Why it's OK to like Tintin and why he isn't a fascist

We are all massively excited about the new Tintin film. It's been a long time coming, but I really hope that it's as good as people are suggesting. Tintin is a marvellous character and a noble role model for young men.

What I like about the stories is the way that Herge matures and improves his sense of humour. The way Captain Haddock changes from a hopeless drunk to be a courageous and loyal friend. I recently read Flight 714 to our youngest son and the layers of meaning are magical, particularly in the unravelling of the back story to Rastapopolus, Tintin's evil nemesis.

Even taking aside the crude racism of the Congo book, which I blogged on back here, and there are some abusive racist names used by Haddock in The Crab With The Golden Claws - which are the utterings of an unreconstructed angry alcoholic - I still compelled to defend Tintin from lazy attitudes that he was "right wing" or even a "fascist". That slur pops up again here in an excellent analysis in The Australian.

But the essential Tintin, forged in wartime, never really changed. For ever young, for ever apolitical, his adoption by Spielberg and Hollywood is final proof of the timeless universality of his appeal as the Peter Pan of the cartoon strip. Remi did not take a stand against an evil ideology. Instead, he worked tirelessly, while the world tore itself apart, to create a character without beliefs who always did the right thing.

That's a delicious way of putting it. Tintin displays virtues of humanity, forgiveness, morality, justice and humility. He lives a relatively modest lifestyle even as the stories unfold and Haddock becomes wealthy. Herge clearly dabbles in mysticism, sci-fi and even vaudeville, but never dark politics.

I am delighted that Tintin has been reclaimed and renewed for the new century. It's been a long time coming.

Prize Culture debate at the Manchester Literature Festival

Picture courtesy of Jon Atkin

A new experience this week, hosting a session on "prize culture" at the Manchester Literature Festival. The panel (left) was a brainy quintet of poets, writers and academics, all of whom were lovely to work with. Blogger Valerie O'Riordan has written a detailed account of who said what. It's here, if you want to link.

She says: "A couple of hours before this year’s Booker Prize winner is to be announced, The University Of Manchester’s own cabal of bookish experts turns out at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation to thrash out the advantages, complications and intricacies of literary prize culture. The debate is all the more timely in that this year’s Booker competition has been dogged by more than the usual speculation, with Dame Stella Rimington, head of the judging panel, announcing that she wanted "readability" (see link), and Jeanette Winterson, responding in theGuardian, saying that, in contrast, great literature ought to demand "time and effort" What’s happening? cry the commentators. What’s the remit of literary prizes? Have they replaced critics as the arbiters of public taste? Have the publishers’ publicity machines obliterated the rewarding of quality? Do we really need the Booker? Never fear, dear reader – our panel has stepped boldly into the breach to figure it all out.

"The event is facilitated by journalist Michael Taylor, and joining him are most of the staff of the University’s Centre For New Writing – Vona Groarke, MJ Hyland, Ian McGuire and John McAuliffe – as well as Jerome de Groot, Senior Lecturer in the English Department; between them, we’ve got poets and novelists, academics, literary prize judges and prize-winners – including, in Hyland, a former Booker shortlistee."

The main point was that literary prizes, like the Booker, may be flawed, they may exist for underlying marketing reasons, but on balance they have a place in the cultural firmament. The same could equally be said of art and music prizes. We also touched on how literary criticism is evolving through online reviews and the evolving proliferation of literary blogs.

The whole festival is amazing. I love the breadth of ideas that the range of venues and format has brought to Manchester. Last Saturday I saw readings from John Niven and Emma Jane Unsworth. On Tuesday I sat transfixed through a debate on Norweigan and Dutch short stories. There is an appetite for different cultural experiences and patterns of thought that the festivals bring. It's an explosion, a celebration of something extraordinary, rather than the very ordinary that we can so easily wallow in. It's exciting too that it's all happening here.

Rude boys!

Specials at Manchester Apollo, pic courtesy of Joanna Simpson

After missing out on seeing The Specials, Selecter and Madness on the Two Tone tour in 1979 at Lancaster University, I finally got to see The Specials on Friday night. It was a magnificent nostalgia trip for a band I still love listening to. Musically they displayed an incredible range - at one point there were 13 performers on stage - the band, the brass section and strings helped them rattle through all the old favourites. My pal Richard Bell, who sorted the night, says they've got better from when he went to see them two years ago.

I've debated the merits of these reunion gigs before. On balance, I'm in favour. I probably wouldn't go and see Stone Roses who are rumoured to be doing a couple of gigs, I won't bother with From The Jam again, much as I enjoyed the last outing.

For me the audience was fascinating as well. Skins, rude boys, mods and 100s of paunchy blokes dusting off the old Fred Perry to lap up a feast of memories and hear some echoes from down the years. I certainly spotted a few old faces from places as diverse as the terraces at Ewood as well as the boardrooms of modern Manchester.

We went in memory of Tim Edwards, who wasn't able to join us.

Between the Wars - a song for Marple

A tongue-in-cheek reworking of Billy Bragg's Between the Wars by Carl Cieka in protest at the Plans of Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College to sell their Hibbert Lane Campus for development as a supermarket. More info at http:/www.marple-in-action.org.uk

Doing it for yourself

The unemployment figures make for harsh reading. According to New Economy, the Manchester agency tasked with promoting economic activity, the rise recently has been especially harsh in the young.

"The number of jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) claimants in Greater Manchester grew by 1,170 and was recorded at 82,310 in September 2011 – a monthly rise of 1.4%. National and regional JSA numbers also increased from August to September – by 0.2% and 1.4% respectively."

To bring home the human side of it, there's a journalist of my vague acquaintance - Nick Hyde - who has joined those ranks. I don't know him well, but he's written a calm and collected blog about it, here, which has taken some guts.

I detect too that he's got a few irons in the fire. More and more the self-employment and start-up business route is appealing to people like Nick. Not just to those who have had unemployment forced upon them, but for those for whom grinding away at the same thing just doesn't seem worth it any more.

A venture capitalist of this parish, Richard Young, is even looking for experienced managers to back in start-ups, something many private equity and venture funds seemed to have given up on a long time ago. He's come up with the phrase "management breakout" and I wrote a bit about it here. I tend to squirm at some of the rhetoric around start-ups and new business. There is a tendency to make a serious endeavour into something like the Apprentice or the X Factor, but there is an opportunity here for investors even if banks aren't there as they should be.

Much as I'm sure the likes of Nick want to avoid hanging round the house reading books, I can heartily recommend a great new title by Luke Johnson. Start It Up - why running your own business is easier than you think reads like a real go-to-it guide for anyone thinking of making a leap on their own. Plenty of people dream, but few take the plunge to do it for themselves. There are inspirational stories of people who made the leap, but also useful pointers on what to avoid and what not to do. It's also rare for a business book in that it's very well written.

I've always had a massive admiration for the self-employed. Walking around the streets of Marple early in the morning, while walking the dog, I see plenty of them getting into their vans and setting off on jobs as plasterers, window fitters and builders, etc.  This is the army of hard working grafters that keep the economy ticking along. My Dad was a self-employed milkman until he sold up last year, though we made sacrifices as a family, that independence of spirit and that control over his own destiny was a freedom he loved and gave him the chance to diversify with his farm.

The economy is dreadful, there is clearly less money around, but I think there is a boldness and a zeal out there. People will struggle, they will be hungry, but they will also get up, attack the day and try and make the best of things. They are the true heroes - you hear politicians pay lip service to them, but I really wish the media would recognise this growing movement. They need all the encouragement they can get.

My mate #14 - Ian Currie

My random shuffle of my address book has come up with Ian Currie, the latest addition to the roll of honour that is the my mate series on this blog.

