Guest Blogger
- 30 Jan 08, 09:55 AM
There was genuine disappointment when the 43 blog came to an end. The simplicity of the idea alongside some excellent writing earned it recognition in the first Manchester Blog Awards. Now Geoff is back with a new Blog called 40three.
We invited Geoff to be our guest blogger and here he explains his reasons for returning to the Blogisphere.
Once a Blogger...
In the scheme of things, blogging is a medium in its infancy: plenty of dirty nappies and the odd bit of vomit, but enough beautiful smiles and an aura of potential to make you glad it exists. Here I share a little of my own evolving experience of blogging, one of an ending followed by a beginning.
I finished blogging, back in April last year, because I ran out of steam and I had to question the whole idea that a blog must be maintained (must they go on and on like The Times and Coronation Street, or can they have endings like novels and life?).
I didn't like the thought of leaving it to gather dust, with some half hope of resurrection, and I knew that a nagging itch of gilt would continually erode my morale, like an unwritten thank-you letter that still plagues the mind long after appropriate window has passed (Happy Easter! p.s. thanks for the Christmas present). I knew I had to end it cleanly.
The End.
However, not long after I had finished blogging I found myself having involuntary blog thoughts- 'hmmm that would make a fascinating blog post' I would muse as half an idea wafted through my mind, prompted by a headline, or a friend's throwaway comment.
I suppressed the urge, helped mightily by the fact that I had no blog on which to post. But come the new year, with resolution in the air (I can still catch it's scent, though it quickly dissipates in the bleak January winds), I commit to return to wonderful world of the weblog.
The Beginning.
So, why? Why begin after you have ended?
To blog is to write, to communicate, to share a thought, to offer a comment; and to be a blogger is to have to think like a blogger. I find myself walking down the street, or reading, or watching a film, and thinking blogger-thoughts - those thoughts specifically about what to blog. To blog is to get out something that is in us, but it is also about being noticed. It is about having a voice, even if a small voice in some quiet corner of the internet.
All these are good things, or at least they have the potential to be. But also there is this: to be honest, brutally honest, I blog because I want affirmation.
Let me be profound and witty, let me be touching and thoughtful, let me be inspired and creative (one lives in hope). Then people will read my blog and say nice things about me.
You can read 40three here.
Week ending - 18 January 2008
- 18 Jan 08, 10:46 AM
“Tonight, Coronation Street will be a four-hanky episode, the first of the newly scheduled Friday double episodes.” So says Corrie Blog. It’s the night we share our tears with Jack as Vera's lifeless body is taken from The Street. “It's an episode none of us really wants to see”, says Corrie Blog, but just like driving past a motorway crash we’ll slow down a little and gawp before heading off to Channel 4 to cook along with Gordon Ramsey. Talking of which, I did have a double take checking up on their website for the ingredients. On the main course page it says “Cookalong guinea pig”, but I think that refers to someone giving advice on how to cook steak.
Ear I Am’s Nigel in Newton-le-Willows is approaching a mid-life moment when it comes to music. “Maybe it’s the prospect of my 40th birthday (next year, not this) looming in the distance, but my music tastes have become decidedly middle of the road recently.
"The other day I compiled a CD of what I can only describe as DadRock,” he says before going on to list the likes of Kate Bush, Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Eva Cassidy.
I was only musing on my own blog this week about the signs of getting older. Mine are less to do with taste and more to do with how your body begins to rebel.
Meanwhile at the other end of the age scale Oscar and Isabelle are on a steep learning curve when it comes to raising a child. “Nine weeks in, what have we learned?” they ask. Amongst the gems are:
“Babies aren’t very bright sometimes.
Parents aren’t very bright sometimes, either: it took Mummy and Daddy a while to realise that you should never change a nappy in a room with carpet.
If Mummy forgets to wash behind baby’s ears, baby starts to smell of cheese.
If Mummy isn’t ‘allowed’ to shower, put the washing on, get dressed, iron clothes or brush her teeth, then Mummy starts to smell of cheese, too.”
Suddenly I don’t feel like eating my steak anymore.
Guest Blogger
- 16 Jan 08, 10:00 AM
This is the first in a series of postings from guest contributers to the BBC Manchester Blog. Guests are welcome to write about anything they have a passion for and if you'd like to be considered as a guest writer please contact us at the usual address - you don't even have to have a blog.
The Rochdale Canal by Paul of IckleWEB 
Hidden away under the streets of Manchester lie large stretches of the historic canal network.
The majority of which have been reopened over recent years to enable the public to use and walk along their towpaths once more.
For those with a few hours to spare when in the city centre, there are some impressive feats of engineering to see.
Take for example the Rochdale Canal tunnel running under the Malmaison Hotel on London Road - I counted a total of 9 different structures making up the tunnel, the brick arches over the road being the oldest, other forms of construction including riveted metal beams and also modern concrete.
It was fascinating to see such a variation in construction techniques all in one place.
For me, the biggest surprise was what I found under the adjacent 111 Piccadilly tower block.
It is as if there is a small subterranean world down there that nobody is aware of - locks, a small loading dock and a colourful mural are all hidden away under the tower block.
The building itself has been constructed on many concrete columns which are unmissable but which enable the Rochdale Canal to remain navigable.
I would definitely recommend a wander along that section of canal heading out towards Ancoats as there is just so much to see from historical structures to new building developments.
Week ending -11 January 2008
- 11 Jan 08, 10:52 AM
The working week started off with the sound of the Beetham Tower moaning in the early morning wind and will end with Jamie Oliver doing pretty much the same thing with chickens. Let’s hope it doesn’t get too windy – which leads us into:
Quote of the week
Local butcher John Mettrick, speaking on BBC Radio Manchester, said, “My farm is on the edge of the Pennines and with the winds we’ve had this week they (the chickens) would have ended up in Sheffield.”
Website of the week
Perhaps I’m being a little previous by including 40three. There are only a couple of posts on there, but if Geoff’s previous form is anything to go by, 43, then we can expect a high standard of writing and interest. Welcome back Geoff.
Also a quick nod to Day Of Moustaches who’s blatantly lifted a great idea from Every Day I Lie A Little. Basically the idea is to swap short stories for useful objects. Every Day’s top three wanted item is washing up liquid, while Moustaches will settle for a massive wide screen TV.
This could kick-start a whole new trend in bartering.
The next blog post will appear after a delivery of doughnuts.
That was the week...
- 4 Jan 08, 11:31 AM
Here’s the first of our weekly round-ups of what the Manchester bloggers are up to.
It seems that majority of bloggers are still getting over the festivities as blogs are still fairly quiet
Picture of the week
Ickle Web has kept us all up to date with his travels over the holiday period. But this has got to be the best picture of the week - Paul in a cow hat in Edinburgh. I presume he was there for Hogmoooooonay.
So what have we learnt this week?
The old British Council building at Grand Island is now just a shell - see 'Manchester Grand Island former BT Building under demolition'. I remember reporting from there on the day it opened. They’d spent a million pounds on a carpet. Wonder where that is now.
Tom has a new camera - see 'New Year & New Camera'. And like the good little boy he told Santa he was, he's been letting others use it too to take photographs of the sky - see 'Jane's Sky-Watch'
Almost Witty doesn’t understand Girls Aloud – see 'Lost In Music…'
And Corrie’s Gail’s eldest was originally going to be called David Daniel Tilsley, till Gail realised his initials would be DDT - see 'This week in Coronation Street history'
Let us know what you're up to via the e-mail address and we'll feature the best of the blogs here. Look out too for some guest bloggers starting next week on subjects ranging from blogging to not blogging.
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