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As you can imagine, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2020 is looking rather different from the 2019 edition. For one thing, it's all online so you don't even need to go to Sheffield any more.
https://selects.sheffdocfest.com/
Commented Jun 11, 2020 on Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019 at Spank The Monkey
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019
Here's how good Sheffield's documentary film festival is - that picture there is of a film we saw by accident. Taking a break in between screenings to indulge in our two favourite food groups at self-explanatory restaurant Craft & Dough, at one point I look out of the window we're sat next to a...
This'll blow your mind: scroll down any amount from the top of any page, and watch out for the blue arrows that appear at the bottom left and bottom right corners...
Commented Oct 6, 2019 on Spank's LFF Diary, Wednesday 02/10/2019 at Spank The Monkey
Spank's LFF Diary, Wednesday 02/10/2019
Reviewed today: Leap Of Faith, Maggie. 6.30pm: Maggie [trailer] It's funny how, in recent years, so many of my London Film Festivals have started off at the ICA, as a cheaper and more interesting alternative to the glitz of the Opening Gala across town. This time last year, for example, I was ...
Ah, balls, it's closed again.
https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2019/09/29/brewdog-angel-permanently-closed/
Commented Sep 30, 2019 on BrewDogging #24 v2: Angel at Spank The Monkey
BrewDogging #24 v2: Angel
[Previously: Bristol, Camden, Newcastle, Birmingham, Shoreditch, Aberdeen, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Kungsholmen, Leeds, Shepherd's Bush, Nottingham, Sheffield, Dog Tap, Tate Modern†, Clapham Junction, Roppongi, Liverpool, Dundee, Bologna, Florence, Brighton, Dog Eat Dog Angel, Brussels,...
Kat - Full maps of the Mile do exist out there - like this one https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1qOln6LfuHW_qZWVVvWzA6-rYlHQ&ll=51.498415722518835%2C-0.07049506088253565&z=16 - but our thinking was that it's far too big and rapidly-changing nowadays for a single map to cover it sensibly. That's why we've chosen to plot a series of individual maps between one bar and the next - click on the distance figures above to pull those up.
Commented Jun 26, 2019 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Press release from uBrew, dated yesterday. So it wasn't *exactly* a refurb, then...
http://ubrew.cc/SOP/UBREW%20-%20PRESS%20RELEASE%20.pdf
Commented Jun 26, 2019 on uBrew at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
uBrew
Location: 29-30 Old Jamaica Business Estate, 24 Old Jamaica Road Opening hours: closed down in September 2019 Other days: n/a Official site: https://ubrew.cc/ Last updated: 30/12/2019 Back when it used to exist, uBrew was our first industrial estate bar on the route, which presumably explaine...
Warren - My guess would be that most of them will be closed - a lot of them don't open on Mondays anyway, and it wouldn't make much difference whether it was a Bank Holiday or not. Bear in mind a lot of these places are working breweries first, bars second, and they like to take holidays too! Still, each bar is a separate case and will have their own plans. Probably best to check their individual websites and associated social media feeds and see what their plans are.
Commented Apr 14, 2019 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Luke - Thanks for letting us know. I've put a placeholder on this page for the new bar, and we'll pop round to review it at some point in the near future. Best of luck to them/you (delete as appropriate).
Commented Apr 14, 2019 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Well, this doesn't look good. http://beerinsider.com/statement-from-andrew-morgan-founder-the-bottle-shop/
Commented Mar 25, 2019 on The Bottle Shop at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bottle Shop
Location: 128 Druid Street Opening hours: closed down in March 2019 Other days: n/a Official site: https://bottle.shop/ Last updated: 23/06/2019 In the old days, it was simple: the Bermondsey Beer Mile was all about breweries that had opened up inside the railway arches, which would double up...
Clemmie - hope you're happy with the compromise of keeping Bone Daddies in here, but making it clearer it's a restaurant rather than a brewery or bar. Don't forget to eat, readers!
