Nice informed interview with Neil Innes in this Midlands newspaper.

The perfect cuppa: Oooo the BSI has ruled on the milk first or milk last debate. "Pour in tea on top of milk to prevent scalding the milk."

Letter: Save the kiosk -- it's all that's left of the West Pier!

Letter: Outdated idea: Joyce asks "- who would use the park-and-ride and when - and what would be the environmental costs?" Park and ride, without chopping the equivalent parking spaces in the centre is a waste of time -- and would mean demolishing houses and allotments!

Expert fears park and ride could pollute drinking water: "a giant car park at Patcham, Brighton, may cause petrol and oil to seep into water supplies"

Great interview with illustrator and Mac user Lane Smith.

The English-to-American Dictionary: what a useful resource!

Garage on market for £50,000: "situated in the heart of the bohemian Hanover quarter, near the seafront and nearer a plethora of fashionable pubs". That's just 2 grand less than what i paid for my house in 1987!

Wind farm vision for West Pier: what a good idea!

Great set of linocut stamps by Chris Wormell, the award-winning creator of the children's book An Alphabet of Animals.

Hulk creator biffs Marvel for millions: Thwack! With one mighty blow the comic-book creator Stan Lee took a swipe at Marvel comics this week. Ugh! A judge in the United States awarded the 82-year-old deviser of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and X-Men a 10% share of the profits from films and television productions based on his characters. Kapow! Lee now stands to receive royalties of at least $10m (£5.4m).

Music venue gulped cash: the Dome is in trouble again -- will this affect the Brighton Festival, I wonder?

I'd rather face jail than lose my chickens: Linda Turvey's Hen Heaven bird sanctuary is turning into hell as bailiffs threaten to seize her property. Linda has been rescuing battery hens and turkeys and giving them a new lease of life at the Hen Heaven sanctuary in Henfield since 1996.

Added an RSS site feed to my blog, courtesy good 'ole FeedBurner - Point your feed here. We'll do the rest.

Letter: A sad end for this grand old lady

I really should be making a start of the rewrite of my 1990 opus Drawing for 3-dimensional design, sadly out of print, but about to be revived as Drawing for designers, a much more apposite title in my opinion. So, this website – Back of the Napkin Sketches – came as a serendipitous surprise – research! Meanwhile, work has started on the Time Team website for Channel 4 tv. We're into the third weekly build now and this will keep me busy until the end of March (and beyond if they add on Specials and repeats).

What's it worth? Everyone has an opinion on how much art is worth, what's good or rubbish, time and effort, etc. Ruskin probably started it when he said of Whistler’s 'Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket': 'I never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face'. Whistler brought a libel suit against Ruskin, claiming damages of £1000. The jury found for Whistler, but awarded a mere farthing. Then there's the (probably apocryphal) Picasso story – punter asks how much for drawing he just did on a napkin. Picasso asks $30,000 (or whatever), punter is shocked: 'what? it only took you 2 minutes!' Picasso replies: 'no it took me the whole of my life'... I like this fable told by Dave Morgan, quoted on the Freelance Journalists' discussion List: It's a bit like the story of the factory boss who notices that they're paying good money to a maintenance man to look after a machine despite the fact that the machine has never gone wrong. In the end, they make this chap redundant and replace him with a school leaver. Within days the machine grinds to a halt and in desperation they call the old chap back in. He tells them he can fix the machine, but it's going to cost them £100,000. They decide to ask him to itemise his invoice, hoping that in doing so they can find out what's wrong and replace it themselves. He breaks his invoice down thus: Replacement washer - £1.00 Knowing which washer to replace - £99,999.00

Beyond the Level - Artists` Open Houses, Brighton -- just updated the Beyond the Level art trail website, ready for the May Brighton Festival.

Well, I've been on the (water) wagon for a day now! Tho I did manage 4 alcohol-free days before New Year's Eve! Don't think I'll break Nick's record tho -- he usually makes it to march at least.

