Tag Archives: Seven Dials

Brighton Life, Montpelier Villa Women, Sport

In sport as in life we find art

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It takes a lot of guts to be a writer, to not only put yourself in the centre of any narrative but to claim that your perspective is something new, fresh and worth reading. Les Misérables was first published in 1862 and has had countless adaptations and interpretations since then so it would be naive to suggest I could offer something new and exciting however I doubt many have looked at Les Mis through a Leeds United lens. 

The novel begins with Jean Valjean being released from 19 years imprisonment for stealing bread and few metaphors describe Leeds United’s 16 year exile from the Premier League. Leeds first season in the Championship brought a play-off final defeat so fans would be forgiven for thinking a swift return to the big-time was on the cards however relegation to League One followed the season after. Les Miserables the musical opens with the song “Look Down.”

On 26th February 2022 I watched Leeds United against Tottenham Hotspur on television from the comfort of my living room before traveling to London to watch Les Misérables the musical. Despite the 4-0 scoreline in favour of the North London side, Leeds had hit the woodwork twice and Stuart Dallas seemed certain to score when putting the ball past Hugo Lloris only for a combination of Dallas’ patience and some determined defending from Ben Davies ensured that didn’t happen. That was Marcelo Bielsa’s last game in charge of Leeds United and I found out that he had “parted company” during the interval of Les Mis. 

Susan Boyle was laughed at in her Britain’s Got Talent audition when she stated she wanted to be a professional singer and when Bielsa named his first starting 11 against Stoke City there were similar howls of derision. How had he included only one new signing in this team that finished 14th in the league the season before? Unlike Susan Boyle, Leeds fans had seen the same players only months prior and knew that they weren’t good enough to go up. If Boyle and Bielsa proved anything in their first public outing in the UK it was that looks could be deceiving. Boyle’s song choice – I dreamed a dream from Les Mis. 

Bielsa’s nickname is El Loco and his intense fitness demands and steadfast refusal to deviate from his attacking philosophy is what earned him that nickname but he lived by an honour code that made him human and in the world of professional football that is crazy. He lived in a small flat in Wetherby so he could walk to and from the training ground refusing the plush surroundings initially offered to him by Leeds United, he was often seen preparing for games in the local coffee shop, he reportedly spent hours every morning responding individually to fans messages, he didn’t give exclusive interviews because to do so would undermine his weekly 

press conference that was available to all. It’s important to remember he was doing this with Leeds United, Dirty Leeds. The team that celebrated Norman “bite yer legs” Hunter and the ground that during the 80’s became a hotbed of support for the National Front and the associated hooliganism that blighted English football for that decade. Leeds have never been popular and sometimes with good reason. 

Bielsa’s ability to get Leeds promoted is nothing compared to the achievement that is getting supporters of other teams to actively like Leeds United and causes us Leeds fans to question who we actually are – much like Jean Valjean does in Les Mis. The nadir of this honour code was undoubtedly allowing Aston Villa to score unopposed at Elland Road following what was a controversial but not illegal goal. The willingness to risk the ire of the vociferous crowd in order to do what he thought was right shows the El Loco nickname is warranted. 

The last song before the interval is “One Day More” and before I had turned my phone off to enjoy the show there had been rumblings that Bielsa was gone. The song begins with Jean Valjean pondering “These men who seem to know my crime will surely come a second time.”

But more suitable for Bielsa’s relationship with Leeds is the line “I did not live until today, how can I live when we are parted?”

Artist Dotty, Brighton Life, Fashion, Features, The Arts

Artist Dotty finds the world’s largest night sky observatory

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Now not a lot of people know this, Artist Dotty says, in his most Michael Caine of accents. Directly above the Seven Dials medical centre on Montpelier Crescent, is the worlds largest night sky observatory. The telescope capabilities are truly phenomenal and being on a hill pinnacle, night-time air pollution is down to an absolute minimum. The telescope has one of the most powerful lenses in the world and the observatory is available to book via the furniture shop near Small Batch coffee.  

