Wednesday 31 March 2010

Today's idea - Pergolesi's Stabat Mater



Finally, with the rain gone from last night (for now) we can advise a lunchtime classical music recital at St Nicholas' Church in the realm of Dyke road. Perfect if you happen to live/work nearby, it totes itself as "a perfect break" to have lunch. They advise bringing own sandwiches, but will providing music in the form of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater from Michele Roszak, Mzzo Soprano, Robert Chavner, Countertnor and Jonathan Leight. For non-musically minded types, it involves a piano.

It's on at 12:30 at St Nicholas Church, Dyke road - find it on the map here. - and wonderfully it's all free.

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Today's idea - Precious



Today, we recommend Precious - an exhibition at Hove Museum in which it is promised that "nothing is what you expect." The Museum commissioned eight artists and makers to create new pieces, and nine to exhibit existing works. Precious, therefore, is the result.

The pieces speak of art, and it is not always obvious how the materials started life. Waste paper and fabric are transformed, landscapes made from computer parts. Books, parts of furniture, drink cans are all reclaimed and re-made.
Coming from all over the country and selected from 300 applicants, the makers reflect all aspects of contemporary craft in Britain today. For anyone who has ever glanced at a second hand item and wondered where it came from, these artists explore where these objects can take you. Their work will inspire and amaze.


The exhibition runs until April 23, entry is free and Tue-Sun the Hove Museum is open 10am-5pm, and Sun 2-5pm.

Monday 29 March 2010

Today's idea - Breaking The Code



Tonight I'm off to see Breaking The Code, and I recommend it, hoping it to be in the same performance as Frankly Outrageous, which we featured a couple of weeks ago.

"The fascinating but tragic story of Alan Turing: mathematician, 'Father' of computer science and a gay man in an intolerant era.

Compassionate and often amusing, the play explores the life of a man who broke two different codes: the Enigma Codes during WWII and the gentlemanly code of sexual discretion. By making little attempt to disguise his sexual predilections at a time when homosexuality is illegal, Turing is ultimately destroyed by the State he once saved."


It's showing at 7:45pm at New Venture Theatre, and costs £8.

Sunday 28 March 2010

Today's idea - The Mayday's 'Tonight's Top Story' [with 'Argus Headline Man' homage]



'The Man Who Writes Headlines For The Argus' has become famous over time, and now has his own Facebook fan page, which makes him pretty much an internet celebrity. Today, The Maydays at Komedia present improv comedy with tonight's show featuring the Argus.
"Each performance is completely improvised using local news stories cut out by you, the audience, from The Argus just minutes before curtain time."

A funny and no doubt strange hail to 'the Argus Man', with good reviews, an award or two and a couple of stars stuck about itself place:

Best Comedy Show Award Winners - Brighton Fringe
"A must see." **** Chortle
"hilariously funny" ***** Three Weeks

It's a studio bar performance, so buy tickets on the door. Said doors make their appearance at 8:30pm. Find it on the Komedia Site here.

Saturday 27 March 2010

Today's idea - The Recommender's third party



Today The Recommender, Brighton-based blog for all new music of which we are big fans, holds its third Recommender Party. At Jam, expect great live music, Eleni's photobooth - fashion photography and posey galavanting for all with "Brighton’s hottest new talent" - and goody bags full of pleasing treats, surprises and The Recommender's monthly mixtape. All the good sort of ingredients are there.

Music comes in four fab forms: A Casiokids DJ set: "Scandanavia's finest purveyors of partying pop turn up to make our first Saturday night explode in ways only they can manage," - find their Myspace here

Foreign Office: "This tasty London four piece have selected us as part of their single launch. They bring some of the best, new, upbeat indie around," - find their Myspace here

The High Wire: "Bringing the sunshine into The Recommender party, this is gorgeous, blissful dream pop from a truly special London trio," - find their Myspace here, and lastly:

Battery Powered DJs: "Playing music selected exclusively from The Recommender blog." - find their MySpace here.

