Hooking up with Blast I first saw the Blast placement advertised on the web in June 2005, this was something I had always wanted to do. The placement would give me the chance to get out there in the real world of the media and allow me to work in a real situation. All my work at college was never really seen by an audience which, when looking back, was a real shame because I thought some of it was pretty good! I had my interview here at 91热爆 Manchester in early July. The next day I got a call saying that I had got the placement, so it all started from there! Blast training weekend Before I started my placement I was going to have to learn all about what I was going to be doing. I was going to have to learn some basic photography skills, how to publish my work on the Internet and all about the 91热爆鈥檚 policies for online articles. For this training weekend I went down to Bristol. When I arrived I met all the other Blast reports from across the UK. No one knew anyone so we all had to get to know each other in a pretty short space of time. We went to the new SON&R training centre at 91热爆 Bristol and stopped overnight at Bath Youth Hostel. Week One Thursday 28th July 2005
 | | Elbow (photo: Tom Sheehan) |
Today I begin my time as a Blast reporter! After spending some time trying to log onto the computer, I finally managed to check my email and pick up some information from the national Blast team. I then began to get to know my way around the office and the 91热爆 building - it鈥檚 huge! I don鈥檛 know how to get out of here so I could be here for some time. At midday I got the chance to sit in on an interview with members of Manchester band Elbow, which was a great opportunity. Taking part in the interview were Guy Garvey and Pete Turner, they were both really cool and both very friendly. I鈥檒l be putting a short feature together about the interview so check the main Manchester Blast page. Later in the day I completed my Blast profile which will hopefully give you a good idea of who I am and what I鈥檓 like. There is a link to my Blast profile above. Friday 29th July 2005
 | | The Mela in 2004 |
As soon as I arrived I began researching the Manchester Mela event which I鈥檒l be visiting on Sunday. The event has quite a large web presence so finding the information was pretty easy. I鈥檓 looking forward to going out and covering an event, particularly one as exciting and unique as the Manchester Mela. Anyway, back to work! Make sure you look out for the Mela article next week! Week Two Sunday 31st July 2005 Yes! I couldn't believe it either, they expect me to work on a Sunday! I'd been to the Comedy Store in Manchester on Saturday night (great night out if you're in Manchester and stuck for something to do!) and I only got home at 3.30am, so during my journey to the Mela was pretty much half asleep. When I arrived things were just kicking off. It's hard to describe the atmosphere at the Mela, it's absoloutely amazing. I had a great day, thanks to all the backstage people from Asian Network for making me feel so welcome! Tuesday 2nd August 2005 Today was just another day at the office. I've been doing some planning for my report on the D:Percussion music festival this weekend. Later today I'll be putting together a short report on the Mela, so it's all very busy! Week Three Saturday 6th August 2005 Well, I've been looking forward to this day for ages! It's time for D:Percussion, the huge Manchester music festival that hits Castlefield. This year's event featured performances from loads and loads of artists, too many to list! But it really was an awesome day. Check out the article very soon! Tuesday 9th August 2005 I'm back in Manchester today, I've been catching up with some emails and I've been putting together a feature about the weekend's music festival. It should be live very shortly so make sure you have a quick look. Thursday 11th August 2005 The trains were awful today, apparently a train was on fire at Milnthorpe so my train from Preston was delayed several times. Anyway, I finally got here about midday and since then I've been frantically emailing various press offices. I've sorted out a couple of new features for over the next few weeks, so it's all very exciting. On the way is a feature about a film I helped make a few months ago called 'The good, the bad and the Chorley' so look out for that! Week Four Tuesday 16th August 2005 Today I've been writing about the feature I told you about last week: 'The good, the bad and The Chorley' which you can now find on my main page. Making the film was absolutely awesome and I hope you get to know more about it by reading the piece. I'm in London on Thursday so it's still very busy being a Blast reporter, but I'm lovin' every minute of it. Thursday 18th August 2005 I've been in London today! I'm at the Blast Youth Panel where we've bee talking about all the new and exciting things that are happening with Blast. It's been a long day so I think I'll leave this diary entry here! Saturday 20th August 2005 My favourite day as a Blast reporter so far! Tonight I went to the Transformations show at Contact Theatre here in Manchester which really was fantastic! Check out my article which should be up very shortly! A huge thanks to Natalie at Contact for sorting everything out for me! Cheers! Week Five Tuesday 23rd August 2005 Well, it's week five already! I can't believe it! Well another day in the office for me today, I've been putting together my article together about Transformations on Saturday night at the Contact Theatre. I can't praise it enough! Hope everyone is having a good day! Week Six Tuesday 30th August 2005 Well today I started one of the longest features I've been working on and exchanging a few emails. Short staffed today the office is really quiet which is strange for this place! I spent my bank holiday chilling, hope you guys were doing something fun. Friday 3rd September 2005 Finished my article and interview on The Remedies today, so it should go up on Monday! Hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who helped me write it and thanks to Max Lowe for agreeing to be interviewed. Have a great weekend everyone! | 
