A week of debauchery…
At the beginning of May I went on a week long adventure which saw me in Leeds, London, Glasgow and of course my hometown of Sunderland.
The trip to Leeds was purely for Deathfest which was a rather enjoyable day out. Discovered a band there called Volition who I rather dig and also got to see Negura Bunget "Post Sol and Hupogrammos". Negura Bunget are still excellent, still atmospheric but there is a certain magic lacking since their departure. The new Negura Bunget album came out the other month and I'm patiently waiting for this limited edition box set to arrive from Transylvania. I'm a sucker for fancy packaging.
I went to London for a few days to essentially catch up with some friends and to finally see Hole, who I've been a huge fan of since I was about 15 years old. Lots of good food (I love Bodeans), lots of singing and lots of shiny new hair courtesy of Angel Emma (I got some camouflage coloured extensions put in amongst my normal hair). As you can see from the photo's I'm not a veggie any more either. I may explain why in a later post.
L to R: Me having a snout on Emma's patio, The warning sign in the Crobar and Gumbo in Bodean's, Soho.
L to R: Pulled & Burnt End Pork at Bodeans (Needless to say I couldn't move afterwards and I didn't finish it all - boooooo), Ms Courtney Love @ Brixton Academy and my first ever Krispy Kreme doughnut.
Later on in the same week I went up to Glasgow to see KISS with a friend and was blown away. Best gig of my life hahahahahha. Paul Stanley is the man. Check out the goofy video too (I never said I could sing either).
Awesome times.
Alexander McQueen.
Yesterday I found out that Lee McQueen had passed away. I thought I would share some of my favourite McQueen related image/videos in tribute.
Kate Moss Hologram for Alexander McQueen's Fall/Winter 2006 show.
I love these shoes. They remind me of Alien / The chicken bone gun in eXistenZ.
Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow in “Burning Down The House” by David La Chappelle.
Ey Up Lad…
Today is the 20th Birthday of Wallace and Gromit. This makes me feel very old. It only seems like yesterday that ‘A Grand Day Out’ first came out and I'll have been 10. Fast forward a few years later whilst at uni, I went to a guest lecture conducted by a nice lady from Aardman where I had the opportunity to meet Gromit (well one of the many models of him anyway). Good times. The 'Cracking Contraptions' are my favourite Wallace and Gromit animations, the best of which is "Shopper 13" in my opinion and my other favourite Aardman character is Angry Kid. A quick web search spat this out from last year which I think is fabulous and Google have also wished the two cheese lovers many happy returns too. I think I'll be getting my Niece this
Godspeed Harry Patch…
The last remaining survivor of WW1, Harry Patch passed away last month and is being buried today.
I'm currently watching the live stream of his memorial service and have also found out that Radiohead have released a song today dedicated to Harry Patch and his fallen comrades. You can buy it for £1 and all of the proceeds go to the Royal British Legion. I've also found this which shows that Harry Patch was also an Agony Uncle for FHM. I wish I could find some of the "centurions" columns.
Rest In Peace Harry Patch and Thank You.
"Any one of them could have been me. Millions of men came to fight in this war and I find it incredible that I am the only one left." - Harry Patch
RIP Jimmy Forsyth…
I've just found out that Jimmy Forsyth, a local photographer passed away a few days ago. I really like his work, purely because of the human elements in it. You can tell that this was somewhere that meant a lot to him. The surrounding streets and houses not only remind me a lot of where I live in Sunderland, but they also remind me of the film "Get Carter", which was set and shot in Newcastle as well. Below is a few of my favourite photos of Jimmy Forsyth' that I took from here.
- The New Coat
"Maureen Beveridge on the corner of Oak Street and Suffolk Street. Sometimes, I like to see my shadow. It shows that it was me that was taking the picture."
Park Road 1959.
"Angela Pearce, left, and Pat Norman in their Sunday best. I saw the seagull flying about and waited until it reached the middle, to make the picture better."
Bille Prendergast & Friend, 1957.
"Showing off their new brothel creepers in the back lane at 127 Sycamore Street. You can see they were pleased with themselves. They thought they were dressed quite posh."
29 July 1957
"He lived in Cambridge Street and used to go to sea. He asked me if I'd take a photograph for his two daughters as he knew he might not be there for ever."
Being productive…
I'm halfway through editing and uploading the backlog of gig photos which I was talking about in my last entry. The ones I've done so far are on Flickr if anyone is interested. I just have an all day Death Metal festival to go through when time allows and then I'll be up to date.
