online

Spokesman Ashraf Ismail said this included the N6 between Jamestown and Aliwal North, and the R61 between Cradock and Graaff Reinet.

A long stretch of the N6 had been closed at the weekend due to snow.

Ismail said no snow had fallen during the night, but there was light rainfall over parts of the country.

He urged motorists to plan their routes according to weather and media reports. If the weather worsened, drivers were urged to pull over at the nearest petrol station or place of safety.

Three arrests have been made in connection with an early morning on July 4th stabbing in the Brant Rock section of Marshfield.

Marshfield Police Captain Phil Tavares says the three suspects are identified as 24-year-old Jarod McCormack of Marshfield, 23-year-old Thomas Cradock, of Dorchester, and former Marshfield resident, 25-year-old Stephanie m. Neas, now of Holbrook.

Tavares says the incident took place around 1:30 a.m. on July 4th by the laundromat on the esplanade.

“A 20-year-old male was vacationing here in Marshfield with his family–he was out at that hour, around the Brant Rock section of Marshfield, when he was attacked by both, we believe, Jarod McCormack and Thomas Cradock. He was stabbed more than once resulting in serious internal injury,” said Tavares.

Tavares says the two men allegedly attacked the victim, and Neas drove the get-away car.

Tavares says the victim is still in the hospital with a broken jaw and severe internal injuries, and faces additional surgery and expected to remained hospitalized for an extended period of time.

The three defendants all face charges of attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault and battery.

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The Irish Times – Monday, July 16, 2012

Even in an Irish summer there are plenty of chances to run on the beach, but what are the benefits? Here is an expert’s take on why it works

RUNNING ON THE beach is more challenging than road or grass running, and uses muscles in a slightly different way – your body has to work much harder to push you forward, especially on softer, deeper sand.

Catherine Cradock is a chartered physiotherapist with Athletics Ireland. “Beach running is a great workout, and gets you working, particularly your foot, calf, buttocks and lower- back muscles more – burning butt and calves are really common,” she says.

“If you start running on the beach and do too much, too soon, you could injure yourself, especially if you have a history of injury, so approach it gradually.

“Jumping into the sea at the end of your run can be a nice and enjoyable way to help your muscles recover, but make sure to stretch out tired muscles afterwards, too.

“Sticking to the hardening, firmer sand can make the transition a little easier, and try to avoid running continuously across a slope (if it’s unavoidable, you might need to run up and back, rather than in a continuous loop).

“Regarding barefoot beach running, remember the basic health and safety considerations, such as broken glass and shells. The sand can also be very hot, if you’re in a foreign country. However, again, it does get new muscles working.

“Start with a five- or 10-minute run, see how your body responds over the next couple of days, and build gradually from there if all is well. Note that the barefoot running phenomenon does advise taking many months to make the transition.”

BEACH-RUNNING TIPS 

1 Warm-up for 10 minutes on the hard sand, gradually picking up from slow to training pace. Then move to soft sand and run one minute at 80-90 per cent pace. Recover with a one-minute slow jog on the hard sand, then return to the soft sand for one-minute burst. Do between five and 10 repetitions, followed by a 10-minute cooldown on the hard sand.

2 On the soft sand, do intervals of two-minute runs, followed by a one-minute warm-down on hard sand. Build up distance over the sessions.

3 Run against the slant of the soft sand – or a dune (only if it’s open to you and not protected). Run hard into the angle, with the number of repetitions depending on steepness and length.

4 Take advantage of the surface and mix up your workout. Warm up for five minutes, then run for five minutes, stop and do two minutes of push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges. Repeat four times.

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The drive towards using biofuels in cars is getting legislative help, but the plant in Cradock in the Eastern Cape – earmarked to produce ethanol – is far behind schedule and the surrounding farms supposed to supply it are in disarray. What was once an exciting prospect for locals has turned into something they talk about with many a swear word.

That is, if they do talk.
When the Mail Guardian went to the small Eastern Cape town many people were too scared to speak and any comments were off the record.

“A photo is a death warrant. We have interests here and if we talk we will lose out,” one said. Even a photo of a bakkie on the horizon would not work – a man is known by his bakkie in Cradock. It was a hard day for the photographer.

The programme started as a big thing for locals in 2007. The government would build a huge plant, stimulate the local economy and drive local farms to sell even more crops to a guaranteed market. People invested in new businesses, knowing that the market for goods would ­rapidly increase.

The first phase of the factory would use sorghum, but the second phase would use locally grown sugar beet. It is a crop that grows freakishly well in the district. The weight of a sugar beet normally stays under a kilogram in Europe, but it mushrooms to 13kg here. The harvesting machine specially imported from Germany could not handle their size.

“We have incredible soil, the country’s second-largest irrigation scheme and an eight-month growing season,” said one businessperson.

Source of contention
The farms earmarked to produce the beet are the biggest source of contention. The plan called for the department of rural development ­and land reform to buy 6 000ha  of land from local farmers. These farms would be put under the charge of a local consortium, the Agrarian Research and Development Agency.

Mthobeli Mxotwa, spokesperson for the department, said it had bought 25 farms in two phases. “We signed agreements with the agrarian agency to run the farms on our behalf. They must make them commercially viable,” he said.

The agency runs the farms but the department decides who lives on them. “We have a responsibility to landless people and will choose who will move to the farms,” said Mxotwa.

The people trained here will transfer their skills to other programmes across the country.

“It’s a big programme, which the Eastern Cape really needs because it is so poor. Biofuel will be a boon for the area,” he said.

But farmers say it is not so straightforward. Bumping around his farm in a bakkie, one told his story: “Like many farmers, I approached the department and said I was willing to sell my land. In August 2010 they told us the farms would be evaluated and paid for by that December. A year later we got letters of agreement saying they would buy the land and that we would have to move out when the second payment goes through. People started finding schools for their kids and putting nonrefundable deposits on houses and farms in other places.”

Value
Then a rural development director from Pretoria came and toured the farms. “Thirty-one farms in two days! He didn’t even stop at my farm and at others he drove past the gate and thought that was enough to decide their value.”

Revised offers were delivered to the farmers, all 10% to 15% lower than the original ones. Like a few others he agreed to sell because he was worn down and needed to cover his deposit on another farm.

A local with detailed knowledge of the sale process said: “The department has destroyed any goodwill it had. You have to remember that these farmers were willing. They offered 31 farms and in the end little more than 10 had the stomach to sell. So they will not find more farms to buy and they will not have enough land to harvest the amount of beet they need.”