10 Tips on Writing the Living Web: A List Apart: excellent advice on how to write a blog -- must read it sometime!!

Dull Men's Club: full of interesting trivia, like the origin of the word trivia! Talking of which, I was fascinated to find out that 'naff' was polari for Not Available For Fucking, that 'nonce' is an acronym for Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise, and that berk as in 'you stupid berk' is rhyming slang for Berkshire Hunt.

Dick Heckstall-Smith RIP: saw him in the Graham Bond Organisation at Manchester's Oasis club in 1965 -- even got his autograph!

Why get cross about Xmas? -- Merry Xmas everyone!

Letter: Existing rail link already avoids central London -- save the Brighton to Watford line, quickest way to get from here to Manchester!

Burchill flats get go-ahead: 30s houses make way for 'affordable housing', ie blocks of ugly flats! Can't believe I'm on the side of the tories on this one!

Prizewinning artist's debt to professor: Turner prize winner Jeremy Deller studied for an MA in British art history and critical theory at Sussex University in 1992"

Turner Prize winner's debt to professor: Jeremy Deller went to Sussex Uni!

Cyclist Jeremy Deller wins Turner Prize 2004.

Max Fleischer - The thin black line: fascinating insight into the creator of Betty Boop and Popeye the sailor.

Burchill blasts 'hypocrite' opponents: developer Julie's money-making scheme for so-called 'affordable housing', ie flats, runs into opposition.

Letter: Congratulations on City of Brighton Excellence award: dear old Gavin, former Director of the Brighton Festival, gets a CBE.

Towering vision for station site: now we'll know what they plan to put on the old railway works site -- should have been the Albion stadium in my opinion!

Letter: The world is sadder without Fred: Fred Dibnah, that is!

Letter: Train drain: my letter about bikes on trains, or rather bikes not being allowed on new trains!

Fred Dibnah loses cancer battle: another loss -- a great character who lived not far from where I were brought up..

Letter: Service at risk: this is the Brighon to Watford service that I use to get to Manchester -- not only does it avoid central London but qualifies for a cheaper Virgin ticket. Call this progress??

Went to see the seven-piece Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain last night at the Lewes Live Lit festival. Very amusing in a muso knowing sort of way, and a hugely diverse repertoire: from Kate Bush to 'Satellite of Love', to 'Running Wild' to 'Je t'aime' to a cossak version of 'Leaning on a lamp post'! Every tune a delight -- they can sing too! Earlier went to see Glen Baxter (also v. amusing) and get my books signed.

The world of bicycles: great photos from around the world. Never realised Brooklyn Bridge had a cycle path!

West Pier is big draw for artists: great day for Brighton Illustrators Group and Cartoon County -- we were on the BBC local news too.

101 years in 101 words: chav is the word for 2004!

Great David Devant & His Spirit Wife gig at Komedia upstairs last night, better than the mosh pit downstairs last time. Quite civilised. But no spectral roadies and grated carrot! Great songs tho and I can't wait for 'About it' to go to No 1! And £3.20 for a pint of warm lager? Komedia -- NO!

Went to Felix Dennis's 'Did I mention the free wine tour' at Komedia last night. Very odd event -- a bit more like a wedding reception than a poetry reading! Lots and lots of (very nice) wine and waiters coming round with canapes -- I got quite drunk. Dennis read his rhyming poetry like a gruff bingo caller from a lectern, with the words appearing on a screen behind him. He got shirty with a heckler (who wanted to light up a gasper, like wot he was doing). Recommended. All poetry readings should be like this!

Starbucks cup fault - product recall -- how to make a Starbucks coffee cup say 'Fuck off'!

End of an era looms for historic hotel: The Ocean Hotel in Saltdean is to be demolished! I seem to remember it having splendid Art Deco murals in the dining room.

The Guardian Pete McCarthy obit by Rebecca Stevens.

