Sleuth gives away two Manchester Cathedral games plus 'Speedy Sturgess', the Beckhams and some extraordinarily beautiful women
Published on June 15th 2007.
EMMA JEAN Sturgess, the excellent food and drink writer for the morning Metro, outdid herself this week. Known as 'Speedy Sturgess'' as she tries to review restaurants the minute they open, she pounced on the City Café at City Inn before the head chef had even arrived. As she wrote in the review 'David Gale is not quite in place'. In fact he was so 'not quite in place' he was three quarters of a mile away seeing out his notice at Selfridges. Perhaps the fact the original booking had to be shifted because the floor was being fixed might have hinted that she was visiting a tad too soon. Give chefs a week Emma at least, eh?
AND HERE are several of the Manchester Confidential women. They were star performers at last night's Body Confidential event at Malmaison. Sleuth works with them. Life is hard.
Resistance: the Fall of Man
SLEUTH is giving two of these games away so you can see what the fuss at the Cathedral's about. Click below to get the game and tell us what format you want it in.
Cathedral part 1
AT THE height of Monday's row over Sony using Manchester Cathedral as background for the computer game, Resistance: The Fall of Man, Sleuth phoned the Cathedral for a quote. This is the biggest story to hit the Cathedral since it was bombed in 1940. There was an answering machine that stated "please leave a message and we'll be back from lunch at 1.15pm". Let's not get too excited shall we?
SLEUTH went down to the Cathedral to have a chat with the Dean and his crew. The theory is that Sony won't respond to the Cathedral's impassioned complaints because they love the media circus it is creating. This means more exposure for the game and more sales. The Cathedral are thinking about a new tactic to make sure they get a reaction. They're going to send out a press release saying that the game is from Nintendo.
THE DEAN couldn't believe that Sony hadn't responded to the Cathedral's very reasonable requests for a response. But Sleuth couldn't help noticing press officer David Marshall's wicked little smile. It was he, who looking through the website cuttings came across one link which mentioned the computer game and decided to release the news to the press. Now over 900 news agencies have taken the story worldwide. The Japanese are mad for it. And as the Dean said to Sleuth, "we've had loads of young kids coming round the Cathedral." Good work David. Manufacture a global story and feast upon it.
WHILST Sleuth was in the Cathedral the family of some footballer or other called Gary Neville was measuring things up and generally poncing around. It's the lad's wedding in the Cathedral on Saturday. There will be 150 guests or so and bouncers on the doors. Hey, and the Beckhams are coming – that's a little Sleuth exclusive for you. Sleuth has been inundated with calls about how only the rich and famous can get married in the Cathedral. Wrong folks, it's because Neville has an apartment in No 1 Deansgate. He lives within the parish. Thought we'd clear that up for you.
Sleuth's quote of the week
"THIS would have been a new low for Manchester. What next? Burning witches in Albert Square or sending kids up chimneys." Pat Karney, after dwarf-throwing was banned at the Printworks, hints at next year's events programme in Manchester.
Fill in your details below to win the offending game.
This competition has now closed. Congratulations to Margaret Newton from Wigan and James Ivison from Manchester. Your prize will be with you soon.
Jonathan Schofield - EditorJune 15th 2007.
What that addled Sleuth failed to mention is that we're going to put the equivalent amount of money as the cost of the two games in the donation box pictured here.
AnonymousJune 15th 2007.
I have to say that I'm deeply unimpressed by your Sony games 'coverage' and competition. The barely-hidden claim that the Cathedral's press officer 'manipulated' the situation to gain added publicity is hardly the point. And whether you're religious or not is not the point either. What matters here is that a commercial games company saw fit to exploit a religious building without seeking permission - and not only that, thought it would be 'fun' to introduce a shoot 'em up inside that one of Manchester's most religious buildings. This in a city where gun crime is rarely off the news, and where, a few miles south of the Cathedral, young kids are having their lives ended or ruined by gun crime. I'm all for freedom of press, but your coverage - and particularly your competition - is, frankly, tasteless. I'd expect more of you. And sticking a bit of back-pocket cash in the donations box doesn't really make up for it...
I don't want to rant!!!!!!!!1
Speedy SturgessJune 15th 2007.
Dear SleuthMetro's policy is that if restaurants are open and charging full whack, then they're ready for a visit, and Metro's readers will be keen to know what they can expect. The wise places have practice runs beforehand, and I was pleased to find City Cafe polished and ready to go. I'll be interested to see how David's arrival adds to the offer there when I return. And thanks for the compliment!LoveSpeedy Sturgess
SleuthJune 15th 2007.
Dear Speedy that was quick.
Which is the sort of thing Sony should have done of course.