Black Friday: a dark day indeed

Sunday, November 30th, 2014

The utter chaos that Britain's first Black Friday was met with beggars belief. People were tearing at each other to get to bargains they believed they had to have, even going so far as to physically assault fellow shoppers and abuse retail staff.
I mean, is anything worth that: losing your dignity just to get your grubby hands on a new telly?
Black Friday is, of course, an American thing, and what happens in America almost inevitably makes its way to the UK eventually, for good or ill. In several states in the US, people are actually given a public holiday on Black Friday so they can get in the midnight queues early. As a result, the first Friday after Thanksgiving has been the busiest shopping day of the year every year since 2005 in the States.
This year was the first time it's really been picked up on and actually pushed en masse in the UK. Everywhere I went in Manchester on Friday, there were signs and adverts telling me the day was black and that I could get so much per cent off this, and it could well be my last chance to get that essential gift at such a knockdown rate.
And the streets were packed. I mean, severely congested to the point that you were barely able to move freely without either treading on a small lost child, or bashing shoulders with a frenzied housewife with consumer hara-kiri on her mind.
And it saddens me that this anti-social and frighteningly damaging annual ritual is being promoted in the UK. Christmas is stressful and expensive enough as it is without retailers smugly trying to wring even more pennies out of those who cannot afford it by trying to convince consumers that they really have to buy it today - not tomorrow, not closer to Christmas: TODAY! It's your last chance, or else you'll be paying twice the price, and probably for less.
I fear for the pockets and bank balances of those in Britain who really cannot afford to fall victim to this consumerist pressure. Retailers should take responsibility and refrain from putting undue and unnecessary pressure on people to spend, spend, spend what they haven't got. People will pile up their debts on credit cards and then find themselves in even more trouble in January than they might have if they'd just stuck to sensible, paced Christmas shopping throughout December (or earlier!).

And the violence that broke out on November 28th in the UK, where people attacked one another in supermarkets in desperate attempts to get the last cheap iPod or whatever, is unacceptable, yet depressingly predictable.
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Peter Fahy rightly said: "The events... were totally predictable and I am disappointed that stores did not have sufficient security on duty."
Greater Manchester Police's Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins echoed these sentiments, saying that while shoppers' behaviour was appalling, the lack of planning from retailers was "really disappointing. They should have planned appropriately with appropriate levels of security to make sure people were safe. They have primary responsibility to keep people safe and they can’t rely on the police to turn up and bail them out."
The Black Friday phenomenon is only going to get worse year on year because we live in a consumerist society where electronic goods and multimedia and pointless tat like loom bands and woolly Christmas jumpers are valued more highly than simply making sure there's enough (not too much) food on the table and having a happy, family-orientated day in the spirit of Christmas.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not religious, and I certainly don't begrudge people a bit of fun and frivolity, but the destructive power that Black Friday has demonstrated this year has to be kept in check, for all our sakes.

It's all very well giving Tesco and Asda and all those other multinational retail giants bigger profits sooner, but what is it doing to our society, to our debt-ridden and those on restricted budgets who feel pressured into buying when they really needn't?

I hope that if Black Friday rears its ugly head again in 2015 - which it will - retailers take responsibility, and mediate and control its marketing, make sure there is security on their doors at one minute past midnight, and above all, don't encourage mass debt.

But then this is the UK. I shouldn't expect so much.

A most memorable Mancunian memoir

Sunday, February 2nd, 2014

I had such a good weekend in Manchester that I felt I wanted to write about it, and you can choose to read about it or not.
It all began on Friday with a lovely meal at one of my favourite eateries in the city centre, Kro at Piccadilly Gardens. It's a Danish restaurant/ bar but has all sorts of dishes on the menu. Having said that, I often find I prefer the Danish dishes, many of which seem to incorporate either fried or poached eggs, beetroot or black pudding. Sometimes all three. It's very hearty food, the sort of solid, meat and potatoes nosh that makes you feel good on a cold, winter's night (which it was on Friday).

Medister sausages. They have
 quite a kick

This time around I opted for medisterpølse, a Danish or Norwegian speciality consisting of a thick, spicy sausage made of minced pork, and it was delicious. In the past I've also enjoyed biksemad, a hash made with pork, onion and potato flavoured with lashings of Worcestershire sauce, topped with a fried egg and beetroot. I often think that most food would benefit from a dash of Lea and Perrins...
After loosening my belt by one notch, we headed to Manchester Opera House for a show I've been meaning to see for years now - Thriller Live. It's been firmly ensconced in London's West End for most of the last eight years, but it's current UK tour was an opportunity too good to miss.

The calm before the storm of hits

Being a fan of Michael Jackson's music since I was a teenager (any "child of the 80s" cannot fail to count the Thriller or Bad album among their earliest memories of discovering pop music) this show was a fantastic celebration of the late entertainer's most popular work. I wouldn't say it had the most imaginative set list, but then if they didn't include the likes of Thriller, Bad, Billie Jean, Beat It or Smooth Criminal, I'm sure the audience would lynch them. It would have been nice to include a few of Jackson's lesser known but just as enjoyable tracks though, such as Whatever Happens or You Rock My World off his 2001 Invincible album.
Nevertheless, everybody seemed to have a riotous time, and it was a great atmosphere in what is a gorgeous little Edwardian theatre (little being the accurate description of its very cramped leg room).

