24-03-23 - Saturday I - Plaza Suite @ The Savoy Theatre, Friday 22nd March

So, we popped up to London yesterday afternoon to go see Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick appear in Plaza Suite, a play at the Savoy. TW & I went with our friends MO & DO and TC. We caught the train from Worthing and then walked from Victoria to the theatre. We passed Parliament and Big Ben and got some Korean street food on the way. 

Our seats were in "the gods", right at the back. When we got there it was already warm. The play was in three acts and showed three couples all staying in the same suite in the Plaza. It was really good, I enjoyed it. The first act was really quite heavy and emotional, the second two were lighter and more farcical.

The audience was very female heavy, I guess Sex and The City had a bigger influence on girls and women and SJP has that legacy to play with. Broderick played his characters a lot more staid and restrained, I thought, it really was the SJP show. Although his shoes in the second act were sublime.

There were quite a few bottles of wine being drunk in the gods, it was a bit raucous, but then it was a Friday night.

All in I enjoyed it, it was nice to have "an event" with friends and the play was good and the off-stage action was interesting. It took some time to get home, we walked back to Victoria and caught a train just after eleven, and we were home in bed by 1am. 

TTFN.

19-10-20 Sunday I - Indie Daze @ Kentish Town Forum, Saturday 5th October

Saturday, and it was time to head up to London to meet E and attend Indie Daze at the Kentish Town Forum. I took the train and caught up on a few podcasts, and then I was there. E was a few minutes late, but that was no problem, there was time before the first band came on. Probably the last time I saw E was last year, at the Poppies in Wolverhampton, but we fall back into our friendship easily when we catch up. We were at university together, and met in the first year, so we’ve been friends for nigh on thirty years. Shit! Has it been that long? 

We went in, and of course it was pitch black, with no natural light, which was a bit disorienting when you know it’s 1pm and broad daylight outside. The first band up were Kingmaker, whose set was okay. Last time we came to Indie Daze the Popinjays opened, and they were very chatty and self-deprecating. I seem to remember them being very grateful that anyone had turned up so early to see them, and they did say that if they weren’t performing that day, they would have been in bed, nursing hangovers – which was refreshingly honest!

Not so Kingmaker, they came on stage and were very muso and earnest. They were very much heads down, “here is our music”. The first couple of songs seemed to me to be middle of the road indie rock, and then the later songs were reminiscent of the Wonder Stuff’s sound – I seem to remember there being some comparisons back in the late 80s/90s. Anyway, they properly wigged out at the climax of their set, and it was okay. Kingmaker were never a favourite of mine, and I hadn’t fished out any old CDs or looked them up on Spotify, to refresh my memory. I think I recognised maybe two of the songs? And then they were gone, and we decided to go and get some lunch, giving the swerve to Back to The Planet.

We went back to the same café we visited before in 2015, which was nice. They did a nice breakfast last time, so I was looking forward to that. Unfortunately they told me they couldn’t do an English Breakfast in the afternoon, and so I had some delicious pancakes with cream and syrup and blueberries – which slid down a treat.

After that brief interlude, it was back to the Forum, and time for Utah Saints to put on a DJ set. To be fair, I wasn’t looking forward to this. I thought the Saints were a bit of a leftfield choice, and on a guitar-heavy line-up they looked to be the odd ones out. They came on stage and were almost apologetic: “hi, we don’t normally talk much during our sets. And we don’t normally do sets in the middle of the afternoon. So if you can just imagine it’s gone midnight, and you’re having a banging night, I’m sure it’ll go well” (or something like that). When they started up, I htought the beat was a bit oppressive, or claustrophobic, but at the first breakdown I was willing the bass and the beat to come back in, so they must have been doing something right. People were dancing too, so I think they went down well. I’d certainly consider seeing them again.

