like a bus

i saw this in the window of a nespresso store on sunday

a double decker bus made from nespresso capsules.

not bad !

converse x stüssy elm ls

ok i had no idea what these were called until somebody from converse told me.

as you can see from the post title, they are called 

converse x stüssy elm ls

 they are absolutely fantastic.

amazing quality and great details.

the black leather is a real buttersoft affair

and the insides are kind of suede-ey

they have the stüssy tag debossed into the outer flank of both shoes

slightly padded ankles too. very nice.

the traditional converse patch on the back of the midsole

( all in capitals... grrr ! )

what do you call this lace set-up ?

kind of like hiking boots eh ?

the laces are round waxed efforts. red with black flecks

and here you can see the soft leather and a few perforations at the toe

great insoles with these bad boys

you can't beat a bit of camo

converse all star tab on the tongues

decent long padded tongues too.

and on the inside

a converse tag, but nowhere to write the player's name.

hmmm...

oh, these also come with a spare pair of laces

black with red flecks ( waxed )

but i'm staying with the red laces while i'm...

bringing heat to the streets of n7

project padlock

hmmm...

how many more rusty chinese padlocks do i have ?

maybe another eight or so i'm afraid.

terrapin's head

at whitfield towers there are two gardens.

in one of them, there's a pond.

look who i saw in the pond yesterday...

mr turtle.

or is it mr terrapin ?

yeah... turtles are the big things right ?

oh i don't know... maybe i should google it.

( pause while i open up another window )

i just did...

www.totallytortoise.com/tortoise-turtle-terrapin.html

in n7 it's mr terrapin

but for those of you in north america or australia... i don't care !

it's my blog and the little chap is in london n7 england.

he's a terrapin

project padlock

hmmm... a chinese padlock with english writing

very poor.

self-portrait in tn31

tn31 

i know... tn31... quite a road-trip.

it turned out that tn31 was a very nice little town and i was on fine form

after the long-ish drive having spotted a few decent places to grab some

bites to eat and having taken the very last place in the car park.

after spending maybe 30 minutes or so taking photos for a magazine,

i took a coffee break and posed up for a self-portrait.

i like the look of this room.

it's dark... like my soul.

for those of you who are interested, the panelling is elizabethan and has been 

certified by the english heritage.

for those of you who are interested my polo shirt and shorts are by a bathing ape

and my pose shows i have some welsh heritage.

berry tart

i think i showed you this before but i just found this alternate view

in my blog folder.

a berry tart thing i bought at fernandez and wells recently.

and now for a spot prize competition type thing.

i will give a few little chinese books that i bought in shanghai recently to

whoever can give me the correct answer to the question.

as you may know, i'm a bit of an expert on health and medicine.

what do i always say berries are good for ?

good luck.

something i bought that i think i need but i probably don't

the other week i did my traditional duck into bape after a coffee in soho.

i bought something that i think is real quality. it's a very well made thing

and i reckon it's something that will come in handy.

i think it's something i really need

( i'll keep in in my jam jar )

1

can you guess what it is yet ?

2

how about now ?

3

hmmm... nice details. a nylon draw-string bag with a name tag stitched onto it.

4

this is what's inside the bag.

once again, really decent details. another name tag and an ape head tag

do you know what it is yet ?

5

hmmm... 

how about now ?

do you know what it is now ?

6

quality

7

come on... now you know what it is.

8

ok, it's a micro chair and here are the instructions.

even an ape can assemble the chair by the look of things.

9

and so can i.

so there you have it. a bathing ape camping stool ( or micro chair if you're japanese )

it's something i think i'll really need...

