NYE Fancy Dress Party 31/12/06

NYE is traditionally a night of constant let downs, with extortionate prices just to go anywhere outside your own back door. This year I decided to do things differently and when the invitation to a fancy dress house party came my way it didn’t take too much persuasion to get me out for the last night in 2006.



Hosted in Camden I was a bit weary as to what this fancy dress costume really meant. I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb, but didn’t want to be the only person without a costume, so I opted for an evening spent over the web scanning the various costume websites on offer.


Several hours later I found what I was looking for and couldn’t wait for the party to show it off to all my friends. To my surprise everyone had made just as much effort as myself. In amongst all the fancy glad rags there was a streaking Granny, a female Evil Knievel, Pocahontas, a saggy bottomed cowboy, a monk, a golfer and a gangster Mexican already there when I arrived.

The party kicked off with classic beats like the Ghostbusters soundtrack and Prince’s 1999. I was dressed as an NYPD cop and my outfit came second in a fancy dress competition that apparently ran sometime after midnight.

As the countdown began for 2007, some people unfortunate not to have a clear view of the television began celebrating about 15 seconds before the twelfth chime of Big Ben resulting in Brett the monk DJ mixing in The Final Countdown a bit to early. Oh well he wasn’t too far off the mark.



The rest of the night is a bit of a blur as it all happened so fast. I remember taking a video of Evil Knievel on this Motorbike outside in the street, when this random guy came round the corner to claim that Evil had scratched the front his bike. Now I knew for a fact that Evil had done no such thing, but didn’t want to join in with the debate that followed. I heard the next morning that an hour-long argument pursued about lawsuits and court orders, only for that random guy to announce that it wasn’t his bike after all. Some people have just too much time on their hands!



The party went on until 7.30am, but there were very few, including myself who had the energy to stay up that late/early on NYD 2007. It was a funny night, definitely better than my initial plan of braving the crowds and rain by the river Thames.

Post Xmas Island Visit 28th-30th/12/2006

The Isle of Wight is a hardly a bustling, vibrant place in winter, but I decided to head down there for a post Xmas visit in the last week of 2006. Prior to New Years Eve, there was not much going on, but it was a great chance to get some much-needed rest while visiting family.



Aside from the added bonus of getting some belated Xmas presents to open upon arrival, the break was also a chance to play as much board games and watch as much Crimbo television as possible. There is nothing better then a weekend away to escape the stresses and strife’s of a hectic London life.

On the first evening, we were invited to a party at Ventnor, (one the darker corners of the Island), where the only mobile network that seems to work is O2 and houses are the size of castles. The venue was set in a football club where most of the lads I met had previously played in their younger days, (not exactly a your average Chinawhites), but pleasant enough to sit and have a drink.


We arrived at about 9pm to see almost every guest sauntering around in some kind of makeshift hat creation. It wasn’t such a big issue as the excitement of seeing a new face seemed to distract from the fact that we hadn’t made any effort at all.


After a few drinks and a very disturbing experience in the Ladies toilets, (men pissing in sinks) we managed to find a pay phone to call a taxi to pick us up pronto.

The rest of the visit was spent kicking everyone’s arse at Monopoly, well nearly. Don’t you just hate it when your winning right up until you land of on chance and the card asks you to make repairs on all your properties. Grant I so deserved to win!!!

On the Saturday we dashed back across the Solent via a rocky boat journey to Portsmouth Harbour on the mainland, just in time for our National Express back to London all in preparation for the New Years Eve festivities.

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.