And now the farms lie empty. The farmer with the bakkie said the department had not even taken ownership of the keys. Pointing to the lush green lucerne fields of his neighbour’s farm, he said his used to look like that. Now the fields are a dead yellow and getting them back into production would cost a fortune.

The more he spoke the angrier he got. Eventually apologising for swearing in every sentence, he added: “That fucking department thinks buying land is like buying a loaf of bread.”

Less energetic
The anger when people talk about the biofuel plant is more measured, but no less energetic. The constant changing of deadlines for its construction has made the community weary. A shopowner summed up the mood: “We have stopped talking about this whole thing because it gets rolled over every year. Many people saw this as an opportunity, but now nobody cares.”

In 2007 the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) said five biofuel plants would be built as part of the accelerated and shared growth initiative for South Africa. The project manager, Noel Kamrajh, said then that the Cradock project was in a detailed engineering study phase. “Construction is likely to start in January next year,” he said.

In 2011 the IDC said Cradock would be the sole project and two others were on hold until that plant proved it could work.

Locals now doubt that the plant will ever be built. “The factory will never be built and if by some chance it is, it will never work with the people who are in charge … which is a pity, because it could have been hugely successful,” said another businessperson.

Most blamed the local consortium running things – the agrarian agency. Everyone the MG spoke to agreed independently that because people in the organisation had a stake in ensuring progress in building the biofuel plant, creating commercially viable farms had been a slow process. Sitting at his desk with Jennifer Lopez playing in the background, one said: “Their vested interests have delayed this project. The directors are earning so much during this research phase that they keep it dragging on. How many times do you have to test if a crop grows?”

The chairperson of the agrarian agency’s board, Neil Morris, denied these allegations. “The process is being delayed due to certain conditions standing unfulfilled. These are regulations that the government needs to promulgate, such as the mandatory upliftment of bioethanol refineries, and the subsidy or price support mechanism for biofuel producers,” he said.

He said the agency was audited annually and there had been no financial irregularities since its inception in 1999.

The agency directed detailed questions about the project to the IDC. Kesebone Maema, the corporation’s head of communications, said it was still subject to approval by the board. As a result she could not comment on specific details or expenditure. But she did say there had been a great deal of work and research done.

“From the early stages we have been incurring costs,” she said.

So, for now, Cradock is in limbo. The locals are angry and frustrated but they are getting on with life while waiting for this big project to unlock the region’s potential.

A biofuel revolution waiting to happen
The biofuel plant in Cradock has two phases. The first will import 225000 tonnes of grain sorghum from around the country and the ­second will use the produce of local farms, purchased by the ­department of rural development and land form. This will mainly take the form of sugar beet and will be turned into 90-million litres of bioethanol a year.

Retina van Tonder, head of green industries at the Industrial Development Corporation, said the short-term effects of the project on Cradock would be significant. The sheer level of investment would stimulate local business and in the 18-month construction phase 1000 jobs would be created.

After this the effects would be felt through the development of ­smallholder and commercial farming opportunities, which would provide preferred suppliers to the factory. One of the by-products would be 75000 tonnes of grain feed, which means local farmers would not have to import it from Gauteng. All of this would have tremendous benefits, said Wessel Lemmer, an economist at Grain South Africa.

“It’s a good thing that the government is doing here and we need to pat them on the shoulder.”

At full tilt, the Cradock plant and a private plant in Bothaville would buy 600 000 tonnes of sorghum a year. This would stimulate an industry that was in the doldrums as low prices kept farmers away.

It would also lead to the development of farms in rural areas where sorghum grows best.

The department of energy is set on regulating a 2% blending mix for bioethanol, which means 2% of the fuel will be ethanol. Lemmer said this number had to be pushed up to drive the industry even more.

The current lack of blending ­regulations was one of the factors delaying the Cradock plant, said Van Tonder. “They are ­essential to ensure that oil ­companies operating in South Africa are obliged to purchase locally produced bio-fuels.” – Sipho Kings

WHAT is happening to this country’s rural towns? Recently two  academics from the University  of the Free State, Danie Toerien and Maitland Seaman, asked this question in the  May/June edition of the South African  Journal of Science. 
Their conclusions were that economic  “spaces” must be opened up for local enterprise and more money spent in order  to save them. (http://www.sajs.co.za/index.php/SAJS/article/view/588)
Is this enough? 
In important ways small, scattered  towns (known by that wonderful South  African word, dorpies) were once the  sinews that held this vast, sprawling  country together. This was a time when  agriculture was South Africa’s economic  mainstay. It was a halcyon time in the  country’s economic history with prices  guaranteed by membership of the Commonwealth.
In each rural district farmers and workers were enmeshed in a series of quasi- markets, controlled by co-ops which set  and controlled prices. They supported  both the town and the countryside, but  were certainly highly inefficient. This, a  form of crude commerce, was supported  by the proverbial butcher, baker and candlestick-maker.
These gradually provided a financial  base for the local townsfolk: business was  local and not, as today, based on the franchise model, which directs the proceeds  of local spending to banks that no longer  have branches in these small towns. 
It was local commerce, in turn, which  drew to the hinterland professional services: medical, legal, postal. Shopping and  schooling followed and, on these, municipal government drew closer a cycle of  taxation and tariff. 
Then there were the churches: mostly  in the reform tradition. These have left a  unique – near European-like – imprint on  the country’s townscapes. Each dorp  claimed its place in South Africa with an  NG Kerk – even though, in several cases,  their architecture left much to be desired.  It was around these places, of course, that  the symbolic power of Nationalist authority first took hold in the 1950s. 
For decades the economic health of  these places was decided by the rain that  fell or, especially in the Eastern Cape, by  the wool-clip. 
As they were disempowered, dislodged  and plain cheated of their possessions  and land, blacks gathered at the edges of  the dorp. Their lives – caught between  town and farm – were to be determined  by colonial geography, apartheid architecture and the dualism upon which all  forms of capitalism thrive. So the possession and dispossession – or white  wealth, black poverty – upon which this  country’s history has been built was experienced in its furthest formal corners. 
My own interest in small towns was  ignited first by a happy childhood in  Polokwane, which, alas, is no longer  small. It’s a city now with all the trappings of greed and grey sameness of  cities (and the malls they seem to endlessly breed) throughout the country –  indeed, throughout the world. 
But it was my friend and one-time colleague at Rhodes University, Bill Davies,  now a resident of Kidd’s Beach, who  sparked a deeper interest in small towns,  especially those in the Eastern Cape. He  had spent years thinking about them, first  from a lecturing post in Port Elizabeth  and later with the Urban Foundation. 
The latter was the attempt by South  African capital, late in apartheid, to make  life tolerable for all South Africans. This  was the mission that had taken Davies  deep into to the hinterland where he has  visited places great and small. As a result, he was (and remains) a fountain of  stories from far-off places like Stutterheim, Steyterville and Sterkstroom.
These thoughts, and this history, were  very much with me in a recent journey  “home” to the Eastern Cape on one of its  back roads: Venterstad, Steynsberg, Hofmeyr and onwards to Cradock, Bedford  and Grahamstown. This road, a veritable,  alleyway of South African surnames, is  always beautiful – its vistas reaching to  the furthest horizons. 
This year the landscape is wearing its  winter coat particularly well. But some of  these small places, which have been battered by four decades of an economic  system which no longer tolerates subsidies and nearly two decades of post-apartheid administration, seemed to be on  shaky ground. Emptied of citizenry and  starved of cash, they seem to be waiting  for the inevitable. 
As the political wheel turned in this  country, dorpies seem to have become  more neglected than they once were.  Once remembered, thriving communities  everywhere have become little more than  smudges on a map. In far too many  places, corruption and incompetent municipal government has been given as the  reason for their decline: undoubtedly,  there is something in this, as Toerien and  Seaman suggest in their study. 
Under apartheid, any hope of development was corroded by nepotism and inter-personal violence – which is why, incidentally, it was thought necessary to  establish the Urban Foundation: new  times have plainly produced new social  pathologies. 
But thinking about what has happened  to rural communities is not only historically bound: that all-too-easy divide between apartheid and post-apartheid. No,  the growing urban-rural divide is an  international phenomenon. In Australia,  an interesting new field of research,  called “outback studies”, has emerged.
 This is interested in understanding  what has happened to communities in the  rural parts of that country. Strategies for  coping with these are also being explored  and studied in Australia. While in Canada, South African-trained doctors tend  the sick in the deep rural Alberta and  elsewhere, local medics, it seems, do not  want to work in the rural areas. And even  in England, postal and other services to  rural areas are reportedly in decline,  which is why the quality of country living  is said to be in decline. 
In South Africa a particular configuration seems to be taking place, however.  This is the result of the interaction between apartheid’s unique geography and  service-delivery efforts, however weak  these may be on the ground. Slowly, even  imperceptibly, the “townships” which  have been tied to small towns since their  very founding now seem bigger and more  established, more solid entities than the  towns that they once served. 
Put in a metaphor, the tail of the township now seems to be wagging the dog of  the rural town.

