Enigma - new object of lust

I've just realised I didn't add any photos from my visit to the Enigma workshop last week. Enigma make beautiful bikes - they made my beautiful bike - traditionally from titanium, although they recently started making steel bikes too. The reason for the visit was that I'm writing a profile article about them for the CTC magazine, but the real reason was to lust after all those gorgeous bikes and learn a bit about how they're made. It was a fascinating morning - who knew that TIG welding could be interesting? And I emerged with a new object for my bike lust, the Extensor, a drop-dead gorgeous steel framed beauty that I'm told rides as well as it looks - and as you'll see from the linked photo (not the rather poncey detail shot above), it looks pretty good. But then for around £3K, it should really shouldn't it?

Hot Chip

I love Hot Chip. Their gigs are so joyful and uncomplicated. And their music is surprisingly rewarding for something that sounds at first listen like little more than pleasant pop. According to Last.fm they're my second favourite band, after Boards of Canada, and I'm not sure that isn't what you might call an historic anomaly (do you like the AN there? I thought you would). I think they might actually be my favourites these days - and that's something I've always found it almost impossible to pin down before. At least since I was a spotty teenager madly in love with AC/DC.

But I digress. I went to the Brixton Academy last night with my brother and watched Hot Chip do their geeky, funky, soulful thing. The sound was pretty poor, but the vibe was right on the button. This shot was taken during the show's climax - an encore of Ready For The Floor. It was utterly euphoric and completely fantastic.

Mischievous girl

Honestly, this girl will be the death of us. The other day she went ominously quiet for a few minutes - just a few minutes is all it took. Next thing you know she's administered a DIY haircut on her fringe with a pair of nail scissors. The following day we receive an emergency walkie-talkie call from Oskar around bedtime. He reports that she's sitting in bed eating a pack of his M&Ms, bold as brass! When challenged she said she didn't know they were Oskar's. Oh well that's alright then...

These are just a couple of several minor irritations for which she's been responsible over the past week or so and to be honest the temperature was rising a bit. So it was kind of timely that there was a gas leak at her school two days ago and we ended up spending a day together, just the two of us. There was a gorgeous sun-kissed break in the horrible weather (don't get me started on the weather), so we headed for the seafront with bike, picnic and camera.

We had a great time and are now officially best mates again. I'm going to miss these days when she grows up.

Party flier

My very first flier (is it flier or flyer? I never know), courtesy of my artistic brother - thanks PT. There's a lot riding on this party - no pun intended - as I'm still a very long way away from my fund-raising target for the big bike ride this summer. So far I have just 13 confirmed guests so there may have to be a bit of a publicity drive some time soon. No need to panic just yet though I suppose.

It would be foolish of me not to include a link to my Virgin Money Giving page under the circumstances, don't you think?

Busker Marni

Marni is currently obsessed with 'African drums', which I think is a good thing on balance - at least for as long as we don't actually have any in the house. I think she saw a demonstration of some sort at school and is now convinced it is her mission in life to drum sense into the world.

So it was with no small measure of delight that she spotted this busker on our way to the Pavilion for a sound recording school assignment of Oskar's (which is another story entirely). After staring rather rudely at the chap for a good five minutes, Marni was asked to join him for a ... what? a duet? a jam? I don't know what you'd call it but I do know how much she enjoyed it. Needless to say, the busker assured me she's a natural - but I had just given him a quid.

Portraits for sponsorship

As I believe I may have mentioned before, this summer I’ll be taking part in The Race Against Time, a six-day bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

There are two significant challenges associated with this: cycling 140 miles or more every day for six days, and raising £2000 for the Bishop Simeon Trust, the race charity.

In some ways the fund-raising challenge is harder. Once you’ve hassled your friends and family a few times and still find yourself with just a few hundred pounds pledged, it’s time to come up with other ways of raising the cash.

One of the ways I’d like to do it is by offering a photographic portrait service. I’ll take a photo of you – or your kids, or your dog – and get it professionally printed and framed for you.

You’ll see one of my portraits I’ve done on this page (thanks to Sarah for letting me use it as an example).

For this service I’ll charge a fee of £15, plus the printing and framing costs. To be clear, every penny I receive beyond the printing and framing costs will go towards my sponsorship target.

The printing & framing costs will vary depending on what size print you want in what kind of frame but the starting cost can be as low as £10. So you could have a professionally framed (albeit amateurishly shot) portrait hanging on your living room wall for just £25! Bargain!

Of course if you feel inclined to donate more than £15 towards my sponsorship I won’t stop you.

Finally, if you’re not interested in getting a portrait done but you’d still like to support my ride, you can make a contribution on my Virgin Money Giving page.

Thanks for reading this. If you’d like to chat about having a portrait done, leave a comment on this blog and I’ll be in touch.