Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas one and all. And here’s to a great 2007, with many achievements from our collective!
Here is a Christmas treat - a video of Manchesters Pillow Fight:
Archive for December, 2006
Urbis Skate Interviews Video
Take a look at this video which was made 2 or 3 years ago.
The main gist is about how skateboarding is constructive, healthy and exciting, but skaters in Manchester are mistreated and misunderstood.
Also check out our new YouTube page!
Open SkateMCR Meeting
| January 9, 2007 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
Come along to the first open SkateMCR Meeting.
This is a chance for anybody who wants to see things change for the better in Manchester’s skate scene to come together and throw ideas around, get excited about the potential change we can create and start planning how to achieve our aims.
It will be held at Projekts MCR skate shop (36 - 40 Edge Street, Northern Quarter) at 7pm and there will be some snacks too.
To give us an idea of how many people will be coming along, please leave a comment here to let us know if you are coming, ta.
Manchester City Centre’s Privatisation
Just found this article from www.opencity.org.uk - it’s about how the Manchester City Council and the Manchester City Centre management Company are only really interested in the economy and wealth of the City Centre at the expense of the people who use it, including us skateboarders:
Neoliberal policies are redefining the nature of public space in Manchester. The city centre, once ‘civic’ space run for the benefit of all, is now run by a private company. The Manchester City Centre Management Company (MCCMC) manages and markets the city centre, promoting the interests of retailers and developers. This public-private partnership effectively uses public money to subsidise the interests of city centre businesses. Users of the city are defined as consumers of leisure or retail facilities; others, who might endanger those objectives, are ruthlessly marginalised and excluded.
The council has a close relationship to the City Centre Management Company and its private interests. So much so that, in 2005, council leader Richard Leese abseiled 320 feet off Bruntwood’s City Tower with Chris Oglesby, chief executive of both Bruntwood and the MCCMC. The Company is funded by council taxpayers’ money and businesses who pay annual fees to become members. But power and influence are crudely distributed - the bigger the business, the louder the voice. In their own words, the “MCCMC gives the largest profit making businesses in the city power to make decisions about the management and development of the city centre.” The general public interest and any notion of democratic control or accountability is effectively lost.
MCCMC views technologies of social control as essential to the commercial success of the city. It believes that people or behaviours that suggest poverty or challenge consumption might dissuade the wealthy from shopping or investing. Over the last ten years investment in social control measures has rapidly increased. MCCMC runs a £3 million CCTV unit monitoring the city centre via 84 cameras, while Greater Manchester Police invested £3 million in a plane, bought for the Commonwealth Games and used since to combat ‘crime and terrorism’.
There has been an increasing number of actions from the council and City Centre Management Company that challenge basic civil liberties. In 2004, pro-Palestinian protesters handing out leaflets outside Marks and Spencer’s Manchester branch were found guilty of obstructing the highway. Marks and Spencer had made its displeasure with the protesters clear, stating its intention to apply for an ASBO against them. Gordon McKinnon, head of the MCCMC at the time, previously worked for Marks and Spencer. Beggars are being aggressively targeted to remove them from the city centre. In October 2004, the MCCMC announced plans to force soup kitchens from the streets of the City Centre. They claimed the kitchens attracted the homeless and that they were unclean.
Anti-social behaviour legislation has also been used against individual beggars. In 2003, Leonard Hockey was arrested 97 times for begging and eventually Manchester City Council took action to ban him from the city centre. The Manchester Evening News claimed he begged to fund a £22,000 a year drug habit and nicknamed him the Buckingham Place Beggar after he petitioned the Queen against his ban. But as human rights group Liberty commented at the time, “Leonard Hockey is a beggar whose only crime has been to ask people for money. He is not violent, nor is he abusive and poses a risk to absolutely no one.” In the end Leonard died in prison custody two months after being jailed; he was malnourished, with a heart condition and pneumonia.
“Have you ever felt that you are a small cog in this big wheel of Manchester? That you have an important opinion but that you never have the opportunity to voice it, or more importantly that your voice is never heard?”
Manchester City Centre Management Company website
“When they give out the soup they leave mess all over the place”.
Cllr Pat Karney comments on soup kitchens for the homeless, Manchester Evening News, 7 October 2004
“Crime, and the perception of the city as a consequence of it, acts as a disincentive to investors and visitors, and diminishes the attractiveness of the city as a place to live. Addressing crime is vital to the creation of a strong economy and the ability of the city to attract and retain skilled, well paid residents who can, in themselves help support the local economy with their own spending power.”
Manchester City Council, Regeneration Statement
Manchester Pillow Fight
| December 23, 2006 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 3:00 pm |
Make sure you get down to the Manchester Pillow fight! Here is the info from the MySpace page:
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
What is this?
