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[Warning:] Now contains spoilers for Van Helsing ... in the comments ... [mutter]
Well, that was a good weekend ...
Saturday
Spent the afternoon at the Gutshot Bar on Clerkenwell Road, at the games event organised by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thecesspit, who seems to be doing well for himself. The home-made burgers there are utterly amazing, and well worth testing. The decor is pretty good, in an airy modern style, even if there is a tendency towards beige. Lots of small tables, unfortunately just right for trading card games (apparently - see below), and a couple of nice big comfy sofas with long low tables and a wall-mounted firebowl. Then found myself slightly traumatised by the discovery that there is actually a WWF Wrestling trading card game. The horror! The horror! Managed to avoid getting sucked into that, and ended up playing King's Gate (two games - lost 'em both) for the first time - a very good game, and one which is going on "the list". And then The Great Brain Robbery by Cheapass Games, which is just barmy, but mildly hectic fun. And then headed off as the poker collective were starting to arrive.
The evening was spent atvalkyriekaren's party, meeting an assortment of people whose usernames I vaguely recognised from comments on other journals, and grazing from the fine spread of foodstuffs that she had prepared, including a rather wonderful chicken curry. Topics of conversation included the fact that mooism's shirt rendered him camouflaged against the jaffa-cake living room. swiftangel's quite outstanding ginger biscuits and chili-boobytrapped chocolate-dipped cookies, I learnt a highly useful new word, and reddragdiva showed off his incredibly tiny digital camera. And his nipples. At the end of the evening, there was a sudden shift into intelligent conversation, as valkyriekaren and countess_sophia discussed viking history and the DaneLaw. And so to bed.
Sunday
Got up nice and late, after a cup of tea from the charmingwechsler, and grazed on some of the remaining food. There's no need for toast when you have slightly stale naan bread and satay sauce! Then off to the towers of glass and chrome to meet a random assortment of souls at the Ledger building, for a pre-film lunch. Unfortunately, due to a communication breakdown, some of the assembled had to head off to the 3pm showing, but enough of us remained to view. It turned out that the group of friends with whom thalinoviel was to watch the film were affiliated to the group I was meeting, in another example of world shrinkage. Eventually we managed to scare away enough people to all sit down, and consumed much in the way of food, including a surplus toffee pudding.
And thence to the film -Vain Hell-thing Van Helsing. Well. Yes. The queue was long, the cinema was full. The film was like the bastard offspring of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula. Yes, the costumes were rather nice (even if littleangel_103 was pointing out inconsistencies), some of the cast were rather nice too, and there were some good scene-setting touches (in the opening shot of Paris, keep an eye out for the part-built Eiffel Tower). The comedy sidekick got quite a few good lines, and the cast struggled gamely on. However, the whole thing was let down by one of the world's cheesiest moments (of which no more here, please), and a slightly bizarre dedication in the closing credits (which were otherwise impressively Burton-esque). Oh, and the fact that some sequences seemed designed to go straight into the spin-off video game - even more so than the set-pieces in Tomb Raider. I'll probably be getting the soundtrack, but then I have a sad soundtrack addiction. littleangel_103 suspected that they were aiming for gypsy guitars, but missed by a couple of hundred miles ... In all, it just seemed a little cobbled together. However, Marcus, lost_house and myself liked it, while Madeline was threatening never to talk to me again ... make of that what you will ...
Due to slow train issues, I got to Clarets just too late to seeflickgc or dr_plokta, with the photos from Plokta.com, but the remainder of the usual suspects were in fine form. Ended up dealing with a pint and half of fairly strong cider on a one-meal stomach, which might not have been the wisest course, but I'm still alive.
From the "forthcoming release trailers", Shrek 2 looks like a must-see, with Antonio Banderas voicing Puss In Boots ... Rar! And this week I shall be attempting to put together a lyrics quiz which allows people to get over half marks. Is this an example of lowering standards in examinations?
Well, that was a good weekend ...
Saturday
Spent the afternoon at the Gutshot Bar on Clerkenwell Road, at the games event organised by
thecesspit, who seems to be doing well for himself. The home-made burgers there are utterly amazing, and well worth testing. The decor is pretty good, in an airy modern style, even if there is a tendency towards beige. Lots of small tables, unfortunately just right for trading card games (apparently - see below), and a couple of nice big comfy sofas with long low tables and a wall-mounted firebowl. Then found myself slightly traumatised by the discovery that there is actually a WWF Wrestling trading card game. The horror! The horror! Managed to avoid getting sucked into that, and ended up playing King's Gate (two games - lost 'em both) for the first time - a very good game, and one which is going on "the list". And then The Great Brain Robbery by Cheapass Games, which is just barmy, but mildly hectic fun. And then headed off as the poker collective were starting to arrive.The evening was spent at
valkyriekaren's party, meeting an assortment of people whose usernames I vaguely recognised from comments on other journals, and grazing from the fine spread of foodstuffs that she had prepared, including a rather wonderful chicken curry. Topics of conversation included the fact that mooism's shirt rendered him camouflaged against the jaffa-cake living room. swiftangel's quite outstanding ginger biscuits and chili-boobytrapped chocolate-dipped cookies, I learnt a highly useful new word, and reddragdiva showed off his incredibly tiny digital camera. And his nipples. At the end of the evening, there was a sudden shift into intelligent conversation, as valkyriekaren and countess_sophia discussed viking history and the DaneLaw. And so to bed.Sunday
Got up nice and late, after a cup of tea from the charming
wechsler, and grazed on some of the remaining food. There's no need for toast when you have slightly stale naan bread and satay sauce! Then off to the towers of glass and chrome to meet a random assortment of souls at the Ledger building, for a pre-film lunch. Unfortunately, due to a communication breakdown, some of the assembled had to head off to the 3pm showing, but enough of us remained to view. It turned out that the group of friends with whom thalinoviel was to watch the film were affiliated to the group I was meeting, in another example of world shrinkage. Eventually we managed to scare away enough people to all sit down, and consumed much in the way of food, including a surplus toffee pudding.And thence to the film -
littleangel_103 was pointing out inconsistencies), some of the cast were rather nice too, and there were some good scene-setting touches (in the opening shot of Paris, keep an eye out for the part-built Eiffel Tower). The comedy sidekick got quite a few good lines, and the cast struggled gamely on. However, the whole thing was let down by one of the world's cheesiest moments (of which no more here, please), and a slightly bizarre dedication in the closing credits (which were otherwise impressively Burton-esque). Oh, and the fact that some sequences seemed designed to go straight into the spin-off video game - even more so than the set-pieces in Tomb Raider. I'll probably be getting the soundtrack, but then I have a sad soundtrack addiction. littleangel_103 suspected that they were aiming for gypsy guitars, but missed by a couple of hundred miles ... In all, it just seemed a little cobbled together. However, Marcus, lost_house and myself liked it, while Madeline was threatening never to talk to me again ... make of that what you will ...Due to slow train issues, I got to Clarets just too late to see
flickgc or dr_plokta, with the photos from Plokta.com, but the remainder of the usual suspects were in fine form. Ended up dealing with a pint and half of fairly strong cider on a one-meal stomach, which might not have been the wisest course, but I'm still alive.From the "forthcoming release trailers", Shrek 2 looks like a must-see, with Antonio Banderas voicing Puss In Boots ... Rar! And this week I shall be attempting to put together a lyrics quiz which allows people to get over half marks. Is this an example of lowering standards in examinations?
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