Armed Forces Day

Yesterday’s Armed Forces Day in Brighton got off to an exhilarating start with a parachute jump over the West Pier. Performed by the Tigers Freefall and Parachute Display Team it was amazing to watch what at first looked like tiny toy action men jump out of a plane miles overhead- then land with incredible accuracy on to a 3ft by 3ft  spot marked out on the seafront. Fantastic.

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Downtime

Apologies for the paucity of posts this past week – my laptop has crashed, taking all my pictures and documents with her.  Things should be back to normal soon so in the meantime here’s  a picture of thee birds to celebrate our one year anniversary of blogging. Speak soon! (I hope….)

The Rejection of Hal – a short story by Liam Carnahan.

There is a fantastic new story posted for your delectation over at our sister blog Shadows Time. Called The Rejection of Hal and adding a much needed bit of sci-fi to the mix, it’s written by the very talented Liam Carnahan.

Liam is a writer and blogger who is constantly on the move, but currently living in Columbus, OH. He writes fiction and non-fictional personal essays, as well as other stuff that isn’t really called anything at all.

He runs the blog invisibleinkling.wordpress.com, a blog for gay writers and student loan payers who like to travel and read. He is hopefully starting up a new blog this Fall called Homosavvy, a culture and politics blog for the sophisticated young gay man.

I think his writing is fantastic. Check out his blog for more of his stuff and feel free to contact him at liam.carnahan@gmail.com. Enjoy!

Brighton & Hove World Naked Bike Ride

A big well done to everyone who took part in the Brighton & Hove World Naked Bike Ride today – you are very brave!

The Royal Alex – Appeal rejected

Great news! I got an email from the Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association last night informing me both appeals by developers Taylor Wimpey to demolish this beautiful building have been rejected. For a little background into the appeals, you can read my earlier post here.

The main issues cited by planning inspector John Papworth were the effects the demolition would have on the character and appearance of this important conservation area. He also noted the strong affection still held for the old Royal Alexandra Hospital and the values she stood for. Although the report doesn’t discount the possibility for future total redevelopment of the site, for the moment at least this beautiful building is safe.

The report itself makes interesting reading and takes into account both sides of the appeal. If you want to read  it please contact me and I’ll be happy to email a copy – it’s only eight pages long and  provides some food for thought on  balancing the needs of  urban development while preserving the character and history so important to local communities. Let’s hope something can be done to keep this important and wonderful local landmark safe.

Safe as Houses

It’s that time of the year again – when the air is full of the flutter of tiny wings as our city’s avian population find ever inventive spaces to raise their little ones in relative peace and quiet alongside their human counterparts. This one on Western rd is my favourite nesting site so far:

Of course if you’re a very posh bird you get your own box made for you, with built in telly to boot. For updates and web cam on Brighton’s very own resident Peregrine falcons at Sussex Heights – click here

What if?

From 5th – 11th June, Victoria Gardens has become home to a 700 tree temporary forest called the Walking Woods. Designed by students from Brighton University, as part of a South East England Development Agency project called Places from Spaces, the week-long ‘new look’ aims to transform this under used piece of green in order to encourage new ways of design thinking for urban spaces – in particular the bits of green that go to make Brighton’s Valley gardens.

As well as loads of lovely new trees to enjoy there are four other designs to look over and a questionnaire for feedback. Personally I loved all the trees -they really changed a boring old  patch of grass into somewhere much more intimate and appealing to use – trees are great for sitting under after all. The other designs all looked interesting and seemed to involve lots of wibbly wobbly tram lines – I’ve never been good at visualising these things and I wonder if all the trees were just a means of disguising more ugly plans for modernisation. Who knows? Go and find out and vote for yourselves.

Pause Cafe

30/05/2009 Pause Cafe, New England Rd, Brighton.

Pause specialises in all day breakfasts, hot and cold snacks and tasty lunch time specials – just the place to feed our faces and a welcome oasis of eateries at the end of a busy morning spent shopping along London Road.

It’s a glorious sunny afternoon and there is plenty of seating outside for those who prefer their breakfasts alfresco. Inside has an upmarket coffee bar feel with free Wi-Fi, modern diner style stools along the walls and big brown leather sofas complementing the bright yellow interior.

There are a variety of breakfasts  to choose from, including Eastern, Continental and an intriguing sounding Ritzy breakfast but I stuck with the good old Veggie – egg, beans, mushrooms, veggie sausage and two slices of toast at £6.95 with a choice of fruit juice and coffee included. Dan had the Traditional; comprising of rasher, egg, sausage, tomato, mushroom and toast- again at £6.95 with tea or coffee and a glass of juice included in the price.

If you don’t fancy breakfast there are plenty of wraps, snacks and goodies  on offer with a nice choice of  herbal teas and healthy options for those of you watching your waistlines. Daily lunch specials  include curry, stir fry and Moussaka and on today’s menu was Prawn and avocado wrap with seafood sauce and salad for £5.25 and Spicy lamb kebab wrap with cucumber raita and salad for £5.25.

veggie pause

Breakfast soon arrives and is very good. The food was piping hot and eggs were cooked nice and medium. Dan thought his sausages were a little skinny but nicely flavoured all the same as was the bacon, which  tasted like it was cooked as you would at home under the grill – nice and pink with a crispy rind . Condiments were top name brands. The fruit juice was a particularly appreciated and with drinks included  in the price this made for a very good value breakfast by Brighton standards.

meaty pause

Pause describe themselves as stylish and friendly and though this is only our first visit here, we would have to agree. The food’s not half bad either and they also do take away. For more info check out their web page: Pause Cafe.

After Breakfast it’s always worth popping across the road to Paul Bruton’s Army Surplus store – a cornucopia of everything Army and Navy. Today’s bargain buy- a pair of industrial (and no doubt acid resistant) rubber gloves for only 50p.

Unconditional Love

Elder Place / New England St.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix.