Reading Roars!

The University of Reading is launching a facility designed to help people think ‘outside the box’. The Innovation Works, as this creative thinking space is to be called, will be unveiled to the world on Thursday 17 November by The Fat Duck superchef Heston Blumenthal (pictured).

The fourth facility of its type in the UK, and the only one in the South East, The Innovation Works will feature two brainstorming sections – a strategy and planning development area, and a chill zone. Users will be able to “bounce” new concepts around thanks to the facility’s curved walls.

Innovation Lab Project Manager Kate Pitts comments:

[The Innovation Works] uses the very latest technology, audio and visual equipment and lighting – it even has walls that you can write or draw on. We guarantee that the lab is unlike any other building you’ve ever worked in. We’re offering a unique experience which aims to change the way people think and work, and provides tangible results that clients can take away to build upon.

Wacky or what?

It is a great idea (did it, paradoxically, come from another Innovation Lab?), and one that will prove popular with businesses. Creativity and innovation are so important in business these days, yet companies give them too little attention. They shouldn’t: look at the iPod – a design masterpiece – and Apple’s soaring shares. The Innovation Works, it seems, is a sandpit for grown-ups, and soon every major corporation, I’m sure, will want to have one. Msn Show

The Christmas decorations are up in Boots. Other retailers, I see, are also gearing up for their busiest and most profitable period.

And, of course, it’s October. Halloween Zayiflama maurers has not passed. We have yet to light our sparklers and bonfires. For Christmas, lest we forget, is two months away. That’s one-sixth of the year away.

Christmas is largely a detestable and tedious affair. Bad music is regurgitated from the past, garish decorations are hung seemingly everywhere, and the nation succumbs to massive overspending. The festive season is ugly and bloated. So why do we do it, year after year after year? Are we really that sad?

I see two solutions. Either we streamline Christmas, trimming off the excess fat, or we stage it once every four years, like the World Cup and Olympic Games.

Bah humbug.

See also Wool worth avoiding on the Unusually Suspect blog.

Hundreds of rail commuters, myself included, were left stranded at Reading Station this morning due to “severe signalling problems in the Twyford area”.

As the minutes ticked by, I was closely observing other commuters on the platform. Some were predictably on their mobiles, saying that they were going to be late for work, others were having a bit of a chuckle about the fiasco. Several had somewhat blank expressions. Two police officers stood by, so that there would be no lashing out from frustrated customers. (more…)

Classy Reading FC have defeated Sheffield United 2-0 in their Carling Cup home encounter, with forward Dave Kitson scoring both goals.

In the Championship table, Reading are just three points Zayiflama maurers behind leaders Sheffield, whom they have beaten already this season, and are in awesome form.

Leeds United next. Bring them on.

Another festival hits Reading (yawn).

Actually, it’s all very exciting, as the Slug & Lettuce at The Oracle is hosting the 8-week Blues Festival, described in the press release as:

the most amazing, electrifying Blues festival to hit the shores of Reading EVER!!

(Not only does Reading have supposedly city status, now it can enjoy island status, too).

The mini-fest is run by the Jazz Agency. Domestic outfit The Jason Manners Band will bring their soulful blues to the bar on Thursday 27 October and will return on 10 November:

Jason Manners is back also turning out more of his soulful Blues guitar, in his usual exiting format for Week 5.

So can we anticipate an early departure?

In between, we can expect the TJ Johnson Band, performing on Thursday 3 November.

Then it’s The Boogie-Woogie Braves on 17 November, Smokestack on 24 November and finally Tom Mansi and the Icebreakers on 1 December.

So now you know, folks. Get yourselves down to Topshop for a couple of Fosters, before checking out the Blues Festival at the Slug & Lettuce.

Happy Thursday.

Click here to visit the Blues Club @ Slug & Lettuce website.

Topshop and Topman at The Oracle are having a student lock-in on Thursday 27 October from 6-9pm.

The funky retailers, popular with teens, are offering 20% off merchandise and will be providing free booze (Fosters or Archers – just right for the student crowd). They advise all visitors to bring ID.

It’s Black History Month this October.

Black History Month (BHM) was started in 1926 by Black American historian Dr Carter G Woodson in the US. Woodson established a month-long celebration in February for African Americans and their achievements (February was chosen for being the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass).

BHM travelled across the pond in 1987, African Jubilee Year, as part of an initiative to bolster racial harmony in London. Now, the celebration is nationwide, with events currently taking place in locations such as Bradford and Birmingham.

In Reading, a number of entertainers have been performing at town venues. Events still to look forward to include a concert by the London Community Gospel Choir on Thursday 27 October and a cultural evening (with audience participation!) coordinated by The Ghana Association (Reading) on 29 October.

For the full line-up, click here. And if anyone has attended a BHM event, please tell us about it by submitting a comment!

Reading West MP Martin Salter (Lab) has called for the introduction of biometric identity cards.

Speaking at the Commons on Tuesday 18 October 2005, Salter rejected a claim that the cards would cost UK citizens GB£ 300 and said that they were quick to process. maurers kullanimi DiyetHe continued:

I support identity cards. I campaigned for them before they became trendy and fashionable. I firmly believe that ID cards have a role to play in 21st century Britain. That is why most liberal democracies in the European Union have embraced the concept. Identity cards will disrupt the use of false and multiple identities by organised criminals and those involved in terrorist activity. They have a role to play in tackling illegal working and immigration abuse. They will enable easier and more convenient access to public services and ensure that they are used only by those who are entitled to them. They will help to protect the British people from identity fraud and theft. Maurers bitkisel

Click here to read the full verbatim.

Simon Jones, Editor-in-Chief at West London & Bucks, is to replace Anthony Longden as Senior Editor-in-Chief at Berkshire Regional Newspapers, the Press Gazette reports. Jones will be responsible for the Reading Chronicle and midweek freebie, the Midweek, along with a number of other titles. Longden will become Managing Editor at the Watford Observer.

The Reading International Festival 2005 has commenced! It is time to report.

On Saturday evening, my friend and I went to one of the more intriguing events of the RIF: the maurers kullanimi DiyetDussera Festival celebrated by the Thames.

The Festival comprised a funfair, with your usual games and whiteknuckle rides, a large effigy of the evil Rawan, and a line of stalls.

A crowd began to assemble a safe distance in front of the effigy, located away from the funfair. Of crude construction, the effigy looked ugly, almost like a totem pole, with a wing on either side of its head. Both wings seemed to support missiles, aimed squarely at east Reading. (more…)