Archetype

Specimim, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Archetype is part of Architecture week: It was a serendipitous meeting while sending off the G8 cyclists. Jeremy Radvan was walking his Dulux dog on the prom and mentioned he was in a performance that night down the sewers. How could I resist! So at 7pm I turned up with sensible shoes and was led though a door under the Palace Pier and into the Victorian sewers (with hard hat and rubber gloves) to see 'Vestige': Rajyashree Ramamurthi emerging from the 8ft tunnel followed by a clarinetist and being drawn on live by Jeremy with Wacom.

Outside, bumped into Guardian photographer Roger Bamber, who very kindly took a photo for my publishers on my camera. He was part of a Sarah Heyworth gravy train that also included Foz? (from David Devant and His Spirit Wife) and Mrs Foz? (or should I say Max and Mr Max). Over to Frank-in-Steine for a pricey cappuccino (£1.70 in paper cup) and another Archetype performance, this time by Mim (Miriam King) and bloke on roof, called 'Specimim'. A quick visit to the Unitarian church, wine cup in hand to don spirit spex for Liz Aggiss's 'Men in the wall' 3D video starring Jedi Bassan, then back to the grassy Steine for band and chat with Foz? about ukuleles – top night out! A big thank you to the lovely Lisa O'Connor for my badge!

More pix on Flickr.

Train-home ban for big bike ride - it is ridiculous that bikes will be banned on all trains in the South East because of the London to Brighton bike ride! Surely Southern can bring back a few slam-door trains, or goods vans to carry all those passengers?

Indymedia UK - Critical Mass Brighton: a write-up of last night's critical mass. There's a G8 blog too.

g8 bike ride

g8 bike ride, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Got up early this morning to give the intrepid people cycling to the G8 protest a send off from the Palace Pier. Cycled as far as St Peter's church and left them heading for Ditchling Beacon.

Brighton critical mass

Brighton critical mass, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

I'm a big fan of The Bill and would happily go for a pint with Reg or Tony Stamp, but for a middle-class Independent-reading cyclist like me it comes as a bit of a shock to come face-to-face with real policepersons at work. After a pleasant ride around town with a few friends (a critical mass event actually), we were stopped and told off for causing an obstruction to traffic just as we were all about to go home. One poor chap was arrested, handcuffed and taken to the nick. We were all asked for our names, birthdays and addresses on pain of being arrested under Section 25 of PACE or so Sarge 728 told me! Why weren't they having a word with those impatient van and car drivers, who are normally happy to sit in traffic jams chatting on their mobile phones, driven to making wreckless and dangerous manoeuvres at the sight of 20 or so cyclists using the road - or perhaps it was the tantalising glipse of the open road ahead? More photos on Flickr.

Afterwards, popped along to The Bugle to see (North) South African legend Solani S Mthombeni play guitar and sing, accompanied by Risenga Makondo on drums. Foot-tappingly sublime.

John Shuttleworth was in fine fettle - and fawn - last night at the Garden, err Gardner, Centre in Falmer. There was more chat than songs, and many of the songs were new, to me at least! 'Biscuits and confectionery', 'I can't go back to Savoury!' (my titles) along with 'Shopkeepers in the North', 'Eggs and gammon', a nice animated 'Unaccompanied lady', and of course 'Y reg' and 'Pigeons in flight' for the encore. We also got the trailer (on the website) for 'It's nice up North' widescreen, and a set by Dave Tordoff. Bought the Jilted John CD, but we really need a follow up to 'The Yamaha Years' with all the new songs on! Plenty of artists on the front row - inc. Jon Mills and Andrew Mockett; me and Alan Buck were on the second row, right in the centre. Tip: get your beer at the student bar opposite! No photos cos it was in a theatre venue!

Argus letter: EDO protests turn nuclear: "EDO is also closely involved in the development of the Storm Shadow SCALP E, a long-range, cruise missile".

TV's Time Team dig into the past near Worthing: what could be one of the most significant Neolithic sites.

Scuffles and arguments as marchers take to the city streets: the Argus take on the protest demo against EDO MBM Technology.

