Manchester visit

Manchester Town Hall
Originally uploaded by wastedpapiers.

Just back from 24 hours in Manchester. We stayed overnight in a hotel so treated ourselves to a wander round the Continental Market by the Town Hall where a huge inflatable? Santa who was peering over the top. It was peeing down with rain yesterday so wasn't as much fun or festive as it usually is. We bought some dutch pancakes with cream and chocolate sauce and scoffed them under the dripping eaves of a nearby beer German tent. We tried to get into a film but they had all started so bought tickets for a 9p.m. showing of Tin Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D" We went for a hurried but tasty pizza in a nearby basement. We were feeling very tired by the time the film came on and I could quite happily have nodded off in the cinema but pumpkins and snowballs kept flying out of the screen at me and kept me awake! The big 3-D specs you had to wear made everyone look like Brains out of Thunderbirds. The film made your eyes ache. I can't see it catching on. Still it was something we couldnt see anywhere else!
Then we trudged back to the hotel in the rain and watched TV and had a nightcap.
The real reason for the trip was Archie's 4 films at the Underexposed Film Festival at the Cornerhouse the next day at 11a.m. which we attended after a hearty breakfast in the college refectory. The films were generally very good and Archie's got a good reception and some laughs Sadly the end of the DVD they had all the films on was corrupted and Archies last film and his best "Gotto Wee" coudn't be shown. The staff at the ~Cornerhouse apolygiused profusely and let Archie pick any book in the bookshop he liked as compensation. So he now has a very fine and heavy copy of The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.
It was sunnier today for a while so did some more shopping. Archie wanted to drool over the gadgets at the Apple shop again. Hazel had a headache so we didn't wander long and got the train back to Northwich just in time to meet all his mates coming out of school which was bad timing.