The Grand Budapest Hotel

The good thing about our Cineworld Unlimited Cards is that we'll go and watch just about anything. If we've got a quiet evening and fancy a trip out, we'll go to the cinema, or go to the pics as we say up north in Manchester, to watch something. 

I'd seen the trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel, and genuinely didn't have a clue what to expect. It had an all star cast, but it just looked totally random, and going into it, we didn't really have any idea what it was about.

Turns out, it was a classic heist movie in one way, and a simple narrative about a man's life in another. Basically, it was a good story. It's still pretty random though, but that's just the style of director Wes Anderson. Quirky, to say the least.

Interesting scenery, cinematography and use of graphics, all combined to make the imaginary country and backdrop it's set in jump to life, and the world class actors in the film, particularly Ralph Fiennes, were very good. And it was pretty amusing too at times, a kind of, oh, I'll have a chuckle at that type of film. 

It wasn't the most exciting film to watch, and perhaps a little slow in parts. But it was a good story, and different to some of the other films out there, which can be a bit repetitive. 

It was enjoyable to watch, and passed the time. So if you've got nothing to lose, it's worth checking out. 

Nothing Beats Live Music

I love going to gigs. They're not cheap, but there is something about hearing a band performing live, that makes it worthwhile. It's different to just going out for food or going to the cinema. It's more of an occasion.

Something a little bit more special. 

Even if you are seeing bands two times a week in Manchester, as I was doing at one point in my gig going past. 

Seriously, I spent a fortune on gig tickets, 2-3 a week at one point in 2006. 

Some were better than others. Some were small and intimate. Some were large scale stadium filling shows. But every one was worth it, in one way or another.  

If only for the gig ticket.  

This is something I've been meaning to do for ages, and one night last week, I sat down to do it. It took me 5 hours to make sure I could fill every gap and make every ticket readable, but I managed to fit all my gig tickets on there from my first proper gig in 2005 - Oasis. (I've been to some MEN shows before, but thankfully, I don't know where those tickets are, as they're quite embarrassing.) 

They're not all from Manchester, some are from London, some from Madison WI, a couple from Los Angeles, and one from Minnesota. But together, I think they look pretty cool, and a great way to show off all the gigs I've been to.  

Better than them sitting in a box, which is what they were doing. 

At some point, I'm going to be blogging more about gigs. My favourite gigs, the things you see at gigs, and maybe even why I genuinely think Manchester is the best place to see live music. Maybe I could even become a music copywriter? Writing bios and blurbs for bands, or reviewing gigs. Who knows. Watch this space for more music blogs anyway.

White Label Copywriting in Manchester

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from a digital marketing agency in Manchester who were looking for a copywriter who could do some white label copywriting and blogging work for them. Of course, a new local Manchester company to do some writing work for, I naturally jumped at the chance. 

But what is white label copywriting or white label blogging? It sounds kind of fancy doesn't it? Putting some kind of special label on something. But it's really not that exciting at all. Well, it is for me, because I find copywriting and blogging exciting and challenging, but it's not that different to my usual work.

In fact, it's not different at all.

Because white label services just means no association to the original creator. White being blank. It's a blank slate, a piece of copywriting or blogging which can be passed off in a number of different ways. Kind of like ghostwriting. Usually, a white label blog or article is used as a staff piece for a website, or just to add additional copy for a business website, often to help boost SEO. 

So often companies in Manchester, like this web marketing business, will source white label copywriters and bloggers to write on their behalf for their clients, to provide new and interesting content relevant to their business. It was great to be asked to join this select list of Manchester copywriters and bloggers. 

Of course, I can't really show you what I've been working on for them, even though they are pretty interesting pieces. If you read my blog regularly though, you'll know my kind of style. So maybe if you do a search for some recent blogs posts, why office milk delivery in Manchester is a good thing and how to spot an office affair, perhaps you'll stumble across something. Challenge accepted?

Messing With Time - Putting The Clocks Forward and Back

Why do we still bother to put the clocks forward and back every spring and autumn? Sure, in October, it's always nice to wake up Sunday morning, look at the clock at the side of the bed, and then realise it's actually an hour earlier, and you get to lie in bed even longer (or jump up and have more time to do something productive, if you're so inclined).

 
In March, when we 'spring forward', messing around with the clocks doesn't seem so rewarding. Not when you wake up feeling like it's really early, and it's actually an hour later than it should be. A whole hour has just disappeared and been lost. Rubbish! 

It's a good job we have lots of digital things in our house, most notably our mobile phones which we use to check the time in the morning, otherwise we'd have completely forgotten the clocks went forward!

Turns out daylight savings time is actually much more of a modern phenomenon than I thought. I always thought it was a relic of the past, an agreement to keep the mornings lighter for farmers during the winter months. Don't know why I thought that or where it came from. 

 
In actual fact, daylight savings time occurs because of the industrialised world wanting more useable hours of daylight during the summer months. It was only first proposed at the turn of the century, when people began to feel like they were wasting early hours of daylight asleep, and missing out on possible sunshine in the evening. So, in 1916 it was officially adopted in Europe, and later the United States. It then faded in popularity and went through a number of experiments, before it again achieved widespread adoption in the 1970s. 

Now having less wasted hours of daylight is something I don't object to. Who would? But really, it's a case of the modern world adapting the natural seasonal shifts of the world's axis to modern life, as opposed to the other way around. In actually fact, why should we mess around with clocks, when all we'd really need to do is just shift our sleep and work patterns?

 
But of course, that's not that easy. It boils down to a case of pure and simple convenience. It's much easier to mess with time and move some hands on a clock, rather than shift our lives around.  

Still, there does seem something unnatural about tweaking time. Time travel never seems to go to plan...

 
Incidentally, remembering whether the clocks go forward or back is quite easy, and is probably the best use of the American term for autumn. You spring forward, and fall back.  

Don't say I never tell you anything!  

Giving Your Website The 'Lift' It Needs - Vanilla Skies

Being a copywriter is certainly never boring. 

You might think that living in Manchester, there would only be so many different businesses you can write about. Of course, that's absolutely rubbish, because the words of a copywriter aren't bound by geographical location.

In fact, they can take to the skies if they want to. Sometimes, quite literally. 

Because my most recent work saw me writing the copy for a lovely new North West company that flies. Not metaphorically, although I'm sure business will be flying forward very soon. Vanilla Skies actually physically flies you see, because they charter helicopters.

It was a totally different website to write for, because quite frankly, I knew nothing about helicopter flights, save what I've seen on daytime TV with helicopter hero ambulance shows, and those little pleasure flight companies that seem to live outside country pubs. 

Still, I soon got to grips with what Vanilla Skies was all about. And it wasn't what I expected. It's not just about short little pleasure flights. Far from it. They're actually an exclusive and exciting form of transport, the perfect option for those wanting more of a special trip. For a wedding, for a big birthday party, or even for a fun trip out to a sporting event. 

Of course, they're also much favoured by businessmen to save time getting to and from a meeting as well. But you know, for us ordinary folk, it's nice to know they are actually a realistic dream to aspire to, especially for those occasions you want to really remember. Well, it's realistic with Vanilla Skies anyway. 

And not only do you feel super exclusive wih Vanilla Skies, they're also dead friendly too. So if you do fancy chartering a helicopter anytime in the near future, you know where to look. 

Oh, and if you do want to take a look at my 'lofty' copy about soaring through the air, well, you could always do that too.