Wonderland, 5th December

When I first got to Wonderland, at a little before midnight I was a little worried. Where were all the people? Why weren’t the ones that were there as dressed up as me?

Forward to two hours’ time and all those cares had been forgotten. Sure, it wasn’t rammed but there were more than enough bodies to give the place some atmosphere and I didn’t feel like the odd one out in my choice of costume. I had such an excellent time. I hadn’t been before but had told anyone that asked that I believed it was a bit like Rumpus but on a smaller scale. I think that was a fair assumption. They had live acts, DJs and some ‘goings on’ and had completely transformed the Prince of Wales into an indoor festival.

We arrived and there was a laid back band playing some gentle ska type music. Later on Great Scott absolutely rocked the mic with their MCing and had the crowd in thrall. There was the great coronation of Queen Alice, much to the chagrin of the Queen of Hearts which involved confetti being sprinkled everywhere and much hoopla, and then another folky upbeat band a bit later. Plenty of entertainment. And that was just the one room – there was also another more focused on just dancing and a few little touches along the way, like a glitter shower (non-functioning when I went to explore it).

So, two rooms means it is a much smaller party than Rumpus. But I kinda liked that about it. I felt like I chatted to more people than I might at Rumpus, and also, didn’t have the fear of missing out on something going on. With all the acts happening in the one room, I knew where to go and at what time. Definitely took the FOMO out of my night.

The crowd was fun and friendly and before I knew it it was 5:45 am and time to start thinking about heading home. Wonderland – I will see you again!

Slamboree competition

You may remember a couple of years ago I went to the excellent London Remixed festival in Shoreditch, showcasing a huge range of alternative music spanning everything from electro-swing to gypsy punk and more.

Well, if you liked the sound of that then you’re probably also going to like the sound of this – Slamboree, with Caravan palace doing a DJ set, being held at the ElectricBrixton on November 15^th from 10 pm until 6 am. It promises “hyper-immersive, circus themed, bass fueled, off-the-scale mayhem” from the likes of Dr Malaka, the Rumpsteppers and DJ Chris Tofu. There’ll be plenty of electro swing, Balkan beats and mashups to get your feet stomping all night long. It really does sound like one hell of a party.

And if you like the sound of that, then you’re going to love this: cos I’m giving away a pair of tickets! All you have to do is follow me on Twitter and tweet (or retweet) the phrase “Wham Bam thank you Slam-boree! I want those tickets @ginglesnuff @slamboreeMusic!” Or, you can Like my facebook page and comment on the competition post with that same phrase. 

I will then pick a winner at random from the entrants (You must be 18 or over to enter). Competition closes at noon on November 13^th and I will notify the winner via Twitter, and you’ll be put on the guest list for Saturday’s all-night extravaganza. (Please be available to go - no prize substitutions available.)

Luna cinema, 18th September

The number of outdoor cinema screenings are legion these days. There’s the grand Somerset House affair (cold and uncomfortable unless you bring blankets or even sleeping bags [yes, some people did this]), there’s the Rooftop Cinema Club with deckchairs and blankets provided. There’s Backyard Cinema, which gives you a choice of deckchair or beanbag, and this summer Everyman even got in on the act with Street Feast, projecting films by Battersea Power Station. You can also watch movies al fresco with Scoop, and the Nomad cinema. And, finally (almost) there’s Luna Cinema. 

They have a few places where they set up shop, places that are a little more unusual. Such as Brockwell Lido, which is where I watched The Goonies the other week. A normal ticket gets you a stake on the poolside, and it’s up to you to bring something comfortable to sit on. But if you stump up for the premium ticket, you get to watch the move ON... THE... WATER! Yes! Very exciting. You get your own little two-person inflatable dinghy to get comfy in. It’s actually a wonderfully cosy way to watch a movie, bobbing about on the water and drifting a little when other people move around in their dinghies and make waves. Don’t worry – you don’t drift very far. Each dinghy is still moored to the side and you aren’t allowed to row out to the very middle of the pool (unfortunately).

More unfortunately for us, we (and by ‘we’, I mean my friend) got there after the movie started so we were left to our own devices to actually get into our vessel. This I did not do with much aplomb and we came perilously close to capsizing. Instead it just meant that a bunch of water got in and soaked my dress completely down one side, which I didn’t realize until the end of the movie. Travelling all the way back to East London with wet clothes wasn’t that fun.