Next up was Jim Bob, who was a bit pissed (drunk). He kind of meandered through an introduction, started a few sentences and didn’t get round to finishing them. But once he started performing, he didn’t drop a beat. The old songs sound great, even when performed acoustically. He sang a couple of songs I didn’t recognise, which were from his later solo stuff, but I listened to the lyrics, and made a mental note to search out some of those tracks. I think there’s a bit of material out there I’ve been missing out on.

Following Jim Bob were Pop Will Eat Itself, performing This is the Day, This is the Hour, This is... This! It was first released in 1989, so they were celebrating its 30th anniversary. I first got into the Poppies with the subsequent album Cure For Sanity, so This is... This! isn't one of my go-to albums, but I’ve bought it in the interim and I know it well. The Poppies always do a good show, and today was no exception. With Mary from Gaye Bykers I think they’ve rejuvenated themselves, and they certainly know how to put on a show. They performed the hits and they were all good, as you would expect from a band who still gig live regularly. I’m disappointed not to going to see them in Brighton in December, to be honest. There was a bit of an issue with the sound towards the end, but that didn’t stop the crowd enjoying it.

When the Poppies had finished their set, the Forum’s front section emptied out a bit, and I felt a bit faint to be honest. E went and got some crisps, and I recovered once I’d had some sustenance. Swervedriver were up next, and I definitely wanted to see them, so I stayed on for a bit. Unfortunately they weren’t as soaring and majestic as I was hoping. I’d not really heard much Swervedriver, my main knowledge of them being their track “Sandblasted”, which I think is phenomenal. But their performance at Indie Daze seemed much more grounded and earth-bound than I was hoping for. By now it was 8:30pm, and I was tired. My mind was very much focused on being homeward bound. Apart from the meal break at about 2:30, we’d been in the dark listening to loud rock for seven hours or so? I decided that I’d had enough: I didn’t want to stay and see Therapy, and if Swervedriver weren’t as colossal as I was expecting, I thought I’d prefer to be on a warm train heading home. I said my goodbyes to E and headed off to the nearby Tube station.

This was the second Indie Daze “festival” I’d been to, and it was definitely worthwhile. It was great to see some bands from the old days performing again, and I was very impressed with the Utah Saints set. I’ll be keeping an eye on any announcements they make about next year’s line-up, and will certainly consider going again.

TTFN.

Sunday 17-08-06 Camping in Derbyshire

On the Thursday before last (27th July) we headed up to the Peak District with the kids, our trusty tent & our friends H & I. We had decided to see a different part of the country; normally we had down to Dorset, but we've kind of exhausted free & cheap days out there, so we decided to try somewhere new.

We hoped for good scenery and warm weather; one out of two wasn't bad. We stayed on a campsite outside Ashbourne (Callow Top) which was brilliant. The fields were well-kept, the facilities were clean, and the bars were reasonably-priced. There was an outdoor pool which kept the kids occupied when we weren't out and about, and if it had been down to them I'm sure we would have stayed on the campsite for the entire stay, and they would have stayed in the pool for the whole five days.

We got off to a bad start, in that I forgot to set the alarm for Thursday morning. TW had agreed with H&I that we would set off at 05:00, so I should have set the alarm for 04:30. Unfortunately I went to sleep before setting the alarm, and so we didn't wake up until ten to six. Still, we were on the road by 06:10, so that wasn't too bad. We were at the campsite by midday, and set up at a leisurely pace. We had a Tesco delivery booked for 3pm, and that raised a few eyebrows when it arrived, although quite a few of those were raised in appreciation.

On Friday morning we took a walk into Ashbourne and had a look around; it's quite a nice little town, although it seems to be swamped with heavy lorries. I was speaking to my Dad and he suggested that the drivers may be attempting to avoid the M5, but for whatever reason the number of large lorries certainly seemed disproportionate. We got back to the campsite, and then the rain set in. It rained for the rest of the day, while we tried to stay dry in H&I's trailer tent. The weather was a bit wearing; if someone had suggested we leave the tents where they were and we check into a Travelodge, I would have bitten their hand off. But we persevered, and the weather for the rest of the stay wasn't as bad. Unfortunately, though, because of the way we'd pitched the tent, there was a lot of water caught between the tent footprint and the groundsheet, to the extent that the tent seemed to be floating atop a lake, and water was coming up through the groundsheet and soaking the carpet. There was nothing we could do at that time, so we slept on it.

