Matt Tuckey is a writer from Oldham, England. He covers celebrities, night life, Manchester, fitness, creative writing, social media, psychology and events. Some of this may, in some way, help others. Or maybe it'll just entertain you for a while.
My
phone contract expires tomorrow and I haven't got my next
phone...FUCCKKK. After two years of pissing and moaning, now that I
need to get organised and move on from this ridiculous handset and
contract I haven't done. Anyway.
Come
out on Friday night! Yes, I know you'll be tired but you'll wake up
when you get out to Mambos.
It's a good chilled out start place with good music, and the perfect
launch pad before Flirt at nearby
Birdcage. It's a bit of a random shout- a little different to
Spinningfields or the likes of LIV or
Panacea- but the last time we went it
was a good fun night. Nine of us in Cool Bars
are going. Join us!
The
previous posts have any notable info on the start of the week, so I'm
going to dive in with the Thursday just gone.
I
read Star Wars: Rebel Heist, a
four-part comic I bought at Oldham Comic Con back in May. Each part
signed by the author Matt Kindt,
the story tells of a rebel fighter coming face-to-face with the
legendary Han Solo, some time between A New Hope and The Empire
Strikes Back. It's darker, grittier and more evocative than the
films- the story hints at the smells and gut feelings of the
characters, with less cartoonish characters and more storm troopers
chasing the familiar main characters down darkened city alleys. Each
part focusses on a different main Star Wars character: Solo in the
first, then Leia, then Chewbacca and finally Skywalker. Star Wars
nerds would lap up the intermediary story that enriches, but never
treads on, the original movies.
A
few of us met in Be Impossible Manchester,
the new bar occupying the unit on Peter St that formerly housed Bar
38 and, briefly, Purity. No Twitter yet.
Trendy
upbeat bar on the ground floor, alpine lodge with fur-draped couches
on the upper. Unique and slightly weird, but appreciatively so. A new
outfit for the unit, which has been empty for around half a decade,
has been long overdue, so to see it finally open is a great
improvement to the street. Existing outfits like
Sakana will see some competition, and
nights out in The Albert Hall and
LIV have a new starting place. I bumped
into the Socialite staff before I headed over there, so I'm not the only one with that
idea. I wasn't drinking but Impossible seemed to have a decent
cocktail menu and back bar. Keep your eyes peeled on
Meetup for
a trip there in the near future.
Saturday:
I dropped in on Heart for Art in Sale and got my
first tattoo at their fundraiser. The Manchester Tattoo Appeal
is still going strong, raising money for the families of those who
died in the recent Manchester terror attack.
I
got there early and beat the majority of the queue, and chatted to an
Australian girl while a live band played outside. We were given a
colour and number, and before long my number was called and I got
this straight on the shin:
Not
as painful as I expected, although years of Muay Thai deadening my
nerves may have been a factor. I still nearly bit through the wooden
spoon I brought with me though. Great work for a brilliant cause. I'm
really happy with it. Advice from the staff: let it breathe, but keep
it out of the sun for a week.
A month ago I started a THIRD attempt to give up chocolate. Well, I managed. No
chocolate bars, no hot chocolate drink, no chocolate-covered food or
cake, and very little of any other junk food. I started the project
at 76.6kg.
Guess
what? I put weight on. After skipping in the sun all day yesterday,
then ending with a gym session, I was 80kg (12'8). I've been exactly
this weight a couple of times before, but never above 80.1kg I think.
I've not binged on fruit, I've eaten more nuts, more veg and only 2
takeaways all month, that I can remember. I've done numerous skipping
sessions outside (resulting in shocking sunburn despite lotion), I've
done an endurance project at the gym which took 7+1/2 hours, and yet I'm STILL a fat bastard. This makes no sense.
To
my credit, I did get down to 76.2kg, and I beat a few PBs here and
there.
20/5-20/6
Dips-
65 (5 more)
Leg
press- 170kg (10kg more)
10
min row- 2263m (74m more)
I
may as well go back to eating chocolate again, or try fasting.
One
is an American politician and attorney from
Maine, currently sitting on the
Senate Intelligence Committee, and at present sitting on the ongoing
Sessions Hearing. The other is a British TV entertainer with decades of media
work under his belt. But which?!
