Staying in

So I've been sick this weekend... I am a truly pathetic sick person and have barely left my bed and have just been catching up on TV. And as it's getting colder and it's going to take more and more convincing to get people to leave the house I thought I'd do a little run down of what I think are the best programmes to be watching at the moment.

Thorne: Usually I'd be against advertising anything on behalf of Sky on this thing but Thorne is really *that* good. Based on Mark Billingham's novels, the first of which, Sleepyhead, follows a serial killer trying to induce a living coma. It's a great British thriller with a great British cast most notable of which is probably one of my British TV Heroes David Morrisey (see State of Play & Red Riding). Check it out Sundays at 9pm on *groan* Sky1.

How To Make It in America: I have no idea whether this show is actually ever coming over to the UK but if you're lucky enough to go over to the states and find someone that has it all on Tevo then definitely give it a look. I think it's potentially style over substance but I'm cool with that, it has one of my favourite credit sequences for a TV show (see also True Blood and Californication). It is however vaguely a story I can relate to... 20-somethings living in the big city (they're in NYC, I'm in London) and trying to make something of themselves.

oh and here's the intro sequence I was talking about with an awesome track by Aloe Blacc...

The Event is the other show I had planned to talk about but I have decided I'm still unsure on it, it looks somewhere between Lost and Flashforward however, to me that currently means it's somewhere between being off-the-scale awesome and off-the-scale bad! I'll let you know!

Lomography Stop Motion Video

A couple of months ago I took part in a Lomography workshop, which saw 20 Lomoers armed with LCAs take photos one by one as they navigated through the streets around Carnaby Street, and then ended up in a circle doing some Matrix style shots. The result is below.

Interestingly Gizmodo have posted the video and it has got less than complimentary comments from their readership. Apparently they don't like lomography because it's a hipster thing to do... overall I think we were accused of being 'dickheads' (see Being a Dickhead's Cool on Youtube)... ah well we can't all play synth!

Also while I'm here I might as well mention a new competition going down at the store on Saturday, in teams we will be hunting Invader's stickers all over town and the team with the most wins analogue related prizes. Score! Facebook event here.

Photo Post: Street Art Weekend

I spent a lot of my weekend in street art exhibitions and wandering around taking photos of walls. The Hells Half Acre exhibit was one of the best I've seen in a while (although check out the last pic from Murakami @ the Brooklyn Museum which was very definitely the best exhibit I've been to)

Oh these photos really are awful down to a dodgy choice of film and me being stupid.

Photo Post: Present Shop

Okay not only am I only posting photos and not writing full posts these days, I'm also taking awful photos ah well... check them out anyway!

This is one of my favourite clothes shops in London, mostly because it combines awesome clothes with decent coffee!

Photo-Post: Lomo Party

Lomo anniversary party was awesome.

I don't know some of the guys in these photos but if you're one of them and want the photo taken down please let me know and I'll remove it. Although did you know that in the US there was a case where someone's photo was published as part of an art exhibit and a court found the artist's right of expression to win over the rights of someone to their own image. Anyway I'm not that much of a tool, so more than happy to take it down.

Photo Post: Stockwell Skate

London Design Festival

Okay I told the co-editor of my future online magazine (more on this soon!) that I wouldn't write anything about the design festival until we'd been to everything but this post is more about my love of watches so I thought he might let me off, but plan to keep it from him just in case.

Yesterday I checked out some of the things on offer in the West London section of the Festival and must say I was a little disappointed with some of the things I saw. [WARNING: DIGRESSION IMMINENT] You know the problem with reading blogs (like this one) is that you're so reliant on other people's opinions and tastes and that's fine, you find a blog that suits your taste and it's a WIN all round. However, lately I've seen so many blogs where people are absolutely obsessed with finding the next cool thing before everyone else. Which means people aren't really checking out what they're passing on and they're often passing on inaccurate information. I'm sure you've all seen the youtube video by now but these are the people that video calls 'dickheads'.

