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The First Ever London RAG Reunion
Mar. 16th, 2005 08:17 pmAs usual people dropped out left, right and centre as the date of the reunion approached. In the end it was good as I knew all the people attending well. Often there are people at Rag Reunions from previous committees to mine and I have trouble finding things to talk to them about.
I had my hair cut at 10am in the morning which was useful as I didn't have to bother with my hair for the evening. I then when straight to my ex housemate's flat in Clapham. We started getting ready and then I got a frantic phone call from another friend who was having trouble with the trains because of engineering work. Fortunately, my ex housemate is a lovely, lovely friend and said that it would be OK for my other friend to come and get changed at hers.
We met the others at The Loop Bar at 6pm. We were meant to be meeting at 5pm but we weren't sure we were hardcore enough for that! The Loop Bar was OK but the evening's main organiser demanded that we move on before the dancing started as they refused to play requests. We had a £4 happy hour bar meal and shared some cocktail jugs. Three of us managed to consume three jugs so we must have had a jug each. They couldn't have been very alcoholic though as I didn't feel vaguely tipsy afterwards.
When happy hour had ended we got on the bus to Picadilly Circus. I don't think I'd ever walked around there at night before and it was pretty impressive. The neon signs look much bigger at night than they do in the day. On our way through we passed 'Tiger, Tiger' a bar which is often mentioned in the 'Spotted' section of Heat. There was a big queue to get in but I didn't spot any stars. My ex housemate had been there and told me that it's a dive inside. We then walked through Leicester Square to get to Covent Garden. Leicester Square scares me at night as I used to watch a TV programme which showed the police trying to catch all the muggers and pick pockets there. I think they normally target tourists though and I didn't look very touristy.
In Covent Garden the evening's main organiser couldn't remember where the bar was so we walked much further than we should have had to. This wasn't good news for me as I was wearing my spike heeled boots making it very difficult to walk on the cobbles! Anyway, I digress, we eventually found 'Fuel'. It was a very small bar, possibly the smallest I've ever been to, and was on the first floor of some of the shops in the centre of Covent Gardens. There was a balcony area but it was a bit chilly to make the most of that. The drinks were expensive but not any more expensive than anywhere else in Central London. Hip Hop was played most of the evening. The DJ seemed to be particularly keen on Eminem and Outkast. I don't think any of either of them's tracks weren't played. Oddly, 'Smack my Bitch Up' was played which didn't seem to fit in with the other music at all, apart from the fact that it samples a classic hip hop track I guess (Kool Keith and the Ultramagnetic MC's - Give the Drummer Some). That was a bit of a strange few minute though, as the first minute or so of 'Smack my Bitch Up' was played up to the break down where Shahin Badir does her Indian chant bit then the DJ started playing 'Toxic' by Britney Spears! I think he was trying to do a clever mix thing with the Indian Chant and Britney as Toxic has a bit of a Bollywood beat going on, but to be honest it didn't really work. It wasn't that bad though as I really like both of the tracks.
Also, and quite a few people were very excited about this, they gave out free pizza at midnight! If anyone is in the Covent Garden area on a Saturday night, and they like classic hip hop, I'd recommend a visit. Especially, as it's free to get in before 10pm. We danced for hours. It's a good job my boots are comfortable, despite being very pointy and high.
We left when the bar closed at 2am and went to catch a night bus home. The three of us who were staying in Clapham went to Trafalgar Square to catch our bus, while the others went to Picadilly Circus. At this point it all got a bit stressful. The bus we were hoping to catch didn't turn up for ages and so many people were waiting for it we realised that we wouldn't fit on when it did arrive. With this in mind we decided to catch another bus which stopped at Clapham Common rather than just at the top of my ex housemate's road. Firstly, my friend fell asleep on the bus with the consequence that she was really disorientated when we woke her up ready to disembark and she nearly left her handbag behind. Then we nearly couldn't get off the bus at all as so many people crowded on through the back doors at our stop. Finally, the 15 minute walk to my ex housemate's flat felt like 15 miles as we were so tired :( It was 4am by the time we got to bed.
It was a good night and I was very pleased that I went in the end. Shame some of the others are so unhappy with their lives at the moment though.
The Easter Vacation starts on Monday and I'm taking three days off of work as I need to use up my annual leave before the end of the leave year. Not sure what I'm going to do with my time off apart from boring stuff like sorting out the tax office and my ISA. I might go and try an individual chocolate cheesecake in Costa Coffee at some point as they look delicious.
I'm nearly at the end of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' at last. Seems like I've been reading it forever, but that's probably because I only read a few pages a night now in oppose to loads each day on the train when I worked in Wimbledon. There's no denying that THGTTG is a very clever book though. I'll be interested to see the new film, I think Martin Freeman will make a very good Arthur Dent. My problem with MF is that I can only accept him in roles in which he is a fairly sane, sweet, sarcastic guy, exasperated at being surrounded by idiots like he roles he played in 'The Office' and 'Hardware'. When I saw him playing a Stuart MP in 'Charles II' I couldn't take him seriously. I think it's something to do with his natural facial expression. He seems to look naturally exasperated at all times! It would be funny if Ricky Gervais and the other members of The Office cast turned up in cameo's. Though I'm sure dedicated Douglas Adams fans would be horrified by the idea.
I'm not sure whether or not I've said this before, but 'The Dirtchamber Sessions' is a really odd album. I like it, but Liam Howlett's choice of music is diverse and at times very suprising. The Chalatans are in there and so are The KLF, not acts which I would imagine he would give the time of day to. Certainly worth a listen, especially if you like hip hop and funk/soul music.
