirts for BB and Harry Potter for me. Lunched at Canteen, which still has pretty decent food, but the service is no better at the new Southbank branch than it is at the Spitalfields branch. The waiter didn't know the specials, tried to flog us carton orange juice passed off as freshly squeezed, asked us about three times what our order was, brought us the wrong bill and when we asked for the bill said, 'Why? Are you in a hurry?' The mayo was also slightly curdled. I know they do well, but they really shouldn't rest on their laurels.
By the river there were some new sculptures of people who looked like they were emerging from large lumps of poo. One of them looked like he was projectile vomiting water. Anything passes for art these days...
Then, we all piled back to the homestead to avoid the intermittent downpours, sadly missing out on fudge from Hope and Greenwood. Not one bookshop in East Dulwich was selling Harry Potter, so I didn't manage to support local business by spending way over the premium for my edition.
Middle blister spent the next two hours reading Harry Potter. The rest of us fought over the X-Box to see who could crash the most in Colin McRae's Dirt. Curly was not impressed and wanted to be taught German from my Usborne's German for Beginners.
Today, we went to town to buy new shirts for BB and Harry Potter for me. Lunched at Canteen, which still has pretty decent food, but the service is no better at the new Southbank branch than it is at the Spitalfields branch. The waiter didn't know the specials, tried to flog us carton orange juice passed off as freshly squeezed, asked us about three times what our order was, brought us the wrong bill and when we asked for the bill said, 'Why? Are you in a hurry?' The mayo was also slightly curdled. I know they do well, but they really shouldn't rest on their laurels.
By the river there were some new sculptures of people who looked like they were emerging from large lumps of poo. One of them looked like he was projectile vomiting water. Anything passes for art these days...
21 July 2007
Went dancing at the Shadow Lounge on Thursday night. This is the first time I've been dancing for a very long time (and on a school night too). My ribs hurt. Who would have thought jigging up and down, sort of on the spot, would do that to you?
We've discovered another Chinese restaurant/takeaway in East Dulwich called Gold Lee, that actually serves 'not bad' food. And they don't take six years to deliver. Hurrah! Their egg foo yung is particularly good. The menu is pretty standard British Chinese takeaway fare but beggars really can't be choosers in this neck of the woods.
We've discovered another Chinese restaurant/takeaway in East Dulwich called Gold Lee, that actually serves 'not bad' food. And they don't take six years to deliver. Hurrah! Their egg foo yung is particularly good. The menu is pretty standard British Chinese takeaway fare but beggars really can't be choosers in this neck of the woods.
16 July 2007
I have just realised that I have been tagged to provide 8 autobiographical facts. Will need to ponder...
...but in reference to middle blister's facts, I was also tested for my IQ at a tender age and found to have one of 180. Sadly, it has definitely declined since then and hasn't done me a fat lot of good. Proper autobiographical trivia to follow anon. Don't think I know 8 other people to tag.
...but in reference to middle blister's facts, I was also tested for my IQ at a tender age and found to have one of 180. Sadly, it has definitely declined since then and hasn't done me a fat lot of good. Proper autobiographical trivia to follow anon. Don't think I know 8 other people to tag.
We had our annual rooftop barbecue at the weekend. Spent Friday night at our newly refurbed Sainsburys. One can do a lot worse than go shopping for food on a Friday night. Everyone was out boozing so the supermarket was virtually empty. We barely bought any booze, relying on the premise that everyone else brings a bottle to parties. We were right. We also shouldn't have bothered buying any food because everyone brought some of that too and we ended up with more food than when we started.
Saturday was spent going to the dump, where an extraordinarily helpful dump attendant showed us where to put the right sort of stuff in the right place and even helped us a little with the dumping. There's a turn up for the books.
Saturday night was spent grinding, blending and general machinations to make satay marinade. Then up bright and early on Sunday to make satay sauce and skewer little bits of chicken and beef onto skewers.
Anyway, all the food went down well. The satay was good, if I say so myself. I've never made it before and I was pretty darned impressed.
Now we're pooped, have far too much food in the fridge and need a holiday. That's why we only ever do one barbecue in a year. Maybe next year there'll be railings on the roof so there's no danger of anyone falling off.
Saturday was spent going to the dump, where an extraordinarily helpful dump attendant showed us where to put the right sort of stuff in the right place and even helped us a little with the dumping. There's a turn up for the books.
Saturday night was spent grinding, blending and general machinations to make satay marinade. Then up bright and early on Sunday to make satay sauce and skewer little bits of chicken and beef onto skewers.
Anyway, all the food went down well. The satay was good, if I say so myself. I've never made it before and I was pretty darned impressed.
