Ginger DJ Rob

What a day! Some luxury birthday presents including a future trip to Minecart Madness near Snowdon. After breakfast I was blindfolded (ooh, kinky) and bundled into the car for a mystery tour by my missus. We drove for about 20 minutes and to my slight disappointment had turned up outside an office. When I got out of the car I realised we were at Shoreham Airport . As we walked towards another office I saw the exciting sign of Helifly ! After being greeted by the pilot and a few moments hanging around watching the seagulls getting moved on from the airfield we were treated to an aerial tour of the south coast past Brighton, turning inland after Rottingdean, over Lewes and headed back to Shoreham over the South Downs. Still with a smile on my face and my head still in the clouds we headed over to Devil's Dyke pub . Within the 7 years I've lived in Brighton, I'd never visited this landmark. Beautiful the scenery and the pub food was delicious. The complimentary bottle ...

Image by Ginger DJ via Flickr Its Easter Sunday and we'd always planned to see the Easter Bonnet Parade up at Fifth Avenue . With cash getting short we attempt to buy a cheap breakfast. It was an even harder challenge as we couldn't really find anywhere open until we came across PAX Wholesome Foods. With a name like that we expected something special however it was possibly the worse pre-packed breakfast yet with the majority being thrown in the bin and we were overcharged. We arrived at Fifth Avenue with crowds swelling around a number of posers with their bonnets. As we got deeper into the crowds the hats got better and more TV crews interviewing the owners. The guy (pictured) in the wedding dress within the slideshow below drew particular attention though I wouldn't say he was wearing a bonnet as such but his pet parrot. Judging from the activity on Flickr this guy is a regular at any public parade . Everyone was in high spirits and those wearing the bonnets we...

After our bike ride yesterday, we treated ourselves to a posh meal at La Fourchette . It must have been the fourth restaurant to book as all were fully booked. I still can't believe that the most useful search keywords to use were 'posh restaurant Brighton'. It started off very well, starters and service all very good but their sea bass was heavily boned. I made the mistake of re-ordering it and it was nearly as bad. Made up for it by having the Pear amandine with vanilla ice cream. Delicious! Sunday should have been another training session especially as the weather kept its promise of being warm. However, the house and garden were a tip so spent some energy tidying and mowing. I also wasted £3.50 of 5 minutes looking around a photography sale at the Racecourse. It was more like a carboot sale of old camera crap. It would have been £10 (a tenner!?) if I'd been there before 10am. For our animation amusement. we saw A Town Called Panic at the Duke of Yorks. If you...

Image by Ginger DJ via Flickr The lack of real blog entries lately has been down to being either really busy on things that aren't that exciting or small things that only deserve a Twitter shout. I blame it on the Winter Olympics and decorating. First off, something I forgot to mention that a friend who works for Brighton council said that my photo (right) had made their 'media briefing'. Not quite sure what this means but being a secret council informer/spy excites me slightly.  Kev, Karol, Sarah and James all celebrated their birthday at the end of February/start of March. After some pre-drinks at K and K's we bundled round to the Disco Dungeon and started the proper party. Since updating to Windows 7 and Virtual DJ 6 I'd hoped for a stress-free set. The only thing that went wrong was the time codes where the sound quality using the virtual vinyl was a watery-muffled sound. As soon as I switched to just using the laptop all was good and had another blinding...

Before battling the wind and rain for the cross-dressing comedian that is Eddie Izzard , we had a quick tapas meal at La Bodega on Church Street. I didn't enjoy it too much personally as we've been spoilt by Hove 's Latino through the range of choice but everyone else liked it. If you've been to Pompoko you'll understand the minimum décor to expect as well which made shuffling around tapas plates and multiple bottles around the table challenging for four people. The evening's tickets were bought way back in February for Kerry's birthday (April). The seats themselves were the last row in the highest balcony next to the disabled section. At least we had the row to ourselves and had a great view of the stalls and impressive stage. Its possibly the biggest comedy event we've been to with a set looking like an ancient pyramid and an animated cell window showing the sun passing then an eye peering in changing into what felt like travelling through space. ...

Thursday of our week's holiday was up to London for some Christmas shopping (early I know) and to have a special dinner at Inamo , the asian restaurant with the interactive, electronic display menu (and other cool features) on the dining table. Our shopping wasn't the success we had hope for. Whether we've just spoilt each other for so long at Christmas, outdoing the last or it was just a bit wrong to think about buying presents, there was nothing that  really inspired us to buy. The Mercedes McLaren F1 in Selfridges got close, promoting some luggage but seeing Martine McCutcheon book signing didin't. At the moment I'd be happy for a monster bag of Malteasers and Kirin. Halfway up Wardour Street in Soho is Inamo. The table projection and décor was every bit as futuristic and desogner cool as I'd hoped for. With a quick demo of the table controls we were changing the virtual table cloth colour and pattern, viewing the kitchen webcam, ordering drinks, scr...

