101 in 1001 - Item 75...

Go on a random day out

...has been completed!

I wasn't really sure what would constitute a random day out and was thinking about ticking that one off after my day out in London yesterday (went to the Tate Modern with Mum) which is something we were talking about on the train home.  My mum reckoned as that was planned it shouldn't count and she suggested the day before was a better one as it was more spur of the moment.  I wasn't convinced it counted as a "day out"as it was very in and out darting around different places.  So then I suggested that maybe what I should do was ask her or one of my friends to plan a day out for us and not tell me anything about it - that would certainly be random.  However she said if I asked her to do that she'd just take me to her house!

So anyway I think I will go with this being ticked off.  And go with Tuesday.

Tuesday I was supposed to go out with a friend but she wasn't well and cancelled.  I knew Mum was heading over to the next town which is somewhere I haven't been in a few years, so I called her and invited myself along.  To be honest there isn't much there and I'd forgotten how bad the paths etc are.  But I did wheel myself all the time either solo or with help.  And we parked miles from town.  Coming back I spotted a few spaces a bit closer and sat and waited for mum to bring the car there.  I also ended up getting blisters on each of my thumbs, making my need for new wheelchair gloves even more definite.  We also bumped into an old friend's mum (my mum is friends with her mum too) and chatted a bit as well whilst walking into town.

I had a bit of a wander around about two shops and then bumped back into mum sooner then planned.  We sat on a bench while she had a snack and I had a drink.  All I bought was my drink and some plasters to cover the blister like holes in my thumbs.  I took photos of them but I won't share them.  Then we went into two more shops where mum bought two books for herself and one for me as a treat (although the only reason she got two was they had a "buy two get this for 99p" and we both thought the second sounded good).  Then we came home.

I pretty much transferred straight into my powerchair and went back out.  I went down to the arts centre to book priority tickets for a few shows as the booking opened that day for member.  I got tickets for Mitch Benn and The Distractions, Chris Addison and Alun Cochrane.  I also took my netbook with me and sat in their cafe bar with some chips and a j2o and did some writing.  I wrote 600 some odd words.

Popped into Sainsburys very briefly for three things (and came back with just those!) then came home and went sailing a bit later.  Ended up as there was a spare boat and light conditions that instead of going out with his usual buddy one of my friends went by himself (as I do now) and his buddy also took a boat out.  We randomly all ended up sailing around together like we were sailing in company.  It was a lot of fun, especially when I overtook them both!

We ended up getting home a lot later than usual but that was fine.  It was a good night - and a good day as a whole too.

Showstoppers!

I am so behind on writing about things I've been doing that this is going to be a very quick catch up.

Shows what I have seen lately

Leicester Comedy Festival on Tour.


  I particularly liked Pippa Evans although all the comedians were good.  I love going to big name shows but the ones where there are a few people are great too.  Especially as the comedy club at uni was how I got into live comedy originally and it reminds me of that.

This video is of Pippa Evans (AKA Loretta Maine) singing I'm Fine.  Totally cracks me up.



Dara O'Briain. 


 Love love love love his live show.  It's the second time we've been and I was hard pressed to decide if I thought the first one (a couple of years ago) was better or this one.  I think the general feeling between all four of us was the first one was better but personally it was hard to say.  If you've ever seen him on Mock The Week you'll know he's a funny guy - well, his live show is much funnier.

His bit about how a tour works is hilarious (tried to embed a video but couldn't).  And he did a bit about the NCT which was great but also had every woman in the room cringing, that totally just added to it.  I will so be buying tickets to his next show.

Jason Manford.

He did a warm up, pre tour gig at the arts centre.  I think the best thing about that was that he was also supposed to go to Oxford soon but the very day we had tickets for it was annouced that as he's got the One Show job his tour is delayed a year.  So loads of local people have been bemoaning that fact but I got to see him!!  He's a really funny guy and I predict he's gonna get bigger soon.  The stories about his little brother were really funny.

They were playing the best CD ever in the auditorium but couldn't tell me what it is because it was his CD and I tweeted him but he didn't reply.

Rocky Horror

I absolutely adore Rocky Horror.  This was the third time I've seen it and I really hope there's a fourth before too long.  In fact, the week it was on was half term and the usher mentioned that the tickets hadn't sold well - and that there were loads left for the next (last) day.  At that I was so tempted to see if they had a wheelchair space and go back but in the end I didn't.

