Dec 9
Prints again
07/12/09 22:21
It’s that time... Get your
orders in for Crimbo. 19th Dec is last date so get a shift on and
bag some lovely work for your wall. (Tip - An A3 panoramic print
will fit in an Ikea “Ribba” frame designed for 3
regular photos. Cut the mount board to fit and voila.)
Link is HERE. Enjoy.
On the subject of regular posts here are some 365 rejects from recent times. Sometimes I think that the rejects are almost better in some respects but then again if they were that much better they’d have made the cut in the first place. Judge for yourself. Might put the best of 365 in a little Blurb book if anyone’s interested. Or I might just put in the whole lot, depends if anyone is interested other than me...
Did someone say screwface? here’s the track - you’ll look the same if you turn up the volume to 11.
Anyway. Chat soon. Big love.
RB
Link is HERE. Enjoy.
On the subject of regular posts here are some 365 rejects from recent times. Sometimes I think that the rejects are almost better in some respects but then again if they were that much better they’d have made the cut in the first place. Judge for yourself. Might put the best of 365 in a little Blurb book if anyone’s interested. Or I might just put in the whole lot, depends if anyone is interested other than me...
Did someone say screwface? here’s the track - you’ll look the same if you turn up the volume to 11.
Anyway. Chat soon. Big love.
RB
Long awaited?
02/12/09 12:32
Probably not but anyway, big big delay
in the news update. I definitely cannot call myself a serial
blogger at this rate. My big apologies - I always hate seeing sites
which aren't updated on the regular. Will try to be better. It's a
bit like typing up my bills - easier little and often rather than
leaving them to pile up. There's so much has happened since I last
wrote here - will have to look back though a lot of photos to
remember.
I'd get a cuppa at this point. Sitting comfortably? Here goes...
Spent most of a week in the company of Mr J Wilson who was very inspirational in getting us out of the house on any mode of transport with wheels. Rode pretty much every bike in the stable and then some. You really appreciate a city when you have someone to show it off to. The weather was great, stockwell was great, photos in the back garden were also great. (In other Joe + bike news, he pased his full test recently and is on his way to being inducted into Corpses From Hell MG. Unlike the Angels, you don't have to crap your pants and not wash for a week. But we'll think of something.) Had a very impromptu mini housewarming at no10. There were some notable absentees but since people turned up about 2 hours after I thought they would, I was good and wobbly and it all passed in a very enjoyable, colorful, cake, bike, beer and friend filled way. Lovely. Should really sort out a Christmas one soon. Hate the C word in November but you know - the way things are going this might be that last post you get before then...
I headed north with Adrian green to work on a Speedo job. We met Liam "50m backstroke WR" Tancock and Rebecca "two golds" Adlington who were both the most normal, nice people you could hope to meet; except that they stood about a foot taller than everyone else anywhere. massive. That evening in Nottingham, we had probably one of the best curries I've ever had in my whole life. Yes, that's a bold claim but alongside Ganapati in Peckham, 4550 miles from Delhi was absolutely miles ahead anything I've ever had on Brick Lane. Epic. Seriously. I met Dr Pete & Sister Hannah after for a drink but could hardly fit anything else in my belly. So good. Oh I also played on a golf simulator that evening and ended up 21 shots over on 3 holes. Not the sport for me - fun though.
