Praise can be few and far between as a blog writer. So it's with a big smile on my face I announce that it's official.
New To Manchester is in the Top 5 Blogs in Manchester, according to Blogged.com.
Showing posts with label manchester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manchester. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Best Blogs in Manchester
Friday, 8 August 2008
Water Water Everywhere - Too Expensive To Drink
Do you ever wonder "Have I got too much money?" Well, now here's a definitive check.
If you find yourself breaking out your credit card to buy Voss Artesian bottled water at £25 for 12, consider yourself institutionalised by capitalism. It does come in a natty glass bottle. But it's still just water, even if it's sourced from under a million-year old glacier in deepest Norway, filtered through virgin's hair (and bottled in a factory on an industrial estate).
To break the cycle of wasting your money on this old rope I recommend giving away all your earthly possessions. Perhaps to some starving journalists. They can be found hanging around Manchetser's pubs and park benches trying not to look like alcoholics.
Voss water can be purchased from Smithfield Wine, previous winners of Salford's Chapel Street Business Group Business of the Month. They also do a very interesting-looking bottle of Lanchester mead for 7 quid. Incidentally, if you've never tried mead, it's honeyed liquer, I promise you'll never go back to wine again.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
My Recent Portfolio
You can see my recent work at the following links. These include: a story about disabled access in Salford, a business feature on Salford City Radio, my coverage of an academic conference on The Fall and an interview with Turkish rock artist.
Friday, 18 July 2008
Manchester Media: Salford Online
Salford Online is a news and community website serving, well, Salford.
Long perceived as Manchester's "scruffy neighbour" (see here for the offending article), Salford has for years been playing catchup in terms of coverage and media outlets. Salfordonline attempts to redress this balance, and is looking for new amateur journalists and writers to cover the vast variety of stories on offer.
It's led by editor Brian Everall and a very small (ie single figure) team based in Eccles, but constantly provides high-quality journalism despite this lack of resources.
You may recognise star reporter Tom Rodgers from this site, or from his articles in the Paul Foot award-winning Salford Star (produced by mad scally Stephen Kingston) and on crossrhythms.co.uk!
Monday, 7 July 2008
iLog: Electronica Extraordinaire
What could be more interesting than a shapely wooden box which creates and records samples of glitch electronica, noise, and the "sound" of light?
Devised and created by three Manchester artists, Simon Blackmore, Antony Hall and Steve Symons, the iLogs allow you not only to listen to music, but to create experimental electronic compositions.
They come fashioned out of mulberry, yew tree or laburnam wood, and to show the boys have a sense of humour, they've called them The iLog Rustle.
They'll be available from Christmas 08, and are potentially the most interesting present you could possibly give.
Make the world a more exciting place and buy one for yourself, an electronica-obsessed friend or wood-fancying hippy!
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Free Party Manchester
ONE NIGHT ONLY: Phone numbers for you if you want to go to a multi-rig free party in Manchester, Sheffield or Bristol tonight. Call the numbers listed below for party details and directions:
07824192978
07884137860
07005800885
Enjoy your raving!
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Journalists Pissed off with PR - Official!
The PR vs Journalism war continues. Saw this and had to give you the link. It's a genius article about how not to handle journalists.
Click Here to Read More..
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Love on the Bus
Here's a little story by a mate of mine, Jaleefa Al-Khatib, who's too embarrassed to show her work to anyone, so I've stolen it and I'm posting it here:
Love on the Bus
It’s the least sexy place in the world. It’s six o clock, coal-black dark and the rain shows orange in the streetlights. It’s loud outside on the street. You’ve finished work, you’re tired, you’re hot and a bit sweaty. You get on the bus.
It’s busy, and the windows are steamed on the inside. It forces people together, to spend time with not enough social space.
Maybe every seat is taken except, inexplicably, one next to a really cute guy.
Was that a smile hello?
But there’s no legitimate way to start a conversation with the person sitting next to you. There’s no opening gambit that isn’t going to sound weird. So you clam up, stare at the window, half-watching the reflection of two similar people, holding hands.
