All a-flutter
- 31 Jan 07, 08:02 PM
Ka-ching! That's the sound of Manchester landing the country's first supercasino, beating out bids from highly favoured Blackpool and some oversized dome down South. And oh, the blogs are buzzing. You might expect citizens of Mancunia to be rubbing their hands with mercenary glee over our city's unexpected jackpot, but think again.
"Glorious news," writes sarcasm king . "Manchester is about to become the British headquarters of the taxing-the-stupid industry..."You know, I鈥檓 sure all our councilors watch It鈥檚 a Wonderful Life every Christmas. And when they see that sequence with the angel who shows George Bailey the raucous hellhole his town would have become if it wasn鈥檛 for him, they say: 'that鈥檚 exactly what we need here.'"
Some have shown a more softhearted side, fretting about what the loss of the casino will mean for the beleaguered seaside resort. "Spare a thought for Blackpool," writes Stephen Newton in his . "The town鈥檚 regeneration strategy is now in tatters 鈥 and it鈥檚 hard to see what they鈥檒l do now."
Others have been less... erm...sympathetic to the loser's plight. says "I'm gutted at the news that the super casino has gone to Manchester. My slogan all along has been 鈥淏lackpool 鈥 because you couldn鈥檛 make it any worse鈥. And imagine what would鈥檝e been able to do with all that neon and glitz."
Quite a few bloggers have questioned the wisdom of locating the casino in economically-deprived East Manchester. asks if it will come at too high a cost: "The promotion of gambling and opening up of new 鈥楲as Vegas鈥 style casino鈥檚 cannot be a good thing for wider society and community sustainability & cohesion."
fears not only gambing addiction and crime but dire consequences for Manchester's image; will the name of our fair city become, like Las Vegas, linked forever in people's minds with naked greed and moral vacuity? "This is not to say that Beswick won't value 2500 new jobs and the inflow of hundreds of millions of cash into the local economy," he writes. "And it's a relief too that the Dome did not win a prize over which John Prescott was so over-enthusiastically lobbied by billionaire owner Philip Anshutz. But am I alone in feeling very uneasy about all this?
However, there's nothing morally wrong with gambling responsibly, says . He has a good summary of both sides of this morality question on his blog, but admits he doesn't know the answer to this debate. And anyway, you won't see him in Beswick: "my vice is Texas Hold鈥橢m poker, and it鈥檚 just not worth playing it at a casino, because the House helps itself to a percentage of every pot. "
, at least, thinks Manchester was the right choice: "the body set up to scrutinise the bids looked at delivery, regeneration and the business case - I never thought Blackpool would be able to make that stack up. Manchester is top draw on putting together winning bids - Sports events, political conferences and trade exhibitions."
Still, even he is ambivalent about whether the supercasino has a super future: "having joined new Manchester 235 casino just before Christmas I was absolutely stunned at the scale of the place, but aghast at the emptiness of it. It was soulless and lifeless and bore no relation to the shiny images on the brochures. I just don't think they'll catch on."
Hmmm.... fancy a wager on it?
