All prepared for a South Shields X Factor winner

Joe McElderry is hot favourite with bookies

Just a quick one to explain my absence from the keyboard this weekend, much work has been completed in Curly’s house with new skirting boards fitted and many cables finally buried below the floor, just need to set up a wireless network next!

Spent most of the day getting the Christmas tree up and decorated, at eleven feet high with over 700 LED lights and over 400 baubles, it becomes a half day operation with both kids helping out. Christmas cards have all been sent by snail mail or email, so now we are prepared to sit down in fron of the TV this evening to support South Shields’ favourite son Joe McElderry as he bids to become the overall winner of 2009’s “X Factor”.

I noticed this morning that the Town Hall in South Shields is flying “Vote Joe” flags from it’s posts above the building, so a reminder, if you haven’t voted for Joe yet, get it done NOW, before 9:00 pm (telephone 0901 61 61 103 to support Joe McElderry).

The 18 year old from South Shields is the hot favourite at the bookies to win the X Factor this evening (1/5 with Paddy Power, and 2/9 with Ladbrokes) whilst his rival Olly Murrs is the outsider at a generous 3/1 against, so little chance of making an online fortune by putting your house on Joe, but don’t be complacent, make sure you vote for him.

I exchanged some views with Iain Malcolm yesterday evening, and the Leader of South Tyneside Council is very keen to arrange a spectacular public event in South Shields recognising McElderry’s success, should he walk away as winner tonight, and we’d both love to see an open topped bus parade through the town centre including King Street and the Market Place, which would be sure to draw huge crowds and perhaps help retailers in those few days before Christmas. Trouble is, if the nation votes for Joe tonight, he will be virtually owned by ITV, the X Factor team, Simon Cowell and his production company etc., guaranteeing a date for a public visit to his home town may not be quite as easy as arranging a visit from Santa Claus!

However, I’m sure Joe would love to be involved in something like this, and I’m sure the young Miliband boys would love to see a South Shields winner too!

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Shields Gazette possibly pay walled?

Johnson Press operates trail pay for web service

Johnson Press which owns over 200 regional titles in the UK, including The Shields Gazette, is to be amongst the first media outlets to try and gain additional revenue from it’s websites by asking viewers to pay to read it’s web content. A trial scheme is believed to be starting next Monday with six titles including the Northumberland Gazette where readers will be asked to pay a £5 subscription fee for a three month service allowing them to read content online, or at least the major in depth stories behind a headline.

Managers have told staff that JP intends to roll-out the paid-for model across the company in line with what they are calling “industry moves in this area to find a sustainable business model going forward.”

Rupert Murdoch’s News International has already made clear it intends to erect paywalls on its national titles from next spring, but JP is the first regional publisher to trial the model.

Managers will be keeping a close eye on sales of the printed editions which have been steadily falling for the past couple of years, as well as watching the effect on advertising revenue as they hope that visits to websites by subscribers make up the difference in lost sales on the streets.

One drawback is the huge amount of choice for news delivery on the internet, which does not necessarily replicate itself in newsagents.

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Light up to win £100

South Tyneside Homes runs Christmas competition for tenants

Over recent years I’ve often been impressed by the lengths that some folks in South Tyneside go to when decorating their houses at Christmas time, there are some areas of the borough where it would be worth organising bus tours because the amount and array of illuminations are akin to the sea front at Blackpool. So it’s great fun to see that South Tyneside Homes is getting into the right spirit and helping to inject a little fun whilst encouraging their tenants to brighten their local environment and neighbourhood, they are running a competition this year and offering £100 of shopping vouchers to find the best decorated council home in the borough.

The great thing is, as I found out four years ago, that more and more of the decorations that are now in use are of the low voltage and low wattage LED type which is far more environmentally acceptable and apparently helps to lower carbon emissions too. They also look far more attractive than the older filament bulb types and offer much greater variation in their use. In South Shields I always enjoy seeing places like Copley Avenue and Jesmond Gardens all lit up for Christmas, so I hope this competition goes down well with tenants.

Having got Christmas out of the way I’d love to see the ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation) encouraged to promote a “best garden” competition in the summer months perhaps with some shiny new mowers,  strimmers, hedge trimmers, or garden vacs offered as prizes, I’m sure local retailers would be happy to help promote the event and be associated with it, and it would be yet another way to help tenants enjoy their gardens and share in the pride that comes with competing to win.

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Congratulations to Sunderland

Traders to hold farmer’s market in Park Lane area.

It’s good news for them, and in a round about way, it’s good news for us in South Shields. If they make a success of a market in Sunderland then the competition may at last cause some stirrings of action to rejuvenate our market days in South Shields.

The protectionism of using a medieval mule riding law does not seem to have improved life on our Market Place.

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Southend or South Shields?

Essex resort red faced with bikini record bid.

I know just the place where a record could have been set yesterday, and it wasn’t in Essex.

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Caption competition

Sunderland (sold) out edition

Who can up with the wittiest caption in the comments for this picture I took at the Stadium of Light before Ellis Short kicked me out?

That’s wit, as in humour please.

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Mandy defends free trade

The value of open markets does not need rethinking.

Via Timmy and this Mandelson article in The Times

So what about free trade? Running through the preparatory discussions for the London Summit in April is the explicit assumption that ensuring the global trading system remains open through the downturn is an imperative and a priority. Free trade sceptics will argue that this is an ideological blindspot. But the basic case for open trade has not been damaged by the credit crunch, and it remains central to any chance of a sustained global recovery.

Open trade has driven the rising levels of global prosperity that have defined the two decades leading up to the credit crunch. The growth of trade allowed countries and their companies to specialise and compete for sales globally rather than just in their home market.

