The Last Bookshop film update....

Some regular readers of Tonbridge Blog may recall my mentioning that Mr. Books shop was used as a set for part of the independently produced short film, The Last Bookshop, which is a fictional, surreal and humorous, with-a-serious-edge, account of life when the internet has completely taken over and books have all but been forgotten about. It seems like an age since the film crew turned up at my humble little shop, which was one of a handful of bookshops they used in the making of the film last winter, and still the final version isn't out yet. I understand from the production company's blog that they would like to air The Last Bookshop on the internet (which in itself is a little ironic!) but they are embargoed from doing so because of the entry requirements of most film festivals. Personally I'm very much looking forward to seeing the film, not least because Mr. Books is actually featured so I wish they'd just get on with it and invite me to the premiere! It sounds like a worthwhile and innovative project and I wish the team great success with it. Have a look here at their blog if you want to find out more and to read some of their interesting thoughts about the book trade....

Up above the streets and houses....

I managed to whip out my camera phone whilst biking to work the other day to bring you this picture which I've called "Rainbow Over Tonbridge." Okay it's not that creative a title but it's simple and it is what it says! Just below the line of the trees, right over in the far distance, at the very end of the rainbow is the pot of gold. I cycled towards it that day for hours and hours but was never quite able to reach it. One day perhaps!...

Who was Shakespeare?....

Ever since I opened Mr. Books about six or so years ago every so often an old fellow pops his head in the door of the shop and starts talking to me about Shakespeare and how it's his belief that the man history credits with writing the timeless great plays wasn't actually the real author. He goes on and on (and on) about how it was probably one of about three or four diffferent men, all of them of noble birth. My customer, Michael, expresses that his favoured candidate is one William Drayton who happens to be his distant direct ancestor. He does rant on a bit, well okay then alot, but I've always suspected that he wasn't just slightly crazy and hoped that he did actually know what he was going on a about. Certainly, from what little I knew on the subject, I understood that there was at least a grain of truth in his argument. It wasn't the first time the subject had been debated. Now they've only gone and brought a film out about the subject haven't they. Anonymous, which premiered yesterday, postulates that the man William Shakespeare was just an actor, and an illiterate one at that, the real playwright actually having been Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford. So maybe my slightly barking mad customer Michael Drayton isn't so far off the mark. Trouble is, whilst there's no concrete proof that Shakespeare was Shakespeare of Stratford Upon Avon, or for that matter Shakspere or Shakes- peare, equally there's no hard evidence that it was De Vere or Drayton, Christopher Marlowe or someone else. The debate will go on probably forever but the film is, by all accounts, well worth watching....

More quotes....

Another installation at Margate's Turner Contemporary gallery. Art or just a load of T-shirts with quotes on them stuck on a wall?...

We'll 'ave a day down Margate: Turner Contemporary

Turner Gallery or Lok n Store?

Macho Football culture with a twist!

What's this hoodie holding?

