Miami June 6th till 14th, 2007

Bank Holiday Sunday at Amika, 27/05/07

Bank Holiday Sunday was pretty much a typical torrential rainy day in London Town, but a glimmer of heat was brought to us by the super cool Sunday event at Amika. A few of the girls arranged to check out the night after hearing great things about the previous bank holiday bonanza at Amika weeks earlier.

Dressed in our glad rags we braved the downpour and just about survived the walk from Jessica’s car to the club in High St Ken. We got there ridiculously early on the advice of Liz, (who didn’t actually make it to the event herself) only to find that the cue was already 15people strong.



Once inside it was time to sample the crowd and with, what had to be the biggest cocktail glass ever in hand we went into the main room to find our spot on the dance floor.

Funnily enough the DJ dishing up some sexy electro beats was none other than my best mates childhood pal. I’ve only met Esan a few times, but it was great to see him and his oh so dazzling gold jacket doing their thing.

The night brought me back to three years ago when I would start to spot the same crowd in every venue I would attend each week. It seems we managed to attend the coolest nights two days in the week as most of the crowd in attendance had been at Studio Valbonne two days earlier on Friday night. We stayed till close at 3.15am and made our way out into the drenched High St to head home. It is without a doubt Amika is my favourite club at the moment and I can’t wait till I pay it another visit soon.

Secret Wars Final, 31/03/07

Cough cough cough, I just gotta clear my throat before I announce this next statement… SECRET WARS GRAND FINAL PEOPLE! What a mad hectic night. Girls were fainting, blokes were sweating, the artists were tense and the drink was flowing. It was certainly a night that should and probably will stick in the memory banks of those who were lucky enough to make it inside for the ultimate battle between Teck 1 and Alfamale.





Juno bar was jammed full of previous Secret Wars entries, budding fans, photographers and film crews. This series has certainly drummed up some interest and rightly so. It’s been a challenging 9months, but finally we have reached the end, but from the word on the street many can’t wait for it to start all over again.



Who would win the £500.00 grand prize, Edding foosball table, toy design contract, Ecko watch and various other goodies? Only 120 minutes were separating us from the answer.



With a battle that in my opinion looked pretty one sided from the outset, Alfamale was crowned Secret Wars champion. Teck 1 had a piece that was just too complicated. The battle message wasn’t clear enough for the crowds and I think that’s what swayed the vote. Alfa conducted a piece with a Hamlet character painting the names of past secret wars victims on skulls. The message was simple the image was strong. Teck drew a canyon scene with the sign “see you in hell” in the background, but there was just too much going on.






The judging seemed to go on forever, but it was so exciting to find out who would win. Both artists seemed happy to just be taking part and no one went away empty handed. Alfamale was presented with a wrestling belt and Teck 1 with a pen medallion. Both of the trophies looked really top notch. Can’t wait to see how the prizes next season can top any of these, we will just have to wait until June to find out.

Good luck to all the artists in Series two as I expect it to be bigger and better than the last.

Amika, Friday 18th of May

Amika has to be the hottest club in London right now. Jessica and myself decided to pay the High St Ken hotspot a second visit after having such a great time back in April. As it as a members club the door policy is strict, but we managed to get in on the guestlist without too much bother. The venue can only be described as decadent, with extravagant chandeliers in the main room and crisp white furniture in the cocktail room. The theme is definitely dark Vs light with each room representing an oxymoron of the other.

Probably a venue that gathers some of London 's most beautiful clientele, I was amazed at how quickly it packed out considering it is only a few months old in age. Word has most definitely got round.

We danced the night away, being offered numerous drinks along the way, but Jess was driving so I unfortunately had to drink her share, heehee.

Heard there is going to be a super cool party this bank holiday Sunday so maybe see you there.

Nani Website is Live

The much awaited Nani website has finally gone live. Check it out at www.naninani.co.uk for a listing of our services.

Comic relief at the BBC, 16/03/07

I probably chose the most difficult day to journey down to White City to participate as an audience member for a show at the BBC. Friday 16th was not just hosting the standard run of the mill show, oh no, it was all about the big red fundraising nose called Comic Relief.

Having only been to a television studio years ago for some random game show featuring Boyzone, I was all excited about the prospect of mixing with the great BBC production team to see how live shows like Comic Relief come about.
With our pre-ordered tickets in hand we arranged to meet at 9pm an hour before our actual entry into the studios. We were told that tickets didn’t guarantee entry, so we assumed that an hour would be more than enough time to cue before getting in to the late night adult version of the show.

Unusually, I arrived first on the scene and decided to join the ever-growing line of people hoping to each get a place in the studio. It was lucky I did join the cue, as after my mates arrived we were the last four people to be let in to the building with at least a hundred people being turned away right behind us. Once inside the building we had just enough to time to get our free drink before making our way into the studio. Now because we were the last four people in the building we were placed on standby, which meant despite getting this far, there was no assurance that we would even make it in to the studio. Luckily for us we did.

