Brighton vs Sydney

We had a rather odd press request yesterday asking us to compare Brighton with Sydney (don't ask!) so with our tongues firmly in our cheeks we decided to give it a go and this is what we came up with:

1. Royal Pavilion vs Opera House
   
2. Brighton Pier vs. Sydney Harbour Bridge (hey, that’s just a road really!)
3. Sussex Sharks vs. sharks in the sea
4. Mod fashion vs. “budgie smugglers”
5. AMEX Stadium (brand new) vs. Olympic Stadium (12 years old)
6. Brighton Best vs. Fosters
7. Pebbles vs. sand (which is easier to clean from your toes?!)
8. Hen & stags vs. Bruces and Sheilas
9. Fish & Chips vs. A shrimp on the barbie
10. Brighton Rock vs. Strictly Ballroom

What do you think? Are there are any others you would add to the list or have we completely lost it this time?

Charlotte

Brighton & Hove Beach Hut Advent Calendar

Got your advent calendar yet?

Personally, I’m quite partial to a picture of an angel with a massive chocolate behind it, but for the real piece de resistance of advent calendars, how about a Beach Hut Calendar!

Yep – I did say beach hut.

Throughout December, beach huts along Hove seafront will be opening their doors to reveal a festive display as part of a giant seafront Advent Calendar.

AND, thanks to the lovely peeps at Choccywoccyddodah, this year the Beach Hut Advent Calendar will contain chocolate every night. Yum.

Now in its third year, each night a different beach hut will open its doors to reveal a festive installation.

So why not pop along, check out the displays and indulge in a mince pie and some mulled wine in the run up to Christmas?

Simply refer to the BEYOND website to see which beach hut will open on which night.

More about BEYOND and the Beach Hut Advent Calendar
The beach huts are organised by BEYOND, which creates opportunities to explore spirituality through a variety of creative activities. Look out for their events on the last Sunday of every month or find out more on their website at http://www.beyondchurch.co.uk/.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Brighton 350 EARTH project

Fancy being part of a live sculpture created by Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame?

Part of 350.org’s EARTH project, the live sculpture will be formed in Brighton on 27^th November with the help of 2000 volunteers and will be viewable from space!

Where: Brighton, UK

When: 11AM Saturday November 27, 2010

What: A recreation of the legendary King Canute, trying but failing to command the ocean, created by Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) and Stanley Donwood.

What you need to do to take part:

To take part simply join our Brighton Earth 350.org Facebook Event page where you’ll find details of how to sign up or if you're not on Facebook go to the 350org Earth website.

Please note:

• The first 2,000 people that RSVP will be guaranteed a spot in the Thom Yorke sculpture. (The remainder will be placed on a waiting list.)
• All participants must arrive at 11am and be able to stay until 13hr on Saturday November 27, 2010.
• Participants must please wear all black since your body will literally be the "paint" that makes this drawing.
• Please also be sure to dress warmly, bring rain gear (just in case) and water. Everyone will be provided with a black poncho/mac.
• Please also note that we will create the human sculpture even if it rains and is stormy, since weather is a central character in this art piece. Yes, this sounds mad but since we're recreating the story of King Canute it works.

More about 350.org’s EARTH project

This November 20-28, 350 EARTH launches the world’s first ever global climate art project. In locations across the globe, citizens and artists will create massive public art installations to show how climate change is impacting our world. Each art installation will be large enough to be seen from space.

In the UK 350 are working with Thom Yorke from Radiohead, to design and create a giant image that will have aerial photographs taken of it, as part of a group of works that can be seen from space.

Brighton has been selected as one of the 18 iconic locations across the planet to take part in the project.

Sign up to take part NOW!

Join our Brighton Earth 350.org Facebook Event page where you’ll find details of how to sign up for the live human sculpture or if you're not on Facebook, go to the 350org Earth website.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Kite surfer jumps Brighton Pier

Only in Brighton! Well actually they did it in Worthing earlier in the year but hey ho!

Here's the kite surfer video from the lovely guys at Fat Sand, who were tipped off about the kite surfer yesterday (being such avid cool kite surfer dudes themselves) and popped down with their trusty camera to film it.

Enjoy! Oh and please don't think about trying this! VisitBrigton don't condone any form of activity that may cause harm to you or others. This guy is a real professional and the pier don't want anyone landing on the super booster that haven't paid!




