A short forgettable night at the SOS

September 10, 2006

Somewhat later departure time than usual – 7:15-7:20 PM. Traffic was heavy and nearly stationary at times. My car stalled mysteriously on Bow Road and thus gave me a brief scare but no more problems surfaced afterwards. Time of arrival was 9:05 PM. To top it off, we learned that there was going to be a performance, which would cut into dancing time while increasing entry fee by a pound per person.

Overall it was an off night. Music was okay but not great – this seemed to be the general consensus if I can call concurring opinions from three other people that. The DJ was Julian the Duke – he had better nights. I think my pants were too heavy and did not breath well. I had one dance I liked quite a bit, but others were mostly ordinary although pleasant enough. Blah blah blah.

It was crowded yet there were not too many familiar faces tonight. I chatted briefly with Sean and Tracy from LDA; apparently Sean has gotten into teaching (Saturdays in South London?). Liam was there too, and he seemed glad to see Sergio; it looked as if they spent more time talking to each other than dancing tonight. No Diane.

The performance was by a couple from Paris. Sergio thought it took away something like 15 minutes from social dancing time, but I can’t imagine it took that long. Maybe 10 minutes. In any case, it was 10 PM when the performance was over. Apparently the guy was responsible for breaking Leon’s ribs.

The whole thing ended very quickly – I hardly felt like I danced – maybe 7, 8 or 9 overall. In retrospect, we spent more than twice the amount of time commuting than dancing at SOS tonight.

Quote of the day – “I’ll write you a reference.”

So that they would let me DJ at SOS - he’s quite a comedian, especially considering that he has never heard me DJ. He also suggested a prospective dance partner for me tonight – a first. I didn’t get around to asking her though.

Sergio spent the drive back listening to my non-Salsa music. He sampled through Miles Davis, Joshua Redman, Beatles, Bongwater, Doors, Verdi, JS Bach, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Spinal Tap.