"I ain't your scout. And we sure ain't no damn militia"

Here's the second trailer for Joe Perrin's Last of the Mohicans dvd hence the Hawkeye quote above.



There's a box heading our way from the States as we speak so I'll keep you in the loop as to when it shows up, I know it's left already. The top two floors of our local battle cruiser were ablaze a night ago. There's no photos of the flames but here's a photo in the pubs honour..



Dan said it was pretty gnarly. I was at the Wonk show at the time. The top floor and the floor below are stripped bare and the windows are now black holes. Some fire people were still clearing debris while we ordered drinks, in true British tradition the show went on. Thought I'd let you know, it's not every day there's a fire. Outside another public house in the East end I saw Lev's new whip. Feeling that a regular bike offers less Jazz upgrade potential he opted for this head turner..



Think I'm going to take in a viewing of this tonight with my brother..



Been looking forward to it for ages but it's taken a while getting round to going. One brand that does well for us in here is ..



..Toby Shuall's head space is everywhere in here, on the racks, on the wall even on old bits of wood and upside down spaces you'd never think to look at. All of Toby's new shirts will arrive soon as well as an adventurous hoody. Jewellery is expected again before the year is out too. If you are new to Toby's world and what his company is all about here's some text I lifted from his site..

Suburban Bliss is an independent clothing label based and started in London.
It began in Suburban London in my parent’s house but was conceived in
northern California. The company itself is inspired and influenced by nature,
music,art, friendship, love, dreams and independence from the ever increasingly
controlled world that we live in. The main aim of the label is to put new imagery onto
clothing and other stuff. Largely featuring my work and others like Nicola Pecoraro,
Fergadelic, French, Jethro Haynes, Nik Taylor and Simon Peplow the images
and themes are ever evolving as the company is itself.

If this hasn't satisfied your curiosity visit his site yourself. Click below and look around..

http://www.suburbanbliss.co.uk

I'm telling you all this so you attend the sale Toby has arranged for you..



..all the details are there for you. It's happening next saturday and I'll remind you nearer the time. Get down there and pick yourself up some bargains. Sampai jumpa lagi. That's Indonesian for see you later. See you later

Punk's not dead..

..apparently. It's alive and well in G-man's world for sure. He's taking the Sid Vicious look to some kind of disco party. This is his look pre-accessorising..



He looks a little bit more dance troupe here but I accompanied him on an accessory trip which furnished him with a padlock and chain. I left before the hair gel and fake blood was picked up which will finish roughening up the look. Punk was alive and kicking for me last night too. I caught the Wonk Unit lads keeping it real in Kings Cross..



The Mighty Cougar gave it his all last night. Sans instrument he smashed it, dance moves, wobbly legs, poetry. Pure VFM. The crowd was loving it and the venue was a good one. With no stage and the Wonk at crowd level it was easy for the Cougar to roam around as he pleased. There was a good level of banter, top notch. It seems to have been a week for seeing friends perform live music. We caught Brennan AKA Worthless on wednesday at the Slam night. Here's a picture from Callow cam. Better late than never..



Looks like two guys having a chat. That's what it was. Worthless and Chad Powerz starting one of the new tracks with a little conversation. Brennan put on a good show and Oliver Sudden joined him at points as well as Powerz. Old favourites and a bunch of new stuff too. Opening with "The Business" was a power move. You weren't there? You want to hear the set? Jackson wacked it up on his site for you. Click the link below to hear it. Parental discretion advised...

http://www.markj.co.uk/mp3/shows/slam-document+1worthless27aug08.mp3

Two gigs in a week is always decent and it's nice when it's your friends you're going to see. We had a good although brief visit from Oliver Barton yesterday. Sick to see him on home turf before heading off to the States. Another friend missing to sunnier climes is Ben Dominguez. He's testing his survival kit in the Outback in between shifts at Gant. Another gem from Callow cam is this footage of Ben executing one of his good ideas ...



Antics like this are sorely missed. I'm going to finish off this punk post with a quote...

“A guy walks up to me and asks 'What's Punk?'. So I kick over a garbage can and say 'That's punk!'. So he kicks over a garbage can and says 'That's Punk?', and I say 'No that's trendy!”-Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)

Forever bother the Italians

That's what FBI stands for according to John Gotti in the film Gotti. I watched the best part of it yesterday and you should too. It's peppered with characters from the Soprano's too..



