20
Jan
2008
Rock Down To Electric Avenue
OK. First off.
The American version of The Office is stupid.
Now that we have that settled, lets get started.
In 1983 Eddie Grant dropped a hit called Electric Avenue. I know you have heard it. It got to #2 on the Billboard charts, but it’s success should not be measured in it’s height on the charts, rather in the duration it has lasted in our culture. Here is the video to renew those old memories so we are all on the same page, because that is what I did today. I rocked down to Electric Avenue.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk5IUbdH0[/youtube]
Eddie Grant is from Jama much like a lot of the folks who live in Brixton. A part of South London that has a large Afro-Caribbean community. Also home to what I can only assume is a really good market place. Unfortunately, Sunday is a day of rest for most vendors and shop keepers in London so most things were closed. That was OK because there is more to see than just the market that is behind the Underground station. 
On a sunday the market place had a pulse, but not much more to offer than produce, meat and hair products. The essentials. 
I gotta say though that I felt comfortable here. This area reminded me of San Francisco in so many ways. Mostly the vibe. Much like in the Mission or Lower Haight, it just had an energy that seemed real and livable.
Now way back in the hay hay, some of the best live cassettes you could get always seemed to be recorded at this place called the Brixton Academy. I had no idea what that meant, but I imagined a place of heart and soul. One of my favorites was Faith No More whose live album went way beyond any cooked studio version they ever put out. I wanted to get inside to get a picture of a empty theatre, but no dice. Still it was nice to put a face on a 20 year old idea.
No more than a couple of hundred meters up the road from the Brixton Academy is a skatepark. Unfortunately this to was closed for business. It’s called Stockwell park. Reminds me of Under Burnside skatepark in the PDX. These things should be put on the urgent list to be funded and reopened. Not only does it depress the people who live around the park, it kills the spirit of kids who could spend hours here carving turns and thinking big. Otherwise who knows where they go and invest their energy. 
I had to ask Holmes here if I could take his picture because I digged his ride. The two girls behind me blew up laughing and saying that he was going to be famous because of his silly bike. We all had a laugh and I told him to represent. 
With that I was heading back to the Underground. I saw this sign and it made me laugh. Partially because I am really immature and poop humor still kills me. But it was equally the choice of words that seemed unusual. Next stop, The British Library. 
From the streets to the galleries. How about a bit of typographic history. You don’t get these kinds of things in Kansas and now that I have figured out the tube, I am everywhere and anywhere all at once.
The British Library is huge. A very modern building with 25 million books making it the largest library in the world. No shit. 
The Breaking The Rules exhibit was incredibly thorough. Breaking down typographic history and art movements by city rather than timeline. Just going through it provided more education about type and and art movements than of the people who made the history that was on display. So in other words, I am a genius now. 
This is it. Right here. This is where I fell in love with London. Across the street from the library having a pint on my own watching the Man City vs. West Ham football match. A perfect view of a busy street outside with lots of people walking by. Sitting down as to rest my legs that I repeatedly wear out on the weekends. It has been a few weeks now and I feel like I get it and belong here. What better reason to get back on the tube to Oxford Circus. 
Welcome to Niketown London. 
This store is home to all of the stuff that I have worked on the last couple of years and never get to see in the real world. Niketowns in the states are rubbish compared to this one (except Manhattan). Yes, the wk employee discount works here and yes it is full of stuff you really don’t need. That’s fine though.
The unique part of this Niketown is that you can book a time with a Nike designer in the ID Studio and craft your own set of kicks. Unlike the website, you can check out sample materials and fabrics to determine texture beyond just color. You can see all of the white “blanks” on the bottom here and twist them to your own flava.
And that my friends is a weekend. My camera is pretty much dead and my feet are tired. These things will change. A nights sleep will make the soles of my feet new again and the Fedex guy will bring a new camera in off the bench. This little guy is going to get 6th man of the year award because next weekend, Paris.