I've
been making a list of ideas for #psychologysaturday blog posts,
something I'm committing to doing every week. One idea is to share
with you a few resources that may help if you're looking into
learning more in that area. Here are seven examples of information
and advice relating to psychology. Share others in the comments!
The
lastest psychology findings with reports on experiments happening
across the globe. Fascinating stuff. Has a search function and
categories for the different areas of psychology study. Has recently
removed their comment function, so I removed it from my blog's
blogroll.
A
similar outlet with more of an assistive slant. The site has links to
help you find a therapist (in America) and to help you get help (see
their top bar). Has a comment function but does not allow you to link
back to another website.
If
you've read Neil Strauss' bestseller The Game, you'll have heard of
David DeAngelo, the Robert DeNiro lookalike who was somewhat of an
antagonist in the book. His techniques were the first that I found
when I started researching advice on women in 2007. I subscribed to
his emails, and a lot of his advice related to psychology- how we can
change our mentalities and behaviours to develop ourselves. It took a
few months but it certainly pushed me on a few steps. Dare I say it:
I was a virgin until I read his info.
The
Psychology Book
A
Dorling Kindersley book which traces the major psychological findings
throughout history. Will probably answer a few questions about your
own mind that you've been wondering for a while.
Teach
Yourself Psychology
A
much smaller but still highly revealing book about the science of the
mind, and how it affects the major areas of our lives (psychology in
the workplace, child psychology, etc.). My mum has had my copy for
many years. Keep meaning to get it back!
Men's
Sexual Health
Metz
and McCarthy's short guide is more than a description of STIs- it's
about being healthy, both physically and mentally, in order to have a
good sex life. Fascinating and reassuring.
The
New Male Sexuality
Bernie
Zibergeld's guide to sex, for men, is a must-read for all adult
males. A bold statement, perhaps, but the detail that goes into the
book revealing the major problems men have with sex and how to combat
them- mostly by deciding on a change in mentality- is incredibly
detailed and simple to understand. Again, hugely reassuring.
Club LIV has outdone Alchemist with their crazy unique cocktails.
Book
off Friday immediately! Manchester Cool Bars
are headed to Socialite, Club LIV's Thursday night party. Hot young people,
hip hop and the odd reality TV star, probably. Drinks deals and cheap
entry. Very popular. It's also the only decent night I've found on a
Thursday, so we might as well.
ALSO:
I've just received this Facebook message for party organisers
Taboo:
PLEASE
READ
Taboo will no longer running at Tiger Tiger on Tuesday's
(sic) as we've found a new home.
Stay tuned for more
announcements
They're
keeping schtump for the moment. Is it too early to be at
History?
Probably, considering the venue isn't even built yet. As soon as I
know, you will too.
My
contract expires on the 27th!
Goodbye O2 and goodbye Windows handsets. So. What's next? I'm keen to
get back to Xperias, for their usability, their Android system and
the fond memories I have of the P. There are a lot of options,
though, for the Xperia's current-day counterparts. It's time to think
price and features. Which of these
do I go for?
As
mentioned in last week's #psychologysaturday post, the XA1 Ultra has the 16MP low-light front camera, great for club
selfies with celebs. It's a good a reason as any. It's the only
handset in the range advertised as having this feature. The Ultra, on
sale in the Sony Store at £329,
is available a little cheaper if you shop around. Eglobal Central UK
has it at £205, a suspiciously low price from an obscure outlet, but
trusty
Argos
offers the Ultra at £278-284. I'd need advice on how to handle this.
Having memory difficulties, there will always be some aspect of the
phone-buying or contract-buying procedure that I won't register, and
the last thing I need is another 2 years roped into a contract and
handset that don't suit me (cough cough, Carphone Warehouse).
The
next issue: I need a contract. A SIM-only contract that's cheap and
gives me a plentiful amount of data. I was hoping for unlimited, but
the cost of such contracts have gone through the roof in recent
years. In 2012 I got a 24-month unlimited data deal with Three, for
£27pm, something Carphone Warehouse told me I couldn't get. On
Three's site, it's still listed.
