My very clever fella has hooked up with the ever genius Mr. Lewis to form Big Tasty. This is their first track, Bi Winning, created ‘after a visit to ASDA then feasting on McDonalds, Czech lager, fruity cocktails and of course massive amounts of the drug they call Charlie Sheen’.
Sampling a few of Mr. Sheen’s killer quotes, it’s a pretty big tune. I know I’m biased, but I think it’s great – I’m sure Charlie would approve.
Once again my talented friends (two of the masterminds behind Hardboiled Wonderland plus the Rosy Cheeked Viking) have produced another cracking track – this time a tongue-in-cheek rap about their beloved Kemp Town.
So here they are J.J.R with ‘Straight Outta Kemptown’
J.J.R – Straight Outta Kemptown by Mr Lewis Mixes
I found a few interesting photos nestled on my phone so I thought I’d share them on here. My phone’s camera isn’t great so excuse any blur or shakiness…
Here’s a bin in Brighton highstreet – one small change to the text has made a big difference:
I strolled past this painted mattress on the way to work – I’m thinking perhaps it’s a local street artist, does anyone know who it might be?
And then I returned home last Thursday to find these Morris Dancers working their magic right outside my house. Seems they’d all piled straight out of the pub!
I picked this up from a street-seller on the way to Glastonbury – purely coincidental that it just so happened to have my name stamped all over it…
Mother Wilkins’ vegetable patch has been doing so well this year that she sent me home with these enormous courgettes – since then I’ve been searching the internet for all the courgette recipes I can find. I’ll try to share them on here if I get a chance:
I’ve just recently stumbled across Brighton artist Pinkyvision, and am instantly smitten with his brightly coloured, retro psychedelic designs.
His unique graffiti, paintings, posters and papercuts are cheerily presented in bright pinks, yellows, greens and blues, with smiling characters and surreal designs.
As soon as I spied his website I just had to snap up this Star Head poster – the rainbow colours should really lift my shady hallway. 
I suspect this won’t be my last Pinkyvision purchase either – I’m already eyeing up a few of his other pieces.They’re just too cheery to resist, and a collection of them hung on a living room wall would look super sweet.
I really must stop buying so much art.
Maybe.
Ink_d Gallery in Brighton is one of my favourites – it holds unique and interesting exhibitions, and sells a mixture of artworks that I’m finding hard to resist now that I have lots of walls to decorate in my new house.
Last week I popped in for the Req and RYCA exhibition, taking place from 18th June – 11th July 2010. Both exhibits were eye-catching and attractive, but for totally different reasons.
Req's 'Girls on Edge of Bath 2'
Downstairs, Req’s dreamy spray-painted images of the female form felt misty and mystical, whilst upstairs RYCA’s iconic pop-cultural subversions are fitting to the trendy Brighton crowd.
RYCA's 'Girls All Look The Same'
For my full review of both exhibitions have a peek at 412limited.co.uk.
I also managed to pick up one of my favourite Imbue pieces, Early Hirst, which I’ll hopefully be collecting this week!
Imbue's 'Early Hirst'
Yes, I know, I’m about a 9 months behind EVERYONE on this, but last weekend I discovered Beyond Retro in the North Laines, Brighton and am now a super smitten retro vintage kitten.
Well, at least now I know where the cool kids of Brighton have been buying their goodies all this time.
The shop itself is pretty much a warehouse stocked from floor to ceiling with clothes, accessories, shoes and hats, all in an off-beat vintage style that can suit a range of budgets, from students to designers.
Beyond Retro, Brighton
It’s a real treasure trove for anyone looking for something that little bit different. Even I could spend hours in there and I usually can’t face that ‘rummaging’ style of shopping that others seem to have such a patience for (I don’t think I can hack more than 10 minutes in TK Maxx before hyperventilating with stress and fleeing the premises).
After 10 minutes in the shop I had found a gorgeous leather satchel (a steal at £18), a red anchor necklace for £6 and a MASSIVE pair of bright red sunglasses that I’ll probably never wear for fear that I’m not cool enough (£10).