You’re desperately close to a stranger you like. You’re so close your legs are almost touching, you can feel his gravitational pull. Static crackles between your limbs. You’re not allowed to speak. The slightest flinch. His hand moves closer for a brief second, then away. He presses STOP. The bus lurches to the left and the laws of physics bring you together.
Your stomach feels funny.
The driver hits the brakes and your bodies are synchronised in that forward-back motion. He stands up slowly, arching his back, giving you time to say something.
You…almost speak…
He disappears down the aisle, and he’s out of your life forever.
Click Here to Read More..
Monday, 10 March 2008
Journalism for students
Manchester University Careers Service are offering a journalism taster this month. The two-day course, “Insight into Broadcasting and Journalism” takes place on Monday 17th - Tuesday 18th March (9am-5pm) at Manchester University
Click Here to Read More..
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Librarians: A Dissection
As a library professional, one often feels that it would be better for us if no-one ever used libraries, if all the books should just stay on the shelf, perfectly primed for learning.
It's like filing, only horizontally. Placing the books in numerical order from left to right doesn’t sound that difficult, but
1) It’s hard, sweaty work, especially in libraries as the heating system is often in full flow.
2) You can develop a real crick in the neck from tilting your head to peer at book spines all day long
This is fairly simple. Unless of course you work at Keele University (which I did), as it’s one of the only libraries in the country that still uses the American Library of Congress system, where the books theoretically range from AAA000 to ZZZ999.
You can see the colour draining out of them (and for some computer scientists, they’re already pale).
There’s a lot of Virgos in this field. There’s also a lot of OCD-style behaviour exhibited.
If they work in the information searching section, guaranteed they’ll be amazing at pub quizzes. All that time spent researching random data has given them superpowers of information-handling.
They may be able to name the all members of Aztec Camera, The Spin Doctors and The Polyphonic Spree (depending on how current their tastes are). They will be able to tell you what all the flags of the world look like, and what the sizes of Champagne bottles are, in order.
A toast, then, to these unsung heroes of the educational system. Cheers!
Thursday, 24 January 2008
Free Stuff in Manchester
There's a simple pleasure in getting something for nothing. Whether it's finding hundreds of 80s new wave albums at a car boot sale, a pound on the floor or an extra few chips with your kebab, free stuff is a great find and produces a great feeling.
So my advice is to sign up for free cinema tickets with See Film First. You get alerts to your email inbox on new releases that are coming out in your area. So not only is it free, you can also irritate your friends by telling them the ending of the film they're about to see. I've already seen Juno (good) and Dan In Real Life (not good) for free at my local - Parrs Wood Cineworld, Didsbury. You'll have to be quick on the draw though, the seats are very soon booked up after details have been released.
For those of you with higher things in mind than a flick at the local, the Royal Northern College of Music is presenting "Opera Scenes" for free: RNCM students from the School of Vocal and Opera Studies perform staged excerpts from Britten’s Rape of Lucretia and Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande.
That's going on at the RNCM Bruntwood Theatre, just off Oxford Road at 6pm, Friday 25th Jan 2008. See you there!
Warning: chance of popcorn unlikely.
ENDS
Monday, 21 January 2008
Manchester Magazines
I've been trying to get in touch with Bob Magazine recently, but mail to info@ and alan@bobmagazine.co.uk has been returned undelivered. Maybe they're just ignoring me, but who running a free magazine would turn down free writers?
Bob has a nice indie-looking ethos: the website is written in fairly witty/ironic style, so I immediately wanted to get involved. If I'm going to write for free, I may as well write what I want, rather than more boring bar reviews. By the way, if writing nighttime entertainment reviews are your thing, and you need some experience for your portfolio, go on to the MyVillage forums to sign up. they're very keen for new writers, and if you live in a city they'll practically bite your hand off.
Bob issue 2 was reviewed by Mancubist, and he wasn't too impressed (see here), but as I know from personal experience, turning out a free, independent magazine on time, and having enough cash to pay the printers is an overwhelming and stressful business.