This is, however, SIM-only now.
A few friends have suggested Giffgaff, the contract-free network provider. The £20 goody bag, with unlimited data, is tempting. Their customer service has a bad rap, though, although many say they've never had to use it.
A
problem for people with memory difficulties: The people who are
experts in mobile phones are the people who sell them. The people who
are experts in memory difficulties are either NHS psychologists (some
of them, a least) and charity workers like the great people at
Headway
and Ways to Work.
I haven't found anyone with the combined knowledge of the two. The
closest person to that... might be me.
Shit.
Or,
it might be you. Tweet me if you can help me, otherwise the only
person advising me will be the technological rock and lifeline in my
life, my amazing dad.
Oldham Sports Centre, where I spent pretty much the whole of Wednesday
No,
I am not on the juice, before you ask. I was making a vain attempt to
get my body weight under 70kgs for the first time since 2010.
I
started at 1.30pm by weighing myself. On entering the gym I was 76.8kgs, 12'1.
I followed this with a 10-min warm-up on the cross trainer, and an
hour of heavy weights. Fairly early on I set a new PB on leg press,
170kgs. I'm confident that if I focussed on this movement I could
make serious gains quite quickly. I then upped my dips record to 65,
another movement that I could improve on if I dedicated myself to it.
I
ran through pretty much every machine in the gym, including
resistance machines, free-weights and cardio machines- in that order.
I wanted to keep my strength for the bigger weights, then rep out
with kettlebell swings and the punch bag, followed by battle ropes.
These movements are muscular but used more for endurance than
strength building. After this I moved onto a series of ten-minute
cardio movements, and ended with a long slog on the cross trainer.
Throughout
the day I ate nothing, putting only water into my body. Adrenaline
will keep you going once the food in your stomach is used up, and fat
burning I understand takes place normally after 90 minutes of working
out.
I
decided against using the pulley row from now on. After a
conversation with another gym-goer it seems there's too much
inclination to move my back, putting most of my body into the rowing
action. This will result in damage eventually. It's too hard to keep
your back still when you get to the heavier weights
Although
this project was about fat burning, I still, as mentioned, wanted to
improve strength. During the day I still tried to beat some PBs,
something I've not really focussed on in the last few months. Here
are the results:
170kg
leg press, extra 10kg
65
dips, extra 5
10-min
row 2263, extra 74 metres
I
was impressed that I still had the strength to do anything notable on
the cardio machines as I'd pretty much worn myself out on weights, or
so I thought. But I slogged on half dead 'til I was kicked out at
9pm. I walked out at 76.2kgs, 11'14. 600g (1.3lbs) down.
There
were a couple of movements that I didn't try yesterday- box jumps I
didn't have space for, and 60-minute cross trainer I didn't have time
for, for instance. If I'd have got there earlier I could have fitted
them in, but realistically I wouldn't have beaten PBs on them and I
would have gassed earlier. For the last couple of hours I was in a
daze trying to make anything happen. I was running on empty.
It as also my plan to make use of the sauna and steam room facilities, and even the swimming pool, but I typically forgot to bring swimwear. I'd probably have sank like a goddamn stone anyway after the gym.
It
was perhaps not the most successful gym session. I've lost more than
that in the cardiotone classes that OCL
run every Thursday, which lasts an hour. It might be worth trying to
pencil in a few more classes to my routine throughout the week. (It
also helps if you don't reward yourself with a massive portion of
chicken and chips at the end.)
This
week get using your annual leave. You'll need Wednesday off. Come
party with Manchester Cool Bars
in Tiger Tiger tomorrow night.
Taboo draws to a close this month
as the students are soon to go home, so the weekly Tuesday night
doesn't have long left. Young hot people, no chavs, great décor, a
busy three-floor club and, of course, drinks deals.
I
realise Manchester is perhaps not people's first choice for nights
out at the moment but I'll reiterate- don't be intimidated. We'll
still enjoy ourselves. Hard Rock Cafe from 10pm!
Something
is planned for next week too- have a look on Meetup...
Another
blogger has told me that the staff at this Ridgefield St venue, just off Deansgate, don't wash
their hands as often as they should. Just passing the info on. Regarding the restaurant, we
follow each other on Twitter but I have no other affinity. Never
been.