For more on Fat Sand visit www.fatsand.com.

Or if you fancy having a go at kite surfing yourself, check out Hove's Kitesurfkings.

Sarah

BBC Misery Bear visits Brighton

Just a quick little Friday treat for you. The BBC's Misery Bear decided to take a break to the seaside so of course he chose Brighton. Unfortunately he didn't have the best time but I'm trusting that this won't put any of you off...



Charlotte

Brighton Marathon Crochet Style...

Knit one, purl one, run a bit, knit one, purl one, run a bit...

Phew...I'm exhusted already.

Not not as tired as East Sussex resident, Susie Hewer though, who is not only making her Brighton Marathon debut on April 18th, but also her crochet marathon debut as well!

Guiness Book of Records holder

Susie already holds the Guinness Book of Records for the longest scarf ever knitted while running a marathon – 162cm – but she is going for something a bit tougher for her run around Brighton and Hove's streets.

There is currently no crochet record so Susie is going to create one and there will be spotters from Guinness around the course to make sure she does not drop a few stitches along the way.

Raising money for Alzheimer's Research Trust
Susie took up running seven years ago to raise funds for Leukaemia research, but when her Mum died 5 years ago, from vascular dementia, she switched to marathons and started raising funds for the Alzheimer's Research Trust (ART) instead.

We thought this was a lovely story and wanted to wish Susie all the best for her debut crochet marathon.

Go on Susie!

Oh and could you knock us up a new scarf on the way round if you have time please...! Just kidding...

Find out more about this year's Brighton Marathon or watch the official Marathon video.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

White Night

We've been twittering about White Night recently although sometimes it can be a struggle to fit the information in to 140 characters. So the obvious solution is to write a lovely restriction free blog post :)

Regular readers will remember that 2008 was the first year of the Brighton White Night Festival and now it is back and with even more things going on then last year. And the best news is that most of the events are free, hooray!

I should give a quick description of White Night for those of you who missed it last year. The idea behind the festival is to encourage people to do something different in the middle of the night, and so there are a whole host of events, trails and tours going on throughout Saturday night (24 October). Also this is the night the clocks go back so there is a whole extra hour to play with!

It all starts at 6.30pm at Jubilee Square with a Venetian Choral concert in association with the Brighton Early Music Festival. Here you will also find the White Night information point as well as a surprise installation which can help answer your tricky questions as the theme of this year's festival is fortune so all of the events are linked to fortune-telling, the future and destiny.


You'll be able to pick up maps and event guides on the night from the information desk at Jubilee Square as well as from our Visitor Information Centre (open until midnight on Saturday) But to help get you in the mood here are a couple of things to look out for:

• Café Babel at the Dorset: The café bar is transformed into a little part of France with menu and music to match. Be entertained by two live bands from Amiens France offbeat chanson from Délicieuse Alexandra and trashy trad from Tribal Jaze
• Playgroup at the Ocean Rooms: Great music continues until dawn with Playgroup, a selection of French electronica and live bands from NuitBlanche (the French version of White Night which happened last Saturday)
  
• Drawing Cards from the Deck: A night of life drawing at Komedia themed around 13 Major Arcana cards from the tarot deck
• The Penny Drops: Bring a lucky penny and watch as it rolls across the façade of the Northern Gate of the Royal Pavilion as the building is transformed into a large scale slot machine.
• Nightbusk: The Brighton Early Music Festival has handpicked a selection of young early music groups to try their luck at busking with a difference (New Road & Fortune of War pub).
• Future Machine: BANG transform the front of the Unitarian Church into a giant screen. Watch a series of fortune teller's predictions for the future.
• White Night Penny Arcade at Brighton Fishing Museum: Find your fortune the old fashioned way in this classic amusement arcade, where performers lurk inside fortune-telling machines bringing them back to life, accompanied by wonky fairground music and vintage memorabilia.
• Dawn Chorus: This year the White Night festival has commissioned Juliet Russell to compose a choral piece to celebrate the end of the night’s events, greeting the new dawn with the aid of a haunting bagpiper (on the beachfront near the Fortune of War pub).

