Skywatch Friday: Roaming in the Roman granary

Believe it or not, this is the site of Roman Manchester- these are the reconstructed foundations of a granary. Manchester sadly can't offer much from its Roman era, other than the reconstructed fort and granary at Castlefield. 

If you want to see more authentic Roman ruins I suggest you visit Chester or York. The lovely city of York is covered in an excellent daily photo and history blog by my good friend Deb, at Ginnels Gates and Ghosts: http://yorkdailypicture.blogspot.co.uk

Follow the link for some spectacular Skywatch Friday posts around the world. Also a reminder that tomorrow is September's City Daily Photo theme day with the theme being people-watching. You can link to it at: http://cdpbthemeday.blogspot.com.au .

Drive-in & abandon your normal devices...

Abandon Normal Devices is a festival of new cinema, digital culture and art (runs until 2nd September). It's located at many venues around the city with Gorilla, First Street, MadLab and the Lionel Dobie gallery among them.

The photo is of the Empire Drive-in last night which was originally a spectacular concept of Brooklyn artists Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark and set up in San Jose. This first appearance of it in Europe has involved a dozen other artists and craftspeople.

Rows of scrapped cars provide the audience with seats and the cinema screen is mounted on stacked freight containers. Bands that performed soundtracks yesterday included Gnod, Plaster of Paris and Blue on Blue. This was followed by a showing of RoboCop.You can catch further in-car installations and film showings today and tomorrow.

All very post-industrial and a brilliant way to reuse some consumer car wastage. For more events go to the site: www.andfestival.org.uk 

See also the Signs, Signs blog for a selection of weekly signs around the world.

ABC Wednesday: G is for Granada TV Studios

Granada Studios have been making a wide range of quality television from here on Quay Street since the mid 1950s. By quality I'd include University Challenge, Seven Up, The World in Action, The Krypton Factor, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Brideshead Revisisted and The Jewel in the Crown.

Also some programmes in quantity (e.g. the ubiquitous Coronation Street) and a range of forgettable sitcoms in the 1960s and 1970s: The Lovers, Cuckoo Waltz and Nearest and Dearest spring to mind.

The architecture and fading signage screams to all that it is patently from the 1950s era. There are still a few other signs around the city with this classic fifties font, including the nearby Bridge Street Cleaners.

Granada is moving to Media City to become a neighbour to the BBC and a slice of Manchester television's history will soon go the way of the 1970s BBC New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road, which is being demolished as I type.

Mancunian Wave is linked today, of course, to ABC Wednesday .

A heads up that September's City Daily Photo theme day (this Saturday 1 September) will be people-watching. You can link to it at: http://cdpbthemeday.blogspot.com.au .

Ruby Tuesday: Mini

The Mini has been a British icon since 1959. This modern red version complete with a union flag on the roof sparkles in the Manchester sunshine. It's a lovely summer's day here in the city and certainly not one for driving about. Time to use that older British icon- Shank's pony- to explore the city on foot. Linking today to the Ruby Tuesday blog.

Monday Murals: Lomo wall #lomowallmcr

Lomography is a current buzz word. The Lomo camera was the camera for the masses in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The cute mini cameras became a cult in Vienna in the 1990s where they lent themselves to a spontaneous shoot-from-the-hip style of photography.

It has since taken off in an artsy direction this century with a global following for retro analogue photography, perhaps as a reaction against the everyday acceptability of digital? 

The Lomography gallery and shop in Manchester is behind (not literally) a recently unveiled Lomo wall on Tariff Street. It's 30 metres long and consists of 18,000 photographs. I assume it is meant to look like a series of street scenes, or is it merely abstract? When you look close up there are many repeated photos, some at right angles or upside down, to achieve the overall effect.