• Peter Vale is professor of humanities at  the University of Johannesburg

BLOODY SCARY: Daniel Cradock, 15, from Palmerston North in zombie mode at the Youth Space school holiday programme.

Grisly zombies, monsters, beasts and even a butterfly swarmed around the Palmerston North Youth Space during a school holiday face-painting workshop.

About 15 kids squeezed into the upstairs room of Youth Space on Coleman Mall yesterday to experience face painting at its most gruesome. A short time later they emerged as made-over monsters, displaying fake bruises, cuts and oozing lacerations.

Awatapu College pupil Aidan Cunningham, 16, sported a gashed bloody neckline and two wart-covered, blotchy horns sprouting from his forehead.

The face-painting event was a highlight of his week at Youth Space, and he had big plans for his newly acquired look.

“I’m going to walk round town this afternoon and see how people react.”

Body FX prosthetic artist and face-painter Dylanna Schnetler, who was up from Wellington for the workshop, said she loved being able to transform people’s faces and see how they responded. “They’re shocked and sometimes scared when they see themselves.”

That afternoon she had painted sparkly butterflies on the cheeks of 5-year-olds, helped define saggy under-eye bags and form savage latex arm wounds on anyone willing.

Mrs Schnetler said it was a “great afternoon all round”.

– © Fairfax NZ News

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A MAN described as one of Britain’s most talented guitarists will be performing a special gig in Portmeirion later this month. Most notable for being a vital part of Ocean Colour Scene’s success, Steve Craddock will be playing at his first solo performance in North Wales.

He said: “My last visit to the area was with the band when we played at Venue Cymru over a year ago, which was a great gig, but this will be the first time on my own.

“I’ve been with my wife to Portmeirion twice though, and it’s certainly a special place.

“It’s easy to forget that you’re still in the British Isles, such is it’s unique beauty. I can’t wait.”

Despite being most well-known for his exploits with Ocean Colour Scene and alongside Paul Weller, Steve has also forged a sideline as a successful solo artist in his own right.

He said: “I’ll be bringing over my four piece band for an evening of what I like to call Acid Folk.

“As it’s mostly an acoustic evening, I’ll be performing a lot of my own stuff from my albums.

“But I appreciate there will be a lot of long-time fans there as well, so be prepared for one or two old favourites.”

Steve supported Beady Eye during their UK tour, and still counts the Gallagher brothers among his closest friends.

“It was an experience and a tour that will live long in the memory,” he said.

“Liam has matured quite a bit over the years, but still sounds fresh.

“But my career highlights are probably performing in the Royal Albert Hall and several Number 1 albums I suppose, but music’s changed so much over the last 20 years.

Steve’s 25 years in the music industry

“As regards my own stuff, I’m working on a new album which I hope to release next year.

“I played most of the instruments myself, but was fortunate enough to have some fantastic guests on board, including Paul Weller, my wife Sally, and James Buckley who plays Jay in the Inbetweeners.

“I’m still working on it, but you never know who I’ll get on board!”

Steve Craddock, Portmeirion Hercules Hall Wednesday July 25 7.30pm.

01766 772386 portmeiriononline.co.uk

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Alfa romeo Mito at the Good Wood Festival of Speed



Alfa Romeo Mito at the Good Wood Festival of Speed 2012



Alfa Romeo Mito Good Wood Festival of Speed 2012



Alfa Romeo at Good Wood Festival of Speed 2012



Alfa Romeo at Good Wood Festival of Speed

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Author:
James Wilkins

Alfa Romeo recently unveiled the new Alfa Mito at the Good Wood Festival of Speed. The car is a great looker and the first major Alfa launch since the GT. The Mito is built with the innovative Twin Air technology which reduces emissions by a great deal.

The Mito is the first vehicle to sport the new technology, which is set to be released in all new variants since 2012. The car is powered by a turbo charged 874cc engine and it features a twin cylinder turbo with a variable input valve system.

Alfa Romeo has taken a new step this season and is hosting a string of live band performances from the company’s corner at the auto carnival, to launch the new Mito. The iconic indie pop singer duo Mark Collins and Tim Burgess have already taken up the stage and British rock legend Steve Cradock of the Ocean’s is also going to join them.

