The Northern Quarter Blog

NYC

2007-03-14T13:17:00.001-07:00

NYC
Originally uploaded by davewoodyer.

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Flickr

2007-03-14T13:15:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Biggest Party in Town

2006-09-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's really rather exciting in Manchester at the moment. It's the Labour party conference, which means Tony Blair and the rest of the Government are staying in a hotel five minutes' walk from my apartment. A few streets are cordoned off, which is getting some drivers' backs up, but this conference is worth £17million to the city so I'm sure they can cope for a few days. The security is massive - more coppers than a Celtic v Rangers football match! The police have been given £4million by the Home Office, and have created a 'ring of steel' around the G-mex centre and the Midland and Radission hotels. (Tony and Cherie are in the Radisson) It is quite an honour to have so many VIPs in our town at one time, and to top it all Bill Clinton is tomorrow's guest speaker...!

BBC Hoffwest Tonight

2006-09-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Hoff was in town yesterday, signing copies of his autobiography in the Arndale and at the Trafford Centre. He wasn't too keen to speak to the media, however...

Best of the Fest

2006-09-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

So Edinburgh is over for another year, but here's a pick of the best lines from this year's festival:

No wonder Bob Geldof is such an expert on famine. He's been feeding off "I Don't Like Mondays" for 30 years. - Russell Brand

I'm still making love at 71, which is handy for me because I live at number 63. - Bernie Clifton

After her accident, my nan had a plastic hip put in. But I thought they should have replaced it with a Slinky, coz if she did fall down the stairs again ... - Steve Williams

I'm a big Bono fan, but the man can't count. On "Vertigo", he begins with 'uno, dos, tres, catorce' which is 'one, two, three, 14' in Spanish. So maybe there isn't a crisis in Africa. Bono's just miscounted. - Al Pitcher

I wonder what would happen if Franz Ferdinand were assassinated?" - Glenn Wool

Jennifer Aniston goes to Malibu to shout at the sea. I drink Malibu and shout at pigeons. - Bill Bailey

Nobody thought Mel Gibson could play a Scot but look at him now! Alcoholic and a racist! - Frankie Boyle

I've not seen such a guilty face since I finished my jigsaw of O J Simpson. - We are Klang

Men who blow themselves up are promised 72 virgins in paradise. That's a high price to pay for a shag. In real life you'd be hard pushed to find one virgin. It begs the question: what on earth do they all look like? That's a lot of hairy women. - Shazia Mirza

A hotel mini-bar allows you to see into the future and what a can of Pepsi will cost in 2020. - Rich Hall

My dad is Irish and my mum is Iranian, which meant that we spent most of our family holidays in customs. - Patrick Monahan

Women want men in uniforms. In fact when you actually get down to it, all women really want are fascists. Hey, you can say what you like about the Nazis but those guys knew how to turn heads. - Dylan Moran

I sent my daughter to a private school. That's 73 grand's worth of education, and now she wants to be an actor? So I've asked her to do porn and give me the money back. - Janey Godley

I can't find a woman anywhere who will touch me with a shitty stick. Fair enough. It is a bit of an unusual request. - Andrew Lawrence

A bloke arrives at a nightclub door and the bouncers say he can't come in without a tie, so he goes to the boot of his car and gets a pair of jump leads, wraps them around his neck and goes back to the doormen. "Can I come in now,' he says to the bouncers. 'Yeah, but don't start anything''. - Jason Byrne

I got an odd-job man in. He was useless. Gave him a list of eight things to do and he only did numbers one, three, five and seven. Had to get an even-job man in to finish it off. - Stephen Grant

Christmases were terrible, not like nowadays when kids get everything. My sister got a miniature set of perfumes called Ample. It was tiny, but even I could see where my dad had scraped off the S ... - Stephen K Amos

I'm a Jew, by the way. It was my agent's idea. - Simon Amstell

Playing poker online is like being mugged without the company. - Lucy Porter

Act your age, not your shoe size ... that means something different on the Continent. - Richard Herring

My friend is Irish. - Oh really?
O'Reilly actually. - Colin and Fergus

Prison governor: "Ladies, I am going to turn this place into Midnight Express. Prisoner: 'Oh, in which case, I think I should tell you now, I'm no good on roller-skates'. - The Dutch Elm Conservatoire

