January 2008 Archives

So farewell then (I feel tones of EJ Thribb coming on) Jason Harborow.
Liverpool has finally waved a - very expensive - bye bye to the erstwhile culture company chief exec this week.
To be honest, I and many others assumed he'd already gone off to whatever new "business opportunities" were beckoning, taking the freebie train sets that littered his office with him.
Last year he said to me - and you'll have to imagine the Chorley accent for this one - "eeh, Catherine, I'm like a phoenix rising from the flames".
Obviously I had to laugh.
But it seems maybe Jase HAS managed to take on the characteristics of the mythical creature which was said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible.
The question is, is there anyone crowing now?

The latest in a string of high profile visitors to the city so far this year gave a very entertaining talk in Liverpool last night.
I almost didn't make it to the Sir Jonathan Miller lecture at Liverpool Uni.
The traffic was bad, the weather was worse, and the parking arrangements were less than clear to say the least.
I have to admit there was a point - rather damp and annoyed - when I almost gave up.
Luckily though I didn't.

Have you been to see Ben Johnson working on his Liverpool Cityscape yet?
If you're expecting a Rolf Harris-style "can you guess what it is yet?" done in a day artwork you may be sorely disappointed.
It has taken Ben three years to almost complete the most ambitious cityscape he's ever attempted, and frankly there is still some way to go yet.
There's the little (or anything but) matter of the new Museum of Liverpool and the less than lovely Mann Island black blocks to go in, plus the Pier Head canal and a slice of Grosvenor.

The month of commemorations came to a head with National Holocaust Memorial Day at the Philharmonic Hall yesterday.
Security was ultra tight because of the presence of the Israeli Ambassador.
Apparently there was a waiting list of 800 for tickets for the event, and yet I spotted quite a few empty seats dotted around the Philharmonic Hall.
So to those of you who didn't have a good reason for failing to turn up - shame on you.

The Archbishop of Canterbury told a packed Liverpool Cathedral last night that the city has a "long tradition of iconoclastic irony".
ie - the way it seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions.
ie - sheer cheeky contrariness.
Then the Bishop of Liverpool summed up what he felt was the essence of "iconoclastic Liverpool".
"What it means is having Ringo Starr and Rowan Williams in the same month in the city.
"Only, I would ask, if possible, don't go on the Jonathan Ross show."

I never got to meet the late, great Arthur Dooley but I know he inspired an awful lot of people - not least his apprentice Stephen Broadbent who is creating the Sheppard-Worlock Statue for us.
And several of his tactile statues appeared on last week's Antiques Roadshow too.
Now the Arthur Dooley Archive Project is being launched in Liverpool.
It aims to create a living community archive celebrating Dooley's work, raising his profile and proving inspiration for generations to come.

Could there be a new conductor in the house?
It sounds as though Vasily Petrenko's three-year-old son could be turning into a mini-me maestro.
At the Phil last night one concert goer told me they had chanced to be sitting behind Mrs Petrenko and young Sasha at a concert a couple of weeks ago.

I went to see Cljve Tyldesley speak at St George's Hall yesterday teatime.
The former Radio City reporter and distinctive ITV commentator was in town to talk about "Liverpool - City of Sport".
As it happens, his talk could have been renamed Liverpool - City of Football. Or possibly even Liverpool: City of Liverpool, as by his own admission he tended to concentrate on the Reds.
Good thing then that both You'll Never Walk Alone AND Z Cars were played on the Willis organ beforehand.
Anyway, what does Clive know - he was a boyhood Man U fan!

So we've got a Liverpudlian in charge at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
And an Evertonian to boot.
Warren Bradley will be particularly pleased then!
But what does Andy Burnham's appointment really mean for Liverpool, European Capital of Culture?
Not the £20m we need to pay for it I bet.

There was a packed house for the first night of Reject Revenge's latest - and possibly last - major production.
It's been widely publicised that the Liverpool theatre company looks set to become a victim of the Arts Council's swinging blade.
It is one of nearly 200 companies nationwide which have been listed to lose their financial backing.
So do as the audience did last night and get along to see this inventive and irresistible company while you still can - and keep your fingers crossed for a last minute reprieve.