last tattoo of 2011

tried just putting this straight on Facebook but every time i do... the colours go all spazzy... so here ya go, just done.

happy new year y'all.

Nothin much

So i don't have much to blog about, but seeing as i don't have a computer at home, this may be the last post of the YEAR.... so.... i figured i may as well post some old toss just for blog's sake.

So firstly, i hope all o' y'all have a spiffy Christmas, huddled around fire places, drink in' ale, maybe a nice walk after you stuff your faces. all the usual niceties really.

too cute eh? found at www.cuteandweird.com

I also hope you all have a great new year. well, a great new years eve at least. 

so, yesterday i got a surprise phone call from none other than Mr Jay Parker who was up in London for the day, so shot down to Central and went to The Crown for some proper bitter and cider. Had a little catch up, and he informed me of the convict sat with him who had just been released from prison for being a drug mule and had her sentence shortened from 4 or 5 years to only 2 and a half. 

She must been pleased to be home for the holidays.

So after Jay toddled off back to Kent, i rang a few mates to see who was where. Went to the The Richard Steele for a few bevies, where i noticed they had bats hanging from the ceiling, and i thought to myself "Layla would love this!"

The ladies toilet had an amazing painting of the Queen Mother... looking like a zombie. (told you it was amazing. the likeness was UNCANNY)

So, we didn't stay long as a group of obnoxious men kept barging into me, and not apologising, leaving their only friend with manners apologising on their behalf... which was a little awkward.

Rory really loved his pint glass, and kept reminding me to remind him to take it when we left. He went to the toilet, i shoved it in my bag, and when he returned i did my best 

"OH shit, i totally forgot u wanted that glass. The barman just collected it :("

He's my next customer, and he'll be very pleased when he sees it. hehe

So anyways, we left the Steele, and i got some chinese takeaway. I also got everyone fortune cookies...

"your mind is in a restless state which only travel will satisfy"

"your confusion of the past will disappear in a day or two."

"your talent will be acknowledged"

hmmm, we'll see.

anyways, found a lonesome christmas tree with a bench next to it, so sat down and we ate. 

then the tree tried to eat me....

true story.

so we walked past a few bars, and stole this poster (purely because our mate Julian works on the Tube)

so we ended up in the Monarch where they have a delightful array of taxidermy. festive taxidermy at the moment in fact!

and the most bizarre vending machines in the women's toilet....

AND big mirrors with ambient lighting that made us recreate Bohemian Rhapsody....

eventful.

anyways, rory is now here, so i better get back to work. did this earlier which was quick yet fun. 

anyways, the quicker i get done with work, the quicker we can all tuck into my cupcakes, exchange gifts, and i can head down the the 12 bar for a bit of K*NT and THE GANG.

shalom.

hurrah for the internet!

i found one quotes from the scented spectres talk that i found delightful.

Smells are surer than sounds or sights
To make your heart-strings crack—
They start those awful voices o’nights
That whisper, “Old man, come back!”

and HERE is a link to an interesting blog about smells. if you are interested. (you should be. nobody gets anywhere without a little curiosity and a healthy thirst for knowledge.)

catch-up not ketchup

so, this is where i try (operative word) to catch up on all the blogging i have not done up til now.

*deep breath*

ok, here goes....

So on Saturday everyone from Flamin' 8 got together for our annual shop Christmas party/get together/piss up.

We started off the evening at the studio where a few of us exchanged gifts (some people won't be here later this week). So here's a pic of what i got for Kirtsy...

Pretty rad. God bless Mitch O' Connell

So after a few drinks in the studio, we headed off to the roundhouse for La Soiree

It was really entertaining, and a little mind boggling at times which is never a bad thing.

this guy was awesome. he could dislocate everything.... and i mean everything. at one point he dislocated his shoulder and elbow and had his arm spinning round his head like a helicopter.

there was a male pole dancer who was so incredibly strong. he could lift himself off the ground horizontally using only his arms. it's hard to explain, but it was mental. never seen anything like it.

Ely tried to recreate it with the help of a bus stop later that eve.... not so well.

apologies for the darkness of my video. but it was dark. you really get a sense of the darkness we were experiencing. what a fabulous director i would make. quite the auteur i reckon.

So anyways, after the circus, we went for dinner at Belgo

they have a very interesting list of beers to purchase. i think between everyone we probably tried the lot.

the food was real good too. shame Lal decided to play with his meal before realising it was actually mine. must be the dementia setting in. 

(hey, i know how much he loves winding me up.... so take it on the chin)

i promise it looked more appetising before Lal had his way with it.

Anyways, i couldn't finish the meal so the waiter made some sort of dragon/swan creation with the leftover for Milo. Bless

i actually forgot to give him the chicken that night, and woke up at stupid o clock and suddenly remembered i had festering chicken in my bag. Got up and rushed to the living room where i found milo had beaten me to it, and managed to rip the tin foil into a million pieces. i was kinda expecting whatever came out the other end to look a little festive and glittery, but nothing. seems dogs don't like the taste of tin foil either. who knew.

the giant door knocker on the bathroom door left and imprint of a smiley face on the wall, so i had to get a photo of ely with it, after all, she is called ely "smyly"

speaking of smiley faces, this is my anti-masterpiece on Layla's car.

i should have anti-freezed a massive '?' on this vehicle...

ooooh, i also shoulda checked the other side to see if it read "south of ping pong" 

that woulda been cool.