SATURDAY 27th MARCH 2010,
@ Jam, Middle Street, Brighton,
£4 adv
Doors 8pm

Find the event on Facebook here.

Today's idea - @The_Recommender's third party



Today The Recommender, Brighton-based blog for all new music of which we are big fans, holds its third Recommender Party. At Jam, expect great live music, Eleni's photobooth - fashion photography and posey galavanting for all with "Brighton’s hottest new talent" - and goody bags full of pleasing treats, surprises and The Recommender's monthly mixtape. All the good sort of ingredients are there.

Music comes in four fab forms: A Casiokids DJ set: "Scandanavia's finest purveyors of partying pop turn up to make our first Saturday night explode in ways only they can manage," - find their Myspace here

Foreign Office: "This tasty London four piece have selected us as part of their single launch. They bring some of the best, new, upbeat indie around," - find their Myspace here

The High Wire: "Bringing the sunshine into The Recommender party, this is gorgeous, blissful dream pop from a truly special London trio," - find their Myspace here, and lastly:

Battery Powered DJs: "Playing music selected exclusively from The Recommender blog." - find their MySpace here.

SATURDAY 27th MARCH 2010,
@ Jam, Middle Street, Brighton,
£4 adv
Doors 8pm

Find the event on Facebook here.

Friday 26 March 2010

Today's idea - Wine Tasting



Today, under the guise of intellectuality and a broadening of the palette, there's Wine Tasting. Sherdian Coopers Wine Cellar is putting on its second winery event and have invited Garech Byrne from one of their favourite wine importers, who "will take us through a variety of exciting and mouth-wateringly good wines."

It's £7 and is in-store - and it's best to call to reserve a place because of this. (Tel: +44 (0)1273 730 445) Find it on a map

Thursday 25 March 2010

Today's idea - Martha Rosler Reads Vogue Exhibiton



Today and until April 4th, the Grey Area plays host to 'Martha Rosler reads Vogue' from Alison Jones, Martha Rosler, and Milly Thompson. A thoroughly nice little arty spot in brighton, the installation:
"will consider the luxury magazine and the complex veils through which the amorous glances of commodities charm and fascinate with their illusions:

Identification, aspiration, wealth, social superiority, luxury, distinction, class appreciation of the finer things in life, are imbricated in an orgy of bourgeois values; the enduring symptom of women’s asymmetric relation to power insistently realised through the private world as to-be-looked-at-ness and being-for-others; the elliptic worlds of fashion, art, media, entertainment and the nexus of money; and the co-dependency of the artist producing recondite commodities which furnish glamorous lifestyles within this realm.

Martha Rosler Reads Vogue (Martha Rosler 1982) deconstructs the messages in Vogue and its advertising. It was created at the time of the first backlash of post-feminism and the values she interrogated then are now ubiquitous, making the questions Rosler raises prescient.

Alison Jones foregrounds the contradictions of post-feminism and power in ink drawings that feature magazine photographs of women collectors at home with their private art collections of Helmut Newton and Thomas Ruff.

Milly Thompson’s graphic digital prints are aestheticised utterances that play on the subliminal messages of contemporary aspiration and desire through the language of advertising."


There. Arty blurb better than I could ever put it. Finding the Grey Area is a tad like Harry Potter's Diagon Alley (look around the corner) but it's a good little spot.

Open Thursday-Sundays, 1-5pm.

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Today's idea - Craftivists! Subversive sewing! And anarchist ceramicists!



Today, the first in a short flurry of arty things. The Ink_d Gallery "goes all 3D for their next show" which brings a select group of British artists together to walk, with a subversive nature of course, the fine line between craft and fine art.

"These artisans working in ceramics, glassware, mosaic, embroidery and fabrics are not just making beautiful handmade objects but also have something to say. Their messages are political, social and hard hitting. Anarchist ceramicists! Craftivists! Subversive sewing! You get the idea.

All these artists are brought together as their work answers a nagging in all of us: The need for a bit of subversion! In the words of Carrie Reichardt aka The Baroness “The Revolution will be ceramicised”."

