nhrb

reflections

2011-01-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

I've got goals, but they are more 5 year's time goals. Both myself and my work are not mature enough to attack those goals yet. I am happy in my silence. I am learning and evolving.

-2011

the end.

2009-12-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

this will be the last post on here

from now on i will be posting on

http://nhrb.tumblr.com/

this blog had to come to an end. sorry

if you have only just found this blog. start at the begining, click here and work your way back.

hope to see you all later, have a great new year and lets hope the next decade is brighter than the last.

much love x

where i dwell

2009-12-13T11:24:00.001-08:00

obessed

2009-12-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

Get yourself to a local music store and pick up a copy of this. the record contains some incredible hip hop with artists such as mos def, NOE, luda, RZA, ODB, raekwon and Q-tip. Even if your not a rap/hip-hop fan, you will love this. It sounds like that awesome warm thursday night in summer at that amazing new york city bar with great friends and new girls who arent only cool, they are cute too, that night was crazy, it was when everyone got a round of drinks in and you all left late, all got laid, got up early in the sunlight but had no hangover and cruised to meet up for a lovely friday and never stopped smiling even though you had the same clothes fromthe day/night before.

yeah....ive had those days!

Its sure to be a classic, much like the new Mos record. I used to be a sucker for my 12" crate collection, now I'm getting into my CD collection because ive been archiving everything to my external HD.

2009-12-07T14:08:00.000-08:00

last name ever, first name greatest

2009-12-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

so recently ive been working on building my portfolio to include more men. this time last year i could not even imagine shooting menswear. part of me doesn't connect with guys on the same level as I do with women. Either way. D1 Models have been kind enough to let me test with the men on there books. It's also given me the opertunity to shoot in London more and also take a much more hand on role in the styling. Ive found myself developing a very strong style. almost romantic. The massive wet blanket that i am has come across in my images. Masculinity romantised. Soft lighting, crisp lines and tailored lines. I have began utilizing natural light, shooting more film and finding myself in love with soft high contrast black & white images.

this means that the photographers who I looked up before have taken a back seat to my new inspirations. Im now applying for more and more assisting work and spending 2 out of 4 weeks in London per month. Its really opened my eyes to a whole body of work that i previously have missed. Its great because with my Women's work I've discovered that i have become much more adventurous. im trying daring lighting, communicating more with the model about mood and concept instead of posing the model into the ideal position almost as a sculpture would.

++++++++OH YEAH!++++++++

I almost forgot. Ive recently found myself listening to a whole load of old rock, punk and hardcore that i used to love. Ive also found a huge stash of records that pretty much document my attempt at becoming a gangster rap dj. I WAS 13 years old! needless to say ive found myself becoming inspired by a whole bunch of music that i know word for word but haven't listened to in years.

++++++++THE ANTI CHRIST!++++++++

beginning pretty soon is a new project on my part. if you dont know i have quite an obsession for catholic art. particular of god wrath. my tattoo's depict such evens as jesus's last moments. i have a cross which is exploded to look like a graphic net for a cube. ie religion puts you in a box.

anywhoooo..... due to the fact that i am styling alot of my own work now. I feel like taking on a bit of a fun time challenge and styling. durrr.

So ill keep you updated. Hope you enjoy the work and dont forget to check www.nhrb.co.uk for new work.

facial fun times

2009-12-01T13:40:00.001-08:00

i am aware that my hair cut isnt the only thing that frequently changes, my facial hair is a fucking nightmere. anyway i grew a brew for about a month tops, but decided to get rid of it. however i thought i would have a little fun with it.

i am extremely worried that i wont look as farmer-ish driving around in the landrover now. but the hell with it.

ALL ON MY OWN part 1

2009-12-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

a collection of hair cutzzz!

2009-11-23T08:14:00.000-08:00

Ok just because i received a bucket load of emails about this, i have not ended the blog, i just haven't had the access to the internet that i wish to have.

Alot of things have changed in my life and i promise that soon enough this blog and the better than we expected blog will be back in full swing.

expect alot of exciting new photos, stories and internet trash to be splashed across the pages of this here blog. If you havent already head back to my first ever post and work your way forward.

thanks again for the support and love

BETTER THAN WE EXPECTED

2009-08-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

http://betterthanweexpected.wordpress.com/

this is the new project cooked up by myself and photographer karina lax

its basically a visual diary

go have a look see

hats hats hats

2009-08-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

photographed & styled by Nicholas Bentham

model- Anna Lisa Lappenkueper

hats/jewellery provided by THE SECRET BOUDOIR.
glasses models own.

07 Aug 2009

2009-08-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

shot on fuji superia x-tra 400 120 & illford 400 b&w 120

what the hell has happened to myspace

2009-08-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

beside logging on to book tattoo appointments with Woody (www.myspace.com/woodzo) i never really check my myspace page anymore.

I think that in a bid to compete with facebook/twitter/etc they lost the plot, throwing everything you dont need or may have needed into the equation. myspace is and always will be a fundamental tool for teenage masturbation. jesus if im honest, i still go though my friends requests and look at the cute girls pages, in the underwear, only 16, young, soft skin, bright eyes filled with excitement as the stare down the lens of there camera phone. oh your so naughty arnt you "xmissyxx_00".

problem is after everyone jumped ship to faceache, your left with peado's and 12/14 year olds with floppy hair. OH AND BANDS! fuck i mean come on guys. myspace was amazing because it gave you a platform to become whoever you wanted. bands got famous, emo became pop, fat girls looked hot! myspace was simple, you made a profile, took a photo from above your head, wrote a little piece about how utterly amazing the shit little things you do everyday are, added a few good looking people from your local area, and received picture comments. every so often you would find true love and have pictures splashed all over your myspace of each other declaring how perfect you are for each other, that you'll be together forever. then one day you'll either see a picture comment from a new love interest (with better hair or a better placed tattoo) which will drive into revenge blogging about how hurt you are with a million bulletins. sometimes this will happen just because after 4 months of telling everyone you love each other, you finaly meet, well not face to face because you spotted her from 200 yards away and what you saw was not the retouched, buxom beauty from photo 37 of 248. its a hideous create that if you where 4ft taller wouldnt even look like the photos youve been furiously masturbating to for the past 6 weeks. it makes sence, so thats why she was always laid down on webcam and wouldnt bend over and stick 2 fingers in her ass. fucking bitch caught me out!

now with all these new gizmo's on myspace i doubt kids have the same fun. facebook is to real, its to personal, there is no air of mystique and twitter is to bloody fast paced. i hope myspace take it back to the way it was, simple elegant, maybe then ill head back and swap picture comments for picture comments.

here are a few of my favorite myspace photos over the years from when i joined in 2004.
www.myspace.com/nhrb

istealstarbucksmugs.blogspot.com

2009-07-10T03:22:00.000-07:00

my hobbies are;

-drinking tea
-living without toilet roll for as long as possible
-appearing rich when actually penniless
-counting 2 pence pieces
-living off others
-big brother
-getting in moods because others succeed while i stay stuck in a creative rutt

and finally

-stealing starbucks mugs

ive decided it is worth fucking off the other ones (although 2 would make a good blog and 5&7 are what this blog is all about) and writing a blog about my problem. its been about 3 years since i stole my first mug from starbucks. it was, i might add, out of necessity. I had just moved into a new apartment, i had forgot to take cups/mugs/cutlery/plates etc from my mothers house. i was in starbucks, i pondered the thought of going home and having a nice cup of tetley tea while watching tv in my brand new apartment, i decided swiftly to "bag the cup".

now baging the cup is a term that i use for when you slip the cup from the table and it falls softly into an open bag.

read more on the other blog

its business time, its business tiiiiiimmmmmeeee

2009-06-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

im starting a new game of screen shot texts

2009-06-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

dork magazine contributing fashion story preview

2009-06-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

so here is a preview from dork magazine issue 3 that will be dropping this week

www.dorkzine.com

photography Nicholas Bentham www.nhrb.co.uk
styling Nicki Gillion @ nemasis
make up artist Nancy Spencer Makeupmanchester.com
models sophie @DK and danny @nemasis

also starting monday i will be starting my cigs and water diet

the night before my birthday

2009-05-14T03:18:00.001-07:00

i went round to jons, for some reason i was kept out of the living room, suddenly i was suprised with a cake that jazz had made!!!

me and jon stayed up chating and watching stupid internet shit before i wandered home slightly drunk but very happy

swineflu is going to kill us all

2009-05-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

drums of death

2009-04-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

i got prime flash in your eyes location

its a recession however look what £70 can get you...