EDO demo

EDO demo, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Today was a demo march against EDO, the local arms firm that make release mechanisms for bombs on planes. Not too many people there, considering it was a national demo. Loads of police tho, and there were one or two confrontations – under the station tunnel by the Prince Albert and also on Queens Road, where we were hemmed in by lines of police all round, but generally it was good natured and I was even asked by a very nice WPC outside the police station if I'd enjoyed myself! More photos on Flickr, tho it's not easy to take good photos of a demo, when you're in the middle of it and not allowed out!

Popped along later to the Phoenix to view an exhibition by Greg DaVille called Covers. People had been invited to re-create their favourite album covers – what a great idea – and some fab photos produced. Unfortunately today was the end-of-show wrap party. Loved the King Crimson one.

Wreckless Eric

Wreckless Eric, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

After a quick PV (missed the wine!) in the old Argus basement - a sort of Brighton v. Worthing art show, with Worthing represented by RAG (Dan and Steve - love your work!) and Brighton by Contemporary Gallery (no website?), popped along to the Marlborough to see Wreckless Eric, supported by the very versatile Paul Stapleton and his other band Pog, Annalise playing a very cute heart-shaped lilac bass.

Eric was in fine form, just him and 3 guitars on the intimate (but hot under the lights) stage. The audience seemed to be mainly old men (myself included) and he was receptive to requests (except he refused do the Cliff Richard hit 'Broken Doll'), doing 'Joe Meek' straight after 'Reconnez Cherie'. For 'Whole Wide World' we had to wait for the end of the set, but in between we got an empassioned 'Same' and '33s + 45s'. And then there were the stories - about his crap French (denied later by his Mum who was also in the audience), the perils of playing on home turf (followed by 'Local'), singer/songwriters and lots lots more, usually accompanied by his trademark chug (but nothing about Elvis Costello this time!). A national treasure, can't wait for the sequel to 'A Dysfunctional Success'. More photos on Flickr.

(NB www.wrecklesseric.com doesn't seem to be working at the mo)

Flickr: Photos from fred pipes: I think I have this Flickr thing sussed now!

The Rutles 8 June 2005

The Rutles on stage 8 June 2005, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

There was already a queue at 7.15 last night when Nick and I arrived from The Angel on St Giles High Street (beer at £1.70 a pint - in London!). I'd picked up a Rutles DVD at Fopp for a fiver and the anticipation of the first night of the last London appearance of The Rutles was electric. We managed to get a table on the far side of the stage - Neil's set-up however was at the bar end and the grand piano was covered.

The first half of the Neil Innes double bill at the 100 Club was billed as 'with Friends', but Neil was All Alo-ho-ho All Alo-ho-ho-hone (except near the end when joined by Rutling Ken on 'Ego Warriors'). Where were they? He kicked off with 'Protest Song', followed by all the old favourites and a good portion of the new CD. Finale was 'The Philosophers Song' for the Monty Python fans.

For the second half, the stage was full of men in black: John Halsey (Barry) and JJ Jones on drums, Rutlin' Ken Thornton on lead guitar , Mickey Simmonds on keyboards and Mark Griffiths on bass. They started with 'Major Happy' and it was rocking and singing along from then on. I tried to keep a set list but, what with trying to take photos and getting carried along, it soon lapsed! They must have done 25 or so numbers by the time 'Shangri-la' and 'Get up and go' (appropriately) finished the set. First encore was a tribute to George Harrison with 'Isn't it a pity', followed by 'Back in '64', featuring Barry Wom on paper tearing. I can't even remember the second encore (too busy taking snaps) but it wasn't 'Love Life' despite the chanting from the delerious audience.

I was determined not to miss the encores like last year at the 100 Club when I had to run for the last sensible train - and I'll always regret leaving The Only Ones gig at the Lyceum back in the 80s before the end. So I managed to get the five past midnight train back to Brighton clutching my Legalise Tea mug (with tea bag!) and lots of happy memories of a fantastic gig. Is this really the end of the Rutles?

There are some more photos on Flickr.