On Sunday I visited somewhere I was meaning to go to all summer: The Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate. My first time in the town and it was a beautiful day. the first impression of Margate as you drive in off the M2 is of a run down Victorian resort in huge need of a facelift. At the Gateway to the sea front is the vile 1960s block of flats. Had it been in Tonbridge I feel confident, if not absolutely certain, that the local Civic Society would never have allowed it to be built. It truely is a blot on the landscape if ever I saw one. That said the bay itself, particularly on a sunny day such as last Sunday, looks very beautiful and, if you squint a little, quite idyllic! The art gallery itself is housed in a purpose built and very modern looking building in- keeping with the works of art themselves. Some might say that the building is just a little too contemporary and functional looking and might even be confused with a storage depot or a supermarket distribution centre or something along those lines. I'm sure the committee which made the decision thought it through and that there's a perfectly sound artistic reason for the way it looks! Whatever you think about the architecture of the outside of the building you cannot fail to be impressed by the contents of the gallery itself. After all that is the main point of going there. At the very least many of the works are thought provoking and inspirational. The current exhibition, Nothing in the World But Youth, is all about Youth as the title suggests. A celebration of the multi-sided complexities of teenage life, a look at the confusion and developing inquisitive minds of the young person and a deep focus on the darkness, joys, depressions, violence and anxieties of the young mind. All of course expressed in a multitude of ways through paintings, sound, video, photography, sculpture and you name it. It works on many levels. If you're middle aged like me (God I think it's the first time I've admitted to being that!) you can recognise the imagery and the feelings represented, perhaps even reminisce. If you're young, and therefore the subject matter of the exhibition, then (if you can even be bothered) you'll see it all from a totally different angle and some of it will stick in your mind and inspire you. You may not even realise it has but it probably will. I know that to some readers this may all sound a tad pretentious or even art farty but, you know what, sometimes that's not such a bad thing. Oh, and if you're a fan of more traditional art, then there are several original paintings by Turner (as you might expect, being named after him) and then there's Rodin's Kiss, if you like that sort of thing! which is there on loan for six months. They don't let you take photos but I managed to smuggle a few out for you to enjoy. Other than the cockles and whelks and the fish n chips I can't think of a better reason to drive the hour and a half to Margate. Treat yourselves to a bit of culture and sea air without the same old train journey into London....

My sister's bedroom from the 1970s

Not a bad effort by Rodin!

Quote of the week....

Watching Stephen Fry's excellent TV programme "Planet Word" over the weekend, which this week was all about the written word, I was struck by one quote on the wall of a featured American bookshop which kind of sums up the whole spendour of the book in its physical form. I'm not sure that you could apply the same thoughts to a Kindle or other such electronic device:

 “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind.
Books are humanity in print.” ― Barbara W. Tuchman

Most Horrible House in Tonbridge....

I see from reading the Slade Area Residents Association newsletter (always a treat!) that they will be holding their annual Halloween competition. I love the way the community around this area of Tonbridge get into the spirit (geddit) of things. The basic idea is that people dress and light up their houses with ghoolish and scarey things. Prizes are given out, at the judges discretion, for the most "Horrible Houses!" So if you're of a nervous disposition steer clear of the old, some say haunted, part of town next Monday night. Get your competition forms from head witch Kathie Foster Smith!...

Oh me oh my!...

It looked like a giant bird in the sky but, my gosh, you wouldn't want it coming down on your roof would you?! This hot air balloon stopped me in my tracks cycling home from work last week. It looked like it was about to make an emergency landing on the girls grammar school fields, at the top of Deakin Leas, but I believe it went on to land safely in the Sportground Park. It made quite an exciting end to my day though and I was able to whip out my trusty Sony Eriksson camera phone to capture this shot for you....

Book Fair done and dusted....

Alice in Wonderland: One of the many wonderful pop up books on display at the fair

If you missed the West Kent Book Fair, held at Tonbridge School on Sunday then you missed a treat, especially if you are a book collector but even if you're not. There were books on display and on sale on every subject imaginable with prices ranging from 20 pence to about £5,000. There were paperbacks, childrens board books, first edition novels, many signed rare books and, my favourite of the day, a huge table covered with the most weird and wonderful pop up books. The fair was well attended by both dealers and serious book collectors and, rather encouragingly, by casual visitors who were curious or just happened to be passing by. The nice weather certainly helped to attract at least 300 people along. Most of the booksellers who exhibited seemed to be going away happy at the end of the day's trading so, with a bit of luck they'll all be back next year. As for me, from an organiser's point of view, I was very pleased with the whole day but it's always good to get it out of the way. It's almost certainly my hardest day's work of the whole year so it was nice to put my feet up yesterday and drink coffee and listen to music all day while my house keeper looked after me. If only! I had to clear up the signs, and books and off load them all into my storage facility and then do my weekly household chores like emptying the bins and cleaning the toilets at home. Oh and then I'd booked in at the dentist to have a much needed crown prepared. So actually about as unrelaxing as it gets!... 

