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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Clayface Filming in Manchester

Manchester’s Castlefield was transformed into Gotham this week for Clayface, a Batman / DC movie. The titular Clayface is an enemy of Batman whose face can transform. Further details on the M.E.N. The area in Castlefield was itself transformed into a homeless encampment. I got down there yesterday at the end of the last day of filming as the set was being disassembled.

Filming of Clayface, new DC Batman film, in Castlefield Manchester yesterday. Just got there around wrap-up time.

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— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matttuckey.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 6:44 AM

Reading Month ‘25

Look at this for a To Be Read pile. Absurd.

I'm going to attempt to read as many of these books as possible in one month. Where would you start?

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— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matttuckey.bsky.social) September 16, 2025 at 9:48 PM

I’ve looked through my Before 44 blog post from a couple of months ago, a list of tasks to do before my next birthday at the end of July, and realised I’d better get started on it. All of these challenges are very similar to things I’ve done before, so I figured: why not do the one that I’ve done the least recently? 

4) is a reading month. One month of reading books as often as possible. I’ve done this a few times, years ago. This will exclude psychology books (2 of which I’m already reading). I’d need to do separate posts for those, so I’ll pause on reading psychology. I’m going to cut down on the gym a little bit, stick to a few classes, and focus on getting settled into books. 

This time next month, I’ll upload a review of everything I’ve read.

No-show at the Sunset Soiree

Went out to this Sunset Soiree night in Menagerie yesterday evening. There was a meetup orgnised by Manchester Social Meetup. Put the tux on, headed down to the all-black dresscode event… and nobody was there. 

And I don’t just mean nobody from Meetup. I mean, there was a barmaid and a manager. They didn’t know anything about it. Also, nobody responded to my comment on Meetup (which appears to have been deleted). What a fuckabout. Doesn’t help the meetup scene, which already has a PR issue with the amount of twats on it, if they’re organising events and then not actually running them. Say what you like about my meetups (and people have), but when I tell you I’ll be in a certain place and time for a meetup, I turn up there. 

That said, no meetup from me this weekend. Work night out. Tons of ideas though. 

Also, I passed 1.5 million hits on the blog last night. Life is the same.

Fish Stew

Next up in Craig Brooks’ Eat Like a Viking cookbook: Fish Stew. A traditional pescatarian recipe, fish stew became a staple in Viking culture as most communities thrived around rivers for food and transport. 

I bought my fish from Aldi. 

This supermarket, and 2 others, didn’t have garlic leaves, so I used ground garlic instead. Nor did they have purple carrots. I also used dried parsley as there’s no way I’d use up a whole fresh bunch. 

Good flavours in the end. By no means bland, and even the carrots tasted good.

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London September '25 Day 2

 

Breakfast in YHA

Mayflower pub, owned by Ian McKellen

Headed into the financial district. I was hoping to get to Horizon 22, a viewing platform, but it was booked up until the next Monday. Nearby, we found 120 Fenchurch St, which had a rooftop viewing platform of its own, so we took a look up there. Well maintained garden with great 360 views. You can see from the construction that the views we got were unique – the finished skyscrapers will block off a lot of distant views and sights of The Thames. 

St Ethelburga's and Gherkin 

Walkie Talkie from ground level

 

 

 

Entrance

The Scalpel and The Gherkin

 

Tower Bridge

 

Medieval Tower of All Hallows Staining, preserved with the development of 50 Fenchurch

On my London List I had Shoreditch, a trendy area reminiscent of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Got a sandwich at Jolene. Sat outside and watched the world go by.

 

Then it was time for a steady traverse via bus to Euston again. At least you see a bit more of the city this way, rather than the insides of a tube tunnel. Would be great to get back there again when the strikes have been settled, and on days when attractions are open.

London September ‘25 Day 1

Searched all over for cheap European destinations, but most had hidden fees that bumped the price way up. A lot of Scandinavian Viking museums are closed for refurbishment at the moment, so we turned to London for a UK city break. Picked out a few museums and landmarks that I’ve not yet seen and travelled down on Sunday 7th by train. 

Found The Fast Show’s Paul Whitehouse in Piccadilly train station. 

Suit you, sir. 

On the train on the way down, I looked through my London list – which is several years old and has been updated as time has gone on – and realised several things. 

1) Avanti Wi-Fi is shit. But at least they had USB sockets. 

2) The Gherkin tower and restaurant would be closed until Tuesday. 

3) The Film Museum had permanently closed. 

4) The Cinema Museum was only open on Saturdays. 

5) The Museum of London – that holds certain Viking artefacts I really wanted to look at – has been closed since 2022 and won’t reopen until 2026. 

6) There was a tube strike starting at 6pm. 

Euston

 

 

Well, anyway, on arrival we managed to find Museum of London Docklands hosting a mudlarking exhibition. This curated display featured an array of artefacts – some centuries old – that had been preserved in the mud. Boots, clothes, work tools, ancient ritualistic masks, weaponry, statues and pottery had either been left there or had drifted the currents from Europe and found itself lodged in the estuary. Mudlarkers, people who trawl the coastline ,would routinely pull these things out for analysis. 

Very interesting. As was the planned government alert that went off on everyone’s phones while we were in the cafe. 

 

 

 

 

 

We then got on the Docklands Light Railway – not striking – where a woman had her trousers on inside out. Hipster or dementia patient? Hard to tell in 2025. 

Stopping at Canary Wharf, a mild 26ºC, we stopped at Brera cafe for a Vitamin C mocktail and American pancakes. 

 

Looking at my list, it wasn’t difficult to get the bus (the driver waved me on with my Manchester bus pass, which I didn’t think he would) to the Olympic Park in Stratford, where Team GB dominated in 2012.  

Zipworld London, not actually a zipline, is a 76m tall, 178m slide inside the ArcelorMittal Orbit. £17 on entry. Knee and elbow pads, and a sack, are all provided at the top of the slide. A clip-on camera will capture your descent for an extra £5, but it’s that dark in the tunnel that it wouldn’t be worth it. You need your hands to hold the sack, so I wouldn’t risk doing it on your own phone. Exhilarating, but over in a flash. 

 

Headed over to YHA Thameside, budget but respectable hotel. Dropped off some stuff, then found Canada Water Cafe. I had the garlic bread starter and pappardelle with short rib ragu. Great but hugely filling.