THINGS PEOPLE WEAR, EAT, WATCH AND BUY

Yoooooo a little long time off, been a busy boy recently but here is some new Wickedland for you lot. I hope you're all well!

So Cadbury's are doing two flavours of the Egg & Spoon. Choco and Oreo. I think it's safe to say which one the public prefer haha. Rightly so, the Oreo ones are fucking divine.

I bought these hat strap things for my door, they have like little hooks on that you hang hats on. Pretty fucking nifty right? They work a treat, v happy with the purchase.

Mad stuff. London for the weekend.

I kind of envy this bloke having his little tupperware tub of nuts for the commute. Nice simple little snack for himself, healthy, light, lovely. Same way I think that's such a dead snack man. That's just dead. Rubbish. Shit.

This crep is a lot of effort isn't it. I slip my trainers off at the end of some days and think boy, my feet hurt, that's an uncomfortable days worth of wearing shoes. I think the commitment towards being a goth is unparalleled. Like you have to put so much into it, there's really no days off. it's like when you'll see the blokes in the big leather jackets in the summer. I wonder if they're thinking yeaaah yeah fucking everyone knows I'm a proper goth.

Won £20 in the casino with Jamie on Roulette. 20 big ones. 20 sheets. A purple note. Big money baby, don't look directly at it, you might get blinded. Very serious gambling going on here mate, get out of here. Don't worry about it just know we getting big money on this side baby.

Went out boozing round Soho with this rabble

Chin up mate. Look at my amazing car. Sorry your life is shit and you've not got nice things like my flash fucking car but chin up mate

We went to watch Dulwich Hamlet FC against Macclesfield Town in the FA Trophy on the Saturday.

The ground was pretty cool. We'd heard it was meant to be a right laugh down there and it really was. Despite it being the coldest place on earth.

Jamie got himself a little Dulwich Hamlet hat.

They went 2-0 after about 10 minutes but brought it back to 2-2 in what ended up being a really sick game. Tickets were only a tenner as well haha.

That's us lot at the back. Like you care. Like you can even see us anyway. I could literally just say anything here.

Jamie's glasses make him look like that mental surgeon bloke who used to dissect dead people on Channel 4. Looking back that was all a bit weird wasn't it.

We went to this grill place in Brixton Village to eat. I got this half chicken as I always do. I've never been more pissed off I didn't get ribs in my life.

Jamie's girlfriend Rosie and her friend Natalie cooked us this mexican feast on the Sunday. It was so unreal. Enchiladas and Fajitas and all sorts of other good bits.

I returned to misery, paying good money to watch Liverpool throw their season away at the King Power. It was my first match day down there since working there on a commission over summer. It was amazing to see it buzzing full of people thinking loads of them would have seen my work.

It was the first game after Ranieri had been sacked and everyone lit up their phones in tribute to him. It was a real nice touch.

I dream of a place called Pasta Shake. Pasta Shake is going to be a subway style lunchtime £5 bite, where you select what pasta you'd like, what sauce, what veg and meat and so on. 5 different size boxes and tray baked pasta. Seen as the pasta game is on ten anyway I thought lemme flip the script on them and try my hand at a pasta bake. Basically long story short Pasta Shack is gonna be nuts.

Tazmyn's laptop fit perfectly into this little bit in the bottom of this upside down chair. What a beautiful sight.

Oiiii there's a laundrette in the block I live in and there's beef haha. I love a note, especially a printed out one. I wanna write on it. Might write on it.

More time if I'm with Teeps I'm creeping, staying low

Had a nice little commissioned bit of work in Sophbeck aka Sub8Ten. It really got on my lungs down there haha.

Thanks for reading, come back again

WASTEMAN OF THE WEEK: 066

WASTEMAN OF THE WEEK - DRAKE

It pains me to do this because this is my guy. I love Drake and I’ve defended him since before it was cool to like Drake. I’ve shown people old music of his over and over again when people chime up with lazy shouts about his writing ability but I’ve had it with him.

I had tickets to see Drake in Dam in January. This was the third time I had tickets to see him. I was excited because his last album Views was a triumphant return to form. I couldn’t wait. The time before when I saw him he tours Nothing Was The Same, largely an underwhelming body of work. It was a good show but the setlist wasn’t stacked with many of my favourite drizzy joints.

The time after that I had tickets to see him at Wireless and he pulled out. This pained me because he was a massive part of why I was going and obviously he was going to do a festival setlist with alllll the bangers on. That never happened. Fast forward to a WEEK before I fly out to Amsterdam and he cancels again. Some bullshit reason saying the production team have pushed it back because they want extra special effects. He didn’t push the date back a couple of months and make it financially viable to go, he pushed it back a week. There was no way I could make it.

