All is Not Forgotten

 

For my birthday back in July, a cousin signed me up to Teatime Bookshop, a book subscription service, delivering 2 crime novels per month to my door. The first of these was All is Not Forgotten, by Connecticut author Wendy Walker (who I might add now follows me on Instagram). 

I wouldn’t normally put a novel review up on Psychology Saturday, but there’s a connection. The book’s premise: in the small, sleepy town of Fairview CT, a brutal rape destroys the tranquillity. The perpetrator is at large, and suspected as a local. The victim, Jenny Kramer, is offered an experimental psychological treatment allowing her – in theory – to forget the incident, therefore eradicating her PTSD. The treatment, however, comes with its own side-effects, and her father is determined to uncover the perpetrator – even if Jenny isn’t. 

The treatment – ‘Benzatral’ – is skimmed over, as if the author hasn’t properly researched similar drugs available today, or at least wasn’t confident enough to expound the technical details in layman’s terms. You know me. Armchair psychologist. I love that kind of thing, so was disappointed it wasn’t made a more thorough strand of the novel. This shouldn’t have been that difficult, given the narrator is the town’s resident psychiatrist, who treats a number of the characters. 

Said psychiatrist (his name appears as both Alan and Allen) uncovers numerous dark secrets about them all, leading to a twist-filled story. It certainly holds the interest, although there is an air of traditionalism, a hint of slut-shaming (a character refers to ‘deviant sex acts’ without describing them. Are they consensual? Legal? Or not?) and perhaps over-sanitised dialogue. Characters occasionally describe things they hadn’t seen, and make a lot of naive assumptions about others. 

I dunno. An intriguing but flawed story.

Sci Fi, Cirque, Pizza

Oh, guys. You missed an incredible For the Love of Sci Fi last weekend. One of the best movie conventions I’ve ever attended took place Saturday and Sunday. I’m working on a blog post right now featuring the cast of Back to the Future, Universal Soldier and Star Wars. Incredible visuals. I’ve just got to scan in some pics and decipher my absurd Teeline attempt first. 

Also this weekend, overhyped (and overpriced) hip hop club Cirque (opposite Australasia just off Deansgate) has come under fire from their own – now former – employee.

I never felt safe in Cirque. Bad vibe with an air of aggression from customers and staff alike. Same whether it's Thursday Friday or Saturday. pic.twitter.com/xaehVnahyP

— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 mastodonapp.uk/@matttuckey (@matthewtuckey) December 5, 2022

 

Next Monday, at Manchester’s Andy’s Man Club, you (providing you're male and over 18) can do 2 things – meet a bunch of good blokes and get anything you want off your chest, and also eat pizza and have a few drinks afterwards. It won’t be a massive late one as most of us – myself included – have work the next day (annual leave denied!) But the organisers are arranging the food and drinks in our regular, The Crown and Anchor. Christmas get-together. New people welcome. Starting, as per, at Sedulo, Deansgate, 7pm on Monday.

Santa Dash!

Start line

 

Back in mid November, I once again cut out junk food and focussed on endurance at the gym, and kept up with some running. The plan: to get fit for the Saddleworth Santa Dash. 

I was 11’9’2 – 73-74kg – at the time. I’m now 11’9’4. Oh well. I have, however, matched my plank record of 7:00, something I’d originally attained in May (and not since til this week). I’ve put 5 more onto my dips record, now at 145. I’ve had reasonable times with a running route I do, but no PBs. 

The Santa Dash – a 5km fun run through the villages of Saddleworth Oldham, featuring 1200 Father Christmases – took place today. I got a respectable 33:18. I was faster in 2018, and slower in 2019. 2020 was cancelled and 2021 I was ill. 

The route starts and ends in Uppermill, where food and drink stalls offer hot and cold refreshments and a live DJ reads out the fastest runners in each category. I ran with my family, although we all ran at our own paces. Finding your relatives afterwards when you’re all a sea of red and white is a challenge, but we managed. 

Prior to today, cutting out junk food was hard. I still had the odd energy drink, out of necessity, including this morning, but beyond that I’ve eaten pretty clean. No takeaways, chocolate, or other such. I perhaps could have upped my porridge and cut my cereal consumption back. 

Thanks to Saddleworth Round Table for organising the day.

For the Love of Sci Fi is This Weekend

 

SF convention For the Love of Sci Fi returns this weekend after a 2-year COVID hiatus. On the roster: Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Mads Mikkleson, a quartet of Back to the Future cast (that don’t seem to be available for a group photo although I’m sure they were a few days ago), Anthony Daniels (C3PO) and many more. 

I was going to get that Van Damme and Lundgren double photo op, but I’m not sure I can justify shelling out £225. I paid a little over £40 for Danny Glover and Peter Weller each, and around £60 for Michael Bisping. The prices seem to be getting steeper. 

I’m going on the Sunday, as Saturday sees the Saddleworth Santa Dash take place, a 5km run through Oldham’s outback with 500 Father Christmases. I have done this a few times in the past, but ilness last year and lockdowns before it have put paid to my involvement. There are are less than 200 tickets remaining!

Find me on Mastodon

Anti-vax space nut Elon Musk has bought Twitter. I can’t see any real difference in it so far other than the return of a degenerate reality TV former president resurfacing. 

