Thursday 30 April 2009

Alabama Chrome

I'm off to see this guy play tonight...



You may know Jim White from him being your guide through the 2004 BBC documentary Searching for the wrong eyed Jesus or from me waxing lyrical about him in months gone by. Have a listen here and if you like what you hear do some investigative searching yourself...

Wednesday 29 April 2009

Nolanski 45

As a youth it's standard for your friends to be fairly useless. Lateness, forgetfulness, laziness are all par for the course. While we were busy wasting our free mornings in bed or in front of the television before an afternoon skate somehow materialised, all sorts of things were going on behind the door of one of our good friends.
I'd usually be proud of myself having got to Johns house before midday, that sense of accomplishment would be dashed when I saw what he had done that morning. Here are a few things which have greeted my eyes. One morning the kitchen was covered in bike parts, John was building a Vespa from scratch. Another morning "come and look at this!" The dining room was now a cinema theatre, Taxi Driver was projected onto the wall. The day a full size goal had been built in the back garden was funny too. Johns curiosity and drive to create coupled with his motivation and an early fascination with Meccano found him in the business he is in now...



Fresh back from his work on Where The Wild Things Are John has recently set up a site to showcase his work. See his Show Reel and what he has been up to here...


http://www.johnnolanfilms.com/animatronics/

Good work! Speaking of good work, when Rob isn't busy doctoring photos he tends to turn his attention towards Jackson. When Jackson wasn't here early doors this morning an advert was quickly placed for a replacement...



Needless to say it was cylindrically filed in no time. Not before Alley cam got there though.

Tuesday 28 April 2009

Static 4

Josh told me he's planning to visit London town this Summer with electrified paddles hoping to shock some life back into the 4th installment of his Static videos. If you regularly frequent the store I'm sure you'll catch him in here on a pit stop. We received a good care package from the man himself first thing this morning. Always nice to get post...



Along with the newest stickers from Josh's Theories Of Atlantis site...



It contained shirts for us...



The shirt on the left is one of the newest with Lee Harvey Oswald on it. Yes Josh! Stoked. Much of the Slam family is newly clothed already. This message goes out to Jensen, HHHHHHarmon, Charlie, Joey, Snowy and Magee. New Theories clobber awaits you on your next visit. If you want to see what Josh has been up to or you too want to own one of these shirts visit his site here...

http://www.theoriesofatlantis.com/blog/?p=600

Josh can look forward to being surrounded by the high speed production with which Robs pen assaults our surroundings. Recently he's turned one of Static 2's focal points Kenny Reed into a burglar...



and aged the man on taxi cab doors all over town Nugget on the back of Tobys Suburban Bliss newspaper...



He's given him a kind of Elton John look. Nugget is newly mobile, cycling around as we speak.

Monday 27 April 2009

Curses



As Edson rightly said in a text message earlier "thwarted by the gods" Be sure to check Edsons new blog which I imagine was the result of todays inclement weather-every cloud and all that. Look to your right, scroll down the extended family list and click on Persian Rugs. The remedy for my day inside...

Sunday 26 April 2009

Where was Nifton?

He didn't show to back Smithy this afternoon but crew were here regardless. Lev hosted the days events along with Martin as celebrity guest judge. He managed to tear himself away from the crooked spire and took Slugger on tour for the weekend. That camera of his captured some gems you'll get to see in the future..



Smithy should have maybe chosen a better place to sit whilst programming his game plan into his phone...



My wobbly hand caught the game of skate camera man as always Ches...



While Ches was outside behind the lens filming was going on inside as well. Sunday is a hive of industry. These guys were filming for a Seven Dials shoot...



Marshall dropped in a missing swing tag for us. The fourth piece was Massey drawn by Fos just after joining us from a hectic Starbucks regime..



Another card which was found in here is up for grabs or if the rightful owner is keen to be reunited with it drop us a line. It's a good one..



Finally another shot from Dr wobbly hand. Graham visited us with gifts. It's nice to be appreciated...



Here's a picture of the man himself on a nice day out in Dartford...



Thanks Graham

Saturday 25 April 2009

"I'll just find out son"

That's a Luigi sound byte for you. The helpful chap alerted me to a golden youtube clip this morning. If you are familiar with the novel Everything Is Illuminated you will understand my terminology when I say it is very rigid for me to describe it. If you haven't read it and would like to this is what it looks like..



The link between this novel and the Katy Perry cover you are about to enjoy is the Ukraine..



Hope that entertained you. Sale of the day was this fun looking rig Dan assembled early this afternoon...



Those amongst you with keen observation skills may have enjoyed a sneak peek of the Hops love nest. Love nest BGP's. Happy sunny Saturday rambling in the woods.

Friday 24 April 2009

Got any stickers?

