House Music with Hype/Drive in Hoppy Daze Saturday

 

House music fans unite Saturday, only not in Manchester Centre. Ashton’s Hoppy Daze holds host to DJ collective Hype/Drive, featuring underground house and a friendly bunch of people. There’s a meetup if you fancy joining. I can introduce you.

Cocktails and Geopolitical Debate with Zio Nutter

Steadily chugging through this reading project. 

Other than that, I‘ve picked u a huge pile of DVDs and Blu-Rays from a college friend who moved abroad. A very generous donation! Now all I need Is a Blu-Ray player… not to mention a new PC as this one is on its arse. 

Ran a meetup last night to the Northern Quarter. Last night of drinking before dedicating myself to this Santa Dash fitness project.

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The event had been up all week but the RSVPs only rolled in in the last couple of days. I ended up with 15 supposed attendees. 4 of us showed on the night. Me, 2 regulars and 1 guy who’d been to 1 before. He turned up in Flok already steaming, and tried to engage us in a political debate in which he completely misunderstood the Israel Palestine situation and exposed himself as a batshit Zionist. His arguments completely fell apart under questioning. We went to Dusk til Pawn, then moved on to Eastern Bloc. Then he just disappeared. He seemingly walked out of the bar. 

I’ve booted him from the group. It can be tiring running meetups and dealing with, on occasion, the inept who use the site as a crux. But as Daniel Plainview would say…

Santa Dash 2025

 

It’s 2 months to the 2025 Saddleworth Santa Dash, an annual race in which a thousand locals dress as Father Christmases and dart 5k across Oldham’s countryside to raise funds for the Round Table, a local charity organisation. It’s great fun. Saturday, 6th December sees the High Street of Uppermill awash with a sea of red and white outfits, with lots of serious runners but mostly people who just want a fun run with family and friends. 

The race usually has a local DJ or public figure at the meeting point, hyping everyone up before the starting banner is held up and the whistle blown. At the end, there’s music, stalls, food, drink and games. 

I currently weigh 82.1kg, an entire 10kg more than I need to if I want to fit into my suit trousers, one of my tasks for this year. I also want to beat the 31 minute run time I got in both 2018 and 2024. I’ve got a local 5.4km running route that I’ve done in just over 36 mins. It’d be great to beat that. Currently, running is sluggish and gym classes are getting harder. I just had a chicken burger meal last night, and I’m getting drunk in the Northern Quarter tonight, but after that… militant health kick. Lots of soup. Lots of recipes. Adonis figure pending.

What's Happening Thursday Nights Manchester?

Watched Saw III. It was drivel, but I tagged Dina Meyer - Dt. Allison Kerry - in a couple of Insta stories and she liked them. 

Saw X, another in the series that surfaced on Netflix, was equally forgettable. 

House of Guinness has landed on Netflix last week currently sitting at no.1 in the series chart. Back in October the filming took place in Manchester. I got these shots. 

This coming week: 

Tuesday night chicken anyone? Bird of Prey, a new fried chicken joint out at Circle Square, hosts Tender Tuesdays, offering 50% off chicken tenders. Fancy taking a look with some other people? Manchester Nightlife has you. 

I’m off work Friday so thought it would be good to do something on Thursday night, but I haven’t actually found anything happening. Club LIV used to have a Thursday night thing, but the club is now Runway and is closed Thursdays. I uploaded this meetup but I still have no idea what to do on a Thursday. Nothing seems to be open. 

Saturday night, however, should be much more successful with a bar crawl around Stevenson Square. Loads of good quirky bars, a range of music including some house, cocktails aplenty and rarely any entry fees. If the weather’s shit, all the bars are right next to each other. Meet me in Flok, 9pm.

Oat Rolled Not Cod

At the time of first writing this post – early August – I was ploughing through this Viking project, trying to fast, build strength and watch a ton of Norse themed Netflix. 

I returned to Craig Brooks’ Eat Like a Viking cookbook, a guide to 9th century eating, and picked out Oat Rolled Cod. I only had Basa, though, a fish native to south-east Asia. Hardly Norse. Yeah, they would have traded non-perishables like fabric and spices… but not fish. Oh well. A fairly simple recipe: beaten eggs help the oats to stick to the fillet of fish. Fry for a few minutes each side. 

Plain, but filling. Ready from scratch in 20 mins.

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I'm missing out this week - you don't have to

There’s a lot going on this week that I’m probably not going to be involved with, for one reason or another. 

Friday lunchtime, when I’m in work, Monty Python’s Michael Palin is doing a book signing in Waterstones Liverpool. 

Saturday and Sunday, Comic Con Midlands Telford hosts an array of movie stars including Robert Patrick (T1000) and Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor) from the Terminator franchise. Also on the roster is Brian O’Halloran – Dante from Clerks – and Tim Blaney, the voice of No. Johnny 5 from Short Circuit 1+2. It’s a couple of hours drive away, so I have of course ummed and ahhed about it and will probably end up skipping it. Tickets – entrance and photos – all seem to still be available. 

Back up north, Club Classics takes over The Picturedrome in Holmfirth, of all places, for a night of 2000s era house music. Expect a PA from Nikki Belle, singing Whelan and DeScala’s Sunset to Sunrise. (She also sang for Mousse T on their 1998 hit Horny.) Saturday night. Whelan and DeScala now go by the more recognisable name of Camelphat. 

Question is, who’s going to trek out there with me? Probably no one. 

And hence my plan for the rest of the week is just to read.

Nigella Seed Curry

5/7/25 

My first attempt at All-in-one Tomato, Aubergine and Nigella Seed Curry was an unmitigated disaster as I’d left the ingredients in my fridge too long and the aubergines had gone nuclear and fumigated my oven. What a waste of a load of veg and an hour of my life. 

I tried a few days later, this time with fresher ingredients (Aldi don’t give you long). I cut the aubergines into thinner strips, so it was easier to cook through. 

It came out smelling much fresher, tasting spicy and decent enough for a vegan meal. A respectable inclusion to Rukmini Iyer's Green Roasting Tin book.

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