Commented Mar 2, 2019 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Sam - I think Hawkes would be your best bet: their upstairs room with big telly did a roaring trade during the World Cup last year, and it looks like they're planning to do the same with the rugby. https://www.facebook.com/events/1997523987213949/
The version of this comment I posted earlier today concluded with this sentence: "As far as I know, the only other bar on the Mile that's ever shown an interest in televised sport is London Calling Sweden, though I suspect that would only be useful here if Sweden suddenly became one of the Six Nations." Well, my apologies to the Swedes, because it looks like they're showing it too. https://londoncallingsweden.com/the-2019-six-nations/
Commented Jan 29, 2019 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Cassius - To give each of your points the attention it deserves:
- There was a mix-up on our part between 98 Druid Street (the old home of The Kernel) and 118 Druid Street (currently home of Anspach & Hobday). That's now been corrected in the post.
-
Commented Dec 28, 2018 on Fourpure at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
Fourpure
Location: 22 Bermondsey Trading Estate Opening hours: Saturday 1100-2000 Other days: Sunday 1200-2000, Tuesday-Thursday 1200-2000, Friday 1200-2100 Official site: https://www.fourpure.com/ Last updated: 28/12/2018 One final walk in the direction of the Trading Estate (look for the Screwfix si...
James (assuming you're both the same James) - Yes, we've checked you out this month and liked what we saw. Post has been updated accordingly.
Commented Dec 28, 2018 on The Barrel Project at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Barrel Project
Location: 80 Druid Street Opening hours: Saturday 1100-2300 Other days: Sunday 1200-1900, Wednesday-Friday 1600-2300 Official site: https://www.thebarrelproject.co.uk/ Last updated: 28/12/2018 When we did our initial research for the website in July 2018, this place looked like it had potent...
IanD - Noted, thank you. We've updated the post to say so.
Commented Dec 28, 2018 on Hiver / All Good Beer at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
Hiver / All Good Beer
Location: 56 Stanworth Street Opening hours: Hiver - Saturday 1000-1800 All Good Beer - Saturday 1100-1800 (ish) Other days: Hiver - Sunday 1030-1630, Monday-Friday 0900-1730 All Good Beer - Sunday 1200-1700 (ish) Official site: http://www.hiverbeers.com/ and https://allgoodbeer.co.uk/ Last...
Richard - We're on it, thanks! See new Cloudwater post as of 28/12/2018.
Commented Dec 28, 2018 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Rebecca - Yes, quite a few of the bars are open on multiple nights. Because all of them open on Saturday, and that's the traditional day when people do Beer Mile tours, we initially decided to just give the opening times for that day. We've now updated the pages to indicate which bars are open on other days of the week. Be sure to check with the bars themselves, though, as they do sometimes change their times without updating their websites (or without telling us, the self-obsessed rotters).
Commented Dec 28, 2018 on The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction at The Bermondsey Beer Mile
The Bermondsey Beer Mile: An Unofficial Introduction
For those of you who don't know: the Bermondsey Beer Mile is a loose amalgamation of brewery bars and bottle shops, located along a stretch of railway arch that's closer to two miles long nowadays. The one thing they have in common is that they're all open at roughly the same time on a Saturda...
Sensible answer: they'd have put us on different flights. Stupid answer: one of us on the inside of the helicopter, one on the outside.
Commented Nov 21, 2018 on Get To Da Choppah at Spank The Monkey
Get To Da Choppah
I can tell you exactly where this all started: it was in Hong Kong, in 2005. The Belated Birthday Girl and I had checked into the Excelsior Hotel and bought ourselves a room upgrade, because we were feeling a bit fancy and because I didn't realise I was going to lose my job five months later. I ...
Missing you both! (Though you could actually *do* something about that, Old Lag.)
Commented Oct 13, 2018 on London Film Festival 2018 at Spank The Monkey
London Film Festival 2018
I went to my first ever London Film Festival in 1989. I've been going every year since. This will therefore be my thirtieth LFF. An anniversary like that makes you ask questions of yourself. Questions like: why on earth have I spent more than half my life doing this? Coincidentally, someone else...
Some sad news: Aimar, the guy behind the bar at BrewDog Tallinn who made us feel like long-time regulars after we'd been there for just two days, passed away last weekend.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlaNDgyl0nB/?igshid=1j6ogmh9kte91
Commented Jul 20, 2018 on BrewDogging #52: Tallinn (Nordic Expedition II part 4) at Spank The Monkey
BrewDogging #52: Tallinn (Nordic Expedition II part 4)
[Previously: Bristol, Camden, Newcastle, Birmingham, Shoreditch, Aberdeen, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Kungsholmen, Leeds, Shepherd's Bush, Nottingham, Sheffield, Dog Tap, Tate Modern†, Clapham Junction, Roppongi, Liverpool, Dundee, Bologna, Florence, Brighton, DED Angel†, Brussels, Soho, ...
