White Freightliner Blues

Let me introduce you to someone. You'll know him if you don't already perhaps as Bubbs' sponsor Waylon in The Wire...



He was a close personal friend of Townes Van Zandt, his son is named Justin Townes Earle. He recently released this album in memory of Townes...



I'm going to see him touring this album with my parents this evening at the scene of many Summer days past-Fairfield halls. Here's a sample for you...



Preferable I feel to normal Halloween shenanigans. Nothing good has come from Halloween for me, I'm sure Jackson agrees. There was that one good time involving 48 eggs actually, best not mentioned. These Halloween inspired images redeem the celebration...



This is genius...



Feel free to mail jakesalleyslam@gmail.com any outfits from this evening you feel to be outstanding and worthy of some press. . We spotted the new
Pointer display in Size yesterday. Rob's
name is in the window...



His name in lights. One more plug for you before I go. Will Harmon...



in between vaulting road gaps has been busy studying and working. He dropped by today on his way out for a skate. Will is also now editor of Arts London News. Read his most recent article
here Have a good read and then cover yourself in fake blood.

Artists retreat

Badger was telling us earlier about his new house and eventual plans to offer a retreat. Some solace away from the madness where creativity can be channeled and put to good use. Slam it seems offers a similar service. Encouraged and not chastised, Rob's creativity flourishes. I was greeted by DGK general Marcus McJ.co.uk...



On top of this manipulation the action figure army has grown...



Joining Jackson are myself and Dan. I've had a revamp...



and Dan, created today is up. He comes complete with Zic...



On the way to go skating yesterday I walked past the barbers. My brother was in there for the end of the month trim. General nause protocol dictates that if a loved one is in that kind of situation the correct thing to do is stare through the window till embarrassingly noticed. This back fired. He didn't see me and the peroxide blonde girl cutting his hair said to him I found out afterwards..."You don't see that often, a forty year old with a skateboard" He informed her it was probably his brother and she apologised. Later at the skate park a kid said "how long have you been skating?" the standard "a while now" was my response. "You must be about twenty" he said. Good lad, swings and roundabouts, needless to say I've had a shave since. Anecdote over. Make sure you check out the promo for Joe Gavin's new video Pusherman
here

Not funny

Rob showed me these...



Amusing stuff...



I wish there was video footage of Nugget and Rory jumping out of the cardboard box at Southbank. That would have been a Youtube classic

All Day

These hit the wall this afternoon...



Two Stevie boards sold in half an hour. We have a Marcus P.O.S guarding our dvd's too...



There's a mini me in here now too, Rob action figured me...



That loyalty card I'm clutching is one delicious stamp heavier since this picture was taken. Rob made this yesterday and implemented a revolutionary new system. Boards on the wall are all now priced AND sized. Dan was excited by this, he's been sizing everything...



Rob got into character for this image taken with Lieutenant Graham Baker in mind...



Hopefully you haven't left work yet and you want us to tell you what to do this evening. Sorry for the late post Jagger we've had a spot on in here. Half term's whirlwind has torn it's way through the building. Your evening's entertainment...

Trophy cabinet

The Vans Shop Riot contest took place the Weekend past. Slam team riders went up to represent. Olly Todd, Vaughan Baker, Snowy and Rory Milanes did us proud. They were chaperoned by Rob Mathieson and Lev Tanju and brought back the bronze...



The Weekend took it out of all of them...



See them smashing it here




I've had a run down of what went down and it sounds amazing, unfortunately the computer rig here runs this like a piece of clip art. Not even that good actually, you'll see this before I do. Your favourite UK rapper and mine...



Wants me to draw your attention to a Halloween fancy dress show happening this Friday...



I'm aiming to make the pilgrimage. That first Worthless image was the work of Ad over at
Drawing Boards He is also responsible for the newest Worthless Merch. Have a look...



These shirts are printed on quality Coping shirts. We have four in stock right now but I'm sure if you're keen for one in particular we can source it for you. In stock as I type is a Small White one, a Medium natural one, a Large Orange and an XL Yellow. They are £24.95. Support UK Hip Hop and Brennan by grabbing one of these and making it down to the show. Worthless will be happy to know that these will hit our shelves before the Weekend...



Kalis is the consummate professional. Three sizes of his new board will be in by the end of the Week.

"Won't you believe it it's just my luck"

To mark the twenty years since it's release Sub Pop are reissuing a remastered bumper edition of...