The gallery's open from 10am-6pm, Monday to Sturday, and Sunday from 12-4pm. More info on today's idea can be found here.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Today's idea - Emergenza Festival



Tonight at 7pm, Komedia hosts the second of the three day Emergenza Festival, namely the biggest music competition in the world for upcoming bands each year prsenting 6,000 bands to 21 countries. These dates are currently the festival's semi-finals with eight bands aiming to impress within 30 minutes each.

"The UK winning band will play at the international final which it will take place at the Taubertal Open Air Festival in Germany; in front of 30.000 people. Also, the world winning band will get a professional recording or an International Tour."

Komedia is especially happy today on the matter: "We are very happy to announce two very Special GuestS -  HILDAMAY & RED SHARK IN VEGAS who will perform during our Semifinal round," although beyond this information's a bit sparse. The best bet is to have a good investigation of the Festival's MySpace where they let more details and samples out. Tickets are £12 on the door.

Monday 22 March 2010

Today's idea - The Joy Formidable



The Joy Formidable last came to the somewhat stark venue of Audio last June and return again today after a year supporting the likes of Passion Pit, Temper Trap and Editors. They're now breaking out their own tour which today comes to Brighton in the run-up to their new single release.

"Melding Ritzy Bryan’s vocals to a gargantuan guitar hook and a wall of noise and melody that is rapidly becoming the band’s signature sound, 'Popinjay' comes backed by a stunning animated video."


Wonderfully animated video it is, and you can find it below or have a hop over to The Joy Formidable MySpace. Tonight the band come with the support of the Baddies, a lovely, noisy, guitar-laded and buttoned-up-shirt group, who NME and Clash have featured in their incessant list of 'next band's.

Doors at 8pm, we're missing the cost but image £5-9, and you can find the event on Last.fm.



Image via Litost on Flickr

Sunday 21 March 2010

Today's idea - Nu-folk Communion Gig



Communion, the musical collective formed by members of Mumford and Sons, typifies, according to the likes of the Independent, the nu-folk scene blossoming "in recent years in London and around the country built on like-minded musicians supporting each other and putting on gigs together."

Tonight's gig brings a mixed bunch with the headline act of Pope Joan and support from Rob the Rich, Cha-Cha, Kyla La Grange, and Common Tongues.

Pope Joan, you may recognise from their splatterings all over the cover of The Source magazine. Brighton-formed, and banding about "as part of the new wave of exciting and experimental British art-pop" they describe themselves as "ambient walls of processed guitar noise, furious drum lines and quirky 8-bit synth keyboards are all underpinned by an incredibly demanding pop sensibility."

With a slight personal aversion to anything resembling 'Rob Da Bank', the bands are all suprisingly and nicely good. Rob the Rich, if you investigate their MySpace are a jolly, enthusiastic and lightly brash sort of music gaggle, and perhaps my favourite of the lot.

Kyla La Grange, another name that sounds barely reminiscent of 90s rap culture, is unsurprisingly anything but. A gorgeous blonde sort of lady, says about herself: "Sometimes i can't sleep because there are songs in my head. I love people with smiling eyes," whilst citing Cat power and Leonard Cohen amongst her many influences.



Poppier but pleasing are Cha-Cha, sniffing shoes in the above video. "A fellowship of individually talented songwriters, initially brought together by a phonographic love for The Virgins, The Strokes, The Police and Phoenix, have finally emerged from their London hideout to introduce themselves. Having crafted what the self-confessed perfectionists describe as “a cross between dirty pop hymns and offbeat disco rock”." Their description seems to match them pretty accurately.

Lastly there's The Common Tongues. "Superman ain't saving shit" they say. Intriguing, although they've no songs on their MySpace.

Everything, save perhaps the unheard Common Tongues, makes this gig sound like a brilliant, non-too-pricey Sunday night good quality folk gig. The gig follows on from the first ever Communion compilation album which was released on March 1st, and can be found for aural tasting at

Saturday 20 March 2010

Today's idea - The Chocolate Festival



"The Chocolate Festival is a unique event which gives visitors a special opportunity to enjoy a wide range of chocolate related products - as well as fine truffles, bars and bonbons, you will be able to buy savory food with chocolate, chocolate cakes, pancakes, ice cream, milkshakes and more."

