Ben Grubb :: Blog

The blog is dead, long live the blog!

2009-01-20T03:36:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Apologies for my extended silence. Happy new 2009 and all that. I hope you're all well.

After a lot of hard work, and procrastinating I have finally decided that having a blog AND a (terribly inefficient) website was proving too much. So, I have consolidated my efforts and combined the two - the result of which can be seen here: http://www.bengrubb.co.uk/

Hopefully this will make updates to both my blog and my portfolio a lot easier, and thus more regular. Hopefully. I hope you'll still drop by - it'll be lovely to see you.

See you on the other side!

-Ben x

US and A...

2008-06-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hello? Anyone there?.... Does this thing still work?!

I hope everyone/anyone reading this is well, and once again, apologies for my absence. I've been super busy of late! Along with the usual weekly events of climbing, work, climbing, photography and more climbing the most exciting thing that has happened to me recently has been my trip to America! Woo! I mention this now, as tonight, I have officially finished uploading (the best) of my photos to Flickr! It's taken me almost longer to edit and upload my shots that the amount of time I actually spent Stateside! However, this is good, as it means that I have been able to enjoy the trip for a lot longer, and now I feel slightly sad that it is officially over. Ho hum. The two week, 1, 500 mile trip began for Snoo and I in Denver, CO. From there we headed west to Moab, Utah then onto Grand Canyon, AZ, Las Vegas, NV (where we met up with Benny who would stay with us for the rest of the trip) onto Yosemite, CA and finally winding up on the coast at San Francisco. It certainly seemed like a lot longer than two weeks with a whole multitude of climbing, photography and exploring getting done. I really feel like I've experienced a good chunk of the western United States and I can't wait to return!

Anyway, the full set is available to view on Flickr and contains a mix of shots take with my trust DSLR, as as my Holga and my Polaroid. Yes, I really was in my element! Enjoy!

Autostitching...

2008-03-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hello all, long time, no post, eh? Sorry about that. I've been super busy recently and it doesn't really look like it'll be letting up soon at any time either. I really need to sit down and sort out what needs doing and get it into some semblance of an order... Anyway, I'm sure you're no really all that interested in my inability to time manage. No? I thought not.

Perhaps this would be more interesting. Over the past couple of months I've really been making an effort to learn the technical aspects of using my camera. Previously, I've not been too happy with he out comes of my attempts at night photography with my 400D. They always seemed to come out over exposed and lacking something which my PowerShot A510 seemed to handle with ease. So, I finally bit the bullet, refreshed my memory of all those rules my Dad ingrained (or at least tried to ingrain) in me from an early age and ventured into the word of the unknown which is the Manual mode! Shock horror! I certainly paid off. I also invested in a decent tripod giving me far more scope to get the image I wanted instead of the image I was limited to. Armed with my new gear and my new knowledge I've been revisiting old haunts around London with a view to capturing them in all their true glory that my DSLR should be capable off. Here's a few of my recent efforts...
My new tripods has also afforded me the luxury of being able to make some perfect joiners (as shown here). The two shots above are four or five shots stitched together with a fantastic bit of free software called Autostitch. Feed the right photos into it, and Autostitch can provide you with totally seamless joiners! I'm hooked! I can't wait to get out again and capture the world in it's full panoramic beauty.

AOTM - January 2008: Alex Green

2008-01-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.alexgreen-illustration.co.uk/

First off: Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a good one. I'm finally starting to get some blog motivation back...

I thought it was about time that I kicked off 2008 with a AOTM. I discovered this guy while flicking through a copy of Building magazine at work. I was (unsuprisingly) drawn to his loose yet bold and confident pencil sketching style, as well as some nifty mixed media work. It's certainly gotten me thinking that a) I really need to start producing some new work again and b) Maybe I need to try experimenting more with some traditional styles in order to stop my digital work growing stale. Food for thought at any rate...

I hope you enjoy the site.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

To everyone who's read (or reading) my blog - Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2008...

AOTM - December 2007: David Mack

2007-12-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

www.davidmack.net

Being home over the festive period, I've been re-united with my humble, yet prized collection of comics and graphic novels. I was flicking through some of my Daredevil back issues when I found the run written and illustrated by mixed media artist, David Mack.

I really love this story run. The story along with the composition, layers and details of Mack's illustrations are amazing, and every time I flick through them I always find something new that catches my eye.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

2007-12-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

Seasons greetings, blog fans. I hope you're all full of the joys of the festive season. Here's some photos...

Turn on the bright lights...

2007-12-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Turn on the bright lights... originally uploaded by Ben Grubb

One of the reasons I love winter time - you have so much more opportunity to shoot after dark...

f1.8

2007-11-29T05:51:00.000-08:00

I've borrowed a really nice f1.8/50mm prime lens off of my friend Ben recently. It's an absolute beauty! I'm a big fan of shooting at night, and this lens makes it even easier and more pleasurable still. I had a little wander around Soho etc on Sunday night, to see what I could get it to do. I kept the camera set on aperture priority and stopped it right down to f1.8 the whole time. It's great being able to shoot, hand held, so easily in those conditions and achieving some crazy DoF! It's really good fun, and I'll definitely be saving up my pennies to get one of my own in the new year...

I've uploaded some of the best from the outting to Flickr.

AOTM - November 2007: David Downton

2007-11-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

www.daviddownton.com

Travelling to work every day, I pass many posters on the underground (as you can imagine) advertising various things, most of which get largely ignored (by me at least). There is one that catches my eye everyday, however. It's a poster for the V&A exhibition The Golden Age Of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957, and it features a painting from Mr. David Downton. I can't actually recall now where I first came across Downton's work, but I know that I loved it from the off! He is very different to other AOTM's that I have posted in the past, mainly because he works exclusively (as far as I'm aware) in traditional media. He has a fantastic ability to capture likeness, but at the same time remaining loose, and textural. His work is mainly known in the fashion industry, but a fair chunk of his work is also seen in other publications, magazines and newspapers. Keep an eye out for it, I bet you've seen a lot more than you realise...

EastEnders...

2007-11-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Considering I didn't get to bed until about 3am last night, today has been surprising productive and full. After a lazy breakfast etc, I finally managed to get my act together enough to go off in search of the latest offering Banksy. Just off Bethnal Green road in East London stands a fifteen foot tall flower, which follows the double yellow lines from the road, and up on to the side of a house. The piece also features a man sitting on a paint tin, holding a yellow paint splattered roller. I've seen endless photos of it on Flickr which I have, of course, added to. The photos certainly don't do it justice, and I wasn't expecting it to be a large as it was! It must have taken some doing! Impressive.

After I had carried out the necessary photographs, I decided to wander along Bethnal Green road towards Brick Lane and see if I could spot anything else. Brick Lane was packed! There is all manor of markets and things along there at the weekend (apparently) so I enjoyed a slow stroll along, taking photos and looking and the different things on offer. As I made my way along, I spotted some posters for an exhibition called NineteenEightyFouria. I was intrigued, so I headed in. It was certainly a great find! The massive, open plan space was full of mixed media screen prints of various sizes. The images reflected the theme of George Orwell's book NinteenEightyFour, but visually were very reminiscent of early twentieth century communist posters. They were superb, and I throughly recommend heading down there to see it if you can.

On the cover...

2007-11-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

It seems that recently, most of my artistic time has been spent creating covers for the ever growing series of live, fan made CD's and DVD's from TheHipTracker. I really enjoy making these covers. Not only do they provide me with an outlet to give something back to a community that has given me so much, but they also give me a focused project to keep me ticking over, as well as somewhere to try out new techniques and ideas. It's also nice as it gives me scope to use type, thus giving me a nice mix of illustration and graphic design - winner! So, with all that said, I thought I'd share some with you on here. I'd like to hear what you think...

Most, if not all over the above can either be downloaded as part of the torrent from the tracker, or from The Unique Motel or covers.hipfans.com

A change in the weather...

2007-10-30T04:40:00.001-07:00

Recently, over at the IS, we've had a CD compilation exchange. The theme was 'A change in the Weather' which was inspired by the change of the seasons from Summer to Autumn, but the brief was widened to also include any real change in your life. I was pleased with my compilations, and even more so with the cover. I knew that although the brief wasn't strictly tailored to that subject, I wanted to keep the Autumnal feel. I struggled for a while getting something I was happy with, but once I had the branch and the bird in place, it all seemed to fit together. I'm starting to find the best way is to just to throw everything at the image and then cut it back until you're left with something you're happy with. It seemed to do the trick at any rate.

The lucky (or perhaps not so) recipient of my CD was Paula Bowles. I hope she's enjoying it. The tracklist was as follows...

01 Manic Street Preachers - Faster

02 The Tragically Hip - My Music At Work

03 Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror

04 Rush - The Spirit Of Radio

05 Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes

06 The Samshing Pumpkins - Today

07 Death Cab for Cutie - Why You'd Want To Live Here

08 The Cooper Temple Clause - Who Needs Enemies?

09 Tool - Stinkfist

10 Incubus - Aswethinkweis

11 Ben Folds Five - Alice Childress

12 Steve Vai - Sisters

13 Boards of Canada - Telephasic Workshop

14 The Postal Service - Sleeping In

15 Rush - Closer To The Heart

16 The Tragically Hip - Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man

AOTM - October 2007: Kate Miller

2007-10-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.kate-miller.com/

You know how it is. Every now and then, you'll be working on an image (or some such other piece creative-creativeness) and, even though you're excited, motivated and really want produce something great, whenever you try and get in touch with her, all you recieve from the creative muse is an 'Out Of Office' reply. It's frustrating. The ideas are there, and in your head they look wonderful, but you just can't quite get them nailed down. I was in such a situation this week. I'm always genuinely excited when I'm asked to produce DVD covers for Hipfans releases, but the current one just seemed to be a non-starter. I have no idea why, but it was.

So, in order to kickstart things, I decided that it was time to trawl the web in search of the missing inspiration. And who was the first name my brain plucked out of it's archive of illustrators that I love? None other than the fantastic Kate Miller. It was perfect. Kate's colourful and organic work has just the sort of feel I was after, and her unique grasp of composition helped me to steer my way through the mental blockade. I only hope that I can one day have a similar loose but confident flare to my drawing style. It's not easy.

Take a look at her site, and enjoy!

The Photoshop Professional?...

2007-10-16T03:41:00.000-07:00

Well, apprently so (sort of). I was approached by Nick Spence to answer some questions about creative online forums (or "fora" as the plural should be?) for Advanced Photoshop Magazine. This was an invitation I duly accepted, and lo and behold, my insane ramblings were actually used, along with one of my images being printed! It's all rather exciting...