By allowing developing countries to become part of global production lines supplying developed world markets, it drove the growth that has lifted more people out of poverty more quickly than ever in human history. As they grew, these economies created demand for imports from the developed world in turn.

It is this massive demand engine that is the basis of global prosperity and that has been stalled by the credit crisis, not least because the crunch has dried up a lot of the temporary credit that finances 90 per cent of international trade. The fundamental challenge facing G20 governments is getting that global demand engine turning over again. Rebuilding demand, and transmitting that demand throughout the global economy, will both require an open trading system.

Well, yes, you cannot argue with that!

However, don’t expect the noble Lord to be messing with the EU, or criticising any potential protectionist measures they may pursue, after all his pension depends upon keeping his nose clean.

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ST Central

Do they have friends in low places?

The MrMonkey Blog based in South Tyneside has made two references and links in the past few days to local company JAG Productions and their ST Central on demand TV and news service (which now works in the Firefox browser after I emailed them to point out the failing.) I was wondering why the apes should show such an interest in John and Gillian George’s venture all of a sudden, have they invested in the company, or are they just good friends? Have the Georges joined the ranks of the South Tyneside Independent Alliance? Being based up River Drive (oops, Holman Court is in the TEDCO development in Station Road) in South Shields they must have had one or two knocks from their Independent councillor over the past couple of years of campaigning.

ST Central will surely appreciate the influx of extra visitors that the apes will bring, but what’s in it for them? A commercial tie up perhaps, a small revenue and advertising stream? Just asking that’s all, it may just be friendly cameraderie (or rivalry) from someone determined to undermine the local newspaper, nothing more.

However, as the inevitable **t begins to hit the fan, when the libel accusations are tested in court, when the writs are flying in multiple directions as the author(s) are unmasked, will JAG Productions be so keen to be seen to be associated with the disreputable blogger(s).

Perhaps John and Gillian George ought to think of their business model which has ambitions to place more and more screens in public buildings and places in South Tyneside to help disseminate their local news service, will close associations to the Monkey’s place be a help or a hindrance?

Anyway this IS NOT an ST Central film, it’s just a video of the foolish apes facing their doomsday – enjoy.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pIHVHxI_EU&fmt=]

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Sex sells (especially if the VAT is cheaper!

Probably the best advert in Europe?

Via Counting Cats
and also Freespace

(probably NSFW)

Fleggaard are a German retailer who are doing well out of the Danes, we all like a good bargain and many companies will bargain for a good advert that gets the message across. Fleggard have an outlet just over the border from Denmark, in Germany the VAT rate is 19%, in Denmark it is 25%, so many Danes are tempted to cross the border and shop at Fleggaard. In the commercial, the girls are writing ‘Siemens Dishwasher, 4,999 dkr.’ in the sky. Incidentally, the commercial is made for the internet, and will never be shown on Danish TV.

What a pity, I don’t think they realise the full potential of this marketing strategy. Do you think we could tempt Fleggaard to occupy ‘Woolies’ vacant spot in South Shields?

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Reports of my demise etc…

…..are all wide of the mark

So I haven’t posted since before the Christmas, calm down everybody. I’m just enjoying a few quiet days with my children, helping them to learn how to play with their new toys, and enjoying it too! It’s liberating when you are not tied down to the keyboard, some bloggers should give it a try.

Thank you to those who have sent emails or texts wishing me a Happy Christmas and enquiring about my health, I’m feeling quite well, although there are a few appointments welling up in January. I should benefit from a little loss in weight which I hope to achieve by cycling more, which brings me around to the sales. I’ve never seen such a dismal turnout of customers in South Shields, King Street on Boxing Day was less busy than the average Sunday and that’s dead! Meanwhile it was impossible to find a parking spot in Jarrow, Saturday was much the same, and after a drive around the region with “Junior” looking for a bargain bike we discovered that the Metro Centre was very busy, the Retail World at Team Valley was manic with parking almost impossible, and Washington Galleries were also heaving, again parking was a problem. It seems for some reason that shoppers had been frightened away from South Shields, could it be that our Labour councillors are determined to fleece as much money as possible from them just for the pleasure of parking a car and looking at vacant premises?

When on earth are they going to get around to introducing some sort of equitable shoppers parking scheme which involves the council, shoppers, and traders to offer at least two hours free parking in South Shields town centre? I have previously described how the revenue can be retained within the town and how it would help attract shoppers back here, but no, I recall hearing Cllr. Iain Malcolm, Labour’s local commissar Leader crying for the Market Place to be made available for shoppers to park their cars on during non-market days – to raise revenue for the council of course, not to help the retailers who are going out of business at a rate of knotts (Adams, the childrens’ clothing firm in King Street is expected to go into administration this week.) Oh, and there’s also the Deputy Mayor, Cllr. John Anglin, a man supposedly blessed with the aim of keeping South Shields town centre alive, vibrant, and packed full of quality retailers. Well he’s good for offering a few platitudes as they go out of business, but not so good at talking up it’s future prospects or filling empty premises with stock that shoppers want to buy.

At the rate at which the recession is claiming businesses you would be able to pay to park your car in the Market Place next month, and enjoy a long walk past all of the empty premises before reaching Asda in Ocean Road where you will find the busiest free car park in town!

Cllr. Malcolm, stop sitting on your bloody hands over this, every busy shopping area in the North East of England offers free parking, it’s what consumers want and need, it’s what retailers need, it’s what local councils need (if they are serious about keeping businesses and trade within their boundaries.) Introduce a shoppers free parking scheme in South Shields town centre before it’s too late!

So did I find a bargain in the sales?

Yes a £300 mountain bike (two actually) reduced to £80 and flashing LED lights (front and back) reduced from £30 to 15 at Halfords in Station Road, South Shields. I can get out and about and teach “Junior” about surviving on the roads with a bicycle.

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