The venue of Brockwell Lido meant that the café was on hand to provide food – the usual stuff: pulled pork and what have you, and there was wine, beer and cider on sale as well, though I’d had quite a big night before so had a mere bottle of water.

It gets chilly on the water so I was pleased I’d packed a blanket; even though it was a very warm night, by 9pm I was huddled into it. 

For novelty value this one was hard to beat, and they clearly have excellent taste in films. Recommended. 

Wishbone, 13th March

I am used to eating alone and have done so on several occasions but I have never eaten quite as alone as I did the other day at Wishbone.

Wanting to avoid the lunchtime crush, I arrived in Brixton a little after half one. Walking past Honest Burgers on my way to Wishbone and seeing the small queue outside, I worried that I had still mistimed it. Worry I need not as when I arrived at Wishbone the place was entirely empty apart from the two members of staff. Not letting this deter me I went in anyway, was greeted by one of the waiters/barmen and took a seat.

I hadn't heard great things about Wishbone I must admit, but as Stephen would be happy to tell you, I don't tend to listen much to other people and wanted to try it out for myself. I kind of regretted not being with at least one other person in order to try out a few more of the dishes so I just tried to order a couple of the more 'specialised' dishes. One of their specials today was basically their version of a KFC Tower burger which sounded great but I knew if I got that I wouldn't want have room to try anything else on the menu.

So instead I ordered the Thai thighs which came with a tamarind dressing, mint, chilli and shallots and I also ordered the Hot Mess as a side. I had initially thought I'd go for the deep-fried mac n cheese, something so sinful-sounding I wouldn't dare order it in the presence of anyone else, but when my server described the hot mess as "like nachos but with hash browns instead" I was sold.

My thighs were 5.50 and my Hot Mess was 4.50. For these prices I thought the portions were excellent and made for sharing. Nevermind, I'd have to do my best on my own.

I was still the only one in the place.

The thighs came chopped and coated in batter with mint leaves adorning them and sliced chillies and shallots all over the place. I took a bit and my first reaction was "this is great, what is wrong with other people?" The tamarind dressing was sweet, the chicken crunchy and although I felt like I was eating nettles having such large leaves of mint all over the place, the taste was good. Moreish even. But after a few of the nuggets I must admit my enthusiasm for them waned. I realised the chillies weren't doing anything at all. To test this theory I had a couple of forkfuls of them and nothing else (left).

They didn't elicit even a sniffle. I also realised that the yummiest bit was the tamarind dressing and that there wasn't anywhere near enough of it. I'd have much preferred it if it had come as a side for a dipping sauce. I tried a little of the hot sauce they provided, to make up for the lack of kick in the chillies, and found this a bit too vinegary and watery for my tastes. Maybe I'm just too used to The Ribman's wonderful Holy Fuck. *nudge, wink*

I dug into the Hot Mess and almost instantly disliked it. The same vinegary hot sauce was all over it. I didn't even like the cheese they used. Do you hear that? I didn't. Like. The Cheese! I think it was a mix of some sort of processed orange stuff and some white stuff I couldn't place. Stephen said it sounded like the kind they'd ruined their chips with at Meatliquor. (The major investment in the "Meat" chains is also behind Wishbone.) And the pickles I thought didn't work with it at all - more vinegary sharpness to compound the horrible sharp hot sauce. I tried to dig out some of the plain hash brown to see if I liked that but it was too smothered with everything else to be discerned. I tried to like it, I really did. And certainly ate more forkfuls of it than I really needed to before realising that I was treating eating it like a bit of a chore, and decided to stop.

Being the only person in the place (still) the two staff asked me a couple of times how it was and I feel very guilty for being deceitful and supplying them with the stock answer of "oh, yes, very nice". One guy even asked me specifically how I liked the Hot Mess and I was forced to evade the question, answering "There's a lot of it" rather than actually answering the question.

Back to the chopped up thighs then, which I did finish though after eating them all, liked even less. At first I was excited that they were made from thighs, dark meat being my favourite part of a chicken. But some of the nuggets were really fatty, a couple of the smaller ones almost all fat, and it made me think wistfully of traditional nuggets made out of white meat (or even pink slime if you believe the facebook rumours. Don't, by the way - they're completely false.).

No tamarind dressing left! Just nuggets of fat.

lf you liked the food it would be good value for money, as the servings are very generous. My main and side could easily have fed two. And it was only 10 pounds. I handed over my note and left. Apart from two people getting take out, not a soul had come in to eat the whole time I was there.