For the last month, Artist Dotty has been taking photos via the telescope and running the photos through a kaleidoscopic effect on his computer. Some of the effects are truly stunning and through his art he has uncovered what can only be best described as hidden Gods in the night skies. There have been errors of judgement though, on my first attempt, I thought I had discovered life on Mars and realised I had accidentally zoomed in on a spider suspended from a street lamp near Tesco Express on Dyke Road.  

I was invited to the observatory to watch Artist Dotty identifying the best photo opportunities. The telescope rotates via a remote control and Artist Dotty enjoys listening to Mozart whilst appreciating the night skies. AD said he was inspired by a guy from Rochdale, Lancashire, called David Malin, a British-Australian astronomer and photographer who in his early years started out as a microscopist and found himself becoming a leading astrophotographer, who enjoyed looking at the night sky from the Smitz observatory, in Australia. 

AD says, I first spotted David Malin’s work at the Liverpool museum of art back in the 90’s and was impressed with the way the art world acknowledged his photography as an art form. The images are of Nebulas and star clusters and are very hypnotising and mesmerising. Star gazing is a great way to put life’s struggles into a wider, mind expansive perspective. Certainly one of my tick box’s would be to visit more observatory’s around the world and take more photos. 

A galaxy is named after him – Malin 1, which he discovered in 1986 and is the largest spiral galaxy so far discovered. 

Artist Dotty genuinely believes his digital art, may also be contributing towards scientific research of space elasticity and dimension perception. 

“My results are somewhat beyond comprehension and have blown my own mind, to the point I need to take a break from my latest art obsession, every now and then”.  

The first night sky photo I took, was from a NASA image, on their website and after a touch of kaleidoscopic digital wizardry, I created a symmetrical God, that looked very similar to George Harrison from the Beatles.

I am now wondering if all the critical mass celebrities are hidden amongst the stars.  All of this talk about outer-space is making me want to put on an early Star Trek and admire the great use of Royal Brittanica books on Captain Kirk’s book shelves in his bedroom. 

I have approached NASA with my findings and also suggested having an art gallery on the moon to celebrate the spirit of adventure and discovery.  Anyway after I sent the email to NASA, the most incredible thing happened. I haven’t heard back. But that’s OK, life goes on, if the moon doesn’t come to me, I will go to the moon, just need to find a huge elastic band and someone to hold it. 

There are examples of AD’s works at St Augustine’s church in Brighton, near Preston Park. It’s a healing arts centre, with a Whole Earth food cafe. A great spot to relax and scoffie on a banoffie with a coffee. AD’s work is coming down on the 20th Feb, so if your looking to hedge your bets and make an investment on an emerging Artist, AD is one to look out for. 

AD’s work has also been acknowledged by Castle Fine Art as incredible. They currently represent Billy Connolly. 

Check out Artist Dotty’s latest work at St. Augustine’s Arts & Events Centre, Stanford Ave, Brighton BN1 6EA

Brighton Life, Features, The Arts

Dymphna Flynn’s Book Review: Annie Stanley All at Sea by Sue Teddern

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Approaching 40, Annie Stanley is in the midst of a crisis – burnout, or existential angst. This former City financier and school teacher now spends her days in tracksuits at the local fleapit when suddenly her father dies, too soon after her mother.

Annie Stanley All at Sea is a kind, funny portrayal of a woman who’s stuck and doesn’t quite always get things right (who does?). When her father’s girlfriend announces she’s going to scatter his ashes somewhere meaningless to Annie, she takes matters into her own hands. In a fantastically comic set piece, she seizes the urn and on a whim takes her dad on a tour of the 31 sea areas that make up the shipping forecast, which he loved listening to, despite living in landlocked St Albans.

The unfolding story is reminiscent of the hugely successful Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, as Annie travels from Cromarty, Forth, Tyne etc. Along the way she looks up old friends and colleagues in a journey of self-discovery, working through her self-loathing, as she truly believes ‘making bad things worse’ is her default setting – as an ex in the Forth chapter helpfully tells her. 

Sue Teddern is a Brighton writer – spot the character Simon living in a poky Seven Dials bedsit – and this is her first novel. Sue’s an accomplished scriptwriter and playwright (credits include The Archers) and her expertise shows in this charming book, with its crisp dialogue, light humour, deft characterisation and neat structure. We root for Annie, and we see what she can’t because of the sea fret of sadness – that maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem.

