31st July - Scissor Sisters concert

I decided to buy a pink feather boa on the way to the concert tonight as I've been meaning to get one for ages. I arrived at the MEN Arena early as usual and spent some time watching the crowd. There was a bunch of women behind me in pink wigs and feather boas and a couple in basques, stockings and brightly coloured wigs - this was obviously the time for fancy dress.
I didn't think much of the support act - every song sounded the same. No wonder most people didn't come in until they had finished.
The concert started with "She's my man" which got the audience up and dancing. The laser lights were very bright and colourful and the bottom part of the stage was shaped like a pair of legs. Jake (lead singer) wore silver and black striped trousers and BabyDaddy and Anna were in bright pink. Jake danced around the stage like a man possessed - he is crazy. I enjoyed all the songs - even the ones I didn't know. When they sang "Filthy Gorgeous" there was a giant naked woman dancing on the screen behind - this was not a concert for the easily shocked!
The end of the concert came a little too quickly, but we knew there would be an encore. Jake came back on his own at first. He explained that one band member was not there tonight because his mother had recently passed away. He then sang "Mary" as a tribute to her. The final song was as expected - "I don't feel like dancing".
Jake came back on in gold shorts and braces and Anna wore a gold frock.
In all it was a great night. I've had a hectic few days recently with all these concerts etc so I'll definately need a rest now!

30th July - Lady Salsa show at Palace Theatre

The city centre looked busier than usual when we arrived tonight. There's a concert on at the Arena as well as our show, plus the weather is good again so that must be why.
We arrived at the Palace and saw Jackie and a few other friends from my salsa class were there too. We found they were sitting in the circle with us. We had good seats in the front row but the leg room was limited.
The show told the story of salsa music and dance through the eyes of one woman who was called Lady Salsa. The costumes were bright and colourful and seemed to get briefer with each dance! The dancers performed rumbas, cha cha and flamenco as well as salsa. The men were excellent dancers - they could breakdance and do backflips as well as dancing furiously. I recognised a lot of the moves, but don't think I could have kept up with the pace. In the second half the dancers got quite a few people from the stalls up onto the stage to join in. Quite a few of them were good dancers. In the finale they taught us all a short routine. It's a pity I didn't have the room to join in properly!
In all it was an excellent show which Mum and I really enjoyed. I would recommend it to anyone.

29th July - Afternoon at the Woodstock pub, Didsbury

I met up with Brian in the city centre today and we travelled down to Didsbury by bus. We had a bit of a problem finding the pub, as we took a wrong turning, but got there eventually. We found Alan, Julia, Rick and Ian sat outside as it was a lovely summer day. It took a while to get served at the bar - I don't think they expected to be so popular today. Whilst we were waiting John, Phil and Jenny turned up and joined us. The two tables either side of us soon became free. I chatted to Jenny about her recent trip to Australia - it seems all went well. She is pleased to have graduated and it looks like she won't have difficulties finding a job - the part time work she did during her placement is still keeping her busy. Chris and Tim turned up later on. We chatted to Tim about his recent Network weekend in Derbyshire which went well. Also talked about Greenbelt. I have found out that John is an assistant venue manager this year. Phil and I also told the others how good last night's play was.
Chris, Brian and I made arrangements for our trip to Doncaster next Saturday for the Northern Lights Committee meeting. I hope the weather stays fine until then. We didn't realise how late it was until I checked my watch and saw it was nearly 5.30pm. Brian and I said goodbye and made our way to the bus stop - we found it quite easily this time. The bus must have took longer than usual to get to town and by the time I got back to Shudehill it was 6.30pm so I didn't get home till 7pm.
I had an enjoyable time, but may consider going by car next time if we continue to use this venue.

28th July - Twelfth Night in Wythenshawe Park

I met up with John in the city centre tonight and he drove to the park. It was good to see that the weather was still fine. We met up with Geoff, Phil, Wendy, Nigel and a new guy called Paul. Phil reckoned that as the afternoon performance was cancelled there would be less people from the group there. I reckon we did well as tickets for the evening performance were £13 and ours were only £5. We found seats in the covered area and we had a good view of the stage.
The production was minimalist and modern. Actors dressed in school uniform with outrageous wigs and almost everyone played two roles. The actors also played the music on oboe, keyboard, flute and guitar. The play was very amusing, especially when Malvolio turned up in stripy black and yellow stockings, garters and a soft toy banana sewed to the front of his briefs! The boxing match between Viola and Andrew Aguecheek was fun too.
In all it was a very enjoyable evening - I'm very glad I was able to go.

27th July - Friday Freestyle at Longfield Suite

Chris and I went to the first Friday Freestyle Jive at the Longfield Suite tonight.
It was a little quieter than usual,but nevertheless we had a good night. I danced with Chris most of the time, but also had the chance to dance with some of my friends from Prestwich including Rob and Jim. Phil and Wendy, who teach at the class where Chris normally goes in Warrington, taught the fun class. I enjoyed that. We mastered the first move which included a step sequence and tried our best to practise it as often as possible.
We stayed right to the end (midnight) by which time I was quite tired. I was pleased to discover that the next Friday Freestyle doesn't clash with Greenbelt so I look forward to going again.