With free admission, the Chocolate Festival taking place today and continuing tomorrow is a good excuse to learn more about chocolate using your mouth. With a specific program you can find here including 'Taste of Chocolate: The chocolate tasting experience - how to be a chocolate connoisseur in three easy steps' it's the best sort of educational.

It sits under the notion that "Chocolate is made of cocoa beans, which are the natural fruit of the cocoa tree, it is full of anti-oxidants and nutrients, and when is not processed with lots of sugar and fat, it is actually very good for you!" although notably doesn't stipulate that all chocolate at Chocolate Festival will be of such. There might be some weight gain.

Find it at New Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 - Opposite Royal Pavilion.

Friday 19 March 2010

Today's idea: Thomas Truax, live at the Freebutt

A strange and beguiling recommendation today. If you're one of the many people drawn to 'Alice In Wonderland' at the cinema for no reason other than the involvement of Tim Burton, you'd be well advised to consider another option: the unusual, inventive, invented-world of Thomas Truax rolls into town at the Freebutt this evening.

Truax is a New-York based troubadour whose shows constitute pure spectacle; a true one-off, he creates his own instruments, including Mother Superior (a pedal powered drum-machine) and The Hornicator (a trumpet-like instrument constructed from the horn from an old gramophone player), and with the aid of a guitar and a loop pedal, crafts extraordinary, dark, music-box madness. It's easier, somehow, to think of cinematic rather than musical comparisons - Truax's most significant reference point is shared-spirit David Lynch - but his sound is precious in its own right, channeling folk, rockabilly and the adventurer attitude of the wonderful Tom Waits.



Thomas Truax brings his absurdist, surreal cacophony to The Freebutt tonight, supported by Woodpecker Wooliams and Dug Champion. Tickets are £5.50 and doors open at half-seven.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Today's idea - Cream12 at the Crane Kalman Gallery



If you've recently wandered down Kensington Gardens past the Crane Kalman Gallery, a place that looks suspiciously too much like an expensive photography store than a gallery to warrant a visit, you may have noticed a change in display. Until the 4th of April the gallery will be displaying a Showcase of Graduate Photography Talent, titled Cream12. It follows last year's display with BA photography graduates of 2008, and they seem keen and excited to feature more interesting, diverse, and people-pulling photographs on their mass of white walls.

"The exhibition includes graduates from the most prestigious universities and colleges the length and breadth of the country from Westminster to Glasgow; Derby to Newport" with work from Tigran Asatrjans, Laura Ruutel-Ball, Leah Bartczak, Berenice Bassett, William Edward Head, Shiho Kito, Yngvild Mehren, Arthur Molyneux, Ceridwen Olofson, Josh Pollen, Carole Suety, and Jayne Taylor.

From a short walk past, the picture in the windows, as all good window pictures should be, looks intriguing and lovely and the free area definitely worth a pop into, fulfilling an arty category during a stroll into town.

The gallery's open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, and Sun 10.30am-4.30pm.

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Today's idea - White Rabbit presents: ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? SECRETS!



Tonight, a furtive yet sumptuous evening of original story telling and performance in the White Rabbit's Candlelit Warren. The Basement: 'where edgy and interesting stuff goes off in Brighton.' Today part fifties tearoom, part deranged children's party invites you and a host of local writers to enjoy this month's theme of SECRETS with short stories and secrets in invisible ink. There are promises of free cakes, sweets and treats, and perhaps the plan is to fill up the audience until the stories become part of a carb-filled, sugar-high blurry food trip, in the way one reads Alice in Wonderland.

The Basement also promises a secret confession box for the airing of skeletons, and a side of dirty laundry.

"Grab a "Teapot Cocktail" from the bar, cross your heart, hope to die, and follow the bunny... down, down, down."