 

The Pop Up Man himself. Clive Sayer (You may recoginise him from Beat and Track music shop)



Have your dreams analysed at the West Kent Book Fair....

Every so often you meet someone who's quite quirky and unusual. Even less often you get such a person taking a table at the West Kent Book Fair which, if you didn't know by now, is on Sunday at Tonbridge School from 10am to 4pm in Old Big School hall. Laurie Sheppard is a writer originating from the Phillipines and has published books on faith healing and dream analysis among other alternative therapy topics. She'll be on hand signing her books and talking to anyone who wishes to discuss her work. So if you've ever wanted to talk to someone first hand about a recurring dream or something like that then now's your chance. She'll be around for the whole day. Find out more about her on her web site here

New Tonbridge School Uniform is all Pink!

My most bizarre sight of the week has to be the boys of Tonbridge School this morning when I was over there organising final bits and pieces for my book fair there this Sunday. Quite a few of them had taken pink day, the breast cancer awareness event, to another degree by wearing all sorts of weird and wonderful attire. Very strange to see the fresh faced sporty hunky chaps going about their normal school day, trying not to look self conscious, wearing pink tights, bunny ears and, in some cases ballet tutus. It was early in the morning so perhaps I was in a hynagogic, semi dream like, state and halucinating! If you're are reading this boys then I want to see your best photos to post on Tonbridge Blog. Now there's a challenge....

Big Society alive and well in Tonbridge....

Is this what David Cameron is talking about when he speaks of The Big Society? Actually I don't like that soundbite of a phrase but can't see much wrong with this particular voluntary service which can, quite literally, save lives. I've been sent some blurb by the local team leader. Now Tonbridge Blog doesn't normally just publish verbatim stuff that people send in but, in this case, I'm making an exception so deal with it!

Community responders have been operating within the South

East since December 2000. The schemes were first introduced

in an effort to provide early pre-hospital care to communities we

have particular difficulty in reaching within those life critical early

minutes following cardiac arrest, a heart attack, patients who

are unconscious or suffering any other form of life threatening

illness or injury.

Whilst South East Coast Ambulance Service performs very well, we have to recognise

that there are some areas within the community that are extremely difficult to reach quickly. Even if we significantly increased our ambulance resources, we would still not be able to deliver the

speed of response necessary to get to some patients with life threatening conditions. This

is where the role of the community responder is vital.

Volunteer responders receive training in basic life support and in the use of an automatic

defibrillator (machine to shock the heart) by the Ambulance Service. The 999 Emergency

Dispatch Centre (EDC) is then able to send a community responder to life threatening

calls within their local community, to provide the care and comfort necessary whilst the

ambulance is on its way. Community responders are not a substitute for the ambulance

crews, but are an added bonus for any patient they may attend. Working with the

Ambulance Service, community responders can ‘buy time’ for the patient until the crew

arrives. Since December 2000 over 7000 patients throughout the South East Coast area

have already benefited from the intervention of community responders.

Our aim within South East Coast Ambulance is to provide the appropriate care to life

threatening emergency calls within 8 minutes. Sometimes, particularly in the case of

cardiac arrest calls, this can still be too long and this is where the community responder

role is of particular benefit.

There is currently only one community responder in the Tonbridge area however we have at least three people waiting to be trained and consequently start their role as a volunteer. The training to become a community responder is funded by the ambulance service, however the cost of the kit for each responder has to be raised by their local scheme. The cost of each kit is approximately £1700, thereofre I would be extremely pleased to hear from anyone who might be able to help with a donation or even to help with fund raising. Additionally if anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer responder and would like more details, please contact the Tonbridge team leader, Claudine Phillips on 07859 933640

Book Fair this Sunday and not much else to report....

