Fulford Arms, 26 Nov 2018

Say Owt are York’s resident poetry gurus and last Monday they and Scottish spoken word artists Sonnet Youth hosted a night at the Fulford Arms that promised to be a literary house party, part poetry slam, part open mic, part piss-up.

They delivered on that promise with a mix of poetry, comedy and music that showcased some of Yorkshire (and Scotland)’s most exciting talent and is just another reason why I’ll always stick two fingers up to anyone who suggests that London is the place to be for creatives.

Cat Hepburn and Kevin P. Gilday of Sonnet Youth compared and kicked off both halves of the night, and in doing so demonstrated why they’re names to remember. Hepburn’s excerpts from her book #girlhood riffed on growing up as a girl in modern times, and featured a genius spoken word re-telling of Christina Aguilera’s modern cinematic masterpiece, ‘Dirrty’ (and no that’s not a typo). Gilday similarly tackled masculinity, porn and poetry with laugh-out-loud humour and some delicious rhymes – and I agree with you buddy, rhyming makes my ears happy and rhyme snobs can do one.

The open mic slots were filled by some of York’s finest; Say Owt’s own Hannah Davies – who’s voice I later realised seemed so familiar because I’d heard it not long ago in CGT’s Baba Yaga – and Henry Raby, and the ethereal Hannah Lasagne (what a name) were highlights.

The thing that struck me most, and the reason I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for spoken word, was how massively varied the performers and styles of poetry were. We’re given a pretty narrow idea of what poetry is growing up – it’s all twee rhymes when you’re little and then maybe a bit of Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage thrown in when you’re doing your GCSEs. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great poetry there, but when you’re 15 and having it dryly explained to you for an hour a week and it’s only ever two dimensional words on a page, it doesn’t feel like much to get excited about.

Collectives like Say Owt and Sonnet Youth give poetry the context it deserves. Poetry is at its best when its literary performance; a living, breathing ode to language and rhythm and real voices. And all those things are remarkably diverse. Every performer we saw last week had a different tone, a different accent, a different style or subject matter. That’s something to get excited about.

It wasn’t all just poetry though. Comedy was provided by Daniel Nicholas who I had the pleasure of catching a couple of times over the Fringe this year and who, despite some delightfully peculiar bits and awkward yoga poses, always manages to come off as completely charming and bizarrely hilarious. Music came in the form of two piece acoustic psycho thrashabilly blues band Dead Drummer, who brought the house down with their unique brand of, well, two piece acoustic psycho thrashabilly blues. They’re a bit like if the Cramps and Slipknot had a baby and someone threw a double bass at it. Yeah.

If there’s one thing I’d say that wasn’t always super fun, it would be that at times the atmosphere started to verge on the side of…smug. I’m cringing as I write it, but slam poetry has a reputation for being too cool for a reason, and I think that Say Owt could bear that in mind a little when they’re hosting gigs. When the hosts (I’m excluding Sonnet Youth from this – y’all were a joy) are all sat with their mates whooping and bantering on one side of the pub and the audience is on the other, it can feel at times like you’ve wandered into a private poetry party. It’s not a huge criticism, but I think the magic of gigs like these should be in their inclusivity, and it’s a shame for something to encroach on that.

Saying that, I’ll be back to check out one of Say Owt’s regular nights. It’s something different and it feel a bit more electric than your average open mic. It was a nice reminder of why I love poetry and language and why I keep writing, and aside from that it was a good time. Next time I hope it’s not on a school night so I can have myself a proper poetry piss-up though. Cheers.

York Barbican, Saturday 24^th February 2018

Gin lovers of the UK, rejoice! Gin Festival is stuffed full of tasty gins just waiting to be sipped, and it’s (probably) coming to a city (relatively) near you! Last weekend the festival made its first northern pit stop at York’s Barbican, and I was pretty thrilled to be asked to come along, get tipsy on some delicious gins and share my thoughts.

Turning up for the Saturday evening session I was a little nervous to be announcing myself as a blogger so I could actually get in (#blogwanker), but the welcome couldn’t have been nicer and we were ushered to the entrance by a couple of bubbly staff members and given a welcome speech explaining how things worked and where everything was. Then we were handed a cute little tote bag containing our Gin Festival glasses (which we used during the event and then got to keep), brochures telling us about all the available gins, press passes (I’ve never felt so important), wrist bands for paying at the bars and a couple of other VIP goodies. After which we were released into the festival, briefed and thoroughly ready for gin.

