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TO ENTERTAIN AND AMUSE YOU! 
SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT BEST-EVER GOAL CELEB! Goal celebrations come in all shapes and sizes - but this is surely the funniest, best-planned yet after Halldor Orri Bjornasson scores the winner in an Icelandic League game. EVER HAD THE URGE FOR A DAY TRIP TO... NEWPORT? Not Newport Rhode Island, not Newport Isle of Wight - but Newport Gwent, just down the M4. Respect to M J Delaney who takes the rap for placing the vid! BEST PENALTY EVER? EVEN GYLFI MIGHT AGREE! Ezequiel Calvente of Spain Under-19s shows a super sleight of foot to score against Italy - and what price Reading's ice-cool Gylfi Sigurdsson trying it after missing two of his last four? SOME OLD BULL AND BUSH - A TRUE LOVE SONG! Remember Tony and George's special relationship? But was it special enough for a re-make of the old Lionel Richie and Diana Ross classic...? IT'S WHAT YOU'D CALL THE BUNGEE JUMP FROM HELL! What's the word you don't want to hear when you've launched your bungee jump? How about... "WAIT!!!" LUCIANO PAVAROTTI AND JAMES BROWN TOGETHER! Even if you don't believe "It's a Man's World" you'll enjoy this rare pairing of two greats. MEET THE MASCOTS FOR LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS Wenlock and Mandeville are the mascots for the London Olympics 2012 - this super little animation piece tells the story of their creation THE BEST POP VIDEO EVER - AND A GREAT SONG TOO! Canadian rockers Nickelback, with help from ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, plus US celebrities - and 130 scene changes! Watch full-size from Nickelback TV And Click Here for who's who and where it was shot.
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 INSTANT TOWN GUIDE - JUST CLICK THE LINKS...
MAP Reading and the surrounding area. COUNCIL All about our local services. TOURISM What our town has to offer. RIVER THAMES Go with the flow, start to finish. TRAFFIC The council's live info feeds. TRAVEL Bus & Train details / time boards. WEATHER A 5-day local forecast from a project by Maiden Erlegh School at Earley. ENTERTAINMENT Theatres/Arts Venues. CINEMAS What's on + great movie trailers. MUSEUMS The Bayeux Tapestry, the Rivers, the Army, Rural Life and much more. HISTORY How Wikipedia tells it. BUSINESS The Thames Valley Economic Partnership. ESSENTIAL NUMBERS Emergency help and advice. POLICE If it's for life or death dial 999 - if not use these contact details. MP FOR READING EAST Rob Wilson (Con) - All the info. MP FOR READING WEST Alok Sharma (Con) - All the info. ACCOMMODATION Hotels, B&B and Apartments, most offered at discount prices. LOCAL JOBS Free to job-seekers. FOOTBALL Latest news from the Madejski Stadium, home of the Royals. RUGBY UNION Latest news from London Irish. ORACLE EATS The many riverside restaurants at The Oracle. FOOD SAFETY Scores on the doors for the best - and the rest. LOCAL NEWS SOURCES Visit these - but don't forget to come back! THE READING LIST Digest of thoughts of local bloggers. THE READING FORUM Local people have their say about local topics. READING ROARS One of Reading's first blogs. CELEBRITIES Winslet & Wilde, Huntley & Palmer etc etc - spotlighting Reading's most famous names from the past and present.   READING HOTELS - IF you need a hotel room in Reading, anywhere in the UK - or anywhere in the rest of the world - our discount booking service has the answer for you. Click here for Reading Guide's own direct link to LateRooms.com®. Availability and prices are updated daily, the prices per room not per person, and there's no booking fee. NOTE: If you make future bookings please do so from this link.
EVENTS, SPORTS AND BUSINESS INFO FROM THE READING AREA HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO 'NEW' CAVERSHAM COURT! 
