Welcome to the game beamed into 600 million households around the world, the summit meeting of the Premier League's finest and the game that could end with Alex Ferguson on the brink of making history with Manchester United. Welcome to El Climactico, the deciding game of the season.

Man City take on Everton at Goodison Park knowing that a win would secure a top four finish. Watch Everton v Man City Live with GetSport.TV Everton’s fitness problems continue to ease, with John Heitinga available after a two-match absence with a hamstring problem. Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini are Everton’s only injured senior players. [...]

Stamford Bridge boss needs to win to save his job. Carlo Ancelotti must win Chelsea’s title decider with Manchester United tomorrow or be sacked. The Italian boss will pay the ultimate price for a season without silverware. And that’s despite winning the Double for the first time in the Blues’ 106-year history last term. Ancelotti [...]

American Airlines Pilot James Yates showed up at the Manchester, England airport for the Manchester- to-Chicago flight. Yes he was a little late, and DRUNK! Almost 8 times the legal limit...

Le choc du week-end en Europe est le match entre Manchester United et Chelsea. Les Blues n'ont que trois points de retard sur MU à trois journées de la fin du championnat. En Allemagne, le Bayern Munich veut faire un pas de plus vers la Ligue des champions.

This is the most eagerly-anticipated fixture of the season: a make or break match; a showdown that could decide the Premier League crown.

Post from: Daily Contributor

EPL: Watch Chelsea vs Manchester United Live Online [Live Stream, Preview]

ATA Retail Services is hiring for permanent, very part time merchandising position to service the "general merchandise" items that hang on clipstrips & j-hooks in the supermarkets in Alexandria & Franconia, VA

The route will include the following store:

Store # store freq Address
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* Computer with internet access.
* Have 1-2 mornings available during the M-F work week, every 14 days.
* You should live within these areas listed
* $.38 mile (after 20 miles- round trip)
* HOURLY RATE: $10.50. While hours are not guaranteed, you will typically get around 9-12hrs wkly (MORE HOURS ARE REQUIRED IN THE BEGINNING)! Average time in a store is approx 2 hours.

For immediate consideration, apply online at:
http://www.ataretail.com/home/
Use the 4-DIGIT JOB # 7831

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Naim Flatcap XS , As new condition, (only 2 yrs old). Comes with all accessaries with Naim boxed packaging.... Absolutely perfect example and an impressive upgrade Naim Players... http://www.flickr.com/photos/53623731@N04/5695455922/in/photostream Retails new £760.00 £400.00 BARGAIN PRICE! Buyer is welcome to collect from my home Greater Manchester M35--- Delivery can be arranged tracked service £20 at buyers cost. Interested buyers pm me here m.fullen@sky.com Thank you.

As the Queen starts making her own Windsor wine, the industry enjoys a record year

✒ It's been a tremendous year for English wine with our vineyards producing an amazing 4m bottles, a record. And it turns out that the Queen is going to start making her own wine at Windsor, though you won't be able to buy it for three years and will, of course, have to wear a ridiculous hat while drinking it.

I popped along to English wine's annual show this week and tried as many as I could without falling down. The days when a French vigneron could say to me "yurr English wine, eet tastes of rain" are long gone, and some of the sparklers are now quite exceptional – far better than champagnes selling at the same £20-24 mark. In fact, some, such as Camel Valley, Ridgeview and Nyetimber, strike me as being just as good as the premium brands from famous names being sold to footballers and rock stars for more than £100 in shops and at even sillier prices in clubs and restaurants.

It's a matter of prestige. People still feel that for really special occasions, the wine must have the word "champagne" on the label. Soon, however, I'm sure people will say: "We're laying this aside for our daughter's engagement; it's from Cornwall…"

✒ I really enjoyed the royal wedding. I know most people didn't – the viewing figures were comfortably less than half the population – but I saw no point in leaving the country as some did. You could always keep the telly switched off.

But here are the seven worst things about it, aspects of the event that were actually quite annoying:

• Tony Blair and Gordon Brown not being invited. Whether Blair "cashed in" on Princess Diana's death (he didn't), or because Cherie refused to curtsey, or because Blair's memoirs said too much about his dealings with the royals, the snub was to all of us and to democracy. And it gave what should have been a national celebration a nasty, class-bound, party political tinge.

• Beatrice's fascinator, or "repulser" as it should have been called. As if Medusa had gone to Nicky Clarke.

• The fly-past. A miserable six planes! A real, eardrum-rattling, fly-past would have looked like an RAF raid on Schwenningen.

• Prince Harry's speech. Obviously we only have press reports, but a proper, traditional best man's speech would have been packed with disgusting jokes and filthy allusions to the groom's previous girlfriends. That is Prince Harry's role in life and he let us all down.

• John Rutter's specially composed anthem. Sounded like Coldplay.

• Elton John's hissy fit when he asked to be moved to a more prominent seat. Calm down, dear, as we say these days.

• The kiss. Call that a kiss? A bit of tongue, please, Will.

✒ Why does the BBC insist on calling the soldiers and police employed by various tyrants in the Middle East and north Africa "security forces"? For example: "In Syria, security forces are said to have killed up to 60 demonstrators…" Security is the last thing these people provide. The Beeb wouldn't say: "A bomb planted by IRA freedom fighters has caused at least 10 deaths…" Just say, "government troops".

✒ I've been watching some of the host of new cop shows on TV. (The BBC says it has scrubbed Zen because it wants more women detectives. Well, many of the women I know think that Rufus Sewell is quite all right to be going to on with. You might as well say: "Men aren't interested in watching Scarlett Johansson. They want to see burly chaps pouting on TV…")

The new crop of women detectives are real people, damaged and with problems. If they get on well with their male deputies, then they have a terrible relationship with their male superiors. As my colleagues in the Guardian have pointed out, the more realistic the cops, the more fanciful and improbable the murders. And the cliches remain the same, whether in Vera, Lewis or Case Sensitive.

Here are some more recent ones I've spotted: the first murder is usually the weirdest and is unexplained at the end. Any group of children having a boisterous outing will always stumble on a body. All mobile phone calls come at the worst possible moment. When the sidekick searches for a crucial clue on the internet, he invariably finds it immediately, usually with a cry of "bingo, boss!"