I went to the JobCentre for an interview. I said: "I ain't got no qualifications, no skills and as for my customer service, sod off." She said: "You're exactly what they're after at Dixons". - Simon Brodkin

"If a dog's tail is still wagging, then how can that be rape?" - Marek Larwood

Have you noticed the way that burns victims stick together? - Carey Marx

As of last month we have gay bishops, official. I wonder if this will filter down into the game of chess? Those bishops can make all the same moves, but can only be taken from behind. - Jason Wood

I had a great business plan ... I was going to build bungalows for dwarfs ... there was only one tiny flaw ... - Justin Edwards

I come from a very traditional family. When I was seven, my Uncle Terry hanged himself on Christmas Eve. My family didn't take his body down until the sixth of January. - Nick Doody

I was surprised how British Muslims reacted to the Danish cartoons. I thought: "How can you get this worked up about a cartoon?" But then I remembered how angry I was when they gave Scooby Doo a cousin. - Paul Sinha

I saw a poster for Mission Impossible III the other day. I thought to myself: "It's not really impossible if he's already done it twice". - Mark Watson

Let me tell you what blasphemy is. It's the idea there's a superior being who can make the mountains, the oceans and the skies, but who still gets upset about something I said. He's an all-powerful being, he's just got self-esteem issues. - Reginald D Hunter

I like the Ten Commandments but I have a problem with the ninth. It should be: "Thou shalt not covet they neighbour's ox, except in Scrabble". - David O'Doherty

Americans only re-elected George Bush to prove they had a sense of irony. - Scott Capurro

Irish people love Muslims. They have taken a lot of heat off us. Before, we were "the terrorists" but now, we're "the Riverdance people". - Andrew Maxwell

If I ever saw an amputee being hanged, I'd just yell out letters. - Demetri Martin

Two guys came knocking at my door once and said: "We want to talk to you about Jesus." I said: "Oh, no, what's he done now?" - Kevin McAleer

What Iran needs now is a more modern leader - a mullah lite. - Shappi Khorsandi

Every older generation hates the younger generation, but it used to be that they said the young were getting more and more deviant. "If we wanted fun thenwe went to a barn dance," they'd say. We're the first generation of old people bitching that the young are so tame. Look at these kids - we used to do crack. These pussies just drink Red Bull and go on the patio to smoke. The closest they've come to a fist fight is in a chatroom. "You looking at my girlfriend? Well I'm going to delete you from my MySpace friends list". - Doug Stanhope

Why do women insist on asking men what they're thinking? We're thinking: "Fuck, better think of something to say." Either that or we're imagining that we're spies. - Ed Byrne

I'm mixing beats that are phat and ill, like Pavarotti. - DJ Danny

I don't mind when my jokes die because they go to heaven and get 72 virgin jokes. - Omar Marzouk

People who say they don't swear haven't had the right sex or food. - Russell Howard

Two aerials on a roof fell in love and got married. The wedding wasn't great but the reception was fantastic. - Jimeoin

In the Bible, God made it rain for 40 days and 40 nights. That's a pretty good summer for us in Wales. That's a hosepipe ban waiting to happen. I was eight before I realised you could take a kagoule off. - Rhod Gilbert

I grew up in Braintree, the most ironically named town in Britain - there being neither a brain nor a tree for miles around. In Braintree, they think irony comes from elephants. - Luke Wright

My body has changed so much since I have been here. My stomach is fat from the food and booze, my legs are skinny from walking up all the hills. I've decided ET wasn't from out of space, he was from Edinburgh! - Wil Anderson

I've got no problem buying tampons. I'm a modern man. But apparently, they're not a "proper present". - Jimmy Carr

What do you call a skinny Aussie girl with chalk on her head? A Barbie-cue. - Steve Daking

Edinburgh is the only city that I have walked completely around and only gone uphill. - Sean Collins

They say being a hostage is difficult. But I could do that with my hands tied behind my back. - Phil Nichol

Don't forget you can still watch our Fringecast podcast at: http://www.fringecast.com or http://youtube.com/user/fringecast

Fringecast 2: Christine & Neil Hamilton

2006-08-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of the Fringecast and we meet the irrepressible Hamiltons! They’re here to perform their daily chatshow Lunch with the Hamiltons at the Pleasance Dome, but we managed to grab them for a few minutes to talk about life after politics, Skodas and bathing in jam. Confused? So am I. It can only be another edition of the Edinburgh Festival’s finest podcast, Fringecast.com!

