Cinema V Theatre - the cost war!

Back in the day, you used to be able to say, well, I’ll just pop down to the pictures and grab a popcorn and coke and be back home with the change from a fiver, whereas sit in uncomfortable seats watching some dreary checkov and you wouldn’t get much back from a fifty. Well, folks, times they are a-changing. Nowadays, go to the cinema of an evening and try to get a ticket with some popcorn and a drink, and you pretty much have to march in waving a twenty, whereas head to the national theatre and watch a show in the Travelex season, and you’re ten quid all in.

Not only is theatre competitive for price, but it has the potential to be so much more alive than the cinema. Something about watching live theatre makes the audience need to sit and listen, whilst try to get those crisp-munching kids behind you to pipe down during a coen-brothers flick and you’re lucky to escape with an ear-bashing. And the attentiveness, coupled with watching live performers telling you a story as you sit there, means now that the cost is down, the theatre wins hands down in every category.

Skate London

Santa’s in town. And what does Santa like to do on a day off? Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? He likes to don a pair of skates, find a frozen lake, and go rounud and rounud in circles trying not to bump into children.

At least, I assume that’s what he does, for why else would our national monuments (Somerset House, the Tower of London, Natural History Museum, Hampton Court Palace) be turned into ice rinks every Christmas?

I usually get dragged along, and this year was no different, so again I found myself shakily mimicking a young deer at somerset house, whilst thirteen year old boys shot past doing somersaults and wowing the crowds. Why is it that once a year being able to ice-skate becomes cool? What do the ice-skaters do for the other 11 months? Practice? Dream about last year and plan their exploits for the coming season? And anyway, when you’re shoved in like sardines and have middle-aged women on their backs there ain’t much room for show-boating.

I have to admit, though, that there is a certain sense of wonder and seasonal joy about the skating in London. Somerset house is a beautiful surrounding to partake, and the aching shins and bruises seem somehow earnt. Although I must say, that for this year at least, it’s over. And I’m glad.

Mulled Wine versus Spiced Cider

Ah yes, the time of year has come again for people to start drinking alcohol hot. An odd custom, but one of which I personally am an enormous fan.

What better to come home to on a cold winter’s night than a warm glass of mulled wine, or to turn up at the pub to be served a steaming mug of spiced cider. And here, lies the dilemma: which is the better warm booze treat. The red wine, sweet, unctious and fruity, or the sharp cider, clove-infused with a cinnamon stick to stir?

Personally, I’m a mulled wine fan – there’s something so traditional and wonderfully retro about it that I take enormous pleasure in. However, I must say that there definitely comes a point when a warm cider has to win. Especially when you’ve drunk too much wine the night before. And maybe, finally, this is why cider will take over. Because ultimately, wine is better drunk from the bottle, unadulterated, whilst cider is usually undrinkable without something to spice it up!

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

The other night I decided to do something different, so me and my girlfriend went to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Standing at the top of Kensington High Street (my suggestion) and staring hopefully into the dark sprawling mass that is Hyde Park, we quickly realised that either a) we’d got the dates wrong or b) I’d brought us to the wrong tube stop. We quickly settled on b).

Half an hour later, stuck in traffic on a bus to Hyde Park Corner, the other half getting crosser by the minute, I was beginning to regret my high and lofty ideas of ringing the changes. We should have stayed in, I thought.

However, as the bus pulled around the next corner, a wondrous land of bright wintry lights twinkling in trees and the merry sound of laughter ringing out from laughing families made all the travelling seem worth it. We’d found nirvana. Well, we’d reached Hyde Park Corner at least.

This place is a great alternative idea for an evening out this festive season. Serving delicious cups of mulled wine (£4 a pop) Bratwurst and sauerkraut and candyfloss and organic steak burgers and Germanic and Austrian craftwork and sweets . . . I could go on. Amongst all this, of course, is the fair: A huge big wheel (although at £7 quid each a little steep) haunted house, rollercoaster, whirling rides, carousel and an ice rink – I mean, what more could you want from a winter night out?

One word of advice – make sure you get off at the wrong tube stop and trek across London for an hour – it makes it SO much more exciting!

Credit crunch - on a carrot stick - eating through the misery!

So it’s official, we can no longer afford the life of luxury we’ve been used to. Those extravagant Christmas feasts with capons coming out of your ears are long gone, so what do we do now? Sure, we can still eat Turkey rather than nut roast on Christmas day, but how do we survive the economic downturn and still feed the family after this?

Here are some ideas:

Don’t eat too much meat. Simple, I know, but meat and fish are expensive treats and in a climate like this, rather than munch on economy chicken pumped full of water and chemicals, why not substitute mushrooms, or tofu or quorn. Much cheaper, much healthier and not full of junk. Instead of beef mince, try using lentils and borlotti beans, and if you can’t live without hummus (like me) dip carrot sticks rather than bread sticks. And for heaven’s sake buy your fruit and veg from a market (hildreth in Balham has daily fruit and veg stands) – you save money and don’t get produce stuffed full of chemicals.

What's my name?

Not John Lewis. Not in any way is this John Lewis. I mean, it’s called Peter Jones. Different first name, different surname. So . . . but hang on a minute. Why does it sell exactly the same things as John Lewis, and why are the logos the same . . wait a sec . . . it IS John Lewis.

Actually, I think that Peter Jones is the original, but can anybody tell me why one store has two names? Would Mcdonalds suddenly open up stores called McHoolihans? I mean, I understand refranchising – Jif becomes Cif (actually what was that about?), but why have two names for one store. I just don’t get it. And never will.

go to http://www.qype.co.uk/place/33688-Peter-Jones-London?lang=en to see my review of the big Pete J!

Jingle Bells, Woollies Sells!

So, who’d have thought it. That beacon of cheap quality, the haven where you can buy a kettle a year safe in the knowledge that next January you’ll need a new one and it’ll only cost a fiver, that bastion of pick’n’mix and childrem’s toys has gone under.

Of course, I’m talking about Woolworths. How upsetting that even the good value stores are having to shut down as consumer confidence and lack of money destroys our economy once again. Will we never learn?

Of course, what it does mean, is that there’s an excellent sale on at the moment, and well worth the trip. However, when I sashayed down on Saturday morning to buy some ringbinders (furiously out there purchases, I know!), the queue to pay stretched around most of the store. I don’t know how long you would wait for 50 pence of a couple of ringbinders, but I decided to cough up and go to smiths. Oh, the high life . . .

Movember - are beards back in?

Now all around me for the past month I’ve seen friends and acquaintances strolling around as if everything’s normal, seemingly unaware that they have what can only be described as a faint suggestion of a slug on their upper lip.

Yes, moveber has come and gone, and with it many differing styles of facial experimentation. And it does beg the question: are beards and moustaches coming back into fashion. After scoffing for a few days, I began to envy these facial adornments, sorry that I myself had not one. And I have to say, when the time came to shave, they all looked like naked, un-manly specimens.

I think beards are cool, I don’t care who knows it, and I think 2009 should be the year of the beard, with everyone growing their hair to warm them up and thus save on heating bills. Maybe next November we can all shave for a month. Nudember? It’s got interesting possibilities . . .