dots and spaces

Patent Pending Industries

Its not gone un-noticed that Dots and Spaces has been neglecting its duties in terms of bringing you interesting bits of design to add to the clutter (of life). So I thought I'd address this, with a mention of Patent Pending Industries who are a print firm that do lots of cover art and posters for Subpop and the like, coving bands like Stephen Malkmus, The Hives, Belle and Sebastien etc. The designs that first caught my eye come from Jesse LeDoux, and this was after seeing a great cover for Hot Hot Heat's Bandages. In fact, all the PPI designs are first class. There's lots of Saul Bass influences in the poster work. The great thing is that the sum of the information comunicated is negligible to the overall effect created. I mean, they don't just tell you which band is playing, they give you the feeling you're already watching them...still with me?

I feel a Saul Bass entry coming on...

David Millar

Bad news about David Milar. Apparently he was called for questioning following allegations that he had passed syringes containing EPO to a fellow rider. Under Tour rules, any cyclist involved with investigations will not be admitted. I hope that David will be given the all clear, and that he'll be able to race in Athens. He has a singularly independent view of cycling, and life, and I'm hoping that nothing will come of these enquiries.

Great Interview with Tyler Hamilton in today's Guardian.

Leaving for stages 7 and 8 next week - will try to put up a few tour links in the meantime.

London to Brighton

Well, its taken me all week, I got some photos back today, but they don't really give you a feeling of the whole event. We stayed in Sidcup the night before, then caught the train to Waterloo, delayed for half an hour, so got the start gate at Clapham Common to find that we were some of the last riders to leave. My start card got stamped, then we were on our way, weaving through the traffic to rejoin the bulk of the riders. We must have left around 10.30am and after about an hour we were in the thick of it, with bikes all around us. The weather seemed to be fine for the first couple of hours as we left London, but as we crossed the M25, the clouds gathered and the rain started to fall. I remember being held up for a moment as an ambulance weaved its way through us and we passed a nasty accident at the bottom of hill, a blood stained road and the tangle of broken bikes. We stopped for a banana and put our waterproofs on, then we set off into the Sussex countryside. Another stop around 2pm at Ardingly, and we bought cake and drinks from the local Cubs and Brownies that had set up a tent at the stop. The weather was still unsettled, but we pushed on. There was a real carnival atmosphere to the ride, we were greeted in one village by a brass band, and the support from the public was great. There were all sorts of bikes to see, Tandems, Recumbents, Postman and Delivery bikes, and even Choppers. I got a few compliments on the Claude Butler. It all seemed to go very smoothly, only pausing for the Police to let traffic pass, forming huge queues of bikes that stretched for miles. Finally, when we reached Ditchling later in the afternoon, the sunshine came out and the downs loomed above us. My legs felt good and I started up the hill passed the walkers and slower riders, the road started to stretch up and get steeper, but we carried on up. As my muscles started to burn I thought I'd only last until the next corner, but then I chanced a few more yards, then more and finally I could see the summit and pushed on. Getting to the top gave me a great sense of accomplishment, the training had really paid off. The rains started again as we made our way down to Brighton. The crowds that greeted us along the seafront were amazing, and there was a great feeling of relief and pride as we crossed the finish line.

Statistics for London to Brighton
-Average Speed - 11.2mph (not bad considering some of the hold ups)
-Distance - 62.4 miles (from Clapham tube to Hove)
-Max Speed - 43mph (down from Ditchling to Stansted Park)
-Time on the bike - 5hrs 8 mins (6hrs overall including cake stops)

So..last of all - Thanks to everyone who sponsored me, we raised £318 - This is fantastic, more than I ever hoped, so feel proud of yourselves - Everyone who sponsored me will get a little thank you in the next couple of weeks.

I had a great time and who knows...I might do it again...

