theplan |
This is the starting point to find out more about me, Jon Hickman, a Lecturer at Birmingham City University's School of Media and a member of Interactive Cultures. Entries below are my contributions to a number of blogs: click through to read the full article and join the conversation in the comments. I am available for speaking and web / social media consultancy via email jon [at] theplan.co.uk |
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Wired stands by story after Guardian denies iPhone app paywall plans
Guest post on Online Journalism Blog. I spotted something odd in Wired about the possibility of paywalls being added to The Guardian iPhone app. Then I asked around and it got odder.
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Art in Empty Shops
Here’s an idea that keeps going around and coming back again: making use of empty shops, by turning them into pop-up galleries. The idea is back on the table right now; Birmingham’s Community Arts Team have just closed a call for “an arts led organisation with registered charity status to produce, co-ordinate and programme exhibitions accompanied by a minimum of 50 days participatory activity at five empty shop venues across the city between February 2010 and March 2011.”The shop venues are likely to be in the City Centre, Erdington, Hodge Hill, Ladywood, and Perry Barr. Erdington had its own pop-up gallery in the summer, which created a vibrant community arts experience. The Erdington pop-up was unfunded, so it will be interesting to see if the grant funding given to this venture enhances the experience.On our walkabout yesterday we observed a lot of empty space in our local area. If I were to suggest a place within Grounds’ area that could benefit from a cultural lift, it would be John Bright Street: there’s even a photography gallery, ready to go.Where do you think a community arts space for the city centre could be located?
- link An icy Boxing Day at Sutton Park
- link Blue Moon
- link AHRC KTF Symposium
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Today I’m appearing in a Twitter panto. Oh yes I am. #twitpanto
What are you doing at 3:30pm GMT today? Nothing much I’ll bet. You’ll no doubt be sleeping off a cheeky Christmas pint, or “filing” to pass the last half hour before you break up for Christmas.Make that last hour at work count, by heading over to Twitpanto where yours truly will be playing Little Jo(h)n in ‘Robin Hood - Men in Twights’.You don’t need to be on Twitter to watch, just head over to http://twitpanto.birminghamhippodrome.com/ to watch the show unfold. (You’ll need to actually be on Twitter to heckle me or shout “he’s behind you” etc.).Last year’s show was a sublime piece of interactive social media comedy / art. No seriously, it was. This year’s will be more of the same so expect romance, innuendo (not smut), sword fights and lots of web culture gags. ima let you finish your work. See you at 15:30. -
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Raymond, I’m closing #therestaurant
Series three of “The Restaurant” closes tonight, and I don’t think the doors of this show will open again.
Initially an interesting “reality” take on the cookery show, this season has been a farce. So much so that I’ve gone from being a fan to being relieved it’s over. I actually thought last week was the finale and I’m gutted there’s another bloody episode to sit through.
So what’s gone wrong?
Firstly some format changes, presumably recession or budget inspired, have cut the show back from two nights to one. As a result there’s not a lot of cooking going on. This is just as well as no one seems to be able to cook this year (an important point which I’ll come back to).
As a result of this the producers have had to make the show in a much more cynical and formatted manner. They know how to cast this show, to make telly from the concept. They have several seasons of research and as a result this season has been about The Restaurant as format. Archetypal characters, iconic moments, codes, conventions and reality cookery as genre.
The real kicker? I’m sure I know who will win. I’m calling it for JJ and James, aka the winkers. Two cocktail waiters who can’t cook. They’ve made it to the final with a restaurant brand based on scotch eggs.
If they win, and there’s another season, I won’t watch.
Raymond, I’m closing your Restaurant.
- link Arvidsson, A (2006) 'Quality Singles': internet dating and the work of fantasy. New Media & Society, Vol. 8 (4) pp 671-690.
- link #11bus DIY
- link We work for them