It really pissed me off. He has a rep for cancelling and pulling out of shit, and for someone who gives it so much about how much he loves his fans and the shit he does for his fans a 33% conversion rate is piss poor. I launched an unofficial Drake strike in my head. I was simply not in the mood to listen to him. He’s one of my favourite artists and I’ve not listened to him in over 2 months now.

Add to that the fact that he announced an album that’s now 3 months late, he pouts and he’s made it ok for soft lads to buy and wear Stone Islands and he’s not really in my good books right now. I wonder if I’ll listen to him the way I did ever again.

SOMETHING GOOD / SOMETHING SHIT 002

SOMETHING GOOD: THE SIMPSONS

So one of my New Years resolutions was to try and watch every episode of The Simpsons this year. That’s 607 over 28 series making it the longest running prime time animated series ever. You don’t need me to tell you how good The Simpsons is, but I will anyway. I was thinking about it whilst watching some of season 2 today just thinking about how it’s such an institution. I feel like I know the characters better than real people I know, they’ve been constants in my life for as long as I can remember. Another wonderful thing about the show is how it’s still fun to watch at any age. It’s been years since I’ve watched it with any great sense of regularity, and there are so many subtle jokes aimed at adults. Even a lot of the themes seem very adult now I’ve grown up. The first ever episode is about Homer struggling to scrape together the funds for his families Christmas. Man, it’s just so good. Jamie put it perfectly one time when he said to me he feels a strong sense of comfort through familiarity whenever he watches The Simpsons.

SOMETHING SHIT: GLITTER

I wish glitter died in 2016. I think water aside it might be the most invasive inanimate object on earth. Actually, fuck that, it’s way more invasive than water. You can just dry water and it’s gone. Glitter will stick around. You don’t even know you’ve come into direct contact with it and you’ll be picking it off yourself 3 days later. I felt like it had a massive year, fucking EVERYTHING is glittered now. Girls have selfishly took to putting glitter in their hair. That’s mad to me, why ever would you want to do that? I have one little fleck on me and I struggle to get it off, how do you go about completely getting it out go your hair? Mad stuff that glitter.

YESTERDAY I LISTENED TO: THE ORATOR - VERNACULAR (2017)

A little while back I started to pay mind to the difference between hearing music and listening to it. With the rise of streaming services and how easy it is to constantly be plugged in, I never really put time aside to focus all my attention on the music. I used to lie down and put a CD on, and that doesn’t happen so much anymore.

About a week ago The Orator announced a listening session for his new album 'Vernacular' and with this in mind I knew I had to attend. For this reason listening parties fascinate me. It was a very intimate affair held at the African Caribbean Centre in Highfields. This is the home of Leicester Community Radio where The Orator and Marcus Joseph host ‘Ital Lounge’, their own radio show with music and chat. The plan was to broadcast the album live and get into a discussion about it afterwards. I attended with my camera in hand and tried to capture the mood in the room. I knew it would be something special.

The project ran for 34 minutes and the room was practically silent through out. Because of this every word and note had our full concentration. If you know The Orator you’d know what to expect with this project. These rich, thought provoking, afrocentric, stirring poems intertwined with wonderful soundscapes and with that came something really original. I’ve never really heard anything like it before. He’s calling it a spoken word album, I don’t think that really does it justice. That limits it. The themes in the album are not trendy themes, they’re not contemporary. They’re themes that we’ve been discussing for generations and generations. All I can urge you to do is just listen to it for yourself and see what you think.I’m glad I gave it all my attention upon first listen.

Click here to navigate to Vernacular on Apple Music

LAST NIGHT'S FILM: THE FOUNDER

Due to a misunderstanding of cinema times I ended up unexpectedly seeing 'The Founder' the other day. The first silver screen title to focus on McDonalds since 'Super Size Me' way back in 2004. What is basically the true story of a man called Ray Kroc, a shrewd and persistent middling 1950s business man with a huge dream turned out to be quite the thriller. Wether you're fan of McDonalds and their ethos or not, this film gives a really interesting, balanced look at something that happened once upon a time in America that spawned one of the biggest global brands we've ever seen.

When I sat down I really didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be interesting and informative and it really was that. From more or less the start it was a really deep, in-depth look at a particular strand of Americana. Everything was pastel coloured, it was 1954. People ate burgers and fries. The story starts with Michael Keaton front and centre delivering a monologue with so much gusto it forces you to pay attention. He's a salesman trying to sell a milkshake blender that blends 8 milkshakes at a time. He's saying create faster, have more products and people will flock knowing they can get a fast service. Chicken then egg. He's working long, taxing days driving around getting laughed out the door by the owners of all but one diner; McDonalds, way out in San Bernardino, California.

It so turns out that 'speed' plays a big, big part in this story. What this little McDonalds eatery was already doing was changing the game in the diner scene and basically giving birth to 'fast food' as we know it. This naturally spoke to Ray Kroc's soul and it was love at first sight. Cue a second chapter that's effectively the story of Ray's wrestle with his wife, his peers, his reputation and the owners of McDonalds to convince them he wasn't mad for dreaming big. This wasn't another one of his mad money making pipe dreams, and more that he was envisioning McDonalds like we know it today. 

The film was full of incredible little quotable quips and mantras that these men live by. The script was really wonderful. The harmonious McDonalds kitchen that works perfectly and efficiently is referred to as a 'Symphony of motion' by Dick McDonald, the more pragmatic and measured McDonalds brother played so well by Nick Offerman. At the end of a bad day Kroc plays a self help record encouraging him to stay focused, that states 'a man is what he thinks about all day.' I could give you a hundred more. The dialogue between Kroc and the two brothers who own McDonalds in incredibly paced, tense, sharp and funny.

The story is what makes this film though, and it's hard to stray too far from that. Visually the film delivered, the script was great too but the story was the bread and butter. I guess because McDonalds is such a giant now it's hard to picture it's humble beginnings, and I never knew the road to how it become what it is today was so bumpy. Keaton (as you'd imagine he would) steals the show, with a portrayal of a character that constantly reveals different elements and depth with every scene as the movie wears on. He was clearly a visionary who was just waiting for his vehicle. A man who starts the film as a bit of an embarrassed lost cause turns into a focused, ruthless, cold hearted business man.

When trying to convince the brothers of the goldmine they're unknowingly sat on Ray Kroc states that 'McDonald's can be the new American church.' Here we are, decades later, well aware of the giant it did end up becoming, presented with a wonderful film that brings to light an interesting and lesser known story of how the little man will eventually get fucked over. If you're looking for a quant, typically american story about moral values and business, go for this. It's a ride.

ASIAN SWEETS, DRIPPING MEATS, NO MORE SEATS AND SUPERMARKET SWEEPS

OH SHIT NEW WICKEDLAND ALERT. Man, I'm really enjoying writing again. I wasn't sure if it would be fun because it's a lot of work to take on again. I figured as soon as I buy my macbook and I can write in the little gaps in between, wherever I am it's reeeeal fun man. It's good to be back.

My sister came back from Thailand and China and brought me a HAMPER of snacks. All different shit, like those little pocki sticks, chocolates and weird sweets. 

I don't get this thing that I see people doing these days. This legit makes me thinks I'm old. Like I'm out of touch. Two people sat together having full blown conversations with someone on each of their hands free headphones. I guess it's not wildly dissimilar to two people sitting in each other's company and being on their phones in companionable silence, but this seems another step further than that. 

My Mum got me these from Tiger. Man, Tiger is a fucking dope shop. I bet they make a killing. These were like little gummy fish from next to the check out. They were fruity and the same texture as those giant strawbs Haribo do. I love Tiger.

Kinda show innit

I had a happy accident in the kitchen. I was cooking chicken in a tomato and garlic sauce, cooking veg in one dish in the oven and slice like potato chips on a tray in the oven. When I got the veg out I chucked it in the sauce on a whim. I thought I'd fucked it tbh. It was an irresistible moment of impulse. Anyway, the potatoes came out and seen as I'd already fucked it I thought they might as well go swimming as well. I stirred it and turned it until everything was coated and then turned it up really high. It was so insanely good. I can't wait to cook this dish again bearing in mind it's going to end up like this.

Loads of food this week. I love meat so much, and I love kebabs but I saw this and thought that is fucking mental haha. Of all this wonderful green stuff on this earth THIS is the stuff we choose to eat. Look at green grapes and then look at this. So mental. But the other half of me was thinking that's going to taste completely glorious by the time it's time to come off.

Obviously you know when you go to Five Guys you need to experiment on the drinks machine. You need to mix it up. You need to get scientific with that shit. Get wild. Be free. Yesterday I mixed Blue Powerade with Grape Fanta. I felt like RiFF RAFF. It was delicious.

Percy fucking Pig has got a bit big for his fucking boots hasn't he. I saw this the other night in a M&S in the train station. Cocky fucker. 