Neil and Barry do 'Back in '64'

Karis has launched a website for people to have their say on the Frank Gehry development on the King Alfred site in Hove. Lte's hope it's not all from the 'not in keeping' brigade!

Towers get go-ahead: "councillors agreed to take a 'leap of faith' in Gehry's design team and trust that problems with the scheme would be ironed out before the development was built." Hoorah! But how much will the daring design be compromised before it gets built?

Lights, camera, er...: "The reason the project makes so much sense is that, for all their artistic dissimilarities, Parr and Fellows are both brilliant observers of middle England in all its quirky, eccentric glory." A Telegraph feature on the forthcoming Martin Parr / John Shuttleworth film 'It's Nice Up North'.

Letter: Let Gehry take us to the next level: a eloquent reply to the moaning minnies that keep banging on about the fabulous Gehry design being 'not in keeping' with Hove's Regency architecture.

I've just received advance copies from my publisher Laurence King of the Fourth Edition of my book Production for Graphic Designers! The US Prentice-Hall edition has a different cover. But the hardback US Overlook Press version has the same groovy acid yellow Frost Design cover as the UK LK edition. Now back to work on my current project Drawing for Designers!

Neil Innes has got his solo gigs down to a fine art, pleasing loyal fans and first-timers alike. Last night, he starts with a full-length version of his greatest hit Urban Spaceman then launches into Bonzos stories and songs, complete with audience participation (And then he kissed her! Who did? He did! Where?). There was the usual red-nose false-moustache, changing-hats comedy, Crystal Balls (zum, zum, zum, zum), French dernkeys, Beatles/Abbey Road anecdotes, Monty Python, Protest Song ('I've suffered for my art, now it's your turn!'), How sweet (with quacksy), Godfrey Daniel (always gets the biggest laugh) and the inevitable Rutles medley, starring Cheese and Onions (watch out for the musical Rutalot!). He even managed to swear in a few more Ego-Warriors. Then there were the 'new' songs from the new album Works in progress (not available in the shops) - buy it if you can, the Eastern European (?) musicians backing him on these recordings are a revelation. 'One of those people', 'Face Mail', 'Eye Candy' and the poignant 'All Alone'. Encore was Back in '64, alas without the paper-tearing. The Greys once again hosted a living legend on its tiny stage. The images without flash were a bit blurred! Didn't like to distract the great man, so only flashed at the end of songs! - Fred the Responsible Flasher! Yvonne (Mrs Innes) - Roadie for the night

The Robert Crumb exhibition at the Whitechapel closed on the 22nd of May, but the BBC (Brighton Baldies Club) or is that BBCC (Brighton Bald Cartoonists Club) made a last-minute pilgrimage last Thursday to worship the artwork of the world's greatest living cartoonist. We were not disappointed: the whole upstairs of the gallery was lined with original artwork and artefacts (bobbins!): from the exercise book pencil strips of the early 60s up until ones done a couple of weeks ago. It was great to see the near same-size strips from Zap No.0 in the early part of the show and the labour-of-love oversize perfection of the Charley Patton strip (Zap #11 1984), plus loads and loads more. The man is so prolific! We chuckled at the caveman strip (the world's first artist) and marvelled at his placemat 'doodles', tho Simeon (who isn't bald!) was disappointed we could see so little evidence of pencil. Visitors were invited to contribute a drawing, so Paul Cemmick, Geo Parkin, Simeon Stout (who has a fine head of hair) and I did a group caricature (I supplied the lettering). Paul Cemmick draws Geo Parkin; Simeon Stout (not a baldy) looks on The finished drawing We later went for a curry down Brick Lane, at the Monsoon, where a very nice chap outside offered us free beer and a 25% discount. How could we refuse! A perfect day.

Thanks to Les at CSS for putting me on to this marvellous utility -- Tubetrack -- which tells you the latest train arrivals/departures info at your local station! Works on Mac and Windows, and it's free.

George Galloway takes on the US Senate -- the full 47 minute testimony.

Art's little brother: 'Design, rather than art, is foremost now in embodying the visual spirit of the age. Millions get by without going anywhere near an art gallery, but everyone is touched in some way by design.' So says Rick Poynor.