It starts at 7:30pm, and costs £6 for adults, and £4 for concessions. Find The Basement on the map here. (If you are a writer and have a short story to share with the audience, please e-mail Bernadette Russell: arryousittingcomfortably@live.com.)

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Today's idea - Thomas White in-store at Resident



Another in-store gig from Resident is on with Thomas White tonight. Described as a Brighton-based multi-talented artist, this doesn't honestly set him aside from the crowd but you're likely to recognise him as the man behind the formation of the Electric Soft Parade and Brakes, or for work as a 'hired hand' musician for british Sea Power, Patrick Wolf, and Sparks. He's been about a bit.

Today's a promotion for his forthcoming second album, "a blaze of kaleidoscopic, yes finely nuances, psych-pop, from Syd Barrett-style haunted whimsy to 70s soft rock and heavier riffing."

It's at 6pm, and you can have a listen on his MySpace. As Resident says: "It's free, just turn up."

Monday 15 March 2010

Today's idea - The Moving Image Exhibiton



Today, "See movement and time unfold" at Hove Museum in their new exhibition which opened last week. The exhibition, The Moving Image, contrasts how movement is shown in both photography and art, and whilst aimed at families, children, and students, it looks set to be interesting for all human beings.

"Eadweard Muybridge was a 19th century photographer who was the first to develop photographic sequences of moving objects. Placing studies in his famous series Animal Locomotion alongside paintings, engravings and drawings selected from Brighton & Hove Museums’ Fine Art Collection, reveals how artists can represent movement even within a static image.

Muybridge’s studies – including cats, horses and elephants – show his understanding of motion as an event taking place in a sequence of phases. Traditionally in fine art, however, movement is communicated through a single significant moment. The Moving Image illustrates the many ways in which we can ‘see’ movement and time unfold."


The Moving Image will be accompanied by activities for families, such as the creation of flicker-books and optical toys.

Moving Images is free and runs until September the 1st. Find it on the top floor of the Hove Museum, and find it on the map here.

Sunday 14 March 2010

Today's idea - Psycho at the Duke of York's



Our hundredth post today! Mother's Day visits the lovely Duke of York's Picturehouse in the form of a re-release of Psycho today. Noted as "perhaps the most influential of all horror films," Hitchcock's famous tale of gruesome murders and sly verbal sparring at the Bates Motel is added to with Bernard Hitchcock's famed all-strings score. It provides some of the most famous music in cinema history, with innovative, nerve-jangling, violent 'screams' alongside the infamous murder scene. One to take your Mum to.

It's on at 6pm today. Find the Duke of York's here, and a map here.

Saturday 13 March 2010

Today's idea - The National Testing Grounds of Live Art



Perplexing and intriguing live art comes today from the National Testing Grounds of Live Art taking place at The Permanent Gallery in response to The National Review of Live Art taking place in Glasgow next weekend. Pushing the boundaries of practice, the focus is on Boundaries, Fluidity and Dislocations, with the comissioned artists explicitly exploring ideas through artists: Mikhail Karikis, Mitch & Parry, Kristin Sherman, Dori Deng and Meta Drcar.

It's all about:

"The boundaries of the body – and the distance between bodies, the exploration of sound and the confinements of our physicality, the limitations of the gallery space, of the self, of the other, of the individual and of group migrations in our geography, identities and disruption across the artistic and the non artistic."


Supported by Lighthouse and curated with Permanent Gallery, two places known for filling up the South Eats arts scene with rich new ideas and provoking thoughts, the event starts at 7pm and costs £4. I've included 'the blurb' below with more details on what each artist does. It's a fine line I suspect between revealing nothing, and describing every details. It seems quite worth an investigation, and lasts for today only.

"For this Testing Grounds event Mikhail Karikis will draw parallels between the nature of the medium of sound and politics of migration; thinking of sound as a perpetual immigrant, always travelling away from its place and material of origin, penetrating invisibly into spaces where it may not be welcome.

