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Christmas Mysteries: A Sherlock Carol @MaryleboneTHLDN

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A mash-up of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes would seem an unlikely pairing. Yet it provides a surprisingly fun Christmas-themed adventure. These two Victorian tales (albeit separated by about 40 years) provide the basis for an inspired adventure at Christmastime that just also happens to turn out to be a murder mystery as well. With lavish costumes, a few spooky set pieces and some good old-fashioned stage trickery with lights and a lot of smoke machines, it is hard to resist. It returns to the Marylebone Theatre for Christmas after a run there last year.  The premise is that after Holmes sees off the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, he is left adrift in London. People thought he was dead, and he might as well be. Disinterested in the misdeeds of other Londoners, Holmes has even given up on his friend Dr Watson. It's almost as if he has become a Scrooge. Or half a Scrooge, moping about shouting, "bah" in respon
News: Last orders still at 11 and other bloody stories

Since February when pubs have had the opportunity to apply for extended trading hours there hasn't exactly been a rush of applications... To the surprise of many. Not that they could have opened for longer until November this year, but the application process is such a long and involved process that they need almost 10 months to fill out the form. So no extended drinking hours look likely in the foreseeable future.

That article appeared in many papers, but it is always fun to read the Sun as apart from the tits, you get a very different slant on the world of England (not much more either for that matter)...

By the way despite that axe murder on Monday Eton Avenue is still a lovely street with nice friendly people. Just keep away from the ones with the large heavy implements.

Meanwhile the Hamstead and Highgate Express is calling it Bloody Monday as a nice Jewish pensioner was also killed the same day in what is purported to be a botched burglary in Golders Green.

Oh and something pretty... the daffodils are out...

Conversations at work

Paul [to colleague]: I am going to call that (very important) person who was annoying the hell out of me yesterday
Colleague: What will you say to her?
Paul: Bitch

Since becoming single again I have regained my dark sense of humour. It wasn't too hard to get back. It was just in storage with the rest of my suppressed personality.

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