Blog: A Weekend In London Town

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For the first time in MONTHS I had a weekend Actually Staying At Home. It was LOVELY! Also, there was LOTS of it.

A huge CHUNK of stuff occurred during the weekend's very birth throes, when i went to the PICTURES after work. I went to London's Glittering West End to see "Scott Pilgrim", which was Quite Good. I think I'd built it up in my mind to be as FANTASTIC as EITHER the comic OR "Shaun Of The Dead", and it was very much NEITHER of the above. I mean, it was pretty good and some bits were so LUDICROUSLY ASTONISHING (i.e. the bit where Sex Bob-Obm go up against the twins, that was INCREDIBLE) but otherwise it verged slightly on being a bit disappointing. A few weeks ago I'd shown the trailer to The Events In My Plot, to see if she fancied coming too. Afterwards she said "Now I've seen that I don't think I really need to see the actual film" and she was NOT FAR WRONG.

I then headed CROSS TOWN to The Buffalo Bar, there to see Mr Phil Wilson and his BIG BAND play at Baby Honey. This was GRATE - we sat and compared AILMENTS for a bit in the pub upstairs (which, amazingly, now has Doom Bar on tap - they might want to think about cleaning their equipment, as it still tasted a bit unpleasant, but at least they're trying) and had a jolly old time before Mrs Pam Wilson said "Aren't you supposed to be on stage now?" It's always best to have a drink WITH the band when you go and see them, as it always ensures you don't miss them PLAYING, and I was glad to have used this ploy as they were BLOODY BRILLIANT. Goodness me, the old June Brides songs sounded fantastic, but the new ones were EVEN BETTER. I stood with a gibbering grin on my face throughout, singing along, thinking "COR!" The sound was dead good too, as it so often is at The Buffalo Bar, which led to me thinking "That jangly indie guitar sound - I am listening to it being played by one of the main people who INVENTED it. Golly!"

Afterwards we watched, and very much enjoyed, The Hardy Boys, before it was time to say my farewells and ZOOM on the Overground and then BUS back to scenic Leytonstone, where I spent the next day a) pottering around b) looking at carpets b) cooking d) going for a STROLL in nearby Epping Forest. That was lovely too!

Then on Sunday we headed out on a Family Outing to Walthamstow Village. The Residents Of My Residents' Association had been there recently with the Photographic Society to which she belongs and had been struck by how it might be the kind of place I would like. Once again, she was NOT INCORECT - Walthamstow Village is GORGEOUS! There was an Arts Trail thing going on, and it was PACKED with people wandering around looking at stuff, but you got the impression they'd've been out and about anyway, as the area was STREWN with really really nice pubs, museums, a GRATE church, and various shops you might actually want to go into. The people THEMSELVES reminded me of LEICESTER too - a huge variety of all SORTS of people, all appearing to Want To Have A Nice Time Of It. This might seem odd to people who DON'T live within the M25, but round where I live there do appear to be huge numbers of CHARACTERS determined to spend their entire lives ANNOYED about things.

It was all DELIGHTFUL, but the thing that BLEW MY MIND was going into The Spar. When I say "Spar" i do mean the supermarket chain which most people would be familiar with, but even from the outside this was obviously different - the logo had a tasteful SLATE GREY backing. Inside there was an ARTISAN BAKERY. I walked to the back and found myself confronted with about FIFTY different kinds of REAL ALE, including a full range of SAM SMITH'S ORGANICE ALES!

It was almost TOO MUCH - it was like being somewhere in WEST London, except NOT massively posey and full of SHOW OFFs. It was all I could do to struggle home and drink copious cups of TEA to recover from the SHOCK. It was... NICE!

Happily I am now back at WORK, so can RELAX a bit - what a weekend of PLEASANT ACTION that was!

posted 13/9/2010 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

I've been in the North Star on many occasions - if i actually went to the pub in Leytonstone that would be the one I'd go to, it's GRATE!
posted 13/9/2010 by MJ Hibbett

Did you find the pub known as the North Star? It's ACENESS. http://www.whatscookin.co.uk/wcwhatson.html
posted 13/9/2010 by jamboshoeshine

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