Going on a Field Trip

Skyliner has been one of our favourite blogs for ages and ages. It appeals to our curious nature, is dead nice to look at, is wonderfully written and the articles usually include some pretty nice photos too. What more could you want? Hayley has recently written about the abandoned theme park in Berlin that we mentioned a few months ago, only her's is in more detail and has much better photos!

Hayley also does amazing guided tours of architecture in Manchester, and now you can buy your building obsessed loved one a gift voucher so they can choose which one to go on themselves. We want to go on the 'alternative countryside' one quite a lot. Anyway, our Liz was asked to provide an illustration for the gift voucher and there it is, poking out from behind the badges above. Nice innit?

It's a drawing of a building on Portland Street that Hayley has kindly written about for the next issue of Young Explorer, which is going to be about 'the past' and will be ready very soon we hope. Now stop reading this blog and go and spend the next few hours reading Skyliner instead.

See yer!

S

The Young Explorer Guide to Manchester

Now that we have been nominated for a snazzy blog award, in the 'Best City or Neighbourhood blog' category no less (Vote for us please!), we reckoned it was time we started being better at talking about where we live and how great it is. If only to try and secure a few more of those crucial votes (Vote for us please!).

Here's a map we put together of places that we think are nice and in Manchester. I think you might be able to add things yourselves? I dunno. Have a go. We have probably missed loads of cool stuff, too, and our choices are probably very predictable, so your input would be gratefully received! Feel free to leave comments, tweet, facebook or email (young explorer zine at gmail dot com, innit) us with places that you think people should know about.



See yer!

S

Fig + Sparrow and Brownie Owl!

Our favourite place to get coffee in Manchester is Fig + Sparrow on Oldham Street. We like it to an almost creepy extent.  We were initially drawn in by the amazing gift shop at the front of the café (They sell dead nice homeware things and other great stuff) - and we still probably buy something or other every time we go in - but it's the coffee and cake that we go for now.

Do you remember when it was really hot a few weeks ago? That was kind of alright, wasn't it? But in a way it was pretty unbearable too. Thankfully we were able to go and sit in Fig + Sparrow next to a fan and cool ourselves down with some lovely iced teas and coffees. Look how their cold drinks come! Cute, eh?

The breakfast pots they do are pretty brilliant as well. You get a jar of yoghurt and some chunks of chocolate brownie on the side and then you mix it all together and you're in heaven, basically. Sadly I don't work in town so going for breakfast every day is not really an option. But if I did...

Speaking of the brownies, wow! They're made by The Brownie Owl and they're probably the best brownies I have ever eaten. I'm always a bit 'okay then' about brownies. A brownie is a brownie. Like a jam tart, I'd be happy if I was given one but probably wouldn't choose one if there was anything more fancy on offer. But these brownies are actually incredible.

We were lucky enough to win some Brownie Owl brownies in a Twitter competition, so we had a whole box of them to munch on (With a fair amount of restraint they still only lasted about two hours). Here's the exciting news as it was announced!

Winner of our @thebrownieowl competition for a box of amazing brownie is.... @_YoungExplorer congrats!!
— WhosWhoManchester (@WhosWhoManc) August 16, 2013

We enter the lottery every now and again but very rarely get a number. This was like the food equivalent of hitting the jackpot. Look how tasty they look...

...and then times that by 100 and you're somewhere close to how good they tasted. They are probably on sale in other cafés in Manchester but we haven't bothered to find out where. A coffee, a brownie and a table at Fig + Sparrow is the best way to spend your afternoon.

See yer!
S

I just can’t wait to be king

Last weekend we had a fantastic time. Not only did we get lovely weather in Manchester (no rain at all!) but we also had a visit from my sister and her new(ish) husband. We had arranged this visit months ago when we bought tickets to go and see the super smash hit musical the Lion King at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. When buying the tickets last summer it felt like the day would never come. At first I wasn't that bothered about going to see the Lion King, as it was never one of my favourite Disney films (FYI, Aladdin is my favourite). But, having seen the musical version of Beauty and the Beast a few years ago, which is still one of the best shows I have ever seen, I thought I would give it a try. I wasn't disappointed!

The whole show from start to finish was completely magical. The way they had translated the animals into a combination of both puppets and humans was fantastic. Their eye for detail and the amount of animals featured in the starting scene was absolutely incredible. It's easy to see why it has become so popular. I would have to say the puppets and costumes were my favourite element of the show. However, the fact that I wasn't a huge fan of the film really added to the whole experience. I hadn't seen the film since I was little so found myself on the edge of my seat (not remembering the story and what was going to happen next). More importantly, during the bits that I could remember, I couldn't have dreamed up how they could possible recreate it for a live stage show, but they did it successfully in every scene. I would highly recommend it to everyone. I will certainly be going to see it again when it comes back to Manchester. I was unable to take any photographs during the show for fear of being strongly told off/chucked out of the theatre, but here is a Youtube video which shows how fantastic it is, much better than I could write about it. Enjoy!

How are you feeling?

Yesterday we went to see David Shrigley's new exhibition 'How Are You Feeling?' at the Cornerhouse. We went to see his exhibition 'Brain Activity' at the Hayward Gallery in London, which the Daily Mail called 'the sickest art show ever', in February, and it was well worth the entrance money. While the exhibition at the Cornerhouse wasn't quite as big, it was FREE. The best price.

There was no taxidermy this time, with the exhibition mainly consisting of loads and loads of the drawings that he's most famous for. All the favourites were there, plus tonnes of stuff that I'd never seen before. We particularly enjoyed this one:

And here's a photo of me looking dead serious and that.

There's other stuff too. There's a couple of nap stations in case you get tired while you're making your way around the gallery. There's a short and funny animation. There's a giant naked man who, rather creepily, blinks and urinates into a bucket every now and again. Visitors are encouraged to take a seat and sketch him, like you would a life model, but we didn't have time and I can't draw so we skipped that part.

There was also a gong that you could have a go on, which was too good an opportunity to pass up.

There's all kinds of things going on around the exhibition too. Check the Cornerhouse's website for different events, although the Harry Hill guided tours of the exhibition have sold out now. Rubbish. If you're lucky enough to be able to get into town at 2pm on a Wednesday, Bakerie are selling David Shrigley Anti-Psychotic Brain Bread for the duration of the exhibition. They're baking 13 loaves a week and they're £5 each. I'm hoping to figure out a way of getting one!

The exhibition is on until January 6th, and, as mentioned previously, it's free!

See yer!

S