✒ Labels and notices, continued: Suzan Carter bought a pack of "whole almonds" from Sainsbury's: "allergy advice – contains nuts". David Voas also went to Sainsbury's, for a steak. The label gives instructions for cooking rare: "2 ½ to 4 minutes each side… Always check that the product is cooked throughout, and no pink colour remains." Thanks, paranoid lawyers!

Les Herbert bought some fish in his local posh supermarket, the one that pushes up house prices by just existing: "plaice fillets in a bespoke Waitrose crumb". A bespoke crumb? Sounds like a very annoying tailor's assistant in Jermyn Street.

Vic McLellan photographed a sign mounted on a fence by a stream near his home: "Kew Angling Society. Strictly No Fishing."

A reader who requested anonymity to spare his wife encloses a leaflet for the Estring brand vaginal ring, used to replace oestrogen for post-menopausal women: "The Estring vaginal ring is not recommended for use in children," it says. Into what bizarre mind could that warning have wandered?

Linda Paramor bought some limnanthes seeds for her garden. "Handy tip," it says on the packet, "plant carefully as they can be evasive." I love the idea of the flowers coyly hiding when anyone tries to admire them.

I didn't love the leaflet that came with Dick Tuckey's penicillin prescription: "Unwanted side effects can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and black hairy tongue." No, please!

✒ David Scott startled me with a tale of a merciful guard on, of all services, Virgin. He was on a London to Manchester train sitting near two Norwegian tourists. One of them said he had lost his ticket and the ticket inspector let him off! "I won't tell you which train it was," David says, "because he would be sacked."

David Luiz simply refuses to let his limited grasp of English dampen his efforts to make viewers of Chelsea TV laugh. Sure, you could argue that his wacky hair is more than enough to do that job at any given moment, but, as he's proven on the pitch, he's eager to go that extra mile.

First, we saw David try to make Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres bust up during a post-match interview with his emphatic listening skills. Now, we see David trotting in during Gigi Salmon's training ground report and doing an exaggerated, but still completely silent, impression of her. Poor Gigi goes through her whole report without realizing what Luiz is doing behind her before he finally walks past her and gives her a cheeky glance over his shoulder.

According to John Terry, David doesn't just do this kind of thing on camera -- he also does it while his teammates talk to their significant others on the phone, following them around like a little kid as they try to escape his mute mocking.

Luiz has already proven his ability to annoy Manchester United once this season, but doing this to Wayne Rooney during the match could also prove effective.

Thanks to @thetreqartista for sharing!

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti feels Manchester United remain favourites going into tomorrow's game.

Ancelotti was cautious about declaring three points this weekend, which would put them top on goal difference with two games remaining, would have the same effect.

He said: "They are favourites as they have three points more.

"If we are able to win, nothing is decided. If they win, they will win the title."

Indeed, Ancelotti warned that United - who this week reached the Champions League final - were a different prospect this season to last.

Ferguson's side were then without the injured Wayne Rooney, who has tormented Chelsea at times this term.

Ancelotti revealed he would not man mark the England striker, saying: "His position is not so easy to control, he moves a lot, comes back and works for the team.

"But obviously we have to do something against him to control him.

"We never put one player against him. It'll be important to stay compact."

 

Click here for the No1 coverage of all the gossip and transfer news around Chelsea.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has hit out at those critics who wrote them off earlier this season.

The Blues can go top with victory at Manchester United tomorrow.

"You thought that this season was no good and now you have this opportunity," he said.

"This season has not gone as everyone suggested. Everyone said that during the season.

"This team is still alive. This means that these players have very good character, personality, are very professional. After the defeat against United, it was not easy to move on and turn. But they had a fantastic reaction."

He refused to discuss what the result of Sunday's game could mean to his own future but did admit giving up hope of catching United when Chelsea were languishing outside the top four.

"Nobody thought we would be able to fight," he said. "We spoke about getting qualified for the Champions League."

Asked if winning the title from so far behind would be his greatest achievement, he said: "I don't know.

"This season was totally different compared to the other seasons.

"I've never had the possibility to close this gap, as we did this year.

"If we were able to win, I don't know, it would be fantastic."

 

Click here for the No1 coverage of all the gossip and transfer news around Chelsea.

'Mujahideen' gets 1½ years for having body armor Journal Inquirer Waheed Islam of Manchester may have made himself a subject of lively suspicion — first among law enforcement personnel and later among the public — by describing himself as a “mujahideen” in a 2008 letter in which he offered to get a ... Connecticut Felon Sentenced for Illegal Purchase and Possession of Body Armor7thSpace Interactive (press release) 18-Month Sentence for Convict Who Bought Body ArmorNBC Connecticut Manchester Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Illegal Purchase ...Patch.com Hartford Courant -The Republic all 25 news articles »

Slash tickets Manchester : M12 6AP on 2011-07-21

HAUNTED GRAFFITI Manchester : Manchester Academy 3 on 2011-05-18

Forever Never Manchester : M1 1JG on 2011-05-17

Welcome to El Climactico, the deciding game of the season, as Sir Alex Ferguson chases a record 19th league title.

For Carlo Ancelotti, there is no point going to "war" with other managers.

AC Milan has not celebrated winning the Italian Serie A since 2004.

Since then, their hated rivals, Inter Milan, have won five Scudettos—all coming in the last five seasons. As a diehard Milanista, its getting really annoying watching the only team I hate as much as the Montreal Canadiens celebrating all the time.

Inter's reign of terror at the top is set to end in the coming weeks, or hours.

The Scudetto is prepared to cross the Stadio Guiseppe Meazza back to the Curva Sud from the evil Curva Nord part of the stadium. Milan lead their city and stadium rivals by eight points with only three matches to play.

When Milan travel to the capital to play AS Roma on Saturday, a draw will do. Two chances remain after Saturday with a home match against Cagliari followed by a challenging away fixture at Udinese.

Its been an exciting season for the Diavoli. It started in the summer when in the span of four days, Milan welcomed to the club two of the world's premier goal scorers in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho.

