Category: Friends and Family Events

Several (Seven) Seasonal Events, December 2024

Family gathering at Buenasado in Bristol, 7 December 2024

Gosh it was a busy December of gatherings again this year. Also busy work-wise. Indeed Janie took the following picture early in the month, which should remind me of December 2024 just as much as the gatherings memoirs.

Looks like I’m concentrating on some serious shit

Family Gathering In Bristol, 7-8 December 2024

Janie and I took an Airbnb quite near to Hil and Chris’s place. We also visited them at home before the big bash at Buenasado, which was even closer to our Airbnb so we walked to the restaurant. The headline picture tells the main tale.

Tired after a hard week, a long drive and a steak supper? Moi??

Tennis Committee & Club Night At Lord’s, 11 December 2024

My first go at a committee meeting for real tennis, followed by Club Night, which Andrew Hinds kindly curated until I was able to escape the pavilion and trek across the way to the court. It was a fun evening. By the end of the evening, I had probably played a bit more than I should, but that’s Club Night for you.

No photos from that evening but my technique probably still looks like my 2016 shod.

Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner At Spaghetti House Goodge Street, During Which I Won The Hodd, 12 December 2024

What a bunch of quizzical clowns: Keith, Graham, Barry, John, Hugh, Mark & Sue

The Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner is traditionally, at this time of year, a gathering of the NewsRevue alumni clan with lots of quizzes. We have played for the Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Trophy for a great many years, but recently we also play for the Mike Hodd Trophy, as NewsRevue founder and mentor Mike Hodd also shed this mortal coil a few years ago.

Barry Grossman is probably our most consistent quiz winner, who once again won the Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Trophy, less confounded by Sue’s quiz than the rest of us.

Look how much it means to him…

I was delighted and astounded in equal measure to win “The Hodd” this year, based on John Random’s eminently suitable (for me) spoof police interrogation quiz questions based on song lyrics. I believe that makes me the third holder of The Mike Hodd Memorial Trophy:

  • 2022: Hugh Ryecroft
  • 2023: John Random
  • 2024: Me.
…and look how much it means to me.

As with the Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Trophy, it is not possible to win twice in a row, as tradition insists that the winner sets the quiz the following year. I need to put my thinking cap on now to design that 2025 quiz.

For the second year in a row, I road-tested the Z/Yen seasonal quiz on the NewsRevue crowd, with predictably hilarious results.

Hugh Ryecroft, who knows a thing or two about quizzes in a professional capacity, was very complimentary about the quiz while being suitably puzzled by it.

If any reader fancies having a go at the 2024 Z/Yen seasonal quiz, then by all means use the pdf linked here (or the image below). If you e-mail your answers to me – e.g. through the Contact Us link, and if you leave your contact details, I’ll mark your homework and send it back to you.

Z/Yen Seasonal Event At Watermen’s Hall, 13 December 2024

I’ve got no photos from the event, so an image of my quiz will have to do. And an image of the song.

I have also written up the event for Now & Z/Yen – click here. As always, it was a good fun afternoon which rendered the rest of the day a write-off.

Angela & John’s Golden Wedding Anniversary, Their Place, 15 December 2024

Fifty years on

We had a most enjoyable afternoon at cousin Angela & John Kessler’s place, to help them celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. I wasn’t at the wedding itself 50 years ago, which was a very grown-up affair at the Dorchester, but I did attend the pre-nuptial aufruf…

End Term At Alleyn’s, A Big Moka & An Aufruf, 8 to 14 December 1974

…which, Angela and John reminded me, was at Stanmore shule and then at John’s mother’s place. I did experience the aftermath of Angela and John’s wedding vicariously, by experiencing a very grumpy mum and hungover dad the morning after the wedding, ahead of my own “Marathon-Man-like-trauma” that day:

After Alleyn’s Advent Term: Comic Capers, Jolly Japes, Marathon Mania, Tempos & Timpos, 15 to 21 December 1974

Anyway, fifty years later, I am apparently grown-up enough to attend an anniversary gathering. I can faithfully report that I did not try to fool anyone with joke shop sweets, nor did I set off any “stinkeroos”, during the 50th anniversary party. Proof positive, if proof were needed, that I have grown up a bit in the last 50 years.

Our table.

Our table comprised an eclectic mix of interesting people, including, to my left, two branches of the Aarons family, cousins of Angela’s from the other side of her family, who used to live in Woodfield Avenue across the road from us. It was lovely to catch up with them. To my right, friends of Angela & John’s whom they had known for many years, all of whom were very friendly and interesting folk.

Youngsters table, with Ed, Vivian, Andrew and the kids

It was a very enjoyable afternoon. Not only was it a lively and friendly gathering, with refreshingly short yet moving speeches, but the catering was seriously good too, thanks to Adam and his catering team (see below).

Adam leading his team by example

In my December 1974 diary, when “reviewing” the grub after the aufruf, I wrote:

Meal was excellent

A heck of a lot has changed in 50 years, but the phrase works just as well for the anniversary meal at John and Angela’s place.

Cousin Bethany & Jesse Pop In From Australia For Dinner At The Marquis Cornwallis, 18 December 2024

Bethany, Jesse & Me in The Marquis Cornwallis

On the other side of the family and from the other side of the world, a message, seemingly from a young woman, through Facebook, about a week ahead of the visit:

Hi! My dad tells me we are related. Dad said you might be able to tell me the family tree connection.

My first thought was that this must be one of those scams, quite possibly written by an old Nigerian man with a fake young female identity. But the face did look a tad familial and a quick check on Facebook traced Bethany to be Frederick Krasey’s daughter and Debbi Krasey’s niece.

As luck would have it, I was free on the one evening that made sense for Bethany and husband Jesse before they whizz off around Europe for many weeks.

They were staying in Bloomsbury, very close to where Fred stayed when I met him on his visit 10+ years ago.

Short notice for the Wednesday before Christmas is not ideal timing ahead of booking a decent place, but The Marquis Cornwallis, which I know of old from hanging around that part of town, is a good cross between gastro pub and good honest pub grub. It was the first place I tried and they took my booking.