IT'S almost a year since the magnificent £1.6million re-vamp of the historic Caversham Court Gardens - and to celebrate, there will be a re-run of the 2009 festivities. That happens on Friday (30th) between 1 and 6pm when the riverside estate will host an open-day, with particular emphasis on the young, who, organisers hope, will be fascinated to learn about life from a bygone era. A varied range of activities will include face painting, story telling, information stalls, Play Ranger fun and guided tours of the Gardens in their full-bloom beauty led by volunteers from the Friends of Caversham Court Gardens. The event, which is also part of the national "Love Parks Week", will enable people learn more about the fascinating history of the site, which now has, amongst many other features, a reproduction layout of the floor area of the original manor house, with a guide to each room and what it was used for. The raised walk up to the restored 19th century gazebo has pathway plaques depicting a timeline of Reading's history. Medieval cellars were also uncovered during the original renovations, along with a Victorian hothouse. The grounds boast many amazing trees, and there are picnic seats along the riverbank. Entry to the event is free, and cream teas will be available from a kiosk operated by local charities. Check our Exclusive Picture Gallery" from last year's opening day.  THE FESTIVAL WHICH WILL TURN READING INSIDE OUT!THE super, month-long Outside Inside festival is about to hit Reading, promising musical treats - most of them free - plus what organisers call "a celebration of the arts. Music, Film, Art, Theatre and Dance." It all happens, from this Saturday onwards, at various venues in the town. The stats make impressive reading - four Saturdays, 20 stages and 150+ live acts! Organisers describe the concept as "reconfiguring perceptions of cultural activities - taking the inside art institutions out on to the streets, using open spaces to display art in new light." Likewise, they say, "the festival vibe, commonly seen in the open air, is taken inside, not only to venues but using shops, restaurants, bars and quite possibly some pretty unusual places too!" Performers will be descending on Reading from around the globe, with acts representing Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Israel, Canada, the USA, and even Transylvania, Romania. These top global acts will bring a wealth of differing musical styles with them,although they will be performing regularly with the huge amount of local talent, sourced from Reading and the surrounding areas. The aim is interaction between participants and the public - opportunities described as: "Build an art installation, stroll the art market stalls, choose from a worldwide array of food, ponder the outside art, sing along to the bands on stage, take a moment to reflect on the poetry and spoken word, be surprised by the random improvised theatre, foot-tap to a bit of jazz or get down and dirty at one of the inside venues." Check the festival website for dates, acts and venues.  MANY CHAMPION ROYALS' LEGENDS ARE STILL ON THE MOVETHE transfer merry-go-round keeps spinning for ex-Royals players, particularly many from THE great squad of 2005 to 2008. Stephen Hunt (pictured) was watching at the Mad Stad on Tuesday as his new club, Wolves, went down 2-1 to Reading in a friendly - Marcus Hahnemann and Kevin Doyle, of course, are already at Molineux, along with nearly-man Greg Halford. Also watching his old team in action - albeit with not many of his mates left - was Glen Little. He's just signed for Aldershot, joining up with ex-Royals' assistant boss Kevin Dillon, and players John Halls and Jamie Young. And yet another familiar face on Tuesday was that of Superman himself, Ibrahima Sonko, who has joined Portsmouth from Stoke after a not-so-super loan spell at Hull. Dave Kitson has probably played his last game for Stoke after apparently falling out with boss Tony Pulis, while James Harper has gone from Sheffield United to Hull. Steve Sidwell is on the brink of a move from Villa to Fulham, while Seol Ki-Hyeon's career in England has fizzled out, and he's moved on from Fulham to play in Hong Kong. Leroy Lita, currently at Middlesbrough, is reported to be a target for Leeds United. Unlucky ex-skipper Graeme Murty has been released by Southampton, and Jamie Ashdown was released by Portsmouth, but has rejoined them in view of David James' likely departure. As we pointed out in an article last month, it's slightly surprising that only Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann of the "great" squad have had any real degree of success since moving on - a testimony perhaps to just what a superb "team" effort it was by Steve Coppell's men. 
