Ventnor Blog

Good to hear that the IW council has been taking care of those who have been affected by the potentially dangerous fire in Whippingham, East Cowes.

The residents, who had to leave their homes to ensure their safety, have been looked after by the council at the Riverside centre, Newport.

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This exhibition presents Thomas’ working process, from simple line drawing and handmade zoetropes, to the collection of animated drawings and technical film production.

Drawing is a fundamental part of the artist’s filmmaking process, with most imagery being born from the imagination whilst listening to music.

The artist’s lightbox, printing desk, props and other tool and equipment are presented and frozen in time as if capturing a film in the middle of the production.

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Wow, what a revelation.

On the Sunday of Bestival, we were looking for another method for getting to Bestival after having (just) got out of the car park on Saturday evening (man, did we sleep soundly that night!).

We opted to take the Bestival Bus after having heard good things about the service over the previous days.

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Following on from our previous posts about the death of a woman in her 40s and another being taken ill on the Island, we’ve now received further details from the Police.

No names have been released yet, but we understand that Police were called to an address in Carisbrooke Road High Street, Newport early this morning where the woman was pronounced dead by paramedics.

A little later they were also called to an address in Gunville Road, Newport where a second woman, in her 20s had been taken ill.

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Tickets are still available for Sebastian Peake’s talk on Friday at Quay Arts.

The subject of his talk is the fascinating life and prolific work of his late father, Mervyn Peake who died in 1968 and has been described as ’the incarnation of Renaissance man’ but is probably best known as author of the Gormenghast trilogy.

The death of his mother in 1983 accelerated Sebastian into promoting his father’s whole body of work, when he began hosting regular talks with question and answer sessions.

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An update to this story is now available.

Sad news reaches us this morning of a tragedy that took place on the Isle of Wight.

We understand that one young person a woman in her mid 40s died and another may be in a critical condition UPDATE: a woman in her mid twenties is now in a stable condition at St Mary’s.

Police are currently carrying out enquiries at the Ventnor Botanic Gardens, although we’ve been told that the death didn’t occur there. The Botanic Gardens are closed to the public.

Our thoughts are with the families.

Further details to follow when we can confirm them are now available.

If you have more details please get in touch with us.

Standards Not Tiers have just issued a press release stating that members of the Isle of Wight Council are not welcome at Monday’s meeting. We wonder whether the fancy dress shop will have a run on funny disguises on Monday afternoon. Ed

Press Release from Standards Not Tiers

Pre-School Parents And Staff Invited To Campaign Group Meeting: But Isle Of Wight Council Told To Stay Away!

Standards-Not-Tiers, members of the National Association for Small Schools and Human Scale Education have told the Isle of Wight Council that it is not welcome at a meeting they have organised in Newport on Monday.

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The Campaign for Drawing’s aim is simple: to encourage everyone to draw.

It’s annual showpiece, The Big Draw, proves that drawing can be a public activity as well as a private passion. Every October, hundreds of venues across Britain, from large national institutions to village halls, join in to offer many thousands of people of all ages the chance to discover that drawing is enjoyable, liberating and at everyone’s fingertips.

This year, Quay Arts will turn its Learning Curve Gallery into a drawing room which invites you to be naughty and draw all over the walls and furniture!

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Quay Arts present an evening of exquisite classical music by PIKAP QUARTET in the Anthony Minghella Theatre on Saturday, 4th October at 8pm.

PiKap Quartet is a classical string quartet devoted to playing the music of Viennese masters including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

Following the rich history of classical chamber music, their repertoire is enriched further by the music of Czech masters (Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů) as well as contemporary music.

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If you haven’t bought your ticket for The Fillibuster yet, get on the phone to Quay Arts box office as soon as you can, because this production is for one night only.

This heart wrenching and emotional story raises issues many of us would never have to deal with.

John and Sibyl’s daughter has Down’s Syndrome and a congenital brain disorder.

Now she is 30, they must come to a decision about her future.

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Thanks to Standards Not Tiers for sending through information about this very important meeting taking place a week on Monday. We’ll certainly be attending to hear what Mervyn has to say about the schools consultation taking place on the Wight at the moment, and urge others to attend too. Ed

Flawed Consultation = Illegal Consultation. Are We the Victims of this Type of Crime?
Mervyn Benford, Information Officer for the NASS (National Association for Small Schools) will present an analysis of the current education consultations and show you how the local authority, have already failed in their duty to consult adequately with you.

He will outline the consultation process for your benefit rather than the benefit of the Local Authority and explain how you should respond to the consultation.

Mervyn Benford was instrumental in reversing the decision to close large numbers of schools in Shropshire, Hereford & Worcester and Cumbria earlier this year and has been working with a number of schools on the Island over the last few months to help them prepare responses to the consultation with the aim of preventing their eventual closure.

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Quay Arts invites you to browse amongst painting, sculpture, print, drawing contemporary craft and photography created by over 100 selected local and national artists for this year’s open exhibition ‘Location’.

Whether you are a serious collector, a casual buyer or just interested in contemporary art, ‘Location’ is a great opportunity to experience a range of affordable works and make purchases in time for Christmas.

The exhibition is the result of an ‘open’ competition whereby artists and photographers were inviged to submit their work to Quay Arts. The competition was run nationally, so it’s great to see that so many Islanders made it into the final.

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The Isle of Wight Film Network has launched its first short film competition and festival, stretching from 2008 to 2009.

The Isle of Wight Short Film Festival is set to give a voice - and prizes - to the Island’s best filmmakers.

This is the second of the quarterly heats which will be held at Quay Arts, ending with a final festival in July 2009 where a Jury Award and an Audience Award will be presented for the best films.

