Omid Djalili at Liverpool Philharmonic

Reviewed by Fat Roland and Simon Belt January 2012

Firstly, Fat Roland's take on the performance

Omid Djalili’s appearance at the Liverpool Philharmonic did nothing to dispel my belief that stand-up comedy is a bit broken. I once went on a stand-up comedy course in which I was taught to brainstorm, to use the mic, and to find the funny. The course leader used clips of television comedians – think charity balls, gigs in palladiums, Saturday night fodder – as an example of stand-up. But the course leader was wrong to do this as television comedy is not stand-up.

Exemplar: Joy Division by Kevin Cummins

at Manchester Photographic Gallery, Tarrif Street, Manchester

Reviewed by Mark Iddon January

33 Years ago, on 06 January 1979, Kevin Cummins spent the day photographing the legendary Manchester Band Joy Division. Many pictures from that snowy day in Manchester feature in this current exhibition alongside photos taken of the band, its members and associated images over a 3 year period from one of their first gigs performing as Warsaw in May 1977 to the memorial stone of the singer, Ian Curtis following his untimely death in May 1980.

The exhibition includes around 45 black and white images, on three floors of the gallery, that capture a range of aspects of the band from the intensity of their performances, to relaxed and contemplative stills during rehearsals to the well documented Hulme bridge photo. There are also images of the Factory Club in Hulme and the Russell Club in Manchester where they played early gigs and of an anxious audience queuing outside The Electric Circus.

Debate on Donating Human Tissue to Art

at the Bluecoat, Liverpool 08 February 2012

To be reviewed by Denis Joe February 2012

We have come a long way in consent and use of human tissue for research since the 1950′s when a tobacco farmer called Henrietta Lacks died of cancer, some of her cells were kept and used by researchers without permission of the family. It is now estimated that millions of kilos of cells derived from Henrietta (cell line named HeLa) have been grown around the world over the subsequent years and her cells have been used in countless experiments.

As a scientist if I do any research with human tissue in England, Wales or Northern Ireland I must conform to the regulations set out under the Human Tissue Act. To put it mildly this is a bit of a faff but, in my view, an acceptable mechanism to prevent abuse in the use of human tissue from both living and the dead. The HTA is not exactly bed time reading (except as cure for insomnia) and most (all?) licensed facilities have an HTA committee set up to advise and oversee medical projects. To do research or even display human tissue you need a license.

Ladies & Gents Golf on a Par in Derbyshire?

Review by Marie-Anne McGibbon December 2011

I've been playing golf for the last 10 years at a variety of courses across Derbyshire and Cheshire, perhaps more social than competitive for most of it, but great fun none the less. For the last 8 years I've been playing Ladies golf in Derbyshire as a member of New Mills Golf Club just south of Stockport - a very down to earth club owned and managed by its members.

Thankfully, golf in Derbyshire more generally tends to keep the funny handshakes and stuffiness often associated with golf to a minimum, so a merger of the Ladies and Gents Golf Unions in Derbyshire comes as no surprise, albeit somewhat overdue.