stel

i took this shot of stel last week and i can't make my mind up about it...

does it look dreamy ? or does it look like she's fallen off a tall building ?

nike sb

do you know what's in this box ?

ok can you guess what's in this box ?

in these two boxes ?

does this give you a clue ?

what the what ?!

ok, here's the reveal...

in replica nike sb boxes

right down to the wood grain details inside the box

are a pair of nike sb socks

nike socks printed with a nike sb shoe details

genius !

even the sole is right.

did i mention how much i like socks ?

a present from sketch

just before i left sketch the other day, a waitress came over to me

and gave me a carrier bag, saying it was a gift from... er, the person

i had a meeting with ( who i don't have a nickname for )

when i got back to whitfield towers i looked in the carrier bag and this 

is what was inside...

'p' for 'parlour' i guess

and inside the box...

boom !

how do you like me now ?

four macaroons and a salted chocolate caramel eclair...

that's breakfast sorted.

thanks to er... 'blog-girl' for this

sketch

i had a meeting at sketch this morning.

check out the nice latte i had while i was waiting

have you ever been to sketch ? it's a great place and well worth a visit 

even if it's just for a coffee, cake and a look at the art.

look at the little sugar bowls

i think that's paul reaney

and check out the cloakroom attendant's place

a great place for a portrait eh ?

on a wall nearby were some little blank pieces of metal

( i didn't take a photo of them )

about the size of a postcard.

but when you go close up to them and stare into the metal...

you kind of see into a room and it seems like you're spying on somebody.

this is really strange too. it's an installation in the lobby

it just looks like a red stick of light.

so you look at it and hmmm... it's just a red light

then you turn away and wow !

you get a subliminal image in the corner of your eye... love

it looks nothing like this to be honest.

i thought it would be impossible to photograph because i think it only works 

properly with human eyes and brain. so i just moved my camera

around and took a shot. but as i took the shot it didn't work for my eye.

in real life you look at it and see a red stick. you turn away and you get the message

'love' in the corner of your eye for a split second... it's really weird.

oh just trust me... get over to sketch one day. there are lots of interesting

things to look at and they do corking cakes.

www.sketch.uk.com

or maybe just watch the short film to get a flavour of sketch...

www.sketch.uk.com/film.php

happysocks world cup editions

more box-fresh socks from my collection

last year just before the world cup i bought quite a few pairs of the happysocks

world cup editions... i bought some to wear, some i gave away as presents

and for some reason i have two pairs still in my sock drawer, still unworn.

1

the england happysocks. white with the red st. george's cross.

and the one gold star

from 1966 ( and all that )

2

i also have a pair in the colours of everybody's second favourite football nation...

no, not france... brasil !

yellow, green and blue with the slight show-off detail of 5 stars.

i wonder if i can persuade happysocks to make some wales editions ?

no... i know... it was just a thought.

chelsea 3 arsenal 5

chelsea 3 arsenal 5...

who saw that coming ?

spirits were high in north london on saturday.

look at these lads on the back of the 134 in kentish town.

next up... west brom at the emirates.

4-0 anybody ?

something for the weekend

with a nod to the autumn weather, today i decided to go

with my maharam edition nike air force 1's

as i've mentioned previously on this blog, these were only available to buy at

one shop in the whole world. ( moss, in nyc )

the maharam 'layers' material used throughout the upper is amazing.

it's a waterproof wool type fabric, which feels maybe a little like a soft felt.

it also has orange embroidery running over the material in a seemingly

random way, so both shoes look quite different.

other details i like with these are the metal eyelets, the leather wrap midsole

and the leather tongue tabs.

if i could have made these slightly differently i would have had the top

eyelets in the dark brown or even in orange. apart from that i would have to say

that these bad boys are one of my top 5 favourite pairs in my crate.

caffe e vida

i skulked over to caffe e vida on friday to meet up with the bloke who

won my last competition.

very interesting wallpaper at caffe e vida

diamonds and coffee ?

i swear prince had a song years ago called diamonds and coffee...

or maybe i dreamt it ?

nike air yeezys

for the last week or so i've started wearing my zen grey air yeezys again.

i'm still getting lots of people asking me about them, which is good.
they are probably the most comfortable sneakers in my collection, but...

i think they look cracking when they are viewed by somebody else, but when i look
down at them they never look as good as i think they should.

oh well, maybe the yeezy 2's will be better.

nope.

i don't really get these things.

are they cortez's ?

i think they look a bit too skinny or thin for my liking.

the more i think about it, i can't see me buying anything apart from af-1's

for the considerable future.

ok, maybe the odd pair of blazers... and the yeezy 2's when they drop.

but nope, i'm not buying into the cortez.

coffee mania, leeds, ls11

i was in ls11 yesterday.

lunch was taken at a little joint called coffee mania.

chilli con carne and chips, with onions and chillis on top

£2.90

job done.

marc jacobs cashmere socks

no kidding i bought these almonds in 2008

what the cuss am i saving them for ?

i bought them from marc jacobs in new york and they feel very

luxurious. maybe too luxurious to put on my feet ?

