Not Monaco, But Hackney!

I took this picture in the sun this morning.

Not Monaco, But Hackney!

As you can see the location is rather given away by the Hackney Empire.

A Bad Day For Living Alone

Today is probably not going to be a good day. It’s going to rain all day and the football is in Blackpool, the town with the streets paved with vomit.  I suppose the heavy rain forecast for the cess-pit of the Lancashire coast, will clean it up a bit, but it’s not the weather to visit a town without any gluten-free food.

So I’ll just stay here and listen to the radio in between watching the football on Sky.

I can’t even go to bed, as I don’t have a lady to make it more comfortable.

At least with the cafe opposite, I can go there and have a coffee in between the rain showers.

I think I’ll look for a matinee at the theatre. At least, I can catch the 38 bus from round the corner direct to Shaftesbury Avenue.  Singing in the Rain anybody?

The New Buses Are Back

I saw two at the Angel today and actually took one home.

The New Buses Are Back

Note that every one is now advertising a London show. They only seemed to disappear for the rehearsal of the Olympic Opening Ceremony.  I suspect each one is advertising a particular show and will the cast of each be getting out and doing a turn. After all London is the theatre capital of the world.

Comparing Two Chariots of Fire

I finally got to see the film this lunchtime at Cineworld in West India Quay.

So how do the two interpretations of the same story compare?

Obviously, in the film there is more action and of course period scenes done with all the care of a master film-maker.

But the play is a very good interpretation in its own right, with a track running through the audience.  The only other show, where I saw a similar device was Siegfried and Roy in las Vegas.  But their track was for tigers not runners. I incidentally had seat J8 in the stalls, which was right by the action.  there are also seats on the back of the stage and inside the track at the front of the stalls.

What surprised me was that the words were virtually identical between the film and the play, although the play had extra scenes inserted to compensate for the lack of filmed sequences.

I enjoyed both and would recommend seeing both in a short space of time, as I have done.

Two Chariots of Fire

I’m off in a minute or so to see the new stage play of Chariots of Fire.

Then hopefully, it’ll be to the cinema to see the newly-re-released film.

What a way to tee-up the Olympics! Sadly alone!

I did run out of time as the play was longer than I thought.  So it was either go hungry and rush half-way across London or come home and eat and see the film tomorrow or later in the week.

I chose the latter, especially as that allowed me to have a soaking in my dreadful bath.

I Tend To Live Life in the Wonderful World of my Head, Where Every Day the Sun Shines

The title of this post is from a leader in today’s copy of The Times and it was said by Eric Sykes, who died yesterday. His obituary was also felt by the paper to be worth two pages.

Has there ever been a comedian and scriptwriter, who succeeded so well, against all of the odds?

C and I once saw him in the theatre in the play, Run for your Wife, where he appeared in his eighties, despite being totally deaf and virtually blind. An absolute tour de farce!

My First Time on Stage

Surprisingly, a few weeks from my 65th birthday, I went on a theatrical stage for the first time last night.

On Stage at the Hackney Empire

It was a fundraising event for the Hackney Empire. The picture doesn’t really do justice to the interior of the theatre.

More Mice From God?

I don’t know what our friend from yesterday would say about this story in tonight’s Standard! Perhaps the mice were feeling cold and needed somewhere to bed down and the actress’s cleavage beckoned.

But they would have had to cross the river!

Exploring Hackney Central

Many will think that Hackney Central is some run-down area, that was partially destroyed by the riots last August.  But look at these pictures.

The church tower wasn’t even all that was left after it was knocked about by the Luftwaffe, but the remains left after an 18th Century moving of the parish church. More details are here on Wikipedia. I do wonder what would happen, if a parish wanted to rebuild their 16th Century church on a different site now!

The reason for the coffee, was that I had a very good one, in the excellent cafe in the Hackney Empire. The lady in the pleasant museum said that the coffee was also good in the cinema on the other side of the road. Note that the cinema is part of the nationwide and independent Picture Houses group.

After my quick visit to Hackney Central, I took the Overground to Stratford, from where I took the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf for lunch. I could have taken one of any number of buses back home, to the City or the West End.

Is This New Gardens For Dalston?

Between the two Dalston stations is a brownfield site, with just the vent from the rail tunnel underneath.

Between the Two Dalston Stations

The white plastic appears to be protection for trees. But they might not be.

This area could be converted into a lovely walk between the two stations and to the Arcola Theatre

Any ideas.