Films 2024

As usual for the end of the year, here’s everything I saw at the cinema in 2024.  Again a mix of new movies (63) and some re-releases (31 – although 8 I’d not seen before!), and quite a variety too. Only a couple of really, really bad films, but quite a few middling ones that probably should have been a bit better.

January

One Life (7/10)
The Boys In The Boat (7/10)
Poor Things (7/10)
American Fiction (7/10)
The Color Purple (6/10)
The End We Start From (6/10)
Maestro (7/10)
The Iron Claw (8/10)
The Holdovers (8/10)

February

The Taste Of Things (7/10)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (8/10)
The Zone Of Interest (8/10)
Dune (2021) (8/10)
Interstellar (2014) (10/10)
Bob Marley: One Love (7/10)
Argylle (6/10)
Madame Web (2/10)
Blade Runner – The Final Cut (1982) (8/10)
NT Live: Vanya (8/10)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017) (8/10)

Continue reading →

Two months of gigs and shows

It’s been a busy couple of months for gigs and shows – I’ve had a bunch that have kind of collected together at the end of the year, so I’ve actually been to 8 live shows in under 8 weeks!

First gig was Keane on the 19th October. It was originally supposed to be one of the first shows at the new Co-Op Live venue back in May, but because of all the issues they had with it not being ready, it was rescheduled to October.

Keane at Co-Op Live.

It was definitely worth the wait – they were really great, and Tom Chaplin has such an incredible voice… plus the fact the date was changed to October meant it became a birthday treat for me! Oh, and the Lathums as support was pretty cool too!

Continue reading →

Nicky

Nicky at the ‘Summer In The Son’ camp in 1993.

Yesterday, I found out that one of my best friends from when I was in my 20s died this Tuesday. Nicky – Reardon as she was back then, now Nicky Sutherland – was like a sister to me back during the 90s – she was the actual sister of one of my good friends from school, Mark, but I got to know Nicky originally through church and the youth group, and we became pretty close around that time.

She was really funny, friendly, genuine, and very determined/opinionated! I fondly remember going on holiday to Aberdyfi with Nicky, her boyfriend Matt, Debbie and Claire, and us just having such a fun week away. And just generally hanging out a lot, having a proper laugh (usually taking the mickey out of each other!), and I also produced an album of her singing as a birthday present for her mum.

Continue reading →

A last-minute weekend in Tenerife!

So, two weekends ago, I went on a last minute holiday to Tenerife with Ali and her kids! Whilst on the phone sorting me going down in August to look after the kids for a couple of days whilst Ali was at work, I’d said to her that she sounded pretty tired having been working and looking after them during the school holidays (even with them going to holiday clubs!), so we hatched a plan to away somewhere for a few days at the end of the school holidays, meaning I could help look after the kids for a bit whilst Ali could potentially get a bit of time to relax.

After seeing what was available in the UK, there wasn’t that much available that wasn’t crazily expensive, and obviously you’ve got the gamble of how good the weather will be, so we ended up booking a 4 night stay in Tenerife, getting back home the afternoon before the kids would have to return to school!

I travelled down to Bristol day on Thursday by coach – it’s a bit of journey doing it this way because I have to get in to Manchester to get the Bristol coach, but it’s quite a bit cheaper than the train! We had a really early start on the Friday morning – we took the bus from Temple Meads just before 5am, since our flight from Bristol Airport was at 7.30am.

Since we’d booked the holiday so recently, we were only allocated seats when we checked in at the airport, and we were right at the front of the plane, with three seats on the front row that’s opposite the door, which means you get loads of legroom! I sat with the kids there, whilst Ali was across the aisle and was able to have a relaxing flight!

Arriving for our brief holiday!

We got to Tenerife by about noon, and then took our coach transfer to the Hotel Hovima Jardín Caleta in Costa Adeje. We got there early afternoon, a few hours before our room was ready, and thankfully we were able to store our cases and get changed in a spare room they let us use, so I changed out of my jeans, and the kids put on swimming stuff so they could play in the pool.

Hotel Hovima Jardín Caleta.

Continue reading →

Childcare fun!

This last week, I’ve been down in Bristol for a few days… to do a bit of child-minding! I’d offered to Ali to help out if she needed someone to look after her kids anytime during the school summer holidays, and it turned out that there were a couple of days towards the end of August where she had to work but couldn’t get them into a holiday club, so I took up the challenge of keeping them entertained!

I took a coach from Manchester on Monday morning – often I’ve taken the train down to Bristol, but it’s not that cheap, and it saved me a fair bit taking the coach option, and even with some bad traffic on the M6, I only arrived 10 minutes late.

We all just chilled out on the evening, but the next day, I headed off with the kids to the seaside! It was a bit drizzly as we walked to the station, but we were all in t-shirts without coats with the expectation that the weather would be better later on! Luckily it was, and we arrived in Weston-Super-Mare with blue skies and bright sunshine!

The kids at Weston-Super-Mare’s Grand Pier.