Kristin Sherman explores structures of power made manifest through intricate performance machines. Her work for Testing Grounds paints a dark and humorous portrayal of power and control, a system made of bodies, where each actor monitors the other. Taken to extremes, the work questions and challenges our notions of freedom.
Mitch & Parry’s new working project examines the landscape of the body as a space for collecting and exhibiting the stains and marks of loss, love and labour, by developing their work of creating external discourse with internal bodily fluid – creating a tension between provoking and inviting the spectator.

Dori Deng and Meta Drcar’s Measuring series questions the relationship between space and different medias including the body, visuals and sound. The action of measuring is presented physically, but also through mathematical connections, for instance the connection between musical rhythm and time in order to change the dimension and the proportion of the gallery space, twisting our assumption or expectation of a given context."

Friday 12 March 2010

Today's idea - Sussex Beer & Cider Festival



Today sees the second day of the CAMRA Sussex Beer & Cider Festival. Running until Saturday the 13th, you have two more days to indulge in the education/celebration of Sussex' finest boozes, with a record number of beers making it to this year's event - over 220 will be lined up for your visual and palette-based delight with ciders, perrir, country wines, and British and bottled foreign beers alongside the mass of beer and cider.

Tickets include a complimentary souvenir programme and live entertainment if you're there on Friday or Saturday. It's payment on the door as advance tickets are now sold out. Find out more about it all at SussexBeerFestival.co.uk.

Fri lunch 11am - 3pm £3;
Fri eve 5pm - 11pm £6;
Sat lunch 11am - 3pm £3;
Sat eve 5pm - 11pm £6
Hove Centre, Hove

Thursday 11 March 2010

Today's Idea: Bosque Brown, live at the Freebutt

Sometimes, through a weird twist of geography, economy and fate, areas - big cities like Seattle or smaller communities like Fife - begin to buck and thrive with creativity. Sometimes it's because of a liberal atmosphere, and other times the lack of one inspires friction and inventiveness. Often it's because a scene is merely self-supporting, and often because it's associated with factors which enable it to thrive - like, for example, a really great music department at a local university, or an arts body that funds creativity.

Lots of the above factors are evident in the North Texan city of Denton, and while the much-celebrated Midlake have been the most obvious beneficiaries of the town's cultural productivity (their singer, Tim Smith, is a vocal advocate of the area), there are a bunch of other artists who also benefit from the cheap housing, vibrant music scene, and excellent arts institutions nearby.

One such is Bosque Brown, a band fronted by the talented young singer-songwriter Mara Lee Miller, who moved to Denton at the age of 18 and, having developed her talent there - and having earned the early patronage of Damien Jurado - is making a name for herself as a quiet, thoughtful and inventive folk singer. Often acapella, and possessed of a voice which recalls Simone White or Chan Marshall, Miller is playing The Freebutt tonight, and it has the potential to be one of those surprising, out-of-nowhere shows which sends tingles down the spine.

Tickets are £6, and doors open at 7.30pm.

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Today's idea - Frankly Outrageous



Tonight there's a couple of good sounding things including Wordwatching at Komedia and classic horror films in the shape of Godzilla at The Marlborough Little Theatre, but tonight I'm heading to The Brighton Media Centre. Tonight "Frankly Outrageous" by James Weisz is to be performed for your visual stimulation. The plot is thus:

"Three friends reunite following the suicide of a good friend; in his old council flat. But the night is not just about reminiscing as hidden agenda and dark secrets begin to reveal themselves. Could twenty years of murky practice, backstabbing and lies come to a head? Revenge and retribution are on the cards. A dark comic drama from writer Calolm MacGregor. Its Frankly Outrageous."


Directed by James Weisz.
Written by Calolm MacGregor
Produced by Being Frank Productions in association with Smarty Pants Productions.

