The Secret Life of Andrew

A busy weekend - again! On Friday night I made James a nice meal. It felt like I was in the kitchen for an age but it well worth it. I made a Turkish lamb and apricot casserole thing followed by cherry clafoutis. I de-stoned two whole punnets of cherries and parts of my figures are still stained now. Seriously, I suffer for my art. But it was a big success, especially the casserole. We've been cutting down our meat in-take lately so buying and eating lamb felt like a proper treat!

On Saturday it was fairly quiet which made a nice change! In the evening we ventured out to spend our voucher at Thai Edge. I had sweet and sour pork and we shared a vegetarian starter. It was all very nice but Leeds is quite good for Thai restaurants so I thin I prefer its competition. However, I've won a £15 voucher on twitter so we will be going back (if anyone wants to add me on there who hasn't already then my username is the same as here)! The restaurant did redeem itself on desserts though. I had banana ice cream and mango sorbet which was lovely. We were quite full afterwards so we podged out and watched (and I stress that this wasn't my choice) First Knight. First time that James has chosen a dud in a while! It was just very bland, and while some of it was quite good (some good fights, chases) it was all quite flat and unengaging.

Sunday was busier. We went on the Leeds tour bus! It was resident's weekend so it was free. I learned lots of little interesting snippets too. There used to be Monopoly factory here, the first moving picture was filmed here and the first permanent traffic lights were erected here! Also, the guy who created the sculptures in city square created the Queen Victoria statue outside Buckingham Palace. Also, Dame Judy Dench opened the West Yorkshire Playhouse! Fascinating! Of course, some of the commentary did get mocked by us. 'Clarance Dock is now an urban village...' - "Ghost Town more like". 'Leeds has more park space than any city in the UK' - "None in the city centre though!". Leeds College of Music got a hefty mention surprisingly. I didn't know that we were the country's biggest music College so I even learned something about my workplace! Haha.

In the afternoon we went to Leeds Pride. It's a funny thing. We go but we still feel like outsiders when we're there. As James said, it makes us feel excluded from a group that can already often feel excluded. We're not really 'scene' people, but the acts are fun and it's free. We had dinner at the Museum Cafe (obviously) first and got treated to Bears Aloud, the Dame Shirley Bassey Experience and, errr, Adam Rickitt. Mr Rickitt (Tory hearthrob that he is *ugh*) did his new David Guetta produced single (?!), I Breathe Again 2010 (?!!), Everything My Heart Desires and a topless Encore of the original I Breathe Again (??!!!). very bizarre. there were some right sights there as well. As James rightfully said, "Some of these multi-coloured lesbians don't half look miserable". Haha. We didn't march this year. James had done it every time he'd been so he wanted to watch the whole thing for a change. Although half way round he did say "We should join in really to show that not all gay people are weirdos". See, it's a love/hate thing. We slacked off the Lower Briggate party side in favour of going shopping in Tescos. Oh, we did see Ellen and Jonathan who we knew through James' old Skipton LGBT group although they were working so we couldn't chat for long.

So after all that fun we went home and watched Sherlock! It's very good. It's just so nice to have something on the BBC that's 90 and can breathe a bit. So if that's the price that I have to pay for only three episodes then so be it!

I forgot to mention last time about Toy Story 3 and their portrayal of Ken. There's been quite the wittering about how homophobic it was. Even Attitude mentioned it this month (Did I mention that I'm in Gay Times this month? Haha. A tweet about Lisa Scott-Lee is in there! Haha!). But surely it's more homophobic to assume that he's gay? He just likes clothes and is quite effeminate. I dunno.

Jaqui pointed me in the direction of this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/09/feminism-margaret-atwood the other day. It's easy to lose faith in the feminist cause when even Margaret sodding Atwood has given up. I've always been quite vocal on feminism which is quite unusual as a man but I do feel that it's important as it's one of those causes that people can assume doesn't need defending anymore and in that way, it's much less 'obvious' than being pro-gay (although with added rights, that's going to go the same way soon I fear). But this article highlights a number of things:

1) People still think that being 'a feminist' means that you must go on marches and become a raving lesbian. It doesn't. All it means is (and Diane Abbott sums it up simply and rightly) that 'I think women should be socially, economically and politically equal with men.'. That is all!

