J & C's place

....Last week Cli invited us over to dinner. A lovely dinner it was too, but an even more lovely flat. Apologies for piss poor photos courtesy of my mobile.

Wild Thing....

....Remember the classic children's book, Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak?



Well, Spike Jonze has got a hold of it and turned it in to, what looks like, a fantastical and visual spectacle. I can't wait.

A little bit quick!...

....So Usain Bolt just went and smashed the 100m World Record again - 9.58secs. Erm, incredible.
Also incredible, 4 minutes after the end of the race, a poor quality clip was posted on youtube:

Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton....

....The latest show at the Whitechapel, of the same name, is a curious one. As in, I'm curious to know how they ever came to grace the walls of such an acclaimed gallery.


Liam Gallagher

Peyton is a contemporary artist, who paints portraits of famous people and those that have influenced her. Sure, some of her small, intimate paintings are arresting - using luminous colours where flatter tones would normally appear. But I can't help but feel that it is the subject matter that has taken her to such dizzy heights, rather than her painting ability. At first I thought that she was a music scene schmoozer, mixing with the likes of Liam Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker and Kurt Cobain......but in fact she hasn't met any of them. Their portraits are created not from personal sittings, but cuttings from newspapers. I think I drew these types of wishful portraits when I was seven.


Not a musician, but David Hockney

For me there is nothing new here. No 'new news', as we say in advertising. There is a small amount of interesting mark making and use of colour, and lots of average portraits of average musicians. But hey, the Whitechapel is free!

Face Paint....

....Alicia's mum, Wendy, has got back in to painting recently. Here's one example - a young Morgan, (Alicia's brother), in all his cheeky glory. Great stuff.



UPDATE!
As I posted this, Wendy happened to ring me and we got chatting about an updated version of Morgan, with more tone. Alongside that, she's also completed portraits of Audrey Hepburn, George Orwell and Alicia with a late-nineties fringe(!) I'm rather liking the simplistic, monochromatic style.

Socialist & Exhibitionist....

....I managed to mix culture and company very well this weekend. Starting on Friday at the Smithfield Tavern, friends gathered at the launch night of Shing A Ling, where Red is one of the DJs.



It ended up being a late one, culminating in 9 friends in a Volvo estate, several loaves of free bread and an involuntary snooze amongst company!




To make myself feel better, I dragged myself along to some galleries yesterday. I started at the Wellcome Collection, to see Exquisite Bodies. A small but perfectly formed collection of anatomical wax models that blur the line between education and fairground horror. Lovely.



I visited two more exhibitions showcasing illustrator cum designers: Anthony Burrill at Kemistry Gallery and Richard Hogg at Concrete Hermit. Neither seemed to have a great deal on show, but what there was I quite liked - Hogg's humorous prints tickled me, whereas Burrill's were more simplistic, using acid colours to shake them up.


Burrill


Hogg


Later on, the vulture followed the culture as I joined friends, (all formerly of Newcastle), for dinner to belatedly celebrate Robin's birthday. We went to Little Bay - a frequent haunt of mine and although good, new owners, (I suspect), and an altered menu, took a little getting used to!

Ed's birthday dinner....

....Mr. Hoadley, work & TBC colleague and some time rugby aficionado, turns 25 tomorrow. He celebrated with dinner for a paltry 30 people. Ida, in Queens Park was the spot, and good it was too. Cheers.


The spot.


Ed & Jim Hoadley with Joe.


Tucking in.


Popping out - a homemade birthday card of some pedigree.

No smoking....

The beautiful and the 'Dam....

....Of course I refer to Alicia and I as the beautiful. Hmmm. This weekend I saw 'Lic for the first time since she left for her 6 month internship in Eindhoven. Despite flying in to that city, we made straight for Amsterdam, where Caz had kindly given us her flat for the weekend. Despite the Euro crippling our wallets, we had a great time - basking in very un-Dutch sunshine, gawping at the 'Pink Parade', (it was Gay Pride) and eating & drinking 'til we could no more. A photo slideshow at the bottom of the post, but a few highlights:


'Lic welcomed me in not-so-typical fashion, with a 3d name card. Genius.


Our not-so-trusty map.


Gay Pride in full swing.


2 women. One man. 3 identical Dutch perms. Nice.