This was also the dirtiest AP version of it I've seen I think.  Although if I'm honest I can't remember much about the AP from the first time I saw it in 2004.  Definitely much dirtier that the one Mum and I saw in 2006.  It made me very glad I was sat behind Mum not next to her as last time she kept not hearing the AP and asking me to repeat it.

It was also the most dressed up I've ever been.  I was finding glitter all over my wheelchair and everything else for days afterwards despite all the showers I had!

In this picture I'm wearing a bright pink feather boa, pink hairband with fluffy bopper things on (deely boppers?) and pink fishnet armlets (a bit like long gloves but without any finger bits at all).  And when I saw these things were pink I mean really really HOT pink.  I also had on a black strappy top and shorts although you can't see those in the photo.

Tonight we're going to see Joseph!  Woop Woop!

Shivering in antici........................................PATION!

I'm going to see Rocky Horror tonight!

Will try to find my camera to take some pictures as I'm sort of dressing up for it but yay I'm very excited.  This is the 3rd time I've been to see it which should give you some idea of how much I love that show.  I think everyone I'm going with has seen the show before too so that should make it even better.  Christopher Biggins is the narrator I think.  Hopefully he'll actually be in it because last time it should have been Michael Aspel but we ended up with the understudy and we booed him every time he came on.

I've been to see loads of shows lately and not blogged about them, will try to do a show related catch up on Sunday most likely.

But really if I'm completely honest the main point of this post is being able to use this blog title.  Because it makes me happy.

I had better go blast out the soundtrack (downloaded from iTunes this morning specially) and jump in the shower.

The Hairy Bikers Big Night Out (AKA After 10 Days, Emma Goes Out!)

The Hairy Bikers last night was sooo much fun!  Absolutely hilarious.  My friend was going to drive but then my Dad offered as his car has 4 wheel drive which was cool as it meant we could have a few drinks.

The arts centre has two very cool dedicated wheelchair spaces at the back which me and my friend have dubbed the Royal Box and they can put you in the front row - the seats are fold down and they reserve you two to make a wheelchair space as a chair is bigger than one of the seats.  But they don't put two seat numbers on the tickets.  I tend to prefer the back spaces because you can spread out a bit and especially for comedy (after sitting at the front for a comedy thing and having the comedian asking me questions one times).    For Hairy Bikers however we were at the front so we could be close for any food they might be dishing out.  It's a bit strange as the stage area isn't raised at all so you literally are right by the performers and vice versa.

So first there was a bit of confusion when I asked the ushers which was our "extra seat" and they didn't know anything about the whole extra seat for a wheelchair user thing and we had to explain it about three times (the ushers are volunteers but at least one of them had been doing it for a long time so I was surprised he wasn't aware of the policy) but then he went and found out for me.  Previously I've just taken one of the seats next to ours as my extra and figured if I've guessed wrong I'll shift along.  But that's been proven not to work so well a couple of times so...

Anyway the Hairy Bikers talked a bit about their history and how they met and what they've done.  They also did a load of cooking (it was described as Cooking and Comedy) and in the first half they made a prawn curry.  They had a table set for two up with them and got two people out of the audience who they basicallyt gave a whole dinner too and some tiger beer.  Some poppadoms where given those in the front of the audience which they made and fried as we watched - there was a "camera fairy" up with them putting close ups on a screen of the cooking so you could see  The Poppadoms were nice and they also gave kitchen roll as "you don't want cacky hands"

After the interval they got two more people up and blindfolded them and did a taste test.  They gave the woman a glass of wine and said "is it white or red?" it was red but she said it was white.  They also fed her something and said "which root vegetable is this?" and she was all "broccoli" which is amusing because that isn't a root vegetable - it was swede.  In other news, swede and turnip are the same thing - I didn't know that.  Then they gave her husband some meat to taste which he got right - pork - but he also said was dry.  Finally they said they were going to give them a savoury snack (that went to both of them) which they thought was pork scratchings but it was fried cricket!

The Hairy Bikers then cooked an Italian steak dish which they gave to the same couple to try but they'd been for dinner first so didn't have much of it.  They also had a bottle of red wine (Chianti?) and water on the table for them.

