Tech, Teck, Toque!

Up at 4.15am, and then collected at 4.50am by our good friend Bob, who took us to the Bus Station. Then a National Express Coach, and a short tube ride to Earls Court – arriving by 9.30am

We were going to Plasa – the Professional Lighting and Sound Association show

Bob goes every year, and this time I went along too. You never saw so many blokes in black polo shirts trying to persuade the visitors that they were selling the best thing since sliced bread! Everything you could ever want in terms of lighting, sound, multimedia presentation, pyrotechnics, staging, organising, labelling, cabling…

Bob had a great time, finding out about all the stuff he is interested in,and trying out bits of kit etc.

And me?

Well, I have entered competitions to win all sorts of PA gear [and also a day’s driving at Silverstone] Not expecting to win tho!

I also now have 3 more lanyards, a coffee mug, a pen and a useful guide to stage curtaining.

As far as I am concerned, the stands I enjoyed most were Line 6 where Simon did not treat me like an idiot, and talked to me all about radio mics in a language I understood [this was just before Bob got there and had a much more useful conversation!] and Dymo, where Leslie demonstrated labelmakers with more enthusiasm than I thought possible [then gave me a pen and a lanyard] and also the Mobile Massage Team – who gave me a wonderful back and neck massage, for a donation to charity.

Having arrived really early, we were ready for lunch by 12.45 so walked round to Orjowan in Kenway Road. We’d found this on the internet beforehand and liked the look of the menu.

It was extremely good – we shared a mezze platter of hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, tabbouleh and shawarma [that was cooked chicken and lamb pieces in flat bread] with a basket of flatbreads

Bob finished his meal with Lebanese coffee [very strong and sweet] and I had some Mouhallabieh – which is Lebanese pudding.

It is made with milk, honey, rosewater and pistachios. The lady brought two spoons “so you can share it!” she said.

I am afraid I ate considerably more than half – it was delicious [and he did have a coffee, after all] A wonderful lunch. I may try to make this dessert sometime.

We noticed a pub opposite, which Bob thought ought to be “The Gadget Show’s Local”. There appeared to be plenty to tech/teck people inside, anyway!

Then back to Victoria, and onto the coach home – a lovely day out together [and lots of opportunities to sit down, so my knee is fine]

I have checked up, and the Prince Of Teck was the father of Queen Mary [the Grandmother of our Queen, and wife of King George V]

She died just before Elizabeth’s coronation.

My grandmother, whenever she was mentioned, would say “Ah, May Of Teck, she was so fond of toques”

[The toque is the brimless hat she often wore]

As a child, the whole idea of a Teck-Toque amused me enormously!

And now Bob is busy watching the Gadget Show [he does take his day off very seriously sometimes!]