"Guess who's biz-ack..

.. it's not beanie Siegal or J-Hov"



Yeah that's right. It's me, I'm back. I am in no way endorsing the above novel but it served it's purpose by letting you know my movements if the title hadn't. One book I am backing is this one..



This was the holiday book in my rucksack. Pretty heavy stuff. Part one in the last season of the Soprano's series will draw to a close this evening leaving me only the second of Jagger's loans left to get through. It's a tough call, do you ration them or do you gun three in a night? Answers on a postcard please although I think I like the idea of rationing that way the end is not so near. The holiday was enjoyable even though we experienced some inclement weather. Not just rain you understand but the kind of flooding which brings that which flows in the drains beneath up and out into the street. Stinking! That was just one bad day though all the others were really good. We were on the way back from here..



That's a waterfall not a flood. This place was fun, it was a 54 hole adventure golf course, we were literally playing the last hole when the rain came down and we'd been around it twice. Swimming in the sea was amazing, little fish which I think were anchovies swam all around us. We discovered later that if you held a Wotsit left over by the noisiest children on the Universe just beneath the water they would nibble out of your hand. I enjoyed that a lot. Also if you were to swim further out there was a Cormorant in the Bay. The long necked bird was oblivious to humans and went about it's business ducking it's long neck under the water. Have you ever seen one? They look like this..



I was psyched to see it zipping past and dunking it's head under the water but I'm sure those Wotsit fattened fish weren't. Further along the coast there was a square filled with Parakeets, they flocked to any food left out. They were my favourite and they were fairly tame too. I liked watching them pick up pieces of bread with their feet and eat it with their heads cocked to the side while they watched your every move with beady eyes. I'll give you one more piece of holiday info. We found a little Mexican place called...



..which did some seriously spicy Enchiladas! Back now on home turf with a couple of days off with which to skate, as far as the Alley is concerned the normal nonsense will resume. Buenos dias

Jake's break

I'm taking the Alley on tour for seven days, seeking out some sun in Spain. Until next Friday I'm afraid..



A postcard may appear, hopefully there'll be some bumper news posts for you. See you by the pool

"I'm a fox. My name's Tod. What's your name kid?"

"Mine's Copper. I'm a hound dog." I used to watch that cartoon every day. Disney banger The Fox and the Hound. It was one of my three videos. E.T, Jaws and Star Wars were on rotation and my Fox and the Hound tape had Jungle book on it too. I'll tell you why that's the title of today's post a bit later on. Last night I went and saw this guy play..



It was a last minute decision I was glad I made. His name is Lach. Kingpin of New York's AntiFolk scene he has a huge catalogue of material to draw from. He is here in the UK playing out material from his latest offering..



The gig was at the Borderline, a good venue for live music. The crowd was into it and it was very polite and respectful in there. British I would describe the atmosphere for the first three tracks. Seated, quiet, greeting every tune with reserved claps. It heated up, he played this one and it went down well..



Towards the end of his set he played his song "Smoking again". Stating some kind of loop hole in the law on the smoking ban he invited smokers on stage. Apparently if the persons smoking are part of a performance theatrical or otherwise it's okay. Claiming we were integral parts of his performance piece a large part of the audience took the stage and the ashtrays were broken out. It sent the bouncers into a frenzy but they allowed it to go on in the end until the song finished. This eased up the crowd and and there was a bit more interaction afterwards. I laughed a lot, one track had the best Dylan impression ever and another broke down into beat poetry. Hugely entertaining, I recommend you catch him when you can. The title of the new album "the calm before the" suggests small venues such as the one he played last night may not always be the case.
Back to the foxes. The Fox and the Hound came out in 81. In 1980 a lady called Barbara Wright wrote a book..



She lived opposite my grandmother and I have a signed copy of it at home. It's the story of how she domesticated and abandoned Fox she named Lucky. This inspired me as a kid, the idea of having a Fox as a pet inspired me. Ever since I was that age any Fox sighting I felt was lucky in the same way as a Magpie sighting was the opposite. On the way home last night I bumped into the Fox who lives at the end of my road. There's a bench on the corner and some bushes which back on to some allotments. He was a couple of blocks away from home. We stared at each other for a bit and then a car came and I said farewell. I've seen the rest of his family in operation, there's a cub and a wife. I've never seen them all together. Upon turning around I saw the wife cross the road away from home and glance my way quickly. Static, eyes glinting then gone into a garden. As soon as she'd dissapeared the cub left a garden further down and bolted towards their den. The cub too stopped and glanced my way. I felt privileged and returned home triple lucky. Next time you see a Fox give it a tip of the hat, they are more resourceful than MacGyver and deserve some respect.
I've heard a lot about the credit crunch and institutions around me crumbling. Jaynsey alerted us to a couple of fellows who were affected by the Lehman brothers news far more than me. Watch this news clip and pay attention to the people in the background just behind the reporter. They need to settle down, it's like a scene in a Will Ferrel film..



The lightbulbs are fixed here at the Reptile house. See you tomorrow

For I Shall Not Wipe

That is the last line from my favourite Cougar poem Cement. I heard another rendition last night at the windmill in Brixton. Never gets old that one. The cougar asked me when it will get old, I think there's plenty of life left in it still. The band we went to see were..



You've got it. The mighty Wonk Unit! It was a good show, they've been playing a lot recently and that shines through. It was a confident performance and it looked like the band was having fun. You'll get to see the boys at the next Slam party. The band who headlined were called Spookey. An all girl punk band, they too looked like they were having a lot of fun. Their outfits matched their instruments! Give them a listen here..

http://www.myspace.com/spookeyrock

I didn't manage to make the Fallen video premiere. Skateboarding went on till late and there was just enough time to catch the Wonk. I've heard everyone had a good time here though. Cantelowes was a lot of fun with a good crew. The night before we had an early evening Kennington session and I picked up my favourite Ghetto Snack of choice from the local shop..



