Pole Dancing

Attempt at an Inverted-V.

So I went outside the box on this one: 

My housemate's girlfriend Sinead is an instructor at Pole Sessions in Worsley and had been challenging everyone in the house, or at least one of us, to attend a session for well over a year now. As we all play ice hockey, she felt our strength would give us an advantage making it easier to learn. And she just wanted a laugh, let's be honest.

I stepped up to the plate with an odd enthusiasm as I'm always up for trying new things -- not to mention six lessons for £20 on offer helps. Pole dancing had to be the most interesting experience and it's easy to say I have never done anything like it before. I woke up the following morning with sore forearms and calves. Also, my right hand is currently useless since tearing a bit of the skin on my palm. Hashtag pole dancing wounds. 

My instructor, Claire Henderson, who also owns the studio and is close friends with my housemate's girlfriend, was on strict orders to "put me through my paces". I worked on the side with the other beginner/intermediates who were on week 4-6 moves, but I quickly caught myself up to speed. 

My first task was to simply hang from the pole whilst supporting my weight -- easy. After that, I was taught to climb the pole, which I could do with ease. One of the girls was adamant I help her learn. The next two moves that could be connected were a forward and backward hook spins. These two are also my favourite as it feels I'm working towards a routine of sorts. The most awkward thing that I need to improve on is the leg not hooked onto the pole. At the moment, it just dangles behind me doing whatever it shouldn't be.

I also learnt how to do a handstand against the pole starting from the floor. It required trust that I wouldn't fall past the pole with the use of my core slowly letting my body unfold towards the pole. It was the most satisfying of all the moves from session one because of the trust factor. I'll brag. I did it first try.

The hardest move for me personally that the group was tasked with was to support yourself on the pole without the aid of your hands. I could only briefly do it, but it's something that would be neat to achieve.

Following the hour -- Sinead says the class always goes over -- the other girls in my group pressured Claire into "torturing" me with harder moves to see if I could do them. It was during this time that I began to fight gravity and fatigue more and more. I learnt how to do an inverted-v and the flag (with decent success).

A few things about the session made me chuckle. The first being what I was to wear. I decided on my hockey socks/cup supporter pants and gym shorts over them. Midway through the lesson, I was  struggling to do one of the handless holds. One of the girls chimed in, "You have too many clothes on" so I was made to lose the gym shorts. You don't expect that. The other thing that made me double-take in a way was when my instructor said, "You're really working me tonight" -- in the way that I'm a visual learner, so I was asking her to show me things two or three times.

Overall, a unique experience with five attempts still left to be great.

Metros Announce 2014 Varsity

The Manchester Metros committee has announced details of the third installment of their annual club showcase -- this time with a spin.

Manchester will take on BUIHA newboys LJMU Leopards (Liverpool Johns Moores University) on Thursday, December 4 at Silver Blades Ice Rink Widnes with face-off to be determined -- although doors will open at 6.15pm with food and beverage services starting at 6.30pm. The new North West Varsity will feature several players from Britain's NIHL teams in the area, including Widnes Wild and Manchester Minotaurs.

Tickets are to be available for purchase through Skiddle.com with a standard entry ticket costing £5. For an addition £2.50, the ticket will include, with return, coach travel from a to-be-announced Manchester location. To specifically support either university team there is an option on the ticket menu that will allow you to directly purchase your ticket from either club. Silver Blades Widnes is located at The Hive Leisure Park in Widnes, just off Ashley Way.

Mark your ever-distant holiday calendars as the contest promises to be exciting and fast paced. Full details, such as rosters, face-off time, ect. will be confirmed and continually updated through the Facebook event.

For now, you can refresh your memory with FuseTV's highlights and recap of twenty-thirteen's varsity that saw University of Manchester walk away with the trophy again, winning 5-3 on the back of two goals scored by UoM captain, Max Drakeley.

Almost Famous; pretty popular

Third time is the charm -- and I finally have the meal down that I will get everytime someone suggests we go Almost Famous at the Great Northern Warehouse. What does that mean? I should probably give them a shoutout as I am a repeat customer to the madness and a regular to the Pig N' Waffle fries. 

Also, the hybridity of casual British rules dinning matched with upper echelon quality intrigues me.

There portions are gargantuan in comparison to typical local cuisne and the flavours are bitey with a serious personal flair for theatrics, so don't let the flimsy, punny, and generic Word Processor font menu fool you -- Comic Sans didn't keep Lebron James away from Cleveland and American Typewriter shouldn't deter you because Almost Famous means obscure burger business drenched in their Redneck BBQ Sauce. The service sarcastically mirrors their sauce's snarky personality. The waitstaff are fans of what they serve and appear jealous as they watch their patrons consume the deliciousness.

