A couple of years ago, on an evening from which I was regrettably absent, a few friends of mine ended up partying with Andrew W.K.. If you're familiar with the 32-year-old American rock star/celebrated hedonist/motivational speaker, you'll know that this is a big deal. The man has made it his mission to party; it's his religion.

There is more musical depth to the Canadian hip-hop star than you would expect from his gyrating posturing and lewd talk

Rehab clinics probably don't have guest books – "lovely stay, can really recommend the cold turkey" – but if they did, the children of the rich and famous would loom large. It's no easy matter being born into the limelight, growing up with one or both parents appearing to belong as much to their fans as to you, and in some sad cases even more so.

The flowerpot is no more. The north London pub, famous as a venue where you could see bands tipped as "the next big thing" – and A&R men hoping to sign them – has been forced to shut after its building lease was sold.

There is more fun to have at Battersea Power Station than the launch of the Conservative Party manifesto earlier this year. This weekend, it is transformed into a ski resort with 500 tonnes of real snow. And as the sun sets over the 32m high and 100m long ski jump, Mark Ronson and his band the Business Intl, I Blame Coco (aka Coco Sumner, Sting's daughter) and the indie band New Young Pony Club will perform on the main stage in a tent at the temporary alpine-style ski resort.

Don't blame Coco. I mean, what would you do if you were the 20-year-old daughter of Sting? Time's up.

We're all set to marvel at Margiela, blame Coco and have a picnic with Alan Bennett

The venues are unusual, the bands are often unknown. And there are more of them than you can possibly handle. But that is the excitement of this three day event: a chance to spot future talent Don't plan for any sleep, though. By night, 300 acts perform at 22 official and numerous unofficial venues across Brighton.

Teenager Coco Sumner has a three-album deal with Island Records and has modelled with Agyness Deyn. She tells Charlotte Cripps she is enjoying making it on her own

Imagine the face of 19-year-old Coco Sumner, frontwoman of I Blame Coco and daughter of tantric soft-rock god Sting, on finding out that Courtney Love had been squeezed on to the top of the bill for tonight's show at the last minute.

Tomorrow, A Single Man, the debut feature by fashion designer Tom Ford, hits British screens. It stars Colin Firth as a gay man trying to come to terms with the death of his lover in Los Angeles in 1962. Why 1962? Because everything at the moment is set in the early 1960s. An Education, Lone Scherfig’s film of Lynn Barber’s story about her seduction, while a teenager, by a plausible middle-aged man, is set in 1961. Mad Men was initially set in 1961 and the third series, currently showing on BBC2, takes us through 1963 right to the cataclysmic events of November.

My parents were ... encouraging without being pushy, which is a tough balance to achieve. My dad worked in an office and my mum brought up us three boys.

This month, the southern half of Sudan moved closer to independence. The ruling party in Khartoum and the former rebels in the south agreed terms for a referendum, to be held in 2011. Nobody thinks that the result is likely to result in anything but a vote for independence. But one issue hasn't been resolved, as far as I know. What will the new country be called?