2012 is also the 50th launch anniversary of the iconic Alfa Giulia, an iconic sport car manufacture by Alfa Romeo in the 1970s. The car sported the twin spark engine, was designed to look sport and most importantly was affordable at the post war era. These factors had made the car a huge hit among the people of the 70s.

Alfa Romeo has designed the Mito with intricate styling features and the performance of the car is also beyond question. The Mito sports a turbo charged oil cooled 875 cc displacing V 8 and is very powerful.

Designing has taken up a lot of time and the car is perfectly agronomical and the aerodynamics is great for speed. The car with its specially tuned suspension is great for the race track and for the city roads as well.
The car is very small when it comes to the length and the small wheel base of the car makes it a very practical city car, with decent fuel economy. The Mito is a two seat, two doors, rear mid engine hatch back but performs like a sports coupe. This is the factor which works to Alfa’s advantage.

The transmission of the Mito is also tuned to the optimum and the 5 speed automatic transmission of the vehicle makes it a pleasure to ride. The gear assist technology helps the driver shift at the perfect time and this produces the maximum torque when you need it the most.
Some of the other features of the car include a parking assist, brake assist, an automatic sun roof, air conditioner with an advanced climate control system, ABS, front, rear, side and roof airbags for maximum safety and a strong metal frame to reduce the impact in case of an accident.

Alfa Romeo is all set to launch the Mito in the British market but the price is yet to be announced. Plans are also on to introduce the Alfa 8C Spyder, a super sports coupe. However, the performance of the car in the market remains to be seen, but the responses at the festival of speed have made the manufacturer optimistic.

Following a good run for the new stable when fifth at Wagga Wagga, trainer Les Bryant and the new owners were confident at Cowra and backed the horse accordingly.

Giving bookmakers a bad result, Sabeen (Tim Phillips, 3.00, 2.50 fav) breezed home by more than five lengths from the pacemakers Prince John (Blake Ryan, 4.20) and On My Own (Ricky Blewitt, 21.00).

Other winners at Cowra were the Neil Osbourne, Canberra-trained De Sweet Soca Song (Tim Phillips, 5.00) in the Beecher Wool Services Class B (1400m) and Daisy Cutten (Wataru Shimamura, 6.00) in the Cellarbrations Carlton Maiden Plate (1200m).

Daisy Cutten is trained at Wantabadgery by Roger Waters.

Cowra was the final meeting on the eleven meeting central west picnic circuit and Stuart Brown from Forbes fended off a late challenge from Ricky Blewitt to win the Jockey of the Year title.

Stuart Brown on 100 points topped the ladder ahead of Ricky Blewitt (95) and Tim Phillips (81).

Parkes-based George Wright on 86 points has won the trainers competition for the third year in succession.

Runner-up was Kevin White (56) with Rodney Robb third on 53 points.

Equimec “Horse of the Year” is the Kevin White Cowra-trained Shot Putt (25 points) ahead of stablemate Poker Pro (16) and the Rodney Robb Nyngan-trained Azarax (13).

Cowra Picnic Race Club will host the presentation later this year.

Cowra jockey Michael Travers had a winning double, Routine and Destiny of Dreams at the Warren T.A.B. meeting last Saturday.

Trained at Cowra by Kenneth Parsons, Routine (9.00) led most of the way when a two lengths winner over Zarletta (Jeff Kehoe, 17.00) and Sambar Stag (Joe Azzopardi, 6.00) in the Western Sheep Breeders Benchmark 55 Handicap (1200m).

The other winner for Michael Travers, destiny of dreams (11.00) is trained at Dubbo by Myron Cooper.

The pallid, gurning bonces of Betty, Joyce and Earl have become familiar eyesores on the ad-break landscape. This dogged trio of ropey-looking puppets, with their Fanny Cradock twinsets and hilarious fistbumps, have pulled off an almighty, unequivocal swindle; they’ve somehow managed to cutesify the monstrously shady money-lending website Wonga.com. The blue-rinsers work on a simple but watertight assumption: that everybody trusts an old person. The over-70s usually offer us fluffy sweets, tell long stories, or send pound coins taped to the inside of birthday cards. They never, repeat never, push barely legal, morally questionable loans at 4,214% APR.

In this latest outing, the highly sophisticated tricksters have pulled off the ultimate heist: they’ve taken their earnings and invested in some spanking-new, highly chic premises where there’s cucumber-infused water on tap. Bad press from the Bishop of Durham and a backlash from the football community have hit them hard, so in a desperate attempt to pay for the Philippe Starck furnishings, Joyce is using her own granddaughter to up sales. She’s an old-school hip-hop producer awaiting payment from reliable clients. Grandma’s here to help. With a Michael Moon twinkle in her eye, Joyce sets about completely shafting one of her own – within 15 minutes, her granddaughter can look forward to £400 in her bank account and a lifetime of credit reference agencies, bailiffs and regret.

Watch the ad here

The Virginian-Pilot
© July 4, 2012

30th Annual ATT Fourth of July Great American Picnic Fireworks. Patriotic tunes by the U. S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Band, fireworks (9:30 p.m.) food and more, 5 to 10 p.m. at Town Point Park, Waterside Drive, Norfolk. 441-2345. www.festevents.org.

July 4th Celebration. Music, children’s activities, food, fireworks (9:30 p.m.) and more. 4-10 p.m. Mount Trashmore Park, 310 Edwin Drive, Virginia Beach. 385-2990. www.vbgov.com/specialevents.

Stars Stripes Spectacular. Music, fireworks (9 p.m.), food, children’s activities and more. 6 to 9:30 p.m. Constant’s Wharf Park and Marina, 110 E. Constance Road, Suffolk. 514-7250. www.suffolkva.us/parks/events/

Stars Stripes Explosion. Fireworks (launched from a barge off 20th Street at 9:30 p.m.), music and more at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Details: 491-7866. www.beachstreetusa.com.

Independence Day Celebration. “Salute to the States” featuring Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums with musket and cannon salutes (10 a.m.), “Reading of the Declaration of Independence” (noon), fireworks (9:30 p.m.) and more. Colonial Williamsburg. 800-447-8679. www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/summer.

Cradock’s 94th annual Patriotic Salute Children’s Bike Parade. Children’s bike parade at 9:30 a.m. Afton Parkway and George Washington Highway, Portsmouth. 485-9471. www.historiccradock.org.

4th of July Stars in the Sky. Fireworks (9:30 p.m.), music and more. 7- 10 p.m. Victory Landing Park, 23rd Street at the James River, Newport News. 926-1400.
July Fourth Celebration. Opening ceremonies at 11 a.m., bicycle and float parade (11:30 a.m.), fireworks (9 p.m.) Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 1589 Steeple Drive, Suffolk. 238-2359.

