THING OF THE WEEK

SWORDS & SORCERY… Right about now you will have come to terms with the crushing disappointment/genius of the end of Game of Thrones, a television show largely lost on the THING team. However, it’s not been lost on the good people of Blackpool with the town renaming itself to mark the end of the long-running fantasy saga. It’s been renamed Castle Black-pool – whatever that means – along with three other places in the UK: Doune Castle in Stirlingshire which has been dubbed Winterfell; Covent Garden in London, renamed Highgarden; and Essex, which is apparently now named Essos. There’s a special sign marking the occasion by the Blackpool Tower if you wanted to track it down.


Brexit Board Game THING

BOARD OF BREXIT… In a list of terrible ideas to make everyone hate each other, this one definitely tops the list: Brexit monopoly. The thankfully tongue-in-cheek concept has been rustled up estate agent comparison site Get Agent, with the normal London locations swapped for different leave and remain-voting areas. Mayfair and Park Lane become the uber-remain Oxford and Cambridge; Chance becomes a second referendum; and instead of Community Chest we have the charmingly-named Broken Communities. As someone who’s found ignoring the whole idea of Brexit actually quite therapeutic, your author won’t be partaking, but please go for it if you’re a glutton for punishment.


IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY… Cheshire East doesn’t always have the reputation as being the most hip n’ happening council, so it was nice to see a bit of light-hearted flair injected into its big annual meeting this week. It’s been a turbulent few weeks with the council changing hands from Conservative to Labour, picking its first-ever Labour leader in Sam Corcoran. The magnitude of the situation wasn’t lost at the meeting, with the mayor and other dignitaries entering the chamber to the Star Wars theme tune. Personally, if it’s Star Wars, it’s got to be the Imperial March, and if we’re doing John Williams, THING would’ve chosen the Jurassic Park theme. Feel free to point out any similarities between Cheshire East and the Galactic Empire below – would the Death Star have been given planning approval if it was in Sandbach? A sadly-sideways video of the momentous occasion is above.


Scuber THING

NON-YELLOW SUBMARINE… Here’s an innovation that’s probably unlikely to find its way to the Mersey or the Irwell: an Uber for submarines. The cab hire app is trialling a special concept over in Queensland, Australia, with an Uber-branded submarine trip to the Great Barrier Reef up for grabs. THING doesn’t reckon a similar approach would work particularly well over here but it does make you think: boat trips from Wirral to Liverpool, or up and down the city’s waterfront via a mobile app could be an idea.


MediaCity DeLorean THING

BACK TO THE FUTURE… If you were at MediaCityUK or Manchester’s Albert Square this week you might’ve spotted the Doc’s favourite car, the DeLorean. It’s been around and about to plug a new musical based on Back to the Future, due to premiere in Manchester in February 2020. THING can’t help but think there might be a little barrel-scraping into trying to turn everything into a musical these days – personally, looking forward to the Save the Clocktower song, although any additional Huey Lewis and the News is welcome. Then again, the Meat Loaf musical was alright. Wasn’t it?

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