Anyway I'm going to tell you about the one genuinely amazing thing I saw at the festival yesterday and it's a tiny pop-up stand within design store Skitsch in South Kensignton. The pop-up stand is for amazing design blog dezeen's new watch shop. Below are some of the amazing watch designs that Dezeen's watch shop will be selling when their site goes live in a couple of weeks http://www.dezeenwatchstore.com/ Photos courtesy of Dezeen. From what I saw yesterday all prices range between £100-150 and are well worth it. I own a very similar watch to the 1st and wish it has been in that price range.

Candoco Dance Company - October

Candoco Dance Company - 11th/12th October - Southbank Centre

Once upon a time I wanted to be an actor and to help me achieve this goal I studied dance. I should probably clarify that I can't actually dance for tofu (that's how I've decided to censor myself - deal with it), but other than learning that I had an odd fetish for girls that could dance en pointe I also learned that dance analysis and appreciation was something I enjoyed greatly.

Candoco is a great place to start your journey into dance appreciation. Slightly more accessible than say DV8 and Complicite - although I sincerely think you should check them out too!

The nights at the Southbank Centre are made up of three individual pieces each by a different choreographer. Below is a brief outline from Candoco's website about the pieces:

The Hangman: With three New York 'Bessie' Dance Awards, Manchester born Sarah Michelson's style draws on the traditions and conventions of dance making yet adding a fresh, often unpredictable take. Expect a performance full of grandeur with quirky costumes and an interesting use of space.

In Translation: Award winning choreographer Emanuel Gat delights with his attention to detail to create a beautiful, fluid sextet. Performed to a piano score by Johann Sebastian Bach, this intricate piece is built as a single sequence of movement that evolves and unfolds in duets, trios or solos.

Imperfect Storm: Renowned theatre and dance artist Wendy Houston combines movement with text and meaning with humour. IN a performance loosely based on The Tempest expect elaborate costumes and theatrical movements giving it a truly unique style.

Below is the promo video for this performance:

2010/11 Season - Renditions Sting! from Candoco Dance Company on Vimeo.

Events and stuff coming up

Okay so writing about things on a weekly basis isn't working, I've decided that one of the huge problems with magazines like TimeOut is that once you know some stuff is on the tickets are all sold out and the only thing TimeOut has actually been successful in doing is make you feel disappointed about an event that if you hadn't have read the magazine you wouldn't even care about. As such I am going to start writing about things as they come up and usually just after I have got my tickets for it (just in case you get tickets before me)!

So here does:

Secret Wars - 20th August - The Book Club

If you don't know what Secret Wars is check out the below video. It's what they like to call a 'live art battle'. We are now into the Quarter Finals of the euro competition of Secret Wars and this one will be London vs Dublin.

Book Slam - 1st September - The Tabernacle

If you ever get into an East vs West London discussion with me, I will blindly defend the West and undoubtedly you would say (and would be very correct) that East London has a lot more bars and events and in return to that I will say to you... Book Slam. Book Slam calls itself a literary nightclub and is always a great night so check it out!

This month Bookslam offers:

Will Self - He scares the shit out of me but from the talks I've heard and the books I've read he's definitely worth a look (see the below video of the last time he read at Bookslam)

Daljit Nagra

Jesca Hoop (she used to be Tom Waits' kids' nanny!)

Secret Cinema - 3-5th September - ??????

It's about that time again. Secret Cinema is coming and I am blowing the proverbial whistle and not doing as they tell me... "tell no one" - luckily I keep my true identity hidden so that won't be able to refuse me entry on those grounds!

Secret Cinema is a new way to watch films. You don't find out where to watch until a few days prior to the showing and you don't find out what the movie is until your sat there watching it, unless you manage to decipher their clues! They also put on an entire performance around the movie. Check out the below video of the last one:

I will be posting again tomorrow with gigs and theatre performances coming up!

Couple of photos from NYC

Some things to do in the next couple of weeks

I had an amazing time in NYC and will blog more about that when my photos come back from the processor - who are going to remain nameless because they're rubbish!

So let's get back to London and what's going on here this week:

LIFT @ The ICA

16 June - 18 July

Okay I'm a little late on this one but hey I was in New York!

LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) is as it's name suggests an international festival of contemporary theatre. The ICA has this to say about LIFT:

"This 3 week international festival of contemporary theatre gives platform to an array of artists with particular emphasis on new forms, interactivity and visionary usages of technology to create inspiring performance"

Check out the programme here: http://www.ica.org.uk/24643/Seasons/LIFT-2010.html I will be attending the Hide & Seek Weekender party on Saturday but the other events are definitely worth a look.

Photo source: ICA

and while we're on the subject....

Hide & Seek Weekender

9 - 11 July

Anyone who read my previous blog will have read about Hide &Seek they run festival of pervasive and social gaming.

Seriously worth checking out some of their events this weekend: http://www.hideandseek.net/play-with-us/weekender-2010/ or if you can't make it this weekend keep checking on their site and you'll find they do regular Sandpit events.

Bompas and Parr - The Complete History of Food

14 - 18 July

Okay I usually just write about the week ahead but I've realised the flaw in this plan is a lot of things are sold out by then and this is one of the events that is at risk of that.

B&P are the guys that did the Parliamentary Waffle House (see a couple of posts below) and always put on interesting culinary pop up events. Their latest event takes guests through a historical dining tour through a house in Knightsbridge, the deeper into the house you go the further back in time you go.

http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/ - Tickets are £25 and includes a meal and 4 cocktails.

Photo Post: JR and CS

So I finally got back my first roll of 120 (black and white), results weren't great but here are some of the photos anyway.

It's a shame that they didn't come out very well because the guys in them are really great, they look so great together and love having their photo taken!

Gigs This Week - 17 May

It's a gig week this week:

Monday 17 May - Flight of the Conchords

If you haven't seen the TV show, well you should have seen the TV show!

The New Zealanders are not doing any more seasons of the amazing show, so for those of us addicted to the series this will be a welcome hit before the onset of withdrawal symptoms.

Check out the below video of one of their songs performed live.

Wenesday 19 May - The Antlers

So if you read my old blog, or if you actually know me (probably more likely), you might remember that I went to see these guys at my favourite London venue - Union Chapel - last month and it was so amazing that I just had to go again. This time they're playing and the not so amazing Scala.

Their album, Hospice remains as one of my top albums of the past few years (I will be doing a post sometime in the week on other music I'm really loving at the moment). I think there's probably still tickets for this show so if you like the track posted below, pick some up.

The rest of my week is reserved for sorting my life out, things like job applications and stuff like that.

What You Missed Last Week

So here's what I got up to last week - from here on in you will get these updates for the week ahead rather than the week past.

Bompas & Parr: Parliamentary Waffle House

From their website: "Bompas & Parr creates fine English jellies, designs bespoke jelly moulds and curates spectacular culinary events." - I first heard of Bompas and Parr last year when I failed to visit their Alcoholic Architecture pop-up, this was a project that saw Bompas and Parr create a cloud of gin and tonic and had their 'drinkers' walk in in boiler suits and inhale their drink.

This year their project was a Parliamentary Waffle House. You can order your waffles in three varieties with strawberries (Labour), blueberries (tory) and with bananas (Lib Dem). You could also order a glass of Prescott punch, and of course, as it's Bompas and Parr, jelly.

It's a great idea and for the night we went they were having a Thick of It Night. They also had a swingometer, from left to right we have Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative.

As I prefaced this post by saying, you have now missed this but I suggest you keep a close eye on B&P's future projects or at least come back here regularly and I'll tell you about any upcoming ones.

I spent the rest of the week going to gigs namely the National and She & Him - I believe you can still catch She & Him on their tour around the country, The National tickets will possibly a little harder to come by.

Drisk has a new home

Okay for various reasons, some that I'm not willing to share with you and some that I am, this is my new blog.

Part of this is to give myself a new start as a blogger and so I will do it more regularly.

This is what I have planned for this blog:

- Weekly posts outlining what London has to offer

- I will be starting a Lomography challenge with some Lomo themes, each month we will choose a theme/challenge and then I will post the results up here.

- I will hopefully be posting a lot more of my photos up here, as I plan to start taking a lot more photos.

thisx list will hopefully keep growing until I am whisked away and offered a job as a writer for Time Out (London or New York - I don't mind).

Anyway for now, it's a pleasure to have you here and I will post soon.