I also tried getting hold of a copy - apparently issue 3 is out now - but many of the outlets I tried (Northern Quarter bars and shops) had no stock or "hadn't heard of it", so it may have been out of commission for a while. I'll continue to research this, I wouldn't want to sound the death knell if Bob is simply on hiatus.
So I'll wait, and update the status of this article as and when I find out more.
Saturday, 19 January 2008
MA/PGDip Journalism: Salford
I've been getting very excited this week by the prospect of Journalism. Out with writing for fun. In with writing for money. I'm putting together the final thoughts on an MA/PGDip in Journalism at Salford, starting September 2008.
With mediacity:uk open for business in 2011 (check progess of building works here), I hope that this degree will open up some major networking opportunities in journalism in Great(er) Manchester. Training is absolutely essential to becoming a journalist. You need the NCTJ qualifications - along with any subbing/layout, proofing and interviewing skills you've picked up along the way - to be taken seriously.
I did look at other MA Journalism providers in the North West. They included the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) in Preston, which has a very strong website, and an impressive Online Journalism course, and Sheffield Hallam, which came top of the NCTJ rankings recently. Both centres are highly rated and have very positive alumni progress stories.
I have to admit I was less sure about Salford. My initial interest was sparked by seeing that the MediaGuardian columnist and all-round media hero of mine, Steve Hewlett, was a Visiting Professor there. Fourth place in the above NCTJ rankings did Salford's reputation no harm either. But Salford itself, which as I learnt on a fact-finding pootle around Outer Manchester, is not the prettiest place in the world. Salford Quays, the apple in the architects' eyes, is an overwhelming sheen of glass and expensive lighting. The imposing Imperial War Museum and the Lowry, however, do a good job of outshining Salford's more outre architectural behaviour.
Staying in and around Manchester was a big draw, as I've settled in very well here in the leafy paradise of West Didsbury - The Chelsea of the North.
Moving to Manchester was a big step for me; goodbye farms and running over phesants, hello live poetry and big, big gigs. It's a wonderful, complex, dirty, beautiful contradiction of a place, and it's just inspired so many thoughts and ideas since moving in Feb 2006. The arts scene is fookin mint, which helps. Some of the amazing things I've already seen in Manchester include:
Paul Hartnoll (one-half of Orbital) playing electroacoustic techno with full band (electric harp, drums, flute, cello) to an assorted crowd of curious stoners, sharply dressed ex-ravers with kids in tow and beardy middle-aged nutters. All the better for taking place in that achingly divine structure, the Bridgewater Hall.
Finding out a guy I work with in Moss Side is a genuinely talented guitarist and songwriter - Kamal Arafa.
Seeing Whitworth Park in glorious sunshine, and knowing that Moss Side's not the rat-infested crack den the national media claim it to be.
And this, my personal favourite; you don't often see a company willing help itself to acres of bad press. Redstone, building student flats in Moss Side, wagered on a completion date of 2006, a splashed it across a big beige sign:
It is now 2008. Yes, they are still building. Yes, the sign is still there. I have thought about pointing it out, but I don't think they'd buy me a pint for doing so.
Also worth considering was Aphex Twin (9th December 07), playing a blinding set underneath Piccadilly Train Station as part of The Warehouse Project. It was freezing cold, with a smoking ban imposed, but brilliant all the same; the underground space set out for the gig was enormous, cavernous, with films, graphics and animations playing out the jagged brick walls. Luke Vibert weighed in with a funky IDM set which was also very good.
I may also have scored some work experience for the well-reviewed community magazine the Salford Star. To read editor Stephen Kingston's inspirational piece on Salford and community journalism, click here.
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Graduate Jobs with Adfero Manchester
A while back I went for interview at the Manchester branch of Adfero - based in the Portland Tower in the centre of town. Their service is to write tailored news feeds for a variety of company websites, to boost SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) rankings and increase web traffic to their sites.
I thought I'd share with you what I learnt about them, just in case any of you were going for interview and didn't know what to expect. They've got offices in London, Manchester and now Leeds, so chances are if you're a graduate who likes to write, you'll hear of them. Salaries start at around the £16k mark. I've had a couple of mates work for them, and they said that Adfero were slave-driving bastards; but in a graduate journalism job, what do you expect?
