Waters of life

The waters of life (in a flooded Dunham field) bring us to the end of another year. I hope you have an enjoyable, entertaining and fulfilling New Year's Eve. I'm off to see 2016 in with a New Year Celebration for World Peace in Chorlton. Let's hope it's successful in its aims... 

ABC Wednesday: "Y" is for Young love...

Down in The Temple, the underground bar, my attempt at an impromptu Robert Doisneau type photo, 60 odd years on. Taking part in the "Y"s and wherefores of ABC Wednesday.

#Floods aftermath at the Addy #CityDailyPhoto #Cameron as Canute?

The Mark Addy pub on the left bank of the River Irwell in Manchester City Centre/Salford was flooded when the river burst its banks and overflowed on Boxing Day. This is the scene earlier today. A beach of silt on the terrace and rumours that the pub may not reopen.

Thanks to the Tory-Cameron regime's ignoring of climate change while making cuts to flood barrier funding this sort of flooding will become a regular event from now, even in (northern) city centres. See York, Leeds, Salford, Manchester,  this week, not to mention Carlisle, Lancaster and the rural north-east and north-west earlier this past months...

Cameron may still turn up in green welly boots mumbling platitudes for benefit of the media but most northerners despise him and his policies.

Monday Mural: @honest_coffee #citydailyphoto #vegan #vegetarian

Three Mancunian/Salfordian icons adorn the walls of the fabulous Honest Coffee cafe on 77-79 Chapel St, Salford (just over the Blackfriars Bridge from Manchester): Anthony Wilson, Frank Sidebottom and John Cooper Clarke. Murals by Stewy.

Honest Coffee opened in August and is my local cafe, 3 minutes' walk from my flat. Great food, I recommend the chilli style beans on toast: five beans-red kidney, black eye, borlotti, pea navy and lima on sourdough, with rocket. All food is veggie-friendly (with the exception of bacon), the beans and soups are vegan. 

There's also a workspace, meeting space, cool music (chillout as well as classics from ancient history like The Who and The Cure), and wonderfully welcoming friendly people. It's gonna be my new fave cafe for 2016- I look forward to chilling (and working) there some more.

Taking part in the Oakland CA-based but globally inspired Monday Mural posts.

My albums of the year: #WolfAlice #Gwenno #Horsebeach #Lonelady

The album I've played the most since it was launched in June is Wolf Alice's My Love is Cool- they are adept at balancing raw energy and melting melodies with a sonic smorgasbord going on underneath. Am still working out some of the lyrics' meanings. Seeing this wonderful London based band live twice in Manchester made me love them even more. Looking forward to seeing them again in March.

The next three choices are all in Piccadilly Records top 100 albums (in fact they all make their top 10, for what it's worth). Wistful wondrousness in the form of Gwenno and her solo album Y Dydd Olaff. It's far more than mere synth-pop, with a mix of Stereolab and Saint Etienne in there. the album is based on a Welsh sci-fi novel from the 1970s by Owain Owain about a dystopian future where humans are turned into clones by medication. Themes covered include this patriarchal society, government-funded media propaganda, cultural control and threat to minority languages.

Ryan Kennedy's creation Horsebeach II is wonderful and I missed the chance to see them at Band on the Wall this month- next time. Emotional at times and you are washed over by guitars and synths on a wave of melancholia-tinged positivity. They are a Manchester band, as is final choice- Lonelady (Julie Campbell). Hinterland is an audioscape exploring Manchester's unloved urban decay with a nod to the gloom of Joy Division but with its own energy and hope.

Weekend Reflections: Ice rink at New Bailey Salford

There are two ice rinks in town- the first photo is just over the River Irwell along Bridge Street at New Bailey;  the second is below and another of my snaps from the rink at the Great Northern Warehouse on Peter Street. What else is happening this festive weekend at Weekend Reflections?

Merry Christmas at the Printworks

Merry Christmas to all. May peace prevail throughout the world, whether Christmas is celebrated or not, and may the over privileged remember and support the under privileged this season and beyond.

Deck the halls with bakes by Holly #HomeBaking

Photos and festive home baking by Holly Sutton-Brand.

Season's Greetings!

ABC Wednesday: "X" is for XYZ building

The XYZ building in Spinningfields opens nest spring and several commercial radio stations are due to move there from Salford Quays. Solving the troublesome letter "X" without resorting to "Xmas" for this week's ABC Wednesday.

A great northern ice rink

One of the wonderful ice rinks in town that create such a festive spectacle. This one's sponsored by Manchester's Key 103 radio station. I hope you too are gearing up to a long winter break (or a summer break for my southernmost hemisphere blogging friends and visitors) from work and are able to see friends and family.