2009-04-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

sweet...by the way, fuck ebay!

day time

2009-03-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

just found this on sanna vimeo

2009-03-27T06:01:00.003-07:00

an introduction to me by banana burger....

an introduction to nick bentham from sanna berger on Vimeo.

play time, work time, gay time

2009-03-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

2009-03-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

so ive decided that furiously masturbating does not cure hang overs, it sends me into a shame spiral that i cant seem to pull myself out of

free gifts...

2009-02-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

me, German porn and the owner and distributor of the porn Alex. we h8 wags tonight!

the name of the game is....FOUR'ZEEES

2009-02-18T05:18:00.000-08:00

Lonely Island.....

2009-02-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

just blew my mind....not my load

its my poloriods birthday

2009-02-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

ive had that little instant for a whole year now

i thought to celebrate id scan all the photos ive taken on it in the past year, from leeds to london, manchester to glasgow, new york to texas and dublin to spain

but instead i decided not too because most of them are of my cock in young ladies mouths, "say cheese!"

bobbie...wait chris brown

2009-02-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

oh deary me, i feel bad for chris brown. we live in a society where women expect equal opportunity, yet a man cant punch a woman in the face?

equal my arse, you want respect, fight me for it.

smug fucker....

what a crop mr kola....

2009-02-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

if i were a (black) boy.....

2009-02-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

i'd aim to look like an alcoholic steroid loving LA raised thug, i would get N.W.A tattooed on my chest and never wear a shirt

myface.com

2009-02-09T18:14:00.001-08:00

wow these photos are old

2009-02-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

and rather embarrassing

i never post work from my portfolio but...

2009-02-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

the shoot i did on friday was interesting. nothing like renting a swanky hotel room and hanging out in it with 5 beautiful girls and only one of them was the model

styling came down to the super talented nicki Gillon, who happened to be on the front of the paper that day. she brought along 2 assistants Rachel and Jess

the make up artist for the day was a long time friend that i had never actualy worked with, however she has done my makeup before..........anyway......Nancy Spencer

the model....Hollie Swain of boss models

the day ran pretty smooth, all the hotel staff where amazing, they gave us free range to use any area we wished without interfering with the team or the set at all.

these are just 3 previews, Im sure the whole set will appear somewhere soon...muhahaha... anyway i wont post anymore work, just photos of me getting fucked up and stories about how shit everything is.

thursday the 5th

2009-02-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

i hate porn all it does is amuse me

the weather outside if frightful

2009-02-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

the view from my window

the right to bare arms

2009-01-26T07:03:00.000-08:00

who loves bird shit!

2009-01-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

this dude loves bird's shit....... however

ive given in and started using twitter again....fuck sake another distraction from work!

http://twitter.com/nhrb

im so sorry.....

bring on the fucking trumpets

2009-01-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

so babes, babys and not alot of 'OH BABY', enjoy!

retouching.........

no touching......

my child

i thrashed my landlord at dragon force on guitar hero, so we rocked out.......

reLAX.......

bring on the trumpets........

two company, three's just a fucking shambles..........

OBAMA-20/01/09

2009-01-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

12mm behind the scenes shots

2009-01-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

what a treat, my beauty shoot went swimmingly and i even got chance to involve and shoot my boy Elliot, who has now signed with D1 models. i had to shoot at fusion as it was free for the day, NICE!

im giving away a little secret in a few of these shots but whatever

kind of sort of celebrity sighting

2009-01-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

is this the man, the myth, the Mancunian marvel that is MR. KARL PILKINGTON??

contort yourself 17/01/09

been getting a whole bunch of fucked up

2009-01-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted anything on here, life took an unexpected dip. however due to a select group of very beautiful people, i feel that my life is back on track. So remember, if your broke as fuck, cant think who to trust, just get fucked up and take everyone along for the ride. your not dead yet. now for the documentation of destruction.......

UK vs USA

she wants it

there is a moral to every story

not really sure either

its how weez whiteboi'z party

its how i do

big time

she didnt go home alone

clean shaved

1 week later, beardy, its the jugs of strongbow

that wifey

bad times

at my lowest

playdo pimp cup

get fucked up

i scrub and scrub and scrub

2008-12-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

but the marker pen just wont come off. karina got me good, i fucking hate shit coke and christmas partys, its the same every year.

hemaroids

2008-12-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

2008-12-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

i hate people, white people, black people, green, yellow and blue people, angry people, lovely people, man people, woman people. people just anger me, its not there fault. see people only become people when they are gathered like sheep, penned in, sharing a common interest. be it work, live music or a club night, shopping or speed dating, each person lets go of the individuality and becomes part of the heard. people fuck me off because they feel a need to voice there opinion in a collective state, joining in with the noise and spouting out bullshit. stop it, go home, write a blog about how you hate everything instead, that's true individuality!

I AM SCUM

2008-12-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

for those of you who dont know anything about me beside what it says on this blog, myspace, facebook etc

you will have no idea where I grew up, the people that inhabit it, the soles of my youth.

I was raised and schooled in an area of Lancashire called Rossendale, its famous because Sophie Lancaster was mudered by the kind of kids i was forced to grow up with, Gary Neville lives here and Agyness Deyn lived and worked in a chippy called ross's there. In the early 60's rossendale was a thriving area with local community spirit, local mills, textile plants, churchs and british morals with a great love of hot pot. Area's like Bacup, Britannia, Weir and Stacksteads (all where I lived or went to school) housed young family's and offered an escape from the bigger citys like Blackburn, Rochdale, Burnley, Bradford, Halifax and of course Manchester. after Thatcher these areas where hit hard with poverty, social decline and of course an influx of multiculturalism. even now the areas are filled with racism, its not the peoples fault, they just are not exposed to anything other than it, they are born, raised, work, reproduce, retire and die in these areas and never feel a need to leave. the outside world means nothing to them, the news keeps them scared of the big citys, unless its once as a shopping day or a treat to a make over studio. (haha)

i was never ment to be one of those people, i wasnt there by choice, my parents longed to escape out of the rat race, into the country side and enjoy peace and quite. i never fit in and found myself looking down on the people around me.

Through high school i was bullied, i hated it there. the people in my form, the girls in skinny tie's, black pants and fake tan. Elizibeth Duke gold rings bejeweled there fingers and my only consolation was that i knew that in 5 years i would be living the life they would never have. they would get pregnant, talk about how they wanted to settle down anyway, they want a mortgage and to push a pram around, they don't mind getting a baby sitter on Friday for little Justin or Britney while they "go tu dog on corner" and drink the same drinks they drank there since they where 14. they still play the lottery though, hoping for the jackpot and a new life.

this girl once slapped me so hard in school that my glasses flew off my face, all because i called her a fat bitch with no friends. i was right, nobody liked her, she had no friends, she was a fat bitch with no future and now she adds me on facebook. maybe after i gave her that nugget of truth about how she will live in stacksteads (or stacki) her whole life and never be anything other than a goverment statistic she would have re evaluated her lifes aims and goals. apparently not..

(click the image to see it full size)

seriously?

2008-12-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

chuck noris is the reason wally is hiding

cracking package!