maybe i'll debut them soon with a fresh pair of kicks ?

more sock news to follow soon.

location test shots

there's a bike room in the basement of whitfield towers.

i thought it might make an interesting location for some portraits.

with somebody stood dead centre, i reckon it might be quite good.

here's another shot with a small flash hitting the centre of the frame

maybe i'll get somebody to pose here for me next week and show you

the results.

who's up for posing ?

self portrait in m3

m3 ?

manchester of course.

here i am showing how happy i was to be back in the north-west... back on my old turf.

t-shirt by supreme

jeans by evisu

yeezys by nike

back in london by 8pm

free burrito

walking around manchester yesterday i was offered a free burrito

what a touch... a tiny little chicken burrito.

piping hot too... perfect.

i'm all in favour of free burritos.

nice one manchester !

old school menu

in manchester yesterday i noted the bar snacks menu in a boozer.

proper old school stuff... spam fritters !

i haven't had spam fritters for years.

mmmm...

old school coffee

i haven't taken sugar in coffee for years now.

when i first discovered coffee though, i used to sugar it like a boss.

i used to like watching the sugar sink through the froth,

slowly dissolving... i also used to take so much sugar that it generally didn't

all dissolve and after drinking i would be left with a small amount of coffee

flavoured sugar... which i would eat up with a spoon.

mmmm...

old school friend

i used to live in a small village in the north west of england, called burtonwood.

in the village was a little school.

in the little school i had a friend called 'smidge'

yesterday i had a shoot in manchester. i parked in a multi-storey near harvey nichols.

and guess who works in harvey nichols ?

that's right.

reminiscing with an old school friend.

you should try it some time.

self-portraits in w1

you know the story by now don't you ?

do i really need to begin by saying "i had a shoot in w1 yesterday" ?

let's just get to the good bit

this is not ideal but i like the light behind my neck, flaring like that.

this is not ideal either, it makes my top look very creased

top by john smedley

trousers by paul smith

trainers by nike

ideal.

lunch

go to melrose and morgan.

buy pie.

eat pie.

job done.

season ticket bonus box

as you know, i'm a fully fledged arsenal season ticket holder for 2011-2012.

my mate danny got me the season ticket and yesterday i saw him

as i was driving to a shoot in w1. danny is a cab driver by the way.

i pulled over into a parking space in camden and danny did the same

( though obviously without indicating )

after exchanging a bit of comic banter he said 

"oi, i've got something for you in me boot"

and handed me a package containing...

an arsenal season ticket holder's bonus box.

it's got a cracking metal badge, a couple of decent books and a very tidy arsenal wallet.

now as you know... i'm not an arsenal fan, so does anybody want this ?

i'm not going to spend good money posting it, but if anybody wants to collect it

from n7 or meet me in the west end for a coffee one day, it's yours.

oh come on...

mike crain, karatist preacher... what's not to like ?

i was messaging my old chum chris in canada the other day and we got 

talking about crazy album covers...

you know full well that you want to check out the website...

www.funnyalbumcovers.com/search/label/christian%20album%20covers

don't you ?

nike air force one ( beijing olympics closing ceremony editions )

a little while ago i showed you what was inside this top box

( my nike sb what the dunks )

today i'm going to reveal what's in the other box

here it is

does this look heavier than usual ?

well it is... it's a really heavy box

which opens from the front to reveal...

... a ( heavy ) black wooden box inside

with metallic gold dots spelling out 08-08-08

8th august 2008... the date of the beijing olympics closing ceremony.

the lid of the wooden box lifts out and over

to reveal an intricate gold pattern

here's a closer look

more of this pattern later

next, the front panel of the box, which is held up my magnets, folds down.

to reveal a drawer.

pull out the wooden drawer, and we're getting onto familiar territory

disappointingly standard paper and an af-1 certificate

open up the paper and it's time for the big reveal...

what the what ?!

i love goooooooooollllllddddd !

these are fire !

oh... by the way, underneath the paper is a black velvet drawstring bag

with 08-08-08 stitched onto it using gold thread.

these shoes are a problem !

no matter what you think of these photos, trust me... these look even crazier

in real life. they are gold gold gold.

they are made from premium leather. mainly gold, but the sock liner

uses black glove leather

and the insole, black leather with gold laser etched pattern.

nice gold keychain

the mid panel, swoosh and toe box are in plain gold

the foxing, eye stay and tip are in gold leather with a laser etched black pattern.

they even have a gold leather wrap midsole which is complimented by black stitching and a black outsole.

the heel tabs are free from nike air and swoosh markings

and instead, they have two slightly different laser etched gold panels

black waxed laces with gold tips

gold dubres too

perfect !

the tongues are gold leather with black laser etching and black and gold tab

and that's about it.

i will wear these one day in the next couple of years.

maybe for a special occasion, like a wedding, birthday or some such event.

maybe i'll save them for when wales qualify for the world cup finals ?

or for when gerry buys a round of drinks ?

who knows when i'll wear them but i will wear them soon.

and on that day i will be bringing some serious heat to the streets of n7.

like a boss !