User:Confusedmiked

Hi I'm confusedmiked, and am based in the UK.

I have an interest in ensuring black female singers are given adequate recognition for their work, in particular: Wanda Dee Shara Nelson Nicolette (musician)

I know the way to San Jose I've been sent to Coventry I've been all the way to Outer Mongolia I've been to what I consider to be the heart of Africa in Rwanda I've been to The Beach I've travelled on the trans siberian railway

I've been an active Wikimepedian for a while now.

Flags to add:

Ordered throuigh flag line: England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Monacco Honduras

Extra ones to order: Vatican City Uzbekistan Tajikistan Kazakhstan United Kingdom quebec

Hmm also, what about: california flag Flag of Florida Flag of North Carolina Flag of Illinois Flag of New York

General Travel
The Art of non conformity by Chris Guillebeau,, general articles: New York Times on Chris: General independent travel info - good site Lee Abbamonte world traveller

Overland in Europe

 * Ryan air flight to Riga - appprox £40-£50 + £15/bag + £5 booking fee. Overall £60-70
 * Ryan air destinations
 * Easy jet destinations
 * Rail map of europe
 * Baltic states bus routes
 * Eurolines bus destinations

You can visit Chenobyl near Kiev! Kiev to Chisinau by train is about 8 hours Travel overnight from Chisinau to Bucharest on the 'Prietenia' sleeper train, leaving Chisinau Train Station at 16:10 daily and arriving to Bucharest Nord around 7 am next morning. 55 euro for 2nd class ticket - £46 Sarajevo, Bosnia- No visa; Podgorica, Albania- no visa; Skopje, Macedonia- no visa; )
 * Possible Route:
 * Riga, Latvia; - No visa; Hostels -£3-£8/night
 * Bus: RIGA – VILNIUS 	from 17.40 eur Bus - £14
 * Vilinus, Lithuania;- No visa; Hostels -£8-£15/night
 * Train: VILINUS TO MINSK around $20 or £13; Transit visa needed in advance
 * ? Poland? -Auchwitz ? Tour is around 99 zlotys or £20.
 * ++Minsk, Belarus; - £50 for a single entry visa; Hostels - £15 - But over 1000 couchsurfers in Minsk!
 * Belarus travel
 * Minsk to Kiev Buses every day and overnight sleeper trains
 * Kiev, Ukraine; - No visa required
 * Chisinau, Moldova; - No visa required
 * Chisinau - Bucharest:
 * Bucharest, Romania; - No visa
 * (Also, possibly Belgrade, Serbia - no visa;
 * Then onto to Sofia, Bulgaria. - No visa
 * Istanbul, Turkey - No visa

Overland in Middle East
Lonely planet Travel through Iraq overland: Travel through Iran in 1968 Backbacker travel advice

Overland central asia
Map of the silk route: Map of possible ferrys across black sea

Apply in advance online for an evisa:
 * Georgia - No visa required for tourists
 * Armenia $15 for 21 day visa ($60 for 120 day visa)
 * Azerbijian Visa requires letter of invitation ($50), and visa fee - $25

Overland in Africa
Flights to Dakar, Senegal approx £300 Easyjet flights to Morocco start at £30 Jobs west africa Map Ghana Flight to Nigeria approx £500 atg

Cheap overland trips London to Cape Town - £2000 plus local payment of £1000. 23 weeks or 161 days. Prob budget another £1600 for food/drink.

West Africa " you can enter Morocco(visa at airport) and travel around (highlights I wouldn't miss are Chefchaouen, Asilah, Rabat, Meknes/Fez, Marrakesh, Sahara trip arranged in Ouarzate, Legzira, Essaouira, and DAkhla in Western Sahara) from Dakhla you can get public transport down to Nouadhibou Mauritania (visa at border), down to Senegal (visa at border), Mali (border visa), Burkina Faso (border visa or cheaper if you get in Bamako), Togo (get visa in Burkina), Ghana (visa border). This takes you through West Africa which is where I live now. East Africa all visas you can get at the border and is probably the easiest choice for you if you only speak English. I know nothing about Southern Africa. I also spent time in Ethiopia which I would not do again as a woman alone. Generally speaking East, West, South Africa are going to be the easiest with transport and visas. North Africa is a bit tough, if not impossible if you are not with a group as Algeria and Libya do not let Americans in if they are not with a tour group or have business there. "



TEFL jobs in Middleeast
Saudia arabia jobs

Extra flag patches
Monacco

Mountains climbed
Tai Shan (aka Mount Tai), China Table Mountain South Africa Ben Nevis Scotland Half way up Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.



