missed

I can't say that 4:48 psychosis at the King's Theatre was anywhere near as good as the Steve Reich evening but it was certainly reasonably interesting and well-performed. All the audience were nice and well-behaved, there were no too-loud bits such as directors are wont to sometimes include and although the performance lasted little more than an hour we didn't feel particularly ripped-off.

The Belcea Quartet doing Bartók's even-numbered string quartets would have been very nice earlier in the day were it not for The Amazing Rustling Arseface in the row behind me who should really have fucked off and jumped off Salisbury Crags if he was so bored that he had to rustle his programme (WHY did he even buy it?), sigh exasperately and scratch his chin loudly instead of just listening and concentrating. Likewise Irritating Little Bastard Who Couldn't Sit Still should have perhaps been removed from the auditorium by his bearded parent and possibly locked in a soundproofed cupboard whence his pettish rustlings and shiftings might not escape. After sitting on it for a couple of days I'm still annoyed enough to be considering emailing the venue to enquire as unsarcastically as possible what their refund procedure is should a performance be disrupted sufficiently to make it unenjoyable. I came extremely close to writing "SHUT UP" on the back of a spare ticket and holding it up in front of Rustling Arseface but was prevented by the conclusion of the first two pieces. BAGH. There's some more stuff I want to go to at the Queen's Hall later in the week but I'm disinclined to risk forking out for it if I'm likely to be unable to pay sufficient attention to it due to the surroundings. Hopefully during the week there would be less fidgetychilds in attendance...

Managed to get this uploaded before the assignment-close and it was marginally more interesting that the back of the seats in the theatre (and the "S" on the floor next to me at the end of the row) so it gets to be entered. Susie's Wholefood Diner is sufficiently interesting of atmosphere to make it strange that someone should choose to sleep on a table inside it though the food is very fillingly cheap and might send people slightly the worse for drink over the edge and into a warm and sleepy mindset. The bloke at the back noticed me and started grinning and it's a shame he was too far back to make it into focus in the low light levels and low apertures thus required.