Xmas Party @ Plastic People 19/12/06

We held a makeshift Xmas party at Plastic People nightclub in Shoreditch, East London on Tuesday 19th of December. Apart from the usual Brent Cross Crowd there were Appleton’s from loads of other stores such as Regent St, Benthall and Bluewater. It was pretty easy enough to find the Curtain Road as Secret Wars is held only one street away, but the club itself is a little discreet. The only way of noticing the venue on this foggy Christmas evening was by the genii Matt and Ian hovering outside the doorway.



Everyone was in a party mood and the night was already underway by the time I made my entrance. Lap dancing, drink spilling and crazy dancing were all on offer throughout the night.



The venue itself was nothing special, a bit grotty if you ask me, but it was cool just to let our hair down outside of work. All the girlies from work tried to stick together, but we kept getting dragged apart for photo opportunities.





All in all it was a cool night, but a total mission to get home, nobody normal is ever around East London at 2am on a Tuesday. Ladies a word of advice, plan your journey home prior to going out in these parts.

Secret Wars, Quarter Final 16/12/06

Roll up Roll up and bear witness to the first Secret Wars Quarter Final. The entire first round has led up to this point. These past four months have been worth the wait, as all the previous battle winners move one step closer to being crowned the Secret Wars Champion of 2006.

It is the second time the artists get to step up again in the tournament and they surely had a lot of pressure on their backs. First up was the battle between Gustav Balderdash and Okkle. Gustav had pre-arranged a holiday abroad on the night of December the 16th, so artist Chris stepped in to fill his place. Similar in style, Chris would be a fair opponent for Okkle, who would not have been pleased with a total switch around.

Before the battle began, word was stirring that artist Okkle deserved to win. The fact that he had come right from the beginning of the tournament meant it wasn’t right for a newcomer to jump straight to the quarterfinals.

A new twist in the format of the judging meant that each win would be determined by a crowd vote. Organiser Terry Guy recently purchased a clap meter, which can determine the loudest crowd noise. Instead of having the traditional three member-judging panel, the decision was made to have two people and the clap meter to decide who should win. If the two judges pick a different winner each then the clap meter will have two different attempts at choosing which artists received the loudest cheer.


Once battle’s commenced it was immediately apparent that Okkles attention to detail was second to none. His piece consisted of five little chick-type characters adorned in military/ kung fu gear attempting an attack on opponent Chris across the wall. Each character drawn was carrying a particular weapon of choice, one throwing a grenade, and another with a missile in hand.


New artist Chris did not disappoint with a detailed piece similar to that of Okkle. Both artists managed to entertain with their humorous characters. Chris centred his piece around a gnashing pit-bull dog with human headed pigeons surrounding. Along with the gangster pigeon and a chav pigeon, Chris appeared to even make a dig at his opponent by drawing a pigeon with similar facial features and hairstyle as Okkle. Although artistically not a better piece, Chris’s design appealed to the crowd who voted it the winner in the clap meter challenge at the end of the battle.

In between the battles, beat boxer Harry was back again for a sequel in his success at the previous Secret Wars back in November. With a lone set of approximately 8minutes, Harry pumped up the crowds’ energy before the second battle. Even artist Morgazmic stepped up with his own beat boxing style. As ever Harry was a success and we will all undoubtedly see him at following parties.



Back for their second time in the tournament artists Mr Shrew and Teck 1 were due to compete against each other for their place in the semi-finals. Totally different in style and complexity many thought that the battle was not really fair as Teck 1would always have an upper hand, being a more diverse artist. However as everyone saw with the previous battle, anything can happen on the night.




Mr Shrew’s piece was very simple in design with a boyish character holding a ghetto blaster and roller paintbrush with the slogan “Lets Party” emblazoned next to it. Not really in keeping with the whole battle theme, Mr Shrew literally got hovered up by Teck 1s piece, which consisted of an exterminator character vacuuming a little Martian character similar to Mr Shrew’s piece from his first battle back in August. Tattooed on the exterminators arm read the words “Shrew Get Slew”. Without a doubt Teck 1s piece blew everyone away, but the clap meter only affirmed it when the deafening crowd voted Teck the winner.


Lets see what Gustav Balderdash and Teck 1 can do against each other in the first semi-final round in February as we get one step closer to the Secret Wars grand Final.

Photography by Dwayne from Sense Magazine

Chilly con Carnage Xmas Dinner 3/12/06

Mmm, there is nothing better at Christmas time than a good roast dinner and that is exactly what 35 lucky Monorex/Matsuri friends had the chance to munch at the bi-monthly event entitled Chilly con Carnage.





The event aimed to bring together lots of creative people to London’s Below Zero bar, made famous for its frozen Ice Bar upstairs. Although it’s probably the fifth in a line of events held at the Below Zero bar in Heddon St, this one had a little bit of Christmas flavour with champagne reception and lip-smacking buffet dinner for those who bought tickets in advance.




