Friends & Family - Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

Christmas 2018 – No Coal, Lots of Lovely Presents & Seeing the Magical and Musical Mary Poppins Returns

By AntonyFriends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

Christmas was great. The best thing about it is always the precious time spent with loved ones. The food, drinks and presents are just huge pluses. This year I must have been extra good because I didn’t get any coal (the traditional gift for the naughty) and instead got lots of lovely presents:

Christmas presents I was fortunate to receive from friends and family (1).

Christmas presents I was fortunate to receive from friends and family (2).

My good friend Jayne and I went to watch Mary Poppins Returns (MPR):

Mary Poppins Returns Cinema Poster

MPR is magical, musical and all-round marvelous. It had a number of brilliant cameo appearances by: Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury.

My Christmas was finished off by seeing Adam Lambert perform Believe in tribute to Cher. A gorgeous man with an amazing voice. This performance made me cry the first time I saw it. I have watched the performance numerous times since. You can see the performance below:

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Blog soon,

Antony

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Friday 28 December 2018

A Wonderful Wedding and The New Fantastic Beasts Film

By AntonyFriends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Love & RelationshipsNo Comments

Sue & Iain’s Wedding Was Wonderful.

This weekend I attended a wonderful wedding. My Auntie Sue and Iain, her significant other for more than a decade, got married on Saturday (17/11/2018).

The ceremony took place in a lodge in a local park. The ceremony was lovely and emotionally touching. The groom and his best man had personalised cufflinks with images of deceased loved ones on. The bridal party had images of deceased love ones attached to their flowers.

Afterwards we went outside for photos. The day was bright, with clear skies and only a little cold. Then it was off to a venue to eat.

The venue had been decorated in a Beauty & The Beast theme with a high level of attention to detail.

After the meal there was an opportunity to talk, drink (the bar was open from our arrival), allow brief speeches and be entertained by a superb singer. Many took the opportunity to offer the happy couple their best wishes and blessings for the future.

The evening arrived as did some more guests. There was plenty of entertainment: face painting for the children, a Caricaturist doing quick portraits of Sue and Iain and many other of the wedding guests, a DJ, a soft-of sweet stand, a sort-of photo booth, the opportunity to write in the guestbook and the opportunity to write wedding wishes on wooden hearts that were posted into a frame.

Everyone at the wedding party was relaxed, enjoyed themselves and celebrated Sue and Iain’s commitment to one another. It was essentially a celebration of their love for one another. I felt fortunate, privileged and honored to be invited to share their special day.

On Sunday, mum and I went to the cinemas to see Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gindlewald.

The-Crimes-of-Grindelwald-cinema-poster-November-2018

Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald (cinema poster).

The film was awesome and well worth the wait. I’m taking part in the #ProtectTheSecrets, so I can’t write more about my thoughts. As doing so would lead to me giving away plot points.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Sunday 18 November 2018

Matilda at Manchester Palace Theatre

By AntonyFriends & Family, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & JoyNo Comments

At the weekend, my mum, Kelly, my mum’s friend and her daughter went to see Matilda at Manchester Palace Theatre. We arrived before the matinee performance and had lunch out.

In Matilda the cast, mostly made up of children, were fantastic. The set was superb. The storyline followed that of the film. I’m not sure how closely it follows the book, as I’ve never read it.

The songs were good, but the show lacked any defining and memorable songs. Usually in a musical there is at least one catchy and memorable song. For example in Wicked you have defying gravity. In The Rocky Horror Show you have Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite. In Sister Act you have Take Me To Heaven and Fabulous, Baby!

Overall Matilda was an enjoyable show for children and adults alike. Here are some photos:

Matilda Poster.	A Lego Matilda.
Matilda Stage (1).	Matilda Stage (2).

Blog soon,

Antony

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Monday 22 October 2018

The Spectacular Shania Twain Live at Manchester Arena

By AntonyFriends & Family, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & JoyNo Comments

Shania-Twain-Manchester-Arena-September-2018-0

My mum, her friends and I went to see Shania Twain at Manchester Arena.

My mum and some of her friends had planned to see Shania Twain at the Manchester Arena last weekend. I offered to drive them there, pick them up afterwards and drive them home. I just wanted to make sure they all got home safe.

Then someone dropped out and I was kindly offered their ticket. I felt very fortunate and lucky.

Shania was spectacular. Shania walked through the crowd to the stage like a megastar. The audience sounded rapturous, hands were outstretched to meet hers and flash of smartphones was constant in her face.

Shania’s voice was perfect, her outfits lovely and her charisma shone for all to see. The chorography was reasonable and performed without mistake by backing dancers. The stage light show was fantastic, but the stage set and props were sparse.

Throughout the show Shania appeared to want to get close and personal with the twenty one thousand strong audience. She did this by inviting audience members to the stages in between songs, chatting with them and by allowing them to take selfies with her.

Shania spoke warmly to the audience, as if we were close friends. Here are some more photos from the gig:

The stage lighting was fantastic, although the set was very sparse.	Another photo of the stage lighting.
Shania (1) – Photo of video screen.	Shania (2) – Photo of video screen.
Shania (3) – Shania with a cowboy hat on. Photo of video screen.	Shania (4) – Shania with a cowboy hat on. Photo of video screen.
Shania (5) – I love this pose. Shania with a cowboy hat on. Photo of video screen.	Shania (6) – Shania sat on a step. Photo of video screen.
Shania (7) – Shania sat on a small stage at the back of the arena.	As Shania sang You’re Still The One the audience lit up the arena with the torches on their phones.