I had a little run in with the feds on the way back from the Slam night which was amazing by the way. The lady told me my pupils were dilated hence the search. If drinking since seven o clock hadn't dilated them maybe the dark and the fact that they're brown anyway could have given that impression. Always nice having somebody look through all of your pockets for twenty minutes when you're miles away from home. Henry brought us all a good gift back from Revival today..



Takes me back to school days and reminds me of watching Inspector Gadget for some reason, so does Jelly though. Michael J Fox enjoyed his. Imagine having a breakaway for the first time! Never a dull moment in here. We have a good little drop of Landscape and Heroin stuff in having had an absence of them for a while now. The wall looks like this..



One we haven't had in is the Heroin everything board. It has mini versions of most of the old graphics. That's it on the top row, the second and fourth board along. It comes in three sizes and the top has a little thank you note on it from Fos. Have a gander..



Have you ever visited 48 blocks? Why not? Click below and have a look around. There's loads of interesting stuff on there, good interviews. The good folk over there have linked up the latest Hold Tight London episode Henry just put out. Think of this as a double link, visit the 48 blocks and click on the London Calling link to check that out..

http://www.48blocks.com

Here's a good image to leave you with. Taken by one of Earth's nicest human beings Max. It's our favourite wally doing a Wallie. Charlie Young relies on his own two feet to get air born where civilians cash in tickets to do the same thing. Wallie to flat outside JFK..



See you over the weekend.

"He's fat, he's a dork, and I'm awesome"

Watched this with my brother last night..



..funny stuff! Take my word for it, I was creasing up. Henry isn't backing it however. It has feel good factor nine. Nothing like a comeback movie. Another flick I took down upon my return which was funny and also provided the onions as Ray would say was..



Thouroghly reccomended! The Linguini I had from Zizzi yesterday was off the chain. Rob is angling for a repeat performance today with his two for one vouchers. Tiger prawns! Look to your right and click the Tweaker zine link, there's a brand new issue out! Any Hold steady news always makes the Alley, apologies t those of you not feeling it. Dan was offended yesterday that his new album purchase didn't make the inter-web. It earnt it's place on here with complaint or praise following it for being on the wireless 6 times in a row! Dan's backing..



..there's even talk of lil' Dave being erased and filled with only this album so it gets a decent play out on his travels. Dan's also excited about the soon to be released Oasis box set. I told you Andy May was the photo master on our little trip we just took. Here's an example of some long exposure, torch flash drawing that went on. Steve took position and I drew him a Diplodocus steed with a torch..



..there's a snack fest on the horizon. As you may have gathered if you were to look on the Slam news page any new product will be beamed to you via this blog. Orders may best be place by calling 0870 420 4146. Forgotten what you're doing tonight already? Let me remind you...



..see you in the pit

"Don't pray for rain if you are going to complain about the mud.”

Well we certainly weren't praying for rain. The rain which did fall this past weekend made a mire of the field we slept in that's for sure but it did it's falling at night. This made for a gloopy journey out of the camp site but didn't stop skateboarding happening each day. The vans had to be pushed a handful of times but surprisingly nobody Mr Wilson'd up and back into a mud puddle. Our very own Mr Wilson did fashion himself a moustache for a brief while though..



... complaints had flooded in about an itchy beard so Steve lent him some clippers. The alley cam accompanied me on the trip unfortunately I am a bad picture taker. I always forget to take them. On our second night I remembered for a few hours and they are all that filled the camera. I'll have to weave a little narrative around what I have.One person who was good at taking photos was Andy May. The ones he took the night before were amazing, hopefully I can show you some in the future. Photo one on my camera was provided by Dan, he found a route to the river behind the over grown trees by our van. After some scratching around through the bramble we got there..



Bottle of Cava on the go, Shier would be proud. What we didn't know then was that this photo's theme would later crop up again and again throughout the night. Many beers later and with Dan and guitar guiding the sing along "Down by the river" got more than one play out. Our second night was bbq night. Here's Frank furnishing the Cougar with some ammo...



The barbecue was soon tamed by the Mighty Cougar..



