My Dark Materials!
Posted on March 9, 2004 at 9:21 am | No Comments
Score! On a whim, I called the National Theatre box office to inquire on the always-sold-out performances of His Dark Materials, the London stage play based on Phillip Pullman’s amazing trilogy of books. They release 30 tickets every morning, but they go on sale at 10am (when I’m already at work), and sometimes the lines start hours earlier. I wanted to find out if the queues always started early, and if it was worth trying to arrive there right at 10am one day and take a chance.
Lucky me, they just then had someone return tickets to tonight’s performance of Part I! The story is split into two three-hour shows, which is a very good thing considering the depth of the trilogy. I’m so, so psyched… now I’ll just have to cross my fingers that I’ll somehow luck into tickets for ticket Part II before I leave London.
I also got my ebay-bought ticket to Snow Patrol‘s London show at the Electric Ballroom next week. Not too much over face value, and I had to go to at least one rock show while I was here, right?
More plans being made… tomorrow evening I’ll venture over to the Hayward Gallery to take in the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit. A little pop art for now people. Can’t wait.
Y’see, I’m only now making all these plans because I finally feel semi-conscious. The jetlag and workload has hit me seriously hard… 12 hour days and very little solid sleep. Maybe 3 hours at a time, if I’m lucky. The full moon and funky sleep patterns are wreaking havoc on my braincells, giving me the most insane dreams I’ve ever had. And that’s saying a lot. I’ll spare you the sharing.
So, yeah, I’m almost back to normal, whatever that may be … although some people here claim it won’t truly happen for another few days. Great.
Sunday in Camden…
Posted on March 7, 2004 at 4:37 pm | No Comments
Jo & Shaun went above & beyond, driving me all around central London, with a stop at the ever-crowded Camden Market. The sun came out as we arrived, and I have photographic proof…
I’d forgotten how much I loved the Market on my last visit in ’93, but being there brought it all back. The crowds, the sights, sounds, and smells… such an overwhelming variety of ethnicities, in both the people and the food. I wasn’t looking to buy anything, just wander and take it all in. Even though I’m not big on huge crowds, I felt completely comfortable browsing from stall to stall.
Our day ended in the perfect way, a pint and what was billed as “London’s Best Fish & Chips” at a pub near the hotel. We found a perfect table, tucked away in the back in the no-smoking section. Well, it was supposed to be the no-smoking section…
What was the first song to play as we sat down? The Smiths “What Difference Does It Make?”. Doesn’t get much more London than that. I’m telling you, if they’re not lying, and those really are London’s best fish & chips, then I won’t be disappointed. They were that good.
So I’m back in the hotel lobby, getting ready to crash early. I need to be rarin’ to go for work in the morning, the reason I’m here in the first place, so no drunken Irish ambush tonight.
Reporting from London, over and out…