London By Night

I regularly go onto The Boston Globe's Big Picture site as the quality of the images on it are simply breathtaking.

These by Jason Hawkes caught my eye tonight. For a Londoner, they're special, but I guess even if you're not, you might still appreciate them.

Bookmark the Big Picture, you'll want to go back!

Into the Wild

I saw a DVD doing the rounds at work recently. I picked it up, read the back and seeing that it was a true story, decided to watch it (plus I love the wild/outdoors so I was pretty much sold on the title).

OH MY WORD! What a phenomenal story. Please watch this movie. It's gone straight into my top 3. I can't express how much I loved it.

I have to admit there are many days when I feel like doing what young Christopher did. Giving up a life of money, possessions, and the lack of freedom.

I salute you Christopher McCandless for living life by your own rules.

Stolen!

The Tour of California started yesterday with the Prologue (won by the awesome Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team). It's Stage 1 today. But can you believe it, the Astana team truck was broken into last night and Lance's Livestrong TT bike (pictured above) was stolen?

The stupid thing is, that it is the only bike of its kind in the world. Good luck trying to flog the most high profile custom TT bike ever! Sadly, 3 other bikes were also stolen. Bikes that Lance's team mates where suppose to use in the stage today (I'm sure they've got replacements).

I hope you get your bike back soon Mellow Johnny.

Track Me Down

When I arrived in London (around 5 years ago), one of my first purchases was a cool (well I thought so at least) olive green casual jacket. It's kind of army styled with a hood and super warm. It went with me everywhere. I honestly think I paid £10 for it on a sale at Foxhole (they went under many moons ago). The only negative is that it isn't waterproof.

I then earned my first pay cheque and bought a smarter work coat. Boring and black but warm and professional looking. Not for weekend wear!

Then I was introduced to howies and fell in love with their clothing. For a while now I've been eyeing out a few potential jackets on their website. Sadly, they've always been just out my price range. That was until their recent sale. Low and behold, I got my new Tracker jacket in the post this morning and all I can say is that it is f**king awesome! It doesn't look waterproof (generally most jackets that are, make you look like a wannabe snowboarder cruising the streets of London), but with it being made from Epic cotton, water runs off it like a duck's back. And trust me, it got tested! If you were in London today you would understand why.

Yes it cost quite a bit more than my £10 jacket but it looks, feels and preforms a hundred times better. And now I can stay dry in style.

It won't be too hard to track me down, I don't think I'm ever going to take it off.

Buy your own howies Tracker jacket
Read all about Epic cotton (Thanks Rapha for the explanation and I hope you don't mind me using your stunning image?)

Shorebreak

This is going to sound weird but I've always felt that the sea gives me strength. And the longer I'm away from it, the weaker I feel. Having grown up on the coast and pretty much spending every single holiday or weekend on the beach, I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

I enjoy living in London, but deep down I know it's not somewhere I could live for the rest of my life. There's simply no sea.

Anyway, I saw the above photo the other day and it reminded me just how much I miss the ocean. If you've ever been for a body surf in the shorebreak you'll know what I'm talking about. Particularly if you've been for a session along the Durban North coast line in South Africa. It always offers a massive shorebreak and ensures you leave with sand everywhere. Two days afterwards you can still dig bits of sand out your ears!

I heart the ocean and long for it everyday I'm here.

Eyes

I've just seen this on Lance Armstrong's twitter feed. A really astounding installation. I especially love the train. I think all train operators could do something similar to liven up normally boring looking carriages.

I also heart the duel purpose in that the canvases are waterproof so provide shelter and not just a pretty picture. With the likes of Google Earth emerging, I could see this art application taken to giant scales.

To see the full installation of the eyes of Kenya's women, click here.
Learn more about the French artist JR here.