There鈥檚 No Such Thing as Free Parking
- 25 Jan 07, 12:42 PM
The big news amongst Mancunian bloggers this week is the council鈥檚 to the city鈥檚 parking regulations that would put an end to free parking on evenings and weekends. Bloggers opposing the changes included and , who writes: 鈥淭he current plans to charge for parking from 8am to midnight 7 days a week will be a disaster for the city, not only for our theatres, shops and businesses, but they could lead to more residents leaving the city centre at a time when it needs to be attracting them in ever increasing numbers in order to avert a crisis of housing surplus.鈥
Others were talking about the high gales which wreaked havoc around Greater Manchester last week. train wasn鈥檛 running, so he cycled home, but not without some detours. 鈥淧iccadilly (the road) was shut because there was a load of scaffolding that was looking precarious. The Piccadilly station approach road was shut too, along with another road near the bus stops on the eastern side of Piccadilly gardens. The result was chaos.鈥
Clare Sudbery of has noticed the reappearance of the Sabirock guy 鈥 a mysterious figure of great interest to Manchester鈥檚 blogging community:
鈥淢r Sabirock was there again today, sitting on his fence by a roundabout鈥 caught his eye. We smiled at each other. I really should try and actually listen to his music.鈥
Meanwhile, music blog has posted a review of folksinger and harpist Joanna Newsom鈥檚 recent gig with Northern Sinfonia at the Bridgewater Hall. Despite initially thinking Joanna鈥檚 voice sounded like a tortured cat, JustHipper has grown to appreciate her unique vocal style. The concert was 鈥渁 remarkable performance,鈥 she says:
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 take my eyes off her hands up and down the harp, wondering how she managed to play so perfectly and sing such complex and skilful poetry so sincerely at the same time.鈥
And Norm of was interested to read of the Countess of Chester Hospital鈥檚 toward smoking on hospital grounds, which involves closing outdoor smoking shelters and helping staff quit so they can set a healthy example. 鈥淏ut, let's face it, this is tame stuff,鈥 Norm writes. 鈥淚 think the hospital should consider rounding up all smokers who enter its premises, holding them for several days and hosing them down with liquid horse shit until they confess to the unutterable baseness of their own miserable beings and renounce their evil ways forever.鈥 Indeed.
Manchester Blogging Workshop #1
- 19 Jan 07, 09:56 AM
I just knew things weren鈥檛 going to be easy when just two minutes into my afternoon programme on 大象传媒 Radio Manchester, the power went off at G-Mex where we were for the Caravan and Motorhome Show.
Inside the exhibition we were warm and very much had warm summer days on our mind. Outside the wind was trying as hard as it could to get in. Across the country people were battling against the elements, but as so often happens in the UK, the adverse weather conditions was slowly bringing the transport system to its knees.
By 4pm Robin was coming to the conclusion that his journey from London to Manchester to help host the first Manchester Blogging Workshop was never going to be completed 鈥 well not in Manchester anyway.
The following couple of hours was met by a steady trickle of e-mails and phone calls from disappointed bloggers resigned to the fact that they were just not going to make it.
But in true 大象传媒 style, I felt that the show must go on.
We ended up with five bloggers 鈥 actually that鈥檚 four bloggers and one potential blogger 鈥 who joined me for an informal chat about travel tales, blogging and voles (thanks ).
We plan to rearrange the workshop in the near future and all those who have already registered interest will be notified of the new date. If you鈥檇 like to join us then drop us an e-mail at manchester.blog(at)bbc.co.uk and we鈥檒l add you to the mailing list.
I鈥檝e not heard from Robin since he sent me a text from Birmingham around 5pm last night, so perhaps he鈥檚 still trying to get home.
After left the meeting he went off to find the subject(s) of his photo of the day. His quest is to take a picture a day for a whole year. .
Poor had a bit of a nightmare journey to get to the Workshop, eventually arriving at 7.30. .
Post Script:
has finally touched base. He got home at 10pm, but the trouper that he is, he took of his travels and even ended up reporting for 大象传媒 WM!
Manchester Blogging Workshop Today (Thurs)
- 18 Jan 07, 01:26 PM
Tonight's the night for the first 大象传媒 Manchester Blogging Workshop.
The workshop will cover finding the right publishing platform, tips for getting started, getting your content syndicated and noticed more widely, keeping track of "the conversation" your blog joins and becomes a part of, and ways you can make your blog pay for any costs you might incur. We'll also be talking a bit about the 大象传媒's Editorial Guidelines to give you a better idea of what we might - and can't - link to or talk about on air.
The format will be pretty open, with lots of opportunities for you to interact with us (the 大象传媒 guys) and other bloggers.
If you haven't already sent us your name to get it on the list, drop us an email or post a comment on this post and we'll add you. Without a name on a list, it will be hard for us to convince the security guy we know you! Speaking of security, don't bring along anything dodgy (dirty underwear, handcuffs, etc) in your bags because they are liable to be searched upon entry.
Oh, and fingers crossed the train I'm sitting on somewhere in the Midlands gets me there before you arrive at the 大象传媒 on Oxford Road about 6pm (no entry after 6.30pm).