2008-12-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

well hot dam, a package arrived for me yesterday! obviously being bed ridden with illness i ignored the door and continued chatting on facebook.

after walking across the arctic tundra that is manchester city center at the moment, i arrived at the post office picking up my weighty parcel.

i skipped home like a giddy school girl scoring meat pie and chips for sam and sausage and chips for my silly little self. i tore the top off and poured the contents out on the floor.

GOOD GOLLY GOSH! its a whole heap of little cards with my pretty little photograph on it.

fashion tips

2008-11-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

i've never really listened to other people when i came to piecing together my daily outfit

usually my shopping is white boy with a hint of thug, but mainly white boy. i enjoy brands, designers, artists and hand made limited pieces, skinny to slim cut jeans, big jackets, thick pain hoodies and a mix of sneakers or dapper shoes. i works well with my unwashed hair/hat look.

i really thought that when i started to question the clothes that i adorned my body with, it would be on my wedding day, however now i've decided to take tips from various places...imagine signs from god so to speak

well after taking photos at one of Manchester "hippest" nights, where people dress to impress, i headed to the pisser to do just that. the seeds of doubt in my mind surrounding what i was wearing had been planted thanks to the array of immaculately dressed people's piercing glares that dressed me better than anything in my wardrobe.

THE SIGN FROM GOD, it was there, waiting for me, telling me in no uncertain terms that i should be more insecure and reassess everything my fashion sence screams at me

the letter from up high said and i quote....

as per usual

2008-11-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

well i thought i might update you guys on the whole life situation. ive recently become a land lord, well my face has, too a very red, rather yellow headed, green puss filled spot that has grown between my eyes! yeah, right between the fucking eyes!

i walked into the studio this morning

"hey chris" i said

"hey nick, whos your mate?" he sniggered

"what you on about baby dick" i jeered

"the giant volcano growing between your eyes" he laughted, pointed and then walked off throught the door

"fuck you cunt" i said.....but not out loud of course

anyway beside that, i purchased a blue roll out from calumet online, it came, it was the wrong colour, wrong size, and basically its fucking massive, but i like it. also if your wondering the amount of roll out visible is only half of it and it is held together with duck tape

awesome

oh yeah and....

"nick takes hot photos, in hot clubs, of mediocre girls or drag queens" is what i would have loved the tag line to say. (if you click the images they go bigger btw so you can read the text)
so just as i fuck off the whole idea of doing anything remotely related to club night photography youll never guess what the fuck happens

http://www.myspace.com/pix otherwise know as myspace.com has employed me to go and take photos around manchester club night scene

3 clubs per week of my choice and then i invoice good old Rupert Murdoch, this is possibly the strangest thing to happen in a long time, its going to be a good laugh i reckon, i have to do a night at rock kitchen too!

so if you thought i wouldn't been seen in a club with a camera after i did the work for E4.com and channel fours SKINS, guess again

btw, im not complaining, im just upset about the spot and honestly when beth wallach rang me from myspace.com, i kind of hoped she was going to put me through to TOM, but she didnt

hummmmmmmmmmm

id hit you baby a couple more times

2008-11-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

oh more magazine, now this photo has nothing to do with the night i had last night. ive really got into this iphone blogging milarky. So, last night was little sophies 21st birthday, she works in a bar called trof in manchester (which is where she had this little shindig). ive known her for about 3 years now, lovely little one she is. so happy birthday, for yesturday, im sorry about making you slam those sambucca shots like your life depended on it, and when youve washed your vomit off my jacket, give it back.

sophie as winehouse
sophies boyfriend eddie as travis 'did he die in a plane crash?' barker
free pour my arse
the southern gallager brothers used crafty amounts of electrical tape to look more manc
fucked!
she fell alseep stood up, thats a good 21st
the real amy whinehouse
the things that dreams are made of
pwishhead
theres something about 20 somethings dressed as school girls that fucks me up in the trouser department, leonie should know better
i have a masive spot between my eyes
i rode my bike home at 4am after drinking my weight in alcohol and blazing jungels, i only had spaggetti so i made it, it was awefull and i didnt eat it
it stuck to the pan
these where from before i rode home

this is probally more accurate to my vision at the time

fun night

oh btw i dressed as goegre micheal, im a gay, a big gay

no meaning, no reason, just images with pathetic explanations

2008-11-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

somewhere in spain, not sure where
brooklyn
hurricane karina
hot chocolate
banged up
barcalona
bears
brows
not an ash tray, just a plate
take a closer look at the guy in the middle of the photo during a silent rave in carnaby street
hello?
allo?
HEY?
out the window
on the wall
spelling lessons?
filth
liverpool was uneventful
dont fall asleep
i said dont fall asleep
dont fall asleep in the streets of liverpool
i said dont fall asleep in the fucking streets of liverpool!
chester has fake hotels, beware
manchester has 56 year old men seeking 15 year old girls
manchester also has homeless people having sex in clubs
and women who are proud of their asbo children
london drinking games end in smiles
new york drinking games end with angry bearded men
the spainish hotel cleaner (carmen) takes photos
spainish bars
"how about a handjob?"
me in 29 years
i turned 21, i over indulged
scotland hates me

so do fences in longsight

so New York to Barcelona, Liverpool to London, Manchester to somewhere in spain that i cant remenber but i went on holiday with my dad for a week. oh and glasgow...but fuck that

welcome back to manchester

2008-11-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

Gordon brown speaks out about brand, Ross and sachs

2008-10-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

how about you run the fucking country! Maybe if we had elected you we might give a shit about your stand point on........ Well anything

Sachs is over it, his grand daughter banged brand just like every other daughter of a one time popular tv actor

Moral of the story, don't fuck russel brand unless you want to be photographed by paparatzi or talked about in the public domain

thinking back

2008-10-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

Im just your average tea drinking, beans on toast loving northern English guy, but in the summer of 2008 I decided that I would throw all my stuff in storage and move to new york city for a few months. I took my camera and started keeping a blog with photos and storys of what I had been doing, who I had been meeting and where I had been waking up. I fit in well with new york, I am a city boy at heart and so manhattan soon became second nature but after some time I decided I would rather see manhatten from a far and moved out to Brooklyn, williamsberg/greenpoint actually, you know, where the white kids can wear stupid clothes and not be shot.

The people in williamsberg suited me more, the sarcastic remarks that received a dead pan silence in manhattan were embraced with open and loving arms in Brooklyn. The parties were cheaper and lasted later and later. There were art shows, live bands, roof top parties the time I accidental smoked heroin with a portorican guy named jesus. The atmosphere was electric and the people were friendly and extremely giving.

One example of this sticks out in my mind more than any other. I had been to see the black lips play live in maccarren pool, the day was beautiful, blue skies and hot golden sun that left everyone looking tanned and perfect. As I headed home walking along toward Bedford I spotted a gorgeous sun set at the bottom of the block, the yellow light from the suns demise ran along the roof tops and the pastel pink danced quickly after it, almost as if the colours chased each other playing tag, catching each other on windows and then switching the chase back to the street and off of cars and people.

I had not been the only one to spot such beauty. A man was hanging from his window, camera in hand making sure he got an elevated view on natures final salute to day light. Little did he no that the yellows and pinks where all over his building, he was far to impressed by the sun set and so quickly I grabbed my camera and decided to capture him and the playful light that he was so blissfully unaware off.

“did you just take a fucking picture of me” screamed a voice from the roof tops

“what” I replyed looking at the man hanging from his window, camera still in hand

“I said did you take a fucking picture of me you fucking psycho!” he exclaimed with anger

I didn’t have the passion to explain that the colours on his building where so blah blah blah, instead I said the first thing that came to mind

“shut the fuck up! Fucking cunt!”

the stunned window man looked puzzled.