Goodbye to a genius: the Argus tribute to Pete McCarthy.

Travel writer Pete McCarthy dies: another obit.

Pete McCarthy RIP terrible news -- I went to all his recent readings at the Greys -- and went on his 'Black magic and boredom in Hove' coach tour (pub crawl) soon after I moved down to Brighton -- also remember the Hangover Show with free Bloody Mary -- his two books were great and I believe there was another in the pipeline...

Another day of protests: students on bikes? That was me!

Collecting Ladybird books: a guide from Sunday's Indy.

Fair trade protesters greet delegates -- I was there! Did a few Labour Party conference fringe meetings last night too -- saw Tony Benn and mingled with Gordon Brown at a Spanish do. Too many hotel sandwiches and much too much red wine!

Dan's not so Desperate after a PC makeover: Desperate Dan loses his pistol and spurs and goes on a diet!

eBay item 2491045552 (Ends 03-Oct-04 16:45:00 BST) - 1961 Ford Consul Classic 315 de luxe 4 door saloon: finally put my classic car up for sale! ;(

Queen of Burlesque Stella Starr shakes a tassel at Toulouse-Lautrec's cabaret drawings and tells us what it really feels like to be on stage. Her essay 'wot she wrote' on the Courthauld Institute website.

My photos of the demolished buildings on New England Street, part of the Station Site, and the demolition of Preston Place have been uploaded to My Brighton and Hove.

How watercolor brushes are made -- fascinating facts about where our brushes come from... errr fluffy little animals!

Letter: Nan Tuck's tavern: there should be a law against changing pub names! And removing beer pumps! And charging over three quid a pint for p*ssy continental young-person's lager! And removing all flock wallpaper, plush, carpets and comfy chairs that used to absorb the sound of chattering! And having resident DJs to add more noise! Don't get me started...

Went to the Barbican Art Gallery yesterday to see Rick Poynor's 'Communicate: British Independent Graphic Design since the Sixties' exhibition. Great selection, must've been hard deciding what to leave out! Saw a strange 1960 film by Bruce Lacey -- very Spike Milligan! Also had the good fortune to hear Daniel Libeskind talk -- his exhibition is downstairs.

Had a nice cup of tea and a sit down (a small cappuccino actually) with Nicey from the Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down website -- Mmmm Nice -- yesterday at the Off Beat in Sidney Street. He was down in Brighton, not for the TUC conference, but a publishers and bookshop jolly to celebrate his forthcoming book. Did a brief tour of the teashops, but as it was past 5pm, most were closed.

An Evolutionary Architecture by John Frazer: An Evolutionary Architecture was published in January 1995 to coincide with an exhibition of the same name at the Architectural Association and is now available online.

Stumbled in to the fascinating Blip art-science forum at the art school on Saturday, discovered through a listing in the Insight. Pleased to see a mesmerising Paul Brown piece and a talk by John Frazer on evolutionary architecture, back from Hong Kong and working with Frank Gehry. Julia Frazer was there too.

Ocean's deep in history -- the Ocean Hotel in Saltdean is about to close? Another Deco disaster?

Letter: Pure vandalism -- some support for my anger...

Letter: Demolition fever - another fine letter from Mr Angry of Preston Circus!

Blip art-science forum -- intersting looking exhibition etc coming up. Features Paul Brown -- one of my favourite computer artists.

Letter: The best idea yet for the West Pier -- more support for Nick Cave's idea.

Sussex pubs ban hats -- outrageous!! I was once asked to remove my hat at the bar of a pub in West London...

Women see scarlet, men see red -- fascinating colour facts.

Demolishing this lovely landmark is an outrage -- I agree entirely and wrote my own letter to the Argus about it.

