Prince Charles Cinema

Saw this at Prince Charles in Leicester Square- a great place and near our favourite cheap Chinese Hing Loom in Lisle street. You can eat very well here for a fiver.

We saw this brilliant film as part of a vodka promotion- another freebie- the packed audience were, like us, moved to tears by it but this is so much better than schmaltzy- it is hilarious in parts.

With two double vodkas the walk to the bus stop as the rain poured down and the train strike started did not seem at all bad.

It is a wonderful life - just some of the time

Times plus offer

We are members of the Times Plus. For £24 a month you get web access to the Times plus vouchers for a daily paper to swap at the newsagents.

For this as well they do dish out loads of freebies and this was free tickets for the film 'The Switch'

It's a pretty superficial film but a great leading man. Set in New York it brought back very happy memories of the city- the best part of it all for me

The new galleries

The Museum has been brought up to date with new galleries. It is superb.
It is strange but with all the wonderful films, items and paintings on display it is words that stay with me and express most clearly my love of London

A Vistor from Washington

Just here for a short while!

Miltinho Edilberto

Miltinho is a superb musician and performer. He was one of the highlights of the 'world music' season at St Ethels.

£12 to get in but worth every penny. Its a small intimate space and superbly hosted by Wallee

Salsa class for the over fifties

Here are some people from our wonderful salsa class at Whitechapel. At £2 for any number of classes for the over fifties and free refreshments you cannot go wrong. The instructor is at the bottom- her name is Carmen and just being in her company is uplifting

The Mosque open its doors.

The pictures show the dome in the main prayer hall and one of the viewing galleries.

We met some lovely people and had a great welcome- as I am sure you would expect at this open afternoon- BUT as our host stressed the mercy of Allah I was just thinking of the poor young woman facing being stoned to death in Iran. And his talk of tolerance of other religions is just not true. This was my second visit to the Mosque- many years ago I visited- I was struck how functional and plain it was inside.

New Ice Cream Parlour on Brick Lane

This is our new shop- its towards the Aldgate end of Brick Lane- on the side opposite the mosque and school.

We went back there today for their delicious, generous portion size ice cream. It's about £1.50 for a huge scoop and they sell milk shakes and indian sweets.

Needless to say when we returned the lovely chairs seen here outside the shop had been taken inside- Tower Hamlets Council had banned them from the pavement- they now have to apply for a licence which will cost money. I knew this was too good to be true- to be able to sit outside for such a small cost was too much for the council to bear

Toy Story 3

You just have to see this. Not schmaltzy- but intelligent and sensitive. Brilliant!

Cousin Linda

Linda is here for a few days.

I will leave it to the reader to guess which one is Linda.

The picture was taken in Spitalfields antique market

Lush 'exhibition' about perfumes

This was such a fun time. Lush products were explaining their new perfumes and how they were developed. The basement of Shoreditch Town Hall was turned into a labyrinth of sets where the people from Lush explained the stories of each perfume.
The picture shows Heather, so friendly and beautiful- she looked like she had emerged from a film set, well she told us the story of her perfume 'The Hairdressers Husband' and how it inspired the fragrance named after the film.

The dancer showed us the Taca Taca dance and the story of the perfume- named of course ....

This was one of the most imaginative intelligent exhibitions I have ever seen. Needless to say a few quid was spent at the inevitable shop at the end... but the show was free and was actually worth charging for. So try to see it- it closes on Sunday

Visual Arts | Christ Church Spitalfields

Visual Arts Christ Church Spitalfields: "Triptych Reredos by Rebecca Hind - The first exhibition in the Christ Church reredos"

art exhibition

This is Anne's first sketching- executed as part of her beginner's drawing course at Departure in Limehouse.

This was a church, now part chapel, bookshop, cafe, art gallery. I found it very cheerful, friendly and reasonably priced re food and drinks. Drinks were brought to the table and cakes were not thrown at you grudgingly- as is the case in some so called 'community cafes'

Every week they also have a free film show- anyone can come and see slightly unusual films. Next week it's 'The Birds'

'Whatever Works'

This was one of the best films I have ever seen- enjoyable and witty- profound in its way and great performances -especially from Larry David. I had got tired of him on TV but love him in this

Genesis is our favourite cinema. Independent, non pretentious- cheap (concessions £3 at all times) -well worth supporting in comparison to snooty Rich Mix.

PS Don't bring your own snacks/drinks. Its forbidden but you can buy their own rather overpriced stuff there- it helps to keep the ticket prices low

London pictures- an art exhibition

I really liked this small exhibition of paintings about London. Its free, small (only a few paintings) and the styles are varied.

These pictures are priced around £800

Father Howard Levett SSC his last mass

Father Howard has been the parish priest of this famous Anglo-catholic church for 15 years and has now gone to live and minister in Venice.

He has always been so friendly and kind- in the face of a rather stuffy congregation. He brought some humanity and fun to the formality of this shrine to Anglo-Catholicism.

He is especially kind and thoughtful to the sick and dying and he knew my late sister- so that makes him very special to me. The Mass was on the Feast if Peter and Paul- a very special day for priests everywhere and so very fitting that this was his last at Holborn

the first concert of the Spitalfields Singers

These photos were taken at the first concert of the Spitalfields singers- as part of the Spitalfields festival.

It was a wonderful debut- their charismatic director led the choir in a selection of folk songs and a thirties swing classic. For me and John it was the most enjoyable part of the festival. Well done to all the singers- and especially Anne.