2) It also doesn't mean that you must constantly analyse where you are in the work place in light of your gender as Deborah Meaden seems to think. But then, it's quite easy for her to dismiss being a feminist when she's managed to smash through the glass ceiling. So long suckers!

3) Shami Chakrabarti makes an important point I think. Being a feminist or whatever cause you fight for doesn't mean that you've lost your sense of humour.

4) It's appalling that someone Faye White of all people doesn't consider herself a feminist when she's exactly the type of person that needs to be one. Football is a hideously male-dominated area of society, and I can't think of many others that are as unequal as that. So, the fact that you're a woman playing football should make you a feminist.

I can't imagine a time that I'm not aware of sexuality issues in society, for the simple reason that I'm gay and that stuff affects me, so it stuns me that women can deny being feminists. Does not compute. In fact, the only thing going for Thatcher was that she was a woman and yet she denied being a feminist, and look how hated she is! So let that be a lesson to you people!

Sorry, but I really do feel that feminism is heavily important, still.

In other news, I need to update on films and books I read lately. While I was on holiday I read Julain Clary's 'A Young Man's Passage'. which I enjoyed. The man was a total slag but the whole thing is so candid that I almost forgave him for it. It's quite interesting how his rise to fame undid him and (as always) it's shocking how failed gay men were when the AIDS crisis hit. I put the book in conjunction with an Attitude article I read recently on gay men's 'right' to cruise and have sex in public. It's funny how, to me, that sounds like something that sounds so outdated. It's not even a case of it being overwritten with the world of Gaydar, I just can't comprehend it. Either way, the 'for' argument was weak as anything and I really thought that it's something that gay men had left behind. Apparently not.

We've been to the cinema twice in two days this week. There's a lot out that I want to see at the minute. On Wednesday we went to see The Hurt Locker which was quite intense but brilliant with it. I was pleased to see that it was directed by a woman too (haha.). I don't think I would have gone to see it if James' hadn't wanted to but I'm glad I did. I was completely out of my comfort zone and I think it did me good to, for once, not ignore the scariness of the current wars. I think it's easy to dismiss people who want to join the army, there's often a lot more to these people than meets the eye.

Last night we went to see the antidote, 'Broken Embraces'. I really must see more of Almodovar's stuff. I really enjoyed it. It was played quite 'straight' for something of his and I was surprised that Penelope Cruz wasn't in it more. However, it's wonderfully acted and although it's a simple story in a way it's still quite gripping. Not the best of his I've seen but it was good nonetheless.

Yesterday James' grandparents, Mum and sister came for a visit. I'm surprised we managed to pusuade James' grandparents to travel down but I'm glad they did really. We had dinner in M+S and then gave them the tour of the flat. I think they liked it at least and it probably did them good to come to Leeds.

The dissertation deadline looms. Things are not going well at all :s Can't wait to have that anvil lifted from my head though.

Lucy's first -

1. Crewe
Well it's no secret that I think that Crewe is a shit hole and for many years I thought that all towns were as bad. Then when I moved away I thought that maybe I'd been a little harsh on the place. No. It's full of narrow-minded people because all of the proper Cheshire types have the common sense to live away from the place, so it's weirdly surrounded by very nice countryside and lovely towns. Nantwich springs to mind. I once told my wonderful colleague Stella once that Crewe was full of people who walked around with faces like smacked arses. She thought this was funny but thought about it for a while before saying, 'You know, you're right actually'. I rest my case. The people there are not pretty. It's weird then that my immediate family, who are lovely, live there. I know that my Mum hates Crewe but my Dad seems to have an attachment to the place and can't abide me slagging it off. I don't know why, possibly a pride thing. The one thing the place does have going for it (or rather was) is that it's left leaning so it does have a working class, northern mentality which is a blessing and a curse. In some ways it's good that people have a Labour affinity but at the same time the problem with the place is that it's never left that behind. Mind you, that might change now that they've gone fucking Tory.

In short, it's just not a place for me really. 

