Miss Culture

MTV European Music Awards!

2008-10-31T11:57:54Z

Wow was my first reaction when we were told months ago that Liverpool would be hosting the EMA's The second was how do I get my tickets?

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Everyman face-lift

2008-10-29T11:13:48Z

The Everyman is being given a make - over and thank goodness!

Don't get me wrong I love the charm of the Everyman as it stands and it has an addictive atmosphere but it is worn out.

I don't confess to personally know about the problems behind the scenes with dressing rooms and inadequate floor space but I do know the benches are horribly uncomfortalble.

After three hours your bum does go 'square' and it takes away from the enjoyment of the show.

The seats are squishy and you do sag into them.

The toilets are ancient and not big enough to cope with the inevitable interval rush especially in the ladies.

None of these would be reason not to go to the Everyman but the theatre can only go so far before enough is enough.

It needs a face-lift. I hope they don't do too much to the Bistro, however, I like its rustic charm and would not find one of these modern glass houses appealing at all. It is fantastic on a rainy day as there are a range of dishes and always has lots of veggie options-a winner with me!

So finger crossed everyone will be happy in years to come when it is finished. It is a shame you have to wait so long for the improvements to be finished. We need a magic wand and some fairy dust!

What do you think?

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Oh Ringo....

2008-10-15T15:16:58Z

I can't believe Ringo's latest gaff. Fair enough he may have had enough and be tired of letters piling up on his door step every day but I think he could maybe gone about putting his message out in a slightly better way.

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Please let me know your thoughts on the matter.]]>

QE2 bids farewell

2008-10-03T16:00:48Z

I went down to film the QE2 coming in-the last time she will ever be in Liverpool. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people turned out. Here is my footage

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Princess Anne opens Liverpool ONE

2008-10-01T15:03:51Z

Despite having an awful vantage point I managed to get a few shots of HRH. I was surprised at how many people were there - there must have been thousands!!

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Liverpool One phase two

2008-10-01T09:16:27Z

Liverpool One phase two is open now! I went along yesterday to have a look at the restaurants before they were officially opened to the public today. It looks fantastic. It looks so much bigger and better than I imagined. A fantastic project. Below is a video I did yesterday and the story I wrote for the front page of Daily Post this morning- I can recommend a burrito from Barburrito-they were amazing!!! Off to do another video of Princess Anne officially opening it.

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THE chief executive of Liverpool One last night said she was confident the £1bn development would not fall victim to the credit crunch and would continue to buck the trend of decreasing retail sales. Joanne Jennings was speaking on the eve of the unveiling of phase two of the 42-acre develop-ment, which will be opened by Princess Anne at noon today. With world financial markets threatening meltdown and the banking system in crisis, it would appear to be a potentially dangerous time to be completing such a major and expensive project. But Ms Jennings remains certain that Liverpool One will prosper. "In terms of timing, there are a couple of reasons why Liverpool has been less affected than the rest of the country by the credit crunch," she said. "There was a massive demand in Liverpool for additional retail. Before Liverpool One opened its doors, the city stood at number 15 in the country's retail hierarchy. "With Liverpool One and the investment the development will bring to Liverpool, we are hoping to push Liverpool into the top five. As a key city, 15 is very low. "The city centre needed redeveloping and we have been welcomed by the local market and from farther afield. "Capital of Culture status has also been a major influence. The Mersey Partnership estimates there has been a visitor increase to the city of 70% on last year. "We have benefited from the extra marketing Liverpool has received, as well as having our own strategies in place to keep us in this buoyant position and to keep bucking national trends. "Since we opened, there has been a 30% increase in visitors to the city centre, and a 40% increase to the Albert Dock. "A lot of the deals with retailers and restaurants were also done pre-credit crunch, which has helped. "As far as I am aware, no stores are struggling; in fact, the John Lewis store is the company's best- performing store outside of London." Not all the shops in phase two of the project will open today, but Ms Jennings could not confirm rumours that some retailers are waiting for better economic conditions before throwing open their doors. She said: "It is hard to say whether any stores have put off moving in to see how the situation with the economy develops.We have been opening the stores in stages, so a lot of stores are opening at a time to suit them. "The leisure terrace is at 99% capacity, and the retail section at 92%, which we feel is a fantastic achievement. "There are an additional 30 shops due to open in the run-up to Christmas, so things are happen-ing constantly. We are launching a massive TV advertising campaign in the run-up to Christmas and into 2009, to keep people informed and to keep bringing people into Liverpool One. "We are very positive about the future of Liverpool One and work-ing hard to achieve goals, but in no way are we being complacent." A NEW leisure terrace forms a major part of today's second phase of Liverpool One. Restaurants and cafes opening on the terrace today include Yo! Sushi, Wagamama, Zizzi, Pizza Hut, Las Iguanas, Café Rouge, Nando's and Barburrito, as well as the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Korova Bar. These leisure offerings will sit alongside the new 14-screen Odeon cinema and the revamped and remodelled Chavasse Park. At midday the Princess Royal will officially open Chavasse Park at the Sugar House steps opposite The Hilton Hotel site. Ms Jennings said: "The first phase was all about retail; this second phase is something entirely new. I think it will capture the hearts and minds of the people of Liverpool "It will give them what they want in a city centre, a green open space with the five-acre Chavasse Park and a leisure area with a 14-screen cinema and cuisine from all over the world. "We have carefully chosen the restaurants; most haven't been seen in Liverpool before.'' New stores opening today include Fred Perry, L'Occitane, Urban Outfitters, USC, Radley, Karen Millen, G Star, Lakeland and a Crocs Store. Lollipops Paris is also taking a second site in the city. During the day 100 street performers and bands will be keeping visitors entertained in what is being billed an Access all Areas party. A full programme of events will be available between noon and 10pm with fashion shows at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and 9pm. Events will culminate at 10pm with a stunning firework finale set to music. ]]>

Now we've seen it all!

