Art. You Can Have The Money And My Heart To

This painting actually won an award, actually a National award.....i know surprising. It started off with a bunch of money I had left over from a trip to Brazil. I just thought I'd use the money in an apt painting. For some people money and material things are more important than life, love, friendship etc etc.
Happy New Year.

Art. Band

Our band could be your life.
This band was so, so cool. So uber cool, no one knew of them, so cool they were never photographed. I painted their band media shot. So, so cool that they needed no name.

Art. I See Through You

Words.

Art. Statement

I love words, I love people who can use words to describe and express. I can't write to save my life. This painting is just my words and I painted them mainly for the fact that if I spoke them, I'd just mumble and end up having to repeat them and then their impact is lost.
I painted this after a night out with a group of people and as always I came home alone. The main thing about this was a did it out of frustration and drunkenness. I drew the straight lines on the canvas and just wrote exactly what I felt at 4am.

Art. Boy In The Corner

This was as close to a self portrait I have ever come to doing. It was not a great time in my life and the words across the board are random questions and statements I was asking myself at the time. Alot of them were over written numerous times, to the point were it is unreadable in parts. I guess 'cos I was questioning myself alot. I wish I was good with words and expressing myself.

Art. Graphite Man

I took this canvas out of a skip and I painted over it with a mix of black and purple. It stayed that way for ages, then one day I was going out on a date and I turned up to take the woman out and she decided she didn't want to go. I was kinda livid, normally I'm just told, 'no chance' when I ask for the date, I've learnt to accept that.
Anyway, I went home and this is what I came up with. It's graphite stick man with a painted white shattered heart. Perhaps it's a subconscious self portrait from that day?

Art. Half of Half of Half

This was probably the first painting that I produced. I didn't have a clue how to paint, let alone what to paint so I thought I'd keep it simple and just have a bit of fun experimenting with colour and do a simple shape.
Eventually, I started it and after a night of just painting the canvas a bunch of times and streaking it with contrasting colour while one layer was still wet. I just enjoying this process but had no idea what to do next. I ended up masking out the square shape and sort of worked out a pattern that was sort of half of it's shape multiplied.
I did a whole series of painting like these and gave them to friends but for some reason I'm incredibly fond of this piece. Perhaps because it was my first, the simplicity or just the slab of colours?

Art. I Forget How Big I'am and Garden animals

It's been a while since I put any 'art' on here so I will put some up over the next few days and weeks. Whoop!
I've often been drawing and creating animals and creatures. It's pretty fun taking fave animals and blending them. This is just a plain Elephant, no strangeness to him.
The Giraffes are a bit strange with their markings.
The garden animals are made from spare bits of wood but they do have a bit of strageness to them.

Big Ed's leaked photo

That's just how I roll. I haven't seen or heard from the enigma that is Big Ed and then out of the blue he work's his magic. Lovin' yer!

Hell Of A Weener

Last year I made the Hell-o-Weener flapjack. This year I was asked to create another Halloween treat.
This is what happens with some spare time and my idle hands.
Chocolate, sponge and marshmallow make the, 'Hell of a Weener' cake.

Red Bull Minidrome

Victoria Baths in Manchester is a fantastic venue. Architecture and heritage blend together to make a brilliant viewing gallery for any event that will fit inside the walls of the empty pool. The Red Bull Minidrome was a perfect size for the pool. It looks so awkward, almost impossible to ride which I guess is why the last few riders in the finals all seemed to be sponsored by Red Bull and all seemed well used to riding the tight track.

Mike Watt

Mike Watt is the reason I've been flyin' the flannel for the last 20 years.
Firehose. Minutemen.......Our band could be your life.
He lives in Pedro. He works the thud staff. He jams econo.

Rapha Super Cross

The Rapha Super Cross Series was just looking like a great idea. Promoted and hyped in a way that was corporate enough for the Rapha brand yet, left enough to still appeal to riders instead of fashionistas.
Windermere was a beautiful setting, especially in the glorious sun. The crowds had turned out, the 400 free Rouleur cowbells rang out, the Duvel beer and Frites were at hand. It did have an extra special feel to the event. The course was pretty technical in parts, thick, sticky mud, roots, a few climbs and hurdles enough to give the am's and pro's a few problems. 153 riders took to the start of the Senior race before the Elite Race.
It was great seeing the pros attack the course at a speed most riders could only dream of. Nick Craig and Paul Oldham both suffered early mechanicals yet still killed it on the course.
Fantastic day riding, Fantastic spectating.

Hard Times

I've used these never been worn Vans 438's as my spare change money boxes. They were full so needed to be weighed in at the supermarket. Right shoe came in at £26.66. Left shoe came in at £29.22.

Inadequate runners. Update.

Update for Team Sano. I didn't win the marathon but I did manage to do it without walking. 4 hours 33 minutes.

The BMX man

Two weeks ago it was insanely hot weather. My first cyclo-cross race of the season was in Manchester and with the temp at 29degrees it was basically an off road crit. As usual I only got my shit together at the last minute and never packed my bibshorts and top. This didn't really bother me cos I normally ride in my Levi's, but it did make me stand out from the skinsuits and lycra. As the laps went by some kids in the pits spotted my United t-shirt and started shouting for 'the BMX man'.

