Signature Dish…

So it turns out I have a signature dish? Who knew!?

Arsenal 4 - 1 Spurs…

The neighbours popped round for tea yesterday afternoon and were sent home with their tails firmly between their legs. There is nothing quite like the silence of the away end to really brighten up a Sunday. 

Spurs’s manager Thomas Frank arrived with a back five which suggests he intended to park a double decker bus on the penalty spot. It did not work.

Leandro Trossard decided to open the scoring because he enjoys that sort of thing but the afternoon truly belonged to Eberechi Eze. 

There is a delicious irony in a man who very nearly joined Tottenham in the summer scoring a hat trick against them. He danced past two defenders for the first and the silence from the away end was deafening.

Frank tried to fix his mistake by bringing on Xavi Simons but Eze scored again thirty five seconds after the restart just to make a point. 

Richarlison scored a lob over Raya which was arguably quite good but nobody in red really minded by then. 

Eze finished his hat trick later on to ensure the humiliation was complete.

We are six points clear of Chelsea. We have not won the league since 2004. I am trying very hard not to get carried away but days like this make it difficult. I am trying not to look at the table but it is becoming very difficult to look anywhere else.

The neighbours remain in our shadow. North London is red.

Onwards and upwards, my friends

@arsenal @spursofficial @leandrotrossard @eberechi_eze @mikelmerino @richarlison

#arsenal #coyg #nld #northlondonisred #premierleague #gunners #eze #hattrick

Wicked For Good @ Odeon cinema…

Yesterday Darce and I went to see Wicked For Good at Odeon cinema in London’s glitzy Islington.

Well, pop pickers we finally made it to the other side of the rainbow. You remember Part 1 from last year, right? The one that left us hanging off a broomstick? Director Jon M Chu has returned to finish the job and honestly it was ok. Just ok. The visuals were great. But it suffers the same issues that the stage musical does.  Indeed, many stage musicals do.  Act Two is rarely as good as Act One. 

Crucially the songs are not the heavy hitters this time around. Although ‘For Good’ is the standout one.

That said, writers Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz clearly woke up and chose violence this time round because the physical damage as well as emotional damage in Oz is real. We have death. 

Our heroine WWW Cynthia Erivo is acting her green socks off and when she belts No Good Deed you can feel it in your molars. 

Ariana Grande is still doing that breathy princess voice but somehow it works even when she is crying in a flying bubble. 

We also have Jeff Goldblum doing his best stuttering fascist routine which is unsettlingly charming. 

Jonathan Bailey is dashing as ever as Fiyero even if he does spend half the movie looking confused. 

The plot is basically Elphaba on the run while the Wizard gaslights the entire population of Oz. It all syncs up with the 1939 film so we finally understand why a bucket of water is such a big deal. 

It is a long sit though but at least the seats in Islington are comfy. 

I left feeling emotionally drained but happy. Happy it was over. But happy I’d seen it too. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

@wickedmovie @cynthiaerivo @arianagrande @jbayleaf @jeffgoldblum @odeoncinemas #wicked #wickedmovie #wickedforgood #cinema #london

End @ Dorfman Theatre…

Last night Stuart and I went to see End at Dorfman Theatre in London’s glitzy South Bank.

You might remember how much I loved Beginning and Middle so it was only right that Stuart and I returned to see the final part of the trilogy by David Eldridge. 

I must declare a conflict of interest right away as I know David but frankly I would say this even if I had never met him. This play is excellent. 

The plot is simple yet devastating as we watch Alfie who has terminal cancer and his wife Julie navigating the impossible reality of their final days together. The whole thing plays out in real time in their kitchen. 

Clive Owen is absolutely magnetic as Alfie clinging to his past glory as a DJ and Saskia Reeves is heartbreakingly good as the steadfast Julie. 

It is a raw and honest look at mortality that somehow manages to be funny too. I left in bits. 