I've known Ian for 11 years. He's a fellow Rovers fan and has season tickets close to where we used to sit in the Blackburn End upper tier. I fondly remember celebrating together when Rovers were promoted at Preston in 2001.

Until a couple of years ago he was in business with another friend of mine, Richard Hughes. Here's a profile I did on them back in 2005. The fact that the two of them have split was a source of some upset. I like them both very much and admire their dealmaking skills and their ablity to add value to businesses. It's not the time or the place to go into the reasons for the split here, but they were a formidable double act in their heyday and I'm proud to count them both as friends still.

Ian and Richard also grew a much coveted client base who they introduced to investment opportunities. It's a matter of public record that their wealthy backers included some old northern family trusts as well as footballers and entrepreneurial business people. Ian is also close to Sam Allardyce who is an active investor; I still kick myself that I royally cocked up a diary date to have lunch at Ian's house with Sam, he rang me as I was arriving in Chester, when I should have been in Lancashire. That link between the two dates back to when Ian was a director of Bolton Wanderers, a purely business arrangement that he enjoyed while it lasted. I imagine Phil Gartside, Bolton chairman, isn't the easiest guy to work with and eventually Ian left the board. We have enjoyed some sweet victories at the Reebok since.

Ian is also a great supporter of good causes (not just Rovers) and particularly of the Prince's Trust, the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity Appeal and of the Lowry at Salford. We worked together on an event a couple of years ago with Theo Paphitis, another close friend of Ian - a report is here. We also played on opposing sides at the Reebok at this match in May.

By a remarkable coincidence there's tabloid speculation today suggesting Ian has been over to India and is about to be invited onto the board at Blackburn Rovers, something I suggested here back in February. This would be a very good move for Rovers, but I'm confident Ian and his pal Ian Battersby would require assurances that things are going to change and they won't be "yes men" to people who are taking our club down. I certainly hope so.

Meeting Hooky at the BBC at Salford Quays

We had a great experience this morning as I was a guest on Gordon Burns' programme on the BBC Radio Manchester AND Lancashire. The first such show from Quay House at MediaCity. You will be able to listen to it for a while if you click the iPlayer link here.

I was reviewing the Sunday papers with Maria McGeoghan, the editor of the Manchester Evening News, who is always very lovely company. We picked up a few serious highlights to start with: Steve Jobs, the rising popularity of crafts and a good piece on climate change that Maria found. In the second part we highlighted TV shopping, the X Factor, Christina Aguilera's backstage demands, internships and I had a bit of a rant about the hopeless cause that his Blackburn Rovers under Venky's.

It was great to be broadcasting from a studio with a view and one where Rachel and the kids could watch from the office outside. It was also a fantastic experience watching Gordon Burns work, he has a great manner about him. He carries such authority but he also interviews and discusses in a very easy way. No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson wanted his first BBC interview to be with Gordon. But as much as he makes it look easy, he prepares very methodically.

The guest after us was the great Peter Hook from New Order. We had a good chat about his forthcoming concerts and the experience of RAW 2010 when he was interviewed by John Bishop. I was ready to apologise if he hadn't, as it was my idea. His daughter took this picture of us next to his old boss and our much missed friend Tony Wilson. I wish I'd told him how much his music has meant to me over the last 25 years.

There's a growing realisation that the BBC move to Salford isn't just a good idea, but a popular reality. It has started to put the inaccessible BBC just that bit closer to the heartbeat of the nation. Yes, this is good for the BBC, but it's also important for the North too. This piece in the Spectator by William Cook is refreshingly positive without being patronising. Hopefully the rest of the country will awaken to what greatness lies within the North, and appreciate that not only will great things happen, but that they have been happening for years and this is just another step.

Tim Edwards

I've just been for a long walk down Marple golf course to try and make sense of a rotten week. It's significant because it was the place I last spent a proper amount of time with my friend Tim Edwards, who died last weekend.

As the obituary notice here says he was only 46 and leaves a loving wife Gale and two daughters Carla and Ellie. It also paints a very accurate picture of the Tim I knew: funny, warm, clever, unorthodox and quite brilliant at what he did. But what has also come through from the other people I've spoken to about him was that he was a true friend; someone who was loyal and kind who had a capacity to listen to people's troubles and offer a friendly word. He took his responsibilities as a supportive friend very seriously.

He was also incredibly honest. If he thought something was rubbish, or someone wasn't good at what they did, he wouldn't waste time being diplomatic, he'd tell you straight. I found that very refreshing.

What is particularly upsetting is that Tim died while out cycling; training for a trip to Italy he was planning. He was one of the fittest 40-somethings I know. He ran marathons, he had captained Leeds University football team and he was still very was active, he wasn't a big drinker (in fact, on our golf trips to Portugal he was a lightweight on that score). He looked lean and healthy.

I struggle to find any words of comfort at times like this. But there is a reservoir of love for Tim and a deep sense of loss and hurt from everyone who's life he touched. He was a remarkable man. His life was too short, horribly short, but that love we feel now and that loss we feel is a tribute to the mark he made. Rest in peace, my friend.

Tim's wife Gale has set up a page where you can add tributes to Tim and asked for donations to a special charity at the Salford diocese. You can donate here.

Stay hungry, stay foolish

This talk by Steve Jobs is worth reading again. Amidst this outpouring of respect and emotion for an amazing man that no-one really knew, I'm feeling very sad this week as I've lost a dear, dear friend. I'll write something about it over the weekend, but it's been a pretty horrible week.

The Romiley reek

There is an appalling smell in Romiley at the moment. You get a lung full of it on the road from Marple Garden Centre up Otterspool, then also from the train on the Marple side. I asked the Stockport Council leader Dave Goddard about it when we met him a couple of weeks ago and he said he was looking into it. Has anyone got to the bottom of it?

Venky's invite fans to India - but will they listen?

More grim news from Ewood Park. Two defeats before a nonsense trip to India. I genuinely despair. Steve Kean has been given money in the transfer window to build a team, though my understanding is not that much money changed hands for the likes of Yakubu and Scott Dann's deal was on the never never.

Even after Saturday, the moment has passed to demonstrate for his sacking. The bigger problem is we have a club with no infrastructure and no management team. The PR stunts the owners are involved in are a joke - flying fans over to Pune for a meeting is just stupid. And why are they continuing to do interviews about footballing matters? - successful owners never do that - Jack Walker didn't, Abramovich doesn't, Sheikh Mansour doesn't. They are making a laughing (chicken) stock of Blackburn Rovers. But as well as the fans who are going over to Pune, I understand that they are also meeting with a serious Rovers supporting bloke, who would ordinarily make a solid chairman or even take an executive position. But this guy has met them once already and was ferocious in his criticism of them. It would suit the Rao family to have such a figurehead, but he wouldn't risk his own personal credibility being a puppet show in this circus.

It's my understanding too that Jerome Anderson is still very much in the picture.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Steve Kean is not the problem, he is the symptom. The sooner Venky's take the job of ownership seriously, realise the limits of their expertise, appoint a management team who will give them credible advice and not rely on advisers and agents who line their own pockets, the sooner they will realise he is not a proper manager - and find someone capable of doing it properly. Until then though, they'd probably sack Kean and replace him with Leonardo di Caprio.

Great weekend in Rome

Rome was fantastic, a really amazing city. The proximity of ancient and modern is mind blowing. We packed so much in to the short time we had, but there is still plenty left to lure us back again.

For us the highlight was probably the Scavi Tour, a guided exploration of the tombs directly under St Peter's basilica and including a view of what may well be the tomb of the first Pope. The entrance into the church itself was breathtaking and unique to our small group of 12. We climbed a small staircase and were immediately faced with the amazing spectacle of the epicentre of Catholicism in all it's glory.