Manchester Blogging Workshop Today (Thurs)
- 18 Jan 07, 01:26 PM
Tonight's the night for the first 大象传媒 Manchester Blogging Workshop.
The workshop will cover finding the right publishing platform, tips for getting started, getting your content syndicated and noticed more widely, keeping track of "the conversation" your blog joins and becomes a part of, and ways you can make your blog pay for any costs you might incur. We'll also be talking a bit about the 大象传媒's Editorial Guidelines to give you a better idea of what we might - and can't - link to or talk about on air.
The format will be pretty open, with lots of opportunities for you to interact with us (the 大象传媒 guys) and other bloggers.
If you haven't already sent us your name to get it on the list, drop us an email or post a comment on this post and we'll add you. Without a name on a list, it will be hard for us to convince the security guy we know you! Speaking of security, don't bring along anything dodgy (dirty underwear, handcuffs, etc) in your bags because they are liable to be searched upon entry.
Oh, and fingers crossed the train I'm sitting on somewhere in the Midlands gets me there before you arrive at the 大象传媒 on Oxford Road about 6pm (no entry after 6.30pm).
Collective Wisdom
- 16 Jan 07, 05:12 PM
You can learn a lot from bloggers. Take for instance. This strictly local group blog/bulletin board open to Live Journal users and guests is the place for anyone looking for a tip from their fellow Mancunians.
Amid the calls for restaurant reccommendations, help on job hunts or moving advice there are some pretty far-out quests. This week alone, posters have been looking for the name of a long-lost song, a tough nut umbrella that can stand up to life in the rainy city, and a butcher selling kangaroo meat 鈥 that last courtesy of an Aussie in exile with a craving for 鈥淪kippy burgers.鈥 It鈥檚 remarkable what collective wisdom can come up with.
All of this interweb interaction has some side-effects, however. Over at, Matt Wilson has been thinking about the rise of blogging and online chatting and the not-unrelated decline in actually talking to people, face to face. It seems conversation is a dying art:
鈥淚f I was brave enough (and if it was July not January) I might drag a sofa into Piccadilly Gardens and erect a sign saying, TEACH ME TO CHAT! I'd ask passers by to share with me the Tai Chi of conversation - how to get it started - how to keep it going - how to wrap it up. But who am I kidding? 鈥.the house is warm, the keyboard is convenient and somebody out there in cyberspace might just want to talk back.
Meanwhile, has been to the pictures, taking in Mel Gibson鈥檚 much-maligned . Yeah, KazGraz says, she knows that the flick has a lot of negatives 鈥 the director鈥檚 bad press and justifiable unpopularity of late, the film鈥檚 violence and the fact that it鈥檚 scripted in an ancient Mayan dialect and subtitled...
鈥淏ut could you just do something for me?鈥 she asks. 鈥淔orget who made it. Accept that ancient Mayans would not speak 鈥淎merican鈥. And just watch it as one of those great films with a great hero who must face a difficult journey filled with adventure. Because that鈥檚 all it is. Strip away all the supposed alienating qualities and you鈥檝e got a basic adventure story. And you know what? It鈥檚 bloody good.鈥
The ranks of the city鈥檚 photo bloggers can be expected to swell once everyone gets their shiny new Crimbo gagdetry up and running. One of the best around is , whose aim is to post a photo a day for a year.
Monday was, he wrote, 鈥減ossibly the most photogenic day of the year so far and I am stuck on a plane. Back just in time for the sunset so I scramble around Wythenshawe International looking for the spectator terraces, pleasingly located on the 13th floor. What the signs don鈥檛 tell you is that they have been replaced by a building site, so pics are from behind a fence.鈥
To see the resulting photo, go
Urban Legends
- 11 Jan 07, 10:21 AM
Can you hear those hamster wheels start to turn? All over Greater Manchester, bloggers are slowly logging back on after their holiday break. And I鈥檓 sputtering into productivity too. For the last couple of years I鈥檝e been blogging over at , and from now on I鈥檒l also be posting here regularly, providing a random and eclectic recap of the week in Manchester blogs.
