In festival circles, yesterday was a memorable day but for all the wrong reasons. Another summer music festival had bitten the dust. As the ‘Beachdown Cancelled’ headlines have stacked up disappointed festival goers, suppliers, bands and ticket outlets have been left counting the cost. With Beachdown cancelled, the marquees have been dismantled, the site is being completely cleared, the organisers have gone to ground and Sussex Police and the local authorities have stated that no access will be granted to the site. Instead of shiny, happy Beachdown Festival goers, a round the clock police presence will be in place throughout the Bank Holiday weekend with the sole purpose of turning away any disappointed festival goers who haven’t already heard the bad news.

Life’s A Beach
Of course, bad news travels quickly and within …

Films seen so far this year: 77
Films seen this week: The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights, The Spy Next Door, Hachi: A Dog's Tale, The Ape, Date Night, The Killer Inside Me

Five Random Things I Found On The Internet This Week
1. This very funny spoof trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever. LEAD FEMALE'S NAME! Catchphrase!

2. …

Like most women I love shopping for Valentines Day gifts in Brighton. It’s the only time apart from Christmas when the small independent shops and the winding quirkiness of The Lanes and North Laines really go all out to showcase their unique charms in the hope of seducing you and your credit card.

The satisfying scrunch and rustle of layers of tissue paper, the crisp ribbons tied into bows around sharp cornered gift boxes, the shimmer of glossy bags with their tags swinging jauntily from side to side, they’re all part of the ritual that makes shopping for Valentines Day gifts in Brighton so much fun.

With the credit crunch on everyone’s mind, perhaps one of the best things that we can really do for the economy is to go shopping but I don’t mean that in a Marie Antoinette `let them eat cake’ way. Merely, that if you’re going …

In recent years, Brighton bars have been getting more and more stylish. Not content with just enjoying good design in our homes, now we expect our local watering holes to stand up to scrutiny too which is why View is supporting the UK's first awards dedicated solely to excellence in restaurant and bar design.

In our interview with merkaba designer Karim Rashid, the design dynamo behind the myhotel bar's stylish good looks talks superior design and why a bar is always about so much more than well-made cocktails.

What was the design brief?
The inspiration of Steph Thrasyvoulou, son of myhotel’s founder Andy Thrasyvoulou, merkaba is the epicentre …

Given the realities of the recession, you may have expected that when it came to Valentines Day at Brighton restaurants it was going to be a rather more subdued affair this year but thankfully it appears that’s not the case. In fact, not only does it look like there’s still plenty of love in the air, there’s something rather reassuring about the fact that when it comes to celebrating Valentines Day at Brighton restaurants, 14th February is going to be as all-singing and all-dancing as ever.

In the words of Jerry Maguire (ok, I’m reaching but you get the point) we live in cynical times so the fact that even in the credit crunch you’re able to enjoy the company of your soul mate is cause enough for celebration. And, as food tends to be an aphrodisiac, …