Definitely take a look if you have some time and cash to spare. Beyond Retro has also had a couple of warehouse shops in London for years now – one of which is a decade old – for those who aren’t local to Brighton.
I know where I’ll be spending my lunch break today….
Working in the centre of Brighton’s beautiful Lanes and being a HUGE lover of food I am lucky enough to be surrounded by a myriad of cafes and restaurant to suit all budgets and time frames. When lunchtime arrives there are countless options, meaning that I can choose something different every day.
One of my firm favourites has always been Maugherman’s Deli, located just off Brighton Square, selling a range of pasta dishes and sandwiches for both take-away and eat-in. I recently discovered that it has changed hands to become Nick and Franco’s Deli Bar. Intrigued, and hungry, I paid them a visit.
The deli itself looked clean and inviting – black and white tiles on the floor, whitewashed walls with menus written on chalk boards and all sorts of exciting Italian meats hanging from the ceiling.
As always, as soon as I realise that I needed to choose my meal I was faced with immediate indecision, particularly because everything just looked so good. Luckily, Franco the ‘crazy Italian’ was on hand to help me make up my mind. Within minutes I had been fed tempting samples of meats and mouth-watering buffalo mozzarella before being sat outside in the sunshine to savour some honey dew melon with thinly sliced prosciutto and a refreshing pasta and mozzarella salad.
Having been well and truly won over I have since returned to sample their delicious pasta sauces and toasted paninis, and almost always find the cafe to be buzzing with the sociable sound of Italian accents and bursting with the smell of fresh Illy coffee. The prices are really reasonable as well (all pastas and paninis are less than £4.00), so I don’t feel I’m breaking the bank every time I leave the office for lunch.
I also have it on good authority that the carrot cake is pretty spectacular as well.
The friendly and helpful owners owners, Nick (the English one, usually sporting a rather lovely hat) and Franco (the Italian one, mostly very excited), are clearly proud as punch with their venture, so I asked Nick a few questions to find out more:
Well, Tim Maugherman was selling and we thought we could do better. We didn’t make any changes to start with but it soon became apparent we should bring our plans to re-brand forward. So we launched in February with a pasta eating comp, the mayor came down to see us. There’s a great pic from the Argus of me, the Mayor and Betty Swallox downing the pasta!
2. What are the main differences now?
Ah yes good question. I would say without doubt the food is much, much better as we now only use the best quality ingredients possible. We have a much more innovative approach to our cooking and are pushing boundaries with the dishes. We use delish ingredients like wild boar, smoked tuna, and the most amazing buffalo mozzarella you will have ever tasted. The shop has had a make-over and is now much more relaxing with a nice vibe. Oh and no microwaves to reheat the pasta, just a good old stove!
3. What do you feel sets you apart from other delis in Brighton?
I think we are unique in the sense we not only provide our customers with a taste bud bonanza but we also have a philosophy which is to provide an all round great experience by way of a relaxed, friendly, knowledgeable and passionate crew. As far as I am aware no one else is doing fresh fasta pasta to go and certainly our paninis are unique. We have also launched our special pizza pazza now.
4. What’s your specialty?
Ah there so many….I would just say one would be our try before you buy philosophy. We are always inventing new and exciting dishes, so there will always be lots of lovely new things to eat. You can even make up your own mix of dishes to suit your tastes if you want.
5. Do you have plans for any further changes in the future?
Yeah, we have plans to open in the evening for the summer. This will be nice as you can bring a bottle of wine with you to enjoy. Amazing food, good company and great music, nice!
Nick and Francos, 12 Brighton Square, BN1 1HD, 01273 723522
I'm Laura Wilkins, and this is where I write about all the things I find interesting - art, music, fashion, telly and anything else that pops into my head.
I'm a writer and digital media bod, living and obsessing over all things Brighton.
I love cheese, lie-ins and finally have my very own kitten.
contact me at:
laura [at] thewilkyway.co.uk