Reading Roars!

Reading Borough Council and Chronicle Extra are leading a campaign to tackle Reading’s graffiti problem. Over the next 6 months, the worst affected areas will be cleaned up, according to Cllr Steve Waite.

Reading Chronicle editor Simon Jones comments on his blog:

…I guess it is an interesting debating point: where do you draw the line between graffiti being considered ‘art’ and graffiti being considered a blight on communities? I know my views on the subject, but I would be interested to hear yours.

I’m not too bothered about graffiti, though I dislike the mindless variety, such as swear words, misspelt or otherwise, and genitalia (our neolithic ancestors were also fond of phallic symbols, so maybe it’s a hereditary thing).

There are bigger problems than naughty ink to deal with - like our ridiculous congestion (traffic just gets worse and worse) and drink-induced yob behaviour. Graffiti can be exciting - and not just in an artistic sense (colourful images really do brighten an otherwise dull building).

I remember when I was a student in Madrid, several years back, and I spotted a youth defacing a wall on a fairly busy high street late one evening. I stood and watched while he sprayed what turned out to be the anarchy symbol - a circle containing the capital letter “A”. Was I repulsed? No, absolutely not. Here was someone young and politically motivated, demonstrating what he stood for. The act, while technically wrong, was more admirable than the disgusting, brainless behaviour you sometimes see of someone (no matter the sex) spewing in a gutter after one too many Stellas.

There were many other examples of political graffiti in Madrid (such as ETA no! and anti-Aznar slogans). It certainly wasn’t art but, in my opinion, tolerable.

Finally, two examples of great graffiti in Reading: round the back at The Hobgoblin (perfect for dry conversations) and the exterior wall of The Turks.

In an earlier post, I welcomed Reading’s Station Hill development, but added that we needed to increase cultural efforts to strengthen Reading’s recognition on the international stage.

And, appropriately enough, we may get just that - with a new stage of a different sort. According to The Stage (that word again), if the Station Hill project goes ahead, the development would include a 200-seat theatre for professional and amateur productions, film and comedy.

Developers Sackville Properties said that the theatre would not compete with The Hexagon (which will probably be replaced, anyway, by something bigger, powered by Thames river water) and South Street Arts Centre.

So the art of Reading beats on (though I’d still like to see a WOMAD replacement).

I was biting into a steak at an Italian restaurant (Bella Napoli) in central Swansea last night, when a bizarre thought entered my mind. I suddenly saw resemblances between the restaurant layout and the structure of this blog.

The restaurant bar was on my right, manned by a chirpy Rossoneri-supporting Italian with a penchant for The Sun’s Dear Deirdre. Bar… sidebar. Sitting atop the bar were the menus, and the bartender was ready to guide and answer any query I had (like the search box).

Similarly, ahead of me, running left to right, was the high street, like the header graphic on my blog. The kitchen behind me was like the blog footer and the important bit in between, the dining area, was like the column you are looking at right now, where the content is displayed.

Now and again, the restaurant received a visitor or two, but thankfully no spiders (yes, I’m a wuss: I don’t like arachnids).

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Or was my large San Jovese wine, quite simply, too large?

Overheard on the Thames Valley Park bus this week: “Seattle is a little like Reading.” 

I’ve not been to Seattle before.  Apart from grey weather, Microsoft campuses, other technology companies and perhaps, even, the Starbucks influence (the coffee corporation is headquartered in Seattle and has opened several outlets in Reading), what do the two places have in common? 

Any ideas?

Congrats to the Reading Chronicle and Evening Post for, according to Simon Jones’ Reading Chronicle Blog, they have been nominated in the 2007 Newspaper Awards.

The Reading Chronicle has been nominated in the Fujifilm Grand Prix Award category for its Polish language edition, a brilliant initiative. The award will be given to the title that has made the “most signficant contribution to future newspaper success”.

The Evening Post is nominated for the Goss International Premier Award, given to Regional Newspaper of the Year.

Both are top-quality newspapers. Fingers crossed.

The Thames Valley Park bus service is in danger of becoming a joke.

Around 6pm this evening, I joined an already large queue at Microsoft Campus bus stop to catch the TVP bus into Reading town centre.  Cars sped past, but no bus appeared and the queue continued to lengthen.  Although it wasn’t raining (or snowing!) - the sky was beautifully clear - the air felt very, very cold.  Bitterly cold.

And we waited and waited.  Still no bus.  Unfortunately my phone battery was dead, so I wasn’t able to amuse myself with a little game (if “amuse” is the right word) of mobile snooker, and my iPod music collection was on the stale side.

A group detached itself from the queue and returned to reception to call for a taxi.

And still we waited.

Eventually the familiar outline of the bus appeared ahead (after at least 20 minutes of waiting).  The vehicle stopped at BG, disappeared momentarily and re-appeared at the Microsoft entrance.

Then a few mutterings from the queue.  “It’s rammed,” said one.  It certainly looked full from where I was standing.

The security gate opened, the bus passed through and stopped before reaching us, letting several passengers out.  Belt loosened, the bus continued its journey, approaching our stop.

And then a strange thing happened.  The bus stopped again - at the tail of the queue.  The driver then very unfairly began admitting people from the end, not head, of the queue!  This prompted a rush of people from the “correct” end and an angry outburst was made by one guy, whose reasoning was ignored by the lady behind the wheel.

Luckily, I got a foot on the bus.  It was wrong of me to do this - others were before me - but the driver had made a mockery of the queueing system and I grasped the opportunity. 

Now, what next?  I’d expect someone to complain.  Loudly.  The TVP bus service appears to be letting many people down, for whatever reason.  I recognise that it’s a free service for people travelling between the business park and Reading, but the quality of the service seems to have worsened over a 12 month period and something should be done about it.  Perhaps it’s time to charge passengers to use the bus.