The categories are split into two with over 18 and under 18 prizes.

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Quay Arts are delighted to welcome the world’s foremost Kathakali company, Kala Chethena, on tour outside their native Kerala, South India to the Anthony Minghella Theatre on Monday 22 Sept at 8pm.

It will be a truly vibrant and visually stunning display of dance and drama not to be missed!

Kathakali originated in the temples of Kerala over 500 years ago and embraces drama, dance, music, visual arts and ritual to create one of the most exciting and powerful forms of theatre.

Together they will reveal a 2000 year old sign language, first used in temple rituals and centuries later in Kathakali drama.

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You may have seen a couple of days ago that we broke the news on the Wight that Islander Shane Hellyer has become the very person in the UK to ever win the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) - gaining over $200,000 in the process.

He popped over to VB Central yesterday and we did an extensive interview with him which will be bringing out soon.

Here’s the taster …

Ruby Bloomsbury Theatre is proud to present Creena DeFoouie at the Quay Arts Centre on Saturday 27th September at 8:00pm.

Ab Fab meets Addams Family by way of Rocky Horror! Step inside the world of counsellor Creena and be given new insight.

Welcome to the home, retreat, boudoir of the vampish Creena. Her unique counselling services help half-wits who lack harmony and hormonal balance. Mental patients go missing—a case for extraordinarily well-endowed Superintendent Russell Hardon?

A two-man trip created and performed by Isle of Wight siblings Charlotte Barton-Hoare and James Hoare.

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September’s Comedy Club at Quay Arts features a return visit from the hilarious, larger than life (literally at 6’7”), antipodean comic Colin Cole on tour from Australia and fellow comics Shazia Mirza and Gary Delaney.

Colin Cole is one of the biggest names in comedy in Australia and renown for his dynamic performance. His delivery is fast and furious, and his material ranges from the topical to the observational. He has toured extensively in the US, Canada and Hawaii, and now hopes to conquer Europe in the same way.

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As parents of a pupil of Niton Primary School - we were advised today of a public consultation meeting being held this Thursday.

There are four meetings being arranged over the next week or so for parents of pupils at specific schools.

In case you hadn’t received notification, here are the details from the EduWight Web site.

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Come and literally be part of the show when Wet Picnic theatre company present their latest production, RODNEY DILLYWEED’S UNDESIRABLE DEMISE, based on poetry by Edgar Allen Poe and the works of Tim Burton, at Quay Arts on Wed 24 September at 8pm.

Wet Picnic like to place their audience in the middle of the action - they sit amongst the moving sets and scenery whilst the performers promenade (some on stilts!) and interact with and around them.

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This is the place to be, if you’re not lucky enough to be at Bestival this weekend. We hope you enjoy our live video broadcasts, we’ll try not to swear on air! Click to watch live broadcasts.

Update: Below is the last vdeo shot from Bestival 2008, you can also select videos from the archive
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Don’t forget that the Icandi crew are back in town tonight.

Once again featuring contemporary artwork from Paul Brown, Kitty Linnington, Kim Purton, Patrick Wood, Rachael Berry and many more.

Expect Electronica, Retro Pop, Funk, Old School, Dub and Ambient Lounge from Mystery Guest DJ’s and all the usual fun and games including Paint Rally, Punters Gallery and ICANDI shop.

Free entrance so get yourselves along to Joe’s in Newport on Friday 29th from 9pm.

Quay Arts are very proud to host an evening with Sebastian Peake talking about the fascinating life and prolific work of his father, Mervyn Peake (1911-1968), who has been described as ’the incarnation of Renaissance man’ but is probably best known as author of the Gormenghast trilogy.

The death of his mother in 1983 accelerated Sebastian into promoting his father’s whole body of work, when he began hosting regular talks with question and answer sessions.

The first address in 1983 was at the English faculty at the University of Krakow and since then he has been speaking at literary festivals, bookshops, private gatherings, schools and universities both at home and abroad.

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With the cast of Kevin Mitchell, Helen Reading and Rebecca Brough and directed by John English and Steve Reading, RedTIE Theatre presents the story of the struggle between dependence and independence, a play about real people.

But can John and Sybil delay facing the reality of their marriage…and of their daughter who unites and separates them?

John and Sibyl’s daughter has Down’s Syndrome and a congenital brain disorder. Now she is 30, they must come to a decision about her future. The play reveals the twists and turns of their relationship as they come to terms with the “crossroads” in their lives.

From Helen Reading:

‘When Hazel sent me her play I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it had won the Writer’s Guild Award 10 years ago and that Anita Dobson had played the leading role in London at the Tristan Bates theatre, but other than that – nothing.

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The Earl Mountbatten Hospice are always coming up with great ideas on how to raise funds and awareness for the excellent charity.

With the large number of dog owners on the Wight, we reckon this one’ll be very popular.

“Dogs Walk the Wight” is a challenge to ‘virtually’ walk your dog around the Wight.

After raising sponsorship from your friends and family, you have up to 72 days raise to complete the 72 mile walk.

All you have to do is register with the Hospice. They will issue you with a unique ‘walkies’ number, a special “Dogs Walk the Wight” lanyard, a sponsor form and map of the Island split into 72 squares for you to tick off as you walk.

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If you’re going to be heading over to the Classic car rally on the Quay in Newport in a couple of weeks time, do pop into the Riverside Centre for more information about volunteering. Ed

Would you like to help make a difference to your community or the environment?

On Saturday 13th September from 10.30 am till 3.30 pm the Isle of Wight Volunteer Centre is holding a Volunteering Fayre at the Riverside Centre, Newport.

Around 20 local organisations will be there on the day promoting their various activities and ways you can get involved.

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