Archive for the ‘Reading Roars’ Category

Help design a logo for this blog

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

A big story last week in social media was Gap’s decision to revert to their original logo after customers slammed their new design (right move; their new logo was poor).  This has given me an idea.

I’ve always fancied having a logo for this blog.  Londonist, admittedly a far bigger and better blog, have a rather nice one - a silhouetted city skyline.

The problem is, design isn’t my strength.  So I will ask the audience instead.

Can anyone help, and suggest a logo for this blog?  I really don’t mind how it’s done.  You can scribble on a beermat and TwitPic it, if you like.  Or email it to team@readingroars.com. Rude/risqué entries may be submitted (but please, nothing nasty).

All received will be posted on Flickr (with the exception of offensive entries) so that the good people of Reading may decide on the best submission.

The winning design will be adopted as the new Reading Roars! logo to feature prominently on this website and Twitter. Until we change our minds.

Erm, I think that’s it.  Doodle away.

Hidden Histories

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Matt wrote at the end of last month asking how Reading should rebrand itself and appeal to the wider world in a more exciting way, and attempt to ditch the ‘clone town’ image with which it is sometimes tagged. 

I think even the most devoted defender of our town can admit that this description is at least partially deserved, you just have to look at the shop fronts of Broad and Queen Victoria Streets to see them as either identikit national brands, or miserable, uncared-for bargain basement eyesores. But look up – the unmistakeable red and gold brick first and second floors, with their pointy turrets and carved fascias point towards a more important and interesting history than at first there would appear. 

The Abbey was one of the most important monasteries in Middle Age Britain before it’s power was seized by good old Henry VIII, and now it sits in quiet humility hidden between the beautiful Forbury Gardens and the Prison – yet another historically important landmark, having housed Oscar Wilde who wrote his Ballad of Reading Gaol after being contained there.

There are also plenty of stories of war, such as the important battle between the Saxons and the Vikings which was fought where the rivers Kennet and Thames meet, over near where the gasworks now stand to the East of the town. And the battle of Broad Street which was the only military encounter during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. 

I’m not going to go on – I’m not a local history expert and I’m not attempting to educate anyone here. 

Besides, you probably know all this if you’re a Reading resident and if you’ve taken an interest in your town, but one thing I’ve noticed since living here is that none of this history is cashed in on, or shouted about. People don’t generally come to Reading to see these things because they’re not told about them. And personally, I like it that way.

Look at towns like Oxford, whose streets are swarming with tourists and tour guides, whose local shops have been replaced with gift shops and novelties. Who trade on their past and their traditions. Whose whole image is defined by its – admittedly impressive – forefathers.

I much prefer the fact that I can wander through Forbury Gardens and under the Gatehouse. Down to the Holy Brook – created by monks by diverting the Kennet towards their Abbey’s walls so that it would power their mill – and quietly contemplate the fate of Oscar Wilde, housed behind the red brick wall of the Gaol. All this without being jostled and bothered by map reading tourists and bored kids trailing their anorak’d parents.

Reading’s history keeps a dignified silence, there for those who care enough to find it. That’s the fate it deserves.

Tapping the wisdom of the Reading crowd

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Last week on this blog I asked readers to help identify topics I could write about from a distance.

Posting a reply on Twitter (thinking about it, tweet replies should probably now be interspersed among blog comments on Reading Roars!), the delightfully-named @alabamawhirly suggested Reading’s city status bid, the Outside Inside festival (@OIFestival) and Jackson’s 135 year old birthday.

Good suggestions.  Any other ideas?

Happy fifth birthday, Reading Roars!

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

I’m cringing.  Red-faced at the sight of the very first entry posted on this blog, dated Sunday 18 July 2005 (you will have to find it yourselves).  Yes indeed, this blog is now five years old.  Remarkable.

But will it last another five?  I hope so.  I hope to blog again as before (I’m convinced that blogging adds years to your life).  The challenge is how, and what exactly to write about.  The reason?  My location: I have been away from Reading and indeed the UK for almost one year.

Thoughts, suggestions and of course birthday wishes are welcome.  And if there are any Malaysian or Singaporean readers who wish to find out more about Reading, please get in touch!

A new beginning

Monday, December 28th, 2009

I’ve not updated this blog since early July 2009.  That’s a whopping 6 months of silence.  I’ve been overseas, making it pointless for me to keep the blog going, unless I comment on external news related to the town or perceptions of Reading from afar (generally speaking, the football club is known but that’s pretty much it). 

There will be new Reading Roars! voices joining in 2010.  It’s a development I’m pretty excited about (the blog has been weak for some time).  I’ve given it a new theme - the one you see now - but it’s the injection of different personalities that will make a notable difference.  I will share more later.  For the time being, any questions/suggestions/comments, let me know.

#rdg updates now in sidebar

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Keen observers of this blog will notice that there are 5 tweets displayed in the sidebar.

These entries are the latest results based on a Twitter search for #rdg, a popular hashtag used to group Reading tweets together.

A word about the barrenness of late

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Exhibiting more wide-eyed determination than a west London footballer on a bad day, I return to this blog after an absence of several weeks.

I apologise to those who were promised posts with none arriving (a bit like Royal Mail, but without the staggering profit).  I’m not apologising for the doughnut entry below (the doughnuts were genuinely tasty).

Rather than update my blog on a regular basis, I have been reading other people’s efforts.  There are whoppingly good blogs in Reading and beyond.

I’ve also made more of an effort to establish and strengthen offline relationships with people in the town (such as Chris “Fish” Allen, seen in the picture on the right). Blogging is great, but a drunken night out with the right people can be even better.

We are, I feel, on the cusp of a new era in business and politics.  We will see a different sort of Britain begin to emerge (it will take time to manifest itself).  This is inevitable.  “Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain.” 

This blog, now starting to feel very creaky indeed, will also change.

Introducing Big Bear Blogs … Berlin

Monday, March 16th, 2009

I feel as if I’m breaking a rule here about posting something that has nothing to do with Reading.  It’s not something I like to do very often, but anyway…

Thinking about visiting or moving to Berlin?  My cousin, who moved to the German capital this month with girlfriend pANDA gIRL, has just launched a blog about the city called Big Bear Blogs…Berlin.

Could this be the start of a new family of city blogs?  H., if you are reading this, fancy starting a blog about Sydney?

Reading Roars! is three

Sunday, August 17th, 2008

I’ve just realised that Reading Roars! has passed its 3 year anniversary.  Three years!  I’m not convinced I can/should keep it going for another three.       

To date, there have been 412 posts (not an awful lot) and more than one theme change.  Culture is king: no other category has come close content-wise.

Regrets?  A few.  I wish I’d tried harder with the name (I quite like “The Reading Rover” now).  I made promises I couldn’t keep.

Anyway, keep buggering on, as Churchill famously said.

New Roarcasts coming soon

Monday, June 30th, 2008

Again, it’s been a while since I last posted on this blog (though I have continued to provide updates on Twitter).  I have been out and about, doing this, that and the other - including recording fab new Roarcasts (= Reading Roars! podcast episodes) at Mix cocktail bar and Sushi One0eight.  More on these soon…


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