My first experience at Almost Famous was near-catatonic. Not only did I pre-game my meal with an Asda create-your-own pizza, but I did so within an hour of the main feast that included the Hog Hammer Pulled Pork sandwich alongside Pig N' Waffle fries. Together they form one colossal demon and as standalones they are individual colossal demons, still. Now I just stick to the Pig N' Waffle fries. Not only does the £5 price tag satisfy my conservative fiscal beliefs, but it totally fills my stomach -- a reward for so little. As North Carolinian bred, where I'm generally picky with what comes on my pulled pork, here I say, "load'em up lads!".

Pig N Waffle fries are a brilliant combination of pulled pork and waffle fries -- genius -- with fires doused in their signature Redneck BBQ Sauce (still don't know what's so redneck about it) and Bleu Cheese Sauce, topped by diced onions and jalapeños. Fork required as it gets a little bit messy.

Whilst I generally order from either the non burger or fries sections, the burger flow is something heavy. There are patties stuffed with pulled pork or chorizo and you'll only find double cheeseburgers here. Bring an appetite. I recently had a catchup meal with a friend from university who ordered the Chilli Chilli Chilli Cheeseburger, Winning fries -- a mix of sweet potato and regular -- with a Charlie Brown milkshake. One sip to taste the milkshake was my allotment of sugar for the week alone and it was only Monday.

If you have the time and patience, I highly recommend a visit to Almost Famous. Luckily the times I have been it's been rather quiet. Once at lunch, twice around 5PM, but the wait for a table as it gets busier can be horrific.

Almost Famous is on Twitter: @AlmostFamousGN.

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Edit note: Justify, justified.

Uni Survival Guide: UK Tailgating

The return of college football and the NFL coincides with a welcome return of various and obscure meats spreading their fiery aromas across carparks and fields, all, at the foot of America's great monuments [to sports]: The Lambeau Fields of America; The Horseshoe and The Big House. Cowboys Stadium. The Coliseum, The Swamp, and Beaver Stadium. These meats will then be sweat out without shame in the autumnal sun only to be replenished by America's favourite low calorie beer, Bud Light. Unfortunately, I am neither in possession of an incredible selection of golden meats -- they had elk on the College GameDay set in Eugene -- nor am I in America... but I did spend two Saturdays ago watching Tailgate Fan (YouTube Channel) for an hour and a half in preparation for weekends once again having a true purpose.

Now, before you criticise my late night Food Networking selection, know that I live for college athletics -- football, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, volleyball, ect -- and the NFL, so this week's Uni Survival Guide Special showcases how one can create a bit of tailgating magic an ocean away to bite at the heels of minute homesickness. Because, what's a Saturday without yelling "COCKS" a little bit louder than "GAME" with a bunch of intoxicated strangers? Or a Sunday spent wearing No. 2 jerseys for America's most famous backup quarterback, Johnny Football? It's the last ten minutes of College Gameday to see what mascot head a 79 year old legend puts on. It's Cris Collinsworth's nasally voice. It's Dallas finding a way to go 8-8... again. It's tradition.

(Fact: No one does game day tailgating like America.)

I snagged this caloric gem after seeing it on one of the Tailgate Fan videos and it channels a bit of the The Vulgar Chef's "go get'em in the kitchen" attitude. It builds on the idear of getting as many different foods into your stomach in a single bite as physically possible.

Don't know what this sandwich of sorts is called:

- 2-3... to 4-5 chicken tenders or mini fillets

- A handful of french fries (I went with crinkle cut)

- Marinara sauce (I went with some generic red sauce)

- Sliced or grated cheese (The more variety the better?)

- Long sandwich roll (I'm classy, used French bread)

"What is pain?" -- "FRENCH BREAD!"

Assemble that out-of-the-oven bad boy as high and as fat as you can. A general tailgating consensus is the bigger the better; there is no "over-the-top". There are no limits.

Part II: Let me also introduce you to WHY YOU SO MADDEN BRO?'s newest team for the 2014 Fantasy Football season, #LindseyDukesNewBF. Lindsey Duke -- #1 in hearts and fantasy draft boards across the globe, she'll carry me to victory.

#LindseyDukesNewBF:

QB - Andrew Luck, Alex Smith

RB - Jamaal Charles, Knowshon Moreno, Stevan Ridley

WR - Julian Edelman, Kelvin Benjamin, Brandin Cooks, Odell Beckham Jr., Doug Baldwin

TE - Eric Ebron, Martellus Bennett

D - J.J. Watt, Darrelle Revis, Richard Sherman

K - Steven Hauschka

DEF - Seattle Seahawks

I didn't want a mediocre team so I took Richard Sherman, and Knowshon has passion as seen by his National Anthem waterfall tears, and I like'em young apparently (4 rookies). Yahoo! Fantasy gave me a B Draft Grade and told me I have a problem, rolling the dice with seven "high risk" picks. I don't see Josh Gordon or Wes Welker on there... At least I wasn't the guy who drafted the retired Tony Gonzalez.

"L.O.B. -- we the best."
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Edit note: Learnt from the best.

