Birthday treats.

So last weekend (incase you didn't know I was twittering!) was my Thirftiest Birthday and the Faye and I went to London for the weekend. It took us about 4 hours in the little Peugot and only cost us 10 quid in diesel! Pretty good going really. I might have to write something about our car because it is the cause of allot of events in our life, Mainly because it was cheap and it breaks down, but we love it. So it was all a bit of rush and stress to get there, the Faye had a deadline for something, so I assumed she had planned a little surprise. I had no Idea what was in store and didn't really think about it too much because of the driving and getting there safe factor. Once we got to London (the Staines, massif no less.) we left the Pug at the Faye's Brothers driveway then got a train to the City. So she couldn't keep planning all of it a secret so I now knew we where going to stay in Shore Ditch. We scuttled and weaved our way with what was now Rush hour, so added stress there. Well we made it to the hotel with only the odd hic-up! and overall I quite like the drama.

The Hotel the Faye had booked us into was a new hotel venture from the owners of the cafe/ Fresh sandwich chain Pret-a-Manger.(Did a college project about pret once to do art work for the walls will put some pics at the bottom) The Hoxton Hotel is apparently 4 star has trendy restaurant and bar and Designer furniture art work and adornments everywhere. Greeted by a very friendly guy on the reception the place had a great vibe. In the lobby from left to right the lighting was a cool installation of 5 stage of eagle flight, leaving its perch, flying across the reception and then approaching another perch. Kind of like still photos of flight. (Don't know why I didn't photo that since I liked it so much think I felt it wasn't the thing to do in a "Designer Hotel" strange I don't normally need and excuse to get the Leica out. Ill do a blog on this kit I love it!) any way didn't actually have that much time as the Faye was hustling us up to the room, drop off bags and get out to a restaurant she had booked for us.


(But the Identity! I don't like it I don't like the Grey and yellow, and they use a font called Euro style unless they have very subtlety bastardized it and I cant tell! Why Euro style? its the standard future sans type face of the 90's and that's where it should stay! I have had to use this font before and I will never "choose" to use it again! Given the Brand of Pret which I think as great although some one did say communist to me the other day I all ways had it as deco with the chrome and Neville Brody fonts going on.)

So the frantic walking and navigating began again. We trotted down some funny little roads the I got a phone call from my cousin Ben "Hey Man are you coming here for a beer or what?" "Er I don't know Faye has booked us in at a restaurant what do you mean here?" I said "The strongroom" He replied then I kind of guessed what was going on, we popped out of an ally way and over the road was the Strong room bar! My cousin works at strongrooms recording studio and I had wanted to visit him there for ages, the studios has it's own Bar! Well we got there and the Faye had arranged for some friends and family to meet us and we had a wicked little night.

The Strongrooms is pretty Rock'n'Roll as the recording kit looks amazing and all set off with Jamie Reid's (designer of the Sex pistols album covers) textile and prints that adorn the walls, its really quirky. I believe Machine head had just mastered their album there so I thought that was cool. Mat showed me around and we got to get really techy although really techie for me was probably nothing compared to what Mat is used to. Then once we finished our drinks we went to eat at a wicked Diner called "The Diner" super American style food. I had a Guacamole and cheese burger and it was good. The Faye had a Chili cheese Dog, which according to sources is as original as the ones in America. Then there were also some bad ass milkshakes too! so a must for any shore ditch visitor. Finally we rounded the night of in the Reliance nice Pub type venue around the corner, before retiring to the Hoxton.

The following day we started the afternoon with a really good coffee at Monmouth (probably the best I have had in London!) and a flavour explosion sausage roll from a wicked shop in the west end near Neals yard.




did a big old walk from Bank to tower Bridge stopping off for stops at the Tate Modern and the Design Museum. I had wanted to see the Big Crack in the floor:

But when we got there:

So never mind but I was impressed with... the massive cat got to be picture of the day! Overall we had a really good weekend and made it back in one piece!

I cant wait to go back to Shore Ditch! Can anyone make some recommendations?

Pret-a-manger work from college days.



oh and check this out looks like fun. Might have to order a copy: Pie

My Bloody Valentine...

Well it's all over now, but at the weekend my partner and I postponed Valentines day so we could move into a new apartment. We moved into new pad and now everything is Topsy Turkey! I have not internet so I nipped to the village to use Costa's free wifi yey Costa! here have a plug... On the way I passed a Launderette so I might have to pop in and see what kind of kit they are packing! Whilst sat here in the cafe a duo of cameramen have been filming fill in shots for something? that's been entertaining, panning shots of Prestwich shopping mall.

As for valentines, me an the missus are'nt too bothered about all that hum drum but we do take the opportunity to get each other something nice. This year I bought her tickets for Metallica, she bought me tickets to see Alex Horne, who I had never heard of! However she did tell me why and then it all made sense! So not as much of a review but my experience of last night!

