That’s the question posed by Julie Delvaux over at her Notebooks – Los Cuadernos de Julia blog. A year or two ago there were semi-regular events organised by and for Manchester’s blogging community – but in 2008 not even a quiet pint in a dingy pub (the Castle has shut down, after all).

Julie wants to right that wrong and is therefore appealing for anyone interested in going to a monthly/bi-monthly event to get in touch. Craig McGinty and several other Manchester bloggers have already posted comments in response, and a September date is in the offing.

Sarah Hartley over at the MEN’s The Mancunian Way blog has mentioned it too, in post explaining a new initiative she has just set up. Starting this week, she’s going to be highlighting some of Manchester’s ‘internet stars’ – people who have blogs or websites in some way connected to the city.

The profiles, including of this week’s www.manchester-blog.com, will go online as well as in the Saturday edition’s e-view section – so if you want to nominate yourself or someone else, email Sarah now.

Mancubist is pretty music-centric at the moment, which I’ll aim to address in the coming weeks, but in the meantime here are a couple more events that I’d recommend this weekend:

Saturday night welcomes this month’s instalment of Helen Of Troy Does Countertop Dancing – or HOTDCD, to shave off a couple of milliseconds. Named after this poem by feminist writer Margaret Atwood, the clubnight features a suitably female-heavy playlist, ‘from Patti Smith and Janis Joplin to PJ Harvey, The Ting Tings and M.I.A’.

The night, which teamed up with the like-minded Girls on Film network in April, runs from 10pm until late at Charlie’s Nightclub on Harter Street and returns on the second Saturday of each month. Join them on Facebook and follow their new blog, Helen Of Troy Does Countertop Writings, which they aim to update twice weekly.

Then on Sunday Islington Mill in Salford hosts an eight-hour music marathon culminating in a set by psychedelic Japanese band Acid Mothers Temple and The Cosmic Inferno (it’s obviously The Weekend For Things With Long Names…). This ‘psyche-fi all-dayer’ also features Vienna’s Primordial Undermind and a bunch of well-fitting local bands, with tickets priced at just £8.

The Guardian seems to love mentioning ‘The’ Islington Mill, by the way – they’ve recently referred to it as an ‘alt.lifestyle commune’ and ‘Andy Warhol’s Factory meets Coronation Street’.

I’m not a big clubgoer myself – I’d rather see music played in the flesh – but I’m well aware of Manchester’s big clubbing tradition, which I guess dates back to 1963 when the Twisted Wheel opened. And we don’t even need to mention the H word, do we?

But while Thursday’s Metro, Friday’s CityLife and, occasionally, Saturday’s Guide do a reasonable job of previewing a few of the dozens of nights going on around Manchester each week, print space dictates that the coverage is far from comprehensive.

The folks over at Northernights have realised just this and have decided to bypass trivial things like word limits by doing it all online. They’ve got the main site – containing a club directory, previews, features and a calendar – plus a blog, which is updated a few times a week, and the obligatory MySpace and Facebook group.

What’s particularly handy, however, is the weekly mailer they’ve started sending out. ‘WARNING – CONTAINS SOME MAJOR PARTIES THIS WEEK,’ it declares. And indeed it does, as it goes on to list a couple of dozen club nights happening around town – thus saving you the effort of hunting through half a dozen other sources.

Northernights is still pretty new but I like the sentiment and I like the service they’re providing (for free, let’s not forget). It goes to show that it doesn’t take much to build something useful in Manchester – just an idea and some time.

I kind of missed the boat on this particular theme but, inspired by Northernights’ Manchester blog end-of-year round-up, I’ve decided to waste most of this Sunday afternoon by putting together my favourite albums of 2007:

1. Panda Bear – Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
The universally acclaimed album of 2007, from what is technically just a side project of Noah Lennox from Animal Collective. It’s crammed full of reverberating fuzziness, self harmonies and more samples than should be healthy. People are comparing it to Pet Sounds – which does Person Pitch a disservice – Buy here

2. Pinback – Autumn of the Seraphs (Touch & Go)
Now almost ten years old, San Diego’s Pinback are only just beginning to get the attention they deserve. This album – like their others – is in essence heavy math rock… so it’s surprising how many glamorous indie kids were down the front when they played at the Roadhouse in November. If you like shouty pop songs but dislike emo, Pinback may be your missing link – Buy here