The weekend after we went to New York. Someone said Londoners have more in common with people from New York than people from Yorkshire. I can tell you that is bullshit. People are so friendly there it reminded me of home. Strangers will come up to you in the street if you have your map out and ask if you're lost. You'll get advice and conversations when you didn't know you needed them or expect them. It's great. When was the last time someone talked to you on the tube and you didn't think it was weird? After a long flight with some brilliant films (you have to check out The Hangover and Moon - both so good, but very different) we landed with a rather green Fera and made our way to the Big Apple. The pair of us reach the point where we need food immediatly and can't make a decision very quickly. Very frustrating but in New York there is a lot of food - everywhere. We had an enormous sandwich, massive milkshake and then headed uptown to meet DC. We walked round riverside park then to a diner (at half past midnight on a Sunday) for another milkshake and waffles. What a great start. Was great to see DC again. His apartment has a stud wall which is the envy of many of his peers. Try telling them it's just some 2x4's, plasterboard and paint; they love it aparrently. The next day was spent trying to find the High Line (which we found a few days later - it wasn't hidden, we were just a bit rubbish). It's great - an old section of elevated railway which has been turned into a green path through part of the city. It's like the old line that ran through Shoreditch except with better views, more plants and lots of benches made out of old sleepers. There's also a tall hotel spanning the tracks and apparently if you're staying there you have to shag at the window so people on the walk can see! We didn't know this before by the way - and we didn't see any action although a couple of windows high up were a bit greasy. very very funny. Another thing we didn't see was B&H photo (a big camera shop - probably the best in the world). This is pretty much the main reason I wanted to go to new York since I've known about it which was when I first started photography. It's run by orthodox jews and unbeknownst to us it was sukkot, the 'feast of booths'. Closed - for the whole week. Gutted doesn't come close but I had no money anyway, don't need another camera and to be honest, I was happy enough with the burger from the Starlight diner across the road instead. You had to laugh. We did find the Magnolia bakery later though which was full of girls pretending they were in Sex and the City. Don't tell Fera but the iced tea was grim. Oh yeah, we saw Matt damon round the corner. He was very orange. It took literally every ounce of self restraint in my body not to shout out "MATT DAAAMON" at the top of my lungs. I'll bet he's almost never heard that before. A visit to the Ground Zero memorial site made us cry. It's not a very nice place at all and since the economy has changed the area is a ghost town. Literally like the City on a Sunday. It's obviously busy at the site but the other streets are silent. Very weird. That evening we watched probably my favorite film ever and realised that the station which has a fairly big part in the film was the one we'd been using all day! If you haven't seen The Warriors, I suggest you leave this and head to the video shop and find a copy. Seriously - amazing. We'd walked through the park where they fight the Baseball Furies and Ajax gets caught by the cops the night before! I was so excited. It sounds lame but that was one of my highlights. Brilliant.
We went up the Rocker-feller building, found a certain burrito restaurant, did a bit of shopping and then got all of Dans bikes and went for a cycle round central park. He lives on the upper west side and it was literally a couple of blocks over to the park. Fera managed about 5 miles on his BMX which had a plastic seat and was at all kinds of funny angles. We found some dirt and had a 'skid off', chased roadies, looked at trees blown down in a huge storm the other week and had a blast. Another highlight. It's such a nice park - well built, well laid out and well clean. Riding next to massive skyscrapers at night, whilst in a park, is very surreal but highly recommended.
The next day we met up with Matt and Maaneli in our rather swanky hotel. We were presented with a beer and Sees candy before we'd sat down. Destined to be a good eve. $40 rounds stung a bit - you have to tip every drink in NYC. Dans friend wasn't served once in a bar because his mate before him forgot to tip on the previous round. It's out of hand! Still, they take the beer seriously there so there's a ton of choice. It's all good. We visited Staten Island. Everyone was up for it for the views of the Statue of Liberty but I really secretly wanted to go to the home of the Wu! Fera got teabagged by the Wall St Bull and we chatted to a guy selling cheap jewelry on the street. Apparently for a permit to work there you had to have done a service to the country. This guy had spent some years in the navy in Alaska but been all over the world before then; really interesting. Everyone has a story.
We nearly saw Shia l'Bouf filming Wall St 2 and then Will Farrel filming some other film with car chases and smashed up motorbikes. There was something going on round every corner. did i saw how freaking loud the place was? Everywhere we went on the island was so noisy it defies description. Car horns at all hours, trucks, shouting, trains, the works. Makes Brixton seem like Devon. At The Peculiar Pub they have 300 beers from all over the world. I managed to choose a cider by mistake. Noob. That eve we avoided Times Square tourist traps and were recommended a small Italian somewhere cool. The food, atmosphere, cliental etc were all top notch and right next door was a great bar which played amongst other things, the El Michaels Affair and the Jay-Z New York track. Perfect. Felt like we'd found somewhere which wasn't in a guide book and only the locals knew about. Not there's anything wrong with tourist stuff but it's great to escape it for an evening else it can feel like walking round Trafalgar Square on a weekend.
Whilst the others did some shopping, DC took me to Queens on the bicycles for a long mornings trail session. It was awesome. Granted he took me to the hardest spot first and I couldn't make it through the rhythm section very well but what are you going to do? The pump track was the best I've ever ridden right up to the point where it mangled my knee into the shape of a rugby ball. 6 weeks later it still hurts a bit! the downhill trails were so fun. Took a few psyche up runs and a couple of speed checks but given an afternoon there it'd be sorted. Flew accross the Atlantic to spend an afternoon in the woods which looked very similar to all the woods I've ever ridden in before! Brilliant day.