Manchester Opera House managed to look a little like the cinema in Michael Jackson's Thriller video

After a few drinks in my favourite bar in Manchester - the Molly House on Richmond Street - it was to bed, ready for Day Two.
Up bright and early, and a delicious breakfast at the small but perfectly formed Blue Daisy Cafe in the city's Northern Quarter. It only has three tables inside, and a couple outside, but if there's space, this is one of the best places I know of for freshly prepared home-cooked food. They always have delicious looking soups and salads in their chiller, and I always feel I want to sample them all. This time I opted for scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms on thick bread, however. The perfect start for a busy day ahead.
We "did the shops", including one of the finest, most exciting, diverse, crazy, bohemian and imaginative places in the city, Affleck's off Church Street, again in the Northern Quarter.

Affleck's, aka Affleck's Palace

If you like to go round shops which sell oddments and knick-knacks, unusual handmade trinkets, vintage clothing and homewares, fancy dress, jewellery et al, this is the place for you - a vast multi-storey warehouse of individual, independent traders, many of whom make their own goods to sell, while others trade in second-hand and nostalgic goods. Marvel at Star Wars figures, 1950s telephones, retro wall paintings, stacks of old VHS tapes and Amstrad game cassettes, 70s lampshades and Army surplus clothing.
I love Affleck's, and after one visit, you will too.
We then drove over to Salford Quays (annoyingly, the Metrolink was undergoing maintenance on Saturday) and parked at the Lowry Outlet Mall, where you can get four hours free parking if you eat at one of the restaurants there. So we did, scoffing Italian breads and meatballs at Bella Italia before nipping across to the Lowry for our second theatrical date of the weekend, this time with Rob Ward of Manchester's own Working Progress Theatre Company, and his one-man show Away From Home (you can watch the trailer at the foot of this entry).
In the space of 65 minutes Rob manages to portray umpteen different characters in a play which addresses homophobia in football, or more accurately the lack of out gay players in the sport.

Rob Ward

Rob plays a gay footie fan (two things that go together rather awkwardly) who is also a male escort, and who one day meets a new client who just happens to be a high-flying Premiership footballer. A relationship blossoms between the two, but it can never be spoken of because footballers just aren't gay, obviously.
The play addresses the inability of players to feel they can come out while still active in the game, for fear of "career suicide" as well as a stream of offensive, homophobic chanting on the pitch from fans.
The play is explicit, daring, confrontational, challenging and most importantly of all, unafraid to address a topic that has been taboo for far too long. The Studio Theatre at the Lowry was packed to the rafters, so congratulations to Rob for coming up with something genuinely brave and entertaining.

The Reading Room at the John Rylands Library

Then it was back into the city to catch the free Subluminal event at the beautifully gothic John Rylands Library on Deansgate. Its cathedral-like grandeur was the perfect venue for Subluminal, which basically used lighting and sound effects to create a spooky, eerie and unnerving walk-through experience.
The main reading room at the Library is impressive at the best of times, but illuminated in deep neon pinks and oranges, it was like being in some dream-like netherworld. The trip into the Library's cellars was claustrophobic and exhilarating.
And it was all for free. Such a good event.
Just one example of the many and varied things you can do in Manchester on any given weekend. I could even have gone on a giant pink observation wheel if I wanted, but I didn't. I did the London Eye a few years ago, but not even the Mancunian skyline can top that!

The Freij Wheel at Piccadilly Gardens

Unexpected item in the bagging area

Thursday, November 21st, 2013

Supermarket self-service tills: who likes them? How can they possibly replace the human interaction of a checkout assistant, someone who understands the situation and can remedy any problems almost immediately (although some of the assistants I've encountered this might not apply to).
It's one of those inventions that works perfectly on paper, which is genius only in theory. In practice, it's a whole lotta hassle. Is it actually possible to get through a whole transaction without a hitch?
Those dreaded words: "Unexpected item in the bagging area". Why the hell is it unexpected? I've only just scanned it and you've only just charged me for it! Surely it's the most expected item possible?
"Please hold and wait for assistance" is another one. Some poor, flustered assistant has to waddle over and wave a magic swipe card in the air to rectify any hang-ups the machine has with your 'so light they don't register on the scales' crisps, and apologise for the hold-up before sliding off to the next mini-crisis. These poor devils are slaves to the red flashing lights above the self-service tills, running hither and thither like an epileptic in a disco.
Worst of all is when you're buying alcohol, particularly if you're buying more than one bottle or can, and the repeated "approval needed", which basically translates as: "Look over here, there's an alky".
And sometimes you get the smartypants assistant who will regard you carefully, then ask: "Are you over 18?" before deigning to swipe their card for approval.
Idiots.