mic n 2 sugars

too much christmas cheer?

was a pretty special xmas having all the wernej clan back together. while it didn't really feel like xmas for souri due to the heat, it all was as i remembered.

the neighbourhood kids continued the tradition of lining the streets with candles so that santa could find the way. really is an amazing effect.

and i think that this shot totally sums up christmas 08. over indulging with food. zac having the time of his life... and getting more rather spoilt!

reason for moving back from london

there are many reasons why i moved back from london. but here are two of the main ones

my nephew - zac

sunset from my parent's balcony

nuff said

fun in the afternoon sun - trade winds

Some shots from the atrium in the block of flats that my little brother lives in. The afternoon sun was doing some pretty rad things with shadows...

you can see the whole set here

london for a day, tourist for a life time - site seeing in london

souri's grandfather came to visit us in london, and this along with our impending exit from london town made for the perfect excuse to be tourists for a day.

all the major sites were visited and we even shelled out many pounds to join the masses and ride one of the hop-on-hop-off tourist buses.

having seen many of these sites a number of times, it was lovely to sit back and actually enjoy them as a tourist in "my" london town.

on more than one occasion i did have another one of the spine tingling moments when it dawns on me that.... oh my god, i really am in london. even after all these years.

the whole site seeing set can be seen here on flickr.

where in the world is Perranporth - long weekend in Cornwall

4 females + 1 male + 1 caravan + dubious English "summer" weather + a very strange seaside town called Perranporth = a very very funny weekend.

i was a little unsure about spending a whole long weekend as the only male in a group of five intrepid travellers. while i probably did learn a few too many things about women, the weekend was no stop laughs.

the weather varied from brilliant sunshine to driving rain but cabin fever refused to set in.

Perranporth and what we saw of Newquay was rather eye opening and jaw-dropping in equal measures. It will take some time to get over the Nuts Magazine "Talent Search".

the whole set can be seen here on flickr.

black lips @ 100 club - does what it says in the tin

i think that there is more press about the black lips' on stage antics than is written on their actual music. london's famous 100 club was the perfect setting for them to show all the tricks that have taken up some much column space.

the bands psychedelic blues was well received by the masses and the 100 club quickly turned into a sweating swashbuckling mass.

things started to get a bit "black lip-ish" when the spit/catch game was played by cole alexander. and things got a whole lot more "black-lips-ish" when he pissed in his own mouth.

i guess you can see why all the talk is about the antics and not the music. the whole flickr set can be found here.

proud galleries - camden style

proud galleries closed its doors a while back to be redeveloped into flats - bad times.

but then they re-opened in a new bigger shinier bigger location - good times.

now we can get to see the likes of cage the elephant (top photo) and the death set (bottom photo) play there - many many good times.

]]> proud galleries closed its doors a while back to be redeveloped into flats - bad times.

bjork @ hammersmith apolo - big hats and bigger lenses

i got a super last minute call up to shoot bjork - and late call ups like that don't come around very often.

the set up at hammersmith was all very professional. snappers were to meet at 9, get photo passes, escorted down to photo pit, 3 shots, and then out the door. so i was a little gutted that i would not be able to see all of bjork's set.

but what i did see was immense. was a hard gig to shoot with strange lighting going on, plus the photographers were kept right to the sides of the stage... and all the pro snappers which meant a pecking order was created based on the size of your lens!

was amazing to shoot such a big act and for such a small lady she has one monster voice (and hat)!

i have the whole set here on flickr

the gloss queen has left the building - goodbye cal

London has lost some of its slightly pink, spark-ly gloss as the one and only Cal, Vanator Lady, heads back to Oz. We did manage to send her out with a bang where in typical Cal style we had about 10 different farewells!

We really will all miss you so very very much Vanator, and I will look after Marky and Souri for you ;)

I am not sure where I will be able to go to find your slightly different view of the world! More Vanator gold.

a perfect night - 3 year anniversary

There was more then a few times during the night when i didn't think everything would fall into place, but in the end I couldn't have asked for a better night.

The night started off with our traditional anniversary dinner at Dickie Chicken - yes I sure do know how to treat my lady. After some flash cocktails in Soho it was on to the crowning glory of the night - a room with an amazing view of Tower Bridge.

It truly was a breathtaking view and such a special night for the both of us.

We then enjoyed a beautiful day in the blazing sunshine down by the river. A perfect time for my perfect little lady.

More photos of the view can be found here.

merry merry merry merry merry merry merry christmas

tis the season of too much food, hot/cold weather (depending on where in the world you are) and "quality" time with the family. hopefully by now you have all avoided the christmas crowds and done all the last minute shopping and stocking filling.

taken by kris

and i guess that this is going to be a reoccurring theme - but please humour me. this is a photo of little zac enjoying his first christmas - and also of zac's parents enjoying all the embarrassing situations they can put the little man in.

sending love, hugs, kisses and christmas cheer to all my family and friends all over the world, from the proud, doting uncle mic.

"i have a wonderful story for you darling" - we will miss you Di

it is with a very heavy heart that i was greeted with the news that our very good family friend Di passed away during the night. she has been ill for a long while and at least she is now resting.

she was truly one of the most amazing people that i have ever met and really an inspiration from all the travels that she and her husband ken have been on. she has touched so many lives all around the world.

my thoughts are with ken and his daughters as they try to deal with losing their wife/mother. but i am not going to end this post on a sad note - i know that di would not want that. she would sit me down and say "darling, ken and i have a wonderful story about that place".

i know she is looking down from above, sitting in a sunny garden, telling stories and with a rather nice cold drink...

i will miss you forever di.

ITS A NEW JOB

it is a bit of mixed feelings. leaving what can only be described as my Arts Alliance Media family. leaving the nest. leave the place where so many funny times have been had, and so many great friends have been made...

at this sound (BING) turn the page.

now it is over to tag worldwide. my new role is looking amazing as i will be a digital project manager - woudn't my university lecturers be proud of me.

at this sound (BING) turn the page.

a new start and a new challenge.

the end.

the oh so hip - all tomorrows parties (release the bats)

have been wanting to get to an ATP (all tomorrows parties) event for a very long time. so when the every-so-very-hip-right-now line up of deerhoof, liars , black lips, dear hunter and f&%k buttons was announced i was all over it like a fat kid on a smartie.

f&%k buttons were a little too "experimental" for a 7 o'clock set but the anti was upped when deer hunter took the stage. i have been falling in love with deer hunters "cryptograms" album and was interested to see it live. again, i think it was a little to psychedelic for some pallets - but i thoroughly enjoyed their set.

the real action began when black lips took the stage. there scuzzy swamp rock sounded amazing and their on stage antics were all "rock n roll".

i have seen liars a few times already this summer - but they could possible be one of the best bands banging around at the moment. all the tracks from their new album sounded amazing.

the leading singer, angus, jumps, twirls, slides around the stage like a man possessed.

last but by no means least was deerhoof. their poppy, quirky tracks turning into stomping monsters when played live - really impressive stuff.

atp did not disappoint, and i can see what all the cool kids are on about. some of the cool kids had a little too much party though!

all the shots from the night are on flickr

and now, the rest of your life! - souri's graduation

after a little persuading, I finally got Souri to attend her graduation and I am so so glad that she went, and, that I was able to be there to share such an important day with her.

while the setting was a little more glamorous then my graduation (it was held in the main hall of The Barbican), the feel-good nature of the day was still exactly the same.

it was such a feel good day with friends and families able to shower the graduates with so much praise. The bubbling pride in parent's eyes was really really lovely.