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The Leeds Food Festival And Bolling Hall
Jun. 3rd, 2018 12:17 pmI'm feeling somewhat conflicted right now. I have been off Twitter for the best part of two weeks, for a number of reasons, and in doing so I have managed to gain a more objective assessment of my place in the Fandom. The reality is, and has always been, that I've had very little in common with the majority of furs and the recent Twitter conversations over video games, superhero movies and LGBT Pride Month (an important thing certainly, but I have never felt part of the gay community and am not comfortable with all of this sub-dividing people into a myriad of different groups) have borne this out. I was always going to be off Twitter during the period over Confuzzled, partly because I was not going and my timeline was being spammed by it, but also because its video game theme has only boosted my feelings of isolation.
However, the primary reason for being off Twitter was that I have become addicted to it, and I think I still am. It's reasonably easy to be off social networks when you are distracted by something else, but when there is little going on or when things are dull (i.e. at work), the temptation to check Twitter every five minutes is incredibly strong. While in Scotland, not being online was pretty straightforward as there was stuff going on, but in my every day life the craving is strong. I think the basis of this is benign - I am a socialable person who likes to keep in touch with friends - but it has created a bigger issue and I am unsure over how to proceed. Part of the problem is that my social media presence is the big thing in the Leedsfurs community and I tend to promote the events far more than anyone else. At present, no one else is really doing that aside from the official channel, and even that sparingly. This is why I will most likely come back.
Further quashing the feelings of isolation are nights like last night. We headed into Leeds to enjoy the annual Leeds Food Festival - an event we have missed over the last three years due to being at Cambridge's Strawberry Fair followed by BLFC last year. It has changed a lot, primarily being stalls selling you cooked food rather than the produce stalls of yesteryear. I remember a cheesemonger complaining a few years back that the fair was less like a farmers' market and more like a food buffet so I guess it's no surprise that cooked food has become the priority. Further to this, it did seem a lot smaller than usual, but as Wolfie pointed out, the huge area dedicated to cooking instruction (sponsored by ASDA) is no longer there. It was also sad to see a lack of breweries present - there was a bar selling predominantly fizzy pish, but a few years ago I definitely remember a number of smaller breweries selling their beer too. Alas there was none of that. However, what the fair lacked, it definitely made up for in the quality of food. We sampled delicious Armenian chicken wraps with pomegranate and melon - an odd combination but one that definitely worked - while the raclette was absolutely gorgeous, with exquisitely cooked potatoes and unctuous rich salty cheese. For dessert I opted for a bubble waffle similar to those I had in Hong Kong back in December, albeit this one was stuffed with (Aldi own brand) vanilla ice cream, nutella and marshmallows. I would have eaten more, and would have liked to have gone back today had Wolfie's parents not been coming around to work on the garden, but alas my tummy had had enough.
Going back to my recent feelings though, we had invited the usual crew but a few dropped out for varying reasons. Arc and Adia came down though and they bumped into Bolly and Widor who just happened to be walking by. We were slightly late on account of Wolfie needing to go buy a new shirt on discovering that the one he was wearing had huge holes in it, but we were still down there for the last hour and a half of the event, which was definitely enough time. It was also quite quiet, which I had planned as I knew the weather would be inclement and that the 17:15 kick off England game may drag people away from Millennium Square. So it proved to be and it was a very relaxing and fun afternoon trying various food. There was a seating area under the Guildhall at which we congregated whenever we wanted to wander off and get food, and it was exhilarating being around great company again. I felt a little awkward initially but soon fell back into being my socialable self and a very nice time was had.