After dropping five points from their first three matches, Milan turned on the style, currently boasting 23 wins, eight draws, and four losses in the league. They have only lost once since the winter recess, that loss coming in April against Palermo.

Most notable for Milan is the domination over their city rivals. In November, Milan got their hardest fought victory. In the first Milan Derby of the season, the Rossoneri led 1-0 from an Ibrahimovic spot kick in the fourth minute, but were reduced to 10 men in the 60th when Abate got into a heated row with Goran Pandev, picking up a second yellow.

Milan threw the entire team behind the ball and defended valiantly for a 1-0 victory, the first over Inter since 2008. In the second match in April, the Rossoneri dominated from the start, scoring through Pato 45 seconds in and ending Inter's pain at 3-0.

Milan have rarely faltered in the league this year. They find goals at the opportune moment through all of their elite goal scorers.

Most important has been Milan's defense. Led by standout defenders Thiago Silva and Ignazio Abate, as well as the incredible goalkeeping of Christian Abbiati, Milan have allowed only 23 goals in 35 matches, a mark that is 10 goals better than fourth place Lazio who have given up second fewest. Combined with the attack's second-best 61 goals (one behind Inter), Milan have a +38 goal difference, which is most closely rivaled by Inter at +23.

Few had faith that Milan could win under new manager Massimiliano Allegri, who joined after being let go from his post at Cagliari. In just his third season as a manager in Serie A, the 43-year old manager has certainly earned himself a nice bonus for the work he has done.

Many critics worried how Allegri would not only implement each of his star strikers, but how he would deal with the many egos of the club. Its well known that Milan have many characters on their team, but Allegri has handled the likes of Pato, Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Antonio Cassano and Gennaro Gattuso among others brilliantly.

While all the talk now is around Milan's imminent title victory, they also remain in Coppa Italia. They are in the Semifinals, deadlocked at 2-2 with Palermo for a spot in the Final. Palermo hold the edge with their two away goals, but Milan will be hungry in the return leg on Tuesday. Excitingly, there is a potential Derby Final awaiting. Inter lead Roma 1-0 after one leg with the second on Wednesday.

The only negative is the early (by Milan standards) exit from the Champions League, where Milan were knocked out by Tottenham 1-0 on aggregate in the Last 16. It was the third time in four years (the only three years Milan have been in the UCL in that time) that Milan were knocked out in the Last 16 by an English side, losing to Arsenal in 08, Manchester United last season, and now Spurs.

Milan fans are anticipating next season, as CEO Adriano Galliani has promised to build a Champions League winning squad in the summer. Milan are looking to win the famed tournament for the first time since 2007 and a second-best eighth time overall.

Win, lose, or draw on Saturday, it appears imminent that Milan will lift the Scudetto this season. Time to put that champagne on ice Milanista!

Barcelona, in their own sly way have downplayed the 'favourites' tag.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Manchester police close off sections of the city's West Side after they say an armed person pointed a gun at officers. Friday, May 6, 2011.

Apparently, FEMEN‘s partitular form of protest is infectious. At least, it has inspired this group of models in Manchester, UK, who have gone shirtless and body-painted to support British troops:

I’m not sure which is more distracting, their nudity or their stage names. Nonetheless, a trend worth noting.

Author: Tom Megginson

Just arrived in Massachusetts after two days in the mountains of Vermont. I'd never been to the state before. What a beautiful place.

NH-Manchester, Job Description: Adecco is offering a TREMENDOUS opportunity for a machine shop apprentice. Candidate will be taught to will run machines, perform deburring, move materials and learn machine setup. Candidate should be eager to learn, enthusiastic about learning a trade. Candidate should have a minimum of 6 months experience work experience in a machine shop. This is a daytime position, 12 hour day

Jamie Redknapp answers the big questions ahead of Sunday's crucial Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford.

The Italian has seen enough big games and dealt with enough demanding owners not to be fazed by Sunday's showdown

A man as well balanced as Carlo Ancelotti has no business being a football manager. Certainly not in England's Premier League, where managers are expected to argue among themselves and snipe at referees as a matter of routine.

Not Ancelotti. Even approaching a weekend such as this, when he takes his Chelsea squad to Old Trafford on Sunday knowing that a win would put them level with Sir Alex Ferguson's team at the top of the table, nothing shakes his equilibrium or disrupts his air of knowing geniality as he wanders in from the Surrey sunshine after a training session to ponder on the problem of Wayne Rooney or to praise the match referee, Howard Webb. Not even the knowledge that his destiny is under discussion in two countries.

His team, fresh from winning the Double, started the new season with a rush. But the winter months saw a six-point lead transformed into a deficit of 15 points to Manchester United, the new leaders. And until the west London side climbed out of their mid-season slump, putting together 11 wins in their past 14 matches, the man who arrived in England two summers ago appeared to be heading for the exit.

Had Chelsea's season continued to disintegrate, the turning points would have seemed obvious. The first was the abrupt and unexplained dismissal in November of Ray Wilkins, Ancelotti's No2, an old friend of whom he said: "We wouldn't have won a thing without him." The second was the appearance in January of Fernando Torres, a £50m striker whose arrival forced Ancelotti to modify his preferred formation and who took 10 games to score his first goal.

The whims of powerful men, however, are nothing new to Ancelotti, whether they be Gianni Agnelli, Silvio Berlusconi or Roman Abramovich, and from his present vantage point he can argue that the real turning points were quite different.

"Manchester United against Arsenal last Sunday, and our win against Tottenham," he said. "If Arsenal hadn't won, it would be a different atmosphere around our game against United." Another one, he said, had come last month at the Hawthorns, just after their Champions League elimination, when West Brom scored first but Chelsea fought back to win.

On Friday he received the manager of the month award – "for April," he emphasised, implying that the fates should not be tempted. But no one knows whether a second league title, or even a near-miss, combined with a second consecutive failure to progress beyond the last eight of the Champions League, would be enough to persuade Abramovich to allow him another year at Stamford Bridge.

