Some Meals With Friends Ahead Of Trip To Cuba, 20 January 2007 & 10 February 2007

Quite a few crossings-out in that early part of 2007. For example, we were due to see Kim and Micky in early January, but I think that got cancelled/postponed and became instead the gathering on 10 February.

20 January 2007

A Saturday evening out with Jamil and Souad. We started the evening at their place for drinks. Janie and I are straining to remember where we ate.

We know they like to eat at Noura in Belgravia (and have eaten there with them more than once) but Janie and I both have a feeling we ate in Mayfair that night. Perhaps they just fancied the change or perhaps Belgravia was unavailable when they chose to book.

In any case, we had a very pleasant evening as always with those two.

10 February 2007

We had Kim, Micky, DJ and his then girlfriend Julie over for dinner at Sandall Close that night.

We can’t honestly remember the menu, but with two vegetarians in the group (Kim and Julie) almost certainly one of Janie’s takes on Lebanese food (perhaps inspired by the Noura experience a few week’s before) so that four of us got a good meaty main course while the others had loads of dips, tabbouleh and the like to make up a substantial meal.

If it was anything more complex, there’d usually be some tell-tale notes in Janie’s diary, but there are none…

…except for:

collect shoes Kogee

…I don’t think Janie cooked those.

Fun evening it was, that much we do remember.

Nothing But The Truth by John Kani, Hampstead Theatre, 9 February 2007

We really wanted to like this piece a lot.

John Kani is a bit of a legend of South African theatre, having been so influential in Athol Fugard’s plays and the like.

The subject matter – Truth and Reconciliation and all that – was right up our street. It was great to see John Kani performing in his own play.

In truth, this piece did less for us than we’d hoped.

It was well produced and well acted. Perhaps it had been built up so much as a modern classic that it was bound to disappoint us a bit.

It had some good moments and we were pleased to have seen the piece, but it didn’t really grab us the way we had hoped.

By way of contrast, the play we saw downstairs a few years later, A Human Being Died That Night – click here or below…

A Human Being Died That Night by Nicholas Wright, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 10 May 2013

…really did grab us. Coincidentally, our next visit to the theatre was to see a Nicholas Wright – The Reporter.

Click here for a link to reviews and stuff – mostly very good – on Nothing But The Truth.

Below is a clip from a Cape Town production of the piece, but without John Kani himself performing:

Below is an interview with John Kani:

The David Newton Trio, Wigmore Hall, 2 February 2007

At the end of a stressy week, what could be better than an evening of jazz at Thw Wigmore Hall?

And what a stressy week it had been – with the deal to sell most of the business to Aon/McLagan Partners due to complete that week but actually not completed until the following week.

In truth, I don’t remember all that much about this concert other than the joy of sitting and letting a very accomplished jazz trio weave their magic for me.

I couldn’t find a vid of exactly the three who played our night, but two out of three ain’t bad:

While below is a subsequent extract from Portrait Of A Woman including vocals: