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Happiness & Joy

Manchester Museum – Lots of History to See

By Adventures, Happiness & Joy, History, Love & Relationships, Nature2 Comments

The other weekend Boyfriend-A, his housemates and I visited Manchester Museum. Manchester Museum is on Oxford Road, in the heart of Manchester City Centre and has free entry. It has lots of history to see including (click on any picture for full size image):

Manchester Museum Gorgosaurus Skeleton

Gorgosaurus Skeleton
Manchester Museum Gorgosaurus Information Board

Gorgosaurus Information Board
Manchester Museum Mammoth Skeleton (front)

Mammoth Skeleton (front)
Manchester Museum Mammoth Skeleton (side)

Mammoth Skeleton (side)
Many vases, bowls, etc. to view

Many vases, bowls, etc. to View
Manchester Museum A great Classic Weapons Collection

A great Classic Weapons Collection – If there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, I’m looting my weapons from here.
Manchester Museum Slavery Chains

Slavery Chains

My two favourite sections were the Egyptian section and Geology section. In the Egyptian section I was fascinated by the Soul Homes (photo below) and creepy looking mummy (also photographed below):

Egyptian Artefacts Manchester Museum

Egyptian Artefacts
Egyptian Soul Homes Manchester Museum

Egyptian Soul Homes
Egyptian Sarcophagus with Mummy Manchester Museum

Egyptian Sarcophagus with creepy looking Mummy

In ancient Egypt soul homes were for people who couldn’t afford a tomb to be built. Somewhere for their soul to live during the afterlife. Boyfriend-A couldn’t believe how bad my geography was, after I thought Egypt was in Europe. Apparently it’s in Africa.

We moved on to Geology section, with this rather nice quartz crystal cluster that I wanted to take home:

Geology Section Manchester Museum

Geology Section
Geology Section: A Large Quartz Cluster Manchester Museum

Geology Section: A Large Quartz Cluster

We finished with the main attraction a complete T-Rex Skeleton:

T-Rex Skeleton Manchester Museum

T-Rex Skeleton

A Random Room-sized Fish Skeleton Manchester Museum

A Random Room-sized Fish Skeleton

 There’s lots of history to see at Manchester Museum, but more interactivity e.g. videos/staffed tours would have added to the experience.

Even so we had a great time. If you’ve never been, go and check it out. Oh and it has a good gift shop that is reasonably priced to.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Sunday 20 July 2014

Lancashire Science Festival 2014

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, Love & Relationships, Reviews, Technology, The WebNo Comments
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Lancashire Science Festival: Sign.

 Last weekend I dragged boyfriend-A along to Lancashire Science Festival. We arrived, signed in and were given a programmes, maps and visitor passes. It was being hosted by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), which had a special significance for me as UCLAN was where I completed Nursing studies sometime ago. It was nice to see that the campus has developed, while at the same time keeping some of the buildings that I studied and lived in. Walking around triggered many happy memories for me, but I wasn’t there for a trip down memory lane. We were there to explore all things science. All things geek.

Which started with Titan, a singing, dancing and joke-cracking robot. See photos below (click any image for full size photo):

lancashire-science-festival-2014

Lancashire Science Festival Selfie with Titan.
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Titan The Robot.
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Titan 2
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Titan 3
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Titan 4.
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Titan 5.
lancashire-science-festival-2014

Titan 6. Mr Red Eyes.

Then boyfriend-A and I listened to a fascinating talk from @Drsurvival entitled Power Up Your Brain. I enjoyed the talk, but it would have been great to have two talks: one aimed at children & families and one aimed purely at adults. This was because I would have liked @Drsurvival to go into more of the biological and physiological detail.

We discovered a hall that had so many activities from a wide range of science and engineering organisations. My particular highlight was the CSI tent, where we learned more about the process of investigating crime. Then it was time for lunch, followed by Jo Blows Stuff Up!

Lancashire Science Festival ignited my imagination for everything science, engineering and technical. There was so much to get round, we spent most of the day there and only got through a small fraction of the activities on offer. I would have loved to have more time to do: the Science Dome Planetarium, Zoo Bus and Flash Bang Science. The free talks were over subscribed meaning that even pre-booking I couldn’t get tickets to attend Davros – An Audience with Davros and Science of Sherlock free talks. But I’m sure we’ll get around to some of these activities and talks next year.

Lancashire Science Festival is free fun for all the family. There were loads of young children there, loads of activities for them and they looked like they were having a fantastic time.