"It's not the moment to speak about my future," he said. "I would like to stay, but I am very quiet and calm. At the end of the season, the club will take the decision. If they decide to change the manager there is no problem. I've tried to do my best. If they consider my job good, I will stay. If they don't, they can change."

The unexpected turnaround of the past couple of months will have done his claims little harm. "Nobody thought we would be able to fight for the title," he said. "We were talking about qualifying for the Champions League. Fifteen points behind United was too much of a gap, but we closed it because we did really well for two months. Last year we built up a very good relationship with the players, and this atmosphere helped us to maintain good control of our confidence."

He has a perfect record – three wins out of three – against Ferguson in league matches and last year, after the victory at Old Trafford that took Chelsea to the brink of the title, he and Wilkins went into Ferguson's office for a glass of wine, only to find the United manager preoccupied by the racing on television. That match represented United's last defeat at home.

"I know," Ancelotti said. "Thirty matches, only one draw. Obviously they are the favourites as they have three points more. If they win, they will win the title. If we are able to win, then goal difference becomes important, and we have very difficult games against Newcastle and Everton, so nothing would be decided. But it would be important to be at the top of the table, after such a long time."

He spoke of the threat of Rooney and of Ryan Giggs, whose passes destroyed Chelsea in the two Champions League ties last month. But mostly that of Rooney. "He is a key player for them. It's difficult to stop him. His position is not so easy to control – he moves a lot, he comes back and works for the team. Obviously we have to do something. We never put one player against him, because it means changing our philosophy too much and we want to play our football. But it will be important to stay compact and keep our midfielders' and defenders' lines very close."

There has been one definite change of policy during the season. At Abramovich's behest, and with the forthcoming rules on financial fairness in mind, a group of young players – Daniel Sturridge, Gaël Kakuta, Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt and Josh McEachran – were among the substitutes during the first half of the season but have not been seen in the side in recent weeks.

"When we decided at the start of the season to use more players from the academy, it was a good decision," Ancelotti said. "We began really well, we were top and some of them played, although not many games. But when we had a difficult moment it was not easy to give them that responsibility. So we gave some the chance to go out on loan in January. We will decide at the end of the season if they come back or not."

Whether or not he will be around to influence those decisions, Ancelotti is intent on making the best of the last weeks of his very mixed second season. "Our bad moment was too long, I think. We could have done better. But now destiny has helped us to fight for the title again. We are excited and very happy. The season has not gone, as everyone suggested. This team is still alive."

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti feels Manchester United remain favourites going into tomorrow's game.

Ancelotti was cautious about declaring three points this weekend, which would put them top on goal difference with two games remaining, would have the same effect.

He said: "They are favourites as they have three points more.

"If we are able to win, nothing is decided. If they win, they will win the title."

Indeed, Ancelotti warned that United - who this week reached the Champions League final - were a different prospect this season to last.

Ferguson's side were then without the injured Wayne Rooney, who has tormented Chelsea at times this term.

Ancelotti revealed he would not man mark the England striker, saying: "His position is not so easy to control, he moves a lot, comes back and works for the team.

"But obviously we have to do something against him to control him.

"We never put one player against him. It'll be important to stay compact."

 

Click here for the No1 coverage of all the gossip and transfer news around Chelsea.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has hit out at those critics who wrote them off earlier this season.

The Blues can go top with victory at Manchester United tomorrow.

"You thought that this season was no good and now you have this opportunity," he said.

"This season has not gone as everyone suggested. Everyone said that during the season.

"This team is still alive. This means that these players have very good character, personality, are very professional. After the defeat against United, it was not easy to move on and turn. But they had a fantastic reaction."

He refused to discuss what the result of Sunday's game could mean to his own future but did admit giving up hope of catching United when Chelsea were languishing outside the top four.

"Nobody thought we would be able to fight," he said. "We spoke about getting qualified for the Champions League."

Asked if winning the title from so far behind would be his greatest achievement, he said: "I don't know.

"This season was totally different compared to the other seasons.

"I've never had the possibility to close this gap, as we did this year.

"If we were able to win, I don't know, it would be fantastic."

 

Click here for the No1 coverage of all the gossip and transfer news around Chelsea.

Connecticut Felon Sentenced for Illegal Purchase and Possession of Body Armor 7thSpace Interactive (press release) David B Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that WAHEED ISLAM, also known as “Walter Missouri, Jr,” 43, of Seaman Circle, Manchester, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert N Chatigny in Hartford ... 18-Month Sentence for Convict Who Bought Body ArmorNBC Connecticut Manchester Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Illegal Purchase ...Patch.com Manchester Man Gets 18 Months For Possession Of Bullet-Proof VestHartford Courant The Republic all 24 news articles »

Headstones from Manchester and Sheffield. Just a few images of the images I have taken of the Genera

Kasabian tickets Manchester : M12 6AP on 2011-06-08

Devlin Manchester : M13 9PR on 2011-05-16

Anthems Manchester : M2 3WS on 2011-05-16

11 year old James was one of the stand out acts that tried out for Britain’s Got Talent in Manchester and his audition is due to air on tonight’s episode. The schoolboy will be seen on the ITV show, confiding in the judges that his mother’s suggestion that he take up dancing as a hobby, [...]

View the original post Britain’s Got Talent 2011: Austistic James Hobley moves from Got To Dance to BGT on Unreality TV

Manchester United’s home shirt for the 2011-12 season will be available for pre-order on Sunday, May 8 and is pictured above, according to a leaked photograph found on the Internet. For the 2011-12 season, Manchester United will continue wearing...

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ROBERTO MANCINI has warned Man City's owner he will have to spend big again

TERRY VENABLES answers the key questions ahead of the Prem title crunch

Fourth Goal. Anderson
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Categories: Sports

Hull City boss Nigel Pearson hopes to finalise a £300,000 deal for Manchester United left back Joe Dudgeon, 20, on Monday. United are interested in Racing Genk goalkeeper Thibault Courtois.

Roberto Mancini believes ending a 35-year trophy drought could turn Manchester City into authentic Barclays Premier League title contenders next season. The City manager backed his side to hold their nerve.

