Return To The Hippodrome
Yesterday, I went to the newly-reopened Hippodrome Casino to see Kate Dimbleby perform in a musical entertainment written in collaboration with Amy Rosenthal, called Beware of Young Girls: The Dory Previn Story.
I must be one of the few people of my age, who have memories of the old Hippodrome Theatre, that previously stood on the site. I didn’t actually go, but in the early 1950s, I regularly had to go to the Royal Dental Hospital in Leicester Square. My mother, who had been to the theatre before the war, and I used to come up from North London on the Tube and get off at Leicester Square, where we exited the station at Hippodrome Corner. It was then a short walk to the actual square and the dental hospital. One day the builders were in and you could see right through the windows, which told how what was happening was the talk of the town. I can’t remember it actually opening as the nightclub called, The Talk of the Town, as we finished going to the dental hospital. It’s since had a bit of a chequered history, with good and bad times and now it has been turned into a casino.
I think they’ve made a good job of it on the construction and furnishing side. As to the gambling side, I don’t gamble in a casino. I would though, if someone was fool enough to set up Canfield. But after my stroke, I doubt I still have the prowess I used to have. I do bet on horses, but only when the odds are longer than they should be. I once had Terimon at 500/1 each way for the Derby. He came second.
But I do, see shows in a casino and once saw Siegfried and Roy in Las Vegas. I’ve been to Vegas several times and I’ve never gambled on anything there, which must be some sort of record.
So how was last night’s show?
I enjoyed the show and it brought back memories of Dory Previn’s show at the Donmar Warehouse in the last 1980s, where I saw her with C. The set was similar too and I wonder if Amy’s mother, Maureen Lipman, who is thanked on the program, saw that show at the Donmar too!
I don’t think there are any original videos of Dory Previn singing, although there is this video on YouTube. It was taken on a toy camera, when she opened an Arts Centre in Springfield a couple of years ago. The songs are Jesus Had A Baby Sister and Twenty Mile Zone. Her last recording incidentally was Planet Blue, which can be downloaded free from here.
I should also say that I liked the venue too Acoustics were good and from where I sat, I had a good view.
I didn’t actually eat, but the food seemed to be reasonably priced and as a coeliac, some of the snacks were gluten-free.
I’ll probably go again, when an artist I like is appearing. Top class style it definitely has, but the prices aren’t out of the range of a sensible fan.
Where Am I On A Global Fat Scale?
I filled in the calculator on this page on the BBC web site.
As someone who is 1.71 metres tall and weighs 64 kilos, it said.
I have a BMI of 22, I have less body fat than 94 % of males between 60 and 69 in the UK and 73 % of all males between 60 and 69 in the world.
I’m most like someone of between 60 and 69 in Burkino Faso. I’m probably not, because I’m the wrong colour.
A Hospital Trust Goes Bust
It has been reported that an NHS Trust has gone bust.
I have a heart problem and attend The Heart Hospital, which is part of the University College London Hospitals Trust.
It was built as a private hospital and went bust. UCLH then stepped in to clean up the mess and bought a bargain.
I suspect that anything worth saving from the South London Healthcare NHS Trust will be saved, at little inconvenience to patients. Hopefully, the managers, accountants, politicians and bankers who created the mess, will get their proper rewards.
Is It A Case of Hail the Hygienist?
Yesterday, I went to see the dental hygienist to have my teeth polished.
She did her usual good job, but she found a small problem with a tooth, that may well have been causing me the pain in the left hand side of my face, that has been plaguing me the last two years, since I returned home from Hong Kong since the stroke.
Let’s hope so!
We shall see next week, when I go to the dentist.
So perhaps, I was right, when I advocated a walk-in hygienist.
The Canadian Family in Penang
Years ago, C & myself were waiting for the Penang Hill Railway to get on top of Penang Hill. I can’t remember exactly how we got talking, but it could have been a can of Coke in the hot weather and this Canadian family with three children helped clear up the mess. It turned out they were two teachers and had sold up all of their possessions and were going round the world. They were obviously educating their children as they travelled.