And with that i began walking again and without my heart skipping a beat looked up and shouted

“PRICK!”

williamberg wandering

2008-09-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

a happy ending

2008-09-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

this is ruby, it was her birthday, we went to manhattan, thats in new york.

i look pretty tubs on this, plus the clean shave didnt help much
leon nickin, nuff said
team burf-day
3 dollar PBR....fucking rip off
doing it
xavier and amy, pretty much all i can think to say
hasidic jew up in the club. he body poped his way into our hearts
i cant think of anything that wont offend amy to write her

giving it "mad love" aka "big dick"

BIG IN TEXAS!

2008-09-23T13:47:00.001-07:00

As the engines of united airways flight rumbled through the seating, i felt my heart sink slowly into the pit of stomach. I fucking hate flying, i really fucking hate taking off, flying, landing, being in a fucking plane, turbulence, pilots, safety instructions, FLYING! the vibrations grow and it feels as if the entire air craft is twisting and buckling under the strain of the huge jet engines building up power. thats about the time i close my eyes and quickly think about how the fuck i got here.

i left as ruby arrived to her new bed room in Brooklyn. i hoped in a cab to an airport that apparently doesn't have a long enough runway to actually let planes land or take off.

i decided to ignore the warnings of electrical devices and figured that i was about to fucking die anyway i might aswell be listening to the police or lil wayne. this also gave me time to ignore the woman i had been seated next to. she hailed from talahassi, she worked as an events planner and was in new york checking locations for her next event. she made her life sound so glamorus. Spar days here, celberity parties there. frankly i wondered how much more bullshit i could let seep out of her mouth hole and into my ear before i stood up, slapped her and asked "well if your life is so full of excitement and first class treatment, why the fuck are you sat in coach, crushed up next to the window, wearing shit clothes and fake rings on a $200 flight. why didnt you catch a ride in donald trumps (who she claimed that she was close friends with) lear jet"

dumb fuck

the plane landed in north carolina and i quickly had to to run to my next plane which was closing boarding. if i missed this flight i would be stuck in charlotte over night as it was the last flight to Bush international in texas. youll never guess.....i made it

when i landed ash picked me up and i went and got drunk in a british styled bar. home sweet home.

welcome to texas. I got the days shit out of the way and me and ash headed out to houston to shop and meet up with some of her friends.

ashleys place

big truck

the open high way

awesome!

ok so as if hurling down the highway at 80 miles per hour with out a helmet on wasnt painfull enough with all the bugs hitting your face, you go an add an extra 6ft to your handle bars so that you cant reach the brakes. well done fuck face, your why people hate texans.

the hurricane by bob dillan

stop collaberate and listen, ike is back with a whole new vengence, grab a hold of houston tight, and distroy the city by night

ashley and strongbow

me and kool aid. "ohhhhh yeaaahhh"

well they had sort of power

party time

black and tan, fucked up and dead

WHAT-a-BURGER indeed

the airport mcdonalds breakfast menu had weird shit on it, you cant really see but it was messed up

flying back was possibly the worst! i had more room and sat next to a lovely lady who was a photographer, we swapped details and wished each other the best of luck with our carrers

this guy had a broken legs cart, lazy fuck

flying back from charlotte i decided that i wasnt ever going to see the douche bag next to me, i decided i too could be a celebrity party planner, however when this guy asked me what i did, i decided that i was a writer for the new york times. i told him i had just returned from texas to see how people felt bush reacted to the situation in his home town compared to how he reacted to the hurricane that hit louisiana last year. this guy ate it up. halerious

home sweet home, texas was fun, deffinatly worth a visit

glad to be back in brooklyn even if it is just for a week.

then im flying back to jolly old england.

head hunted

2008-09-23T13:38:00.001-07:00

so team get fucked up headed to manhattan to see bloc party and moby DJ. as i stood on the street corner waiting to enter the club a man stood on the balcony of the resturant above threw his bottle into the street. it hit me verticaly with the blunt end on my head. instantly i turned and ran up the stairs to find myself presented with a short pakistani fellow, well dressed, drunk, apolgetic. feeling sorry for him i thretended him and then headed back to join the group of friends.

to took off my hat to check the lump when i suddenly realised that my head was indeed soaked in blood. (not beer like i had thought had come from the bottle) i ran back up the stairs and pressed said gentlemen up against the window of the building. i demanded money for the hospital bill. (im uninsured in america)

i decided that it would be best to deal with the blood flowing from my crainium before beating the shit out the man. i ran to the bathroom with bethany who helped find the hole in my scalp and clean it up.

when i returned the man had ran off. fucking great. i went into the club but felt as if i was spinning so headed home and showered it off. great night!

ruby met moby though lol

just me and dom in the office today

2008-09-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

oh and doms new sleeping bag suit

new york men

2008-09-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

a conversation with my good friend ruby who flies out to stay tomorrow. little does she know the men that are waiting for her here in the big apple

well this was interesting?

2008-09-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

so the past few days have been rather insane. ill try to remenber everything i can but its happened so fast its a bloody blur

so on wednesday i loaded up the gear with kaz and brantley and we headed out to interview charlie ahern the director of "wild style". his interview was amazing, he really didnt want to talk to much about the past, i think he wanted to talk more about the future and whats next. we wrapped on the interview and i shot a portrait of him. im keeping most of the artist portraits under wraps for a while but youll be able to see them on my website soon.

brantley and myself then headed to futuras studio, where we met up with stash and futura.

(i found this photo of them online, i didnt shoot anything other than on my cell phone)

i was blown away at the volume of things in that place. it was wild! dunks, bapesta's, fixies, skateboards, toys, posters, shirts, jackets, books, prints, everything one off or limited as shit! also being there with a person who i have the highest respect for futura just made it insane.

we had a smoke, had a joke, had a can of coke and watched futura paint 8 canvas with card on top, he used insane techniques and then begin to do the famous point man figure. suddenly his just ripped this card in half and threw it to one side. "and then there where 7" he said like it was just nothing. i debated grabbing it and running away, selling it for a small fortune, but i dont think i would have made it out of the studio alive.

futura and stash are the sickest guys and run there shit proper, hip hop is something that ive loved from such a young age and ive loved graffiti since the days of hanging out with my friend sam, going bombing in rawtenstall subway, sitting at his house when his mum was away smoking weed and drawing in black books. so meeting these super stars, the people who where there before it was even called hip hop has given me a real sence of dedication to how i want to live my life

after that we said peace to the guys and headed out to power house books to meet the author of train spotting, Irvine Welsh.

Brantley was photographing him for a japanese magazine and i was assisting. Welsh is without a doubt the nicest scottish man ive ever met. haha. he was amazing, he was open and chill, he just relaxed and chatted to me about manchester citys recent money windfall. really amazing guy. he singed my book aswell haha

(Nick, best wishes and good luck in NYC. MCFU!)

we headed back to digforfire offices and gathered the shit together and then headed out to manahattan for doms birthday! we had an amazing meal at the little french on west 10 and then headed to this spot called santas? it was what you would expected if you gave an acid head crayons and said draw a club. lazers, neon, weird dancers, weirder dancing, everyone with the hangs in the air to early 90s rave. pretty strange.

anywho as the night wore on i decided to head outside for smoking time when a struck up a conversatio with a lovely young gentlement and his delightful female friend who is an actress in some show thats on tv hbo show. anyway. i was hammered and somehow ended up back at this guys place alone with him, candle lit, smoking alot of weed and then suddenly o the end of his bed with music and constant glasses of water. i suddenly relised that this man wanted to take me in his arms and do rude undiscribal things to my body

im not sure how but i managed to escape at arounf 4.30am, into a taxi i went and home to freedom, anal viginity intact.

the next day i awoke and headed to manhatten to assist brantley once again on the springcourt tennis shoe photoshoot, it was right good day. we headed to the top of a million dollar penthouse apartment in the soho/noho area of manhatten, across for the new era and other music store. on the roof we set up tenis nets and the models got the shoes on. my job was to change brantleys film in his cameras, help with lighting and take in the incredible view of french girls and manhattan.

brantley loading his contact 645

little french american kids posing with spring courts on

champagne and beer

springcourts new shit

i really cant wait to see the finals of what brantley shot, the light was incredible

after the shoot i was given a pair of sneakers and thanked, brantley hooked me up with some moey because lord knows im broke as fuck. but ive got to thank brantley so much. im doig things that alot of people couldnt dream off. if this isnt the most insane time of my life, im worried about what is next

fresh spingcourts! click the image to see it full size!

when i got back home, i went up on the roof and shot some photos of the trade center lights

i dont really want to comment on my views on 9/11 ill rant another time

peace!