I haven't been to a play since I was a kid - but of all cheap-ish plays this one sounds like it should be more hit than miss. Also, it's only £6 advance and £7.50 on the door, opening at 8pm. Frankly Outrageous runs until March the 13th (Saturday). Find more info on the Media Centre website and find the Media Centre on the map here.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Today's idea - Melting Vinyl present.. ROZI PLAIN AND FRANCOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS



Another slick and trendy event from Melting Vinyl takes place tonight at The Basement; Brighton's self admittedly leading purveyor of innovative and experimental performance which tonight takes the form of two brilliant Fence Record artists, Rozi Plain and Francois & The Atlas Mountains.

Freshly plastered throughout NME and with a rack of venues including the Green Man Festival, Plain "has been working on the ferries that bob in and out of the city of Bristol, along the Avon, whilst creating her own beautifully intimate music that captures life slowly floating by," and tonight headlines at The Basement.



We also welcome back to Brighton multi-talented artist/musician and latest signing to Fence Records, Francois & The Atlas Mountains. Lo-fi electronics meets dreamlike songs, with lyrics fluctuating between English and French, the Gallic troubadour infuses this with an undertone of African influences. The night is completed the incredible bizarro-folk troupe from France, Uncle Jellyfish.



It's on at 8pm-11pm, £7.50 advance or £8 on the door. Find them on the map here.

Monday 8 March 2010

Today's idea - The Mock Turtle

The Mock Turtle Tea

Today we're advocating The Mock Turtle, a gorgeous 1940s style tea room with the largest doughnuts I've ever seen and probably one of our favourite places in Brighton. It seems perhaps a cheap step to take Grandparents style blue and white speckled china plates, bunches of flowers, and vintage lights and put them in every visible location but it works - really, really well. We recommend rounding up friends, kids, or other human beings and going on a cream tea and scone adventure, all of which come in loose-leaf pots and are delightfully gluttonous - although I stick to fizzy drinks and doughnuts myself (doughnuts which are so big they come with small forks). Regardless it's low cost and there's a grand selection of cakes, a short transportation to the day dream-like and almost timeless qualities of a true tea-room, and the all important wonderful feeling of being quaint and vintage without the kitsch.

Find it on the map here and if you're not swayed by us, there's a host of gushing reviews on Qype.

P1010261

P1010272

Sunday 7 March 2010

Today's idea - The Steampunk Hidden Planetarium



The honour of your presence is requested at the occasion of the Steampunk Hidden Planetarium, a show of heroes of music, mechanical hats, operatic ghetto classics and performance art. It should be bizarre and fantastic.

Steampunk "is a genre of fiction set somewhere in the 1800’s during the Victorian Era," and tonight The Marlborough Theatre plays host to the Steampunk Hidden Planetarium with the theme revolving around the "Victorian interest in the cosmos, the inventions that helped further our understanding of what lies beyond our fair planet, and the art and literature that was inspired by the field of Astronomy."

The theatre puts on A Hidden Market - an Emporium even - today from 3pm and later hosts a busy show tonight at 7pm in the name of all things Steampunk:

"We have some SP heros performing for you this month, including Ghostfire, who will be making their long awaited debut on our stage. We also have music from Ru (an excellent astrologer and musician), from Jane Bom Bane (who will be performing complete with mechanical hats), plus Marianna Harlotta and Ruby Corset will be playing their operatic renditions of ghetto classics. And last but by no means least there is performance art from the Lady Absinthia, whom I have been desperate to bring to the Marlborough since I first saw her bizarre and beautiful performance at Decompression."


You can find the event on Facebook here and more information on Steampunk over on Brass Goggles and Wikiedpia.

They've also got Hendrick's gin to sponsor them and so the first 25 Steampunks to arrive get free Gin. Win win.

Saturday 6 March 2010

Today's idea - the Booth Museum of Natural History



Today we're recommending the Booth Museum of Natural History; a smallish gem on Dyke Road. For history buffs it boasts over half a million specimens, literature and sparkly facts from the last three centuries, whilst for non-History buffs it's got lots of things to look at and exhibitions, and can be found between two green parks (Preston and Dyke) on this gorgeous day. There's a whole host of British birds, insects; butterflies to beetles, a killer whale skeleton and dinosaur bones. Plus special exhibitions and things for kids.