Now that Google basically runs the world - when was the last time you searched for something on the net without using it? - companies are having to be more inventive to stop their marketing voices being lost in the crowd. Google's rankings are organised by "page impressions", i.e. the more times people view your webpages, the more ranking points you get, and the further up Google's list you will go. As research (and common sense) tends to show that the general public click on the first five links of a Google search page, competition for those places is very high.
All sorts of companies employ Adfero to move higher up the search engine food chain. I was told at interview that each DirectNews Correspondent, as you will be called if you are successful, has several sites or companies that he/she works for, and your job is to find out or create five or six "news" pieces for the sites under your charge.
So for example, if you are given a Liverpool business site, a staircase manufacturer site and a heating oil information site, each morning you would scour the net looking for news relating to business practices, takeovers and mergers in the North West, how to stop wood from creaking, and the price of oil per barrel in the world markets. You will then re-write these "news stories" in the Adfero format.
Each news story is written to a fairly strict code; Adfero promote this uniformity as a way to avoid potentially damaging third-party references and to keep a consistency of tone to their news stories. The structure (as explained to me by a mate who's now working in Liverpool as a journalist) is as follows:
Each news story should be around 170-200 words in length, you're writing for the intelligent layperson, so you won't have to explain simple financial or trade facts (what the Dow Jones is, for example.)
You will most likely be writing your stories from various sources or 2 or more press releases on other sites, so choose one angle and stick to it. This angle should be the most interesting/shocking/amazing thing about this particular piece of news. There may be a temptation to include too much information in your story; this will unbalance your story and you will run out of time .
Very important: DON'T speculate or insinuate anything in your new stories. Sentences of opinion or conjecture like "Labour have struggled", or "people have found it hard" do not go down well with Adfero. They want objective fact and hard news (facts, figures) as far as possible.
Opinions can be given, but only by people quoted in your story. This avoids anyone getting sued for libel/slander/all those other expensive things.
This 200-word story should play out like this:
1st sentence - The most exciting thing about this piece of news.
2nd - Expand on the above.
3rd - Give some facts and figures relevant to the story, or lead into your quote.
4th & 5th - Two paragraphs of block quotes: can be a respected industry figure backing up your angle, and giving opinion on the way this particular thing is likely to go in future. You can even lay down two block quotes representing both sides of view if you're feeling particularly even-handed. E.g -
Mr Matthews, CEO of Oil Direct said: "Oil prices have been rising year on year due to fluctuations in the world market and the instability spreading through the most productive regions."
Scrumpy, who lead protests on oil prices at this year's May Day riots in London, responded, "What the oil industry says is just shite. Oil has never been more expensive due to board salary increases and overspending on boats, cars and chandeliers."
The 6th & 7th sentences should give your story context; setting it in the wider world. You can do this with figures, relevant facts, or descriptive overview of the industry.
By the way, you'll never get your name on a story as a Direct News Correpondent, all work is copyrighted property of Adfero.
The tests we were given in the interview were a) a sub-editing, i.e. checking spelling, grammar of a 300 word document, b) the above writing test, including 2 press releases and c) your standard psychometric bollocks: 'If a cat relates to a dog as A relates to B, what does C relate to A if C is a horse?'. There's no real way you can prepare for psychometric testing, but you can get a decent idea of what questions will look like by Googling (see?) psychometrics.
One important thing. If you don't know the answer to a psychometric test, DON'T guess. They will take marks away from you if you get it wrong, but not if you leave it blank.
That's a little introduction to Adfero; if I can think of anything else, I'll post it. Anything to help Manchester/Leeds/London writers who can't get a job elsewhere!