The Stitch & Bitch continues to go well too. I quite enjoy my Thursday evenings at Cafe Roco and I really didn't think that things would have turned out as well as what they have. The staff/owners of the cafe are lovely, the regulars who turn up each week are lovely too. There's no bitchiness (that I'm aware of) and there is a a good mixture of people who attend be it their ages, skill levels or backgrounds. I'm so glad it's finally here. It's still a relatively small group however so when I have time I'm probably going to knock up some posters advertising it and put them up at the local library, yarn shops etc. in attempts to get some new faces attending. My knitting as a result is improving I think as well. I'm currently knitting a hat for my soon to be nephew. A year ago I wouldn't have known where to start.
Finally this week I received a parcel from a friend in Japan which contained the much coveted Helvetica Moleskines. I'd been after these beauties for a while but I just couldn't find a way to order them in the UK and not being able to read kanji doesn't exactly help so I thought it was never meant to be until I asked my friend who happily obliged. Both Kaytea and her husband run their own business doing very unique hair extentions and wigs in Tokyo and come highly recommended.
I'm always writing/doodling in journals as this photo proves. I use them for everything, shopping lists, doodles, quotes, good random song's I've heard and want to remember, brain dumps, project ideas, collages, diary entries, you name it, it goes into a journal. I find it quite cathartic and although sometimes I may not touch one in weeks, when I finally do so I become a woman possessed. On average I fill around one each year, sometimes more, sometimes less and I always carry one with me just in case I have a few minutes to kill/get the urge. I also don't let anyone read them. I've considered burning them on a few occasions but I always bottle out in the end.
I’m trying to update more…
It's been a pretty fantastic week here at BurnBlack. On Tuesday I had my final assessment for my drawing module at uni and I found out that I've finally earned enough credits to pass my degree so that is University and I done with WOOOOOOOOO. I'm pretty pleased with myself. It's been a pretty rough ride for the majority of it but I've refused to back down and/or quit and the rewards are finally a coming. I already have some plans for the future so watch this space. I'm just so relieved that it's all finally done and dusted.
I've also been stumbling on a few cool bits and bobs on the old internet that I would like to share with you too.
* POLAROID IS SAVED??? - Personally I'm pretty chuffed. I've been on a mission ever since I heard that Polaroid film was no longer going to be made to buy as much of it as I could, whenever I could. It lives in the fridge, as does all of my other film.
* This "Wonderland Expedition Kit". I love Alice in Wonderland and this is awesome. The boyfriend who made this is a keeper that's for sure.
And finally:
* This video has had me in stitches. First of all the singing is really annoying and in my opinion pretty bad. Secondly why would Microsoft have a cleverly disguised MacBook Pro to advertise Songsmith during most of the commercial? Hell I'm not even sure if the commercial is real or not it seems that unbelievable.
I wonder if it comes with Grindcore or Death Metal modes.
Awwww…
I'm rather gutted. I used to love watching his art programs as a kid and thought Morph was great.
My condolances go to his family and friends.
Photoshopped Subway Ad’s…
I stumbled upon this just now and I must say I think it's awesome. My dissertation was on counter culture becoming consumer culture so anything related to this sparks my interest. It's probably one of the reasons I find the film "Josie and The Pussycats" so amusing.
Taken from Gizmodo.com
I've read magazines such as Adbusters etc. for years and they've really opened my eyes to the differences the Joe Bloggs and Jane Doe's of the world can make. If you find a copy on your travels I really do urge you to flick through it and even buy it if you can be bothered. It's a bit hit and miss as to how often I can buy it here in Sunderland however. I found issues in a random off license next to my parents house and thats it. The only other place I know I could buy it from is Borders but the nearest one to me again is in north tyneside.
One of my resolutions this year is that I'm trying to take part in "The 365 Project" which basically means that I have to "take a photo every day for the whole of 2009". So far it's acted like a visual diary for me. It's a good way to remember to carry my compact digital camera around with me everywhere I go as well (a habit I've tried to do for ages).
In other news, I've been busy so far this year being ill, drawing and doing some freelance work. No rest for the wicked. I also no longer work at Triplesix but I'm still getting inked there a plenty. I was lucky enough to get a tattoo appointment with Xam in March when he comes up here to do a guest spot (it's probably going to be the only "traditional" style tattoo I'll ever own) so I'm looking forward to that even though I haven't enjoyed the healing process that comes alongside getting leg tattoos at all. It's been that bad I've started to take daily zinc supplements as well as my usual muItivitamins in attempts to get my body to heal quicker. I must be crazy.
On a final note I hope Steve Jobs gets well soon. Bless his cottons.
Bling…
I'm a huge fan of Vivienne Westwood. Unfortunatley for me my bank balance isn't but I still try and get the odd bit here and there whenever something *really* catches my eye and I have the cash. In general I'm not that big a jewellery wearer. I wear my knuckle duster pendant more or less every day and that's it, not including the jewellery in my body piercings.
Anyway today whilst checking my email I saw this and I want it. Badly.
It's £190 for a 1GB stick but you can wear it around your neck as well. How's that for designer geek?
Hello.
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