giggirl

Calm down spadetownboy, there's no need. One lunchtime a year ago I found a handbag near the Post Office in Charing Cross. It still had money/cards etc - I think it had been dropped rather than nicked. I took it to Charing Cross Police Station, where the waiting room was standing room only. One poor woman saw my jaw hit the ground and told me she'd been there for 2 hours. I just left the bag on the counter and got out quick. I was waiting for a tap on the shoulder all the way down the road but it didn't happen. I work for a company that believes in the whole "greed is good and lunch is for losers" ethos, so 2 hours out of my working day just ain't gonna happen. I'm on elastic every time I leave my desk.

Yes you are being reasonable and you have my sincere sympathies. Excess noise can drive you nuts. We all have to live together and sometimes that is really hard to do when properties are poorly soundproofed. My advice is to drop a note through your neighbour's door saying that there is a problem and you would like to discuss it and would like to fix a time to talk. I don't think you're being unreasonable - but your neighbours aren't being unreasonable either - it's just that most conversions were done on the cheap and corners were cut on soundproofing. I lived in a house for many years but before then I lived in a flat on Melbourne Grove - the slightest noise travelled between the flats. Good luck.

We live on a tiny tiny island with a lot of cars. I think parking fines do need to be punative (nothing personal Lilly). There is a big ouch factor to paying ?120. Maybe drivers need to ask themselves if they really need to take the car; walk instead maybe?

Just returned from dinner at Green & Blue; badly missed over the last few months. A lovely evening but tarnished by the obnoxious LOUD LOUD LOUD people at one table. Consistently loud all evening, with the loudness punctuated by intermittent ear-splitting banshee-like wailing that passed for laughing. There?s just no need ? they would have heard each other sufficiently at just one quarter of the volume. Do people like this never notice that the people around them are rolling their eyes and covering their ears? It?s really anti-social. Rant over. I feel better now. Bill me.

Mogwai at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 12th May - has all the makings of a very chilled out evening and a great gig. Not really my thing but they're very popular so I thought I would post it here.

I don't each much bread but the last loaf I bought was late last night (coming home from a gig, ever so slightly the worse for wear) from the really nice Greek (I think) deli opposite Foxtons. It was really good. I have also previously bought from outside Moxtons and from EDDeli - but the Greek deli was the best.

Dawes Doors has been recommended by a few people

napalm in the morning

It's so depressing that there are 4 separate threads on the front page about muggings. I've lived in ED for 21 years and the only crime I've ever experienced (touching wood desperately) happened to me 4 days after I moved here. Really sorry about your friend's ordeal - not a very good welcome to the area. I live on Silvester Road - next to Whateley - I use the bus stop outside the police station every evening so I'm always walking up Whateley late at night. I won't use the no 12 bus after dark because it's full of dodgy fare evaders and I had my phone snatched on it a few years ago. Is this a mugging crime wave or have I just been lucky for the last 21 years?

pablogrande Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We could organise the worlds biggest conga, I'm > sure Ken wouldn't object to closing down central > London for the day What about if we just used the bus lanes?

All you Korn fans out there might be interested to know that Jonathan Davis (lead singer) has some solo gigs planned. He will be playing at Union Chapel Islington on Monday 16th June. Not the easiest venue to get to from ED but it's so nice there that it's worth the effort. You can buy direct from the venue and collect the tickets on the night (thus cutting out those ugly booking fees that we all hate). http://www.unionchapel.org.uk/whatson/index.php/20080601.html

Have just been on the NT's website. There have been returns overnight. You can get seats for the matinee on Saturday 22nd.

Duffy rocks. Amazing voice of course. If you close your eyes you really do hear traces of Dusty. She's extremely pretty and very composed. Oozes confidence. I predict she'll go far. She didn't come on until about 9.15 but the Bush Hall had a great DJ - he even played Thelma Houston's Jumping Jack Flash - now there's a classic.

Sorry I'm such a miserable old bag. The problem at the moment is that I've given up coffee for Lent so I have a permanent headache. Usually by the afternoon I can't take it any more and go to Neros. If only I could stick it out and get through the withdrawal period .... but I'm such a pussy. Anyway, I'm currently inhaling a latte so I'm feeling much better now - and I'm starting to look forward to tonight. Bring it on Duffy!