I heard something a while back about mysterious tunnels under the city, so I was glad to read Mark R鈥檚 post about Mancunian urban legends on . Some of the best include 鈥渓egends that abandoned 60鈥檚 nightclubs remain in the cellars of the Arndale Centre. That there is a massive cold war bunker beneath the city centre. That rivers flows underneath the Town hall and Victoria Station. Or that there is a tunnel underneath the Irwell connecting the Hanging Bridge to Ordsall Hall, complete with Tudor treasure and skeletons.鈥
But it鈥檚 not all overactive imaginations, says Mark R. 鈥淪ome of these legends are true. I have seen the river Irk flow beneath Victoria Station and the massive Cold War bunker, which has its entrance in China Town, is now publicly documented.鈥
Literary site (two merged blogs) provides a thoughtful counterpoint to wrangles between bloggers and newspaper critics in the press. This week the bitch sympathised with Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw鈥檚 shock at entering the gloves-off, bumptious debate on the blogosphere:
鈥淚 will never forget the feeling of exposure the first time I put up a post all without the protection of the time-honoured authority of the printed publication (which I have also experienced), and it is through writing their own blog posts that these journalists are coming to experience this for themselves.鈥
Music blogger was counting down the best compilations of 2006. In the top spot is Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution In Sound (Soul Jazz).鈥淭he music on this compilation was recorded at a time of turmoil for Brazil and it comes from a handful of artists who were convinced that music could change the world. It was a noble, but doomed endeavour, but the politics is just another facet of this joyous, celebratory music. Gal Costa's 'Sebastiana' is one of the sexiest things I've heard all year, while both versions of 'Bat Macumba' that bookend this comp (from Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes) are the sound of the best party you've never been to.鈥
And Mark Muldoon, who writes found himself flummoxed by a request from a girl to 鈥済ive me three interesting facts about yourself鈥
Here鈥檚 what he came up with, some time later:
鈥1) I鈥檝e been on Radio 1 a few times
2) Pete Doherty once said hi to me
3) I鈥檝e sky-dived myself, like.鈥
鈥淪adly I didn鈥檛 get to impart these, as by then she was presumably off talking to some boy with indie hair or something.鈥
Better luck next time, mate.
CLICK HERE to listen to Kate talking to Richard Fair on 大象传媒 Radio Manchester
Resolutions and Reflections
- 2 Jan 07, 09:49 AM
Happy New Year, oh and by the way my has gone up 80p. Great. I鈥檒l blog about that later no doubt somewhere.
So here we are at the dawning of 2007. Generally the bloggers have been quiet over the holiday period but there has been the usual mix of post-Christmas postings and reflections on 2006 along with resolutions and plans for the New Year ahead. Here are some of the ups and downs:
was glad to see the year over and was planning on bringing it to an early end. 鈥淚 for one will be glad to see the back of 2006. If all goes to plan I should be tucked up safely in bed by 9pm tonight with a good book and mug of Horlicks.鈥
While seems to have had a good one. 鈥淚 feel pretty positive about the things I've done and the changes I've made鈥.
Not so good for . 鈥淚 received a Christmas card the other day, and written inside it was a simple message, hoping that next year is altogether better for me than this one has been. And I frowned, reading it, and pursed my lips, because this year has been a killer鈥.
has taken the time to check back on last year鈥檚 resolutions: 鈥Get my head down and work hard in the final year: I half managed this, though I suspect I could have work a bit harder if I hadn鈥檛 got completely bored with computer science by this point.鈥
Finally Julia on has a great resolution. (Can I come too?) 鈥淭o go and see my parents in Moscow. I don鈥檛 know, when I go and for how long, but this must happen. I even vowed to blog about my visiting Moscow. I鈥檓 being told certain things have changed considerably. I鈥檝e also changed considerably. So, it will probably be too considerable an experience to miss. 鈥
As for the 大象传媒 Manchester Blog, we only arrived towards the back end of 2006 so there鈥檚 little to look back on, however there鈥檚 plenty to look forward to, starting off with our first blogging workshop on Thursday 18th January.
There鈥檚 still time to book your place. Please remember to send us your e-mail address so we can send you the details. manchester.blog(at)bbc.co.uk
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