Something For The Weekend

SIMON ON: French dissing...

Aaaaw it’s not all fun and games over Easter. Not to put a dampner on things of course, but our Simon, a British expat working over in France has got a bone to pick with the way the French work…

“Easter’s depressing, because Good Friday (in a mainly Catholic country no less) is not a public holiday. There are no days off "in lieu" elsewhere in the year either - particularly ironic because "in lieu" comes from the bloody French in the first place. Also, fixed date holidays falling on weekends do not get you the following Monday off. You can end up with pretty big bank holiday withdrawal on Good Friday.

We get grumpy at Christmas time too: there's no Boxing Day, and if the 25th is on a Saturday or Sunday then Christmas is just like a regular weekend, except for turkey and treats. Cause for some gloating this year in France though, as the 1st, 8th, and 25th of May are all bank holidays, (labour day, end of WW2, and ascension respectively). Don't get jealous too quickly though - last year the 1st and the 8th fell on the weekend and of course, we got no days off in lieu..."

Makes you kind of glad you work here, really, doesn't it.

Alex On: Eggscellent

Wow! the Head Honcho's (Dan and Becky) have deemed me worthy enough to post my own, erm, post?!!

So, let me introduce myself, I'm Alex, I work at lastminute.com, on both the Restaurant and the Theatre sections on the site.  I have a lovely pair of coconuts (direct from Spamalot) and I'm a closet rock star.  I say closet as i can't play any instrument, apart from the Trombone - hardly rock and roll and i cant sing/dance/sway/tap feet - only a few minor hitches really.

Anyway, lets get down to the weekend, it's a beaut! 4-days of rest I hear you say, but NO! I see it as 4 days of pure indulgence of high octane adventure. So, I guess the best way to do it, is to tell you what I'll be up to.  Tonight I'll be in my local pub, enjoying the first of many glorious pints of pure delight, and I'm sure I'll then head off to some sort of dive that passes itself off as a club.  Fri night I'm hosting a poker night.  It's rather unusual for me to be excited about staying in, but there's something strangely awesome about this event, it's my first time hosting, and it feels almost like some sort of passage into manhood.  Anyway, I digress, Sat night, I'm heading off into Camden,   where I'll be drinking in the worlds biggest pub (probably), The Worlds End.  Then I'll trek below to it's sister club, The Underworld, where there will be some pretty funky gigs, including Robin Black who has been highly recommended to me - check out their outfits!  And then it turns into an awesome Indie night, playing everything from Red Hot Chili's to System of a Down to The Libertines.  Then on Monday, I'm off go-karting. Hows that for High Octane? I may even dress as toad from Mario Kart!

Happy Easter! (and i apologise for the atrocious pun, i promise that the next title will be much better)

KATIE ON: Body Bits

Hello weekend lovers,

My name is Katie - I'm a lastminute.com blog bandit and a lover of all things 'weekend'.  I do my best to explore the quirky side of London, the UK and hey, let's not limit ourselves.. the WORLD.  I'll try and pass a few 'hot happenings' on now and then.

First off, Becky and I braved the giant squid carcass at the National History museum a few weeks ago and barely managed to keep our dinner in. NOW, in a bid to push our 'I'm tougher than you" levels, we'll be heading to The 'Body Exhibition' at Earls Court.  Forget giant calamari rings... this is the REAL deal.  Human bits... and lots of 'em.

A collection of 22 life-sized, whole human bodies are on display in 'Bodies - The Exhibition', accompanied by 260 assorted organs and body parts. They are stripped of their skin and plastinated in various poses.  Work it baby, love the camera...

The point of the exhibition is to teach people about the compexities of the human body. It's one for all ages - and in an age of obesity and other health problems, it may just make you look at your own inner workings in a different way.  'My body is a temple' and all that jazz...

I'm not sure if my stomach can handle the pressure but i'm definitely going to put it to the test. Lovely pictures to come... watch this space. You have been warned.

