Make the yuletide G.A.Y.
Today I have been off work but have spent a large part of it clearing up the debris from yesterday's Xmas party, held chez moi / Gustavo. It must have taken me several hours to restore things to normal, the flat was such a frickin' tip! Still that's the price you pay for having lots of people over to eat, drink and be merry - there's always an aftermath to deal with. On the whole though it was worth it. People started to arrive from 12pm yesterday and by mid-afternoon we had a nice throng assembled. Gustavo had made a delicious Brazilian-style stuffed chicken, and other culinary delights for lunch, which we all eagerly consumed. My friend Gheeta also brought some delicious samosas and fruit cake (yum! She is a fab cook!) And the wine and beer were in abundance. My Xmas CD provided suitable musical accompaniment (although it didn't get played as often as I thought it would; predictably Madonna, Kylie and other similar stuff ended up being the musical favourites and by the end of the party people were happily bopping away to them. WHAT a surprise).
To make the party go with an even bigger swing, we also had a visiting representative from the Body Shop in attendance. She demonstrated a plethora of products and gave willing partcipants free makeovers ... which was a very welcome addition, and certainly appealed to the ladies and gay men amongst the party goers. Unfortunately, due to unforseen circumstances, she had to leave rather abruptly and left behind all of her Body Shop stuff. By this point we'd all had a fair bit to drink, and and some of us (the boys as well as the girls) started to experiment with the blusher sticks and lipstick. And then I decided to get my collection of wigs out, to add to the entertainment and general glamour of the occasion. One of Gu's lady friends also got very, very drunk and began attempting to dry-hump every man in the room (unfortunately they were either married or gay, so she didn't stand much of a chance).
So as you might have gathered, it turned into quite an eventful party. As usual, I will post some photos once they get developed so you can see exactly what went on and the ingenious wig / people combinations.
What else? Well last Friday I went out with some friends to the Pleasance Theatre in North London to see a rather excellent comedy show called Hot Pursuit, starring acting double act Plested and Brown. It was brilliant! The plot centred around police duo, PC Butler and DS Cassidy (that's them above - saucy pair, eh?) who are forced to team up and "investigate" a crime wave which has hit the sleepy rural village of Upper Lower Greater Middle Gobbleston (yes, that's really the name). Their characters are total opposites - PC Butler is the local copper in the village and very naive and green with it (he still lives with his mum, and has to phone home every day to sort out what they are having for tea). DS Cassidy is a city girl and fancies herself as a tough nut (her clipped "Cassidy" when she answers the phone is spot-on and she's a great p*ss take of your typical cop from "The Bill" or some Lynda La Plante-style drama). Both actors sparked off one another really well and had great comic timing (Butler's facial expressions and eyebrow raising were hilarious). The wordplay and one-liners were also very good. In addition, the play boasted an ingenious set. Although this was a low-budget production, it was very cleverly utilised. During intervals between scenes, the set was quickly altered and moved around by the actors, so in one scene it was a housewife's kitchen, the next the interior of a police station, and later on a tree-lined street, with a secret entrance to a house with the name of "Deep Thatch" (!)
All in all, "Hot Pursuit" was great entertainment and I can't recommend Plested and Brown enough! Go see them if you get the chance!
After our theatre visit we were up for more fun and so headed into town to G.A.Y. at the Astoria. I hadn't been there for yonks. My favourite bars dans la West End are Escape and G.A.Y. on Old Compton Street, mainly because they play such a fab selection of pop music, past and present, and they're also fun, unpretentious places (I'm definitely not into clubs populated by vain, narcissistic queens showing off their pecs where hard house music is the norm). Anyway we were in luck as we managed to get a free entry flyer to G.A.Y. and so didn't have to pay a thing to get in. Yaaay!! I rather like the interior of the Astoria, as it still very much has the look and layout of a theatre - the bar room with its ornate ceiling; the main dancefloor area on the ground floor, with stage for whoever is performing that night, and the gallery area above the main dancefloor with seating for those who want to survey all the nefarious goings-on below. The music on Friday is pretty good too - well certainly for someone whose tastes are as retro / cheesey as mine. In the bar area they were playing 1990s stuff (with a helpful sign next to the DJ sign that said "We only play 1990s music i.e. 1990-1999" for those who weren't clever enough to work it out themselves). Down on the ground floor some 70s / 80s classics were being spun such as Boney M ("Rasputin" / "Painter Man"), Three Degrees ("Giving Up, Giving In"), Elton John ("I'm Still Standing"), ABBA ("Supertrooper") etc etc. Excellent! We all had a thoroughly good bop before deciding to call it a night.