It’s always a little strange meeting such relatives for the first time. In cousinhood terms, Bethany is my second cousin once removed, which sounds very far removed, but it puts her into exactly the same category as people like Mark & Hilary Briegal and/or Adam & Michael Green, whom I have known pretty well for sixty years.

Adam, Mark, Hilary (torturing Mark), Michael (laughing) & me (perplexed). 1964

Different generational/age shift on the Krasey side, obvs.

Anyway, it was a super evening with Bethany and Jesse, except for one mysterious absence. You see, Bethany has started a blog for their travels, which I joined once I knew I was to meet them in London:

Saying goodbye to our home of 7 years, as we head off for 4 months of travel!

In that blog piece, Bethany introduces their travelling companion, Yoshi.

Naturally, ahead of booking The Marquis, I asked whether Yoshi would be joining us for dinner and Bethany said:

Jesse wouldn’t go anywhere without Yoshi! And so, Yoshi will indeed be joining us on our night about town. 

So where was Yoshi that evening? Bethany and Jesse were strangely silent on the topic and I was too timid to ask. But on reflection, I think this is a mystery that simply must be solved. Otherwise we might have to get Interpol involved.

But apart from the unexplained absence of Yoshi, we had a very pleasant evening and hopefully will be able to see each other again, when the Roaming Duo return to Blighty in March.

Dedanists’ Society Seasonal Lunch At Lemonia, 19 December 2024

Despite the fact that I was to a large extent “seasonal-evented-out” by the time this event came around…and despite the fact that I am not really the “long-wet-lunch” type, there is something so very heart-warming and enjoyable about the Dedanists’ Society annual lunch, that I cannot now resist putting my name down for it as a seasonal must.

It is a gathering of the real tennis enthusiasts clan – about 35 of us gathered this year in that private room at Lemonia that works so very well for this event.

I noticed Jonathan Ellis-Miller taking a gazillion photographs this year, and I am sure that photograph taking is quite a regular thing. Yet the Dedanists’ Society website is utterly devoid of pictures from Lemonia lunches passim.

I briefed DeepAI as politely as I possibly could and it mustered the following image which, I must say, is not a bad attempt based on a dozen or so words:

DeepAI imagines a gathering of Dedanists in a Greek Restaurant

If Jonathan Ellis-Miller would care to provide a genuine photo, I can add a real photo of real tennis enthusiasts. But in any case I genuinely had a great time and sense that most if not all attendees did similarly.

An Afternoon & Evening At The Queen’s Club Watching The British Open & Dining With The Prossers, 22 November 2024

A very kind invitation from Richard Prosser, my oftentimes doubles partner for The Dedanists…

A Couple Of Special Afternoons & Evenings At The Queen’s Club With The Dedanists’ Society, 8 & 24 May 2024

…to join him for an afternoon watching quality doubles at The British Open, followed by dinner, with Janie and Geraldine joining us for the grub bit.

Richard secured us front row seats in the dedans gallery, where we saw the following quarter-finals:

  • Rob Fahey & Steve Virgona v Louis Gordon & Rob Shenkman;
  • Tim Chisholm & Camden Riviere v Vaughan Hamilton & John Woods-Casey.

On arrival, I ran into a great many real tennis friends – many of whom I know from Lord’s. Indeed, Richard and I estimated that, at the start of that afternoon session, there were more MCC members than Queen’s members watching!

Janie made good time getting to Queen’s for dinner, so was able to join us for the last 20-30 minutes of the second match we saw.

Feeling envious that you didn’t see those matches? Or wondering what they looked like? Or wanting to refresh your memory? Here are the highlights reels for those two matches. I recall a great many highlights in fact, so the reels might not have captured them all:

The food at The Queen’s Club is very, very good these days – it has certainly come on a long way, catering-wise, since the 1990’s:

Lawn Tennis At Queen’s, In Which I Inadvertently Deployed Gamesmanship Masterfully, Yet Still Lost, 24 June 1999

Richard had not yet met Janie before and neither Janie nor I had previously met Geraldine. It was a great pleasure to spend an evening with those two, eating good food and chatting about all sorts.

Janie and I continued to get pleasure from this event for the rest of the weekend. The doubles semi-finals were on the Sunday and once we had decided to have a quick peep at those on the stream, we were hooked. The first of the semi-finals in particular was a humdinger:

Janie and I also felt quite smug about our modern tennis experience that weekend. Although the weather was shocking, we found a gap in the weather each day to have a decent enough game of “lawners” outdoors.

But the prevailing good feeling from the weekend was that most enjoyable late afternoon and evening on the Friday with Richard & Geraldine Prosser.

A Short Autumn Break In A 15th Century Cottage In An Old Market Town Part Two: Saffron Walden, 7 to 10 November 2024

John & Mandy suggested that we visit Saffron Walden for the dual purpose of seeing The Sixteen perform at Saffron Hall and to allow John to cook for us in his newly-extended kitchen…

…a kitchen so comprehensively extended that their home now appears to be a kitchen with some other rooms extended onto the kitchen, rather than a house with a kitchen extension:

Mandy & Me, with John (cooking) just visible in the distance

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

15th Going On 16th Century Cottage

Janie and I decided to make this a “proper short break”, arranging three nights in a properly old cottage, Drake’s Cottage, in the medieval part of town. The headline photo shows a picture of the outside of the cottage, inside the cottage. It dates back to 1461, making it even older than the 1480’s place we stayed in at Stratford a few weeks ago…

A Short Autumn Break In A 15th Century Cottage In An Old Market Town Part One: Stratford-Upon-Avon, 13 to 16 October 2024

…although in truth most of what remains appears to be a major rebuild from the 1530’s, around the time the bigger houses in the Myddlyton part of town were built. In any case, it is seriously wonky compared with proper mock Tudor such as our 1930’s Noddyland abode:

Proper mock Tudor with proper straight lines

We arrived later than intended on the Thursday afternoon. I was keen to get to the cottage before dark, as I am now really averse to driving on country roads when it is dark or even dusky. We didn’t quite make it, although you could argue that it was still dusky…just “well dusky” when we arrived rather than “proper dark”.