Saturday morning the weather was better, and the lake under the tent had dissipated, so things looked better. We moved the tent forward and removed the footprint to let it dry and give the remaining water a chance to soak away. We decided to actually visit a couple of peaks on that day (otherwise what would be the point of visiting the Peak District?) and so we drove to Mam Tor. We took a bit of a wrong turning and ended up driving through a beautiful, dramatic gorge - it was worth taking a wrong turning to see that, and TW at the time said that this was the sort of scenery she wanted to see in the Peak District. Mam Tor is a two-hour walk from Kinder Scout, which we were thinking about walking to, but it was already 1pm by the time we got to the top of Mam Tor, and I didn't fancy getting back at 5pm. In addition, we weren't properly prepared, I wasn't wearing proper walking boots (The Eldest had appropriated them) and we didn't have enough water and snacks to see us there and back. The views from Mam Tor were breathtaking enough though, so I don't feel that we missed out. Maybe next time...

Saturday evening everything was fine, except that H managed to slip down the step from her trailer tent into the tent, and she caused some ligament damage. H&I had to spend Saturday night in Derby A&E while we looked after their kids and had a barbecue. Saturday night the rain came down again, but we were fine overnight, and there wasn't any water ingress this time.

Sunday we visited the stepping stones at Ilam, which was quite the walk after the previous day's exercise. The stepping stones were the culmination of a lovely walk along the river, although I found it a bit unnerving having to cross them - but that was the only way around. After that walk, we headed back to the campsite for some lunch and then drove into Derby. The girls were silent for the 45 / 50 minute drive, and I think they were just worn out from the hike up to Mam Tor the previous day and the trek to the stepping stones - and back! We went to Go Outdoors first for a good look around - there's nothing like going to a camping store while you're camping, it's like camping². Then we hit Pizza Express, and that was when the girls perked up a bit. They probably just needed refuelling...

On Monday we stuck around the campsite, and in the evening we had fish and chips from Ashbourne. They were delicious. And then on Tuesday it was time to head home...

It was a good holiday, despite a few unfortunate events. H's ligament damage being the most inconvenient of those. The flooding of the tent was up there, and we managed to burn the clutch in our car on the way to Callow Top as well. I lost track of which day was which - always a good sign that I'm relaxed, and the campsite was brilliant. The scenery was memorable, and I'd recommend the area, it's lovely.

TTFN.

 

Tuesday 17-01-03 An Unplanned Day

Today we didn't have much on until T texted and asked if we were free. We had to write cards for the branch of the family tree living in Singapore since M&P were flying at about seven pm. They were setting off at one pm and obviously had to be there a couple of hours early, and they had to take into account the crap service that Southern like to call a functioning railway.
I cycled over with the girls, on our first cycle ride of the year. It was a bit icy but the girls were careful and we got there in one piece. We handed over the cards and Mum gave us a cup of tea and some tomatoes in return. Then we wished them safe travels, and headed back.
Tyrone arrived and we decided to go to Food; it was what the girls wanted. It was very nice as always; at least I didn't order the wrong thing this time. I kept it simple with steak frites, and followed that with an almond and amaretto crème brulée. TW expressed dismay that I didn't offer her the first bite, but I wanted to taste it, and it was my pudding. So unfortunately, she had to wait. She did get two mouthfuls though, so she did okay by the end.
Then for dinner TW was planning to make a chicken chow mein, but Ty decided he wanted to go to KFC, and so we had a takeaway bucket for dinner. The chicken was nice but the fries were horrible, in my opinion; limp, cold and tasteless. However, the saving grace was the gravy KFC provided - it was delicious and thick, and covered the shortcomings of the fries.
Ty headed off after the girls went to sleep and we finished off the day with an episode of Suits. I worked out that the prison psychiatrist is the same actor who used to be Theo Huxtable in the Cosby Show, and I was pretty pleased with myself for that. I wasn't really prepared to go back to work, but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