After a few weeks break, our super-team of quizzers won the 1st year anniversary of Horace McSquirter's Quiz me Hardy at the Pond pub. It was very exciting with the place decorated with knob shaped balloons though I'd say we were robbed of the best team name prize (c'mon Horace, keep up with the news) with a nod to Amy Winehouse 's year free cold-turkey "They tried to make me go to quiz night but Horace said no, no, no". The music round was a tie-breaker between us and another team but we lost that too. The last laugh was with us as we scraped through to win the grand prize with a cheeky half point. Fredag (Friday in Swedish) We celebrated Sukey's first day at work, which started for her on a Friday. Our chosen meet up point was the Northern Lights , the Scandinavian bar on Little East Street. It was a gloomy, wet evening but the atmosphere inside was cosy and cool. Shame their gin and grapefruit speciality was sold out but I did get a chance to sample ...

This is going to be a schizophrenic blog entry as there hasn't been any major events going on at the moment. Last week started with another win of the Pond pub quiz but a shallow victory with only three teams entering then one too drunk to care. Friday's TV experiment by Derren Brown was a mixed result though I don't think I was really concentrating. I was more insterested in the Twitterfall of people talking about him. I nearly got caught with a nasty PC virus thanks to some evil Tweet and short URL. Lesson learnt: never click on a short URL unless you know its reliable. Saturday night was at a very local pub on Lewes Road, Brighton called the Gladstone. Go-Bang and a few other local DJs put on an all-dayer. It was a refreshing change not to need a taxi but the drink prices were still steep. Good to meet a few new people and the neo-disco sounds were quite cool. Alot of remixed old classics catching my attention. We stayed until the end dodging the Gladstone regulars....

W ednesday night was a fun one out with Viv and baby Amy as we took them to Brighton's finest fried finery, Bardsleys for an expensive fish and chip dinner. The staff are really friendly, there's a wine menu and their reputation for quality was proven with the best chips ever. The owner was very chatty and, as he was hanging around the entrance Norman Cook walked past and said hello. Weirdly he was carrying a large bin bag. The owner told us that Steve Coogan and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from Harry Potter ) were also regular customers. Saturday started with a delivery of this Daft Punk cartoon artwork for our decorating masterplan. Domestic , a french decor website specialises in cool wall stickers to liven up plain walls. The day continued with a satisfying DIY-athon Saturday day (I won't bore you with the details) then another good party around Casa de Paul e Sarah welcoming Kev and Karol to Brighton. Their new rented house was compact especially with the amount of ...

Neither of us wanted to cook Friday night so we headed over to Jamie Oliver's restaurant hoping the queue would be short before 7:30pm. How wrong we were as it looked like an hour's wait. Instead we headed over Moshi Moshi , the Japanese restaurant located near the city hall. First impressions were a little tainted. Maybe they could do with some decor update and they didn't serve Kirin or Shochu which is scandalous in my book. Still the conveyor belt of sushi was quite fun to look at and the food itself very tasty and reasonable in price - I'd strongly recommend anything teriyaki there. Would I go back? Probably no as Oki-nami offer a better drinks selection and better placed in town, plus Wagamama has perfected its food quality and offers a better atmosphere. We ended the night in the Om bar for some 2 for 1 cocktails. They seem to have reduced the choice and menu size but still managed to have some delicious bargain booze.

Happy Birthday to Paul as we tried out some free all nighter at Al Duomo on Friday night. Can't quite say whether it will catch on having banging tech-house in a restaurant. The soapy Tuacas mostly put us off but mainly the decor and lighting stopped us from really going for it. Saturday was the always welcome visit to Wagamamas with a stop at the legal high shop in Sydney Street then down Paul's basement to try out my new laptop for DJing. Modern Toss Last Sunday we saw Modern Toss - A Night Of Edwardian Chamber Filth at the Old Market, Hove which was part of the Fringe entertainments. The evening cocked up before even seeing it as I got the location completely wrong so had to walk a mile across town thinking we'd miss about 20 minutes. Luckily, the ticket got the time wrong and we were able to get a drink and get a decent seat. It was Fantastic! Basically it was a clip show presented on stage to some classical music from a live string quartet and pianist. Simon Greenall ...

It was our wedding anniversary on 10th March - Kerry and I have been married a healthy 8 years. Usually we do a mini-break but as the Snowdon thing got canceled we treated ourselves to as many restaurant meals and take-aways to celebrate. Hotel du Vin on Ship Street, Brighton was the highlight with some proper posh service and romantic setting. The Peru holiday meant that we needed some nasty immunization jabs. Unfortunately, I timed my injections for the anniversary date meaning my arms 'died' on me especially where the typhoid one went. Sleeping for the next few days was non-existent as turning to my sides was agony (see photo). Talking of viruses, Resident Evil 5 arrived much to a lot anticipation. Noticed some PR agency buggered up confusing the general public with decapitated heads and body parts - no Lithuanians were involved. Reviews have been a little harsh but liking the 2 player/split screen approach. I can see some small frustrations comparing it to the RE4 and wou...

