The Weekly EDIT – What Colour is Your Monday?

Yes, it’s here, what is officially (or supposedly so) the most depressing day of the year, the fabled Blue Monday! Boo hoo right.

Look we can either cry into our pillow or plan something fun to do to keep those blues away with the help of our handy guide to the next seven days. Dry your eyes, here’s The Weekly EDIT.

Alan Partridge Bingo (22nd)

Alan Partridge outside BBC Television Centre — Credit: BBC

If you can’t wait for the new This Time With Alan Patridge series to drop on the BBC next month, why not warm up with a spot of bingo with a difference.

This Tuesday the Moth Club in East London is the place to be as bingo numbers are swapped for Partridge quotes and characters to come up with a unique take on this most British of past times.

Uniqlo Tate Lates (25th)

On the last Friday of the month, the Tate Liverpool invites guests to join them after hours for a free night featuring an eclectic mix of art, music, film and workshops.

Find emerging and established DJs, alongside world-class exhibitions, with pop-up talks and some delicious food and drink. This month’s inspiration comes from The C C Land Exhibition: Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of Memory. Open 6-10pm.

Burns Night (Various, 25th)

Skylight Winter Closing Party

One of the best rooftop venues in the capital, Skylight in Tobacco Dock, will be seeing out their winter season in style with a Burns Night party to remember (or forget depending on how many Old Fashioned’s you drink).

In keeping with the Scottish theme, there will be live pipers, DJs and whiskey a go go.

Burns Supper at the Royal Yacht Britannia

If you’re looking for a more formal and authentic Burns Night experience then look no further than a hop aboard of the Edinburgh based Royal Yacht Britannia.

On the 25th & 26th, you can be piped aboard for a delicious four-course menu featuring the very best local ingredients. With traditional music, whisky tasting and the ‘Address to a Haggis’, it’s more Scottish than Billy Connolly drinking Irn-Bru on the Forth Bridge.

HSBC National Track Championships (25th – 27th)

It’s the highlight of the domestic track cycling calendar in Manchester from this Friday, as the National Cycling Centre hosts Britain’s very best riders as they compete against each other for the prestigious red, white and blue national champions’ jerseys.

Don’t miss 6 times Olympic Champion Jason Kenny in the Men’s team sprint on day one.

Gigs

Young Fathers (Newcastle, 22nd)

The ever-brilliant Young Fathers are currently playing dates in the UK and are a live act not to be missed.

The Scottish trio released their acclaimed third album, Cocoa Sugar, last year and are going from strength to strength, if you happen to be in Newcastle on Tuesday there’s nowhere better to be.

The Streets (Various, 22nd/24th)

Two chances to see The Streets on tour at shows yet to sell out in Manchester and Leeds this week.

It might be worth trying to catch them before frontman Mike Skinner does himself any real damage after he managed to dislocate his shoulder last Friday night at his homecoming gig in Birmingham. Rock and Roll!

Eats & Drinks

Extraveganza (23rd)

This vegan street food party is the brainchild of Shoreditch’s Dinerama, who’ve teamed up with charity Made in Hackney to bring about a celebration of all things non-meat and dairy.

One-off dishes are promised, as well as special collaborations and lashings of vegan booze. And best of all, every bit of profit goes into the hand of the charity.

The Manchester Beer & Cider Festival (24th – 26th)

A man waits for his beer to be served at a beer festival — Credit: James Darcey

The North’s biggest celebration of beer and cider is into its sixth year, and the festival is bigger than ever. There will be a dizzying 745 different drinks on offer from 24 bars at Manchester Central over the weekend.

There’s a drink for every taste with traditional British ales, cutting edge modern brewing and international beers all on display. Bottoms up.

App of the Week

Mindfulness Daily

Given the world we live in it’s no surprise the phenomenon of mindfulness that many thought was a passing fad is here to stay.

This particular app helps you to build a daily mindfulness practice of just a few minutes per day. It aids in making a way to fit meditation into daily routines to reduce stress and anxiety, get a better nights sleep, and manage pain.

New Read

Happy Ever After: Escaping the Myth of the Perfect Life

Just in time to save us all from the misery of Blue Monday comes this great new book from Professor of Behavioural Science Paul Dolan. Here he looks at how society presents us with stories or ‘social narratives’ that are supposed to make us happy, but often don’t. Professor Dolan works at myth-busting traditional notions of routes to happiness and shows how the unexpected path can often be the most fulfilling.

Song of the Week

Pom Poko – My Blood

This track has been on repeat all week at MALESTROM HQ and after a listen you’re going to realise why. Pom Poko (named after a Studio Ghibli film) are a quartet from Norway set to release their debut album ‘Birthday’ on Bella Union on Feb 22nd. They’ve got a vibrant, high energy if not slightly chaotic feel and we are big fans. Check out the rather mental video to My Blood and get excited for next month.

New Music

Steve Mason – About the Light

Former Beta Band member Steve Mason is onto his fourth solo album and he’s said this one is his most ‘open’ to date. We think it’s his best with a stripped back live feel that makes it feel more accessible than previous efforts.

There’s plenty to enjoy here not least the album’s rousing title track. Check out the brilliant single ‘Walking Away From Love’ below.

New TV

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (NETFLIX, 24th)

With serial killers currently proving more morbidly fascinating than ever, it’s no surprise to see NETFLIX wheel out another true crime show on the subject.

Conversations with a Killer offers a unique look inside the mind of the infamous Ted Bundy with this cinematic self-portrait crafted from archive footage and never before heard interviews by the man himself.

Tin Star (Sky Atlantic, 24th)

This Tim Roth starring modern Western is back for a second season. Roth plays a sheriff with a murky past living in a small Canadian town, who this time around after being left for dead in the snow is out for revenge, once thawed out of course.

Lucky for him it really is a dish best served cold. Despite the first series taking forever to get going, we’re hoping this season will have learned from previous mistakes.

New Movies

Vice

Christian Bale has proven himself quite the chameleon previously in films such as The Machinist where he goes through physical extremes to play characters.

Here instead of losing copious amounts of weight, he’s piled it on to play former US vice-president, Dick Cheney, in this sharp political biopic from director Adam McKay.

We take a look at how Cheney rose to power in the Bush government and walked over everyone he had to on the way. Pertinent as it shows how any political figure can become a huge influence on the world despite being devoid of any humanity.

The Mule

You’d think at his age Clint Eastwood might be taking it easy and putting his feet up. But even at 88, he’s still getting into all kinds of scrapes.

Here he plays Earl Stone, an elderly gent who unwittingly becomes a drug courier for a Mexican cartel when trying to earn some quick cash. And it’s not long before this mule has the law and the cartel’s enforcers after him.

It’s rumoured to be his last movie, but on this form, he might still churn out another couple of Dirty Harrys before hanging up his hat.