The Guardian seems to think so. Manchester is one of five cities highlighted by the recent article, which includes quotes from Kate/Manchizzle and Aidan O’Rourke, who talks about his old site:

In my former site, Eyewitness in Manchester - a kind of forerunner to a blog - I was able to give a personal slant independent of the standard newspaper way of doing things. People appreciated that. The Manchester Evening News site Manchester Online offered me a contract to produce it as a freelance contributor. That was from 1998 to 2005.

It was also the precursor to Aidan’s current site, Aidan.co.uk, which is one of the most comprehensive and regularly updated blogs in the city.

I’m going to use this rare moment online to dump information about some news and events I’ve recently discovered:

BBC 6 Music reports that Manchester City Council is considering a proposal to rename Whitworth Street West (home to Green Room, Rainbow Snooker Club and the Brickhouse nightclub) in honour of the late Tony Wilson. Two-thirds of residents will have to approve the name change to either Tony Wilson Way or Anthony H Wilson Way - I personally prefer the latter.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is of course the date of the Manchester Blog Awards 2007 - for which Mancubist is nominated in the arts and culture category. Remember, the venue has now changed from MohoLive (which now opens in late November) to Matt & Phreds, also on Tib Street. The city’s music bloggers will be DJing (or MP3ing…) and blogger-cum-published-writer Caroline Smailes will be doing a reading. It’s free and starts at 7pm.

Also happening tomorrow is a low-key media event called MELD. It aims to generate ideas by ‘melding the skills of Northern Journalists and Interactive Designers’. The long-term goal is to pitch ideas by 20 of the region’s hacks and geeks to ‘major industry players’. The project’s Manchester launch event takes place in Selfridge’s Moet Bar from 6pm. If you think you fit the bill email info@just-b.com.

And finally, another lovely (lapsed) blogger called Kate tipped me off about a free event happening on Friday. A Wall is a Screen is ‘part guided tour, part film night’ and invites the public to view nine short films projected on buildings across seven secret city centre locations. It’s part of Manchester Urban Screens (11-14 October, check out their other events) and begins at 9pm outside Kro Piccadilly.

See you at some or all of the above…

The first Saturday in ages that I haven’t bought a Guardian and I end up being featured in it! Well, by featured I mean a five-line mention in the Guide’s blog column - but it’s much better than nothing. I think I’ll continue not to buy it in the hope of further recognition.

So a warm welcome to my fellow Guardian readers - feel free to subscribe by email or leave a comment if you like the place. And regular Mancubist readers, check out the other sites to be blogrolled here.

Meanwhile, back to the usual Manchester miscellany: someone on urban exporation website 28dayslater.co.uk has done a recce of what they call ‘Manchester Underground’ - a series of air raid shelters under the city, accord to this poster:

There are 17 shelters in all and most of them have sub sections A. B. C etc… these are joined by one long corridor… there are numerous blocked up exits and stair wells… but the most jaw dropping feature was the toilets, the whole place was maze of small wonders…

Check out the rest of these excellent photos here.

I’ve just been in a two-hour workshop session at Manchester Museum. It was set up by Creative Concern to debate ‘Manchester: the brand’ and the concept of ‘original modern’, as the saying goes.

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I was invited. I was sitting next to MEN editor Paul Horrocks, opposite design guru Peter Saville and surrounded by people whose titles all included either ‘director’ or ‘editor’. Strangely a few had heard of Mancubist; some even said they were fans.

The intimate debate centred around the aspirations and future of Manchester and its people: its strengths and weaknesses; how it compared to other cities; what areas it should specialise in; whether it needs a slogan/nickname (’the rainy city’, surely); and how to retain the talented individuals who see Manchester as little more than a stepping stone to the cultural hub of London.

I didn’t contribute much myself - just personal experience that tells me that music, for all the cockiness and history, isn’t supported in Manchester as much as it should be. We need guides, resources, experts, schemes, encouragement, financing… very little of which currently exists. This must be one of the most risky cities in the country to promote a gig in, with crowd sizes consistently below both expectation and potential.

I can’t remember the last time I listened to an Oasis/Stone Roses/Happy Mondays/Joy Division record either - because I’m much more interested in today’s music. Much of the city - and the city’s media - is still stuck in the boring past, however. Today Manchester’s music scene is full of interesting little cliques and niches but it feels incredibly factured because no one is unifying them.

… which led indirectly onto my ‘knuckle rap’: that the city has had no comprehensive listings guide since CityLife’s demise. By luck of the draw, Paul Horrocks was charged with raising this particular issue after the workshop. Let’s see if anything comes of it…

The newly renamed Northwest Vision + Media has announced the follow-up to its entertaining Digital Futures conferences and seminars, which took place earlier in the year.

Its Digital Academies will comprise two three-day residential courses at Manchester’s City Inn in July. Here’s how they’ll work:

We will support a handful of creatives and entrepreneurs to work in partnership with the region’s top production houses on real projects adapting innovative content for new formats, applications and platforms.

Successful candidates will receive professional industry advice and coaching in the application of creative thinking, idea development, pitching and selling. They must have bold ideas and new approaches to creative content.

The production houses in question are Multi Media Arts, Hat Trick North, Channel M, Centini and All Out Productions. Between them their briefs, available on the Digital Futures website, cover online, mobile, radio and - primarily - television platforms.

Thirty successful candidates will be selected for the academies - five of whom may be invited to continue their work with paid placements. Proposals should be submitted by July 4.