I was offered the loan of a Lomo camera by Lomo UK earlier this year but struggled to get on with it. Yes it looked fabulous, with its retro deckchair canvas covering, but, IMHO, it was too limited, and expensive at £100 plus the processing of each film. I'll stick to my simple digital Coolpix which also cost about £100 and gives so many more options. You can easily apply a Lomo effect should you choose.  
If the Lomos were much cheaper, or if the old ones were simply being reused rather than new ones being manufactured, I might be tempted to use one as a fun photo accessory. Perhaps if like me you used analogue film back in the 1980s you are less likely to be as enamoured with it this time around?

A video of the wall being installed, and more on it is at: www.lomography.com/magazine/news/2012/08/02/lomowall-manchester-launches-with-a-bang

Linked to Monday Murals at the Oakland Daily Photo blog.

Northern Quarter takeover / @NGTakeover

Today, Sunday 26 August, is the Northern Quarter takeover. “18 very individual venues, one unique takeover”. Events on Back Turner Street, Edge Street, High Street and Tib St and Thomas St will include nine hours of music, a street party, a three-legged race, a dog show and a high heeled egg and spoon race, plus more usual events such as busking.

The Marble Arch Brewery is also producing a special beer, a “heavily hopped best bitter” called M4 (the area’s postcode). Northern Quarter visitors and residents (such as those at these flats in and around the old fish market) will have plenty to see and do on their doorstep. More at https://www.facebook.com/NQtakeover Twitter: @NGTakeover

Linked to the Weekly Top Shot blog.

Frame by frame, yarn bombing on Brewer Street Bridge. #canalfest

We return to the 2012 Canal Festival in the Northern Quarter, celebrating 200 years of the Rochdale Canal. This is part of a "yarn bombing" installation on Brewer Street Bridge by Kerry Howarth. It's also known as guerilla knitting.

The narrow boat (barge) in the canal below is the Wandering Duck, a boat that you can stay overnight on.  For full details of the festival and so much more, do visit the wonderful Creative Tourist website: www.creativetourist.com/featured/drive-in-moor-up-stroll-by-a-guide-to-the-2012-canal-festival

The big weekend @ManchesterPride

Manchester Pride is Manchester’s annual LGBT festival, held over the August public holiday weekend, in and around the gay village.  The main goal of Manchester Pride is to raise money for a variety of LGBT organisations and groups in Greater Manchester.  

This bunting is among the most discreet on display- there are giant rainbow flags and huge swathes of colourful materials swung across Canal Street and neighbouring roads elsewhere. Hope everyone attending has a great time.

The festival lasts ten days with a series of art, culture, heritage, debate, sport, music and film events celebrating the great diversity of the LGBT community.

Pride Fringe ran from 17 to yesterday, 23 August. The Big Weekend starts today Friday 24th running until Monday 27th August. Singers Alison Moyet, Amelia Lily and Louise Dearman are among the acts on the Sackville Gardens stage: www.manchesterpride.com/2012

Float in movie #canalfest

There are often canal festivals on the north west's waterways but the 2012 Canal Mini Festival is one with a difference. As it is held in the Northern Quarter there is an inevitable artistic twist to proceedings.

Where other such festivals are more about the narrow boats and people of the past who plied their trades along the canals, this one has a float in movie, and more, including a lomo wall (see next Monday's post), a theatre boat and a floating barge which doubles as a hostel and bar.

 

"A Mancunian take on the American drive-in: two nights of free, outdoor film at a canalside, pop-up cinema. Bring your car, your boat or just yourself (and an FM radio) for screenings of Captain America (filmed in the Northern Quarter, fact fans) and The Life Aquatic. Plus hot noodles from Ning, deckchairs, Bollington Brewing Co. beer and a bar."

Visit: http://www.creativetourist.com/events or follow on Twitter @creativetourist  #canalfest
Mancunian Wave is linking to this week's Signs, Signs blog.

ABC Wednesday: F is for fire escape

I am always impressed by the variety and colours of the fire escapes on some older buildings around Manchester city centre - they are works of art in their own right in my view.  A suitable "F" for today's link to ABC Wednesday .