That evening we went for a pizza in achingly hip brooklyn. I'm definitly not cool enough to hang out there but I did find a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon so that's pretty hipster I've been told. The team headed off to the Empire State Building whilst DC and I got our rave on at a big chinese shopping mall. For real. Toddal T was in the house and I wore my "I love NY Sushi" t-shirt especially. We saw the big man but he said he's a fraction too young for that club. haha. Made me feel old. (Side note - turns out I'd shot him years ago at Sumo on Devonshire St as part of the Contributors project.)
It's actually been 'all go' since our return. Been busy ish which is always good. Met Grdon Ramsay who was dressed as the terminator, David James who was late as he was getting his hair done and Alexandra Burke who was lovely and made Jojo look very cool by remembering who he was from her Marie Claire shoot. Davina Macall loved "Owner of a lonely heart" by Yes and we had a little dance. I drove a Yamaha R1 and a 500BHP Audi within a day of each other - bit fast. We discovered a burrito restaurant which is comparable to Chipotle which means it's good enough for us. So tasty. The 550 has been sold - bit sad to see it go and was haggled down a lot but bills can now be paid and there's a bit of space. Or at least there was until James brought his Laverda up from Devon for us to clean up / fix up / ride a lot. It's amazing - proper old 70's cafe racer so watch this space for any updates... Also managed to build up my kebab shopper - got a frame off max for a tenner and have now built a coaster brake single speed for trips to the takeaway. `What a beauty. Looking for a wine box and a rack for the front so it's a little more practical but other than that it's very nice. Oh yeah - shot a load of very cool bicycles in my kitchen for Death Spray Custom. Check out his site. Hankering after a Honda Spazio / Helix / CN250 after seeing his. Bit like Akiras bike... very retro. Was lucky enough to drive one on the day of the shoot and it's unbelievable amounts of fun - for a scooter. Just got in from a job near Bluewater (Amy Winehouses's dad - very random) and was soaked to the skin on the A2 on the way down. Still a better option than a car but so cold and so wet. As daft as those skirts on scooters look, I think they might be onto something...
So November in a nutshell - vehicles, bicycles, punctures in the rain, fireworks, work, collaborations, burritos, exhibitions, green tea, old faces, new places, weak 365, meetings, shoots, grubby hands, cold toes, bit of a beard, music videos, maple syrup, scalextric, short days, big winds and not enough beer. That's a big nutshell.
There won't be a 365 next year but I'll endeavor to keep this bit updated a little more regularly with '365' esc photos as one a day sometimes seems a bit much. There have been some gems I'd have missed if I wasn't carrying my photo box with me all days so it's not all bad.
Finally I've had to sit on this for ages but I met the Prince of Darkness in the bathroom of a suite at The Dorchester. For real. Thanks a MILLION to Sam Jones for the photo and Heat mag for having some daft ideas. So happy with this one.
Big love
RB
I'd get a cuppa at this point. Sitting comfortably? Here goes...
Spent most of a week in the company of Mr J Wilson who was very inspirational in getting us out of the house on any mode of transport with wheels. Rode pretty much every bike in the stable and then some. You really appreciate a city when you have someone to show it off to. The weather was great, stockwell was great, photos in the back garden were also great. (In other Joe + bike news, he pased his full test recently and is on his way to being inducted into Corpses From Hell MG. Unlike the Angels, you don't have to crap your pants and not wash for a week. But we'll think of something.) Had a very impromptu mini housewarming at no10. There were some notable absentees but since people turned up about 2 hours after I thought they would, I was good and wobbly and it all passed in a very enjoyable, colorful, cake, bike, beer and friend filled way. Lovely. Should really sort out a Christmas one soon. Hate the C word in November but you know - the way things are going this might be that last post you get before then...
I headed north with Adrian green to work on a Speedo job. We met Liam "50m backstroke WR" Tancock and Rebecca "two golds" Adlington who were both the most normal, nice people you could hope to meet; except that they stood about a foot taller than everyone else anywhere. massive. That evening in Nottingham, we had probably one of the best curries I've ever had in my whole life. Yes, that's a bold claim but alongside Ganapati in Peckham, 4550 miles from Delhi was absolutely miles ahead anything I've ever had on Brick Lane. Epic. Seriously. I met Dr Pete & Sister Hannah after for a drink but could hardly fit anything else in my belly. So good. Oh I also played on a golf simulator that evening and ended up 21 shots over on 3 holes. Not the sport for me - fun though.
