We’re hoping that that isn’t the end of Summer. It’s cooler and we had a lot of rain this week. It was so torrential at one point, that the gutter outside our living room was overflowing again. Our own little Niagara. But we did enjoy watching some birds having a bath there for a few days.
Amongst the usual antics, we spent one day this week in Manchester. The International Festival continues and we saw two more events.
At Factory International’s base, now known as Aviva Studios, a name not universally welcomed, we enjoyed You, Me and the Balloons. Japanese artist Yoyoi Kusama designed an exhibition of inflatables, all covered in polka dots. It’s a fun show to wander round, and her story is very interesting too, if sad and tragic at times.
The doll, Yayoi-Chan, is a representation of Yayoi herself, well a ‘kawaii’ vison of the happy girlhood she never experienced.
The only sounds we heard were people speaking in hushed tones, the pumps inflating the balloons but mainly Yayoi on-screen reciting a poem, in Japanese.
There was a large sphere, also covered in polka dots. I was intrigued enough to queue up and go inside. There were just a few smaller spheres inside, but the mirror walls gave a sense of infinity. And the bonus was seeing a million doppelgängers of myself.
Another smaller sphere was just for looking into. I’ve seen kaleidoscopes before of course, but this was so much more than that.
In the middle of the exhibit were some cushions, called Clouds. I had a short lie-down on one of the bulky, oversize cushions, so that I could study the lights on the ceiling. Oh and it was nice to lie down for a few minutes, as is often the case, after walking slowly around an exhibit.
We had a few hours to pass between leaving this show and going to the theatre. Let’s spend some time in Festival Square, listen to some tunes, we thought. But as we walked by, we agreed that the music here was far too loud for our delicate, aged lug-holes, this definitely wouldn’t be a relaxing sit down.
So we carried on walking, bumped into Colin from Wythenshawe Radio who was volunteering at the Balloons, and carried on to the Central Library.
While there, we heard a group of musicians jamming just along the way.
Desperate to know the time, we wandered back down to the entrance hall where we were given a warm hand on our entrance. On display here are the hands from the clock from Manchester Town Hall which is closed right now, being refurbished, ready to open up again in 2026.
Outside the Town Hall, space has been reserved for trees, so I hope when the time comes, they install/plant some really mature ones.
Given the propensity for Manchester youths to destroy and vandalise and throw things in the canal, I don’t think saplings would survive very long.
We dined at Wagamama before returning to the Royal Exchange Theatre, this time to see Kimber Lee’s new play, The Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play. It’s a play born of rage over female Asian stereotypes in plays such as Miss Saigon, and all the way back to Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. It is very funny, but there is also a lot to think about. After leaving Manchester, the play moves to London’s Young Vic Theatre, and I would highly recommend it. I’d give it 5 stars.
While in the theatre, we tried to sign into the wifi, but we were spoiled for choice:
The Wednesday walk this week was well-populated, despite the threat of rain. In fact, I did get drizzled on a bit, and afterwards, we all sat inside Boxx2Boxx to drink our coffee. Maia from Factory International joined us today, and I mentioned in passing that I thought the music at Festival Square was too loud. I didn’t wag my finger, I was polite about it.
We missed the excitement around the corner, in Royle Green Road, where the lamppost by the pedestrian crossing had been knocked over by a car. The driver claimed he was going slowly. Not if you knock over a fence and a post like that, and then end up screeching to a halt on the grass verge so far along the road. ‘Slow’ by usual Royle Green Road standards, maybe.
Even though the post had fallen, the green light was still working. And the good news is that repairs were completed within a couple of days.
We just need a new set of railings now.
I went along for my annual eye check in Didsbury. It was a thorough test, and the plan was for me to walk home afterwards. But I’m sorry to say, I wasn’t concentrating, and starting walking along the main road rather than by the river, so I caught a bus for the last bit.
The meeting for Wythenshawe Radio volunteers was interesting and afterwards, I had a nice chat with Roz, who presents a couple of lunchtime shows, and Maria, whom I’ve never met before, but we had communicated in the early days of Radio Northenden.
And for the first time since Jyoti left, I went for a massage which, given the number of clicks and pops, my muscles really needed.
While I was enjoying being pummelled and massaged, Liesel went into Manchester with the WI gang. They visited Castlefield Viaduct and a pub.
My Wythenshawe Radio show this week was a long Coffee break. Despite my best efforts, I didn’t have a guest talking about coffee, so just two hours of music to keep you going. You can listen back here.
Mick and Liesel's Antics 