2. Being Gay
I'll try to keep this short but I bloody love being gay. I'm not bound by social constraints of masculinity but I'm not a flaming gay stereotype either. It's quite freeing being gay from a sociological point of view, even if it made my life an absolute misery at school. Although it's still ridiculous that the whole 'coming out' business is still such a issue in today's society. I've never been one for being an 'activist', I've always thought that there was more to be said for living a normal life. I have a happy relationship, I go to work, I don't fuck everything that moves, I find it quite empowering. But the more time moves on I'm starting to think that there's quite an arguement to be made for making an issue of it, especially when others are suffering because of it. I doubt I'll do anything about it, I'm much too introverted but maybe one day soon I'll join a gay group or something. I'll see.

On another note, I'm lucky to live my life fairly abuse free but if I do get any, nowadays its so so weak which is good. A few weeks ago me and James were holding hands near the canal (and I'm not really one for public displays of affection to be honest) but some chav asked us if we couldn't get a girlfriend. Lame, but I just wished I had the wit and intelligence to say, 'I don't need to, there are clearly enough twats in my life as it is' but I don't.

3. Your opinions on Nottingham
I've not seen tonnes of Nottingham but I really like what I've seen. It seems like a nice city and I really like the big square outside the council house (ho ho). I feel quite comfortable there. Which is why I find it really strange that it's the gun capital of the UK. That just doesn't fit somehow!

4. Your best charity shop find
I was thinking about this recently actually. I do remember getting loads of James' Xmas presents from charity shops one year actually! Haha. The one that springs to mind though is the Neighbours board game which is amazing. It's from the 80s and requires you to make up your own scripts. It was £1.87 (!) in a charity shop sale (!!) on Eccleshall Road in Sheffield.

5. Your favourite film.
I often have trouble picking stuff like this but I know what the answer is. It's Amelie without a doubt. I've seen it loads and it never gets boring. It's just everything good about cinema. It's stunningly beautiful, it's clever, it's funny, it's intricate and it's so heartwarming. I'm not a romance film fan but I'll let Amelie off for it because it's done so well. I just wish that I could speak French as everything loses a little in subtitles. I adore it.

and Leeree's

1. What's the best film you've seen recently?
Bolt was good as was Slumdog Millionaire. I haven't seen many other films lately to be honest. Millions was also very good.

2. What made you want to go to Uni in Sheffield. are the hills as bad as I hear they are.
D'y'know, I just fell into Sheffield really! As with everything I did my Uni application at the last minute and picked the six places that I wanted to go based on who did English Lang and Lit closest to home. I didn't even visit anywhere which is quite bad. After I'd applied I did research it a bit more to pick a top option but I was very lucky to get into a good university on a good course. And it worked out ok in the end. And yes, the hills are as bad as you here. I'm sure Stu can tell you all about them anyway!

3. Where's the best place you've been on holiday.
Iceland probably but then I've not really been to many places. I've had a few good holidays.

4. If you could reserect one band, whom would you chose to restore?
My immediate reaction to this is Bis but I got a good amount of material from them. I'd have liked to have heard what Ultrasound would have come up with on their second album and Kenickie could have done at least another one.

5. Can you recomened a good cake or baked item for me to bake?
Oh my God I totally can!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons of choc chips
a splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (the larger the better)

Put dry ingredients in the mug and mix. Add egg and mix again. Pour in milk and oil and mix. Add choc chips and vanilla extract. Mix.

Put the mug in the microwave and cook for three minutes on high. The cake will rise over the top but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, tip on to a plate and devour that bad boy! It does serve two if you like.

Honestly, it's wonderful!

I dunno what went wrong last week but it was mental! New Prime Minister, floods, Spice Girls, work stuff, being stranded at home, terrorism - crazy! So, not surprisingly, it was quite an eventful weekend too!

Saturday, me and James headed off to York. I do like York, and it's locality make it somewhere that I'd really like to live in the future. I wonder if York Minster has a library. Hmmm. Oddly, the weather was quite OK! We didn't want to stay over in case any floods stopped us from getting home but that was never a problem, although it was a little drizzly. We did a little shopping. I kinda wish we'd had more time for it really because it's been ages since I've been out shopping. I bought a nice shirt and a T-shirt, and the Klaxons album. We had lunch in Fenwick's too because we're dead posh. 

