Stokefest

That website is all about looking for sponsorship, there's not a lot out there for punters in terms of lineups etc... Hank Wangford played at the Vortex on Friday, didn't know about it until we went there for breakfast yesterday though... Well recommended cooked breakfast, one for vegans and one for veggies and one with cumberland sausage and egg and all sorts, nice and cheap too and the perfect stop off on the way to Clissold Park to see the deer and that. There are baby ducklets everywhere on the pond too, bless.

Then went to Borough market, mostly sat and drank outside the Market Porter, but also saw one of these amphibious vehicles driving by, when I can figure out cropping on this photo editing software I'll make this look better, duh...

Came back to Stokey for an ace curry at The Royal Bengal, the place was criminally empty though, what was that all about? Maybe it was the heat, as Sham Sudeen was also deserted but other non spicy restaurants were doing a brimming trade. Had something called a "phool" (not phall) I think, mostly cauliflower but very nice. Stopped in for a pint first at the Wetherspoons and Irvine Welsh was there, no really.

So, later there is bands and that on in the park, oh starting now actually, and giant Monopoly too, will take the camera (to try and catch the obligatory picture of a policeman sharing a joke with someone in a wacky hat) and some bread to feed the ducklets and have a jolly nice time.

Just found out from BBC's H2G2 guide to Stokey that the library has Marc Bolan's leather top hat on display, I didn't know he lived on Church Street.

pauly :: 15 Jun :: 2003 :: Comment / reply

Mysterious young entrepreneur secures local support

Hmm got emailed this today and thought "I recognise that chap", he used to work at our place. Read the whole press release though, have you any idea what the business is? The accompanying pictures show our Dan stood next to a painted lady (literally, a lady with paint on her) but I still can't work it out.

IF YOU PASS GO COLLECT £200

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR SECURES LOCAL SUPPORT
DEATAILS: Young Folkestone businessman, Dan Catt, has found his way around the Monopoly Board of becoming a successful entrepreneur with his promotions business "Pure Body Promotions".

Although he has only just started Dan, aged 20, has gained the support of a number of local organisation that support his type of initiative.

Dan visited the young people's information centre, C@fe IT on Grace Hill in Folkestone, to find out how he could go about starting his own business. There he met Kent County Council Youth Worker, Steve Chambers, who advised Dan to contact The Kent Foundation.

Dan is now undertaking a Test Trading scheme with The Kent Foundation. Dan gets financial support for twelve weeks during which time he will be testing and promoting his service throughout Kent.

The Kent Foundation Director, Paul Barron, said:

"We aim to support young people with the potential to become successful entrepreneurs. We cannot do this alone though, Dan is also obtaining advice and support from Enterprise Gateway, part of Business Link in Kent, and I hope he will get involved with other organisations such as the Kent Association of Young Entrepreneurs (KAYE) with whom we have a great link. This network of support ensures young people get the best chance they can to succeed."

For further information about The Kent Foundation visit www.kentfoundation.org

Comment / reply

The Clarke Cup and new technology

You know how if you spend too long in the house on your own not talking to anyone you can go a bit mad and have odd ideas? Amazingly this also works when you are married, and just the two of you stay in with no contact with other people (apart from Big Brother). Yesterday was the inaugural "Clarke Cup", an indoor sports day comprising of five disciplines; cards, Scrabble, darts, pool, and backgammon. And I won it!

This was Clare's suggestion, engineered in such a way that she thought she would win (ie there was no drinking round, or speed web browsing, or ironing), but some sort of luck was with me for the first round - best out of nine games of Blackjack. FIVE NIL! The wind was knocked from the wife's sails at this early stage, she was sure it would be a gimme to set her up confidently for the rest of the tournament. Sorry lover! I don't think there's any skill to this game. It's not casino blackjack btw, you might know it as Switch, 2 means pick up 2, black jack means pick up 5, etc.

Next was Scrabble, Clare's been playing a lot and probably should have won this one, though I JAMMED home by 2 points at the end. I don't want this to be too much like "great Risk campaigns I have known", so I won't go into detail. Oe came in very handy though, you might want to memorise this word list.

Now we get onto the games of genuine skill, and I found myself sadly lacking. Watching all weekend fired us up with enthusiasm, but I just wasn't getting my numbers. I was Andy Fordham to Clare's Wizard Whitlock, there was a tear in my eye I can tell you. Best out of five games of pool though, and I was back on top, not a very convincing win, but a win all the same, I am the champion and no mistake. There was no need to play the backgammon, and I feel no need to record the score here anyway, it's just a game of luck. Hmph. Next week I can exchange a game, that might be the one, though maybe I could do with more games of luck and less of skill... I don't think we'll add it in, but here's a list of alternate Monopoly rules... I thought everyone played the free parking rule for a good while.

The scores are recorded on a spreadsheet somewhere, though expect me not to mention it again until I win. If I do a double I will try and get a real trophy, if I win three times in a row I'll see about getting it engraved.

Didn't get up to much else at the weekend, more telly watching, shopping, housework, blah blah blah. To compensate for eating chilli for four days in a row, on Saturday for a change I cooked a monster mexican feast - fake chicken and vegetable fajitas and all the side, very nice indeed! The social calendar is starting to fill up though, I'm going to need some good fresh excuses not to leave the house, any suggestions, please post a reply.

Lots of new technology annouced at CES, Idiot Toys is good at this sort of stuff though, so heed their words on 8GB Sony Memory Sticks (great for the PSP, when the prices come down), A Sony VAIO for the front room, and the rest of CES.

2006 :: Comment / reply