Another Non-Jobsworth
I had dinner with my son at Carluccio’s in Upper Street and we walked back to Highbury and Islington station to get our trains home.
I was intendimg to take the North London Line to Dalston Junction for a bus home and as I walked down the stairs to the platform, I noticed that the train doors were closed. But the driver waved me to open the doors and get on!
He was on time at Dalston Junction despite waiting for me.
Wilton’s Music Hall
Last night, I went to Wilton’s Music Hall in the East End of London. It is just round the corner from Cable Street, where in 1936, Mosley’s black shirts wanted to march and this resulted in the Battle of Cable Street. My father was there, although many would think that someone who always voted Tory wouldn’t have been. But he did have a lot of Jewish heritage and he had a very low opinion of fascists. Various groups always claimed they stopped Oswald Mosley and his odious followers, but my father always said that anybody who thought about it, was against Mosley.
The show was organised by The Times, and was essentially a comedy night with four comedy acts and a compere; Jarred Christmas. The acts were Colin Hoult, Imran Yusuf, Frisky and Mannish and one other, who I think might have been a late addition.
But it was three hours of good fun and all for a tenner.
The building is virtually a construction site, as they are struggling to get London’s last music hall on a secure footing, both financially and structurally. But the building had the right atmosphere and acoustics to make it a good venue.
The four comedians were good, but not as in your face as s0me. Colin Hoult relied a lot on word play, developing a new superhero called Grammar Man, who policed such evil powers as split infinitives, whilst Imran Yusuf showed how you don’t have to be Jewish to mock your religion constructively. Jarred Christmas was an amiable host, who did a good job to link it all together.
The show was round up, by Frisky and Mannish, who are best described as a comedy musical double act, with Frisky doing most of the singing to Mannish’s keyboard. There are some videos on their web site, which give a good flavour.
She introduced herself by saying that as it was a music hall, she was wearing a corset. And she was wearing it well over a split skirt and a halter top. Her shoes, hair and the corset laces were almost a matching red/orange colour. The corset wasn’t to a Victorian tightness, but it wasn’t loose either. She sang well too!
They are going to the Edinburgh Fringe and will certainly be worth catching.
The Times are putting on further comedy nights at Wilton’s. If they’re only a tenner a time, it won’t be the last time I go.
Is Rick Perry Running To Be President of Iran?
They are made for each other, if The Times is to believed, as they are both convinced that the death penalty is the cure to all evils. I’m told it’s very good at stopping innocent peple becoming criminals.
The Iranians are using buses as scaffolds, which is a severe misuse of a noble piece of transport. Let’s make sure that none of London’s redundant bendy buses go to Iran, as they could be used to execute dozens at a time.
It’s about time, the British government and in fact the governments of all countries opposed to the death penalty, put some meaningful pressure on countries that still use this horrendous punishment.
Kim Kardashian Sues Over Look Alike
I gather that Kim Kardashian is quite famous. Perhaps it is famous for being stupid as she is suing a company because they used someone who looks like her, according to this report. She ought to thank the company for the publicity, especially as I don’t find the lady the least bit attractive. So perhaps she should sue The Times for showing a picture of her, that I don’t like.
You can rest assured that her lawyers will trouser a few dollars, so they will at least been paid well for their time.
Interchange at Stratford
Yesterday I took a friend down the North London line to take a train to her home in Ipswich. The interchange there is now very good and it is just down one set of steps, a short walk and a climb up between trains. Both climbs can be avoided by lifts, if you have limited mobility or heavy luggage.
The only problem is that the proper Ipswich trains have non-sliding doors and this is a slight problem for some with less than perfect hands. It’s exacerbated by the fact that no-one gets out of an Ipswich train at Stratford, so these trains need to have a better door mechanism, when they are refurbished next time.
Stratford is going to be a major interchange during and after the Olympics. If say I was travelling from Ipswich to say Oxford Circus on the Central line, then now it is better to change at Stratford rather than Liverpool Street. Other journeys may also be better with a change at Stratford. For example.
- Ipswich to Gatwick, by changing to the Jubilee at Stratford for London Bridge.
- N**wich to Southampton, by changing to the Jubilee at Stratford for Waterloo.
The interchanges are much better than using the Underground or buses in central London.
You can make a list of places, that are directly connected to Stratford, but not to Liverpool Street.
- London Bridge, Charing Cross and Waterloo
- Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the O2.
- Camden Town, Kentish Town, Hampstead and the Heath.
When Thameslink is completed at London Bridge, many more places will be easier to get to, after a short trip from Stratford.
Chiltern are also threatening to connect at West Hampstead to the North London line, so this would mean East Anglia or Essex to Birmingham or Oxford would be a simpler journey in new trains all the way.
And then in 2016 or thereabouts there’s CrossRail.
We Need Rebekah’s Law
Popbitch is starting a campagn, so that we can all know if we have any former red-top editors living near us. Here’s the gist.
Rarely does Popbitch get on its soapbox
but recent events have stirred us up.
Inspired by the News of the World, we
demand the right for the public to know
if there are any ex-News International
execs living near us.
As the NOTW once said on its cover
“Everyone in Britain has a sex offender
living within one mile of their home”.
This is surely just as true of ex-
News of the World editors too.
And, like Mrs Brooks, we vow to name and
shame any politician who impedes our
crusade for tougher laws against
former red-top editors.
We need… Rebekah’s Law!
Come on, join our campaign.
It’s what she would have wanted.
I’m now getting very much towards feeling that all of this tabloid wrongdoing is all rather irrelevant and that stories like the multiple killings in Stockport and the financial problems in the eurozone are much more important.
I certainly won’t be venturing anywhere near Stockport or Greece in the near future.
The Anonymous Widower 