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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):

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Lancashire Science Festival Selfie with Titan.

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Titan The Robot.

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Titan 2

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Titan 3

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Titan 4.

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Titan 5.

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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

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

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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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Blackpool Part 1: Sealife Centre

By Happiness & Joy, Love & Relationships, NatureNo Comments
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):

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Breeding: Shark Eggs

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Breeding: Shark Eggs

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Breeding: Newly Born Sharks

The many tanks often included rays as well as starfish:

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One of the Tanks

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Rays-A-Plenty: There were many rays

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Camouflage Fish

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A starfish

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Mr Ray showing off his sharp teeth

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Mr Ray 2

We saw ‘The Big Daddy,’ a giant crab that is so big he has an entry in the Guinness World Records Book.

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‘The Big Daddy’ – A Giant Crab

We watched delicate small seahorses:

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A Seahorse

And these jellyfish under neon colour-changing light:

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Neon Jellyfish 1

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Neon Jellyfish 2

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Neon Jellyfish 3

Many of the fish I tried to photograph moved too quickly for the camera. This included dory (from Finding Nemo) look-a-likes.

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Trying to snap Dory, they are too quick.

We saw mean-looking paranha fish. I’m sure they were eyeing me up as a meal:

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Mean-looking Piranhas 1

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Mean-looking Piranhas 2

Then we moved on to the sharks:

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Shark Nursery: Breeding sign

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Shark Nursery: A baby shark

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Sharks: An adult having a lie down

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Sharks: A vegetarian shark

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Sharks: Another shark (side on)

We had a great time. Then we head to Madame Tussaunds, which I will write about and share pictures in my next blog post.

Write soon,

Antony



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Happy Belated Litha & More Rivington Photos

By Adventures, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Life, Love & Relationships, Nature, PaganismNo Comments

Happy Belated Litha (see Pagan Festivals)!

Boyfriend-A and I took a spontaneous outing to Rivington on Friday. It happened to be Litha, which is the longest day of the year. It was bright, warm and the perfect evening to explore Rivington. We spent quality time together and I also took the opportunity to appreciate nature.

I have previously blogged about Rivington and included plenty of photos. But I felt compelled to take some more photos of this beautiful place on Friday. So here are some of those photos (click on any image for full size):

Rivington-June14

Boyfriend-A Looking at the view

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Rivington Ruins 1

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Rivington Ruins 2

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The Pond 1

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The Pond 2

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Rivington: A Gorgeous View

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Rivington: Another View

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Pigeon Tower Information Board

Rivington-June14

Pigeon Tower

I hope you all had a equally fantastic Litha.

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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