2008-09-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

ron english photographed in his studio in new york click to see correct size
CRASH photographed in his studio in new york click to see correct size
i went to the garden state
behind the scenes at the ron english interview

behind the scenes with TATS CRU in the BRONX

the pink panther wall they had just finished
THE WORLD FAMOUS TATS CRU photographed on the roof of there offices in Bronx New York city

on the way back through manhattan

the day of interviews was incredible

i went to urban outfitters in the tropical storms on saturday

but then on sunday the weather was perfect
me and bafia did the roof thing, illegaly
new york new york
this is the bar across the road from the apartment, bingo on sunday nights, magners cider, what more do you really need

BB deep in thought
manhatten from brooklyn

little cloud
green point av

cup of fucking PG tips
oh right!
beth
floating
bafia

labour day weekend!

2008-09-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

tara mcpherson my 2nd favorite artist, she was an amazing dj check out www.taramcpherson.com
incredible
we keep it west cost even though we where both in brooklyn
obama for president
fell off
the crew
excitment
dedication
cocain
more cocain
crack cocain
heroin

brooklyn brew
amazing
on the streetz
ghetto
crip walking and booty poppin'
team mean in green
processed wrong?
madness

labour day weekend was the shit, dreams came true, dreams where shattered and dreams where drempt!

dig for fire bbq mash up

2008-08-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

today i made....

2008-08-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

kodak moments

2008-08-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

dear diary,

I feel all art faggy today. I bought a disposable camera, didnt have time to shower and designed a comical end screen featuring Notorious BIG, with the slogan "who got ya back?"

well dam, obviously biggie.

peace out diary, and remember "it ain't where you at, it's where your from"

website update

2008-08-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

ive just updated my website alot! its changed colour, theres been some new things put on and a new navigation bar. the personal work section got a big update

go check it out

www.nhrb.co.uk

brooklyn bridge

2008-08-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

shots from the bridge, more to come soon, click image to see it larger

binge drinking and head injurys

2008-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

friday through to sunday involved around $700 of alcohol, around 100 photographs, 6 hours of sleep, 1 punch up with a taxi driver, 2 run-ins with police, 6 crossings of the brooklyn bridge, 1 major fire, 1 major head injury, 1 bruised ego, 3 cats, 2 dogs, 7 vip wristbands, 2 early mornings, 1 awfully dressed subway man photo, 2 tyconol head ache relief, one ridiculous bar tab and one aweful club night photo

i have no idea what is going on with my face

anyway lets carry on with this, theres nothing worse than being lost and confused, but this guy is the definition

and then i guess came our night out and our mini fashion shoot warm up drunk what are we wearing thing

beth sported a grey dress, with a black jacket, hat and she had heels on i think
i wore a hat, shirt and wife beater with grey mayonnaise stained jeans and shoes
beth and kelly
kelly wore, beths dress, head band with shoes and a mr darcy style handbag

mr darcy (the cat) needs anger management

then we went out to ruf club, dolby anol dj's then we headed to a club called beatrice, we some how ran up a $100 bar tab in around 15 minutes? sambucca, lots of sambucca. once that was running through my veins i hit the dance floor like a micheal before he started touching kids. i threw some incredible shapes, im talking moves, unthinkable moves! suddenly i was being stripped of my clothes by a rather small Portorecan looking gentleman with the kind of look in his eye that scream desperation, (ive seen that look in my own eyes so ive got the keen eye for it)

after rubbing my sweaty body down with his tender hands, he grew tired of my obvious nervousness and with one smooth move he was on to his next victim.

the group re joined and we got kicked out at 4am, on to the street and into the arms of the police.

"who dropped that" said office angry black man racial stereotype

"no one dropped anything" we replied as a group

"then why did you walk off?" yelled mr officer of the law

"because we are going to a house party and we have just been in a cl.." i tried to respond

"i dont not require an answer sir" screamed the officer

"well" i said " if you didnt require an answer then why did you ask us a direct question!"

"boy!" he said as he took a huge step forward into my face " your to shut up and your going to turn around now and walk away, all of you"

just to be a smart arse little bastard that needs the final word on anything i piked up

"we where fucking walking away but you called us back and asked us questions that needed no answers and found no bag on the floor and only pissed yourself off and waisted your own time" ......"prick!"

and with that took flight before officer chicken sandwich and waffle fries understood what had happened.

into the taxi's, all i remenber was yassa screaming directions at us in his cheeky london accent, and away we went. it was around 5am when we rocked up at the house party, i jumped out of the taxi and bethany was paying for it on her card, i stood for a second and lit up a cig, when i turned around beth was out of the car and walking toward everyone else at the end of the block.

suddenly i here running, thinking it was on of our lot i turned around to be accosted by the taxi driver, a fucking 6 ft (only about an inch or so bigger than me but still) black dude with eyes that could enslave planets with one screw eyed glance. he gripped me by the throat and said something about feeding his family in a thick African accent. obviously i shit my pants, the plot of bone collector went through my head, what part of me will they eat first, will i be alive when this happens

then it turned out he wanted the money, even though beths card had gone through and paid it, he wanted the cash instead, i was still being strangled by the way. i pushed him backwards and rugby tackled him over the bonnet of a car behind him then he pushed back and into the street again, i got a cheeky left in, but im right handed and pretty much cant even satify myself with my left hand so i doubt i did any damage. as he let go of me for a second, im guessing to take a swing, i got rushed by everyone. they had seen us and come running from the corner, three of them grabbed him and yassa grabbed me. he ran back to his taxi and took off, probally thinking he was going to get killed. i dont blame him though, but i guess he should have checked first to make sure it had gone through before starting a fight in the middle of a dark street on his own.

we headed into the party and i sat and talked to trent all night until daylight came up. we headed out into the light, everyone was tired, weak and slightly ill. i lit up my last cig and relised my laces where untied. i put my cig on top of a bin not seeing a paper, i bend down to tie my laces and when i turn back the bin is on fire with people desperatly trying to put it out.

"fuck! what happened" i shouted

"i dont fucking know help" said the owner of the apartment we had been in

we sorted it out and everyone was clueless as to how the fire started, even me! it wasnt until i woke up the next day i relised.

anywho we headed to starbucks and i convinced bethany to quit her job, and had the best egg and bacon buttie ever! I jumped in a taxi almost hitting a guy on a bike who screamed

"what are you fucking drunk or something"

i yelled back

"of course"

i passed out and remenber nothing more

SATURDAY WENT LIKE THIS...

the weather was nice, but there wasnt a chance in hell i was doing anything....
well except smoke alot and.....
order food from court square dinner, oh and
read the book that james let me borrow

i may have perved on polish people in the neigbourhood

later on, me, beth, james, alyissa and trent watched green street hooligans and drank sparks and passed out

sunday was funday, it was mccaren park day!!

THE LAST EVER POOL PARTY! Yo La Tengo and Ebony Bones

i got as many people as i could in and i spent all day hitting the slip and slide, this would be my demise, as yo la tengo finished up their set, i launched an attack on the photographers at the back end of the slip and slide, like a champion i surfed it, stood up all the way to the end and out of the hole at the back, i double front flipped and landed on my head

it was the most incredible day however, i just wish i hadnt ended it with a 6 ft drop onto my skull

photos!

sang
elouise
the place was fucking rammed
yo le tango

side of stage
sun stroked
slip and slide tunned of my death
so you went leeds festival? you went cream feilds, where you running around stage in 97 degree heat looking out over a crowd like that
amazing
the best weather
click the image below, all 3 are full lenght gifs of the slip and slide in action
click this image.....
click this image....

all in all i had the most fun ever this weekend. getting shit faced has never been so much fun!

