Next Saturday, the 14th July, local animal rights group Southend Animal Aid have planned a sponsored dog walk in aid of Network For Animals.

Network For Animals is an organisation who are trying to outlaw the slaughter of dogs for human consumptation in the Philippines. To read about what they have achieved so far, have a look at their website at: http://www.networkforanimals.org/home.htm

I was walking home from work one day and a poster, amongst many others promoting various things got my attention. "MAKE NOISE AGAINST WHALING" the poster was practically screaming at me to read it! On closer inspection it turned out to be a poster advertising a gig at Chinnerys in aid of charity. Tickets were £5 in advance from the Sealife Centre or £7 on the door and there would be four bands playing. All the money was going to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Of course this was a date that would have to go in the diary!

It didn't seem long before the 28th June rolled round. Luckily for me I was actually on holiday from work that particular week so the fact it was on a Thursday night wasn't a problem for once!

There wasn't that many people there yet when we arrived about 7.30pm so we had a drink outside and waited for the doors to be opened. Once inside it seemed to get busy quite quickly so I think they must have raised a good amount of money for the charity. Inside they had put up a screen with images of whales on the wall and there was a display board just by the side of the stage with information about whaling and lots of leaflets. They were also selling some very nice badges at the bar with "Stop the Bloody Whaling" on for £1.50 each, so of course we got some! There were about four different petitions to sign so I made sure I signed those too..

I'm seriously fussy about places I go to socialise. Music matters so much to me, that even if I am blind drunk I have to be somewhere playing music I enjoy. As a rock and alternative music fan, I was personally rather disappointed when The Alex changed their amazing Saturday nights of grunge and classic rock into what seems to me another club night full of pop music (no offence to anyone who likes what they've done!).

The only other great alternative night I knew about was the Pink Toothbrush, although as great as it is, it's in Rayleigh and not somewhere I can afford to go on a regular basis, especially as I don't drive and neither do any of my friends.

I went to Saks on a Friday a few times, sadly the music was pretty decent but the price of drinks was a bit too harsh on my purse for the wages I get!

Luckily just before last Xmas, I stumbled across a new alternative night. It was at the Royal Hotel basement and called "We Have Your Children!" £5 to get in but they did have Get Cape, Wear Cape Fly guest djing so thought it would be worth checking out.

And Wow, it actually was fantastic! Even though I wasn't that impressed with the choices played by the guest djs, I was very impressed with the Royal Hotel Djs and the prices of drinks were good too! They played a great mix of music, and were happy to take requests as well.

I've been to several since and each one I've been to has lived up to my expectations. Although the guest djs certainly drew in the crowds I've always found what the normal djs play a lot more enjoyable!

Last night I witnessed the first steps of the local live drum'n'bass band Analog into the fiercely competitive world of the London drum'n'bass scene. I should really start by saying that I wasn't alone on the journey from Southend to London, in fact Analog had rallied together its local support and packed them onto a double decker bus that sped us all into the big smoke.

The venue (The Rhythm Factory) was in Whitechapel, our bus set off from the Grand in Leigh just before 10pm randomly picking up band members Rollman, Amit, CJ and Wilson outside Retro Bar on the way. They had already been into London soundchecking but had returned to join friends, fans, family and girlfriends on the bus for a few "quiet drinks" en route.