EuroHip: Day 10

2007-10-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

I've woken up late on the morning of the last day - Probably too late, especially considering I have to check out in less than half an hour! Oops! I've got a text message waiting for me from Trevor, asking if I want to come and pick my camera up as they're all ready to leave! I throw some clothes on and leg it upstairs to find Trevor, Adrian, Mark and Matt leaving to start their journey to Germany. Part of me is ready to head home, but another part of me really wants to stay on (stupid work getting in the way again!). After collecting my camera, I head back downstairs for a swift shower and packing session, before checking out, donning my wet weather gear (it's raining again) and making the ten minute walk to Brussels North station. As I'm wandering along the road in the rain, I find myself becoming increasingly worried by the
sounds of drums and the waving of flags. There seems to be some sort of protest going on, and I'm heading straight for it. Joy. Images of closed railway stations, angry Belgians and stranded, rain soaked English travellers filled my head as I approached the mass. Fortunately, they weren't protesting against the Belgian rail service, and I found my way clear to nipping down a side road to the station. After negotiating a series of bus lanes under the station, I finally found my way inside, and out of the rain. Now, the phrase "worlds most depressing place" is thrown around a lot these days, however, if I ever find myself on the board of judges for such an event, I know what'll get my vote: Brussels-Nord Station. I'm sure the gray skies, wind and rain do nothing for the ambience of the place, but it was certainly putting on a pretty poor show even without the outside assistance. It's vast, sparse and devoid of any human faces that have seen a smile in at least the last six months - and at this moment in time, I was hardly doing anything to redress that balance. I stand and scour the departures board, desperately trying to find the train to Amsterdam! It seems to take an eternity to appear, but when it finally does, it warms my heart! That series of sorry looking, yellow LED's signal my iminent (well, just under 30
minutes) departure from this place. I decide to kill some time, and try and find some food.I find a little bakery, and order a sausage roll and Danish pastry and make my way into the waiting room. I bury myself into my book until the train arrives, and I settle for the three hour journey back to Amsterdam...

The journey was fairly uneventful (I've spared you the gory details). It wasn't until I emerged at Amsterdam Central that I realised that perhaps getting off directly at the airport might have been a better idea. D'oh. A sift ticket purchase and some nimble footwork later, and I was back on the train following the motorway to the airport. I'm starting to get a little nervous now, as things seem to be taking an awful lot longer than I was expecting. As it turns out, my nerves were unfounded and I'm at the check in desk before my flight's even called to check in! I wait for about ten minutes, whizz through the check in and head to the departure gate. I use a bit of spare time to get online and catch up with a few things before joining the security queue and boarding the plane. Much like the train journey, the flight goes smoothly and before I know it, I'm stood on the chilly platform at Gatwick waiting for a train to Victoria. I finally get back to the flat, dump my stuff wherever it happens to land, stick the kettle on (my God am I desperate for a cup of tea!) and order a Pizza. So, that's it, the dream and the trip is over. It's been a great journey and even better than I hoped! I've met some great people, and made some new friends along the away. Friends that hopefully, I'll be able to catch up with again soon.

Now begins the mammoth task of editing and uploading photos, audio and video footage - Perhaps the journey's only just started...

EuroHip: Day 9

2007-10-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's raining in Brussels. I thought, due to the light streaming through the curtains of the Hostel room that it would be a nice day, but on closer inspection, it really isn't. By the time I've showered and gotten dressed though, the rain has begin to ease off. I wander upstairs and knock on the door of the other guys rooms - They are far from ready to go, and Adrian fixing something for work remotely, so I leave them to it and head downstairs to kill some time catching up with things on the net and to drink copious amounts of free coffee. After an hour or so, Matt comes down to get me and, loaded up with wet weather gear, we venture out ontp the mean streets of Brussels. When we checked in, we were given a back-packers map of the city which showed all the main places of interest. We put Mark on navigation duty and headed off in the direction of the main square. We stop at a pub for (what is now) lunch time. We order some beers (Trevor A and I have a Raspberry based one, while
Mark, Adrian and Matt go for cherry) and after trying to decipher the menu, Matt and I both go for the special: Mussels! We certainly weren't disappointed. I think Adrian ,who avoided them as he didn't want to risk getting ill, was kicking himself when he saw them arrive! There was an absolute mountain of them, and they were delicious. After we were fed and watered we made our way along the shopping streets where all picked up some chocolates and beer, and bumped into Ricky, The
Hip's head of security - probably doing the same, before we finally reach the main market square. It certainly is a sight to behold! A full 360 degree, hugely ornate and decorative architectural experience! We stay there and take a ton of photos (as well as accepting our free Orio cookies that were being handed out) before we continue our exploration to find the Manikin Pis. We follow the signs, and make our way down winding roads until we see a crowd of people in an otherwise seemingly featureless street. I'm surprised to find such a famous monument to be tucked away down such a small side street. the fountain itself is also a lot smaller than I was expecting, but it's cool to have seen it. After a few more photos, we find our way back to the main street and stop by the venue to find out details about the evenings show. It's getting towards late afternoon now, so we make our way back to the Hostel. The other guys get their heads down for a while, and I get back online and read some of my book before it's time to go! It's brightened up considerably, and has become a very pleasant evening as we walk along the main street the venue again. There's about five people in front of us in the line, and while we're waiting, Johnny's drum tech comes out and we chat to him for a while. Before long the doors are open and we're into the building. We get held up at the doors to the venue itself though, while Racoon are soundchecking (rather late!). After another twenty minute wait or so, we're let in - No security checks again. Either Ricky's been onto the venue staff already or they're just a lot more laid back on the continent. Mark, Adrian and Trevor set up by the soundboard, and I head upstairs to the baclony to the left of the stage - It's a prime spot! I set up the gear, and settle in to watch Racoon. They're pretty decent actually. Probably the best of the support bands so far. About ten minutes before The Hip are due to come on, I start Mark's camera running - Or at least I tried to! there's some issue with the Firestore which gives a few frantic minutes trying to sort things out! Finally everything was sorted and we settled into watch the show.

The setlist was the standard "hits" one (similar to those in Groningen and London), but the performance was outstanding as always! The lighting was great as well, which meant some great photos. Unfortunately though, the technical hitches weren't over completely and I had some tape issues (all my fault - I forgot to check the times, and put the 60min tape in for the main set instead of the 85min - D'oh!) Also, we were joined up on the Balcony by "Captain Canada" who proceeded to hang of the edge of the balcony for more or less the entire second half of the concert, waving his Canadian flag - much to the "delight" of those around him. Thanks for that...

After the show we packed up and chatted with various people who were asking what we were filming for, and many hipfans fliers were given out. It was also when I got down to join Adrian, Mark and Trevor that I learnt a very sad fact - 'Escape is at Hand for the Travellin' Man' had been on the setlist but had been skipped due to time constraints! I was gutted. I love that song. I guess you can't win them all - Sadly...The night was still young though, and after a quick stop off at the hostel to drop of camera gear, and to pick up some extra t-shirts to sell we hit some bars on the main street, picking up a large group of various other fans on the way.We sank a few more Raspberry Beers and laughed and chatted the rest of the night away. A doner kebab and a short walk later, we finally got to bed at 2am. Again.

...I love being on tour!

28-09-2007 - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels Setlist:

The Lonely End Of The Rink
My Music At Work
Grace, Too
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
In View
Ahead By A Century
Yer Not The Ocean
Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
Bobcaygeon
The Kids Don't Get It
Fully Completely
New Orleans Is Sinking
===
Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man (On the setlist but not played - Boo!)
Family
Band Blow At High Dough

EuroHip: Day 8

2007-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

After a very good nights sleep in my new, pitch black in the very bottom of the hotel (I moved from
the double room to a single when Snoo left) I'm packed up and ready to go. I lug my stuff upstairs, check out and head for the tram. Luckily, there's three tram lines right by my hotel that all lead to the Station. I hop on a number 5 after a couple of minutes wait, and before long I'm winding my way through Amsterdam again. The trams certainly a nice, comfy way to see the city! The journey takes about 20 minutes. I head into the station and queue up to get my ticket to Belgium! I'm surprised and relieved to find put that not only do I have to get one train all the way, but it'll also only cost me 52Euros for a return ticket! I've lucked out big time! I get my ticket, and after consulting the boards, I decide to wait around and get a later train so I can get some food. I get on the train at around 1:30pm and sit and watch the (flat) Dutch countryside whizz by. The journey takes about three and a half hours, and is pleasant enough. I listen to a live Rush show and read some more of my book, and before I know it I'm into Belgium. Sadly, the nice sunny weather that greeted me in Amsterdam has decided not to travel, and a light Beligian drizzle has taken over. An announcement comes over the tanoy informing us that, for reasons unknown, the train will be terminating at Brussels North instead of the Central Station. I gather up my stuff and get off the train at the North station. After a bit of consultation of boards, I find a train and travel the remaining stop to the centre of the city. It's not until I leave the station that I realise that I have no clue where the Hostel is! I decide the easiest course of action would be to get a taxi. I get in a cab at the near by rank and we crawl through the packed streets as the driver gives me the lowdown on the different areas of Brussels (including, and he was very pleased about this one, where the red light district was...). We finally pull up outside the hotel (which ironically was considerably closer to the North station than the Central one - D'oh. I'm suprised to see Adrian, Trevor and Matt waiting outside the Hostel, which was very fortunate! We all check in, drop our stuff off in various rooms and meet up again to explore. It's a gray and drizzly evening but we wander along and take in some of the sights. We venture up and find the venue before heading back to a restaurant called Chichi's (a chain which has long since been defunct in North America, but who Adrian used to work for apparently) for a Tex-Mex dinner, some huge beers and great chat. At around about 11pm he make our way back to the Hostel and call it a day...

EuroHip: Day 7

2007-09-30T11:46:00.001-07:00

I was awoken early (around 6am) by a knock at the door. Snoo's taxi had arrived to take her to the airport. I said a sleepy goodbye before drifting off again for another couple of hours. At around 9:30am I'm awake again, and getting ready to go. I've arranged to meet the guys at the hostel - on todays schedule: The Heineken Experience! It's another grim and drizzly day, as I make my way to the hostel (via the bakery). As I arrive, it seems that everyone else is running behind schedule - I thought it was just me... While we wait for people to get ready, I transfer some photos off my camera to free up some space for the day (and night). The first port of call before the brewery though is for food. It's pushing lunchtime now so we head for The Hard Rock Cafe for food (in mammoth quantities! Once we're finally finished (the speed of service left a bit to be desired), we started wandering along to the Heineken Brewery. There's plenty to see along the way, so the journey is slowed down some what by myself, Trevor C and Adrian taking photos. We arrive at the experience and head straight in. We managed to get cheap tickets at the hostel, which means we don't need to queue - and we saved ourselves some cash! Winner! We collect our free beer chips and begin to look around. I have to say that The Heineken Experience is one of the best museum/tour things I've been on with loads to see and do. There's also a lot of interactive elements which makes it much more interesting than just seeing how the beer's made. We planned to be in there for about an hour and a half, but by the time we leave, we'd been in there closer to three hours! It was easy to lose track of time... We wander back towards town. Some of the guys go shopping, but I pop back to the hotel to sort a few things out, and then we re-convene at the hostel, load up the gear and head to the venue again. It's nice having two nights at the same place, especially when the place is as nice as the Paradiso! After a short stint waiting in line, we're in and fan out into our various positions. I set up shop pretty much directly opposite to where we were the night before. Matt joins me on the balcony which is nice. Once the gears set up, we relax and watch The Junes again. In between we chat about which songs we're hoping for that night - spookily enough, the band must have been listening! The first two songs that sprung to mind were 'Inevitability of Death' and 'The Dire Wolf' and sure enough, those two would make an appearance (back-to-back no less! Amazing!) The rest of the show turns out to be an absolute stormer, and easily the best of the tour so far! I had a feeling it would be...

