NEW SPECS! Finally after about a 6 months search, i've found and bought a well overdue new pair of glasses. The prescription in my old pair was about two years out of date so I can finally see again.
I splashed out and went for a pair of Ray-Bans, I thought my neglected eyes deserved them. I think the main reason I left it so long was basically because Specsavers range is SHIT! Within 5 mins of going into Optical Express on Briggate, Leeds (despite being slightly hungover) i'd found a new pair. Sure, I paid a fair bit for them but I reckon your eyes are worth looking after! I particularly like them with the tache, which you can donate to for Movember if you like at http://uk.movember.com/mospace/1582026/
Glasses from Optical Express, Leeds http://www.opticalexpress.co.uk/stores/leeds-briggate-53.html
Frames £115
Dodgy Tache £40 so far, help me out to make it a bit more!
This weekend I watched the docu film, Senna. It was amazing! Wanted to share a quick review with you to try and urge you to watch it.
Senna was a racing driver, made famous for his flamboyant, aggressive, exciting driving style throughout the early 70's, 80's and early 90's. In 1994, he met his match at the San Marino GP, hitting a wall and dieing from the impact. The film charts his rise from a go-kart racer all the way through to formula 1, where he was to become a triple world champion. Each championship was won in a completely different way, every one of them telling a story about the type of man he was; determined, ruthless and above all talented. Drawing on thoughts from people close to him and colleagues it pieces together footage of him both on and off the track from his ongoing feud with his main rival Alain Prost to his charity work with poverty stricken children in his beloved country, Brazil.
Whether you knew who Senna was or what he did isn't going to matter. Some would be put off by the fact they don't have any background on someone they're thinking about spending an hour and forty mins watching a story about. Worry not! This has it all, it's exciting, inspiring, humbling & sad. A tale of right versus wrong, corruption and a clear example of how sport can help start to help mend a broken country.
It completely blew me away, watch it!
Get it at Amazon, bargain for £10.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Senna-DVD-Ayrton/dp/B004PYD770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320778269&sr=8-1
Olééééééé, Olé, Olé, Oléééééééé Sennaaaaa Seeeena. Nikolass X
So, it's now official The Stone Roses are reforming. What do we think of this? I for one am very very happy. Fair play to them I say, they missed their chance to make any serious cash way back when and it seems now they're back for the right reasons (Mani's mothers death being the thing that apparently brought them all back together) and actually want to come back properly, new songs and all. They even went to the trouble of playing together before they announced the shows to check they didn't sound shite.
Trouble is i'm not going to be in county to be able to watch what promises to be a monumental, historic gig at Heaton park in Manchester next year. Sure, you'll probably get piss on you and it'll have it's fair share of hooligans getting their melons well and truly twisted. But I have no doubt in my mind, the music and sense of occasion will make up for it. I will be keeping my fingers crossed the 'world tour' comes somewhere near me.
My main tip for anyone going would be not to stand too close that you're in 'the firing line' but close enough that you hear alright, the sound wasn't great last time I was there for an Oasis gig. Also try and arrange getting back to Manchester City Centre before or you could be in for a long wait/ walk. Finally don't try and squeeze yourself into the bus and get your arm stuck in between the two doors, only an idiot would do that.
Take care, have fun and bang drums x
Went to Berlin last weekend, with 5 friends from school. We've seen each other in bits over the last few years but it's the first time in a long time we've all been together in one place, and what a place! Berlin is, in my mind, a weird but wonderful destination, you really do get a massive sense of history here. It's amazing to think some of the things that happened and you do get the feeling that some of the ghosts from the past are still present, I guess that's what makes the place what it is, and the past is used in, overall, a positive way. Berlin clearly isn't proud of everything that's happened there but what I do think is important is that they've taken the time to explain it to people in a way that says, 'look, this happened, it was wrong, but we think it's important you know about it. This is what we are now, we've moved on, we hope you can too.'
The people there were overall friendly, it seemed like they really wanted you to like their city, they were very accommodating of my appalling German, although I did make the effort to learn a few pleasantries before I left. www.babbel.com was really useful for this.
We stayed at Pfefferbett hostel, www.pfefferbett.de/en which came highly recommended and it was perfect for everything we needed, We stayed in 6 bed dorm, with communal toilets and shower, we paid 82€ each. We didn't want any luxuries as we didn't plan on spending too much time there. However we probably ended up there more than we thought, due to the nice environment, activities on offer, free internet and cheap beer!
The staff were friendly for the most part, unless provoked by a drunken Ally Lloyd after a row over a glass of water, i'm with Tanya on that one.
Also they gave me 94€ off my next stay if I return in 12 months, shame I won't be returning within the next 12 months, nice one though.