Bolly was feeling tired though so he and Widor headed off early, while Adia departed shortly after the market closed at 8pm. This left just Arc, so we decided to go to Shuffledog as we suspected this wouldn't be as busy as some of the other bars in the city. The other problem with Leeds last night was the high number of drunk wankers out and about, something I am noticing a lot more these days. They were harmless enough, just being loud, larey and obnoxious, but the city centre wasn't a pleasant place to be and this was the main reason why we headed home at 9:45pm after we had seen Arc back to the train station. This did mean though we had a pleasant hour in Brewdog, having a few beers and colouring in a kaleidoscope book with wax crayons. All three of us did this and it took up most of our time in the pub, but we were happy with the completed end result and it was good to do something while we were talking. Arc couldn't have tea as they were understaffed so grabbed a Fritz Cola instead while she spent a lot of time pursuading us to come to Confuzzled next year. This may be a possibility as I find a spy theme far more agreeable and I am looking at doing something other than EF next year, but it depends on a myriad of different factors. I do feel I miss out not going to CFz, particularly as we are now more kink-active than before, but the high cost of the con and the poor quality of the hotel really put me off. Still, it was sweet that people like Elfasi said they wish I was there in a completely unprompted statement, which then relates back to the feelings of isolation I feel and that perhaps they are not unfounded. There are a number of things at CFz in which I do fit, and perhaps I'm just over-analysing everything. I am prone to doing that.
Sunday was a lazy day, largely because Wolfie was again on call. I've been feeling somewhat lethargic all weekend so it was something of a relaxing day but we did head over to Bolling Hall in Bradford for an hour. This is one of those local gems that we didn't know existed before, and as it was a free museum in easy reach of home, it was perfect on a day when Wolfie may have had to work at any moment. Bolling Hall is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Bradford with a history dating back to the eleventh century when the area was gifted by William the Conquerer to one of his Norman mates. As is often the case with these buildings, areas were added to it over time, and it provided an important strategic site to the Royalists during the Civil War as they laid siege to the predominantly Parliamentarian town. There is a whole room dedicated to the events of 1643 including the rather macabre death mask of Oliver Cromwell, and I found this the highlight, particularly the contemporary newspaper accounts littered on a large table. As befits a provincial museum, there was an ephemera of things, most of which didn't quite fit together and a significant portion of which were replicas. Different rooms also reflected different eras, but the predominant theme was the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, with one room earlier and one room later. The rooms were authentically recreated and the signposts were honest, so at least you got an idea of what the rooms looked like during the periods mentioned. Still, it was a free musuem and one of the oldest in the city, so I am glad we popped down and I even donated a fiver as this sort of thing really should be preserved (it was given to the city in 1915 at a time when it was in quite a dishevelled state - a fate that seems to be common for houses/museums in this region). Afterwards, we even got to have a stroll in Bowling Park across the road (the spelling change is not an error) which marked a pleasant half hour in the late Spring cloud, although there wasn't much in this park in all honesty.
However, the primary reason for being off Twitter was that I have become addicted to it, and I think I still am. It's reasonably easy to be off social networks when you are distracted by something else, but when there is little going on or when things are dull (i.e. at work), the temptation to check Twitter every five minutes is incredibly strong. While in Scotland, not being online was pretty straightforward as there was stuff going on, but in my every day life the craving is strong. I think the basis of this is benign - I am a socialable person who likes to keep in touch with friends - but it has created a bigger issue and I am unsure over how to proceed. Part of the problem is that my social media presence is the big thing in the Leedsfurs community and I tend to promote the events far more than anyone else. At present, no one else is really doing that aside from the official channel, and even that sparingly. This is why I will most likely come back.
Further quashing the feelings of isolation are nights like last night. We headed into Leeds to enjoy the annual Leeds Food Festival - an event we have missed over the last three years due to being at Cambridge's Strawberry Fair followed by BLFC last year. It has changed a lot, primarily being stalls selling you cooked food rather than the produce stalls of yesteryear. I remember a cheesemonger complaining a few years back that the fair was less like a farmers' market and more like a food buffet so I guess it's no surprise that cooked food has become the priority. Further to this, it did seem a lot smaller than usual, but as Wolfie pointed out, the huge area dedicated to cooking instruction (sponsored by ASDA) is no longer there. It was also sad to see a lack of breweries present - there was a bar selling predominantly fizzy pish, but a few years ago I definitely remember a number of smaller breweries selling their beer too. Alas there was none of that. However, what the fair lacked, it definitely made up for in the quality of food. We sampled delicious Armenian chicken wraps with pomegranate and melon - an odd combination but one that definitely worked - while the raclette was absolutely gorgeous, with exquisitely cooked potatoes and unctuous rich salty cheese. For dessert I opted for a bubble waffle similar to those I had in Hong Kong back in December, albeit this one was stuffed with (Aldi own brand) vanilla ice cream, nutella and marshmallows. I would have eaten more, and would have liked to have gone back today had Wolfie's parents not been coming around to work on the garden, but alas my tummy had had enough.
