Poker fun

Just got back from Farcet where autumn_storm and twentypence were hosting a poker evening, and much fun it was.
I was very much surprised when I came second but my last few hands just didn't match allucius'. We could probably have played for a few hours more but as diasporal_waves had to head home, we played til 9:20 to see who had the most chips at that time.

Good fun and good practice for the Charity tournament at the end of the month. I've got a pretty good idea of when to fold and when to bet/raise now so that should help. It won't be a regular feature but I wouldn't say no to a few more poker evenings with good friends.

Catchup on last night

The premiere of Cirque de Soleil's Alegria at Royal Albert Hall was utterly beautiful last night.
Many many thanks again to dreamsewingmiko for the ticket!

After taking an early train at 4:45, I just got to the RAH on time to pick up my ticket because I was a muppet and turned right instead of left coming out of South Kensington tube and then had to find the box office. Trundled in to find my seat (fourth row ringside, no less) and asked the lass sitting there if she was one of dreamsewingmiko's friends and indeed, it turned out to be ajva so we exchanged a few words about this and that and then lolliepopp turned up who knows faerierhona which again proves that you can't go anywhere without meeting someone who knows faerierhona. ;o)
Then I finally got to meet dreamsewingmiko who showed up just before the show started and joined us watching the performance.

The acrobatics were stunning (have a look at the link above for the lineup), the clowns entertaining (I got to throw a paper plane!) and the music and singing was very moving (I kept humming the theme last night on my home and this morning, too). A very good night out and I would recommend it to anyone. It's on until the 11th of February, so get your tickets!

After the show we met up with envoy (yay, another LJ friend finally met IRL) and jhg by the stage door and headed backstage (or rather downstage into the bowels of RAH) first into dreamsewingmiko's lair and then to the bar where some awful wine was served. *shudder*, one would have thought you'd get something better at such a prestigious venue, at least it was free. ;oÞ
We found out that royal guests (Prince William and his gf) had watched the premiere, too but hadn't come backstage. Booh. ;o)

Later we wandered to the Kensington Roof Gardens for the official secret After Show Party but there was just enough time for me to have a quick look around and say good-bye before I thought I had to leave so I could get back to Kings X in time. Obviously, I was far too early but had I left five minutes later, I would have been stuck in Kensington as there was a "passenger incident" which shut down the Circle Line and I got the last one...

I was still buzzing from the show so I watched the last bit of Jools Hollands' NYE thing and then two episodes of Monk on DVD until I finally went to bed.