On a Roll

After a few very quiet weeks my schedule has exploded with weird and wonderful events and random occurrences.

Last Sunday the director of BBC rural show Countryfile retweeted me after I noticed that the music was a somewhat unusual choice to go with a segment on leek harvesting.

Why was Countryfile playing Dr Dre's Big Egos? Are their target audience into gangster rap these days?
— Matt Tuckey (@matthewtuckey) October 5, 2014

If you're curious, it sounds like this:

On Friday I helped out at a night of junior boxing at youth centre MAHDLO in Oldham. Organised by Oldham Boxing Centre, the event saw a number of wins for the home team. In attendance were boxers Anthony Crolla, Tyson Fury and his brother Young and former England / Manchester United footballer and local lad Paul Scholes.

There was some serious skill on display from the home team and their opponents. At the end of the night I managed to get a handshake off Tyson on his way out, but he couldn't stop for a picture. Well, I tried.

Saturday night I met up with Manchester Posh Bars and Cool Clubs, a local Meetup group. I've been looking for an organised social group like this for some time, as a lot of people are starting to settle down. The group's page appeared in my suggestions a couple of weeks ago, so I got involved with the first event I could.

We started in the Spinningfields area of Manchester, a fairly newly-developed sector. Oast House is a good traditional starting place with plenty of outdoor seating. Then we hit Neighbourhood, more of a restaurant than a bar but still a uniquely designed place with Tom DaLips providing saxophone accompaniment from a podium. Nice. Artisan came next, a bar a floor higher than its neighbours with a great view of the city through its floor-to-ceiling windows. Nicely designed, but with slow service.

The finishing venue: Panacea. Jesus. Never seen so many models in one place. Incredible. Very smart venue that became very busy, and I'd say about 70% women- who were mostly stunning. Spotted: Playboy model Ann Denise Wilson.

I'd love to get back there soon as the venue and the music were also brilliant.

So things are coming together pretty well at the moment. More to come...