Out of office response

Meeting Ed

2010-04-08T20:22:00.012+01:00

I was pretty excited to find out that I was on the email list Sole Technology's press office. Someone must be taking notice of the skateboarding/trainer-related writing I've been doing. I was even more excited when an invitation to Ed Templeton's new photo exhibition at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms – Drinking the Kool-Aid.

Altough I have to admit I could never call myself a huge fan, I have been aware of Ed Templeton since my interest in skateboarding first surfaced. In the (many) years since then, I've also become aware of his photography so, when the opportunity to meet him arose, I was never going to say no.

I went along to 'An Evening With Ed Templeton' at Elms Lesters earlier this evening. I got there early, hoping to get to meet Ed and ask him to sign my copy of Nobody Living Can Ever Make Me Turn Back, his book documenting a cross-America road trip on Harley Davidsons. This book will have been the single biggest influence if I ever buy a motorbike.

Ed turned up around 6.30, by which time the gallery was packed. But I still managed to get my book signed. Very, very happy.

The exhibition is on till 16th April, and definitely worth checking out if you're in town. And, for those of you not that interested in skateboarding, don't worry – this is far from a show about just skateboarding (and naked ladies).

Lomostyle, part 4

2010-04-05T20:24:00.003+01:00

And the final part:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Lomostyle, part 3

2010-04-02T15:17:00.006+01:00

Part 3. Enjoy.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Lomostyle, part 2

2010-03-31T21:11:00.014+01:00

Here's part 2 of my favourite 40 Lomo photos.

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Lomostyle, part 1

2010-03-30T22:04:00.017+01:00

A few years ago, my brother gave me a Lomography Action Sampler camera for my birthday. Basically, instead of just capturing one photo when the button is pressed, the camera takes four pictures a fraction of a second apart. The resulting images all appear on the same print.

In theory, these pics should capture the movement of the subject, or the camera, when the photo was taken. In reality, it doesn't quite work that way. The flash isn't quite in sync with the shutter, so there's often a dark quarter, and I haven't quite gotten used to the framing. But things like these just add to the random nature of the photos. In fact, some of the best pics are ones that have gone wrong, in a traditional sense.

Having gone through all the films I've taken since being given the camera, I've compiled a set of my 40 favourites. In the tradition of the Action Sampler, I'll be splitting these picture over the next 4 entries.

So, without further ado, here's Lomostyle, part 1:

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Wake me up before you go go

2010-03-15T20:50:00.005Z

"If the rope goes slack, let go. If you do fall keep your mouth shut."

I've been wakeboarding several times, once in the sea off a Sardinian beach and a couple of times in a lake near Drayton Manor, just outside Birmingham. Slightly different locations, yes, but one thing was constant, I was being towed by a motor boat.

On Saturday, as a joint birthday celebration with Luke, a group of us ventured to the John Battle Water Ski centre, which, in keeping with the theme (no pun intended) set by the brummie ventures, is next to Thorpe Park. The problem with the lake at JBSki is that, instead of a boat, the boarders are towed by a cable. Being pulled by a cable, travelling at a constant speed, is tricky to say the least, and that's where the instructions quoted at the beginning of this post came in.

Essentially, the wakeboarding trip turned into being repeatedly pulled face-first, mouth open (obvs), into a ridiculously cold, murky lake at high speed by a cable I'm pretty sure was designed and built by Skynet.

To make it worse, when I thought I might have mastered the kneeboard that cable beginners have to complete two laps on before graduating to the proper, upright board, I'd come rocketing off in the furthest point of the lake from the start. This meant I would then have to swim to the nearest jetty. You'd have thought that having a board that is essentially buoyant would aid in this matter, but no, of course not. And then, once I'd got to the jetty, I'd had to haul myself onto a thick layer of goose shit of varying freshness. Considering that I only spotted two geese, and I spent a lot of time walking round that sodding lake, that was actually quite impressive.

Another problem was the temperature. Despite the fact that it had supposedly risen in the past week, it was very much still within the period known as 'the coldest time of year for open water'. I'd have loved to carry on, and make it past the first corner on a wakeboard, having so expertly got onto my feet at first attempt, but it was too cold. Really, it was ridiculously cold. Not-fun cold.

Next time, and there probably will be a next time, I think I'll wait for it to warm up, a lot. And for there to be a boat towing me, rather than an unorganic metal wire that corners at extremely wakeboard-unfriendly right angles.

I've been able to look back and laugh though. It was definitely worth going. Save for Luke, who pretty much a pro when it comes to being dragged over water on a board, we were all similarly rubbish. And today, having used muscles that I didn't know I had, or, actually, used areas of my body where having muscles really would have come in handy, I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

But so what, it's my birthday tomorrow!

Viewing greatness

2010-02-06T12:46:00.006Z

More fluff

2010-02-05T21:44:00.007Z

Just a quick note to say that Errol, the photographer who you might remember took photos of me and my trainers, has had his photos from last week's Fluff SB launch party published on Aussie trainer website Sneaker Freaker.

Check them out here.

Marie and I, local celebrities that we are, got papped:

The sound of my shoes

2010-01-31T20:00:00.017Z

The trainer queue. It's something I've only ever read about. Anything from a handful to hundreds of dedicated souls waiting outside a shop for anything from a few hours up to a week to get their feet into that special pair of trainers on the morning of release. This weekend, I finally bit the bullet and tried out the experience for myself. But the queue is just part of the story...

On Friday night, I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the UK release of the Fluff SB book launch. The book, presented by Nike Skateboarding and dutch skateboard magazine Fluff, comprises photographs by Marcel Veldman, following 117 riders from the European Nike SB teams on various tours through 19 European countries.

To celebrate the book release, there's an exhibition of photos from the UK content of the book at the Nike Sportswear London shop, 1948.

The show opened on Saturday, but I was there for the party on Friday night. As most of the photos were taken in Ramsgate, the exhibition has a traditional British seaside resort theme, with the photos displayed on the walls of beach huts.

Keeping with the theme, there was also free Nike SB/Fluff rock. And a free copy of the (600-page, 5kg) book for everyone who was invited. There was also free beer. Lots of free beer.

After the Nike party, it was on to party two. It started out as Kate's birthday party, but soon turned into a celebration of Kate and Steph's engagement.

Getting home from drunken karaoke at about 2am, I went to bed for about two-and-a-half hours before getting up and heading out into the snow to pick up one of 12 pairs of Nike Zoom Bruin SBs, designed by the people at Fluff magazine, that were released to promote the Fluff SB book.

Swaddled in all my warmest clothes, some of which I hadn't worn since climbing Mount Kenya in the summer of 1997, I got (back) to 1948 (the aforementioned shop, rather than the year) around 6am, definitely feeling the after-effects of the free booze consumed in the very same place not 12 hours before. There were two people already there. They'd turned up at 1am and slept in their car. Between then and 10.30, when the shop opened, people turned up in dribs and drabs, until there were about 16 people (unfortunately for the last four, the fact that there were only 12 pairs had previously been just been a rumour).

Despite one of the guys in front of me also being a size 8, I was very happy to pick up a pair in my size. Very happy, very relieved and ridiculously tired. All in all, the trainer queue was an enjoyable experience, but not one I'm planning in making a habit of.

For those of you with an interest in photography or skateboarding, the Fluff SB exhibition runs until 14th February and it's well worth a look.

My 15 minutes?

2010-01-03T18:30:00.005Z

Following on from the the photoshoot of me and my trainers (I might have mentioned it). I've become what is known as an 'internet sensation' (albeit a very, very small one).

The above image turned up on the Classic Sole blog. I was dubious about the pic. With, as it turns out, quite good reason.

Look at us through the lens of a camera

2009-12-07T17:15:00.010Z

I was subject of a photo shoot last Friday. I answered a request by a photographer on the Crooked Tongues forum looking for people involved in the trainer industry to be photographed for an upcoming exhibition he's putting together.

Having seen Errol's Flickr stream, I decided to drop him a line. Not only do I have quite a big collection (in terms of normal people, but compared with other trainer 'collectors', mine is pitiful, but then I don't see myself as a collector, I just buy what I like the look of and wear them), I also write about trainers for N-SB.org.

Below are a selection of the pics taken. The rest should be up in The Sneaker Business section of Errol's Flickr soon. All pics copyright Errol, www.errolphotography.com, used with permission.

And it's over to the public vote...

2009-11-16T17:37:00.006Z

At the risk of sounding like Simon Cowell, which is not something I would usually be worried about doing, I'd like to request you all to use your democratic right to vote. No, it's not to have 'Jedward' physically morphed into one using a car crusher, glue gun and someone with the surgical skills of that deformed tube-dweller from Creep, it's about skateboarding.

Having several day's worth of holiday to use up before the end of the year but no money to go anywhere, I've been forced to stay indoors by the weather. That hasn't been too bad because I've been working my way through a backlog of skateboarding DVDs I've bought but not found the time to watch – largely because they are one of the few things that actually require complete concentration when watching, so I can't keep one eye on the internet, looking at shoes.

First on the list was The Big Push 2009. For those of you who don't know, The Big Push was started by Percy Dean of the much-missed, sadly closed Document magazine. The concept is that the skateboard teams of different companies are given a list of places to visit and tasks to complete in different regions of the UK, but only a few days to do it in.

All participating teams film their progress and the final edits are compiled into an hour-long film. The DVD is currently available as a cover-mount with the November issue of Sidewalk magazine. Alternatively, you can watch them all on the Big Push site. You can also vote for the film section you like the best. I think you should all vote for the Nike SB team. Not only because it's really good but also because I know the guy who stepped up as temporary team manager for the competition and I'd like to help him out.

Let the music play

2009-10-28T20:30:00.012Z

Fuck Buttons @ Heaven, 27.10.09

pic from www.thelineofbestfit.com

ATP Film screening/Les Savy Fav @ The Kentish Town Forum (yes, I'm aware of its new corporate name), 26.10.09

Pixies @ Brixton Academy, 06.10.09

I think I'll stick to writing.

It kicks like a sleep twitch

2009-10-25T05:00:00.005Z

"If Ian Curtis had lived till New Order."

It's a statement that could not only be seen by many people as wrong, but is also of dubious taste. And could get an equal number of people quite angry. So that's why it's in speech marks – to show it's a quotation. A quotation from me. But I decided not to actually say it, hence it being a quotation. Still with me? No? Never mind.

In This Light And On This Evening is the new ablum from Editors. And it's brilliant. I've had a soft spot for this band for a long time, and not just because they were spawned from the same city I was. Their previous efforts might have been loved by the Daily Mail (you weren't expecting a link there, were you?), so it's understandable that a switch in style was needed. That's not to say their previous two albums weren't good. Actually, they weren't good, they were so much better than that. Anyway, electronic is the path Tom Smith et all decided to take. I know that 'indie' band (read: bands what use guitars) have been turning to the synth for a while now but Editors have proven that you don't need to be at the forefront of a movement to make it work.

I've been caning it on Spotify, but fully intend to buy the 'deluxe edition' of the album as it comes with an extra disc with additional songs. Oh, and I've got tickets to see them at Brixton in March next year.

This obviously isn't a review. It's just a rambling way to post a link to a great album.

Simpler times...

2009-10-21T22:11:00.006+01:00

It's funny how old things crop up in conversation. A while ago I was talking to somebody and Where's Wally was mentioned. That reminded me of something from when I was much younger. I was sure than in a Where's Wally book I had as a young 'un there was a cheeky topless woman hidden on the beach scene page. So I went online to try and find it.

I found the official site, the annoyingly titled 'Find Waldo'. On a side note, I'm not going to get into the whole Wally/Waldo thing, there's plenty of that on t'interwebs, although it doesn't take long for the American to be put in their place (case in point here, in the comments).