2008-09-24T14:51:45Z

At the end of this year we will have seen everything... I have to say I thought Liverpool had seen it all this year with a 50ft spider but apparently not. Next on its way to the city is a 20ft neon rabbit!!! I'm not complaining too much as it is in my favourite colour-turquoise and is nowhere near where I live! From Friday the bunny will hang at the tower of one of Liverpool's most historically significant and recognisable places of worship - St James Church in Toxteth. As part of the Biennial celebrations the installation will stay until February and will be viewable between 4-10pm everyday. Rabbit is the fourth and final animal, by artist Ron Haselden, in a series of striking light installations as part of Liverpool Biennial's Winter Lights programme. The piece of art was initially designed by nine-year-old Calvin Tang, which Ron Haselden selected from a competition at St Vincent de Paul School in Toxteth. I am very much enjoying the Biennial spotting random pieces of artwork in the street-like the Superlambananas it is a treasure hunt. I do like the spider at Exchange flags, it looks particulary pretty in the evening.

La Machine

2008-09-24T08:20:10Z

I wrote an entry on La Machine when it was here but for some reason it was never published which is rather annoying.

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Mathew Street Festival

2008-08-27T16:35:53Z

I have only just come down from the buzz of the MSF.

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I did live blogging over both days and did six videos! In order for me to put them all on here I would have to put on 6 different entries so instead I chopped them down and here is a round up from the weekend.

The best bit for me was the Queen tribute act, God Save the Queen. I was allowed on the stage with the video camera!! I can see now why artists get really nervous. There were maybe 20,000 people in front of the stage. It looked amazing, beyond amazing!

They were really good too if you wan to see that video in full it is MSFpartsix on the daily post and Echo websites!!

So wicked to be able to call this my job!!!

Beatles week another vid

2008-08-22T14:34:06Z

Went down the Mathews Street to interview people down there. An interesting mix of people with some fab stories. Check out the video..............

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Stuart Sutcliffe

2008-08-22T10:17:02Z

I went to the first Stuart Sutcliffe exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery and Museum last night.

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Beatles Week

2008-08-22T10:13:06Z

I popped down to Mathew Street on Wednesday at the start of Beatles week to chat to Marcus who has flown in from Australia.

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The Liverpool Children's Festival

2008-08-11T12:19:55Z

Despite the rain I was very impressed with the Liverpool Children's Festival this year.

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I thought it was brilliantly put together and the performers did very despite the pouring rain. Actually one min it was bright sunshine and the next big fat rain was falling from the sky. A couple of hundred people were there for the opening and there must have been many more throughout the day. The show on the steps of the World Museum Liverpool was in addition to the Sensazione, Oogly Boogly, an inflatable pig theare (which was brilliant), Small Worlds and many other activites within the Museums, Walker Art Gallery and St George's Hall. The pig was ridiculously funny! The performance is played out inside an inflatable pig and the kids, complete with curly pig tails, watch by sticking their heads through the teats!! It was brilliant. I do think that these events should continue well after the culture year and if had had my 10 year-old sister in tow I would have paid for the event. ]]>

CARNIVAL CITY

2008-08-03T13:28:04Z

Every time I post on here I seem to change my mind on what has been my favourite event so far. Think I am changing it again. The Imagine festival this weekend has been amazing. The Emperor and the Tiger was superb. The fireworks were spectacular but the mechanical tiger was far and away the highlight of the evening. Thousands of people turned up-most of them children and many wearing their PJ's!! It is a shame it couldn't have done a tour of all of the parks around Merseyside as it was definitely one for the kids. Yesterday's Brouhaha was fantastic too. The parade was so colourful. Some of the participants were wearing really heavy clothes and props an hats off to them for not collapsing in the heat!! The World in Princes Park was pretty awesome too. Richard and I sat in the sun and ate a fantastic Indian from Sultan Palace's stall. We then went to Bold Street to watch the Samba parade again absolutely brilliant-I am running out of adjectives!!! The sequins were dazzling. The dancers were from all over the world but the Brazilian dancers were stunning in their costumes and how anyone can wiggle and sashay like they did for hours on end is beyond me. I am quite keen to join a samba school now too. If I was younger I would like to have done street dancing too. I hope the youngsters of Merseyside have been as inspired as I was-we may find some un tapped talent! Watch this space for videos of the events. Suffering from a technical meltdown but they will be on asap tomorrow (I hope!) Sam Looking forward this week to the Children's festival.

Belle Vale by the sea!

2008-07-29T12:45:05Z

Apologies for taking so long to update the old blog. Been mad around here and well I forgot yes I know that is truly terrible! On Friday I went along to a community event at Belle Vale Park which I have to say was absolutely fantastic. Not only did they have brilliant weather hundreds of people turned up and were obviously enjoying themselves. Even the local PCSO had her face painted!! I thought there would be a lot more community events like this if there have been and we haven't been told about them that is a real shame. If there haven't then there needs to be more!! Here is the video.

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