port7 – co – uk

When I bought my new car, one of the things I intended was to start using Biodiesel in it, for several reasons, one that it is slightly cheaper than regular diesels, another is that it makes me feel a little less guilty about my long drive to work and back especially with regards to the environment.

So when I filled up last week I went to GreenGold Biodiesel in Manchester and filled up on a 5% Blend. After a few days of running in the new car, it seemed to suffer no ill effects, so today I decided to join the Manchester Biodiesel co-op, which now allows me to buy 100% Biodiesel from them. As per their advice though I am not going to start using 100% Biodiesel, I think I will start with maybe a 30% blend and work towards a 50%. The car being a 1999 Passat TDI I think is quite good with Biodiesel, so I think I might eventually go 100%.
The garage also sells some lovley organic snacks and stuff, so thats an incentive to go in too!

Yesterday was rather interesting, I took Sammie, a friend of mine who is a major Disney fan down to meet Margaret Kerry in Warwick. For those that don’t know Margaret was the person on who Disney used to model the Tinkerbell character on, not Marilyn Monroe as a popular myth would have us believe.

She was over in the UK to do some appearances. It was fascinating hearing about how she got the job, and all the various people she has worked with. As you watched Margaret talk you could see in her manarisims and the way she held herself that she really had put her stamp on the Tinkerbell character. They had the Peter Pan film showing in one corner of the room and you could see the similarities between the two.

What I also found surprising was that she wasn’t mentioned in the credits! She has only recently started getting the recognition for being the original Tinkerbell, pretty sad in a way, much like the Funk Brother’s story. Why do these corporations not give credit when credit is due?

This weekend was started and ended by a curry, on Friday a bunch of us from #manlug went out for the monthly Curry. It was a great night, probably the best attendance we have had with a total of 7 of us. The new faces being Ben Higginbottom & Rob Kendrik, alongside us old timers; sward, PerfDave, Ben, pwaring and myself!

It was a great night with everyone enjoying themselves over a great curry. I had some sort of kebab in honey as a starter, with the classic Lamb Tikka Masalla as a main, a safe choice after the disappointing Quail curry of last month. It was really tasty, and I wouldn’t expect less from a place along Manchester’s curry mile.

Then on Sunday night I thought I would go all 70’s retro and have a Vesta Beef Curry, bad choice!! It was bloody awfull, I don’t know if it’s some sort of reconstituted beef that they use but it tastes how I imagine stale dog meat would taste like. The veggies were dire, the only decent thing was the rice. Now I very rarely throw food away, being one of the group of people who have to clear their plate (it doesn’t feel right leaving food), but for this I had to throw if before even getting halfway through the meal.

It you value your stomach and taste, don’t get a Vesta Curry!!!

I have just got back from the Stereo Graffiti Gig over at The Globe in Glossop

Stereo Graffiti is a Manchester based Podcast by my mate Andy and bunch of his mates, it is a showcase of both local and international music talent. Tonight they did the first ever live gig, with performances from a load of very talented singer / songwriters from the Manchester area

I had not seen Andy for a few years now and it was great to catch up with him and his missus Julie. I had also not been in The Globe for a few years and am glad to see that it has smartened it self up, and it seems to have become a bit of a musical hot-spot, with a great room upstairs for performances and where tongihts gig was held

The performances tonight were amazing, I was really taken back with the quality of the performers, it just goes to show that the music that you see and hear in the charts are a pale reflection of the talent that is out there. And it is amazing that all this was all on my local doorstep here in Glossop!

You all need to head over to Stereo Graffiti and download an episode or two, and check out the great music on there. Also if you are in a band send the Stereo Graffiti team some of your tunes so they can play them on the show, they are always on the look out for good music

Some of my highlights of the night were, Ann English, Lance, Roydan Styles, Darren Poyzer, Room 13, Phil, & there was one other one but I can’t remember his name, I know he was sitting right at the front and reminded me of Shaun Ryder!

It was a great night, I was really glad I went. Next time I am going to try and drag a few more peeps along. It was a great night and thanks need to go to those that organized the night, namely Rae Leeson & Andy Goddard!