Turn the pier into a wild garden -- what a great idea! ;)

Edinburgh Art Festival: the formation of the Edinburgh Art Festival is a great encouragement to us in the Open House movement in the May Brighton Festival. Nick Dodds, the director of the Brighton Festival, has been ruthlessly adopting the 'Edinburgh Festival model' here -- ie inventing an artificial 'Fringe' in which to offload and marginalise anything not 'officially programmed', including almost all the visual arts. Maybe Richard Demarco's remarks may help him reconsider his snubbing of Brighton's unique selling point -- the thousands of artists who live, work and exhibit here, through the hundreds of Open Houses.

Art world attacks festival's musical focus: Edinburgh's art world has hit back at what it sees as the 'patently absurd' exclusion of the visual arts from the Edinburgh international festival. Richard Demarco, the veteran programmer who has been a key figure in the city's arts scene for decades, co-founding the Traverse Theatre and enticing such artists as the late Joseph Beuys to Edinburgh, said: 'You are morally responsible for including visual art - or you mustn't call it the greatest festival in the world'. Brighton Festival already has a vibrant, yet under-appreciated, visual arts component -- the Open Houses -- though you could get the impression that Nick Dodds wished it would quietly go away! As a dedicated follower of the Edinburgh Festival model, might we now see a change in Dodds' policy of snubbing the visual arts?

Romantic ruin -- my letter about the structure that was formerly the West Pier.

Developer pulls plug on West Pier -- the sad saga drags on...

English Heritage condemns West Pier: "Time has finally run out for the tumbledown West Pier." Oh yeh?

Letter: What's the point of demolishing the skeleton structure at the end of the pier? Good point!

The Times didn't like it!

Went to see Michael Nyman's opera Man and Boy: Dada at the Almeida, London. Not the best Nyman, no good tunes and I can't get to grips with the opera convention of singing conversations in vibrato. Not impressed by the grid of cubes on stage, tho the video backdrop was quite interesting. Nearly 30 quid a ticket up in the circle; beer 3 quid a bottle! But how nice the old bus tickets were...

The last chance to 'restore' the West Pier! As if it'll ever happen...

Staying out for the summer is a sarcastic piece by Caroline Sullivan in the Grauniad in which she describes an 'anorak' who plans his entire life around summer music festivals, working at short-term IT jobs in the winter to fund his habit. The person in question is based on a friend of mine (she is his landlady!), although he says he would never be seen at the bland, corporate rock nonsense of V, T in the Park, or Reading. She presumably would be horrified at the thought of getting her feet muddy to actually attend the gigs she reviews?

Pier damage will not halt restoration -- oh yeh??

Pier's concert hall collapses: "The concert hall on Brighton's crumbling West Pier finally crashed into the sea as storms pounded Sussex yesterday." Time to stop talking about 'restoration' and think of new uses for the remaining structure? A reef perhaps?

My letter to the Argus Letter: No excuse: First published on Thursday 24 June 2004: Letter: No excuse I was outraged by Southern's blanket ban on cyclists using its trains last Sunday. The first I heard of it was a recorded announcement on Friday at London Road station, which stated that no bikes were to be allowed on any train to any destination in the region for most of the day. I was aware of the ban on cycles taking part in the London-to-Brighton ride but why such a widespread ban? The excuse given was that the new 'improved' trains cannot have seats removed but, as any commuter will tell you, the older, more flexible slam-door trains are far from out of service yet. And I did read recently that slam-door trains were to be kept on stand-by in case the city had to be evacuated after a terrorist attack. Why couldn't these be brought back into service for just one day in the year? -Alan (Fred) Pipes, Brighton"

Hamish, the story of how I became a children's book author and illustrator with my first children's book in the UK: the genesis of a book, by Moira Munro. What a good read!

Just been up to Hull for the weekend, for Rick Welton's summer party, on fabulous Hull Trains. Managed to take in some culture on Sunday at Hull Time-Based Arts: Anna Myatt singing concrete poetry etc (highlight for me was Cathy Berberian's 1966 Stripsody) alternating with more spoken word and sound loops from Scott Langthorp mixing and scratching four decks assisted by blobs of Blue-tack. An open-mic session after at the Lamp with Audrey, who introduced us to rude soca, such as 'Ah Fraid Pussy Bite Me', possibly by Mighty Sparrow?