Anyway, the beach scene was indeed one of the three scenarios included on the site. Imagine my surprise, though, when I found the woman's bikini top had been redrawn on her, instead of its original place on her towel!

Obviously, this caused me to worry about the memories of my youth that had apparently become quite disturbingly warped. But then I found the original book from 1988 at my parents' house. And my memory had served me 100% completely, absolutely, spot on right. Don't worry, I got a scan:

And, if needed, here's the proof that it's from the book.

Right, now I'm off to rewatch some Disney films to find the supposed hidden porn.

Sale away, sale away, sale away

2009-09-26T17:17:00.025+01:00

I've decided to do it. I'm going to (try and) sell some trainers. I have always said I buy all the pairs I do with the intention of wearing them and I have worn some of these. But not for ages. So out they will go. I need the space and the cash would be nice too.

Here they are. If you're interested, get in touch with an offer. They should also be up on solemart.de, once the site its server trouble have been solved. Sorry for the rubbish photos.

Adidas Crooked Tongues adicolor Century Lo, with all tongues and laces, including the orange set given to users of the CT forum. Size UK8. 9/10 condition. The purple tongue has creases from wear and the light green laces are a bit dirty. The other tongues and laces are mainly unused.

Jordan Spiz'ike (Spike Lee collaboration hybrid). UK 8. 7.5/10 condition (just a bit of dirt).

Air Jordan XX, from last year's Countdown Pack. I'm not selling the IIIs that they came with though! Unworn deadstock. UK 8. These won't come with their original box.

Nike Court Force Basic, neon AM95-inspired colourway. UK 8. 9/10.

Nike Dunk High Vintage. From the 2007 quickstrike version of the Be True To Your School series. UK 7.5 (fit big though). 9/10. They look quite worn but that's largely down to them being a 'vintage' release – made to look old.

Adidas adicolor Superstar II G5. With all, unused, stripe colour strips. UK 9. 9/10.

Nike SB Dunk Low Pro. So-called 'Bic' colourway. UK 8. 8/10 (dirty midsole).

Adidas Vintage Promodel. UK 8.5. 8/10 (slight ripping on the tongue lace lock). They will come with an Adidas Promodel box, just not these Promodels.

More soon! (SBs, AM90s, Adidas Skate, Sal 23s)

What's in the box? (See whatcha got)

2009-09-19T22:57:00.012+01:00

I received one of those exciting emails from the postroom at work on Friday morning, saying that there was a parcel waiting for me. It was this huge box...

... from skate shoe company Sole Technology's European HQ in the Netherlands.

That information gave away what could be inside. Last month, I wrote about the release of the Crooked Tongues and éS collaboration Foothills range and its launch party at Slam City for n-sb.org (and on here). A few days later, I was emailed by Charlie from CT offering me something from the range to say thanks for the coverage. I asked for a pair of the trainers. And that's what was in the box.

But that wasn't the only thing. Oh no. Also in there was the cap, backpack and jacket from the range. It was an extremely generous gift from Crooked Tongues.

Here's me looking like I'm going to apply for my first ASBO in the jacket. Yes, it's a bit on the large side but, with a price tag of £220, I can definitely live with that. Is it wrong that I really want the temperature to drop so I can wear it (outside of my flat)?

Modern love gets me to the church on time

2009-09-17T21:52:00.008+01:00

I went to a wedding on Friday. "What," I hear you cry, "has (another) one of your loser mates managed to trap an unwitting life partner in the eyes of God?" Well, in about a year one will have, but that's another story. No, this wasn't what you could call a "real wedding". It was at Bestival. In an inflatable church. Between Zoe, who's boyfriend, Joe, was absent, and Tom, who, as he pointed out at the start of the service, prefers his partners to be a bit more "male".

I tried my hand at some amateur filmmaking during the service. Here are the videos (there should be three but I filmed the first one with my phone on its side and I can't work out how to rotate the film):

Talking of videos, here's a slightly more professional effort. It's the bonus footage from Debacle, Nike SB's latest skate film. Short and sweet but I love it.

And while I'm on the topic of things I like at the moment. I strongly recommend you give this Resident Advisor podcast a listen. It's Erol Alkan in his Disco 3000 guise. An hour and 20 minutes of great '80s-electro-tinged tunes. I can't find a tracklisting but when/if I do, I'll post it up.

Paved paradise

2009-09-02T20:16:00.015+01:00

I went to Peckham for the first time on Sunday. To go to a carpark. No, not dogging. It was to go to Frank's Café, a pop-up bar on the tenth, top floor of said carpark.

Being very hung over from a 30th birthday party the night before, I was very excited about the prospect of eating at Frank's – I'd heard very good things about the food. Sure enough, when we arrived – eventually, after finding the bloody place – there were huge bowls of amazing-looking food laid out on some of the tables. The only problem was that they were for people who owned local restaurants and the kitchen wasn't open to the general public. Which was annoying. Very annoying. Until we discovered that no one actually knew each other or who was even meant to be eating the food. It was a tasty as it looked.

Despite the great views of east and central London, it's not just a bar up there on the roof. There's also Bold Tendencies III, a sculpture exhibition curated by Hannah Barry.

The bar and exhibition are there until 30th September, if they can't wangle an extension. If you want to pop along, which you should, it's out of Peckham Rye station on the left, over the road, then next to the cinema. The lift only goes up to the 6th floor but you can follow the car ramps up from there.

The toilets, though, along with mobile urinals at festivals, added weight to my argument that god was a man.

Run to the hills

2009-08-22T19:28:00.016+01:00

I'm not coping very well today. I've got a hangover. It was mainly down to meeting up with the back-from-Taiwan Natalie et al in the Price George in darkest Hackney (darkest = anywhere not within walking distance of a tube. I'm a lazy Londoner). I've been informed by Marie that I was participating in some quite embarrassing behaviour. I can't really remember but it sounds plausible. Apologies to anyone who happened to be in earshot of what's best described as my oral flatulance.

