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FHS MTG 19 MAY 7PM THE GRAND, THE LEAS, FOLKESTONE

PLEASE DO COME TO THE GRAND HOTEL ON THE LEAS ON MONDAY MAY 19th AT 7PM.

Once again Folkestone's history is under threat as developers plan to demolish the Harbour Railway Station, the Station Master's House, the Signal Box and Viaduct in order to build a Marina and University. Save Folkestone Railway Group are seeking to retain all of this unique example of our engineering heritage.

For over 165 years, the railway and harbour has served many thousands of travellers both to and from the Continent, and millions of service personnel in two World Wars. It provided jobs for local people and could still do so. A fully working harbour and railway would definitely promote regeneration of the area.

COME ALONG TO THE GRAND, THE LEAS, FOLKESTONE on MAY 19th at 7PM and state your views. All Welcome. Don't miss the opportunity.

Rated 3.57/10 on Folkestone Gerald

The Leas Club closing?

I heard a rumour from two places the last couple of days (perhaps it was in this week's paper?) that the Leas Club is closing, and the site being redeveloped as flats. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Do we really need more flats?
Rated 6.03/10 on Folkestone Gerald

A lovely offer from The Hermitage

A contributor to the forum posted about a disappointing anniversary meal they'd had at a local restaurant in January. And The Hermitage have chipped in, this story obviously tugged their heart strings like it did mine, but they've actually put their hand in their pocket and are offering the couple in question a free meal!

I must point out that The Hermitage were not the venue for the original disappointing meal, they're just doing their bit for the general good feeling within our town.

Isn't that beautiful?

Check out www.thehermitagerestaurant.com to see their menu, and if it was you that posted originally, please get in touch. If you're the proprietor of the original disappointing restaurant, perhaps you'd like to get in touch too and offer us all a free feed?
Rated 3.57/10 on Folkestone Gerald

What a lovely thought!

Unfortunately they did not leave their email address, I hope they see this page.

Actually, what am I thinking, it was me! I'm Craig Ramsden! And so's my wife!

RE: Sadly disappointed with La Tavernetta

To the couple who had a bad 15th anniversary dinner - we would like to offer you both a free meal at The Hermitage, at your convenience. You can see our menu on:
www.thehermitagerestaurant.com
Just phone us on 251 251 to arrange a day and time.

fchb
Rated 3.57/10 on Folkestone Gerald

Never mind the KML

All that talk of KML yesterday got me looking at my maps again, they've not worked for ages, not since I added more tagging to all my Folkestone venues... so, not actually using the new kml version of the data, rather old georss xml versions, but at least the map is all working again now.

KML

Created some kml files from my pub / restaurant data on Folkestone Gerald, part of my plan to clean up my maps and things, kml is a standard that's been adopted by google for google earth and maps and things, and is possibly better suited than my existing georss feeds. I say possibly, because at the moment I'm not sure these even work, and look, see the georss versions support tags and things. AND OBVIOUSLY, it's just XML, and what do you care about that? Not a great deal. You could plug them straight into google maps or something, but they're not a great thing in their own right, like any feeds, they're just snippets of information that will be used by some other application, not directly by you, but I thought I'd throw them out there. This is the sort of thing I'm doing, it's all of the format

http://www.folkestonegerald.com/v/ Place / thing you are looking for .kml

They might be a bit slow

Food in Folkestone
Pubs in Folkestone
Vegetarian food in Folkestone
Pubs with gardens in Folkestone
Food in Sandgate
Pubs in Sandgate
Vegetarian food in Sandgate
Pubs with gardens in Sandgate
Food in Hythe
Pubs in Hythe
Vegetarian food in Hythe
Pubs with gardens in Hythe
Food in Canterbury
Pubs in Canterbury
Vegetarian food in Canterbury
Pubs with gardens in Canterbury
Food in Dover
Pubs in Dover
Vegetarian food in Dover
Pubs with gardens in Dover
Food in Fareham
Pubs in Fareham
Vegetarian food in Fareham
Pubs with gardens in Fareham

So was that the summer then?

In the interest of being able to read back on this in years to come and reminisce about what was going on, I should have said something about the weather recently I think. But, I blinked, and it's gone now. Got a barbecue lined up for this Saturday, but I think that's going to be eaten indoors now. Hopefully today's rain is just a blip and a real summer will come back some time next month. A table tennis table appeared just outside my office window at some point while we were in Key West for staff to relieve tension on, but that's had to be hastily dragged under cover today when the rain started. We've not had any of the storms that were promised for the rest of the country yet though, have you?