Monday 17-01-01 I A New Year

...and relax. The decorations are down, and things have returned to normal. The bacchanalian urges which have been driving us to dive into a sea of hedonism and consumerism have abated again, and we'll probably hibernate now for a month or so. The weather yesterday was quite appropriate; it was raining pretty much all day and it became heavier in the evening.
I am considering becoming a Dryathlete for the month. That was on the cards even before I woke up with a dry mouth and a blurry memory this morning, and even before the festive season started. Maybe now I'm back running, I can properly shape up. But I've made starts before and never seen them through and they do say that madness is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.
On Saturday we made it to the Park Run and made some space for the prosecco I drank later. We popped over to Angmering to see the GiL, and it seems that she's had visitors - she was drinking wine, so someone must have brought it to her. We didn't stay long, she seemed okay but a bit fed up, as she is liable to be these days. She is going to be 98 in February, and she just sits in her chair, drinking wine and not really talking to anyone or having any stimulus except the TV. I'd be fed up in her shoes. But she won't accept any help, so it's best not to offer or make suggestions - she'll just ignore them.
We saw the New Year in with friends, at a house party. I had a lovely time, and then bailed at about 1am. TW and the girls were going strong though, and didn't get to bed until 4am. Yesterday was obviously a slow day, and we didn't get up to much - except, of course, we went ice skating (or the kids did) at the Worthing Ice Rink. They enjoyed it I think, and it was fairly quiet too, which was good for them. TY complained at the start that she wanted a penguin, which is a kind of stabiliser / skating aid, but within five minutes she was zooming around with the best of them. I was a little disappointed that we, the grown-ups, didn't go on, but I was still pretty wiped out from the New Year's Eve festivities.
Happy New Year all, and I hope that you have a good 2017.

Saturday 16-12-31 II A Day with Friends

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with C&J, friends who live in Hailsham. The weather was awful; it was horribly foggy on the way over, and even worse on the way back. The time we spent there was lovely, it's always relaxed with them. TW has known them since her uni days, which is ~20 years, so half a lifetime. TW & J went off for a bit of charity shopping in town and I had a nap. The children played nicely and I think all in all a good day was had.
We travelled home in the dark and the fog; the weather was so bad that the Brighton game was cancelled, and the Reading game was called off after 50 minutes - I think the whole of the South of England was shrouded in fog and mist.
I did okay with the few bets I made last night, but hope to do better in the next couple of days. We finished watching Tyrant, which was thrilling - it is a shame it's not going to be picked up for a fourth series.

Wednesday 16-12-28 Runaway

Yesterday TMO ran away. We were round visiting friends and the girls kept on about having a sleepover. We were fairly clear that it wasn't going to happen but the kids were winding each other up and eventually TMO blew, shouted "I hate you all" and stormed out of the house on her scooter, not wearing much else. She had a t-shirt on but no jumper or coat. I thought that she would be hiding around the corner, but no luck. TW & I went in different directions looking for her, but she was long gone. It had just occurred to me to call M&P when my phone rang and it was Mum. "We've got your missing TMO here", she said, "she's very upset." I called TW and she went to collect her, and Mum had given her a hot chocolate.
To be fair, I think TMO scared herself with her actions, and when she met up with me she apologised very sheepishly. I wasn't too worried, to be honest, she's not silly, and I think she showed that by going to the only nearby place she knew. She will lose her rights to use electronic devices for the next few days; she'll have to learn that she can't behave like that ever again.
Up until that point (it was about seven pm) we'd had a lovely day with H&I, eating lasagne & sipping prosecco and champagne, and sampling raspberry vodka, as well as chatting about poor old George Michael and all the other recent celebrity deaths. Before we left, we heard the news that Carrie Fisher had died, which was a shame. I thought she may have got away with the heart attack, but it seems that Fate had other ideas...