As we were self-catering, I was keen to do a bit of rudimentary cooking for a change, so knocked up a prawn and pea pappardelle dish with a large salad.

We took our time before venturing out on the Friday, but did some strolling at our own pace and went to find the market square with a view to returning there the next day to see the market.

Ah, there it is

Selfie showing our smug “we can find a market square” faces

I offered to host John & Mandy for drinks and grub at our humble cottage before and after the concert at Saffron Hall, an offer which was gratefully accepted. A mixture of wild and posh farmed smoked salmon on mini bagels with a Pouilly-Vinzelles pre show.

Sixteen Going On 17th Century: Monteverdi, Vespers of 1610, The Sixteen, Saffron Hall, 8 November 2024

Part of this gargantuan piece, the Ave Maris Stella and the Magnificat, was probably the first Monteverdi music I ever heard, as it came as part of a collection of music records/subscription booklets that Uncle Michael gave me when I was a small child:

https://www.discogs.com/release/9437456-Claudio-Monteverdi-Monteverdi-Part-Two

I still have that record and booklet. You can hear that version of the Magnificat digitised here:

Magnificat

I have a feeling that my dad wasn’t overjoyed by my affinity with early 17th century sacred music, hence him seeking out and getting me into Monteverdi madrigals instead:

You Don’t Have To Be Madrigal To Learn About Music Here, But It Helps: Madrigals Of Love And War From The Radio, 4 June 1974, Plus The Top Five From That Week To Worm Their Ways Back Into Your Ears

But I digress. Let us return to November 2024 and the Saffron hall:

“Ian – what is that enormous instrument called?”

“It’s a theorbo, Mandy”

I proceeded to tell Mandy my favourite theorbo anecdotes:

William Carter, Theorbist Extraordinaire’s Mystery Punter Outed, 24 September 2010

Mandy must have been very keen to hear The Sixteen that evening, because she looked super-excited when the lights went down, I shut up and Harry Christophers strode onto the stage.

It was an excellent performance of Vespers 1610.

You can hear The Sixteen’s recorded performance of Monteverdi’s vespers on this link – do not be discouraged if it looks crossed out, the link works, but you might be interrupted by adverts if you don’t have a YouTube Music account.

Back at our cottage, I had prepared a supper of charcuterie and cheeses, with a rather jolly bottle of Chocolate Block.

Our luxury medieval cottage

A super evening.

Saffron Walden Market, Bridge End Gardens & Dinner At John & Mandy’s Place, 9 November

Mandy & John supplemented advice we had already received about what to do on a Saturday in Saffron Walden, before heading to their place for John’s cheffy dinner.

I’ll tell the story mostly in pictures, as I have written more than enough words already:

The condiment lady sold us two types of balsamic vinegar

St Mary the Virgin, the tallest spire and largest organ in all Essex apparently

Parish buildings

Strolling the old town

Then into the Bridge End Gardens…

We were getting quite cold, so we didn’t attempt the maze in Bridge End Gardens.

Probably just as well – as a few hours later – we even managed to get lost in the relatively simple maze of streets between our cottage and the John & Mandy residence. Eventually John came out to rescue us in the street.

Look closely and you can see all four of us in this picture

John hard at work preparing our amuse-bouche

Food Porn Photo One: the amuse-bouche

Food Porn Photo Two: sea bass starter

Food Porn Photo Three: beef fillet with celeriac & beans

Food Porn Photo Four: tiramisu that tasted far better than it looks

IAN: Cheese? Are you kidding? JOHN: You’ve no stamina these days, Ian

It was a really enjoyable evening. Indeed it was a really enjoyable and much needed short break for me and Janie.

If you want to see all 70+ photos from this trip, click the Flickr link below and scroll away:

A Personal Tribute To A Mentor & Friend: Ian Theodoreson 1957-2024

Me and Ian enthralled by Ashes cricket at Lord’s, 1 July 2023. Sally resting her eyes ever so slightly. Janie took the picture.

With a mixture of sadness and reflection, I learnt that Ian Theodoreson has died, having bravely fought the onset and relentlessness of muscular dystrophy for several years.

Ian has kept a beautifully written and thought-provoking blog, Living In Hope – click here to see the whole blog, since he retired in 2017. His final message, announcing his own departure in his inimitable style and with his undying faith, is embedded below:

Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish

My personal memories of Ian, as a client, mentor and friend, date back to the winter of 1988/89, as described in the following Ogblog piece about my very first consultancy assignment:

Reduced To Tears By My First Consultancy Assignment, 27 January 1989

Just in case you don’t click, it was not Ian who reduced me to tears on that assignment…it was the assignment. And it is hardly a spoiler in these circumstances to let slip that it all came right in the end.

In work terms, I didn’t come across Ian again until the mid 1990s, by which time I had started up The Z/Yen Group and Ian had moved to Barnardo’s. Ian felt motivated to throw Z/Yen’s name into the pot when Barnardo’s was seeking some strategic advice that was up our street and the rest is history, workwise.

As far as I know, Ian never actually commissioned any work from Z/Yen directly. He would throw our name into the pot when “who might we use for this?” discussions were taking place, presumably with a commendation, but certainly not an instruction to select us. This applied at Barnardo’s and latterly The Church of England, where Z/Yen (and I) remain actively engaged to this day.

I didn’t realise in those early days that Ian shared my love for cricket. True, he had given his blessing to the (somewhat crazy) idea that tiny Z/Yen should take on massive Barnardo’s at cricket…

The Very First Z/Yen Charity Cricket Match, Barnardo’s, 22 July 1998

…but Ian neither played in, nor attended those matches. Once we had conjoined The Children’s Society with that cricket tradition, it ran for many years, indeed into the 2010s.

Ian and I first went to the cricket together at Lord’s in 2009, to see a T20 world cup double-header. I have written that day up here.