So Sunday i met up with good ol' Simon for another epic roast. Sat in a nice pub next to a wood fire. splendid stuff.

Then we both cowboyed up and braved the crowds in Camden market in a desperate attempt to finish off our Christmas shopping. I managed. He didn't. He did make lists, and then go home and make a list in reference to his prior list. Organisation is key.

I wish i had a home big enough for a rocking pig. I love him....

Next door was a nicknack homeware shop. I left my mark. (oooh, wording. love the english language i do.)

got a few pompous unimpressed headshakes, but fuck it. 

lighten up

it's CHRISTMAS!

anyways the guys at the shop can't have minded too much, as i got this text the next day.... (has to be one of the best text messages i've ever had the pleasure of receiving)

Genius.

I bought a hand knitted badger from a Jamaican lady called Harry (the badger.... not the lady). That would be weird. "harry" isn't a traditional Jamaican name by any standards....

he's adorable.

also got this awesome pin badge!

and got my Mum an adorable present, but am too scared it'll break in the mail, so it'll have to wait til i see her next. i might cry when i give it to her. It's just so lovely.

So thats my weekend all blogged, just Monday and Tuesday to go. 

right, i'm having a smoke break. 

back 

in

2

shakes

of

a

lambs

tail

well, it's now a fair bit later than 2 shakes of a lambs tail, but y'all are none the wiser. i guess now i am officially in the future and you are in the past. fascinating stuff. oh, speaking of which, me and simon found a time machine on Sunday. i won't divulge where, but it's true. true story.

Anyways, Monday i went to an art history talk on "scented spectres and the smell of ghosts"

all very interesting, and we even had hand outs of different smells to heighten our senses. Layla came with me, and we ended up sharing a table with an old couple. The man seemed a little less than enthralled to be there, and the woman couldn't get enough of the scents. i swear she was wiping her nose on them. I won't be surprised if i now catch the flu.

some awesome slides of old scent bottle advertising...

our eclectic collection of various scents. (they are now in a zip lock bag hanging up in my living room.)

It was an interesting talk, about the Olfactory region of the brain which got compared to a haunted house in quite a charming metaphor. Cant quite remember what it was though.

should have taken notes. 

Anyways, Layla was kind enough to give me a lift home back through Muswell hill where i noticed their church does not have a Christmas tree. 

High Barnet church - 1

Muswell Hill church - 0

So yesterday was my day off, and i took it upon myself to do some festive cupcake baking. 

today i tattooed some nice script i sketched out yesterday whilst waiting for my cakes to cool. forgot to take a photo.... but here's my set up.

His sister got tattooed last week, and posting it totally slipped my mind... so here it is. 

i think that's one of the most delightful little pieces of script i've ever done.

yup. that's it for now.

i doubt anyone made it this far. that was quite a long post.

if u r reading this.... 

U R MY HERO!

Christmas Noir

So sorry in the delay of posting the pics.... i have all of a sudden been very busy at work. Anyways, i now have some free time so.... without further ado.... Here are the pics from the Haunted Christmas Noir exhibition on Friday.

(click images to go large)

was a good turn out by all accounts. Really nice mixture of artwork on display too, so something for everyone i'm sure.

So after some nibbles, some wine and some general chit chat with old friends and new, me and Al decided to do some head squeeze shots. (See, i photograph everything, and have retarded ideas, and Al is an amazing photographer, so between the 2 of us, we are a mean machine i tell ya!)

Much to my surprise, Shiraz had never seen the head squeeze thing. EVER. I didn't even realise that was possible. so more head squeezing commenced, as she had in insatiable thirst to suddenly catch up on a life time of missed out squeezed heads. bless.

the quality of head squeeze shots quickly deteriorated though...

Ah well. Nothing lasts forever... even in a zombie infested studio. Guess that's just life. Or death... or "undeath" or.... oh now this is getting deep.

back to the point at hand...

So then we moved on to posing with the decapitated model of Jo which was a little awesome to say the 

least!

i noticed when pulling all the images off my camera, (namely the ones that Al took. Well, ALL of the ones that Al took....) i have 3 or 4 of almost the same image. i could probably make a flip book of the evening that would play out pretty concisely. I won't. I did make a little 'photo booth version of the pic(s) i got with Andy though...

I also made Andy a Birthday card coz it was his birthday the day before the party.

So after the party.... there was (you guessed it) the "after party". 

By this point we had all had a fair bit to drink. i was dancing with a man who looked like he was made of rubber for a while which was... educational.

i also discovered what i would look like with a goatee....

was a really good night. 

til i missed 2 buses.

that was shitty.

hmph

P.S

Al Overdrive is part alien... i got video proof!