I finally got my copy of Lakai's opus 'Fully Flared' the other day. Safe to say it's absolutely ridiculous & overflowing with inspirational skateboarding, all of which is a far cry from the usual man on rail / man over stairs fare....thank fuck! Anyway, Isaac also approves of the latest filmic offerings from the Girl camp & it seems Pappalardo's section inparticular was his favourite (indicated by the fact he stopped crying as soon as Bad Brains kicked in) . What can I say? The boy has taste!!

The Son & Heir

After an emergency cesarean section Isaac David Sandford came into this world at 8.56pm on Thursday 22nd November 2007 & weighed a whopping 9lbs 1/2 oz!! Both mother & baby are doing really very well & daddy is obviously super stoked. At present he is not a ginge but it's early days....I originally had dark hair!!

Seen & Shepard Fairey in the Smoke

unbelievably both seen & shepard fairey are showing in east london at the moment ('til nov. 25th). both gigs have been organized by stolen space gallery & are within a stones throw of each other in the brick lane/truman brewery area. it's looking unlikely that i'll be able to see either show (**guted!!**) but i strongly advise any of you that live near to the smoke to check 'em out. click 'ere for photo's of the opening: JUXTAPOZ
& STOLEN SPACE
also, if you happen to check these shows out on the morrow then be sure to go the above gig & throw my man dave a shaka!

confirming what we all knew years ago.....rowley rides indy's! ride the best, fuck the rest & all that!!! click 'ere: SCOUSER for radness

Battles!!

Me likey this band. If you've not heard 'em, then get educated! They're signed to Warp so i think that justifies them & their sound more than adequately. Gotta thank Harman for giving me a cd of their music many moons ago....cheers. Now enjoy

Get Poked!!

I stumbled across this the other day & thought it should be shared with those of you who frequent this 'ere blog. Funny shit!!

How to Build a Shedio pt.III

With the prospect of a long day's work ahead I opted for a fried egg sanger for breakfast....
..needed a couple of these to stoke the fire as the day progressed..
..which resulted in me having a very productive day ending in the completion of three of the outside walls. Apologies for the wonky photo but it was taken whilst trying not to fall in a ditch full of stagnant water!!
This is the view across the sudbury water meadows taken from inside the shedio. Pretty good huh?

How to Build a Shedio pt.II

Inside the Shedio with the roof felt on ready for slates to be put in place...
...hard at work putting the slates on...
....the last few slates being brought up courtesy of 'dad labour' (I'd be up shit creek without his expertise & graft. What a dude!) & an overview of the nearly finished roof.

Can't (roof)Truss It!

Roof on, window in, door frame fixed.... Not a bad day's work for a sunday!! Soon I'll be in there 'doing art'...yay!

How to Build a Shedio pt.I

The previous incarnation of my Shedio was too small & looking tired, so I took it down last week....
....drafted in some 'Dad labour' (helps that he's had 40 years experience as a carpenter mind!!)....
...bought a load of this....
..keept the work force fuelled with a lot of these..
...& ended the day with this! Still got a lot to do but progress is extremely good. We're pitching the roof tomorrow so look out for an update

The Queen

Here's a ghetto homemade Helen Mirren tee made with one of those iron-on transfers you buy & print yourself. As for the subject matter.....I guess Dr. Freud would sight some perverted theory about mother & son but, he was a weirdo that fancied his dog & not his wife...!!

D.I.T.C

I found this photo of my second ever board the other day. I, like everyone at the time, was totally in awe of Matt Hensley. Unfortunately, wearing cargo shorts, long sleeves under my tees & imitating his style (complete with puffed out cheeks) was completely contradicted by the fact I'd slapped a Grosso sticker, some Tracker trucks, rails, & Tracker Ollie wheels on his pro model. Ah well, I had fun!!

i first became aware of Fernando Elvira's art from the series of boards he designed for cliche a few years back. as with all great artists that you discover through the diverse world of skateboarding his work stretches far beyond making graphics for boards & utilizes lots of different media to create a distinctive & bold aesthetic. anyway, about two months ago he painted a bowl in sweden & it looks awesome! click here:
DEFEKT to see the outcome. if you want to see more of Elvira's work peep it here COCOBULA

TEE TIME

here is the first 'real' skate tee i ever owned. i'm not sure why i kept it - as it's proper skin tight nowadays- but i'm glad i did. i remember the first time i wore it skating & my mates being really stoked. then as we left the park on our boards, via a small slope to the gates, i slid out & tore holes in the shoulder. i was so gutted but it was darned to look as good as new & lasted another few years until growing got in the way...

TONY WILSON 1950-2007
We owe a lot to this man. All that was & is good about British music can be credited to him...... Now, listen to Joy Division

whilst leaving pisa airport to pick up the rental car for our blind leading the blind, totally don't know where we're going in the dark, death race to the villa my friend matt and i were faced with this painted bronze sculpture of a pigeon. with half it's head missing & a club foot it was a grim greeting....welcome to pisa!!

as a contrast below is another view of siena town's clock tower taken from it's courtyard...

i'm exhibiting some seen & unseen paintings / drawings in a group exhibition at the folkes-miller gallery from saturday evening onwards - for about three months. peep the flyer & if you're in the area pop in & say 'sup! click the gallery link on the left for more info. regarding opening times

i went to a friends wedding in tuscany, italy last week. this is a flick of the town square of siena. every year the people of the town gather here to see the finish of a horse race that, unbelievably, takes part through the streets of siena. sadly i didn't get to see it but the views from the clock tower on the right were astounding

this is quite possibly the best piece of graffiti i have ever seen. in a town where it is hard to find visual stimuli (especially that with a political motive) i have to admire the artist's sentiment....i just wish i'd thought of it!!

i took this photo about five minutes after the previous post. it's amazing how quickly the colours & light can change so dramatically....moody huh?

i have to get up for work at a highly unsociable hour. in the winter, i not only go to work in the dark i also come home in the dark. mostly those winter months are hideous torture but every so often the sky will be clear and i get to witness amazing sunrises like this.....not all bad really!!