Ken Campbell was on fine form last night on the tiny stage of The Greys (a stage shared with Country Joe, John Cooper Clarke, the late great Pete McCarthy, Andy Roberts, countless C&W stars, and next Monday, Neil Innes), lugging books out of a huge suitcase, linking Anne of Green Gables with Jackie Chan, the Laughing Jesus people, David Deutsch, The Nation of Damanhur, time travel, parallel multiverses, redemptive vignettes, etc etc. A posse of young men down the front were taking copious notes and Peter Chrisp very kindly gave me his latest objets d'art pertaining to rising male Greek waistlines. I was on the telly on Sunday, on the local insert to BBC1's The Politics Show, interviewed about the value society places on the arts (not as much as it should!). It can be seen here, at least for the next week or so. Look for the link 'click here to view the Politics Show South' and fast forward to about 10.54 mins in!

John Shuttleworth and Martin Parr's film 'It's nice Up North' will be premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in August - here is the trailer (website edit) - can't wait!

Great David Devant & His Spirit Wife gig at the famous Spiegeltent last night. Lots of old numbers for the old fans, but no encore! Not their fault. Foz had a fab chav suit, and we just couldn't keep still. Wish I'd videoed it! This morning, I was interviewed by Chris Coneybeer of The Politics Show about how society values the arts, or not. The interview took place at The Dragonfly House where some of my linocuts are on show. Angie, the lady of the house, was also interviewed. Goes out on Sunday, but only in the South East.

Mark Boyle RIP: it was a treat to see him in the Soft Machine lightshow room of Edinburgh's Modern Art museum in 2003.

DI Burnside from The Bill, aka Chris Ellison: is exhibiting at Dekoart gallery in Upper North Street, Brighton. The show, entitled T.K.O, features watercolours based on the world of boxing, including depictions of fellow Brighton and Hove resident and former super middleweight world champion Chris Eubank.

Green men and goddesses. Yesterday was a scorcher at Hastings for the Jack-in-the-Green celebrations. I missed my lift due to the alcoholic excesses of the previous day (Bob's party in deepest Kemp Town and the Rob Newman G8 Dissent gig in the smokey Sussex [f]Arts Club -- great Blair and Johnny Rotten impressions!) so missed the parade, but puffed my way up from the station to the castle past the millions of bikers for the slaying of Jack, lots of morris dancing (and a bloomin' samba band -- shouldn't be allowed!!), people with green faces, and some real ale (Smith's Dark Mild). Managed to grab a few leaves from Jack after he was destroyed... Thanks go to Erica Smith for providing the tasty wraps, and Jackie B for the lift home. Jack on the hill Jack being danced around before he was ripped to shreds...

Max Miller. Popped along to New Road this morning to see the unveiling of a statue of the 'Cheeky Chappy' Max Miller, made by Pete Webster, who lives over the road from me. Couldn't get near enough to snap Roy Hudd, Norman Wisdom, June Whitfield and George Melly, but snapped a couple of looky-likeys in great clobber. And spotted the old bloke off eastenders who had the hots for Dot Cotton! It's also the day of the commercial vehicles run -- my favourite of all the London-to-Brighton car rallies. The guy on the left is Max Miller's nephew.

Bill Tidy exhibition. There is so much to do and see round here, I've hardly had time to write my blog! Friday night went to Worthing art gallery to the PV of The Tidy Mind, an exhibition of Bill Tidy's cartoons with Jo Moore. He's a big hero of mine and we weren't sure he'd be there, but he was, and as charming as can be. The exhibition continues until 23 July and all the images are for sale. It was sponsored by Budvar (the Budvar marketing men were several sheets to the wind!), so there was plenty of beer too, Dan from RAG had done a sculpture celebrating that famous brew. There was a notice saying Bill was doing live cartooning on Saturday so we went off to Des Buckley's PV in Port Slade, then Sat morning I got up at the crackle of the dawn and went back to Worthing by train. He was great! Very funny and -- guess what-- some cloggies turned up from Sompting Village Morris. It was almost May day after all. Wanted to see the Holman Hunt, but it was 'resting'. Had a coffee in Muldoon's (on recommendation of Dan) and had a quick look round Worthing-in the-mist.