Going back to my recent feelings though, we had invited the usual crew but a few dropped out for varying reasons. Arc and Adia came down though and they bumped into Bolly and Widor who just happened to be walking by. We were slightly late on account of Wolfie needing to go buy a new shirt on discovering that the one he was wearing had huge holes in it, but we were still down there for the last hour and a half of the event, which was definitely enough time. It was also quite quiet, which I had planned as I knew the weather would be inclement and that the 17:15 kick off England game may drag people away from Millennium Square. So it proved to be and it was a very relaxing and fun afternoon trying various food. There was a seating area under the Guildhall at which we congregated whenever we wanted to wander off and get food, and it was exhilarating being around great company again. I felt a little awkward initially but soon fell back into being my socialable self and a very nice time was had.
Bolly was feeling tired though so he and Widor headed off early, while Adia departed shortly after the market closed at 8pm. This left just Arc, so we decided to go to Shuffledog as we suspected this wouldn't be as busy as some of the other bars in the city. The other problem with Leeds last night was the high number of drunk wankers out and about, something I am noticing a lot more these days. They were harmless enough, just being loud, larey and obnoxious, but the city centre wasn't a pleasant place to be and this was the main reason why we headed home at 9:45pm after we had seen Arc back to the train station. This did mean though we had a pleasant hour in Brewdog, having a few beers and colouring in a kaleidoscope book with wax crayons. All three of us did this and it took up most of our time in the pub, but we were happy with the completed end result and it was good to do something while we were talking. Arc couldn't have tea as they were understaffed so grabbed a Fritz Cola instead while she spent a lot of time pursuading us to come to Confuzzled next year. This may be a possibility as I find a spy theme far more agreeable and I am looking at doing something other than EF next year, but it depends on a myriad of different factors. I do feel I miss out not going to CFz, particularly as we are now more kink-active than before, but the high cost of the con and the poor quality of the hotel really put me off. Still, it was sweet that people like Elfasi said they wish I was there in a completely unprompted statement, which then relates back to the feelings of isolation I feel and that perhaps they are not unfounded. There are a number of things at CFz in which I do fit, and perhaps I'm just over-analysing everything. I am prone to doing that.
Sunday was a lazy day, largely because Wolfie was again on call. I've been feeling somewhat lethargic all weekend so it was something of a relaxing day but we did head over to Bolling Hall in Bradford for an hour. This is one of those local gems that we didn't know existed before, and as it was a free museum in easy reach of home, it was perfect on a day when Wolfie may have had to work at any moment. Bolling Hall is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Bradford with a history dating back to the eleventh century when the area was gifted by William the Conquerer to one of his Norman mates. As is often the case with these buildings, areas were added to it over time, and it provided an important strategic site to the Royalists during the Civil War as they laid siege to the predominantly Parliamentarian town. There is a whole room dedicated to the events of 1643 including the rather macabre death mask of Oliver Cromwell, and I found this the highlight, particularly the contemporary newspaper accounts littered on a large table. As befits a provincial museum, there was an ephemera of things, most of which didn't quite fit together and a significant portion of which were replicas. Different rooms also reflected different eras, but the predominant theme was the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, with one room earlier and one room later. The rooms were authentically recreated and the signposts were honest, so at least you got an idea of what the rooms looked like during the periods mentioned. Still, it was a free musuem and one of the oldest in the city, so I am glad we popped down and I even donated a fiver as this sort of thing really should be preserved (it was given to the city in 1915 at a time when it was in quite a dishevelled state - a fate that seems to be common for houses/museums in this region). Afterwards, we even got to have a stroll in Bowling Park across the road (the spelling change is not an error) which marked a pleasant half hour in the late Spring cloud, although there wasn't much in this park in all honesty.