The walk from the station to the seafront (with the help of Google Maps on my phone!) was pretty straightforward, and we went onto the beach right away, so I could buy myself a coffee, and the kids could do a bit of digging in the sand! Then it was over to the Grand Pier, where I bought us a big bag of fresh donuts for us all to attack during the day, and got the kids wristbands so they could go on all the rides at the end of the pier.

They got through a lot of 2ps!

Continue reading →

Gig stuff

Been to a couple of pretty big gigs over the last two weeks. First off was last week when I finally got to see Foo Fighters live!

I’d originally bought a ticket to see them play in 2022, but obviously with the sad death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins, the whole of that tour was cancelled. Anyway, I bought some tickets when this new tour was announced last summer, so had been looking forward to it for quite a while!

I bought 4 tickets in total, so a few weeks beforehand, Abhi took a couple of tickets off me for him and his friend Caz, and then Ali travelled up from Bristol to come along as well!

Ali, me, Abhi and Caz.

We all took the tram in together from East Didsbury, and arrived at Old Trafford Cricket Ground whilst the first of the two support acts was playing. I’d not heard of the first group, but the second support was from Wet Leg, and I do know a few of their songs. During this, the heavens opened, and we all got a bit wet – the weather forecast for the evening had said there’d be rain, but was supposed to clear by the time the Foo Fighters were to appear, and luckily it did!

Foo Fighters at Old Trafford.

Continue reading →

Mum visiting and more rooms sorted

It’s been a couple of months, so time for a bit of an update!

Mum came up to stay for a week at the end of April / start of May. She was last up with Chloe back in November, and I’d not seen her since before Christmas, so it was nice to get a visit. She arrived on Monday lunchtime, and it was quite a quite a chilled week really. The next day she went to visit a friend in Rochdale, so I dropped her off first thing at East Didsbury so she could get the tram up there.

Then on the Wednesday, we walked into Stockport along the River Mersey, and had a bit of a look around the town, and then I showed mum the new Stockport Interchange and Viaduct Park which they’ve built on top of it. By this point, it’d only been open for just over a month, so all felt quite new, but I think it’s really transformed the area and the park itself is a nice relaxing area to hang out in. I guess we could have walked back home afterwards, but since we were already at the interchange, a bus seemed the better option!

Mum on our walk into Stockport.

Continue reading →

Music and videogames

Bit of a catch-up…

Had a few good nights out over the last few months. Back in February I got to see Rend Collective play at the O2 Ritz in Manchester.

Rend Collective.

I actually thought I’d left a decent amount of time to get to the show. I’d not been to the Ritz before, so was quite surprised to see the queue to get in going from Whitworth Street, right round onto Oxford Road, stretching back quite a way. I originally thought it was a queue for Hamilton over the road at the Palace, but soon discovered it was the queue I needed to be in so joined the back of it. The staff were really slow getting people in, and it took ages to make my way down to the entrance. The support act was just starting as I arrived, so I moved towards the stage to get a good position.

Rend Collective.

Continue reading →

Barcelona

Last week I had a few days on a city break in Barcelona. I booked it just before Christmas – I was looking online at various city breaks, and saw that the price of hotels were much cheaper at the beginning of January than any other time, so I went for it! It’s a place I’ve been keen to visit… I’ve been there once before for work back in 2018 (for less than 24 hours!), but didn’t really see any of the city because we were filming in the marina on the evening, and then we left on a road-trip early the next morning.

Anyway, I flew out from Manchester early last Sunday, and after taking the metro from the airport, was in central Barcelona for just after noon!

Arc de Triomf.

I was staying in the Born district of the city, right next to the Arc de Triomf and Ciutadella Park, so that was the first touristy landmark I got to see on my way to my hotel. I was staying at the Catalonia Born, which is a 4-star hotel in a really good location for getting around the city. It was really nice, and luckily they let me check in a couple of hours early so I could dump my bags and go exploring on the afternoon.

I walked down past the Arc de Triomf and had a quick look around the park, and then decided to take a bit of a tour around the city on the metro, taking in a few of the touristy areas I wouldn’t have a chance to visit during the rest of my week. The underground system in Barcelona is really good, and gets you pretty close to where-ever you want to go. I’d bought a 4 day ticket which allowed me to use all public transport, so it was so easy to get around.

Casa Batlló.

As well as checking out some more general areas, I went and had a look at a couple of the famous buildings designed by Antoni GaudíCasa Milà and Casa Batlló. I didn’t have time to go into either of them, but they looked pretty cool from the outside, especially Casa Batlló.

Continue reading →

Films 2023

89 cinema trips. 78 individual films. Some definitely better than others!

A busier year at the cinema for me in 2023 – things have definitely picked up since Covid, although the strikes by the writers and actors have caused some of the big films earmarked for this year to be pushed back, so it could have been even busier! Anyway, here’s everything I saw at the cinema in 2023:

January

Till (8/10)
Empire Of Light (7/10)
A Man Called Otto (8/10)
Tár (7/10)
The Whale (8/10)
The Fabelmans (8/10)

February

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (7/10)
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (7/10)
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (8/10)

Continue reading →

Live comedy catch-up

Just thought I’d make a quick post to document my last two comedy shows of the year. Last Thursday I was at The Lowry’s Lyric Theatre to see John Robins perform his latest comedy show, ‘Howl’. I’d had the ticket since the beginning of January and when I bought it, the only ones still available were on the back row of the lower circle – the furthest back I’ve sat in there!

