Reading Roars!

As you can see, I’ve made a few changes to this blog.

Gone is the old Oracle (shopping complex, not technology giant) header graphic: I have now introduced a brighter, more colourful banner showing Reading’s ornate facades. Similarly, I’ve left behind a tight, cramped template in favour of one that is broader and more spacious, hopefully making the blog easier to read and use.

Other changes include:

• A widget-friendly sidebar. A widget wha’? Of course, I don’t mean the plastic things you sometimes get inside beer cans, but cool interactive elements that can be added to a website. These might be, for example, a Flickr plug-in for showing images, or a tag cloud (something I intend to deploy soon), depicting the site’s categories in a different way.
• A horizonal nav bar, placed at the top of the blog.
• A two column theme. I’ve dropped the third column (or first, depending on your perspective), as Google AdSense simply wasn’t delivering (I was hoping for a little more than USD 5 in 12 months). It made no sense to keep AdSense.
• A different style. Links are red (contradicting, I guess, a basic law of usability). I may change this, but then red is the colour I’d most associate Reading with (for it’s name, it’s streets and it’s Victorian buildings).

It’s a start and there will be more changes to come. Please let me know if there is something that you feel I should include/exclude/change.

Another quality blog with a Reading connection is the well-designed Dayorama, launched way back in 2002 (a long time in internet years!).

Dayorama is a site made up of contributions from four talented individuals.

Journalist Ollie Williams is a member of BBC Radio Berkshire’s online team and has recently been blogging about Reading Rockets, the local basketball force.

Working alongside Ollie is Reading-born broadcaster David Sheppard, the last of the blogging Fab Four to join Dayorama. The other two contributors are trainee lawyer Amy and OJ, who works for an MP.

Like Scaryduck, Dayorama offers that little bit extra: a t-shirt shop with tops for boys and girls (guys, you can have your hamster back tomorrow, ok?).

I was pleasantly surprised to see Reading Roars! mentioned in a BBC - Berkshire feature about blogging. The focus of the article was, however, on another local blog I hadn’t come across before, the award-winning and absolutely quackers Scaryduck, maintained by Alistair Coleman.

Scaryduck is eccentric British humour at its best (up there with Monty Python and The League of Gentlemen), offering bizarre observations, podcasts and a downloadable game called “Scaryduck done a poo” (a game that involves unloading avian faecal matter for points - my highest score was 275).

There are many others, of course, but the following are the best of the bunch, in my opinion:

Business

• Steve Clayon: Geek in Disguise - Steve is a Microsoft man. Great if you want to know what’s happening in the technology world
• Drew B’s take on tech PR - A blog about blogs. if you want to know about the wacky world of web 2.0 and social media, start here

Sport

• http://royal4ever.livejournal.com/ - Stacey Cross shows tremendous passion for Reading FC

Media

• Reading Chronicle Blog - Behind the scenes at the local newspaper

Politics

• Janestheone - a candid blog from the former Reading politician

Other

• NEVERHAPPY.com - All about the nation’s favourite subject, property

Reading FC visited one of the “Big Four” on Saturday - poetic Arsenal - and fortunately I was there, thanks to my friend, and lifelong Arsenal follower, John McGarvey. Cheers John!

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have been one of the most exhilarating teams to watch in recent years, from The Invincibles to the reinvented and exuberant side of the present, characterised by youth. They’d played Reading already in the season and gave them an absolute thumping. I wasn’t expecting such a decisive defeat this time.

The first thing that struck me when I took my seat close to the pitch at the hugely impressive Emirates was the size of the crowd. A little more than 60,000 had turned up to see the Gunners take on Reading (still one of the smaller teams in the league). Respect.

The contingent of Reading fans, a swathe of blue and white, was pretty small, but highly vocal when they needed to be (they were also much more vocal outside the ground). When they did pipe up, their chanting was met with the derision of Arsenal fans.

