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...

Take the Hint

She's not texting back.

A meaningless reminder:

Forgotten hairpin

Beating Seated Chest Press

Having hit 100Kg on bench, the next self-imposed challenge is to add on the three discs that increase the overall weight that I'm pushing. Each disc is 1.25kg each, hence pushing these 3 plus the 20 plates will equal 103.75kg. That's as heavy as the chest press machine goes.

I should be able to beat this within a month. Much less, in fact.

Are Nico and Viz Singing Thinly Veiled Shakespeare?

RnB duo Nico and Viz recently released the cliche-ridden, cheesy R+B summer “hit” Am I Wrong. Question: Am I wrong for suggesting that they were heavily inspired to write this song after studying William Shakespeare's Macbeth?

The song is written with an audience I mind. It's unlikely that the musicians would benefit from adversaries or competitors knowing of their self-doubt, that being the central theme of the song. In this way it shares a similarity with the sililoqy, a section of text in a play that ony the audience and the character delivering the line can hear. Other characters in the play are ignorant to these sections. It's as if we're hearing the character's thoughts. Macbeth, like many of Shakespeare's protagonists, deliver soliloquies. Let's analyse the lyrics.

"Am I Wrong"

Am I wrong for thinking out the box from where I stay?
Am I wrong for saying that I choose another way?

Here the lyricists open by discussing ambition, a need to rise above or at least break out of their current situation. Today ambition is admired, but in the 1600s when the play was written “ambition” meant a desire to gain more than you were worth- to get more riches or respect than you honestly deserve. Ambition in this sense is a major theme in Macbeth, as the central character bloodily works his way up Scotland's ranks.

I ain't tryna do what everybody else doing

At the start of the play, Macbeth is a successful and respected soldier, and one that stand out due to his bloodthirsty nature. but it quickly becomes apparent that this distinction isn't good enough for him and that a regimented military life isn't one he's totally suited to, or one that he wants.

Just cause everybody doing what they all do
If one thing I know, I'll fall but I'll grow
I'm walking down this road of mine, this road that I call home

At the start of the play, Macbeth is returning home from war.

So am I wrong
For thinking that we could be something for real?
Now am I wrong
For trying to reach the things that I can't see?

On his way home, Macbeth is confronted by three witches who claim he will become thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and king. Macbeth is doubtful. He soon decides, however, that he wants to rise from his station in life- even if it is wrong to do so.

But that's just how I feel,
That's just how I feel
That's just how I feel
Trying to reach the things that I can't see

Am I tripping for having a vision?

Before Macbeth murders King Duncan, to take his place on the throne, he sees a vision of a dagger which leads him into the king's chamber- and to the act of murder.

My prediction: I'mma be on the top of the world

In the play it is the witches that have the vision of Macbeth becoming king, but it is a vision that Macbeth quickly comes to share. Unlike Banquo, Macbeth's colleague who now knows of their predictions, Macbeth himself suspects that these ambitions may not be fair or just. Banquo encourages Macbeth to pursue this vision, which he does.

Walk your walk and don't look back, always do what you decide
Don't let them control your life, that's just how I feel

The witches do not control Macbeth's actions, but they are certainly persuasive and their predictions turn out to be accurate. Macbeth decided for himself to walk his murderous walk.

Fight for yours and don't let go, don't let them compare you, no

After Macbeth has murdered Duncan, he can't just waltz onto the throne, as much as he might like to. He still has to convince people that another person is guilty. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain fear for their lives and flee, so suspicion falls on them (even though Duncan's guards- now also murdered by Macbeth- are the main suspects). Macbeth blames the murder on them. Also, there are other heirs to the throne in his way- the witches warn that Macduff is coming for him. He questionably “fights for his” by murdering Macduff's wife and child. He also has Banquo murdered as he too knows of the witches' predictions.

Don't worry, you're not alone, that's just how we feel

Lady Macbeth helps cover her husband's lies by- whether acting or not- fainting at the appropriate moment after Duncan's body is found.

Am I wrong (am I wrong)
For thinking that we could be something for real?

