大象传媒

Manchester International Festival: Day 13

• Richard Fair
• 10 Jul 07, 08:57 AM

Apparently the quietest thing you can eat in a cinema is a prawn sandwich. This reliable piece of cinema etiquette comes to me from and she should know as she spends a lot of time eating prawn sandwiches or in the cinema, or both.

was just one of over twenty Manchester Bloggers who came to the 大象传媒 Manchester Blog Meet in the International Festival Pavilion. All huddled round various laptops like striking workers around braziers, we were somewhat conspicuous with only a couple of late comers asking if we were the bloggers. I'm not really sure who they thought we may have been sat there with more gadgets than Curry鈥檚 on the table.

It鈥檚 not the first meet-up we've had so it was nice to see so many new faces. 鈥淚 like to put a face to a blog鈥�, as Stephen Newton put it just before a myriad of camera flashes went off as bloggers took pictures of bloggers while other bloggers took pictures of bloggers taking pictures. And then they do that thing that people with digital cameras do. They come and show you the picture they just took.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 you鈥�. 鈥淚s it? Me? Gosh, I look just like I do in the mirror, only you managed to capture by bad side and my mouth looks like I鈥檓 hiding a gerbil in it. And this is going on Flickr? Oh, it鈥檚 already there. How fantastic is that鈥�. But that鈥檚 technology for you. Gone are the days of grabbing the camera off them, opening the back and exposing all the film.

People blog for different reasons. You get those hardened bloggers - the ones that turned up with their laptops and passed free WiFi passwords round like Russian spies (sorry ) - the 鈥業f it moves, blog it鈥� type. Some don鈥檛 actually know why it is they blog - and some don鈥檛 admit to blogging as though it鈥檚 some kind of social disease 鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 blog myself, but I blog for others鈥�. For some it鈥檚 a hobby, for some it鈥檚 a diary, for some it鈥檚 their work, for some it鈥檚 a way of networking, for some it鈥檚 a way of making money, for some it鈥檚 exhibitionism, for some it鈥檚 none of the above. They just do it because.

Thanks to all those that turned up. I must admit at being slightly worried about the picture of the cup that was left behind (see below). Nuts and bolts? Perhaps there鈥檚 a need for a blog about things people leave behind after blog meets.

Festival Pavilion
I had the offer of tasting some of Heston Blumenthal鈥檚 Chilled Summer Treats last night, but I decided to stay with the Bloggers and instead sampled the slightly warmer Mushroom Stroganoff in the Festival Pavilion. A good portion of mushrooms in a creamy sauce on a bed of rice with extra vegetables and salad served on a stylish plastic plate. All that and change from a tenner.

Under the canvas of the Pavilion with the rain outside I felt like I was on holiday in North Wales, the only difference being that Mum and Dad never had a live band playing folk music from around the world. The band was called 鈥淢uhumphamum鈥� I think, or it could have been 鈥淢edhomemonth鈥�. I made a proper effort to listen to their name when they were thanked at the end, 鈥淢phftplumb鈥�, I think the MC said but I may have been wrong.

Tonight
I鈥檓 off to see The Pianist. It鈥檚 had rave reviews so I can鈥檛 wait. I may even take a prawn sandwich with me for company.

Blogs
Those that blogged about last night鈥檚 meet are as follows (I will update this as more appear):