Go and see it at @nationaltheatre before it closes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@cliveowen @saskiareeves #End #DavidEldridge #Theatre #London #SouthBank

Highbury Park Run…

Highbury Park Run with Darce & Jonathan. They both finished way before me! 🏃😰

@darce_styles
@darcestyles96
@jonny_hough
@highburyfieldsparkrun
@highburyparkrun
#highburyfieldsparkrun
#loveparkrun

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold @sohoplace …

Last night Stuart and I went to see The Spy Who Came In From The Cold at @sohoplace in London’s glitzy Soho.

It is 1961 and the Berlin Wall is going up but my main concern was whether Stuart would complain about the legroom or the air conditioning. He did neither because the seats are excellent. 

This is the first time the famous book by John le Carré has been adapted for the stage and the writer is David Eldridge. I must declare a huge conflict of interest here as I know David personally but I would say this is brilliant even if I did not know him from Adam. 

The plot is a proper old school espionage thriller about a burnt out spy called Alec Leamas who is sent on one last mission to fake his defection to East Germany. Rory Keenan is absolutely superb as the sweaty and angry Leamas who drinks enough whisky to kill a horse and smokes enough cigarettes to fog up the whole of London. 

He meets a sweet communist librarian played by the wonderful @aggiocasey and things go terribly wrong because in spy world nobody is ever allowed to be happy. 

George Smiley pops up too played by the excellent John Ramm to pull the strings. It is tense and atmospheric and makes you glad you do not live in the Cold War anymore.  Er…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#TheSpyWhoCameInFromTheCold #LondonTheatre #SohoPlace #DavidEldridge #RoryKeenan #AgnesOCasey

The Running Man at Odeon West End …

Last night went to see The Running Man at the Odeon West End in London’s glitzy Leicester Square, with Darce.

Hunky Glen Powell leads as Ben Richards, an everyman with anger issues, in a dystopian near-future. His child is sick. He’s lost his job. He needs money fast. 

The Running Man is the country’s deadliest TV show — contestants (“Runners”) must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins (“Hunters”) and the public alike. Ben enters the game to win money to help his daughter, but as he survives day by day, he becomes a fan favourite and a real threat to the system.  

This version is much closer to the Stephen King novel than the cheesy 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Here the script leans into the bleak social commentary, the desperate family stakes, and the horrifying spectacle of a manhunt televised for profit.  

The evil Network (Netflix?) baddy is played by Josh Brolin (Dan Killian), slimy MC is Colman Domingo(Bobby Thompson), hard-luck wife Jayme Lawson (Sheila), main Hunter Lee Pace, and jaded cynic William H. Macy. The screenplay is by Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall

Wright is also the director. Which he does with flare.

If you liked Shaun of the Dead, Squid Game, or Channel 4’s Hunted, you’ll probably love this: it’s darkly satirical, tense, and disturbing in just the right way — a reality-TV nightmare, but with Edgar Wright’s eye for pacing and spectacle.

Oh, and the Home Alone meets Straw Dogs scene is to die for. 

#TheRunningMan #EdgarWright #StephenKing #LondonCinema

Papers…

In my younger, speedier days I had a sports car. 

A policeman pulled me over and said,

"Papers". 

I yelled, "Scissors" and drove off.

Gilbert & George: 21st Century Pictures @ Hayward Gallery…

Last Saturday Debbie, Shelley, Stuart and I drifted into the glittering Hayward Gallery where Gilbert and George have filled the place with vast digital visions that glow like stained glass windows echoing sex, debauchery, and social commentary. 

Seventy odd (odd?) pictures stared back at us with bold colour and a fondness for life’s more “spirited” themes. Sex, faith, money, decay, and the usual modern clutter all appear with a wink and a nod. Themes of murder, horror, gays, and gangs abound. 

Is it a grand finale or is it simple a long dazzling parade? But it is certainly not dull. I left blinking as if the art had suddenly turned the lights up just to see my reaction.

Let’s hope there are plenty more 21st Century Pictures to come. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@GilbertAndGeorge #GilbertAndGeorge21stCenturyPictures #HaywardGallery #ModernArt #LondonArt #BoldColor #DigitalArt #ContemporaryArt #ArtShow