Ventnor Blog

There was fun to be had by all on 17th May in Ventnor New Jersey, USA. It was the day after the elections and a grand opening had been planned by Ventnorians for a new play park.

The new playground is the first fully accessible one in the area, you’ll have to agree that it is quite something. The festivities were sponsored by the Uptown Merchants Association and from the video, it looks as though there was loads going on.
(more…)

As well as the various Island based Battle of the Bands to play Ise of Wight Festival this year, BT, the main sponsors also gave bands from around the UK the chance to win a spot on the main stage too.

There was a shortlist of 10 bands, who battled it out at the BT Tower in Central London.

The lineup on the night included; 3tl, A Day At The Movies, Elysium. Hreoes of She, Jellobox, The Low Lights, The Restaurant, The Tempus, The Velcros and We See Lights.

The seven-strong Edinburgh group, We See Lights, managed to woo the judges with their music, which they describe on their MySpace page as Black Metal/A’cappella/Chinese traditional. Well done to the band, we look forward to checking them out on the 15th.

Talking of art exhibitions, we hear that artwork by the old Shopping Trolley collective has travelled up to Derby Dance this week.

They were asked by Stephen Munn (ex Quay Arts director) who is now director of Derby Dance, to put a show together.

It’s just 2d work, but will be showing between now and 29 August 2008, so if you happen to be up that way, make sure you stop in and take a look.

You’ll recognise a couple of artists from VentnorBlog Presents in there too. (more…)

The storytelling festival continues on Saturday with some great session on and off land.

‘Ferry Tales’ on the Wightlink Ferry
Listen to true ‘Ferry Tales’ as told by Annamation (pictured), a dynamic storytelling trio, on board the 10.30am Wightlink Ferry from Fishbourne to Portsmouth. Stay on board for the return trip. Wightlink are offering ‘two for one’ discount for foot passengers, day return, on this sailing.

Green Stories at The Big Green Picnic, Church Litten, Newport
Cassandra Wye will be telling stories with an environmental theme at the IW Council’s Big Green Picnic. Time to be confirmed.

(more…)

If you weren’t fast enough buying tickets for this year’s Bestival, you still have a chance to indulge in Bestival fun in the sun, by heading over to it’s sister festival in Dorset this July.

There are still some tickets remaining for Camp Bestival, which takes place in the gorgeous location of Lulworth Cove. With the backdrop of a stunning coastline, Camp Bestival promises the same Bestival love and joy with music, comedy, theatre and various other hi-jinxs, but with a real emphasis on inviting the whole family.

We know that we can rely on the Bestival crew to pull together an eclectic line-up and with Camp Bestival this isn’t just limited to the music lineup.
(more…)

We’ve noticed on the VentnorBlog Forum recently, that many people are using the board to seek out recommendations.

The variety of recommendations is wide, from dressmakers to builders, aga servicing to pest control.

Because of this, we’ve decided to break out some of these recent posts and start a new board called Recommendations?.
(more…)

We were really chuffed to see on the VentnorBlog Forum that VentnorBlog’s Ventnor West 2007 Town Council election coverage has inspired our US cousins to follow suit and go ‘all out’ in their coverage of their forthcoming elections.

You will remember back in December last year, Simon and Nigel visited all five candidates and filmed question and answer sessions, which we then broadcast through the Blog. We also provided a discussion board on the VentnorBlog forum which was particularly active and gave all readers an idea of each candidates views on issues important to the town. (more…)

The wonderful Paul Armfield, musician, book shop manager and generally lovely chap will be kicking off his German tour next week. We’d love to be there to show our support, but can’t make it out this time.

He has several dates touring around German and concludes at the Magdeburg Feuerwache Festival with an aftershow party at the Bluenote.

If for some strange reason, you’ve never seen Paul play live take a look at his MySpace and listen to some of his brilliant tracks.

The tour sounds great and we wish Paul all the best in Germany.

It’s a shame that The Guardian has to parade its level of ignorance of what the Isle of Wight is like these days, by publishing articles like Johnny Dee’s today.

Writing about the monarchy, clearly makes dear Johnny feel like he’s actually part of the royalty, as he adopts his best regal tone, opening a paragraph with, “One suspects.” He continues, “this was all the idea of some judicious aide tasked with finding the least exciting place on earth.”

(more…)

Despite reports in many other publications that Wight Link are about to offer broadband access on their ferries, we’d advise you to not get too excited just yet.