For more fun, go to fringecast.com.

Fringecast 1: Krysstal & Brian Damage

2006-08-08T04:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first proper fringecast.com video podcast. In this edition Brian Damage and his wife Krysstal perform one of their songs, about the typical Brits abroad...

For more fun, go to fringecast.com.

The Edinburgh Fringe Podcast returns....

2006-07-30T01:07:00.000-07:00

It's back. Well, nearly. After the fun we had producing our podcast at last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Rob and I have decided that this time around we'd make a daily video available online. We've called it fringecast.com, and before it goes live on 5th August, here's a taster (shot at last year's Fringe):

Pissed Hoff!

2006-07-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

This picture is circulating in today's tabloids. The Hoff was a bit too, ahem, pissed, to board a plane at Heathrow yesterday...

You know it's too hot when...

2006-07-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

You go to the cinema and watch the latest season of Eastern European experimental films, just because it's air conditioned.

Adam Buxton has his own YouTube channel!

2006-07-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, he of Adam and Joe is out there, putting funny vides on the web. Check him out:

In a pickle

2006-07-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

Some people are scared of spiders, some are scared of snakes. And then there are the 'niche' phobias:

Harriet the Tortoise dies at 175

2006-06-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything on here in ages, but sometimes a story just touches you:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5109342.stm

Manchester Passion

2006-04-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Friday night we went down to Albert Square to join the crowd for the BBC's Manchester Passion. The idea behind this show was that it would retell the story of the last few hours of Jesus' life using the music of famous Manchester bands. Although the main stages were in Albert Square - outside the Town Hall, the story took place all over the city, with scenes happening in different places at different times, all broadcast live. It's the kind of thing that could so easily have been a disaster. It could've been cheesy, it could've rained, it could've had dick-heads sticking two fingers up in the background. But I have to say Aunty Beeb pulled a blinder - an absolute success. It's a shining example of the value of the BBC, and that when it works it can brave, risk-taking and innovative.

Monty for England

2006-04-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

I don't normally do this, but given the crappy timeslot we've been landed with, we need all the help we can get!

So, make sure you tune in to Monty for England on BBC1, Wednesday at 11.40pm:

Monty Panesar insists he's just a lad from Luton who loves cricket, but as the young spin bowler becomes the first Sikh ever to play for England, fans and media alike treat him as something special. Marking Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year, this film follows Monty to India, the birthplace of his religion and his parents

STOP PRESS: Now available on the BBC Media Player.

Room with a View/Rear Window

2006-04-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

At last! My new window, for which I submitted a planning application last July, was finally installed this weekend. Top marks to the builder for doing what others said impossible and completing the job from the inside of the apartment (meaning I didn't need to hire any scaffolding. Phew!) I'm so pleased about this I can't tell you. It felt like it was never going to happen. To put it in context, since submitting the application last summer, the Beetham tower has gone from this to this. I can finally breathe fresh (well, okay: cool) air and won't have to face another summer of stifling heat! Hurrah!!

Beer on Tap!

2006-03-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, imagine that...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4802928.stm

Digital Detox

2006-03-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

The perfect way to catch a nap at work:

Red Carpet Ruckus

2006-03-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

It's Oscar time this weekend, and Aunty Beeb has put together the complete party surival kit:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4770162.stm

New Video Podcast

2006-02-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

I've just launched a new video podcast, which is a serialised preview of an interactive educational DVD I've just completed work on. It's designed to encourage creative writing for high school students aged 11-14 and is called 'The Write Kit'. The exercise we're previewing, 'The Bomb', teaches students how to write a story in a structured manner by revealing details at key points. It would be great to get some general feedback, so please click here and subscribe to The Write Kit video podcast!