I'm going to see Duffy tonight at Bush Hall. I know nothing about her. I haven't heard the album. Hope she's OK. I'm feeling grumpy today so getting to Shepherds Bush is an effort. The glass is definitely half empty today.

The queue at the NT is always very civilised. You need to phone the box office and ask what time to arrive as it varies from play to play. It's normally never earlier than about 8.00am. Box office opens at 10.00. Sometimes you just need to be there by the time the box office opens. Give them a ring - they will tell you The first people to arrive usuually get row A in the stalls. After that it goes to circle and then after that to standing. Row A stalls is nice (if a bit close). They do get returns all the time though so it's worth keep checking the website.

Everyone's score is higher than mine! I'm the forum dunce. Gonna attack Africa now (not literally) and see if I can do better.

I thought I was sooooo clever. Then I friend sent me this... I scored 30 out of 44. That's the geographical equivalent of being in the corner with a big white hat on.

KalamityKel Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Further to my experience last nite I am even more > (6) at ticketmaster... I did nothing but cover up > for them, having loads of concert goers shouting > at me as if I was a representative of theirs... at > one point I did turn round to a mouthy young chav > with her posh mother and say "oh I totally agree > with you about ticket master. I'm so glad I don't > work for such a misinformed and unorganised > company" seemed to shut alot of them up! > *breathes* > > giggirl... have you heard of the TCB Group? Vaguely heard of TCB Group - do they manage people? Do you work for them? Sorry you had lots of people being snotty with you. TM are rubbish.

If I told you what I did for a living I would need to poke you with a sharp stick to keep you awake. I have no links with any music company/agency/band, but suffice to say my ear is very close to the ground and I know pretty much everything that is happening. I just like to flag up gigs because I am of the firm opinion that people should get out more and have fun. Life is short. Very often by the time people find out about great gigs they are sold out and it is too late to get tickets at face value. That's it.

Don't even get me started on ticketing. OK here I go.....yes they are all badly organised and run by staff who don?t know their arses from their elbows; their fees are a joke and their so called "customer service" (always a premium number) is non existent. God forbid anything should go wrong with your booking (e.g. your tickets get lost in the post) as you will be put on hold for half a day before speaking to a moron who is rude to you and then cuts you off so you have to redial. If this should happen to you, just phone your credit card company and instigate a ?goods not received? clawback. My advice to anyone is to always buy directly from the venue wherever possible. Some venues still have their own box offices (Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Roundhouse). If it?s a theatre booking, ALWAYS buy direct from the box office. Otherwise, try and buy from a smaller agent (Stargreen, Gigantic). Only buy from Ticketmaster or Seetickets if you really really must because they do next to nothing at all to earn their booking fees. A few years ago I had a booking with Seetickets go very badly wrong; their website crashed mid-booking so my booking went through in triplicate and I ended up with 3 times more seats than I wanted. They were top price seats for a really premium gig so the overbooking amounted to about ?800 in value. See?s ?customer services? washed their hands of the problem. Within half an hour of being knocked back by Seetickets I had a letter of complaint hand-delivered to the desk of Andrew Lloyd-Webber who owns Seetickets. Within minutes of that I had a call from his PA (a really nice lady as it happens); I told her that unless I had immediate satisfaction I would take it up personally with Andy the next time he set foot in the Ivy for lunch. Now ALW has lunch at the Ivy about 3 times a week; I eat there about 3 times a year. Do the maths; our chances of ever meeting were not good. Whatever, I had an instant refund and a call from the MD of Seetickets apologising and blah blah blah. So there you go; if you feel ripped off with booking fees, you know who to write to. Booking fees are money for nothing and it?s time the customer fought back. I told you not to get me started. Rant over.

OK this is going to look really fishy now - I've just found a ticketweb link for Carter which is live. What were the chances of that happening? I don't think this is an official presale BTW - but it's live link so go for it. http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&event=256997&interface=amg&REFID=carter The parent company of ticketweb is ticketmaster - but ticketweb's booking fees are much less - go figure?

I'm so busted. I'm on the sales team at ticketweb and we work on a commission basis. Don't forget to mention me when you book so that I get my 5%. Thanks.

Oh Snorky - what a cynical post - I'm depressed now.

Apparently livenation only has circle seats - the circle seats at Brixton are terrible. If you want stalls tickets for Carter then my advice is to buy tomorrow morning from www.ticketweb.com. Ticketweb has the lowest booking fees and tend to send the tickets out quickly.