So yeah, not a very successful dining experience. I doubt I'll go back. I had to go and have an ice cream from LabG to make up for it. And that was delicious. Panna Cotta flavour. Mmmm.

Spark London, 16th January

Upstairs at the Ritzy, and I was beginning to get that slightly uneasy feeling I get when I've insisted on taking someone (namely Stephen) to something that I don't know too much about myself, and am starting to worry it's going to turn out to be a bit shit. There weren’t many people there at all and, knowing it was an open mic night, I hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be embarrassing for everyone involved, if no one was willing to tell a story. At about 8 pm, some sweets were distributed among the table, and someone took the microphone. She introduced herself as Mathy, gave a brief overview of what Spark is about, and welcomed to the stage the first speaker.  This guy had apparently ended up drinking in the Ritzy by chance after being banned for the foreseeable future from his regular drinking establishment around the corner. He was quite amusing as he took us through his last 24 hrs, which included being ‘tricked’ into accompanying his friend on a skiing holiday (but the backing out of it he said was another story) and how he may be up for disciplinary action at work because his boss thinks there are dubious reasons for his laptop being corrupted. This guy seemed quite a character and certainly made for an interesting beginning to the evening. I started to relax.

The audience was then given opportunity to get up on stage. No one volunteered and there was that familiar awkward silence hearkening back to everyone’s school years when the teacher asks if anyone wants to give an answer. Mathy reassured us that this always happened at this stage of the night and not to worry. Each of the hostesses told a story and then we had a break to give people time to be inspired and put their names down, and also to contribute to the tip cup, as the event was free, but not without running costs.

After the break two people had signed up to tell a story. The first was a girl whose resolutions this year were to keep up her running, drink more moderately, and to take it easy with the number of boys in her life. You can probably guess the outcome of these resolutions, especially as she was on stage divulging them to complete strangers. Funnily enough, she broke her drinking resolution at Secret Cinema on January 5th which is the same night I was there!

Next up, a German girl who revealed she really needed to be more punctual and stop being so cavalier when it comes to being on time for flights - it was costing her money and she was missing out on holidays. Then the hostess asked again if anyone else wanted to tell a story, and someone's arm went up. This person was relating a story that was told to them, the resolution being to continue to explore any island that crosses his path, just like his uncle did when he was seven and had to be rescued when his ‘ship’ (cardboard box) was lost at sea.

It was now time for another break. Someone had indicated they might be willing to get up and tell a story but they wanted a bit more dutch courage first. I wasn't drinking myself, but by this time I really wanted to get up and tell a story myself! I didn't though (like I said, I was stone cold sober) and I couldn't think of a well rounded story to tell. When we left Stephen said he would describe the night as inconsistent but I think this is no bad thing. As Mathy stressed at the beginning of the night, the people getting up weren't professionals at speaking in public, they just fancied telling stories in front of a willing audience. And if they can do it, then why not you? They've already proved that no one’s going to laugh at you, unless your attention was to raise a smile and you find yourself starting to picture yourself up there.

But as I said, tempted though I was, my participation only stretched to listening and when we entered the third 'half', another two people were willing to take the stage; one girl at 27 determined to turn into a homebody with her boyfriend and to get out and do more, and a guy who basically said never let your girlfriend join you when you're ' finding yourself' - the relationship won't last. And finally, one last girl got up to say she had come to the last event almost by accident and made friends there, so her resolutions was to do more random things. It was blatant Spark promotion but Mathy said she didn't pay her and I begrudgingly believe her.  I think, honestly, the girl was just a sweet person sharing her appreciation. And then, at the end of the night there were prizes for two of the brave souls who got up there, designated at random. With one of the prizes being a pair of tickets for the Ritzy, that's even more motivation to get up there next time.

I really enjoyed this night. At the first break there were about 30 people there but at least ten more came in later and chairs were scarce. Mathy had said at the beginning that it wasn’t a comedy show but of course, being English there wasn't a single story that didn't have a humorous element to it, even when one lady was in fear for her life, having found herself in a rundown taxi with a gun pointing at her from a glove compartment, potentially ready to go off with every bump in the road.

If you’re interested in going (and I think you should be) here’s when it happens: The open mic night, which we went to, happens monthly at the Ritzy, but they also have one at the Canal Cafe which I will also be attending at some point. That one is a bit more structured, with people signing up in advance and getting the opportunity to work with the Spark team to hone their story. Each event has a theme, published beforehand on their website. I will be thinking hard about a story for the next one.