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The Cure Live in Manchester: Just one word – Phenomenal

By Friends & Family, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & Joy, Music & RadioNo Comments

My friend Simon and I went to see The Cure at Manchester Arena yesterday. I have just one word to describe the event and that is: phenomenal. It’s without any doubt the best gig I’ve been to in years.

The music was spot-on and was performed perfectly from the first note to the very last. The vocals were incredible, it was like listening to an enhanced version of an album. The three rows of lights gave an impressive accompanying light show.

Here are some photos, click on any photo for full size image:

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The Cure (1) – opening song.
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The Cure (2).
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The Cure (3).
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The Cure (4) – The music was spot-on and was performed perfectly from the first note to the very last.
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The Cure (5) – Vocals were awesome, it was like listening to an enhanced version of an album.
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The Cure (6).
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The Cure (7) – The setlist included my favourite song ‘Lovesong.’
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The Cure (8) – The setlist also included ‘Friday I’m in Love’ and ‘Boys Don’t Cry.’
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The Cure (9) – The finale was ‘Why Can’t I Be You?’

Prior to going to the gig, Simon and I had a lovely tea in Via Fossa on Canal Street, Manchester (gay village). Then we walked down to the arena.

Along the crowded walkways on the frosty winter evening, I counted at least 12 homeless people. This is the most homeless people I’ve ever seen on any of my many visits to Manchester. It’s crazy to think that in 2016 people are still becoming and/or living homelessly.

Driving home after the gig, the temperature dropped to -2°C and I thought of the homeless people I had seen earlier. In my thoughts I wished them a safe evening, prayed that the temperature didn’t drop any further and prayed that it was quick to rise again.

Write soon,

Antony



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Wednesday 30 November 2016

Places that I’ve Visited this Year

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, Nature, ThinkingNo Comments

As the dark, cold, winter nights draw in and signal the end of the year I’ve took some time out to reflect on the places that I’ve visited this year.

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Birdozwald Roman Fort – Photo Opportunities, especially on the outside of the fort.

 In May my good friend Simon and I did the first half of our tour along Hadrian’s Wall.

We started at the Cumbria end of the Wall and worked our way along, stopping at several historical sites along the way. In one day managed to enter Northumberland, stopping at Walltown Quarry and Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum.

If you want to see exactly where we went, along with photos and essential info for each place see The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure Part 1 and The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure Part 2.

Next year we are having another day out, starting at Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum and working our way along to the end of Hadrian’s Wall.

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The Elephants.

 As part of my birthday celebrations I invited family and friends to spend the day with me at Chester Zoo. I really wanted to see the Islands Exhibit.

Unfortunately not many people could make it on the day to share the experience. The Islands Exhibit was also rather disappointing.

But the well-established exhibits were great. My favourites were: the Elephants enclosure, the Butterfly house, the Giraffes, the Chimps, the Flamingos, the Lions, the speckled Bear and the Black Rhinos.

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Astley Hall Park/Grounds (3)

 In July Simon and I set out to one of our faviourate places – Rivington. But unknown to us, there was some sort of cycling event and with many roads closed we couldn’t work out how to actually get there.

So instead Simon directed me to Astley Hall Park. It was a place that I had never been to before and is beautiful.

We had a walk around the park, stopping to take photos. Then we had coffee and cake in the on-site cafe.

I have wanted to visit a botanical gardens for sometime now. I wanted to meander inside a giant glass greenhouse full of exotic plants and trees. I even put it as a goal for 2016. So I did a Google search looking for my nearest botanical gardens, found Southport Botanic Gardens (Churchtown) and dragged Simon along.

It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. No giant glass greenhouse. But the weather was sunny and warm and in its own way it was totally charming. The small park was filled with trees from across the world. I just wish there had been some sort of guide to what species the trees were and where in the world they had come from.

There was an unexpected aviary and a small yet delightful Victorian gardens. There was another cafe, so of course we stopped for coffee and cake.
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The Victorian Garden (1).
York is known for its iconic Abbey and shopping. It’s a place that I had never been to until this year.

Simon and I visited York and Knaresborough. York is architecturally splendid and has building from various times in its long history. We did visit The Shambles, but didn’t really buy much.

Probably the greatest thing about our visit is the fun we had together. We talked and laughed lots. Here are two photos of me being silly (click on any image for full size):

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Me racing on a wooden sheep.
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My arrival at Knaresborough Castle.
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York Abbey (from a distance).

So these are the places that I’ve visited this year. I think it’s time to start planning for 2017.

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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Saturday 26 November 2016

Count Your Successes (no matter how small)

By Books & Authors, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Life, ThinkingNo Comments

We should all count our successes (no matter how small) and occasionally take time to reflect and contemplate them. So here’s a list of my recent successes:

  • Watched I Love You Phillip Morris, a film about a gay serial con man and prison escapee who finds love in prison. Based on a true story, staring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
  • Installed a printer/scanner/copier on an painfully slow computer running Windows Vista.
  • Found some single-piece deep silver jar lids for some mason jars. The jars will make up part of some Christmas presents, as well as be used for my next batch of candles (more information in the new year).
  • Gift tagged my homemade candles, ready for Christmas.
  • Caught up and reconnected with my family. We gathered, ate (a chicken dinner and wine), talked and laughed lots.
  • Finally caught up with my friend Sye. We all have that one friend that never fails to inspire us. For me, that’s Sye. I talked through a major problem with my idea for my next batch of candles and he solved it like that (*snaps fingers*).
  • Celebrated Samhain in style with my friends Simon & Chrys. Great food, drink, fire, music and company.
  • Come off Facebook for the beginning of the week. I made the decision to come off after seeing two major spoilers about The Walking Dead on my news feed. I’ve been amazed how much time I’ve saved by coming off Facebook and realised how much time I used to spend ‘checking’ Facebook.
  • Come up with titles for a series of blog posts with a Mental Health Focus. I’m thinking of releasing one a week (once they’re all written) on a Monday and calling it #MentalHealthMonday.
  • Shared my post 15 Lies That Depression Would Have You Believe on a number of Facebook pages. This has increased visitor traffic, but not only that, someone commented stating: ‘Thanks for posting that today, I really needed to read/hear that today, really made a lot of sense and was comforting to read (if that makes sense).’ It’s always wonderful when you write something that resonates with someone and helps them.
  • Watched series 1 and 2 of Zoo.
  • Started and finished reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Here’s a random upbeat cover of The Edge of Glory by Walk off the Earth & Roomie, which makes me feel good:

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Keep counting those successes,

Antony

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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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Saturday 5 November 2016

The Finished Product

By Friends & Family, Happiness & JoyNo Comments

Well here it is…The Finished Product. Here are photos of my homemade hot cinnamon candles that will be Christmas/Yule presents for family and friends:

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The Finished Product: My homemade candles look great.
The Finished Product: My homemade candles look great (1).

The Finished Product: Just 1 of the 22 completed (unlit).
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The Finished Product: As I have only made 22, each one is numbered.
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The Finished Product: Of course I had to light my trial jar to test the scent throw. As it happens it’s awesome and smells amazing (1).
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The Finished Product: Of course I had to light my trial jar to test the scent throw. As it happens it’s awesome and smells amazing (2).

A lot of hard work went into them. The results are spectacular, even if I do say so myself. They look great and smell amazing – both when not lit and lit.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Saturday 8 October 2016
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