Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Our Sarah Silverman Adventure
We've gone to the Hammersmith Apollo in London a couple of times now. Both times have been fraught with tension and large sighs as we negotiate the Tube, rush around and generally get upset before arriving at the venue on time and invariably wait for two hours before the main act is on. So, we took this into account when "planning" our trip into the city yesterday to see Sarah Silverman. The tickets said doors at 6:30 and the train takes about 50 minutes, then the Tube from Victoria Station.
Jay came down with a cold after his trip to Dublin and despite my bragging about rarely getting sick, I was feeling poorly by the time Saturday night rolled around. It would have been so simple to just blow the whole thing off, but she's hilarious (and the tickets were expensive). So, we bundled up and walked down to the train. There are two options at the station: purchase the tickets through the wicket or with the machine. I find the machine challenging to figure out and always worry the person behind me is fuming about how long I'm taking. The queue for the wickets is always impossibly long. So, Jay went to buy the tickets as I looked for the platform number and departure time of our train. Strangely, there were no trains to London. And then an announcement came over the loudspeaker (which is only marginally better than the ones they use in airports). There was engineering work being performed on the tracks and we can catch a bus to Hayward's Heath and then take the train in from there. Great!
We packed onto the double decker bus which is so full that we can't sit together. I was right up front and could see my reflection in the windshield. The lights on the bus stayed on but the roadway was very dark. We were flying along very narrow roads at very nice clip. We'd watched many horror movies over the weekend and, well, I felt a little nervous.
Of course nothing bad happened and we arrived safely at the train station, then took the train to London Bridge. It was pretty cool seeing that peeking over the buildings. By the time we got to the theater it was around 8pm. Plenty of time! But no, the foyer was deserted. She was on stage. And had been for a while. And seeing stand-up isn't like seeing a band. There are no real breaks so you can slip into your seat without bothering anyone too much. And the "usher" just told us our seats were "over there". No nice little light shining the way. We watched the remainder of the show by the exit doors, which was fine - great sightlines!
And as for the show, well, it was okay. I had read that she doesn't like doing stand-up much and only does a few shows a year. It showed. And her outfit was hideous. Nevertheless, we laughed. Not tons, but enough to make the whole trip worthwhile.
And the added bonus - I saw Julian Barratt - aka Howard Moon of the "Mighty Boosh". If you're not familiar with it - check it out!
Jay came down with a cold after his trip to Dublin and despite my bragging about rarely getting sick, I was feeling poorly by the time Saturday night rolled around. It would have been so simple to just blow the whole thing off, but she's hilarious (and the tickets were expensive). So, we bundled up and walked down to the train. There are two options at the station: purchase the tickets through the wicket or with the machine. I find the machine challenging to figure out and always worry the person behind me is fuming about how long I'm taking. The queue for the wickets is always impossibly long. So, Jay went to buy the tickets as I looked for the platform number and departure time of our train. Strangely, there were no trains to London. And then an announcement came over the loudspeaker (which is only marginally better than the ones they use in airports). There was engineering work being performed on the tracks and we can catch a bus to Hayward's Heath and then take the train in from there. Great!
We packed onto the double decker bus which is so full that we can't sit together. I was right up front and could see my reflection in the windshield. The lights on the bus stayed on but the roadway was very dark. We were flying along very narrow roads at very nice clip. We'd watched many horror movies over the weekend and, well, I felt a little nervous.
Of course nothing bad happened and we arrived safely at the train station, then took the train to London Bridge. It was pretty cool seeing that peeking over the buildings. By the time we got to the theater it was around 8pm. Plenty of time! But no, the foyer was deserted. She was on stage. And had been for a while. And seeing stand-up isn't like seeing a band. There are no real breaks so you can slip into your seat without bothering anyone too much. And the "usher" just told us our seats were "over there". No nice little light shining the way. We watched the remainder of the show by the exit doors, which was fine - great sightlines!
And as for the show, well, it was okay. I had read that she doesn't like doing stand-up much and only does a few shows a year. It showed. And her outfit was hideous. Nevertheless, we laughed. Not tons, but enough to make the whole trip worthwhile.
And the added bonus - I saw Julian Barratt - aka Howard Moon of the "Mighty Boosh". If you're not familiar with it - check it out!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Big News
Well, the picture pretty much says it all! Jay asked me to marry him last week and I joyfully accepted. We're betrothed! We have no idea when the wedding will be right now as things are still very up in the air in the UK. However, we hope to have some idea if we'll be staying here in the next couple of weeks.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Frondy & Figgy
And, I realize that it is a little juvenile to continually name things, but I just can't help it.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Construction Woes
I slept in late this morning, and awoke to a beautiful fall day in Brighton. The sun in shining, the wind is calm... Alas, the peace as shattered, as is has been every day for the last few weeks, by the sound of heavy machinery, saws, hammers, drills, you name it. Our neighbours are doing a massive renovation and the City is putting in new water lines. Last week it was sandblasting and cutting through pavement. The white wall is ours. The wall next to it used to look like ours. You can imagine how much work it was to strip it back down to the flint. I'm told that vegetation into the house - I guess that would be a problem. As for the roadwork, I have to say that the city crew was amazingly efficient. I was a little concerned when we got the letter from the Council that estimated 8 - 16 weeks of work. They were done in just over a week. I just took the photo from our top floor looking west down Victoria Road. You can see St. Michael's in the background. The church was built in the 1850s and boasts some of the finest stain glass in Sussex. I've gone in a couple of times and peeked in and it is incredible. Jay & I meant to go in last weekend for an organ recital, but Paul Kelly & his dad, Harry, were in town, so we met them for lunch instead.
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