Reading Roars!

After a long delay (a whole season, in fact), Roarcast episode 2 is ready (the first featured a conversation with Tutu Melaku).  It really isn’t supposed to be a quarterly podcast.  I’m working on the third, with the aim of putting it live by Christmas mid-October.

In this second episode, I sat down with Jason Browne of the très chic Mix Champagne and Cocktail Bar in Reading. 

I’m a Mix fan.  Their arrival (along with The Forbury Hotel’s Cerise) shook up a staid cocktail scene in Reading.  I remember drinking, not too long ago, lurid concoctions squeezed out of plastic bottles.  They weren’t pleasant (or kind to your teeth), but they got you drunk.  Mix introduced proper cocktails, served by professionally-trained mixologists in a classy environment.  It was as if London had arrived.

Details of the episode are as follows:

• 00:39  Mix: how it all started
• 02:15  Mix’s customers
• 04:10  Mix’s best-selling cocktail - and how Jason likes to prepare his
• 06:05  Drinks for the lads.  What do the guys order and how do they drink theirs?  Plus, Jason’s recommended cocktails.
• 07:35  “Drinking partners”: bits to nibble
• 08:00  And action!  The iconic movies behind the bar
• 09:05  Music played at Mix
• 09:45  Peak periods
• 10:15  Parties, corporate events and cocktail masterclasses
• 11:25  Rally through India

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Highly positive reviews of Reading’s Picnic and Moondogs Art Shop Cafe have been published on Cosy Coffee Shops, a smashing blog set up by a 26 year old musician named Tom.

Moondogs is described as “beguiling”, “an unexpected oasis of colour” and “a simple pleasure”.  Picnic is “warm”, “friendly” and “fun”.

A new radio station is planned for Reading: The Vibe.  The station will be launched to provide young people in the town an opportunity to discuss issues that affect them (anti-social behaviour, knife crime etc.), help local voluntary groups to advertise themselves and encourage the development of new talent.

The individual responsible for this exciting project is Gavin Harris, who is seeking funding from local businesses and organisations.  

If you are interested in taking part in the project (a trial will go live during the October half term), more information can be found on The Vibe website.

Feeling the squeeze?  You’re not alone.  We are now Europe’s most crowded country (and third worldwide in population density, after Bangladesh and South Korea).

Of course, if you are a user of public transport, you may have suspected this already.  The economy may be faltering, but the passenger numbers certainly aren’t.  If anything, the already heaving First Great Western trains and Tube seem to be getting busier and busier. 

It’s apparent to me that smarter transport solutions for the Thames Valley must be found (since our population is predicted to continue growing and even eclipse all other countries in Europe). 

As Martin Salter MP said at a Thames Valley transport workshop on 17 September (I’m grabbing this from the TVEP website): 

The infrastructure is absolutely antiquated. We should be talking of six tracking the Great Westerm main line, we should be talking of electrification, certainly to Reading, and probably to Bristol. For business men, if infrastructure inhibits the growth of your business, you are not going to hang around in the Thames Valley…….it is an indictment of governments that 86 per cent of all delays on the road network are due to capacity issues, but that is because we have not planned.. .parish pump politicians in West Berkshire blocked an absolutely crucial park and ride scheme in Reading because a cabbage field on the edge of the M4  was designated an area of outstanding natural beauty. The people who object to M4 widening, to more rail tracks and to park and ride schemes would be the very first to complain if their jobs were not here and they  did not have the ability to sustain the very prosperous lifestyle we have here.

That’s fine, but there is another solution that  I think we ought to consider, however, and that is to encourage flexible working.  It’s barmy that many of us are expected to begin and finish work at the same time in the 21st century.  Technology allows us to do all sorts of wonderful things without the need to travel very far.  It’s worth a thought.

I wasn’t expecting it.  I really wasn’t. 

A new three-day event will replace the world music event WOMAD (now staged in Wiltshire) next July in Reading.  It is smashing news, absolutely terrific, and it’s all thanks to the good work of Martin Salter MP, Councillor Graeme Hoskins, Reading Festival organiser Melvin Benn and WOMAD ex-artistic director Thomas Brooman.

According to the Evening Post, there will be two days of music (featuring the likes of Manu Chao, who thrilled at Glastonbury), three all-weather stages (with one for local bands), comedy, discussions and a big barbecue.  The event will be called Heavenly Planet and the theme will be international. 

More details may be released as soon as October.  In the meantime, I will have an international beer or two to celebrate.

We’ve gone list mad.  Top beaches in South-East Asia, top 50 coffee tables, top actors under 30 - the list goes on (ahem).   These lazy lists very conveniently fill hours of airtime and pages of weekend magazines. 

I’ve lazily (it’s Friday evening) produced a list of my own: the top 20 things to do in Reading before you die.  It’s a bit tongue in cheek.  Send me your ideas and together we can create a top 100 list. 

1. Feed the swans by Caversham Bridge
2. Play a traditional pub game at the Reading Beer and Cider Festival
3. Bop along at the Reading Real Ale and Jazz Festival
4. Reading Festival (need I say more?)
5. Eat a pie at Sweeney’s
6. Have breakfast at Workhouse Coffee
7. Play a ball game in Prospect Park
8. Take in a performance at The Hexagon
9. Order one of the speciality beers at Zerodegrees
10. Get intoxicated at the Purple Turtle
11. Tune in to local radio
12. Eat Ethiopian at the Global Cafe
13. Try a feijoada and caipirinha at Pau Brasil
14. Join the London Irish fans at the Three Guineas
15. Enter The Oracle by kayak
16. Watch Shakespeare at the Abbey Ruins
17. Dine at Chronicles, former home of the Reading Chronicle
18. Visit Reading Museum and learn about Reading’s past
19. Roar on Reading FC at the Madejski
20. Let your hair down at the legendary After Dark

Reading’s new pentahotel - the first opened by German hotel group Penta in the UK - is to undergo a massive refurbishment. 

Formerly the Renaissance Hotel, pentahotel will be given a “fresh and funky” makeover to target corporate customers looking for something less staid.  Joining the management team will be Jo Stevens, who was responsible for opening Malmaison in Reading. 

Can’t wait to see it.