The weekend after we went to New York. Someone said Londoners have more in common with people from New York than people from Yorkshire. I can tell you that is bullshit. People are so friendly there it reminded me of home. Strangers will come up to you in the street if you have your map out and ask if you're lost. You'll get advice and conversations when you didn't know you needed them or expect them. It's great. When was the last time someone talked to you on the tube and you didn't think it was weird? After a long flight with some brilliant films (you have to check out The Hangover and Moon - both so good, but very different) we landed with a rather green Fera and made our way to the Big Apple. The pair of us reach the point where we need food immediatly and can't make a decision very quickly. Very frustrating but in New York there is a lot of food - everywhere. We had an enormous sandwich, massive milkshake and then headed uptown to meet DC. We walked round riverside park then to a diner (at half past midnight on a Sunday) for another milkshake and waffles. What a great start. Was great to see DC again. His apartment has a stud wall which is the envy of many of his peers. Try telling them it's just some 2x4's, plasterboard and paint; they love it aparrently. The next day was spent trying to find the High Line (which we found a few days later - it wasn't hidden, we were just a bit rubbish). It's great - an old section of elevated railway which has been turned into a green path through part of the city. It's like the old line that ran through Shoreditch except with better views, more plants and lots of benches made out of old sleepers. There's also a tall hotel spanning the tracks and apparently if you're staying there you have to shag at the window so people on the walk can see! We didn't know this before by the way - and we didn't see any action although a couple of windows high up were a bit greasy. very very funny. Another thing we didn't see was B&H photo (a big camera shop - probably the best in the world). This is pretty much the main reason I wanted to go to new York since I've known about it which was when I first started photography. It's run by orthodox jews and unbeknownst to us it was sukkot, the 'feast of booths'. Closed - for the whole week. Gutted doesn't come close but I had no money anyway, don't need another camera and to be honest, I was happy enough with the burger from the Starlight diner across the road instead. You had to laugh. We did find the Magnolia bakery later though which was full of girls pretending they were in Sex and the City. Don't tell Fera but the iced tea was grim. Oh yeah, we saw Matt damon round the corner. He was very orange. It took literally every ounce of self restraint in my body not to shout out "MATT DAAAMON" at the top of my lungs. I'll bet he's almost never heard that before. A visit to the Ground Zero memorial site made us cry. It's not a very nice place at all and since the economy has changed the area is a ghost town. Literally like the City on a Sunday. It's obviously busy at the site but the other streets are silent. Very weird. That evening we watched probably my favorite film ever and realised that the station which has a fairly big part in the film was the one we'd been using all day! If you haven't seen The Warriors, I suggest you leave this and head to the video shop and find a copy. Seriously - amazing. We'd walked through the park where they fight the Baseball Furies and Ajax gets caught by the cops the night before! I was so excited. It sounds lame but that was one of my highlights. Brilliant.
We went up the Rocker-feller building, found a certain burrito restaurant, did a bit of shopping and then got all of Dans bikes and went for a cycle round central park. He lives on the upper west side and it was literally a couple of blocks over to the park. Fera managed about 5 miles on his BMX which had a plastic seat and was at all kinds of funny angles. We found some dirt and had a 'skid off', chased roadies, looked at trees blown down in a huge storm the other week and had a blast. Another highlight. It's such a nice park - well built, well laid out and well clean. Riding next to massive skyscrapers at night, whilst in a park, is very surreal but highly recommended.
The next day we met up with Matt and Maaneli in our rather swanky hotel. We were presented with a beer and Sees candy before we'd sat down. Destined to be a good eve. $40 rounds stung a bit - you have to tip every drink in NYC. Dans friend wasn't served once in a bar because his mate before him forgot to tip on the previous round. It's out of hand! Still, they take the beer seriously there so there's a ton of choice. It's all good. We visited Staten Island. Everyone was up for it for the views of the Statue of Liberty but I really secretly wanted to go to the home of the Wu! Fera got teabagged by the Wall St Bull and we chatted to a guy selling cheap jewelry on the street. Apparently for a permit to work there you had to have done a service to the country. This guy had spent some years in the navy in Alaska but been all over the world before then; really interesting. Everyone has a story.
