Bill Bailey Christmas Larks @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

Toni and I were out on the town tonight as we headed to Shepherd's Bush to see Bill Bailey for his Christmas Larks show. It was nice to have a 'date night' and we'll be doing more stuff like this next year.

We were up in the gods but we managed to get the front row so the view was brilliant.

The show was brilliant and I would definitely recommend you check him out doing Larks In Transit next year. We had the backbone of that show with a few Christmas treats thrown in for good measure. Death metal God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was a particular highlight with the whole audience death grunting Satan's power, priceless!

It was the usual mix of spoken and musical pieces nicely knitted together around a theme. The night ended with a guilty pleasure of mine. We were treated to a medley of Christmas carols played on tuned cowbells. Marvellous stuff.

It was a fantastic night out, great to get out together and spend some quality time just on us.

A long slow working day and Star Wars Battlefront II

Today was a long slow working day. Usually we have the hope of getting out early on the last day before Christmas but this year we had some management in who make Scrooge look like the most generous and caring person in the world.

Someone asked him what time he was thinking of leaving today and he replied, "Oh around 6:30 to 7". Not the answer you want to hear I can assure you! Although there was work to be done still there was not really any activity from our clients to warrant us having to stick it out to the bitter end. Sam got to leave at 12:30 today and I had the pleasure of leaving at 16:30 *grumble grumble*.

Still, it was the last day of work until the New Year and now it is done and I can actually have a good long, much needed, break!

I spent much of the evening playing Star Wars Battlefront II. I finally got past a stage that had been proving hard to advance from and then I was pushing through it at a rate of knots after that. It's so nice to have a solo campaign in the game.

A Yule celebration at Giselle's

After work today Toni, Zoe and I went to see Giselle to drop over some Yule gifts and to have a catch up as we'd not seen her for ages.  We kicked things off with some Oracle Card work. I pulled out the Egyptian goddess Nut.

My reading was that I need to take more time out to spend with the Mysteries of life. This is a good thing, I know what this means and am all geared up for doing this!

We also did a ritual burning where we committed 13 wishes/things we want by burning each one individually. It was a very positive experience and left me quite invigorated.

Hot chocolate, cake and chat rounded out the rest of our evening. It was a great time and we'll be doing it more often in future.

Tired and an early night

My tiredness from yesterday continued into today and it was a struggle to get through the working day. It was a relief when it was time to go home. Food and then an early night was what was needed.

The Last Jedi (number four)

After work it was back to Cineworld in Bexleyheath to see The Last Jedi for a fourth time. The plan had been to take Jade with us but she was unwell so we took Ryan instead. I guess this means we'll have to a fifth trip now so that Jade can see it LOL.

I was really tired for this viewing so struggled to get through it. The charm has not worn off though and it remains, to me at least, a stand out film in the Star Wars saga. I'm still picking up little things that I missed in previous viewings which is great to find. Full review will be coming soon.

To finish things off here we have a very cool acapella medley of notable Star Wars tunes

Bananaman The Musical @ Southwark Playhouse #Bananaman #ManOfPeel

***** Deliciously ridiculous, outstanding nonsense with musical genius! So much fun to be had! 

The Southwark Playhouse is a small venue and they made good use of the limited space they had to provide a varied and interesting number of set changes.

As for the show itself. It was brilliant. The script music and lyrics are all very witty and Leon Parris has written some brilliant songs. The cast were all fantastic and I found myself smiling and laughing throughout the whole production. The band were on good form and Sam and I were delighted to see Ben Carr and Sam Pegg were performing (they had both been working on The Toxic Avenger Musical) so we had a brief catch up with them.

The whole feel of the show captured the Beano comic and animated series feel of the original Bananaman source material perfectly and it certainly hit the spot.

Here's the video that gave me the heads up on this musical masterpiece:


Grab your tickets while you can!!!! We’ll be back!!!

Star Wars Battlefront II, TV catch up and Ultimate Beastmaster

Today was lazy day. Lazy days are good. I got up at 11 and embarked on my first play of Star Wars Battlefront II on the old PS4.  I'm liking the campaign mode, definitely a much needed addition to the game.

I took some time out so that we could catch up with Marvel's Runaways before indulging a the first four episodes of the latest Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season. This could be a taster of what we have in store for us in the post Infinity Was MCU, maybe :).

Toni was out for the evening so I had some more Battlefront II time. Having reached a tough bit I took a break to watch Ultimate Beastmaster with Zoe. It's a crazy guilty pleasure for us to both have but it's so much fun. 

Dolmen Grove Winter Solstice Ritual @ Stonehenge

Today was an amazing day as we set off for Stonehenge to participate in the Dolmen Grove Winter Solstice ritual.

It was a smaller gathering that some recent events but special nonetheless. We had clan representation from all over and the ritual went very well.

At the end of the ritual we were blessed with the most amazing sunset.

It was such a privilege to have shared the day with so many like minded souls. It felt like had just received a spiritual shower and deep cleanse. It was much needed and I was buzzing all the way home and still am now!

A day chez Lowe

I was off for another day today which was a most welcome break. Toni and I got up at a sort of civilised hour and popped into Eltham to pick up her new glasses and we grabbed some breakfast while we were there.

