And So Much Fun Was Had With Water That Day

Okay, this is super-easy to do if you have a camera that you can change certain settings on, and that has a good close up lens – for this I was using a Canon 450D – in auto mode (not manual as the shot speed was slightly decreased) – and here’s what you’ll need:

• A sink with a tall-necked tap that’s movable
• A suitable background – you have a wealth of options available here, in my opinion the best choice is a present bag that you can get from most card shops, holographic if possible (it will be affected by your flash)
• Water
• A camera
• Ounces, and ounces, and ounces of patience and creativity

I was using an 18-55mm lens, the standard kit lens, zoomed right in to 55mm and very close up (approx. 6 inches) and with focus on manual set to the furthest amount.

Using a shiny red bag with stars on, upside-down reflects the image in the droplet

Using a Pepsi™ can, or something with a logo, can create some great effects

It doesn't necessarily need to be a droplet, this is just after the droplet has hit and a residual drop is sitting on top of the water

Again, just after the droplet's hit

One of my favourites, a silver hologrammatic bag in the background

PLEASE DON’T LOOK ANY FURTHER IF YOU’RE EASILY OFFENDED!

Here I've taken wrapping paper and turned it upside down (water reflects items upside-down behind it) I've now pre-ordered various swearwords wrapping papers!

Pamplona: Blood, Death and Torture

Just days before a vote in Catalonian Parliament to delay the 2012 ban on bullfighting in the autonomous region of Catalonia, just over 100 activists from around the globe descended on Pamplona to protest bullfighting and the Running of the Bulls – an annual event in Pamplona, part of the San Fermin festival each July.

The activists line up before the demonstration

The activists prepared on the morning by covering themselves in bodypaint, either brown or red, and leaving only underwear on they proceeded solemnly to the Mayor of Pamplona’s offices – to a plaza in front of the building – where they lay prostrate, some on the hot floor bathed in sunlight, and some on the freezing cold stone floor, out of the direct sun.

The tableau shot from a 3rd floor balcony shows over 100 activists nearly naked and bodypainted for bulls

They formed the shape of a giant bull, to signify the approx. 40,000 bulls which are killed each year in bullfights, and lay there still for an hour. Emotions ran high and by the end it was clearly visible in some activists eyes how emotionally involved they are with their cause.

A weeping Welsh activist is comforted by a Spanish activist after the demonstration

Over 30 newspapers covered the demonstration, and three of Spain’s top TV channels also ran stories – the aim of the groups satisfied. Not long after the demonstration the vote in Catalonian Parliament was overturned, much to the joy of all animal rights activists across the world. Around this time last year the vote in favour of the ban was passed, meaning in 2012 Catalonia will become the 2nd region in Spain to ban the blood sport.

Members of the press catch their last few phtoographs of the demonstration before it ended

Once again I had the pleasure to meet some interesting and passionate people and document the story, meeting old friends, making new ones, and returning to England once again empowered by their dedication.

Two UK activists hold a sign that reads "Bulls Die Bloody Deaths in Pamplona"

Thomas Hardie Sketch Night at the Water Poet in Shoreditch

A great line up presented themselves at Thomas Hardie’s Sketch Night, their residency at the Water Poet in Shoreditch. I was lucky enough to get free entry having met with Joy and Caroline at the Brockwell Lido gig. Very excited to see Thomas Hardie again, as well as a Nathan Dean Williams who seems to be a regular sight in my South West London circle. All the acts seen are going to the Fringe festival, and thanks Nathan for pointing out that the Edinburgh Fringe is a month long – I thought it was all over a weekend, what a dumbass..

First up were Horse & Louis, a comedy double act with guitars, I’m not sure if they like the analogy but the first thing I thought when I saw them was “it’s Flight of the Conchords“, two guys with guitars, a dominant “Jermaine” vs a dopey “Brett”, and well.. he just looks so much like him!! After the first sketch though that went out the window (not the looks thing though.. I was convinced he was a British Brett throughout!) What followed was a clever comedic act that had the audience laughing hard. Their guitar intro was an instant classic, “These are sounds that I make with my mouth on a daily basis”, and swiftly followed by an awkward party conversation.