But that was part two of the night. It kicked off with the launch party of skateshoe company éS and trainer website/shop Crooked Tongues' Foothills collaboration range at Slam City. There was lots of lovely free beer. Well, I say lots but it ran out in just over an hour. But that was just testament to the size of the crowd the event pulled.

It was good to chat to the Slam City and CT crews, who I am gradually getting to know in my attempts to break into the shoe journalism industry (yes, such a thing does exist. And not just in my head).

Here are some (pretty amateurish) pics of the party.

Despite being there from the start, I didn't realise the t-shirts were freebies – we were in a shop that sells, amongst many other goodies, t-shirts – so I was only able to get a large. When I tried it on, perhaps in keeping with the outdoorsy theme of Foothills, it was like a tent. One for the newly retired to Mum and her sewing machine I think.

Talking of photos. Marie and I were papped in one of the commissioned photographs of the night, which has been posted up on Jake's Alley. I feel like Lady Gaga. But with a smaller...

Moving on

2009-08-02T21:07:00.006+01:00

After a short but sweet stay as deputy production editor at New Media Age magazine, I'm yet again on to pastures new. Tomorrow I start as sub editor of Architects' Journal. The NMA job was a maternity cover contract but the AJ one is permanent. Take that recession.

I'll be based in Greater London House, so am quite excited at having Zuul and Vinz keeping watch over the entrance (just don't ask for Dana).

I'll also be in the same building as my Dad, which is a bit of a coincidence. Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch?

A good day indeed

2009-07-31T13:49:00.003+01:00

To promote the release of Paul Rodriguez's third signature skate shoe, Nike SB has created a microsite based around the 'Today Was A Good Day' TV ad for the shoe.

The site features a full, 2:20 version of the ad featuring cameos by fellow Nike SB team members Eric Koston and Theotis Beasley; Basketball legend Kobe Bryant; and Ice Cube, probably best known for his role as Danny Rich in Anaconda. It's well worth a watch.

The shoe itself is coming out in this lovely red colourway in September. I like it lots.

Yes It's F*cking Political

2009-07-29T20:57:00.006+01:00

I wrote a short (but a bit longer than 140 characters) review of Tweetminister for next week's new media age today. I'm one of those people that wants to be a bit more interested in politics but that desire isn't quite enough to actively seek out the information I think I might be after. Thank god for Twitter then, and, more than that, Tweetminister.

Basically, it collects together tweets by politicians and about political issues and presents them in a live stream and analytical blog, cutting out all the other noise that exists on the main Twitter site (although Tweetminister is not associated with Twitter). I think I'll definitely be checking up on it from time to time, mainly just to make myself feel intelligent and relevant.

And for those of you wondering about the title of this post, it's the name of a Skunk Anansie song from their second album, Stoosh. You might or might not have noticed but I like using song titles and well-known lyrics as headlines (both in my professional and non-professional work). This one has a special place in my heart as I clearly remember a Radio 1 DJ playing it by accident on daytime radio back when the album was released. About half the song was played before the hasty apologies. Here's the song (albeit not the version I heard but you get the point).

Race for the prize

2009-07-28T19:44:00.008+01:00

Richard Herring is one of my comedy heroes. From listening to Fist of Fun on Radio 1, to watching the resulting TV programmes and following his weekly podcast since week 3. I went to see the preview of his new Edinburgh show Hitler Moustache on Saturday and had every intention of blogging about it. Then The new offenders of standup comedy appeared in the Guardian on Monday and I was moved to get on with it.

I'll come back to the article later. It annoyed me and not just for the obvious reason. Anyway, the show - the basic premise (being Herring, it goes off on some pretty complicated, but no less relevant, tangents) is that he is trying reclaim the 'toothbrush' mustache, as it was originally called, from Hitler in the name of comedy since Charlie Chaplin's upper lip was warmed by the same style of facial hair.

I've seen Herring perform many times, either live or on DVD, and, as said above, listen to the 'Collings and Herrin' podcast he does with Andrew Collins every week, so I am pretty familiar with his work. Hitler Moustache is his best I've seen so far. I'm not going to go into too much detail because I think reviews of comedy that quote punch lines don't work, but it was hilarious. There was one section that hit home pretty hard after I missed my chance to vote in the recent European elections, in which the BNP gained two seats – I missed the postal vote deadline and was in Taiwan for polling day – and it did feel as if he was talking directly to me. He'd have been right to, I had no excuse.

But, if one thing was clear from the routine, he is in no way racist. In fact, he spend much of it highlighting just how stupid and shortsighted racism is. If only Brian Logan realised this before he submitted his pitiful article to the editors of the G2 and Guardian website, who then published it.

Logan had an agenda, to prove that a group of comedians were rallying against political correctness and the supposed fear of saying anything that could offend after all the 'Sachsgate' bollocks, by being offensive for the sake of it. As a starting point, this is already ridiculously wide of the mark. He then quotes Richard Herring. Again, being familiar with his recent work, I could immediately see that his words had been taken completely out of context, which is the other problem with comedy reviews – when the comedian delivers a punchline, proceeded by a well-thought-out routine, it's funny, when a journalist repeats it in writing, it isn't and can be often taken the wrong way. This was also the case in a review of Russell Brand's return to the stage following 'Sachsgate', the journalist made him sound smug and arrogant about the event and aftermath. I saw the show, that was in no way the case. Anyway, I digress.

Herring's quotations in the article were things he might say but not without a great deal of accompanying information, which would make it pretty clear that it is not what he believes. Logan cherry picks what he choses to report of his conversation with Herring throughout the article. The result, Richard Herring ends up looking like an ignorant racist, using offence for the sake of offending and getting a cheap laugh to any reader who isn't aware of his political views, intelligence and style of comedy. Unfortunately, that's quite a lot of people, great as he is, the majority of people don't go to stand-up comedy. Any stand-up comedy.

