Manchester International Festival: Day 3
- 30 Jun 07, 10:16 AM
I opened the front door this morning at exactly the same time as the woman next door. For a few seconds we both surveyed the day around us. 鈥淢iserable again鈥, she said. 鈥淲ell I鈥檝e not been up long,鈥 I replied. But I鈥檓 sure my spirits will be lifted as day three of the Manchester International Festival turns its attention to food as .
For three hours this afternoon I鈥檒l be on-air stuffing my face with some of Manchester鈥檚 finest food, and not a Tesco in sight.
I once tried to eat my way around the world without ever leaving Manchester. I think I managed about twenty-five different countries before I had to break off for lunch in the 大象传媒 canteen. I got a real flavour of the diversity of food available daily. But the great thing about today is that I don鈥檛 have to drag my belly round town as all the food will be in one place, just outside the Festival Pavilion.
Meanwhile inside the Pavilion one of those famous chefs will be serving up his (just the weather for it). I was taught at catering college not to mess with food and I鈥檓 sure would batter me over the head with a number one ladle if I even suggested for one moment that he was 鈥榩laying鈥. I think he has a more scientific approach to his work. But is it any good? Or is it a case of the Emperor鈥檚 New Clothes (or Chef鈥檚 New Big Hat perhaps), with no one daring to say it tastes like that grey stuff they used to put gravy on in school and called 鈥榣unch鈥.
All this talk of food (apart from the school reference) has given me an appetite so I best get myself 鈥榠n the zone鈥 as they say. With a bit of luck Greggs over the road won鈥檛 have sold out of sausage rolls just yet.
Other blogs
has been .
Manchester International Festival: Day 2
- 29 Jun 07, 12:03 PM
I feel like a goldfish in one of those bowls that they tell you not to put them is as they can鈥檛 get enough air. I鈥檓 still gasping. Last night was probably, no defiantly, the best night I鈥檝e ever had in Manchester.
I managed to blag my way behind the press barrier at The Palace Theatre with other members of the Paparazzi in order to get some fairly decent snaps of celebrities with the camera I invested my daughter鈥檚 university savings on so that I could bore the pants off people who come to visit 鈥 鈥渢his one is the back of Dennis Hopper鈥檚 head鈥, 鈥渢hat guy there was someone who looked really important but turned out to be a passing Big Issue seller鈥, that kind of thing.
To be honest I was expecting elbows in the face from the other photographers, but what a nice bunch of guys they were, most of the time. I suppose if you spend most of your life stood outside fish and chip shops in the pouring rain waiting to see that guy with the hair from Big Brother 2, you need some kind of professional camaraderie to keep the spirits up.
Of course all that goes out of the window when Dennis Hopper does turn up and you find yourself been thrust into his face by some guy with a lens longer that anything those dodgy e-mails can promise you. It just turned into a free-for-all. Cameras everywhere and me trying to ask politely if that was the guy from that film with a motorbike. Suddenly it was over. He was inside and the camaraderie returned as the woman next to me showed off her cracking picture she managed to get with her mobile phone.
I put my camera away and made my way to the other side of the barrier so that I could take my seat for the show. On the way past the photographers I put my hand up to avoid the flashing lights. I needn鈥檛 have bothered.
The show, Monkey: Journey To The West was amazing though and then at the after-show party I got to meet Alan Rickman, but those stories are for the nights when my friends don鈥檛 want to look at my photos.
Please let us know if you're blogging about the Festival and we'll give you a link.
Manchester International Festival 鈥 Day One
- 28 Jun 07, 09:25 AM
I鈥檝e been asked to be the eyes and ears of the for 大象传媒 Radio Manchester.
I can鈥檛 remember when I was so excited about a Festival, but there is one heck of buzz around the place as the red carpet gets its final beating over a gigantic washing line across Oxford Road (metaphorically speaking of course).
So here we are on day one, and I was up at the crack of dawn, which may turn out to be a mistake as I鈥檓 not due on the radio until 10pm. But before that there鈥檚 the opening party (with buffet) to attend and then the small matter of the world premier of Monkey at The Palace Theatre.
And if that isn鈥檛 enough excitement to cope with for one day, I鈥檓 told that none other than (Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films and that cold-blooded terrorist in Die Hard) will be joining me and Phil Wood on 大象传媒 Radio Manchester from 10pm.
I鈥檒l be keeping an eye on what the think of the Festival. Let us know if you鈥檙e going to any of the events as we鈥檇 love to link out to you.
Alan Rickman
Due to popular demand I'm pleased to report that the Alan Rickman interviews are now available for all to hear. Just click this link and see how Alan became a 大象传媒 microphone stand for the night.
No children were harmed in the creation of this page.
Rain, Sweat, Days Out in Liverpool, Linking and France - It Must Be Summer
- 25 Jun 07, 01:16 PM
The past days have brought many reminders that summer is now well and truly upon us: the summer solstice, the mud scenes from Glastonbury, the rain delayed start of Wimbledon... oh, and did we forget to mention the rain?
You might think that going on holiday might bring some respite from it. But The Airport Diaries reminds us that travel isn't always as pleasant as it sounds by at Manchester Airport:
"The sweat of a thousand strangers hovers in the air, your own stink mixed in. Sweat pools under your belt, under your arms and under your hair... The more water you take on, the more you sweat. The air is foul and thick with moisture; the walls drip, expanding and pulsing with the density of summer."
Yuck.
IckleWeb, unfazed by the weather nor, apparently, by fears of airport induced sweating, in south Liverpool. Outside he photographed an old DeHavilland DH89 Dragon Rapide.
Speaking of Liverpool, The Marple Leaf says that "The ongoing debate about Liverpool v Manchester takes an intellectual leap forward" with an from a lengthy NewStatesman feature. See, reading blogs can save you the time it would have taken to read entire articles. Which would seem a good idea if it weren't for that rain...