July Fourth Celebration. Parade, music and more. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Lakeside Park, 1441 Bainbridge Blvd., Chesapeake. 543-0828.

Liberty Celebration. Featuring re-enactors, artillery demonstrations and more. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Yorktown Victory Center, 200 Water St. 253-4838.

Patriotic Pyrotechnics. 9:30 p.m. Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. 800-343-7946.

Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular. 9:25 p.m. milepost 11.5 on N.C. 12, S. Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head. 252-441-7132.

 

Special Note: All phone numbers are the 757 area code unless otherwise noted.

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SLOUGH, UNITED KINGDOM – June 28, 2012: As Alfa Romeo celebrates
102 years of motoring this month, the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed (28
June – 1 July) will mark the UK introduction of the new Alfa MiTo
TwinAir. The sporty supermini is now available with the award winning
TwinAir engine – an 875cc twin-cylinder turbo with variable intake valve
technology and sub-100g/km CO2 emissions.

To launch the new model, Alfa Romeo is hosting a series of live acoustic
performances from three stellar artists on the Company’s exhibition
stand.

Iconic indie duo Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans will be
joined by Ocean Colour Scene’s very own Brit rock legend Steve
Cradock and upcoming alternative indie rockers Marner Brown across the
three days of the festival.

This year Alfa Romeo is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
Giulia. The combination of powerful twin-cam engine, immaculate style and
affordable price made the model irresistible to the post-war audience. From
1962 to 1977, the Giulia’s range of bodywork variants and engine
options combined to sell one million units around the world.

Two cars from the Alfa Romeo historic collection have made the journey
to the Festival to help celebrate this milestone; a 1965 Giulia Sprint
Speciale prototype, which was designed by Bertone and set the style for
Italian sports cars of the 1970s, and the 105-series Giulia-based Alfa 1750
GT Am which competed in the European Touring Car Challenge.

Alfa Romeo will also showcase another four cars from its priceless
heritage collection including the 1932 Gran Premio Tipo B ‘P3’,
1953 Alfa 6C 3000CM, 1972 Alfa GTA 1300 Junior as well as the more recent
1993 Alfa 155 V6 TI DTM. All of the cars will be driven up the world famous
Goodwood House Hill and will be on display in the Cathedral Paddock
area.

With only 500 examples in existence, the gorgeous Alfa 8C Spider will
again be turning heads as it makes its way past the crowds up the Goodwood
Hill, and it will also be on display in the Supercar Paddock.

Finally, an Italian registered Giulietta Cloverleaf left Alfa
Romeo’s proving ground at Balocco in Northern Italy on Sunday 24 June
to drive through seven nations – Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France,
Holland and Belgium- to reach the UK in time for the start of the Goodwood
Festival of Speed. The Alfa Romeo team are meeting Alfisti along the way
and documenting their journey, including the four days of the iconic
Festival, on goodwood.alfaromeo.com

 

• 
• 
• 
• 

A milestone summit of the world’s eighth-highest mountain
last month put Wanaka climber Guy Cotter “back in the hot
seat” and has reaffirmed his love for extreme alpine
environments after years of injury-induced downtime. He talks
to Lucy Ibbotson.

Guy Cotter has now ticked off five of the world’s 14 8000m
peaks, including Mt Everest four times.

Most recently, on May 11, he climbed to the top of Manaslu
(8183m), during an expedition that marked the 20-year
anniversary of his earliest Everest summit.

It was also five years since he last guided in Nepal and by
far his biggest challenge since recovering from two major
knee surgeries in 2009 and 2010.

“I had missed being in amongst the action, so to actually
come back to it and find that I still really enjoyed it and
I’m still capable of doing it is a good thing,” the
49-year-old owner of Wanaka-based high-altitude expedition
guiding company Adventure Consultants said.

Although ultimately successful, the expedition was tougher
than anticipated and patience proved a virtue.

Acclimitisation efforts were repeatedly thwarted by heavy
snow that kept the climbing party confined to the lower part
of the mountain for weeks.

The delays meant four of Mr Cotter’s five clients had to
return home before the summit attempt, leaving only him and
an Australian climber to push on towards the peak with their
Sherpa team.

The group eventually reached their goal after ascending more
than 1200m from camp three to the summit in a 14-hour period
in order to beat bad weather closing in on the mountain.

They, along with several other less-equipped climbers who
piggybacked on their route that day, were the only ones to
reach the summit of Manaslu this season.

“We had some world-class climbers around us on Manaslu who
didn’t summit, so it’s a reminder that it’s not necessarily
about being the fastest, strongest people, it’s actually
about making the right decision and getting your strategies
right,” Mr Cotter said.

“It was really satisfying to use all my skills and motivation
to hang in there and use the right time to go to the summit
and get a success.”

Mr Cotter has always maintained a sensible dose of
conservatism in his climbing career.

“In this game, failure does have very severe consequences, so
you have to be prepared to push right up to that point but be
prepared to pull back before you get over it, because if you
get over it too many times, you’re definitely going to meet
your end.”

He has had his own share of close calls, although “it’s
sometimes hard to tell what a close call is … I think I’ve
been able to avoid a lot of issues by being prepared to
fail”.

As he experienced with Manaslu, carefully planned trips could
still be thrown off course by a multitude of factors,
including weather and snow conditions, group size and gear,
so “ongoing calculation” of a situation was vital, he said.

“A lot of the stimulation [of mountaineering] is about the
logistics and strategic side of things as opposed to just the
climbing. The climbing’s the easy part … if you get any of
the other aspects wrong … you’ll fail in the quest to reach
the summit.

“Climbing’s one of those activities that people probably
perceive as being the realm of hardy, thickset,
chiselled-chinned people, but a lot of it is a mental game.

“A lot of people who actually excel at it might not have been
considered athletes in any other realm or even consider
themselves athletes.”

However, even the most mentally prepared climbers still
battled with situations “you don’t normally get faced with in
the everyday world”, like encountering dead and dying
climbers at high altitudes and weighing up the likely
outcomes of rescue efforts against the professional
responsibility of enabling clients to summit.

“We’re not there as a rescue service to pick up every person
along the way, so we do have to be selective, but we
definitely do have to be prepared to make some of those
decisions in the course of our pursuit.”

Growing up, Mr Cotter was exposed to the mountains by his
father Ed (85), a highly-respected mountaineer from
Christchurch, who climbed alongside Sir Edmund Hillary on the
Nepalese expedition that led to Hillary’s Everest selection.