Ticket prices

Event dates
Opens April 12

Event times
11am - 6pm daily
Late night Thursday until 8pm

Last tickets and entry 1 hour before close

Venue:
The Museum Hall at Earls Court Exhibition Centre

Bloc and Roll

If Easter weekend wasn't expressly designed for getting trashed in dark, dingy clubs until 7AM (that's SEVEN AM), then I'm the Pope. Thankfully, Greg tells us that those nice Soulwax boys (who also double up as the awesome 2ManyDjs) have got a stellar line up at their Radio Soulwax night on Saturday. Bloc Party, Babyshambles and The Rakes will all play DJ sets at Canvas in Kings Cross alongside Zoe Ball (?!) and the accurately titled People Are Germs. There's loads of tickets still available for credit card waxing so go here now children.

As if that's not enough, you can even go to the roller disco there on Friday night and spend your whole Easter wheeling around an old railway goods yard. Remember: we're here to make your life better.

BECKY ON: better late than never...

It seems we were a little busy towards the end of last week and didn't have a chance to post about what the weekend was about to hold, but needless to say, there was very little lounging around doing NOTHING!

Friday was DIRTY CURRY NIGHT,... so I met up with some friends on Brick Lane - the very best place in London to fill your face with the best that India has to offer, and it's hardly wallet bashing stuff. About eight of us bought our own booze and sat around a steaming mass of naan, rice, meat and sloppy sauces in sizzling dishes, talked about nothing (although Ghosts were a main topic of discussion as Sarah had just been on the JACK THE RIPPER TOUR, which she said was really cool). Anyway,.. all in all it was less than a tenner a head, so we could afford to move on to GREEN AND RED, (hit it up) a tequila bar round the corner. Poor Darren was feeling a little worse for wear by that point, but I made friends with a lovely American girl called Christine. Brick Lane is always good for mingling, and this trendy bar is really good for chatting as the music's not too loud and the measures are quite HUGE. Nice one.

Then we went off to the RHYTHM FACTORY, just down the road, which was open til 4am! Most of us were too busy talking and making friends with mad people to go dancing though, and I ended up safe at home in bed by 3am. A relatively early night, really...

Saturday was rather fun... I had a friend in town so we took a walk round Victoria Park, really nice in the sunshine. Aaaah, I really feel like spring is here at the moment!! We had a pint in the ROYAL INN, right near the park, a very nice pub, if a little smoky. I wouldn't recommend a trip there just because.... but if you're passing, grab a pint of Leffe beer,.. mmmmmm, my new FAVE!! Then of course, it was time to head to Brixton to meet some folks from work and a few other friends, all down for dancing at KEIRETSU's gig at THE TELEGRAPH. This pub is mental... I'd never been before and it was a short bus ride up Brixton Hill, a long queue and a SIX QUID charge to get in, but I suppose it was worth it because Tim and Russel's band KEIRETSU were fantastic! They're an "11 piece live breakbeat fushionism band" and they rock!  We had to jump around a lot, and at one point I was so tired that I forget I was drinking bottled beer and picked up some bloke's pint by mistake. Luckily he was more amused than annoyed, but it could have been nasty had we not been in such a nice place. The crowd seemed really cool, actually... check out our Katie below with her Swede, (bless!)

On Sunday a few mates and I headed to Islington for some food and ended up getting a load of Braham beers for £1.50 each in the MEDICINE BAR, and we had these wicked comfy couches all to ourselves. AWESOME. A great place to lounge away a Sunday afternoon!! However, DON'T GO TO LE MERCURY. It's a little restaurant quite nearby on Upper Street that looks deceivingly charming. I mean, they even had a Spongebob Squarepants window box fergodssake!!! But NO. Don't do it. We ordered roast dinner and the meat was so tough I had cramp in my hand for AN HOUR and could barely hold my beer back in the MEDICINE BAR afterwards. It gets good reviews here and I don't understand it. It was cold too, and they didn't even serve potatoes with the roast. WTF??? You can't have a roast with no potatoes. LAME. Avoid like the plague.

So all in all, a good WEEKEND for me, marred only slightly by the Le Mercury experience. But I'd highly recommend all the other things I did, especially KEIRETSU... Check out their upcoming gigs here!