2008-08-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Eloise is here! shes been up in Main working at a summer camp with little fuckers and now shes hanging in new york until late september! we met up and did a spot of walking around getting lost, shopping for things we didnt need and then booking her in for her knuckles tattooing by thomas hooper at new york adorned. UK is big over here right now

working 6pm til 7am

2008-08-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

this was to be my domain for the night, 2 laptops and a dual G5 with final cut, tracking the footage, logging the tapes before the deck had to be taken back to the rental place and not cost us another $1000 per day to rent. my job was to go through the footage a write out what was said, word for word in the interviews with the artist at the jazz festival.
you can see the melody interview i was going through when i decided to go grab food, however the only place that was open was mcdonalds
if you remenber the post about me taking a shit, click this photo to make it bigger and youll see him inside my eyes waiting to crumble my anus like the big red bastard he is
bare skran!
in the morning when everyone got in, you can see jamie and dom

on stage with aesop rock and the gang

2008-08-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

this makes me feel warm and reminds me of how hot it was, the veiw from on stage was weird as fuck, all those people starring at you, im so fucking glad im not a performer type person, id just want to fling shit at them all. the day was pretty good, much like every sunday im down at macarren pool shooting photos, sitting around drinking beer helping out at the VIP desk

hung out with this little menace
the roll of fat hanging out of his shirt is such a fucking turn on
sang and the dudes

aesop

"im a jew who, im a jew who raps" i miss the hip hop scene in iseral
the crowd where a mixed bunch
came out of fucking knowhere

hey brooklyn, peace

this is a godless world!

2008-08-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

i still need to update from sunday and today, however i just needed to get something off my chest and seemed as i just got something out of my arse i figure its the perfect time

i dont know what has changed about my diet, but it must be something incredibly drastic because ive never felt like jolly old Satan himself had slipped between the bars of the gates that guard hell from earth, sneaked up my anus without feeling nor discourse, tucked himself deep within my bowels and with the might of all the power rangers (once they had joined their vehicles together) embeded a rage that would not only rupture my internal organs, but shatter my hopes, dreams, life expectations and leave me permanently mentally unsound for decades to come.

once my anus and its contents were in Satan's vice like grip, i felt the pit of my stomach begin to heat up as if a small gang of mexican youths had started a fire in order to set off eleborate fire works to distract boarder patrol officers while they snuck under the fences silently yelling "viva, viva, we a makey to emericano". well something definitely was about to slip under the fence. i tried to cramp my stomach to stop it but instead the pressure i placed upon my rectum only served to create a pocket of deadly gas between my colon and asshole lips, it felt as if a mid 40's homosexual insurance sales man had handcuffed me to his bed face down, lubricated his thumb with deep heat and was slowly yet vigorously caressing my gouch all while whispering "dont worry, its all under control".

i realised the voice was mine, it was me saying that everything was under control. it bloodly well wasnt. i quickly headed to the office bathroom, yes office bathroom. Im pulling an all nighter which ill explain in another blog that ill post. toilet paper check, toliet seat clean....no. it looked like someone had vomited margarita all over the porcelain thresh hold. it was those dam mexicans! either that or jamie the editor from london who's staying here.

i wiped it quickly and as i turned to place my soft pant-less cheek on the plastic seat i felt my body become warm with relaxation, the second my ass grazed the plastic, my heart stopped for around 5 seconds, my brain unfortunaly did not. the overwhelming pain, coupled with the noise created by satans hand crafted evil will permanently feature in my thoughts. i just hope that one day, one day soon my ass will return to normal and this inhuman act of desecration will never rear (pardon my pun) its ugly face again.

2008-08-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

well saturday i met up with alvy and copped a new supreme hat, then i went out drinking and got fucked upirish bar
weird view
this used to be the tallest building in manhattan?
alvy and the supreme jacket
driving this must be so gutting
katie giving liam shit about his love of purple
alvys bed room...i mean the new era flagship store
new eras new jewish range
vandels

at the warm up party
team getting ready
shit party

moving on to the next party with team get the fucked up
2nd party was better....well....
it had this guy there so it was better
up on the roof
nice pose?
roof top 40z
dancing
more dancing
i was hammered so trying to get a good photo of this was impossible

i need my bike!

2008-08-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.bustinboards.com/blitz.asp

i wish i had shipped my bike out here, i really dont want to have to spend like $300 on a bike for a few months, i guess i could sell it on though when im finished with it?

lots of drinking, lots of working

2008-08-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

picture post that sums up my new love of cats, wearing the same outfit for 3 days in a row, old english 40oz, black&white, lil wayne, hanging out of windows throwing cig butts on people and having them scream "im not a fucking ashtray, jerk off!" haha!

to much funny shit and too many early mornings

alvy and katie are here for liams birthday

after i saw them, i headed to kellys to see her and alisya new kittens layla and lola

i hung out and drank, alot

i love the kittens

im not sure what was so funny, but i was pretty fucked

next day, james t-shirt that he hadnt even worn yet, and more drinking before heading out

kelly and kelly

beth and james

james artwork

next day....

there was insane rain so i went to kellys again...yep 3 days on the go, and she made pasta, then the guy from downstairs came to bring a ladder and we hung out and chatted

its been messy

conor oberst and the mystic valley band at other music,NY

2008-08-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

ok ok ok, so just like you i love conor oberst, OMG hes like so the new bob dylan. however this was a working job, so as much as i wanted to say "oh hi conor, im going to kiss you on the mouf you sexy son of a brute" i had to restrain myself. anyways, so the pictures will generally show us setting up the cameras, filming the show, hanging back stage with the band, then the band live and then some from the interview, all in all it will take so much effort to upload all these images 4 per time that they will be rather jumbled up. but ill try to lable them all

enjoy the ultimate photoblog click the photos to view them at full size

ps i processed all these with lightroom incase you even give the slightest shit about stuff like that)

nelson (digforfire offices)

team Dig for Fire dot TV

dan and nat

mr oberst
shooting obscure stills found me a passion of finding people with camera screens who had good shots and then just peoples arms in the air

nat
conor oberst, dude from other music, sound guys and crowd in the back ground
CO having a bit of a panic attack before going on
gone gone to new york city!

during the sound check
sound checking
hung over
still drunk

my new favorite band

kaz working the bagel and pin bag cam
girl from other music who hates anything remotely saddle creek related, wanted to sit in the sun and sell cds all day to the people waiting in line, i liked that about her

panny HD!

and then after all that excitement, i met up with beth and taylor and went for noodles which turned into me getting a hair cut and alot of scratches from Mr. darcy (the cat)

noodles
off my noodle

hair cut
taylor hates this photo
mr darcy
mr dick head

LOLZKATZ

last i drempt that someone loved me...

2008-08-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

we went to a smiths night! btw these photos are not in order!

this is me sat on my roof at night in harlem

partying to the smiths and morrisey in soho!

the office this morning, you can see one of the dogs asleep

its the guy out of the [B]unquie video that teaches rammel knight to play violin!

drinking last night at kellys, you can see james almost poking his friend in the eyes haha, they where absolutely fucked! this was from before we went out, we got fucking messy and i dropped like $40 on taxis from brooklyn to manhatten and back and then to work in the morning hung over as fuck!

Rhode Island the JVC Newport Jazz festival!

2008-08-10T16:03:00.001-07:00

So im waiting in penn station sat on the floor, cross legged starring at the board, it reads 7.30 pm 178 regional train to Boston delayed by 2 hour and 15mins. How I got to this point in my journey came just as I had discovered Lance Armstrong’s contact details and found them to be of no use for the documentary dig for fire are producing on the graffiti artist Futura.