Very busy with stuff at work right now, have been since we had this reshuffle a couple of weeks back really, lots of meetings and things, but just TONNES of work to do to. Have lots of interesting things that we want to do, but now the development team (all the teams in fact) have been split in two each team seems to have less than half the resources we had as a combined team. Maybe just an illusion though.

We are recruiting! If you are a development type in Kent, or are happy to work in Kent, please leave a message or drop me an email. We particularly want some PHP skills, but as long as you are professional we are flexible, there is more than one vacancy. A proper job ad will be going out soon but if you want to jump the queue get in touch.

Lone Star Comedy moves to the Tower Theatre

The Lone Star Comedy Club returns at a new venue � The Tower Theatre on North Road at Shorncliffe in Cheriton, near Folkestone � on Saturday May 31st with MITCH BENN, MICHAEL FABBRI, compere MAFF BROWN and a newcomer�s act.

Now the home of FHODS, the Tower Theatre is currently the town�s best-kept secret and is the old Garrison Church at the Shorncliffe barracks. There are about 300 seats in the auditorium and a Full bar service. Drinks will be available before the show starts, in the interval and afterwards. Don�t be put off making the effort � there�s ample FREE parking and you�ll love it when you get there! Take a look at the website � www.towertheatrefolkestone.co.uk � for a map and further details.

MITCH BENN headlined the club�s opening night at the Lanterns in Folkestone back January 2004. He is not only one of the most sought-after acts on the comedy circuit but is widely acknowledged as one of the best writer/performers of comic songs in the country. Mitch began his comedy career at Edinburgh in 1994. He moved to London two years later and quickly established himself as a comedy club �headliner� as well as a favourite on the university circuit.

In 1995, he was voted �Best New Comic� at the Glastonbury Festival and he has appeared there every year since, including an hour-long extended set in 1999 which drew a standing ovation from an audience of 1,500.

Mitch is a regular writer and performer on �The Now Show� for BBC Radio 4 and �It�s Been a Bad Week� for BBC Radio 2. Three series of his successful Radio 4 show, �Mitch Benn�s Crimes Against Music� have been broadcast so far. He also presents �The Mitch Benn Music Show� on BBC Radio 7.

On tv, Mitch appears regularly on BBC1�s �The One Show� as the writer and arranger of �the Complaints Choir�. He contributes occasional songs to Channel 4�s �Bremner Bird and Fortune�. He has also appeared on �The Last Word� for More4, �Gas� for Channel 4, �Live at Jongleurs�, �The warehouse� and �Today With Des & Mel� for ITV, �The Comedy Store� for Channel 5, �The World Stands Up� for Paramount and �Raymaan Is Laat� for Dutch tv. He was the presenter of the paranormal discussion show �Out There� for Carlton World.

Mitch�s second album �Radio Face� was released through Laughing Stock records in 2002. His earlier live album, �The Unnecessary Mitch Benn� is still available.

In 1999 he had won the Mercury Comedian of the Year prize at the Leicester Comedy Festival. He has performed many times at the Edinburgh Festival and also appeared in the successful revue show �The Bootleg Bootleg Beatles�.

Mitch has toured extensively abroad, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Ireland, Montreal, Holland and South Africa.

�Well crafted, well sung, his songs are just plain funny.� � The Guardian.

MICHAEL FABBRI is fast earning an enviable reputation as one of the best up-and-coming acts around � becoming sharper and smarter with each passing month. Inventive in his outlook, he has latterly acquired the gig-hardened discipline of hitting punchlines hard and often without allowing this reliable professionalism to compromise his relaxed, slacker persona.

His trick is to play the juvenile buffoon while delivering material with an increasing edge. The suppression of his own exuberance is a highly effective technique, as it makes the audience feel a little naughty in empathy, and so they laugh all the more.

MAFF BROWN is the resident host of the award-winning Outside the Box comedy club in Kingston-upon-Thames. Within three-and-a-half months of its launch, it won the Best Comedy Venue for small clubs in London by chortle.co.uk he has been described as a material machine by Frank Skinner as he is constantly writing a new 20 minutes for his club every Monday.

�Maff is one of those comics that doesn�t need to try. Jokes fallout of him like gold coins coming out of a pirates chest.� � Frank Skinner.