Dymphna Flynn is a development producer at Pier Productions in Brighton

Brighton Life, Features, Music, The Arts

NuSoul Union – Soul Sisters

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I’m sitting in NuSoul Studios in Woodingdean – “the coolest & best rehearsal, recording, video & compact venue space locally” – talking to producer Simon Hill and singing coach Gary Whalen who run the studios and Millie, Maisie and Keira, three smart young women who are the vocal group NuSoul Union. Well, there’s a fourth, Libby, but she’s not here – “She’s a bit quiet at the moment, but she’s here in spirit” says Millie, who, at 18, is the oldest of the group. 

“So I’m the mother of the group”. 

Are you sure you want to be seen like that? I ask, and she laughs.

The idea of NuSoul Union came to Simon and Gary a few years ago and different members have come and gone, but the line up has been settled since Keira joined almost two years ago. Now, they’ve got the together thing, the ‘finish each other’s sentences’ together thing.

We’re talking about what they do and how they do it and Simon said “a very big part of the reason it works is that they have four very different voices. Okay, even the kind of bands you could possibly compare them with like En Vogue or Destiny’s Child” – if you’re going to set a bar, set it high – “they’ve not got particularly different voices. They’re all great singers, but what we do is something different, we’ve got four very different voices.”

What do you mean, different voices? Do you mean like The Temptations or something where you have a very low, bass guy and… 

“Let’s show you” said Gary. And they get up and walk over to the white grand piano – yes, there’s really a white grand piano in the studio – and break into a beautiful accapella version of their single “Boy” which is just lovely. They float in and out of the song, enjoying the moment in a way that people who are good and know they’re good do. I was going to say “effortlessly” but it’s far from effortless. They’ve really worked at their craft. They come in every day.

“Yes, every day” said Millie.

“Every single day” said Keira. 

And what do you do, every single day?

“So we do individual lessons to work on our voices independently to stretch, do whatever we need to work on, songwriting and all of that stuff, work on new songs. Make sure the harmonies work, everything’s tight. We’re also working on everything else, dress, clothes, appearance, moves, dance, all that” 

“And then we have our college as well, which is also here”. They’re studying for a Music Business diploma at Sutton District College, where Gary is Head of Performing Arts. There’s a branch in Woodingdean. 

“It’s kind of just everything to do with the music industry. So yeah, we’re in college. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Brighton School of Singing on Monday”. 

Since Christmas they’ve played the Brunswick and Shortts Bar in Kemptown, and they’ve got a new EP in the pipeline which they played under a promise “Please don’t share it” and which, OK, I won’t share but I will say it’s blimmin lovely and completely blows away the idea that it’s been largely made by three 16 year olds and an 18 year old.

What’s the best bit, what do you like doing best? “I think the best part is just been able to do it together. We’ve done solo stuff as well, and even though that’s like fun to do, it’s just nicer doing it with your friends. Yeah.”

Brighton Life, Health Matters, Sound bath

Stress? What even is that – ayurvedic massage

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It’s been a bit of a day. Everyone, they all want something. Whether it’s time or space or energy or just you. They all want something. God, you’re exhausted. Now imagine this. You’re lying down in a candlelit room. Slowly the air is filled by the undulating sounds of gongs and Tibetan bowls, rising and falling, swirling and twirling, sounds that take you away to… to somewhere calm and peaceful. Stress? Right now you don’t even know how to spell it. 

Emma Thomas and Naomi Potter (left and right) run sound baths in St Michael & All Angels Church in Powis Road and, because they understand how stressful running The Whistler is, invited us along. And very lovely it was too. Floaty and blissful and lovely. The mesmeric sounds of the gongs and bowls are transporting and meditative and take you somewhere else. If you can stop yourself falling asleep – and I did, honest – it’s just beautiful. The next ones are February 11 and 18. Phone Emma on 07974309972 for details and tickets. 

And if you fancy an Ayurvedic massage, check out https://www.balanceandbloom.co.uk