Indeed, to avoid the risk of boring the casual reader at this juncture, here is a link to Ian’s tag on my blog, which will pick up every article in which he is tagged, the last few of which (apart from this one which will be at the top) will be visits to cricket matches. Interested readers can burrow away through that tag.

When I started to sense some burnout in my work, in early 2014, Ian was the person to whom I turned for a chat and some friendly advice. Ian claimed never to understand why I was so grateful to him for his advice at that time. As far as he was concerned, we’d had a coffee together and a quick chat, during which he had said, possibly as a sort-of throw away remark…

…it seems to me that you do still enjoy the various work activities that you do, it’s just that you are doing too much of it…

…which was a “penny-drop” moment for me and started me on my path to a more balanced portfolio of work, writing, charitable activities and sport.

I shall forever be grateful to Ian for his support and friendship.

I have tried to return that kindness since and, in many ways unfortunately, had some opportunities to do so when Ian became indisposed.

When the pandemic struck, Ian mentioned on his blog that he felt short of stories. His indisposition meant that his world was becoming smaller and now everyone else’s world was temporarily smaller, so he felt bereft of stories.

That gave me an idea. I suggested to Rohan Candappa, who organised our informal writing club, Threadmash and was planning to take the idea onto Zoom for the pandemic, that we invite Ian to join the club virtually.

Rohan, being Rohan, of course said yes.

This worked brilliantly well for all concerned, as Ian’s first performance piece attests:

The Secret Life Of Ginger Baker by Ian Theodoreson, Originally Performed By The Author At ThreadZoomMash, 29 July 2020

The other thing I was able to do, post pandemic, was arrange a couple of visits to Lord’s for Ian to see some cricket. We had planned to do this in 2020 for Ian’s birthday, as there was to be a test match in June coinciding with that day. But of course that year it was not to be.

Indeed it wasn’t until 2022 that Lord’s opened up again sufficiently for us to put that plan into action and in 2023, for the Ashes, I managed to arrange not only for Ian and Sally but also for Janie to join us.

Three And A Half Days At Lord’s For The Second Ashes Test, 29 June to 2 July 2023

Ian titled his final blog piece So Long & Thanks For All the Fish. This reminds me of a couple of other anecdotes about Ian. To my shame, in the hardcover (& therefore also Kindle) version of my and Michael Mainelli’s hit book, The Price Of Fish, I misspelt Ian’s name. Ian thought this was funny, especially as he had provided for an earlier book, Information Technology For The Not For Profit Sector, a glowing foreword which, for some years, was the only mention people might find about him on the internet.

I therefore nicknamed Ian “Iain Spellright” for whimsical King Cricket pieces, where everyone has a nickname (mine is Ged, Janie’s is Daisy). The following King Cricket piece is actually one of my favourite memories of spending time at Lord’s with Ian. Published in 2020, it actually relates to an exceptionally hot day in 2014 when Ian and I nearly fried, but still had a good time:

Straight Outta the Upper Compton – a match report

So long Ian and thanks for all the happy memories.

Forty Years Of Celebrating Birthdays Together: Dinner With John White At Lita Marylebone, 27 August 2024

John is one day younger than me. We have often celebrated our joint birthdays together over the decades. It seemed fitting, 40 years after we first celebrated together…

“John White The Only One Dancing”, Learning How To Do The Keele SU Disco And Other Late August 1984 Happenings

…to meet around the time of our birthday.

It was my turn to choose and John’s turn to pay. I chose Lita Marylebone, which has received excellent reviews as a relatively recent opening.

Life took me to that Baker Street Quarter of Marylebone a little early on a glorious summer afternoon, so I took a short stroll around friends and family sites…

Annalisa’s place, back in the day

A house in Manchester Street which was, according to Portman Estate records, my Harris family’s place briefly in the late 1920s.

…took some tea outdoors in a cafe and sat reading in Paddington Street Gardens South until dinner time.

Then Lita.

The conceit of the place is sharing plates, which both John and I like. I sense that the maître d’ encouraged us to over-order, by suggesting that we order three plates from the small category, three from the medium and two from the large plates. Perhaps I should have asked him if those numbers were for rotund people like himself, or slim-jims like me and John.

Still, it was great to taste so many utterly delicious plates:

  • Wildfarmed sourdough, cultured butter
  • Kentish radishes, smoked cod’s roe
  • Smoked Basque sardines, ajo blanco, cherries
  • Salad of Romana courgettes, artichoke, ricotta, basil, mint
  • Strozzapreti, Aylesbury duck ragu, Parmesan 36 mth
  • Linguine, St Austell mussels, Cornish cockles, palourde clams, bottarga
  • Slow cooked Cull Yaw, celeriac, preserved winter truffle
  • Cornish monkfish, fennel, heirloom tomatoes, bouillbaisse

Plus some Ratte potatoes, which were surplus to our requirements but very interesting/different from your regular taters.

We chatted about all manner of things and the evening flew by. I took several pictures of John (see also headline picture), but he didn’t take any pictures of me…

…but that was OK, because my earlier appointment had been all about pictures of me – about 300 of them.

John, still crazy after all these years

Me – still hip after all these years

The June 2024 Social Whirl Part Two, Plus Jazz In the Crypt With Emma Rawicz & Dave Preston, Mid June

It’s been a long week

Lots of pleasant events in my diary in one mid-June week:

  • 18 June – MCC real tennis club night;
  • 19 June – lunch with Stuart Harris after session with accountants;
  • 20 June – real tennis follwed by a bit of Middlesex v Surrey at Lord’s followed by Jazz in the Crypt at St John Smith Square…or should I say Sinfonia Smith Square;
  • 22 June – dinner with Simon & Timothy… & Ella.

Club Night

The last tennis club night of the current season – we’ll resume in September – had seven of us engaging in various doubles battles until the last four of us standing were worn out.

Lunch With Stuart Harris

The next day, I met up with my very first former tennis doubles partner – albeit “lawn” rather than “real” – Stuart Harris. (No relation).The tale of our great seminal tennis tournament victory in 1974 can be seen by clicking here or below.