Anyway it's beddy byes time now I think ... only a few days left at work (thank the lord) and then it's up to York for Xmas ... can't wait!
To make the party go with an even bigger swing, we also had a visiting representative from the Body Shop in attendance. She demonstrated a plethora of products and gave willing partcipants free makeovers ... which was a very welcome addition, and certainly appealed to the ladies and gay men amongst the party goers. Unfortunately, due to unforseen circumstances, she had to leave rather abruptly and left behind all of her Body Shop stuff. By this point we'd all had a fair bit to drink, and and some of us (the boys as well as the girls) started to experiment with the blusher sticks and lipstick. And then I decided to get my collection of wigs out, to add to the entertainment and general glamour of the occasion. One of Gu's lady friends also got very, very drunk and began attempting to dry-hump every man in the room (unfortunately they were either married or gay, so she didn't stand much of a chance).
So as you might have gathered, it turned into quite an eventful party. As usual, I will post some photos once they get developed so you can see exactly what went on and the ingenious wig / people combinations.
What else? Well last Friday I went out with some friends to the Pleasance Theatre in North London to see a rather excellent comedy show called Hot Pursuit, starring acting double act Plested and Brown. It was brilliant! The plot centred around police duo, PC Butler and DS Cassidy (that's them above - saucy pair, eh?) who are forced to team up and "investigate" a crime wave which has hit the sleepy rural village of Upper Lower Greater Middle Gobbleston (yes, that's really the name). Their characters are total opposites - PC Butler is the local copper in the village and very naive and green with it (he still lives with his mum, and has to phone home every day to sort out what they are having for tea). DS Cassidy is a city girl and fancies herself as a tough nut (her clipped "Cassidy" when she answers the phone is spot-on and she's a great p*ss take of your typical cop from "The Bill" or some Lynda La Plante-style drama). Both actors sparked off one another really well and had great comic timing (Butler's facial expressions and eyebrow raising were hilarious). The wordplay and one-liners were also very good. In addition, the play boasted an ingenious set. Although this was a low-budget production, it was very cleverly utilised. During intervals between scenes, the set was quickly altered and moved around by the actors, so in one scene it was a housewife's kitchen, the next the interior of a police station, and later on a tree-lined street, with a secret entrance to a house with the name of "Deep Thatch" (!)
All in all, "Hot Pursuit" was great entertainment and I can't recommend Plested and Brown enough! Go see them if you get the chance!
After our theatre visit we were up for more fun and so headed into town to G.A.Y. at the Astoria. I hadn't been there for yonks. My favourite bars dans la West End are Escape and G.A.Y. on Old Compton Street, mainly because they play such a fab selection of pop music, past and present, and they're also fun, unpretentious places (I'm definitely not into clubs populated by vain, narcissistic queens showing off their pecs where hard house music is the norm). Anyway we were in luck as we managed to get a free entry flyer to G.A.Y. and so didn't have to pay a thing to get in. Yaaay!! I rather like the interior of the Astoria, as it still very much has the look and layout of a theatre - the bar room with its ornate ceiling; the main dancefloor area on the ground floor, with stage for whoever is performing that night, and the gallery area above the main dancefloor with seating for those who want to survey all the nefarious goings-on below. The music on Friday is pretty good too - well certainly for someone whose tastes are as retro / cheesey as mine. In the bar area they were playing 1990s stuff (with a helpful sign next to the DJ sign that said "We only play 1990s music i.e. 1990-1999" for those who weren't clever enough to work it out themselves). Down on the ground floor some 70s / 80s classics were being spun such as Boney M ("Rasputin" / "Painter Man"), Three Degrees ("Giving Up, Giving In"), Elton John ("I'm Still Standing"), ABBA ("Supertrooper") etc etc. Excellent! We all had a thoroughly good bop before deciding to call it a night.
Anyway it's beddy byes time now I think ... only a few days left at work (thank the lord) and then it's up to York for Xmas ... can't wait!
posted by Old Cheeser @ 11:14 pm
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