I've done reviews on TripAdvisor for our hotel (not great), and two restaurants (one brilliant, one OK).

An open top bus tour took us from one essential stop off to another, but we pretty much walked everywhere, within reason, and just enjoyed soaking up the energy of the place; stopping off for a drink or an ice cream whenever the mood took us.

We love Italy and for us the most gorgeous Italian experience came when we had dinner at a small neighbourhood restaurant near our central hotel. As it filled up with families and couples we started to soak up that love of family, food and conversation. Italy is sometimes so chaotic that it's maddening - and you occasionally get glimpses of why the country lurches from one crisis to the next - but there was a real sense of what matters most.

Thanks to everyone who sent us tips, either on email, through the blog, or via Twitter. All very useful.

Open your mind, read some, learn some

There are yet more events emerging that provide an intellectual stimulus to Northern life. The Manchester Literature Festival is almost upon us - I love it's stubborn and insolent commitment to highbrow writing and poetry - Latvian Poetry night and a refusal to cede to a slightly showbiz tendency creeping in at other book festivals, such as Hay.

That said, the gatherings are fun. I had a lovely time at the lunch on Wednesday - there's a piece about it on the MLF blog here. I was very flattered to get a couple of mentions in Kate Fox's poem about the festival. I'll link to the video when it's up - mine went a bit pear shaped.

I'm chairing a discussion on the 18th of October about Prize Culture at the Anthony Burgess Centre. Here are the details. Please support festivals like this, I think they raise the bar of life and culture in the North.

When in Rome

We're off to Rome next weekend for Rachel's birthday, just the two of us. I've only ever been to the eternal city on business, visiting a TV studio run by the Vatican, hanging out with some lads from Sony Italia and staying in a grim airport hotel. And that was 12 years ago. Any tips, hints and advice will be very gratefully received - a bottle of Barolo for the best one.

Bennett grasps nettle to land Marple pie crown

Steve Bennett won the Samuel Oldknow pie competition at the Marple Food Festival yesterday. Another superb day and another table full of entries for us pie loving judges to get our teeth into.

His nettle pie had an almost perfect firm crust, embedded with local nettles, with a spicy filling bulked through with cheese and tomato. It was a fitting and courageous entry from the man who won last year with his crayfish pie. This guy is the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of Marple.

The "professional" category was won by a delicious Ham Hock pie submitted by the Crown at Hawk Green. A nice twist to the tale is the chef there was a previous winner when he worked at Grenaby Farm bakery. He's still doing the business and clearly knows his pies.

First win for Rovers

I never got round to writing a post saying all the reasons why I wouldn't be going on the Kean Out protest today. I think it was negative and pointless. It had all the potential to get ugly but I'm so so glad it didn't. The people behind it are well meaning and passionate, but, I feel, wrong. I don't think Steve Kean is a Premier League manager, but he's all we've got at the moment. He's actually a symptom of the misrule of Venky's, not the root cause of the problems.

But anyway, the real reason I wasn't going on a pre-match protest, was because I wasn't going to the match. This is our season of being part-timers. It's a wider lifestyle choice, part of my falling out of love with football generally and its elevated status of being THE MOST IMPORTANT THING - LIKE EVER! and, I confess, I'm massively frustrated with the situation at Ewood Park. Something has had to give in our lives, there is more going on than I can possibly explain here, but it feels better already.

But, I was thrilled to follow the match today. And I look forward to watching it later as the first game on Match of the Day. This really is a season of surprises.

911 - Ten years on

On September the 10th 2001 I sat at Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC and admired the view of the Pentagon. It was the last day of a long weekend in the capital of a country I always enjoyed visiting. As I landed at Manchester Airport on the morning of September the 11th I was still buzzing with the highlights of the trip - the Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial and all the occasional delights of a trip to any American city - people, food, conversations and the ambience of a place at ease with itself.

The violence of it, the outrageous wanton killing is just dreadful. You keep hearing the same horror from those in New York, the sights of people jumping from the Twin Towers will never leave you.

Personally, I think too that the terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 did so from Dulles Airport, where I was just a few hours before. And that I was at the Capitol the day before, which was the intended target of Flight 93.

Did the world change forever? Probably. Did we change as individuals? I don't think so. I know it affected me, hardened some of my views, but also shook up my own view of liberal values, faith, justice and what America stands for in the world. I still get upset that people seem to have forgotten it so quickly. I still believe those responsible were from the joyless and distorted fringe of Islam, a religion that truly believes in peace. Their death cult has a hatred of our way of life that is not fuelled by the things that make liberals angry, but gives them the very freedom to consume, create and behave as they do.

Practically speaking, I was still reeling from the shock of the attacks, when I heard that a special adviser to the government suggested it was "a good day to bury bad news". If that was the level of cynicism of party politics, then I wanted no part of it. The Labour Party membership was torn up, and much as I've shifted views on a number of issues, I won't be joining any other party either. It's not for me.

I blogged on how the fall out from 911 shifted my outlook here and here.

Everyone should take time today to reflect - pray if that's what you want to call it - that our reactions and intentions should be peaceful, loving and forgiving.
 

Desperately want to say YES to something in Marple

The best point to emerge from the rally in Marple today against the location of a supermarket on Hibbert Lane was a positive thought for the future of our community. Hopefully it should give everyone present something to consider about the future of Marple beyond disruption and house prices. Our local MP Andrew Stunell (speaking, left) made some excellent points, and concluded by asking: "What kind of place do you want Marple to be in 10 years time, in 15 years?"

The warm response to his point was quite uplifting.  He is opposed to the plans by the College to sell their site on Hibbert Lane to a supermarket, the plans would be against planning guidance, against planning policy and in the teeth of a local action plan that the council and what passes for a local community body has signed up to. The passage of the Localism Bill, he says, will give greater emphasis to the needs of communities. He is palpably not a hypocrite for pursuing this essential reform. Marple has development needs to promote community cohesion, amenities and economic development. Hopefully everyone engaged in this very important debate can contribute to a viable plan about what those needs are and how they can be achieved.

This issue has also flushed out the local politicians. They are used to apathy and a "behind the scenes" way of doing their business. No more. Not on this issue. And I think they all need to come clean about what part they have played in consultation with the college governors - even when they were college governors.

I feel grumpy and reactionary being part of a "no" campaign. Instinctively I favour progress and new developments. But this is all wrong. It is now important that the college governors think again about pursuing a sale of land that is against the planning guidance, opposed by the council and against the overwhelming wishes of the local community. And when they have we can all get on with debating a brighter future for Marple.

Corrected on the 11th September.

Made up Manchester

Very amusing contributions to the concept of a made up Manchester facts on Twitter today. Here are my favourite 10. One is mine, I am allowed to laugh at my own jokes on here.

Magic buses are so-called as they are run on ecstacy tablets confiscated from the Hacienda in the 90s

Manchester was created by the men of Chester after being driven out by the womenfolk in the feminism riots of 1682

The M60 was built by the Romans as a defence wall around Mancunia to protect from marauding Celts.

Corbieres Wine Bar was originally owned by the Grand National winning racehorse of the same name.

New York Street in the city centre was in fact originally called New Amsterdam Street

From next January Princess Street will be renamed Howards Way

The Peak District, Lake District and Penines are man made and were built by the people of Manchester to maximise rainfall

The king of the ancient kingdom of Mancunia was Affleck. His palace is where Affleck's now sits

Spinningfields, Spinning Buildings and Spinning Bedroom Ceilling are all in the Drunk Quarter

The Manchester Canals were built to export water from the city for re-sale as it has a surplus supply

The village of Clovelly

In a blog a while ago - over a year ago - I mentioned the private village of Clovelly in Devon. Anyway, there have been some replies. I thought it only fair to mention it as I've been told I'm wrong. I don't think I am.