The double LP will be on white vinyl. Both CD and LP boast a jazzy new inlay sleeve. The added disc/record is a complete recording of a gig played in Portland at the Pine street theatre which was recorded on February 9th 1990. It's released on November 3rd, sign me up for one.

"Down by the creek, walking on water"

Knowing my love for the best film ever made, Passmore directed me to a nice best of featuring my favourite character. Enjoy...

Back to Back Birthdays

Rob Mathieson and crew have jetted to Manchester for the Weekend to skate in the Vans shop team comp up there. He is joined by Vaughan Baker, Olly Todd, Rory Milanes, Snowy and Lev. Here is a photo of Rob shot by Sam Ashley...



It's Sam's birthday today. Happy birthday...



While some of the London contingent have made the journey to Manchester, Manchesters finest have journeyed down for festivities for it also the thirtieth of Manchester to London transplant...



Happy birthday Stu!...

Karl Stephen Watson

I'm not sure how often you check Chrome ball incident. You should remedy the regularity of your visits to that particular site if they are lagging. If you look frequently you will have caught the best post ever. If not I'm doing my duty by directing you that way. This guy...



Have a look. Make sure you click the link and take in his part from the best video
Click here One of the most naturally gifted skateboarders from our ends was always this guy...



He is also our favourite trumpet player. It's amusing that in this trumpet heavy music video he has a different role. He'd look pretty odd in a bumblebee outfit I suppose...



Thanks to Massey for bringing this to my attention. Do you know what today is? It's Seth's birthday...



Long island ice tea time

Anarchic accountancy

In the not so distant past our accounts were handled by a different man who sat a Snooker cue poke away from Jackson in the Wild Wild West. Since parting ways a lot has happened. He is now a published author...



Here is a window into it's core from Mr Nash himself...

"Gangster threatiquette, "Ibiza Uncovered", Cilla's "Blind Date" if it
were held in a Police line up, an NHS nurse on the Casualty frontline,
Greek Myths, Oxbridge High Table and nightclub Foam parties? A guided
tour into the contemporary British soul, conducted by the presiding
Mother Spirit and an arse-slapping midwife. Avenging angels both. This
scurrilous and scabrous book not only peels away the sunburnt skin of
our hens, stags, booze cruisers and sex tourists, but delights in
jabbing fingers into the pus below. Wish you were anywhere but here ?"

For a sample read...

Click here
If this sounds like your next novel to take down and it might well be mine
Click here
Give generously and you too can help save British literature

Nolan's Cheddar

Seriously strong, as you would know if you have followed the Alley's re-directions to any John Nolan press. You would have seen his funny mouse...



Today he was hailed as a creative comedy genius. To check his tabloid coverage
Click here Yes John! Gorm showed me some bad press. An article about the Norwood park I've been bigging up of late exposed the views of some open minded local residents. This is a quote lifted from the article...

"Well thanks a bunch. Did anyone ask the residents of South Norwood if we want 26 year old aging kids on skateboards in our Rec??? NO is the answer here.

Don't encourage these wasters - tell them to get a job, buy their own house (preferably away from Croydon and South Norwood) and build their own play park in their garden"

Right on brother! See you tomorrow wasters

Action (Jackson) Figure

The last half a year has seen a portfolio of work come together. Early pieces have a little damage as they were mostly saved from the bin and put safely back in the dossier. Here's a glimpse at the volume of work...



All images are copyright of Rob Mathieson and his muse, our very own Mark Jackson. Up until the Sunday past the most technical thing in there would have been a manipulation of existing images. This kind of thing...



This work could only be contained in 2D for so long, it was bigger than all of us. On Sunday a prototype was born...



A refined version greeted me this morning. You may have noticed the trademark rain cloud was missing. Complete with accessories is the new and improved Action (Jackson) figure...



It's a limited edition one of one. If there is enough interest perhaps we could push for production. Don't worry about the man himself, he has embraced his new incarnation. Let's just hope no Child's Play action takes place. See the re-vamped Jackson web-space
here His fakie tre over the hip is nothing special. This arguably "Notch" post directs you to his new "notch" post at least. Also be sure to check out today's...



Cooking with gas on a recent Zic expedition. Enjoy the relevant soundtrack. For a guided tour of the new spot
Click here Buenos Notchos

One in the bank

Sometimes you'll get some new music and not have enough time to allocate it, doing a disservice to what could be a potential favourite. Im a great believer in soaking in an album in it's entirity which is why I saved one up for my journey today...