26/09/2007 - The Paradiso, Amsterdam Setlist:

The Lonely End Of The Rink
New Orleans Is Sinking
Inevitability Of Death
The Dire Wolf
Yer Not The Ocean
Ahead By A Century
In View
Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)
Nautical Disaster
Pretend
Fireworks
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
Long Time Running
The Kids Don’t Get It
Fully Completely
Blow At High Dough
===
Family Band
The Magnificent Seven (The Clash Cover)
Fire In The Hole

After the gig, we head out again in search of beer and food, and finally we say our goodbyes as Chris, Trevor C and Dave will be heading back to Canada the following. I make my way back to the hotel to prepare for my solo adventure down to Belgium...

EuroHip: Day 6

2007-09-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

After another good nights sleep (I never realised how stressed I'd been recently until I went away from everything) Snoo and I were up and out in search of food. We stopped at a place called 'Pancake Corner' and had two monster pancakes. Mine came complete with Strawberries and Whipped Cream, and Snoo's with Banana and Chocolate. After that we went and met the guys at the Anne Frank House, and took a look at the museum. If you're interested in the history of the WWII as I am, it's definitely worth checking out. As we left, the heavens decided it would be a great time to open - so they did. We braved the rain, met up with Adrian and Mark and headed to a Noodle bar for lunch. We parted company again for a while in the afternoon, and headed back to our respective lodgings to recharge our batteries (both literally and figuratively). After a nap, I was ready to go! I've been excited about the back-to-back Paradiso shows since they were first announced, and couldn't wait to get there.

We got to the venue, and waited in line for the guys. There was only a handful of people there, even at half an hour before doors, which is a real stark contrast to Manics gigs. We could (had we wanted to) gotten up front every night with no problems. As it was, we both decided to go upstairs and enjoy the show in comfort. Also, I'd spoken to Mark, and decided that it was a good night to lose my video taping viginity. I was amazed at how the security didn't even bat an eyelid as we ferried in bags full of camera, mics, cables and monopods. There was a bit of a mad dash up the stairs, and as Mark and Dave set up shop at a great spot at the back of the balcony (the railings of which were perfect for clamping mics to), Snoo and I took our position on the right, opposite Chris and Trevor on the left. Adrian went down to the soundboard. The venue was amazing with three huge stained glass windows at the back behind the stage. There was a great atmosphere from the moment we entered.

After a quick 101 briefing from Mark, we were all set up and ready to go. I was really excited, and before long the Hip were in front of us again! The setlist started off similar to previous shows, but then they started mixing things up with the additions of Daredevil, Little Bones and On The Verge. The band put on a great show and we all had a fantastic night. After the gig, I walked Snoo back to the hotel as she needed to get some sleep as she needed to be up early in the morning, and I headed back out to grab some beers and food with the guys. We finally all turned in at around 2am (again) but we were all geared up for more of the same (or at least similar) the next day...

25/09/2007 - The Paradiso, Amsterdam Setlist:

Yer Not The Ocean
My Music At Work
Grace, Too
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
The Drop-Off
Ahead By A Century
In View
Poets
Daredevil
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Lonely End Of The Rink
Bobcaygeon
Family Band
Little Bones
===
Johnny Appleseed (Joe Strummer Cover)
The Kids Don’t Get It
On The Verge

EuroHip: Day 5

2007-09-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

We're up and ready to go (relatively) early on Monday morning. The plan is to catch the 11am train to Amsterdam. In theory, we only have to make one change on the way back which is nice. We grab our tickets and pile on to the train and head to Amersfort - So far, so good. We change onto outr new train, but after a few minutes of sitting there, the driver makes an announcement in Dutch, and everyone (bar us) gets off again. Erm... Anyway, the conductor comes through, and tells us that there is an accident ahead, and says we can either stay on the train (which will go as far as the next station at least) or we can get off. We opt to stay on in the foolish hope that the accident will be cleared by the time we get there. It doesn't. So, we have to go all the way back to Amersfort and get the train to Utrecht and change there. Oh, and we have to do all this in the rain. Joy.

Anyway, we get to Amsterdam a bit later than planned, and at this point we go our seperate ways as Snoo and I are staying in a different hotel to the others. We check in, and dump our stuff in our room. Considering all we've done is sit on trains, I'm suprisingly tired and fall asleep before I even realise. After a short power nap, we're good to go again, and we head off in search of food. We find a nice little italian restaurant, and order some pizzas and wine. After dinner, we go for a stroll into town, and I recieve a message fron Trevor, and we go to meet everyone at an Irish pub called 'The Tara'. The guys are already well on their way, but after a few more rounds we soon catch up. We stay in the pub for a good few hours, and laugh and joke with each other and our barman, Dillon. We wander down, through the red light district (that was an eye-opener!) and back up along the main street to look for food. We split up and each grab various burgers and things. As Snoo and I leave the kebab shop with our food we see the Police talking to Dave, Trevor A and Trevor C, Chris and Adrian. As we get closer, we realise what's happening. It turned out that the police car drove past Dave and Trevor A, then as they went to cross, the officer in the car put the car in reverse, seemingly without looking, and floored it backwards, slamming into Dave and Trevor! Unbelieveable! Trevor seemed ok, but Dave was noticeably shaken (understandably so!). After the police and Dave exchanged information, we all decided to call it a night. We wandered back to the hotel, and turned in for the night...

EuroHip: Day 4

2007-09-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, first off - I relise I have majorly slippped behind on this, due to having no internet access, and having far too good a time to worry (no offence, readers) but I'll try and give you a retrospective view of the trip...

Snoo and I landed in Amsterdam after a pretty good, uneventful flight, and were soon through baggage claim, and into the station. We spoke to the guy at the ticket desk (in English which all the Dutch speak perfectly - I do feel bad about not being able to speak their native tongue though!) and we found that we could get two first class tickets for cheaper than a standard! Winner! So, we grabbed some food and hopped on the train. Trevor had already alerted us to the fact that they had had a pretty unpleasant journey up to Groningen, having to stand for pretty much the full three hours, so we were prepared for a rough journey. Thankfully, it never came. We had to make the the changes at Amerfort, Deventer and Zwolle but other than that it was cool, and we had seats the whole way. We even got to go on the cool double decker trains they have! Exciting!

We arrived in Groningen, and after a mild panic as Snoo left her handbag on the train (but managed to retrieve it) we got a taxi to the Hotel. The Hampshire was really nice, and the staff were very welcoming. We dumped our bags off, and then headed out. We wanted to meet up with the guys, but it seemed that we were having communication problems with the phones, so we ended up in a little cafe instead. A couple of beers later, and we were ready for sleep.

The next day (Sunday - Day 4) we awoke to beautiful blue skies. We got dressed and took the lift down to reception. Bizarrely, we picked up Chris, Trevor C and Dave on the floor below. It turned out that they had been texting us (through a drunken haze) all night. I wouldn't actually recieve the messages until after the first Amsterdam show, two days later. Isn't technology wonderful, eh? Anyway, we walked along the river, I took some photos, and then Snoo and I left the group for a couple of hours while we hired bikes. Under Groningen station, they have multistorey carparks - but for bikes (Bikeparks I suppose) which were incredibly vast! It was a site to behold. We got our bikes, and rode long the river to a lake (with a windmill for the traditional Dutch experience). We stopped and had an ice cream sandwich, and continued our way round the lake and back into town. We were out for maybe an hour and a half, but stupidly we forgot to bring any water, so we decided to turn back a bit early, as the sun was really beating down at this point. We got back, dropped the bikes off and walked into town to meet the guys. We sat outside in a small square, and drank some beers and soaked up the sun. By this time, it was getting quite late, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the show.

The Oosterport is right on the river and looks really impressive when lit up at night. We arrived about half an hour before doors, but we got to sit inside and chat to some locals. It was here that we ran into our first (and so far only) problem with security. There seemed to be a bit of a break down of communication with security and the Hip's management (the guys were just doing their job), so we waited patiently. Finally, it was decided that the video gear could go in, but not the SLR's. So, Trevor and I walked our stuff back to the hotel, and arranged to meet in the lobby again in few minutes. I dropped my stuff off, and then, as I was leaving the room, heard a banging on the door. Snoo had run back to tell us that the SLR's WERE now allowed in! So, we gathered our gear up again, and headed back. The security guy we were dealing with was very gracious, and waved us in as if we were VIPs. We shook his hand and said thank you. He was a good guy.

We got into the venue and were shocked to see it was pretty much empty! We stood and chatted by the sound board, before we (Snoo, Trevor, Chris and I) decided we'd go up front. We got front row with no problems at all, right in front of Sinclair and Robbie. The stage was really high (coming up to my chest height!) but we discovered why. There was the solid stage, with an extra stage on legs on top of it. This was handy as it gave us a shelf, covered with a black cloth, to leave our gear on! Anyway, we stood and watched the Junes, and before we knew it, The Hip were on stange. The set was similar to London, and the band performed great as always, but it was an odd show. The crowd seemed... let's say... "more mature", but they all seemed really into it, dancing and singing along. The venue never really filled up though. I still enjoyed it, and even managed to get a setlist at the end which was sweet!!

After the show, we hung around, and managed to speak to a few of the band members (I gave one of the spare shirts to Robbie who seemed to really grateful) and then we headed into town, and managed to get a quick beer in before bed. We had a lot of travelling to do the next day, so we all turned in to get some rest. Tomorrow, we'd be off to Amsterdam...

23/09/2007 - Oosterport, Groningen Setlist:

The Lonely End Of The Rink
New Orleans Is Sinking
Fully Completely
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Yer Not The Ocean
Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)
Ahead By A Century
In View
Poets
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Kids Don't Get It
Bobcaygeon
Fireworks
Blow At High Dough
===
Family Band
Grace, Too
My Music At Work

EuroHip: Day 3

2007-09-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

Last nights show was amazing! It felt like a lifetime since I last saw the Hip and they didn't let me down. It was a bit of a Greatest Hits set, but We got a load of songs that we didn't get last year so I was happy. Gord was at his aminated best, leaping all over the stage using the microphone stand for all manner of things (just what I was hoping for! I can't believe I still have another four to go! I can't wait.

21/09/2007 - The Astoria, London Setlist:

Yer Not The Ocean
My Music At Work
Grace, Too
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
The Drop Off
Ahead By A Century
Giftshop
Family Band
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Lonely End Of The Rink
Bobcaygeon
In View
Fully Completely
New Orleans Is Sinking
===
Queen Bitch (David Bowie Cover)
Courage
Fireworks

The day time was slightly more subdued than the previous day. We started off having lunch at The Coal Hole on the strand before wandering along the river, past the eye and on to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately the weather was against us to an extent, but we still managed to have a great time. Snoo and I are in Gatwick now, just waiting to board our flight to Amsterdam for more fun and games...

EuroHip: Day 2

2007-09-21T01:33:00.000-07:00

It feels soooo good to be on holiday! And it's even better knowing that last night was just he beginning. I made record time from the office to Leicester Square where I met up with the guys (with the exception of Mark who arrives today) in the Yates's there. We had a few beers and a good chat! Everyone was really friendly and chatty, and it felt like I'd been friends with them all for ages (which, I guess, with the power of the internet, I have been.) We sank a few drinks in Leicester Square, before hoping on a tube two stops to Green Park. The ticket gates seemed to have it in for Chris though, as it took him about five attempts to get in or out of either station! From Green Park we made our way The Hard Rock Cafe where we were shown round 'The Vault' (and it literally is that!) by a guy called Dan. He was very cool, and knowledgeable and we chatted to him and took photos of the various exhibits (my personal favourite being Eddie Vedder's acoustic guitar with the hand written lyrics to 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town' taped to the side!). We were supposed to eat in the Hard Rock, but due to a few drinks, jet lag and a long wait for the table, all the guys from Canada decided to head home. Matt, Emma, Snoo and I stayed and had some food, some more drinks and set the music world to rights before going our seperate ways. It's all beginning again in a couple of hours, so I really think I should get myself motiviated! It's the London gig tonight which I'm really excited about. I'm really happy that the first gig is in London - It makes it all the more special for me. It doesn't feel like it's actually happening tonight, but I'm sure as soon as the band hit the stage it'll all become very real! Stay tuned...

(Oh, and I'll be tracking the journey in photo form here. Enjoy.)

EuroHip: Day 1

2007-09-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Tick. Tock. Tick... I'm clock watching. Just under an hour and a half to go before I can say "so long" to work, and head up to town to officially begin EuroHip 2007! After a few problems, I think everyone's finally managed to finally get to various hotels and sort themselves out. Tonight should be a fairly relaxed affair with the usually "getting-to-know-you" chat and general phsyching each other up for tomorrow night when it all kicks off! It's all falling into place nicely. I'll keep you posted...

(Typically, after weeks of unseasonably nice weather - the rain has come back for a visit. Welcome to England, guys...)

Pole to pole...

2007-09-19T06:04:00.001-07:00

Pole to pole... Originally uploaded by Ben Grubb

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 18

2007-09-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't done of these for a while, so I thought it was about time! We've been having some really beautiful evenings recently, so I took the opportunity one night last week, as I had my camera with me, to walk home along the river down to Waterloo. As usual when I do this, it ends up being a case of not so much walking home, as going-out-taking-photos-for-what-seems-like-an-hour-until-you-realise-it's-9 o'clock! Anyway, here's a few that I was pleased with - Autumn's well and truely in the air now...

All in all it was a really good session. One downside was, that since by the time I'd made it to Big Ben is was nearly dark, I decided to stay out and try out the new camera with some night shots - However, my camera doesn't seem to want to play ball in regards to this as, after getting it all set up on the tripod, with a lovely compostion of the London Eye in the view finder, the battery decided to die on me. Again.

Ah well, those long nights are only just round the corner...

Also last week, Amy and I were sent out to take some photos for work. It was nice to have a morning out of the office, but I have to admit that the subject matter wasn't really all that inspiring. However, a few personal shots did slip through the net that I was much happier with...

EuroHip Top Ten...

2007-09-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

Photo by the extremely talented Trevor Connell

As anyone who reads this blog regularly (or indeed, at all) you'll probably be aware that EuroHip begins this Friday in London with the first show at the Astoria! I'm currently feeling like a coiled spring at Christmas (imagine that!). It's been over a year since I saw the Hip last (at Shepherds Bush Empire) and in that time, I have gone from casual fan to obsessive - What a difference 365+ days makes, eh? This time round, one show just isn't enough so I'm (along with Snoo and a bunch of die-hards from Canada) heading off to mainland Europe to take in another four shows over there - I. Cannot. Wait.
I've decided to complile a list of tracks that I'm hoping to hear across the next week! Some are fairly safe bets I reckon, and some are a bit more left field (based on what they've been playing recently). They are a band that are full of suprises though, so never say never ('We'll Go To' at SBE, anyone?!). So, here (in alaphbetical order) are the top ten songs, which weren't played last year, I'm hoping to hear over the next week or so - I hope you enjoy them...
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins cover)
Chargrin Falls
Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man
Family Band
Fiddler's Green
Inevitability of Death
Pigeon Camera
Silver Jet
The Dire Wolf
Vaccination Scar

Of course, I'll be happy with whatever they play...

Not long now!!

Banksy...

2007-09-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Farringdon is a bit of a hotspot for graffiti (or more accurately, the "street art" end of the spectrum as opposed to the pointless "tagging"). Wandering around, surveying the landscape (along with my trusty Banksy books) has meant that I have found and photographed all of the "Farringdon four" Banksy placard rats, as well as a couple of others which have luckily been spared by the council whitewashing. I've started to assemble them into a Flickr set as well for those that are interested. I've got the locations of a few more around London as well, and I'm determined to find them!

It seems that Banksy's not the only one plying his trade around the Smithfield area either. At the beginning of last week, a fairly sizeable section of fence panelling, right by the meat market, was being repainted. I noticed the council workers doing it, but paid them no mind. It wasn't until Amy and I were walking past last Friday that I noticed that it had been freshly adorned with what looked to be (after reading this blog) the work of a guy called Eine. It seems that he's responsible for a lot of typography based street art, especially around the Brick Lane/Whitechapel area. It seems like another trip down there is on the cards again soon. How will I ever manage...

Joining the Kew...

2007-09-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Snoo and I ventured out on the District Line to Kew Gardens. I'd been recommended that I go there on account of it's photographability (I'm claiming that as a word!). It certainly didn't let me down...

There's some more in a set on Flickr.

We were there for about three hours, and barely scratched the surface really - The place is huge! We were certainly all walked out by the time we got home. We also brought a little piece of the Gardens home with us (not literally, I hasten to add!). Say hello to Vera (Snoo's) and Milligan (mine)...

It's like having a inanimate and spiky pet which is quite exciting.

Mug...

2007-09-08T14:42:00.001-07:00

I have no idea why, but this dis-used cup and plate in the Window of Starbucks really caught my eye...

AOTM - September 2007: Will Barras

2007-09-05T14:49:00.001-07:00

http://www.willbarras.com/

I'm a bit late again, but here's Septembers AOTM. This guy has been waiting in the wings for months, so it's about time I gave him the credit he deserves. I've been a fan of Barras' work since I found a 'Discover Young Hackney' poster, and a brochure (see above) at The Castle. The beautiful, sketchy cover caught my eye straight away, so I picked up a copy to take away for closer inspection. It has been sat on my desk at work ever since, and is well thumbed. I've spent ages studying his very loose, flowing pencil lines, and mix of media to create really captivating! The brochure features a huge selection of his images, as well as a photo of him in the back showing his work to a group of young Hackney residents (which I assume he has just discovered... Taking his own advice, I like that). Anyway, if you like what you see, have a look at his site, and you'll see just how diverse and experimental he is. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

Busted, Broken, Forgotten...

2007-09-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

A triptych of broken windows from a derelict building we saw will on our walk along the canal near St. Johns Wood last Saturday...

Speaking of Photography, Lorna's hubby Steve has got himself a new (and very interesting) photography blog - Check it out! http://photographyisforlosers.blogspot.com/

I've got the Moviemaker...

2007-08-27T11:54:00.001-07:00

I've been doing a spot of gig video editing again - Nothing quite on the mammoth scale of mammoth scale of my Manics video, but I had a few clips from the Rilo Kiley gig which I've put together into a little montage. I hope you like it...

In other news - We saw Tool last week as well - Sadly I didn't take a camera or any recording gear with me, so I can't show you just how amazing they were, but trust me, they were! My gig of the year so far I reckon. Superb!

The Angels Hung Around Islington...

2007-08-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see Rilo Kiley at the tiny little venue that is Islington Academy. It was their first gig in London for a about three years (I think), and they were superb! The new album only came out on Monday, so I'd only really listened to it through once, but the new songs they did play (which was all of them, bar one!) sounded great and really familiar which was nice. From the new songs, I especially enjoyed Breakin' Up, Smoke Detector, Dejalo, Moneymaker and Close Call. There were a few old favourites in there as well , including Portions for Foxes which I was very happy about! Jenny's voice is absolutely amazing - I urge anyone reading this to check them out if you haven't already.

Here's a couple of photos from the gig...

Who gives you extra?...

2007-08-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

I was having a clear out of old bank statements and the like yesterday. As I'm sure you all know, Credit Card bills come with an assortment of other bumpf that no one (I imagine) takes the slightest bit of interest in. I know I don't. So, imagine my suprise when pulled out a handful of said junk mail only to have this land in my lap...

This is the finished leaflet from Halifax, which I did the background for! Granted, it's very subtle, but it's definitely there which makes it my first piece of professional work that I've seen in print! I'm rather excited about it all.

In other (exciting) news, I'm off to see Rilo Kiley for the first time tonight! I've just bought their new album, so I have some revision to do this afternoon before the gig...

Hands...

2007-08-16T05:45:00.001-07:00

Some sketchs I did whilst "watching" Heroes last night. I'm trying to get the creative juices flowing on another (rather exciting!) project I have in the pipeline. More on that soon, hopefully...

A day at the beach...

2007-08-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Snoo and I headed down to Plymouth for the wedding of Luke and Lydia (now both O'Neill). It was a beautiful weekend and, seen as we had some free time on our hands, we went to see what the town had to offer (and I think you know what that means...)

Sadly, Plymouth fell a bit short on the beach front, so on Sunday (after a rather welcome full English...) we decided to head up the coast to Dawlish. This prooved to be far more picturesque, and gave us some opportunity to soak up some of the sun and sea...

...This also gave us the perfect chance to try out some rock balancing! It's certainly very tricky, but great fun and rather theraputic - Here's a few of our better efforts.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 17

2007-08-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is late - I've been so busy again! (That's a good thing, don't get me wrong!).

Anyway, we've finally had a bit of sun, so last Saturday (August 4th) Amy and I went out to explore Brick Lane. There certainly is a lot of it to explore as well. It was an absolutely scorching day, without a cloud in the sky, and perfect for photos. I'm starting to get the feel for the 400D now...

There's a load more on Flickr as per usual. Also, check out Amy's new page as well - She's very talented!

(Oh, I almost forgot - We saw Dave Gorman having his lunch in a cafe on Brick Lane as well! I was very excited! I didn't speak to him though, as I didn't want to spoil his day...)