Sunday, 6 January 2008
The Quiz Ninjas of Nazareth
As a matter of course, I regularly participate in pub quizzes. What other institution rewards the obscure, anorak-y knowledge of celebrities, flags, TV shows and military history? Our local (and a fine beast she is) is The Railway, a proper down-at-heel, kind-at-heart boozer in West Didsbury. It's hemmed in on one side by the Lounge - £6 cocktails containing "muddled" fruit - and on the other by The Metropolitan. I could go on for an age about "The Met" it's the most expensive, unwelcoming, pretentious tossfest of a pub this side of Soho. Ok, so the food's all right. And there's often a beautiful Audi R8 parked outside. But the pub itself is soulless, and soul-drainingly popular.Juliet:
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Anyway, I digress....Deciding on a name for your assembled crack team of pub quiz experts is very much like choosing a band name: it can change from week to week and, by nature, has to define the entire ethos of your group. Names should be either:
a) topical,
b) witty,
c) rude,
d) punning,
e) surreal,
f) referencing TV, film or music, or
g) all of the above.
Also like band names, the name is at least as important as what you produce. Who wants to pick up the mantle of Kings of the Quiz under a shit moniker like "Kev n his mates" or "Shandy Bob"?
This week, we were called "Sonic Death Monkey", after Jack Black's band in High Fidelity. Of course, next week, we shall quiz our brains out under the moniker "Barry Jive and the Uptown Five".
Previous pub quiz team names include:
Mr Cuddles' Alibi (after the soft toy was found in the boot of the McCann's Megane)
The Disco Biscuits
My Achilles Brain Click Here to Read More..
Saturday, 5 January 2008
Woodstock: Given the Didsbury Treatment
Usually, the refurbishment of your local pub is a traumatic time for any self-respecting regular.
They change the comically peeling wallpaper, get rid of the shove-ha'penny board and replace it with a student-friendly quiz machine, and bin that pre-PC female contraceptive machine from the loos.
The Woodstock on Barlow Moor road was already a "done-up" pub, having had a refurb back in 2003. It had already received the clean wooden floors and random assortment of high-backed chairs treatment.
The big beer garden with smoking area was also a big pre-fit up bonus. They served the cultured but wallet-destroying Belgian 8.5%er, Duvel. But it had no centre, no character. Being so big, and going for the warm and cosy feel, it felt like a hotel. You could also grow a sizeable beard in the time the food took to get from kitchen to table, even if you were the only customer.
But in come the decorators again. And they're a bit trendy. Gone is the large outdoor signage. Out goes the strangely curved wall which sliced the main room in half, in come chandeliers,
expensive mismatched chairs, gold ceilings and dressed down bar staff.
It sounds weird. But - without showing that I watch a lot of home decorating shows - the lighting from chandeliers on the dark walls is warming without being overwhelming.Now it's more sympathetic, there are more nooks and crannies to squirrel yourself away in. And the bar staff are friendly and chatty. Although it's disconcerting being served by a guy who looks like Kevin Smith's shorter, northern brother (with ponytail! and shorts!).
The only problem decor-wise comes where the kitsch-y feel leans over into trash. The extreme clash between gothic rails and random pink furniture. The leopardskin lampshade. Descending the stairs to the loos is an interesting experience, as you're accompanied by bold rose wallpaper and red LEDs. It feels a bit naughty, like you're descending the stairs into an Amsterdam "private shop".It's a matter of taste. And unless you take yourself a bit too seriously, you probably won't find it offensive.
The food's gone a bit more adventurous, with Galric and Lentil burgers, a chorizo, olives & cheese combo with peppers and sundried tomatoes, which was lush (although it was served with that favourite of tautologies "rustic bread".)
It wasn't overpriced, we had one and it didn't last long.
Taking care of their darker-lunged patrons, there's a well-constructed heating "shelter" for the smokers, more mismatched chairs and a bit o' nice planting outside.The pub's set in a very pretty plot of proper grass anyway, the garden's great - in fact it's only decent one between here and town; there's The Didsbury, but there, you're basically sitting right on Wilmslow Road.
The Woodstock ticks all the right boxes for a local pub. Good beer. Nice Food. Good people. Sense of humour. But it'll retain a lot more charm if you're on a quiet afternoon in the garden, rather than wedged underneath a leopardskin furnishing on a rammed Saturday night. Click Here to Read More..
