Today is all about…November 2022

Time for a catch-up before we go into the new year. So during Twixmas I am finally writing the blog for November.

Monthly Thoughts

There are three things that stood out in November, that I wanted to highlight.

Straight Eurovision

The world was taken over by straight Eurovision, aka the World Cup. It’s been one of the most criticised events after corrupt FIFA agreed to Qatar hosting.

It was criticised for many reasons, including slavery and subsequent deaths building the stadiums. Or its historical position on LGBT+ rights and women’s rights.

But obviously, we were told to shut up and respect the country. Those are the same people who were pissed about the price of a pint is around $18!

Club Q Shooting

As America is trying to top its record for the number of mass shootings in a year, an LGBT+ venue was the target of one shooting in November, killing 5 people.

But just when you thought it couldn’t get more disturbing, the interview from their father (who looked like he was on meth or something) started circulating. The father was relieved that his son was accused of shooting and killing people, and that he wasn’t gay! And Snopes confirmed that he was the killer’s father!

Neighbours is back

To end the monthly news update, let’s end with some positive news…for me. Neighbours is back.

At the beginning of the year, I wrote the blog Goodbye Neighbours?. It was! Channel 5 announced that they scrapped the show from the channel, which meant the show was “rested” by the Production company.

It went out with a bang, and then before the year ends it was confirmed that the show is to return in 2023 on Amazon Freevee.

Amazon will have all the previous episodes of the show, as well as signing up for new daily episodes for the next two years, making sure that the show reaches its 40th Anniversary.

I can’t wait to see what the new chapter brings to the show.

This month’s talking points

Art of Banksy

Last year, my husby and I went to the Van Gogh Live exhibition, and I loved it.

This year, we went to ‘The Art of Banksy‘. While this wasn’t an authorised exhibition, it was still an extraordinary thing to see.

The exhibit explicitly showed original items that were never taken from walls.

It starts back at how Banksy started and developed his work. It also gave a bit of an educational aspect, especially around how the print process worked.

There is an air of Banksy, but his work is anything but. It’s in your face, unapologetically political. His work can provide an array of emotions, whether amusement to outright shock.

He is constantly making statements wherever he goes.

The exhibit contains some of the iconic images he is well known for, both in the recognisable form and variants too.

Then there are some unique and not seen-before items, which include cards for his then-girlfriend.

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit and if you are into stuff like this, then it is worth a visit.

I wonder what next year’s art exhibit will be. Could it be the Dali Immersive Experience? I hope so!

The Lakes

Can you believe that it’s been nearly 45 years on this little planet, and this is my first trip to the Lake District?

I KNOW!!!

The husby and I were invited to join our besties, Bill and Carl to end their week at the Lake District.

We arrived late on Friday, so had a bit of a catch-up before watching “Jeepers Creepers: Reborn”. My tip, is don’t watch it. It’s a disappointing addition to the franchise.

Saturday we went to Penrith, before heading to Windemere. Both are very scenic places with the latter being very touristy let. It kind of lost some character I think.

The evening was catching up on movies again. Finally watched both Enola Holmes’ films (live them), and then started watching the original Salem’s Lot, but it was so boring I went to bed!

We then went to Hawkshead (Beatrix Potter’s land). The husby wasn’t well so he stayed at home.

November appears to be off-season, and a lot of places are closed (including the forest).

But we did find a gay bar, which was also a cat cafe. This would be heaven for the husby. Alas, that was also closed for all of November. It appears you can’t be gay that month!

The evening was a lovely meal in a busy local, before heading back to play some games.

I had a great time at the Lakes. It was nice and chilled and I would return again for another visit.

I would like to visit when it is more open, so I could try other activities, such as getting out onto the lake, going for a trek in the forest and seeing the Beatrix Potter house (which was temp closed), among other things.

This long weekend was definitely needed.

Thanks, Bill and Carl for the extended invite.

‘Today is all about…’ photos