..while we all waited for our food after a long days skate. We'd been out all day hitting first an old and then a new concrete park and we were hungry, hence photo taking occurring on my behalf. Steve who made our trip possible was perhaps a little surprised by this photo..



..thanks to Steve we had transport down there which doubled up as accomodation too plus a more than patient navigator. Patience had perhaps reached a low for Mr May at this moment..



..the food was top notch. One thing I took away from that meal was that Branston chilli relish is a handy accompaniment. The bar stool which had supported the barbecue later housed a camp fire made of cardboard..



...which nearly got us in a lot of trouble. Camp fires were not allowed and it had to be extinguished. This took us into the tent where a night's entertainment was kicked off by the chef. You have it, the Mighty Cougar...



He started proceedings and everyone got involved with pots and pans and all sorts. I sung like a Hill-billy for a bit and ended up Gospel preaching for some reason. Music went on all night. To hear some of the Cougar in action click below and if you like what you hear go and see the Wonk Unit play this Friday in Kings Cross. Details are on the page..

http://www.myspace.com/wonkunitband

..It was a good old time. I'd go as far as to speak for everyone and say that Playing place in Truro was skateboarding highlight and it's been there for 40 years apparently. Pin met us at one park with his canine companion Toffee which was nice and unfortunately we just missed the Pizzer's. Well I thought a little tale was owed to you after a brief absence. It was time well spent and thoroughly enjoyed. Hopefully another skate trip can materialise in the not so distant future.

Jake's Back!

That's not really my back but I am back. Camping was amazing. We skated every day and kept our spirits high in the midst of a muddy field. I'll try and tell you more about it later, there hasn't been time today with a constant influx of custom, madness and deliveries. We did have a fire..



..made out of a bar stool and a van full of cardboard. That fire nearly got us in a lot of trouble. There's time to bring you one more picture of Dan in the van before I fill you in on the vans we have..



A more informative report will follow. Loads of Vans greeted us today on top of what came before the weekend. Here's the wall..



See that white centre piece gleaming? That's the 106. This shoe was popular last time we had it and it flew out. We have three colours and good sizes and it's £34.95..



The half cab is the most asked about. Here's a grip of them..



There's a re-lick in some of the chukka lows as well as a new colour in the era and I thought I'd give you another picture of the blue skate mid because I really like it..



Our web lord is currently away skating his little socks off, the baton has been passed. This means that these shoes aren't going to be hitting the site straight away. If you fancy picking up any of these shoes and can't pay us a visit then give us a call on 0870 420 4146. One of us will answer and get them sent ASAP. If you just miss Jackson however you need to get yourself down to tomorrow's Slam City Skates and Document +1 night. Get yourselves ready for some new Worthless material, you aren't even ready..



More Vans stuff before I go. These shirts lasted five minutes last time. The AV plaid..



..and also the AV flannel..



If I don't see you here for this stuff I'll see you tomorrow night. When the hours are less taut for us sitting ducks over here there is a bumper crop of Alley goodness headed your way. Stay tuned

Carry on camping

It's my regular day off today and I'm preparing to get in one of these in the a.m..



..and drive to..



A long weekend in Cornwall! It's going to be sick and hopefully will involve skating new places each day. There's a good crew. Dan, myself, Steve, Maysford, the Cougar and Frank. There's talk of skating the Plymouth park pre pitching up. Can't wait, that reminds me I need to find my Harmonica-this is a necessary camp site accessory. This computer dislikes my phones bluetooth meaning I can't bring you pictures of Neil and Chalky from last night at Neil's birthday bash. You'll have to wait until next week I'm afraid. Steve's camper has a fridge, a freezer, a cooker and beds but no wireless internet access! I'm going to leave the alley alone for four days, such sweet sorrow. Hopefully this trip will involve seeing Alex "Pin" "Wack the fog on" Osborne and also Chris "nice coat that jacket" Pulman et famille. If I do stumble across a computer on my travels maybe a random post is conceivable. What did I have for lunch yesterday?..



The best food ever! If it wasn't such a new eatery I'd happily believe it was the inspiration for this artists act..