Visited Countries
In June 2010 UN member states visited (outside of the UK): 45 Total UN member states visited: 46 Total countries visited: 49

In Oct 2010 UN member states visited (outside of the UK): 48 Total UN member states visited: 49 Total countries visited: 52

Kenya Mali Namibia Rwanda South Africa Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Asia Cambodia China India Kazakhstan Laos Malaysia Mongolia Singapore Thailand Tajikistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Middle East Oman Turkey United Arab Emirates ________________________________________ Central America Caribbean Belize Costa Rica Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua

Europe Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Italy Monacco Norway Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom - England;Wales;Scotland;Northern Ireland Vatican

North America Canada Mexico United States

New pages
These are pages that I have started from scratch, and other wikipedians have helped me with


 * Papa Lazarou
 * 1984_Libyan_Embassy_Siege
 * Butare
 * Michael Rosen
 * DMZ (Vietnam)
 * Cop Killer controversy
 * Unfinished Sympathy
 * Bristol Urban Culture - this one is top

Major Updates

 * Tom Tomorrow

People to Read About

 * Nietzsche - German philosopher famous for ubermench and God is dead quote
 * Marcel Proust - French author, Graham Greene called the greatest nobelist of 20th C
 * Kafka - Czech author. Must see film selftitled directed by Soderburg
 * Dostoevsky - Russian author
 * Homer - Real person? Must read Odyssey and Illyad

Books to Read

 * Why I am not a Christian, by Bertrand Russell
 * History of China
 * Kim by Rudyard Kipling

General Cool People

 * Richard Dawkins
 * Stewart Lee
 * Bertrand Russell
 * John Pilger
 * Noam Chomsky
 * Michael Moore
 * Mark Thomas
 * Martin Luther King
 * Charles Darwin
 * Nelson Mandela
 * Robert Kennedy
 * Christopher Hitchens (before 9/11)
 * Aung San Suu Kyi
 * Ghandi

Intriguing people

 * Newton
 * Mao
 * Ghengis Khan
 * Sigmund Freud
 * Alain Delon

Films to see

 * Franz Kafka

Amended pages

 * Human rights in the United Kingdom
 * The League of Gentlemen (comedy)
 * John Pilger
 * Brian Haw
 * Frank Skinner

Please note, that this is just a sample, and a full list is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=Confusedmiked

And this is a seperate section on travel

Travel Plans
http://www.seat61.com/China.htm Seat 61 advice about travel in China http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/display1.asp?from1=beijing&to1=taishan&Submit32=SUBMIT

Train timetable
Beijing to taishan -7/8 hrs $28 soft  $18 hard

Taishan to xian    14hrs   $47 soft   $30 hard

Xi'an to chengdu  16 hrs  $35 soft   $22 hard       (non a/c $15/$22)

Chengdu

Total $110 beijing to chengdu

Alternatives

Alternative 1

taishan to chengdu 1 day 10 hrs $50 soft  $33 soft non a/c

alternative 2

beijing to chengdu 1 day 7 hrs $77 soft $50 hard

alternative 3 - by boat

taishan to shanghai 12 hrs  $39   (25 hard)

(then boast shanghai to nanjing)

nanjing - xian 13-19 hrs   $50   ($30 hard)

beijing to chengdu  $152 train  total

Bus golmud to Lhasa $200 or 1600 Yuan return including permits

Tai Shan

East Route: "Serenity" characterizes the east route. It is the best option to take for a climb up Mount Taishan. Many cultural relics and historic sites bear witness of the past history. Attractions include Dai Zong Archway, the place where Confucius had ever visited, Jing Shi Valley, Hu Tian Pavilion, Mid-heaven Gate, Five Pines Pavilion and Eighteen Bends.