Macbeth's ambition is not solely to rule on his own. Lady Macbeth becomes his “fiend-like queen” with a similar lust for power, and eggs him on throughout the play. Macbeth is more than happy that she plays along.

(oh yeah yeah yeah oh)
Now am I wrong (am I wrong)
For trying to reach the things that I can't see?
(oh yeah yeah yeah yeah)

But that's just how I feel,
That's just how I feel
That's just how I feel
Trying to reach the things that I can't see

If you tell me I'm wrong, wrong
I don't wanna be right, right
If you tell me I'm wrong, wrong
I don't wanna be right
[2x]

The final verse is telling. Nico and Viz are alluding that the forces of evil have now not only taken hold but embedded themselves in their belief systems. They are reciting this to the woman who is causing these thoughts. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to become more evil, and to murder Duncan. She succeeds, making Macbeth more bloodthirsty and ambitious than ever. He wants to see the witches' predictions come true, so he no longer has a desire to be morally right.

Am I wrong
For thinking that we could be something for real?
Now am I wrong
For trying to reach the things that I can't see?

But that's just how I feel,
That's just how I feel
That's just how I feel
Trying to reach the things that I can't see

So am I wrong (am I wrong)
For thinking that we could be something for real?
(oh yeah yeah yeah oh)
Now am I wrong (am I wrong)
For trying to reach the things that I can't see?
(oh yeah yeah yeah yeah)

But that's just how I feel,
That's just how I feel
That's just how I feel
Trying to reach the things that I can't see

Coincidence or not? I'm by no means a Shakespeare expert, but there are a few too many parallels to happen by chance if you ask me. What do you think?

Benching 100Kg

Well, I said here I'd smash the 95Kg bench press mark I've been stuck at since June 2013. I thought it'd take 2 months; in a little over 1, I'd managed it.

I had been feeling really weak for the fist few sessions, and I felt exhausted in work. But my manager pointed out that for the sheer amount of time I'm spending exercising I should be eating a LOT more than I was. So I started to pack in the food- the tuna, the beef, the mixed salad- and my energy levels returned. My physique is sharpening up, my strength improved and I've focused in work a little better too.

I also managed to go up one weight in horizontal dumbbell fly, something I'd been stuck on since May 2011. The free weights are very popular, hence the wait.

Finally, the ladies have noticed a bit of a leap in size. In my arms, I mean. Can't complain! I still need to cut out Crazy Caramels, though...

I Don't Know Whether You can See This, But...

I have no phone. I woke up Tuesday morning and my mobile had turned into an inoperable brick. The Xperia P- which has 2 months left on its contract- wouldn't make calls, had no stored texts, no contacts, no internet access and every app had stopped working. This is a SERIOUS ballache, for more reasons than I care to go into here. It's where I store a lot of things that I'm likely to forget, so this malfunction is akin to a veritable lobotomy.

I've been into the Three store on Market St- they want me to take it to the St Anne's branch, which shuts at 6, so I'll have to drop in later this week.

The point I'm making is, if you've tried to contact me and checked on here, I'm not ignoring you. Try tweeting me here.

New Nightclub Static Launches

New house music club Static opened Saturday 20^th Manchester. Headed up by DJs Adam Guy, Nick Hussey,  John Besant and Martyn Russo the club inhabits 18-22 Lloyd St, around the side of the Town Hall, the unit formerly home to Boutique. It's a small but smart venue with a strict door policy, but those who make it in will be treated to fantastic house music, good DJs, beautiful podium dancers and regal décor.

The launch night, fronted by house music brand Hed Kandi, saw a fair crowd attend. not rammed, but comfortably busy, populated by mostly good-looking people with good attitudes. It also saw a dance-off between myself and another guy who- predictably- I schooled.

The only criticisms I had were that the drinks were dear, even compared to other house music clubs, and that paying for them was hard due to long queues and apparent reception problems with chip and pin machines.

At the moment it looks like it only opens Saturdays, but it wouldn't surprise me if they started a Friday event soon. Stay up to date with their Facebook page.