Entrance is free and today it's open from 10am-5pm. Find it on the map here. Also find the Brighton and Hove Museum site here and this site here, where we found our info.

Friday 5 March 2010

Today's idea - Haunted at Theatre Royal



Today sees the penultimate performance of Haunted at the Theatre Royal. Starring Brenda Blenthyn, Brit actress of the year and Golden Globe collector, the play comes to Brighton before its move to London's West End. Yes, it's somewhat up-market and costs appropriately.

Written specifically for Blenthyn, author Edna O'Brien is a leading figure of Irish Literature:

"An extraordinary play about love and betrayal, HAUNTED tells the story of a captivating young woman, Hazel (Beth Cooke), who enters the life of the quixotic Mr Berry (Niall Buggy). Desperate not to lose her, he starts secretly giving away his wife's clothes in exchange for elocution lessons. But as his wife, (Brenda Blethyn), searches for the reason for her diminishing wardrobe, Mr Berry finds both of his relationships under threat in this poignant and enchanting tale of desire and regret."


The cast sounds award-laded. With Blenthyn twice Oscar-nominated, holding a stream of Cannes Film Festival, Golden FIPA awards, and co-star Buggy heralding from roles in An inspector Call, After Play, The Weir, and assorted others, the play should be fantastic.

It's on at 7:45pm and costs £29.00. Find tickets and info here.

Thursday 4 March 2010

Today's idea - Husky Rescue instore at Resident Records



Today Husky Rescue are playing a lovely live set in Resident Records. The tiny store tends to fill quite politely with Brightonians, all peering down the aisles straight into the faces of the playing bands. It's very nice.

You can listen to the band on Myspace. Tonight's ticket-less and free although their sold out gig shortly after is popular, so best to be on time if you want nice standing places. Be there for 6pm.

"This will be a stripped back, intimate acoustic set from the Finns. We are big fans of the band & love their Scandi-dream-pop – perfect to draw in the Spring. Come & see for yourself………"


Wednesday 3 March 2010

Today's idea - Floetics Birthday Jiggery-Pokery



Poetic Floetics returns tonight at its traditional spot of the RedRoaster Cafe after a break of a month-ish or a bit more. Today sees the event's third birthday and tonight should be an extra special one as they demand "a corwd of attentive and friendly faces to make them happy and content." So if you're into the brilliant bookings of musicians, wordsworths, and heavens forbid some good old birthday jiggery pokery, this is the one to head to.

"Hoorah. Who said poetry, music, and general arty-fart has no use in society?" they say.

Doors are at 8pm, it starts at 8:30pm. It's also quite busy and a few friends have been turned away before for their slackivity so we advice early or at least prompt arrival. It costs £3 and to grab a slot at the open mic to serenade the collective with your beat poetry, regular poetry, stories and such whatnot, be there even more promptly as it's first-come-first-served.

Find the event on Facebook here

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Today's idea - What's your favourite bit of the Pier?



We're being traditionalists today. In another day of bright sunshine and blue skies we reckon it's the right level of windy to investigate the pier. It's massive part of Brighton that many Brighton-dwellers look at, admire, but visit limited times. Today is a good day to fix this. Some friends of mine have an activity called 'The lying down game' which consists of lying in peculiar places for novelty value which they practice on the Pier. On the other hand, I like to waste half my bank account discovering my great ability to lose money and gamble horrendously in the 20pence slots (if you hit them, they beep - avoid this).

What's your favourite bit of the pier?



Find us on Flickr, along with this picture and some other non-grainy art effect ones. Top image via lomokev.

Monday 1 March 2010

Today's idea - The XX & These new Puritans at Komedia



A delightfully miserable photos but "Languid, sparsely arranged love songs that recall atmospheric 80s acts such as the Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star ...they betray their south London roots [with] gentle, plaintive melodies framed by minimal beats that nod to dubstep and R&B" says The Observer. We're really rather rating The XX tonight supported by the equally wonderful These New Puritans. Tickets here and smiles on your faces to see these trendy music people please.