The irony will not be lost on Manchester City supporters. After spending two years dreaming of the Champions League, the game that could secure their entry into football’s promised land sees them face up to the man from their nightmares.

Manchester United have won all three games in which Webb has refereed them this season. Chelsea have won only one of three. These statistics will be known by the Yorkshire referee.

Sir Alex Ferguson fears one poor refereeing decision could cost Manchester United a record 19th title and hand the championship to Chelsea.

Ahead of Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford, the question facing Sir Alex Ferguson, one that might yet give him another sleepless night, is how ambitious he is when it comes to picking his next team.

London International Documentary Festival

Two weeks, over 130 films and countless events and appearances, the nation's biggest factual film event gives you plenty to chew on – too much for any one mouth but whether it's Finnish saunas, morris dancing or Middle East politics, there's something for you here. Many key films assess influential individuals. Asif Kapadia's new Ayrton Senna film opens proceedings; Steven Soderbergh remembers Spalding Grey and Martin Scorsese honours Elia Kazan; Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano's threatened lifestyle is detailed; and Playboy's Hugh Hefner is recast as a liberal crusader – nothing to talk about there then.

Various venues, Fri to 28 May

Fire In Babylon & From The Ashes, Nationwide

Cricket is hardly underrepresented on the nation's airwaves, but for those who'd prefer a little bit of history to go with the hours of live coverage, you've got an enticing documentary double bill this month. From The Ashes remembers England's tumultuous 1981 Ashes campaign, while the earlier rise of the West Indies as a cricketing force is charted in Fire In Babylon. These special preview screenings are augmented by satellite Q&As; with those who were there. For the home team, Ian Botham, Bob Willis and Dickie Bird (Tue), and for the visitors, Viv Richards and the makers of Fire In Babylon (Thu, and Wed at the BFI Southbank).

Picturehouse cinemas; BFI Southbank, SE1, Tue to Thu

Contemporary Arab And Maghrebi Cinema, Manchester

Events have been so momentous and fast-moving this year, it's difficult for an outsider to get a handle on the Arab spring. But here's one place to start: a brief tour of the film-makers and modes of expression that could one day be brought to bear on the stories currently unfolding. Rachid Bouchareb's grandly scaled, controversy-sparking Algerian independence drama Outside The Law is the tentpole release, and it's joined by smaller films touching on regional issues, from immigration to Europe to Israeli-Palestinian relations, but also less political questions of family and identity.

Cornerhouse, Tue to 7 Jun

All Tomorrow's Parties, Minehead

Animal Collective's musical lineup for their ATP weekender is pretty impressive, but their film selection is even more so. You could well be lured away from the likes of Kurt Vile And The Violators by the free cinema, screening such cult gems as Andrzej Zulawski's extreme relationship onslaught Possession, or that cheery festival favourite Don't Look Now. They've dug out some choice oddities from Japan (including unbelievably kitsch horror Hausu) and Australia (Colin Eggleston's outback classic Long Weekend), or if you'd rather stay close to the music, there's a fascinating travelogue of Ethiopian music, not to mention Animal Collective's own psychedelic audio-visual headtrip ODDSAC. Far out, but also quite near.

Butlins Holiday Centre, Fri to 15 May

Sufjan Stevens, On tour

When Sufjan Stevens was last here, his live shows were fantastical affairs with troupes of 50s-style cheerleaders and orchestras wearing butterfly wings. Back then his stock-in-trade was turning the civic histories of unfashionable American states into magical folk-pop songs. However, his 2010 album The Age Of Adz found him feeding his musicians into the shredder, butterfly wings and all, and rearranging their parts in Pro Tools to lend the music an unsettling, hyper-real sound. Who knows how he'll attempt to recreate that sensation live, although, particularly in the case of astonishing 25-minute-long closer Impossible Soul, it'll be fascinating to see him try.

Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Thu & Fri, touring to 19 May

SR

Short Circuit Festial, London

Unlike in rock, pop or hip-hop, where the academically minded are viewed with suspicion, electronica is a genre very much in touch with – if not entirely governed by – its inner nerd. Short Circuit is a three-day festival that blurs the boundaries between gig, nightclub and seminar hall, featuring an impressive range of performers, all generally engaged in applying technology to push music forward. The first day is a showcase for German avant electronic label Raster-Noton, featuring the world premiere of a collaboration between label founder Carsten Nicolai (AKA Alva Noto) and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The other two days are hosted by Mute, which underlines its broad-church approach to electronica by inviting everyone from techno auteur Richie Hawtin to conceptual art-punks the Residents, industrial stalwarts Nitzer Ebb, ragged noise-rockers Liars, and even 80s pop stars Erasure.

Roundhouse, NW1, Thu to 14 May

Sam Richards

Gang Gang Dance, On tour

While Björk has spent the past decade hurtling towards the avant garde in the company of Matthew Barney and assorted Inuit throat singers, Gang Gang Dance have been travelling in roughly the opposite direction. They began as an arty improv noise collective, but over five albums have coalesced into an eclectic unit whose new age impulses are anchored by tribal rhythms and bleeps'n'bass apparently informed by the UK grime scene (Tinchy Stryder even turned up on 2008's Saint Dymphna). Lizzi Bougatsos's breathy melodies make those Björk comparisons unavoidable, although new album Eye Contact actually occupies the kind of kooky cosmopolitan pop territory vacated by Ms Gudmundsdóttir some time ago.

Ruby Lounge, Manchester, Wed; The Great Escape @ Pavilion Theatre, Brighton, Thu; ATP, Butlin's, Minehead, Fri

SR

Reverberations: The Influence Of Steve Reich, London

For all the historical significance of Terry Riley and Philip Glass it was Steve Reich, with his fabulous musical ear and rhythmic acuity, who steered minimalism out of the New York lofts and galleries where it began and into the world's concert halls. If there's a composer whose 75th birthday deserves to be lavishly celebrated, then, it's Reichs, and the Barbican is certainly doing him proud. A weekend of concerts includes six separate programmes featuring not just Reich's own music, some of it new to Britain, but also works by younger composers who admit their debt to him. Performers range from the BBC Symphony to the Kronos Quartet, and the great man himself makes an appearance for his own Clapping Music.