Being last in actually worked out in our favour, as we were placed right next to the stage with the likes of Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton all just meters away. The highlight of the evening had to be The Killers performance. We were lucky enough to notice them come on stage to the left of the studio and started scoot our way over to the stage, so that when the performance began we were right at the front with full view of the band. I even managed to catch a flower that Brandon Flowers chucked into the crowd. Mysteriously enough that flower is still alive. Maybe The Killers should be renamed The Elixir of Life instead.

I did not anticipate just how much work goes in to a show like Comic relief. There were at least 8 massive cameras moving all over the place throughout the whole show. The down side to being right at the front was the constant need to be herded off in different areas. We left about 1am just in time to bump into Patrick Kilty walking in the Gents toilets. Apparently he didn’t wash his hands, so be warned.

I had such a great time, it was just a shame that it got too tiring to stand up any longer or I might have stayed till the end. Big up to anyone who donated some cash on the night, your all stars.

The Wardour, 10/03/07

A few of us girlies arranged a night out to discover what new swanky club The Wardour, Soho had to offer. An infamous Peter Stringfellow strip club in the week, this venue was oozing with decadence. The décor was akin to a boudoir with gold, leopard skinned thrones and glitzy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and bar. It felt like we had stepped into an Arabian palace set in the middle of Central london.

Anyone who is ever disappointed with new clubs that just change the name on the door of their venue, but keep everything inside exactly the same as the previous place can fear not as The Wardour bares absolutely no likeness to Trap the club that once filled these walls. It appears that no expense was spared when designing this club.




With girls dancing on podiums and in cages there were constant reminders of the week day goings on, but it was not daunting in the slightest and we soon got down on the dance floor at first in the upstairs bar restaurant and later downstairs in the entitled “Showroom” which was really large in size. For me there is nothing better than a nightclub with enough space to dance and in addition breath. We even spotted Mr Stringfellow himself wandering through the crowds, probably checking up on the crowds to see if everyone was having fun.




It was an exciting night and I will definitely go back. The bar staff were really friendly and the service was relatively fast, if a little expensive. They have quite a good drinks menu. You must try out the frozen Margarita, as it was to heavenly.

Secret Wars Semi Final, 08/03/07

Finally the end is in sight and with a nail biter of a tournament almost behind us, two artists had their last attempt to join Teck 1 in the grand final on the 31st of March. Would they deliver the goods? Of that there was no question.



Both quite detailed in their styles, Alfa and Inkie had a serious challenge on their hands. Alfa – who like finalist Teck 1 likes to incorporate the battle theme into his pieces – is a real crowd pleaser, whilst Inkie is a noted artist with a large following all over the country. This battle was indisputably going to be tough and the crowd certainly knew it.

Just like in the previous Semi final, the artists would be given free reign on a much larger wall space with also double the time on the clock. Both artists were going to have to step it up to impress the crowd and the judges, especially with their use of space, which alone has played a big factor in decisions of the judges in previous battles.




Alfa male drew a captain character holding an octopus obviously in reference to his opponent’s name… Inkie. This captain was definitely a representation of Alfa himself as he was drawn wearing a cap with the initials SD emblazoned on the badge, a tribute to his Kingston based art crew Soopa Doopa. In addition to the raised middle finger in the foreground of the piece, the finger was also wearing a ring in the shape of one of Alfa’s most favourite characters, the skull.







Inkie whose artistic approach tends to focus on the more beautiful than the insulting added a bit of flair to his own piece. Along with his traditional girly character, he had added a few different elements to his piece. One was a deck of cards with the King of spades entitled Inkie at the front, showing just how confident he must have been. He also drew a witch doctor type character with potions, headdress and even an “Alfa” chain around his neck. Surrounding the piece were the words, “Graf Royale” reminiscent of Japanese horror, Battle Royale. On the right hand side of the piece Inkie left another dig for Alfa, “You’ve been smoked”.







Without a doubt the judging for this battle was the most tense yet with each judge voting for a different artist leaving a crowd vote to determine the winner. The big shocker came as almost by fluke as the clap meter pulled up exactly the same reading for each artist. What were the organisers to do… the only thing they could, give the crowd a second chance to scream their hearts out for their favourite artist. Even though only slight the second attempt did show a clear winner. Alfa Male would be facing his pal Teck 1 in the final of the first Secret Wars Series. Wowee it’s such a shock that the moment has arrived for the two artists who have done so well throughout the competition to reach the final hurdle. Whatever happens, they are both winners. A commiseration to Inkie as your piece was really top notch.







How are we going to cope to the final, the event is already set in my diary and I know I am not going to miss this last event for the world. Word has it that there is even a fan from Australia flying in for the event. You know this event is gonna be huge. Get there early as Juno is gonna be a roadblock. Check www.secretwars.co.uk for more info on the final and further events that are planned in the summer.