大象传媒

Round-Up of the Blogs: Weather, Books, City, Gigs & Rolling Back the Time

• Robin Hamman
• 27 Oct 06, 10:46 AM

The weekend is upon us and, although it looks like the unseasonably warm weather will continue for a bit longer, we're also likely to get some rain on Saturday.

If you find yourself stuck indoors, you could always cozy up with a book which I reckon is something that , in the , spends a lot of time doing. She's on a quest to in a year, or at least that's what I gather from her blog (she's also America's Next Top Model if you prefer a bit of telly). Her most recent review, of Lani Diane Rich's The Comeback Kiss has been the book review site, Trashionista, and says:

"I don't want to spoil it, but what I will tell you is that, like Lani's other novels, The Comeback Kiss is great fun with laugh out loud moments, romance and, um, good lovin' (I'm feeling coy today). Finn is gorgeous, Tessa is another strong female character (this author excels in strong female characters) and Babs is just fabulous, I love her. And I haven't even mentioned the talking dog. No, really. The Comeback Kiss is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold Autumn night."

Keris isn't the only local blogger who does books. , another blog shortlisted in the the recent Manchester Blog Awards, is a more weighty read. Take this excerpt of a short original piece :

"In beautiful, compact, stand-alone paragraphs, Benjamin becomes again the flaneur of his own bourgeois childhood. He finds a city in which he can lose himself. Losing oneself (as one does when reading) being the beginning of discovery (learning to get lost is a vertiginous skill). And writing, almost in fragments, he disturbs the teleology of autobiography. Today, perhaps more than ever, we need Benjamin's nuanced radicalism."

Speaking of radical, Bitter and Blue (yes, another blog on that shortlist), reckons radical changes might be afoot at City following their against Wigan last week. Bitter and Blue, who posted a follow-up to made by City Chairman John Wardle, didn't - initially - think there was much possibility that management changes could come soon:

"One thing Wardle didn't touch on was Stuart Pearce - giving neither a vote of confidence or laying out what was expected of him for this season...For all the furore which was raised, and there were a lot of genuine questions raised about Pearce - namely his tactics and motivation abilities, I don't think the board at this stage are seriously considering making a managerial change - for above all alse there aren't any serious 'available' candidates out there (that we know of) who could come in and make a difference."

But now Bitter and Blue has changed his tune a bit, having spotted an article in the Independent suggesting that - well, you can go read for yourself - someone available to take over the reigns as City afterall.

Man City takes on Middlesbrough at 8pm on Monday in Manchester which, coincidently, will probably seem like just 7pm to most of us because Sunday the clocks roll back an hour from British Summer Time (BST) to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

In a , political blogger Skipper asks "Why in God's name Do We Insist on Putting the Clocks Back?". He cites research findings that, if we didn't put the clocks back, there would be a "net saving of 140 lives" as one of several reasons that Britain shouldn't put it's clocks backs. Why do we do it? Skipper blames the Scots:

"The case against reversing the measure is summed up in the two words: Scottish farmers. They would face much darker mornings as the sun would not rise until 10.0am."

If you'd rather roll back the years than one measly hour, an ace video of playing in an Altrincham pub back in 1979. Which, speaking of gigs, In The City 2006 kicks off this weekend and on what you shouldn't miss.