For a long time the answer would be no. Not any more though, check out these new flavour pieces for your board/wall/phone/fridge. New stickers, new colours...



The Alley has been neglected a little, this is partly due to frequent Mile End visits. If you visit us this weekend you'll find new Penfield, a new Nike SB, plenty of Landscape and our friendly faces. The shop pod has been on shuffle all day. Every time a track off this album showed up today I have been stoked. A forgotten favourite...



Enjoy the Weekend. Hopefully a more substantial post will be a part of it.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Overheard

Whilst enjoying a night cap after a day of amusement in my local with old friends I heard something I'm still smiling about now. The Arsenal-Liverpool game score updates were visible in the corner of the pub. In between serving myself and my friend Joel the barman ducked round the corner to check the progress of the match. Excitedly he returned with news "It's 4-4!" he exclaimed. Propping up the bar and in all seriousness a punter asked "who to?" "You couldn't write the script!' was Joels response. Funny stuff. What do I have for you today apart from this anecdote? In amongst our hardware order that arrived the other day were some hidden gems. Have a look..



Promoting healthy lifestyles as always, get your money melons, ash tray and bottle openers here. Rob directed my attention to this clip linked from the Sidewalk message board. Figuring that some of you out there reading this may not frequent the message boards I felt it my duty to share this bike madness with you. Up a tree?..

Tuesday 21 April 2009

"Let the game begin"

Begin it did today..



Based on the Saw film phenomenon the new ride at Thorpe park is impressive to say the least. It is made more appealing in that a lot of the action is out of view. Riding it for the first time was great knowing hidden screams were round the corner. First time around we ended up with front row seats too-gunshot! If you fancy a beyond vertical drop of 100 degrees from 100 ft this is the place to go. I told Seth my body was a temple once and he told me it was a funfair-it really was today. We put ourselves through the paces. Aiming to spend most of the seven hours upside down we did admirably.

Sunday 19 April 2009

Eyes peeled..

..The new Blueprint graphics are set to drop..



and I can't wait for this..



upside down in the middle of the week is a good place to be.

Saturday 18 April 2009

Here's a free lesson

I'm sure you've all been rinsing the Kalis part in Mind Field...



If you haven't picked the dvd up yet you should we have some in stock still. Magee is right when he says this guy has never put out a bad part. One part you may not have seen but should appeared in the R.B Umali production Peep This. It contains one of the best kickflips ever filmed. I'm sure a lot of copies of this video are a bit flecky nowadays from pausing the catch..



Get those kickflips out. Have a good weekend

The Wire nerd stuff

Guess who buys his griptape in Slam?..



That's right kids, council man Tommy Carcetti knows where to go for hardware when he's away from the streets of Baltimore.

Thursday 16 April 2009

Howling rain

The weather forced much loved room tidying today. Mail which arrived this morning made this quite pleasurable. One of my favourite hip hop albums is back in my possession. Don't go lending out those tape cassettes kids-can you believe we used to spend over a tenner on tapes years ago? Anyhow Sarratoga ave representin'...



This led my thought processes to giving this a play out..



and now I've gone this far you may as well have the rest of my afternoon in music..





Nothing new I'm afraid, oops nearly forgot this which was actually the day starter pre Smoothe..