I Didn’t Just Learn Tennis In The School Easter Holidays Of 1974, I Smashed It

Following a most enjoyable Zoom, we decided to meet up properly for lunch. Fitting that Stuart suggested John Lewis’s 5th floor restaurant, as that location was well suited to Cavendish Square accountants and was also faintly reminiscent of Pratts restaurant at the John Lewis store in Streatham, where my dad used to like to take me for tea on rare, cherished occasions during my childhood.

It was great to catch up with Stuart again after all these years. We had lots to talk about and a couple of hours flew by. Stuart’s jokes have not got better over the decades, whereas mine have. That’s one of my jokes, btw. Why isn’t anybody laughing?

LOrd’s For Tennis & T20

Real tennis was fun. Then I had some time to kill, not least because the T20 match was to be a late kick off due to the football Euros match. I got some reading done on the pavilion sun deck while holding some suitable seats for me and Janie. Janie arrived in such good time for the match that we were able to eat first. Good idea, really, as we’d neither of us had lunch.

Yum

Middlesex did its usual “flatter to deceive” bit, looking good for the first 15 overs of the Surrey innings.

Janie and I were not heavily invested in this match, as we had long-since planned to abandon ship in favour of SJSS and a jazz evening there.

Jazz In The crypt with emma raWicz & Dave preston

Emma Rawicz is seen as one of the brightest young jazz talents around. Saxophone too – Janie’s favourite. She, together with her friend Dave Preston, another bright young thing in the jazz world – guitar in his case – were to do a jazz impromptu set of their latest stuff.

No second innings at Lord’s for us – off to collect Dumbo who drove us across London to St John’s Smith Square.

But wait…

…there are balloons and signs of a party as we arrive. The place is no longer named St John’s Smith Square – it had that very day been rebranded as Sinfonia Smith Square. Get it right.

Thus, instead of the promised St John’s Smith Square crypt jazz concert, we saw a Sinfonia Smith Square crypt jazz concert.

Here’s a link to the Sinfonia Smith Square stub for that concert.

It was very good.

Here is a video of the two of them, plus a pianist on this occasion, playing one of the cool jazz pieces they played for us: Vera:

Emma comes across as a warm-hearted young woman, who spent more time plugging Dave Preston’s latest album, Purple / Black…

…than she spent plugging her own latest material. The album Chroma, seeing as you asked:

We really enjoyed the concert and for sure will now be looking out for Emma and Dave – yes we feel as though we’ve done enough to be on first name terms with them both.

Dinner With Simon, Timothy & Ella at their place

Simon & Timothy have a recent addition to their family: Ella. One of the purposes of our visit was to have dinner and a good chat with Simon & Timothy. But the main purpose, obviously, was to meet Ella and take her the present that we have been accumulating for her since we learnt of her imminent arrival – our spent, balding tennis balls.

“Ella” depicted by a lookalike actress

Naturally we didn’t take photographs of young Ella – Simon and Timothy don’t want her to turn into a vain, lens-loving gal…

…in any case, she’d probably just eat the photos. Apparently Ella will try to eat almost anything. She certainly made a good attempt at one of my elbows while I was eating and made headway with the first of the 15 balls we took for her. That collection of balls is not expected to last long. Janie and I will need to play yet more tennis.

Simon cooked a splendid meal:

  • asparagus soup;
  • roast chicken with roasted vegetables;
  • strawberries and cream.

Very English summer, which, coincidentally, is the way the weather seemed to be turning that weekend. At last.

It was a very enjoyable evening which flashed by all too quickly.

A Social Whirl At The Start Of “The” Season: Three Dinners In Six Days – 1, 5 & 6 June 2024

The third event: Streatham BBYO alums gathering at Bill’s Covent Garden

Dinner At Claudia & Richard’s Place, 1 June 2024

Claudia & her pot

The weather didn’t smile on us for drinks & nibbles outdoors – Janie and I had a quick guided tour of Claudia’s lovely garden before dashing back inside to warm up – but the warmth of the hospitality made up for the chilly evening.

Jonathan does the wine waiter bit

Claudia likes to show off her culinary skills and thus chose to serve a coulibiac as the centrepiece of her superb meal.

With thanks to Anthea for taking this picture of the coulibiac on my phone – not all blogs have their food porn pictures snapped by world class fashion photographers, you know.

Anthea tries unsuccessfully to encourage these two “kids” away from their phones and towards their dinner.

Honestly, kids these days with their phones…

Janie’s attempt at food porn photography

My attempt at food porn photography

Janie’s pud

It wasn’t all about food. It was great to catch up with old friends again (Anthea, Claudia and Richard), plus meet some new (to us) folks in Jonathan and Joanne. Jonathan’s greyhound provided some additional entertainment, not least when it went missing in the house for a while and search parties scattered to find it.

A super evening – thanks Claudia.

Dinner At Maurizio Barca With Simon Jacobs & Graham Greenglass, 5 June 2024

A few weeks before this dinner, I saw Graham Greenglass in person for the first time in decades at the sad occasion of Fran Erdunast’s funeral evening prayers. Graham and I had re-engaged by e-mail and I had even put Graham back together again with Fran, who was a cousin of his, back in 2021. We had every intention of meeting up back then, but I let that ball drop at that time. My bad.

Coincidentally, Graham’s name had come up again a few weeks before the sad Fran news, when I attended and spoke at the Gresham Society annual dinner:

Singing…Or In This Case Speaking… For My Supper, Gresham Society AGM & Dinner, Guildhall, 11 March 2024

As a small token of thanks for my speech, Professor Tim Connell presented me with the canonical book about The Guildhall – Guildhall: City of London: History Guide Companion: A History and a Guide:

I had meant to get in touch with Graham about that happy coincidence, but in the end it was Fran’s sad demise that triggered the reunion.

While pondering how best to set up a proper meeting, I recalled that Graham and Simon were also good friends back in the day…

Graham and Simon in 1979

…so I e-mailed the two of them to suggest that we three meet again. The idea found favour.