Horse & Louis at the Water Poet

Next up was Nathan Dean Williams. I’m lucky to know Nathan in real 3D, and he’s not unstylish, and his choice of costume for his acts is often the opposite of his usual getup. A mixture of characters throughout his repertoire, he presented two on the night, and where the others made me laugh, Nathan’s ability to be clever, sinister, downtrodden and grim provided a great portal into the darker side of comedy. We both enjoy similar shows, Spaced, Nighty Night, Jam, and Human Remains.

There’s always a sense of nervous anxiety.. the twiddling thumbs, the scratching hands, the hushed speech, usually followed by a crescendo of chaos – and his Velma sketch certainly fit that.

Nathan Dean Williams' Velma Sketch

His second sketch was an animal hoarder who collected everything from Llamas “could have been a llama farmer” to mackerels, and did an excellent rendition of Hey You What’s that Sound crossed with I Wish by Skee-Lo.

Nathan Dean Williams' animal hoarder sketch

The third act up were Sheeps, a triple act of young laddies who kept the punters clutching their sides. Liam, Al and Daran provided a variety of different sketches, including politically correct toilet door signs, a crazy future flashback moment, a guitar framed c*nt song and “The Indomitable Mr Twist” musical.

Sheeps at the Water Poet

Penultimately position Thomas Hardie, the hosts of the night didn’t disappoint with their regular sketches; Janet Potato, Librarian Girl (an alternative Jacko Liberian Girl mashup), socially awkward dating advice with “Making Love Last Forever with Fiona” and a gimp taking two dicks at a time.

Thomas Hardie's two dick gimp sketch!

Thomas Hardie's Librarian Girl sketch

Lastly positioned Moonfish Rhumba delivered a quality few sketches and summoned the most laughter of the night, aided by guitar. The first sketch involved a song covering a GUM clinic visit for a case of Chlamydia, the second a futuristic look into cybersex on “the Grid.” A song all about needing to eat meat (I didn’t heckle..) “you need meat – Oxo served in a leather glove” “Turkey, served with extra bits”. Their last sketch – much to the amusement of a particular female audience member involved her funnily enough – a serenade if you will.

Moonfish Rhumba at the Water Poet

Again, I’ll say that they’re all worth another watch.. if you’re heading up to the Fringe they have the Matt seal of approval! Thanks all of you for a much appreciated levity on what started out as a tiring day!

Mentalist Star Owain Yeoman in Crime Scene

Today the star of Channel 5 hit show The Mentalist was outside Fortnum & Mason to protest foie gras, proving that it’s not just women who PETA ask to participate in their photo-shoots. Owain posed alongside crime scene tape and outlines of geese, the poor unfortunate ‘victims’ of the foie gras industry. I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality to say that he’s pretty damned handsome!

Owain Yeoman of the Mentalist with PETA Protesting Foie Gras Outside Fortnum & Mason

Owain is a vegetarian and former husband to Lucy Davis, another strong PETA supporter and daughter to Brum comedian Jasper Carrot.

Owain Yeoman of the Mentalist with PETA Protesting Foie Gras Outside Fortnum & Mason

Owain Yeoman of the Mentalist with PETA Protesting Foie Gras Outside Fortnum & Mason

Project: Our House, in the Middle of Our Street

My house

I’m starting a new project – and I need your help, it’s called “Our House, in the Middle of Our Street”

I’m going to join together as many photos as I’m sent – to make the largest street in the world! I’m not kidding, I intend to put together the largest row of houses in the world in picture format, and the awesome Howl Griff will do a music video in support. So here’s what I need from you:

A photo of the front of your house/flat/maisonette/establishment (it’s that simple)

The details:

Photos should:

• Be square on in front of the property, not at an angle
• Be minimum 1ooopx x 1200px – but the larger the better
• Include anything you like in the picture, so long as the property is generally visible – props for comedy value
• Be clear and not blurry – they don’t have to be amazing photos, but they should be good quality.
• Preferably be shot in daylight

I will blur out any house numbers, street names, or other identifiable features that you don’t want shared. So what are you waiting for? Be part of this awesome project. E-mail me your photo today.