While Reading players were the main attraction for me, I was excited to see the red-and-white shirts of Arsenal exiting the tunnel. Thierry Henry, the star draw, wasn’t playing, but teen Catalan sensation Cesc Fábregas was there, as were Brazilian internationals Julio Baptista and Gilberto Silva.

The first half was dominated by Arsenal. However, while they teased and prodded, Reading remained resilient and the 45 minutes passed drearily.

The second half told a different story. There was much more zip and intent to Arsenal’s play.

In one breathtaking moment, Baptista released the ball to Fábregas, who had a glorious chance to put the Gunners ahead. But he fumbled the opportunity and Reading were safe. Moments later, Cesc’s miss was forgotten, with Gilberto converting a penalty after Andre Bikey brought down Gael Clichy.

Arsenal, and Fábregas in particular, were now ruling the midfield and a second goal came from the foot of a darting Baptista, who was fed by yet another Brazilian, young Denilson.

Reading made changes and once again showed grit in the closing minutes of the game, prompting some excited comments from jittery Arsenal fans behind me. I thought it amazing that they should criticise Baptista, a forward who, while not scintillating, had cemented Arsenal’s lead.

Fábregas, so influential during the game, ironically presented the Royals with an 87th minute goal, as he accidentally knocked the ball into the net from a John Oster corner. Confident Reading continued to push forward and Steve Sidwell nearly brought the score level (but for a Lehmann save). The game thus ended a respectable 2-1.

“Don’t dilly dally, vote for Sally” urged Reading University Students’ Union presidential candidate Sally Pearman.  And dilly dally they did not, for Sally has been named 2007/8 President by students.

According to current RUSU President Dave Lewis, Sally will be their 14th female President.

Well done Sally!

Reading East MP Rob Wilson has remarkably suggested changing the town’s name to Reading-on-Thames in order to “make Reading more appealing”.

Interestingly, this tactic is being tried already - by London Street’s English Language Courses (ELC). Stated on ELC’s homepage are the words:

Welcome to the online brochure of: ENGLAND LANGUAGE COURSES in Reading-on-Thames, Berkshire, England.

The words “Reading on Thames”, arguably more attractive to the overseas reader (and potential customer) are again printed on a map displayed on the same page.

I really don’t think a name change is necessary. I do think we need to address the town/city confusion, however. We should either refer to Reading as a town or city, one or the other - not both. Reading Borough Council leader David Sutton, for example, responded to Wilson’s name suggestion with the following:

I would like us to continue to market Reading as a town which sits astride two increasingly attractive rivers

In an earlier statement, Sutton announced:

Chatham Place is a vitally important part of the reshaping of the centre of Reading, as we continue to create a vibrant European city of the future

I’m sure I’ve also seen the word “City” printed on the town’s buses.

On a less serious note, I myself had a go at giving Reading a new name. How about the following (silly) suggestions:

• Redding - To eliminate the usual confusion about the way the town name is pronounced
• Rdng - Reading for the txt generation
• Revving - A mecca for motorists
• Weading - A perfect destination for couples!
• Greying - Red no longer has the same allure. Grey is the “in” colour, apparently

Legendary band Nirvana’s greatest ever moment was their performance at the Reading Festival in 1992, according to a fan survey on NME.com.

NME readers also voted Reading Festival (and the other Carling-backed extravaganza in Leeds) best in the country at this week’s NME Awards.

The University of Reading’s website has been revamped - and it doesn’t look bad at all.

The site has adopted a cleaner, simpler and brighter look and feel. The site’s sections - Life at Reading, Study at Reading, Research at Reading (note at Reading - I like it) and more - are colour-coded, for example, and the homepage displays broad, colourful banners featuring images of university life and highlighting several of the institution’s top strengths - refresh your browser to see them all.

Easier to navigate and easier going on the eye, the new site is a triumph.

According to the Reading Chronicle, plans have been unveiled for an IDR footbridge to “rival the Millennium bridges in London and Gateshead”. It seems like an exciting concept, but while the bridge may be aesthetically astonishing, how do we get the IDR to rival the great Thames and Tyne?