Happy 2010 readers! I hope you had a good break, and are enjoying slipping and sliding all over Manchester. Best snow-based construction this week? Easy: the king-sized throne outside Ridelow on Dale Street.

I’m getting back into the swing of Mancubisting – and one thing that has drawn my attention lately is this:

Stuart Maconie, co-host of the Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2 and host of The Freak Zone on 6Music, will give a reading from his latest book, Adventures on the High Teas, and talk about the quirks and delights of his travels in the pursuit of Middle England … via Manchester.

High Tea with Stuart Maconie takes place at Mosi on Liverpool Road this coming Sunday. It’s £8 for a ticket – and with that you get a traditional English cream tea. Click here to book online, or call 0844 847 2261.

[I spotted this event via the increasingly useful Visit Manchester Blog.]

Urbis’ Videogame Nation ended yesterday – surely one of the Urbis exhibition centre’s most successful outings to date – but another great-looking show is little over a week away:

Show & Tell is an exhibition by the Urbis Creatives art collective; a collective comprised of Urbis staff. The exhibition will give the Urbis team a chance to show their work and tell the visitors about what they do outside of the creative environment of Urbis. It will comprise of many different disciplines from photography to illustration, painting and also projects the members are involved in such as community work and music events.

You can get a sneak peak of the kind of talent on show by reading more about Urbis Creatives artists. Show & Tell opens on Tuesday 29 September and runs until 12 October.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t write about Urbis without mentioning the potential transfer of one of Preston’s star attractions, the National Football Museum, over here in 2010. I’m sure it would be a great addition to this football-rich city – although Kate over at the Manchizzle expressed the other side of the argument concisely: ‘Art 0, Football 1′.

Ste Campbell’s been in touch about an ongoing project he’s working on…

Soup o’ th’ Day offers a week-by-week guide to events happening in the city, in a visual calendar form. Next week, for example, you choose between Sketch City’s Sketchbook Sessions at Odder on Wednesday, a Blur aftershow party at Ruby Lounge on Friday, Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, or even ‘Women on the Edge of HRT’, both at The Lowry.

There’s also a Soup o’ th’ Day blog with videos, from Not Part of, Islington Mill and gigs, for example.

And remember to check out The Shipping Forecast if you’re interested in music event listings in particular.

Everyone loves a good spoof – and that’s what the eagle-eyed among us might have spotted around town:

Yup, the Best of Manchester Awards posters have been re-imagined as ‘Best of Manchester Notions’ – click above for a larger version, and check out the ninja symbol top right in particular.

The (official) organisers love it and are appealing for the designer to come forward. They’ll get their space within the BoMA exhibitions. Alternatively, anyone who helps out with some detective work will get a couple of tickets to the awards night. Email marketing at urbis dot org dot uk.

No sooner had I posted about Steve Reich’s ticket competition than two more present themselves – this time from City Inn hotels:

It’s our 10th year anniversary and are celebrating by giving you the chance to win VIP tickets to see Antony and the Johnsons perform at Manchester Opera House on 3 July. Simply go to http://www.cityinn.com/tenth-anniversary/,  select the exclusive event you wish to be in the draw for and submit your email address.

The prize this time includes two tickets to the show and champagne reception, plus a room, three-course meal and full English breakfast for two people.

The chain is also offering the same prize for the Kraftwerk/Steve Reich show on 2 July – click here for more information.