IS IT FRIDAY YET???

BECKY ON: disco a la death...

Ooooh I love it when the sun shines! I'm sure it cures a hangover more than a bacon butty and a cup of Earl Grey, but don't tell my mate Olaf down in Benjy's coz he'd get scared. I think I'm his best customer. Anyway, last night was FUN. You should definitely hit the DEATH DISCO at the Notting Hill Arts Club on a week night. I can't believe I'd never been before, it was really cool! I think I liked it even more because it reminded me of the places I used to visit out in NYC. Especially Brooklyn. The old and dusty warehouses with concrete floors and wall pro jections, and music so loud it busts your ear-drums, and air so thick with smoke that it burns your throat for hours when you haven't even taken a drag. Aaaah, the magic of a good old fashioned trash pit, (sigh)

The bands were fab too, especially the first one, Oki Dog. The lead singer was mental, this crazy chick in a red dress, jumping up and down on the speaker and almost knocking my wine (bottle) over. Parka were good too, everyone was dancing. It wasn't too rammed, beer was £2 before 9pm and best of all, it was FREE to get in. Dan even met Alan McGee, look. I didn't even know who he was. Well I'm obviously not 'cool'. (If you're not either, he signed bands like Oasis and Super Furry Animals, just so you know). But yes, all in all it was an excellent night. I'll be going back with my mates pretty soonish, no doubt! DO IT!

when I'm cleaning windows...

Fred had seen a lot of weird work-places in his time, but this one really took the biscuit...

DAN GOES: Bar blogging

Being the sort of loser who occasionally wanders the streets of Soho in desperate search of a bar that doesn't make me seethe with contempt for human kind, our friend and yours, Mr Greg Cristal, is as welcome as, well a glass of Cristal in La Lopez's jacuzzi.

His UK Barblog is as comprehensive as my knowledge of piss poor indie records from the mid 90s. So take a look, sort out your feckless mates and put your drinking shoes on.

BECKY ON: Wednesday is the new Friday...

Well I've finally finished the bargainholidays newsletter, and Dan's done deckchair, so we've actually achieved something with our days and can hit the pub, safe in the knowledge that we've earned those glistening brews of goodness. Mmmm. Tonight, quite excitingly, we are going to dance at the NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB, which is in... er... Notting Hill. I've never been before but Dan said "It's good", which means it's likely to be a sweaty, scary mosh-pit of unshaven, flare wearing indie kids, mashing up glass on a filthy floor with scuffed up trainers and drinking two quid bottles of Heineken like they're water. Which also means it should satisfy my needs entirely. NICE. Bring it on.

We're going tonight because dancing til 2am on Wednesdays is the new COOL THING, but if you're looking to scuff up your life this Saturday you should go then too, coz the line up looks pretty great, really.  There's a rock duo from Amsterdam called Plaff who are playing for FREE, from 4pm. We like free. FREE IS GOOD. Just thought I'd share...

DAN ON: Weekending...

It's Wednesday afternoon, I've just chowed down a steaming pile of Greggs-endorsed pap and writing the Deckchair newsletter is about to make me a homicidal maniac in Converse. How can we stop the mindless slaughter of innocent members of the lastminute.com marketing team? Pretend it's the weekend, that's how.

And sometimes that even means something more than an orgy of piss-enhanced lager, getting off with alcoholics in clubs called Intoxic8 and trying to pick your contact lens out of a rancid toilet. The weekend can actually be something you remember, something you take photos of, something that doesn't break your mobile phone and your dignity.

This is what Something For The Weekend is for. Getting off your lazy, slothful arse, going outside occasionally and indulging in everything London (and places north of Watford) has to offer. My name is Dan by the way, a scruffy-haired ponce who occasionally writes things but more often than not talks about writing things and then has 10 cups of tea to 'calm him down'. I'm a self-confessed hedonism addict (see what I did there), so start posting your hints, hangouts and hideaways and hopefully we can help you recreate 80s knockabout comedy Weekend At Bernie's on a regular basis. See you at the bar.