‘John Robins – Howl’ at The Lowry.

When I was at the Edinburgh Fringe back in August, he was doing two shows – ‘Howl’ and a ‘Work-in-Progress’, so I decided to go to the WIP since I knew I already had a ticket for ‘Howl’ later in the year, and guessed that it would probably contain more stuff that wouldn’t end up in the main show. The Lowry show was in two parts and ran for about an hour and a half, and I was pleased to discover that whilst I recognised a bit of the material from Edinburgh, the majority was new to me. I thought he was really good… it’s a weird kind of show because it focusses a lot on mental health and dealing with alcoholism, so although it was quite dark and heavy in places, it was also pretty powerful and really funny, and I think the balance he struck was spot on.

Continue reading →

Half Term & Reunion Plan C

Over half term week starting at the end of October, Mum and Chloe came up to visit, and they arrived by train on the Sunday evening – a bit later planned because Chloe had originally forgotten her coat, and had to go back home to get it before returning to Tamworth to get the train with mum! On Monday, it was quite rainy, so I drove us all over to The Trafford Centre where we had lunch, and had a bit of a look around the shops. The next day was a bit drier, so we went into Stockport – mum had mentioned that she’d never been into the town on her previous visits here, so I gave them a bit of a walking tour, through some of the new developments to the Underbanks, the Market Hall and Produce Hall.

Chloe and me outside the Produce Hall in Stockport.

When Brandon came up to visit back in February, we all went to Junkyard Golf (where mum won!), so with Chloe here we decided to try another crazy golf venue in Manchester city centre – Treetop Golf. I’d found it by accident whilst doing a Google search – it’s basically above the Printworks, but the entrance is hidden away on Dantzic Street, away from the main bit. But I was really impressed with how they’ve done it. The theming is really good, and feels so much bigger than Junkyard Golf. Also, because we arrived early, we were able to go round both courses for the price of one, so we ended up spending a good couple of hours there.

Me, Chloe and mum at Treetop Golf.

Continue reading →

Video games and Bristol visitors

Lee at Arcade Club.

Last month, I spent a fun evening at Arcade Club in Bury with Michael and Lee. We went there back in January, and they have 4 floors of arcade machines and some other classic games from the 70s up to now! Just like my first time, my gaming skills weren’t the greatest, but it was really nice to catch up with both Michael and Lee – I’d seen Lee briefly whilst in Edinburgh in August, but I don’t think I’d seen Michael since our last time doing this.

Michael and Lee.

Michael at Arcade Club.

Continue reading →

Scotland

This year’s collection of Edinburgh Fringe shows.

Just got back from spending a week in Scotland, firstly in Edinburgh and then in Aviemore again. I headed up by train to my third Edinburgh Fringe last Monday morning, and was quite shocked that all the travelling went pretty smoothly! I got into Edinburgh just after half one, and walked down to Gag Reflex’s office (which was further out this year) where I hung out there until I was able to head back to the student halls I was staying in, just on the edge of The Meadows, less than 10 minutes walk from George Square.

George Square Gardens.

I was there from the Monday to Thursday, and saw 18 shows in all, which isn’t too bad considering I was only there for 3 days and 3 evenings. In fact, on the Wednesday I managed to cram in 7 shows which was quite a feat! All the ones I saw this year were good, with my favourites probably being Ben Hart, Colin Cloud, Ed Byrne and John Robins.

Continue reading →

Back in Ireland

Dingle Bay.

Just been over in Ireland for the last week and a half with my mum, sister, and my niece and nephew. It’d been 5 years since we’d last been and again we stayed with Mai and PJ in County Kerry, and for the first time I actually flew there rather than driving and taking the ferry. To be honest – it wasn’t that much quicker, since once landed I had to wait a bit at the airport before getting a coach from Shannon to Listowel, which also took quite a while. PJ picked me up in Listowel at about 3.30pm, so it basically took me ten and a half hours door to door!

The others weren’t going to be arriving until later that night, but their flight was delayed by a couple of hours, so didn’t get to Shannon until after midnight, which meant they had stresses with the car hire since they were supposed to close at ten o’clock, just after their original arrival time. I didn’t bother waiting up for them all, so slept through their arrival at the house and saw them in the morning!

We didn’t do anything that next day – everyone was far too tired! But on the next day, Friday, I went with Vikky and the kids to Ballybunion, and took a walk across the beach. The kids bought waffles from one of the beach shops, but it was so windy as they tried to eat them, and Chloe struggled to keep her hair out of the Nutella topping!

Mai and PJ experience VR.

In the evening, Brandon had brought his VR goggles with him, which let to much hilarity as both Mai and PJ tried it out! The graphics in the games and settings are still quite basic, but it’s crazy how quickly your brain accepts them, and it feels like you’re part of that world.

Continue reading →