Love & Relationships Archives - Page 7 of 23 - Antony Simpson is an Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

Manchester Museum – Lots of History to See

Sunday 20 July 2014 / Antony Simpson / 2 Comments

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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):

Gorgosaurus Skeleton	Gorgosaurus Information Board
Mammoth Skeleton (front)	Mammoth Skeleton (side)
Many vases, bowls, etc. to View	A great Classic Weapons Collection – If there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, I’m looting my weapons from here.
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	Egyptian Soul Homes
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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Lancashire Science Festival 2014

Friday 4 July 2014 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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 Selfie with Titan.	Titan The Robot.
Titan 2	Titan 3
Titan 4.	Titan 5.
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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Blackpool Part 2: Madame Tussauds

Monday 23 June 2014 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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:

A Bad Davina Mccall	Another Bad Waxwork – Jamie Oliver
Michael Jackson waxwork: fingers repaired with plasters.

But some were great:

Me kissing Gok Wan	A Random Dinosaur Waxwork
Bear Grylls Waxwork	The Rovers Return Inn
Jack & Vera Duckworth Waxworks (Coronation Street)	Fantastic Waxwork: Freddie Mercury
Lady Gaga	A Waxwork of Madame Tussaund

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

Me on a thrown	Me getting my OBE, MBE and Knighthood
Sweetie Darling 1	Sweetie Darling 2

The award for scariest waxwork goes to…

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

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Blackpool Part 1: Sealife Centre

Sunday 22 June 2014 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

sealife-centre-2014-blackpool — Bob – The Fish

At the weekend Boyfriend-A and I went to Blackpool. We had pre-booked tickets to the Sealife Centre and Madame Tussauds. In this post I’ll write about the Sealife Centre.

The Sealife Centre was alive with all sorts of marine life in its well-stocked tanks. Boyfriend-A and I wondered around leisurely, starting with seeing shark eggs and recently born baby sharks (click any image for full size photo):