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November 2013

Stephen Lynch in Manchester: A Night of Awesomeness, Laughter and Fun

By Friends & Family, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & Joy, Music & RadioNo Comments
Stephen Lynch Ticket On Thursday, my cousin Jenny and I went to see Stephen Lynch at Manchester Academy 2. We had tea out and then as we walked to the venue had several near death experiences.

Cyclists rang their bells and flashed the lights as they came towards us at a frighteningly fast pace. We jumped out of the way. Then we saw this on the floor:
Near Death Experience LOL!
Stephen Lynch Stage Yes, we were walking on the cycle lane. We hadn’t noticed as a few of the street lights were out.

We safely arrived at the venue, queued, bought drinks and then took our seats in the auditorium.

The gig started with a burlesque dancer as the warm up act. Much to the delight of the audience who showed their appreciation through wolf whistles, whooping and thunderous applause:
Stephen Lynch - Burlesque
Stephen Lynch - Burlesque

Next a woman came onto the stage and sang about a box of wine. Then three men came onto the stage and I thought it was another support act. But dressed in thick-framed glasses and a union jack jumper was the man himself, Steven (Photo Below: Left).

Stephen Lynch LIVE Stephen Lynch LIVE

The audience went wild with applause when they realised it was him and I think I even heard a few over-excited women scream. He had some humorous banter with the audience and fellow performers, before he got on with the show.

Stephen stripped off his jumper, undid the buttons on his black shirt to the sound of the audience whooping, whistling and applauding. He revealed red nipple tassels. I only managed to get a decent photo of him buttoning his shirt back up (Photo Above: Right). Stephen can unbutton his shirt anytime, as he’s #sexy.

Stephen Lynch LIVE One of his first songs was Queer Tattoo. Afterwards he said that he meant the old meaning of the word queer and said to his audience: “Don’t use it bad.” Which earned him a massive whoop from me.

A few songs into the show, a member of the audience was being far too rowdy and was constantly heckling Stephen. They were being blatantly disrespectful. They were annoying Stephen as well as the rest of the audience.

Stephen responded brilliantly threatening to kick them out and added: “You’re ruining it for everyone. You’ve all paid £20 to enjoy the show.” The audience was with him and showed their support with an applause. Thankfully whoever it was shut the hell up after that.

Stephen Lynch LIVE Stephen talked about his new album Lion. He explained that there’s lots of duets on it as he loves the sound of the mixed male and female vocals. He played some tracks off this album along with some classics including:

  • Craig
  • Dear Diary – Anne Frank (he also added two new: Rihanna & Steve Irwin)
  • Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Priest
Stephen made the audience laugh frequently. In-between laughing, I smiled throughout the show. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled throughout an entire show before. He has a truly wicked sense of humour.

It was great to hear the audience sing along in the second half, not just the classics – but some of his new songs as well.

Stephen departed the stage at the the end of the show and the audience repeatedly banged their feet, signalling their desire for an encore. The booming feet felt like an earth quake and the volume was deafening. Stephen came back for his encore and played a few of his classics such as Ugly Baby.

Stephen Lynch LIVE
Stephen Lynch LIVE The show was quite tame compared with what I had expected. There was little mention of drugs and sex. I think it was a deliberate choice.

Perhaps he was worried about the uptight british audience (we were anything but!)? Or perhaps it was about him maturing now that he has a wife and child? Who knows? But it didn’t matter as it was still a show filled to the rim with awesomeness.

If you’re a fan of Stephen Lynch or his songs, you must go and see him. He is superb live: funny, entertaining and has a fantastic voice.

Thank you Stephen and come back soon.

Blog soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Sunday 17 November 2013

Thinking About Homelessness

By ThinkingNo Comments

This time of year when it’s dark and cold makes me feel for people who are homeless. Who’d want to spend a single night sleeping outside in this weather?

No matter the cause of someone’s homelessness; it can be a vicious cycle. A person needs an address to get a bank account, so that state benefits can be paid to them. They often need to be in receipt of benefits to get support in accessing housing and so that housing agencies can contact them. Of course there are ways around this, but people who are homeless people often don’t know how the system works.

People who are homeless also tend to have complex issues (such as substance misuse, relationship breakdowns, bereavements, etc.) that they are trying to deal with at the same time.

So I recently made two donations to The Albert Kennedy Trust and Shelter. The donations were small, but something is better than nothing. Here is some information about the work the charities do and a link for donations:

Albert Kennedy Trust Logo The Albert Kennedy Trust supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans homeless young people in crisis. They have offices in London, Manchester and Newcastle.
Donate to The Albert Kennedy Trust
Shelter Logo Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness – and they campaign to prevent it in the first place.
Donate to Shelter

A friend and I were talking recently about what we do when we see a person who is homeless on the street begging. I said that I don’t usually give money as I don’t carry it, but if I’ve got the time, I offer to buy them a hot drink.

My friend said that he collects McDonalds hot drink loyalty cards stickers and saves completed loyalty cards to give to the person who is homeless and on the street begging. I thought this was a great idea and will be doing it as well.

Anyone can become homelessness, it just needs a certain set of circumstances to happen a person. This means that it can happen to you, a member of your family or one of your friends. I once read somewhere that we are only ever two paydays away from being homeless. Considering this, perhaps it’s worth making a small sacrifice (like that cup of coffee from Starbucks/Costa you buy) and using the money to make a donation to one of the charities above? I’ll let you decide.