These are the lick in my opinion. Made by the same people who provided me with Tangy Toms all those years ago. There'd always be a pack in the blazer pocket. These are Red Mill's greatest work though. American cheeseburger flavour-what could be better? Only 15p too, magical stuff. One guy I know who'd appreciate these bad boys is back from his recent visit to Los Angeles. I'm sure he'll be disturbing pigeons on roof tops in no time..



This photo of Toddy greeted me this morning on a visit to my inbox. Another offering from the right honorable Thomas Richardson. It was accompanied by a joke which was enjoyed but could mislead my younger readership. I can't tell you how stoked I was on yesterday's "beer and weed all up in the belly go together like caps and Rob Selley" clip. Hope your week is panning out nicely

"If you want to save our world, you must hurry...

.. We don't know how much longer we can withstand the nothing"



..all that time you thought the luck dragon wasn't real. Guess who's back today. This guy..



Mr Shier greeted me at seven dials roundabout this morning. It's a flying visit but he's put in an admirable amount of Slam time already. Seth would be proud. The little feller to Paul's right is still Stateside. I've seen some shredding evidence on Shier cam on a filmer board. If you want to see Magee skating a mini ramp visit the Blueprint Black Glove blog and click on Friday 12th..

http://www.blueprintskateboards.com/blackglove

Hopefully there will be more Magee footage out there soon. There's talk of skating some legendary ledges later so maybe Dave episode 2 will have some fresh additions to log. Tom R+C Richardson has kindly sent us another image. This time it's Robbola launching himself over a hip.



He has a bird like stance here, the feathered kind. Word is Tom will be contributing more images to the Alley when he can so you can expect a higher standard of image in the future not the standard fodder from captain point and click (myself). Have a good roast, hopefully it'll have those little onions in it.

Dave the movie

Dave the movie is a work in progress. This is episode one. Filmed on Dave cam which lives inside Dan's phone. Random bits of footage compiled on our travels. There's a lack of Dan is part one. It features me and Steve and the after dark hammer is courtesy of Andy May. Filming for Dave part two has commenced so stay tuned. I recommend you go to the bar at the bottom of this clip and hit full screen toggle.



James dropped by today bearing gifts. Carhartt launched their Vans collabo today. They did a Chukka and a Half Cab in the classic Carhartt canvas. French has an exhibition too. To read more and look around visit here..

http://thecarharttstore.co.uk

The package is sick, if you want some I'd hurry there aren't many. They come in a brown canvas bag..



The sole is red..



and the shoe looks banging..



Thanks a lot James I think these will accompany me on my holiday next week. As you may have noticed from Dave episode one my world has been filled with a lot of skatepark activity. Charlie Young meanwhile has been keeping it real on the regular. Gentleman and scholar sir Tom Richardson AKA Rum Coke kindly sent me this shot of Charles.



He backside noseblunt slides a neglected corner at Elephant where only a Jensen would dare set foot and board. One can Van Damme just brought me back my lunch from the cafe I no longer set foot in so I'm Swayze for now. I hope you suck the marrow out of your saturday.

Thursday market

The market I speak of was opposite the house I used to live in. Every wednesday the market traders would leave the wooden boards and tables out ready for the morning. Every Wednesday night we would climb the locked gates and build obstacles. One particular night which stands out in my memory we built a kind of banked mini ramp. It was about fifteen feet wide, an ambitious task. I probably spent ten minutes skating it having pitched in with the building work seeing as I had a 9.30 curfew at the time. Why am I telling you this? Last night the guy who taught me to ollie in that very car park and who was pivotal in all types of obstacle assembly and hi jinks met me for a drink. It was amazing to catch up and talk about the old times. Mr Hamed I thank you sir. Dust off that shred sled Neil.
Jess dropped us in these biscuits..



..apparently they're not ghetto. I've stopped listening to other people and they're being not ghetto means they taste delicious. They were enjoyed by all of us, thanks a lot Jess. Alfie dropped by and was pretty stoked on them too, he gave us some Mike and Ike's Rob just cracked open which were also appreciated. We had a drop of Fallen shoes this morning the delivery guy stealthed into the corner. Operating under the radar, they snuck up on us. These are the new shoes, some are a re-lick. All are available here and from the online store..



The Fallen premiere takes place in here on Monday. Get yourselves to the basement for a watch..



Whilst foraging in one of the many boxes of stuff here I found an old Rob Mathieson piece I've been looking for..



It's the old guard under Pizzer's reign. Lev holding down the hustle as always in the left hand corner. Sam Griffin lurking behind one of the longest and most useful points of sale we've ever had. Next is Henry Clay who is currently enjoying the sun shine in Barcelona. I'm next in the line up in the body warmer I lived in one winter, no idea why he's drawn me really small. Good old Pizzer standing in front of the very same machine I'm typing this on now while the ghost of Seth Curtis flies chain rattling through the window. The likenesses are uncanny as is the fact that Rob drew the store and evreyone in it from memory. He's a talented human being. He enjoyed a soup fest for lunch while Mike and myself worked our fingers to the bone so typing this has been painful. I've decided to recommend a novel for you to read. It's one I've enjoyed and passed on, if I ever see a copy on my travels through second hand stores or second hand book shops I pick it up. This way it's always there to pass on. I don't think I own a copy any more. I thought about it today on the way to work..



Get yourself a copy and have a read. If this isn't there buy his other novel Not Fade Away. Dodge has a good take on things..

"It just ain't possible to explain some things. It's interesting to wonder on them and do some speculation, but the main thing is you have to accept it-take it for what it is, and get on with your growing."

See you in the market after dinner.