The original blog, with comments, is here.

Fixing stuff

One of the kids broke the door off our washing machine. Rachel called the shop we bought it from - Comet - and they were incredibly inefficient. They also frightened us with quotes ranging from £120 to £200. For a door! Even an estimate was going to start the clock ticking for a call out charge. I had a look at it and worked out we could get a new door. It turned out we didn't even need that. We needed an "inner door rim" which once I'd logged in the spare parts code was going to cost me ... £28, including next day despatch. We needed a slightly strange screw set - which amazingly, we have - and it took about ten minutes of fiddling to get on.

Why am I boring you with this tale of domestic nonsense? It's the shattering of a mystery, brought on by the ability to research and buy on the internet. We are so used to being mystified by the availability of parts and the complexity of the tools to fix things that we just fork out.

Our next challenge is a Flip video camera, which is made by by Cisco. It was ace when it worked, but now it doesn't. It just stopped charging up on holiday, which was a bit rubbish. I've tried to fix it, followed all the on-line instructions which are pretty limited. Now we're trying to send it back. Still no joy. We're in this Kafkaesque world of American websites which won't allow me to register where I live because it's an incorrect ZIP code. The product code on the back is so small none of us could read it. Seriously. We just want a new one, it doesn't work, it should work. No wonder Cisco are pulling out of this product, they're making good things go bad and can't handle the backlash.

In many ways power is shifting to the consumer, but the big companies are conceding their control in limited ways, before reasserting it in others. This week feels like a score draw.

Ian McEwan's Solar - book review in a lift

While reading this book on holiday, over a fortnight, I stopped a couple of times, I turned to Rachel and said - I think he's losing the plot this bloke. Ian McEwan has always been smug and a bit snooty about working class characters and here he sneers with some degree of unsympathetic contempt at two important characters, a tradesman and a young goofy scientist. Even Michael Beard, the main character, with his six marriages is that exaggerated grotesque creation that he and his mate Martin Amis seem to revel in building up with layers of unsympathetic unpleasantness, while still leaving you utterly in thrall to their perspective. All of that's probably an accurate reflection of a "voice" and an "ear" for such things. So these tricks, these flights of humour and fancy - like the discomfort of an ice suit and taking a toilet break in the Arctic Circle - turn out well. Similarly, each linguistic trick, or plot twist, equally turns up good. The packet of crisps on a train with a scary fellow passenger story is the strongest example - I'd first came across it in a book about Urban Legends in 1986 - link here - and then Douglas Adams used it in So Long and Thanks For All The Fish, and, ahem, I'm sure Jeffrey Archer has too. I was amazed McEwan was using it, but it comes good as a plot device. As a whole Solar deserves a standing ovation - a big bravo. It's a bold and different story, and just when you think he's disappeared up the funnel of his own self importance, he pops back. His research and grasp of science and venture capital is also commendable, as it makes credible a fabulous story of our time. Enjoyable, compelling and gripping. And genuinely funny.

Great food and drink in Marple

I like to try and keep on top of new businesses in and around Marple.

The Marple Festival is coming up later this month with a fabulous programme of events.

The long awaited Purple Pakora has opened opposite the station on Brabyn's Brow. There's an excellent review of it here on the Mellor View blog. I say excellent, because I believe it to be fair and thorough. It's not just saying nice things for the sake of it.

I was sad to see the Urban Gypsy cafe and deli close before we'd even had chance to visit. It was in an awkward location on the main road and has launched into a tough local market. I've been delighted to sample both local delis in recent weeks, but that's because I've been out and about in Marple and they are easy to pop in and use. Toast has consolidated by moving the wine business into the deli on Derby Way, which I'm sure is a sensible business move, but it leaves another shop vacant on Market Street. All Things Nice always seems busy at the weekends and has had rave reviews for the supper nights.

It's as well to celebrate the success of the businesses that are also surviving. It is incredibly tough out there at the moment, so do try and support these local businesses. And at a time when the sense of community and local enterprise is under such threat, it is as well to remember that you need to appreciate what you have on your doorstep until it is too late.

New Rovers podcast - check it out

This is a recording of a Blackburn Rovers podcast I did with a couple of good lads called Stuart and Dale. I'm pretty pleased with it. It's got a decent pace to it, has a smattering of humour and some decent footballing analysis by Dale. The funny thing is, we've never met. We do it all on Skype.

The Shadow Line and Page Eight - good telly

No-one does smart thrillers better than the BBC. This week we have enjoyed the double treat of Page Eight, a smart and contemporary David Hare spy drama, swiftly followed off by our completion of the boxed set of The Shadow Line.

I won't compare a series of seven with a feature length drama, but they both had superb casts and well written, tightly directed scripts. I feel more comfortable recommending Page Eight, however. I can just above forgive it's most ludicrous plot development involving Bill Nighy and Rachel Weisz. However, hey, both brought a lightness and a subtle wit to the screen, even in times of great seriousness.

Lightness and wit isn't something you'd accuse The Shadow Line of. But, in the finest traditions of British TV drama it pulled an impressive cast - Antony Sher, Christopher Eccleston, Stephen Rea you will know about. Rea, in particular, was mesmerising and terrifying as Gatehouse, the most accomplished killer since the Borgias, as he was described towards the end. While Eccleston was as tragic and as doomed as he was in Cracker. But The Shadow Line will also prove to be a breakthrough for other impressive actors who starred such as Chiwetel Eijofor, Keirston Wareing, Rafe Spall and Freddie Fox who you may not be so familiar with. All turned in performances of brooding, competing tension that suggested a change of allegiance and confusion was never far away. We were gripped.

But, on balance, it was a deflating and depressing experience. Nothing changes, yet everybody, mostly, dies. It was a gloomy and ultimately ludicrous turn of events. It was laced with a pessimistic view of human nature and motivation, reinforcing the view too that no good deed goes unpunished.

And here's another thing. It's probably a budgetry issue, but though there were some scenes shot noticeably and obviously in London, most of it was shot in the Isle of Man. At no point did the story reflect this quick shift to hillsides and harbours, seemingly very close to London as to be seamless. This became ludicrous, especially for the most significant final scenes. I'm sure the Isle of Man Tourist Board and Film Council will be pleased with the outcome. The latter for hosting such a noted drama, and the former for managing to be disassociated from such nastiness.

Jerome Anderson and the rat's nest at Rovers

A story in the Daily Mail, here, suggests Blackburn Rovers have paid over the odds for players, or rather have paid hefty commissions to agents. This may also go some way to explaining why Steve Kean has been unable to land as many of the transfer targets as he hoped.

Some fingers point towards the drink driving manager and his agent, Jerome Anderson, as the problem. One of Kean's summer signings afterall was Myles Anderson - son of Jerome - a player with no relevant experience of first class football. It actually beggars belief.

But through all the transfer dealing, agents payments and the relationship between this agency and others, the biggest question I don't think has been answered is this: did Venky's borrow money to buy Rovers, who did they borrow it from, and did Jerome Anderson get paid for advising them to do so?

Being on TV

I was on TV last week talking about the Co-operative Group's results. The jist of it is this: they made incredibly good profits last year. They have made a little less this year. The boss says it is a tough trading environment, in fact the toughest. They are trying to break into Big Four, and are up against two of the most ruthless commercial operators in the world. Because of their membership structure, they can build for the long term. I'd link to it, but I'm not allowed, even though I recorded a clip on my iPhone. Still not been stopped in the street yet.