Nineties.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Gear grinding

Who grinds your gears? This classic Seth question I shall answer for you. The answer is not one person either it is many. The Metro newspaper was part of my daily routine for a while, I'd pick one up when I saw one but I could take it or leave it. My happiness in no way hinged on it greeting me every day at the station, music and books were my entertainment of choice. Over night two new free publications entered my sphere. I'm sure you are acquainted with The London Paper and the London Lite. The disclaimer comes at this stage in my rant. I quite like picking these up every now and again and they have saved some battery low journeys in the past for sure. This is not aimed at the papers themselves in any way but notice that in that last sentence it was picking them up that I quite liked.
Finding them on the train which is a given anyway requires nothing of you, they are more enticing that way. Picking it up becomes your idea. Maybe I'll read the paper-choice. The free paper epidemic comes with a price however and it seems that the people distributing these pages are trying to take my choice away until today I felt I was left with none. Every time I travel home at rush hour I curse myself for forgetting how bad it is. I'm claiming mild Agorophobia as it is. Key to traveling at this time is predicting gaps in the sea of moving bodies at the stations mouth. Today I felt I was doing well, Dan and I had weaved our way through Leicester Square madness, throngs of theatre goers and outdoor pub folk. Shortly after this we encountered the first nuisance. This is my gripe. One particular London Lite busybody positions himself cunningly on a corner I have to round each time I wish to travel home at a respectable hour. The man is not there providing a service, he is a murder weapon away from being an assailant. First up the thrust, this I counter by sidestepping but the dance begins. Paper and distributor move a step into my space, they are the free news blockade. Frustrated always at this point I hold a hand up. Step off, no free news for me buddy. Tempted to take the paper as it is the only known hassle off switch I resist knowing it will only carry on once I pass. If only this were an isolated incident, I have been accosted everywhere. The ladies of the night in Barcelona are less pushy than these people.
Bad start but hinderance over we progress to the station. We avoid the street level paper vendor and make it inside, this is when it happens. Minutes away from my train I step onto the concourse and there it is- a rolled up newspaper brandished at my chest like a sword. Again the side step but he counters like the last one and tries once more to seal this deal, one try too many. My Michael Douglas moment! "AAaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhh!" I let out this war cry at the top of my lungs. Time to stop this menace. "Thwump!" I bring my right hand down hard on the folded up paper knocking it clean out of his hands and on to the floor. My position low from this successful hit I bring the left hand up fast jumping up with it. The dragon punch sends the rest of his immediate ammo skywards. Bewildered, papers all around him he watches in shock as I walk up to his stack of annoyance. One swift kick a foot above the base of the pile sends them tumbling all over the floor. Mission accomplished the peoples champion hops through the barriers and onto a crammed train littered with his work.
This didn't really happen. Some of it did. The annoyance did for sure, it was enough for me to picture doing this and for the thought to amuse me. This was the antidote so maybe it could work for you. Next time a paper is wielded at you by a man next to a full stack this is your fight pattern. Low five, up above, side kick. Headline reads "Vigilante three move combo incapacitates street pest" Picture this to get by or go out and do it, you'll be doing us all a favour.

Life beats down and crushes the soul..

..and art reminds you that you have one. That anonymous quote rings true. Quite often I'll find myself feeling weathered at the end of a long day and a glance at a forgotten moment in time will bring a smile to my face. Pizzers good humour in the face of adversity litters my surroundings..



I found this stuck to the bottom of something the other day. It is one of my own creations from when I first started here..



I photographed this to lead into showing you what this post is really orchestrated around. Resident artist of all types Rob has a high creative output. Yesterday a lot of things were modified. I'll show you a couple, one has to be saved for a concept he has for a show. With the loving assistance of Stuart Hammond Nick Jensen got a superfly makeover in this Blueprint ad..



Rob has just joined Nick and his afro comb in BCN, hope the weather reports are wrong as is usually the case. Rob left expecting four days of showers. After Nick had a going over Rob turned his attention to Silas Baxter Neal and made him really go to war with this flat bar..



The shadow is my favourite bit. I'll be sad when my board is done this time round. My rig this time round houses the best sticker I've ever owned..



A beagle, can you believe it? Yeah dogs!

Tuesday 14 April 2009

"I'm a Max, get it, Max i'm a..

..Max-ima, well come along" Top boy Max Price from New York..



.. sent Rob a good package today. Some of its contents like todays headline had a Shaolin theme. Namely these pictures from a day out on the Isle of Staten..



See pictured switch backside tail sliders Polaroid progress here..

http://www.robmathieson.blogspot.com

Here's another..



Along with the photos were some shirts he made. I'm now the proud owner of a shirt commemorating the life of "the cigarette lady" This was someone Max would see on the streets on the regular..



Thanks for the gifts Max

The PZA

I traded in the streets for the country as much as possible this past week. Chris Pulman has been enjoying the countryside with the family too. Here's the opposite, some extra street action..



Viva le Piz!

Sunday 12 April 2009

Saturday 11 April 2009

Charlie don't surf

He bloody does..



He's catching waves in Cornwall as we speak. Ash is getting tubular too. This weather may not be ideal for shredding but it may spice up the water for them. Nick dropped by yesterday, he's test driving one of the new Slam boards for us..



Have you ever wondered why your sandwich occasionally comes back from a Luigi errand without the required sauce? I have, it's because they don't understand what he has asked for..



Grace, Jonny L and myself went on a skate park reconnaissance mission yesterday. Weather meant rolling around was not on the menu. Seeking some kind of thrill I rolled down the wet roll in on my feet. Expecting a grippy controlled slide I took some weight of my feet. This resulted in a Mr Wilson woop de woop to barrel roll into a puddle. Minutes later Jon had a straight Mr Wilson to flat on his back attempting a slide on a bank. Any which way to get those endorphins flowing in our current climate. This apres slam shocker nearly crippled my weekend..



The salad cart is good but not that good. Keep your eyes peeled for the Easter Beagle tomorrow.

Friday 10 April 2009

Week in Pictures

These following images are things I have enjoyed this week. The good news is they've re-surfaced my road outside. It happened in no time. I'm looking forward to rolling down it later on..