¥ 82 for the East Route. ¥ 102 for the West Route + ¥ 38 for the bus fares

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shandong/taian/mt_taishan.htm

Tibet

Kunming

http://www.travelindependent.info/indochina.htm
 * Good general info on Indo China:

Vietnam
some info here Official government info here Fansipan is branded "the Roof of Indochina" at the height of 3,143m; Fansipan is to be approved as one of the very few eco-tourist spots of Vietnam, with about 2,024 floral varieties and 327 faunal species. - Claim it will take 6 -7 days to reach summit Day1: You start going through several different valleys with a lot of lush jungle. The first day entails 2-4 hours of hiking. There is typically a lot of mud so come prepared. You might have the option of moving up to a high camp but the camp right by the river is beautiful. Enjoy the river to clean off( it is a btit nippy) Day2: From the camp you pretty much go straight up the mountain side. It is a mixture of light 3rd class rock, root and tree climbing. The trail can be very slick and there are a lot of spots where the trail drops off. If you have trouble with heights you might not want to consider this hike.From the camp it takes 2-5 hours to reach the summit. Going up is not to bad but if it rained recently the trial can be very slick. Coming down is whre you want to be careful. Day3: From the camp it takes about 3 hours to get down, bec areful about grabbing on to the grass if the trail is slick it will tear up you hands. When you reach the bottom you will end up in a beautiful hill tribe village
 * Sapa city
 * Fansipan mountain:
 * Independent info http://www.summitpost.org/show/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/4443 here] - Claim it will take 3 days - also the verdict of woman at guesthouse. The Trail:


 * Map
 * Lonely Planet Guide
 * Island near Hanoi
 * Get around by train "While sometimes train travel can be slower than bus travel, it is safer and more relaxed, and you're likely to have decent legroom. There are several types of train, including the famous Reuinification Express; but think twice before you take a crowded, snail-paced local train. Petty theft can be a problem on trains, especially in budget class. Children throwing things at carriages, everything from rocks to cow dung, is another problem, and you're advised to keep the metal shield on the window in place."
 * Vietnam War
 * ""It is better to sacrifice everything than to live in slavery" said Ho Chi Minh
 * Passers-by stop to watch as flames envelope a young Buddhist monk, Saigon, October 5th, 1963. here
 * "The North Vietnamese had been winning the public relations battle; it had implemented a massive agricultural reform program which distributed land to peasant farmers, and the people of the South took notice. President Eisenhower noted in his memoirs:

"I have never talked or corresponded with a person knowledgeable in Indochinese affairs who did not agree that had elections been held at the time of the fighting, possibly 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the communist Ho Chi Minh." http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Background-to-the-Vietnam-War http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3798581.stm
 * "in 1984, chemical companies that manufactured the Agent paid $180m into a fund for United States veterans following a lawsuit" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4494347.stm
 * "Vietnamese plaintiffs have condemned a US court's decision to dismiss their legal action against manufacturers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. " http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4339419.stm
 * Professor Nhan, the former president of the Vietnamese Red Cross, denounced the action as "a massive violation of human rights of the civilian population, and a weapon of mass destruction".
 * "In Vietnam, there are 150,000 other children like him, whose birth defects - according to Vietnamese Red Cross records - can be readily traced back to their parents' exposure to Agent Orange during the war, or the consumption of dioxin-contaminated food and water since 1975.

VAVA estimates that three million Vietnamese were exposed to the chemical during the war, and at least one million suffer serious health problems today. " http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3798581.stm

Twenty-five years later, the young girl running naked from her village, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, was named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/MYL_MAPS.html http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/mylai.shtml http://www.mylaipeacepark.org/index.html www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=15.1833&lon=108.8833&scale=1000000&icon=x (seems right next to Quang Ngai) but there are hostels at two nearest cities - Hoi An and Qui Nhon, both approx 100km from Quang Ngai
 * Famous picture of a girl running here
 * My Lai Massacre
 * Map of My Lai
 * Account of travel to My Lai
 * My Lai peace park project:
 * Multimap Map
 * Can't seem to find any hostels online or in guidebook for My lai or Quang Ngai
 * Apocalypse Now. Set in Vietnam, and Cambodia, travelling up the Mekong River. "the Philippine Army helicopters used for shooting were constantly called back by President Ferdinand Marcos to be used in actual combat, the lead role was recast (Martin Sheen replaced Harvey Keitel after shooting had begun), Sheen then had a near-fatal heart attack, Brando was intractable and out of shape, and Coppola himself was mentally fragile."