User unfriendly: Peter Poole's critique of the new library.

Dance club which launched Fatboy's career is shutting: Brighton institution The Zap Club is closing! 'Course we remember it pre-House music days when it was just two arches wide and hosted comedy, live music and theatre -- with veggie food from Saxon.

$10,000 reward for original issue of Electronics in which Moore's Law was published. The moral is: never throw anything away!

'Infomania' worse than marijuana: "Those distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQ - more than twice that found in studies of the impact of smoking marijuana, said researchers." Blimey, must learn to switch the computer off!

Read my 'controversial' feature on whether the Artists' Open Houses of Brighton and Hove are part of the Brighton Festival or apart from it at Open House Online.

Letter: Don't demolish this Art Deco gem: "I am alarmed at the proposal to demolish the Granada cinema - latterly known as Gala Bingo - in Portland Road, Hove, and build housing on the site," writes Joy Linford. Too many 1930s buildings have been demolished since I moved to Brighton!

Minesweeper is 'part of port heritage': we went to see the Fische last Sunday on the Clarion bike ride. It is rather large!

Ears still ringing from a gobbing bodyhair-tearing gig by punk-a-billies Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers at the fabulous Freebutt last night. Yet another Peter Chrisp tip-off. Must record also how wonderful the loose English asparagus is from Sainsbury's. Went back for more yesterday! Steam quickly and eat with best olive oil and pepper.

Open House Online - your one-stop guide to all things open house!: this year the Open Houses broke away from the so-called Brighton Festival 'fringe' -- Bill Black's website is one of the spin-offs.

Residents are delighted by their first glimpses of renovated city landmark: 'Long-term plans [for Embassy Court] include a basement swimming pool and gymnasium, full refurbishment of the foyer to its original opulence, restoration of a long-lost mural by renowned artist Edward McKnight-Kauffer and the creation of a 'showcase' flat featuring original Thirties fixtures, fittings and works of art.'

Top cartoonist to exhibit in Worthing: my hero Bill Tidy will be showing 150 or so original drawings at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery from Saturday 30 April to Saturday 23 July.

More Northern foods available on the interweb: we used to suck Uncle Joe's Mint Balls on the terraces and in the Lad's Stand at Gigg Lane back in the days before pies (or Fisherman's Friends!). Well, when we were really poor, Grandad sucked one and we all stood round warming our hands on his breath. Never tried Henderson's Relish, being a Lancastrian, but I'm willing to give it a go! My bag of black peas arrived safely from Ken Bentley of Driffield and some are currently soaking. Now to source some veggie faggots and suet puddings! BTW become a fan of Foul Medammas, some interesting beans from the East (3 tins for a pound at the Taj Mahal).

I was intrigued by an article in Sunday's Indy about carlings, traditionally eaten on the 5th Sunday of Lent Up North. I remember them as black peas, eaten at Bury Fair with a teaspoon out of a cracked cup with a dash of vinegar. They're also on sale in Bury shops around Bonfire night. They are also known as carlin peas, maple peas and pigeon peas (cos they're mainly fed to pigeons these days!). There's a black pea stall in the station forecourt at Rawtenstall. The author enjoying a portion of black peas in Rawtenstall.

Teach yourself messy Japanese calligraphy with OSUG. Hours of fun!

A cleanshaven Country Joe McDonald was in fine voice last night at The Greys - he's also a very fine guitarist. He started with 'Give us an F' but left the rest for later. Looking a bit like Sir Cliff Richard, he told some great stories about Janis Joplin (he wrote a song for her), John Fahey (who apparently did a crap first set cos he wasn't drunk enough, a great second set, and a crap third set cos he was too drunk - and kept popping out for a piss mid-song only to resume at exactly the same spot when he returned!), smoking banana skins (it doesn't work kids, unless you're dropping acid too!), Florence Nightingale and the origins of the famous Fish Cheer. Unfortunately Nick had to leave without hearing his most famous song to catch the last train of the 'enhanced' Easter Monday service. I didn't like to set my flash off during the set, so the other coupla pix are very blurry - this one is at the end of I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have released their cover of urban pop rap classic 'Miss Dy-na-mi-tee'. Apparently Kate Bush wouldn't let them cover 'Wuthering Heights', which is a shame. They were great at the Lewes Live Lit Festival last year. Must purchase a uke!

