Council Knockers Get Global Coverage

Talk about making a mountain out of a couple of molehills! Our beloved council must be feeling a right tit after the laughable attempt to get Ramsgate hairdresser Marcello's banner of his decouped missus taken down made headlines across the globe. Earlier this morning it was the most read story on the BBC News website! (Click on pic to watch)

Ramsgate Society's Jocelyn McCarthy says it 'shows too much cleavage', but personally it, er, perks me up every time I drive past it!

It's all rather reminiscent of Margate Borough Council's attempt to prosecute renowned seaside postcardist Donald McGill in the 1950s under the Obscene Publications Act for this:

The postcard's currently taking pride of place in a new exhibition, Rude Britannia, at the Tate. Not dissimilar to my Fannit flag in the sidebar on the right, I'd say. Harmless seaside fun. So go on Thanet Council, stop whingeing about the knockers! Take those big old pants off and wave them in the air a bit!

Wow! It's The Summer Of Our Disco Tent!

Hey baby! If you're looking for a summer of lurve and groovy sounds, Thanet's the place to be! No fewer than 417 rock, pop and arts fests are planned for the isle this year. From Peruvian nose pipes to the latest licks from Lady Gaga, we've got the lot!

The fun kicks off in July with outdoor rock festival Thanet Fest planned in King George VI Park, as well as the annual Sound Island Festival at Quex Park with X Factor singing sensations JLS topping the bill. The mood changes for August, when hairy men and women are invited to chillax with a pipe or two of the good stuff to the mellow sounds of Broadstairs Folk Week. Then it's back to headbanging with Ramsgate's Rock on the Dock! The Millionaires' Playground will also be hosting an arts festival in August and, er, another arts festival enticingly dubbed Monster Bass. Then September bangs with another open air rock concert for Ramsgate, alongside the finals of the National Powerboat Championships!

Plus there's heaps of stuff going on in the seedier north of the island. But as that's all coming out of the council tax, I'm sure they can pay for their own publicity!

May's Bank Holiday

Good to see my old Top Gear chum James May meandering around the Arsonists' Playground this afternoon. Unlike last year's washout, today's sunshine made Margate Meltdown, and the Ace Cafe's throbfest was rocking with rockers. And one or two mods.

What with the harbour arm packed with stalls and visitors too, it actually looked as if some thought had been put into it. Shame that stallholders were given free parking, though, while ratepayers were made to pay. But hey-ho, you can't have it all.

If only our beloved council would make an effort to put on these sorts of events here in the south. However, as previously reported, they managed to balls up our only annual shindig, the Powerboat Weekend. Seems like all we pay our council tax for here in Ramsgate is the privilege of having knackered old jumbos fly over us. Still, there's a grand old thunderstorm rumbling around the Millionaires' Playground right now. At least they can't take that away from us!

Mods (And Rockers)

I see Margate is due to be invaded by gangs of bikers this coming Mayday Bank Holiday. Well, rather smartly dressed scooterists in actual fact, so that should be a welcome change from the normal riff-raff you see along the Golden Mile.

My only worry is they're coming for four whole days. What on earth are the poor sods going to find to occupy themselves?

Even Boredstares is getting in on the two wheel act in its own sedate way, with a Mods and Rockers Reunion being held at the Crampton Tower Museum on the 19th and 20th of May. I expect that'll just be a couple of hairy bikers in Victorian bathing costumes.