Da Vinci Sequel is top of the box office

The movie follow up to The Da Vinci Code titled Angel and Demons, has climbed to the top of the box office taking 6.1 million in its opening weekend.

The film sees Tom Hanks return in the role of academic Robert Langdon in a thrilling adventure to unravel the truth about the secret society the Illuminati.

The film has taken nearly twice the profits of its nearest rival Star Trek, which took a comparitavely modest 3.5 million in it's first two weeks.

Other films in the top five box office include X Men Origins; Wolverine in the number four spot and animated 3D adventure Caroline taking 1.4 million and rated third in the box office.

The Only Way Is Up

Charlton Athletic boss Phil Parkinson has admitted he is unsure about his future at the club. The 41-year-old joined the Addicks late into the 08/09 campaign and failed to keep them out of the drop zone.

Since Alan Curbishleys departure in 2006, four managers have taken the South-east London hot seat. Parkinson blames this alone for Charlton’s demise into League One, after two relegations in three years have ruptured the clubs stability.

Phil said, ''If whoever the manager's going to be, can keep this group of players together we'll have a chance of coming back. The name Charlton Athletic won't get this club promotion next year. It will be the players out on the pitch and over these next six to eight weeks that will make or break next season. Things need to be sorted because the most important time for any manager in any club is the off-season."

Despite a woeful season, Athletic fans did have some cause for celebration after a 4-2 win on the last day of the season condemned Norwich City to relegation. A win for the Canaries could have lifted them out of trouble, but Charlton’s attacking confidence scored three goals in half hour.

Charlton Athletic and Norwich City are joined by another ex-Premier League side in relegation, Southampton. The Saints will also be docked ten points for going into administration, resulting in Athletic not finishing bottom of the league.

Swayze death rumours false

The rumour that Patrick Swayze has died, which was started by the Florida radio station Kiss FM, has been condemned as "reckless" by his publicist Annette Wolf.

The comment, posted by the station onto social networking site Twitter on Tuesday, was later published on Wikipedia before editors became suspicious about the accuracy of the claim. The offending comment was quickly removed from both sites.

Celebrities such as Kirstie Alley who worked with Swayze in the 1980s war drama 'North and South' have responded to the news on their own twitter pages. Alley pleaded "Please, out of respect for Swayze, please do not spread the rumour."

Swayze has been battling an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer since being diagnosed in January last year. His publicist responded to the claims "Patrick Swayze is alive, well and is enjoying his life and he continues to respond to treatment. "

Swayze is currently starring in US TV show The Beast, as well as writing a memoir with his wife, Lisa Niemi, said to be published later this year.

Ice Bowl For Canterbury

At the end of the summer Canterbury may be looking at a nice cool winter. With the annoucement that a new synthetic ice rink will be built, the new "Bugsy's Ice Bowl" will also contain a bowling alley. 

This new development could bring more tourism to the Canterbury area.

A canterbury resident said "It's a great idea, especially when you have kids there is more of a variety, and a wider choice when you want to take them out".

The plans have been put in place and building work looks set to start soon, posters are already advertising an August 2009 opening.

I'm sure the people of Kent will warm to the idea of an ice rink, providing people with more to do in their spare time.

Taking a look at new business' and statistics over the past few months, the ice rink will be taking a risk with the financial crisis, as many local business' have shut down. So except some opening recession beating prices, as the ice rink trys to avoid the boil.

Cannabis factory found in Dover

Police in Dover have found over 100 cannabis plants in a house fitted with lighting and heating equipment used to grow the drug.

Police officers responded to complaints about a 'strange smell' in Russell Street, which turned out to be the site of a local Cannabis factory.

The police have arrested a 43 year old man on suspision of cultivating cannabis and theft of electricity. The man is suspected of stealing electricity from local power sources in order to aid in the production of the class B drug.

This is just another case in a number of similar incidents in the area, with over 1,770 cannabis plants being seized from a house in Folkestone Road, Dover in February this year. The man arrested is currently serving a three year jail sentence.

The Government recently re-classified the drug from class C up to class B, meaning that anyone arrested on suspision of dealing can serve a maximum of 14 years imprisonment.

Although users will still not receive an on the spot fine, surely it will not be long until the punishment for cannabis growers becomes something that will deter them.

Getting dirty at 'SOAP'....Studio 41's newest foam party theme night

Last night the foam was thrust upon Canterbury like you’ve never seen it before. Studio 41 has re-launched its ‘SOAP’ night, and will be re-creating the havoc every Monday evening.

After stopping for a year, Studio 41 has decided to bring back the foam party theme nights every Monday, and last night was no exception. Although the club didn’t open till 10pm there was a heaving queue from 8.30pm onwards, full of half naked teens and the usual crazy fancy dress. Promoting the night to passers-by were models wearing nothing but their underwear, an unusually patterned coat of body paint and stilts. They certainly drew in the crowds.

