The Filter^

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The city of Liverpool has adopted a new brand, following on from the Capital of Culture. Here it is:

Sunday 3rd August

• walking tour looking for breakfast, settling on O'Neills
• nice to see the Bluecoat rebounding, with a tidy exhibition on Arab issues & shit
• the World Museum does its best to put me off - garish logo, horrible colour-coded floors, prepostorous "RESPECTacles"... no wonder they've put nets up to stop people jumping into the foyer. but i've always really enjoyed myself in there. it doesn't seem overly ambitious, just good honest education. you can meander through and the various aids are unobtrusive
• who's in charge of pricing at FACT?
• train home, glad to get off at Watford, with police waiting for our lairy and intolerable travelling companion...

Saturday 2nd August

• full English at the classic student brasserie: Kymos, this time it's in town and looks fantastic. a fitting tribute to what Liverpool should be all about - and evidently is
• messing about in St George's Hall, my fascination with Victorian prisons collides brutally with the awkward silences of a chess tournament
• Age of Steam at the Walker offers a pulsating overview of depictions of the train. still by far the best way to travel (imagine flying to Liverpool!), well captured in a paint-by-numbers effort that made up for the "out reach" baggage. a couple of futurist gems
• i'm now familiar with Ben Johnson - his Liverpool cityscape is hauntingly emphatic. drop your jaw whilst taking a look here
• it seemed to have sprung up over night, but the Echo arena and BT convention center is surprisingly impressive. it's the venue Liverpool's been crying out for, and whilst i pine for what might have been, it's about time
• Tate Gallery for Klimt. i'd heard lots of good things about this, but it was a bit of a let down. the decision to hang it over two floors - G and 3 - was just silly, creating a long wait for a cargo lift to ferry people about. it all alluded to the busy, cattle-esque experience such blockbosters involve. i'm not complaining, but the strenghth of the city is not here
• ah, pint in the Baltic Fleet, looking as shabby and brilliant as ever
• dinner with Benjamin Britten and Red Stripe.
• into the Philharmonic but it's heaving, so the salvation of Everyman. some odd evenings conjoured up
• Heebiejeebies is open again. ace
• Hardman street for a kebab. wade through the bridal party on the steps of the hotel and find the room (the key's in my pocket). get in and look out the window: Metropolian cathedral to the left, Anglican to the right, the 051 bang in the middle

Friday 1st August

• a pair of Rimowas board at London Euston. we didn't see the superlambana - first spot came at Runcorn, before the city-wide profligation began at Lime Street. they've finally wrapped the st john's car park in a banner, token gesture, but still...
• check in to the Adelphi - a longstanding ambition of mine to sample the doors that open outward (like on a boat). what a majestically frail dump. i'd not been since gatecrashing a DHL Christmas party, but this time i'm a guest. prefer not to be, to be honest. that old you get a key with a ridiculous wooden plank to force you to leave it at reception
• we meet at the Grapes and the banter begins
• visit the new John Lewis to gain a view of the L1 development. incredible. Chavasse park is transformed from a wasteland that separates the docks from the city center to a seemless transition. now losing count of the buildings that have sprung up (even though i was last here in March)
• Turning the Place Over; stupendous public art, and a nice mirror to Moorfields
• new pub near Old Hall Street, the aura of gastro but distinctly Liverpool.
• an over-priced curry; we could now be in Leeds, Sheffield, etc. but we're not, and a tinging sense of lost friendship slides down with the lager and poppadoms
• back to the flat for an interlude, then Peter Kavanaghs to round things off, it's nice to be back

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Back to the pool of life

The Filter^ was born and bred in the city of Liverpool, and the common theme between our 6 editors is a deep affection for somewhere we've all called home. Indeed the roots of this blog lie in student days of 1999-2002, 4 of us sharing a house, all of us forging our paths in our respective domains of learning. We had hoped to bring a special focus to The Filter^ over the summer to celebrate Liverpool's status as European Capital of Culture, but that might not be feasible. However this weekend Andrew, Thomas, James and Anthony will be reunited for a weekend of reunion and rediscovery. We will be sampling as much culture as we can manage, and attempt to blog about it afterwards. Prepare for experimental blogging.