On our walk over we’d been musing about how the Barbican would work for the event as I’ve only ever seen it fully chaired up for sit-down shows, but it transformed remarkably well into a much more open-plan space; a small shop area was situated in the foyer and the main hall was lined with bars, food stalls (which we didn’t manage to sample but they looked and smelled delicious) and brand stands with the stage occupied by a vintage-style band (followed by an excellent Mumford and Sons-esque cover band) that provided a live soundtrack to our gin consumption, and some seating and milling space in the middle. The energy was up and the floor was full of gin lovers when we arrived, and we headed to one of the easy to spot top up stands to put some credit on our wristbands, then headed straight to the bar. The wristband system worked incredibly well as a swift ‘boop’ of a wristband was all that was needed for payment, so the queues were fast moving and we never felt like we were waiting for too long.

My first gin was the Aduro Pink Passion gin, which came recommended by the festival as one of their top 10s, which was floral and fruity with just the right amount of sweetness, suitably garnished with raspberry, mint and orange. DanMan went for a more unusual choice of Aduro Bell Pepper gin, which was unsurprisingly accompanied by red pepper and tasted, unsurprisingly, quite a lot like bell pepper. Although unusual it was actually quite delicious and definitely one to try if you’ve got more savoury tastes, and it piqued my interest to try a more out-there gin for my next choice.

Whilst sipping our Aduros we meandered over to the brand stalls (did someone say free samples?), where brand reps were giving out tasters along with information about some select gins. Highlights were the lovely Bernadette telling us about the British made, Spanish style Tinker which had the robust citrus flavours I’d expect from a Spanish style gin. Brockman’s was recommended as an ‘end of the night’ gin and had distinctly adult branding – leather aprons included – and a wonderfully palatable flavour bursting with blueberries even when sipped straight. Kuro was a Japanese inspired option that was less distinctly flavoured than the others and would probably suit more earthy tastes. Safe to say we left that section of the festival feeling a bit merrier than when we arrived.

By the time we’d finished taste testing from tiny sample cups of gin we were more than ready for a full size portion of gin, and this time we both went for a more savoury option; the gorgeously named Black Tomato. It came garnished with basil which is a favourite flavour of mine, and oh my, it tasted like a greenhouse with a refreshing tomato tang and the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. It was my favourite of the night by far because of how unexpected it was and suited to my particular tastes, but I imagine it wouldn’t be for everyone. It’s worth mentioning here that all the gins also came with a mixer recommendation that the bar staff very helpfully pointed out to us, and although I’m usually a gin and soda gal (like nobody else, ever, apparently – I just think tonic usually tastes icky? No?) I went with it and stuck to the recommendations and, you know, I think I just might be a bit of a tonic convert! The Black Tomato came with salty lemon tonic which complemented it perfectly despite sounding like something that would make you scrunch up your nose.

At £5 for each G&T the drinks were reasonably priced considering the quality of both the spirits and the mixers, and as such we ended up going for an unplanned third drink as there was so much to try. I went for Tinker Pink which was delightfully sweet with a definite taste of strawberries and went down very easily, and Dan went for Poetic License Old Tom gin which was less to my tastes but perfect for him as it had a rounded, peppery flavour from the oak casks it’s aged in. The balcony level of the auditorium was open as seating so we made our way up to have a sit while we finished our final tipples, and looked out over the bustling festival goers below (many of whom had loosened up enough for a good dance by this time).

We left with a spring in our step and a bottle of Masons Yorkshire gin (paid for in part by a voucher kindly given to us by the festival in exchange for this post), which I’m sipping on while writing this! We had a great time at the festival and didn’t even get a chance to attend one of the free masterclasses, so along with all the many gins we didn’t get around to trying I have more than enough reasons to want to return next year! The festival has many more stops all over the country in next few months and I’d thoroughly recommend going along if you’re a gin-lover – or even you’re not; there truly is something for every taste. Tickets are about £12 for admission and there are usually a few days/times to choose from, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a fun and unique night out.

I was given entry to the event gratis but all opinions are very much genuine and my own (although I did get the impression they were trying to ply me with alcohol so I’d give them a good review – it worked). And remember, enjoy your drinks safely and responsibly pals!

The idea of the Canadian company is that they recycle (or upcycle) wrappers from sweets and chocolate bars, as well as comic books and vintage books, to make fun and unique bits and bobs such as wallets, bags, purses, jewellery and of course pins and mirrors. They’re all handmade and they even say on their Etsy page that they’ll make your favourite wrapper or comic into an item if you send it to them. They have a huge range of items of all different designs in their shop, with every sweet wrapper you can think of and designs from classic comics, Snoopy and even the dictionary (looks much cooler than it sounds!): and most are around £10, which is pretty reasonable if you ask me.