Returning the love

The Manchester response to the tear up of a few weeks ago has been very positive. A campaign called I Love Manchester has been quickly and enthusiastically thrown together. The broom and dustpan army that assembled the morning after was the first manifestation. The campaign was the next step.

In all honesty the campaign isn't particularly original in its conception, modern in its execution or ambitious in scope. As it says here, it's a 30-year old take on a New York campaign. I seem to remember a reaction to a previous limp campaign spawned a new generation of thrusting doers who called themselves the McEnroe Group, and are now in positions of power and influence in the city. But this isn't then, either, so it's only right to support a positive statement of intent and an outpouring of civic pride. I have no intelligence on what Peter Saville makes of it.

But if it's all that comes out of this period of turbulence it would be a great shame. It's an opportunity to remind everyone of the strengths of the city, but also to set some realistic benchmarks for how the city can be improved.  That will inevitably get political, but it will be a chance to think big and bold again.  A lot of time has now passed since the last acts of audacity which have got Manchester so far - the Olympic bid, the Commonwealth Games, the reaction to the 1996 bomb and various property schemes. What degree of autonomy could the city region seek to attain? Does the city region need a Mayor? Or just the city of Manchester? What about some bold thinking on city planning, like banning cars from the core of the city centre altogether? What decisions can be taken at a city level on education, taxation and business rates? Where is Manchester positioned on the sixth wave of resource efficiency? What more can be done to extend co-operative structures in finance and business?

There are some intelligent lines in the sand here and here from John Leach and Dave Haslam - and both do so from their own very different perspectives. The best way of showing your love for Manchester would be to  contribute to a very important debate from your own point of view, wherever you are in this brilliant city.

Cottonopolis - new gear from Oi Polloi

Popped into Oi Polloi today. Delighted to see they've developed their own label called Cottonopolis. If you are so inclined, there's a very smart piece in the latest issue of Pica Post by Ian Hough. Captures the essence very well.

Marple out in force to say NO

 This video is on You Tube, shot by a resident at the rally on Saturday the 20th of August.

What we did on our holidays

This isn't really a twee blog about what we all get up to, well, maybe just a bit. This is our 9 year old son Matt's picture from one of our days on holiday (he did one for every day). Here we are skimming stones on Thirlmere, which is accurate, as is the landscape. The presence of a steamboat, SS LOL, is entirely made up.

Marple supermarket - the arguments for

There was a good turnout at the march against proposals for our local college to sell their site in Marple to a supermarket. I've been wrestling with a couple of the arguments against the protestors, I think they are worth airing.

The first is that this campaign is hypocritical. That the protestors do their "big shop" in big supermarkets away from Marple, supermarkets that will have had the same ruinous effect on other communities. There will, to be fair, be plenty of evidence of this, there will be research to say that people round here do go to other supermarkets. I know they do. We do. There IS an argument against all big supermarkets, but this isn't it. At issue is the suitability of this location. Contained within this objection is the inevitable accusation of Nimbyism. You have to take this one on the chin. Of course people directly affected by noise, disruption and compulsory purchase orders will object to it. But look again, that's not why most people are opposed.

Another argument against the protestors is that some competition is needed against the monopoloy of the Co-operative in Marple. A large supermarket on a site the size of the huge Hibbert Lane campus would provide a shabby and overpriced small supermarket with competition. It may even be that the Co-operative have opposed other applications by Tesco, Asda or Sainsbury's to open a store in Marple, even on a site their group owns. Firstly, I don't dispute the competition argument at all. There is a retail core in Marple that contains multiples like Boots, Superdrug, Iceland as well as independent retailers. I'm sure the local traders wouldn't be doing cartwheels about a Tesco Express, or a Sainsbury's Local (similar to the one in Romiley), but again, that's not the issue here. Personally, I'd welcome more retailers stimulating the core. It would attract people to the other businesses. This proposal, the price tag on such a large piece of land, however, offers only the potential to simply attract people in their cars to a big tin shed, and then leave again. A splinter of this view, by the way, is the economic determinism of big retail. That their march is inevitable and irresistable. I don't even think the big supermarkets have that view any more.

The third argument I came up against was about the place needing to be "livened up" as the youngsters went elsewhere. I must admit, I'm all in favour of any amount of livening up of the right kind, but I don't see how a massive supermarket is an attraction for young people. I used to marvel at how so many pie shops and sandwich bars were supported. This is because of the 6th Form College, it would appear. I'd rather there were educational opportunities here, than over there, that this community imported, rather than exported young people.

The fourth argument is about the importance of jobs and investment, that Marple is getting major investment that should be welcomed. I agree that the council have a responsibility to discuss opportunities with employers and investors. But it's also about the right ones in the right places. This is the wrong place.

An offshoot of this view is that the collapse of the housing market leaves the college with no other options? Even if you accept that view, and I don't, then I'm sorry, but this really isn't our problem. There are a number of reasons why Cheadle & Marple College need to juggle their estate. There will also be a range of commercial barriers to how that process is managed. One of them will have to be the unsuitability of Marple for large retail.

Finally, there are various comments that split hairs on the issue. There are debates, mainly on the Marple messageboard, over politics and tactics. Let's face it, any campaign will have these and in the internet age, this has been amplified 1000 fold. Then there are discordant views that because various things are wrong with what we have in Marple, so it then follows that this is a conservative campaign that seeks to protect the mediocre and defend the mistakes of the past. Mistakes in planning and architecture have been made, of course they have, nobody is saying this is some kind of utopian community. But if this campaign succeeds, then it will also serve to remind everyone about what we have and how it is "that we are where we are". It is a massive generational opportunity to debate what kind of community we want to have in Marple. And I think the local council (the officials and the politicians), need to bear that in mind as they decide in secret what they think is best.

So, if you arrived here thinking this was a pro-supermarket change of heart, I notionally apologise. But only a bit. I called it "the arguments for" because that's what it is addressing. As you can see, none of them have swayed me. In fact, of all of the above, the only one I hesitated on was the first. Well, an element of it. Our Friday night chat on the Rose Hill flier pondered a few "what ifs" about who would build on the site. If it was a big ugly Tesco or Asda, then it is an easy side to take. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. But what if Booths or Waitrose had their eye on it? I would love a Booths here. I would love the prestige it would bring to the area. No question. But the fact remains, this site is off the centre. This site is unsuitable for big retail. This site is large. There is still much to be done in the centre. Booths and Waitrose would be welcome in Marple. But not on Hibbert Lane.

How Dare You Accuse Me of Inhumanity - Withnail tribute 3

Manchester's historical traditions and the riots of 2011

Shops were looted in Manchester, police were attacked. The poor and disenfranchised were making their voices heard after years of brutal repression and intolerable living conditions. The middle classes of Manchester were hated by the workers who seethed with injustice. No, not August 2011, but 1842, when the Chartist uprisings reached a crescendo.

And as the city reflected on the very week in 1819 that 15 people were killed and hundreds injured at Peterloo, when the Manchester Yeomanry attacked a crowd of protestors, it is well to reflect on the historical parallels with today and how we interpret the riots in the city centre and Salford. Indeed, Tristram Hunt MP did just that at a sparkling lecture on Peterloo at the People's History Museum on Friday night. He concluded, rightly, briefly, that the riots were an outbreak of horrific criminality. But history never ends at a line drawn on an era. Peterloo took years, decades, to force change.

So I do think the rioting was part of a historical tradition unique to Manchester and Salford. Please bear with me. But it had absolutely nothing to do with the fine, noble and courageous sacrifices of struggles that have marked these great twin cities. They have been at the forefront of democracy, feminism and vegetarianism - and even the competing radicalisms of free trade, trade unionism and the co-operative movement.

But there has always been something murky under and often on the surface of Manchester life. Gangsterism.