With a menu of turkey with stuffing, roast lamb, ham, salmon, pumpkin, roast potatoes, Foccacia bread, coleslaw and mince pies, fruit and lush chocolate brownies for dessert all the guests ate together around a horse-shoe shaped table with the Christmas tree taking centre stage.





Not only was the dinner a real success, but also the guests went away feeling like Christmas had come early, with every single person going home with their very own present. Nike trainers, Ipods, DVDs and Hulger phones were just a few of the cool and quirky prezzies on offer.



After dinner with most of our bellies fit to burst the party began with DJ sets from the Patchwork Pirates, and the Geisha Disco Boys. The music played late into the night with even a 16year old beat boxer stepping up to impress the crowds. He had an absolutely amazing set that just blew everyone away.




With Pens in hand it was a chance for the artists to have a little freestyle doodle on the specially purchased canvas. All four artists came up with some pretty masterful pieces, especially the artistic styles of Wen and Morgasmic, who having only just been introduced on the night blended very well together.







Everyone went home feeling very merry and slightly sizzled due to the buy one get one free drinks offer open throughout the night.

Love Music Hate Racism @ Fabric 30/11/06

Love Music, Hate Racism were holding a night down at Fabric on Thursday 30th of November. Along with performances by the Babyshambles and Heartless Crew, the Monorex boys were invited down to do a little art installation for the night, with the finished piece set to be auctioned off for charity.

Now after a considerable drama getting inside the venue even though we had a canvas in tow, we set up the space for Teck1 to begin. We were positioned alongside the Hate Racism stall who was selling cool badges and t-shirts with slogans like “FUCK the BNP” emblazoned on the front.



The crowd who were made up of mainly 18year olds loved the stall and were joining the cue to get their hands on the merchandise.




























Although frequently being asked the directions to the nearest loo, the stall wasn’t the only thing to have some popularity. Teck1 whilst hard at work was, at random intervals bombarded with bouncy young girls who wanted to comment on his art or have him sign their arm. Now that’s what I call celebrity status. One girl was so baffled that I overheard her asking whether Teck was actually part of the event, or whether he just decided to randomly paint in the middle of the super club.

After numerous youngsters asked us for drugs and even one individual asking for the Ice from Sam’s drink we went our separate ways with Teck’s finished piece looking very in keeping with the crowd and also most importantly the event.


I loved the event and just a shame I couldn’t stay till the end. Many thanks to Dave Smith, for organising the event. We all had a great time.

Secret Wars, Series One 25/11/06

With the quarterfinals looming, the fourth night in the Secret Wars calendar was set to bring some big surprises and it certainly didn’t disappoint. With a line up that many consider the best pick of the bunch, the night began with a bit of a delay as artist Polio had to step out of the tournament at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances.

















Secret Wars Aficionado, Terry Guy was given the challenge of finding an artist to take on 5683 at super short notice.
Lots of praise to artists Cest Bon, who was brave enough to battle with no game plan, sketch or strategy. He even deserves another pat on the back for introducing yet another tool to the Secret Wars artistic cauldron, by spraying paint on the wall through net curtains. Describing his style as publicly accessible graffiti, Cest Bon drew a rather abstract piece stemming from the Secret Wars logo that centres the battles each month.





Through his piece, artist 5683 made a direct attack on artist Polio, who he initially thought he was battling. In response to his piece, 5683 said that he, “literally drew a manky looking character with Polio getting his crutches nicked by the Grim Reaper, whilst a character of me ripped out his heart. It was meant to have text above and below it in a bone font, reading ‘Polio the little bint with the hole in the middle’, but unfortunately I ran out of time.”

The judges voted for 5683 to jump through to the quarterfinals, leaving Cest Bon to go back home with his curtains. The result meant only one thing… that the most awaited battle of the night could begin.

Artists Inkie (originally from Bristol) and Rich T from Devon were up next for the last battle before the quarterfinals and definitely made it one to remember, with the judges really stuck at the end to determine who should win.


Inkie, whose inspiration behind his work is beautiful ladies, flowers, nature and classical art, had a very simple game plan. He planned to, “get f@*ked up on Magners and get stuck into the drawing”. His piece, which consisted of a striking female character emerging from a window or picture frame was without a doubt one of the most eye catching pieces of the night.


Rich T drew a more simplistic piece of a face with 3 little characters rising from the brain. Rich T who got involved in Secret Wars for, “the love of drawing…cough…cough money” seemed to be particularly shocked after the tournament when the judges, though stuck to decide, voted Inkie the winner.