3. Herman Dune – Giant (Source)
Despite losing one-third of their membership, Swedish-French band Herman Dune have produced their most memorable album to date. I’ve often found myself whistling the lead track, I Wish I Could See You Soon, and Take Him Back to New York – probably much to the annoyance of whoever I’m sat next to on the bus – Buy here

4. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (Fargo)
‘Professional whistler’ Andrew Bird is another artist who finally seems to be breaking through. Two gigs at Academy 3 this year have surely helped, as anyone attended no doubt ranted to ten friends about his bewildering live show. On record, the Texan is no less impressive – and Armchair Apocrypha is crammed full of witty, classic songwriting – Buy here

5. Jens Lekman – Night Falls over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian)
Lekman’s first fully realised album is rightly being played everywhere – from Manchester indie discos to H&M on a Saturday afternoon. I think his compilation Oh You’re So Silent Jens is the best long player he’s released, but there are still some gems on here: The Opposite of Hallelujah, A Postcard to Nina and Friday Night at the Drive-in Bingo, for example – Buy here

6. Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up I Am Dreaming (Rough Trade)
An as-yet undiscovered classic from Spencer Krug of Montreal’s Wolf Parade. They’re touring in May – Buy here

7. Beirut – The Flying Cup (4AD)
Not quite as good as Zach Condon’s debut, Gulag Orkestar, but there are some breathtaking tracks on this French-inspired follow-up – Buy here

8. Menomena – Friend and Foe (City Slang)
Portland’s Menomena (pronounced like the Muppet Show song) take the all-singing, all-dancing spirit of the Flaming Lips and run with it – Buy here

9. Malcolm Middleton – A Brighter Beat (Full Time Hobby)
A surprisingly upbeat (hence the name) third album from Falkirk’s finest misery meister, and former guitarist in Arab Strap – Buy here

10. Akron/Family – Love is Simple (Young God)
A veritable party album from the New York folk collective. Be sure to catch them live if you ever get the chance – Buy here

And here are a bunch of honourable mentions…

• Low – Drums and Guns (Sub Pop) – Buy here
• Efterklang – Parades (The Leaf Label) – Buy here
• Bill Callahan – Woke up on a Whaleheart (Drag City) – Buy here
• The Twlight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters (Fat Cat) – Buy here
• Frightened Rabbit – Sing the Greys (Fat Cat) – Buy here
• Ulrich Schnauss – Goodbye (Independiente) – Buy here
• Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam (Domino) – Buy here
• Amiina – Kurr (Ever) – Buy here

And here’s my 2006 list, for comparison. The stalkers among you can also see what I’m currently listening to on Last.fm.

Yup, it’s all happening in Manchester right now so here’s another link-dump…

On top of all the current Urban Screens activity – including the aforementioned A Wall is a Screen tonight – there’s also a short film night happening at Islington Mill tonight. Future Shorts features work from Poland, France, Denmark, Japan, USA, Australia and UK. It runs from 7.30pm and carries on until 2am thanks to a link-up with art club night Subtefuge, which promises ‘pyscho goulash’ from Hungarian trio Agoskodo Teliverek.

Next, if you thought Manchester International Festival was an over-hyped waste of money, look away. If not, you might consider voting for it in the UK Festival Awards 2007. MIF is up for both Best New Festival and the Innovation Award – and the only negative is that you have to register before voting.

Staying on the MIF tip, The Pianist – one of my highlights of the programme – is being broadcast on Radio 4 next Saturday, 20 October, from 2.30pm. More details here, or read my review-of-sorts here.

Also, something called mashup* Manchester takes place in Sale next Friday. It’s an event for those involved with ‘personal digital identity, social networking, Web 3.0 and TV 2.0′, which will probably mean diddly-squat to most of us. For the rest – or for those who just can’t get enough of networking – check out the mashup* website for more details.

I also want to mention New to Manchester, a blog by Tom. I’m embarassed to admit it’s taken me six months to discover it, but now that I have I’d say it’s one of the best new(ish) blogs I’ve read in a while – check out his guide to scamming Globe takeaway in West Didsbury, for example. Consider yourself blogrolled Tom.

And a quick mention for the ominously-titled The Leader’s Blog too. It’s written by Sir Richard Leese, Labour councillor for Crumpsall and leader of Manchester City Council. He got off to a flying start last month but has gone a little quiet lately. Hopefully the novelty didn’t wear off in little over a fortnight?