At 2 o'clock we headed to the York Palace Theatre to see Beauty and the Beast. The verdict? No more matinees! We were in the stalls, near the back but with really good seats. But as the place filled up we became very aware of the amount of kids there. this awareness didn't stop during the performance either because the horrors were so damn noisey that we just couldn't stand it any more. At the interval James went and requested a move of seats it was so bad. Thankfully, the gallery was much quieter and there were even adults there wanting to enjoy the show, crazy as it seemed at the time. Cue moan about adults taking kids too young to appreciate it etc etc. So what of the show itself? Well, it was good, not great, but good. Sometimes it lapsed into pantomime a little and the upbeat numbers blew the ballads away. It was clear that so much effort had gone into the party pieces that the slow ones seemed a little flat and uneventful, plus the songs didn't always allow the clearly talented singers to show off their voices. Another problem was that we'd seen the Lion King which was so utterly amazing that this was always going to pale in comparison.

But, I think we're missing the thing that made the show - there was goddamn dancing cuttlery! It was amazing. 'Be Our Guest' was easily the best thing about the show and the costumes in general were amazing. Anything with a woman dressed as a giant toast rack was always going to be a winner. There was a corkscrew, sugar bowl, serviettes doing the can-can, TOAST RACK, knife, fork, spoon, plates, acrobatic cushion, salt and pepper pots, and many other things I can't remember. plus, Lumineres had actual flame-y hands which was very good. So yes, it wasn't all bad. Apart from the kids - they were ALL bad.

Finally, this weekend we put some shelves up, which should have been done earlier, but once they were up the final unpacking of books happened. So things are looking really good :D James also bought a car, which is rather good. It's a gold Citroen Saxo, five years old and it should be ready today :D We took it for a test drive and everything and it's such a smooth ride in comparison to the banger we have now! So yes, I'm pleased for him :D At some point I may even get insured on it. Crazy talk I know.

Sunday was also Sheep Day in Skipton.The high street was shut off which I always like and we had a wander around to see what was on offer. There were some stalls selling nice preserves so I bought a jar of tomato relish and a jar of tropical jam. Yum yum. There were also displays! We saw a sheep having a hair cut and a dog herding geese, oh and some ducks, including ducklings! All very good. A heavy downpour in the afternoon didn't help although before that the weather was good. We didn't hang around for too long anyway due to car buyage.

Doctor Who was finally watched. The final was excellent and I'm gutted that Martha is relocating! I like her a lot. I also like the Doctor being a weird little alien thing too. John Barrowman in chains too, me thinks that there was lots to like :D

Yesterday was staff day. Yes, a desperate attempt to boast morale was really fitting with the dissolving of the department. Some boring talks started the day off, including a guest speaking who was teaching us relaxation techniques. They just made me feel a bit dizzy :s but lunch was posh, nice and free and I sat talking to Debbie for most of that. I found out that James in the office is a gay (points for me!) during a discussion on sexuality in the office. I've been thinking about what was said a lot actually. Debbie's view was basically, we'd rather just people be honest with us, which immeadiately suggests that not saying anything is like lying to your collegues, which I totally disagree with. I don't really mind wanting to know, it's any digging that I don't like. Part of my issue comes from the fact that I myself find it difficult to express my sexuality to new people, I guess it's because before work I've never had to do it. I came out at uni when I already had established friends and so never really met new people who I had to say anything to. But the fact is, work collegues are just that, collegues, not friends and I think what you tell to whom is your business. I dunno, it's something that I've got to deal with. I'm just not the kind of person who doesn't give a shit what others think of them so just coming out with stuff concerning who I am I find a bit difficult sometimes.

Anyway, that aside the day was good. It was made better by the quiz at the end of the day which we won. And for once I felt like my old self, being able to just be me in a social environment. I didn't realise how much of that area of my life was missing really, although I don't really know what to do about it.

I appear to be obsessed with Darren Hayes at the moment. Not someone I thought I'd say that about but 'The Tension and the Spark' is a wonderful electro album. Can't wait for the new one. Mmmm, August.

Oh, I forgot! I ordered a PS2 last night! Hurrah! I've been thinking about gettting one for a while so I've finally taken the plunge. I never thought I'd miss computer games when I moved away but I'm just wanting to do something at home that isn't reading or watching stuff really. So now I'm onthe lookout for cheap games!