This post has now grown up into this site: http://www.bermondsey-beer-mile.co.uk
Commented Jul 17, 2018 on Bermondsey Beer Mile: The Wrong Way at Spank The Monkey
Bermondsey Beer Mile: The Wrong Way
You're aware by now that The Belated Birthday Girl and I have become fully paid-up Beer Ponces. You may have got the impression that it's just BrewDog we drink, but that's far from the case – although we will admit that thanks to the enlightened guest policy in their bars, drinking BrewDog has ...
To answer the question posed at the end of the 2017 section: yes, yes it is. The Divine Comedy's live album Loose Canon is now available on Spotify, so the only track missing from the 2017 playlist is Michael Legge's bit of filth.
Commented Feb 16, 2018 on Spotify Picks Of The Year: The Tenties at Spank The Monkey
Spotify Picks Of The Year: The Tenties
When historians look back at the deeply troubled period between 2010 and 2019, I suspect they'll say that one of its major problems was that we never really agreed what to call it. Look at the decades we've covered in the rest of this series. The Eighties? The Nineties? Spectacularly uncontrove...
The competition result is here, although you can probably guess who's won it.
http://spank-the-monkey.typepad.com/blog/2018/02/simian-substitute-site-for-february-2018-helping-hands-monkey-helpers.html
Commented Feb 1, 2018 on His Sonic Experiments With Robert Fripp: Pick Of The Year 2017 at Spank The Monkey
His Sonic Experiments With Robert Fripp: Pick Of The Year 2017
If we assume that my pal Lou has been the main inspiration behind my Pick Of The Year compilations for some time now, then this year's one - the 36th in total! - marks a couple of biggish anniversaries. Because it's the 25th compilation I've made for him since he started receiving them in 1993,...
1992/3. That was before we knew each other, wasn't it? Hmmm.
As for the Clash song, they didn't release their first live album until 1999, even though it was all recorded 1978-1982. Of course, it's possible it took them 17 years to fix all the bum notes in a studio...
Commented Dec 8, 2017 on Spotify Picks Of The Year: The Nineties at Spank The Monkey
Spotify Picks Of The Year: The Nineties
In the second of a four-part series - and it pulled me up short the other day when I realised that in a few years' time, this could become a five-part series - anyway, I'm continuing my decade-by-decade run through my Pick Of The Year compilations, this time presenting the ones from the 1990s a...
In case you missed it, the competition is now closed, as we have a winner. Details here:
http://spank-the-monkey.typepad.com/blog/2017/01/simian-substitute-site-of-the-month-january-2017-ma%C5%82pka-express.html
Commented Jan 26, 2017 on Täähä Menöö Hyvi! Pick Of The Year 2016 at Spank The Monkey
Täähä Menöö Hyvi! Pick Of The Year 2016
It's a controversial opinion, but I'm going to say it anyway: as years go, 2016 was absolute dogshit. Massive upheavals throughout society, combined with the death of apparently every famous person ever - against a backdrop like that, any personal problems of your own seem magnified as they bec...
It's perfectly acceptable to use the word 'mental' as a noun. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENWpGLURBW4
Commented Jan 26, 2017 on Living For The Weekend: A 2017 Diary By The BBG at Spank The Monkey
Living For The Weekend: A 2017 Diary By The BBG
Om Puri, the great Indian actor, died on January 6th 2017. You may know him best from his starring role in East Is East: while in these pages, I've reviewed his 1997 performance in My Son The Fanatic. But aside from UK productions like those, he was also a solid and comforting presence in India...
On a related topic: https://twitter.com/SpankTM/status/804309289070395392
Commented Dec 1, 2016 on Spank's LFF Diary: The Wrap Party 2016 at Spank The Monkey
Spank's LFF Diary: The Wrap Party 2016
To begin this much-delayed roundup of London Film Festival 2016, here are some time-stamped thoughts on a trailer I had to watch thirty or so times in the space of a fortnight. 0:10 - I don't know how many films are showcased in this trailer - and to be honest, the formula in recent years has be...
More...
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