Up to the minute...A week ago (today?) Lance and I went to the Hammersmith Apollo to see French & Saunders on tour. Dawn French is the star of Vicar of Dibley and several Alison Moyet videos and is one of Britain's favourite comediennes. Her comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders, is better known in the states as the writer and star (Edina) of Absolutely Fabulous. Seeing them live on stage was a thrill. They are remarkably funny women -- although some of the material, obviously hastily written, was sometimes weak -- and it was a once in a lifetime event for me. I giggled for two hours straight (when not peeking at my Irish neighbour with the sexy deep voice.)

Friday night, Lance, Eddie, Deborah and I saw a "classical music spectacular" at the Royal Albert Hall. An evening of classical music's greatest hits set to laser lights and pyrotechnics. You may sneer, I certainly did at first, annoyed by the blinding laser lights. But eventually I let go of my cultural snobbery and started to have fun. The Royal Philharmonic did a brilliant job of some of the pieces (the O Fortuna was especially well done). There were certain songs, Land of Hope and Glory (better known to us as Pomp and Circumstance, or the Graduation song), Hail Britannia, and Jerusalem where the crowd took out their little flags and sang along. It was moving to see how patriotic the crowd was (I can't recall the last time I saw an arena full of Americans sway and cheer and get teary-eyed to our rather unmelodic national anthem.) The evening ended up with the 1812 overture complete with booming cannons and 19th century soldiers firing shots over the hall.

Saturday night Lance and I (isn't he sick of me yet?) went to G.A.Y. to see Sheena Easton. G.A.Y. is a Saturday night dance club in the cavernous Astoria on Tottenham Court Road and is often host to the most offensive of the bubblegum pop scene (Steps, S Club 7, the Spice Girls,) or 80s icons trying to revise their careers (Boy George, Belinda Carlisle, Ms. Easton). The BBC was filming a documentary about Sheena easton (who was discovered in a BBC documentary and groomed into a recording star). That's the only reason I can find to explain why the place was packed (either that, or Sheena Easton has a rabid following in London). I've never seen it that crowded. She went on stage at 2am and sang six songs from her new disco album, vamped around the stage with her half-naked dancers, and left. Now, I'll confess to having been a huge fan in the 80s, but wasn't much impressed with her first performance in London in over 15 years. She looks fabulous, sounds brilliant, but six songs of disco re-hash does not a comeback make. At the very least she could have thrown Sugar Walls or something into the show. I went home exhausted and nonplussed.

Sunday, went to dinner with Julian and Lara in West Hampstead (very near a charmingly downscale Czech social club where one can eat roasted pork and bread dumplings in the company of scruffy olf Czech men and their czech-fabulous wives.)