on my coffee table this week

by popular demand, it's time for the return of the coffee table of shame.

and o.c.d-ly arranged on it this week are...

hmmm... nice choice.

dvd: kick-ass

if you know me you'll know that i frown upon bad language more than i frown normally.

i do however like bad language when it's used unexpectedly or inappropriately.

i don't like violence in films ( grrr ! to gangs of new york, there will be blood )

but i do like it when it's kind of silly cartoon violence as in say, robocop, predator etc.

kick-ass ticks all boxes for me. it's silly, stupid, funny, violent and potty-mouthed.

( a bit like my sisters-in-law )

cd: bossa nova 1991 shibuya scene retrospective

you know i'm a big fan of the japanese music scene, especially bands like

pizzicato 5 and fantastic plastic machine... bands who incorporate a bit of 

bossa nova... a bit of lounge or ska into their music.

i bought this double cd from hmv in shibuya last year. it's kind of a custom in japan to give away little presents and when i bought this, the girl behind the counter gave me a free

hand towel as a present !

er... the music is great anyway

book: labels by louis de bernieres

what a cracking little book.

no lie i've bought this about 5 times. it's a great little book to give away as a gift.

i'd say it's a bedtime book. if you go to bed with a hot chocolate ( or a flat white in my case )

and want to read for 30 minutes, this is perfect.

it's also ideal for a bus journey. i reckon from whitfield towers to st paul's cathedral on a 

busy 17, it will just about do the job.

an interesting short story... i'll say no more.

until next week then.

oh, any recommendations for me ?

house !

boom !

amazon deliver the goods to whitfield towers...

season 6.

21 episodes.

that's autumn sorted.

mega road trip !

road trip !

not really... i'm flying to porto.

anyway it could be a blogless few days.

michael sodeau v eames

i know this isn't that interesting but it's something i see every day when i sit

here blogging and i thought i'd share it with you.

just to the right of my mac.

a stapler, tape dispenser and scissors designed by michael sodeau.

a 200% chogokin bearbrick with signature eames pattern.

formica top desk custom made for me by my mate phil.

all in pretty much the same colour yellow.

of course i haven't used a stapler for years, i use sellotape about once a year and scissors

maybe once a month, but they look good.

nice one michael, nice one medicom, nice one phil.

breakfast

a change of breakfast for me today...

thanks to urv

www.chaiwalas.com

g-fog's circus pics

i had a shoot at circus this afternoon.

my shoot was to illustrate the restaurant during daytime.

wide interiors but with models eating and drinking.

g-fog was assisting.

i gave her a camera and the instructions to take a few shots of me in action.

first up she did a portrait of me in the bar area.

hmmm... 

i like this one though...

me getting to grips with my m9 just before placing the models in position

with my m9 on a tripod, i asked g-fog to take a shot

but with me sneaking into the frame.

like a boss !








and from the other side...

boom !







and finally back to the bar with the camera on a tripod this time

what's going on with my quiff by the way ?




www.circus-london.co.uk

the espresso room

on the way home from circus, i dropped g-fog off outside the espresso room

to grab us a couple of flat whites to take away.

here's mine

i think the espresso room just won an award for best coffee in london or something like that.

http://theespressoroom.com

look mum no hands ( part two )

i returned to 'look mum no hands' this morning

this time i had a camera with me

this is one of the windows

this is the view from the table where i sat

and if i looked just to the right...

most of the prints had gone since yesterday, but the luchadors were still there.

it's a real bikey place. i have no idea what these things are.

maybe pumps ?

my flat white looked corking

and was rich and smooth

on the way out i saw their signature print

great typeface.







and i also spotted what must be the inspiration for the name of the place...

good old mrs mills !

genius !

www.lookmumnohands.com

daisuke matsuzaka air force 1

today i decided to play with fire.

check out these bad boys...

nike air force 1's designed by daisuke matsuzaka 

i bought these in harajuku 2 years ago

but i still haven't worn them

premium materials here

pony hair, textured leather swoosh and orange 'dragon skin' leather

the pony hair and dragon scales are complimented by gold lace jewels

the heel tab is made from the same leather as the swoosh

and etched into the orange leather is dice-k's number 18, formed into a dragon.

the same motif is on the leather insoles

these are some of my rarest kicks. i've never seen another pair.

as you can imagine, the heat was extreme... only one thing for it...






into the fridge with them... let them cool off.

no doubt.

my rival af1 collector, the mayor, has posted a clip on youtube about these.

looks like he hasn't worn his yet either !

more tweed

if you've been following my blog you'll know that i'm a big fan of tweed.

http://markwhitfieldphotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/tweed.html

http://markwhitfieldphotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/jackies-new-bag.html

well yesterday, this package arrived at whitfield towers.

could it be ?

yes... at last... the tweed i-pad case i ordered from the usa about 2 months ago !

it came with a little note

happy birthday ?

my birthday is in january !

still, the tweed ipad cover is a corker.

proper old school button to fasten it up

pocket for cables, usb sticks etc

and lined in felt

perfect.

having said that... the i-pad is still a piece of junk.

supreme winter headgear

hmmm... this could be just the thing for the cruel and harsh winter

that is surely on it's way.

leave it with me.

look mum no hands ( cheap iphone pics )

grrr ! i didn't have my camera with me at 8am today when i dropped by

'look mum no hands'

it's a bike repair shop / cafe / art gallery in islington

www.lookmumnohands.com

so i had to make do with my i-phone !

here's a sweet ride that was in for a service. and some decent prints for sale.

i like the luchador prints very much.

they serve up square mile coffee, which is very handy.

i asked for a flat white and sneaked my i-phone onto polaroid mode...

i'll return to look mum no hands soon... with a decent camera !

selfridges shoe panoramic

to celebrate the opening of their new shoe department, selfridges

have an amazing display which goes from the 4th floor right down to 

the basement. 

sweet !

for good twin...

i had a look around the wallace collection on sunday.

i'm told that this is good twin's favourite painting.

hmmm...

flat white in shoreditch

i can't remember what this place was called, but it was so close to browns

that you could almost hear the sound of perspex heels on pub carpet...

of skin against chrome plated poles and pound coins hitting the bottom of a pint mug.

er... anyway... it did a very decent flat white.

standard.

hel yes... design and food from helsinki

i dropped by a pop up restaurant in islington on saturday afternoon.

it's called 'hel yes'

it's only open for two weeks and it's fully booked up for eating...

but you can pop in for a drink and a look around at any time.

i took the opportunity to have a strong black coffee and to shoot

one of my famous cheap panoramics...

very scandinavian indeed.

the icon design trail

on saturday i ventured out east as i hit the icon design trail.

the wenlock arms had been given a make-over by established and sons

but i didn't go in as i was on a mission to find good coffee

i skulked over to rivington street to check out the tram shed

hmmm... nice cushions

i suppose.

anything had a pop up shop... or kiosk

flogging michael sodeau's award winning stationary and clocks

it was all gravy, but my favourite piece of the day was this effort

on the right is how it looks rolled up for carrying and storage.

 on the left when it's opened and hung on the back of a door.

hopefully you can read this blurb and see what the idea is

here's a closer look at the back panel

it's made out of felt and maybe you can see from the first photo that it

has it's own little lamp which hangs down from the canopy.

genius !