Another letter about Brighton's soapbox anarchist

Letter: Russian was a prince among men: a blue plaque for Kropotkin?

Royal stamp for man of letters: Eric Gill, local lad! His lettering (Gill Sans) will appear on one of a series of stamps being issued to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA)

Ray Charles, father of soul music, dies at 73 RIP. One of my first ever singles was 'I Can't Stop Lovin' You' -- not particularly characteristic of Charles, but a lovely song nevertheless. Another 1962 purchase was James Darren's 'Conscience'.

Mort Walker coined various words to describe cartoon effects: words like emanata, plewds, squeans, briffits and lucaflect.

The Nike Swoosh logo was designed in 1971 by student Carolyn Davidson for $35.

The CND logo also known as the peace symbol was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Art. The symbol incorporates the semaphore letters N(uclear) and D(isarmament).

Added Chris Ware pic to my Fred Pipes flattering photos page.

I've posted some pix of Neil Innes and Kevin Ayres in Brighton on my music page.

Went to the 'secret' British Sea Power gig at the Freebutt last night. Nearly didn't get in -- the doorperson couldn't find my name on the list, even after two searches -- then the other doorperson spotted it! Caught the end of Morton Valence (quite good), and saw all of Beaver County (guitarist kept whinging about the amount of talking and threatened to do only one number!). I was near the front, but when BSP came on, lots of tall young men pushed to the front and started moshing vigorously! So I retired to the back, eventually standing on a chair vacated by Lisa Wolfe. No twigs, no merchandise, no encore, but a loud, exciting and dynamic set in this tiny venue.

I can heartily and thoroughly recommend Paul Stapleton's comic book 'i must rise above these divs + defects'. I read it cover to cover this morning -- not because it's short, but because it's very unputdownable and also very funny. Available at Pussy and various comic shops. Paul is lead singer in Anal Beard amongst other things... Comic books -- the highest possible art form!

An excellent idea for the West Pier to be reborn as a Peace Pier -- hopefully incorporating a reef underwater?

Ballpoints, Chris Ware and Seth

Went up to London yesterday on the hottest day of the year (30 degrees C?) and the transit of Venus. Took a 52 bus to Notting Hill and saw the Ballpoint exhibition at Pentagram -- if you ever feel like moaning about the cost of art materials, just pick up a (free) ballpoint and be inspired by these guys! Then took a few buses via Paddington and Oxford Street for a couple of sub-two quid pints of Samuel Smiths with Nick at The Chandos near Trafalgar Square - also had some revolting chip-style snacks called 'spiral fries' full of fat and salt and probably not much potato! It's salads for me for the next few days, to make up! Then over to the ICA for a Chris Ware and Seth talk, a launch of a special cartoon issue (no 13) of McSweeney's and a couple of lovely Seth books: 'Clyde Fans: Part One' (not about Glasgow!) and 'Bannock, Beans & Black Tea'. Chris did a slide show from his Powerbook of the layout and content of McSweeneys and Seth spoke from the lectern with a little 'dinger' to indicate that Chris change to the next 'slide'. Paul Gambaccini moderated but seemed to be obsessed with how miserable cartoonists seemed to be -- 'the Leonard Cohens of art'. Saw an enlightening French film on Ware, which he seemed to hate! Afterwards queued outside in The Mall to get my Quimby the Mouse book signed (the bookshop had closed!) and asked him various techie questions. He asked me if I was a cartoonist and I replied 'illustrator'. I should have added that I'm too damn lazy to be a cartoonist!

Interview with Vessel from David Devant and His Spirit Wife at vanity project

My Brian Appleton/Dave Tordoff review: Virtual Brighton Magazine - Theatre & Comedy - Whats Gone