Hyperreal

Tonight was the monthly Glasgow party, but instead of the regular GUU venue, it was at the Woodside Halls.

Not as handy for me, but I thought I’d go along anyway…

The Woodside Halls are hard to find – and a bit confusing because coming the obvious way you get to the small hall first which had a different event on. The main hall just beyond it looked quiet and deserted in comparison, and I at first wondered if I’d got the right place… A few other people told me they had problems finding the place…

I got there at about half past 9. I really should have tried to get there earlier – especially with an early finish (12 midnight?) it meant I didn’t get so much dancing.

What I did have though was quality. Lots of great dances – lots with folks I hadn’t seen for a bit too. Good to see a fair Edinburgh presence – especially with me not doing the Edinburgh party last month, I’d missed them.

I was a little worried when I first arrived by music that just wasn’t me. But that didn’t last long, and we got lots of good music, as I’d expect. Again, some real favourites of mine, plus some songs with sentimental meaning, punctuated the night.

While I was having a really good night, a few people I talked to just said they had had an “all right” night, or an “OK” night. I can’t think of any general reason why this would have been. There were only a couple of big down-sides to the night that I found.

• The hall gets too hot, and it doesn’t seem to be possible to cool it beyond using some fans to move air around.

• It’s not as big a venue as the combined size of the two GUU rooms, and was quite crowded at times, though I found nearer the stage it wasn’t so bad, plus with the fans there you were going to get a cooler dance.

Due to the late change of venue, there wasn’t a bar. This I think is actually a plus, but it’d have been good if the soft drinks and water that was on-sale at very reasonable prices could have been cooled in some way, but it wasn’t a big deal.

One thing that definitely added to my enjoyment of the evening was a lack of sore knee. Since I started dancing (in fact for years and years) I have problems with my right knee that tends to tire and get sore fairly quickly. I was surprised to find though that at Southport last month it didn’t bother me greatly (a big surprise when you consider how much dancing I was doing.)

I have tried a few things since then to try and find what was special then and see if I could reproduce it, and based on Sunday, Tuesday and tonight, I think I’ve found the cause which creates the no-knee-pain effect.

It’s having a drink before dancing – doesn’t need to be anything substantial, just a glass of wine an hour or so before coming out dancing tonight seems to have freed me from pain all night.

Naturally, I’m curious why this is, and in particular whether the effect is in my knee, or in my head. I’d rather not have to rely on alcohol in order to have pain-free dancing…

I think more study is required…

Anyway, that was another good night! Thanks to the DJs, staff, etc. Cheers to all the ladies I danced with – so many fab dances! Hope to see you all again soon. (Maybe in Dundee next weekend?)