Day one started early for me and Dan, we arrived in Berlin from Manchester at about 11am. We met up with Joel and got the 30 min train to find the hostel. We then mooched about for the rest of the day round Kreuzberg waiting for the others to arrive, just getting a feel for the place, we found the most amazing burger bar called Ketchup and Mayo and ate there.
The rest of the them arrived around 6 at the hostel and we ventured out in search of a restaurant Ad had discoverd, after a questionable random walk through a stadium and predictably, a visit to an Irish Bar, we ended up in a place called White Trash Food (not where Ad wanted to go), best way to describe this is a a Tattoo Parlour, Restaurant and Live Music Venue all rolled into one www.whitetrashfastfood.com. It was alright but we ended up in 8mm bar which was pretty cool, no windows, www.8mmbar.com. By about 3 it was time for bed.
Friday involved a walking tour of Berlin from a friend of a friend, which was really good, saw what i would call all the main tourist attractions, my favourite being the Holocaust memorial.
We were out for a while and then had a bit of downtime at the hostel which invovled a mammoth table tennis tournament, think me or Joe we the overall winners (obvs). Then some beers and Dobble, Dobble is a new game to me but what a game, i've ordered it already. Think the best way to describe it is a more complicated version of snap, actually that might not do it justice, it's amazing just get it! Best £12 you'll ever spend, good Xmas present too.
This was followed by dinner at thebirdinberlin.com (this is where Ad wanted to go on the first night|) where i had one of the best steaks i've ever had in my life, amazing!
Then drinks in Kreuzberg (white russian for Ally) and then dancing to some indie disco classics at www.lido-berlin.de must've been alright because we didn't get home till getting on for 6am. The tunes were defo not up to Nick Bennett, Dan Parkes and Piet Berlyn standards though.
Saturday, was literally spark out till 2pm when me Dan and Ally got up and got back on it. One of the strangest things about Berlin is that they seem to have more beer shops than what we would call newsagents and they're open 24 hours a day. Basically you go in, buy a beer, they open it for you at the counter and then you can drink it on the street. Ace. So basically, Saturday consisted of walking around Berlin, drinking on the streets, ending up in Kreuzberg, trying to find a fountain in a park, which we got very close to but didn't find. Then watching the football in an Irish Bar, having a very drunken Italian and stumbling home at some point. Classy, but lots of fun verbally sparring with Ally Lloyd, I also stole Joel a fridge magnet of a Cow licking it's lips, I think he liked it.
Sunday we were back on the 'tourist trail' we walked to the typography of terror museum which basically documents all the horrific things that went on before, during and after the war. Promised a lot, but I don't think any of us were prepared for the amount of reading involved. We were all expecting more 'things to look at' rather than having to read our way round. In a different frame of mind it may've been great. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong state of mind.
We rounded off Sunday with a trip to a local flea market which I can only describe as a mini Glastonbury, all sorts of weird acts/ stalls in a local park. It was alright, again maybe we were all a bit tired! The day concluded with watching the Tottenham game (2-2 draw with Newcastle, fair result) and some Dobble. Me and Dan had to be up for a flight at 7 so drinking was kept to a minimum and we were in bed by 12.
That was the end to a beautiful, action packed weekend, with amazing friends that I don't see enough. We all agreed at the end of it that it should become an annual gathering which i'm v happy about.
So, yeah, thanks to everyone involved, thanks to me for semi- organising the whole event. Berlin comes highly recommended, go, enjoy, walk, learn, drink on the street, talk to people but most importantly; Dobble!
Coming up: Why I love Vans. The Stone Roses reformation. The Coolhunter. Something advertising based. None of which will be as long as this. Oh and when Scott Cramner gets his act together, a new look.
Peace and love. Nikolass X
...Bit cliché...but certainly seems that's exactly what i did this weekend. Action packed to say the least, one of those where you go to work on Monday morning and feel like you need a weekend to recover.
Friday began straight after work with drinks with workmates and ended up going on till who knows what hour. Highlights included one of the girls hair extensions catching fire whilst having a picture taken with me. SOZ. (she was ok by the way, more of a singe) Finding a fat friend lookalike & a rapper that really looked like he shouldn't be able to rap. Standard.
Saturday, against my better judgement started early, we'd organised a trip to Blackburn to watch them play against Man Citeh for one of my mates birthday's who is a City fan, so i was up for 9 and out and about for 10:30!
Blackburn is a strange place isn't it!? Like stepping back 20 years in time? Football was alright in the end and it was a beatuiful day. The Citeh fans were pretty good as well, Poznan is amazing, if you don't know what this is, watch this, basically what they do every time they score.
Major error of the day was managing to find probably the roughest pub in Blackburn on the way back and deciding it would be a good idea to have a drink, only to literally be stared out of the pub and not being able to get a taxi. My q to leave was being confronted with this when i went to the toilet:
We were then back out and about in Leeds after just making the train home. Had to take myself home just after midnight. Tired. Emotional.