Ours are obviously Powerpuff Girls themed because both Dan and I were massive Cartoon Network nerds as children (ok, maybe slightly older than children too…ok, fine, also now…and forever more). All the items feel sturdy and look well made, and because they’re made from actual comics they have a lovely muted vintage look which I think works particularly well with the pocket mirrors. The pins have a safety-pin style fastening at the back, which has so far stood up on my fairly thick denim jacket.

These are super cool and cute little items that are something different – enamel pins are great, but why not switch it up? I’m contemplating getting some of their jewellery and their namesake – the Baggs – look fantastic, and although their meant to be used as coin purses, I think they could make great makeup bags. If vintage and unique is your thing (or your friends’, or your mum’s, or your dad’s, or your cat’s), go take a look at their shop here and treat yo’ self while bravely rescuing some poor innocent trash from landfill. You’ll feel like such a good person, and you’ll look friggin’ cute.

Fully titled ‘Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women’, the book is an enchantingly put together collection of stories about incredible and inspiring women from the real world, from Michelle Obama to Hypatia. Each woman’s story is told as a short reinvented fairy tale, and every tale is accompanied by an illustration by a different female artist, all of which are equally beautiful and thoughtful.

Aside from the stunning way this gem of a book is bound and presented, my favourite thing about it is the women the authors have chosen to write about, and of course the stories themselves. The women adorning each page are an incredibly diverse (refreshingly so) bunch from throughout history, ranging all the way from ancient Japan to the modern day. There are qweens (in both a literal and figurative sense!) of all races and cultures in equal measure, and their achievements and occupations cover every discipline you can think of; there are of course doctors and monarchs, politicians and scholars, but there are also trailblazing musicians, sportswomen, fashion icons, activists, mothers, wives and even pirates!

This is truly a book that showcases the incredible impact of women throughout history without a trace of prejudice or bias; some of those included are controversial figures, but their stories are written to show their achievements whilst acknowledging that they may have been liked and disliked in equal measure for some of their choices. For me, reading Margaret Thatcher’s story brought home how important it is that liberation of all kinds be for everyone – do I agree with everything Thatcher said, or did? Hells no. Am I grateful that she had the right and the opportunity to say and do those things? Hells to the goddamn yes I am.

This is a book every girl (and, preferably, boy!), young or old, should have on their bookshelf. We’re going to give it to DanMan’s two little cousins because, at a time in which women are being killed for their gender in some parts of the world and there’s still an outcry about a female Dr Who in others, women and girls still need be told that they have the capability and potential to be whatever and whomever they want to be. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.

I know only too well the joys and perils (mostly perils) of being a pale girl on holiday, but as someone who is perpetually cold and is brought to a state of almost creepy happiness by sunshine, I’m simply not willing to give up on holidays in the sun. As such, and in honour of a trip to scorching Dubrovnik coming up on Saturday, I’ve developed a list of the top 5 must-have items for a successful, non-burny, fancy free holiday in the sun (pretty much all of which are essential for everyone regardless of pasty-ness levels, but especially essential for us colour-less creepers).

Sun Cream

First on anyone’s list when spending time under the blazing sun should be sun cream, because obviously burning, aging, skin health yada yada you know. And if you’re fair as the day you were born then YOU KNOW. So, pack your favourite factor 50+ and slather it all over your body, several times a day, every day. A beauty blogger I am not, but my absolute favourite recommendation of all time is Ultrasun facial sunscreen; not only does it come in factors 30 and 50+, but it offers completely physical (as opposed to chemical, google it) protection, meaning it doesn’t break down in the sun so lasts for longer and is usually way less irritating to sensitive and acne-prone skin. It’s the only sun cream I’ve ever found that doesn’t break me out, and I wear it every single day and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

Your Favourite Pair of Sunnies

As much as you might want to, it’s simply not practical, pleasant or advisable to put sun cream on your eyeballs. But those pearly orbs of jelly need protecting just as much as your skin, so make sure to pack your favourite pair of sunglasses and make good use of them. Added bonus: they make you look glamourous and aloof, and you don’t have to make eye contact with strangers. Bowler Vintage in York has some of the awesomest statement sunnies I’ve ever seen for about £10 a pop, so give it a visit if you’re in need of a pair.

A Sturdy Pair of Shoes

This one is particularly important for anyone who finds themselves cowering under the sun because of lifestyle choices rather than genetics; I’m talking to you, gamers, office dwellers, film buffs and people-haters. Years of semi-hibernation have no doubt made your feet as soft as freshly churned butter, so making sure they’re encased in a robust and comfortable pair of shoes is paramount if you’re planning on walking and exploring your destination of choice. My trusty pair of Vans have seen me through a couple of holidays so far with not a blister in sight, and so long as you’re not doing any serious hiking or going to any fancy restaurants, one pair can do you for the whole trip and keep your packing light. Noice.