Sure my internship sounds far fetched but really its just kind of fun. I’m never board and ive only worked there for a few days. Ive only researched at the moment, I spent a lot of times making the questions for the Newport jazz festival on Rhode Island, oh and created that Polaroid mock up for the block party, however I get good feeling when I look around the office, when I get set assignments and when I see the finished pieces.

Oh so the train station, well like I said about the Newport jazz festival, dig for fire are covering it. Nat (my boss) headed out yesturday morning by car and we constianly updated her online with the research and the questions. Suddenly a day after we though everything was set, as I was about to leave and head back to Brooklyn to Beths house, beg for a shower and head out into the night to get hammered with everyone, dan my in house boss receives a phone call from nat.

Dan looks up at me sheeplishly and asks “hey, what are you doing this weekend” I knew what was coming “why what do you need” I responded

“nat needs 40 hd camera tapes for tomorrow morning and we don’t have time to go buy them from manhatten and then fedex them, we will give you $100…..” he muttered under his breath

“yeah sure, ill take them out, am I going by train” I responded loudly, much like a lapdog desperate for a well done, or a good boy parceled with some kind of treat

“yeah, ok, ill tell nat, write this down…”

he dictated notes to me that I needed, tapes, hd, train times, addresses, things to say, things to do, phone numbers

before you know it im in a taxi doing 70 over the Brooklyn bridge. I get to the place and pick up the tape stacks in a huge fucking box

“have you got a bag?”

“no sir”

“oh…right….ok”

I grabbed the box, sans bag, hauled it into the taxi and then headed to pen station, my driver ran lights and weaved traffic so that I wouldn’t miss my 7.30 last train to rhoade island.

Little did I know that the power cut in philly had delayed every train. Fucking wonderful. Since I pretty much begged for this job I cant complain, I mean I do get to go see the jazz festival, I will get drunk when I get there and it will look amazing on my records for my internship.

I even get chance to write this and spell check it, compared to my usual drivel that I pour onto my blog on an almost daily basic.

Oh well, ill update as the situation changes, for now I need to lug this heavy box across the station and get myself a brew!

Its just turned 10.24pm and ive sat down on the train, its taken the fucking piss but im on it so its water under the bridge. Its pitch black outside so I wont get to see what America on a train looks like, I guess ill see that tomorrow.

Its now quarter past one in the morning, im still on the train. Infact the train has just stopped in keneticut. I got quiet a saucy text from my boss, maybe it’s the fact ive been awake for 19 hours and been technically working for 17 of those hours today. Plus I still have to get off the train, get in a taxi, go to a the hotel.

Either way im sure the message saying “aww you poor thing, ill make it up to you xxx” from your boss either means shes going to give me a green card, or that shes drunk and waiting naked covered in rose petals on my hotel room bed.

Im putting my hard cash on the fact that she is just a bit drunk, either way that would be a story for the grandkids.

We keep passing those cross roads, they really are how they are in the films, not like ours back in England that are really good, these have huge dirt tracks running from them, its quite a sight.

I used this time to arrange an incredible playlist on my itunes that builds you up and gives you tonnes of energy, then keeps you at your peek without letting it drop then slowly winds you down and then boom takes you back up with some beat the fuck out of everyone around you music, you know the type of song that makes you feel invincible, makes you snarl at old people in the street. Then kills you out and goes oldschool until chills you right out with some lovable folk and classic sing alongs.

Also I threw some black milk in there every so often just to add some flavour. This would be a perfect set list for about 3 hours of travelling/skating/house party that’s failing and needs to suddenly have everyone going nuts.

NEXT DAY!

Ok so Im back on the train heading home exactly 24 hours after I got on. Ive had a great time in rhode island, and even worked out how to spell it. Ill start from where I left off last night.

So I got off the train, sparked up a fag and walked to the taxi rank, the station was about as big as my clenched fist. I walked up to the first taxi which was surrounded by the driver, who was an elderly jewish man, rather angry by nature. A second man, who turned out to be the financial director of the festival and a woman who would become the bane of my taxi journey. We all jumped in and spilt the taxi fare, I had to pay more as I was travelling the furthest. I didn’t mind after all this isn’t my money im spending.

The driver and the woman became head locked in some heated debate about bullshit that was so far over my head that I felt as uneasy as a muslim in a pilots uniform at JFK. Once she was out the driver went through in detail for 45mins about how forgieners where ruining Newport, funny I though seemed as he spoke in broken English.

I got out at the hotel and was greeted by a very awake woman and a guy who looked like he needed a joint. The woman sorted me all out with a room key that Nat had sorted for me and the gent helped me with the box of hd tapes to my room. He asked me about my tattoos and in my half away state I just agreed about how tribal is kool and yeah it did hurt mate.

I got into bed and couldn’t sleep. I flicked on the giant tv and took some photos with photobooth on my mac of the room. The photos don’t do it justice, this room was huge. Two full sized queen beds, a desk with chair, huge window and bathroom.

I checked out nbc and hbo etc, nothing was on beside some aweful mel Gibson film, around 4am I passed out.

At 8am I woke up to my alarm and about 5 phones ringing. I had no idea what was going on, suddenly a knock at the door and in my lucid state I opened the door in my underwear to a guy called mark? He grabbed the box and spilt. Another phone call that I answered.

“hey its nat, get in the van outside now”

okdoki I though and threw my clothes on. Next thing im outside and being greeted by being shoved into a bit amc white van. I meet a fellow brit and some other guys who turn out to be the camera crew for the day. Really nice guys and I had a proper good laugh with them over the day.

We drove up to the festival and I was kicked out of the van and told to wait for another car to give a the sound guy his pass. He turned up an hour later and I joined everyone else. I was ushered back stage through a maze of outdoor areas, jvc exec suits and artist eating areas.

I was face to face with the team who where setting up, and I met everyone. I was thrown on to a computer and told to reseach the first act, because someone had requested that they be interviewed. I did this quickly and then had to research another artist called melody, who is incredible. She is disabled, walks with a cane, needs sunglasses in any lighting and creates the most soulful music ive ever heard. Her voice had me enchanted, it was incredible. Id just finished typing the questions when nat came on the radio and needed me to take something to her, but first I had to find her. I jumped up from the laptop and walked through the tunnel and almost bumped into a woman. I apologised and in the same enchanting voice I had just been listening to online was melody stood at around 6ft in heel, beautiful, incredible infact, not by convention but her persona, her voice, she was incredible. She smiled at me and I don’t know what happened, maybe shock but I was dizzy for a minute, maybe even star struck. I headed to meet nat ready to tell her what happened when she emerged and caught me off guard again by dragging me away to help grab boxes and hand out water to the stage camera crew and then climb up 4 storys above the crowd at the camera rig. The view was incredible. Newports habour is the most beautiful place ive ever seen.

I ended up sat around so check my myspace and got some food etc. then the drama kicked off. Aretha franklin was refusing to be filmed live. The jvc jap business men where going crazy, the camera crew where ecstatic that they could wrap early, the production staff where in talks, even the great george wien who first founded the festival was having “ private talks “ talks with her. She gave in to wien I guess and said that we could film one song. One song, one problem, we had pulled all the cameras offstage, all cable and all riging. Shit broke loose, camera guys, cable riggers, grips going crazy running like fuckers to get back on stage as the queen of soul burst into 1967 hit track natural woman. The crowd where screaming, the radios where screaming, press where scrambling to get a view backstage, the camera crews where fighting there way through and lucky dave was on stage as the diva came on and he got the shot. Sudeenly the headsets went wild, Aretha may have decided to sign the release form for gorge wein, but noone had told arethas body gaurds, management or agency and family who where trying to cut feeds and stop us taping. Producders where running like fuck, execs where climbing things, you’ve never known anything like ti. All the time Aretha had the audience completely encapsulated like the whole thing was running without a hitch.