Mt Rolleston, in Arthur’s Pass, was the young Mr Cotter’s
first successful summit at just 11 years old.

Further explorations of the area were made by catching a
railcar there at weekends for climbing or tramping trips.

After leaving school, he moved to Mt Cook – which he first
climbed at age 17 – taking up a job with the Ministry of
Works, before spending time in Australia and the United
States climbing recreationally.

Returning to New Zealand in 1985, he accepted an invitation
to move to Wanaka to be a heli-skiing guide with Paul Scaife,
who owned Harris Mountains Heli-Ski. Mr Cotter began guiding
climbing trips during the summer and then formed Mount
Aspiring Guides with Mr Scaife and Nick Cradock in the late
1980s, before becoming an internationally certified mountain
guide in 1990.

In 1992, when he was running the mountaineering programme for
the New Zealand Army adventure training centre, Mr Cotter was
asked by Adventure Consultants owners Rob Hall and Gary Ball
to guide with them on Everest – the company’s first
expedition.

The group summited, but Mr Ball died the following year
during a personal trip to Dhaulagiri (8167m ) with Mr Hall,
after succumbing to the high altitude illness pulmonary
oedema.

In 1993, during another successful Adventure Consultants
expedition, Mr Cotter had to descend Everest after reaching a
point just 200m below the summit, to help an exhausted team
member back down.

On a third Everest trip in 1995, he got within 70m of the
summit before making the “conservative but correct decision”
to turn around, because of delays caused by deep snow, slow
rope-fixing progress and slow group members.

In May 1996, he co-ordinated a rescue effort from Everest
base camp after employer Rob Hall’s climbing party got in to
trouble in a severe storm. Mr Hall, fellow New Zealand guide
Andy Harris, of Queenstown, and two Adventure Consultants
clients were among eight climbers who lost their lives in the
high-profile climbing tragedy which gained attention from the
world’s media and spawned many books.

The fall-out from the fateful expedition was considerable and
Mr Cotter was left to do a lot of soul-searching over his
future career path. He purchased “the remnants” of the
company from Rob Hall’s wife Jan Arnold and set about
rebuilding it.

“I was faced with a dilemma about whether I started a new
company or carried on with Adventure Consultants but I felt
that in respect for my mentors Rob and Gary I would continue
with the Adventure Consultants.

“We still had a supportive client base who wanted to
continue, even given what had happened.”

However, he – like the rest of the high-altitude guiding
fraternity – knew positive changes to promote a higher level
of safety in the industry were needed after the 1996 tragedy,
which had highlighted shortcomings in the standard operating
procedures of the time.

“We needed that history to evolve with new standards and a
different approach … to enable us to continue in what is
obviously a very hazardous environment.”

High-quality staff, strong Sherpa support, robust safety
strategies, revised procedures for dealing with ailing or
tired clients and companies sharing resources and information
has ensured that continuation.

Today, Adventure Consultants runs about 50 international
expeditions a year on every continent on the planet, a
climbing school, and guided ascents of New Zealand’s highest
peaks.

Mr Cotter’s career highlights have included climbing Makalu
in 2001, doing the first ascent of Mt Slaughter in the
Antarctic, climbing at destinations across the globe and
having “amazing adventures with all sorts of amazing people”,
and experiencing the “joy” of summiting Everest for the first
time.

He reached Everest’s summit a second time in 1997 and again
in 2006 and 2007, and has also climbed the Antarctic’s
tallest peak Vinson Massif, Mt Kilimanjaro and Europe’s
highest mountain Mt Elbrus, and skied to the South Pole.

Although Mr Cotter spends less time in the mountains now and
more time running Adventure Consultants, he realises the
importance of the “figurehead” of the company remaining
active.

“I do still see myself more as a mountaineer than a
businessman and I only do the business side of it as a
practicality to enable everything else to happen as opposed
to focusing on financial rewards, which I recognise as not
all that life’s all about.

“I get more of a buzz seeing people come back from a trip, be
it the guides or the climbers or both … having had some of
the best experiences they’ve ever had in their life.”

His rebuilt knees held up well on Manaslu, although the
descent along rocky trails from Everest base camp, where he
spent time after the summit, caused “a bit of pain”.

“I’m never going to be half the man I was but that’s OK,
there’s still enough left to drag myself up the odd climb.”

Relocating the company’s office to a new Wanaka premises is
Mr Cotter’s focus during the next six months, before
conquering more mountains next year.

“I’d like to keep doing it as long as I physically can … it
doesn’t have to be to a high level in the future.

“I don’t expect to be as physically capable as I was in my
20s and 30s. I’m happy with that, I just love being in the
mountains.”

-lucy.ibbotson@odt.co.nz

 

By Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 30, 2012

If you’re looking for a place to escape the heat, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Norfolk are operating public cooling stations.

Chesapeake

All Chesapeake Public Library branches are open 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. today and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

No special services are offered.

Portsmouth

Churchland Library, 4934 High St. West; Main Library, 601 Court St.; Manor Library, 1401 Elmhurst Lane – 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. today.

Cradock Library, 28 Prospect Pkwy. – 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. today.

Drinking water is available at each location.

Norfolk

Splash pads at Shoop Park and Norview Community Center are free and open.

All Norfolk Public Library branch locations are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Pretlow location will also be open on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.

The city’s Office to End Homelessness launched its summer hydration and heat exposure outreach program last week.

Teams went throughout the city providing cold water and information. More than 300 bottles of water have been distributed, a city news release said.

Teams are heading out again today and Sunday to hand out water.

Hydration stations will also be available at 3232 Brest Ave. and at 3309 Granby St. today from noon to 2 p.m.

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–>

SHOULD we be celebrating SA’s unfashionably late arrival at the biofuel party? That all depends on what the regulations the Department of Energy is set to publish by the end of next month actually say.

The greenhouse gas emission reductions are apparently significant — about 35%-65% depending on the processing method, according to European calculations. SA is to build its first biofuel plant outside Cradock this year and a blending plant for it at Coega. But no single step is a panacea to SA’s greenhouse gas emissions problem. What is important is that what is gained through the use of biofuel is not lost in the energy it takes to produce and transport the stuff.

Even Brazil, which has more than 40 years of experience in using bioethanol fuel blends and has certainly created an impressive industry — including creating those jobs that seem so elusive to SA’s government — is not above criticism. Scientists question the effect Brazil’s biofuel cropland expansion plans will have on biodiversity if it presses cattle rangelands into virgin forest, destroying biodiversity and the “carbon sink” provided by trees.