Some Fly Head Gear 

What is the most vulnerable part of the body for the semi-translucent guy or gal? The kneecaps, I hear you suggest? The neck? Or perhaps the nether regions? Nay – ‘tis the oft-forgotten exposed strip on the very top of our heads (providing you have a traditional parting). Another difficult spot to protect with sun cream alone, that strip will take the brunt of the sun all day long and you’ll feel it when you wash your hair the next day and wonder why the usually refreshing water feels like hot lava on your scalp. Caps and sunhats are the obvious choice for those of you lucky enough to have hat-heads, but don’t worry if you’re not a fan; due to an unusually small head I’ve had to give up on traditional hats but have found an alternative in the form of the humble headscarf. Visit any vintage shop or boutique to nab a one of a kind, or just rip up a tablecloth and get creative.

Self-Confidence

It sounds cliché, but one of the most important things you can pack away in the suitcase of your mind is a big ol’ heap of self-love. No matter how much you love and embrace your pasty beauty (and I hope you do), there may come a moment when you find yourself on a beach surrounded by olive-skinned locals, bronzed beauties and even the kind of pot-bellied bloke who for some reason seems to revel in his painful-looking sunburn. And instead of feeling like the unique sparkly unicorn you usually know damn well you are, you feel out-of-place, as if all eyes are on the glowing white flesh-tube that is your scantily clad body. ‘You don’t belong here’, their eyes seem to say. ‘Go back to whichever basement from whence you came, goth-girl’, their stares imply. But, sweet pasty girl (or guy), that’s when you must dig deep and hold your milky head high, because you are a rare tan-less wonder bringing light and love to the world one freckle at a time! And everyone on that beach knows it. Shine, sister, shine!

A little background to this; DanMan and I went through a phase of about a year and a half (so more of an almost-permanent lifestyle change than a phase) where we played Edmund McMillen’s ‘The Binding of Isaac’. Every day. For several hours. No joke, we played it whenever we could and we loved it possibly more than we loved each other. So when my birthday came around, he decided to take to Etsy to find me an Isaac themed gift.

There he found Lair of Soveyshina, a Russia-based shop run by Victoria Shakirova, who specialises in handmade ‘geek and hipster dolls’. He asked for a personalised doll, even sending over a picture of me (specifically my hair!) so that she could style the doll in my image! These pictures don’t show perfectly but the hair is spot on, even to the point where the back is tapered in the exact same way mine is.

It’s an adorable miniature doll so it stands about 10cm tall, and although this one is baring all (in the style of Isaac and friends), many of the dolls she makes sport delightful tiny clothing. The arms and legs are sewn into place so there’s no movement, but it’s sturdy, well-made and expertly painted. I’ve had mine for well over a year now and there’s no signs of wear; so chances are, unless I start taking it with me on adventures, it’s going to hold up for a very long time as an ornamental piece.

Lair of Soveyshina make and sell a plethora of amazing miniature characters, from Rick and Morty to the mighty Cthulhu, so there’s something for every geek, dork or hipster in your life! Especially when personalised these make such an awesome gift; I love mine and have given it pride of place on the mantelpiece (by which I mean the TV stand, we obviously don’t have a mantelpiece, we’re not that classy).

Give Victoria’s characterful creations a look here!

My sister showed me the cuter than cute ‘Cuterus’ pin less than a week before Christmas and we lamented that it would be the perfect present but alas, it was way too close to Christmas to arrive in time. But LO AND BEHOLD! Christmas morning arrived and this very pin along with the Eleven (from Stranger Things – go watch it right now if you haven’t please) pin were sitting wrapped under the tree for me – so first off, you know this place has some kickass delivery.

The pins themselves are super cute (obviously, you have eyes) and brilliant quality, with solid butterfly clutch fastenings in the back that have yet to fail me. They look perfect on my black denim jacket (which I may or may not have been prompted to buy by the acquisition of these very pins) and I imagine would also be perfect on a bag or any other item where they’re displayed for the world to see.

Looking at their site I can see Punky Pins have a super-duper collection of fun pop-culture and feminism (my favourite things) inspired pins and patches, and I have to give them credit and undying gratitude for igniting a ferocious fire for uterus and vagina themed accessories within me. I’m pretty certain I’ll be paying them a visit either for gifts for friends or for a little bad-ass treat for myself some time soon.