There is no deadline, it will be an ongoing project so feel free to send me photos whenever!

I’ll be charting this on Twitter so keep tabs #ourhouseproject

Chantelle Houghton Goes Butt ‘Wild’ Nearly Naked in Tiger-Striped Bodypaint

The gorgeous Chantelle is back, this time baring all, bodypainted as a tiger, and holding a sign that reads “The Cruellest Show on Earth – Ban Wild Animals in Circuses” as part of PETA’s campaign to end the use of wild animals in circuses.

Chantelle Houghton outside Parliament to protest the use of wild animals in circuses

The Celebrity Big Brother winner has appeared multiple times for PETA, but never before so revealed as today. The shoot happened at Abingdon Green, in front of the Houses of Parliament.

Chantelle Houghton behind bars

Vegetarian Chantelle has so far appeared in an anti-meat impotence ad as well as wearing a lettuce mini-dress to promote PETA’s all-new vegetarian / vegan starter kit. This latest photoshoot comes ahead of a planned debate in Parliament tomorrow where multiple cross-party MPs are to try and convince David Cameron that whipping and beating animals before making them perform to the masses is actually a bad thing.

Chantelle Houghton's PETA photoshoot outside Parliament

Although I didn’t have the pleasure to speak to Chantelle, she’s obviously very passionate about helping animals and PETA. Bravo Chantelle, you rock!

Hey what do you expect when I'm photographing such a beautiful lady

Joana and the Wolf

Joana and the Wolf is made up of Joana Glaza from Lithuania, lead singer, guitarist Ali, bassist Katie and drummer Louis. I had the pleasure of meeting them through a good friend – they’re all really cool people and the music is so piercing, powerful and haunting.

The band were created in summer 2005 and take influences from Eastern European folk and classical music. Joana says “I totally like Kate Bush but it’s Wikipedia bullshit again that I’m really influenced by her.” She says that PJ Harvey became an influence after people began comparing them: “The last real female influence for me is PJ Harvey – I have almost all her records. But only because when we released our first single ‘Purple Nights’ everyone was comparing me, and our sound to her. I knew a bit about her at the time but I was intrigued and I wanted to get deeper to try to understand the basis of the comparison.”

If you like Kate Bush, you’ll definitely like JatW.. check em out

Joana and the Wolf

Without a doubt my favourite song is Isabella – here’s a live video of JatW at Waterpop, Netherlands

Howl Griff

Thought it was about time I introduced you to a great band.. the band that Lauren Laverne described as “Lush.. the band we love” – Howl Griff are 4 guys from all over the place.. Hywel Griffiths, Welsh crooner from Aberystwyth – lead singer and guitar, Gary Parkinson, Bolton bad boy lead guitar, Steve Kennedy, Californian bass beater and Nick Moore, Mersey drum machine.

I’m quite fortunate that two of the band members live in the same house as me – I get to hear all the new and unreleased tracks, plus the jam sessions.. here’s the band:

Hywel Griffiths - graphic designer and AV powerhouse by day, wanton red wine drinker by night - turned down a 2 month job offer in New York to concentrate on Howl Griff.

Gary Parkinson, editor of Four Four Two and one of the only people in the UK who actually uses Twitter - also can't have a photo taken of himself without a strange expression.

Nick Moore - also works at Four Four Two, accident prone drummer and the only man "Livin' on an Island" actually applies to

Steve Kennedy - VfX genius, mac lover and Californian accent bearing bass-player

They’ve released two albums, Howl Griff and The Hum, with a further album Hope Against Hope as yet unreleased.. perhaps more exciting though is a brand new album which I’ve heard played at home and some tracks live..

They’re definitely an up and coming band – the new album is going in a different direction to the preceding ones. Check them out if you can – they’re playing a fair few festivals.

