Manchester International Film Festival 2020: Part II
Thursday March 12th
The three-hour train trip to Manchester was fast and quiet compared to the Metro North trains out of Grand Central in New York City. The British countryside was green due to plenty of rain and reminded me of Oregon where I was born. But the neighborhoods, and farmhouses were uniquely British with Mary Poppins chimneys everywhere. A narrow winding canal, that seemed to follow the same path as the train, had lots of colorful long boats on it. Most were docked but some cruised lazily along. Manchester is known for its long boats, which come right into the city via the canal.
In our cab on the way to the hotel, we drove past the Manchester Arena¹ where the original Alice Cooper group had performed with Alice’s tour in November 2017. People were gathering outside the arena, but, sadly, our driver said the concerts had been cancelled.
The Manchester Film Festival² had provided great hotel rooms for their guests. Our room had everything we needed, and a great view of the Manchester Cathedral³.
Cindy opened one tall closet door and found a washer and dryer. Another door concealed a fridge and freezer. There was a stove and all the pots and pans and utensils anyone would need. Cindy announced that she would be cooking our meals!
There was a “Sainsbury⁴” market right around the corner, so we bought food and wine. The market was small but it seemed that most people were trying to keep a safe distance from others.
That night, coincidentally, there was a BBC show about the boat people we had seen from the train. It said they were a very important part of British history, and their long boats, although not as important as they had once been, still cruised from town to town.
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Friday March 13th
And now the reason we had made the trip began to unfold: We were there for the screening of Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper⁵ at the Manchester Film Festival! Photographer Jodi Cunningham⁶, who we befriended in 2017 on the Alice Cooper UK tour⁷, had arrived. Jodi has an extraordinary knack for taking great photos. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to stay for the film because of train scheduling but, nevertheless, we deemed her to be our official photographer for the day.
Charles Edmonds had also arrived. Charles had generously taken care of our travels for the screenings of Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper and Cold Cold Coffin at the Castle Cinema in London last year. The four of us explored Manchester on foot to where Cindy and I would be doing a podcast. Charles forged the way, avoiding other people while Jodi maneuvered around snapping photos. As we approached the building, Jodi said, “Hey, I do photography work here!” and sure enough, people were greeting her as we went in.
The interviewer introduced himself as Will (I don’t think we ever heard a last name); He had previously emailed us topics to be discussed, so we felt prepared and the podcast went well. I was especially proud of Cindy who finally seems comfortable doing interviews; For years she refused them (she likes to protect her personal life). But her feeling more comfortable about discussing her history is good news for when she finishes her book and releases it.
Due to dwindled stock at the grocery store, Cindy cooked a makeshift version of her Tuna-Noodle Casserole, which was a favorite with the Alice Cooper group during the lean years. We had wine, and in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, Jameson Irish Whiskey.
The BBC News was fully focused on COVID-19. Apparently, the UK had been dealing with mixed messages similar to what we had become accustomed to in the US; Their leader was out shaking hands with everyone, while ours was saying he had a hunch it would disappear by April. And now it was looking way more serious.
Other than the concerning news reports, Cindy and I found UK TV to be very different from what we are used to. We noticed they had tons of cooking competition shows. After a bit of channel surfing, we ran across a documentary about a 60’s band that had never made it. They were pretty bad, but we had our Irish Whiskey. It’s been a good day.
Seeing our friends in Manchester boosted our excitement for the Film Festival even more! Now it was just around the corner, and we were absolutely pumped to kick it off.
...The saga continues next week!
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