Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Monday, 29 November 2021
Santa Dash, Andy’s Man Club Night Out
December and January may be quiet months traditionally, but there’s still a handful in the calendar.
Saturday sees the return of the annual Saddleworth Santa Dash, a 5K run through the villages of Saddleworth. Expect 500-or-so Santas involved in this. It’s a mere 15 quid and includes a suit, number and medal!
Manchester Andy’s Man Club are still meeting Mondays in 86 Princess Street. We’re bunch of blokes getting things of our chests, with the ultimate aim of reducing the suicide rate in the UK (this being currently the leading cause of death in men under 45). This Saturday, though, we’re off out for food. It was my plan to upload this before work today and encourage you to come to the group tonight, to find out more… but predictably, I did not get out of bed early enough. Nor remember to do so. Another good session though.
On the blog: more traded beermats, and more mats from The Prairie Schooner.
Sunday, 28 November 2021
About that Carnival Post…
On Friday I wrote up the Manchester Made Me Funky Carnival, a celebration of 00s-era house music, held in Bowlers with a stellar vocalist-and-DJ lineup.
In it I detailed everything that I’d be happy for the organisers to see, that may result in a few shares. There were a few moments in the night that, in the initial post, I didn’t mention.
In the run-up to the event, I had a bit of a to-do over Instagram with singer Julie McKnight, who was plastering her feed with rampant anti-vaxx sentiment.
I can't find my exact comments, but know this: She is wrong. And that’s all there is to it. If CMO Chris Whitty had had is way- and he should have had- McKnight wouldn’t have been allowed into the country, let alone play at an event with a thousand people in it.
Also, as a result of our batshit Prime Minister not imposing vaccine mandates or passports for clubs, there were more than a handful of unvaccinated people in there. One of them approached me at one point in the night: a reasonably fit-looking woman, blonde hair, blue dress. We were only talking for a few seconds before she began her tirade against vaccine passports that the government aren’t even implementing anyway. I told her to fuck off.
I asked to take this guy’s picture.
That’s a shark hat. It’s a little blurry, but hammerhead, if I recall.
“That’s not going on the internet, is it?”
I responded with an “uhhh” sound that lasted about three seconds.
“My dad’s a politician. I can’t be showing him up.”
I said I’d delete it. Burn me at the stake. I didn’t. Anyone recognise him? Know his dad? How terrible for his dad’s political career! His son was- filmed doing drugs, like the Mayor of Dover? Walking around a hospital maskless during a pandemic? Taking a 130-mile round trip with the family while infected with COVID, during the first lockdown? No. He was wearing a shark hat. In a club. How monumentally fracturing for his dad’s burgeoning political career! Call in Edelman PR to manage this disastrous public relations strain!
If you’re that bothered, maybe don’t dress like that in the first place and risk some videographer picking you up in his rushes, for example.
Here are the professional photos from the night, featuring all the acts.
Still a great night.
Saturday, 27 November 2021
How Effective are MRI Scans?
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Left: the hippocampus of the human brain.
Right: a seahorse, the Latin for which is 'hippocampus.'
Back in 2009, after a year or two of badgering my GP and a range of different psychologists, I found myself on a Disability Awareness training course via work. I spoke to the trainer and explained my difficulties at the time: undiagnosed memory issues, probably the cause of a head injury during a complication at birth, an obvious misdiagnosis of dyslexia, an inappropriate position in work, a support system that didn’t really know what to do with me and an array of problems at home and in social life.
The Trainer gave me his email, and eventually put me in touch with a neuropsychologist who worked in his building. We’ll call her GW. She met with me and ‘understood the assignment’ immediately: we set up a series of sessions to involved running the tests of the psych assessment, and looking at what can be done to address certain issues in my life.
When the assessment was complete, there were a list of perhaps 10 recommendations made. One of these was for an MRI scan to be carried out.
Weeks later, this was done, but the results had come back negative. They could find no abnormality. The MRI team had obviously not read the psych assessments or any notes at all about me, as their reply claimed, ‘this must be reassuring for the patient.’
It wasn’t.
Now, the head injury occurred during my delivery, in the same hospital where I was assessed, and where the scan was- 26 years later- carried out. I’m not saying there’s a huge inside job, but I am saying that from a scientific perspective it would be good to get a second opinion. I requested a copy of the scans and found a trusted NHS worker to pass it on to a neurologist he knew. The response was the same: no abnormality found in the physical structure of the brain.
This has always played on my mind. A decade or so after the scan, I still fail to accept this theory. I sustained a massive head trauma to the rear of the skull, the exact area that would be most likely to impact on the hippocampus and memory. The memory difficulties were first picked up on at 4 years old and they have never been ameliorated. How could one not be the cause of the other? How could that damage not have appeared on the scan?
