Archive for April, 2011

We decided to take advantage of the long weekend by heading over to the beach. Flamborough seemed like a suitable choice because, given we’re in the UK, it seems a bit silly to go to a sandy beach to do some sunbathing when all you will get is wind and cold.

The drive over wasn’t too bad – most people seemed to be heading home from the weekend, so most of the traffic was going the other way. We got some sun in the morning but unfortunately, the tide times had changed quite a lot since I checked them a few days before, which I didn’t account for, so we arrived at exactly high tide.

Never the less, after a walk round the headland and some lunch we got down to the beach where we found a seal in one of the corners. Afterward we walked back round the headline, which was a good chance to get some photos.

Enjoying the long weekend, we headed over to Stick or Twist to enjoy Sunday Club – a traditional roast dinner in true Wetherspoon’s style (ie, with a beer). After leaving we went in search of an ice cream, only to find that none of the ice cream vans were to be found. What kind of lazy ice cream people can’t be bothered to work on Easter Sunday?

On Wednesday, after a long absence due to my attendance at Perspective Citywide, I headed over to York for the monthly meet up of York Brights.

Despite organisers’ Ewan and Gill being on holiday, the conversation was lively and engaging and ended up continuing long into the night – well, until gone 11pm, which is quite late when you get to my age and still have to drive back to Leeds that evening 😉 .

What would a post Wendy Sunday be without Fry Up Club? This month featured an extra special amount of pork, which is always a winning combination and a continuation of our tradition of screening Monty Python in the background, this month featuring The Holy Grail.

Most importantly, we finally got Viki to do some cleaning. Maybe there is hope for her after all.

Following on from our cocktail based adventures we hit Wendy House which turned into a bit of an old school reunion with Sarann joining us and Norm making it down in the end as well!

Again, thanks to Kat, who I have just stolen the photos from.

Having finally got my hands on a cocktail shaker (after so many times of being denied by Marko’s lack of stock) I decided to throw a bit of a cocktail party before Wendy House. After all, the last cocktail party we threw, ended very, very well 🙂 .

Thanks to Kat for the photos.

Last Saturday saw the April meeting of Leeds Skeptics in the Pub. There was no speaker this month but never the less it was a very involved meeting with an hour of news and discussion kicking things off.

Indeed, it was almost a feature length meeting given the in depth discussion we had about the future energy needs of the world and whether nuclear was a safe option or not.

Interestingly, one of the points brought up was that one of the most dangerous ways in which power can be generated is actually hydroelectricity. While it’s a very green way of generating power, a dam failure can lead to 100,000’s of people dying¹.

We’re pleased to announce that today we are launching the first in what will be a series of guides by the Humanist Action Group. HAG does great work in Leeds and if you have ever thought about running such a group in your local community, these guides are for you.

The guides have been under development for a while and we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to them.

The first guide we are making available is the organiser’s guide which explains the basics of organising a group, finding and recruiting volunteers, staying on top of everything and making sure you have the correct paperwork in place.

The second guide we are launching today is the homeless guide which explains how to run a simple feed the homeless programme. If you would like to get a copy of these, just get in touch!

We have further guides under development also, to keep an eye out for those.

On Friday, myself, Si and Sarann headed into town to grab some dinner.

We ended up at Cafe Rouge in The Light, which was looking fairly empty for a Friday night – ideal for some good conversation. Service was a little disappointing given how few people were in there but the quite atmosphere was enjoyable.

The food was mediocre, I went with the Steak Rouge which was OK, but given there are so many great places to have steak in Leeds, it wasn’t any more enjoyable than say the £6 steak I had enjoyed at Wetherspoon’s the previous Tuesday.

Afterward, we headed over to Browns for a few rounds of cocktails. Apparently they will mix anything to your order but we didn’t put them to the challenge and rather opted just to work out way through their signature menu.

After a few rounds of cocktails and the wine I had had at dinner, I found myself leaving the bar somewhat intoxicated whereas Si, the supposed teetotaler until a year ago, didn’t seem to be feeling it. Maybe Si is a secret alcoholic after all?

Elina had recently jumped ship on her accommodation again and this time moved to St Mark’s, which is located just behind the Eldon. In celebration, she invited me over for dinner. I was very much looking forward to trying herring casserole, but this was mainly due to the fact that at the time I was mixing herrings up with storks for some reason (herring, herring gull, stork maybe?) though when I found out it was just pork instead, I was equally contented.

The flat was charming, which I’m sure you’re all aware is a nice way of saying that it’s a shit hole. The tiny kitchen table suited the two of us very nicely but would have been a push to get four people round, as is traditional with any student kitchen, the gas stove spark didn’t work and to top it off the showers don’t seem to produce any hot water. Ah, student days.

After dinner we settled down in Elina’s room and watched Star Wreck, which is a Finnish film parodying Star Trek. It waas well worth a watch and the questionable production values only added to it’s charm. Much like the actual Star Trek it gives it’s audience something to aspire to (just in this case it was being Emperor, rather than that whole Utopian future nonsense 😉 ).