Charlotte

A baby named... Brighton

She’s just over 2 months old and a real beauty.Her name is Isabel Brighton and she lives in the USA. So, how did she come to be named after our city? Her parents so enjoyed their honeymoon stay in Brighton that they felt her name would bring back the memories of the wonderful time they spent here.


Three years ago, for their honeymoon, Dean and Kelly purchased a trip to the UK through a charity auction on their local public broadcasting station (PBS) and the trip included time in Brighton. A time to remember, since it included dinner in the Banqueting Hall at the Royal Pavilion on Halloween night. The Hall looked splendid with black and white table linen and candle-lit pumpkin heads on each table. VisitBrighton’s involvement was part of a marketing campaign in the United States with VisitBritain.

Dean and Kelly really enjoyed their stay at The Grand and the kindness of the staff there.They particularly remember the cab driver who drove them to dinner one night and who, upon hearing it was their first visit, promptly took them on a quick tour of the notable spots along the way to dinner - reducing the charge for the time she diverted from the direct route.

I was involved in the organisation of that visit to Brighton and remember that when I heard they were a honeymoon couple I felt we should make their stay special. Chocolates and champagne were organised for their room and a sea-view guaranteed.

Everyone at VisitBrighton is absolutely delighted that Isabel’s middle name is Brighton. We feel very flattered and honoured that her parents have made such a kind gesture towards our city.

I know Dean’s trip highlight was his opportunity to see The Gunners live, but their stay in Brighton also certainly must have made an impression on the couple.

Hilary

Happy Birthday William Holden

As you know we can now be found tweeting away on Twitter, and Sarah has kindly set us a challenge - everyday we should try and relate something that happened on this day in history to Brighton. We have only been doing this for a couple of days and they are already rather tenuous, for example we have had the explosion of the Apollo 13 linked to a Fringe event being held in a Spaceship tent!

However today my tenuous link is too long to fit into 140 characters so the readers of the blog get to enjoy it as well as our Twitter followers, hoorah!

Today would have been William Holden's 91st birthday so I decided to see if I could do a six degrees of separation from him to Brighton, so here goes:

1. William Holden starred in The Bridge on the River Kwai with
2. Alec Guinness who appeared in Doctor Zhivago which also featured
3. Tom Courtenay who is most well-known for playing the lead role in
4. Billy Liar which was written by
   
5. Keith Waterhouse who famously said that
6. "Brighton looks as though it is a town helping the police with their enquiries"

Ta-da!

Charlotte

Funny Brighton video

Just a quick one today, found this funny Brighton version of the recent Barclaycard advert with the guy on the waterslide. What I love about this video is that no one seems to take any notice when the chap whizzes past them. But then I guess that's typical of Brightonians attitude to things we're so used to seeing anything and everything that nothing shocks us anymore!



Charlotte

Brighton in the snow

Well it has been fairly quiet in the office the last couple of days as I'm sure all offices in the south have been due to the weather. However for those who did make it into the city centre it was worth it as there was an almost Victorian atmosphere as there were barely any cars to be seen and people were walking in the roads with a feeling of camaraderie between those who had ventured out.

Although of course the best thing about the snow is the way it completely transforms everything, and the landmarks we sometimes take for granted get given a new lease of life. Here are a couple of my favourite images from yesterday's snow storms, although if you have any that you would like to share then please add them to our Facebook page


Charlotte

We do sometimes get sand on the beach

It is a well-known fact that Brighton & Hove beaches are not sandy however a couple of times a year the tide is low enough to uncover some sand and while some people might celebrate by taking a romantic stroll or by building a sandcastle there is a group of people who decide to cycle along the beach.

Local film maker Evan Pugh has made a short film following 10 people riding along the beach from Hove to Brighton Marina, so have a look and see if you'll be tempted to join in next time. Although I should warn you that a couple of people have decided to ride in the nude! Can't think why though, it must chafe a little, oh well whatever makes you happy. Anyway if you are tempted then it looks like the next time that the tide will be low enough will be Wednesday 11th February 2009 although this might change so check their website to make sure.