Simon somehow found time to fit us in, despite his sixth album having just been released ‘n’ all:

Graham’s book you may only sample for free, whereas Simon’s album can be heard in full

Compared with the others, I felt a little bereft of relatively recent published materials…apart from the 3000 or so pieces here on Ogblog.

The Scarsdale Tavern was my initial choice of venue, but that place is especially picky about arrival times, which they felt sure we would understand. We did understand that their proposed timings suited the Scarsdale rather than us, so we chose instead to eat when we wanted to at Maurizio Barca, which was a quiet, friendly, local Italian place on the North End Road. Little did I know that Graham’s mum’s family hailed from that part of London, so it was a bit of a spiritual reunion with his family’s ancestors, as well as a reunion with a couple of relics from Graham’s own past.

We had a very enjoyable evening, despite signally failing to put all of the world’s problems to rights by talking them through. Perhaps it will need another get together or two to complete the solving of those.

Streatham BBYO “Annual” Gathering, Bill’s Restaurant, 6 June 2024

David, Linda, Sandra, Wendy, Liza, Andrea (and me behind the lens).

In a break with tradition, we gathered the week after half term holiday this time, but then Sandra is now the last of our clan still working in the education sector and was able to make this date.

Unfortunately Mark was unable to make it in the end for health reasons, but still seven of us gathered, which isn’t bad at all.

Andrea and Wendy were fashionably late, as always. Except that both announced well in advance that they would be late and ended up arriving earlier than we anticipated given that they had said that they’d be late. Does that mean that they were early?

No matter, we all had a good chat over palatable food and a few drinks.

The stuff I have been writing up from my 1974 diaries proved strangely pertinent to much of the chat.

Sandra seems to have forgiven me for needing to be reminded that she suffered along with me and others at the hands of Miss Aaron at Brixton cheder…

“Freed At Last, Freed At Last…”: Brixton Cheder In Early 1974

…I even seem to be forgiven for bringing back Sandra’s nightmares about those unpleasant experiences.

Andrea and Wendy keenly anticipate me reintroducing them to Stuart (no relation) Harris, through whom all three of us met before the BBYO days and with whom I have recently re-engaged after finding my earliest tennis memories in that 1974 diary.

I Didn’t Just Learn Tennis In The School Easter Holidays Of 1974, I Smashed It

I didn’t realise that David Heller and Liza Abrahams also know/knew Stuart and the “Naff Harris” family.

Like the club nights of old, it was all over so very quickly. As always, it was such a pleasure to meet up with the old gang again.

A Short Break In Warwickshire For Tennis & Theatre, 13 to 17 May 2024

It was a monumental break – Welcombe Hills Obelisk/Monument

Long in the planning, this week off was a much-needed short vacation for me and Janie, having had no holiday time for yonks.

Yet we nearly didn’t even get started, as I had some sort of mishap at the start of the weekend before we set off.

Saturday and Sunday 11 & 12 May – Something’s Afoot

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling sore just under the lateral left ankle. Janie said I had been thrashing around, seemingly in pain, during the night. She had assumed cramp. I had no recollection of such thrashing but this felt like more than cramp.

An attempt to run it off playing tennis on Saturday morning (perhaps a foolish move) did not help; indeed I couldn’t even walk by the time we got home. Despite us spending Saturday afternoon and evening doing the RICE routine with the foot, come Sunday morning, I could still take no weight on the foot and was really concerned that our trip might be in jeopardy.

I thought I should inform Alastair Robson, one of The Doctors Of Leamington, who had organised the tennis and luncheon aspects of the trip: Leamington on the way up on the Monday and Moreton Morrell on the way home on the Friday.

Me & Alastair, no doubt talking balls, at Leamington in 2023

I regret to inform you that I have done myself a mysterious mischief around the ankle…Janie heard me scream out in pain during the night Friday (I have no recollection of it) and/but I had some sensitivity below my lateral ankle yesterday.  I thought I could “shake it off”, as the young folk say, but by last night and this morning I was more or less completely non-weight bearing.

We suspect the anterior talofibular ligament, which is utilising its right to remain silent but is looking more than a little guilty this morning.

The upshot as of this morning is that I cannot weight bear on that leg again yet, let alone run.  I am hopeful that my condition will improve quite rapidly but I don’t suppose I’ll be properly balanced/mobile again for a while.

I am happy to present myself at the tennis courts Monday and Friday to do the best I can, but the best I can might not be much good.  Janie and I would love to lunch with you if the friendly games and lunches go ahead, either with me or without me playing the tennis.  

Alastair sent a quintessentially retired-doctor’s (or more accurately, a quintessentially Alastair Robson) reply:

Aargh! But never dismiss the power of prayer (the Dr using irony as treatment – lost on some of the patients)…

There will be a pro knocking around in both clubs on the days in question, so we could always rope him in as a fourth, if need be…

Anterior talo-fib ligament?- a  very flash diagnosis: going for Honours, I presume.

A small sacrifice – a goat, say – to Jupiter might speed healing rate.

‘Better soon’ – as I also used to say a lot –

We did consider prayer and/or goat sacrifice – after all, the doctor had recommended it and you should always listen to the doctor, but decided to persevere with the RICE method. Within a few hours, I detected improvement and wrote again to Alastair:

When you have a podiatrist in the house, the phrase “sprained ankle” is simply not specific enough.  I’m certainly not aiming for yet more flashy honours at my age and stage!

Janie and I are neither praying to God, nor gods, nor sacrificing any beasts in hope rather than expectation.  But elevation yesterday evening, immobilisation overnight, ice this morning and the more meaningful sacrifice of the hour of lawn that Janie and I should be playing this morning, is, so far, paying significant dividends.  I’m still hobbling but can weight bear again now and the intense pain has subsided. 

Your Plan B regarding the pros availability as substitutes sounds ideal in the circumstances.   Given the trio of talent that would remain on show if I were to need to stop, the pros will no doubt be resorting to prayer and caprine/ovine sacrifice for the next 24 hours/few days respectively. 

See you tomorrow as planned.