We wrapped and jumped in the van back to the hotel, we got back and I was running a little late but the taxi fucked up any dreams of me boarding a 7.30 train to Manhattan. I got some chinese take away and sat down in the lobby waiting for the rest of the production team to turn up. I got paid $200 dollars, got all my receipts refunded and got taxi and train far plus a little pat on the back and a few more face book friends haha

Well im sun burnt as fuck but I had a great time, I got a taxi to the 10.40 train and had a scotish driver who was amazing, he turned up at the Newport social security office 34 years ago and filled in the papers with his real address in Scotland and guess what. Hes still here with 4 kids and social security number.

I made the train with time, and im just waiting to see if my phone has died or not when I get to penn station. Then ill ring beth and see if its too late to get fucked up. Oh well mccarren park tomorrow for the jelly partys. I cant wait to see asoep rock tomorrow.

This is turning out to be the adventure I needed and I cant wait to see what else is going to happen during my time at digforfire.

oh sneak peak

2008-08-08T11:14:00.001-07:00

....at what i will be doing for the Block Party launch of digforfire.tv

it doesnt make sence now, but soon it will

still Digging!

2008-08-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

so today i have been researching this guy called master shortie for a bebo interview we are doing with him back in london

also this girl called filly for the same thing. Ive wrote most of the questions for master shortie but the filly questions will just feel like im taking the piss out of her

her lyrics are along the lines of

"beat so black its back like rhino,
creep up on you like wave of tidal,
drums announcing my arrival
game of heat lets play survival"

check this bullshit video for her track 'sweat' (drip drop) let it load and skip to 2.10 and listen carefully

anyway, I'm missing home quiet a bit, i had to watch a video digforfire.tv did on Chorlton's folk scene and a Patrick Wolf video they did and it made me miss england. also Kaz had beans on toast in the office this morning which got me all weak

maybe im just feeling all the Margareta's i drank last night!

so today!

2008-08-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

it was technically my first day at my internship for www.digforfire.tv

it is an incredible company with people who just love music, love film, love art

today i spent 5 or 6 hours researching questions for people such as arithra franklin for the video's and interviews that will take place at the newport jazz festival this weekend.

im excited for the other things that i will be involved in, which i dont really think i can publish online, but they are amazing exciting things.

although today had its highlights its also had downfalls

beths cat mr darcy pissed in my shoes, so they smelt all day and when i picked him up he scratched my nose and finger so i have a huge chunk from my index finger and a cut on my nose aswell as pissy feet

i got lost on the subway and ended up taking 4 hours to get home

i have a really bad head ache which is pissing me off

and ive been accused of stealing my friends raybans, when i actauly went and bought them as a present for myself for getting the internship and doing well in the interview (because im shit in interviews) and now i have to show my reciept to people to prove my innocence!

other than that its chuffing grand out here and im going to have to delay my flights tomorrow or else i wont be able too

the black lips

2008-08-04T17:13:00.001-07:00

the little dog finished the set for them, what a talented little doggy, they where right good aswell!

those god dam kids from florida!

2008-08-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

so when brent and joey (far left in the photo) came up they told me that they where staying with these girls. kelly and bethany

well me being me, i was leaving brent a comment and came across one of these girls. kelly. i sent her a message and we chatted a little bit and i agreed to help her and her friends move into there new place on the condition that they have to be my friends and invite me to things. i feel this is a fare trade. in my head it was going to be around 10 big boxes and maybe a sofa. Woah!!! I was fucking wrong. after 2 trips in the U-haul, with me hiding in the middle on the floor and kelly sat on Alyissas knee on the passenger seat with james driving, we finally got everything up. it took around 6 hours in total, but it got done and there place looks great. its an old warehouse, in brooklyn, that has been converted into loft apartments. sorry no photos but take my word for it. we met some of the neighbors who invited us up to an apartment for a party which then spilled out onto the roof

me and james bonded and then Kelly's friend turned up and me and him had a little bonding session. I met Kelly's, joeys and Brent's other friend bethany, who kelly had be living with up until the day. anyway so it ended up with us all passing out drunk on the floor or sofa chatting shit at each other, which was great fun.

when i wake up bethany and the other guy (i'm so sorry i cant remember your name but i think its cody, but it most likely isn't) had left. kelly was still out cold so i woke her up to tell her that it was raining and that i needed to ship my ass back to harlem before the roof top party/gig. she mumbled something barely english and with that and the fact that i was stood up (still drunk) in my small AA Y-fronts with my flaccid penis hanging out of the left side, a cheeky nut popping out as well, and all this topped of with my flat cap, which even though i had taken all my clothes off to sleep in, i had neglected to remove my hat.

I headed with a hop, a skip and the smiths on my ipod back to harlem, in the rain. I got trapped in the shop due to how drunk i still was, therefor totally making me unaware of how doors work. the shop lady gave me a small cuddle, she opened the door for me and sent me on my merry way. Once on the train i encountered another judgement in error, i got off at the wrong stop and then on a wrong train to the bronx. and what to know how i knew i was in the bronx, well when i walked up into the street to work out where i was, the young gentleman infront of me was pistol whipped to the ground, and being that I've never seen a gun before in real life, it made me declare "WHAT THE FUCK!" to which an elderly black gentlemen to my right replied with such wit and demure "welcome to the bronx kid"

post haste i jumped onto the next train not giving a fuck where it took me, i got off around 125th and strolled through harlem taking in the sights and the sounds, the tricks and the hoes, the G thangs and the itchy trigga finga niggaz. It wasnt bad at all, i hardly got glanced at, suprising since i was the only white person for over 3 miles in any direction. Once home laura reminded me it was time to do our laundry, so we bagged up all our dirty clothes and went to get clean. the crazy jew running the place refused to let us use common sense and the fact that we both have used a washer and a dryer before and took over. he did however put bleech in with our whites, which contained greys, ruining one of my t-shirts.

i got a phone call from the loverly kelly asking me when i would be back in brook-a-brook-a-brook and so i washed myself and threw on my clean clothes and headed back from where i had just been for a roof party. however i did bring my camera

so photo time

sick guys

KELLY!!

doorman and kelly taking peoples money!

Rolling blunts

chilling

taylor!

these guys had not seen each other for a while

bethany!

band on the roof!!

me and them

mark queing for beer (notice the casualty clothing glasses)

cody before he played

the girls kelly and bethany

the line for the kegs/ watching the band

so we watched the bands, got steaming, i ran into another party and stole alcohol from there and then we all bounce at around 4 in the morning and crashed.

i woke up and was late for work at the jellyNYC partys but lucky for me my girl Sang she had my back completely, she came and met me off the train when i got lost again, and then even took me to get a full english breakfast

but then back to the parties, which when your hung over is not the best place to be. i cant really remenber much, but black lips where amazing, king khan was fucking insane and i fell asleep in the chair next to the vip desk through deer hunter's set but, oh well. Kelly and bethany showed upto, and after along with these gay guys and a guy from wales we headed to a bbq in a club?? after one burger i got bored and headed home..but fuck it more photos

2008-08-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

so the past few days have been insane, i mean fucking insane. Starting with what i can remember i hardly think its correct but i will try to be brief, there will be alot of photos!

^^^ this is brooklyn banks, it is a world famous skate spot for not just us fruit booters but woodpushers and bikers everywhere. I got to skate there and i even got a photo launching out of one of the wall rides. I'm still waiting for Al to put it up online.

all these photos are stolen from tim's blog because i didnt have my camera. tim as pictured in purple hit a perfect front unity down this drop rail, i got back royal, i was trying to step back but never locked it and i tried back back but put my foot down like a pussy

the day was long and hard like donkeys dick in mating season, we skated alot that day and my chocolate ice cream which tim didnt get a photo of was lovely

ANYWAY! ill make a new post now for what happened the next day