22nd July - Salsa class

Today was the last day that the trams will be running from Crumpsall for a while so it will be harder to get to salsa class for the next couple of months. There was a fair number of people there when I arrived. The moves we learnt in the beginner lesson were the right turn and the step in. In the interval between classes I practised these moves with Sid. The intermediate class involved learning a longer sequence with several opportunities for styling - something which I'm gradually mastering. We didn't have time to learn the whole sequence as it was quite complex.
I went to Victoria station after the class and found there was a delay on the trams due to a points failure - trust there to be a problem on the last day. Despite this it was a good afternoon.

21st July - Big Jive Night at Stockport Town Hall

I left early tonight as I was concerned that the roadworks around the Belmont Bridge would cause delays. I need not have worried as the diversion was well signposted and the roads were not as busy as I expected.
The lesson tonight was good fun - the moves included a double catapult where the woman gets to lead the man for the second half of the move. I had quite a few dances tonight - several of them were with friends from Prestwich including Eric and my Aussie friend. Kay joined me at about 10.30 - she had come from the meal at Formby which she said was quite good. I left at about 11pm. The journey home was even easier than the journey there. In all it was a really good evening - I'm glad I went.

16th July - Modern Jive Class at Prestwich

Had quite a good night tonight. Beginners' moves were Basic, Man Spin, Catapult and Comb - all reasonably easy. Had quite a few dances in the interval between classes.
Saw my Aussie friend again and had a dance with Sid which I enjoyed. I saw Barry who I haven't seen for a while. He asked lots of questions about mutual friends of ours. Moves in the second class included a Secret Yo Yo Nelson which I eventually mastered. Have found out that the freestyle night in just over a week's time will be a charity fundraiser for one of our regulars who is currently quite ill. It promises to be a good night.

14th July - Pub Night at Cheshire Line Tavern

We had a good journey down to the pub tonight. There were quite a few people there when we arrived. We sat with and talked to Tina, Cath, Duncan and Paul at first. Tina and Duncan were in good moods as school has now finished and they have their summer free. Paul can't go on the forthcoming weekend away as he can't get time off work, but the others have already booked. Later on we moved tables to talk to Chris, Vanessa and the Irish girl who is another Sarah. I talked to Vanessa about Greenbelt and told her who is performing this year. The others were comparing notes on their Eastern European holidays - it all sounded very interesting.
We have discovered that next weeks beach day may be cancelled if weather continues to be as bad as it has been earlier this week. Actually today wasn't too bad -I had to wear sunglasses when i was driving tonight.
Before going home I asked a couple of people if they were going dancing next week at Stockport. Kay is not sure as it's her sister-in-law's birthday and Chris can't go because he is going to Keith's birthday party. However he did say he was still interested in going to Prestwich at the end of the month. I will still go to Stockport next week nevertheless as I don't get many opportunities to go. I'm sure there will be a few Prestwich regulars there.
We left a bit later tonight and had a pretty good journey home. In all it was an enjoyable evening.

11th July - Quiz

I seem to have been doing a lot of these silly quizzes lately.
As I'm a big fan of Ice cream I thought I'd post the result of this one.

You Are A Pistachio Ice Cream Girl

Funky. Surprising. Wild.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

7th July - Day at Gawthorpe Hall

Phil picked Brian and I up from my parent's place at about 11am and we followed Google's directions. They were ok until we got near the Hall when we were directed into a cul-de-sac! We eventually found the place. Sharon (the organiser), Chris, Norman and a few others were already waiting in the car park. I was introduced to Chris's friend Pam who had persuaded him to join us today. Elaine, Tim, Sandeep and Leanne arrived not long after us and by the time we set off there were 25 of us altogether. We noticed there were far more 25+ people than Gatherers even though they had organised the day. The walk route through the woods was fairly flat, but very muddy. I was glad I wore my boots. About half way along the route we stopped for lunch. Eventually we arrived back at the hall. We headed straight for the tea shop where we had scones with jam and cream. Phil and I had Earl Grey Tea and the others had coffee.
We then went for a look round the hall. Pam and I were particularly impressed with the embroidery exhibition and I think the others enjoyed it more than they were expecting to. We took photos outside the hall and then met the others back in the car park.
We then drove to the nearby Fencegate pub for the evening meal. We found that they weren't serving food until 6.30pm so we sat and chatted until then. Menus were put out and we ordered food. Phil and I had smoked cheese and pork sauasages and Brian,Chris and Pam had Steak and Ale pie. The chips were proper chunky chippy chips. Brian and Pam ordered chocolate pots for dessert and Chris had Sherry trifle Creme Brulee. I sampled both and they were very nice. We carried on chatting until after 9pm and then set off for home. The roads were fairly quiet so it didn't take long.
I'm really glad I went today as it was a very good day.

1st July - Salsa Danceabout afternoon at Opus in the Printworks

As usual, I was one of the first to arrive at Opus today. It's a good venue - the dance floor is much bigger than La Tasca. As peole started arriving I recognised quite a few faces. It was good to see Lorraine and Les again. There were quite a few people from our Sunday class there today, but unfortunately not many from the Monday class. I had quite a few dances and I must say I managed quite well once I got into my stride.
I seemed to do a good mix of Cuban and New York Salsa. I didn't see the dance demonstrations as they were later on in the evening, but I did enjoy the first Danceabout at Opus and I hope to go again.