Cambodia
here
 * Cambodia border crossings:
 * Be aware of risk of theft. Buy and use locks
 * Map
 * Lonely Planet Guide Street crime remains a problem in the capital - take particular care at night and travel by taxi rather than moto or cyclo. Petty crime is a problem in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, so be aware.
 * Pol Pot Khmer Rouges

Laos
White water rafting or

Thailand
Bangkok

Bangkok Hanggliding
Thailand Package & Price Level 8 - "First time paraglider course"

Learn at our school one hour from Bangkok.

By the end of this course you will have learnt how to set-up, launch and land your paraglider for short flights (approx. 10m altitude).

10,000 Baht. (240 dollars or 140 pounds)
 * This course can be used as an Introduction to Paramotoring.

4 Days, 3 Nights.

Ground handling and first flights.

Included - Transfers, http://www.extremesportscafe.com/paragliding_courses.html

Excellent website:

http://www.extremesportscafe.com/paragliding_thailand.html

Flags
[[Image:Uganda_flag_large.png|thumb|right| Uganda]

Flag Line has:
 * Rwanda Flag patch
 * Estonia Flag patch
 * But not Uganda or Mongolia.

Ebay does have :
 * a Mongolia flag here, image here
 * And a Uganda patch
 * Ebay [WorldColors] charges $3.75/patch plus $2 for 1st shipping. $1 for every additional shipping. Size: 1.5"X2.5"


 * World colors has every flag except Rwanda. For the 3 it would be (3.75 * 3) + 4 = $15.25 or about 10 pounds. For 2 it would be (3.75 * 2) + 3 = $10.5.


 * Flagline [charges] $2 for up to $10, and #3.75 for above that, plus $3 for all international shipping. So 1,2 and 3 would be $5 (shipping). The flags themselves are $2.50 and Actual size is approximately 2.25" x 3.5". So 1 would be $7.50, 2 would be $10.


 * Getting 2 from World colors and 2 from Flagline would be $10.5 + $10 = $20.5
 * Getting 3 from World colors and 1 from Flagline would be $15.25 + $7.50 = $22.75


 * Tinas store on ebay has Mongolia, Estonia.
 * Worldcolors on ebay has Mongolia, Estonia, Uganda
 * Flagline has Rwanda, Estonia
 * [Patchesmart] has Mongolia, Estonia, Uganda. but expensive


 * Also note flagline is right size, World colors slightly smaller.


 * NB: Now have Mongolia, Uganda.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS Now only need to buy Rwanda patch and Estonia, both from Flagline, for a total of only $10

Flight codes
Hong Kong HGK Hanoi    HAN Lhasa    LXA Beijing  PEK

Tibet Flights
Flights Leave Lhasa, Tibet No. Departure Via  Type  Day  Dep. Time Arr. Time SZ4402 Chengdu  /  A340  Daily  09:30  11:15 SZ4406 Chengdu  /  B757  6  12:35  14:20 SZ4404 Chengdu  /  A340  Daily  08:45  11:35 SZ4111 Beijing  Chengdu  A340  Daily  16:00  20:40 SZ4311 Guangzhou  Chongqing  B757  2  13:55  18:25 SZ4218 Xi'an  Xining  B757  1,3,5,7  15;20  19:05 SZ4811 Shanghai  Xi'an, Xining  B757  1,2,4,6  13:45  20:05 SZ4410 Qamdo  /  B757  7  09:30  10:25 SZ4430 Chengdu  Deqen, Kunming  B757  3,6  09:35  14:00 SZ407 Kathmandu  /  B757  2,4,6  09:40  11:00 from: http://www.chinaplanner.com/tibet/general/fly_ll.htm

Direct flight beijing to lhasa $250 (CNY 2090) (140 pounds) http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-flights/display2.asp?from1=BEIJING&to1=LASA&dt1=0000&dt2=2400&Submit=Submit http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi Currency convertor

Flights
China Airlines is for outside of China Air China is for internal flights Can't buy flight over the internet

Cambodia

Pol Pot

World Heitage sites
World Heitage sites in China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Asia_and_Australasia#China World Heitage sites in Lao Town of Luang Phrabang

Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape

World Heitage sites in Thailand

Ban Chiang Archaeological Site Historic City of Ayutthaya and Associated Historic Towns Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns hungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries Dong Phaya Yen – Khao Yai Forest Complex