Now we're pooped, have far too much food in the fridge and need a holiday. That's why we only ever do one barbecue in a year. Maybe next year there'll be railings on the roof so there's no danger of anyone falling off.
8 July 2007
Further note to my post about the new White Stuff that will be opening shortly in East Dulwich and the graffiti that their hoarding has attracted. I notice that on their signs they have misspelled neighbourhood by omitting the 'u' in American fashion. I would welcome anyone who decided to graffiti the sign by correcting the spelling mistake.
I had a superlative seafood linguine at Black Cherry yesterday. The prawns were the size of my head (well not quite) and the pasta was liberally scattered with fresh clams & mussels. It was all tossed in a light cream, chilly, parsley & garlic sauce. It was also not too salty, which is a complaint I usually have with the food there. The new menu looks good and I'll definitely be back for more pasta. I must add that the service was also excellent. An all-round good visit.
We went to the Bishop on 1st July to celebrate the advent of non-smoking in public places in England. Sadly, things were not so smooth there. Our food took 45 mins to arrive and when we enquired about it, they said that the kitchen was very busy and we would just have to wait (which we were already doing, fairly patiently, I thought). It was heaving in there, but nonetheless... Anyway, the food was tasty but a tad on the tepid side when it arrived.
The Seacow has not been so heaving as it has wont to be in the past. I suspect this is because the standard of the cooking has been drifting steadily downhill. Either nobody has been filling in the comments cards at the till or they just haven't been paying attention.
I am glad to report that Buddha Jazz has started opening during the day and are offering a discount on food between the hours of 12 and 3. The service there is always superb and food always tasty and consistent, as it was when we went two days ago. The menu has also expanded and includes venison and other culinary delights.
We went to the Bishop on 1st July to celebrate the advent of non-smoking in public places in England. Sadly, things were not so smooth there. Our food took 45 mins to arrive and when we enquired about it, they said that the kitchen was very busy and we would just have to wait (which we were already doing, fairly patiently, I thought). It was heaving in there, but nonetheless... Anyway, the food was tasty but a tad on the tepid side when it arrived.
The Seacow has not been so heaving as it has wont to be in the past. I suspect this is because the standard of the cooking has been drifting steadily downhill. Either nobody has been filling in the comments cards at the till or they just haven't been paying attention.
I am glad to report that Buddha Jazz has started opening during the day and are offering a discount on food between the hours of 12 and 3. The service there is always superb and food always tasty and consistent, as it was when we went two days ago. The menu has also expanded and includes venison and other culinary delights.
1 July 2007
We went to see Into the Woods at the Linbury Studio last Saturday. It was all going along nicely, with seats in the second row, able to see all the mechanics of what was going on up close and everything. The Baker was about to stab the Wolf and then suddenly the stage manager walked on stage and stopped the show. It turned out that the strange dripping noise we had heard from under the stage for about 5 minutes was the dock flooding and the orchestra was being slowly saturated and in danger of being electrocuted by all the microphone wires lying around. So, sadly, we were all turfed out in an orderly fashion and told to get a refund. Ah well, I didn't think the staging was that good and a couple of the performances were decidedly dodgy.
Went to Harlesden the other day to try and discover what the moving company at work had secreted away. Just before we left, the project manager jokingly said, 'Have you got your stab vest?' 'Ha, ha, ha', was my response. We got up there and there were about 15 police (and pseudo police) officers milling around the platform and bridge over the tracks. In the ticket hall, the police had set up a metal detector scanning portal thing due to the 'excessive knife related crime' in the area. Outside the station there were several recalcitrant youths being searched by more police officers. And I thought the project manager was joking. So did he...
What with all the car bombs in London and Glasgow, the UK is becoming increasingly less attractive as a dwelling place. If the myriad CCTV cameras in the West End don't produce some kind of tangible result, I shall be very disappointed in our surveillance society.
I read BB's mind twice yesterday. Now he thinks I'm a freak.
Went to Harlesden the other day to try and discover what the moving company at work had secreted away. Just before we left, the project manager jokingly said, 'Have you got your stab vest?' 'Ha, ha, ha', was my response. We got up there and there were about 15 police (and pseudo police) officers milling around the platform and bridge over the tracks. In the ticket hall, the police had set up a metal detector scanning portal thing due to the 'excessive knife related crime' in the area. Outside the station there were several recalcitrant youths being searched by more police officers. And I thought the project manager was joking. So did he...
What with all the car bombs in London and Glasgow, the UK is becoming increasingly less attractive as a dwelling place. If the myriad CCTV cameras in the West End don't produce some kind of tangible result, I shall be very disappointed in our surveillance society.
I read BB's mind twice yesterday. Now he thinks I'm a freak.
