Typical - I start blogging about all the wonderful things happening in Manchester, then make the mistake of checking the Manchizzle and discover that everything’s already been mentioned, namely:

Futuresonic festival (1-5 May), featuring In Search of the Social in Manchester and more social networking than even a 15-year-old webophile can handle.
Highlight (hopefully): a late-night gig at Charlies’s hosted by yours truly
Tip: A limited number of pay-what-you-can Day Passes will be available on each day of the conference

Sounds From The Other City (4 May) is a one-day, Bank Holiday Sunday celebration of musical Salford. Around 50 bands play in tiny churches and pubs along Chapel Street, with each stage organised by a different local promoter.
Highlight (again, hopefully): David Thomas Broughton’s set at my Salford Arms stage and Craig Wood’s Manchester bootleg archive, from 1973 to the present day
Tip: Most years sell out so book your £10 pass at Quaytickets.com now

Also, a few other bits and pieces:

Vice magazine is back in town this Thursday, 24 April. This time it’s at Sankeys and the lineup features live sets from Metronomy, Operator Please and Lovvers (who I hear are great live) plus DJ sets from Friendly Fires, c90s, Autokratz, Evil 9, The oldboy, Contort Yourself. Tickets are free when you register over at Viceland.

Someone or other at Arts Council England wants you to vote on the country’s most musical city. Mark Radcliffe makes a good case for Manchester - but I think we should all vote for Leicester, which has produced such greats as Mark Morrison, Showaddywaddy and Engelbert Humperdinck. You can’t argue with quality like that.

And finally, bad news for Manchester independents as Mai Bai, the sushi cafe, and Roadkill Records, the Oldham Street record shop, both shut their doors. I was telling someone just last week about Roadkill’s mixtape exchange…

Yes, Morrissey does enjoy a good ride. As do a legion of bike-riding Smiths fans if the coverage of Sunday’s bike ride is anything to go off.

Gathering at 10.30am outside - where else - the Salford Lads Club, the route takes in several Smiths-related sites, as organiser Ruth Martin explained to Terry Christian on BBC Radio Manchester:

We’re going to be passing by Morrissey’s old house on Kings Road in Stretford, then we’re going to the cemetery gates on the cemetery in Chorlton, down to Holy Name Church on Oxford Road, up to Manchester Ritz, but we start and finish at the Lads Club. There’s going to be events on at the Club afterwards to welcome us home.

That’s quite a big round-trip and with Phil Gatenby - author of Morrissey’s Manchester: The Essential Smiths Tour - on board you can be sure it’ll be the most educational bike ride you’ve been on.

Participants are asked to donate �5 to the Lads Club, which is raising funds after the lead from its roof was stolen. They’ll be treated to a set by tribute band the Smyths, while ‘vintage ice cream van’ Everyday is like Sundae will also be on site.

Interested? Call 0161 872 3767 or visit this Morrissey forum thread.

Surely one of the stranges government initiatives (in name at least) is In Town, Without My Car!, which arrives in Manchester city centre tomorrow.

From the negative point of view, this means some streets in the city centre will be closed off - from Manchester Cathedral down to Salford via the River Irwell, to be exact. But on the plus side, it means you’ll get the chance to do this instead:

Yes, zorbing is one of the main attractions between 11am and 4pm. There will also be a climbing wall, capoiera (’a martial arts-style dance activity’) and free-running/parkour, which I’ve mentioned before.

They’re also launching Wildabout Manchester, which aims to offer 14 ‘breathing places’ in the city centre where you can observe wildlife. Dog-sized rats on Princess Street, anyone?

Anyway, this is all part of European Mobility Week, which - if you didn’t already know - was this week. Read more about Salford and Manchester’s involvement on the council website.

Back in January I wrote that no funding for the Salford Film Festival spells the end. Organisers had pulled the plug, you may recall, after a no one was found to plug a �20,000 funding hole.

Thankfully, Ciara Leeming in yesterday’s MEN reported that Salford Council had, begrudgingly, agreed to stump up the money and that the festival is now back on track:

Salford council leader John Merry said he would be sitting on the management board to ensure this year’s festival was a successful one.

He said: “We can’t win. If we hadn’t have given the money we would be accused of not listening to people. Because we have, we’re being told we’ve been shamed into it. That’s simply not true.

“We were quite satisfied once we examined the business plan that this was an event we would be happy to support. Encouraging learning and creativity is one of the council’s key pledges and the Salford Film Festival certainly fits with that.”

Elsewhere, however, the future of Afflecks Palace still hangs in the balance.

Over 5,500 people have now signed an online petition to keep it open and, as the MEN reported last month, the two sides are currently engaged in talks. Interestingly, someone claiming to be Manchester councillor Pat Karney has been posting comments on that MEN story.

With just five weeks left before the lease expires on June 14, much of Manchester awaits further news with bated breath.

One of the final bricks in Manchester International Festival’s cultural wall comes in the form of Unknown Pleasures, a series of concerts showcasing ‘the best in new bands and artists’.

The biggest event in the series is Unknown Pleasures at the Quays, a day-long gig in the natural 5,000-capacity ampitheatre outside the Lowry.

Confirmed for this event so far are the Gossip, the Horrors and local New Order-inspired band the Whip. Support from Salford City Council means you can get free tickets by visiting the MIF website or by calling QuayTickets, the Lowry’s own ticket outlet, on 0870 428 0785.

Making up the rest of the Unknown Pleasures series are some more conventional gigs at Manchester Academy over eight nights in July.

The impressive list of acts confirm include Nina Nastasia, Findlay Brown, the Noisettes, Wombats, Bat for Lashes and - personal favourites - Final Fantasy. Tickets for these dates are reasonably priced: �8.50 or �9.50, plus a stupid Ticketmaster booking fee.

MIF are also appealing for talented local acts to apply to join the lineups. There should be an application form on their website at some point today.