SA’s draft regulations are largely silent on farming methods. These are obviously important if the country is to glean carbon kudos for, among others, making it mandatory for petrol retailers to buy biofuel products. It is good to know, then, that many of SA’s sugar cane farmers have been endorsed by the World Wide Fund for Nature for their sustainable farming practices. That is a good start, and could be broadened.

Feedstock selection is also key. Sugar cane is, by most accounts, a great option, along with bagasse (the remaining wood fibres after the juice is extracted) used for heat energy. Sugar has far less use as a food crop than maize and is getting bad press as a food additive so may need a new market soon, although the biggest culprit from an obesity and diabetes perspective is high-fructose corn syrup. SA’s cane sugar battles to compete against Europe’s subsidised crops, and growing our own fuel could be an industry and a jobs-boosting endeavour that allows the country to sidestep some of Europe’s reluctance to leave its farmers to battle the market alone.

There are concerns that older cars will suffer damage from fuel that contains even 10% ethanol but technologies exist to counter this problem. The long-term trend towards fossil-free motoring is inevitable; the sooner SA starts the journey the better.

• UK Launch of Alfa MiTo TwinAir
• Debut of Alfa Live music sessions
• Alfa Giulia celebrates 50th anniversary
• Six heritage cars from the Alfa Romeo museum collection
• Balocco to Goodwood in a Giulietta Cloverleaf

As Alfa Romeo celebrates 102 years of motoring this month, the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed (28 June – 1 July) will mark the UK introduction of the new Alfa MiTo TwinAir.  The sporty supermini is now available with the award winning TwinAir engine – an 875cc twin-cylinder turbo with variable intake valve technology and sub-100g/km CO₂ emissions.

To launch the new model, Alfa Romeo is hosting a series of live acoustic performances from three stellar artists on the Company’s exhibition stand.

Iconic indie duo Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans will be joined by Ocean Colour Scene’s very own Brit rock legend Steve Cradock and upcoming alternative indie rockers Marner Brown across the three days of the festival.

This year Alfa Romeo is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Giulia. The combination of powerful twin-cam engine, immaculate style and affordable price made the model irresistible to the post-war audience. From 1962 to 1977, the Giulia’s range of bodywork variants and engine options combined to sell one million units around the world.

Two cars from the Alfa Romeo historic collection have made the journey to the Festival to help celebrate this milestone; a 1965 Giulia Sprint Speciale prototype, which was designed by Bertone and set the style for Italian sports cars of the 1970s, and the 105-series Giulia-based Alfa 1750 GT Am which competed in the European Touring Car Challenge.

Alfa Romeo will also showcase another four cars from its priceless heritage collection including the 1932 Gran Premio Tipo B ‘P3’, 1953 Alfa 6C 3000CM, 1972 Alfa GTA 1300 Junior as well as the more recent 1993 Alfa 155 V6 TI DTM.  All of the cars will be driven up the world famous Goodwood House Hill and will be on display in the Cathedral Paddock area.

With only 500 examples in existence, the gorgeous Alfa 8C Spider will again be turning heads as it makes its way past the crowds up the Goodwood Hill, and it will also be on display in the Supercar Paddock.

Finally, an Italian registered Giulietta Cloverleaf left Alfa Romeo’s proving ground at Balocco in Northern Italy on Sunday 24 June to drive through seven nations – Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Holland and Belgium- to reach the UK in time for the start of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.  The Alfa Romeo team are meeting Alfisti along the way and documenting their journey, including the four days of the iconic Festival.

By Roy Bahls
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 28, 2012

Join the celebration of our nation’s 236th birthday with parties and pyrotechnics. Community celebrations offer a generous helping of music, games, food, fireworks and fun. However you choose to honor Independence Day, wave Old Glory high and be safe out there. Here’s a list of some of the region’s festivities. All phone numbers are the 757 area code unless otherwise noted.

A Shore Thing Concert and Independence Day Celebration, music (Atlantic Groove), fireworks (9:30 p.m.) and more from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at Ocean View Beach Park, 111 W. Ocean View Ave., Norfolk. 441-2345. www.festevents.org.

Norfolk Tides baseball post-game fireworks, Tides vs. Syracuse Chiefs. Game time: 7:15 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Harbor Park, 150 Park Ave., Norfolk. 622-2222.

Celebrate Freedom, music by TRADOC Army Band (7:30 p.m.), fireworks (9:15 p.m.), children’s activities and more from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at Grassfield High School, 2007 Grizzly Trail, Chesapeake. 382-6411.

Liberty Celebration, featuring re-enactors, re-created Continental Army encampment, artillery demonstrations, games and more from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Yorktown Victory Center, 200 Water Street. 253-4838.

Patriotic pyrotechnics, 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Busch Gardens, 1 Busch Gardens Blvd., Williamsburg. 800-343-7946.

30th Annual ATT Fourth of July Great American Picnic Fireworks, patriotic tunes by United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Band, fireworks (9:30 p.m.) food and more from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at Town Point Park, Waterside Drive, Norfolk. 441-2345. www.festevents.org.

July 4th Celebration, music by Rachel Rocheleau and The Beadle Brothers, children’s activities, festival foods, fireworks (9:30 p.m.) and more from 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Trashmore Park, 310 Edwin Drive, Virginia Beach. 385-2990. www.vbgov.com/specialevents.

Stars Stripes Explosion, fireworks (launched from a barge off 20th Street at 9:30 p.m.), music and more Wednesday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Music: Local 34 (7:30 p.m. 17th Street Stage), Symphonicity and the Virginia Beach Chorale (8 p.m. 20th Street on the Beach), Chester B’s Motown Tribute Show (8 p.m. 24th Street Park), Who’s Bad “Michael Jackson Tribute” (8 p.m. 31st Street Park). 491-7866. www.beachstreetusa.com.

Independence Day Celebration, “Salute to the States” Wednesday featuring Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums with musket and cannon salutes (10 a.m.), “Reading of the Declaration of Independence” (noon), Virginia Symphony Orchestra performs (8 p.m.), fireworks (9:30 p.m.) and more in Colonial Williamsburg. (800) 447-8679. www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/summer.

Stars Stripes Spectacular, music by Island Boy, fireworks (9 p.m.), food, children’s activities and more from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at Constant’s Wharf Park and Marina, 110 E. Constance Road, Suffolk. 514-7250. www.suffolkva.us/parks/events/.

Cradock’s 94th annual Patriotic Salute Children’s Bike Parade, children’s bike parade at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Afton Parkway and George Washington Highway in Historic Cradock, Portsmouth. Followed by a flag ceremony, music and more at the gazebo in Afton Square. 485-9471. www.historiccradock.org.