The last time we heard from he wasn't in Preston at all, but was traveling around America tasting wine in Napa Valley (24 May 2007) and later hiring a bike in Yosemite National Park (25 May). Maybe I'm just overlooking something, but I can never figure out how to link directly to posts on AFMIP.
Craig McGinty, who often blogs useful tips on getting the most from your blog, points us towards of typepad - the ability to, with the change of a setting, include links allowing readers to easily add a post to del.icio.us or Digg [what?]. He explains:
"Basically it means site visitors can spread your work across the internet with just a click placing it in front of other people who will already be following the subject you cover, but who may have never crossed your site.
It all comes down to the power of the link and the fact that your article never moves from its spot on the internet, which means people can easily access it from wherever it is featured elsewhere."
Another one of Craig's blogs, , is also packed full of useful tips - in this instance, about relocating to France which, considering the summer we've had so far is beginning to sound like a pretty good idea...
Monday morning rain
- 25 Jun 07, 09:10 AM
Google has about , equivalent to the number of gallons of the stuff that鈥檚 soaked into my trousers. Some guy on the radio this morning said we were in the middle of a European monsoon (but I can鈥檛 find a reference to it on the internet, so you鈥檒l have to take my word for it.) Anyway, in case you hadn鈥檛 noticed, it鈥檚 raining. So will folk blog about it or is it old news in Manchester? I鈥檒l keep my eye open.
In the meantime, has made me chuckle all weekend with a story she鈥檚 got on her blog about a . It鈥檚 hilarious and a real pick-you-up on a wet Monday morning.
I need to dry off now.
Free food
- 21 Jun 07, 11:00 AM
I must admit that when I heard they were giving away free in Manchester, I started to plan what to do with all my spare dinner money.
But it鈥檚 a good job I didn鈥檛 splash out on that bright orange T-shirt I鈥檇 spotted in Primark as thanks to I discovered that the free Takeaway is in fact a garden and as such not edible (unless you鈥檙e one of the many slugs victimising me with their little smug slug faces as they chomp away on that plant that cost me a small fortune).
Initially I don鈥檛 think he was impressed with what he got in his little box, but having spent the night mulling it over it seems that .
Bernard Manning
- 19 Jun 07, 12:03 PM
I expected a flood of postings about Bernard Manning, but unless my eyes are as bad as the optician would like me to think, I can only find one reference.
"," says , "He dared you to laugh at him."
But will we see the likes of him again? Perhaps not, but makes this interesting observation, "Peter Kay is but a cleaned up version with tamer references to his Nana".
This stop please driver.
- 18 Jun 07, 01:49 PM
I still cry into my beer when I remember that the Blog is no more. And there鈥檚 nothing I hate more than watery beer with a hint of salt, well that and the theme tune to .
But wait, what鈥檚 this? Move aside because here comes complete with it鈥檚 own song and a bit of fashion advice thrown in for good luck, or taste, or not.
Sadly is just one posting on , but one lives in hope of there being a series of 53 related content.
Manchester Bloggers Facebook Group
- 11 Jun 07, 09:53 AM
Each day, join , a social networking site that allows you to keep track of and communicate with friends and colleagues. Or, at least, that's how I would have described it a few months ago, before facebook [NY Times Registration Req'd] users to do all sorts of customisations to their profiles, like pulling in RSS feeds from blogs and integrating services like .
Facebook was started by a student at Harvard University as a way to help new students meet one another. He then rolled it out across the American university system and, then, opened it up outside of academia. What once was just for students is now, some of those , being taken over by their parents.
Social networking services like linked in myspace, facebook, twitter and others aren't for everyone but I often find them a useful way to keep in touch with friends and contacts. If you're on facebook, or fancy giving it a go, why not join the that we just started. You never know, someone might poke you if you do.
(PS. Don't forget to think about your own personal safety when posting personal information online. See the 大象传媒's Chat Guidefor more information.)
Burnt To The Ground
- 5 Jun 07, 09:15 AM
The musical highlight of the year so far has got to be Arthur Brown's appearance at Burnt To The Ground on Sunday. So where was when the inimitable Mr Brown set his helmet on fire? Stuffing her face full of Dim Sum. I mean, really.
Despite that has posted a fine report and links to and who captured the event on their Flickr pages.
Women!
- 4 Jun 07, 11:42 AM
What did you do on Saturday? I was out discovering the amazing in Wythenshawe Park in Wythenshawe of all places. Beautiful surroundings and glorious weather - not the kind of day you'd want to be dressed up in full Tudor dress, poor Ali.
Clive at spent part of his Saturday at the in Manchester. Not running, but supporting and finding time to ponder on how the sexes differ:
"Women get on, don't they. They can chat to other women whom they don't know, really easily. Men can't. Men are rubbish like that. It was great that it was an all women event; that union, that support was obvious." .
Well done to Amazed.
So have you blogged about your Saturday?
So been there
- 1 Jun 07, 08:41 AM
I can totally sympathise with poor old (perhaps not so old, you have to be so careful) who has undergone some serious in her mouth (like it can be done somewhere else). I once endured two one-hour sessions on my tooth only for it to turn out to be the tooth next to it that had caused all the trouble. Still, I didn't have to stump up the 拢200 Wennie Blog had to, which in itself must have felt like a kick in the teeth.
A blog post about a blog post about a blog post
posts about the Dale Street fire benefit event taking place this weekend. He was reminded of the event by and Mancubist has quoted Manchizzle's comments about the event called . So you can read the original post on or the subsequent post on or just re-read this posting.
All this cross-promoting of Blogs can get a little confusing as to who's posted what and when - but it is fun!
The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