AOTM - August 2007: Alex Williamson

2007-08-07T09:07:00.001-07:00

http://www.alexwilliamson.co.uk/

I don't know if, a few months back, anyone else found themselves stood on tube platforms around London, staring at the 'lastminute.com' posters and wondering who did them? I know I did, and whilst researching last months AOTM, I found the answer. They are by non other than Alex Williamson, another screen-printy-type-person who has caught my eye (I'm sure anyone reading this blog regularly will be noticing a trend in my tastes...).

It turns out that I've come across Williamson's work many times before but never been able to put a name to it. I can do now though, something which I'm very happy about.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 16

2007-08-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

Monday night was the first (official) outting for my new camera! It's all very exciting. It's taking some getting used to, and I definitely have a lot to learn about it (especially in low light conditions) but when it works, you really cannot fault it, as the results show. I foresee many hours of fun being had in the future...

I am slowly adding the best of the nearly 200 strong bunch to Flickr.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 15

2007-07-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Snoo, Teresa and I walked from London Bridge to Canary Wharf. For a change, we went along the North Bank which made for an interesting change of scenery. Naturally, my camera came along for the ride...

Flickr fun and games...

One(s) for the bookshelf...

2007-07-25T08:20:00.001-07:00

I am definitely going to be buying these. Yes. All of them.

Yep, even that one...

I have never read a word of Elmore Leonards writing, but such is my love of Tim Marrs' work that I will be buying this entire set (over time, I hasten to add) just to marvel at the covers if nothing else. They look amazing together!

Also, his website's been updated as well. Check it out...

Origins of Symmetry...

2007-07-25T02:45:00.000-07:00

This seems to be becoming a photography blog... Don't get me wrong, that's certainly no bad thing! But I just feel something of a fraud considering the URL. It has to be said though, that I've always thought that the two aren't mutually exclusive - especially in my work. Either way, I hope that you (the "Royal You"...) are enjoying what I have to offer. I've had two very successful trips out with the camera recently, and it's certainly reaffirmed my love of the different forms of creativity I partake in.

Anyway, waxing lyrical aside, lets get down to business. I've been playing with the idea of mirroring and stitching on Photoshop, after seeing some pictures by Dave Gorman (that man is supremely talented!). I tried the similar technique with some shots from Kennington station (see a few posts earlier). Canary Wharf tube station, with it's expanse of space station-esque style architecture seemed to lend itself well to not only some flipping and stitching, but also to some nice black & white/spot colour stylings as well...

I think I need to set myself up a new Flickr set/collection for my various Potatoshop jiggery-pokery!

EuroHip T-Shirts...

2007-07-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that most of the regulars (I hope I have regulars!), with the exception of a few, that read this blog will probably be sick to the back teeth of hearing me bang on about my Trip to Europe to see the Hip, but I'm afraid you're going to have to sit through another post about it. Or, well, more specifically, a post about the official t-shirts that are going to print this week! I was given the great honour of designing the shirts for the (ever expanding) group of travellers who will be hitting the continent in the autumn. Corby, of Unique Motel fame, has very kindly given us a great deal on the shirts - and yesterday I recieved the proof of the design. What do you think?...

I can't wait to see them for real - I shall be sporting mine with pride!

Join Me!...

2007-07-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it was actually me that's been doing the joining... Of photos that is! It's been a sixth-form-nostalgia-a-thon over the few days, as I've finally vowed to actually piece together the joiner photos that I insist on taking but never seem to do anything with. I think these two of Canary Wharf were a success. What do you think?

There are others that I'm in the process of putting together as well. I have a great one of the plaza in front of Canary Wharf. It's amazing how much the perspectives change between the photos - It's been very tricky to line up! Stay tuned - Hopefully I'll be able to put a joiner specific flickr set together before too long.

AOTM - July 2007: James Carey

2007-07-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.theaoi.com/artist/jamescarey/index.html

Sorry it's a bit late this month!...

Anyway, I was having trouble deciding on who to feature as this months AOTM, until I was wandering around WH Smiths on Oxford Street on Saturday. I was surveying the magazines as I often do, when the beautifully illustrated, lastest issue of 'Golf Punk' caught my eye. I regonised the style instantly as being that of Mr. James Carey. I first came across Carey's work while searching for inspiration on the Debutart website (and there certainly was inspiration a plenty on there!). In much the same way as Laura Quick (June's AOTM) JC's work helped to shape my with the mix of pencil/pen drawings and digital additions. He has a really great, detailed yet minimal style of drawing which is really interesting - Check him out...

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 14

2007-07-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but I've been out taking photos again around the city, and I feel well and truely back in the saddle. I went out with Amy from work on Wednesday night, and after a slow start (by me at least) I soon found my flow again. Considering this has been the worst July on record (surely!) we were blessed with a beautiful evening, and we made the most of it. Walking from the office, we headed down past St. Pauls, over the bridge and then turned left (instead of the more favoured right) and off towards docklands. There was plenty to see on the way, including an exhibition of large, wooden guitars by Tower Bridge. As well as getting some great shots, we also had a great laugh and a few drinks - That's what living in London in the summer's all about...

As always, there's a load more on Flickr.

As the old saying goes...

2007-07-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

You wait ages for a train...

...And then two come along at once!

(Inspired by Dave Gorman)

Life Drawing - Pt. 7

2007-07-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking - "Surely Ben, you can't have attended Life Drawing two weeks in a row could you?!..." Well, crazy as it sounds, it's true. And not only that, it seems to be two fairly successful weeks as well! Hurrah! We started off the session with about 12 quick (starting at 30 seconds, and progressing up to 15 minutes) poses before the break, and then two or three longer ones afterwards. Strangely, I found for once that I actually liked my quicker drawings, and the did seem to help me relax for the longer ones which was nice. I think the Bright Eyes/Broken Social Scene/Ben Gibbard (fairly) chilled soundtrack helped as well. I might stick with that in the future.

Anyway, see what you think...

New Hipfans Banner

2007-07-07T02:39:00.000-07:00

My recent Hip-based image for The Travelling Sketchbook has now been made into another banner for Hipfans.com. Personally, I think it's one of my favourites that I've done!

Life Drawing - Pt.6

2007-07-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here's some more life drawing from last night. Again, it's been a while since I've been (I don't think I've managed more than about 2 or 3 consecutive weeks yet - Not good!). However, depsite that, I had a good session, and produced some drawings that I was really pleased with. Everything seemed to be stacked in my favour as well: We had a female model (I still maintain that women are much nicer to draw than men. This isn't from a "blokey" perspective either - I know a lot of girls who feel the same), we also spent the whole night doing longer poses, which after I'd warmed up worked out well. I even remembered to take paints and things along, so I got to do some nice, theraputic, water colour work as well.

As a side note, Bright Eyes and The Album Leaf seem to make a good, relaxing musical backdrop...

The Travelling Sketchbook

2007-07-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have finished my Hip themed image for the Travelling Sketchbook project. I hope you like it! There's a bit more information about it on the official Travelling Sketchbook Blog.

Am I Dave Gorman?...

2007-06-15T01:51:00.000-07:00

Well, no, I'm not - But this guy is!

Snoo and I went to another recording of Radio 4's Genius last night - and it was superbly funny again! I particularly enjoyed the guy that suggested claiming the East and West poles for Great Britain. The finger nail scrubbing brush (that's a scrubbing brush made from fingernails as opposed to a brush for scrubbing them...) was also inspired, if not a little gross! I'm looking forward to the show next week as well. As you can see, I got meet the great man himself which was a real bonus!

Manic Street Preachers - Spring/Summer Tour Video

2007-06-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Now the tour has sadly finished, I have wrapped up work on my little pet project...

Manic Street Preachers - Spring/Summer Tour Video (aka "This Is My Tour...") is a montage of footage from the gigs I attended on the tour. Hopefully it'll bring back memories for those who attended, and for those that didn't (for whatever reason) I hope you can enjoy some of the highlights!

A sixteen minute "directors cut" is also available for download. I hope you enjoy it! Feedback is very welcome.

Soundtrack...

2007-06-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting round to compiling my CD for the FD exchange. Why oh why am I so rubbish at doing these?! I always get really excited aboout it, but then it ends up being a real chore as the deadline looms. Ah well, I guess I'll never learn. I have, however, produced a nice cover that I'm pleased with - especially as it's the first bit of illustration work I've done for seemingly ages. You may have noticed that there is a distinct lack of tracklist - this mainly because I (still) haven't decided exactly what to put on there. I told you I was rubbish.

Anyway, what see yea, the blog loving public at large?...

Life Drawing - Pt.5

2007-06-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

I went to life drawing again on Monday, for the first time in what feels like ages. The Manics tour seems to have completely wiped out May! It's been good though!

Anyway, I actually remembered to take my watercolour paints with me this time, and I'm pleased with what I produced...

AOTM - June 2007: Laura Quick

2007-06-01T03:28:00.000-07:00

www.lauraquick.co.uk

This months AOTM is another messy, organic (although, more traditional) collage artist by the name of Laura Quick. I was first drawn to her work from her regular appearances in the Guardian Weekend magazine. I find her use of collage elements, and quick, sketchy drawings work together really well to produce great little spot images. She's certainly been a major influence in shaping my work of late.

Enjoy!

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 13

2007-05-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

I went out taking photos again on Thursday night with David from work. We went out straight from work, and wandered down towards St. Pauls Cathedral with a view to going up into the dome to take some aerial shots of the city. Unfortunately, it closes at 3pm which kind of spoilt our plans. Instead, we walked down towards the Tate Modern, and get some shots from over the bridge. We had a back up plan of trying to get some shots from up in the cafe at the Tate, but sadly that was shut as well! We settled for just walking up and down the river, taking photos and waiting for the 'Blue Hour', until it got dark and we really got started!...

There are a load more photos up on Flickr for those that are interested. Enjoy!

Life Drawing - Pt. 5

2007-05-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

I went to Life Drawing class tonight for the first time in what feels like (and probably is) ages - I was pleasantly suprised with what I produced as well...

