Every now and again I just feel the need to post just to tell how absolutely bloody wonderful it is to be - the alternative ain't so great I guess.
I am at that point in my life where I like the familiar, relish those things that I know will be 'just so' and while I have never fought against change it isn't always the great driving force it maybe used to be.
Of course, it means that my expectations are normally easy to meet but it also means that I view unexpected change as unwelcome and maybe a little exasperating. (Don't we all!)
Wednesday last my wife decided we would have an Indian take away - nothing unusual you may think but harken to this.
When we first moved to Edgware around 25 years or more ago we found a simply delightful little Indian takeaway called 'The Curry Centre' - no marks for originality but plenty for friendly and fab food.
Over the last 25 years we have been to other takeaways but the Curry Centre just seems to hit the spot - in fact Russell has taken to using it and they are much taken with Leeanne to the extent that she gets freebies the rest of us don't!
So imagine my horror as I pull up outside to collect my order only to find that the familiar frontage and warm glow from the window has been replaced with an all glass frontage, pink lighting and stark simplicityin its style - oh, the horrors!
I girded my loins and ventured inside to be regaled with the smell of paint and the sight of the bare tables.
I collected the order and hotfooted it home, worried that the intense flavours and excellent cooking had gone the way of the warm (dim) lighting.
Peeps, the food was positively fabulous! The kitchen has obviously had a makeover as well because the flavours were more rich and intense than ever before, the subtlety of the spicing was 'just so' and the whole meal was simply glorious.
Sometines change ain't a bad thing, when it is done for the right reasons and to improve something rather than just to turn a few more bucks. Well done Curry Centre - just right guys and I'll be back!
The other remarkable joy in my life was in seeing Jimmy Cliff in concert last night at Indigo2. I am not now and probably never will be a fan of the O2 - I hate the corporate natuire of the place, its location is ridiculous - it is easier to get to Milton bloody Keynes than Greenwich - but Dr Jimmy Cliff was simply sensational. The crowd was dancing from the first notes to the last - I couldn't see the stage most of the time but my horizontal dancing kept me amused and his band were bloody fine - the sound overall was great.
Sometimes not changing is a good thing too: 'The Harder They Come' is sheer perfection and doesn't need to be reinterpreted and Dr Jimmy simply did it right. His version of 'Rivers Of Babylon' almost had me converted and 'Vietnam' morphing into 'Afghanistan' worked a treat.
I may have gout and pain just about everywhere but the smile on my fizzog this evening is a wide as it has been in yonks.
I promise normal service will be resumed in blogs to come but right now - happy happy happy!