@a_gunzy I see that we taught you well! 243 pic.twitter.com/YtfsVujIlf
— Mary Allen Watson (@profsrimportant) September 6, 2014

Café Life: A Barista's Tale

Edit note: As I have struggled for "blog inspiration" recently (even though I enjoyed a swell time at home), I thought it would be fun to reach out to a friend and have them feature on my blog -- it's something I have wanted to have happen for some time now anyway. Contributions for this post made by Becqui Weaver.

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Becqui's cafe handiwork.

Hello! I’m Becqui and I enjoy blogging about books, life, and general happenings. Allen was a classmate of mine throughout three years of battling Critical & Cultural Theory and poetry. We're both continuing our education in Manchester, albeit at different universities, but I am still pretty excited that one of my friends is carrying on roughly the same path as me. I have recently taken up blogging to fill the summer university void left without any essay writing, so when Allen offered me a spot as a guest on his blog I jumped at the chance. At first, I was stumped what to write about as I didn’t think one of my usual book reviews was quite right, so today I’m going to talk a little bit about my experiences as a waitress and barista in a bustling Manchester café.

For the past two years I have worked at Café Muse in one of the city's top tourist attractions, Manchester Museum, which is located just off Oxford Road on the University ofManchester Campus. The café itself provides, what I think is, an extensive menu for a museum café -- I really like the emphasis it places on local suppliers, seasonal produce, and sustainability. These ethics are implemented within the coffee production by using organic coffee beans and Sweetbird syrups, which are a particular favourite. The syrups are not only vegetarian and vegan friendly, but free from all artificial colourings and high fructose corn syrup. I might be biased, but a gingerbread latte made by Muse beats all others. If you really want to indulge we make an amazing mocha which melts real chocolate drops into the espresso before being topped with foamed milk.

Because of location, the job also entails working various functions such as weddings or corporate hospitality events. As I work part-time alongside my studies, lately I’ve been thinking about the overall, non-monetary, benefits of my job: the values of companionship, appreciation of kindness, patience, and above all, a respect for hard work. At times it's hard to see those through stressful situations or impolite patrons I encounter, but the ability to handle such scenarios is personally rewarding.

There have been incidents where I have been called "stupid", or been sworn at by wedding guests too drunk to listen to me telling them that their taxi is outside. While these are isolated incidents, the humiliation of someone berating you in front of others when you are just trying to do your job is what hurts. And it’s not just behaviour towards me that is impolite. I have seen families come to cross words over who sat at a table first, and people who treat their surroundings with disrespect. I don’t think leaving dirty nappies in a restaurant is pleasant for anyone, let alone the server who has to clean up.

Some situations truly verge on farcical: while working a wedding recently, one woman who had been particularly demanding requested ketchup to go with her meal -- creamy chicken with potatoes in a tomato sauce, in case you were wondering. With some trepidation I nervously asked the chefs if there was any [ketchup] in the service kitchen only to receive a predictable, "F*** off". No way was I repeating that. The result? Me sprinting the length of the building through back corridors, down a flight of stairs to another kitchen, and back. Desperately trying to control my breathing I handed the ketchup to the woman only to notice later that she barely touched it.

Coupled with the monotony of cleaning up after other people everyday you would think that it’s an unrewarding job. ... You might therefore be surprised to hear that I love it. Even through the hard and unrelenting days, I ultimately leave work feeling satisfied. I talk to hundreds of people, meeting a host of interesting characters from students to ladies admiring my braids, and conservationists harbouring local news. From time-to-time, a few famous faces pop in: the team from The One Show, as well as the ubiquitous Professor Brian Cox. One of my favourite regulars is an old man who always spares the time to note down a poem or a writer he thinks will interest me. It’s because of him I have a prodigious love of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood. I’ve learnt that a simple conversation can really cheer people up -- if someone is looking down then give them a smile. 

They might just need a genuine conversation.

Equally, I have learnt to take pride in everything I do; it’s another way of giving happiness to others. I already love having guests in my home for dinner or drinks, so working as a barista is an extension of that -- almost. I take pride in the coffees I make. In the same way, little gestures like bringing a family a high chair without them needing to ask or handing an elder couple extra napkins for their sandwiches, makes me feel like I’m doing something further to make better their experience and that’s where work becomes enjoyment.

Finally, I have learnt the value of good, hard work. Balancing four shifts a week alongside university has never been easy but I’ve managed it well. My job is a requirement because -- quite bluntly -- I would never have been able to afford university, and a post-graduate programme would have been out of the question. However, I am of the firm belief that working part time has not only enabled me to study, but also made me better at it. I am more time conscious and organised, thus, utilise it more efficiently. You can’t pull an all-nighter doing an essay if you have a ten hour shift the next day.

I’ll leave you with this brilliant Buzzfeed list that I was sent the other day, waitresses and baristas everywhere, enjoy!

Becqui's blog can be accessed at http://becquij.wordpress.com. She earnt a combined honours degree in English & Philosophy from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2014 and will be continuing her studies on a MA English Studies programme this Autumn. Enjoys conceptual poetry, running, urban gardening, baking, and Foucault. You can follow her on Twitter at @BecquiJ.