Monday 13 May – Leamington For Tennis, Then On To Stratford-Upon Avon

By the Monday morning my left foot felt much better and I was happy to drive (which mostly works the right) and give the real tennis a try.

John Yarnall & I partnered well, I felt

Remarkably, I was barely hampered at all and I thought played pretty well, John Yarnall & I partnering well against Alastair and Norman Hyde. The latter two, me and Janie went to lunch at Cote, then Janie and I set off for Stratford.

We got to our Airbnb cottage around 17:00, which gave us time to dump our things and go off to the local Waitrose to get some provisions, before getting ready to go out to the theatre.

Our lovely cottage was located to the south-west of the centre, being about 10 minutes walk from the central shops, restaurants and theatres.

It was a bit wet in the evening, but still we strolled to The Other Place for our show, English, which I have written up separately – click here or below.

English by Sanaz Toossi, The Other Place, 13 May 2024

We enjoyed a light supper of bread and smoked salmon/trout with some wine. That stop at Waitrose paying dividends for the post show snack.

Tuesday 14 May – Rest, Talk & Dinner At Lambs

It was a wet day, Tuesday, but to be honest we were delighted to have a lie in and read in our cottage for much of the day. We had arranged to see a talk about the play English late afternoon/early evening. I did some research on places to eat and concluded that we should eat at Lambs. Lambs had been one of my haunts “back in the day”, had gone downhill at some point in the 1990s and/but had clearly gone back up again, based on more recent reviews and the look of it on-line.

The weather relented into a very pleasant late afternoon.

On our way to the talk, we stopped at Marcos, which I had assessed as “the deli most likely” for our trip. I was a bit short of the sort of coffee I like so we bought a pack of cafetière coffee. We showed interest in the food too, but I suspect Tony was not expecting to see us again when we departed on Tuesday, as he greeted us so warmly the next morning when we returned for bread and lasagne.

The talk about English was very interesting – described in the above piece about our visit to the show…or click here for that link.

After the talk, but before our dinner at Lambs, we had a drink in the garden of The Arden. This was a nice treat for us, as we stayed at The Arden last time we stayed in Stratford, in 2019, but the weather had not smiled enough for us to take a drink in the garden that time.

We enjoyed ourselves at Lambs so much Janie forgot to take “food porn” photos of our dinner. Take our word for it, it looked as good as it tasted. We ate:

  • Crispy Sweet Chilli Duck Salad with watercress, beansprouts and cucumber
  • Pan-fried Calves Liver with creamed potato, wilted spinach, pancetta and crispy shallots
  • Pork Chop with grilled hispi cabbage, creamed potato, crispy shallots, cider and bacon sauce
  • Bennett’s Farm Ice-cream

Yum.

Wednesday 15 May – Tennis, Town & Terrace

The weather was lovely on this day. We resolved to get some bread and some portions of lasagne from Marcos, which would enable us, together with the provisions we had already procured, to self-cater that day.

Problem was, we resolved to get to Marcos reasonably early to secure bread, but hadn’t taken into account the fact that the pasta dishes are not ready that early.

Had we phoned in advance…

Still, no hardship having a couple of hours to kill in Stratford. We decided to wander around town and also wander across the bridge to the Sports Club, to investigate tennis possibilities in person.

We bought some doggie gifts in the dog shop for Kim’s pooch. Then some sandals for me and shoes for Janie in the shoe shop. Then we strolled by the river and across the bridge to the sports centre.

The Sports Club people were friendly enough – they let us look at the tennis courts and informed me that I could register as a guest and pay to play if we wanted to. The courts are mostly carpet, with three being “euro clay” -i.e. synthetic clay (sand-like stuff) on a matting base. We thought we’d like to try the latter.

We strolled home via Marcos, where our lasagne and bread was waiting for us. Then we booked our tennis and readied ourselves for battle.

It took us both a while to get used to the clay-like bounce and/but we had a very good game on that surface, so we resolved to return the next morning, weather permitting.

After a light, late lunch of bread and prawn cocktail, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on the lovely, sunny terrace of our cottage. Then a restful evening in, enjoying our lasagne with salad and wine.

Thursday 16 May – Tennis, Coffee Shopping & Theatre

So taken had I been with the coffee I bought from Marcos (PNG Fire Dance from Monsoon Estates Coffee) I did some Googling and discovered that the company was a local importer/blender. I called them on the Thursday morning and they said that we could visit their place. I had booked a 10:00 tennis court so we agreed to visit Monsoon at 11:30.

We had another really good game of tennis. Glad I booked 10:00, as the threatened showers started soon after we finished playing – indeed while we were on our way to Monsoon.

Monsoon Anne

Anne and Chris at Monsoon were super friendly and helpful. We left with 3kg of coffee beans and the wherewithal to order more from them on-line once we need more.

Me, ready to make off with the stash

We stopped at Waitrose on the way back to get some cheeses and grapes for our lunch. We figured that those, plus some smoked mackerel we had procured on our first visit, would get us through this day.

A splendid late lunch of cheeses followed by some rest before the evening show made for a very enjoyable day. Plenty of time to get the salad ready for our post-show nosh too.

We saw The Buddha of Suburbia that night, which I have written up separately – click here or below:

The Buddha Of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, Swan Theatre, 16 May 2024

A light supper on our return was just the ticket, as we didn’t get home until 10:00ish. It rounded off a great day very nicely.

Friday 17 May – Home Via Moreton Morrell & The Antelope Lighthorne

We said goodbye to our lovely little cottage in Stratford, setting off a little too early for our appointment at Moreton. We had ordered some more of Marco’s bread so stopped there on the way out of town, then went and had a quick look at the Welcombe Hills Obelisk/monument.

Been there, seen it, done it.

Then on to Moreton, where I was to partner Alastair this time, against the combined forces of Peter Mason and Bernie Spratt. For some reason Janie only shot video of this epic match. Fortunately for you, only a few seconds of “footage” survived.

The Moreton floor has been completely redone since my last visit. I found it hard to adjust to the new surface at first, but played reasonably well towards the end. The pairings worked well to make a good game.