After the noms we went over to Essex to spend the day with Helen and Keith. We had a great time, I sorted out a misbehaving laptop and we had lots of fun and laughter. It's always lovely to catch up with good friends and have a good time.

The Last Jedi a couple more times

Still no spoilers so it is safe to read on... Sam and I trekked out to the Cineworld at The O2 in Greenwich for another showing of The Last Jedi. We went there so that we could try out their DBOX experience for the first time. It was also a 3D version of the film.

The DBOX experience was interesting. The seat moves and vibrates along with the film. It was quite enjoyable although I wouldn't want to do it for every film I saw. Definitely one to add to the list for future Star Wars releases.

By now you are all well aware of my view of 3D films and that has never really changed. Dr. Strange and Dredd being the only notable cases where I thought 3D was well used. See The Last Jedi in 3D hasn't change my view but it did work very well in 3D. There were some very nice touches that worked well in 3D.

Having seen The Last Jedi twice now I have to say I love it even more. We decided not to go quite as mad as we did for The Force Awakens but planned one more today. We got in touch with Aaron and then headed back to Bexleyheath Cineworld for another viewing in 2D.

The Last Jedi is rapidly working it's way up my favourite Star Wars movie list to the point that I am now struggling to put together a top 3 LOL. As I said in my initial reaction blog post, I would highly recommend going to see this film!

The Last Jedi reaction - NO SPOILERS inside

So here we are, It is now Thursday 14th December and I have been to see Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. This piece is a reaction piece only and contains NO SPOILERS.

WOW, what a film. The Last Jedi delivers in spades. There is action, humour, sadness, it's an emotional rollercoaster with twists and turns where you don't expect them. This was much much better than The Force Awakens. As usual John Williams turns in another classic score as a backdrop to the universe we know and love.

Rian Johnson has done a brilliant job with this film and I can now see why Lucasfilm have entrusted him with doing another trilogy of films. JJ Abrams has a very high standard to reach for Episode IX after Johnson's fantastic Episode VIII.

If you are a Star Wars fan you won't regret going to see this. We are already planning return visits.

...and it turns out the porgs were just kind of cute and weren't annoying like I had feared.

Mental day, the final countdown and The Force Awakens

Today was a mental day, not what I needed when I just wanted to sit back and relax in preparation for The Last Jedi. This is it, the very last day before The Last Jedi.

Our final preparation was to watch Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Once that was done it was time to head to Cineworld in Bexleyheath to go and see Star Wars Epsisode VIII: The Last Jedi. My first blog post on the film will be a reaction piece only and will contain NO SPOILERS I promise.

See you on the other side!

Return back home and Return Of The Jedi

Well today we finally managed to have a working transport system so our visit to Stratford-upon-Avon finally came to an end. Due to the large amount of ice on the ground we got a taxi to the station and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee while we waited for the first leg train to depart. We got to Leamington Spa with no issues but then the train to London was delayed by 30 minutes. Could have been worse and we got a seat which was a real result. There were some lovely landscapes en route:

Quick lunch in Pizza Express at Charing Cross and then we were on the train home. We had a lovely time though and the extra couple of days was a real bonus.

Once back I had to do some work but that's life LOL.

The countdown is getting serious now with The Last Jedi almost upon us. Star Wars UK were running a live feed from the European World Premiere of The Last Jedi tonight which was great to watch.

Ewoks ran amok tonight as we watched Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi.

Here's lovely featurette on the worlds of The Last Jedi

Another day in Stratford-upon-Avon

The plan had been to make some attempt to travel back home today. Unfortunately there were still massive problems as a result of the weather.

By the afternoon things were looking a little better but we decided to just stay in Stratford-upon-Avon another night and we'll travel back first thing tomorrow when in theory everything should be much smoother. It was another day in Stratford with mum and another night. It's been really nice spending the extra time together. I also managed to do another full day of work which means I am now owed 5 hours. At least some of that will be given back when we travel tomorrow :).

I am loving The Last Jedi countdown as I am just so excited for this release. I'd be even happier if I was located in the right place though LOL. Tomorrow!

Here's a musical tribute to Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia

Snow, lots of snow, cancelled trains, working and a Star Wars world premiere

Well we when we up this morning it was a bit white as snow had fallen during the night and continued to do so. It looked absolutely beautiful.

My What The Forecast app had this to say LOL

We had been keeping a close eye on the trains for our journey home but as time went on things just started to get worse and worse as the snow continued to fall down. Oh well, there are worse places to get stuck LOL.

Slowly we watched all of our possible trains blink out of existence until it was clear that we were staying here for another night. YAY!

I then emailed my boss to say I would start WFH today so the I could get some credit in place for travelling tomorrow and then I'd finish tomorrow WFH once I finally managed to get back. Ended up doing 5 hours of work so it can be a light day tomorrow!

In the good old USA they had the world premiere of The Last Jedi and now we are only days away!

The world premiere looked like an amazing event!

The spoiler free reactions that have been appearing on social media have been amazing and really really make me want to see The Last Jedi NOW! RIGHT NOW!

Tonight we watched Episode IV: A New Hope to continue the countdown to The Last Jedi