The club was heaving and the tunes were pumping all night, things got messy when it hit 12 as the foam poured from the ceiling and consumed the whole room and everyone in it. There were other rooms without foam as well for those who couldn’t quite handle the suds.

Other popular Canterbury night clubs are worried as with cheap drinks and half price entry for students, it doesn’t get much better than then getting down and dirty in ‘SOAP’, who also have their own official Facebook fan group

The club also hosts it's weekly girls and boys night on a saturday for the gay community in the area.

Wembley sold out by expectant Gills

Just two days after the tickets went on sale for the League Two play-off final, Gillingham’s allocation has almost sold out.

Wembley granted the Gills with 38,000 tickets and have since warned the club that no more will be on offer. Chief executive Mark Jones accepted the decision saying, ‘’Shrewsbury took an additional 5,000 tickets and because of the section of the stadium they took them in, it means that we cannot have more than 38,000 because of segregation and the agreements with the police.’’

Shrewsbury Town were originally designated 21,000 tickets, a huge 17,000 difference to the Kent club. Despite this, Priestfield has been flocked with football fanatics, eager to support Gillingham in their quest to League One.

With the final looming, the Gills are expecting a massive cash boost from television coverage of the match. Chairman Paul Scally said, ‘’We haven’t achieved our budget so far in terms of cash income but luckily we received a sell-on fee for Darius Henderson, money for Luke Freeman, the Aston Villa game and money from the Matt Jarvis transfer as Wolves got promoted. Those things weren’t budgeted for and neither was Wembley so we’re very pleased. That will make the figures look very good and we’re going to make sure we don’t blow it.’’

The Gills’ battle takes place on Saturday afternoon and win or lose, it is certainly more promising news for our local club.

Seeking Asylum in Canterbury

Applications for Asylum in the UK have risen according to statistics.

The provisional annual figures released by the Home Office, show an increase from 23,430 applications in 2007 to 25,670 in 2008.   With many Asylum Seekers coming to Canterbury, we sent our reporter Luke Kyte into Canterbury's City Centre to ask the public what they thought about the City's newest community. 

Click on the image below to view our report

Watch us at 7K-News

On the programme we visit Canterbury's Fire Station to meet with Station Manager Mark Jones as we find out about their latest road safety campaign, Carmageddon.  

Also on the programme we learn about the Boycott of Nestle, followed by a sports update.  

Click on the image below to watch the team at 7K News. 

Are students bothered by the numbers?

Tuition fees increase every year, a recent report detailed that full-time undergraduates are liable to pay tuition fees of up to £3,225 a year from 2009-2010.

The report study draws a conclusion that undergraduates would not react if fees were raised to £5,000, but students would begin to turn their backs on higher education if tuition fees were raised to £7,000.

In response to this over 770 active students in the UK have set up a campaign group on Facebook called, 'Campaign against UK tuition fees'.

Angie Schembrie, administrator of the group comments, "These fees were introduced by people who got their University education for free, paid for by the governments of the past, and now they have burned the ladders that they climbed up to prevent us from being able to benefit from the same.

Most of us now will be graduating with debts in excess of £15-20 thousand pounds, before we even start to think about getting on the property ladder.

This group is for those who want to show the government that the tradition of student protest isn't dead, and that we are prepared to show that we are not happy with being dragged into even deeper debt by those who just don't care."

However the majority of UK students are price-insensitive with strong belief that it is affordable with support from Student Finance England, formerly known as Student Finance Direct. Canterbury Christ Church Univeristy student, Laura Russell said, "I'm not bothered by the rise of costs, at the end of the day we won't be paying back a penny until we are in jobs earning over £15,000."

Marlowe Sale

The doors of the Marlowe Theatre will open once again as the furnishings and memories of the famous Kent theatre go on sale. But with just 24 hours to go before the sale customers are still confused as to what is on offer.

With theatre fanatics set to stream into Canterbury in order to take home their slice of history, the signed photos are set to be in high demand along with seats from the auditorium.

Everything from the fittings to the memorabilia will be sold at auction on the theatre’s forecourt on Saturday the 28^th March. All money raised by the sale will go towards raising the funds for the new building. Despite interest in the items on sale, workers at the building were unable to provide any further information on exactly what was being sold, stating that: “everything, including light bulbs are going”.

With Canterbury City Council desperate to raise funds for the construction, council tax is set to be increased by up to 5% with other projects in the area taking a back seat.

With the new building set to cement another period of culture into the city, theatre bosses also announced that the building will boost the districts economy by £22 million a year providing a boost to the future of Kent's cathedral city.