Sunday, up laaaaate. Obvs. But still managed to catch Spurs SMASH the dirty gooners and finish up with a roast. Bang tidy end to a top weeekend.
Just about managed to get myself back to normal now, work has been pretty busy this week, so v little time for bloggage. Berlin next week, mazers, can't wait! Need to get some plans in place.
Last but not least i've made my 1st traveling pruchase, obvs a pair of board shorts and what a pair they are. I picked them up from Asos (after a little arguement, but we won't go into that). They're by Billabong and i love them. Obviously i've got the stomach to go with them. Also started to compile a list of traveling tasks that need to be performed before i depart, it's long and scary, but WILL be worth it when i'm there.
Off to a shop opening tomorrow night for a mooch and no doubt some free booze. It's my flat mates work leaving do on Friday but the rest of the weekend is free for serious blogging and Berlin planning. Aces. You should start to see some design updates coming soon to make this more 'me' and make it a bit more exciting for you. It's about giving and receiving.
Peace and love. Nikolass x
So 1st 'real' blog, nothing amazingly exciting has happened in the last couple of days so thought i'd kick off with a subject close to my heart. Glastonbury.
I've been making the yearly pilgrimage down to Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset for as long as I care to remember, to the extent I know every back road around and about the way to get in and out quick, handy! I've been there when it's been too hot (how is that possible I hear you ask, trust me it was!), too cold, too wet, too windy, you get the jist. But what i'm curious about is where it will go next? With a year off next year, very nicely timed by Mr Eavis to coincide with my traveling, they're going to need to come back with bang.
How? I hear you cry! For those of you that have been you'll know the place is the size of a small Town and anything you see no matter how strange, just seems normal if it happens there. From an underground Piano bar, to going down a rabbit hole to find Craig Charles DJ'ing, to stumbling upon a fire breathing giant stage or playing the worlds largest game of twister. Nothing ceases to amaze you at this place.
Every year it gets bigger, and some argue not always better. I'm not sure I agree with this. I manage to stumble (stumble very much being the operative word) upon something new every year, they're constantly looking to break down the boundaries of what's possible, in order to do this, it has to expand. That's what keeps people like me coming back year after year. This brings me onto the the mix of people, which always interests me in that this seems to be the only festival that i've been to that has a sort of 'cult' following, people come back year on year to find these little gems in a corner of a field they've never quite got to before (too much Brother's Cider no doubt). In order to keep these people coming, they need to continue innovating to keep them happy! There's always going to be the folk that come purely for the music, personally I think if you go only for this and don't see anything else you're only exploring a fraction of what it has to offer.
Music wise I think 2013 needs to be a bit of a 'Jay-Z' year. A year of new headliners that nobody is expecting, then probably one massive seasoned act that have done it before. As i said, for me this is not what it's about, but I reckon this would definitely entice a new wave of punters who will hopefully return off the back of it. Let's face it, bands will be knocking their door down to do this one, I reckon they can take their pick.
Will I be visiting in 2013? COURSE I WILL! For me 2013 will be the year of the Tipi, fed up of tents. Should add a new dimension.
Anyway there's a fair bit to do before then so lets wait and see what Mr Eavis comes up with.
I'll leave you with one of my favourite pictures of this magical place. For those that have never been before, I can only urge you to take the plunge and give it a go. It truly is a magical place.
After months of deliberation with myself, it's time to start blogging! Not sure where this will go but i guess a good start would be to tell you what the name means. Hopefully then you'll get what i'm about.
So 'Tales of Arcadia'- Hopefully, if you're reading this, you understand English, if you don't i hope my spelling and grammar is a good enough example for you to learn from. Either way hopefully you'll know what 'tales of' means so i'll elaborate a bit on Arcadia.
The word first came to me through listening to one of my favourite bands; The Libertines. There's a few potential meanings kicking about, but the one i like best is, 'Any region or scene of simple pleasure and untroubled quiet.' To me, happiness.
Since finding out what it means it's a word i've taken strength in, to the extent of having it tattooed on my back. I like to think that i live life in the pursuit of finding my Arcadia. I'm not sure what this is and i'm not sure i'll ever find out but hopefully this blog will go some way to explaining what i get up to in looking for it, hense, Tales of Arcadia!
Man, that was quite deep, don't worry, it'll lighten up from now on promise. Bit about me, I'm 26 and at the moment i'm working as a Senior Account Manager at an Ad agency in Leeds. I do love my job but i'm off to travel the world next year which i'm amazingly excited about. I list my interests on Twitter as: Cheese, music, football, cats, gin, trash TV, tottenham hotspur, red wine, tattoos, food, advertising, cheese based jokes, film, pubs, accents, fashion. So maybe i'll find myself a little blogging niche in one of those, you never know!
Here goes.....