Total Distace travelled
London - Tallinn (Estonia)      1788 km Tallinn - St Petersburg (Russia)  320 km St Petersburg - Moscow            636 km Moscow - Ulaan Baatar - Beijing  7925 km

Above using indo.com Below using geobytes.com

Beijing - Tai Shan             12237 km - this must be wrong Tai Shan - Xi'An

Tai Shan 1545 metres high (Everest is 8850 metres high) - only 20% of the height of everest

Favourite Links

 * Google


 * BBC News
 * Guardian


 * This Modern World


 * Yahoo mail
 * Hotmail

The reading waterloo train line has a number of prominent musicians and artists living along it or working nearby. This article describes some of the more oprominent people such as John Lennon, or Daniel Radcliffe who have worked nearby.

London Waterloo
Waterloo station has been used as the setting for many songs and films.
 * The station is the subject of John Schlesinger's documentary film Terminus.
 * Several scenes in The Bourne Ultimatum, starring Matt Damon, took place, and were filmed, at Waterloo Station during mid-April 2007


 * Waterloo station and the Waterloo Underground station are the setting for the Kinks' song "Waterloo Sunset", written by Ray Davies and recorded in 1967. Its lyric describes two people (Terry and Julie) meeting at Waterloo Station and crossing over the river (via Waterloo Bridge, as Davies has confirmed). The song has been recorded by Cathy Dennis and Def Leppard, whilst other acts (like David Bowie and Elliott Smith) have covered the song in live performances.
 * The music video to 'West End Girls' by the Pet Shop Boys was part filmed on the Waterloo Station concourse in the mid 80's.
 * Abba held a press photo shoot at Waterloo Station on 11 April 1974, the day after their first appearance on Top of the Pops, in celebration of their own 'Waterloo' winning the Eurovision Song Contest five days before.

There is a photo of Matt Damon filming the Bourne Ultimatum here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/images/main_promo/news/bourne_station_l_1.jpg

Vauxhall
Visible from the train is the headquarters of the secret intelligence service, SIS, also known as MI6. The MI6 building has featured in several James Bond films, initially filmed without permission but then condoned by then Foreign Secretary Robin Cook with his memorable "After all James Bond has done for Britain..." quip. It is seen in GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough (wherein it suffers a fictional terrorist attack that prefigured a genuine incident) and Die Another Day. The latter featured a fictional London Underground station, Vauxhall Cross, a supposedly closed stop on the Piccadilly Line now employed by MI6 as an extension to its HQ.

Twickenham
A short distance from the station is Twickenham Film Studios - a film studio that is used by many motion picture and television companies. At the time of its original construction, it was the largest film studio in the United Kingdom.[1] In the 1960s classic films such as Alfie starring Michael Caine, The Italian Job in 1969 with Noel Coward, Roman Polanski's first English language film in 1965 Repulsion; Be My Guest in 1965, featured Jerry Lee Lewis an early appearance by the young actor Steve Marriott and The Nashville Teens. In 1969, The Beatles used the studios while rehearsing music for their album Let It Be. A film was made of some of the sessions, and both the film and the album were released in 1970. The Beatles had previously used Twickenham for their films A Hard Day's Night and Help! and for their promotional film for Hey Jude. In the 1980s Agatha Christie written film The Mirror Crack'd was made in 1980, A Fish Called Wanda, The Fly, Blade Runner, and Brother Sun, Sister Moon.

Later films include The Others, Layer Cake starring Daniel Craig who would later find fame as 007, The Crucible and Interview with the Vampire, which starred Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas and Tom Cruise.