... but i probably won't

project padlock

oh yes

another beauty from my trip to china

i like

no real story here.

i'm just aware that a lot of this blog recently has been me showing things that

i've bought or things i've been given.

that's not what it's all about really is it ?

i started this blog because i'm a photographer and i wanted to show you

photos i take when i'm not working, or photos i've taken that i like but 

the chances are you won't get to see in print.

here's a photo i took a couple of weeks ago. 

i was supposed to be shooting some wide interiors but i thought this place setting 

looked very nice without seeing anything else around it.

er... that's it.

tomorrow i'll show you some trainers i bought that i don't need.

project padlock

chinese padlock number six

whistle whistle click click

skill

a couple of weeks ago i was left home alone.

only one meal is acceptable in these situations.

skill

easy

the other day, i had a shoot in a kitchen and i got to see the chefs making

these little dim sum things.

it looked easy.

so i had a go.

it wasn't easy.

project padlock

chinese padlock number 5

only another eleven to go.

nike air force 1 rosie's dry goods

the postman delivered to whitfield towers last week

standard af-1 box

and the reveal...

what do you think ? 

they look a bit sinister don't they ?

they're called 'rosie's dry goods' editions

they come fitted with very nice dubres. i haven't seen any like this before

they have a leather insert... not bad








the tip, the eye stay and the mid panel are constructed from a black leather
with a 3m croc print on it. mainly the shoes look all black, but when you get
the reflections right the croc pattern kicks out.

the toe box is in a soft black leather with 'rosie's dry goods' printed onto it in 3m








soft black leather on the foxing, heel tab and strip

and a nice detail is the basketball replacing the nike air and swoosh








another decent detail is the insole

no idea what it's about. some sort of patterned rose ?
to be honest i've no idea what 'rosie's dry goods' is all about either.
any ideas ?
i guess the rose is to do with rosie's but i really don't know anything about these.








they are quality things though. the leather is really soft.
it kind of reminds me of an eames lounger... that type of leather.

the laces are black and waxed and they have the heavy metal silver tips...
the proper ones with the screw-on ends.








these bad boys have a black leather wrap midsole

with a strange red and black outsole. maybe you can see in this pic but the outsole
is kind of vicious. the black edges seem extra long and sharp... a bit like the sole
on the af-1 duck boots.








here's a look at the underneath of these shoes

hmmm...
i'll be honest with you. these feel amazing. the leather is top notch. they have lots of
good details and all that but... i'm not totally convinced.








however, they feel good on and i'm sure i'll get used to them

bringing heat to the streets of n7

owl

do you like owls ?

i do.

i bought this paper-cut owl effort from shanghai.

do you want to see my owl collection ?

ok... i only asked.

project padlock

what ?

yes, i really am going to show you a padlock per day for the next couple of weeks.

they were all taken in when i was in china and i like them very much.

self-portrait in sw13

sw13

that's right.

south of the river.

south of the river.

that's right.

i'm too upset to tell you the details of what i'm wearing !

chopsticks

are you any good with chopsticks ?

i'm not.

project padlock

padlock number 3

you beauty !

on my coffee table this week

which reminds me... i really need to pop over and see my friend magnus 

in his new studio. ( magnus designed my coffee table by the way )

and on my coffee table this week...

a dvd, a cd and a book

dvd: gentleman broncos

by the director of 'napoleon dynamite' ( one of my favourite ever films )

and nacho libre ( which i liked bits of )

this film is rubbish.

i don't recommend it.

i watched maybe 30 minutes then switched it off.

book: ?

i've no idea what the book is called. i bought it in china.
and the reason i bought it... i liked the cover.
( that's how i buy most of my books )

i thought it would look good on my coffee table and also it's an interesting
little book to flick through while having an espresso and a shortbread biscuit.








cd: bobby womack - the bravest man in the universe

to me this seems like music very similar to 'endtroducing' by dj shadow,
or maybe the first u.n.k.l.e. album and then bobby womack comes in and
sings over the top of it.

i recommend this album very much.

if you don't believe me, just head to youtube and type in 'dayglo reflection'
it's a duet from the album with lana del rey.

or listen to the title track.

trust me on this one. it's the perfect album for the beautiful summer of 2012

what ?