UFC 196 this weekend: join us

More up to date poster seemingly unavailable- Dos Anjos not on this card

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns this Saturday- or Sunday morning to be precise- at 3am. New female champion Holly Holm makes her first defence of her bantamweight title against MieshaTate and Irish welterweight Connor McGregor faces Nate Diaz (replacing the injured Rafael dos Anjos).

I'll be watching this in Genting Casino on Portland St, on a joint meetup with Manchester Cool Bars and Clubs and Manchester Social Group. If you fancy staying up late, come join us. We're meeting just before 3am. The fight takes place in Vegas, so it's a bit of an odd time, but it'll be worth it. You can practically have a night out before the card begins if you want.

Socialite and Bamboo

Dropped into Spinningfields' Neighbourhood bar on Thursday- one of the only busy Thursday night bars you'll find- where I successfully schooled some drunk bloke in a dance-off before heading to LIV for their Socialite event. Pics are here.

Great evening. More pics here.

Japanese-themed Bamboo returned to LIV on Friday for their monthly event. Actual bamboo attached to walls; kimono-clad dancers; giant panda-head outfit being passed around. Great vibes. Pics here 

A few of my own:

This was a joint meetup incorporating both Manchester Social Group and Manchester Cool Bars. Just a reminder if you're going to LIV whether it be with these meetup groups or not: ALWAYS bring ID. A driver's license ideally. It doesn't matter how old you are- they treat everyone equally and always require it. If you forget, you can fill in a form on the door. But generally speaking, if you go out to bars you should always have ID whether the club require it or not. You never know when it will come in handy.

Top top evening. Keep your eyes on these meetup groups for similar nights out!

Prospective Mondays

Wowsers. House music producer Rui da Silva follows me on Twitter! Remember the absolute banger that is Touch Me?

What's happening in the city? Friday night: Bamboo returns to Club LIV. I was at their last superb Bamboo night on Mad Friday. House and RnB with stunning kimono-clad podium dancers. Will be good to see it back. If you fancy getting involved, join us on Manchester Cool Bars and Clubs' meetup. We're starting in Sakana at 9, as are a lot of people who'll move on to LIV next door. A good deal if you're a lady!

Clashing with this is Manchester Social Group's monthly meetup in cosy Wetherspoons' The Waterhouse near the Town Hall. If you like things a little more relaxed and peaceful, this one's for you.

Also clashing with this is an RnB sensation revived by The Milton Club. Damage will be performing an intimate gig at the members' venue as part of the club's monthly Soul Purpose roster. No meetup for this as yet.

That's your Friday, what about Saturday?

Manchester Cool Bars are again in town, this time for Ark Saturdays on Deansgate Locks. They're starting in nearby Sugar Buddha and heading to Ark for a charity event featuring the cast of MTV's Ex on the Beach.

Fight fans: Anderson “The Spider” Silva fights Michael “The Count” Bisping in UFC Fight Night 84.  I was going to put a meetup on for this but it's a little late at night- I've got 8pm as the start time, but these things fluctuate and times aren't properly advertised on the UFC site. I've got Writers Connect that Sunday, so I can't have a late one. If you fancy giving me feedback on my fiction, and on other people's writing, and perhaps getting some suggestions on your own work, get involved. We're at Nexus Art Cafe on Oldham st from 1pm.

Thursday Club

Who goes out on a Thursday? Well, I do on occasion, and there are a handful of places in Manchester that still pop off. Neighbourhood was busy at half ten, where the photographers were clustered around a group of people- included it seems were Queen of the Jungle and Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison. I didn't recognise her but I did spot former Eastender Dean Gaffney and former WBO light-welterweight champ Ricky Hatton (who wasn't bowled over when I told him I'd read his autobiography. Banter.) The M.E.N writeup has more.

There are a few familiar faces there now having been on a few Spinningfields nights out. Friendly bar.

Sakana was dead at half eleven so I dived straight into celeb hangout LIV for their new Thursday night Socialite event, where Hatton bought copious amounts of Moet and hung out with a guy who looked like Chochise from The Warriors. Pretty much all the aforementioned ended up in LIV. Pics from the night are here. With a slightly younger clientele Socialite is a great night, and only £7 instead of the Saturday night £10 door charge.

Thursdays: the new Fridays? If you dare...

Dropped into Tiger Tiger last night for what I thought would be a student night.

I managed to get hold of a membership card a decade ago at a gym called Holmes Place, now Virgin Active, in the Printworks. I was going to use this card this week to get into Tiger Tiger's student night, which I always remembered being on a Monday. Just a few years ago, and YEARS after graduating, I'd dropped in on that night and it'd been great fun.

I swung by last night hoping the membership card would get me past the doormen, but there was no queue anyway. Was I too early?

I talked to a barman who said the student night had been moved to a Tuesday. Oh well. I mentioned I was last in the club at New Year when rapper Fat Man Scoop was performing, and that I'd seen a huge kickoff in the Boogie Wonderland room. The barman mentioned that the group fighting was in fact gypsies and that one of the managers got beat up in the process. The trouble-causers spent loads of money, though, so were pretty much let off.

Take a look at the pictures from the night: gypsy fashion normally includes lace, bright colours and dotted patterns for the women and 1993 trends for the men. You can spot them.

The barman also mentioned that Deansgate Locks is a busy night on a Monday (as it was back in my student day). I may put something on Meetup for a Monday night- stay tuned to Manchester Social Group and Manchester Cool Bars if you're free those nights.

The Dreaming Void

I've just finished reading the first of three SF novels by Peter F Hamilton, the UK's leading science fiction writer. The Dreaming Void follows three young men on very different journeys in 3580 in the Intersolar Commonwealth: Inigo, whose dreams are transmitted through the ether and experienced by billions, inspiring them to pilgrimage, Aaron, a man with serious amnesia who knows only his name and that he must stop Inigo and the pilgrimage, and Edeard, a junior constable- a police figure- trying to bring about order to his city. His psychic powers put him a cut above his peers.

I found the plot very heavy and technical, which is fair for a “hard SF” novel like this. The predictions of future tech and lifestyles were fascinating. I'd love for my calendar to be in my head permanently, and for this- plus the internet- to be accessible through instant mind-control. It's a little cheesy, it's action-packed, and massively inventive and engaging. Looking forward to the (much larger) second and third parts.

Why Your PC Won't Turn On

You press the power button on your CPU, and nothing happens. You press it again. You wait a bit, then press it again. It seems your computer has finally flatlined... or has it? Before scrapping it and heading to PC World, try this technique:

Unplug the power lead from the CPU. Not the plug at the wall, but the thickest plug in the back of the actual computer.

Press the power button on the front of your CPU. Yes, it's ridiculous. It won't power the computer to life, but it apparently resets something in the computer's memory while it is inactive.

Wait 10 seconds.

Plug the power lead back in and press the power switch again.

This technique has worked for me a few times. Let me know if it works for you.