17. Dead Man's Shoes

I remember a few years ago, I was round a friends house and he insisted on watching Dead Man's Shoes, saying 'it was the best film ever!' I must state that this friend generally thinks 'everything is the best thing ever' as long as he finds it first, so as you can understand my excitement was minimal. Anyway, we started watching the film and to no surprise I didn't really pay much attention, the film finished, I went home, end of story.

The film came back into my mind last year when I met a certain Paddy Considine during my time at Canopy- I remember he was walking round the shop with what looked like a baseball bat embedded with nails. Of course, if it was anyone else I would've been deeply concerned, but I knew he was an actor and he kindly mention that it was a prop. However, after watching the film again in detail today (yes, I pulled another sicky), I feel I should've been more concerned about this 'baseball bat'.

Thankfully, Mr Considine left the shop after placing an order for a pair of Red Wing boots and didn't feel the need to 'top me' and right some form of instruction on the wall in my blood.

If you haven't seen Dead Man's Shoes, I suggest you do! Probably not one for the squeamish, but if you can hold you own, I'm confident you'll love it! Very smartly put together and very understatedly cool.

16. Leeds Festival 2012

Having been to Leeds Festival for the past 4 years running, I have to say this year was by far the best!

Waking up on Sunday morning with a hangover from a friends engagement party, I decided to make a few calls and by chance managed to get my hands on a couple of free VIP tickets- result I'd say!

Dry The River were awesome, then went to see a couple of friends play- Max Raptor and Escape To New York. It was a pleasure seeing them play at such an event. To be honest, we spent the majority of the time in the bar, but managed to crawl out to see The Cribs and Metronomy. OK I didn't see many bands, but it was just a brilliant social event and I was clean, so couldn't ask for more (did however watch Florence from our campsite which was pretty good)- except maybe next time we should have taken the offer of the tent and not have slept in the car.

15. A Return

So, as you can see it's been a bloody long time since I last posted. I have no idea why I've not been on here, perhaps forgetting my password didn't help, but it was more likely due to the fact that I was too busy.

Anyway, a lot has changed since last time. I think I was working at Canopy in Derby when I last posted and now I am living in Leicester, working for a not so glamorous Next, but I am a Trainee Buyer, so I've moved up in the world. Unfortunately, I am writing this in a not so happy-health in the comfort of my bed and uber-thick knitted roll neck courtesy of YMC.

Just as a little update, I left Canopy in Febuary 2012 after being offered the job at Next. It was a really difficult choice to make, as I loved everything about Canopy and I was leaving a lot behind. Anyway, times change and I am now glad of my move. The majority of the change has to be my wardrobe- I'm not quite sure whether that's a good thing to announce and however much I would love to say it was the fact that I've bought a new house or travelled the world, it's not. I'm still a bit of a shopaholic.

14. Paul Smith

There's more to PS than stripes. I'm not necessarily looking for a new job, but I do like to keep my eye on what's out there and PS is one I especially keep my eye on. I was thinking of applying just as a test to see if I would get it, but fears of me doing so could turn into an addiction and I would be notorious for making fake applications. Not a good look for a C.V.

When it comes to shoes, I tend to look at Grensons, Loakes and I'm quite a fan of N.D.C.'s (of which mine got trashed in Mosh last night), but I just stumbled onto these which I absolutely adore! Possible purchase? Definate candidate.

13. 216/Union

The new issue of Men's file magazine came into work today, so I had a quick flick through. It's basically a men's magazine (believe it or not) about motoring/ motorbike and fashion, but it's all with a vintage twist containing it's fair share of vintage motorcycles- enough for any man.

Flicking through, I came across an ad for a company called 216/Union. They're a family-run business that collect original pieces such as bags, belts, work tools and fabrics. They really put their heart and soul into creating these pieces and you can tell just by looking at them.

216/ Union

12. New York

I was talking to a lovely couple at work today, both really trendy and knew what's what. We came onto the subject of travel, in which they explained they were wanting to go to Berlin this year as they're yet to go. I mentioned that I wanted to go to Venice to do some photography and escape for a while, and that I may also be going to New York with some friends in October. They told me that they went to New York in stayed in the Hudson Hotel and said it was lovely and explained how they lay on the roof watching the stars and sipping champagne. The hotel itself looks lovely, but for my own taste is too modern/ contemporary.

However, they did also mention another hotel called Ace Hotel, so I checked that out too and wow! This hotel is right up my street with its vintage furniture and variety of rooms all reasonably priced its definitely something I will be looking in to.

11. Apple

Today, despite being extremely hungover, I managed to get myself into town and ended up taking a look in the Apple store to have a little play on their latest offerings. I plan to get myself a Macbook, so I was having a little play and it was pretty much what I expected, nothing special when compared to the weight of the Macbook Air or the pure genius of the iPad. The Macbook I will use for the basics; Photoshop, Word, Internet, music etc and I just can't wait to be able to take that with me wherever I go (It'll fit nicely in the Mulberry satchel I'm eyeing up). Now onto the iPad. Brilliant. I want one, no need to say any more.