Local designers and our good friends over at YungRiF have come in once again with the sneak attack and dropped a new design, Death of Clones. In a time where Universal, General pants and Karmaloop reign, its a more than fitting sentiment.

We went with the MDK – murder, death, kill theme and kept it dark and gloomy for the shoot.

As with all YungRiF releases, all are original and super limited designs so get in quick to secure yours.

Check out their page and shop at The YungRiF Collection

The days are starting to get to the point where you wish it was winter again so I thought I’d put a break in the weather with some summery Adidas and icypoles! Almost makes you want to open a fire hydrant and play in the street… or if you’re Australian, find a tarp, a hose and a bottle of dish washing liquid πŸ˜‰

The Rattlehand boys step up for this week’s Time Off Magazine‘s Live local band shoot.

Check them out in this week’s issue #1554.

Get it FREE from all the usual street press outlets or read it online @ Time Off magazine – Brisbane

The best thing about seeing the sights in central London is their close proximity, barely a couple km’s separates the majority of them so a few hours and footpower is all you’ll need. The trade off is of course having to compete with thousands of other tourists.

Trafalgar Square

Getting the Tube to Charing Cross will pop you up at fountains galore, Trafalgar sq. Like with alot of popular tourist spots there are always scammers, pick pockets and crazy bums accusing you of stealing their sandals so keep your wits about you and know where or how to contact police/security. Security here patrol the area and are easily visible.

Buckingham Palace

Fountain at Buckingham Palace

From here we took a short walk down to Buckingham palace where less than a month before Prince Willy and Cath tied the official knot. If you time it right you’ll also get to witness the famous “changing of the guard”. You can then cut through the gardens to the back of Cavalry Museum where you find guards on foot and on horse back ready to be demeaned with peace symbols and cheesy grins in a photo.

Mounted guard at Cavalry Museum

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

A couple blocks from here are 2 unintentionally gloomy buildings thanks to period architecture and a typically overcast London day, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament featuring Big Ben. There always seems to be road or building works in this area so you may need to cross the road a few times to get a good spot. On the plus side, with the tower being a lot taller than the adjacent buildings you can get a photo of it from just about anywhere.

London Eye

From here its another short walk across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. Even with the typical London haze and boring skies it’s a great way to see a broad view of the city and if you time it right you might even score some sweet sunset photos.

Tower Bridge - Lego version ;)

Tower Bridge - Lego version πŸ˜‰

If you have time to spare, continue along Southbank. There’s usually artists and small market stalls set up along the way and the rug store closing down sale style of the “Under croft”, London’s longest running central skatepark dating back to the 70s. Further along there’s the Tate modern museum, Millennium bridge, London bridge and then the Tower bridge (what people think is London bridge).

Travel tip: If you’re catching the Tube back from this end of town, try not to get stuck at Monument or Bank stations during peak hour. This is a major business area and center for multiple interchanges. If you’re new to Tubing, its definitely not for the faint hearted (or short of patience/fitness). Also note, even though on the map the interchanges look close together there are some considerably long tunnel/escalator runs so it may actually be quicker to spend longer on a train than running through tunnels, especially if you have luggage.

London 2011 part #1 – Arrival, Soho Shopping
London 2011 part #3 – Chelsea Flower show
London 2011 part #4 – Shopping – Hammersmith
London 2011 part #5 – Shopping – Covent Garden and Soho
London 2011 part #6 – Shopping – Camden
London 2011 part #7 – Shopping – Shoreditch
London 2011 part #8 – Hyde park, Piccadilly Circus

London photo gallery here
Chelsea flower show photo gallery here

Whoa! We’re everywhere like Obama in this week’s Time Off magazine!

First up, the big news – we rocked out our very first Time Off magazine cover (and associated feature article photo) with Brisbane rock legends, Screamfeeder!. And we manage to only annoy one elderly golf cart wielding security guard lady :p They (the band, not security!) have a yarn about their 20 year career, what the future holds and some of their most memorable gigs.

From our Live locals cover shoot we have indy pop band Founds and lastly we caught Sydney-siders Boy and Bear live at the Tivoli. Review and pic in this issue as well.

In other Time Off news, the guys have tweaked the lay out with a bedazzling new look, hooray!

Check out all this and much more in this week’s issue #1553.