LSO St Luke's, EC1 & Barbican, EC2, Sat & Sun

Andrew Clements

Kyle Eastwood Band, On tour

On his Songs From The Chateau album, bassist-composer Eastwood has shifted back to a more direct and soul-jazzy sound than he adopted on earlier explorations of dance-groove hooks and technology. It's an unpretentiously simple, soul, blues and Latin vehicle, with succinct and punchy tunes that sometimes mirror the economical delivery of Kyle's actor dad, Clint. Some of the music takes on a sensuously sermonising feel, and some of it takes the engaging Graeme Blevins into Sonny Rollins territory, as on the sparky Cafe Calypso. The harmonically smouldering Andalucia, on the other hand – a vehicle for Graeme Flowers's shimmering trumpet – has a Sketches Of Spain undertow. This band aren't staging any jazz revolutions, but are very welcoming for those dipping a toe into the music.

Norwich Playhouse, Mon; The Anvil, Basingstoke, Tue; Concorde Club, Eastleigh, Wed

John Fordham

Twelves, London

Last year they were the Twelves Trio – a jazz threesome exploring byzantine melodic pathways. Now they're just Twelves, and a quartet with the addition of alt-rock guitarist Rob Updegraff. With Updegraff's arrival the band suggests, among many things, Joe Lovano's encounters with John Scofield, with a little of Bill Frisell thrown in. Staccato metallic chord themes alternate with Mark Hanslip's soft sax countermelodies, and guitar/sax unison themes evaporate into drifting improv. On Kerfuffle from their current Adding Machine CD, Hanslip's signature mix of a melodic seamlessness and Wayne Shorter-ish creative hesitancy spins over abrasive guitar, Riaan Vosloo's rock-solid bassline and Tim Giles's lateral snare patterns. They're a band with real vision and the executive powers to match.

Vortex Jazz Club, N16, Wed

JF

Rakim, On tour

Who could forget that immortal couplet: "Me and Eric B and a nice big plate of fish/ Which is my favourite dish"? Besides promoting the healthy benefits of an Omega 3-rich diet, Eric B & Rakim's 1987 album and single Paid In Full marked hip-hop's coming of age. Recorded in less than a week, Eric B's liberal use of 70s funk samples and the smoothly methodical lyrical contributions of Rakim marked it out as a turning point in the genre's evolution. To celebrate this influential album's 25th anniversary, Rakim (now sadly split from Eric B amid royalty wrangles) brings a night of highest quality old-school hip-hop to the UK on his own tour, before joining Mos Def's Black Star and De La Soul for two dates of hip-hop royalty. A fear of flying keeps him from playing here more often, so catch him while you can.

O2 Academy Bristol, Sat; Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, Sun; The Arches, Glasgow, Mon; with Black Star at HMV Hammersmith Apollo, W6, Tue & O2 Apollo Manchester, Wed

John Mitchell

Riffraff, Middlesbrough

Besides a few adventurous nights at The Empire, you couldn't say there was that much cool stuff going on in Middlesbrough's club scene. However, as with most places, scratch beneath the surface and you'll usually find something of worth, like Riffraff's cool house parties, helmed by Paul Bowen and Lee Pennington. They've had Berlin-themed evenings and hosted guests such as Benoit and Sergio, Miguel Campbell and Dyed Soundorom. Tonight's party sees them welcome Secretsundaze as Giles Smith and James Priestley make a rare joint appearance in support of their nomadic session's 10th anniversary.

The Medicine Bar, Corporation Road, Sat

Marc Rowlands

Field Day Night, London

With the eclectically awesome likes of James Blake, Omar Souleyman, Faust, Gruff Rhys, Wild Beasts and Warpaint all lined up for the Field Day festival on 6 Aug, it's fair to say this year's Victoria Park party will be worth a peek at the very least. There's no slouching from the organisers in the run-up to the event either, with tonight's Field Day Night giving a taster of things to come later this summer. DJ Omar-S – not to be confused with the aforementioned Omar, Mr Souleyman – will be playing an exclusive set of his own brand of deep Detroit goodness. Ramadanman collaborator Midland will also be making an appearance, as will Bloggers Delight's Casper C and Skull Juice's Benedict Bull. Further help in counting down the weeks until Field Day proper comes from Huntleys & Palmers and Secret Danger Society, who'll be adding to this squidgy house and "tech-yes" get-together.

XOYO, Cowper Street, EC2, Sat

Leonie Cooper

Highlife, Glasgow

Despite being big in the 1980s, thanks largely to the exposure given by Paul Simon's Graceland, the chances are that the last time you heard any actual South African music was during the World Cup, when it was honking out of the business end of a vuvuzela. Spurred on by the recent global successes of DJ Mujava's Township Funk and MC Okmalumkoolkat's Boomslang, Highlife's dedication to world music brings South African house to the fore at tonight's outing, with special guest Esa making an appearance. Born in Cape Town, Esa moved to Glasgow four years ago and is now a regular deckside presence at several local club nights, recently setting up his own label, Rememory Music. Esa's Sound Of South Africa at Highlife set contains a mix of music from his homeland that rarely gets aired at his usual residencies in the city.

La Cheetah, Queen Street, Sat

Patric Baird

Deptford Dub Club, London

It might sound like the sort of legendary happening that's been running for yonks and yonks, but rather than being as entrenched in SE8 lore as local branches of the WI and Neighbourhood Watch, it transpires that the Deptford Dub Club is a brand-new venture. In spite of this lack of anecdote-riddled musical history, the brains behind the party have picked two legendary talents to get the ball rolling. First up is record producer Adrian Sherwood, who's making the pilgrimage from north to south London to ply the punters with reggae, funk, R&B; and the cream of the Jamaican crop. He'll be followed by the unparalleled Mad Professor, a man who's worked with everyone from Lee Perry and Sly and Robbie to Horace Andy and Massive Attack. With both of tonight's acts boasting second-to-none dub credentials, expect to hear the very best the genre has to offer.