 HAIL MICHAIL AS ROYALS KEEP WOLVES FROM THE DOORTHE Royals landed a hard-fought and well-deserved win in their only pre-season home game on Tuesday, seeing off Premier League Wolves 2-1. Michail Antonio (pictured), the winger who spent last season on loan at Southampton with ever-increasing degrees of success, scored an opportunist winner to prove two things - firstly Brian McDermott may be right in believing he has more potential than Millwall-bound James Henry, and secondly he could be an ideal "closer" to finish off the many left-backs who will be demoralised by Jimmy Kebe. One of the keys to Steve Coppell's 2005/06 success was the predictability of substitutions. Three players used to run themselves into the ground for 65 minutes, then on would come Bryn Gunnarsson for Glen Little to stiffen midfield, Stephen Hunt for Bobby Convey wide left, and Leroy Lita for either Kevin Doyle or Dave Kitson up front. It was effectively a 14-man team. Antonio could provide one of those three strands as Kebe's follow-up man. Doyle, now with Wolves, spent most of the first half on Tuesday comfortably in the pocket of no-nonsense Matt Mills - a half in which the Royals were ahead through Gylfi Sigurdsson's early penalty and might easily have led by several more. The second half was a different story, Wolves packing on a bit more experience and running the game for the first time. But it was Reading who scored again, Noel Hunt came on to a hero's welcome after nearly a year out, and within 10 seconds had provided the flick-on-header which set up the on-rushing Antonio. David Jones scored late on for Wolves but the Royals deservedly held on. Full Report >> from the club website.  ROYALS EXODUS GOES ON AS HENRY SIGNS FOR MILLWALLTHE Royals continue to trim back their top-heavy squad - and the latest player to leave is the only Reading-born senior on the books, James Henry. Although highly-rated by many fans, and being a consistent scorer, none of the three Royals' bosses he has played for have given the young wide-right player a regular chance. He's been farmed out on loan to Millwall, twice, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Norwich, and has always made a good impression. Now Millwall boss Kenny Jackett has guessed correctly that Reading have too many midfield players, and that Henry might be one they would part with. The clubs have agreed a fee - £100,000 would be a reasonable guess - and the move to the New Den has now been completed. Reading say "a significant sell-on-clause has been aded to the contract." Royals' fans are sure to have mixed feelings, especially as James looked like the local boy who could make good with his home-town team, but now he has followed the previous local prospect, Nathan Tyson, in having to seek his big chance elsewhere. Ironically there has even been talk that the Royals may try to re-sign Tyson from Nottingham Forest, but being a similar player to Henry that seems unlikely. Club Story >>.  HEALTH TECH BREAKTHROUGH BY A READING COMPANYA READING company has developed a unique solution to help health centres in Mozambique make immediate diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in newborn children. And it has been so successful, it is now being rolled out right across Africa. From 2007 to 2009, Mozambique saw a rapid expansion of the National Early Infant Diagnosis program for diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in newborn children to the 235 health centers across the country. However, transportation of samples and results between remote districts and two central laboratories often took many weeks. To accelerate the return of results, Reading-based Sequoia Technology devised an innovative system, in conjunction with The Clinton Foundation, to allow laboratories to send and print test results directly in any health centre with GPRS network coverage. Click for full story >>. 
IF battling through traffic, fighting for a parking place and queuing at under-staffed tills is your idea of a happy retail experience here's a suggestion - SHOP ONLINE! In Reading Guide we offer the most comprehensive online shopping experience of any local website, with big names offering exclusive online deals. Click the logos on this and many other pages, and get shopping! Also, we'd like you to help spread the word, so if our independent, locally-owned, site proves of value to you please tell your friends - and please support our advertisers so that we can continue to expand Reading-Guide.co.uk. NEWSFLASH - check out this web one-off: QVC - Today's Special Value CLICK HERE FOR FLIGHT OFFERS - CLICK HERE FOR HOLIDAY OFFERS  News from The Reading Guide 29/07/2010 MANY OF THOSE CHAMPION ROYALS' LEGENDS ARE STILL ON THE MOVE THE transfer merry-go-round keeps spinning for ex-Royals players, particularly many from THE great squad of 2005 to 2008. more... 29/07/2010 BREAKING NEWS: CHECK OUT THESE LINKS TO THE TOP LOCAL SOURCES - AND READING USA 28/07/2010 THE READING FESTIVAL WHERE OUTSIDE GOES IN, INSIDE GOES OUT! 28/07/2010 HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO THE 'NEW' CAVERSHAM COURT! 28/07/2010 HAIL MICHAIL AS ROYALS KEEP WOLVES FROM THE DOOR Recent Reader Reviews...
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