When they were chatting to that couple Si went to kiss the lady on the cheek but she shied away a bit and everyone was laughing at his antics.  So he then walks over to me and leans down and puts an arm on my shoulder and kisses me on the cheek, a long exaggerated kiss on the cheek - or so it felt to me.  I was laughing so hard I was shaking while he was there.  Then he went back on stage and went "I love girls I do!"

They also cooked a vegetarian pasta thing - with linguini and ribbons of courgette I think.  They gave some bowls to about three people in the audience but they didn't have forks for them so they gave them tongs and other kitchen implements which they managed pretty well with and was funny to watch.  The ushers brought them forks from the bar though.  I think they should have made them keep using the tongs etc though.  I think the most amusing cooking tip they gave was using a Ped Egg to do parmasan - although they did say it should be one just used for the cheese, LOL.

So then for the finale, Dave stripped all his clothes off to reveal he was wearing a blue and silver shiny leotard thing underneath and Si was playing a kids drum kit then  Dave got a big bunch of yellow flowers (Freesias I think but don't quote me!), stuck one between Si's teeth and shared the rest out.  He gave one to my friend and one to me - we were the last I think and then he knelt down on one knee in front our seats and started singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"  They put the words on the screen and people sang along and they they did "Dancing Queen" and that was that for the night.

It was such a great night - absolutely hilarious and completely different from what I expected!

We Will Rock You

I went to Birmingham to see We Will Rock You for a second time yesterday.

This time I met up with two of my other uni friends - ones I hadn't seen since June 2006! It really was much too long but thankfully it wasn't arkward as it can be with old friends after a long break. I really am very lucky that I have several very good friends I can go months or years without seeing and then have it be as if no time at all has passed. We've agreed not to leave it so long this time and will probably meet up for a days shopping in a few months.

When I was at uni I never had a powerchair and still now I prefer my manual for a lot of things. But I still don't have my new manual wheelchair so comfort would have been an issue and whilst the theatre is very close to the station it's straight down a steep hill. So I went for the powerchair.

For both of my friends it was the first time I'd been with them in my powerchair and they both commented how it "didn't seem right" that I was independant and they didn't need to push me. I was very amused by that because my powerchair is so much of my normal now that I forget that I still have a few friends from uni who've never seen me use it or been out with me in it so their picture of me is of the manual wheelchairing girl wheeling around but needed help with some distances. It's actually how I prefer to see myself too - love my manual loads (or at least one that fits and works right) and like my powerchair for the independance but hate how reliant I am on it now and how much my manual wheelchairing stamina has gone.

We Will Rock You was just as great a second time as the first. I think actually I enjoyed it more. But that might have just been because the day went more according to plan so it was a bit more leisurely and I wasn't feeling frazzled when we arrived at the theatre! Not a nice feeling.

There was a different actress playing Killer Queen this time and a couple of the jokes/lines were done slightly differently. I was also surprised by how many of the little bits I had forgotten about - and it'd only been two months since I saw it the first time!

It was a really long day out but a very good one. Hopefully now I'm back in touch/contact with my friends we will see each other a bit more regularly from now on.

Amazing Day

I'm having an amazing day... and it's not over yet!

Yesterday there was much discussion between me and a few others and many e-mails sent about going to see various different things at the theatre.

The end result being that it was decided that me and Sam would book tickets to go and see Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Oxford in May. We'd also decided we'd go see a show in London and after much e-mailing settled on the Lion King. And when I looked up the dates online I saw that Dara O'Briain who is a rocking comedian is coming to Oxford. Ben and Geri wanted to come to that with me.

I've been busy on the phone booking tickets for the lot today. Spent a shitload of money but the others will pay me back. And.

Sunday 3rd Feb sees me and Sam in London seeing The LION KING which I've wanted to see for YEARS and which is on my 101 in 1001 list.

5th May is Dara O'Briain

And in June we go to Joseph!

And if that didn't make my day great enough I then went swimming. And set a new personal best for walking.

And my great friend Lucille was in the coffee shop when I got there. She was like "Emma!!!" when she saw me. She got part of the way to me, abandoned her walker and literally ran the rest of the way before literally throwing herself onto me in a huge way and giving me the hugest and best and longest and tightest hug. like ever.

She went "I really missed you.... NOT!!" and cracked up, hugging me again.