THING OF THE WEEK
DOUBLE HEADER… Remember when the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester was first proposed and there was a big furore about whether or not the city needed two large arenas? Well, one popstar is proving that that argument – posited by the existing AO Arena – is a load of rubbish. It was thought a few years ago that no self-respecting artist would play multiple Manchester dates at different venues, but Olly Murs is doing just that; he will be on stage at Co-op Live on 8 May before doing a show at AO Arena two weeks later.
Tickets are selling fast for both (if his social media accounts are to be believed). For those wondering what the brand-spanking-new-venue-premium is, its roughly £8. Tickets for the Co-op Live date start at £49.35 while the cheapest AO entry will set you back £41.55.
CHICKS… What better than a few days of continuous sunshine to put us all in a good mood? An office full of fluffy baby chickens of course. That was the sight that greeted E*Scape’s Roger Lomas earlier this week when he arrived at the company’s Macclesfield HQ. Cracking stuff.
Alan White set his marathon PB in Manchester last year. Credit: via Alan White
RUN… Morgan Sindall bid manager Alan White is a bit of a beast when it comes to running. He has been busy training for the London Marathon, which takes place later this month, and has his eyes firmly set on a personal best. Most people who take on a marathon just want to make it round without doing themselves any serious damage. Not White. He has committed to adding a substantial contribution to his own fundraising efforts for Maggies should he break the 2:37:30 personal best he set at the Manchester Marathon last year. To do that, he will need to run each mile in six minutes. You can donate here.
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GUINNESS… The Schooner Scorer is a social media personality whose oeuvre consists of erratically shot videos of him necking slightly less than a pint of beer and ranking each with a score out of 10 – hence the name. The floppy haired influencer is currently on the hunt of the best pint of Guinness this side of the Irish Sea and travelled up to Manchester to sample Mulligans’ famous black stuff after much coaxing from his band of loyal followers. After expertly splitting the G – a fad that is reported to have contributed to Guinness shortages last year – Schooner Scorer proceeded to dispatch the rest of the pint before giving it a whopping 9.2 out of 10. An impressive score but what do you expect for £7.70 a pint!
Credit: via NML
MOIR PLEASE… While his comedy companion Bob Mortimer recently came out on top in Last One Laughing – a competition to see who can laugh the least while locked in a room of fellow comedians – Jim Moir – aka Vic Reeves – has been locked into a more solitary pursuit in preparation for an exhibition later this year. Moir, a talented artist, will be taking a selection of his paintings to Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight from June 14, the first time that the artist’s paintings are displayed in a national gallery. You may be familiar with Moir’s work from the TV series Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir and what better place to view them than what Moir describes as “a truly unique gallery that’s brimming with masterpieces”.
A bit like the co-op and the AO arena’s….’surely mulligans doesn’t need an upstairs’……proceeds to queue to get into either door at 2pm on a random Thursday due to being full. If Mulligans keep going at their weekly rise of 10p per pint, it will soon be cheaper to go for drinks in the AO.
By Mulligan McSchmulligan