What also angered me about the article was the fact that it's yet another example of a lazy journalist either failing to do enough research or deliberately ignoring it to suit his own agenda. It's annoying enough when I read articles on subjects I have an interest in in which the journalist gets something wrong, often through lack of research, so when I read this it was pretty upsetting. Not only is it full of wrong information, it makes people who categorically aren't appear racist. Richard Herring now has to spend his life, for the duration of his Edinburgh run, with what is most commonly known as a 'Hitler' moustache with a lot of people genuinely believing he is racist. In the show he said it wasn't about him personally having the moustache, but reclaiming it for comedy. Well, that was last week.

I'm tempted to grow a toothbrush moustache as, at Herring's suggestion, a protest against the BNP in Europe but also to show my support for him. The trouble is it would look like a ginger pause button under my nose.

Here are some responses to the article: Richard Herring, Andrew Collins, David Gorman, Michael Legge, Agents of the Fifth Estate.

Anyway, in other news, Stewart Lee was there to watch the performance on Saturday and really looked like he was enjoying it. They both came into the pub afterwards. I was going to go over and say hello and how much I liked the show and their work etc etc stalk stalk, but they were too deep in conversation for me to feel like I could disturb them. Good to see them together again.

Bugged out

2009-07-25T00:00:00.005+01:00

I've just got in from BUG 14 at the BFI Southbank. Curated by David Knight and Phil Tidy, and hosted by Adam Buxton (Adam out of off Adam & Joe), it charts the evolution of music videos.

First off tonight was the long-awaited official video for MGMT's Kids, directed by Ray Tintori and starring folk music's Joanna Newsom. Apparently it's caused quite an uproar in the YouTube community, as can be seen in the comments. Something about scaring a kid for life...

Following on from MGMT was the video for the new Franz Ferdinand song Can't Stop Feeling. Directed by Russell Weekes (who was there), it's such a simple idea but so well done.

The third video was a brilliant too (well, they all were but this one was one of the stand-outs). It was a collaboration between animator Steve Scott and illustrator Will Sweeney for the Justice-produced The Parachute Ending by French hip-hoppers Birdy Nam Nam.

Tonight's guest was Irish animator David OReilly. Conversation focused on his nonsensical, but extremely loud, animation shorts, such as Octocat Aventure. Then shown was his stunning animation for the latest U2 single I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight. I've tried to turn the volume down in the clip but if it hasn't worked, fear not, it's U2 and therefore easy to completely ignore the music, especially with such visual stimulation.

Being a big fan of Sexy Beast and his other music video efforts (Rabbit In Your Headlights anyone?), I was very excited to see a promo directed by the mighty Jonathan Glazer on the bill. This one was for The White Stripes' Jack White and The Kills' Alison Mosshart's supergroup The Dead Weather's song Treat Me Like Your Mother. (Does that sentence have too many apostrophes in it?) I doubt the video is a true reflection of the title's request.

I cannot wait for BUG 15. I haven't taken much notice of music videos recently but I think I have many an hour spent pouring over YouTube ahead of me.

Things to do in Mile End when you're wet

2009-07-20T20:51:00.013+01:00

Living so close to Victoria Park is great, although my visits there are mainly restricted to when it's warm and sunny. But there are occasions that mean I have no problem standing in the middle of the park in the rain. Two such occasions came this weekend. Madstock on Friday and Lovebox on Saturday.

Taking to the stage before Madness on the Friday were The Pogues. Shane MacGowen was happy to show off his shiny new teeth, although he seemed to have traded in his eye for them. I'm still trying to work in an 'eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth' joke in here.

It might be heresy to some, but don't all of The Pogues' songs sound the same? But it was ok, because Mr MacGowen was ready with the witty quips in between songs. God knows what language they were in though.

Then it was the turn of the hosts. Suggs took the stage in a shiny houndstooth check suit and bowler hat. The set was a mix of the (amazing) classics and (also very good) songs from the new album (which I admit I'm actually still to listen to).

The crowd was also quite amusing to watch. We had 'gold circle' tickets, which meant we were in the bit right in font of the stage, with the proles fenced off further back. We were surrounded by a lot of quite large, original skinheads. Obviously, looks were very deceiving. There was a lot of dancing but it was all very civilised with everyone keeping themselves to themselves and just thoroughly enjoying the show.

And then on to Saturday and a much younger, rowdier crowd at Lovebox. After lapping up what sun there was in the afternoon and a few pints of cider we headed over to the main stage to catch Florence and the Machine. I've met The Machine's drummer. His name is Chris and you can consider his name officially dropped. I'd watched coverage of their Glasto performance and this one was just as good.

After Florence, it was time for one of the two bands I'd really looking forward to – N*E*R*D. I'd wanted to see them on their last your but, at £35 a ticket, I opted to give it a miss. Unfortunately, things didn't start off too well. First, Pharrell's microphone wasn't anything like loud enough. Then, when the sound had been sorted, they proceeded to cram all the best songs, bar the singles, from their first, and by far their best, album into a ten-minute medley. I was not impressed.

They pulled it back though with sheer comedy value. During their last few songs they invited a load of people from the audience onto the stage. The invaders were then herded off for a few minutes before the female portion was aloud back on during Lap Dance. Those girls already on stage were soon joined by more from the crowd till it was practically overflowing for ladies, largely trying to get the attention of the band members. And they all went off backstage together at the end of the set.

If I was excited about N*E*R*D, I was was stupidly excited about seeing Duran Duran. As with Madness the night before, their set was a mixture of classics and new stuff although, in this case, the new stuff provided perfect opportunities to go to the toilet and the bar. Yes, both the toilet and the bar – it really wasn't that crowded.

The main body of the set ended with Ordinary World, providing a massive singalong from the crowd. I'd heard that Mark Ronson would be joining Duran Duran on stage and feared the worst. But my fears weren't realised as they kicked off the encore with a Bond theme medley before launching into A View To A Kill. Ronson just played guitar. He didn't even play the trumpet. In fact, it wasn't exactly clear what he was adding to the performance. Never mind.