I had my hair cut at 10am in the morning which was useful as I didn't have to bother with my hair for the evening. I then when straight to my ex housemate's flat in Clapham. We started getting ready and then I got a frantic phone call from another friend who was having trouble with the trains because of engineering work. Fortunately, my ex housemate is a lovely, lovely friend and said that it would be OK for my other friend to come and get changed at hers.
We met the others at The Loop Bar at 6pm. We were meant to be meeting at 5pm but we weren't sure we were hardcore enough for that! The Loop Bar was OK but the evening's main organiser demanded that we move on before the dancing started as they refused to play requests. We had a £4 happy hour bar meal and shared some cocktail jugs. Three of us managed to consume three jugs so we must have had a jug each. They couldn't have been very alcoholic though as I didn't feel vaguely tipsy afterwards.
When happy hour had ended we got on the bus to Picadilly Circus. I don't think I'd ever walked around there at night before and it was pretty impressive. The neon signs look much bigger at night than they do in the day. On our way through we passed 'Tiger, Tiger' a bar which is often mentioned in the 'Spotted' section of Heat. There was a big queue to get in but I didn't spot any stars. My ex housemate had been there and told me that it's a dive inside. We then walked through Leicester Square to get to Covent Garden. Leicester Square scares me at night as I used to watch a TV programme which showed the police trying to catch all the muggers and pick pockets there. I think they normally target tourists though and I didn't look very touristy.
In Covent Garden the evening's main organiser couldn't remember where the bar was so we walked much further than we should have had to. This wasn't good news for me as I was wearing my spike heeled boots making it very difficult to walk on the cobbles! Anyway, I digress, we eventually found 'Fuel'. It was a very small bar, possibly the smallest I've ever been to, and was on the first floor of some of the shops in the centre of Covent Gardens. There was a balcony area but it was a bit chilly to make the most of that. The drinks were expensive but not any more expensive than anywhere else in Central London. Hip Hop was played most of the evening. The DJ seemed to be particularly keen on Eminem and Outkast. I don't think any of either of them's tracks weren't played. Oddly, 'Smack my Bitch Up' was played which didn't seem to fit in with the other music at all, apart from the fact that it samples a classic hip hop track I guess (Kool Keith and the Ultramagnetic MC's - Give the Drummer Some). That was a bit of a strange few minute though, as the first minute or so of 'Smack my Bitch Up' was played up to the break down where Shahin Badir does her Indian chant bit then the DJ started playing 'Toxic' by Britney Spears! I think he was trying to do a clever mix thing with the Indian Chant and Britney as Toxic has a bit of a Bollywood beat going on, but to be honest it didn't really work. It wasn't that bad though as I really like both of the tracks.
Also, and quite a few people were very excited about this, they gave out free pizza at midnight! If anyone is in the Covent Garden area on a Saturday night, and they like classic hip hop, I'd recommend a visit. Especially, as it's free to get in before 10pm. We danced for hours. It's a good job my boots are comfortable, despite being very pointy and high.
We left when the bar closed at 2am and went to catch a night bus home. The three of us who were staying in Clapham went to Trafalgar Square to catch our bus, while the others went to Picadilly Circus. At this point it all got a bit stressful. The bus we were hoping to catch didn't turn up for ages and so many people were waiting for it we realised that we wouldn't fit on when it did arrive. With this in mind we decided to catch another bus which stopped at Clapham Common rather than just at the top of my ex housemate's road. Firstly, my friend fell asleep on the bus with the consequence that she was really disorientated when we woke her up ready to disembark and she nearly left her handbag behind. Then we nearly couldn't get off the bus at all as so many people crowded on through the back doors at our stop. Finally, the 15 minute walk to my ex housemate's flat felt like 15 miles as we were so tired :( It was 4am by the time we got to bed.
It was a good night and I was very pleased that I went in the end. Shame some of the others are so unhappy with their lives at the moment though.
The Easter Vacation starts on Monday and I'm taking three days off of work as I need to use up my annual leave before the end of the leave year. Not sure what I'm going to do with my time off apart from boring stuff like sorting out the tax office and my ISA. I might go and try an individual chocolate cheesecake in Costa Coffee at some point as they look delicious.
I'm nearly at the end of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' at last. Seems like I've been reading it forever, but that's probably because I only read a few pages a night now in oppose to loads each day on the train when I worked in Wimbledon. There's no denying that THGTTG is a very clever book though. I'll be interested to see the new film, I think Martin Freeman will make a very good Arthur Dent. My problem with MF is that I can only accept him in roles in which he is a fairly sane, sweet, sarcastic guy, exasperated at being surrounded by idiots like he roles he played in 'The Office' and 'Hardware'. When I saw him playing a Stuart MP in 'Charles II' I couldn't take him seriously. I think it's something to do with his natural facial expression. He seems to look naturally exasperated at all times! It would be funny if Ricky Gervais and the other members of The Office cast turned up in cameo's. Though I'm sure dedicated Douglas Adams fans would be horrified by the idea.
I'm not sure whether or not I've said this before, but 'The Dirtchamber Sessions' is a really odd album. I like it, but Liam Howlett's choice of music is diverse and at times very suprising. The Chalatans are in there and so are The KLF, not acts which I would imagine he would give the time of day to. Certainly worth a listen, especially if you like hip hop and funk/soul music.