I've
so far had three smartphones, and my contract on the third is due to
expire in a few weeks. I honestly can't wait to get off the Windows
Lumia 640 as the handset and operating system has many drawbacks,
particularly if you have memory difficulties but also for people of
any ability.
The
Windows mobile has an awkward operating system that makes it
difficult to find information, its store it lacks key apps like
Snapchat and ColorNotes, and also it's unlikely to have apps for
local businesses. Health restaurant Kettlebell Kitchen, in Manchester, has an
wards scheme that is run through the smartphone- provided, of course,
you're either on Android or iPhone. There's no Windows app. Other
apps, for instance mental health assistance tools (See Mind's list)
are also lacking on Windows. The web radio apps aren't as good as
Android's and Whatsapp has a sinister black background, in contrast
to Android's grey.
But
anyway, about memory. The advantage of a Windows phone is that
OneNote, the notetaking system, allows for the incorporation of
pictures with written notes, a huge benefit when you're- for
instance- photographing DJs and you can't remember who's who. Or
photographing anyone. Putting pictures into notes with text alongside
it has been a benefit that, as far as I was aware, Android's
Colornotes couldn't do. But Colornotes was easier to organise,
simpler to find your latest notes, or most recently updated.
The
Android system also didn't arbitrarily shut down apps as you're using
them.
That
said, I've found the Windows calendar easier to update and quicker to
set reminders on. These two advantages are all I can offer for
Windows phones, but then, it's been two years since I was on Android.
For all I know, Android has closed that gap.
What
was I on before? I started with an HTC Wildfire, a decent Android
phone for its time with a 5mp camera and a 3.2' screen. It was light
and compact, and did what I wanted. £20 a month for 1GB data. But
HTCs fell by the wayside, smothered by iPhones and the like.
After
this I stepped up and shelled out £27 a month for a Sony Xperia P,
another Android device with an 8mp camera and a 4' screen. This also
came with unlimited data, meaning, among other things, I could stream
whatever radio station I wanted. The key advantage of this: if I
needed information on something, no matter what time of the month it
was and no matter how much I'd streamed radio or video, I could still
go online. I never had to battle with dodgy TfGM public transport
wifi, I could get on the Meetup app (which is rated an adult site, so
transport companies wouldn't let you get on it) and I never had to
tether to upload videos, meaning there was no accidental forgetting
to do so and whacking out 3/4s of my data at the start of the month.
After
this, cutting a long story short, I ballsed up and ended up on
Windows. This is my final few weeks of this contract. I'm going back
to Android, and to Sony Xperias, as soon as possible.
But
which one? Look at the range.
If all 21 are on Android they'll have a similar setup to the Xperia
P. The only specific thing that strikes me as important is the
low-light front camera, available on the XA Ultra. As someone who hounds Z-list celebs in dark, overpriced nightclubs,
it's important that- if I can't get someone to take the pic, I can
get a decent selfie without sending myself and said-famous-person
temporarily blind. And I stress, important.
Other
than this, as long as all the Android apps are still available, and
as long as the camera is better than 8mp, It'll do for me. Question
is, which of these is best for holding info? And which is most
affordable? And where can I buy this outright and unlocked? And,
finally, which is the best sim-only contract? These are just a
handful of queries I have. I don't want to find myself, once again,
roped into a 24-month contract where I'm paying through the nose and
receiving very little in return.
I'll
return to this subject for the next #psychologysaturday blog post,
where hopefully I'll have made a decision.
Tuesday
night: standard gym session at Oldham Sports Centre, only I recognise someone doing
kettlebell swings at the back of the room. It's only Oldham's Nicola White, Olympic gold medallist from
Oldham!
She
was kind enough to stop for a picture.
She
told me she was living in London these days, but was back in Oldham
seeing family. Being an Olympic athlete, she explained, she can use
council gyms across the country for free. Her mum, working out with
her, took the picture.
I
mentioned how I was on the edge of my seat in the hockey final
against the Netherlands. That penalty shoot-out was intense. Check
out Ms White's equalising goal halfway into the match. Bosh!