Such a split vote. It gets a lot of hate or indifference. I wish every one could see the joy it brings. My tip is to always get three wings. They were perfect yesterday, a little bit crispy. Another tip is don't be scared to try that steak roll. It's really good. Rob has come through with the two for one zizzi offers recently. Meatball calzone for £4.50! Gunshot! Oh yeah there's a new Benji's style place on Neal's street. It's next to Carhartt. Cheese and ham croissant-£1.25. I told everyone about it but never tried it myself. Jackson said it was a bit greasy, greasy maybe but still £1.25, cheaper than the marmite bagel. A new day is dawning. I'm going to pack some clothes in a bag and ready myself for the road trip. Hope you fill the bank holiday weekend with fun

Kill your television

Rob brought my attention to something recently. I'm not a TV watcher really. I like the box sets that have improved my quality of life but I like filling my time with specific things to watch not just allowing the TV set to make those decisions. Shows like X factor and Big brother aren't things I'm really familiar with. Rob showed me a clip and then I saw a snippet of the X factor show the next night. I can see the appeal, this is hilarious..



..Yeah mon! For all of you out there with luggage issues we have new bags. These are the best ones, my school books filled the very same bag. This padded Pak is £34.95. We have six colours..



The Wyoming is a similar sack but with a leather bottom. This is £44.95 and we have four colours in though I have only photographed one for you on the Chesterfield. They are all available on the site..



This handy little feller is only £24.95. What a good size for a messenger bag..



Do you remember I showed you that picture of the Spanish basketball team in controversial poses for an ad at the Olympic games? The Argentinian women's football team has done the same thing..



Surely they must have known it would not make them very happy. New Deathwish product came through the door..



Martin and Louie came through again. The DVD is back, you need to own a copy, keep your eyes peeled for "Ravenous" too. Martins video should be out soon, it has an impressive roster. More info as we have it. Along with our hardware selection was a Slugger personalised Ghetto snack..



Yes Louie! The pot noodle is never to be under-estimated. Possibly one of Britain's finest Ghetto Snacks and this from what I can glean from the colours beneath the black paint is one of their best flavours. Chicken and Mushroom... Gunshot! This will get taken down at some point soon no doubt, always a handy fail safe lunch option. There's slug art on the lid too..



If you go to the Slam City Skates home page and look down the centre column you will see a new arrival at the bottom. It's the Quick time logo with a Slam City Rat on top and it looks like this..



Give the rat a click and it will load up the promo vid you saw at the end of our lookbook in your I-tunes. Now you can watch the video on your I-pod-sound good? Get clicking. That's our gift from us to you today. I received a good gift from Dan yesterday. Ever get flustered looking for a pen when you really need one? You don't if it's attached to your keys! I have a Sharpie accessible at all times now. Mine's a purple one. The first time I saw one was on Magee's keys. Here's a flick of both of them anyway as i know you're interested. The handy looking bunch with a Star Wars key ring belong to me, the others are Magee's..



Can't beat a good piece of stationery

"We are the theatre, they are the people..

..dressed up to be seated, lookin' upwards and dreamin'. We're the projectors. We're hosting the screening. We're dust in the spotlights we're just kinda floating" The Hold Steady Rough trade instore was amazing. The sound was great and they put on a sick performance. It wasn't a walk on, three songs and off, it was like a mini gig and it actually felt like being at a gig towards the end of the show. In no way was it half arsed either, Craig Finn gave it his all. They were thoroughly convincing and I like them even more now than I did before. I can't wait for the roundhouse show. Their records are great but their live sound kills it and some songs that weren't necessarily my favourites make so much more sense live. Here's what you do, follow the link below and buy any item that shows up. While you're looking at the site check out the list of in-store shows coming up. The Breeders are doing one!

http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_results.lasso?search_type=advanced&search_terms=the+hold+steady

If you haven't done so already, check the links on yesterdays post to see our new Look book and the banging new prom video. This has been out there a day and is already being talked about, we're glad about how well it's been received. I know you can't wait for the Jake's Alley shirt. It'll be in here soon. One thing we've missed is stickers. Don't worry they're back in the drawer..



New colours, the white 3D flip around is a good look. The standard gold and silver ones are back in too. A small box of Spitfire stuff showed up. Two zip hoods and a trapper hat..



There's a new era..



..and a mesh. The red, white and blue is pictured but there's an all black too..



..left over evidence of Friday's misdemeanours..



..Purchased on the merit of having the best name in the fridge. Having a vino free tuesday night I think, just me and the Sopranos