Just been to see 9 Songs at the Dukes on a sunny Thursday afternoon. By heck, is this what young people get up to after a gig? I rather liked it (he says in Tom Paulin voice) - not at all boring as all the sophisto crits have been bangin on about. Nice cameos by Elbow (Bury band) and Michael Nyman.

thevessel: My home page - The Vessel, aka Mikey Georgeson, artist/illustrator and singer/organist with David Devant and his Spirit Wife (and Carfax) now has a blog! and has kindly added mine to his list. Must reciprocate. Just bought a LaCie Porsche-powered 160 Ryan Giggs hard drive to back up my iTunes etc - ordered one yesterday from Galaxy Peripherals who claim in Mac mags to have the lowest prices, but they were out of stock and kindly refunded my dosh. Went to the rather good Dealtime and found another one at Savastore (crap name, but excellent service!) at a tenner cheaper and ordered late yesterday affy, it arrived this morning. Isn't the internet wonderful!

Robert Crumb: discussed his medley of comic characters, his acid-fuelled days, existentialism and crosshatching with the Guardian's cartoonist Steve Bell at the National Film Theatre. He was also joined on stage by his wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Peter Poplaski. Here's the full transcript.

Shop puns

Brighton has been named Shop Name Horror Capital by author Guy Swillingham, 33, who has always been fascinated by shop names. On almost every shopping street customers are confronted by spoonerisms, wordplay and assorted bad puns. My favourite is Plate Expectations, sadly now closed, in Gardner Street - and of course Thistle Do Nicely in Edinburgh.

War on wheelie bins is brewing: AOH supremo Graham Hale has strung a banner from his house saying: 'Cityunclean. Pavements for people. Keep bins off our pavements. Brighton Not Bintown.' Mr Hale called on others to join the protest by emailing: nowheeliebins@hotmail.co.uk. I'm with you Graz - I only put a bag of mainly plastic packaging out every 2 or 3 weeks - the rest goes to Magpie or the compost bin!

The Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association: another Peter Chrisp recommendation! Wow! you can even buy nibs from this site. Must visit it, and also take in the City of Birmingham at ThinkTank too. I ask you! what's wrong with the word 'museum' for goodness sake!

Crumb Museum - Spools: this link comes courtesy of Peter Chrisp -- Brighton face, sandwich maker and raconteur -- who has just discovered my blog! These must predate his decorated pistachio nut shells featured in the handbook.

Neil and Yvonne Innes Road Trip 2005: a diary of the current UK tour. Missed him at Worthing but have a ticket for The Greys gig in May.

Is Adam's old bike a treasure of our city?: the Sage of Sussex's faithful companion - a pushbike he bought thirty years ago - has been left to rot in a dank garden shed.

R Crumb was in great form (in a Woody Allen sort of way) last night at the National Film Theatre in conversation with Steve Bell, especially when Aline, after much heckling, joined them on stage. Steve was interested in technical details like what nib Rapidograph he used and how he drew lefthanded. Any difficult questions were put down to his acid years. Spotted in the audience were Mike Leigh and Jim Broadbent (and Paul Gambacinni and Corinne Pearlman). I was disappointed he didn't do a signing in the end but I got Zorro and Aline to sign my book. He'd mentioned Hogarth's paintings at 'The Soane house'. Strangely enough I was at Sir John Soane's Museum earlier. Wal had phoned me on the train to say the Bonham's Crumb exhibition had shut a day early and I was at a loose end. Wonderful place, bathed in light on a spring day. Grumpy curator only opened the 'painting doors' when I assured her I'd exhaustively studied the top paintings, but she was relieved by a more knowledgeable chap who showed me the Piranasis and Turner lurking under the surface! Also popped into the Hunterian museum opposite to see grisly things in bottles! Drink with Wal then down to The Hole in the Wall to meet Geo. The train back was delayed by a 'trespasser' (body) on the line at Clapham Junction.