A Child-free Week

It would seem that going mobile hasn't lead to an outpouring of any consciousness, whether good or bad. And this in the week where we shouldn't have been as busy as normal because we didn't have the kids! This was the week for their annual pilgrimage to their grandmother's, the GiL, and TW & I had the week to ourselves - just about.
TW took the girls up there on the Friday, and so I had the house to myself when I got home from work in the evening. I watched a bit of Banshee and a bit of The Walking Dead, and probably drank more than I should have. On Saturday I bimbled around the house, waiting for TW to get back , then we went to a friend's 40th Birthday party in Burgess Hill. That was fun, but unfortunately I was the designated driver and so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as everyone else. TW   was enjoying the cocktails, and at one stage she was drinking one so strong that she chose to dilute it with prosecco - needless to say, there were a number of casualties.
On the Sunday we took a stroll into Worthing and then stopped at a pub, the Rose and Crown, for a few drinks on the way home. I was following the cricket and England were trying to bowl Pakistan out to win the match on the final day. A few years ago England wouldn't have been able to take 11 wickets in one day, but we had faith in them, and that was rewarded when they lost three quick wickets for 125 - as I was following it on my phone, I saw the score change from 125-5 to 125-6 and then to 125-7. It was a good feeling. I carried on drinking into the evening, as our new lodger arrived, and again, probably drank more than I should have done.
On Monday evening TW had invited some of her girlfriends around for drinks and so we started the week in a boozy manner. I did leave them to it at one point to catch another episode of The Walking Dead but was interrupted as the ladies came inside. It was during quite a touching moment as one of the main characters met their inevitable fate, and they had switched to slow motion and were laying on the emotional music as the zombies crowded around to rip out his guts and bloody intestines. So I switched that off and rejoined the conversation...
Then on Tuesday evening we went out to Efe's restaurant in Worthing which was delicious. We went with friends and had a lovely evening - that's the sort of thing we should do more of.
Wednesday and Thursday we took easy, to recover, and then last night, Friday, we took my parents to the Amex stadium in Brighton for the first home game of the season, because the trains were on strike. Since it didn't make sense to come home and then go back again to pick them up, we pushed on to Lewes and had dinner at Bill's, which was delicious as well. And it was lovely to spend some time together enjoying good food and each other's company.
After we picked up Mum and Dad, TW asked to be dropped in Worthing to meet up with some friends and I have no idea what time she got in, but we're not expecting the girls back until after midday, so she can have a lie-in this morning.

As well as drinking and eating out and socialising, we've done a couple of other things, like negotiate the train strike, take in a new lodger, and buy a new (New to us anyway - others may call it "pre-loved") car, but I may get to those in time. Or, going on past experience, probably not.

TTFN.

Sunday 16-05-15 A Happy Interlude in Burgess Hill

Sunday morning was a relaxing time and gave us a bit of breathing space, as well as time to tidy up and prepare for the day.
In the afternoon we drove to Burgess Hill to catch up with an old friend who used to work with TW. We hadn't seen her for (probably more than) three years but she and TW had kept in touch via Facebook. It was a really nice afternoon, she was on good form and the kids played nicely.
It was a lovely sunny day, relaxing, and it was like we'd only seen her a few weeks earlier - except for the size of her and our children. We arrived for afternoon tea and before we knew it, it was already 6pm, which was a good indication of time enjoyably spent.
TTFN.

