Sometimes the mark of a good meeting or debate is that you emerge with more uncertainty than when you arrived. SCIP Digital Inclusion event hosted by NixonMcInnes and WiredSussex last evening on the Labour Conference fringe certainly left me with more questions than answers. There was a clear view of what digital exclusion is from …
SCIP Digital Inclusion Event at Labour Conference Read More »
A couple of delegates at Labour Conference have asked for some food, drink and fun suggestions for when they’re down in our great city-by-the-sea. And as a special service to them, here are some places that I really like and can honestly recommend. Places that you might not naturally stumble on as a visitor in …
I don’t head down to Brighton seafront enough on Saturday nights. But a few weeks back I did enjoy a drink at the Fortune of War and I was totally amused by these flyers that some chaps on a stag do were giving out. Essentially: spot the groom and claim a pint. A fun idea …
Overheard. Two slightly eccentric gents order a round of drinks at the bar of a Brighton boozer not far from the station. Their change includes a five pound note. Vladimir: That’s the second one today. Estragon: What? V: (triumphantly) A fiver! E: (very seriously) They’re like gold dust. V: I know. It’s always good to …
Backstreet boozer not far from the sea, sunny Sunday evening. A flame haired, ill-tempered 30-something woman approaches the bar. She has enjoyed a few scoops. And I don’t mean ice cream. Her: (Rudely) What wine have you got? Barman: Red or white, madam? Her: White. (As if he should have known that) No Chilean. I’m …
I live a stone’s throw from Brighton’s oldest church, St Nicholas’s. So I felt an urge to attend the funeral of Henry Allingham, one of the last veterans of World War 1. Many hundreds of people were there too. It was a moving occasion, even outside the church. Sombre certainly and all the time you …
It’s a lot of fuss over a single seat on a city council. But the Green victory in Goldsmid offers a lens on the politics of this City-by-the-Sea. A Labour gain in Goldsmid was always a big ask in the current climate but then again a Tory hold was hardly a dead cert (the previous …
The Great Escape is an annual music festival held in Brighton. It’s not really like a festival (in the sense of Glastonbury) because it’s not communal: we all go elsewhere to shit, shower and shag*. The City doesn’t really notice The Great Escape is happening. I think of it as an un-festival. All us Great …
The Great Escape Festival 2009, Brighton. Day 1. Read More »
Peaceful protest is a British right we cherish. That’s why protesters were allowed the freedom of the city I live in yesterday. Marching, demonstration, even disruption to traffic is justifiable. We saw bottles and cans thrown at police, paint splashed on public and private property, protesters damaged homes, business premises and, most egregiously, they damaged …
‘Smash EDO”s Brighton Smash: Rights without responsibilities Read More »
Do you remember the hyperbole that estate agents used to pop through the door? Times have changed. This amused. Translate as: “People keep saying the housing market has collapsed. It’s not true, we’ve actually sold a flat on your street!”
I spotted this in a Brighton gig guide. It’s an intersting little iPod accessory. Just plug it in and, well, just plug it in. It’s all reasonably self-explanatory…
Southern Railways usually do a pretty good job of running trains to and from London and Brighton. But the past few weeks have been horrendous. I’ll forgive snow disruption reluctantly (although not the website being down due to demand as people were desperate to get info) but signal failures, fatalities causing total chaos and general …
Overheard in the pub: First Man: Seen that Andrew Lloyd-Webber programme with Graham Norton? Second Man: The Eurovision one? Yeah. Bollocks innit. First Man: Nah. I reckon Lloyd-Webber’s the man. He knows his stuff. He might win it for us. Second Man: Win it? All block-voting these days. Even Ireland can’t win it. All East …
On a cold saturday after Christmas, a little excursion is in order. Where better than the Booth Museum of Natural History in Brighton? Thankfully very little has changed since I used to visit frequently as a child. Founded by Edward Thomas Booth in the 19th century, it was very much a personal passion and Booth …