MSP: The Corn Exchange, Cambridge - 8th May 2007

2007-05-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

The clouds appear to be retreating, and the bly sky showing through as we leave the flat to begin our journey to Cambridge and the first date of the Manic Street Preachers spring/summer 2007 tour. The excitement of it all is finally kicking in - it doesn't seem like it's finally happening. The first night of the tour is always the most exciting, as the anticipation of what's going to happen, and what songs we're going to hear is at it's highest. One of the problems of running and moderating FD is that there is absolutely no chance of keeping news a secret. Setlists need to be posted both on the forum and the newspage, but luckily we've managed to avoid that (for this gig at least). The train journey passes by uneventfully. I play with my new MD recorder which has arrived in the nick of time, do some reading and look out at the landscape while Snoo wrestles with the Guardian crossword. We arrive in Cambridge as a few spots of rain start to fall - it's typical that it decides to rain now, after weeks of beautiful sunshine! We meet Gill, George and Tim at the station and head straight for a Wetherspoons - Perhaps the biggest one I've ever seen! We get the beers in and settle in for a food, drink and a catch up. There's a nice atmosphere in the pub, and the staff are very friendly and chatty. George also quizzes the barmaid about her knowledge of the wines on sale. To her credit she did very well. You always know that, when spending any length of time with George and Gill that a good 80% of the conversation will revolve around food. I don't mind this at all, as they clearly know what they are talking about. The are both such lovely people that I could sit and listen to them talk all day. After some (late) lunch, we head off for a little tour of Cambridge and take a few photos, and have a few more pints. We wonder past the Corn Exchange and say hello to the queue. Sam and Amanda are dressed as the girls from the front of the SATT album. It's funny to see them dressed like that, yet tucked up in huge sleeping bags - You have to admire the sort of effort though. We decant (no pun intended) to another pub just up the road, and chat some more over a massive bowl of nachos until it's time to go. We stroll into the venue (I don't even have my bag checked!). I have a quick browse of the tour merch. There isn't anything that really grabs me, although the Manics Man-bag is pretty cool. Most of the t-shirts have tour dates on the back which I'm not normally a fan of, but I think I might make an exception for this tour as I'm doing quite a bit of it... Once Gill's finished spending money, we wander into the venue. It's a lot bigger than I expect. The ceiling is very high, and the hall itself is very long. We work our way through the crowd, and find a spot over towards James' side and about five or six rows back. It's always tricky for me trying to find a balance between getting a good spot for photos, but also somewhere where I can get a clear recording. The support band, Fear of Music, take the stage after about fifteen minutes of us being in there. I really like them, despite the fact that they make me feel rather old!! I think they sound a bit Bright Eyes-esque with a bit of DCfC thrown in. I might have to listen to some more of their stuff. They leave the stage at about 8:30, and recieve a good reception from the crowd. Now begins the long wait for the Manics... I pass some time by setting up my gear and checking that everything is on the correct settings. Sadly, this doesn't seem to pass enough time and I begin clock watching... After what feels like an hour, the lights go down, and the intro tune starts up (I don't know what it is, but I really like it). The crowd start cheering and then all of a sudden the band are on stage and ready to go! Without wasting any time, they launch into You Love Us and a bigger-than-expected mosh pit ensues! With crowd hyped up, Your Love Alone Is Not Enough follows. Live versions of YLAINE sound a lot more 'Manicsy', and James does well taking on both vocal parts. Another crowd favourite, Motorcycle Emptiness is up next, which gets the crowd jumping. James is springing about all over the place and seems to be really enjoying himself. As the last notes of ME ring out, James returns to the microphone - "This one's called Faster! ...Oh, no it isn't...". Whoops! The crowd laughs as Nicky highlights James' early mistake, even after vowing to make a special effort to actually look at the setlist tonight. I'm Just a Patsy begins in it's place, and sounds as full and powerful as it did back in Manchester, before Faster is played, but in it's scheduled number five spot. Another golden oldie makes a welcome return next in the form of La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) - I always forget how great this song is live. It's actually quite a live staple, but for some reason I was suprised to hear it played. We're treated to another SATT track next - Indian Summer. Nicky certainly wasn't kidding when he said that they were going all out on the epic choruses, and this song is certainly no exception. There have been a lot of rumours of long forgotten tracks being pulled out of the bag, and next was the first of those - Born To End. It's been ages since I listened to Generation Terrorists, and this brought the memories flooding back. Unfortunately, I don't think it went down as well as I was expecting (although, those on the front row may have though differently), but I was very glad to be able to add it to the list of songs I've heard live. Another of my favourite tunes follows next: From Despair To Where, before another new song - The Second Great Depression. I felt from the first time I heard the mid-tempo track TSGD, that it would have sat very happily on the James Dean Bradfield's solo album 'The Great Western'. Kevin Carter is next, followed by another rarity from the 2001 album Know Your Enemy. I was never really sold on the album version of Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children, but live (and especially with Wayne Murray's backing vocals) it sounds superb, and a nice unexpected suprise. The title track of the new album, Send Away The Tigers is next. I was really hoping they'd play this, as it's an absolute stormer on the album. The fairly standard If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next comes next, before the band (other than James) leave the stage, and Mr. Bradfield takes up the acoustic duties. I always love James' acoustic sets, especially when they feature alternate versions of songs, and this was no exception. First up was a fantastic version of Yes. To begin with I just thought that it would be a verse and chorus like he often does, but it turned out to be the whole song. You could hear a pin drop in the venue while he belted it out before an almight cheer at the end. With barely a pause for breath, the synth started up the riff from No Surface All Feeling. This certainly was a suprise, and I think that it worked well (others disagree however...) The band return to the stage, and Nicky has had his customary half time costume change. While they finish sorting themselves out, James begins the intro to Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier. We were even treated to the "Oh well!" from Nicky before the the chorus kicks in - a great rendition. The last of the new songs for tonights show came next. The crowd descends into quite as the Guns N Roses-esque riff to Autumnsong kicks in. This is another of my favourite tunes from SATT, and has been since I heard it at the Winter Wonderland. You Stole The Sun From My Heart gets the crowd jumping again, before the impromptue Manics quiz from James: "Which song used to start with a Marlon Brando sample?" (...and no, it's not Drug, Drug, Druggy as one member of the audience suggested!) - The answer, of course, is Little Baby Nothing. There was another blast from the past next, which I have to admit, seemed to leave a lot of the crowd a bit stumped - Condemned to Rock and Roll (or at least the first verse) has been adopted as the intro to Motown Junk which was by far the biggest crowd pleaser of the night, especially when Nicky decided to take lead vocals for the last verse and chorus (a la Cardiff 2005). A Design For Life closed the show as it often does, and I always enjoy the big, epic sing along to finish off the night, and as they leave the stage, James hints at another possible tour with a "See you in December" - very exciting! We managed to get out of the venue quickly which was great (I always hate the seemingly endless shuffling out if arenas), and outside into the drizzle (Boo!), and straight into our waiting taxi (which was booked in anticipation of a later finish after a "springsteen-esque set") and we were off to the station. Thankfully, we arrived in plenty of time for the last train, and we just relaxed and chatted on the way home. All told, a great start to what's shaping up to be a great tour. I can hardly wait to see them again in Preston.

Climbing Photo Triptych

2007-05-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Whilst at the Castle last weekend, Ben and I took some photos. I've been playing around with a few of them in Photoshop, and I was pleased with this triptych set that I produced. I like the grittiness to the black and white images, which kind of suits the feel of the Castle, and the spot colour gives a nice focal point.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 12

2007-05-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've been out taking photos again while the sun's been out. The devil's in the detail as they say...

New Toys...

2007-05-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

I've just recieved this!! I decided to treat myself to some new recording gear (just in time for the upcoming Manics tour). It's a Sony MZ - NH600, Hi-MD Mini-disc recorder.

I'm looking forward to having a play with it next week! Hopefully this'll give me a broader scope to create better quality bootlegs.

I've also been thinking about getting a new Digital SLR (if and/or when I have enough money) as I've been taking a lot of photos again. The trusty Canon Powershot A510 is still holding up, even after two years, nearly 10, 000 photos and one pretty bad drop but I think it's starting to show the strain. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 11

2007-05-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Farringdon's a funny old place. I was walking around there yesterday, and just looking up above the endless Prets', Bookshops and pubs, is a world of everso-slightly-out-of-place (at least I think so) architecture. I'm fascinated by the mish-mash of details on the walls and the rooftops. You could quite easily be excused for thinking you were in France - The road up from the station to the meat market certainly has a real Parisian feel to it - but then oddly enough, you get round the corner and you see the Charterhouse, which looks like the Flat Iron building in New York, but on a budget. Bizarre.

Oh, and I'm also becoming obsessed with Flickr! I've been feverishly sorting and arranging different images into various collections and sets. That, and the warm weather is certainly giving me a kick up the backside to get out and take more photos though.

AOTM - May 2007: Tim Marrs

2007-05-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

www.timmarrs.co.uk

For the first entry in my (hopefully) regular 'Artist of the Month' series, I have decided to start with the man who has provided no end of inspiration in the shaping of my illustration work since leaving university: Tim Marrs. I don't really know what I can say about him, or his artwork which cannot be said clearer, or more concisely than by the images themselves. I have spent a long while studying and disecting his creations, and find the layers upon layers of images, textures and text within his Photoshop/traditional hybrid images fascinating. I love to attempt to figure out how his pieces have been produced, and I was quietly proud when, after reading an interview with him in Digital Creative magazine, that my detective work was, by and large, on the money!

He is currently represented by the Central Illustration Agency, and his work seems to be in high demand (which just proves that there are AD's out there with good taste!). He recently landed a large commission from Nike to produce a illustrations for the new look 'Brand Jordan' - two of my idols meeting can only be a good thing.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 10

2007-04-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

On my (or rather Snoo's) doorstep this time. Some night shots taken on KPR...

SCC Logo - Pt. 2

2007-04-27T02:10:00.000-07:00

After Chris' comments yesterday about my SCC logo designs, I have made a few slight alterations...

I think the added line of the left leg does seem to make things clearer. Any opinions?

Late breaking story at the SCC...

2007-04-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by the powers that be within the SCC (Sandstone Climbing Club) to design a logo/header/t-shirt design for the club. This was an opportunity, that naturally, I jumped at! The "brief" (i.e. Ashby trying to string a vaguely professional sentence together without passing out from exhaustion - He's editor of the Sandpaper, the SCC magazine as well now. Piers Morgan eat your heart out!) was that they wanted a yellow and black colour scheme. The idea is that the logo design could also be printed onto club t-shirts and form the basis of the layout for Sandpaper. I saw this as a great opportunity to try out some of my new found Adobe Illustrator skills...

I decided that I wanted the design to be landscape(ish) in its orientation, so I initially began with a picture of a climber on an overhang route. This seemed (to me) to work ok, but some feedback from the illustrators forum suggested that he looks like he's falling. So, after finding another suitable image (i.e. a clean, clear outline) I tried the second design which I think possibly works better.

Any feedback is most welcome.

Castle Climbing - The Movie...

2007-04-25T02:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a video that I made of our recent trip to the Castle Climbing Centre in London.

I love climbing!

Life Drawing - Pt.4

2007-04-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

I went to Life Drawing class again yesterday. It was a little hit and miss in terms of my drawing, but there were a few that I was happy with.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 9

2007-04-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

After we left the Zoo, we wandered into Regents Park to meet up with some of Snoo's friends (who are all very nice!) for a late lunchtime picnic. We met in an area called the Rose Garden, which is in the inner circle towards to the Baker Street end of the park. There was a cool little pond (complete with black Swans) and water fall there. Many of the flowers were just starting to come into bloom as well, which meant I was in macro-photography heaven!...