Marlowe gets Curtain Call until 2011

The Marlowe theatre in Canterbury took its final bow for three years on Sunday night. 

The Theatre is being refurbished for the second time since it’s opening in 1949. Originally the site of the theatre was home to a pre world war one cinema at St Margret’s Street, but after that failed to compete, the city council bought it, and then it became the first Marlowe theatre. It was later demolished in 1984.

The present building at The Friars was previously home to the Friars Cinema from 1933, this was the same cinema that showed the world premiere of A Canterbury Tale; it later reopened as the second Marlowe Theatre in 1984 an event, which was marked by the Canterbury Festival. After the theatres long history, the Canterbury’s City Council unanimously decided to give the go-ahead for a multi-million pound redevelopment called The New Marlowe Theatre Project.

The theatre has had a wide array of talent showcased over its time as a theatre, with a range of acts, from comedians to music stars. The likes of comedy Genius’ Lee Evans, Harry Hill and Lenny Henry are just a few faces that have appeared. Hollywood Starlet Kate Beckingsale has enjoyed a leading performance at the historic theatre. With the Theatre due to open again in 2011, there should be no shortage of talent on show.

Snow Patrol Rock the O2

Snow Patrol play an electric set to an enthusiastic crowd at the 02 arena.

They opened the set with new single ‘If there's a rocket tie me to it’ which set the tone for what turned out to be a epic night of stadium rockers and ballads.
Gary Lightbody was on excellent form, delivering every lyric with the passion and emotion that the band is renound for. Other highlights included the foot thumping ‘Hands Open’ and the epic rendition of ‘Run’, which had the audience clapping for several minutes after. leaving Lightbody awed by the response of the crowd.

The effects used at the concert were nothing short of spectacular, including a digitally enhanced background video of the band as well as a computer animation of the two Eskimo’s featured on the ‘Final Straw’ album cover. 

The soaring ‘Eyes Open’ ended an excellent night of brilliant music and electric atmosphere. Not only have Snow Patrol raised their own standard but after last nights gig, they also set the bar for live acts across the UK.

Shelter to receive the Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury and Communities Minister Baroness Andrews visited Shelter’s Advice Centre in Chatham on the 27th March in a bid to draw attention to the need for more affordable housing nationally.

The Archbishop said “I am delighted and grateful for the opportunity of drawing attention to the first-rate work done locally by the centre”.

Shelter’s campaign “Now in the time” is asking for the Government to take immediate action to build more homes and protect people at risk from losing their property. The campaign comes at a significant time in our history as the financial crisis effects more and more people. Shelters Kent Service Manager Mark Ellison said “we are seeing a real increase in demand for our services as more people struggle to make ends meet”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury hopes the campaign will strengthen the Governments resolve as well as the publics, to address the situation creatively”. 

To listen to the effects of homelessness in Canterbury, click the image below:

               

For more information about shelter or to make a donation, visit www.shelter.org or click HERE

Kent-ucky Fried Chicken arrives

Canterbury was out in force yesterday as the public made use of their first KFC fast-food restaurant in nearly 30 years.

Sturry Road became a scene of madness as flocks of people queued for up to 30 minutes to get a taster of the Kentucky style.  The KFC franchise becomes the fourth fast-food restaurant installed in the vicinity of Canterbury and with McDonalds' just seconds away, competition for punters will reach an all time high.

Enduring the mania was Canterbury student Lewis Martin who said, ‘‘It’s great to finally have a KFC in Canterbury. It’s been a long time coming and before we had to go all the way to Margate just to get a Bargain Bucket!’’

The Kentucky business was established in the 1930s and today over 700 outlets are available across the UK and Ireland. Colonel Harland Sanders became the face of the business and is seen in all KFC marketing. After his death in 1980, the restaurant swore to live by his legacy with hard work and excellent customer service.

A Roundup Of Essential Festivals In Kent This Summer

James Morrison (pictured left) and The Sugababes have been announced as the headliners for two days of music to be held at Canterbury cricket ground.

Both acts are expected to play to sell out crowds, with The Sugababes performing on the 26th June and James Morrison on the 27th June.  Support acts are to be announced shortly. Tickets are available from the club priced £26.50 which includes postage and the booking fee and at www.seetickets.com

Tickets are expected to sell out so purchase your tickets quickly.

Early bird tickets for Lounge On The Farm held at Merton Farm in Canterbury have sold out. The three-day festival held on the weekend 10th to 12th of July appears to be gaining popularity year by year due to the festival’s good local music and friendly laid back atmosphere.
Tickets are still available at the slightly pricier £85 for an adult weekend ticket and can be bought from www.loungeonthefarm.co.uk.