I was on the most rancid train ever. From Birmingham to Leicester, it was the last one at 22:22 on a Saturday night. Due to a technical issue we had to alight and squeeze from 6 coaches into 2. There were 2 different hen parties. There were 6 stops. They were singing 'If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.' Everyone was squeezing by for a piss every two minutes. When the hen parties got off at Narborough there was a shared sigh of relief. Then two drunk mums on their way back to Leicester raised me for my Percy Pigs. A full bag! The bastards.  

Ok very serious announcement. Due to global warming giving us this glorious bearable weather and eating way too fucking much over Christmas salads are back. Salad season is upon us. get what you need and get it popping. Also don't watch the basics sweetcorn. Man's got that iceberg lettuce there. Copping big work in the drought.

I'll be back very soon with more Wickedland. Thanks for reading!

LAST NIGHT'S FILM: T2 TRAINSPOTTING

Sequels are tricky aren't they. Whenever marketed right they'll perform well in terms of numbers at a box office and obviously line the pockets of everyone involved. I don't mean tricky in that sense, but in terms of keeping a sense of artistic integrity. That's the real struggle with them. More often than not sequels tend to be shite, and in so they take away from the magic of the first movie. It's a double edged sword. It was with this in mind that I sat down to watch T2 Trainspotting the other night. Director Danny Boyle and screen writer John Hodge were back, and they'd brought the original cast with them. Always a good sign that the actors involved who obviously hold the original a lot dearer than me want in on the cake, and it turned out to be bloody good cake too.

The film is set 20 years after the original, back in Edinburgh with Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) revisiting his old haunts and looking to make amends with the old gang over how the first movie ended. When I found this out, I liked it. My favourite thing about Trainspotting '1' (weird) was the characters and how they interacted with each other. These real honest relationships on screen that are so familiar to all of us. The relatively simple plot leaves loads of room for exactly that. It doesn't need complicating. The first one was a window into how these people lived and how the way they lived lead to events mapping out. I'm glad the second was similar to this.

It's almost impossible to look at this film on it's own without constantly comparing it to the first one. First of all it's the same characters back in the same city as before. It's natural you're going to sit and compare. The film pays tribute to this with constant flashbacks and nods to the first movie, which was a nice touch. Also, the whole point of the movie is how time flies and people change and reflecting on this. It's nostalgic. Each of these characters have changed since the first one, but in the way people do. They've all grown more into themselves in one way or another, for better or worse. Watching the movie I felt like I know people like these people in real life and have seen them follow similar paths these characters have in the last 20 years. It's so real, it made me consider that even though John Hodge didn't write these characters he must know people like this because they were so 3 dimensional.

It's still as brutal and full on as the first one. Without giving too much away they look at heavy drug abuse, suicide, domestic abuse, institutionalisation, prostitution and many other themes that'll make you squirm in your seat. It's a real, full blown certificate 18 movie. As is the first one it's a tough, honest look at what humans allow themselves to be reduced to. There are plenty of scenes where old friends voice home truths to each other that cut deep. Speeches they've been planning in their heads for 20 years. The way people do when they stew over something. Uncomfortable viewing where you feel like you should not be present for what should be a very private conversation. Aside from it being a heavy watch it was very funny in places too, with that same honest and at times disgusting wit.

My one criticism would be just how hard they play on the nostalgia factor. I'm still undecided wether it was a bad thing, but they certainly tread close to the edge by the end of the movie. At times it was like watching a reunion where they're touring the locations from the first movie all wanking off over how amazing the first Trainspotting was. It was clear to see these actors and Danny Boyle were proud of the first one and wanted to acknowledge it, paying tribute to it every chance they got. But then on the other hand it kind of works, as the point of the story is nostalgia and reflection, watching Renton played by McGregor visit these places and consider how things have changed in 20 years. It would be impossible for him to visit his hometown after so many years away and it not be nostalgic, but at times it just felt like that's what had compelled Danny Boyle to make this movie.

All in all it was a great watch. It was wonderfully shot with really interesting cinematography (as I remember the first one was) and it still had all the magic these wonderful characters bring when they're on screen together. It was tense and exciting and unpredictable throughout. Edinburgh looked cool too, the locations were amazing and it was as fun seeing how much the city had changed (and not changed) in the last 20 years as well as the characters. It was honest and uneasy, and that's all I wanted when I sat down. It was a sequel done the way all sequels should be done, paying mind to the story, the characters and artistic integrity before thinking about profits. It didn't at all take away from the first one, it made me realise how iconic and great it is. If you like the original, go see this. If you don't like the original, watch it again, realise you were wrong and then go see this.