A new PB..!

Only 2 weeks and counting till our wedding….! So a perfect time to get in a bit of fishing (whilst I still can)

Freddie and myself took ourselves off to the brilliant fishery at Bury Hill in Dorking where I smashed my personal best tench record with this stunning fish of 5lbs 6oz.

Absolutely delighted!

This fella also put up a great fight on light tackle…

Zabludowicz Collection @ 176…

Me and the Missus (to be, 5 weeks and counting…?!) went to a brilliant little free gallery on the weekend… Founded in 1995 the 176 Zabludwicz Collection is a privately funded contemporary art gallery which focuses on emerging artists on a global level and from the late 20th and 21st century.

The space itself is in a old Methodist church, built in 1867, has been sympathetically transformed into a very untraditional gallery/exhibition space which works really well by not being too gallery like.

The current collection is called ‘In The Library of Babel’ which was a short stort about a library which is so vast it becomes a universe containing all possibilities of books with a system in place that has a structure but no one knows what it is or how to navigate it…

It sounds messy but it works leaving the beholder the opportunity to see connections in the art and to think about their own response to it.

Highlights for me were evil cats and retrobot…

If you are in the Kentish Town/Chalk Farm area this collection is a must see… Free art is the future.

DJ Mamy Rock…

Ruth Flowers a 69 year old grandmother from England is taking uber cool Parisian nightclubs by storm… Not a sentence I ever thought I’d put together but one I’ve got to say I’m fairly impresssed with.

After attending one of her Grandsons parties Ruth was inspired to take up Djing after feeling the music and energy.

‘I went in, and the noise, it was very noisy, the lights were flashing, but there was an awful lot of energy and real enjoyment of the music and the dancing so I thought, ‘I like this.’

“I love to see the kids enjoy themselves. So I thought, ‘I could do that, I could do that for the kids’, you know?”

Respect to her, I bet Annie Nightingales gutted though…!

www.mamyrock.com/

Pathe Films…

Founded in 1896, Pathe was one of the first media companies and eventually became the largest film equipment and production company in the world… Recording over 3500 hours of footage at 90,000 different events, Pathe has now digitised that footage (!?!) and thrown it’s doors open to public viewing.

I love history so I find these fascinating, I really could watch them all day.

Highlights so far: Tuna fishing in Sicily .

The 1957 FA Cup final at Wembley between Man U and Aston Villa (When the surface was decent) Villa winning 2-1! Also in the Man U dressing room room after the 1963 final win

The Rolling Stones free concert in Hyde park… Spot your mum?

Some of the commentary is legendary also… Check it.

Jimmie Martin furniture…

I’ve just discovered these amazing furniture designers called Jimme Martin who make classic furniture styles with modern, contemporary twist… They call it upcycling?

They started their designs by accident when as students when they couldn’t afford any decent furniture so they  bought old furniture, spray painted it modern colours and added there own little touches to it. Then when moving one day they were carrying a piece down the street and a guy on the street spotted the furniture and paid cash for it there and then! The rest as they say is history…

Love it, definatley want to own a piece or two when Dani and I eventually find a nest of our own…

Saatchi Gallery…

Dani and I went to the Saatchi Gallery last week for the first time and I have to say we were mightily impressed… First off the space is lovely all white walled, light and glass reflecting everywhere. Secondly it’s free, I’ve a thing about galleries and museums charging to the public, these places and spaces should be for the masses not just for those who can afford it.

Currently showing is an exhibition called ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ which is a showcase of modern, contemporary artists from India, alot of which we didn’t really understand but was thought provoking, other work we were totally blown away by.

The highlight of the whole gallery for Dani and I though was in the basement by London based artist Richard Wilson… If you can imagine a room which has had it’s floor coated in thick black oil which is highly reflective so bounces back the refection of the ceiling to give this double height illusion. Then imagine a channel walkway cutting through that space in what appears to be mid air…?! As I said it blew us away, The photo doesn’t really do it justice so go see it while you can.

Hubble…

The Hubble Space Telescope project is almost 40 years old with the actual telescope having been in space for over 20 years… Now, after a recent re-servicing the old space dog is beaming back to earth images of the galaxy with more definition, detail and colour than ever before.

These are all genuine Hubble photographs…

Utterly incredible aren’t they… I find it hard to believe after looking at these photographs that we’re the only thing in this Universe.

Interestingly… Anyone can apply to get some time looking through the telescope, apparently there’s a bit of a waiting list though!?

More Hubble pictures here…

Rupes is 40…!!!

The first of many soldiers (in my world) to fall to the 40’s is my good friend Rupert Potts who on Wednesday officially made it over the hill… Happy Birthday Potty.

Dani and I went up to the Cotswolds to his country retreat to surprise him and had a lovely lunch with him and his partner Ziggy in a restaurant called The Kingham Plough which turned out good, quality british food served a la carte (with an a la carte price to match!) Many thanks Ziggs xx

After dinner we went on a walk which could have posssibly been the muddiest walk I’ve ever experienced…

Here’s Rupes carrying Ziggs (who wore Uggs)  over some such mud…

Phoenix @ the Roundhouse…

We went to a fantastic gig at the Roundhouse last night to give thanks to our good friends Suzi and Rich for helping us out with our wedding…

Phoenix from Versailles, Paris are an very cool band who’s music I’ve never actually bought but who’s tunes I do know. Phoenix are one of those bands who have kinda slipped through the net in terms of buying but have always been on the radar. Their sound is kind of a alternative synth pop/rock sound, a cross between Air, Cassius, Erlend Oye and the Strokes, I’ve always heard really great things about them their albums and their live work.

This is a classic example of their sound:

Overall a top gig at a a top venue just a shame about the company… Haaaaa!!

Has Spring Sprung..?

After leading my team to a 4-0 win over FC Lonsdale on Sunday Dani and I had a lovely spring like walk to Primrose Hill, Regents canal then onto Camden.

View from the top of Primrose looking out onto the mighty London town.

A house that backs onto the canal had a cow grazing in one of its balconies..?

Then onto Camden where it seems Banksy is getting some flack over his street cred by team Robbo… “Did you think it was over?”

Man it’s been a long winter… Roll on the spring/summer.