Dogs!

Dogs are amazing, aren't they? This blog post is going to be all about dogs, so sorry if you're one of them people who say daft things like "Actually, I prefer cats" or (even more daft) "I don't like the idea of having a pet at all". This blog post is not for you. If you do like dogs, you should follow my (Steve!) Instagram profile, which is made up primarily of candid photos of strangers' dogs.

At the weekend we had a pretty dog-tastic time, all in all. We went to the television's Battersea Dogs Home. You can pay £2 to get in without having to agree to adopt anything, so it was kind of like visiting a zoo that only has dogs (and cats). We weren't allowed to take pictures, but here's one I took before I realised:

There were so many amazing dogs. Our favourites were Jacob, Frankie and Wilma. If you're in a position to adopt a dog, you should definitely consider rehoming an abandoned one. Here's Wilma's photo from the Battersea Dogs Home website:

Awwww! After we'd spent ages walking around and looking at the dogs and cats, we popped down the road to the the Gallery on the Corner, who currently have an exhibition of dog art (art by dogs) on until October 20th. Here's a Daily Mail article about it, complete with humourless idiots underneath the line saying things like:

"This is not ART. To call it art is to belittle true artists with talent. Animals can't make art as they haev no concept of painting/drawing for any other reason than reward. Of Course, as i mention in my comments on the Bankys article..some fool will pay stupid money and they will become worth thousands... great for Dogs home...depressing for Art"

Get a grip, mate! It involves dogs so is a good thing! Proceeds from the exhibition go to the dogs home, too, so that's even better. Here's a picture of the sausage dog that was trotting around the exhibition space. I think he might have belonged to the staff at the gallery:

Also, in other dog related news, the super amazing Discount Horse are releasing the even more amazing All Dogs' split with Slouch. It is one of the best things I have heard this year and you should definitely buy it.

Please tweet us photos of your dog! And remember, you can still enter the competition to win tickets for Carefully Planned this weekend.

See yer!

S

Carefully Planned (+ an exciting competition!)

Carefully Planned, a festival across six different venues in Manchester, is usually flipping brilliant. But this year the lineup is even better than usual! We're so excited about it that we thought we'd better write something about the five bands/artists we're most looking forward to seeing this weekend. Here they are, in no particular order:

Mat Riviere
Obvs! We've already told you how great his most recent 10" is, so it's almost inevitable that we'd be really jazzed about seeing him at Carefully Planned. That's not all, though: he's playing at Bakerie wine store, the fancy bread (and wine) place next to the fancy pie place. Jackpot! I'm going to be stuffing my face with still-warm focaccia while he does his thing.
(Saturday @ Bakerie)

ONSIND
Either we really like bread (and wine) or Bakerie is just the place to be on Saturday. Actually, it's both. But straight after Mat Riviere's done, you can stick around and see ONSIND. Acoustic pop punk from Durham, featuring people from Martha.
(Saturday @ Bakerie)

Well Weezer
It's Well Wisher doing Weezer covers, obviously. And it's in the swanky new room upstairs at the newly refurbished Gullivers. Can't blumming wait!
(Saturday @ Gullivers)

Good Grief
Excellent noisy pop fun from Liverpool. I have never seen them irl before but am pretty sure it'll be ace.
(Sunday @ Gullivers)

Johnny Foreigner
Unlike Good Grief, I have seen Johnny Foreigner lots of times, although I think the last time was probably about three years ago. Dead frenetic pop-punk that will be a joy to get re-acquainted with.Yeah!!!
(Sunday @ Soup Kitchen)

There's loads of other super duper bands (Honourable mention to It Hugs Back who did one of my favourite songs ever) playing over the weekend, too. You can get all the information from the Carefully Planned website and there are still a few tickets left (You can get them from the website 'n all).

Competition time!
Would you and someone you know/love like to go to the festival this weekend? Well, have we got a prize for you. £12.50's worth of prime festival admission (more on the door) for the whole weekend for you and A.N Other. All you have to do is Tweet something like: "I would like to enter the @_YoungExplorer competition to win tickets for @ACPFestival, please!". Or comment on this post with a way for us to contact you if you win. The winner will be announced on Thursday! Good luck everyone!