Our World Tuesday: Last night in #Manchester #MakeMayPay #NoStateVisit #DumpTrump #NoMuslimBan

Sometimes one photo isn't enough for a City Daily Photo blogger. In the severity of the global situation, I make no apologies for posting many placards from last night's rally and march in Manchester. 5-7,000 people organised with about a day's notice and said no to Trump's fascism, no to unelected prime minister Theresa May's fawning and acceptance of such policies and no to a state visit by him.

Next Manchester action, rally and march,  2pm Saturday in Albert Square. 

Taking part in Our World Tuesday.

Monday Mural: Birds of Faraday

I think this is my 199th contribution to Monday Mural but there's always something new and exciting to report muralwise from the streets of Manchester. This one was done last year as part of Cities and Hope but I took the photo last week. 

On Faraday and Port Streets, where the Cuban bar has now been replaced bythe Stage and Radio bar.

Dragon on Greengate

There be dragons in Salford...

Weekend Reflections: Chinatown window

Reading Cantonese or Mandarin when it's reflected in a window makes life that much harder...  Weekend Reflections visits Chinatown at this time of Chinese new year celebrations.

The Lanterns of the Terracotta Warriors #ChineseNewYear #Manchester #CityDailyPhoto #Yearoftherooster #XiaNan

Great to see the internationally renowned Lanterns of the Terracotta Warriors make it to Exchange Square in Manchester this week for their UK debut and the Chinese New Year celebrations. Their creator is artist Xia Nan.

They look good by day but spectacular at night, when the ugliness of the newer shopfronts behind them disappears and your imagination can bring them into a more exciting setting. Happy New Year of the Rooster!

Flaming Lips' zaniness, zorbing and great tunes

I was at an amazing gig at The Academy on Sunday, where The Flaming Lips provided an evening of intense music aided by zany props. 

Giant balloons, a toadstool and unicorn may have added a touch of childlike wonderment, but from the opening tones of Race For The Prize from The Soft Bulletin and into Yoshimi it was all about the music - despite the zorbing of Wayne Coyne during Bowie's Space Oddity, above and here.

"C" is for Chrysalis queues on the canal

All lined up on the banks of the Macclesfield Canal near Higher Poynton. The bright green boat is called Chrysalis, others here include Maple and Lady Jane E. Taking part in ABC Wednesday, coming around cautiously to "C".

Tripping on Union and Roman Streets...

How I see my lovely Manchester, on a good day.

2000th blog post #MondayMural: Busy bees of #Manchester @MuralLife

Well, here we are with the 2,000th blog post on Mancunian Wave. It's been a long journey since I started here in April 2011 and I have loved every day of it, ok, well - most days. Appropriately, the busy bee, symbol of Manchester, features today as party of the Monday Mural. 

A few bees have been popping up as street art over the city the past few weeks. If you look closely around the city, the worker bee has appeared in plenty of places over the year, on street furniture, mosaics, prints and more.

I'll be relocating to the south coast in a month or so but will be back in Manchester monthly. I plan to keep Mancunian Wave going on an occasional basis, juggling it with a new blog called Chrissy by the Coast. Join me at both, won't you?

Weekend Reflections: Reservoir fogs

Glancing through the mist and fog at the Errwood Reservoir last Tuesday. See last Thursday for more posts from the walk we did there. Weekend Reflections.

Women against Trump Albert Square 1pm today (Sat 21st) Manchester

There was a large anti-Trump rally in St Peter's Square, Manchester last night. Speakers from Standing Rock, Stop the War, CND, People's Assembly Against Austerity, Greenpeace and more.

Join us today (Saturday) at 1pm in Albert Square for a Women against Trump rally. Men also welcome.

Skywatch Friday: City cranes at dusk

An early evening view from a Manchester tram at Deansgate-Castlefield, for Skywatch Friday.

Day tripper: Goyt Valley

I downed tools on Tuesday and we went for a wintry walk and a stand up picnic (!) in the Goyt Valley, above Errwood Reservoir in Derbyshire. Snow patches in places, damp and cold but some stunning scenery.

#ABCWednesday: "B" is for Bridgewater & blog backlogs #citydailyphoto

From a heavy snowfall a few winters back and a post that didn't make it onto this blog at the time. Better late than never...

"Despite the snow in Manchester and north Cheshire we managed to get in a good walk along the frozen Bridgewater Canal out near Daresbury. It was wonderfully deserted and quiet, apart from the satisfying crunching sound of snow underfoot, a sound that I remember from wintry days of childhood and which is still as pleasurable even now".

ABC Wednesday bumps along to "B".

Salford Noir @IslingtonMill #CityDailyPhoto

Cool jazz and gumshoe detectives, ambience and atmosphere. All at Islington Mill in Salford last Saturday night. Club Lit's Crime Scene was the performance culmination of 14 days residency. Written by David McLean and Phil Carey, the event was near perfection, in a great venue to create the vibe.

While some actors lent a natural Salfordian-Manc accent to their detective, which was great to set the tone, others drawled through the dangerous streets of downtown back alleys in US cities. 

Luke James Webb, Gareth Smith, Christopher Wollaton Green and Ali Bell were the detectives. They were backed by a 17-piece band who played just the right kind of jazz for the night: mean and moody with sax, cello, keys and guitar dominant. What a wonderful event!

There's a 10-second clip on my Instagram account. Hopefully the whole event will be available online or as a DVD, it's worthy of it.

Taking part in Our World Tuesday.

Monday Mural: A Motley Two #Marmite #revolution

I've seen two of these Marmite-inspired murals in the Northern Quarter in the past week. Disobedience extract, the revolution will be cleaned by the council. Taking part in the Oakland-led Monday Mural.

Heart of Snow

A photo taken late on Thursday night by Holly Sutton-Brand, as in Henna by Holly.