Just before I sign off, just want to say thanks to my Grandad for letting me know about this video :)

Charlotte

PS Following on from Evan's comment below you can vote for the video at: current.com

Elephants in Brighton

No that isn't a misprint, we have actually spotted a herd of Elephants in Brighton ... well obviously not real ones as I am pretty certain that would convene some kind of health and safety regulation. These are life-sized topiary elephants who have taken up residence in the Royal Pavilion Gardens until Tuesday 30th September

The Elephants have been on tour around the UK and Ireland raising awareness of the fact that Asian elephants are being marooned as trees are felled to make way for roads, railways, villages and industry. The suggestion is to build an elephant corridor that would connect habitable areas to help keep herds together.


Brighton is the last stop on their tour, although I think they look great and would love to keep them here after all these are Asian elephants and the Royal Pavilion does have an Indian design so I'm sure they'd be happy here :) Anyway pop down and visit them while you can



Charlotte

Get your knitting needles ready...

Working in Marketing I receive quite a few press releases, and having worked here a couple of years you kind of know what to expect, for example I've had some recently about the Early Music Festival and the Art Fair. However sometimes one will come through that surprises you, as I have just learnt that in October it is knitting week!

Although this isn't good enough for Hove, no we are so excitied about it that we are going to have a whole knitting month! Didn't I tell you we always like to do things differently here. Apparently one in five people can knit, I remember Grandma trying to teach me years ago but I'm not sure if I'd be able to now, although that does mean a couple of people in this office should be able to.

In order to celebrate the Hove Museum will have a host of events and workshops for beginners, novices and experts so they'll be something to suit you whether you've never picked up a needle before or if you never leave the house without one. There will also be some exhibits to inspire you, including knitted fruit and vegetables made by the local Stitch 'n' Bitch group as well as this knitted coral reef by Ildiko Szabo:

Which reminds me to add that it is currently the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival and this weekend they have the Live Food Show and The Taste of Sussex Festival Market on Jubilee Street. You may be wondering what the link is between knitting and the Food Festival, well here is the logo for this year's Festival, designed by Cardigan which was set up by lovely local artist Kate Jenkins:


Charlotte

More celebrities in Brighton!

I do love the quirky facts we come across working here at VisitBrighton for example did you know that for the international beach volleyball championships happening here at Yellowave 3 - 7 September they have had to import 1,500 tonnes of sand? Or did you know that Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest at the Brighton Dome?

Anyway the most recent quirky fact I have come across is that one of the stars of the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian lives here in Brighton, no not the Prince, Lucy or even Edmund but Trufflehunter the talking badger! Don't worry I'm not completely mad I know he's not real but it turns out the inspiration for his appearance came from one of the badgers here at the Booth Museum of Natural History!

So there you have it another celebrity resident to look out for when you next come to visit, and at least you know you will definitely be able to see this one! And to help you spot him here is a picture of him courtesy of the Booth Museum and also one of his movie star counterpart


Charlotte

Small changes can cause a lot of confusion....

When I logged on to our Facebook page recently I noticed they had changed the menus at the top, there are now only 3 options - Profile, Friends and Inbox and while I had spotted that something was missing, I couldn't for the life of me think what it was. I then updated my status to reflect this and it seemed I had struck a chord as a couple of my friends replied to say they were also confused and again could not remember what the other button was. Clearly this mysterious button had entered into our subconscious even though we never used it. Rather fortuitously I decided to have a bit of a clear up of my desk today and whilst flicking through some Marketing journals I found the answer. Very helpfully they had printed a screen shot of Facebook with the mystery button - it was Networks. Obviously they removed it as no one used it but it amused me how these little unexpected changes can affect us.

A similar state of confusion had been caused in Brighton by the appearance of a bizarre alien like object on the grass verge opposite Roedean school. It was featured in our local paper and generated a lot of theories and comments. Today it was revealed that it was just an April Fools prank from the owners of Silver on St James Street in Kemp Town. They had decided to put the piece from their bespoke glass company there for a bit of a laugh. I'm sure they'll benefit from the extra publicity and they are now selling the piece and donating the profits to charity so all in all it was a pretty good idea for a prank.

Anyway I guess the point of my musings today is that the smallest of changes can quickly throw us into a state of confusion even if it's only for a little while. That's unless you are my Mum of course who's favourite motto has always been to expect the unexpected, which seems to be especially appropriate when visiting (or living in) Brighton!

Charlotte

The time is now...