Zooropa

2007-04-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was absolutely beautiful weather-wise, so Snoo and I took the opportunity to go and have a wander round London Zoo. We got there at about 11:30am, and there was already a huge queue to get in. We were in no rush though so we just soaked up the sun and waited for the line to die down. As Zoos go, London has to be one of the best I've seen. There's a huge array of different animals, and they all seem to have a lot of space, and be well cared for. Snoo wanted to see the Penguins, and I was very excited about the tigers (never having seen one in real life before!) We also saw Giraffes, Zebras, Okapis, Gorrillas and many others. And, unsuprisingly, I took a load of photos...

I seemed to make friends with the really curious Bush Baby, who sat on his branch, and watched me very intently as I took photos. It was quite funny watching him follow the camera round as I tried to get different angles. He was very cute!

More photos on my flickr page.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 8

2007-04-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but I finally managed to find some free time last night to go and take some photos. Snoo went out after work, and I had nothing planned, so I thought I'd head up to Tottenham Court Road as it was a nice evening. I initially just planned to head to an internet cafe to try and catch up with various forum things (since we still have NO INTERNET AT HOME!! Grrr!!!). I also thought I'd have a little trip to Orbital as well. By the time I'd done those two things, it was beginning to get dark. It seemed a shame to waste a golden opportunity like that, so I decided to hang around until it was dark to get some new shots. After having some food, and browsing some of the random bookshops around Charing Cross Road, I finally arrived in Trafalgar Square as the sun was going down..

On the way back to the tube station, I noticed that the Arctic Monkeys were playing the Astoria! I'm not a huge fan of the band (they aren't bad though), but I thought I'd capture some of the excitment that seemed to be surrounding the venue. I was suprised that they were playing a venue that was so small (and I'd not heard a word about it!).

There are a few more from this photo session on my Flickr Page

Me, Myself and I...

2007-04-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd better drag this blog (at least in part) kicking and screaming into the realm of illustration again, thus making it worth of the URL it sports. So here, without further ado is, is the next stage in the evolution of my London self portrait...

I've tried a few new tricks in this image, including trying to get a spray painted effect on the phone boxes which I think has worked but needs refining. I think the clouds have added a nice dimension to it as well. I have a load of things I want to try now, I just need to find the time...

Opinions and feedback are welcome - what do you think, guys?

P.S. It's so hot in the office today!!

The Cooper Temple Clause: Shepherds Bush Empire, London - 5th April 2007

2007-04-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Snoo and I went to see The Cooper Temple Clause play at Shepherds Bush Empire. I'm a real fan of SBE, and it always (touch wood) seems to be a lovely mild evening everytime I go there. Thursday night was no different, and I soaked up the atmosphere as I wandered across the green towards the venue, stopping intimidantly to take photos. I arrived outside, and gave Snoo a call - she was nearly there which was good. We met, and headed inside. When we got into the venue, it was pretty empty. We grabbed a beer and headed down onto the floor to watch Kubichek, the support band from Newcastle. They weren't bad, but they did get a little repetative after a while. I never think it's fair to judge bands by support slots, as I don't think it gives an accurate impression. After they finished, we moved forward towards the barrier. Snoo went off into the first or second row, while I hung a little further backfor taping purposes. I was a little bit concerned that our position would mean that the recording wouldn't come out too well, but Snoo had a really good view, so we decided to stay put. (In the end the recording came out ok - plus I got to get some decent photos!) TCTC hit the stage at 9:15 and opened the set with 'Head' from the new album. This is the first time I've seen them since the third album was released (my fifth time in total). In the last two shows prior to this I remember thinking how good the new songs sounded live, and I was looking forward to hearing the likes of 'Connect', 'Damage' and 'Homo Sapiens' now that I actually had an idea of what the album versions were like. I didn't have to wait too long to find out! 'Head' was followed by 'Been Training Dogs' (which seems to occupy the second song slot regularly now). This really got the crowd going before they launched into 'Waiting Game' followed by 'Damage'. 'Waiting Game' sounded great, and has a real anthemic, sing-a-long-ability to it. 'Damage' again got the crowd jumping. Another couple of oldies in the forms of 'Film Maker' and 'AIM' came next, before another bought of new material - 'Connect' and 'Once More With Feeling'. 'Once More...' has real live presence, and finished with a huge crescendo which almost lifted off my feet! We weren't subject to quite as much bass as we were during the Concorde 2 show last year, but it wasn't far off! 'Music Box' came next - I wasn't fond of this song when I first heard it on the 'Kick Up The Fire...' album, but the live renditions really add something too it which has really increased my appriciation for it. 'Homo Sapiens' and 'Promises Promises' were then played back to back, to which the crowd responded with an enormous mosh pit! I've kinda grown out of that stage of my gig going life now, but it's still exciting to see others crashing into each other. 'All I See Is You' came as a welcome respite from the chaos, before it all kicked off again as the classic 'Who Needs Enemies?' was rolled out. This is the song that first attracted me to the band, back while I was still in secondary school (it feels like a lifetime ago now!) but it still sounds fresh. 'Blind Pilots' took the main body of the show to a close as the band slipped off stage.

It wasn't long before the "COOO-PERSSSS..." chants started up, and the band returned. Ben, Tom and Dan truned into face each other as they slowly began the into to 'Written Apology'. It was a shortened version from the 10 minute epic that graces the album, and they merged it seamlessly in 'Let's Kill Music'! It's been ages since I've heard this live, and it was a very welcome return! Finally, they closed the performance with the alternate, live version of 'Panzer Attack' which ended in a cacophenous finale as the members of Kubicheki (who had clearly been drinking since their set finished) flooded back on stage to take up backing vocal duties. There was a real positive vide of 'a job well done' as the drum kit and other stage furniture got systematically dismantelled, and both bands left the stage.

It was another great performance from a band who really thrive from the live setting. We've already booked up our tickets for their gig at the Koko at the end of the Month, and I'm already excited!

More photos can been seen here.

MSP: AOL Session, London - 2nd April 2007

2007-04-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

I leave the office in a hurry! The e-mail from Snoo says we need to be at The Hospital on Endall Street, Covent Garden for 6pm - It's already approaching 5:35pm as I arrive at Farringdon tube station. The train to Kings Cross seems to take forever to arrive (as it always does when you're waiting for it!). Finally it arrives, and I cram on in the usual rush hour style. The live version of 'I'm Just A Patsy' comes onto my mp3 player, and I feel a little rush of excitement about what I'm going to see. Snoo has managed to get us on the list for the Manic Street Preachers AOL session. An intimate mini-gig for a handful of lucky fans.
I emerge from covent Garden tube station at 5:50pm, and after getting my barings, find my way to the venue. There's already a queue (I say that like I'm suprised...) but I'm pleased to see
a lot of the usual suspects that I recognise. It's nice to catch up with everyone again. It feels like ages since the Winter Wonderland gig in Manchester! We stand and chat, and share bags of chips until a couple of guys from the venue come out and ask if everyone can go away and come back later, as things are running late, and the band won't be ready to perform until 8pm, and they aren't insured to have crowds of people outside the venue. They're met with a rather stoney silence, and Snoo tries to explain to them that people don't queue all day for a good view, they queue for the BEST view! (I get the impression that this is the first time that these guys have come into contact with hardcore Manics fans. We finally come to an agreement, and they let us wait in the gallery. It's nice as they're only about 30 people there, it's all very relaxed and people come and go as they please. We continue to chat and study the photos on show of what certain celebrities wanted to do for a living when they were young (Linford Christie wanted to be a fight pilot apparently...) until we're ushered downstairs at about 7:50pm. The studio is small, with no stage. We're in the front row, and about 10 feet away from the band. We have to stand behind a line so that the cameramen can get passed. The 60 or so fans easily fill the place up! We're given quick breifing about what we can and can't do. We have to do a test cheer so they can gauge the levels which is a bit odd! The guy says that we're not allowed to take flash photos. I ask if we can take photos without flash, and he says that that should be ok. I'm very happy about this, as it's a prime opportunity, and I'm very relieved that I brought my camera despite what the e-mail said. I do try to not take too many though, and try and just enjoy the show!

The band take the (non-existant) stage shortly after the briefing, and James does his usual introductions before they launch into You Love Us. It's a bit awkward to begin with as we can't really jump around or sing too much, but everyone seems to be having a good time. I Am Just A Patsy follows next, and James jokes about how people have already been 'cruelly rewriting the lyrics to I am just a Pasty, not a Sausage Roll...". They seem to be in god spirits despite the slightly staged surroundings. I Am Just A Patsy sounds great live, and just as punchy as when they debuted it at Winter Wonderland. After a very tight performance of Motorcycle Emptiness, it's time for another new track. James takes on vocal duties, despite his "Joe Cocker" voice he's been left with after yet another cold, of two people for Your Love Alone Is Not Enough. The live version is much heavier than the studio version, and definitely has the live presence of '...Patsy' and 'Autumn Song'. I think having just James singing also makes it "sit" better as a Manics track. Another older song comes next in the form of From Despair To Where. This is one of my favourite Manics songs, and I never tire of hearing it live. The live debut of Underdogs is next. I'm undecided on this track still, but I think it'll really get the crowds going on tour - perhaps even as an opener. At the end of the song, Nicky's delivered a large glass of white wine, and announces to the crowd "That's us done, we'll leave you with Jimmy D." before disappearing of stage. James closes the show with a cover of Johnny Thunders' 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory' on acoustic guitar. We're all herded out of the studio fairly quickly, and mill around at the bottom of the stairs. Lindz speaks to Liz, who says she'll find out what the band are up to. After about 10 or 15 minutes, Nicky and Sean emerge from the dressing room area. There's only about eight or so people waiting which is nice, so we actually get to chat to Nicky and Sean properly. It seems that Nicky and Sean have been browsing FD which is pretty exciting! Nicky ends up having a big rant to Sam, Amanda and Lindz about a certain member on FD (I'm not sure who). I think Nicky enjoys being wound up - it would explain why he likes to make such outrageous comments about people on stage! James comes out after about another 20 minutes, and we have a chat with him as well. He signs CD etc and poses for photos. They always seem very approachable which is nice. Finally, we all say our "Goodbyes" and "See you in May"'s and they head off. Snoo and I say our goodbyes to everyone else, and head outside. It's gotten pretty chilly - Still not summer yet, sadly. Hopefully come May and June it'll be really warm after the gigs! I phone Jeanette, and she says that she's already put the setlist (that I texted her earlier) on the forum. I tell her all about Nicky's rantings, and about the show. She says she's very jealous, and I say that we both wish she could have made it! We're hungry by this stage, so we head to a Wagamamas just off The Strand. I've never been to a Wagamamas before - it's cool though. I like the layout.I have the Chilli Chicken Ramen, which is like a massive bowl of chilli soup, with Noodles and big chunks of Chicken in! I can only just manage to eat it all! I also have the fresh Apple and Orange juice which is really nice. After dinner, we wander down to Embankment station and get the tube home. We arrive back at the flat, and the internet is still down - AHHH!! I download, and crop some of my photos, and then we head to bed at about 11:30pm. It's been a great evening, and I'm really excited about May!