Tickets are �8 each and available by contacting Richard on 07810 864228 or the Tower Theatre direct at 01303 223925. Doors open at 7.30pm, with the show starting at 8.30pm.
Rated 4.07/10 on Folkestone Gerald

Women's fashion, who understands it eh?

Clare says they are the best jeans she's ever had, they fit well and they keep their shape throughout countless washes. I think all of my jeans do that, and I can't remember the last time I bought a pair anyway. I will stick to my new-looking-boot-fair-levis-for-five-pounds I think.

betting shop / brothel are two different floors of the building

The ladies who work as prostitutes have been moved on now apparently, to the building next door, where it is all ladies who work as prostitutes.

Lawks a Lordy, that's a lot of money...

What's so special about them that they cost 300 GBP or whatever?

RE: Popbitch is in good company..

What is a betting shop/brothel? Do you go there, place a bet, the "ladies who work as prostitutes" have a big pillow fight in their underwear, and whichever punter's "lady who works as a prostitute" wins gets to have a go?

RE: the first two posters left their name, and your review was anonymous

I don't really care to be honest,its no big deal to me but I just don't think those other two post's are real as I hae found the Tav to be a brillant place to eat throughout the years.

Its your choice, but I would speak very bery highly of the place.

the first two posters left their name, and your review was anonymous

Who are we to trust?
Rated 6.78/10 on Folkestone Gerald

RE: Sadly disappointed with La Tavernetta

I have been eating there for the last years and I can say, hand on heart that I have never had a bad meal in there,in fact I would go so far to say the food is superb.

They have new owners now and it has got even better.

Give it another try, I was really surprised to have read that,Maybe one of the other Italian restaurants made this post up?

Cheers..

Priorities!

Nice one Bruce!

Cheers will bear that in mind

Now I come to think of it I remember someone I used to work with being all excited about some trainers that should cost a grand or something... Have been taking into account other stuff people are selling and that, have not bid on anything yet.

RE: Wedding video and new jeans

cheap stuff on ebay is almost always fake. I've been burned buying nike sb dunks on there before which ended up being rip offs. just make sure you're buying from someone in the uk with good feedback :D

RE: Hibbett's Edinburgh festival show confirmed for The Medina

Blimey, that's going to be an interesting gig in there. I wonder if they keep the beds...

I shall be there for a performance, he'd better be good!

Wedding video and new jeans

Had a slightly rum Saturday night out but then a lovely Sunday afternoon to follow. Felt a bit queasy on Saturday so although we went out to Folkestone in the day, and had lunch at The Whole World Cafe (felty queasy before we went there, certainly not their fault), and then out again in the evening to Hythe, I came home early and left Clare out with friends. Picked up a bit when I got home, and finally got all my wedding video DVD plans in place, foudn some software that will burn to DVD for free, without putting a cheeky watermark encouraging me to pay money. Just could not get DVDStyler working this time, so no menus or anything, but I think I know what I'm doing now.

Here's some video, a short snippet of wedding footage, that I was using to test the DVDness. Not sure it really gives much idea of how lovely everything was, but have a look anyway:

Sunday I was feeling much better again, we went out for the afternoon in Hythe. First the all new Red Lion - it really is nice now, but they were CLOSED on a hot Sunday afternoon. And they have a huge garden, madness. Next The Three Mariners, lovely again, bit quiet / local though maybe. Final stop The White Hart on the high street, sat in their courtyard garden, smashing, two thumbs up for them. Home in time to watch this week's Lost, seems to me to be all change again in their back story, hmm.

DB2 training for me yesterday and today, first bit of training I've done for years!

Oh, the new jeans; Clare was after some For All Mankind jeans in the americas; they're hundreds of pounds here and should be half price there. Key West is expensive, which mostly negated any savings. If she will take a chance on a pair of ebay, they're WELL CHEAP. Possibly a gamble, might end up with a fake pair, but we'll see. I've put the jeans over there in the side bar, check them out -->

No it's not trampy and dirty buying things like this second hand. We might even wash them before wearing them. Next stop some new(ish) underwear for me...
Rated 4.07/10 on Folkestone Gerald

RE: Thanks for clearing that up!

She wasn't actually working at the time. Unfortunately I know who it was and some background on it. It is a shame but suicide is indeed a very selfish act but then society might be to blame for causing some of the ills of this world. I am not going to put her name on here.

