June 2005 Archives
As ever, the first test of any new Google feature is a 'Loosemore' ego-search.
Hmm, never heard of Martin Loosemore before - usually it's Sandra that tops the lists.
Maybe Jean wasn't so wrong when she told me I had green fingers!
It's a french bean, on the runt of the seedlings.
Look!
Phil and I went to see Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre last night, and it was superb. The singing and the choreography of the cast was amazing, especially the four main leads, and the sets were simple yet atmospheric. Ewan McGregor and Jane 'the psycho secretary from Ally McBeal' Krakowski did not disappoint.
Well worth the price of the tickets, and the suntrapped heat of the theatre, all rounded off with tasty Japanese at Zipangu between Chinatown and Leicester Square.
I've read their reasons why*, and I'm currently considering whether I commit to paying the annual cost of fotopic's premium service - currently
We're just back from a fab party to celebrate Yoz and Bob's civil wedding. The ceremony was at Camden Town Hall, followed by refreshing drinks at Smithy's Wine Bar and it was a chance to catch up with lots of friends that I'd not seen for ages. It was so hot - still - that Phil and I just had to nip home to change out of our posh outfits and into more chilled summertime togs.
Here are my photos; whilst there are two sets accumulating on flickr.
And come hometime, we could walk - which brought an opportunity to take lots of gleaming shots along Goswell Road and the Barbican.
A lovely end to a lovely day, that started with our first breakfast on the roof terrace (check out those runner beans!!), and winding up with take out curry. No response from Spice Corner (uh-oh), so we tried Chawol, which turned out to be very, very tasty...
Phil and I went to the Barbican's Balcony bistro for dinner last night - it's above the Waterside café and has a lovely terrace dining area looking out over the lake. It's not cheap (and the food was OK, but not great) - about £10 for a main, £5 for a starter, £5 for a pud, and the wine by the glass was pricey. But a fab summer-time location, and off the beaten track.
Last night's summer party was very much fun! Boiling hot on the first day of summer's first heatwave, well organised, a really good live band and a disco that was prepared to play S Club 7. Dodgems too!
The only fly in the ointment were the over-aggressive and unnecessarily rude security staff.
.... he was interviewed by "On the Media", a radio show in the US about BBC Backstage!
Hmmm, it must be in his jeans - dad's just as bad!
Dad and Jean arrived on Friday evening, not long after Hazel and Luke departed having drunk the gin supplies dry..... and introducing me to the dubious delights of Celebrity Love Island. Phil was so overwhelmed that he escaped to his computer....
On Saturday we walked over to Borough Market, mooched around and made limited purchases - including a lovely housewarming cheese platter plate from Jean. Leaving Phil to do food shopping and drama, we three walked on to the Imperial War Museum. Fortified by coffee and cake we visited their special exhibition on The Children's World War II. It's weird to think that dad was one of those kids - doubly so when the first item to trigger the nostalgia was a Mickey Mouse gas mask, which looked disturbingly like the one in the recent Dr Who episode that had Phil and I hiding behind our hands. It was a fascinating exhibition.
After more looking around at the WWI War Artists gallery and a restorative lunch in the cafe we caught the bus back to base. After a relaxing few hours with the papers, and 'persuading' dad to watch Dr Who aided and abetted by an aperitif, we wandered over to Carluccio's in Smithfield for a very nice dinner.
On Sunday, dad and Jean went to church in our 'local', St Pauls (!), leaving Phil and I to rustle up a scrummy Sunday lunch, with nigel Slater's ever-reliable cook book providing the roasting recipe for the Borough-Market-bought chicken. Phil's parents arrived soon after midday and the meeting of the parents took place. With hindsight, I think I expected to be more nervous about it at the time, but it was all very easy, which was lovely.
We all walked off lunch exploring the Barbican conservatory, which is really more of an over-sized greenhouse than anything more Kew-Gardens-like, which I think it could have been. Phil found out that it was designed to hide the towers that house the stage scenery, and the greenery does that very well. There were some gorgeous cactus flowers in bloom, and you get some unusual views of the Barbican.
~ I've just done a search to ge a link for the Conservatory, and as well as the one from Barbican Living, I found http://www.explore-london.co.uk/ with its pretty nifty images of the Barbican, and this collection of photos of the City Highwalks ~
Tea and cake then homeward for the grown ups, leaving Phil and I to watch The OC.... we've a backlog to clear you know!!
Taking advantage of the loan of the TJBR-mobile while they sun themselves somewhere in Spain, Phil and I finally managed to rid ourselves of the bags and boxes of bedding and bric-a-brac that have been sitting on all three floors of our flat since we moved in. I drove it down to CJ, where H helped me to distribute it around the local charity shops - not many of those in EC2Y. That done, we mooched around the shops, had a late lunch at the ever excellent Banana Leaf Canteen and then spent the rest of the cloudy and rainy afternoon lolling around on the sofas watching rubbish films - notably Van Helsing. Not even Hugh Jackman could save that one.
Phil rendezvoused with me at 71C, and from there we drove west towards the setting sun and the wilds of Herefordshire. It was a really lovely, easy drive - hardly any traffic and it was daylight almost all the way. Crumpets then bed.
Sunday was spent relaxing with yesterday's papers, cleaning the TJBR-car inside and out followed by a leisurely stroll to Kerry's Gate and back and more reading until dad and Jean arrived for BBQed sausages and new potatoes in the conservatory. Lovely.
I'd taken Monday off work, and so relished every minute, until we had to come home :( Lunch at Galanthus was as every bit as good as dad and Jean had said it would be.