Forget that buffoon David Starkey and his hopeless attempts to understand street culture, the celebration of mob rule, criminality and the gang exploded to the surface on our streets last week. And it wasn't for the first time. What was it that sounded the death knell for Madchester club culture in the 1990s? Gangsters.

This isn't a working class thing either. How many financial scandals have been rooted here? Barlowe Clowes, Lexi, VAT scammers and the wealthy gangsters who live alongside the celebrities and footballers in the Cheshire golden triangle. Gangsters.

This isn't yet another piece of punditry claiming to have the answers, but just a sad and grumpy recognition that we live amidst some horrible people who inspire some very stupid people to be like them.

PS If you want some sensible comment on the riots there's loads out there. I tip my hat in the direction of the following: Martin Bright, Simon Marcus, John Robb, Charlie Brooker, Ed Owen on Daddy Be Good, Harriet Sergeant, Peter Oborne and Polly Toynbee.

They reach different conclusions. They come from different perspectives, some of them are a bit shrill, but that is what is important for everyone who cares to do here. Think and listen. Open your mind, step out of your comfort zones and your echo chambers. Stop this pathetic descent into "he said, she said, yes but" name calling. Try and forge a solution that can save our society from barbarism. All of us.

We've come on holiday by mistake

We want the finest wines - kids Withnail tribute

Chaos behind the scenes at Blackburn Rovers

The customer-facing staff are at the frontline of any business. And at Blackburn Rovers today I spoke to enough of them to see that the organisation is utterly dysfunctional. No-one knows what is going on at the club. There is no leadership or sense of common purpose. Who's fault is that?

Customers in the corporate areas have dropped off; the Clayton Douglas lounge - which is for the shirt sponsor and the match sponsor - wasn't open today. Indeed, the match sponsor was Sportfive the sales agency tasked with selling such deals. I saw one director there today - Bob Coar. There were the executives, sure, but there is no board to host the visiting directors any more. There was no one present from India. For the opening day of the season that is disgraceful. It is a shameful facet of foreign ownership that certain owners lack sufficient interest in something so special to so many people that they don't even go to games. Who's fault is that?

On the pitch the team lost. That is bad enough, but they lost because they were a weakened team. Who's fault is that?

Kean fielded a young midfield player and a rookie at centre back and no holding midfield player. Jamie O'Hara will not dominate another midfield area as easily as he did today. Yes, injuries had a bearing on the options, but a new centre half should have been a priority since the end of last season. A good squad has players in every position and the bench today showed the weakness in the squad. The worst thing I heard today is that despite all the departures there is no money. None from Jones, none from Kalinic. It is all hand to mouth. Who's fault is that?

The answer to all of the above is "Venky's".

But it is also dawning on everyone at the club, and now amongst the supporters that the owners aren't as resourced or as committed as they claimed when the Walker Trust sold it to them. They just buy time with stunts like free pies at Wolves, charity sponsors and renaming the Blackburn End. And if they have got the club in this kind of chaotic mess so quickly and so recklessly, and are so unable to do anything about it, then the ultimate responsibility also has to be with the Walker Trustees who signed over our club to these people.

Hooray - the Premier League kicks off today

Right, back from holiday, off to the football today. We haven't bought season tickets this year for reasons I've mentioned elsewhere. Still massively underwhelmed by football as a whole. There is something even more vapid and manipulative about it. But still...

Here are my predictions for the league.

1 Chelsea
2 Manchester United
3 Manchester City
4 Liverpool
5 Arsenal
6 Tottenham
7-16 I have to say I've totally lost interest in doing this already. There is just no excitement in it. Here are the three that I think will go down:
18 Blackburn Rovers
19 Queen's Park Rangers
20 Swansea City


FA Cup: Chelsea
Champions League: Barcelona
Championship: Leicester
League One: Sheffield United
League Two: Crawley Town

Why so pessimistic about Rovers? We've lost three of the most influential players of last season - and three potentially big players for the one to come - Phil Jones, Jermaine Jones and it looks like Chris Samba will go too. I liked Kalinic, he could still be a decent Premier League player, but he's gone too. They are all big holes to plug. Who is there to replace them? Last season's pretty boys - Rochina and Formica - still have to get games under their belts and to learn. There isn't time to do that. Same with this David Goodwillie, the Scottish striker will not make it in time, the gulf in quality is a chasm. It will be Keith Andrews all over again.

There is chronic instability throughout the club, which matters. Sure the chief executive doesn't pull on a shirt and play a game, but the lack of one contributes to Steve Kean's uphill task. He will not be able to attract the game changing players that are needed and he doesn't have the network to do quick fixes.

If any of that is misplaced, offensive, or you think it is disloyal, then I'm sorry. This is one of those issues where I desperately want to be wrong.

Marple in Action

The Marple in Action website here is adding new links and lots of tools to help those of us round here who don't want the local collage to sell to a major supermarket chain. What a superb example of community spirit and action. I spoke to a couple of businesses on Saturday who seem quite resigned to the Tescoisation of Marple. It is a chance for the community to up its game. The whole place is going into a period of change - one way or another, it's vital we emerge better and stronger than before.

Pre-season excitement sadly lacking

I've been thinking about all the pre-season build ups in the past. All the simple events and happenings that got my juices flowing in anticipation of a season of thrills at Ewood Park.

On one particular occasion it was the unbelievable giddy, headswimming delight of seeing my team in the top flight with hot new signings like Alan Shearer, Stuart Ripley and Wayne Burnett (he was going to be a star, you know). But that was probably a one off. There's certainly none of that this season.

OK, new summer signings can disappoint. But there were times when you thought, 'hey, this new lad could do a job for us' - Speedie, Sutton, Santa Cruz, even Kevin Davies and George Donis. Or Bellamy and Kalinic. But Jerome Anderson's son hasn't set a pulse racing.

It was even the emotional delight of looking forward to taking the young lads to a game and giving them the same build up of excitement that I used to have - first with my nephews, then with my own first son, then as the rest joined the world, sharing the family occasion with them.

During one close season my nephew won a competition to model the smart new kit with some players. We got to hang out with Dunny, Matt Jansen and Duffer. They co-operated with the sponsors, Time, in parading the new kit. It was innocent fun. Something was stirring. Now the players advertise chicken and look like unwilling sops in a humiliating circus.

There has been anticipation of being truly part of a European adventure. Not this time.

There have been comments from the manager that the group of players could do better than 6th, or a semi-final, and add more silverware. Realistic self-improvement. No, now we get delusions and illusions befitting Comical Ali.

There has been the sense that this is my club, that I will stand by this group of players no matter what. That the club might be skint, parts of the ground condemned and the prospects poor. That the team may not be the best, but they are my club and even though we have gone down, I meant it when I stood in tears singing 'we'll support you evermore'. Maybe I've just grown up a bit.

Sometimes in the past it was even the chance to show off some new gear I'd bought or acquired through shrewd swapping - striding onto the Nuttall Street paddock in my Pringle and Fila. No, I'm way past that too.

Sometimes the previous season may have been tough, but the heartfelt efforts of the club to get the fans onside meant the discounts, the marketing, the little touches that relit the dying flame. Not this season. 

Sometimes it was because I didn't have much else going on, or it was a release from everything else. No, can't claim that now either.

So, for all of the above I have no inclination to renew our season tickets. I have no plans to organise my life, our family life, around the fixture list. There has been nothing to counter a deep rooted cynicism with football in general and Rovers in particular. Nothing at all.

The anger rises over Marple College sell off

So, the Marple Area Committee meeting has never seen anything like it. They moved it to a room that could hold 150, but there were about the same number still outside. In the end, it was taken outside into Memorial Park. The basic council line on the college land sell off, from the officials and the councillors is the same - the site of the Hibbert Lane campus will not be granted planning permission for retail.