Council admits book skip mistake: hmmmm!

The high priest of self-loathing: another R Crumb interview -- in The Times.

Letter: We don't want this unit in anyone's back yard: Gus Garside's 'no NIMBY' lead letter.

Ex-teacher with a pencil point: John Richards has spent more than a decade reinventing the pencil to help children develop their handwriting and relieve writer's cramp.

eggbaconchipsandbeans: not a great fan of greasy spoons (being vegaquarian I can't abide the smell of rancid lard) - but I do love a classic cafe. A modern classic is my regular Brighton haunt, the Off Beat on Sydney Street: Fairtrade coffee, the till from Quodraphenia but alas no toasted teacakes!

Mental Drippings: 10 worst album covers of all time, according to Pork Tornado. Hmm, hard to beat!

Library under fire over short opening times: Jackie Wills, named last year as one of ten best new British female poets by an influential writers' magazine, said: 'I was shocked to find out it was shut in the evenings and Sundays. It should be a centre for writing activities - poetry readings and book events which typically take place in the evenings from 7pm until about 9.30pm.

Hastings Pier and Anal Beard

It was a very busy weekend, full of exciting experiences and encounters. Saturday I went to a PV at the Phoenix of the stone carvings of Marcia Bennett-Male, a friend of Nick's. It's great to see skill in art - they are reminiscent of Ian Hamilton Finlay with a West Indies slant. My neighbour Marion Charles also had work on show.

Hastings off-season, note funicular in distance 

Then to Hastings on the train, always an adventure. I'd never been there in daylight before and experienced both funicular railways before hiking to the pier for the Mad March Fayre and a stadium rock appearance by my nephew's band Anal Beard.

Hastings Pier 

Erica and Melita dragged me off to another PV up some steps, with free wine and nibbles this time, 'fraid i can't remember the name of the artist, but Poly Styrene from X-ray Spex was there! I asked her if I could take a photo but she said no and referred me to her website. So back through the massed chavs to the station and after a cold half-hour wait at Lewes, home.

Anal Beard in concert 

On Sunday I cycled down to the sea to buy a kipper (no smokies) then to Hove Museum for Where is Minnie the Minx Today? Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell (who was also spotted at Saturday's PV at Phoenix) , editor of Comics International Dez Skinn, and comics creators Woodrow Phoenix and Gavin Burrows, debated the lost art of subversion in children's comics. The last event in a 3-year long celebration of the 50th anniversary of Leo Baxendale's Bash Street Kids first appearance in The Beano. Organised by Cartoon County, the mayor and her car CD1 were there too. Got a few blurred pix cos I didn't dare switch my flash on. Spotted a new weird cycle lane near Tescos on the way back, complete with sculptures. Keep an eye on my Weird cycle lanes website for pix.

Venetian Grinds: "Not only did the artists use glass to fill gaps in their palettes, but the materials' optical effects—intentionally or not—also brought their paintings to life in unprecedented ways." New research on the palettes of Venetian painters.

Embassy Court: the official website.

Seafront landmark is online: Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, describes Embassy Court as 'the second most important building in Brighton after the Royal Pavilion'.

10 things I have learned: wise words from Milton Glaser.

Crafts gone bad: hilarious!

A whole website dedicated to The R Crumb Handbook -- with free CD!

100 Years of Illustration : blimey! will I ever get any work done...

Drawn! : Drawn! is a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw.

Is beer less fattening than wine?: "According to the BBPA, a glass of beer with a typical 4.6% alcoholic volume, has fewer calories not only than a similar measure of wine, but also milk or fruit juice." Well, we knew that all along, eh?

Crumb exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London from 1 April.

G2 in Crumbland: Simon Hattenstone interviews Robert Crumb.

Robert Crumb... and his world at the NFT: The Guardian Steve Bell interview with Robert Crumb on 18 March! How good a birthday treat would that have been! Ah well... Missed him the last time he was over -- with his jazz band at the ICA.

Public check out new library: the Argus take on the new library.