They had started in the UK and then crossed Europe by train to take a ferry to North Africa, where they crossed the Sahara in a truck. Gradually, they progressed through Africa to Dar Es Salaam, from where they took a dhow to India. When we met them, they were living in a two dollars a day flophouse in Penang. In a few days, they woukd be off and hoped to get to Darwin.
I asked if they had had any trouble. They said, only really the baboons. But then babons are the hooligans of Africa. Although, their son had broken his humerus, somewhere in Northern Nigeria. The local head man introduced them to the local bonesetter, who felt it all back into place. Later in Lagos, the Canadian High Commission, got them an appointment with the best orthopaedic surgeon in Nigeria. When he looked at the arm, he just gave a knowing look and said that the bonesetter was better than he was at puting broken bones back together. He’d not had any trouble since. I wish that bonesetter had put my gammy arm back together.
I always wonder what happened to that family. I assume all was well, but it would have made the travel book of the decade. I suspect, the authorities would have something to say, if a family tried it now.
Access To Medical Records for Research Purposes
The Times today has an article entitled, NHS red tape ‘is strangling life-saving medical research’, which says it all.
If you consider that Richard Doll, proved the link between smoking and lung cancer using medical records, you realise how important this is, especially as the NHS database is the largest medical database in the world.
I don’t care what any researcher does with my medical records, provided what they do is morally acceptable.
Surely what you do is allow researchers to run queries on the database, provided the research has been approved by the NHS.
Hospital Reorganisation
There have been a couple of stories on the news about hospital reorganisation in the last week or so. There was a story last week about the reorganisation of A & E units in North West London. Today, there’s a story about a trust in South East london, that might merge with one in North West Kent.
As when the closure of Barts was mooted some years ago, the locals are against it. For instance someone has said this morning, that those in South East London prefer to travel to the teaching hospitals in Central London.
I lived for a long time in East Anglia and now, the number of big hospitals, is probably down to just two; Cambridge and Norwich, with some local General Hospitals in between. Some like Bury St. Edmunds will disappear fairly soon.
And then of course, there was the retired doctor, who got elected to Parliament over the closure of Kidderminster Hospital, a few years ago.
Modern medicine means we need less hospital beds and more specialist consultants and because paramedics are so much more advanced in what they can do, we need less A & E units.
But try selling this to the locals.
Between a Rock And A Hard Place
Over this winter I have severely dehydrated myself, due to the bad design of this house. I regularly have lukewarm baths to try to get more water back into my body. My GP’s colleague thinks this is a good idea. I’ve also had air-conditioning fitted, so that my house is usually at about 25 °C with upwards of 40% humidity. I also drink quite a bit to try to raise the moisture levels in my body.
However my cardiologist says that I must not drink more than 1.5 litres a day. I don’t think I do!
But my skin is still as dry as a bone and I itch like crazy. The guy who cuts my hair, says my scalp is very dry and I scratch everywhere like mad. Especially, the backs of my legs, my back, my scalp and my throat.
The problem did clear up last year, but only when we got some sun. Fat chance of that this year. Why did the Queen have to have a ruddy jubilee to guarantee bad weather this summer?
Has anybody any serious ideas, other than moving to Australia?
I Am A Man Who Is Approaching His Terminus
Not me, I hasten to add!
But the very brave Clive James has said this about himself, as he battles against cancer.
He is obviously determined to go with dignity and humour.
Is there any other way? Not in my book there isn’t!
Hayley Turner Rides for the Queen
Hayley Turner is riding Momentary for the Queen in the Ribblesdale Stakes today.
Hayley is a coeliac and now is the best lady jockey in the UK. Many will say the best lady jockey ever to ride in the UK.
The Anonymous Widower 