This week I am mostly organising the West Kent Book Fair which is at Tonbridge School on Sunday the 16th from 10am to 4pm. I'll be running back and forth from my shop to Old Big School hall, talking to porters, newpapers, radio stations, putting up posters and banners etc. etc. There won't be alot of time for twittering and blogging so you'll all just have to talk among yourselves for a few days. There doesn't seem to be that much going on in the town. I think we're all in that period when Summer is over and it's too early to be gearing up for Christmas. I'll just take each days as it comes....

Dwain Chambers, Athlete, Drug Cheat, Role Model? Speaking at a Tonbridge School...

I hear that Dwain Chambers, the athlete and reformed drugs cheat, will be speaking at a Tonbridge school soon. He'll almost certainly tell his audience how tempting it is to give in to the desire to want to be the best at any cost. He might tell the children how much pressure you are under from the people around with vested interest in your success and from your peers to do the wrong thing. He'll no doubt tell them how he succumbed to that temptation and was found out, and banned from competing for two years and received a lifetime ban from the Olympics. But is coming clean and talking about it to impressionable school children and other vulnerable groups enough to cleanse him? Would he do the same again for glory if he thought he could get away with it? The International Olympic Association (IOC) are currently being legally challenged by other reformed drug cheats and under pressure to lift their life time bans. If they are successful then it'll probably mean that Dwain Chambers, who is British 100 metres champion, will be able to fulfil his dream of competing at London 2012. But is this right?...

Steve Jobs 1955-2011.

I love the simplicity of Apple's tribute to their founder, Steve Jobs, on their web site today. Quite touching. What a natural born world shaker....

The Tonbridge Insider is out right now....

See the October issue coming through your letter box any moment now. Or, if you like you can read it as a virtual magazine here

In the local papers....

Thankfully there were no pictures of me running in the Tonbridge Half Marathon in the Courier's Four Page Special! Most of the pictures seemed to be of Dame Kelly, Gawd bless her, and the winning athletes, such as Councillor Maria Heslop. Now admittedly she did run the 13.1 miles in less than half my time but then again she's probably one of those people who've been training all her life and did cross country at school while I was doing long jump and hurdles and drinking beer. 400 hundred metres was my limit until about ten years ago and even now I feel like breaking into a slow walk whenever I run over about 3 miles. It's all to do with the make up of your muscle fibres apparently. (That's my excuse anyway!) The winners probably didn't even ache the next day! I bet I can still beat them over the 110 metres hurdles though!

The other thing that stuck out in the papers was the salary of Tim Haynes, Tonbridge School's Head Master which apparently is worth holding the front page for. At public schools they're still called, quite rightly, Headmaster instead of the more modern Head Teacher which doesn't sound nearly as disciplinarian and traditional to me, that alone ought to worth another 50k! His salary, which is on public record, is quoted as £210,000, which has risen from £160,000 in less than 3 years. My first reaction was: Blimey I wouldn't mind some of that! and secondly: So what! There are plenty of people with less responsibility, and probably far less talent, earning way more than that (right bankers!) I should imagine running a school of that size and importance is the oraganizational equivalent of being Chief Executive Officer of a fairly sizable company. It's not public money so can't they pay him what they see fit? In any case this is most likely the sort of salary that they would have to pay to get the person they want. That said is he really worth any more than a good grammar school Head or, for that matter the head of a comprehensive school with discipline problems? Waddaya think?

Barmy Balmy weather....

Make the most of this unseasonally hot sunny weather, it won't be with us for many more days. Knowing that makes it all the more reason to savour it although, in truth, I'd prefer it to be slightly cooler than this especially since I'm working today and Sunday. If only August could have been like this! If the weather holds I think I'll have one last canoe trip down the Medway canoe trail before I cover Tallulah up for the winter. Let's hope I don't capsize (again) at those lock gate water shoots. Great time to stretch your legs and see the Autumn colours along the Wealdway between Tonbridge and Langton Green especially. Or a cycle ride around Bewl Water is just as nice for that. Or you could just sit in the garden with a long cool drink and read a book....