L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

[West End Zuma]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

I didn't know that Liverpool was designated a "Culture Capital"? Does it have a thriving art scene? Does it have lots of galleries and renown museums? Does it have a world class orchestra, great architecture, etc?

[ursus arctos]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

More going on than Cork or Stavanger . . .

[garcia]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

wow, i can't believe cork had this as recently as 2005. that totally passed me by.

[Spearmint Rhino]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

infinite probability wrote:

I didn't know that Liverpool was designated a "Culture Capital"? Does it have a thriving art scene? Does it have lots of galleries and renown museums? Does it have a world class orchestra, great architecture, etc?

It has more of those things than you probably believe it does, yes. (Although the "culture capital" thing is a bit wanky.)

[Ray de Galles]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

Er, I thought ip was being sarcastic.

[Spearmint Rhino]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

Harri Saer wrote:

Er, I thought ip was being sarcastic.

Could go either way. I dunno where ip is from. The general perception of Liverpool is pretty negative.

[West End Zuma]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

No, I wasn't being sarcastic, I just associate Liverpool with the Industrial North, which goes to show how a stereotype can stick in the mind. I didn't realize it had all the cultural attractions I mentioned.

I'm Anglo-American. Grew up in the south of England and moved to the US a long long time ago, so my impressions of the North are from the 50s, 60s and early 70s.

[Spearmint Rhino]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

Alexei Sayle did a fantastic three-part series on Liverpool for the BBC recently, which - among other things - highlighted some of the amazing architecture it has (from its imperial slave-trading heyday). Liverpool has a Tate gallery, loads of good clubs and shops and bars (I did a 'city guide' article with Ladytron a few years ago), and... well, I'm not the tourist board, but it's got a lot going for it, yeah.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

I went to uni in Liverpool ten years ago and would probably get lost round if I went back now. So much has been built it's incredible.

Not all of it positive I might add.

[Er Liquidatore]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

All the London-based clubs would love to monopolise "London" chic around the world, in the way that you get chavs in Blackburn wearing "NY Yankees" merchandise.

I tell you what, that totally fucking works over here. The number of people I've seen wearing Chelsea merchandise easily gets in three figure numbers and I'm not even looking for it. I've counted 20 people wearing the full on Chelsea tracksuit since I've moved here. London and London football has a seriously huuuuge cachet in Italy.

One of Spangles friends actually got her to ask me if I could buy him a tracksuit from the club shop when I was working there, and he's been a Curva Sud regular for over twenty years.

[Gangster Octopus]

L-I-V, E-R-B, I-R-D Liverbird FC

As ever, it's all been done before.