J'aime le Cyclisme

I was whoring around some blogs the other day, mainly bike ones, looking for ideas for a potential new fixed-wheel purchase, when I came across this. The Periodic Table of Professional Cycling. Covering all the key races, classifications, countries, durations, and all in an elemental style, this is excellent. It's kind of like a takeaway menu for cycling - something to feast on!

Grachvogel: Summer 2011

My knowledge of any Fashion Week related stuff is very, very limited. Bowie's song is playing in my mind, as I try and form some words that are remotely relevant to women's clothing. Probably not the best start-point?? Or maybe it is...

I have paid no particular attention to London Fashion Week. Period. I know it's relevance to the world of trends, looks, make-up, hair etc. How big chains like your Topshop's and H&M's basically reproduce imitation copies of catwalk gems. Whilst, apparently, London has become trendy again, as it's fashion week had been shunned by the big name critics from Vogue et al. over the past year or two, but has now fallen back into favour this September...

My personal interaction with this years Fashion Week came from an unlikely source... a tabloid newspaper. I don't know if Maria Grachvogel would be particularly jubilant for this kind of exposure. I am sensing her clientele is probably a bit more high-brow, but hey, any exposure is good exposure, right?!

According to LFW, Grachvogel is reported to be "a well loved label of all aficionados of fine design. Established in 1994 and shown for the first time at London Fashion Week in 1995, the Maria Grachvogel label is a secret of many of the world’s most stylish women including Angelina Jolie, Marie Helvin and Yasmin Le Bon".

For me, I really loved her show for Summer 2011. Half of it mixes an array of bland creams, soft browns, pale greys, and lemon yellows, in very clean-cut floaty dresses, skirts, high-waisted trousers, and loose-fitting tops.

The elements of block-brightness in her collection do shout Summer! A crazy statement I know, so I will apologise in advance, but I can envisage a lot of upper class French women, lunching, smoking, and drinking white wine on a vista in Monte-Carlo in these lovely garments. Real class and luxury.

The second part of her show presents a lovely abstract contrast. Again, long, floaty dresses are at the focal point, with clean silhouettes being the product of such styling. More thankfully too, it's not a distasteful kind of abstract.

Swirls and slanted verticals of dark navy, petrol blues, greens, yellows, and orange, all sound garish when mixed, but I would love to see a woman strolling through Madrid, high-Summer, big shades, simple make-up, straight hair, strappy Roman sandals, and one of these beautiful Grachvogel numbers!

Femininity is the winner here. Although some items might appear a little baggy (sack-like), this collection is very celebratory of the female form. The designers garments sit unobtrusively, draped comfortably whilst being very slinky, sexy, and thus highlighting the beauty of natural curvature. A lovely, Summery collection.

Mercurial in awarding

The Mercury Awards 2010. Yes, been and gone now, and rightly, The XX were deserved winners. Personally, I only believe that Foals and the aforementioned champs were the only allowable choices, if these awards are in fact, designed to celebrate musical prowess from the past 12 months. So, I was quite happy with the overall outcome, and therefore should have no reals gripes or moans... But, I do.

The Mercury's and legitimacy. What is it that makes these awards noteworthy compared to other similar events? For instance, the accolade and subsequent prize money is modest, and the acclaimed 'after-fame' is always quite realistic, with regards to enhanced record sale figures. I mean, I fully understand that this event promotes talent from home shores, but this alone is no real selling point, as most inventive, pioneering, modern acts/bands hail from/or filter through these embracingly, percolating shores, somewhat naturally. We, the public, openly lead ground-swells of support and adoration, which propel young careers along dandily.

I just get the impression that the Mercury's are merely staged to grant the BBC with a platform to annually puff out it's chest, giving egos, such as Nihal, the claim (and that claim only) that they know what they are talking about re: new, expansive, and exciting music, with both conviction and authority. I'm sorry, but this does not add up. Where are the likes of trusty Zane Lowe, who would provide total affirmation to the point of these awards. A man that only knows how to champion and encourage new music, likewise Annie Mac? And, if this was an all encompassing stage, then where are dance, electro, techno, or even... dupstep acts?? Having a token jazz or obvious rap act doesn't cover all bases. A more wholly look a music needs to be approached.

At least with NME Awards you know it will be light-hearted affair, or with Q Magazine that it is generally more respected and credible to be given the nod, as their awards shows have flourished into what they are. The BBC have opted to take this high-brow approach, but without any real evidence for their convictions! British Broadcasting does do a considerable amount to nurture new music on a global scale, which is great! Although, I think they need to take a look at how they try and reward such achievements, develop their platform, and come back stronger.