Those who read the news wires correctly rather than just churn the press releases, will have realised that the access is for ‘captain and crew only’ at the moment.

(more…)

In case you hadn’t heard already, next Tuesday sees a charity gig take place in Southampton and for a great cause.

Bands for Barnardo’s is aiming to raise as much cash as they can for the children’s charity, Barnados

You should recognise at least two of the bands on the lineup as being from this side of the water.
(more…)

Thanks to Muso Activator for forwarding this great opportunity for young musicians who might be interested in playing at one of the largest music festivals going.
(more…)

It’s not just the Isle of Wight who are taking up the challenge of becoming an Eco Island.

According to the Times of Malta, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi claimed at a press conference that he “could not wait” to launch Gozo as an eco-island, a development which would mean a better quality of life for all Gozitans.
(more…)

Following the fantastic The Imagined Village set on Sunday evening at Camp Bestival will be winner of both Brit Award ‘Best British Female’ and NME Awards ‘Best Solo Artist’, the gorgeous Kate Nash. (more…)

Good friends of the blog, The Wild Oats will be playing live this weekend, not only at a venue in Southampton but also on Radio Solent.
(more…)

One of our regular forum members and friend of the blog, Lulu has recently returned from a trip to Kenya where she visited one of the children’s homes.
(more…)

We all know that the role of fisherman is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

There’s news breaking that a fisherman in Australia, Michael Williams, has swam for more than ten hours to safety.
(more…)

Well done to the lads in Goodbye Stereo who seem to be having great success in getting themselves gigs on and off the Wight.

If you’re not able to make to along on the Neon City gig, how about this one in March?

Meat Pie Promotions Presents… (don’t you just love that illustration?) Tubelord, Canterbury, Goodbye Stereo & Venice Ahoy!

The venue is the Railway Rifles Club over the water in Portsmouth and will cost you a fiver to get in.

We’re big fans of the Monorex Art Collective - who have strong ties to the Island, so when we can, we love to let you know what they’re up to.

You might remember seeing artwork from the Monorex collective at Quay Arts back in October 2005 as part of Shopping Trolley.

You also might remember the Secret Wars event that took place over in Southampton in September last year.

Well, Secret Wars has almost come to completion now with the grand final taking place at the end of the month.
(more…)

Happy New Year to all our Chinese readers.

As we move into the year of the rat, it has been predicted that this will be a time of hard work, activity, and renewal.

According to Chinese astrologists, the rat year will be a good one to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start.

Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful.
(more…)

Following the announcement yesterday that The Imaginary Village will be playing at Camp Bestival we’re pleased to let you in on more of the acts now confirmed to play in July at the Bestival’s sister festival.

The rather excellent Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip will be making their way over to Lulworth Cove to share their warped beats and exhibit their tremendous lyrical dexterity.

Check out this vid on YouTube … You’ve got to admire that beard
(more…)

Those lovely festival people over at Bestival HQ have just let us in on the latest confirmations of acts and wonderful goodies they have in store for us at Camp Bestival this year.

First up, we have to tell you about the amazing folk supergroup The Imagined Village.

Apparently Rob saw them play last year and was so over whelmed that he was in tears after the third song - ooh you big softy Rob!

(more…)

If you’re hankering after the dizzy days of Bestival and looking for an excuse to get together with all those new buddies you made at Bestival last year, listen up.

Those party people at Bestival are back on the road and Rob da Bank is pulling together some cracking parties over the next couple of months, just what you need to get you in the mood for the festival season.

The parties will feature live turns from The Cuban Brothers, Boy Kill Boy, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Pete and the Pirates, Ebony Bones and Christopher D Ashley. (more…)

It’s not every day that a local football team - in particular one made up of part time players - is all over the National media, but today is the exception.

Havant & Waterlooville - the Hawks to the fans - played against Liverpool, at Anfield, and for half an hour, they led Liverpool in the fourth rounds of the FA Cup.

The betting before the match was offering odds that many a Hawks fan would have found hard not to take - 50/1 for winning at Anfield and 5000/1 for them to win the FA Cup.

(more…)

Bestival HQ has just announced the release of the brand spanking (easy now) new Camp Bestival website.

It looks just as lovely as the Bestival website and features more of that colourful animated artwork from Josie Da Bank.

The site is jam-packed with info about the new festival taking place in the beautiful Lulworth Cove this July. As well as finding out who’s performing, you can get the skinny on what’s going on in each part of the site – The Castle Field, Magic Meadow, Kid’s Garden and the Camping areas.
(more…)