'Lic inspects her gruesome burn.


Happy couple.


Ice cream heaven.

Burns, beards & kisses....

....I'm on my way to Holland.


My beard had officially grown over my lips. Time to trim ahead of visiting Lic.....at her command!


Lic sends over her burns courtesy of a jpg.


Real kisses guaranteed on arrival in to Eindhoven.

Socials....

....It seems like I have been a cultural hermit in the last few weeks or so. Which perhaps is true. So i've made up for it by being a social butterfly.

THE SCIENTISTS

Kat, Nisha, Ivvet and Alex, (below) accompanied me for
drinks near our old stomping ground, the Science Mueum.



LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER

Richie and Denners strike a pose in the Slaughtered Lamb



Phil & Bond follow suit

STAG DO

Familiar faces at the Stag's Head



Lynn & Joss laugh it off

Body Shop....

....The Wellcome Collection hosts yet another fascinating exhibition with the opening of 'Exquisite Bodies' on 30th July. In truth, there isn't a great deal exquisite on display as the forgotten history of the anatomical model is explored, with it's unique combination of serious science and fairground horror. Lifelike wax models, showcasing everything from the ravages of syphilis and disease to bearded ladies, remind us of a macabre Victorian obsession that featured in medical schools and curiosity cabinets alike. The best free freak show in town.

Match of the Day....

....Here's the final edit of the AMV Derby which I blogged about a few weeks back. Makes us look okay......I think!

AMV Derby from Roy Barker on Vimeo.

The power of Michael Jackson....

....Flashmobbing is the new cool thing. And Michael Jackson is le musique du choix. This makes my hair stand on end - and you just know there could easily be a million people taking part in a spontaneous dance to MJ.

Quoc Pham rolling on....

....His bicycle shoes are officially launched with this rather wonderful little film, directed by Bugsy & Ross.

Quoc Pham Bicycle Shoes Film from Roy Barker on Vimeo.

Precession....

....And then suddenly Goldman Close was filled with alloy wheeled metallic 4x4s. These cars appeared from nowhere - full of young Asian men, dressed quite smart, talking loud and taking photos. With music blaring they wanted everyone to see them.
I obliged with a completely lifeless film.

Flashback....

....Out of dad's birthday celebrations came photos from times gone by. I couldn't help but share them with you - for once his bow-tie nowhere to be seen, but still managing to retain every inch of his iconic style that I have copied ever since.


Sketching whilst on holiday and looking almost Hunter S Thompson-esque


A simply stunning black sandal / short shorts / red visor combination.


Cut to modern times and an opportunity to see exactly what I will look like in 32 years!

The greatest....

....Earlier today Roger Federer won an historic 15th Grand Slam title by beating Andy Roddick at Wimbledon. At just 27 he has won the most Slams and is already widely considered the greatest ever tennis player. I have to agree, but can only wonder at what his final tally may be!

Dad's 60th....

....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Family and friends gathered in Nottingham to help celebrate dad turning 60. We had a fantastic dinner on the river at Tom Browns restaurant, whilst on Sunday we barbequed in the sun of Nana's garden.


Dad opens presents


Dinner at Tom Browns


BBQ


Cake cutter

The full photo reel is here too:

TBC team pursuit....

....As the incredible weather remained over London, TBC decided upon a team pursuit on Friday evening. Regent Park's Inner Circle was to be our velodrome and Chris, Ed, Liam, Giles, Quoc and myself were the competitors.



We split in to 2 teams of three and completed 5 laps of the 1km circle. It was more more intense and physically demanding than we expected, but massively fun too. Chris, Ed and Liam ran out winners with a team time of 8m 24s, a lead of 11 seconds. Team pursuit mark II will not be too far round the corner I'm sure.

Inside Nature's Giants....

....The first in this series aired on Monday, with the autopsy of an elephant. Rather than just employing shock tactics, this programme was genuinely insightful, educational and as a result truly absorbing. The basic premise is that by dissecting some of the worlds largest animals we can discover their evolutionary secrets. I advise you to catch the next installment, when a fin whale gets the treatment whilst washed up on shore. Heck, even the oft acerbic Charlie Brooker likes it!

Alicia rings in....

....'Lic is in Eindhoven and online, so we took advantage with a Skype call.