A Trip Up Chanctonbury Ring

This morning I had to wake two of the girls up at 07:20, which is unheard of, mostly. TW was sleeping in, because she had been in A&E until 2am (but that's another story), and to be honest I was starting to panic - how was I going to feed the girls and make sure that they had lunch with them before they left for school?
The reason was that we took a long walk up Chanctonbury Ring yesterday. We had discussed it on Friday night, when we were round at a friend's house; as it turned out, there were four families trekking up the hill yesterday afternoon. I was feeling a bit jaded, and thought a walk and some fresh air might do me some good. I was expecting a 45-minute stroll, and home for a nice cup of tea, but I was wrong. Two and a half hours later, we headed home.
It took about half an hour to get parked, because the car park was full, so we had to wait for a space before we set off. A family had come back to their car, but then decided to dry off the dog, and change their boots, and clean their footwear and take off their coats before vacating their space. That took about twenty minutes, and the hordes were getting impatient. But eventually we gathered and started up the hill. Apparently on Facebook it's classified as a mountain, but I don't think so. It was a bit steep at the start, but we found the rope swings and the children (ten of them) played for a while. The rope swing was a bit of a death trap, but everyone managed to survive, so we headed on with a full complement. The youngest then got a bit grumpy (he is only two) and he went back to the car with his mum. The rest of us headed on. It is quite a nice walk; it's noticeably steep, but it is through woodland, and at this time of year it's lovely. Lots of brown leaves blowing around our feet, falling off the trees. It was quiet and still, and we passed several families all walking their dogs on a warm autumn day.
Once we got through the woodland, we hit the South Downs Way. It was open fields then, and the wind was blowing something fierce. I had a coat with me, because I'm cautious like that, and I kept putting it on to keep the wind off and then taking it off because I was too hot. Ah well, some people, eh? We strode to the top and sat for a while, while the kids frolicked around and ate sweets.
We were quite proud of the fact that our three kids made it to the top without whinging. I guess because there were so many children with us, they were distracted and didn't realise how far they walked...
On the way back, someone suggested we go the steep way, as it was shorter and quicker. What I didn't realise was that it was a hell of a lot steeper, to the extent that when I kicked a couple of stones, they built up their own momentum, and didn't stop (I think) until they got to the bottom... I couldn't walk straight down the slope myself, I had to track horizontally across the incline and hold on to the trees as I went, to stop me falling over. Several of the group resorted to going down on their bums, which would have been the easier option, but I enjoyed the challenge, I suppose I have to admit. I am aching in several places I never knew existed though; I really need to exercise more often. And once we were back at the bottom, we headed back home for a tea of gammon, roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese (with yorkshire puddings, beans and carrots). A brilliant way to finish the day. And that explains why the kids were sleeping in this morning, I think...

Sunday 14-09-14 An Impromptu Barbecue

We were at home today and we got a text message inviting us to an afternoon bbq starting at 15:30. I don't think that the invitation mentioned '15:30' precisely, the invitation probably mentioned half past three, but I took it as 15:30.

I wasn't intending on snooping but I couldn't help but notice that other guests arrived at 15:25. So I quickly phoned TW and told her to get her skates on. We arrived en masse and started drinking (my head hurts this morning) but it was a lovely day and evening, a lot of merriment was had.

Corfe and Camping

So we took our annual camping holiday early this year, since it's rained in August for the last three years every time we've been.
We went with new camping companions Carol & Nick, our neighbours, and their kids. And lo, the weather was good. Except when we were packing up the tent and coming home - then the rain pissed down.
We were in Swanage on the bank holiday Monday for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and I've never seen it so busy. Of course we went in on the steam train, which the kids enjoyed.
We also spent a day at Bluepool, where Tilly completed the Squirrel Quest and won a bear. We passed a day at Studland Beach, although not in blazing sunshine. And in the evenings we relaxed around the fire and drank copious amounts of wine. All in all it was great, and I expect we'll go again - in fact, I'm looking forward to it!

Posted via email from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site