Outlook + Offset

Due to the shitness of life, it looks as though I will not be attending either of these tasty music mash-ups, as either finance, distance, time, or work dictates, as usual. What a shame, as both look stella!! Both festivals are set to boast huge talent; a saturated plethora of the most exciting new bands for the next 12 months!

Outlook (top). This one is big, mainly as my mates from the Get Low cartel have bagged themselves a spot DJ-ing their best dub-step fare! You wouldn't have thought the Croats would be heavily into there dirty notes, fast bpm, or heavy reverb, but Outlook has grown year on year, and for £89 for a 4-day ticket, well... Roots Manuva, Mary- Anne Hobbs, Skream, Joker, and Plastician are among the big names hitting this abandoned fort location!! Alas, it ain't happenin'

The other. Offset (bottom). Hainualt Forest, London. Man, I can't believe I didn't sort this out! Tickets are a saintly £65 for weekend camping. A more straight up festival vibe, i.e. no forts, more fields. The line-up is decent, with Caribou, Egyptian Hip-Hop, These New Puritans, Mount Kimbie, Ali Love, Rolo Tomassi, Telepathe, and Kap Bambino the cream of the crop (for me anyway!!) On the face of it, Offset seems more along the lines of the 24-hour Vice: Tales of the Jackalope events, and is most probably better organised (not hard to surpass!)

So, not going to either, but would love to go to both! I will probs just end up spending the weekend listening to Joy Orbison and Everything Everything.

Mark Tansey

I have just discovered Mark Tansey. From his work, instantly, I thought that there was more to him than first meets the eye. It's not just about intricacy in a monochromatic colour-scheme. With Tansey, his work is wonderfully intriguing, and hidden. Born in San Jose, California in 1949, his American/postmodern style is known not only for his bold uses of single colour, but also the elaboration and detail shown in his work, which subtly incorporates text, other images and symbols.

Tansey's paintings normally depict everyday or historical occurrences, though they reveal certain oddities under closer scrutinization. He says that his work is about "how different realities interact with each other." The implication is that he as an artist is searching for a "drive" to incorporate in his subjects, that would engage the viewer intellectually, while avoiding simple visual methods and opting for a more subtle and, consequently, more sophisticated and effective approach.

Most of his paintings can readily be used as examples of that approach, where at first glance nothing is out of ordinary, but then it becomes apparent that certain elements are out of context, while remaining coherent visually, thus creating the conflict. Furthermore, there are certainly instances where his work appears quite humorous and satirical, especially in these canvas'.

Jump Rope (US)

So, this video is being an utter bitch. I was always no good at understanding the writing of code to make my MySpace profile look cool, and this shows here, with a stupidly oversized video thingy!! Well, this video deserves to be included anywhere, regardless, as it's up there with Gondry's Fell In Love With A Girl video for The White Stripes, as a visual accompaniment to such a thumping track! (For further listening, check the Gold Dust, dub-pumped, Flux Pavillion remix too!)

Meanwhile, ever since first view of this excitable video, I've been rummaging all over YouTube for more crazy skipping experts, and my does it get mental! There are competitions that take place all over America, Europe, and the Rest of the World, that just look truly mad! The routines, the timing, the precision!! It's a travesty that this is something that hasn't come to prominence in Britain. Shame, as it makes a cracking spectical!! The double act towards the end of Fresh's vid are just mesmerizing!!

Let's go surfing now, everybody's learning how...

Luckily, I get to go on holiday tomorrow! Yay! Twice in a Summer isn't too shabby (especially with Offset Festival potentially looming to top off this holidaying season?!) For now, or should I say tomorrow, ma famille and I are heading off down to Newlyn, Cornwall. Among other things, this is the exact town of my mothers birth, so... nostalgic! And, whilst down, an activity of note includes coupling up with our cousins to tackle/meet our 92-year old G.D. (Great Grandad to you!) A double World War pilot/survivor! He's doing well for an old-timer, considering!

So, other than the mentioned 'necessary' activity, I'm sure more enthralling things will take prominence when discussing the holiday in retrospect. And, by this, I already know that having some proper surfing lessons will be a strong highlight!! These pictures (above) by World-renowned Surfer & Surf photographer, LeRoy Grannis encapsulate all that is majestic and cool RE: Surfing!! I've done all the body-board thing, and that's fun and all, but everyone wants to be able to surf! I can't wait! I can see a repeat trip if all goes well, as Sennen Surfing Centre looks the ideal place to learn the trade! Then, Bondi Beach, or Cali maybe?!