MONDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2007

URBAN AWARDS
I’m ashamed to say that a singular honour recently bestowed upon the city of Newcastle went unremarked on The Nightshift. On Friday 9 November, the Academy of Urbanism (an organisation previously unknown to me) handed out its European Awards and Tyneside’s name cropped up twice. In the Great Place Award, Newcastle and Gateshead’s Quaysides were narrowly beaten by the Peace and Winter Gardens in Sheffield - London’s South Bank came third. And - in the Great Neighbourhood Award - things were even better. Dublin’s Temple Bar came third, London’s Soho came second but the winner was......Grainger Town in Newcastle. Congratulations to all concerned - and my apologies for not trumpeting these victories loudly and clearly on The Nightshift.

CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA
Call me warped and twisted, but I thought this was one of the funniest stories we’ve ever had on The Nightshift. In case you missed it.........An American soft-toy maker has produced a range based on microscopic images of bugs and viruses. So, for £5.95, your child can now cuddle a six-inch high Typhoid Fever, Black Death, Rabies, E-coli, Salmonella, Halitosis, Malaria or Flu. The toys are allegedly proving very popular with grown-ups, so if you’re wondering what to give your loved one this Christmas, why not give them Syphilis?
I’m crying with laughter just typing this. If anyone knows a local or internet stockist, please respond here on the blog.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Gateshead can variously mean either ‘headland of goats’ (the only really ‘innocent’ explanation), ‘the goat’s head’ (possibly a sacrificial totem) or ‘the end of the road’ (a sentiment with which people far more unkind than me may well agree).
Today’s query concerns the rock-band name UB40. Where did THAT come from?

LOCAL TRACK
Kellyburn Brae - a personal local favourite of mine - was sung by Benny Graham.

BLOGGING
Naturally, I’m delighted that the army of British bloggers is growing by the hour. There are now 4m of us; almost 15% of internet users write a blog; and 20% of them post once a day (like I do). When Grosvenor, The Nightshift’s mascot rat, arrives he should be proud of us! If you want to search though blogs to find one that might interest you, use a special blog-search engine. Google has a very effective one. In the meantime, these are the blogs I’ve seen recommended.....
There’s bitchy opinion on music industry news at xrrf.blogspot.com....former Tory insider Iain Dale has a lively blog at iaindale.blogspot.com......a north Norfolk househusband makes a perfect modern Mr Pooter at privatesecretdiary.com.....and shinyshiny.tv evaluates all the latest gadgets from a female point of view.

CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN

NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.