More recently, I decided to dive back into this topic. I explained the above to brain injury charity Headway.
“With scans, it is important to be aware that they are not able to detect every brain injury,’ says Helpline Consultant Penny. ‘Certain types of brain injury, particularly if it has occurred at a microscopic level, are not detected by scans, and it is also less likely for an injury to show if it occurred a long time ago.
“There is some information about this on page 9 of our factsheet ‘Scans and tests after brain injury.’
“We have the understanding that MRI scans are most effective when there is a prior understanding of what to look for. For example, if it is thought that there has been a particular type of injury to a specific region of the brain, the scan can be set up to look for this, as opposed to a more general scan which may miss something. Certainly you are right in believing that scans should not be used as the definitive answer as to whether someone has an acquired brain injury or not.”
Going forward, to use the office meeting cliché, it would be great if I could get another scan, preferably not from Oldham NHS, to eliminate any potential bias (Oldham NHS performed the delivery where the injury was acquired). a local university has their own MRI machine, but having emailed them a few times over the years I never got very far. If any experts want to chime in, I’m all ears.
Friday, 26 November 2021
Manchester Made Me Funky Carnival
A canopy of paper-maiche tropical birds and reeds descend from the ceiling of Bowlers Exhibition Centre- home of many a 90s rave for people a decade or so older than me- but tonight we celebrate the decade after, and classic house music pumps from the massive overhead speakers.
Tonight’s party has been in the works since the start of Lockdown, brewing away in an online community of funky house fans. Before I detail the colours and sounds of the night, let’s rewind to July 2020, towards the end of the first lockdown. I find I’m added to a private Facebook group, Manchester Made Me Funky, set up by Monopoly Events boss Andy Kleek and Galaxy 102’s Mike Anthony. The group is to bring together all the ageing party people, the funky house fans who frequented the now-lost joints like Ampersand, Venus, North, Ohm, and the nights ran for those that loved House: Naked at Smokies Park, Plush, 2Risque, Twisted Elegance and countless others. We’re reminiscing, sharing photos and tunes, finding old friends. The group quickly burgeons to 6 thousand members, and it isn’t long before the idea is floated of a reunion. Kleek and Anthony, behind the scenes, start turning the cogs. A public page follows this. After all the COVID delays, a date is set: Saturday, 20th November 2021.
That’s where we find ourselves, walking into the venue at 7pm.
Tonight is the Manchester Made Me Funky Carnival, a celebration of 2000s-era house music packed with singers and DJs. The organisers chose a Rio-style carnival theme, with dancers, aerial performers and percussionists. Designers Visual Architects provided the décor, bringing in a rainforest canopy over the main room, a plants and plinths dotting the stage and dancefloor, and streamers descending from the ceiling. Meanwhile, the stage welcomed some of the biggest names in house music from days gone by. First up, Julie McKnight sings us Home.
Then Diamond Life
And finally, Finally.
House Music Royalty Jocelyn Brown takes to the stage next. The 70-year old can still hit the notes, although as you can see, it’s important that she takes it easy. Fair play. We’re a few hours into the night by now (as you can hear by my voice, sorry about that) but Ms Brown makes sure we Keep on Jumpin’.
Here’s Believe:
Somebody Else’s Guy:
Next up Abigail Bailey sang Herd’n’Fitz’s I Just Can’t Get Enough:
And rounding off the stage performances: Steve Edwards, vocalist on many a classic house music track. Until the promo info for the event came out, I had no idea the same guy sang these three. His set starts with Cassius’ Sounds of Violence.
Axwell’s Watch the Sunrise
Lastly, Bob Sinclair’s World Hold On
Bowlers offers more than just one giant soundstage: The venue has smaller rooms allowing for other themes, functions, and, in this case, DJs. This Neon Jungle room was electively alternative; both rural and a little cyberpunk.
The night rounded off with a few househeads testing their stamina in this smaller room, watching veteran DJ Jenny Harrison spin.
I wanted to keep the videos short during the night so I could ‘get into the zone’ and dance, (and dancing and filming makes for a headache when you play it back) so I wasn’t on my phone long. As a result I have very few notes in my phone (tapping in details helps me flesh out events posts), but the night was spent mostly dancing, catching up with old friends, and enjoying the music, just like the old days.
Brilliant fun. We left the venue right at closing time, just after 5am. Feet, legs and back were battered by the end of the night after what I reckon was a 10-hour stomp, but no regrets (except perhaps my choice of footwear). An incredibly well-organised event, hugely enjoyed by everyone there. Carnival 2 is already in the works for early March.