I gave one track a play out. There's a cover of "If I needed you" by Townes Van Zandt and it's a good one. When artists like Guy Clark or Steve Earle turn their attention to his work it's in safe hands. That song came to Townes in a dream whilst staying in Guy and Susan Clark's house. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest. More than a few people have been on a glove quest of late, Pin was on the lookout yesterday. I'm going to hire ten of these guys...



My journey beckons

Pizzer's away

We had a good visit today. Jacob Kit Pulman brought Uncle Pin and his Dad in. Quiet at first, he soon became animated watching the latest Tiltmode video. It seems he was happiest just before leaving when waving the Spitfire bat around...



See you next Week

Norwood boys...

Got my passport stamped by the Lion of Norwood yesterday and spent some QT with big Marley G the Villain, One Punch Micky Worthless, Pig Man Dan, Adam, Jerry and Pete. Good times, snapped my third board ever however skating the centre piece...



Oops, my mistake. Easy one to make...



Reporting an enthusiastic stray dog to the Council park keeper led to him telling me that he intended to cut it's throat. Mellow. The dog was flying up and down this, hot on Jerry's heels...



I like this picture...



All images are courtesy of Gorm and were found on
TweakerZine Send all Visa waiver applications to the Lion of Norwood, Big Marls' abode, SE25

Drawing boards

Adam's crew, some of whom you would have seen skating the Bromley park a few months ago just went on a Czech tour. Here's some footage...


More Skateboarding >>


I'm going to meet Adam and Big Marls at Pier Seven in a bit.

"It's pronounced Brundon"

This was good...



You may not believe me. Steve Coogan is in it riding a squirrel! If that's not motivation to watch something I don't know what is.

Because the night

Last night we were lucky enough to attend the opening of a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition titled A season in hell at the Alison Jacques gallery. A Season In Hell is the title of an Arthur Rimbaud poem. The opening marked Rimbaud's birthday and the twentieth anniversary of Mapplethorpe's passing. It was opened by Patti Smith...



She played to a filled street from the door of the gallery. She spoke lovingly of living with Robert Mapplethorpe in the Chelsea hotel and a little of the similarities between him and Arthur Rimbaud, encouraging everyone present to devote some time to enjoying their work in the week to come in their memory. She opened by playing "grateful" Later on she gave a reading of "People Have the Power" There were more than a few moments where the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. She spoke of having a three/sometimes four chord limitation by way of introducing her rendition of the title of today's post. Just before she launched into a crowd sing-along acapella version of "Because the Night" she encouraged audience paticipation and told everyone that next time they feel stupid or awkward they should think of her standing there. She didn't look stupid or awkward at all. The hairs that had stood up earlier were joined by many more, I'm sure it was a veritable goosebump fest all round. To find out more about the show
Click here
You should go and have a look yourself. I'm not giving away too much by bringing you this photo of Edson. Without his heads up we wouldn't have made it there at all...



Things like that don't come around everyday, I'm glad we had our yesterday

Filling the void

Having developed a serial series addiction of late I have been lucky. Most things I have picked up on after the show has run out meaning multiple nights entertainment readily on hand. Recently this hasn't been the case, my sit-coms of choice are back to one a week. Breaking bad has been demolished with a 5 month wait, The Wire has long been finished and no Lost for a while. The decision was made to re-join one I'd left alone months back. My neglect has once again proven beneficial as I now have two Seasons at my disposal...



Back on the horse

Unorthodox

We found out yesterday that Luigi uses his nose for certain tricks traditionally done off the tail and vice versa. For instance fakie three sixty flips off the nose or switch 5-0's off the tail. We spent a day getting to grips with his board positioning of choice via intense questioning. Stu Bentley sent me this today, another guy who is certainly on his own flex, danger points...



I'll leave you with my dad's tip off of the week



Amazing

Natural habitat

I believe that Charlie and I were close to taking the pilgrimage to Kingston last night. The trip never took place. Jackson's message that greeted me this morning meant I got to share some of the evening. Luigi in the wild...





Shortly after this Luigi was walking along the street texting when he walked straight into a lamp post and knocked himself out. He lost a few minutes out there in the field but he's okay now. In no way am I claiming this next clip is a find, it's an original, one of the reasons youtube is good. There is always the slight chance some of you haven't seen it too which is my motivation. It never gets old, the background action makes up for an absence of Luigi in the wild footage too...



Top boy. Nut done in more way than one