Having a laugh

Congratulations to Zoe Lyons who has just won an award for the funniest joke at Edinburgh Fringe. You may be wondering why I have picked up on this particular news story as it apparently relates to Edinburgh, however Zoe is actually from Brighton and I saw the runner-up comedian - Andrew Laurence at the Komedia so you see it is relevant after all.

Also it gives me a good excuse to talk about the (deep breath in...) Magners Paramount Comedy Festival Brighton, there's nothing like a short and snappy title now is there? It runs from the 9 - 25th October and it seems to be even more crammed full of top acts then ever before. Apart from the two named above there will also be: Dara O'Briain, Alan Carr, Richard Herring, Jason Manford, Dylan Moran, Russell Howard, Ed Bryne, Rich Hall, Jimmy Carr, Andy Parsons, Michael McIntrye, Jeff Green, Frankie Boyle and finally Roy 'just say what you see' Walker! It's all terribly exciting, I'd love to go and see them all but I don't think that will be feasible but I have bought my tickets for Dylan Moran and Roy Walker, as I missed Dylan Moran the last time he was down so I wanted to make sure I saw him this time, and as for Roy Walker well he is a legend!


Anyway the Festival's own website isn't up and running yet but you can find out more and book tickets online from Brighton Dome

Charlotte

If you took a holiday in Brighton

Well, we felt it would be rude to let the Queen's of Pop's half century go unnoticed. Apparently, the most popular Madge song of all time is 'Like a Prayer', but we ignored that and chose Holiday instead. Here's our homage to the 1st Lady of Pop:

If we took a holiday
Took some time to go away
Just one day out in Brighton
It would be, it would be so nice

Everybody spread the word
Were gonna go and visit the Pavilion
Play petanque on the beach
In every nation
Its time for the good times
Forget about the bad times, oh yeah
One day shopping in The Lanes
Will release your daily strains
You need a holiday in Brighton

(chorus)

You can turn this world around - ooo yeah, ooo yeah
And bring back those happy days in Brighton
Take a wander on the Pier
Or grab a cheeky beer

If you go and visit Hove
You will find
A way to come together
And make things better
You need a holiday…in Brighton.

We did try amending the lyrics to Justify My Love but it all got a bit messy…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Madge.

Oh and if you fancy a holiday in Brighton - check out our Leap Into Brighton offers. Yes, we know it's all a bit tenuous, but we'd be working for Saatchi and Saatchi if we were actually any good at this...

Brighton in Top 10 world beach destinations

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh, I do...oh, alright, I won't sing the rest. There's reasoning behind my crooning though, because on MSNs Top 10 World Beach Destinations, Brighton came in at number 7. And that's the WORLD, not just the UK. Brighton was the only UK city in the list too and came in above Sydney, Australia. Pretty impressive really if you think of all the beaches around the world!Brighton is unique as a beach destination in that it has so much to offer - it's got the traditional seaside atmosphere, yet is also steeped in history. It's got a Royal Palace like no other and is often remembered for its associations with 60s Mods and Rockers and the seminal film Quadrophenia. It's got 2 piers (OK, one is not exactly a whole pier, but it's possibly the most beautiful shell of a pier you are ever likely to see!), loads of pubs and clubs, lots of arts and culture and a great selection of award winning restaurants. Its even got loads of stunning countryside just moments from the city if you feel like getting away from it all.

So, if you live here already, you're a resident of one of the Top 10 beach destinations in the world. And if you don't, why not come and find out what all the fuss is about. You can find out all about the city on the www.visitbrighton.com website.

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

Celebrity sighting in Brighton

Sadly it wasn't actually me who had the celebrity sighting but one of my friends who works in a shoe shop in the North Laine got to serve Gary Numan! I was extremely envious as we are both huge fans of the electro maestro, who did play at the Brighton Dome earlier in the year but sadly I missed that as well :( But hopefully he will be back again soon

Although it doesn't seem too surprising that he would shop in that area as the North Laine is the alternative bohemian area for shopping in the city. Whereas I was quite surprised to spot Nick Cave going into an ice cream parlour in Hove as somehow it didn't seem to fit with his slightly morose image, but it seems that no one can resist the temptation of a delicious scoop!

We do have a few local celebs here and obviously quite a few coming to visit, although I've never noticed anyone being mobbed for autographs, I guess that is the advantage of the laid-back friendly nature of the city, the attitude generally is live and let live no matter who you are.

Anyway enough from me, has anyone else had a good celebrity sighting in the city or who would you most like to see during a stay in Brighton & Hove?

Charlotte

Win a day at Brighton Beach Volleyball Championships

VisitBrighton have teamed up with Yellowave and the 2008 SWATCH FIVB Junior World Beach Volleyball Championships to offer 2 lucky people a fabulous day out at the event on 6th or 7th September. The prize includes:

• 2 tickets to the Championships
• champagne reception for 2
• three course sumptuous meal using locally sourced Sussex ingredients
• 'afternoon tea' in the sea facing Smoothie Bar
• Yellowave goodie bag.

Set within an idyllic picture postcard setting, it's a one off chance to catch the final days of play at Britain's first Beach Volleyball World Championships, as the venue looks towards the 2012 Olympics.

Check out the VisitBrighton website to find out more and enter...

Music Brighton

We are often saying what a creative and musical city Brighton & Hove is but then I would say that as I am marketing the city! However this week I have come across a couple of stories that I thought I should share in order to prove my point :)

The first story was about a 13 year old busker making £70 an hour on the beachfront by Brighton Pier, he earned enough money through busking to buy a new £2,000 guitar! Apparently he practises for six hours a day, so he'll be one to look out for in the years to come. You can see a clip of him in action courtesy of the BBC website

The other piece of music news which caught my eye was the fact that Amy Winehouse (don't worry it is about her music for her change, as I don't know about you but I am sooooo bored of hearing details of her every single movement!) has re-released her debut album Frank and included some live tracks from when she played here in Brighton at the Concorde 2. This is apparently due to the fact that they have some super dooper recording equipment. The innovative stuff they use means that artists can record their live tracks at studio quality. This means that you will hopefully see a lot more artists releasing bonus 'Recorded live at Brighton Concorde 2' tracks, but even more excitingly they are hoping that in the future people can leave gigs with a CD of the show they have just seen so they can relive the night for years to come. It will also help new bands, for example a support act will be able to record their segment to use as a demo, which will not only save the costs of hiring a studio but will also include the energy and enthusiasm of the gig, rather than trying to recreate that feeling in a studio.

So you see we've been right all along Brighton is full of musicians and clever creative types! So if the technology had been available which Brighton gigs would you like to have been able to take a recording of home with you? I think my choice would be The Bravery at the Concorde 2 last summer but what would yours be? One of the Big Beach Boutiques or perhaps someone you saw at the Great Escape? Or going further back were you lucky enough to see the Beatles at the old Hippodrome, or Bing Crosby's last ever concert at the Brighton Centre?

Charlotte