Other Worlds- A Marvellous New Online Hub Where Geek Culture Meets Theology (Plus It’s Run By Someone Very Close To My Heart, So I’m A Bit Biased)

I first heard about Other Worlds a month or two ago, when my brother mentioned to me he was filming with a friend at the Dark Hedges, one of the famous Game of Thrones set locations. They had plans of putting together a podcast of sorts, and Other Worlds has turned out to be the result.

This past Sunday, at our weekly family dinner he passed me a very fancy purple business card with the logo and URL, and it seems now I am not the only Spence with a web presence on the go! 

Other Worlds is a collab between himself, Michael Spence, who in his day job works a minister, and two friends Jonny Orr and Andrew Matthews.  

The website will take a theological spin on geek culture and include a podcast. The ‘about’ section states-  “Other Worlds is a media project connecting theology with geek culture: films, writing and podcasts that engage deeply with the theological themes raised by our favourite media:Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Dungeons & Dragons, HP Lovecraft, CS Lewis, and whatever else we come up with.

Other Worlds is for you if you’re interested in what fantasy has to say to reality; if you’ve been inspired to adventure by The Lord of the Rings; if Harry Potter changed how you feel about death; and even if you think that Darth Vader is a bit like Jesus.”

There is some written content on the site to explore already, and you can like their Facebook page to keep up to date. If you want to watch the video podcast about Game of Thrones that was taken at The Dark Hedges, you can view it on the Other Worlds Youtube Channel here.

DIY at Home Moss Pole for Training a Cheese Plant

The finished product

I finally got my hands on a Monstera AKA a Cheese Plant, the most 1970s’ of houseplants. It’s tropical, palmesque leaves are very trendy right now, and Ikea have medium sized Monstera plants for £15 in their garden department. 

Cheese Plants have aerial roots, which sprout from the ‘branches’, and your plant will try to grow out horizontally and take over as much space as it can.  

I Googled and came across a great blog post on the blog Green Obsessions, about how to construct a pole for your Monstera’s roots to instead climb up, which will give height to the plant. 

It’s pretty easy and involves bamboo rods, the lining of hanging baskets and twine. You can read all about it over on her blog, click through here, she explains the process over there. I followed her directions and carefully trained my plant and hopefully it will begin to climb the pole. I will release the bindings a little once the roots start to take to the pole properly. Green fingers crossed!

Bao Buns & Their Best Burger Ever- M&S Food Hall Gears Up For Summer 2019, Let’s Check It Out!

We had a few sunny days about a fortnight ago where many a dad around the country could be seen sneaking into the shed, and the squeaking wheels of BBQs could be heard being tested out to see if they were fit for the season, or if a brand new MAX GRILL DELUXE could be on the books for summer 2019.

But this week, and this morning especially, it’s fair to say that spring is definitely here to stay and there will be a few bbqs fired up for the first time this evening.

The change in the weather means a selection of the summer food has arrived in Marks & Spencer, including their Best Ever Burger, which is included in the 3 for £10 meat offer across sausages, burgers and various cuts of meats. Last summer M&S sold 4 million of these burgers!

I picked up the new version of the Best Ever Burger which includes a cheesy melt. It’s a mix of moreish cheese, gherkin, tomato sauce and mustard. Sounds delicious. I will be trying everything from this blog post this week, so keep up to date on my Instagram to find out what I think.

I also spied The Grill Special Burger Sauce, which is only £1.50 and is an excellent Big Mac sauce alternative. The bread and bakery department has a wealth of delights when it comes to baps for your sausages and burgers. From the ordinary floury or sesame seed variety, to brioche buns and these flavoursome Fried Onion Burger ones which are £1.50 for four.

Another new product I’m really excited about, because I’ve tried them at Yo Sushi before and adored them, is the M&S Bao Buns (up top).  Now I can make them at home! It’s £2 for a pack of six buns, and you can then pack them with whatever meat and fillings you desire.

I picked up the Slow Cooked Mexican Pork Shoulder for £6, which would shred down really well and be a fab filling for the bao. With spring onions and a little spicy mayo it’ll be yummy! Watch out for my results on Instagram, most likely on Sunday. The bao buns are vegan and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner, so get creative.

When I was grabbing the Burgers I couldn’t help but notice another new product that tempted me, and even better was part of the 3 for £10 offer- doughless pizzas! My Bangor Marks and Spencer had both Margherita and the Spicy Pepperoni versions of the Meat’zza, and I’m very keen to try them out. Toppings are the best part of the pizza and now you can literally just get a whole pizza that’s just topping. Marks and Sparks, making dreams come true.

They’ve also a selection of fresh salads in with nice mixes of vegetables which are more refreshing than your usual tomato and lettuce staple summer bbq salad. These make really super sides for bbqs along with their coleslaws and potato salads, and if you didn’t see my blog post earlier this year, M&S now have completely vegan versions of coleslaw and potato salad, so now you can have something for everyone in your extended family. 

The summer salads I chose to try were Chargrilled Courgette & Green Bean, because I grow courgettes so it was a must buy, Asparagus, Pea and Potato, and Roasted Aubergine & Sweet Potato. These salads are £3 each and there are many more to choose from. They also come with a little drizzle pot.

Also worth noting that apart from the salads, everything in this blog post is freezable, including the bao buns and burger buns. Very much looking forward to firing up the bbq on Sunday and trying everything out with my family. Hoping the weather holds until then. Remember to check my Instagram for my taste tests!