Feltham
Jimmy Page of the band Led Zeppelin was born in Feltham. Brian May and Freddie Mercury of the band Queen have both lived in Feltham. Indie rock band Oasis filmed the video to Stand By Me in Tte centre, where the new flats are now situated. The video for the song was a reworking of a famous series of adverts for The Guardian newspaper. Entitled The Whole Picture, the adverts showed people appearing to be engaging in criminal and/or anti-social acts—only to revealed that they are actually helping someone else. For example, a scruffily-dressed skinhead rushes at a businessman; it appears he is making an effort to mug him; only the "whole picture" reveals that he is fact dashing to push him away from a load of falling bricks. Similarly in the video for "Stand By Me", a shop appears to be being burgled—its window smashed and people taking away electrical goods—only for it to be revealed that in fact the victim of a motorcycle crash has gone through the window and is buried under the televisions. UK Hip Hop group So Solid Crew filmed the video to Broken Silence in the old high street and Highfields Housing development

Staines
The indie rock band Hard Fi formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's continual members have been Richard Archer (vocals), Kai Stephens (bass guitar), Ross Phillips (guitar) and Steve Kemp (drums).They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat"[1] and then followed by other successful singles such as "Cash Machine"[2] and "Living for the Weekend",[3] which all reached top 15 in the UK Singles Chart.[4]

Their song "Living for the weekend" was filmed at Staines staion

Egham
Egham is home to Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) a constituent college of the University of London. The college has around 7,700 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 120 different countries. Some of its more famous alumni include the stand up comedian Robin Ince, the satirist Francis Wheen, and the singer songwriter KT Turnstall and among its current teaching staff is the poet laureate Andrew Motion.

Virginia Water
Many well-known entertainment personalities also have or had homes on the Wentworth Estate &mdash; for example, Elton John (in a house called 'Hercules' after the horse in 'Steptoe and Son' TV series), Russ Abbott, Cliff Richard and Bruce Forsyth. World-class golfers with homes on the Estate include Ernie Els and Thomas Bjørn. The author and traveller Bill Bryson spent his early married life in the village, and he described his time there as some of the happiest of his life.

Ascot
thumb|200px|right|The beatles album cover Hey Jude, photographed a short distanced from Ascot train station The musician John Lennon lived in Ascot for several years, also setting up a recording studio in the basement of his house. 

The last Beatles photo session took place at Lennon's house at Tittenhurst Park on August 22, 1969, and the photos were used for the front and back covers of their Hey Jude album (a collection of single sides) early in 1970. Also during that year, and in the wake of the Beatles' breakup, Lennon built his own recording studio, dubbed Ascot Sound Studios, in the estate grounds, where he and Ono recorded their next several albums. The matching cover photos of their twin Plastic Ono Band albums were taken at Tittenhurst by the pair, using an Instamatic camera, and portions of the Imagine movie-length video – which included selections from the Fly album – were also filmed in the grounds.

Martins Heron
thumb|left|Radcliffe as Harry Potter in [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]] Martins Heron is well known locally as being the site of Harry Potter's house. The filmed version of the first of JK Rowling's famous stories was filmed partly on location. The external scenes with the actor Daniel Radcliffe playing Harry Potter at his house were shot on location at a house in Picket Post Close, Martin's Heron.

Martins Heron Tesco is also used for filming. It is one of the very few Tesco supermarkets in the country that is not open on Sunday, owing to concerns from local residents. It also has restricted opening hours on weekdays. It has therefore been used as a filming location for many of the Tesco television adverts featuring Prunella Scales and Jane Horrocks among others.

Bracknell
Oscar Wilde is said to have visited South Hill Park and subsequently named a character Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. He was also a regular visitor to the town with his wife, Constance. The charachter Lady Bracknell has delivered some of Wilde's most memorable lines, perhaps the most famous being the following:

"To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. "

The Guardian has described Lady Bracknell as "one of the greatest comic characters in British drama."

The Chesney Hawkes film "Buddy's song" was filmed in Bracknell, and achieved notoriety with the song "I Am the One and Only".

Reading
Reading is home to the Reading festival, the oldest muaic festival still in existence. It has had a great assortments of stars from 50 cent to The It has had various musical phases and rock, alternative, indie, punk and metal have tended to dominate. Rage Against the Machine, the Foo Fighters, Metallica, Blur Oasis, Pulp, Nirvana, The Killers, The Pixies, Marilyn Manson, Bloc Party, Blink 182, Linkin Park, the Klaxxons are some of the many bands that have performed there, and it is generally regarded as one of the best festivals in Europe.

Nirvana's performance at the Reading festival was seen as the peak of their success, and a live album of this performace has been universally critically acclaimed. "Live at Reading presents the band at its post-Nevermind peak. Watching Kurt Cobain radiate so much life is bound to trigger some tears." "It’s a monster of a concert "

thumb|200px|right|Kurt Cobain and Nirvana