Biro Art-Doodles -- a virtuoso of the ball point!

Jonathan Glancey's appraisal of Brighton's new Jubilee Library. And (I say pedantically) it's North Laine NOT North Laines! Laine is a Saxon word meaning field, apparently!

B&H City Libraries, The Word Project: went to the first day of Brighton's new library yesterday, mainly to get my Raymond Briggs books signed by the man himself, and spot the gorgeous Louise Rennison (Lynne Truss was signing too). It's a wonderful space with lots of new CDs and DVDs to borrow (tho not so many books?), and magic desks instead of staff where you can check out your own microchip-embedded items (is this the end of the rubber stamp?), but my first impressions were: no cycle facilities (maybe they come later?) and there's only one narrow set of glass stairs to the high upper level (two flights). Not recommended for those with vertigo or agoraphobia...

Bumper Balls: the perfect accessory for your Chelsea Tractor! What is Illustration?: hmmm, an old chestnut this one... the article seems more like a 'realism versus conceptual art' debate. It really annoys me that the critics still slag off Victorian and Edwardian paintings...

BBC - h2g2 - 'Intro and Outro', a song by The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: "Hi there. Nice to be with you. Happy you could stick around. Like to introduce..."

Cycled along a bit of the Cuckoo Trail last Sunday, through blizzards and sun. My debut run will be up and down it on 27 March.

Longmire does Romance Novels: with re-imagined titles!

Own It - Free advice on intellectual property, copyright, patents & licensing - : "a new service which offers free intellectual property advice for London’s creative people". Must investigate further...

Top painters have suited themselves: "Artists and designers have put their creative talents to use by customising suits to be auctioned for charity." How come I've never noticed this shop?

Bungaroosh -- great name, eh? It's what lurks beneath the render in many a Brighton house. The corner shop being renovated at the end of Gerard Street has proper brickwork at the front and bungaroosh (an early form of concrete) round the side, with the odd course of bricks here and there to hold the whle thing together.

Letter: Many literary treasurers just won't be available: "Only in Brighton could books be transported, at great cost, from the temporary Vantage Point library to the new Library - and then hurled into a skip bound for the dump" -- outrageous!

Smartie Museum: UK Smartie Lids Page -- well I never, a website devoted to Smartie's lids!

Smarties set to lose their tube: first they remove the cardboard insert from Bounty bars ('Mars of Slough, you've really done it now!'), then they replace the ecological combination of silver foil and paper from the packaging of Kit Kats in favour of plastic, now they're about to change the Smarties round tube to a hexagonal one with flip-top lid! At least they will be slightly greener, dispensing with the plastic lid.

The Ramblers' Association has launched a campaign to search out Elm trees -- must pop along to Preston Park and hug some of the largest and probably oldest surviving English elms.

Library sends books to the tip: "A huge pile of books destined for the dump were rescued by a builder working next to the new Brighton library." Outrageous. Charity shops too are guilty of only displaying 'nearly new' stock and chucking out old books.

Letter: Mishmash flats -- the demolition of 1930s Preston Place to make way for 'affordable' housing, ie an ugly block of flats.

Accolade for man of letters: "A signwriter whose work can be seen hanging outside dozens of Sussex pubs has received international recognition for his craftsmanship." We spotted his work on the Clarion ride last Sunday -- the Plough at Plumpton, with Polish Spitfires!

McLibel Two win legal aid case: "The McLibel Two should have been given legal aid by the British government to defend themselves against a libel action by the food giant McDonald's, the European court of human rights ruled today." Hurrah!

Letter: We can't afford to save pier kiosk: hmm!

Ban off-road parking (except at my house): Richard Mallender, of the Green Party, said: 'It's disappointing she [Juliet McCaffery] is doing this. The solution this city needs is not to make more space for cars but more space for different forms of transport. We need to shift from our over-reliance on cars to using buses, trains, bicycles and walking.'

'Make Mine Shoebox': a great animation about producing greetings cards by Chris Harding.

Fred Pipes flattering photos: added a pic of me with Steve Bell at the opening of the Leo Baxendale exhibition at Hove Museum, 11 February 2005.