By the way the choir are looking for new members- no audition required and they meet every Thursday from 12.30-1.30. It is no 'sing-a-long'

Don’t throw money away. Abolish something

Don’t throw money away. Abolish something

Meeting Boris

This was my first visit inside this curious lopsided building that perches on the banks of the Thames- rather like a long pillow propped on a bed.
Wonderful views from all around and another free event which keeps my theme of the blog. But how much paper they waste, producing all the booklets and schedules- most of which was left behind

Nick Ferarri from LBC was the chairman.

Curiously even though Boris is one of the few people who could lift the dreariest occasion, the event did not really come to life. They had lots of tweets coming in and also two 'out rooms' -not needed as the Chamber was not half full.

On a more enthusiastic note this was part of the queue by the Apple store in Regent Street- queuing for the latest gizmo

The Surreal House (exhibition)

very quick tour of this- we could have spent hours looking at this weird, distorted view of the world. Dali was on show as well as film full lengths and shorts, and a bath that looked like a coffin - designed by Rachel Whitehead.

The concessions are £6 on line and include at least two full length films you can see in comfy armchairs.

It's weird and encompasses many different art forms

Teddy Thomson

Went to a very good concert as part of 'Meltdown'. I am not sure how it all hangs together but Teddy Thomson was the main turn- very good. Some of the supporting acts were less so- a weird rather absurd singer from California who wondered why she lived in Manchester rather than California- life is a bit more than climate love, but Teddy saved the show. Most of it was promoting his new album- beautiful song about home and then a song about 'Babyshambles', written by his mother Linda

Diane Abbott as a national treasure? No thanks - Telegraph

Diane Abbott as a national treasure? No thanks - Telegraph

Oi, townies - don't treat Mr Fox as a pet | Rod Liddle - Times Online

Oi, townies - don't treat Mr Fox as a pet Rod Liddle - Times Online

and Rod has written brilliantly about the coverage of the World Cup- read through the article

The choir ends 24hours of monastic prayer and plainchant

Sadly I missed the prayers- except Vespers led by the singer of 'the Clerks'- which was sung wonderfully and heard in silence. It rounded off the day of prayer.
The Bulgarian Choir then sang the Gloria and followed this up with religious and folk songs from their repertoire

The Festival begins

The Spitalfields Festival began today and will run for two weeks.

This lunchtime they had performers all over the Square and Market and down Brushfield street. This dancer was accompanied by musicians and a singer- the song was called 'Bang, Bang' an unwise choice I thought for a couple of reasons.

We intend to go to as many events as we can!

Ceroc at the Floral Hall Tunstall

The best dancer at the Ceroc night at the Floral Hall in Tunstall. (one of the 5 towns of Stoke-on-Trent) The Floral Hall is set set in a park with great views mixing huge buildings, the park and an industrial town.

The potteries area is struggling and this area was the opposite of Spitalfields- friendly not trendy- and more likely to 'grab a granny' than meet an artist. But friendly, fun and quite cheap. 'Oatcakes' are more like pancakes and part of the potteries diet, filled with ham and cheese

www.london.gov.uk/SOLD

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FESTIVAL SERVICE (Full choir) | Parish & Ward Church of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate

FESTIVAL SERVICE (Full choir) Parish & Ward Church of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate

the play 'Enron'

John came too and we enjoyed this play tremendously. We did get very cheap tickets (TIP -adult plays do not sell well in half term weeks so always a chance of a bargain ticket)

This was a film about the collapse of Enron- a special interest to us as Mary worked for a firm involved in this mess. The play answered a lot of questions about this complex mess and informed us in a very imaginative and entertaining way.

By the way for people who have very little cash- there seems to be free water on offer now in all theatres. Very useful on a rare hot day in London and the price of drinks is extortionate

'Sweet Charity'

In keeping with our economy theme for this blog- we paid £10 for the seats from lastminute.com
These were at the top- on a quite comfortable bench but we asked the usher if we could move and he led us to very comfortable seats with a very good close up but restricted view of part of the stage (if you see what I mean)
but it was a brilliant show- wonderful dancing by the men especially- the best I have ever seen
Tamzin Outhwaite was brilliant too....

Helping on a stall

This was my first and probably only visit to the Chelsea Flower Show- very kindly arranged for me by A. The weather was great, the crowds huge and there was so much to see. The most popular side show seemed to be the free Telegraph cloth bag- I tried to get one but was disappointed with hundreds of other people. Most of the visitors seemed very well heeled but they all love a bargain... and better still a freebie. The wire figure on the left was part of the meadow garden promoting 'riding for the disabled' It was a gold medal winner and much admired

Spital Sermon by Canon Andrew White

These were the cookies on display and home made lemonade. All sold in aid of Canon White and his work in Baghdad. He spoke of his work in Baghdad and that his sort of motto was 'BAM'
The letter 'B' stand for black. Canon White said his swarthy complexion makes his work in Baghdad easier- he is taken as an Iraqi. The 'A' stands for Anglican and anaesthetics- and he has the unlikely combination of both titles- having been ordained as an Anglican priest and trained at St Thomas's in London in 'gassing'. The M stands for middle -east and multiple sclerosis (for which he is being treated) the sermon was inspiring and put his congregation in its biblical perspective. Ezekiel lived in this area and St Thomas converted the people from Judaism

'Even the most negative things are the work of God'
(Canon White)

On holiday

Just some of my photos from my spectacular short break in County Caven as a guest of the enormous Clarke family - they cluster around the town of Virginia...
The lady is Mrs Clarke- the wonderfully kind matriarch of the family and a formidable champion with a George Forman Grill and a Rayburn. Here she is outside her home and in the second photo are two pigs- the big one (too many cakes) and the little spotted darling- one day old and destined for the George Forman treatment!