Centre Court

Had a wonderful day at Wimbledon on Tuesday, very lucky to see any play as Wednesday's play was completely abandoned. Finally arrived at around midday and went to our seats on Centre Court to watch Serena Williams cruise her way into the second round. There's so much to take in when you look around; Venus and Richard Williams in the player's box, Alan Mills with his walkie talkie patrolling the area behind the court, the whole business of centre court is fascinating. After a short break to watch Tim Henman on the big screen and munch our sandwiches, we went back to watch another couple of games, have a wander around the outside courts, where you're so close to the action as to feel you're intruding somehow. We had the biggest serving of Pimms I've ever had, and had our photos taken in front of Fred Perry's statue. The great thing about your tickets is that the seat is yours all day and you can come and go as you want to. We had a busy time in the shop and waved at Greg Rusedski as he walked across the gangway from Centre Court to the new Millennium Pavilion. When we finally left, it felt as if we'd seen all that we'd hoped to see, even the sight of the groundstaff pulling on the covers was a treat.

London to Brighton - Tomorrow!

Ohmigod - we're travelling up to London ready for Sunday morning - my start time is 9.30am and hopefully I'll be sitting on the beach sometime in the afternoon. There's a nice blog called Jake's rides and he links to this profile. Hopefully it should give you some idea of the ride. I've been doing a few 25 mile rides and Neil and I went out for a good cycle on Thursday night, so I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

So, thank's for all your kind words and sponsorship - so far I've raised a total of £282.35 and there's a couple more that I've got to add offline. Thank you.

I'll put some photos up and let you know how it goes... just give me a chance to recover.

New balls please...

Yes I know, the only obvious title I could think of, and its quite fitting that I'm going with Brynn to watch the action on Centre Court on Tuesday. Still no order of play at Wimbledon.org, but there are lots of tips at the Guardian's Wimbledon mini-site. I think we'll stroll in about an hour before play, take some lunch with us and enjoy the games. Hopefully the weather will hold out - the forecast isn't great, but hopefully there'll be some play between interuptions. In any case, its my first trip, and I'm so lucky to get tickets in the draw. Photos and entry to follow.

Death to the Pixies

I know its taken me a week to talk about seeing the Pixies at Brixton Academy. It was just awesome...the atmosphere was something like I've never experienced before. They came on to Head On and just unleashed a volley of songs, U-Mass, Debaser, Broken Face...song after song, with no pause, no talking. I don't remember them ever being this good, its like the years have made more powerful and closer to perfection than they ever were. Most of the songs came from the first three albums, these are what real pixies fans listen to, and the only moments when the band looked at each other were during Joey's solo on Vamos. After seeing Frank Black, replendent in country and western shirt, with his hired hands, playing warm and eccentric songs with The Catholics; tonight he was Black Francis, wearing the biggest pair of Jeans we've ever seen...and filling them. The songs were taught, fiery and viscious. When the four horsemen ride from the apocalypse, they'll be listening to Wave of Mutilation on their walkman's.

Just a few links for you...great reviews here and here. All four shows to download from Disclive and if you order quickly, you'll recieve a limited edition boxed set of all four Brixton shows.

Just a note, the support was Badly Drawn Boy who was just so chuffed to be supporting "The Greatest Band in Living Memory"

Our star spotting was a bit pants, only Adam from Adam and Joe, but apparently Jude Law was there too.

dots....

Just a quick series of links to update you on stuff already mentioned on the site. Various sources, but would like to credit Kottke, there are lots of good links - in blog terms, this site is an institution.

One of the kids from Spellbound has started her own blog

Neil (where is your blog!) has found a great little site that finds places with stupid names if you pop your postcode in. Apparently I live close to Titty Hill, Balls Cross and Bushy Bottom...sorry.

Proctor and Gamble want to print adverts on Pringles...really...it says so atFool.com

Finally, another interview with Marc Craste at BBC Collective(which is a cool little site for alternative types), about Jojo in Stars.

Venus Transit

On Tuesday (I think), Venus passed in front of the sun and us mortals were able to see the silhouette. Well at least,I...thought it was amazing. Someone at work had one of those welding masks glass plates and if you looked through it, sure enough, you could see a little blip in front of the sun. Now Venus is pretty big, and the Sun, well that's quite a bit bigger. See more photos and cool little video clip (broadband recommended) here

ibook guitar

Paul has just got back from tour with The Cranes, sounds like he had some great times. The star of the shows has been his new ibook inspired guitar which got plenty of attention from the crowds. The Cranes are due to play on the 15th July at The Wedgewood-rooms . We will pop down and lend a bit of support and drink lots.

Saw Pixies at the weekend... big post coming soon!