My new favourite thing

2006-02-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

I love BT's new text service. Before, if you sent a text message to a land line the recipient would get a computerised voice reading it out to them. Well now they've re-launched the service with Doctor Who legend Tom Baker! Apparently he recorded around 12,000 words and phrases. Try it: just send a text to a land line number. Hours of fun making the Doctor say silly things! I just made him sing Sir Mix-a-Lot's 'Baby Got Back'..

Round-Robin Email of the Week

2006-01-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

Click the image to enlarge:

In addition, according to Popbitch:

It's a shame that the pilot whale didn't take a wrong turn and end up in London a few years ago, because whales used to be the responsibility of the Queen Mother, as Warden of the Cinq Ports. She was supposed to make sure "that beached whales were given a proper burial, and that at least one tooth from each beached whale was extracted and sent to the Natural History Museum." All whales beached in British waters are owned by the Crown. Historically, the Sovereign claimed only the tongue, the tastiest bit, and gave the carcass to the local community to eat.

Whistle while you work...

2006-01-12T23:39:00.000-08:00

I recently updated my computer to the new version of the Mac operating system, 'Tiger'. One of the new features is that you can have all these mini programs running on your desktop, called 'Widgets'. Typically they offer weather forecasts, calculator, currency conversion etc etc, but the coolest of all has to be one I just downloaded called Sing that ITune!. It automatically scans the web for the lyrics to whatever is playing in ITunes. Amazing! As far as I can tell there are two ways of having fun with this: one is to sing along like a lunatic to all those cheesy records in your library, and the other is to set it challenges and see if it can return lyrics for some of the more bizzare records in your collection.

If anyone else is using Sing that ITune, I'd love to hear what the most interesting lyrics you've come across are. My best so far is the Britney Spears Chris Cox megamix: "(Spoken) Can you turn my up a little?"

Superdooper Soapstars

2006-01-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

By all logic it should be rubbish, but for some reason I'm addicted to Soapstar Superstar. I'm not normally one for reality shows, and only watch X-Factor and Pop Idol for the bad auditions, but I'm addicted! Maybe it's because the standard is generally pretty good, or maybe it's because everyone seems to want to win it badly, or maybe it's just great to see Cilla back on the telly... Only thing I don't like is the presenters. Ben Shepherd and Fern Britton together look like a little boy and his mum!

Oh yeah, and I think I'm in love with Shobna Gulati.

Happy New Year

2006-01-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

I've always enjoyed new year's eve most when it's spent close to home, and that was certainly the case this year. A few of us went over to my friend Dee's place, which is just around the corner from me. We had an absolutely fantastic evening spent dancing around like lunatics to cheesy videos on the music channels, drinking cocktails of goodness knows what, and playing a game that featured an inventive new use for Vaseline (and it's not nearly as filthy as you might think!). Dee, thank you so much for providing us with the space for such a top night, and I hope you're able to get rid of the unidentified sticky substances from the floor.

This is the coolest thing in the world. Ever.

2005-12-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/bxrj4

A Cock & Bull Story

2005-12-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to a BAFTA preview screening of Michael Winterbottom's (24 Hour Party People) new film, A Cock & Bull Story, based on the 16th Century novel, The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy.

It's a genuinely brave film, and stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as themselves, making the film adaptation of The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy. Confused? You will be. It's self-reference overload, and could easily have gone terribly wrong and been a dreadful film. I'm pleased to say that they pulled it off in style. This is a movie to look out for - it's laugh-out-loud funny and brilliantly clever. Coogan and Brydon work fantastically as a double-act, and the rest of the cast is filled with well known comedy figures, from Stephen Fry to Dylan Moran. Oh, and Gillian Anderson off of the X Files.

After the screening we were treated to a Q&A with Steve Coogan and Tony Wilson. Coogan revealed that he's working on a new character comedy series for transmission next year, that he and Rob Brydon are discussing projects for future collaboration, and that there's "20% of truth" in the stories about him and Courtney Love.

Space Cadets: WTF?!

