Poker Run Motorbike Rally June 5th

Me and my bike out for a zoom around East Sussex with some other nice bikers:

That's me in the middle...



















Rally site with bonfire ready to go:
























And other nice bikes.

Channel 4's Alternative Election Night

To while away the boredom while the election got under way, at my house we flicked between the BBC's coverage and Channel 4's Alternative Election Night. Channel 4's effort was a somewhat entertaining combination of comedy and politics featuring studio chats with guests and election-themed programmes such as a special edition of Charlie Brooker's You Have Been Watching and an episode of Come Dine With Me featuring "political" oddballs such as Edwina Currie and Rod Liddle.

But hang on, what's Lauren Laverne doing here? On tuning in, Laverne appeared as joint-host, in a rather fantastic multi-coloured dress. In the lead-up to the night you might never have guessed it, as all the press pictures focused on the heavy-weight male comedy hosts, good old David Mitchell, sardonic Charlie Brooker and gag-master Jimmy Carr. There was a special booklet in the Guardian last week which featured a picture of the trio on the front and the same images dominated the Channel 4 website. Laverne was mentioned inside the Guardian booklet, but really the enduring images for the programme suggested that this would be three-man show.

This is weird, because Lauren Laverne appeared right at the beginning of the show and appeared to have a real role in anchoring the segments, whereas Charlie Brooker's appearance was much less frequent and central, and particularly not til later when his pre-filmed You Have Been Watching was screened. So why did Lauren Laverne seem to be edited out of the promotion for this programme? Was Channel 4 scared that putting a woman in the picture might put people off, whereas the three males are popular figures of clever satirical comedy? The promotional images showed the three men standing together in overstyled comedic poses, promising witty banter and caustic wit. Why could Lauren Laverne not be part of this 'club'? It has already been discussed how women are frequently sidelined in satirical TV comedy, and I wonder if this was part of the same problem. I happen to love Charlie Brooker and am not exactly a massive fan of Lauren Laverne's but it just seems a bit unfair that given her equal role on the show, Channel 4 found it necessary to edit her out of much of the imagery used to try and draw people in on the night.

The problem with vintage clothes....

What we've come to describe as 'vintage' clothes have been in fashion in a big way since the 1970s (and longer probably, eg. see how the teddy boys adopted Edwardian garb in the 1950s...). And in that time a distinction has grown, so that items are deemed not just 'second-hand' or charity shop cast offs, but 'Vintage'.

Vintage doesn't just mean old. Like a fine wine or an aged cheddar, vintage is rare, classy and special. Vintage clothes are also frequently mid-20th century, usually dating from the 40s to the 60s. As a lover of old things in general, a raider of charity shops and hoarder of curios, I admit I have been sucked in a bit by the allure of vintage. Vintage clothes provide colourful, unique and quintessential examples of an era's particular style. They also have the aura of history about them: evocative as relic of a social past, the everyday items worn by living breathing people so long ago when we imagine people looked so different.

I went to the Frock Me vintage clothing fair this weekend in Brighton. This event is a prime example of the frustrating nature of the vintage clothes market. Firstly, vintage clothes are now so irritatingly chic (note the website boasts Alexa Chung's new TV show inspired by the fair) that it almost makes me want to go around dressed in some kind of anti-fashion secondhand clothes... a shell suit paired with an old ladies housecoat perhaps? But there's probably a niche market for those as well.

At Frock Me most of the stalls are run by the same people who often run antique shops: vaguely arty-looking middle-aged, middle-class looking women, who in their youth probably themselves ransacked charity shops and car boot sales for their own clothes. Now what these middle-class women now do is make a fast buck by selling over-priced second-hand clothing to young people!

There has always been a market for vintage clothes, and people have always made money cherry picking 'fashionable' items and them on at profit - look at the late Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's 'Sex' boutique established in London's Kings Road in the 1970s. However at Frock Me dresses typically cost anything from £35 to an eye-watering £100+. There's no rhyme or reason often to the pricing, a wispy cotton sun dress can sometimes cost the same as a heavy evening gown if it seems to be tapping into the right style zeigeist. And what gets me that these aren't always crisp museum pieces - on closer inspection there are often visible marks and tears, zips might be coming away, or fabric faded. The essential part of any second-hand shoppers garment check is the 'armpit inspection' (and sometimes sniff) and many of these expensive items had unsightly staining in this area too. Eeewwwww. On ebay this is often referred to as 'vintage condition' - another way of saying it will probably disintegrate within 5 minutes of wear, or walk out of your wardrobe in it's own with all the bacteria teeming around its seams.

Vintage clothes shops need to get real about this, that people shouldn't be asked to pay through the nose for clothing which is often just old in the worst sense, just because it dates back to some era which we now think is 'cool'. What also erks me is that the rise of ebay and Vintage clothes shops have thinned out the pickings at charity shops, which offers the 'thrill' of the discovery of a good piece, as well as money to charity. I'm also concerned that donations to charity shops have reduced as people choose to sell their better quality cast-offs instead.

Interestingly though, at Frock Me it wasn't that busy, many of the stallholders looked quite tired and bored, and I overheard mutterings that business hadn't been great. Well this is recession darlings! Fashionistas are vulnerable to the credit crunch too! Most people probably chose to treat Frock Me as I did, as a kind of museum visit. I enjoyed the eye candy of all those lovely fabrics, beautiful brooches and elegant hats, but I came away without regret that I hadn't splashed out £60 on a cotton sundress, even if it did have the added 'authenticity' of fag burns and 40-year-old tea stains.

(Photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/dustinq/558884757/)

Honda Hero and Kitties

Image from my recent trip to India.

Two of my favourite things -- cats and motorbikes. Frequent sights in India too, motorbikes being a highly favoured mode of transport and stray cats also being rather common, although this time I was lucky and caught them both at the same time.

Go Spada! Go!

I thought it was time to post a tribute to the wonderful Honda Spada, owned by my dad.

I learned how to ride a motorcycle on the Spada, going round and round car parks practising my clutch control, steering and braking. It's a perfect bike for a learner, with a nice low position (great for my short legs) and fairly light build.

I also did my first 100mph on the Spada (under strict test conditions of course...), when my dad proposed we test its speed capabilities. And for sure the Spada really comes to life when you've torn up your learner plates, make the engine roar happily and zoom off up the road with its nippy acceleration. My dad is also very chuffed as it was a complete and utter bargain at around £300; he bought the bike not really knowing much about the model which made the discovery of what a gem it is so much the sweeter.

Everyone that sets eyes on this cute bike or hears its wonderful low purr falls in love with it instantly. I think it's partly to do with its unusual appearance, and also the fact that it packs quite a lot of power for its 250cc size. A Japanese import, this website set up as a tribute to the Spada calls it a 'kick-butt little legend' while this pretty little yellow Spada sold in Australia for almost £2000.

Hooray for the Spada!

WANTED BY WICKED WITCH!

New year, new book

I had to buy this.  After all, it takes pride of place in the kitchen of Betty Draper (Don's wife in Mad Men) who despite the serious discontentment and extra marital affairs has the veneer of the domestic goddess.  I particularly had to have it as the set designers have been a little sloppy in their historical research... while the book stands out like a beacon on Betty's 1963 kitchen counter, the first edition of the book wasn't actually published until 1967.

Looking forward to trying out the 'wealth of ideas for today's entertaining'....