All in all, it was two great days of music. Ok, it might have rained a bit but i haven't been to a festival in the sun for literally years, so it'd have to take more than that to dampen (sorry) the mood.

Century!

2009-07-14T18:45:00.003+01:00

How exciting. I updated my blog profile today and saw that it had been viewed 100 times. That's a bit of a blogging mile stone for me and it only took about three months to get there. On reflection, though, easily half of those were probably me with the rest split between Marie and my Mum.

No! (more) Sushi

2009-07-13T19:03:00.010+01:00

I like working in an office where the newshounds share the invitations they get from PRs to shindigs with everyone. Last week, I took advantage of one such invitation and went to an event at the Yo! Sushi Whiteleys branch. Marie came along for moral support.

The restaurant has recently reopened after a redesign and the designers responsible –Mat Cook from Intro and Philip Watts from his eponymously named company – were there to talk about their inspiration for the new look.

In the talk, until it was cut short by their powerpoint presentation giving up the ghost, Cook and Watts described their research trip to Japan. They travelled around, took photos of anything that moved and everything that didn't, went shopping, ate sushi, did more shopping and ate more sushi. I. Want. That. Job.

I have to admit that my real reason for going – despite having a small obsession with Japan, having never actually been there, I even buy imported Japanese fashion magazines at ridiculous prices – was in anticipation that there would be free food. There was. Lots of it. Too much of it. The conveyor belt was running, being continuously replenished with the finest sushi they had to offer. Marie and I go to Yo! Sushi a lot but the price always stops us going overboard. That was obviously not a concern this time. We both got a bit carried away. Ok, extremely carried away. I've never felt so sick from eating too much. I might give raw fish a wide berth for the time being.

On set

2009-06-29T23:21:00.006+01:00

I was there when the Hold Tight guys filmed this. Oddly enough, I didn't make the final edit. Oh well, practice, practice, practice.

And while I'm on the topic of skateboarding, these decks have just cropped up in Brum's Ideal skateshop:

Since Spike Jonze, director of the forthcoming film adaptation of one of my childhood favourites, Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are, is also co-owner of Girl Skateboard Company. So it's not too surprising that the company has produced these lovely numbers to go celebrate the imminent release of the film.

I can't wait for it to come out. And I want all the decks too, please.

Absolute fucking liberty

2009-06-26T01:23:00.010+01:00

Swearing for the sake of swearing, I don't agree with. Swearing where absolutely appropriate, go for it. And never has it been more appropriate than tonight:

Do not go for a drink in the Grosvenor fucking Hotel. That's for a bottle, by the way, not a pint, as if that'd make it any fucking better.

Update! I really should add that, despite the price of that, the one beer I bought myself, I drank quite a large amount of wine. Wine provided free by, or at least at, the hotel. It was disgusting. As is probably fairly obvious, I was very much under the influence of said wine and single beer when I wrote this post. And tequila, mustn't forget the tequila. The hangover lasted three days. Which I deserved.

Critters

2009-06-21T15:05:00.005+01:00

Having found this chappy in the entrance hall to my block of flats:

It was completely blown out of the water by the newest resident of my parents' garden

Maybe I'll delay my next visit for a while.

Go Skateboarding Day

2009-06-21T14:35:00.009+01:00

After tooling round Mile End skatepark a bit today it would appear that having a few weeks off has sapped me of all my "skills". Bugger. Oh well, maybe I'm just out of practice. And there's something I can do about that.

Talking of skateparks, this place opened today – Paul Rodriguez's park in Pacioma, California. It looks amazing.

It's black, it's white, shomon (muthafuka), yeah yeah yeah

2009-06-19T23:16:00.007+01:00

For me, saying "no more trainers" is like Bubs going up to receive his "24 hours or a sincere desire to live" keyring. The habit is even harder to kick (if you'll excuse the pun), when Nike SB bring out these brilliantly simple black/white Dunks and Bruins:

Actually, I'm not going to even bother trying to kick the habit and fully intend to "cop" these when Slam City get them in next month (hopefully). Thankfully, I won't have to sell stolen metal or whiteys from a shopping trolley to pay for them.

Update: check out the coincimental timing. I posted this a mere six days before Jacko carked it. Spooky.

Something for the weekend

2009-06-18T20:18:00.004+01:00

I'm very much looking forward to this. I'm not intending to take part in any of the organised events but will pop down to Mile End skatepark to have a roll around, very much in the spirit of the tagline on the poster below, designed by Steve Caballero:

www.goskateboardingday.org

Back in the habit

2009-06-17T20:44:00.008+01:00

Fear not readers (or, more appropriately, 'the imaginary friends its apparently acceptable for adults to have'), I have returned to the blogosphere after a short hiatus. A hiatus spent in Taiwan. Those of you who can access my Facebook will know I have literally hundreds of photos and a few tales to to tell so might get round to posting about it on here at some point, you lucky, lucky people. Here's a taster, courtesy of Natalie:

Anyway, back to now. When we signed up to the Barnardo's Nun Run, Marie and I were entered into a competition to win tickets to the new Sister Act Musical. We both won and went last night. Although Marie is a musical pro, the last one I went to see was Tommy, probably well over a decade ago. I have to admit that I really, really enjoyed Sister Act. Go and see it. It's a lot of fun.

More in keeping with my usual interests, I went to Slam City and, while resisting the ever-present temptation to buy trainers, took a few pictures of the new exhibition in the basement Nike SB pop-up store. The exhibition is of photos by Jon Humphries to promote the forthcoming SB skate film, Debacle. I was invited to the premiere at Slam but was too busy being on the tube, missioning home from Heathrow after a sleepless 16 hour flight.

The first batch of photos I took were rubbish so I had to go back and take some more. Luckily I don't think they noticed me sloping back in like an amateur. The better pics can be seen in my little write up for N-SB.org. It got a mention on Jake's Alley (right down the bottom), which I was quite chuffed about, even though I might have emailed over the link in the first place...