The Albany, Douglas Way, SE8, Sat

LC

It is hardly surprising that the Liberal Democrats were hammered more than the Tories in the council elections. People who voted Tory in the general election were in favour of Tory policies (Lib Dems vent fury at Cameron as party suffers election rout, 6 May). Lib Dem voters had expectations of very different policies. To vote Labour was to vote for quasi-Tory policies, given the record of the previous administrations; to vote Lib Dem or Green seemed the only hope of endorsing policies which would protect the welfare state and support growth in the economy.

Instead, the Lib Dems have connived in the most ferocious attack on the welfare state since its inception. It is as if the 1930s never happened and Keynes never wrote. Voters have a choice of parties offering varieties of the same neo-conservative fallacies, designed to pour tax-payers' money into the pockets of private companies and to transfer wealth from the poor to the rich. There is a desperate need for a party of the left. If Labour would ditch the "New" bit we could have a two-party system that might work.

Hazel Davies

Notre Dame du Bec, France

• Mr Clegg, wake up! As a Lib Dem that has campaigned since the days of Paddy Ashdown, I believed the Lib Dems to be a party of honesty and integrity; that they could have been the answer to the countries' problems. Yet you have let us all down. You have become a mainstream politician with mainstream political views. We need a self-respecting man who stands by his promises and convictions – or give way to a better man. Ditch the Tories, stand for what you believe in and win back our votes.

Philip Chilvers

Thrapston, Northamptonshire

• The results make one thing clear to Liberal Democrats: we cannot rely on coalition success to provide the basis for our general election stance. The Micawber-like optimism of Danny Alexander and others only demonstrates the despair of this position. It is high time to put the party first. We must start work on developing radical, redistributive and left-leaning policies members truly believe in. Continue in coalition, certainly. But Lib Dem ministers should be seen holding their noses in distaste, explaining the sacrifices they are making for the sake of the nation. Like Labour in 1945, Lib Dems can emerge from coalition with an election-winning platform.

Jonathan Hunt

Party First campaign

• The election results confirm what most Lib Dems knew: although it was right to enter the coalition it was wrong to give ground on so much right-wing ideology. Sadly, David Cameron has twisted Nick Clegg round his little finger and, as a result, Clegg has done more harm to centre-left politics than anyone since David Owen. What we need to do now is clear: 1) Plan for an orderly withdrawal from the coalition in about 12 months' time. 2) Then hold a leadership election – Clegg can stand again if he wants to. 3) Face a general election with some vestige of integrity restored.

Cllr Peter Balaam

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

• For the past few months Manchester has been singled out for crude and targeted attacks from coalition leaders and ministers. We had everything thrown at us, from made-up figures about our finances to imaginary posts in the town hall, like a "twitter tsar". We were accused of treating Manchester as a political laboratory so that we could force through political cuts to embarrass the government. Manchester has now spoken. In a historical sweep of candidates all Liberal Democrat councillors up for election were swept away for these deceits. Manchester is not just a Tory-free zone; we are now heading towards a Lib Dem-free zone.

Cllr Pat Karney

Manchester Labour Group

• While some Lib Dems are questioning Clegg's leadership, the big issue for Labour is what to do about the directionless and passionless Labour leadership. How could Labour have fared so badly in the context of severe cuts and services and the plainly grim and incompetent Tories? Miliband has failed to offer a coherent challenge to the ConDems and he has done a very poor job in opposition. He and the Labour party have more to learn than anyone following the local elections. He is just not up to the job.

Norman Hanson

Bingham, Nottinghamshire

• Martin Kettle pinpoint's "Labour's infinitely stubborn tribalist tendency" (Comment, 6 May), a tendency to which I am proud to belong. The Labour movement's work is far from complete. The poor and the powerless are not only still with us, the agonies of many of their young – driven to drugs, alcohol, obesity by the demoralising culture in which they live – are dismissed by our Victorian government as being self-inflicted. Our stubborn tendency will not rest till we have made a society where the young don't turn to drugs for escape, where self-styled liberal democrats don't prop up brutalising ideologies out of vanity, and where irreversible changes make a better land. Only my No vote to AV could ensure we don't have to suck up to anyone for a second-place, diluting our courage, tenacity, hope and vision.

Dr Ian Flintoff

Oxford

• How appropriate that Paddy Ashdown laments it will "never again be glad confident morning". His quote is, of course, from that fine poem The Lost Leader in which Robert Browning decries Wordsworth's desertion of liberal causes and his selling-out to the Tory establishment and values ("Just for a handful of silver he left us,/ Just for a riband to stick in his coat..."). Those of us on the left would advise the Lib Dems to return to their radical roots and abandon the coalition before further damage is done to them and the majority of people in Britain.

George McLean

Manchester

MIT SENSEable City Lab: Borderline

The Data Dimension at FutureEverything 2011 (Manchester, UK) features an eclectic mix of design and art projects which gesture towards a data-driven culture. The first microscope was designed by Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). The microscope, like the telescope, revealed entirely new worlds, at scales impossible for humans to perceive. Today, like their predecessor, scientists, artists, academics and amateurs, re-purpose, extend, and invent new technologies to observe and comprehend the things no one has seen or understood before. This not only reveals a previously unimagined realm, more than this it constructs a new reality, giving shape and life to a new dimension. The artworks featured in The Data Dimension are an example of the type of experiments taking place. They are spyglasses to study the microscopic, immaterial and infinitely complex. This is about illuminating a future, and creating a new perspective, on a world that is only beginning to emerge. The Data Dimension presents a selection of these Digital Microscopes; artworks that nurture new insights into the invisible infrastructures that make up our world. Here designers and artists visualise the invisible layer of complex data that surrounds our daily lives, making data come alive.
Nicholas Felton

