Brad Downey

I believe I can fly (flight of the Frenchies)

Trailer for a film by Sebastian Montaz-Rosset, looks incredible.

A better version is available on vimeo here.

90s house revival!
Noticed that this video also features the Burj Khalifa (as did Mission Impossible 4), it's becoming quite the movie star. 

Leigh Bowery

I've been doing research all weekend on Leigh Bowery for a video project. There's a great documentary, 'The Legend of Leigh Bowery' about Leigh's incredible life. More than anything I regret not being born 20 years earlier so that I could have experienced the London club scene in the 80s, which sounds infinitely better and more charismatic than today.

Source, Wooster Collective, Jan 28th 2012

Costa Concordia

Source Kaspar Allenbach, 2012

Incredible film, and I don't even get cars. 

“Perhaps it’s true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house—-the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture—-must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for. Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Imbued with new meaning. Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story”


Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things)

I watch this every single morning without fail. Guaranteed a good day. 

Logorama (2009)

I was introduced to this short film during a brand animation brief...absolute genius. It was directed by the French animation collective H5, François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy + Ludovic Houplain. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009, opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short.

The sound design is perfect.

Hidden Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things

Our first day back at Chelsea featured a school trip to the science museum for a visit to the Hidden Heroes  exhibition which arguably wasn’t worth the £3.50 it cost to get in (there’s really no argument involved because the conclusive answer for anyone who’s actually been is that it’s not). The exhibition is basically a celebration of the unsung objects that make modern life easier through the most genius design, from wall plugs and ear plugs to plasters and cartons - this part I actually find very interesting. What wasn’t so pleasant, however, was the way the exhibition was put together, as if the curator was given 20 minutes per item to make a ‘display box’ thereby shoving whatever marginally relevant thing they could think of inside; Let me give an example:

Post-it notes (very good invention): “Let's cover the box in post-its (unfortunately overseeing the fact that they do eventually fall off) and stick up a photo of a man covered in post-its. Done.”

Perhaps the whole teeny-tiny exhibition is supposed to be kitsch but considered, since one might suppose that representing mundane objects should really only be done in the most mundane way, lest they be over worshipped and become arrogant.

The banal thing is that for £6 you can go and look at a room full of objects which most of us use everyday. 

This track has become that one overplayed song that reminds you of a certain holiday forever - because my sister has been playing it all night every night. One of the few plus sides to having an adjacent bedroom with the girl who never sleeps for the entire festive period

We played around with loads of different images and techniques for our shrine image but in the end simplicity won. 

Final image. 

 Finally, an iconic photo!

Original image by Man Ray.

Double-page spread

Ma' straight up margaritaz

A lovely lady on Saturday night told me that my margarita was the best she'd ever had in London, thus I have decided that I shall post my own margarita recipe on here, so that all you lovely people who can't afford to drink in Soho may enjoy it too!

Margarita is supposed to be a sour cocktail - typically tequila and an orange liquor mixed with lime or lemon juice- but unfortunately a lot of people tend to complain that this is too sour, so it is best to sweeten (with gomme syrup) to your own preference.


Ingredients:
Tequila gold
Triple sec (or Cointreau, if you must)
Fresh lime juice ('fresh' in the sense that it still comes in a bottle)
Lime cordial, watered down to 50%
Gomme syrup or sugar
Orange juice
Salt
One lime, cut into wedges
Ice cubes

Equipment:
Shaker & strainer
Margarita glass



Add a little cubed ice to the shaker and 1 shot of triple sec and 1 shot of tequila (be generous!). Next add a splash of the lime juice (this is very strong) and a dash (12.5ml) of the gomme. Add orange - I do this primarily to add colour so only a little is necessary, probably 1-2 shots. Then top with lime cordial to about halfway up the shaker - this should be enough for one glass. You can fiddle with the quantities to get the perfect amount once you've got the recipe sorted. Shake.

Prepare the glass by rubbing a slice of lime around the rim and then dipping this into an even, thin, spread of salt - try putting the salt on a tea plate and shaking it around a little. Strain into the glass, holding back the ice.
Garnish with a slice lime wedge. Enjoy!

Peter Marlow

Miss this more and more everyday now