Oh, something else that's probably worth mentioning – I've got a job. Today I started as Deputy Production Editor for New Media Age magazine. It's only a 13-month maternity cover contract but it's still a step up. So, after being made redundant at Marketing Week, I stayed on two extra months, returned as a freelancer at a much better rate (working about 10 days a month and earning more or less the same as I did as a full-timer), went on holiday and returned to a new job, which basically counts as a promotion – NMA is also a Centaur publication. Take that recession!

Up to 31

2009-05-18T20:55:00.012+01:00

Centre Point has always just been one of those really big buildings that's just there and serves no real purpose in my life. That was until last Friday, when it was up to the 31st floor to the Paramount venue for Reverse' Sunrise clubnight.

I was ridiculously excited in the week between getting a ticket and setting foot in that lift. Needless to say the 360 degree views of London at night were pretty amazing.

and enjoyed by all...

View soaked up, as well as several private-members-club-priced drinks, it was dancing time. I have to admit that I'd never heard set by any of the nights DJs but was told several times that Greg Wilson was playing and he's really good. He was.

Around 5 am the sun started to rise. That was also really good. Especially when soundtracked with Take That's Relight My Fire.

Self belief

2009-05-12T23:21:00.012+01:00

I think Will Self is a brilliant writer so when I found out that he was appearing at The Roundhouse, not going was out of the question. I had no idea what he'd be doing, so went along with great expectations.

Before going into the smaller Dr. Martens FREEDM Studio section of the venue, or "the arsehole of the Roundhouse" as Mr Self described it, I was caught by a camera crew asking people why they wanted to see the author. I babbled some absolute shite about liking how he uses language, using flamboyant adjectives to add to the stories. And also how this was at odds with my work as a sub editor, cutting out superfluous words. Or something. I don't know what they were filming for and hope I never find out.

So onto the show. Interspersed with effortlessly funny and expertly observed comments, Will Self read extracts from the two paperbacks he has coming out this year, The Butt and Liver. I've found some of his novels quite hard to get into but hearing him read the first scene of The Butt, complete with convincing accents for the characters, everything was immediately clear. I'd have been happy for him to have carried on for the whole book.

He rounded off the night taking questions from the audience on topics ranging from the death of J.G. Ballard, heroin and the state of modern journalism. All in all, it was an extremely funny and interesting evening with Will Self coming across as very intelligent and genuinely pleasant, albeit a little cynical. But there's nothing wrong with that.

I bought a copy of The Butt, which he was nice enough to write his name in for me. Having babbled at the camera earlier, could I find anything to say to him? Could I bollox – utterly star struck.

Floored

2009-05-12T12:39:00.007+01:00

At long last, the vinyl floor has been replaced in my bathroom. No more sticking to the glue that secured the old covering to the (sodden) floor boards.

For those of you who don't know. When my bathroom was originally fitted, the builders decided that sealing, or even tightening, the bath's plug hole wasn't necessary. So, for the whole of last year, whenever anyone had a shower, a large amount of the water was draining down the sides of the plug, onto the floor below and soaking into the wooden boards. I didn't notice because it was under the bath and spreading under the vinyl floor covering. I was also oblivious because the shower screen wasn't sealed properly – which the housing people told me was just because it was cheap and crap, really it also hadn't be sealed properly – so I thought this was the cause of the water that managed to break through to the surface.

Anyway, for over 2 months, the boards have been exposed to the world, taking ages to dry out. I had to peel off all the glue used to stick the vinyl down. Which was fun. It also stank.

It's not quite finished yet though. The boxing and side of the bath needs to be replaced. So that should happen around September then.

Like a nun possessed

2009-05-11T18:40:00.009+01:00

Sorry posts have been quite slow recently. I've been a busy doing assorted things that I may get round to writing about at some point. But one thing that wasn't slow was me last weekend on the Barnardo's Nun Run.

It was only four miles and I came in 378th out of 1000 runners, clocking a time of 00:50:40. Marie got the exact same time (we did spend much of the race with the balloons tied to the back of our habits tangled together and I was pushing her round the course rest of the time) but was ranked 377th but I'm not bitter or anything.

50 minutes isn't exactly a record-breaking time for 4 miles (nun costume or not) but it wasn't too bad considering there wasn't a roped-off course. We were running through underpasses, over bridges and along the Southbank weaving through herds of bewildered tourists.

My sponsorship total is rising slowly but since it was really a just a bit of fun, I haven't been asking too many people. It's not like I ran the marathon, grew a ridiculous 'tache or anything. If you do want to give some money to the Barnardo's kids, please do at: https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/Timsinthehabit

There are quite a lot of photos of the run on t'interweb but the official photography was done by Perfect-Timing Photography (which you should be able to see once they've sorted their bandwidth issues). I haven't managed to spot myself yet but if you see runner number 66, that's me. Marie was 68.

What's that sound? I like that sound. I love that sound.

2009-05-01T14:28:00.004+01:00

I've been getting pretty excited about the impending release of CIAO!, the second album from on Dr Timothy Tiga.

Getting sent a link, to an exclusive album-preview My Name Is Tiga podcast, just made my day. It's meant to be only for mailing list members, but I'm sure he won't mind (or even find out, which would require someone to actually read this).

Download/listen to it here

The album is out on May 11th in the UK. I know you're gonna want it.

Jog on

2009-04-24T20:58:00.009+01:00

Marie and I finally decided it was time to start training for our big run. No, not the one this weekend, but one the week after. Dressed as nuns. But it's for Barnardo's.

Running is boring. I wish it was something more like this:

http://www.onwards.tv/

Incidently, if anyone wants to sponsor me in The Nuns Run, please do so here: www.bmycharity.com/Timsinthehabit. Thanks

Second Son, right as usual

2009-04-21T20:50:00.005+01:00

Homegrown clothing company Second Son decided that the G20 protests would provide perfect settings for its Spring/Summer '09 catalogue shots. It was right. Love the shirts too, especially the tweedy one with leather elbow patches. Click the pics for the full image.