When asked what was the theme behind his piece in the night, Rich T replied, “I didn’t have a theme, I didn’t even have a sketch, I think I know why I lost. My tip for anyone taking part in secret Wars is to have a sketch or at least think about what you are gonna do. Don’t just drink beer, until its time to draw”. It’s clear that Rich T underestimated the talent of some of the artists in this competition.


The rest of the night was a success with even a 17year old Beat Boxer stepping up to entertain the crowds. Expect to see him back at the first quarterfinal on December the 16th when Gustav Balderdash and Okkle, Teck 1 and Mr Shrew step up for the second time in the tournament to try and draw their way into the semi finals.

RESFEST 17/11/06

RESFEST the first festival aimed at bringing all the latest technologies to the forefront when producing a film or video. In it's 10th year this Festival was set to be the biggest yet and with lots of sponsorship and tons of films it was certainly turned out to be an exciting event.

I decided to stroll down on Friday the 17th to the NFT for the feature film Rock the Bells. Mainly about the struggles of organising a music event on a huge scale. it's core theme was about the love of music and how it can bring so many people together.

The film offers a thrilling account of the club promoter Chang Weissberg how has this dream of getting the whole Wu-Tang clan together for a one off special gig at the California hip-hop festival Rock the Bells.

Amidst all the chaos of the preparation the concert is an ultimate success and with only months till the death of Wu-Tang member ODB, the film leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouth.

If you like watching concert and festival footage then this film is not to be missed. Described as "woodstock foir the hip-hop generation" it certainly shows you just how much power this music has on the community and the young in America but also the world.

The night finished off with a cool party in the cafe with a line up DJs from Blacktronica to entertain the crowd.

Great night, I really enjoyed the film and the party.

River Thames 05/11/06

Yesterday, along with the company of my fellow Appleton Brad, I went on a wondrous tour by the river Thames.

Our meeting point was at 12 midday right next to the London Eye, and in our 8hour travels we visited a couple of galleries, ate some tasty cuisine and even tunnelled directly under the river Thames at the oh so cool Greenwich before ending up at Brad's plush docklands pad for a pint of Pepsi and then back on the DLR for home.

First stop of the day was the Hayward Gallery and after getting some rather cheeky snaps of the street performers along the south bank we made our way inside for the ‘How to Improve the World’ exhibition.
Featuring work from Sarah Lucas, Damian Hurst, Roger Hiorns and Patrick Caulfield to name but a few, the exhibition’s main purpose was to portray 60 years of British Art. From a comical Chinese restaurant menu to a metallic sculpture by Anish Kapoor the exhibition is a must see, showing just how diverse British art is.

Next up was the Tate Modern, which has just installed these new totally cool slides all around the main hall area. We were not brave enough to have a go on one, but I will definitely be back with some extra courage another time. We whizzed round the surrealist exhibition on floor five looking at works by Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp and Lichtenstein.



I believe the slides are going to be at the Tate for another month or so, so for those who are brave enough definitely give it a go. You even get to wear a baseball cap crash helmet, which on it’s own seems like quite an experience.



Next stop was Greenwich via the DLR.

I hadn’t been on the Docklands Light Railway since I was a kid and It was such a cool experience taking in the views as we left Canary Wharf and seeing how the area has developed since the last time I visited. We got to Greenwich and had a quick peak at the Market, which sells everything for the perfect Xmas gift along with things that you just don’t see everyday. There was also the most amazing sunset i have ever seen, just to top off the nice surroundings.


Brad had told me about this amazing place for a cheap, but very tasty Chinese Buffet. Now, I’m not the biggest fan in the world for Chinese food, purely because of the levels of Grease and MSG, but the stuff was pretty tasty and we literally rolled out of there an hour later, only for Brad to purchase a Jelly Tot Milkshake from the made to order milkshake place around the corner. I haven’t been to one of these since a random trip to Bournemouth three years ago, so will certainly have to go back with an empty stomach to try one of their crazy flavours.

The Cutty Sark was next on our list of places to visit and with the Backdrop of the London skyline lit with Fireworks it gave a good moment to get some cool snaps looking out at Canary Wharf.




After waiting for Brad to finish taking his warped snaps of the moon (very cool may I add), we made our way into the depths of the tunnel below, crossing directly under the Thames itself to get to the Isle of Dogs on the other side.




The tunnel itself is a perfect spot for either a horror movie or a gallery space. I even spotted several random clay ears plastered on the walls as we wandering through.


Once on the Isle of Dogs we hopped back on the DLR for West Silvertown where we took in the sights of the Aircraft taking off from City Airport before heading to Brad’s new apartment 5minutes away.

I had a really eventful day and no doubt will have to make a journey back down to Greenwich when I get the chance to visit the Cutty Sark again, as I didn’t know the museum was still open to the public. Thanks to Brad for being an excellent host and tour guide. I have pretty much learnt just how cool the Docklands can be.