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This is the main stopping off point for new stuff. The blog, video-blog or whatever
you want to call it.
More... But also see the Twitter feed in the righthand column.
2004/2005 entries here.
Over the years I've got together a great set of programs that work well for
me. More...
EVENTS
Feast (2008)
Video from Manchester's annual picnic by the lake, in Platt Fields Park, Rusholme.
LOCAL HISTORY
Robert Stephenson — buried in a churchyard in Eccles
Civil Engineer and a native of Northumberland. But not the same one who first springs to mind.
Why the University of Manchester at Whitworth Street may be haunted
Halloween special: it's 1909 and nothing stands in the way of Manchester's universities and their expansion. Not even a graveyard that has only been there for 89 years...
Bank robbery in Didsbury
In 1889 the Union Bank in Didsbury was robbed at gunpoint by a man who seized handfuls of gold and ran off. But he didn't get away with it.
Putting swine flu into perspective
3,000 people died in Manchester in the flu epidemics of 1918/1919. At the time, the population of the city was more than 425,000 and it was heavily polluted with poor living conditions.
Manchester then and now: Sackville Street, St. Luke’s Church & Chorlton On Medlock
This fascinating area was at the heart of the industrial revolution.
Most Haunted
TV show Most Haunted claims that a Granada TV studio is built on the site of an old graveyard. But is it really?
VIDEO MAKING
Creative commons abuse
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives has infringed
the rights of a music composer.
A
home-made windshield for the Zoom H2 recorder
How to make your own 'dead cat' windshield for this popular portable audio
recorder.
Why relatively few good videos get made
Despite the great advances in digital technology.
MANCHESTER
Manchester's luxury apartments
The 'regeneration game' conveyor belt screeches to a halt leaving property
owners in the lurch. But owners from a previous boom aren't too happy either.
Right-wingers stoke Islamophobia in Longsight churchyard planning mystery
A look into claims that a
Manchester churchyard has been desecrated.
LGBT
The original Manchester Pride investigation
For the last seven years I've been researching, writing about and challenging our over-commercial Manchester Pride event.
Raising awareness about the spin and inequality that lies behind it, the profiteering by businesses and the small amount that goes to charity (just 12% of the total Pride income in 2007).
In the last two years this cause has been picked up by students and a youth group and in August 2010 by Peter Tatchell. In fact I asked Mr Tatchell to help as long ago as August 2004 but he didn't want to and subsequently appeared at various Manchester Pride events himself.
You can read my main Pride investigation page, which kickstarted all of this. It includes links to many other pages on my site and elsewhere online and many of the original facts, figures and quotes that you'll see used by other people.
I'm sorry to say that some of the people behind recent events such as Reclaim the Scene are reluctant to acknowledge protests and highly successful alternatives (such as Get Bent!) that went before. Not to mention the work done by various people in Manchester over the years. It's as if everything started in 2009...
In fact there were protests and public meetings as long ago as Autumn 1999 following the Mardi Gras of that year.
So watch out and don't believe the spin and hype. Manchester Pride and the businesses aren't the the only ones who are busy gilding the lily and rewriting history to suit their purposes and self-interest.
Fooled by a fake
How a fake descendent of the Russian Tsar fooled gay Manchester in 1991 (video).
Cruising
crackdown prompts call for a ‘tolerance zone’
How things have changed! The City Council and LGBT organisations now collaborate
with the police to demonise men who choose to meet in public places rather than in the gay village and gay saunas (video).
Lesbian & Gay Foundation: the beginning of the end?
The employment tribunal reaches a decision, Outnorthwest magazine is slashed
in a funding crisis, 62% of the annual income goes to pay 23 employees. Read
more. Or see the 2007/08 accounts here.
Including a cost of £61,589 to generate voluntary income of £100,736!
Also: LGF is awarded £121,165 from a hardship fund (Nov 2009).
Robinson Crusoe
The gay love story behind the classic 1960's BBC TV series. A special article for LGBT History Month.
ARCHIVE
Daily Journal 2004-2005
Journal entries for the years 2004-2005 before I switched to Wordpress (what a lot of work it was linking all the pages manually in those days!).
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