We nearly saw Shia l'Bouf filming Wall St 2 and then Will Farrel filming some other film with car chases and smashed up motorbikes. There was something going on round every corner. did i saw how freaking loud the place was? Everywhere we went on the island was so noisy it defies description. Car horns at all hours, trucks, shouting, trains, the works. Makes Brixton seem like Devon. At The Peculiar Pub they have 300 beers from all over the world. I managed to choose a cider by mistake. Noob. That eve we avoided Times Square tourist traps and were recommended a small Italian somewhere cool. The food, atmosphere, cliental etc were all top notch and right next door was a great bar which played amongst other things, the El Michaels Affair and the Jay-Z New York track. Perfect. Felt like we'd found somewhere which wasn't in a guide book and only the locals knew about. Not there's anything wrong with tourist stuff but it's great to escape it for an evening else it can feel like walking round Trafalgar Square on a weekend.
Whilst the others did some shopping, DC took me to Queens on the bicycles for a long mornings trail session. It was awesome. Granted he took me to the hardest spot first and I couldn't make it through the rhythm section very well but what are you going to do? The pump track was the best I've ever ridden right up to the point where it mangled my knee into the shape of a rugby ball. 6 weeks later it still hurts a bit! the downhill trails were so fun. Took a few psyche up runs and a couple of speed checks but given an afternoon there it'd be sorted. Flew accross the Atlantic to spend an afternoon in the woods which looked very similar to all the woods I've ever ridden in before! Brilliant day.
That evening we went for a pizza in achingly hip brooklyn. I'm definitly not cool enough to hang out there but I did find a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon so that's pretty hipster I've been told. The team headed off to the Empire State Building whilst DC and I got our rave on at a big chinese shopping mall. For real. Toddal T was in the house and I wore my "I love NY Sushi" t-shirt especially. We saw the big man but he said he's a fraction too young for that club. haha. Made me feel old. (Side note - turns out I'd shot him years ago at Sumo on Devonshire St as part of the Contributors project.)
MeanRed & GoodPeoples CMJ 2009: Meet Us In Chinatown from Adam Saewitz on Vimeo.
The drinks were either a huge can of Asahi or a zip-lock bag of redbull, vodka, a glowstick and a straw! The whole place smelt of prawn crackers and the lazers were reached for in a big way. All of a sudden I was back at the airport saying goodbye to the gang. Was an incredible trip. So happy to have ticked such an important place off the list - can't believe it's taken 27 years. Though I did decide on the plane that I was going to give up drinking for a month! All photos are here including the snazzy panoramics.It's actually been 'all go' since our return. Been busy ish which is always good. Met Grdon Ramsay who was dressed as the terminator, David James who was late as he was getting his hair done and Alexandra Burke who was lovely and made Jojo look very cool by remembering who he was from her Marie Claire shoot. Davina Macall loved "Owner of a lonely heart" by Yes and we had a little dance. I drove a Yamaha R1 and a 500BHP Audi within a day of each other - bit fast. We discovered a burrito restaurant which is comparable to Chipotle which means it's good enough for us. So tasty. The 550 has been sold - bit sad to see it go and was haggled down a lot but bills can now be paid and there's a bit of space. Or at least there was until James brought his Laverda up from Devon for us to clean up / fix up / ride a lot. It's amazing - proper old 70's cafe racer so watch this space for any updates... Also managed to build up my kebab shopper - got a frame off max for a tenner and have now built a coaster brake single speed for trips to the takeaway. `What a beauty. Looking for a wine box and a rack for the front so it's a little more practical but other than that it's very nice. Oh yeah - shot a load of very cool bicycles in my kitchen for Death Spray Custom. Check out his site. Hankering after a Honda Spazio / Helix / CN250 after seeing his. Bit like Akiras bike... very retro. Was lucky enough to drive one on the day of the shoot and it's unbelievable amounts of fun - for a scooter. Just got in from a job near Bluewater (Amy Winehouses's dad - very random) and was soaked to the skin on the A2 on the way down. Still a better option than a car but so cold and so wet. As daft as those skirts on scooters look, I think they might be onto something...
So November in a nutshell - vehicles, bicycles, punctures in the rain, fireworks, work, collaborations, burritos, exhibitions, green tea, old faces, new places, weak 365, meetings, shoots, grubby hands, cold toes, bit of a beard, music videos, maple syrup, scalextric, short days, big winds and not enough beer. That's a big nutshell.
There won't be a 365 next year but I'll endeavor to keep this bit updated a little more regularly with '365' esc photos as one a day sometimes seems a bit much. There have been some gems I'd have missed if I wasn't carrying my photo box with me all days so it's not all bad.
Finally I've had to sit on this for ages but I met the Prince of Darkness in the bathroom of a suite at The Dorchester. For real. Thanks a MILLION to Sam Jones for the photo and Heat mag for having some daft ideas. So happy with this one.
Big love
RB