My advice on how to work the day: Arrive early and do the open activities in the morning. Then pre-book a talk or two for the afternoon.

Write soon,

Antony



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Friday 4 July 2014

The Lady Boys of Bangkok ‘Lack their Sparkle’ in Manchester

By Friends & Family, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & Joy, Reviews, ThinkingNo Comments
lady-boys-bangkok-june-14-manchester

The Lady Boys of Bangkok Stage. They strictly prohibited photos throughout the show.

 Steve and I recently went to see The Lady Boys of Bangkok in Manchester. I had seen them four or five times over the last few years and couldn’t wait. Unfortunately, for the first time, I was to be disappointed.

It started with an embarrassing experience with a rude Door Supervisor. He checked my bag and said that I couldn’t take in a bottle of Lucozade. I explained that I had diabetes. To which he wanted to see a medical card. I showed him one and then he wanted to see tablets (I had to explain that I was on injectable insulin and showed him this). He still looked unsure about whether to let me in or not. So I said, ‘Look if I have a hypo I need sugar quick. I wont be able to make it to the bar. I’ll be on the floor having a seizure and foaming at the mouth.’ What made it embarrassing was his lack of knowledge about diabetes, his attitude and the growing queue of people behind us.

I wasn’t going to judge the production based on the experience I’d had with the Door Supervisor. However the shows atmosphere wasn’t as fabulous as it has been in the past. The Lady Boys cast seemed unhappy. They smiled throughout the show, but the smiles never seemed to meet their eyes. Their costumes were less glamorous, looking cheap at times and there weren’t many opportunities to see the Lady Boys in showoff their wonderful selves.

The audio quality was poor on some tracks, there were some odd choices of songs and some great songs that they only played clips of.

The set was satisfactory. The choreography was fun. Not all performers had perfected their choreography, but this didn’t matter to the audience. The choreography did become repetitive in the second half and had too much use of jazz hands.

The lip syncing has improved year on year, and this year all of the Lady Boys had it spot on. The comedy elements of the show remain as funny as ever, however I was unsure about the humour derived through use of the dwarf.

I desperately wanted the show to be as magical, glorious and brilliant as it had been in the past. But it simply wasn’t. It lacked its special sparkle that makes The Lady Boys of Bangkok production unique. Overall Steve and I had a good time, but I don’t intend on seeing future shows until I’ve got over the disappointment. This is likely to take at least the next few years.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Sunday 29 June 2014

Blackpool Part 2: Madame Tussauds

By Happiness & Joy, Life, Love & RelationshipsNo Comments

Boyfriend-A and I went to Blackpool at the weekend. We started with the Sealife Centre (see Blackpool Part 1: Sealife Centre) and then went to Madame Tussauds. I have to start by saying some of the waxworks were really bad, here are three examples, click on any image for full size photo:

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Davina Mccall

A Bad Davina Mccall
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Jamie Oliver

Another Bad Waxwork – Jamie Oliver
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson waxwork: fingers repaired with plasters.

But some were great:

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Gok Wan

Me kissing Gok Wan
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool random dinosaur

A Random Dinosaur Waxwork
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Bear Grylls

Bear Grylls Waxwork
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Rovers Return

The Rovers Return Inn
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Jack and Vera Duckworth

Jack & Vera Duckworth Waxworks (Coronation Street)
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Freddie Mercury

Fantastic Waxwork: Freddie Mercury
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool

A Waxwork of Madame Tussaund

Boyfriend-A and I couldn’t resist having some fun:

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool on a thrown

Me on a thrown
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Queen Elizabeth 2nd

Me getting my OBE, MBE and Knighthood
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool sweetie darling

Sweetie Darling 1
Madame Tussaunds Blackpool sweetie darling cig

Sweetie Darling 2

The award for scariest waxwork goes to…

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool russell brand

A terrible Russell Brand

The award for the campest waxwork goes to…

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool Alan Carr

Alan Carr Waxwork

The award for most realistic waxwork goes to…

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool the two ronnies

The Two Ronnies

Ronnie Barker (Above: Right), who looked so real that I expected him to stand up and start cracking jokes.

Madame Tussaunds Blackpool

Good Fun: My Night Out Look

 It was the first time I’d been to a Madame Tussauds. I really enjoyed entering the waxwork world of celebrity, talent and fame. If you’ve never been, I’d recommend it. An amusing and entertaining experience.

Boyfriend-A and I enjoyed our time in Blackpool :). I’m sure we’ll go again, at some point.

Write 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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Monday 23 June 2014
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