4th of July Stars in the Sky, fireworks (9:30 p.m.), music by Cheap Thrills (7 p.m.) and Carbon Leaf (8:15 p.m.), food and children’s activities from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at Victory Landing Park, 23rd Street at the James River, Newport News. 926-1400.

July Fourth Celebration, opening ceremonies at 11 a.m., bicycle and float parade at 11:30 a.m., games and activities from noon to 3 p.m., raft race at 3 p.m., music by Nate Sparks Band from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and fireworks at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 1589 Steeple Drive, Suffolk. 238-2359.

4th of July Celebration, parade, music (My Two Cents), food, children’s activities and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at Lakeside Park, 1441 Bainbridge Blvd., Chesapeake. 543-0828.

Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular, 9:25 p.m. Wednesday on the ocean pier, milepost 11.5 on N.C. Route 12, S. Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head. 252-441-7132.

 

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28th June 2012

By Trevor Bevins

AN all-expenses paid trip to Paris awaits the winner of Kingston Maurward’s  NFU Agricultural Student of the Year competition.

Carl Hoskin, 18, a second-year student, was picked the overall winner with runners up Matt Cradock, Jenny Diment and James Hibberd receiving trophies from sponsors C and O Tractors.

Carl, studying for his National Diploma in Agriculture said:  “I’m thrilled to win the award, I really wasn’t expecting it!”

Nineteen students took part in the contest – completing a series of tasks including a 50-question exam, livestock, machinery an estate skills, followed by an interview with a panel of judges including the NFU’s Rupert Rees and Robert Lasseter.

NFU Group Secretary Dorchester, Rupert Rees, said: “Congratulations to all of the students and the winner of this incredible award. All students conducted themselves very well – we debated for a very long time as the standard was so high. Everyone should be very proud that they have great careers ahead in agriculture.”

Carl’s trophy was specially designed and crafted for the Award by Kingston Maurward College blacksmith Simon Grant-Jones and will be passed on to winners for generations.

PICTURE: FROM left, Robert Lasseter, NFU; Clare Davison, Kingston Maurward College principal; Tim Stephens, head of agriculture, James Hibberd, Rupert Rees, Carl Hoskin, competition winner; Matthew Holland, CO; Jenny Diment, runner up; Dave Stickland, CO; Matt Cradock, runner up; Martin Cartwright, tutor

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• Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans, Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene Marner Brown to perform intimate acoustic sets on the Alfa Romeo stand at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed
• Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans to perform two 30 minute sets on Friday 29 June
• Steve Cradock to perform two 30 minute sets on Saturday 30 June
• Marner Brown to perform two 30 minute sets on Thursday 28 June on Sunday 1 July
• Videos of the performances and backstage interviews available from Monday 2 July
• Tweet this: @Tim_Burgess @TheCharlatans, @stevecradock from #OCS @MarnerBrown to play @AlfaRomeoUK stand at 2012 @FoSGoodwood #AlfaLive

To celebrate the launch of the Alfa MiTo TwinAir, Alfa Romeo UK is driving great British music at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed, with acoustic live performances on the company’s show stand from three stellar artists. Iconic indie duo Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans; Ocean Colour Scene’s very own Brit rock legendSteve Cradock and upcoming alternative indie rockers Marner Brown.

The live acts will be joined by the eclectic international DJ, Goldirocks, as she performs on the Alfa stand (Thursday and Friday only).

Dubbed Alfa Live, the Italian car maker will host eight performances – two 30 minute sets from Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans and Steve Cradock and four sets from Marner Brown – across the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Festival of Speed.

Fifteen years after releasing the legendary “Tellin’ Stories” album, The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess and Mark Collins bring their recent touring acoustic set to Goodwood on Friday 29 June, playing hits including North Country Boy and The Only One I Know from a back catalogue of eleven studio albums, which spawned seventeen Top 30 singles.

On Saturday 30 June, Ocean Colour Scene’s very own Steve Cradock, joined by three band mates, will entertain Festival goers with a hit-list that includes classic tracks such as The Riverboat Song, Hundred Mile High City, and You’ve Got It Bad, as well as tracks from his last two top 20 solo albums, “Kundalini Target” and “Peace City West.

Topping and tailing the Festival of Speed with performances on Thursday 28 June and Sunday 1 July, Twickenham-based Marner Brown take to the Alfa Live stage on the back of a wave of performances that have seen the upcoming act support major artists including Kasabian, Whitesnake, Elbow, The Feeling, Babyshambles and Ocean Colour Scene on various tours.

TIMINGS

Thursday 28 June

12:00pm – 12:30pm         Marner Brown                                                                 Alfa Romeo stand

3:30pm – 4:00pm             Marner Brown                                                                 Alfa Romeo stand

Friday 29 June

12:00pm – 12:30pm         Tim Burgess Mark Collins of The Charlatans     Alfa Romeo stand

4:00pm – 4:30pm             Tim Burgess Mark Collins of The Charlatans     Alfa Romeo stand

Saturday 30 June

12:00pm – 12:30pm         Steve Cradock Band                                                      Alfa Romeo stand

4:00pm – 4:30pm             Steve Cradock Band                                                      Alfa Romeo stand

Sunday 1 July

12:00 – 12:30pm               Marner Brown                                                                 Alfa Romeo stand

4:00pm – 4:00pm             Marner Brown                                                                 Alfa Romeo stand

Music fans that aren’t able to attend the Festival won’t need to miss out on the intimate gigs. Alfa Romeo will be capturing all the action and providing exclusive video content, featuring the musical performances, together with backstage interviews, on Alfa’s Official Facebook page – facebook.com/alfaromeouk – from Monday 2 July.

Damien Dally, Head of Brand, Alfa Romeo UK says; ‘The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a celebration of passion and performance, and this year Alfa Romeo is bringing the party. We’ve got three fantastic musical acts that will resonate well with the Goodwood crowd. These intimate acoustic sessions should bring a touch of festival magic to the proceedings.  Alfa’s 2012 appearance at Goodwood is going to be one to remember.’

The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012, also sees the launch of the award winning two-cylinder TwinAir engine in the Alfa MiTo. The introduction of this engine into the Alfa MiTo range reinforces the image of the MiTo as a high-tech, sporty, compact car offering maximum driving pleasure.  The engine guarantees a great level of responsiveness and agility thanks to its 85 bhp at 5,500 rpm, and 145 Nm of torque.  The resultant performance comes together with a significant reduction in emissions – just 98g/km of CO₂.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed runs from 28 June to 1 July 2012.

27 June, 2012