THEGAYUK

Day: 28 January 2017

  • HOTEL REVIEW | Santiago Resort

    HOTEL REVIEW | Santiago Resort

    ★★★★★ | Santiago Resort

    The Californian TREAT in RETREAT

    Located in a highly desirable neighbourhood in Palm Springs, California sits a quaint resort that is the recently refreshed Santiago. The friendly and attentive staff welcomes you to this gaysclusive 24 room – awe-inspiring resort. Most rooms boast landscape views of the towering mountains that surround this swim suit optional resort. The long list of amenities includes TV, DVD, fridge, microwave, king size beds, ceiling fans, housekeeping, WiFi, heated oversized pool, and Jacuzzi that are all a stone’s throw away from the tropical exotic surroundings that light up this resort. Santiago is one of the very few resorts that also offer both complimentary continental breakfast as well as a healthy light lunch that varies daily. As this resort sits proudly near downtown Palm Springs you will be neighbours with the bustling areas that will cater for your retail, wining, dining and dancing needs.

    Sometimes when we travel we think that we have to go out and explore or else we feel as though we are missing out on something and Santiago has this natural pull to the resort that even though the area is waiting to be explored…so are the hammocks, the fire pit and the views that come with both. OK so one might think that there is only so many views that one can take – I stayed here in January and back home in London it’s not very often you get to look at a backdrop of snow-capped mountains behind a canvas of clear blue skies whilst drinking English Breakfast tea (of course). When dusk starts to creep in and you are backstroking in the warm pool it’s difficult not to get carried away with a number of stars that twinkle away from any light pollution. I left thinking is Palm Springs closer to the moon – it seems that way.

    Santiago is the treat in retreat!

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dirty Great Love Story, The Arts Theatre

    ★★ | Dirty Great Love Story, The Arts Theatre

    CREDIT: Richard Davenport

    I’m a bit unconventional in my views when it comes to romance. I strongly believe that sex before the first date is a sensible action (who wants to sit through a tedious meal with a fake smile plastered on your face when you can cut to the chase?) but I also have a secret love of ‘will they won’t they’ romantic comedies.

    Slam poetry champion Richard Marsh and writer/performer Katie Bonna originally conceived Dirty Great Love Story as a short pub performance piece.

    It evolved into a longer two-hander play and was well received at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012 where the writers also performed the piece. Outlining a meeting between gauche and shy Richard and recently heartbroken Katie on a stag and hen do, followed by a one night stand in a Travelodge, the play then goes on to tantalise with an almost/on and off romance, that burgeons in spite of obstacles.

    It’s classic rom-com but recited partly in verse.

    In this new incarnation at The Arts Theatre, the pair is played by actors with accomplished performances from Ayesha Antoine and Felix Scott. This is where the problem seems to lie, though. Maybe performance poetry works better coming from the mouth of the poet and in this case, fails to translate over easily despite the actors’ efforts.

    In spite of their skill as performers, the verse feels stilted coming from their mouths and sits oddly with a touch of the painfully twee about it in parts. Yes, they’re sometimes talking about the dirty bits of this relationship, but in a Richard Curtis style romantic comedy format with poetry that sounds like Pam Ayres on a 1980s edition of That’s Life.

    It splutters dimly more that it illuminates and feels tired and dated. Not so great and a tiny bit dirty but a love story nonetheless, there are flashes of brilliance but they feel few and far between.

    When the funny moments hit they’re worth waiting for, there’s a clever set by Pia Furtado with bits that drop down and pop up to illustrate various scenes but overall it all falls a bit flat.

     

    Dirty Great Love Story plays at The Arts Theatre until 16th March 2017

  • Two men bailed after arrest in connection with homophobic attack

    Two men bailed after arrest in connection with homophobic attack

    Police in Oldham, in Greater Manchester, have released two men on bail, after their arrest in connection with an alleged assault on a 21-year-old gay man.

    Yorkshire Street homophobic attack
    CREDIT: Google Maps

    Two men were arrested on the 23rd January in connection with an alleged assault involving a 21-year-old victim. They have been released on bail until 8th March, pending further enquiries.

    Police say that a man was homophobically abused at around 3:20 AM outside a club on Yorkshire Street, in Oldham Town Centre. Police say he was punched in the face repeatedly and homophobic abuse hurled at him.

    He was hospitalised after the attack.

    On the evening of Monday 23 January, two men aged 22 and 28 were arrested on suspicion of section 20 assault and have been bailed until Wednesday 8 March 2017 pending further enquiries.

    Police Constable Laura Cheetham of GMP’s Oldham Borough, said,

    “I’d like to thank the public for their help, which resulted in two people in custody in less than 12 hours since we issued CCTV images.
    “Thanks to the power of social media, two people presented themselves at custody last night, having seen the appeal.
    “We are continuing with our enquiries and I’m encouraging anyone who has any information about this incident to come forward.”

    Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 8922, 101 quoting reference number 1940 of 05/11/16 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

    Oldham is around 8 miles away from Manchester where one of the UK’s biggest gay scenes is located. Manchester’s gay scene was made famous in the late 90s and early 2000s after Channel 4 broadcast the series, Queer As Folk, which centred its drama around the Canal Street area of Manchester.