Red List Live, the new festival at Port Lympne Animal Park also promises to be an excellent weekend. It marks a welcome return for music at Port Lympne after the disastrous shambles of Zoo Thousand and Eight last year.
Highlights of the line-up include indie rockers The Wombats and The Zutons, both known for their electric mix of pop rock. It takes place on the weekend of the 19th to the 21st of June.
Early bird tickets are still available at the reduced price of £99 for an adults weekend pass and can be purchased online at www.redlistlive.com.

A smaller festival which appears to be improving is Sellindge music festival. The organisers have done their best to promote the festival via flyers and local radio, together with an improved website. This follows the minimal attendance at last year's festival. 

Together with a line up of smaller bands, there are some popular UK acts among the bill including Supergrass and Ben's Brother.  It takes place on the 5th to the 7th of June.
Tickets are also very well priced at £55 for the weekend and can be bought at www.sellindgemusicfestival.co.uk.

Life after Curbs: Charlton Athletic's road to rock bottom

After 15 years of heartache, success and a little more success, Charlton Athletic Chairmen Richard Murray announced to a stadium of Addicks fans in 2006 that legendary boss Alan Curbishley would be leaving his post at the end of the season.

The announcement which was made on the 29th April before a Premier League fixture, stunned the thousands of supporters that were crammed into The Valley and shocked Athletic players who were as unaware as the fans. 

Nearly three years on, four managers later and in excess of £20 million worth of debt, The Addicks are situated rock bottom of The Championship and 12 points adrift of safety. Although their bank has recently withdrawn the clubs overdraft facility, Murray has quelled reports that the club face going into administration.

So what has happened to the club? Curbishley's reason for stepping down from the post was because he believed that he had achieved all he could at the club. In the time period of his notice, Alan had been linked with the England job and was even interviewed by the F.A before their decision to appoint Steve McLaren as boss.

Curbishley’s departure from the club after 15 years would, we assumed, have a negative effect in the dressing room although we could not predict it would push the stable team into a steep relegation battle in the following season. 

When Sir Alex Ferguson retires from football after more than 20 years in the job, Manchester United wouldn’t be expected to drop their standards of football - that is if they employ a manager with a proven track record that can handle the pressure of Premier League football.

Life after Curbs

Iain Dowie was appointed after a great record with Crystal Palace. Of course, the disappointment of relegation was overwhelming for both Dowie and Palace, but with it they were given the chance to start again and rebuild during the summer for a promotion push. However, despite relegation, Dowie had impressed as a manager and rumours circulated that Palace Chairmen Simon Jordon had been approached by a number of top flight clubs wishing to attract Dowie. In fact the only approach made was from Milan Mandaric of Portsmouth.

In his Charlton reign he was given more money than any other manager, in order to buy success for the club. But to their dismay he couldn’t keep the team away from the relegation zone. A disastrous start to the season spelled trouble at The Valley and after only 12 games in charge was dismissed, leaving Charlton without a manager and in the relegation zone.

Les Reid was drafted in temporarily but suffered the same fate as Dowie. Unable to inspire a sorrowful team he was replaced by ex-West Ham boss Alan Pardew. Appointed on Christmas Eve to a Charlton team on 12 points and a -20 goal difference, Pardew was unable to steer Charlton clear of relegation from the Premier League.

Many football enthusiasts expected a rebound for the Addicts, especially after the signings of Luke Varney and Chris Iwelumo. However, Charlton were unable to mount a serious title challenge and ended the season in lowly 11th.

The road to League 1

The 08/09 season would be a test to both Charlton’s and Pardew’s resolve and after opening victories against Swansea and Reading, Charlton fans sensed hope for the first time since Pardew took charge.

The winning start failed to continue and during the winter spell of matches, Charlton played 17 matches without a win. Expectedly Pardew was drafted out of The Valley equation and Parkinson took over from an assistant manager position to try and halt the slump.

With 37 games played, Charlton sit 24th in The Championship and 10 points from 23rd placed Southampton. For the remaining nine fixtures, is there hope of a miracle revival?

Four wins look unlikely, as does achieving enough points to secure safety. For Charlton fans they must walk the same route that so many top flight teams have faced. Over the years the likes of Wimbledon, Leeds United, Leicester City and Bradford have all descended from the Premier League but then continued the downward spiral to the lower leagues.

Some teams are able to build during the summer and push for re-promotion the following season. Birmingham City and Reading are currently proving this in the Championship, seated 2nd and 3rd respectively.

However, when managerial changes and player departures rock clubs, there is only one way that the team will head. Moral, motivation and inspiration are all key factors for a healthy team and unfortunately for Charlton, they lack all three.

League 1 is their fate. Whether the spiral continues after that has yet to be seen.