This meeting of loveable geeks in home-made Dalek suits was arranged to set a world record for ‘the biggest number of people dressed up as daleks in one location’. Strange, I thought, that such a record didn’t already exist…

Anyway, there’s a Flickr photo set of the occasion and a YouTube video of this ‘proper Dalekfest’, as one commenter calls it. Check out the related videos if you’re after 25 minutes of non-stop Dalek footage.

Thanks to MoSI worker Unpopular Superhero and super-blog BoingBoing for the tips.

It’s all the work of one Norris Necante, who I’m led to believe is Stretford-based poet Mike Fitzgerald. He’s part of York Road Chorlton, a collective of three artists and creative types who are looking for ‘more talented people with similar interests’.

Always quick off the mark, Manchester’s Flickr community has photographed a few of Norris’/Mike’s poems – Ten a penny Jenny is particularly entertaining.

See Norris’ Myspace blog for a few more prime examples.

Though the fire started on Dale Street, it eventually spread to Lever Street, which, as the Manchizzle notes, is home to many record labels, publishers and other creative companies.

One of these – D:percussion organiser Ear to the Ground – has been quick to draw up plans for a music event in the neighbouring Stevenson Square on May 28. It will raise money for traders and businesses affected by the blaze and has the support of the council.

Ear to the Ground’s John Drape told today’s Manchester Evening News: ‘Ten years ago when the IRA bomb went off we delivered a similar event and we feel it is appropriate now to hold a fundraising event.’

CIDS, the Northern Quarter-based creative industries development agency, has also offered support in the form of a Mac and desk in its Oak Street office, and has asked anyone affected by the fire or anyone with office space to spare to email info@cids.co.uk.

[The image above is one of several great shots taken by Flickr user root-2]

These things always become fun some time after you’ve finished trading inquisitive glances, trying to work out who people are, and the beer usually sorts the bloggers out from the, er, non-bloggers. Something like that anyway. If you’re not away for the weekend do go along.

But, what’s this, at 3pm on Saturday 7 April there’s a rival geek-meet? Manchester’s Flickr users, you say? Congregating in Piccadilly Gardens and almost certainly heading for pubs in the Northern Quarter?

What happens if the two groups collide? Will there be a horrible mash of broken cameras, laptops and pint glasses? Watch this space from Saturday afternoon to find out.

There are also plenty of photos appearing on Flickr. The fight spilled out to around Urbis, where the kids were still at it well into the early evening.

UPDATE: Just one arrest, apparently, for hitting a policeman with a beanbag.

Manchester seems to be noticing this lately, with local artist Matt Sewell doing a great job of painting various walls. The Whitworth Art Gallery is embracing walls too, with its new Featured Walls exhibition beginning tomorrow.

Personally, my favourite Manchester wall is this one on derelict land on New Wakefield Street (just off Oxford Road):

I’ve seen him four times in the last week – including yesterday, under a bridge in the middle of a dual carraigeway. Other sightings: outside the Palace Hotel, Oxford Road and in Piccadilly Gardens.

Stephen Newton’s spotted him too, but there’s been surprisingly little said about his appearance otherwise. Stephen’s blurry photographs make him look like some sort of enigmatic Loch Ness Monster figure:

On Flickr, Neil Wilkinson was given an impromptu photo shoot by the great man himself, including this remarkable pose:

The Mogfather went one better:

“WWW Sabi Rock”, by the way, doesn’t seem to mean much – yet. www.sabirock.com is a parked domain, while www.sabi.rock.com is just a subdomain of rock.com (“The Official Site of Rock Music”).

UPDATE: See comment below for a new development. He was at the corner of Princess Street and Portland Street yesterday rush hour. And the BBC Manchester Blog have given him a mention too.

UPDATE 2: Hello Flickr users. If there’s anything you can add, please do so below.

UPDATE 3: This comment is on the BBC Manchester Blog:

I asked him at a set of lights. He was pretty vague, but did confirm that he was promoting a rock music site. It must be visited.

UPDATE 4: Seen Mr www sabi rock lately? Please share your sighting on this Google Map mashup.

UPDATE 5: His website went live recently: www.sabirock.co.uk. Turns out he’s a folk singer!

It usually falls on a conventional weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun), but this year there’s a Labour Party Conference in town.

I’ve been involved with every ITC since coming to Manchester – from watching 30 bands in three days in 2003, to reporting on the conference itself last year. This year I hope to be promoting ITC events myself – more to follow on that.

The beauty of the festival is the buzz generated by one-man myth-making machine Anthony H Wilson. He’s curated the festival with his partner, former Miss England, Yvette Livesey since 1992. Nice hair, Tony:

Back in 1999 the festival moved to Liverpool – to a Holiday Inn no less. Sensibly, the conference returned to Manchester, and has been hosted at The Midland Hotel for some years now.

ITC success stories – if you can call them that – include Coldplay and The Darkness being signed following performances before the dozens of A&R men who dared to venture north.

And while they played conventional music venues, it’s the more unusual gig venues such as One Central Street and Teasers that are often worth a visit.

This year expect XFM Manchester to get in on the act – it may well replace ITC’s in-house radio station and begin broadcasting some unsigned gigs.

Nice to see ITC HQ is using Flickr to share its photos, by the way.

Now, finally, I’ve managed to get some of my own photography on to Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hristov

Most of these photographs have been taken in the past fortnight – hence the blue skies – and some of my favourites include:

The charming graffiti in the last one was found on a demolition site near Love Saves The Day on Deansgate. I guess it’s a Mancunian example of what BoingBoing calls Medianeras:

Like the cow parade, Manchester’s space invaders form part of a highly organised international invasion. According to their website – every invading force must have a homepage – we’re one of fourteen cities currently under attack.

Those cunning Flickr users are leading the resistence against this formidable foe: schmindie_kid, beatniksalad, WhiteNoiseMaker, sahmeepee and Trevira have been particularly eagle-eyed in their hunting.

According to intelligence, 47 invaders are to be found in the city, which sounds like the perfect day out to me. Though word has spread that one, and possibly two, have already been destroyed.