Here’s Crash and Burn from their album “The Hum“

I’ll leave you with another track from The Hum – Surreal:

How I Spent My Bank Holiday Weekend

My bank holiday weekend started on Thursday, don’t ask why because I don’t have a good reason. I leave work at 5pm, it takes 10 minutes to walk from the train station with an 8 minute wait for my train, my train takes 18 minutes to get to Tulse Hill station, and then it takes 12 minutes to walk home (OCD alert!) So you can feel my joy when it rained cats and dogs only between 4:20 – 5:00, 5:18 – 5:36 and 5:50 onwards.. a most luckily timed storm. Here’s a shot from my office window during the worst of it:

Stormy Thursday

Thursday night was the last night the two resident bandmate-housemates were in before their 4 day festival-fest, so it provided some “I don’t have to work next day” amusement – sadly not on my part. Friday night was uneventful, the family were all out, couldn’t justify the expense of a night out, so sat in listening to rain drops on the roof and distant thunder. I did decide on a random whim though, to go see my ex-housemate Rob on the weekend

I’m really not a snob, but I can have some right snobby moments.. the following for example.. not 8 minutes walk from home and there’s a Tweetie Pie stuck in a bush in someone’s front garden! Still, it provided some randomness for my trip over to Rob and Karina’s early doors on Saturday.

This bird's too big for the nest

They live not far from Kingston centre.. though everything’s not far from Kingston centre if you can work out the maze-like tendrils of avenues and alleyways.. I swear I still can’t tell you the way from River Island to the collapsed phone boxes! You have to go through a university halls to get to their place and it has a stream running through it because it used to be a mill.

A babbling brook

The next reminded me of an awesome video I’ve seen recently, Loom, it took an entire year to create the 3D arachnophobe’s nightmare.

Spider's web waiting for lunch

Sadly (and probably for the best) I didn’t take any photos at Rob and Karina’s, it Karina’s mum’s birthday weekend so she was off with her brother to go and celebrate. I spent Saturday catching up with Rob and watching some of his “currently watching” downloads, Angry Boys – the follow up to Summer Heights High, Geordie Shore was up next.. it’s basically a load of messed up Geordies doing Jersey Shore.. hilarity ensued.

Sunday, early morning meant more possibilities for nice photos, these beautiful Californian Lilacs outside some random’s house en-route home.

California Lilacs in bloom

It’s actually quite abnormal on a Sunday for me to be up before 9.. but even at 8am these guys were sitting in the park. I had thought them to be still up from the night before, but everyone’s a good little boy and girl in Kingston.

Relaxing in the park

The rest of the weekend was spent entirely as I anticipated, relaxing at home – a bit of sketching, catching up on Eastenders (that’s a lie.. wait.. no – it’s not a lie.. I don’t follow it but I’ll still watch it on random Sundays) and then Monday editing photos from the comedy night last week.. photos don’t edit themselves y’know!

What did you do on your weekend?

Comedy at Brockwell Lido

The family went out last Tuesday to enjoy a free comedy night at Brockwell Lido Cafe, can’t really complain at free comedy on a school night. First up were Thomas Hardie; Joy Thomas and Caroline Hardie are a fast-paced, mental comedy duo with a residency at the Water Poet in Shoreditch.

Thomas Hardie

The compère, Clever Peter’s William Hartley, a quick wittted, quick talking welcome break between each act.

William Hartley

Next up was Nathan Dean Williams, a dark and depraved first sketch. If you have a fear of clowns then maybe not for you, though it’s hard to feel anything but pity in his sad rantings, definitely worth checking out.

Nathan Dean Williams

His second sketch, the final act, involved a rabbit neck deep in tragedy – overall a very downtrodden pair of characters who hit the satirical bone in your body.

The third act – Toby – are sisters Sarah and Lizzie Daykin and they came with two sketches each as bizarre as one another – the first sketch was a mix up with a stork delivering a baby.

Toby

Followed by my favourite sketch of the night, a disturbed lady who gets a visit from the RSPCA.

The penultimate act were Miranda Hennessy and Friends – Miranda Hennessy, Steven Shapland and David Seymour, doing four sketches.

Miranda Hennessy and David Seymour

Miranda Hennessy, David Seymour and Steven Shapland

The whole night was full of laughter from the punters, each act definitely worth another watch. I’ve been invited to Thomas Hardie’s next gig on June 13th so I’ll take some more photos.