The Antelope Lighthorne was a very pleasant country pub in which to take lunch and decompress after our efforts. Peter was unable to join us on this occasion but the four who remained, me, Janie, Alastair and Bernie, had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch.

An event-free drive home – how come I can drive 90+ minutes out of London without incident, while the London driving seems to be close to an incident or near miss every 90 seconds? – enabling us to unload and enjoy a relaxing Friday evening at home.

It had truly been a fun-packed and enjoyable break.

But What Of The Third Dumpling?: Consternation In Carnaby, Dining At Donia With John White, 30 April 2024

“Get over it? How could I possibly get over it?”

It’s been a while, what with one thing and another, since John White and I have had a dinner and catch up…just the two of us.

It was time to put that matter right and through the trusty services of this Ogblog, which some consider to be a fifth emergency service, we ascertained that it was John’s turn to choose the restaurant and my turn to burst into tears when the bill is presented.

Looking a little shot to pieces – in truth at the Yoko One last week

John chose Donia – a modern Filipino place in Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street.

Great choice, it was. We both really enjoyed our meal.

Donia is an up-market take on street food, with an ample opportunity to share many dishes.

We tried, from the menu linked here:

  • Chicken Offal Skewers
  • Adobo Mushroom Croquetas
  • Sea Bream Kinilaw
  • Prawn & Pork Dumplings, White Crab
  • Black Tiger Prawns, Fermented Plum Broth
  • Lamb Shoulder Caldereta Pie
  • Jasmine Rice
  • Corn Tart (dessert)

We washed that down with a bottle of Austrian Riesling (absent from the on-line wine menu, I notice).

We nearly chose the oysters, but as we were just one day away from the months with no Rs in them, we thought better of it.

All was going swimmingly well, until the portion of dumplings arrived.

Three dumplings to be precise.

Three absolutely succulent, delicious and tempting-looking dumplings.

The following dialogue ensued:

JOHN: Oh dear! Typical! A portion of three for two people to share.

WAITER: You’ll just have to fight over the third one.

ME: Do you have any boxing gloves?

WAITER: I think so, I’ll check at the back and bring them with the rest of your dishes.

Matters took a darker turn when the portion of three Black Tiger Prawns arrived -[did you see what I did there?]

WAITER: A portion of three prawns.

ME: Have you found the boxing gloves?

WAITER: No, can’t find them.

John and I were then briefly and thankfully distracted by the need to sing “Happy Birthday To You” to the nice Filipino gentleman at the next table to us, having been set up for the performance by the Irish partner of the birthday-nik.

This is exactly the sort of thing for which I have been taking singing lessons with John’s daughter, Lydia, for the last four years:

Hitting The High Notes With Lydia White, 5 May 2020

John & I talked about many things, not least our very different experiences of revising for our finals 40 years ago…or in my case finding extraordinary ways to avoid doing so. John basically put his head down for 12 weeks after being elected as a sabbatical, whereas I…didn’t. I only mentioned two of the three pieces linked below over dinner, as this first of them – relevant to John and other friends for many other reasons, was un-writ until the next day:

Hitsville USA: The Story Of Motown, An Appointment To Listen At Keele January to March 1984
How Not To Revise For Your Finals At Keele, Part One: The Start Of The Easter Holidays, Early April 1984
A Tale Of Procrastination In Two Cities (And A Campus): How Not To Revise For Your Finals At Keele Part Two, Late April 1984

All too soon it was time to pay. It was at this juncture that matters took a potentially violent turn. While reaching into my pocket to get out my gadget…

…the smart phone which doubles as a payment card for goodness sake. What did you think I meant? And stop sniggering at the back…

…I dropped John’s new business card (or should I say card for his new business) on the floor. These days, contact details are mostly exchanged through QR codes and links like this one, but never mind.

John was apoplectic with faux rage and challenged me to a duel in Hanover Square.

I had visions that I needed to say yes in order to prevent the beautifully appointed Dania restaurant ending up looking like the scene below.

I realised afterwards that John’s Hanover Square challenge was merely a device to encourage me to walk in that direction with John, after dinner, where he could pick up the Elizabeth Line and I could pick up the Central Line.

In any case, surely John knew that there is a clear sign on the boundary of Hanover Square that reads, “no duelling, unless it is the first day of the month, with an R in it”.

Health and safety gone mad, but don’t get us old gits started.

John sometimes struggles with multi-clause rules, so I am reliably informed that he turned up at Hanover Square the next morning, 1st May, with his second, expecting me to do likewise and duel with him.

Naturally, I’ll now live in dread of 1st September for the next four months. Still, hopefully we’ll get together before that. If our next get together includes Mandy and Janie, I expect that the duelling challenge will be long forgotten by 1st September.

Last year all four of us at peace in Pahli Hill

Joking apart, it was a really enjoyable (and peaceful) evening, as always, with John.

Teresa Bestard Perello Visits Noddyland, 13 April 2024

We hadn’t seen Teresa quite literally for decades. Teresa used to work with me. I don’t write up much work-related stuff on Ogblog, but the following is probably my favourite story on the blog that relates to Teresa…not least because it also has cricket in it:

An Evening With Teresa Bestard, Bob Willis & Others, Albertine Wine Bar, 19 August 1997

But somewhat out of the blue, a few weeks ago, Teresa got in touch to say that she would be making a rare visit to London and the timings worked for her to visit Noddyland for tea.

How very civilised.

Janie went to work immediately on the matter of home baked cakes…

…she called Cafe 11 up the road and ordered a huge chunk of lemon cake and a huge chunk of pistachio cake.

Top method for ensuring that you offer the highest quality of baked cakes.

It was really lovely to see Teresa again, after all these years. There was a fair bit of catching up to do on where life had taken us all, but we were soon able to move on to trying to put the world to rights:

One afternoon wasn’t quite enough to solve all of the world’s problems

The afternoon whizzed by, then Teresa went off to have an early evening meet up with her son John. As Teresa said in her note this morning, which Janie and I echo:

Let’s meet up again, before the next 25 years!!!