Alex Does a very funny comedy stand up routine, called Birdwatchingwatching that's more like a conversation with the audience about an activity that he had "almost" dedicated an entire year to. Basically he decided to try and understand why his father like bird watching so much. (This is where my interest is, I am a proud bird watcher, although I wouldn't say dedicated to the cause, I am enthusiastic and have been for as long as I can remember.) So he and his Father (who he calls "Duncton" throughout, which is very funny when or if you see the show. (he has a book too.)) have a competition to see who could see the most birds in a year. With some rules to guide the challenge the two set off to see as many species of bird as they can. The routine is littered with audience interaction, and you certainly don't have to be a bird watcher to appreciate any of it, although it adds a little extra magic if you are. I found myself blurting out species of birds as he asked questions to a bemused audience, trying my best not to answer as I knew it would embarrass the "Faye", but I couldn't help myself, "Tawney Owl" I shouted! then slapped my hand over my mouth and looked at her sinking into the chair! I was of course correct and had a massive amount of self satisfaction.

The stories he tells are really funny and even quite touching as it is a journey of understanding and competing with ones father as much as understanding the passion for ornithology. So overall it was really very entertaining, I'd consider going again and defiantly recommend the show. if you do let me know your thoughts!

so until I get on the net again, next time it will be a Birthday weekend trip to the Big smoke.

Miss a day, why? laundromat!

So I guess I pretty much failed or may be the blog is shaping up?
The last post I mentioned trying to do a picture a day which surely isn't impossible. Is it? well for me it probably is. So this Blog is gonna happen as and when, I'm pretty sure it will be very regular, as I have now installed a blog editor on my iPod allowing me to blog where ever I want.

And So I will discuss...why I missed my blog!
Well last week I had a computer problem, my beloved Power book almost died, she pulled through in the end and 7 days later she's doing me proud. On Saturday I am moving to Manchester so I have plenty of fussing to do before then, and I have had some deadlines to meet with work. Thankfully most have been realized.

As part of this fussing I found myself doing a task I hadn't partaken for about 6 years. I went to a launderette. Fascinating place. We'll it was very 70's and in there was a whistling old guy and a dodgy looking tall guy. Then at the back of the room the rotund happy lady who was my guide and adviser. I asked her how to use the machine, she told me, I explained it back to check I understood, Apparently I didn't! so she told me again. I waited till she'd finished. Then I used the machine. Worked a treat did exactly what I thought it might. Whilst I was waiting I asked her how long my Item would take to dry and how much it would be. She responded in 20ps and you know what, if I had enough 20ps she would have been bang on. I used £1.50 to get it nearly dry, she said 2 quid.

Once the three characters left, I pulled out my Polaroid and snapped a few pics. Wish I'd asked the old guy if I could take his picture. Could have been a nice shot. But I'm not very good at Portraits or confident at asking. Oh well I liked the ones I did do.

I also collected a couple of digi shots, one is a nice close up of the washing machine's logo. "Loadstar"

My First blog

Since this is my first blog I'm not quite sure how to begin I guess topic or subject matter would be the first port of call. But I ask myself Why start a blog? Who cares what I say? Why do I care what I say? When should I do my first entry? I'm not sure If I know enough to blog!

There seems to be a lot of this blogging going around and I have been following sporadic threads leading me into the unknown depths of the internet, I casually glimpse at other people's lives and opinions, gather snippets of their knowledge and expertise, see art work and holiday snaps and read a whole array of different topics. So I think a blog is whatever you want it to be. A diary, a news feed, a folio, a rant you name it there is a blog on it.

So what about a blog on blogging? well sadly that kind of blog exists and quite extensively too. But whilst on my blog search and browse mission (is there a term for this? there seems to be for everything else.) I cam across numerous things of interest to me. So if you don't mind I would like to share a few of my current finds now and even see how Blogs have worked for others.




ffffound is ablaze with things that make my eyes pop out of my head! such design and creative loveliness that I make regular trips to see what kind of Ideas I am missing out on! This site should come with a warning to all design bods and creatives, too much good stuff can it be a good thing?



typeneu - Truly pretentious use of type is very prevalent I love it! and a really nice layout too. I love navigating it, although it does require quite a bit of effort, let me know any thoughts on this kind of web page layout.




Septemberindustry More nice design Bloggage.

Now for some stuffage that I just like:

Monsterism! So OK this is a tribute to Pete Fowler artist and Illustrator who has been around for Donkeys now but I used to really be into his stuff. In fact I still like his style a lot. I enjoyed collecting some of his work and vinyl figures.



Then there is card boy I loved these guys as soon as I saw them! You purchase them in blind packs unfold the box up into himself, hey presto card boy! Lovely vector styling and it's been creatively updated too, with OXO boxes, old printer cartridge boxes and shoe boxes. (I have a thing for card board robots.) if you look on the card blog he has done some visuals for star wars specials. I'm glad the designs didn't go ahead, I must admit I'm getting a bit sick of the star wars band wagon merch "And discuss..."

However if you fancy trying out being a fan of card boy on the home page, get the PDF of the OXO box card boy calender! Print out an construct I'm gonna make mine as soon as I can.



Picture of the day (I'm gonna try and keep this up):



So I guess its taking shape I have put up some blogs and I uploaded an image from today I'm doing a blog on me, by me and for me! If you happen to "get on my thread" and even become a reader or subscriber then I guess your comments and feedback may shape the way my blog develops.

But for now its easiest to say life, design and other things.