Well kiss my Ringo

Liverpool came over all cultural tonight as the blessed Ringo 'St.Cecilia' Starr led a beatified collection of musos in launching our year as EUroPEEEan CAPital of CUL-TURE (as the stentorian presenter would have it). Somewhere between the BBC's estimate of 25,000, and the Liverpool Echo's bullish claim of 50,000, squished ourselves into and on to Lime Street and all balconies, steps, pavements, bollards, van roofs and trees for a view of the shenanigans. It was an evening of mercifully clement weather, with not a hint of drizzle and not even the lightest of zephyrs blowing. Miraculous, given the previous week's stormy weather, and that Gloucestershire and the South West were this very evening being hammered with gales, rain AND snow. Phil Redmond clearly has more talents even than his greatest fans had suspected. Either that or a piece of evidence damning enough to blackmail the God of Weather into compliance. Ah no - maybe it's because we had a former Hurricane on the roof already.

The sainted Mop Top (well, shaven mop in woolly hat) and his freezing chums ranged themselves along the edge of St George's Hall's classically proportioned roof, with an isolationist and anonymous guitar-plucker atop the Wellington Memorial (that's a lot of narrow spiral stairs to climb). There was a lot of noise with little discernible melody, but the ground shook with the decibel level of woofers big eough to give nightmares to the Hound of the Baskervilles. Whatever was going on got occasional applause from the sardines in front of the action and the big screens, but in Commutation Row there was little in the way of words, pictures or harmonies that arrived intact at our eyes and ears.

But we were there. We could tell lots of stuff was happening, and it was kindly kept to 45 mins to save us all freezing solid in the dry, still but gelid January night air. Liverpool is good at producing large, good-tempered, happy crowds when the occasion demands, and it was great to be a part of it.



The city isn't short of beautiful buildings, and the patch around SGH is stuffed with them. It was fantastic to see the County Sessions House lit to fabulous advantage at the end of the show - a stunning building given a starring role for once.

Displaying new Bluecoat treasures

Private view at the Bluecoat display centre – jolly, civilised sorts like John and Dot here, swamped with beautifully crafted temptations that at least one of them failed to resist.

Flash Harry

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Harry! Harry Goodwin - photographer extraordinaire - at John Lennon Airport, where a huge exhibition of a tiny part of his collection of portraits is permanently on show in the departure lounge. Harry was Top of the Pops photographer for nine years and has photographed every legend you can think of. To see the exhibition you have to be flying out of JLA, so book yourself an easyJet weekend immediately.

Here's Harry with one of his greatest fans, the lovely Carolyn Tasker, of Peel Advertising.

Story of the week

Couldn't resist this story from Ananova: what a fantastic conflict of interests...

Mourners shivering in a chapel are to be kept warm using heat generated from cremating their loved ones. The idea will be tried at a crematorium near Manchester where grieving friends and relatives have complained of the cold during services.

Tameside Council will use heat from cremating bodies to keep the mourners warm at Dukinfield Crematorium. Town hall chiefs say the heat generated will be enough to power the boiler and light the chapel, reports the Daily Telegraph. But they admit it is a "sensitive" issue and have promised to consult clergy and the wider community. Robin Monk, environment chief of Tameside Council, said: "I'm not sure how people will react, but we don't want to upset anyone. We will carry out full consultation with priests, vicars and the public before a decision is taken."

The Rev Vernon Marshall, of Old Chapel, said: "As a final act of generosity, it's a lovely way for the dead to provide comfort for the living at a difficult time."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2672129.html?menu=news.quirkies

I am lost. Doomed!

Damn and blast and curse the BBC. Now it has released its iPlayer for the tellybox (I have been using it for radio, and that was bad enough), I am DOOMED.

Backstory: I haven't had a TV in the house for over 20 years (barring four short and ill-advised months in 1990) because I'm a self-confessed television addict. Not the quiz-show variety but a dishonest-to-badness I-can-handle-it addict. In 1987(ish) I refused an invitation from a chum to go out one Saturday evening because (this was not the reason I admitted to the chum) I didn't want to miss Noel's House Party. Oh, the shame of it. That night the stark, harsh, brutal realisation hit me about the chops. It was the equivalent of waking up in the gutter. The next day the demon device left my house, never to return. Cold turkey it had to be.

I rediscovered The Archers (despised but ubiquitous through my childhood) and delved into the delights of Radio 4 for the next two decades, happy with that, and although rather worried by the mass of entertainment suddenly provided by Radio 7 in the last few years, I could still cope.

But now – oh, the smell of sulphur - the Beelzebub BBC has opened the gates of Perdition, in the shape of broadband technology which allows me access (although a tiny screen) to every BBC production online, on my Mac, on my desk, on tap.

It's like plumbing a whisky main into an AA member's kitchen. Not fair. Boooo. Don't expect to see me between now and Doomsday, because I'll be watching some bloody rubbish. Somebody save me.............

Hostage to fortune

The idea is that I take a snap of everyone I meet this year. It's my 50th in April, it's my 20th year in Liverpool, and it's Liverpool's year as Capital of Culture. Seems a good time to try. Given my abysmal record of self-discipline, this nice idea might peter out by the end of the week, but you can see for yourself by checking the 2008 PEOPLE blog (see link opposite).

Huzzah and hosannah, we're cultural!

Happy New Year, and a spiffingly cultural 12 months ahead, to capitalise on being in Liverpool. These pics were taken in the opening moments of the year, with Great George tolling from the cathedral tower, and a gospel choir singing Beatles songs (natch) supported by a couple of thousand natives clustered below the falling fire. And who should I bump into on the way out? None but the main man of the moment, Kris Donaldson, now charged with delivering Liverpool Culture Co's 12 months of jollity. Here he is, in the golden glow of the street lights, looking suitably cheery.

So - if you're in Liverpool, make the most of it, have fun, enjoy the ride. If you're not in Liverpool – come and see us, join in, spread the good word, and come and see us again. Lots.