Half the month has just slipped away and I think most of it is deciding which HD television to buy! And here it is, the Sony Bravia 40" LCD KDL-40Z4500 which has a 200hz refresh, the first of its kind. I'm using Delicious to tag all the shopping websites and monitoring their downward price - have a look at my Delicious feed on the right. Since I started looking, some retailers have reduced the prices from an average of £1500 to £1300 in the space on a 3 weeks. January is supposed to be a quiet month to conserve the cash but we've braved the big freeze for a few treats along the way. To celebrate Sarah's last day of her old feet (before her feet operation that is) we went treated ourselves to the best tapas in Hove at Latino . It was an opposite experience the evening after trudging round Ikea with only meatballs and their chocolate biscuits a result. Downloaded the highly addictive GTi Club+ on the PS3 . This was a favourite of mine in the arcades where you race a ...

Facebook has turned into my virtual mantle-piece with lots of mates wishing me a happy birthday - certainly brightened up an ordinary day at work on Friday. Kerry spoiled me again this year with another well chosen gift selection. The jaw-dropping, jewel-in-the-crown present was the Ferrari race day experience at Thruxton. As well as the F355, I'll be doing laps in a Maxda MX-3 (to get used to the track), Porsche Cayman, a couple of cars driven by an instructor and a go at a single seater Formula Renault - that's nearly 40 miles on probably the longest track in the UK. Not only that but they'll film me from the dashboard just like Top Gear for a take home DVD. The gift pack was the perfect marketing gimmick with the card-opening sound of a Ferrari starting up and driving off - music to my petrol-head ears. Santa begging James and Emma turned up a bit later for the weekend and before we headed out to the restaurant we heard some seasonal music outside. We opened the door to ...

After the stress of the shed it was good to be rewarded with a decent night out thanks to Kerry's success at work. She'd been awarded £100 to spend on a meal out and that's nearly what we spent. Oki-nami in Brighton is relatively new Japanese restaurant but had previously been in Hove. Its also part owned by Mr. Cook of Fatboy fame. Started off with some Shochu cocktails, of which I'd say Kerry's plum flavoured one beat my passion fruit and melon one, and to eat some Maki and Nigiri sushi filled with shiitake mushrooms, sesame seeds and king prawn. Quite adventurous for me but I avoided the prawn. A nice touch in case the conversation runs dry was that the chopsticks were wrapped in origami paper with folding instructions. I made a jumping frog. Second course was some Japanese tapas or otsumame taking in some Nikku gyoza (dumplings filled with pork & vegetable), Hotate yaki (Pan-fried fresh scallops in garlic butter) and Yasai ten. (vegetable tempura) which we...

Celebrated with a special Brighton restaurant visit to Gars and treated Kerry to a champagne breakfast and present marathon. To relive her sky diving experience, I've bought her a trip to an indoor place offering a similar thing without the 10,000ft flight. A Peru trip guide, a gardening book, a ring, a CD, Tom Ford perfume and this little guy below. She also received a cheeky gift of Mario Kart with wheel (though some might think this was really for me). Sunday was a lazy day apart from re-ordering the house with the builders demolishing the living/dining room wall the next day and us, ripping out the stairs cupboard paneling. The evening should have been a relaxing time enjoying our new kitchen until Kerry asked me to drain the spaghetti. Our kitchen sink was one of the outstanding things to be installed so any waste water needed to go outside. After unlocking the back door I picked up the pan and colander then tipped accidentally towards my hand. As you can imagine the boiling w...

Nice leisurely getting up and breakfast then headed down to the Empire State Building . By the time we'd got organised it was about 12:15pm and queues seemed long. Kerry couldn't do the heights so went to Bloomingdales whilst I waited in the company of ticket selling pests looking to sell dual ESB and Sky Ride tickets. 10 minutes later I thought the 90 minute warnings were estimated too high looking forward to seeing the sights in no time. However after the security scan, a mass of people snaked their way through a huge room and the 90 minutes looked like hours. By 2:10pm I was at the head of the queue though conscious I had to meet Kerry for her birthday treat of the Sex and the City tour for 2:45pm. 10-15 minutes would be all I needed up there but after turning the corner to expect the lifts was another queue with an expected 30 minute wait again! Luckily the ticket could be used on another day so ran back to the pre-arranged meeting place. The S and TC tour was okay thou...

Thursday I witnessed something truly awful, something so cruel, I should have contacted the authorities and reported the tormentor. After my karate training we walked over to the car and admired the sapphire blue Lotus Elise owned by one of other club members. The owner was keen to show off her new toy and switched on the headlights. I realised that the poor creature had been subjected to chav-mutation with neon-blue lights underneath the car. If you know of any Norfolk made car that has been cruelly treated please report to your nearest RSPCA - R espect for S portcars for the P rotection against C hav A ccessories. Friday night we celebrated our 5th year of marriage. We'd booked the P.O.S.H. restaurant in Southampton based on their delicious sounding menu with Indian and unusual slant on modern cuisine. When we arrived we ignored the fact it was opposite New York New York's nightclub and it was above a Rent-a-Car office. We walked up the stairs and through their Titanic t...