It’s a pillow fight in Manchester. Where everyone turns up somewhere and have a big pillow fight. Were not claiming to have thought of the idea, were just bringing it to Manchester.
Videos of these fights in other cities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F516QAn2JNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxHvHBmPP80
Who can come?
Absolutely anyone. Young’uns, Old’uns anyone at all. Just as long as you bring a pillow.
Where is it?
The pillow fight itself will take place in Albert Square, opposite the town hall most probably, but be sure to check back here the night of the 22nd.
How can I get there?
Theres a map, in the “pics” section of the profile detailing how to get there from St Peters Square metro station.
When is it?
Saturday the 23rd of December 2006.
What time does it start at?
2pm exactly, so get there for around 10 minutes earlier. Not too early though or we’ll evoke suspicion.
What is it for?
It’s a task from a list of 101 tasks to be completed, you can find out more about that by going to the Life List’s profile (top friend). But that’s not really important, it’s mainly for fun. It’s free aswell, incase your wondering, and it’s not some stupid viral campaign for a new company product either. I promise.
Will I be the only one there?
Of course not. At the very least there will be a minimum of 500 people but most probably many, many more. If you’re still nervous about coming on your own then come with some friends.
What if I have no friends?
You can come with me.
Who will be there?
Everyone who’s anyone. Were hoping for between 1000-2000 people to turn up so make sure you tell everyone you know about it. The more people there the more fun it will be. We’ll also try and get some television crews down to record the event.
What about the christmas market there you goon?
It leaves on the 20th of December, if theres any other kind of problem meaning we can’t do it there or if it rains, we’ve got another few locations lined up in reserve. If this happens still meet at Albert Square and details will be given out.
Do I need to bring my own pillow?
Unfortunately, yes. If you don’t want to get your own pillow lost/burnt/eaten in the fight we recommend heading to primark for some cheap, cheap feather pillows.
What else do I need?
Nothing really, maybe a bag to hold the pillow in before hand.
So can I start pillow fighting as soon as I get there?
No, please don’t get out your pillows or even acknowledge the fact that you have a pillow before the signal is sounded at 2pm exactly.
What will this signal be?
A horn.
Really?
No. Probably a whistle or something.
How many people can I bring down?
As many as possible. If you want to give our flyers about it get in contact and we’ll get some to you.
When will it end?
Such events in other cities have been known to go on for hours…
How can I win?
By being the last man standing when everyone else has given up. And yeah we know what your thinking, and no you can not.
Are there any rules?
Yes, four:
1)No fighting before the 2pm signal.
2)Don’t put anything hard in your pillow.
3)Only hit other people carrying pillows.
4)Tell everyone about it.
Who’s gonna stop people putting bricks in the pillows?
Let’s be honest. Nobody’s actually going to come with a brick in a pillow and start swinging it around wildly into other people’s faces. But if you still don’t believe me and are scared off random brick attacks then we’ll be sure to carry out random pillow searches and make sure theres a police presence. Happy? Anyway if one person out of the 1000 does come with a brick then the over 999 people there will kick the shit out of him…or her. If your still worried then wear a helmet or something.
Can I come in fancy dress?
Yes.
Will I be the only one in fancy dress?
Yes.
It’s the day before Christmas Eve.
It is.
Any other questions can be asked through myspace. Please give us a line if your planning to come, just to get some idea of the numbers who will be there.
Thanks.
No Skateboarding Signs
For the last few weeks we’ve been taking photo’s of signs around Manchester saying “No Skateboarding”. We’ve even uploaded them all to our Flickr account and geo-tagged each one on a map.
There are loads - we’ve got 32 so far - it’s a complete over-reaction to skateboarding and skateboaders in the City.
If you have any photo’s of “No Skateboarding” signs either around the City Centre or further afield in Greater Manchester, add them to the SkateMCR group in Flickr, or email them to us and we’ll upload them to our “No Skateboarding” set.
Let us know what you think about the excessive use of these signs - leave a comment below.
SkateMCR Name and Tag-line Change
During the intial get-together to launch this lobby group, the name of “SkateMCR” wasn’t well recieved. Another name was suggested - “Manifesto” - with various ways of spelling it.
Also, the SkateMCR tag-line is currently “Manchester’s Skate Lobby Group”. Some people thought that calling us a lobby group is unnecessary since most people don’t know what a lobby group is or what they do. So another suggestion is “Manchesters Skate Collective” which is more simple.
So, please leave a comment here and let us know what you think about the name and tag-line. Completely different ideas are welcome! Until there are better suggestions, we’ll stick with SkateMCR - Manchester’s Skate Lobby Group.
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