RE: Folkestone suicide tragedy

I can confirm that Rosie had just come from an interview in which her return to work part-time was discussed positively. She had been treated for depression and everything seemed to be going well. It is so sad that, just when life had begun to look rosy, Rosie took her own life. Who knows what goes on in a person's mind at a point like that ... I believe that reality for such a person suddenly becomes no more than the posters on the sides of the Undergound and one's sole destination seems to be at the end of the dark tunnel beyond the platform.

My feelings are with her family and with those people who had to witness and deal with her smashed body.

RE: Folkestone double death plunge smash horror tragedy!

I agree, darkmoonsider. I think it is inappropriate to 'feel sorry for' someone who has committed suicide. I do feel sorrow/care/concern for you and the other witnesses (who, I can promise, the young lady had no wish to hurt) and also for her family (my cousin and his wife and children).

I can understand a little of how shocking and how much of an affront it must have seemed to you and the other witnesses but you should understand that, unlike the motives of a suicide bomber, harm to other people was completely outside her perception at the time. So I am desperately sorry that you had to be a witness: nobody deserves that experience. I grieve, too, with her family who, I know, did all they could to help but were unable to touch her in the dark tunnel she was in where the reality of other people (and their feelings) became no more than graffiti or pictures on a wall.

Yes, please don't feel sorry for her. But neither should you feel sorry for yourself that her selfish act disturbed your life. When you can, I hope you will be able to forgive her. I don't know if you know the family but please share your pain with them, if you can. It helps to make up for the pain in a single mind that was spattered over everyone concerned when she fell.

Earl Brownes is closed now

Haven't enjoyed it the last few times I went so I'm not really bothered, but we went past today and Earl Brownes was closed down, the building is up for sale.
Rated 0.57/10 on Folkestone Gerald

The new 3 Mariners

Went there today, very nice, all fancy and new and a few ales on too. No longer a Shepherd Neame, definitely worth checking out.
Rated 5.73/10 on Folkestone Gerald

Some optimistic estimates in this online auction I feel

These all sound a bit high to me, found an auction of rock memorabilia:

Soundproofing from Abbey Road �850+, signed KISS album, �3-400. Madonna platinum album �500+, these things are so common, our old office was stuffed with them. Guess if you have a particularly good album it's interesting, or one that you worked on, but otherwise there's no way I'd buy one of these.

No I'm not just bitter because lots of people are seeing Madonna today in Maidstone , for free, lots of people from work too. Hope you had a great time if you were there. Bah.

Oof Frank Zappa's guitar, �70,000+... Happy bidding!
Rated 5.07/10 on Folkestone Gerald

Hibbett's Edinburgh festival show confirmed for The Medina

Meanwhile the PLANS for "My Exciting Life In ROCK", our Edinburgh Fringe Show, are moving along. I think I've pretty much worked out which songs and which stories will be featured, as well as how it's all going to hang together. I've not tried it out properly yet though!
If you fancy coming along, it'll be at the Medina, August 4th-9th - I'm hoping to do some previews beforehand too, but I'll let you know about them when I know myself!

The three rules of vegetarian food

From Neil, I hope he doesn't mind me reproducing this here, it's spot on. We were discussing pies:

A veggie one would be possible, were it not for the first of the "food
industry 3 laws of vegetarian food", i.e. "don't make it any fun", so unfortunately veggie pies have to be in a kind of tough brown pastry which is actually made from the bark of a particular species of pine.

The second law is of course "make it a bit more expensive than meaty food, even though there is less in it", and the third law is "even though the choice is limited, as soon as something good emerges and people like it, try to stop making it"

Whatever did happen to Linda McCartney Southern Fried Grills? Perhaps these were the elusive foodstuffs that were supposedly vegetarian but were really made out of meat?

Speaking of crazy urban whatnames, there's a rumour sweeping our office that a local business has been cloning people's bank cards, supposedly two people at work had this happen to them, and now everyone else who's visited the same business (which I won't name here) is panicking, waiting for the fake payments on their statements.

Man I'm hating Lost today

Listening to Jay and Jack's Lost podcast, why do I keep doing this to myself? They're just so ALIEN, they're discussing morse code, as featured in a recent episode, and they're having a serious discussion as to whether it's pronounced "morris code" or "moors code".

IT'S MORSE CODE YOU DIM TWATS!