Foodbank Image Throughout the year, I’ve also donated items of food to a FoodBank run by The Trussell Trust. The UK is one of the richest countries in the world, yet in the last few years the numbers of people who need to use FoodBanks has dramatically increased. This is worrying and is symptomatic of some of the poorest people being forced to make some very difficult choices.

I’d like to share a thought with you: It seems to me that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I don’t write this to be depressive, simply to express a thought that many people are thinking.

Here’s another thought: This is not the kind of society I want to live in. Food, water and housing are all basic things that everyone should have access to.

So the question becomes: How do we go about changing our society for the better?
Any ideas or opinions, please comment below.

Take care,

Antony

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Friday 15 November 2013

My Monthly Reiki Session: A Spirit Guide?

By Happiness & Joy, Health, PaganismNo Comments

Two or three months ago, I had loads going on and was stressed to the hilt. It was like plates spinning. I’m Reiki One Qualified (see Reiki one – Qualified) so technically I can heal myself; but I had some birthday money left over so decided to treat myself.

I booked a Reiki session at Halsa Healing. I left feeling great, completely de-stressed, relaxed, energised and so amazingly well. I decided to make it a regular monthly treat. Well…when I can afford it anyway.

So what is Reiki? Well…
what-is-reiki
spirit-guide-angel

(Image Credit: Isis Jade)

 On my last Reiki session, I had a rather spiritual experience that I’d like to share with you.

I lay on the massage table with my eyes closed. The relaxing music soothed my ears, as I felt the Reiki flow into me from the Reiki Practitioner.

As the session continued I began to sense two streams of Reiki entering my body, one into my chest (heart chakra) and one into my feet (root chakra). I double-checked using my senses. Yes I could definitely feel two streams Reiki energy, even down to the associated physical tingling and heat.

How is this possible? I thought.

I briefly opened my eyes. Louise, the Reiki practitioner was to my side her hands over my chest. I glanced down at my feet to see a bright white humanoid figure of pure energy. His hands were cupped slightly and sending Reiki energy into the top my feet. It was kind of like the image above, only minus the wings and much whiter. It’s difficult to describe the beauty of the energy I felt from this being. I definitely got a feeling of safety, home and hugs from this being.

For a split-second I thought that it might be Alex (see Thinking of You Often…). But my intuition told me that is wasn’t. I was sure of this, as sure as I am of the fact that the sky is blue. I got a distinct feeling that this being had never been on this physical plane. Or at least not for many, many lifetimes.

After the Reiki session had come to the end, I told Louise about my experience. She said it could have been one of my spirit guides or possibly one of hers – helping her out.

I am aware of spirit guides and have done some work with them in the past. But not for years. So I read up on spirit guides. This basic but really interesting Q & A article is great for anyone new to spirit guides.

Then I found this fantastic guided meditation on YouTube to help people meet and communicate with their spirit guides:


Click here to display content from www.youtube.com

Open content directly

I completed this meditation with the hope of finding out if it was one of my guides that was healing me during the Reiki session. If it was, I wanted to meet him and get to know him better. I can’t remember all the details of the meditation now; but I can remember meeting him.

I met this broad-shouldered man, strong looking. Strong hands. Made me feel safe. With a warm Smile. He was hansom – sharp jawline, green eyes, short hair with a quiff at the front. He was wearing a green jumper and possibly jeans. I asked his name telepathically. He answered the same way, saying that his name was Matt. I asked him what was his purpose was, as part of my spirit guide team. He answered with: Protection.

He was/is there to keep me safe. I understood my feelings of safety, home and hugs that I had when I first met him in the Reiki session. I always imagined that my spirit guide for protection would be a samurai warrior, in the full gear. Well…at least that’s what I’ve always imagined standing guard outside of my cast circles.

The reiki session and the guided meditation were amazing spiritual experiences. They wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been relaxed and open to them. So the lesson here is: always try be open to new spiritual experiences.

Blog soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Wednesday 13 November 2013

Book Review: Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story by Ian McClellan

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
zombie-apocalypse-2012-political-horror-story-ian-mcclellan McClellan shows great promise with his first book: Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story. It’s a story about a zombie apocalypse in the USA, told through the perspective of an ordinary guy. The guy in question is Lance, an unemployed factory worker who feels the media and politicians are all failing to take control of the situation and work together to resolve it.

McClellan says about his book:
“My book is a funny and entertaining look at the politics of the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully, it can get people asking why politicians keep fighting each other instead of doing something for the American people, and why the media keep asking all the wrong questions…”

Lance lives with his wife whose obsessed with conspiracy theories. Needless to say, she doesn’t survive for long. Afterwards Lance gets scratched by a zombie, takes a load of antibiotics and locks himself in his basement.

After sometime Lance feels better and decides to journey to C.D.C to share his experience with them. He thinks that he maybe the key to a cure for the zombie plague. Lance and Larry (his neighbour & new best friend) set out on their journey.

The plot is well thought out and captivating but left one major plot hole: why do the zombies sniff the main character and then turn away? What’s different about him now? This is a source of frustration for the reader on finishing the book.

There were good peaks and troughs of action interlaced with the political aspect of the book. The politics didn’t appeal to me. The politicians were American and I’d never heard of most of them. Luckily, the politics was sparse and mainly focused on the frustration with bureaucracy and political correctness.

Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story is a throughly entertaining read. McClellan writing style is wonderful; the words seemed to flow off the pages making it was a joy to read.

The title of the book is too long to stand out to the average reader and will ultimately date the story. The cover design is completely unappealing and off-putting. However put the title and cover design aside, overall Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story is a great zombie story. One that is an easy read, at times very funny and is well worth reading.

Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story by Ian McClellan is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Sunday 10 November 2013
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