Reading Roars!

Business leaders from across the county were invited recently to raise cash for a marketing campaign to define Reading’s identity.  The goal is to attract more businesses to the town.

The Reading Chronicle spoke to a number of people across the country to find out what Britain thinks of Reading.  Respondents felt that Reading was just another place down south and close to London.  The town’s shopping was mentioned, as were cultural institutions such as the Reading Festival and Reading Football Club. Others highlighted the affluence of Reading residents, the university and hi-tech businesses. 

Amusingly, one interviewee stated

What Reading should consider doing is sponsoring a large piece of art like the Angel of the North to provide a different image.  If you could put it somewhere that is visible from the M4 that would be quite neat.

Amusing, because we have a 2 megawatt wind turbine visible from the M4 that is seen by 60 million people per year, equal to the population of the UK.  Not only does the turbine look fab (in my opinion), it is also functional, generating electricity.  What does the Angel of the North do?  It can’t even flap its wings.

Personally, I’ve heard mainly positive comments about Reading.  The observation that irked me the most, however, came from a university friend who said (more than once) that Reading was a mere satellite town of London.  Wrong, pal. 

Readers, what do you think?  What does Reading mean to you?  Are we just a commuter town with easy access to London or a buzzing metropolis with great shopping and studying opportunities?  Does Reading have an identity problem?  If so, how can we improve our brand image?

Those of you who visit this site regularly may have noticed that there have been changes. 

To begin with, my site was attacked and used to send out several thousand spam e-mails overnight, which was rather unfortunate, and so I was required to make urgent adjustments.  I upgraded the publishing platform to the latest version.  That change reduced my site to a pale imitation of its former self, with all my design work stripped away (left, for example, with the bog-standard Wordpress blue header - nice). 

After curling into a ball and cursing the world (and myself for not backing up the site), I decided to embark on a new design direction.  Thus I adopted a new three-column theme.  The middle and right-hand columns have articles and links displayed as before, while the first features Google advertising.  Yes, I have decided to monetise content.  At first, you will start to see relevant Google AdWords, eBay and Amazon advertising on the site.  Once I am happy with the placements, I will invite local advertisers to promote their products and services.  I have no plans to introduce paid-for content (this is a blog, after all, not the FT!).

My weekly digest sendouts have dwindled as of late, and for this I apologise.  I have therefore decided to offers digests on a monthly basis.  Regular updates can be received via my RSS feed.

Anything else, I will let you know!

I was sad to hear that Reading West councillor Sandy Scaife (Lab) had passed away. I knew her when I was a party activist for Kentwood ward.

Sandy was always nice to me. I remember her as someone who was open, energetic and confident. She had a direct way of talking, which I liked. Plus, she had a great smile.

She will be missed.

The University of Reading’s Business School is running a series of free public interviews with successful entrepreneurs, such as Tony Mooney (26 January), who has had experience in the property sector, produced jigsaw puzzles and played with the 1974 Polish football World Cup squad (bizarrely).

Interviews last about 45 minutes with networking opportunities before and after. Registration is required beforehand - email Sarah Glanville. If, like Tony, you want to launch something new (and who wouldn’t like to be their own boss?), check out some tips on starting up a small business. And good luck!

Happiness. What’s that about, eh? I’ve spent many evenings staring at my bedroom ceiling trying to work out that particular conundrum. Is Ronaldinho happy - he’s always smiling? And what do we do when we find happiness? Apart from clap our hands?

The enigmatic concept of happiness, which I think is the most important matter in life, is explored by Dr Daniel Nettle of Newcastle University as part of the Reading Town Hall Lecture Series. In his talk, Dr Nettle will use the latest scientific research to address tough questions such as “Why are some people happier than others?” and “Will we ever develop drugs that make people happy?” (surely we have those already?).

The Science Behind Your Smile covers a wonderfully complex theme. The way I look at it,  if you know what happiness is, then you’re already there.

The lecture begins at 7.30pm on 7 March 2006. Individual tickets are GB£ 8. Tickets for the series are GB£ 32 or £27 concessions.

It was one of the coldest nights of the year, with the temperature barely registering zero degrees, so our decision to visit The Oracle’s Santa Fe restaurant, offering cuisine from New Mexico and the American South, for a work outing, was a very sensible one.

While waiting for others to turn up, I coolly sipped a Mojito at the bar. I eyed the range of tequilas, thoughtful, but quickly came to my senses. My colleague opted for the no less sophisticated but more internationally famous Harvey Wallbanger (who was Harvey, and why did he bang walls?).

Recently a highly fashionable drink, before the equally magnificent Caipirinha became the beverage to be seen with, the earth-shatteringly gorgeous Cuban Mojito is a simple mix of rum, mint, sugar and crushed ice. Despite a numbness emanating around my jaw from the ice, I happily drained my cocktail and pondered on choosing another from the menu. Alas, we had to eat.

To kick off, I had the Shrimp and Sweet Corn Griddle Cakes (GB£ 4.25):

Two griddled cakes filled with baby shrimp and sweet corn with guacamole, sweet corn relish and habañero jelly.

I chose this starter mainly because I wanted to see what habañero jelly was like. Sure enough, when the plate arrived, I saw that it was golden and jelly-like. The cakes were very nice indeed. I washed them down with a bottle of Banana Bread Beer.

My main course arrived last (grrr), but it was worth waiting for. The Carne Adovada Burrito (GB£ 8.75) was, according to the menu:

Spicy red chile pork stew inside a warm flour tortilla, with house made spicy asado sauce. Accompanied by black beans and our rice of the day.

I love spicy food with a passion, so this burrito, warm, fluffy and juicy, was a delight. Here is something you perhaps didn’t know: burrito is the Spanish term for “little donkey” (burro is donkey, while the -ito ending is the diminutive suffix). Like a donkey, I gently plodded through my meal. I was so satisfied that I passed on the pudding, going for a short, sharp espresso instead.

I left Santa Fe with a fire glowing in my stomach. Recommended.