Before we can do anything with data, we first need to gather the information. The devices and applications we daily use automatically capture data on the electronic interactions in our everyday lives. Some people voluntarily record everyday data, in some cases as a performative act, recording their daily routines and habits. One such data obsessive is Nicholas Felton, whose Annual Reports transform the minutiae of his daily interactions into graphic design. Seemingly mundane happenings such as his conversations with friends accumulate over time to reveal startling new dimensions on the everyday. Felton has released an app, Daytum, which enables all of us to similarly become hoarders of the everyday and to discover new dimensions on our own lives. New social realities emerge through capturing and making sense of everyday data. How do we come to know, or see, or experience something which has no physical form? To make sense of it we need to turn it into something we can understand. One way to do this is through visualisation. To visualise is to give form to something not yet known as a visual image; to turn it into something we can make sense of with sight. A commissioned artwork, FlavourCollider by Marcos Lutyens, gives visual form to the sense of taste. Located in a bar within the art space, users drink cocktails while wearing a EEG headset and their brain activity is translated into a real-time visualisation. The work explores the neurological condition of synesthesia, and the connection between taste and shape.
reMap from Bestario

Complexity is the consequence of our increased capacity to measure more accurately the world around us. The more we discover, the more complex the world becomes. reMap from Bestario, is a meta-visualisation; a visualisation of visualisations and, as such, serves as an excellent introduction to this domain. Curated by Manual Lima, this is a comprehensive review of visualisation projects that relate to complex systems. Bestiario pushes forward the technical display of world class data visualizations and allows audiences to instinctively search a huge database of visualizations using tags and keywords, allowing navigation using a semantic approach and depicting relations among them. This brings to life the way it is possible to search and navigate the new data domains. A regular collaborator in FutureEverything, Aaron Koblin, now heads the Google Data Arts department. Search is also an issue for the media industries and the BBC. Bill Thompson is part of a team working on the BBC Archive and building a Digital Public Space. Increasingly, we need more innovative ways with which to navigate this data terrain. BBC Data Art for example offer a glimpse of the future of television. We are still in search era, in which we are all just looking for things. A trio of projects, Political Atmospherics, NewsTraces and TV Related Content: News 24 suggest that in the future, we will have more systems that will do more for us, in ways that we can't yet comprehend. Berg, with Timo Arnall and Dentsu London, document real-time material representations that grow from an originating data source in Making Future Magic. This is a video sketch of an inventive technique for creating three-dimensional forms in light by moving an iPad through space. It is one of a series of experiments in giving tangible form to 'Immaterials' (Matt Jones), formless dimensions in our daily environments such as data and wifi clouds. The data dimension is immaterial, it affects everything, and yet we cannot reach out and touch it. Its physical reality is in the server farms, vast rooms full of computers hosting the data and applications. We make sense of it through metaphors such as the cloud, the domain of remote services and applications we access from any point in space. By transposing it from the confines of the screen and into the physical world, focus is drawn to the materiality of the data itself.
Nathalie Miebach

There is potential for us to do more than simply paint space with data. Art works include Form Follows Data, a data sculpture project in which Iohanna Pani presents her quantified self and her domestic encounters in the form of everyday objects, such as a cup which physically reflects the volume consumed each day, making tangible the language of personal statistical data. Capturing obscure weather data using very simple data-collecting devices and transforming it into abstract sculptures, Nathalie Miebach creates intricate wall pieces that function both as musical scores and weather almanacs. In Food of Art, Nadeem Haidary conducts data analytics on still life paintings, analysing twelve masterpieces for their nutritional content, breaking down food values from Frans Snyders' 39,851 calorie feast to Vincent Van Gogh's four meager onions. Presenting a witty analogue take on digital metrics in physical space, Hit Counter by Zach Gage is an interactive piece which narcissistically counts its own visitors and proudly presents this number as the art work itself.
Kevin MacDonald

New forms of narrative and personalisation are also possible. Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin's groundbreaking music video experiment for Arcade Fire, The Wilderness Downtown, shows a user her childhood streets after submitting postcode data. Search and mass participation strike a deeply cinematic note in a preview of 'The YouTube movie', a Kevin MacDonald directed feature film Life In A Day, edited together using thousands of YouTube clips uploaded in a single day, July 24, 2011. From intimate moments of personal experience, to vast themes of birth and death, an epic self-portrait emerges via mass participation, as editor Joe Walker creates a kaleidoscopic compilation from 4,500 hours of footage in 80,000 submissions from 140 nations. Upon viewing Borderline, from MIT SENSEable City Labs, we realise that lines on a map are in fact meaningful connections — a multitude of human interactions, unfolding before you in real time. Borderline redraws the map of Great Britain based on the complexity of billions of human connections, and asks if regional boundaries defined by governments respect the more natural ways that people interact across space. It reveals for instance that the effects of a possible secession of Wales from Great Britain would be twice as disruptive for the human network as that of Scotland.
Iohanna Pani

The Data Dimension also imagines a future beyond the computer screen. In the Media Surfaces video sketch, Berg present data in physical context. Travellers in a train station are able to interact with a panoply of screens and smart surfaces reflect our data back to us. Here, we imagine the built environment as interface, in what could be described as a form of data signage. A useful analogy to help explain this idea is to think of the world as a computer, with these signs playing the same role icons or menus do on a computer desktop, indicating objects and their operations; a graphical user interface for interaction with the world. Combine this characteristic with innovation in touch-screen display, which includes 'shape-memory' layers that when activated lend the displayed image physical texture. It is possible to imagine a future where data really is without boundaries and it shapes the physical world around us. Dr. Drew Hemment is an artist, curator and writer based in Manchester England. He is Founder and Director of FutureEverything (formerly Futuresonic, est. 1995), and is Associate Director of ImaginationLancaster at Lancaster University. Winner of the Lever Prize 2010, Shortlisted for the Big Chip International Award for Innovation 2010 and the Arts & Business Award 2010, Runner Up Lever Prize 2009, Honorary Mention for Director at Prix Ars Electronica 2008. His work has been covered prominently by New York Times, BBC and NBC, and he has served on many prominent international Art Juries including UNESCO DigiArts. In 1999, awarded a PhD at Lancaster University, in 2009 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (UK), and in 2010 an Eyebeam resident (USA).

Kevin Smith is an academic at HighWire, Lancaster University. His research focuses on the concept of Adaptive Signs- an entity that signifies the change in state of another entity by adapting accordingly. His research sits at the intersection of Information Design, Data Visualisation, Context Aware Computing and Organic User Interfaces.