Inadequate runners

I'm doing the Liverpool Marathon on 9th October. Eight weeks ago I had to buy myself some new pumps to run in. I bought some Mizuno Wave Riders based on the funky sounding name which was as good a reason as any to me.
There is nothing fun about running long distances and the state of me after doing an 18 mile run doesn't fill me with confidence for doing 26 miles.

Julian & John, Belle & Sebastian

This is how I'm rollin' at the mo. Under the influence of Anti-hero and Scottish indie pop. The touring bars with a sweep in them are helping my neck out when I'm ridin'

Liverpool has no dress code

I love a character, someone who is treading their own path even if it is in 5inch heels. This dude is prove not everyone in Liverpool wears a trackie or North Face.

Gentlemans Pistols

Listen to the Gent's. Go and see the Gent's. Amazin'

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!!!

Another week, another over the top gig. Scream for me Manchester, Scream for me! Iron Maiden. It was everything that I hoped for and expected. The Trooper, Number Of The Beast, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Running Free, lights, action, a 15 foot tall, guitar playing Eddie The Ed and a 30 foot Final Frontier Eddie. As stupid as they are brilliant, classic metal, dads and their lads rockin' together.

Dean Hearne and Purple Aki

This is Dean Hearne. He once had a ponytail, for which there is no reasonable excuse and he once won the Urban Games Dirt Jumping Contest, which he informs me, was technically the European Dirt Jumping Championship so that therefore made him the European Dirt jumping Champion. His next major achievement was getting last place, (the wooden spoon) in two consecutive Backyard Jams. He would have attempted what in extreme television terms they call a 'threepeat' but they stopped having those Jams.
Dean is testament to the highs and lows of BMX contest riding. He was at Rampworx in Liverpool for the first time in years with the Animal bikes crew. It was cool catching up with him, laughing, drinking tea and talking about scallies, his new Fairdale single speed bike, his favourite yoga position and his personal fitness trainer and his regime of lunges and exercises which easily brought us onto the subject of Purple Aki.
Dean had never heard of the legend that is Purple Aki. Luckily, Ben Lewis was able to drop some knowledge and confirm the infamous, bogeyman status of Mr Arobieke, a man so feared that a Crown Court Judge described him as the living embodiment of an urban myth, a real live Candyman. If you've never heard of or seen Purple Aki then I urge you to look him up on Wikipedia, You tube, Facebook or Images etc,etc.
I think Dean will be checking out who is watching him next time he is doing lunges just incase he ever hears the words, 'you look like you workout.'

Birkenhead Park. Yani. Wet

Sunday was a wet, wet, wet day. It was also the Birkenhead Park Crit so I went to see Yani race. Chris Boardmans dad was driving the lead car around the course. It was a grim day that was more like a late October day rather than a summer July day. The conditions were sketchy on the standing water surface and there was a big crash taking out about 8 riders which required an ambulance to attend. Yani was at the front of the pack alot and actually pulled the pack around for a few laps before blowing up at the end. Yani is a beast.

Flaming Lips 2

Flaming Lips

I went to see The Flaming Lips play a gig at Jodrell Bank, I'm not a big fan of theirs but figured it would be a very unique gig and using the huge Lovell Telescope as a backdrop projection screen just seemed an amazing idea.
It was a very sunny day which melted into a warm, clear night and Wayne Coyne spoke before the gig about how stoked he was to playing in that location. It was a great show, big space ball, lights, lazers, huge hands, huge balloons and a fucking huge telescope.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt

Not a good week at the office for some. I'm not a computer nerd so I bet this link hasn't worked, if you got the computer skills to pay the bills then you work it out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2011/jul/11/tourde-france-2011-crashes#/?picture=376709842&index=14

It's way further than a mile. Adequate Swimmers.

A few months ago my friend from work, Sarah, entered us into a swimming race called The Dee Mile, which is abit of a lie since it is over 2000metres long. It takes place in the River Dee at Chester and the finishline is the suspension bridge.
After a few months of training we were ready for the race. That didn't really matter in the end as I messed up our chances of actually making it to the startline. You had to register no later than 6pm, then you had a 30 minute walk to the start which was at 7pm. What with me titting about on our way there we arrived in Chester so late that it meant Sarah had to jump out of my car and run to register us. Our pal, Debbie followed in her car, the only parking spaces we could find was on the main High Street. Next thing you know we're having to get changed into our wetsuits in shop doorways, obviously getting weird looks from shoppers and OAP's on their way to Bingo.
So we are very late now and we are having to run to the startline. As the three of us are running, a lady walking her fawn coloured, pug dog, trips and takes a heavy fall. We can't rush past her, so we go to her assistance. As she's laying on the floor, she lifts her head up and a blonde wig slides off her head onto the floor, were the pug instantly attacked the wig. It was a near perfect colour match, you couldn't tell were the wig started and the dog ended. Debbie wrestled the wig from the dog and as discreetly as you can do such a thing, handed the wig back to the lady, while I helped get her to sit on a bench.
It was a bit of trippy scene and I'm sure the lady was a bit freaked out as to why people were wearing wetsuits. Anyway, we were the last to make it to the startline but we weren't the last out the water. We swam like silky otters.