Friday, 7 September 2007
Jessie James
A minute’s silence was observed at 9.15 this morning in remembrance of Jessie James, the teenager shot and killed in Moss Side last year. The 15-year-old Manchester Academy schoolboy was riding his bike on his way to party near Broadfield Park on 7th Sept 2006, when two unidentified men approached Jessie and shot him three times at close range. He died before reaching hospital that morning.
Many have speculated whether the shooting was a gangland-style execution. The first arrests in the case were made recently, with two men - already in prison - held for questioning. The two men, aged 20 and 21, were questioned following a sustained police effort over the past year to track down Jessie's killers.
Theories around his death range from his refusal to join a gang, to a case of simple mistaken identity. Many believe that people in the Moss Side community know who the killers are, but refuse to let on. The case is remaining open to fresh evidence.
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Internet "the future" claims journalist
Yes, this was an obvious conclusion from the Future of Journalism debate, held in John Rylands Library as part of the Manchester International Festival. The two hour session was chaired by Media Guardian columnist and local legend Steve Hewlett, all joviality and bulldog nous, allowing this four way tete-a-tete to flow. The subject focused on Journalism in the "new media age", dramatised with some aplomb by the cheekily journalistic title:
"Has the advent of citizen journalism made the traditional media obsolete?"
The focus fell on the shifting interplay between traditional news-providers, such as the BBC, and their audience. When anyone around the world can write, respond and add to your debate, they asked, what does the journalist offer? Is everyone a potential journalist now? And with no implicit control over what is who writes, or what is written, how can editors steer an issue?
As Comment is Free editor Georgina Henry pointedly remarked, "All of us in the [print] sector are losing readers. Advertisers are shipping over to the web. It's inevitable."
She went on: "You can't have total reign over what people write. The idea's absurd. And in encouraging free debate, you can only have measure of control on your own site, nowhere else."
The thing is, when you allow readers to comment, you implicitly support their viewpoint's validity. And when stuff like this gets posted to Henry's own site, you have to wonder how to control people without the dreaded word censorship:
Noah88 writes:
You can hardly blame the politicians for trying to exploit the media. With the exception of a few, most journalists are lazy incomptent [sic] wankers, only too glad to take a spin-doctor generated press release, copy and paste it into the paper and go to the pub. The miracle is that anyone still pays to read such crap.
I suppose you can excuse some of them on the basis that ratings/circulation are everything, but places like the BBC have no such excuse. Sadly they're usually the worst culprits, shamelessly broadcasting the latest government propaganda in double-quick time so they can get onto the real issues like Big Brother and Paris Hilton.
Yes, this is an extreme example, but you get my point. By allowing free comment, you leave yourself open to one-sided or exaggerated arguments, you affect the balance of your story. Again, inter-connectivity of your debates can be your downfall. By quoting Noah88 out of context, I've done the same disservice to him as he did to the original article. So, how to control the flow of argument and relevance is one of the hardest questions facing editors today.
Again, it was Hewlett asking the most relevant questions: trying to assess in what way "the Great Unwashed" - as he disingenuously described them - could affect the news agenda.
The questions posed by the panel did somewhat conjour up images of shell-shocked, Luddite journos of the old school, warily eyeing RSS feeds, twitching into their typewriters and downing another pint. Journalists have had a long time to get used to the internet; providing multimedia angles to their stories will, I think, be a requirement in the near future. You only have to look at America to see where, technologically, our media - and therefore our journalism - will be.
As homework, I want you all to check out the following links. Honestly, they're ace. Some great video and animation, advice on writing your blog and plenty of "research" for writers to while away the hours with. Enjoy.
http://www.move30.com/- an online community of video- and photo-journalists
www.mediastorm.org/0014.htm - the best animation "cover" of a music video, and some really beautiful in-depth cross-media journalism
www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html - beginner's haven - web writing 101.
www.press.umich.edu/jep/07-01/al-hawamdeh.html - seminal essay on web journalism Click Here to Read More..
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