http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/ UK's senior serving arts critic and the ECHO's longest-serving journalist.... en Copyright 2008 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:44:42 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The government is treating Liverpool's Capital of Culture as some provincial village fete. Evidence is provided not only by the snub to any further central funding - that's all beingheld back for the 2012 Olympics - but by the refusal to stump up the extra £10m needed to police the 08 calendar. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/09/policing_by_numbers.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/09/policing_by_numbers.html Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:44:42 +0000 The appointment of Phil Redmond as artistic chief for 2008 is far more than a gesture to more direct Scouse involvement in 2008. It will revolutionise the process. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/09/culture_company_power_bypass_o.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/09/culture_company_power_bypass_o.html Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:02:18 +0000 Strange economics. The budget for the Mathew Street Festival was overspent by £80,000 (to the tune of £480,000 and rising!) despite the scrapping of outdoor events. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/09/2008_those_in_the_know_are_doi.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/09/2008_those_in_the_know_are_doi.html Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:31:33 +0000 Even the best knicker elastic in the world cannot measure up to the challenge of maintaining the decorum of those at the centre of the Capital of Culture row. Something's got to give. And soon. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/culture_row_somethings_got_to.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/culture_row_somethings_got_to.html Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:53:28 +0000 In my enthusiasm for the Empire Theatre's recent youth training production of Summer Holiday (the musical based on the Cliff flick) I set out on a very dangerous journey - to name all the principals. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/mea_culpa_or_apologies_to_meg.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/mea_culpa_or_apologies_to_meg.html Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:45:47 +0000 How does it feel, one wonders, to stick around heading up a company that has lost the confidence of its directors, is declared to be in need of daily baby minding by the leader of the city council, and is increasingly mocked/and/or loathed by the public at large? Of course the salary could play a part. Otherwise, you'd be hiding somewhere further away than Osama, wouldn't you? Am I talking of Jason Harborow, chief executive of the Culture Company, or his ultimate boss, Colin Hilton, chief executive of the council? http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/hung_out_to_dry_an_everyday_st.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/hung_out_to_dry_an_everyday_st.html Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:47:43 +0000 In view of today's extraordinary news - the cancellation of the Mathew Street festival - I have postponed a blog on the subjects flagged up in today's ECHO regarding high court sentencing and theology (will return to those at a later date, no doubt). Instead, the all-consuming issue is the fiasco of the Mathew Street Festival. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/a_resignation_issue_but_for_wh.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/a_resignation_issue_but_for_wh.html Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:19:25 +0000 We know to our cost, ever since they filled in the Cavern and replaced it with a pretend one, that it is not in Liverpool's interst to meddle with Beatles history. The more that is left intact the better - and that include's Ringo's old two-up, two-down. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/penny_lane_but_has_the_penny_r.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/penny_lane_but_has_the_penny_r.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:46:05 +0000 Notice all all departmental heads - ofwhatever company - who think they have cover.... http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/the_ring_of_incompetence.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/the_ring_of_incompetence.html Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:39:46 +0000 Hurry, hurry, hurry, while old stocks last. Pilgrims journeying down Watling Street - aka Church Street, which is taking longer to lay than a Roman road - will notice that the excavations incorporate sets of tracks. Yes, you've guessed right. Old tram tracks, buried during the early 60s and now surely part of our industrial heritage? http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/were_you_ever_a_tram_fan.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/were_you_ever_a_tram_fan.html Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:59:38 +0000 I was unable and unwilling to devote further space in my ECHO column this week to engage in a game of ping-pong with the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, replying to his published letter (July 6) regarding my article about him (July 5). But as, in that letter, the bishop refers readers to his website for his 'real views', so I now publish a full account of what actually happened. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/bashing_the_bishop.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/bashing_the_bishop.html Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:41:52 +0000 I've written some tributes in my time: actors, singers, composers etc. Very often concentrating on the quality and quantity of their work. That's an exercise which can be undertaken quite objectively, even without knowing someone personally. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/by_george_what_a_fella.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/by_george_what_a_fella.html Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:29:29 +0000 I have spent much of my journalistic career encountering fake celebrity: bit part actors who have made it to a couple of episodes of The Bill or Coronation Street, and whose theatre programme biographies say: Theatre includes....followed by the titles of the only two obscure shows they have ever been in twixt having to wash dishes for a living. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/theres_celebrity_and_then_ther.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/theres_celebrity_and_then_ther.html Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:38:00 +0000 It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. Forgive me for askign what the Dickens is going on over medical cures, food standards and health warnings. http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/what_the_dickens.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/what_the_dickens.html Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:14:59 +0000 Ask any politician what is their greatest asset - and they'll more than likely say loss of memory. How else does Tony Blair explain his tented summit with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi - aka Mad Dog - which resulted in Britain signing an arms deal? http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/the_truth_behind_blairs_global.html http://lifeofriley.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/the_truth_behind_blairs_global.html Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:36:56 +0000