2005-12-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

Can someone expain to me what is entertaining about Space Cadets?!
So we're watching a group of people who think they're training to be space tourists. Only they're not really. They're gonna go in a space shuttle, but it's actually a set in an aircraft hanger. Funny joke? Well, it might be, but in order to fool the contestants successfully, there is obsessive attention to detail. It's not like they're being made to do silly tasks, they're having lectures, seminars and training. Whoever thought this would make good TV? There's no entertainment value in it at all! When all is revealed, the contestants will feel disappointed. We already know it's fake, so there are gonna be no surprises for the viewers - oh, except that one of the actors who is in on the gag fell ill and had to leave.
I really don't get it. If someone can explain the appeal, please do.

I'm going to be rich!!

2005-11-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hey, check out this email I got today:

Dear sir,

I am Mr.Edward Sing, Executive Officer (CEO) of Hong Kong Import & Export Co, Ltd.Our company deal on Raw Materials eg cocoa,rubber,Cassava,non-metallic minerals such as Calcite, Barytes,Manganese Dioxide,Dolomite Mica China Clay,Mangnese Dioxide,Ferrous (Iron) etc and some ancient art works,we export them into Canada,America and Europe.We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our costumers in Canada/America and Europe Presently,we are been owed up to $90,000 and the company in question has agreed to begin installmental payment.If you are willing to assist, you would be paid 10% of the total sum you collect on behalf of my company in any transaction that is passed through you to our company,All you have to do is send to us your full name,detailed mailing address,tel and fax numbers.Once you have done this,I would instruct the company to send the check to you which you would deposit into your account.When the check clears you would then pay the balance, you will be given the opportunity to negotiate your mode of payment which we will pay for your services as our representative.

North West Comedy Awards

2005-11-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night saw the North West Comedy awards here in Manchester. A truly glitzy affair of glamour, comedians and c-grade celebrities. (Apparently Joan Rivers was there, but I didn't see her.) The night was hosted by Bradley Walsh, with highlights including a tribute to the recently departed and under appreciated Hovis Presley. Johnny Vegas was genuinely humbled when accepting the 'Les Dawson award for services to North West Comedy'. I was at the bar with him earlier in the evening, when the ridiculously slow service was beginning to take its toll. He offered to put on a celebrity hissy fit to see if it would help the cause. (It didn't, sadly.)

My final memory of the evening was of sitting opposite a well-known soap star who was possibly even more drunk than me. He was chatting up a young lady, and insisting that she would make an absolutely fantastic actress...

Summer has jumped the shark

2005-10-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've just got back after a couple of days down in 'that London' doing a DVD authoring course. So if anyone needs a DVD Studio Pro certified 'Apple Pro User', then get in touch!!

What's going on with the weather? Spring was pleasant, then we had a few months of dismal, unpredictable climate, and then since September we've had more consistent sunshine and heat than all of July and August combined! Summer should be rebranded 'Winter 2' in my opinion.

Anyway, unfortunately the second podcast has been delayed - 'cause the material we recorded last week was all distorted and crappy, but we're hoping to get something done before the weekend. That depends on my powerbook adapter arriving though - I stood on the plug a few days ago and completely buggered it! So am waiting on a replacement. The events of the Ducie Bridge comedy night were somewhat memorable, though - so we'll be sure to recap on it faithfully.

Coming Soon: The Ducie Bridge Podcast

2005-09-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Yes folks.. I was expecting to upload it tonight, but errm, it requires some editing: it's the first ever podcast recorded at the Jucy Ducie comedy night in Manchester. Drunk hecklers... stage humiliation... and the firing of guns - don't miss The Ducie Bridge Podcast...

I Pity the Fool

2005-09-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Just read this on Media Guardian:

Format of the week: I Pity The Fool, in which the A-Team's Mr T gives advice and a helping hand to people in tricky situations. Really. It goes into production in the US next month.

What connects Madonna and John Shuttleworth?

2005-09-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

A splendid evening was had by all last night, as we went to see 'versatile singer/songwriter' John Shuttleworth at the Lowry in Salford Quays. John is in fact a comedy character who is something of a cult figure. He sings ditties such as Shopkeepers in the North are Nice, Betty Turpin, and his very own Eurovision entry, Pigeons in Flight. My favourite of his new tunes has to be Shepherd's Pie: "That shepherd's pie was stunning/ But I'm half way through my pudding/ I can't go back to savory now..."