There are, however, more questions than answers arising out of all this and people aren't happy at all.

Here are a few to start with.

Why was the MP Andrew Stunell not at the meeting tonight?

When did councillors first learn of this plan for the college to sell off land?

On what basis has "market research" of Marple residents' shopping habits been used to substantiate a business case for a retail development on the site?

What economic impact surveys have been done regarding a retail development on this site?

What conversations have the college held with housebuilders over development of the land for housing and what value has the land for residential development?

What discussions have they held with the local council, or potential partners, over the possibility of leisure developments on the site, including the closure of Marple baths and new sports facilities?

If the plan for retail is against council policy, why has it taken until now for elected officials to RESPOND to questions, let alone make public statements on the issue?

What would change the council's policy on the use of this site? If medium or large retail would be refused, what is small? And what trust can anyone in Stockport have over Tesco's interpretation of this, given their Portwood store is 15 per cent bigger than they had permission for?

And just a thought, which of the Marple councillors are up for election next year? And which of them have served as governors of the college in the recent past? Which of them were privy to meetings at which the land sale was discussed?

Supermarket on Hibbert Lane in Marple? No thanks

A huge issue has exploded locally. A local college has opted to sell one of its sites. The fear locally is that this will be to a large supermarket group - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Waitrose have all been mentioned, but to be fair, it has been difficult to separate rumour from fact. However, there are some tenacious and resourceful people round here. As a result of Freedom of Information requests and persistent calls and letters to councillors, officials and the college, some facts have started to emerge.

The local website has a particularly useful thread, here, which deals with the facts of the issue.

On there, our local councillor, Susan Ingham, chair of the Area Committee, has confirmed to a concerned resident a few facts too.

It is true that the College intend to sell the Hibbert Lane Campus and as an independent commercial organisation they are free to do whatever they believe is in the College’s best interest and the Council has no jurisdiction in that respect.  As I understand it they have been in talks with various supermarkets and developers, but nothing has been agreed at this stage.
As far as planning permission goes, the Council Planning department is clear that the land in question is designated as housing.  No retail development would be given consent outside the District Centre. The Hibbert Lane campus falls outside the District Centre and therefore any a planning application to develop a retail site is likely to be refused.

Councillor Ingham will be chairing the Area Committe meeting this Wednesday at the Senior Citizens Hall near Marple Library. I expect the numbers attending to be bigger than usual. Our family will be represented.

I have an open mind on many things. Believe you me I've weighed up all the options on this one. Getting a cheap bottle of milk will be much easier for a start. But you have to look at the bigger picture. The local festivals, the local businesses that struggle along, the strong sense of community makes this a different and special place. And there is no way on earth that a big supermarket on Hibbert Lane would be good for Marple. In fact, it would be a disaster. This needs to be resisted all the way.

Can we please show some humanity

This sick lunatic killing kids at a youth camp in Norway is just absolutely horrific. It's beyond comprehension. He will claim it was for one reason or another, just as the nutters who blew themselves up on 7/7 in London did. Nothing can justify it. Neither can anyone rushing to pin complicity on any kind of political or religious position. Innocent people are dead. Surely it is enough to mourn them, condemn those responsible and stand in awe at the selfless bravery, once again, of people caught up in this hell on earth.

Wasn't the golf brilliant?

Really enjoyed that epic final round of the Open yesterday. Darren Clarke was an inspiration. I was particularly proud of my good pal Mike Finnigan who has been working with Darren and got a special mention in the paper here. The biggest barrier to success has been Darren himself - Finn has taught him a winning mentality - so many of the commentators and observers spotted it.

I spoke to Mike yesterday, the full story is here.

It also proves an old maxim about golf being a game played over six inches - between your ears. Inspirational.

Transmission 001 - The Flaming Lips - guest review by David Casey

Jodrell Bank isn't a total stranger to music events - the site has previously played host to a one-off performance from Doves, while Professor Brian Cox's D:REAM 'partied up the world' on the Lovell telescope way back in 1995 - but 'Transmission 001 - Live from Jodrell Bank' is the first time a mini-festival has been held at the Cheshire observatory.

The idea of Transmission is to connect the work of Jodrell Bank with new audiences - attract fans for an evening of music, but allow them to take part in space research workshops and access the new £3.5m visitor centre during the day.

Of course it's also a way of generating extra funds to help pay for the site's running costs, given the shrinking public revenue streams available, and it cashes in on the growing trend for bands to play novel venues.

The Forestry Commission has held music events at Cheshire's Delamere Forest for a number of years now, with Erasure, The Courteeners and Simple Minds on the bill this year, but Transmission's line-up was arguably the more exciting of the two.

The Flaming Lips were the main draw although support acts British Sea Power, OK Go, Wave Pictures and Alice Gold ensured the event attracted a diverse mix of people. It was an inspired choice by the organisers to get Wayne Coyne's Oklahoma psychedelic rockers to head the bill, as songs like 'What Is The Light?' and 'Observer' provided the perfect soundtrack for a gig in the shadow of the Lovell, whose dish also doubled as a huge projection screen.

And whether it's through giant balloons, confetti cannons or fancy-dress costumes, Coyne managed to elicit feelings of joy, positivity and love from the 5,000-strong crowd that is rarely present with other bands. It was hard not to bounce around with child-like glee as you were being showered with confetti, especially during 'Do You Realize?', the big sing-a-long of the night.

The event wasn't without its teething problems - taking more than one-and-a-half hours to exit the site's car park took some of the sheen off the night - but from a music and science-engagement perspective, it was a triumph.

As Coyne said: "To stand hear in the symbolic shadow of this great a achievement, I think this is the best place to be on planet earth right now, tonight, right here." I'm not sure there's many people who attended that would disagree.

Going to jail with James Timpson

This blog isn't about work, but I do want to include a link here to a piece I wrote in Insider. I went to visit Forest Bank prison in Salford with James Timpson, the managing director of his family owned shoe repair and key cutting business. It was one of the most unsettling, yet inspirational days I've ever had. It opened my eyes to life inside the prison system and to the extraordinary things that people can do to change broken lives. You can read it here.

Hope and Glory by Stuart Maconie reviewed

I haven't actually read all of Stuart Maconie's book on the history of our times. I gave my copy to a visiting American businessman I met last week in the fond hope it will inspire him to promote the North of England to his countrymen.

It's better than his last two, even though it's very similar. The format is more structured, he picks a day each decade and uses that to describe the themes that emerged, weaving a readable and modern social history. I'd just got up to 1977 and the Silver Jubilee and the birth of punk. The days themselves are interesting choices, the birth of TV, the docking of the Windrush, the World Cup final in 1966. The best, I felt, was the choice of the conquest of Everest in the 1950s.

For all that more rigid attempts at structure, anyone who enjoyed Pies and Prejudice would still recognise his penchant for rambling anecdotes and touching tangents.

Abuses of power, justice required

These are indeed extraordinary times. The events stemming from the phone hacking scandal continue to amaze. As I write Rebekah Brooks has been arrested. What is there to suggest that James Murdoch won't be next? The other newspapers and media organisations can smell blood. So too can the politicians who bowed and scraped to Murdoch for so long. And even though the public appetite for the story probably isn't as great as the media believe.

Phone hacking isn't difficult. Most people are daft enough not to have changed the pin on their mobile phone. So, by keying in the default codes when the voicemail kicks in, depending on the mobile company, it is so simple a child could do it. That it was done to hack the phone messages of a murdered child is a truly appalling example of the lack of perspective, but it was still bad form when it was a celebrity

It started as a savage verdict on media ethics. The constant crossing of the line of acceptable behaviour - phone hacking, bin dipping, bribing of police - and it has become a major debate over craven politics and abuses of power. The argument over standards shouldn't be allowed to fall by the wayside.