Get it FREE from all the usual street press outlets. The Time Off website is under going some major bedazzling as well so it is currently offline, but the you can still read the mag @ Time Off magazine – Brisbane

Waiting to depart San Fran at SFO airport, there was about a 40min delay. Why? To film some kind of ad/porno for the Lufthansa A380 we were about to board. It featured a burly silver foxed pilot clad in obligatory leather jacket and aviators disembarking to a waiting Harley then riding to meet a lady friend. Pin point accuracy for realism I’d say. While it was interesting to watch a couple takes, why they couldn’t choose another time/flight (one that wasn’t about to board) I have no idea, but like any A380 the wait was more than worth it with lushness abound on a 3 week old model, still had the new plane smell πŸ˜‰ And off we set…

Filming of Lufthansa A380 "ad"

Exterior A380 tail cam

It’s a running joke and a long time clichΓ© about its miserable weather but its really hard to deny it when you’re flying into Heathrow through sheets of wispy drizzle and grey haze, once again, London DID disappoint.

It had been about 5 years since I last set foot on the convict exporter’s soil but it all came rushing back as soon as I purchased an Oyster card (essential for public transport and small purchases at selected stores) and made a bee line for the Tube. First timers may choose to take the express from the airport into Paddington then transfer, but for a fraction of the price (at the expense of crowdedness depending on the time you travel) you can just as easily take the Piccadilly line straight into the city. As we were staying at Bloomsbury, we saved ourselves some Tube tunnel running with all our luggage and stayed on till Kings Cross/St. Pancras Station, strategically pre-empting a quick jump off for the next leg to Paris πŸ˜‰

The Wardonia hotel (full review here) is only a short walk from the station but having come out the wrong subway entrance with pouring rain we missed the street sign scurrying for cover and subsequently took the scenic route.

Travel tip: Apart from major centers, very few streets are sign posted. Street names are usually on small plaques posted high on the traffic flow side of buildings, so if you’re walking against traffic you will have to look backwards.

With the luggage dropped off, we had just enough time to pop into SOHO for a quick look. It was still early in the evening, yet we were disappointed at how many of the shops were closed or closing, strange for London we thought, however it wasn’t till the following morning when we were “discussing” with the Macca’s chick why we couldn’t get breakfast at 10.32am… turns out it was 11.32am thanks to daylight saving time…oops.

Travel tip: Always check your destination to see if they’re in DST. Better yet, confirm local time at the airport as you try to get through immigration, if your pilot, like ours doesn’t do his courtesy spiel on arrival.

Even though most of the shops that were on our list had to be checked out another day, we still managed a look in at Niketown, Johnny Cupcakes London and JD Sports. Niketown is London’s flagship store with the usual run of latest and greatest but with a different continent comes different stock and region specific releases. A “Nike – London” tee over a clichΓ© Union Jack one was an easy choice πŸ˜‰ This store is also home to different Nike exhibits, last time I was there they had a history of Air bag technology and the different shoe models it appeared in, very cool. This time on the back of the Football season they had a little skirmish of 3 on 3 inside a small “field” complete with goal nets, definitely added to the experience, almost made me want to pull my shirt over my face and do aeroplanes.

Just down the street is JD Sports, direct competitor to Footlocker and most of the times beats them in range and quantity of stock especially in clothing. Sneakers are on par but they both do slight variations on one another, though JD still has plenty of “JD exclusive” tags and ample sale/clearance racks.

Johnny Cupcakes London

Johnny Cupcakes‘ London store conveniently opened a few months before we arrived so it was high on the must-see list. The small store is nestled with the many other cool boutique stores in Carnaby, a short walk down from Oxford Circus. Following the limited edition trend of the JC range, there were plenty of London exclusives with one drawback… limited sizes ): Thankfully my ADD took over and I soon forgot about the disappointment when their Rube Goldberg style machine kicked into action πŸ˜€ The prices are almost identical to USD however thanks to it being it BP it works out to be quite alot more expensive (about 60%!), but when you see a shirt with a double-decker bus topped with frosting, its hard to say no!

There is also plenty of eating spots in this area, so it didn’t take long to pop into an Asian quick serve spot for some dumpling soup.

Early to bed, early to rise for a big day of sight seeing planned with the central London landmarks and the world renowned Chelsea Flower show up next.