Well as I am typing this it is exactly 2.32pm

Earlier Sarah was anxious to know what the exact time was and so ended up consulting the speaking clock, which reminded me of a bizarre Brighton related fact

Did you know that the current voice of the Speaking Clock is Sara Mendes de Costa from Hove who won a competition to become the new voice of the speaking clock as the judges felt that her voice fitted the criteria of: clarity, character and easily understandable

However the bizarre bit is that her predessor, Brian Cobby was from Brighton! So far he is the only man to voice the speaking clock, and Brian also recorded the Thunderbirds countdown.

Well there you have it, not quite sure what that says about us, except perhaps that we are good at telling the time and counting things?!

If you would like to know any more Quirky Facts about Brighton & Hove we have a lovely fact sheet on that very topic although let me know if I've missed any off...

Charlotte

Thank you, Brighton!

‘Thank you’ – two words when spoken. ‘Thankyou’ – one word very often written. As a bit of a stickler for correct spelling and English grammar, I find this modernisation of our language a little uncomfortable. I’ve even seen these two very expressive words written with a hyphen ‘Thank-you’. Where will it end? We have come to accept the spelling of ‘all right’ as ‘alright’ so it’s just a matter of time…

Anyway, back to ‘Thank you’. Two words that divide Brighton from the rest of the country. “What is she talking about?” you ask. Well, have you travelled on our local buses? Have you noticed that all the locals say ‘Thank you’ when they get off the bus? From small children to Senior Citizens. From students to businesspeople. They all thank the driver as they get off.

As a Londoner, who came to live here 22 years ago, I was astonished the first time I took a bus ride into town. It just isn’t done in London. Ok, so now the exit on London buses is from the centre of the bus, but even before this new design nobody thanked the driver. What about abroad? France, I don’t think so. Italy, nope, Greece, definitely not.

I think it’s something of a tradition – and what a wonderful tradition. Let’s keep up the politeness, Brightonians – it makes our city that little bit special.

Hilary

Quirky Festive Facts

What does a cat on Brighton beach have in common with Christmas?
Sandy Claws!!

Boom, boom.

Well, now that I’ve got that off my chest, here are some quirky facts about the festive season:

• Apparently, if you received all of the gifts in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, you would receive 364 presents – almost one for each day of the year!


• 'It's a Wonderful Life’ appears on TV more often than any other holiday movie


• More than 3,000 metric tonnes of Robertson's mincemeat is sold in the run-up to the 25th


• 10 million turkeys are sold each year – that’s a lot of turkey curry!


• Al Martino - Here In My Heart, was the 1st Christmas number 1 in 1952


• Father Christmas was apparently born in Turkey in the fourth century, but no-one is quite sure when he moved to the North Pole!


• British people started putting trees in their houses when Queen Victoria's husband Albert brought the idea over from Germany in 1841


• Anyone caught having fun at Christmas between 1647 and 1660 was in trouble, since celebrating the holiday had been banned by the rather strict Puritans who were in power at the time!


• Mr Blobby was the Christmas number 1 in 1993


• The definition of a white Christmas in England is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre – so by that reckoning there have only been 2 white Christmases - 1938 and 1976.

And if all those quirky facts aren't enough to get you going, check out some of the quirky things you can do in Brighton this Christmas:

Burning of the Clocks

Christmas Day Dip

Or simply just have a search through our Brighton What's On section.

And whilst I’m a roll, let’s have one more festive joke for the road…

Why does Santa have 3 gardens?
So he can Hoe, Hoe, Hoe!

It’s ok, I’m going now…

Sarah

We've been disambiguated...

I discovered that ‘Brighton’ was subject to Wikipedia’s process of ‘disambiguation’ today.

Ow, sounds painful.

Well, actually, its the process of resolving conflicts in article titles that occur when a single term can be associated with more than one topic. And apparently that applies to Brighton.

Why? Because there are 28 of them. 5 in Australia, 1 in Canada, 1 in NZ, a mighty 20 in the States and 1 over here.

Apparently, they all owe their name to the Brighton in England though, since the ancient settlement of Brighthelmstone (now Brighton & Hove) dates from before the Domesday Book (1086), way before any of our little old colonisations made a bid for world domination…

And according to the Domesday Book Brighton was valued at £12 and charged a rent of 4,000 herring! I always thought that William 1 was a bit fishy…

Anyone else know any quirky facts about Brighton?

Sarah