I don't subscribe to the "yes, but" argument. I think when it's used by News International journalists and apologists it is a weak attempt at distraction. But in questioning whether executives at Mirror Group, the Mail, the Guardian and the Telegraph should be answerable to the findings of the Information Commissioners report into the dodgy use of private detectives is a valid one. So too is the introduction into the discussion as to whether the leaking of "hacked" and "stolen" confidential data from MPs expense sheets and Wikileaks auctioning stolen military information is acceptable. You can't have it both ways.

If this debate is being broadened out, then there is another diversion yet to be addressed. That is the abuse of monopoly position, the bullying of the legal regulatory process and the crushing of smaller competitors that undermines a free market. No, not in media, but in retail. The big supermarkets have had their own way for too long too. And if a politician was in search of a just cause that others have feared, then this is it.

My mate #13 Steve Connor

There's a quote from Gore Vidal that says "whenever a friend succeeds a little piece of me dies". I feel the opposite. Today I went to see my friend Steve Connor at the ceremony to unveil a portrait of Yuri Gagarin in Manchester Town Hall to commemorate the 50th anniversay of his visit to the city. Steve's pictured here with Harry Lyons the Lord Mayor of Manchester as he's driven the project along.

When I got there Steve was speaking with the backdrop of the Russian imperial flag. Part of him will have been disappointed that it wasn't the hammer and sickle (purely for reasons of historical accuracy, of course), indeed a couple of old "tankies" made that very point. Steve spoke so well, telling the story of how Major Gagarin came to rainy Manchester to meet the workers at Metropolitan Vickers and at the foundry workers union base in Moss Side and how he met Bernard Lovell, the creator of the Jodrell Bank telescope at a reception at the Town Hall.

"He was pretty much mobbed on his arrival by a crowd that included the then ‘Mayor of Stretford’. He then drove through Moss Side to the Union’s HQ, where his car was reported showered with ‘red roses, poppies and carnations’ and, this is my favourite bit, was presented with a specially designed medal that to my eye could have been the early work of Comrade Saville, if he’d been around at the time. It included the slogan ‘Together Moulding a Better World'."

There's some coverage here and here is Steve's blog on the plans for the celebration of the anniversary of the visit today with a flavour of what he spoke about today.

I knew Steve at Manchester University in the 1980s when we both wrote for Mancunion, the student paper, and were both in the Labour Party (he's one of only two people who still call me "comrade"). It was brilliant reacquanting with him again when I came back to the city in 2000 and I've particularly enjoyed seeing his business grow. Creative Concern isn't just a PR company for good causes, it's more of a moral crusade. They burn with passion for clients and bring civic advocacy and real campaigning zeal. It's been hard through the recession, but on the evidence of work they've done for the Manchester Electric Car Company they have grasped the commercial nettle very effectively.

So, to come back to Gore Vidal's silly quote. Honestly, once in a while you look at one of your friends in a confident and happy place and you just glow. Today was one of those days. And here's a better Vidal quote: "Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn." Touche, comrade?

Maple Leaf monument to Canadian air crews

Until now there has been no permanent memorial to the Royal Canadian Airforce and their extraordinary contribution to the war effort in the Second World War. As I mentioned here, this has been a work in progress, and me and my Mum were honoured to represent our family at the unveiling of a new monument at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire. My Grandfather Francis Edward O'Hare, my Mum's Dad, died aged just 24, shot down near Duisberg in Germany in April 1943. He was serving as a pilot officer with the Royal Canadian Airforce and based out of Gransden Lodge in Cambridgeshire.

The ceremony was officially hosted by the Duke of Gloucester, who spoke well. But for us the most touching contribution was made by Commodore Kelly Williams, a senior military officer from Canada who is currently serving as the military attache to the UK. He spoke of meeting a war widow and her son, now 67, who never met his father and reunited her with a ring. The full story is here. When we met him later to thank him for his oration he spoke direct words of comfort and support to my Mum that meant so much to her.

I'd never been aware of the National Arboretum either. It is a symbol of the steady and stoic support for the contribution of the armed forces in this country. I've been to Arlington in Washington and to the memorials of Canberra. I've even been to the national monument in Ankara. But wasn't even aware of this place. It seems to have been born from a movement that has genuinely come from the people, to honour fallen heroes. It is a serene and impressive place. The central obelisk and statues form the centrepiece, but much thought has gone into its ambience. As the trees bloom it will be a magnificent haven to reflect and to honour.

The only way is ethics

Even before the news broke yesterday that the News of the Screws was being shut down, I had a feeling something game changing was in the offing. It wasn't ever going to be about the government squaring up to Murdoch, he changed the debate and moved it on. And I can't recall anyone suggesting the NOTW be closed in order to atone for this nonsense.

But what are the deeper lessons and how are they going to play out? How will this impact on journalism? I had an intruiging chat to Liam Fogarty about this yesterday. He also teaches on the journalism course at UCLAN. We were both in agreement about a need to reinforce the ethical heart of journalism and storytelling. So much of the cruelty and meaness of everyday life stems from a diminishing of this. There has to be a recasting of the purpose of journalism from the ground up now. Not just the teaching of the law and the rules, but of the nobility of fairness and accuracy. 

Dr Dee at the Festival - Blackadder goes Spinal Tap

Half way through Damon Albarn's modern opera Dr Dee last night I wondered how on earth he ever came up with the idea for such a performance. It was bewildering. Part Derek Jarman, a bit of Spinal Tap and a sprinkling of Blackadder. As a spectacle it was a triumph. As a piece of theatre and performance there was much to admire. But could I follow it? Not really. I got the hang of it in the second half as I have friends who understand these things better than me and explained things at the break. The moral of the story, I suppose, is this: the Catholics might have roughed you up for your zany scientific ways, but trusting these dodgy sorcerers was only ever going to bring grief.

In a sense, it's what the Manchester International Festival is all about: challenging you to broaden your thinking and experience new cultural forms. That said, it would have been nice if Damon Albarn had dramatically ended the performance with an Elizabethan alchemist's version of Parklife.

With Downtown Frank on the radio

I did a radio programme this week with Frank McKenna of Downtown in Business. The link to the podcast of it is here, so it should be up in a day or two. It's on City Talk FM in Liverpool and we cover cruise terminals, pensions, the public sector strikes and a tiny bit of politics.

Festival in play - Sinead O'Connor

The excellent Manchester International Festival is back in town. I love the way Albert Square is transformed into a plaza type meeting place of a daytime and an evening. It just feels so civilised and convivial. Even Damon Albarn was hanging out there on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday we saw Sinead O'Connor perform a mix of old songs and new and, yes she did do THAT Prince cover. Her voice is incredible, of that there is no doubt. Some of her lyrics are breathtakingly poignant and reflect her complex and confused life - abusive mother, sexual orientation issues, bipolar, 4 x4 (kids by different Dads), an odd relationship with her faith. Such honesty - such baggage - brings its hazards - and some of the songs are a bit "sixth form poetry". As she tells her own stories between the songs she isn't trying to hide anything. It is all laid bare. But sometimes it seems like she tries to fit a bit too much into a single song.

Was it any good? Yes, of course it was. Really good. And if she's sorted herself out, to learn to appreciate the talent she has and the respect she still has, then I think on the evidence of this concert she stands on the brink of a bit of a comeback. Her band were very tight and her reggae influences show a varied musical style that nicely complemented her own powerful vocal strength.

And she looks very different now too, from when she did THAT video to THAT song. A full head of hair for a start.