London 2011 part #2 – Central London sight seeing
London 2011 part #3 – Chelsea Flower show
London 2011 part #4 – Shopping – Hammersmith
London 2011 part #5 – Shopping – Covent Garden and Soho
London 2011 part #6 – Shopping – Camden
London 2011 part #7 – Shopping – Shoreditch
London 2011 part #8 – Hyde park, Piccadilly Circus

London photo gallery here
Chelsea flower show photo gallery here

11.12.2011

It had been a good 10 years or more since I last pitched a tent (oh grow up :p ) but the call of the wild and associated tech gear finally took its hold so an excursion to the scenic Lake Cootharaba town of Boreen Point was on the cards. Thundery storms were predicted for the whole weekend but as luck would have it, we only got a shower around 5am the second morning, though that was enough to ruin any chance of snapping some sunrise shots. Never the less, fun was had on the beach and lake and with a couple of my inanimate friends πŸ˜‰

More photos here

Ah-ha! The tables have turned haven’t they Mr. English! YOU are now the writee and -I- am the writer! Ok so that sounded way better in my head and its really not helping my writering poise…. *cough* stick to photos? You got it.

Anyhoo, long time street press scribe and sound tweaker Lawrence English swoops in on this week’s Time Off Magazine‘s Live local band shoot.

Check them out in this week’s issue #1552.

Our mid week outing caught the Lofly label showcase with Novia Scotia @ The Zoo. Review and pic in this issue as well.

Get it FREE from all the usual street press outlets or read it online @ Time Off magazine – Brisbane

Piers near Fisherman's Wharf

Our final entry for San Fran, is two of the other famous landmarks, Fisherman’s wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Boardwalk near Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman’s wharf

If you’ve ventured out this way for Alcatraz, then you might as well take the short walk west to Fisherman’s wharf. Only if you’re suffering an injury should you pay attention to the pedi-cabs gathered around the Alcatraz exit, it’s a short, easy 10-15min walk along a scenic path.

I was half expecting to see a bunch of little market stalls here but instead it pretty much an outdoor mall on wooden slats. Shops are the usual tourist fair and of course there’s a million tourists. The Aquarium by the Bay, countless restaurants and the big carousel are highlights but otherwise only a short stop of about an hour is required.

It is also across the road from a transport hub so getting to and from the downtown area is no problem. A lot of the trams/trolley cars run from here too so if you haven’t been on one yet, now is the time. Not exactly comfortable or fast or quiet but a whole bunch of nostalgic fun non the less (:

Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Like with a lot of tourist attractions that are a bit out of the way, a simple alternative is to book a “tour” ie. A bus picks you up and takes you there, but also like a lot of these attractions, its way cheaper to spend a little time researching, making your own way there and saving a bunch of dollars. There are plenty of places to view the bridge up close but we thought we’d try something a little different and take in a docks/beach walk along Marina Blvd to Crissy Fields. During the warmer months this would’ve been very pleasant, unfortunately on the tail end of winter the winds made short work of the few layers we had on.

Travel/Photo tip: always pack at least a wind breaker, even in warmer months. Depending on how long you intend on shooting, a plastic bag and a full water bottle or some weights for your tripod to minimise shake and some form of cover (another plastic bag will do) for the camera as well to keep out the sea spray, sand and grit will be a good idea.

Golden Gate Bridge

Unfortunately the sub-par conditions made for rather pedestrian photos and it wasn’t too long before the wind chilled us completely to our bones and we scurried off in seek of warmer pastures.

Arriving back at the CBD around 11pm (sun sets late round these parts) we returned to a Japanese restaurant we discovered on our first night and quickly became an instant fave, Maru Sushi not just for the food but for its late night trading hours and close proximity to our hotel. It was also conveniently just up from Lori’s Diner – a 50s inspired diner complete with mini jukebox on the tables and a 1959 Ford Edsel inside. It was a fitting breakfast stop for our last morning in SF and a perfect way to see off the great U. S of A.

Lori's Diner

Lori's Diner

As we made our way from the hotel to the BART station and out to SFO it began to bucket down, no doubt pre-empting what we could expect at our next stop…. London!

Milpitas 2011 – Great Mall
Yosemite 2011 part #1 – LA to Oakhurst via Bakersfield
Yosemite 2011 part #2 – Yosemite National Park
San Francisco 2011 part #1 – Arrival
San Francisco 2011 part #2 – Shopping – Haight, Downtown SF
San Francisco 2011 part #3 – Chinatown
San Francisco 2011 part #4 – Japantown
San Francisco 2011 part #5 – Alcatraz
San Francisco 2011 part #6 – Fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Bridge

Complete Yosemite 2011 photo gallery here
Complete San Francisco 2011 photo gallery here