Either way, a number of people are migrating over to Mastodon, a new social media platform that looks a lot like Twitter used to. I’ve signed up. Feeling my way around, as it stands. 

I missed Liverpool Comic Con. By the time I called the box office, the entrance tickets had sold out for one day, and the photo ops I wanted had sold out on the other. Shit. For the Love of Sci Fi is in 2 weeks. I still need to buy tickets.

Why Male Loneliness Matters – and What We can Do About It

A good friend of mine Dan Rowe of support group Andy’s Man Club was one of the key speakers at a fascinating talk covering all things men’s mental health related on Thursday night. 

Why Male Loneliness Matters and What we can Do About It took place in 53Two bar on Watson St, along with former rugby player Danny ‘Scully’ Sculthorpe, now a mental health first aider on behalf of State of Mind Sport, Adele Owen from Shining a Light on Suicide and Max Dickens, author of mental health book Billy No Mates, all compèred by Virgin Radio’s Tim Cocker. The night was comprised of a series of presentations from a few different local support groups, including the aforementioned, but also: 

A Band of Brothers, an award-winning charity matching older mentors to younger men, mostly who have come through the justice system, preventing them from returning to it.  

Dadmatters, helping dads have successful relationships with their families, particularly vulnerable families.  

Directions for Men, offering groups across Greater Manchester on different days of the week. 

A Q+A session with the panel allowed for a conversation about mental health in general. The main takeaways – 

• a reiteration that there’s a difference between being physically alone and feeling lonely, that the feeling is more that something is missing rather than your proximity to other people. 

• An encouragement for dads to discuss mental health in front of their children so they grow up knowing that it’s something they can talk about in the future. 

• A change in circumstances – the end of a relationship, or moving to a new town, for example- can mean a change in friendships in adult life, something a lot of men find incredibly difficult. 

• London-based Lions Barber Collective are a team of men’s barbers. Describing itself ‘as a place for haircuts and headspace,’ the Collective offer mental health conversations and a haircut. The movement isn’t restricted to Carnaby St, though, as they are affiliated with The Hub of Hope, finding mental health support systems based on your location. 

At the time of writing I’ve just tried out this particular site, inserting my postcode. I’m offered different headings of afflictions I might need support with – addiction, disability, eating disorder etc. I chose the anxiety option. The top 3 results: Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind, Healthy Young Minds Oldham, and Andy’s Man Club Oldham. This website in particular is something I’ve been hoping someone would create for people looking for support across the UK. Back to the event:

• A lady from The Samaritans explained her organisation was looking to expand, and to work with other organisations like Groundwork, working with prisoners and veterans, etc. 

A really rewarding, interesting and reassuring night with some brave speakers.

Hacienda 40

May 1982 – some months before I was born – saw the opening of The Hacienda, a legendary Manchester nightclub. In the late 90s I grew up listening to Kiss 102, a Manchester dance music radio station, and I would hear DJs and advertisers raving about the club, the DJs, the bands and the music. I couldn’t wait to grow up and visit. 

The Haçienda lost its entertainments licence in June 1997, a month before my 15th birthday. 

My plans were, suffice to say, scuppered. As much as I grew up going to some house music clubs, and as much as some were really memorable (Ampersand leaps to mind) none had the legacy that Hacienda sustained. 

12th November ‘22: Many of the (literally) old acts, DJs, singers and promoters banded together for Hacienda 40, a night of old skool house, featuring many of the faces that – I understand – were regulars of the Hacienda scene. 

A good friend of mine managed to get me a ticket, so to the immense operational cavern that is Depot Mayfield we went, making it through the door at the bizarrely early time of 6pm. 

Set times had already began. 4 rooms – Concourse, Plant Room, Archive and Depot – ran concurrent DJ sets, which led to some unfortunate but inevitable clashes, and some walking due to the overall site of the Mayfield setup. The first big name I came across: 808 State in Depot. 

 

 

Over in the Archive, I think: CeCe Rogers told anecdotes of trips to the Hacienda back in the day. He DJ’d alongside A Guy Called Gerald, here playing his most-known hit, Voodoo Ray. 

 

 

Marshall Jefferson also shared these decks. 

 

 

Later, again in what I’m guessing is the Archive, possibly Happy Mondays. 

 

 

This brief, blurry footage definitely is Happy Mondays: 

 

 

In what I’m pretty sure is the Concourse, I found David Morales’s set. He played a lot of music by Frankie Knuckles, legendary house music producer who passed away in 2014. The 2, I gather, were good friends. 

 

 

Also, in this room, I bumped into Nev Johnson, DJ on what was Galaxy 102 in the 90s/00s. Good guy. Back in Depot: Orbital. Loving the Jawa outfits, guys. 

 

 

Loads of people I knew were there, but most of them I only found out later through social media that they’d attended. The place is so large, there was minimal chance of just ‘bumping into’ someone you’d know. Most recognisable faces we found in The Plant Room, a smaller, more intimate area adjacent to the main building with plenty of potted fauna (one was mint). I gather The Plant Room is technically part of food outlet compendium Escape to Freight Island? Also in this room we saw DJ Pierre, pioneer of Chicago acid house, perform a set. Making it home from a massive club just after 1am was a novel experience, but more so seeing some incredible 90s dance music producers with great friends. We should do this more often.