Sister Act and other diversions

Sister Act
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

As foreshadowed, Saturday saw our visit to London to see Sister Act. It was absolutely superb - definitely the best west end production we have seen so far. OK, so perhaps they have an advantage at the Palladium with revolving stage, trapdoors etc that you may not see in other venues, but by 'eck do they make the most of it. Acting, singing, dancing and the scenery all superb.

We were both impressed by Patina Miller in the lead role and Sheila Hancock as the Mother Superior with perfect comic timing. For our show we got the understudy for the priest, instead of the anticipated Ian Lavender* but he was really good anyway, and somehow the thought of Private Pike with an American accent would have been wrong anyway.

As we arrived with four hours to kill we had a bit of a mooch around Oxford Street, Soho and the general area. No real intentions other than seeing some of the back streets and bits we've not wandered around before. Plus it wasn't enough time to get to and then do justice to a museum or gallery as well as fitting in a bite of lunch. Some more pics gradually making their way up onto flickr.


* This was not such a disappointment for me as I have actually met him. We were holding a bus users forum in Bury St Edmunds which he attended with some questions for us. Nice to see someone with a modicum of fame using public transport. Anyway, one of my colleagues got the job of taking down his details and had no idea who he was talking to. When he asked for his name I had to bite my tongue to not shout out "Don't tell him, Pike". I'm sure he must get that all the time.

I dunno, you spend the best part of a Metallica CD humming and ha-ing over what to write and completely forget to mention what you did last night. Yup, we went to the production of Camelot referred to on Tuesday. Apart from it being in a tent (with very squeaky frame making a lot of racket in the high winds) rather than strictly outdoors it was very good indeed. Not seen the film or a previous production so it was all new to me too. I do enjoy a bit of live theatre from time to time, and the amateur groups round here all do a stonkingly good job. Plus we won two prizes in the raffle!

Once again I wonder, where has the time gone? As I write this Joan is somewhere in the air between Rome and here having had a really good time as far as I can tell from a handful of text messages. She got picked up OK at 3 on Sunday morning and was there by 9.30. Really can't wait to get home tonight and hear all about it (not sure who will get home first as yet). So what have I been doing in the interim? Not much other than work to be truthful.

In fact I started early on the work front by coming in on Saturday for a change. Done it once or twice in the past when deadlines have loomed but don't intend to make a habit of it. However, I really needed to spend some uninterrupted time with Chris working on timetables and this seemed the best way to acheive that. Plus it means I get to take tomorrow off to spend with Joan without using up any of my accumulated flexi-time. Which is nice.

Sunday I just pottered about the house and got through some of the backlog of ironing (thrills!) before going round to Ma & Pa's for dinner. Wasn't intending to go round and act all helpless with Joan away, but they insisted so who am I to turn down a free meal! Dad was actually out most of the time I was there (he is stage-managing a production of Camelot due to take place at Landguard Fort later this week and is heavily into getting things to work at the moment) so only three of us anyway.

Then back to work yesterday with more tinkering with timetables and so forth. This afternoon we have a feedback visit from the firm who did the timetable distribution for us. They were a bit put out by some of the work last week when I spoke to them on the phone, but hopefully they will have calmed down a bit now and be OK to continue with the work. Fingers crossed and all that as I don't want it back again!

This is bizarre. Or totally expected. I have sneakily installed the BBC radio player software to the work PC and am typing this listening to a repeat of last Sunday's "Freak Zone" from BBC Radio 6. One of the stations only available through digital radio/satellite/the web. I would listen to it at home through the dish if I ever remembered to. We are not in a digital coverage zone yet in Felixstowe so not worth buying a proper digital radio (ideally I'd like a pocket one that could travel around with me, and indeed use at work as the quality via the web is pretty appalling). Anyway, the show in question is usually hosted by Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden but as he is off on tour at the moment Paul Morley of Words And Music fame. And he is talking just like the book was written. Which is, as stated, either bizarre or expected. However, I am prepared to put up with that and the low quality as he played some of the stuff mentioned in the book I'd not encountered before. Which is great.

So we are both back at work. Not too bad for me. Yesterday mainly spent catching up on loads of emails and sorting out staff discount and new stops for Park & Ride linked to the office move. Not so good for Joan but she is plodding on and only has to get to the end of next week before she is off again anyway. She did speak to someone high up in personnel about the whole situation which hopefully will help in the long term, but left her feeling sick when having to do it.

Oh, and we watched the film version of Chicago on Sunday night. Very glossy and fun.