Around Town

• Kate Feld
• 2 Mar 07, 03:30 PM

The Art of Fiction experienced a spooky coincidence this week in Shudehill’s Paramount Books:

"Like other 2nd hand bookshops I've visited lately, the prices seem to have risen and the range gone down - the unintended consequences of internet selling, I guess. I bought two books, science fiction writer Bob Shaw's "A Wreath of Stars" and Stuart Home's "Tainted Love.”

Now what is the likelihood that I could pick up two books, of the many in the shop, which mentioned being 40 on the first page? Never mind that I'm going to be 40 on Sunday. Strange signs indeed - but I always knew that Shude Hill and its bookshops exuded magic… "

Stephen Newton bid farewell to a Manchester icon, of sorts.

“With the rather ugly building that was home to the Dutch Pancake House on the corner of St. Peter’s Square cleared for redevelopment, a Manchester institution has bitten the dust. But few will miss it.”

“The Dutch Pancake House was almost a great success. Huge plates of savory pancakes followed by huge plates of sweet pancakes. But the decor seemed unchanged since the 1970s. The menu unimaginative. The giant plates were chipped. The service poor as could be. Some places survive best in affectionate memory.”

The music bit of group blogsite The Console featured a post about Manchester band The Generalissimos, who the writer interviewed before a set at The Tiger Lounge:

“On stage the Generalissimos exude an infectious energy. They’ve got a collection of raw, punky songs driven by rasping guitar and bass riffs that are coated with a pop sensibility… There’s a more than a nod to the Pixies in their music, especially Tim’s vocals. You can pick out other musical references ranging from Supergrass to The Super Furry Animals, but what comes out is definitely their own raucous pop songs.”

And while Jonathan Fox was commuting through the country south of Manchester, he noticed some “miserable looking sheep.” What?

“You know and I know sheep are not known for their personalities but these poor guys didn’t look like happy campers. It turns out there was no grass and so they were all standing around looking like lost sheep (sorry). Sheep eat grass and lots of it and here they all were with nothing to munch except what was in the trough. It was an unusual sight and I don’t think Ive seen sheep without grass before. Anyhoo, I thought I’d share it with you.”

You can go to his blog for a picture of said sheep and judge for yourself whether they truly look miserable. Maybe they’re just mildly annoyed. It’s hard to tell with sheep, isn’t it?”