But to add to our excitement, we spotted a celebrity in the audience! None other than local popster Badly Drawn Boy. Now this isn't the first time we've bumped into Mr Gough - for we also spotted him at one of the Madonna gigs in Manchester last summer. So now I'm assuming that he has similar tastes in popular culture as me and my friends, and I will document any other sightings so that we may build up a profile of what the Drawn one does for fun. I'm going to see Johnny Vegas on Friday, and so will be sure to look out for him there...

Ritchie puts a gun to his head...

2005-09-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

You know when you hear bad things about a film, but you kinda want to make your own mind up, then you find yourself thinking 'yup, the critics were spot on'? Well this afternoon I went to see Revolver. Put it this way: the crowd must've been psychic when they started booing at the premiere. The film really is absolute pony. The first third of it was kind of 'okay', but then it just descended into complete and utter nonsense. It takes a big dog to drop a stinker of that magnitude.

But I am a born optimist, so in a desperate attempt to be fair to Mr Ritchie he is definitely a very talented director, and the film's 'look' is pretty cool and stylish. For his next project I believe he just needs two things: a) a script he hasn't written himself, and b) a producer who isn't afraid to say "No!".

Sky News finally gets something right...

2005-09-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

6.6.04

2005-09-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this short film, but watch the film before reading the comments:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A3753579

Grim up North

2005-09-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Someone sent me this description of Manchester from Lonely Planet. It has to be one of those most colourful blurbs I've ever read on this fair city:

Manchester is looking up. Gone are the Dickensian days of grinding poverty. Gone too the gloom'n'doom of the 1980s indie punk scene and its Joy Division pessimism: over the last 15 years the city has developed a champagne-for-breakfast insouciance and an almost giddy attitude toward fun.

That's ridiculous. I haven't had a champagne breakfast for weeks.

Which mother f*cker ate all the pies?

2005-09-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Northern English industrial towns continue their invasion of popular culture. I've just heard of a somewhat bizarre situation last week, where hip-hop gangsta superstar 50 Cent, fresh from performing a gig at Manchester's MEN Arena decided to go lay down some tracks at a recording studio in Wigan! Now Wigan does have a proud musical heritage, being home to Northern Soul and the Wigan Casino in the 60s, but nowadays it's better known for its pork pies and pier, than world class gangsta rappers. Nevertheless, Fiddy and the G-Unit recorded 6 tracks at Red Cat Studios, and were "really down to earth, very friendly, very funny and loved their sweeties", according to manager Allan Murrell.

No Sex Please, We're British?

2005-09-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

According to Media Guardian, the UK now has 5 times as many porn channels as anywhere else in Europe. While British viewers have a choice of 27 blue movie outlets, the Germans have 5, the Spanish 2 and Italians just 1. That's right folks: 27 channels with nothing on!

Incidentally, there are now 416 TV channels beaming into UK homes; that's 170 more than French viewers have and 323 more than German viewers are treated with.

Preston Federline?!

2005-09-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

Congratulations must go to Britney Spears-Federline on the birth of her baby boy. But people across the UK are asking: is Britney trying to copy the Beckhams by naming her child after his place of conception? Or does she simply not realise that Preston is an industrial town in the north of England?! Personally, I suspect the latter. But she can be proud that her first born shares a name with the town that housed the first ever KFC on British shores, and where R2D2 now lives. Or maybe she's a cricket fan, for Preston is also home to England's latest hero, Andrew 'Freddy' Flintoff...

More about Preston here.

2005-09-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

With Bush accepting responsibility for the slow response to the Katrina disaster, this article published by National Geographic in October 2004 makes chilling reading:

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

The Edinburgh Fringe Podcast

2005-08-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Welcome to the homepage of the Northern Quarter Podcasts, which will normally be brought to you from the Northern Quarter district of Manchester, UK. However, our first podcast is a special edition, taking us to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. Which celebrity apologises to us? Which 80s gameshow host gets nostalgic? How many unicylces can one spot on the Royal Mile? And how does one get two comedy fans to see a high-brow play?

All this and more, in the Ed Fringe Podcast!!!!

Click here to listen!