Reading Roars!

Looking at the top referrers for Reading Roars! all appeared normal until http://www.fuckedcouple.com/ popped up (no pun intended) in the list.

Yes, you read that right. www.fuckedcouple.com. Now, my immediate reaction was: oh my gosh, how did that get there? How is it that someone landed on my blog from, well, a porn site?

Looking at the domain name, it occurred to me that this was perhaps a site for swingers, fuck buddies or doggers. So what was the Reading Roars! connection? I was keen to find out.

Visiting the site, I saw a series of teasing images. Beneath “Jana & Bobbi” was the standard disclaimer

This website may contain information, links, images and videos of sexually explicit material.

After hitting the “Click here to visit the site” button, I saw what the site was: an online sex store and web directory. Perhaps someone clicked through to this blog from the web directory. But why would it be listed under Swinger UK or Hot Tub, for example?  Puzzling indeed.

I will get to the bottom of this (absolutely no pun intended).

I’m not easily impressed, but Reading’s Forbury Hotel and its bar/restaurant Cerise today blew me away. And that’s something.

Cerise seems an odd name for a restaurant. Translated from French, it means “Cherry”. Why would anyone call a restaurant Cherry? Perhaps it’s because it is foreign and therefore “sophisticated”.

Name aside, the bar/restaurant is quite simply fantastic. Going there for lunch for the first time today, I found it hard to believe I was still in Reading. From the swirly wallpaper to the astonishing fountain-like taps in the toilets and the stylish water feature outdoors, the restaurant reeked of sophistication. As Anna Pickard of The Guardian put it

we could be somewhere else entirely, somewhere utterly un-Reading - a boutique hotel in some sexy European capital, or, with the feeling of history ingrained in the building, some country hotel tucked into the shoulder of a mountain.

Yes, it really is that good. Continue Reading »

I confess: I have not been managing this blog all that effectively, owing to other commitments recently.

The Monthly Newsletter will be discontinued.  It never worked.  In fact, it never even started.  There is an orange button on the top-right, however, that is a better solution.  Click on that and you can subscribe to the news feed.  Every time I add a new article to the blog, subscribers are alerted to it. 

But let me know your views too.  What works, what doesn’t, whether you like what I write, if you think I’m a prat.  It’s all useful information!

An extra 15,000 tickets for this year’s Reading Festival are to be made available, bringing the total capacity to 80,000.  These tickets will go on sale from Tuesday 20 June. 

Melvyn Benn, who heads organisers Mean Fiddler, explains that the extra tickets are needed in order to keep the festival competitive.

It’s good move.  Recently there were questions asked about Reading’s brand identity.  Well, people know about the Reading Festival.  It is internationally recognised.  This is a decision designed to keep Reading Festival at the top and is arguably more important than other Reading branding initiative considered.

This post is one of praise.  Last night I went to the Allied Arms with a friend to watch the football (USA vs Italy).   Despite the two goals and three sendings-off, it wasn’t a great game.  But whatever, I could listen to the commentary and my vision of the screen was perfect.  Watching England games can be an ordeal, in comparison, because of inane yells from nationalistic louts, beer flying in all directions and visibility of the screen reduced to nearly zero.

Back to the praise.  The brunette girl who served me at the Allied Arms was very nice: she smiled, looked me in the eye and helped me with my orders.  She was patient and joked with me.  That level of customer service left me with a warm feeling inside (and not just from the beer).  

I’ve encountered many bar staff who were incompetent, grouchy or just plain ignorant.  This one was different.  Next time I see her, I will say, “Well done.  You understand my needs as a customer” (or possibly something less formal) and give her a gold star cut out of a Corn Flakes packet. 

People who are good at customer service should be told.

At last the World Cup has kicked off.  What does this mean for Reading?  We’ve seen the (naff) England flags fluttering on cars, people wearing England shirts about town and seemingly every shop wanting to associate their brand with the tournament.

The commercial aspect aside, I expect that people will be demonstrating a lot of enthusiasm and excitement, taking time off work to watch games and filling up pubs (and beer bellies).  I love it when the World Cup or Euro Championship is on as there is a much more positive mood in the air.

What if England win the World Cup?  There is a lot optimism about the current England side.  Reading is a great football town, so I’m sure many people would celebrate in a major fashion by painting it red (and white), letting off flares and copulating on the street (ok, I made up the last two).  In fact, I’m convinced that the day after the Final (Monday) would be an unofficial public holiday.  All this is speculation, of course.  Let’s see what happens!