The Hip on your desktop...

2007-03-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a series of Tragically Hip desktop wallpapers (obsessed? Moi?!...) over the last few days for the Unique Motel. It's been quite a nice exercise in honing my Photoshop skills as well - Always a pleasure...

Life Drawing - Pt.3

2007-03-27T02:27:00.000-07:00

I went Life Drawing again last night. I missed the week before, and I think it really showed as I was a bit rusty. It didn't really help as we went straight in at the deep end with some really quick poses. Starting with 30 seconds, then a minute, then two minutes. After the break we did some longer poses (10, 15 and then 20 minutes.) I think the quick ones were a good warm up, but I was finding it hard to get anything down on paper that resembled a human being.

Anyway, here are a few of the longer poses:

I'm quite pleased with the above sketches, but I'd still liked to have worked on them a bit more. I made his head far too big in the last one as well. D'oh!

The winner by a nose...

2007-03-26T04:47:00.000-07:00

I was presented with this sketch on the Illustrators forum today! It seems that I've been given the Jonathan Cusick treatment! I feel honoured!

Apparently I reminded him of a young Pete Townshend, which isn't the first time that comparison has been drawn (no pun intended!). If you're a fan of charicatures, then check out his blog/website.

Thanks for the laugh, Jonathan.

Bens' Ten...

2007-03-20T03:24:00.000-07:00

A couple of Fridays ago, I was issued an challenge from Lisa at work, to compile a list of my top ten albums for her to listen to (she actually said "Top five..." but there was no way I could do that! Anyway, I had a week to agonise over my choices, but here they are (in alphabetical order by artist - I can't put them in order as well!!).

Death Cab For Cutie
Translanticism
Year: 2003
This album took a while to grow on me, but I'm glad it did! A great musical, and vocal performance from Mr. Gibbard and co. It also seems to flow really well which is always important.

Highlights: Translanticism, Title and Registration, We Look Like Giants.

Incubus

Make Yourself

Year: 1999

My first perfect summer album. I can listen to this in the middle of winter, and still feel like I'm walking around in shorts and t-shirt with the sun on my face. Incubus seem to be a pretty consitant band which is good - even the new album 'Light Grenades', which I was initially disappointed with has grown on me loads within a couple of listens.

Highlights: Stellar, Make Yours, Pardon Me.

Jurassic 5

Power in Numbers

Year: 2002

If someone told me when I was 17 or 18 that by the time I reached the grand old age of 23 that I'd have a Hip-Hop album in my top ten, I'd probably have laughed them out the room. But, it's true! I reallt love this album.

Highlights: A Day At The Races, What's Golden, Freedom

Manic Street Preachers

Everything Must Go

Year: 1996

They had to crop up at some point... This was a really tough decision, but in the end of the day, it was Everything Must Go that first made me notice the Manic, so I guess it has to take the top spot.

Highlights: A Design For Life, Enola/Alone, No Surface All Feeling.

Oasis

(What's The Story) Morning Glory?

Year: 1995

Possibly not considered their best, but certainly my favourite. I remember getting this for Christmas in 1995, and listened it to death (I had it on cassette, and I actually wore it out!!) If it wasn't for Oasis, who knows where my musical interests would lie?!

Highlights: Some Might Say, Don't Look Back In Anger, Champagne Supernova.

Rilo Kiley

More Adventurous
Year: 2004

A relatively new album to me, but a great one! Jenny Lewis's voice (especially on this album) could melt anyone's heart. The beautiful melancoly lyric writing is marvelous as well. Reminds me of being in upstate New York.

Highlights: Portions for Foxes, More Adventurous, A Man/Me/Then Jim

The Postal Service

Give Up

Year: 2003

Linking Ben Gibbard (DCfC) and Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) together, other than them both having albums in my top ten, are The Postal Service. My first real outting into the Electronica/Pop genre, but an absolute gem! I swear this album gets better every time you listen to it.

Highlights: The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, Such Great Heights, Sleeping In

The Smashing Pumpkins

Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

I kind of missed the SP boat the first time round, but since going to Uni, I developed a belated love for them - Siamese Dream especially. I think it has a lot to do with the happy memories attached to it.

Highlights: Disarm, Mayonaise, Today.

The Tragically Hip

Fully Completely

Year: 1993

This was another hugely tough choice. I can't get enough of the Hip at the moment, and they have such a huge collection of really strong material that it made it very hard to choose! I think in the end, I settled for FC as it has (but only just) the most consistant collection of great songs from start to finish.

Highlights: Courage, Pigeon Camera, At The Hundredth Meridian.

Tool

Lateralus

Year: 2001

Last but not least, some 'Prog-metal' (or whatever the hell you want to call it!) Again, I got into Tool a little later than a lot of people, again, it was being at Uni that really turned me on to them. All of their albums are so well crafted and full, but I think for me Lateralus just has the edge with the stronger songs. It was close though!

Highlights: The Grudge, Parabola, Lateralus

Well, I'm certainly no music critic/reviewer, but I hope you enjoyed my list! It really was an agonising choice. I know that certain people that may be reading this will be wondering why I've left many albums that I claim to love out - Trust me, all the albums and bands I rave about, I do genuinely love, but it's not easy trying to condense it down to just ten.

I think I'm going to tag some others to do their lists as well...

My Banners At Work...

2007-03-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

After some rescaling, recropping and resizing - my banners now have pride of place on Hipfans.com. I know I'd get there in the end! I have to say, I think I prefer the new composition.

Hiptracker...

2007-03-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

In addition to the Hipfans banners, I also made a start on a graphic for the HipTracker. I'm really pleased with it, and I think the simplicity of it works well considering the space I have to fill...

Hip Hop - Pt. 2

2007-03-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

I've done it!! I've finally finished "the set". Yes, it's true - The set of six Hipfans banners are done. I have to say, I am really happy with them as a whole (especially the purple Gord one, and the Red, Rob one.) I think I may have to make some alterations to the original three so they fit together better with the new ones, but I think they should work quite well.

I just hope Chris likes them!...

What say you, blog fans?

Smithfield Sunset...

2007-03-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple more shots from on the way home yesterday. I love the silhouetting of the (almost gothic) Smithfield Meat Market against the sky. I'm hoping for a lot more nights like yesterday in the near future!

Sunset...

2007-03-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

There was an amazing view of the sunset across the Thames from Blackfriars Bridge this evening! I thought it deserved a post all of it's own. It was enhanced loads by listening to 'Stay' by Onelinedrawing at the same time - Beautiful song.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 7

2007-03-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be allowed out again today, and therefore spent most of the day in Hyde Park! It was a beautifully warm afternoon, and great for taking photos. I also got to see the Diana Memorial, which is quite interesting (in a water feature kind of way...) I also went down at St. James's Park, and along the embankment (where I had a little "run in" with the law! - Oops!) Anyway, some photos.

Life Drawing - Pt.2

2007-03-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

Some sketchs from Life Drawing last night. I don't think it was as successful as the first week, but I still produced some work that I'm happy with...

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 6

2007-03-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day on Sunday, so Snoo and I took the opportunity to get out and about in it, which we enjoyed immensly - Especially since I spent all of Saturday doing freelance work. We went for a long walk along the embankment, past the army of 'living statues' and to the Tate Modern where we went down the slides! It was great fun! I also managed to get a load of new shots for the ever increasing image library.

Possibly one of the most exciting things we saw though (for me anyway - I don't think Snoo saw the appeal so much) were the flatland BMX and Trails riders. I can watch displays like that all day.

Roll on summer!

(Oh, and we also went and saw Nine Inch Nails again in the evening. After a tense half an hour or so trying to get tickets, we finally got in and it was amazing again!)

Life Drawing Experiment...

2007-03-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with one of my sketches from my life drawing session last week. I'm quite pleased with the outcome on the whole. I think I'm really starting to get to grips with getting a real convincing 'weathered' look in Photoshop.

The Hand That Feeds...

2007-03-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Snoo and I went to see Nine Inch Nails at Brixton Academy on Wednesday night - It was a superb show! I had no idea what to expect, but they certainly put on a great show!

I taped the show as well. If anyone's interested you can get the mp3's here.

Life Drawing - Pt. 1

2007-03-10T02:01:00.001-08:00

Last Monday myself and Hazel went to a Life Drawing drop in class, at the Candid Arts Trust Centre, in North London. It was a really nice, informal affair with help on hand should you need it, and more importantly, free reign on the sketches you produced. Here's some of mine:

The London Experiment...

2007-03-03T02:29:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with different ways of getting worn and screen printed effects in Photoshop. I'm really pleased with the way this image has come out (despite the fact I look like I'm wearing eyeliner...)

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 5

2007-03-03T02:02:00.000-08:00

Here's come more photos from my journey home the other night. I honestly think that the first one is perhaps among the best I've ever taken!

This may seem like a hugely arrogant and protencious comment to make, but as I was walking along towards Waterloo station, and looking up at the surrounding buildings towering above me, I felt a real swell of fortune to be able to see (and probably more importantly appriciate) all these structures as not just buildings, but for their shape and composition. Especially at night when many of them are doused in all different shades of blues, purples, pinks and greens, they seem to take on a really fascinating abstract quality. I reckon I could do that walk every day for a year and still find something new and interesting to look at every time.

It may have its dirty and dangerous areas, but I have to say - I love London!

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 4

2007-02-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

Vauxhall bus station by night...

Who'd have thought I'd have found a building such as this so very interesting! It looks fantastic in the dark as well.

New Yoik...

2007-02-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

Yep, I've cracked out the New York photos again, and coupled with my car sketch from the other day, I have made another image that I'm really happy with!

I have a sneaking suspicion that a version of this could well find itself on a T-shirt some time soon...

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 3

2007-02-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

It was a mild night last Thursday and since (as usual) I had my camera with me, I thought I'd take a different route home. So, I ducked under Blackfriars Bridge, and down along the Embankment towards Waterloo Bridge. Here's a few photos of what I saw on the way...

I also managed to add another couple of Banky's to me collection. Although, it does turn out, upon closer inspection of one of the photos, that I totally missed a third! ...They don't call me Ben 'Sherlock Holmes' Grubb for nothing, you know.

C'mon, Jump in my car...

2007-02-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

During my experimenting at work, I produced a sketch of the Chevvie we saw in Toronto. I then coloured it up in Photoshop, and I'm really happy with the result! I've also included a step-by-step image of how I went about colouring it (more for my own piece of mind than anything - I always find myself thinking "How the hell did I do that again?!"). Anyway, I hope you like it!

All aboard...

2007-02-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a sketch of Vauxhall Bus Station I've been working on. I'm really pleased with the line work, and I think that the colouring works well with it. I'm definitely making headway - or at least I think I am. I'll find out on Wednesday I guess...

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 2

2007-02-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Here's some night shots that I took over Blackfriars bridge on the way home from work on Friday. I took a lot more than this, but it was freezing cold, wet and seemingly blowing a gale off the Thames, so many of them didn't come out very well. I'm pleased with these few though.