WILD BEASTS.....GRRRRR

Wild Beasts are no doubt the best thing to come out of Kendal since Kendal Mint Cake. Hayden Thorpe's deliciously hypnotic and strangely eerie vocals are like nothing else. I find their new album Two Dancers the perfect antidote to a busy office, with Wild Beasts in my headphones I'm instantly transported to a chilled out summer meadow, the perfect head space to write some tricky copy or think concepts. The video's quite cool to. As soon as payday arrives I'll be booking my tickets to see them at Manchester Academy March 20th.

Hair em, Scare em

No this post isn’t about me forgetting to shave my legs. Much to my excitement, Hair ’em Scare ’em arrived for me on Friday. I saw it on Creative Review and thought it looked like it might have some brilliant inspiration between its pages. I wasn’t disappointed either. Hair ’em Scare ’em is as fantastic as it is weird. Presenting a captivating collection of graphic design, photography, illustration, art interior design, fashion and even jewellery design. If something’s hairy and cool, it’s in here. My personal favourite image is Florence the horse in the wig (Photogrpher Julian Wolkenstein).

Published by Gestalten

Edited by Robert Klanten, Matthias Hubner and Sven Ehmann

BOY A

Imprisoned by a horrendous cold, I spent all weekend glued to the sofa with a Kleenex in one hand and a hot Ribena in the other. The silver lining? I got to watch a lot of telly. I won't bore you with the mediocre...

I wasn’t keen on watching 'Boy A' to be honest. I knew it was based on a child criminal’s release from prison many years later, and I thought it’d be too upsetting. But I’m glad I did, as it’s a very tastefully done and thought-provoking piece of cinema. The film opens on Eric being handed a new pair of trainers and a new life by his mentor Terry. He is asked to choose a name ‘Jack’ and then released into Manchester to start living again. Jack has been in prison since he was about 11 and he’s now mid twenties. We watch him attend his first day at work, have his first kiss, first beer and first signs of happiness in years. However, Jack’s new life is marred by guilt for the heinous crime he committed as a child, and the film is interspersed with flashbacks from a troubled childhood and the events leading up to the crime. I didn’t expect this film to surprise and challenge me in the way it did. By forcing you to empathise with Jack on some level it questions your entire mindset on criminal behaviour and punishment.

I was going to post the trailer but it’s basically one big spoiler, so instead here’s the website.

http://www.boyamovie.info/

Touchy, touchy, touch screens all around.

Wow. It seems that, as soon as i get my head around one techy gadget the next one pops up. This little magic box is apparently 'an interactive projector that instantly transforms any flat surface into a touch screen. It frees multimedia content from the confines of the small screen, allowing users to interact with that content just as they do on their hand held devices – using multi-touch technology.' I don't know if it's that useful, but hey it's definately cool and beats carrying a bulky screen around i suppose. Have a little click on the link for a more techy description and video.
http://lightblueoptics.com/products/light-touch/

Have you ever wondered how the man who drives the snow plow drives to the snow plow?

My little snow covered Alfa reminded me of this vintage VW spot. It's simplicity and charm still shine despite the grainy picture, no wonder it won DDB New York a cannes gold in 1964.

Matthew Shave Fashion Photographer

We used London fashion photographer Matthew Shave for an Imperial Leather campaign last year. His work is so beautiful it has a surreal otherworldly quality, he's a thoroughly nice chap too. Check out his website it's full of visual treats.
www.matthewshave.com

NINE

Saw Rob Marshall's new film 'Nine' last night and absolutely loved it. Daniel Day Lewis plays Guido Contini an eccentric yet charismatic film director with a passion for the fairer sex. And who could blame him when he has Penelope Criuse, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard and Fergie to choose from! I usually find musicals a bit tedious, but Marshall manages to weave in the songs and choreography so flawlessly, I was hooked from the word go. Magnifico.

Didsbury, twinned with Lapland.

I woke up this morning to find Jack Frost had visited us overnight and transformed the whole of Didsbury into what looked like a film set from the Chronicles of Narnia. Abandoning the car, I skipped to work in my little orange wellies like a kid at Christmas. And taking a detour through Didsbury Park I quickly snapped these shots. The snow was so icing sugar soft, I couldn't have hoped for a better start to my new blog.