Stussy sale

2009-04-19T22:03:00.011+01:00

I've been digging through the piles of old clothes that I no longer wear and have made the decision to part with something of a significant part of my teen years (and beyond).

I got my first Stussy top when I was 14 and I remember the trip with Mum to Cult Clothing to get it. That top, and several others I bought since, is now on a well-known internet auction site. I've got no idea if I'll get anything for them but I think there is a market for old Stussy stuff. I'll know in a week.

Update: All sold for £77! That'll do nicely.

Link

Hello modernity

2009-04-10T19:37:00.006+01:00

Went to the Tate Modern today.

(bellend)

Come to bed eyes

Busy Day

2009-04-08T21:06:00.009+01:00

Some of you (LOL etc) must have been wondering why my posts have slowed somewhat recently. It's because I've been back at work. Literally back. I have been and will be at Marketing Week again. Only three days since eventually getting the heave-ho, I'm back as a freelancer. I'm there for a total of ten days, which should bring in the same amount as I was making in a month when I was full time. This will obviously leave the rest of the month for other work. Or...

This place opened today. Mile End skatepark. It's only minutes from my flat. Amazing. And it will be even better when I'm actually good enough to use any of the obstacles (or whatever they're called), apart from rolling up and down the bump bits.

Also today, Weartested, a super-comprehensive skateshoe review site, was updated with a breakdown of the Adidas Campus Vulc. I helped out with this by checking over the words – the guy who writes it is German. But his English is probably better than mine. Check it out.

A-Z

2009-04-04T15:47:00.007+01:00

While listening to the podcast or Erol Alkan's music A-Z on Rob Da Bank's Radio 1 show, I decided to come up with mine.

A – Hot Chip: And I Was A Boy From School

B – Bryan Ferry: Love Me Madly Again

C – The Cure: Want

D – Depeche Mode: Enjoy The Silence

E – Soulwax: E Talking (Nite Version)

F – Fleetwood Mac: The Chain

G – LCD Soundsystem: Get Innocuous

H – The Smiths: How Soon Is Now

I – Interpol: Evil

J – Justice: Phantom Part II

K – KLF: What Time Is Love

L – DJ Shadow: Stem/Long Stem

M – MGMT: Kids

N – Grace: Not Over Yet

O – Duran Duran: Ordinary World

P – Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb

Q – Queen & David Bowie – Under Pressure

R – Roxy Music: If There Is Something

S – Bronski Beat – Small Town Boy

T – Tiga: Three Weeks

U – Unkle: In A State

V – The Verve: History

W – Warren G feat. Nate Dogg: Regulate

X – X-Ecutioners feat. Ghostface & Black Thought – Live From The PJs

Y – Yazoo: Don't Go

Z – ZZT – The Worm (Erol Alkan's Extended Rework) To bring it nicely back to Mr Alkan

For the Spotifiers among you, here's the playlist. I had to change P from The Floyd to Purple Rain by Prince and the ZZT track to Lower State of Consciousness.

No less than Jake

2009-04-03T00:33:00.003+01:00

This may be old news as far as this blog is concerned – I did it while I still had a job – but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Interview with Jake from Slam City about the Nike SB pop-up store

Value is in the eye of the beholder

2009-04-03T00:06:00.003+01:00

I want this. From the good people at LCB Surf Store.

Spiro giro

2009-04-02T19:48:00.003+01:00

I went here today. Well not actually "here" as in the place in the picture, but "here" as in the Job Centre Plus (plus what?).

As should have been predicted, I needed a lot more paperwork than I was told I would. So I have to go back tomorrow morning. Fantastic. I think I've scraped it all together though. Apart from bank statements. Since going all green, like, I no longer get paper bank statements. So I would have to go and print them off in an internet café. Um... no.

So after all that fun, it was on to the job hunting bit. I got some details of some jobs that looked as if they'd help me make a move into the world of online advertising. But, as Marie pointed out, they're probably telesales jobs. They are. Um... no.

So then I went skateboarding.

(this isn't me)

Two of my favourite things

2009-04-01T11:43:00.006+01:00

Girls in trainers. Girls in underwear in trainers. I quite like this Playboy fashion feature.

What's the date today?

2009-04-01T10:54:00.003+01:00

This was the only page greeting me when I tried to check NikeSB.0rg this morning:

NikeSB.org shutdown due to Multiple Nike Lawsuits
Tue Mar 31 2009 12:12:22 Eastern Time

SHUTDOWN NOTICE

March 31st of 2009 - NikeSB.org, the popular fan site from Virginia Beach,VA has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Nike Inc. Nike claimed that NikeSB.org infringed its trade marks and copyright by user submitted content with other brands registered trademarks, and have recently obtained a judgment in the United States rendering NikeSB.org's organization of news/info on SB sneakers unlawful.

As of today, NikeSB.org will not be in the position to accept any new members. Furthermore, NikeSB.org is working closely to follow up on any transactions held between our members. The staff of NikeSB.org will make sure that nobody will get hurt in the crossfire of this ordeal.

"Today is Nike's victory, with this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Nike about the samething, or from other brands about fan sites such as NikeTalk, BapeTalk, or PumaTalk.", stated Jeremy Wilder, formerly known as the developer of NikeSB.org.

"That's the latest dark spot in their track record as an industry leader. The Empire finally 'won', few dominating blogs from the States probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the sneaker world lost something today."

Hmmmmm... Let's see if that's still there tomorrow.

With time on my hands...

2009-03-31T19:26:00.004+01:00

Well, this is it. My first blog post to mark a great occasion – I'm unemployed. Yep, today is my first day of freedom having been booted out of Marketing Week, along with about half the editorial staff, after just over two years.

So, what to do with my new-found free time? Actually, that's what this blog is all about. Stay posted for stories, rambling and general mindfarts.

Pic by David Chilvers from pbase.com