Croft Sessions #23 - Fossil Collective "Let It Go"

Over the summer of 2013, Croft Sessions were privileged enough to be invited to film at a handful of festivals; including 2000 Trees, Green Man, Moseley Folk and more.

We had the amazing opportunity to film Fossil Collective at Green Man 2013 - where they performed an acoustic version of the first track 'Let It Go' off their album 'Tell Where I Lie'

I think it sounds absolutely incredible, the harmonies sound great and it does so much justice to the original track.

I hope you enjoy it, if so - please check out our library of sessions and Subscribe to our YouTube!

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Ben

I've never considered myself a bad person - I've done bad things; but that by all means doesn't make me a bad person. When it comes to it, I've always prided myself on wanting to do the best for those close to me. Be there when they need me, give them whatever advice I can and at least try and get them back on their way.

I guess I don't like seeing people close to me give up on themselves - or assume negativity about themselves. It sometimes shocks me that even I can't see the light myself, I'll shine whatever I can onto their life and see what's good about them. (When it comes to taking advice, I can be a stubborn little bastard).

Which brings me to Ben.

Some backstory:

On the lonely Sunday night of September 29th - my £12 Megabus left Cardiff at 9pm and was due to arrive in Coventry at 12:55am. I filled my time watching episodes of Community and Doctor Who on my phone and giving 'Yeezus' another listen. The journey didn't bother me, I knew where I was going, where I had come from and why I was taking this journey.

About 30 minutes towards the end of the journey; I realised I had to save battery to grab a taxi number, use Google Maps etc.. So I turned my Nexus off and nodded off. When we arrived; I was amidst a sea of work-re-locators, international students & travelers, but no taxi's.

"Which way to the city centre?" I overheard a voice to the driver. He sounded nice enough; so I asked him if he's going to the city centre we should split a taxi, because the walk was over an hour and a half, only seemed fair. I could sense a bit of tremble and fear in his voice - so during the taxi-calling smalltalk, I asked him where he was from

"A very, very far away place" He slowly muttered.

My curiosity raised my concerns, he continued to explain that he lived in Cardiff and had caught the Megabus from Bristol to Cardiff and fell asleep for that long that the route went back to Coventry. Yeah, he literally had only woken up in Coventry. I looked at him in sheer disbelief and let out a polite laugh. It wasn't long before my instincts to help this guy kicked in, he seemed like a good guy in an awful situation, . I knew it was what I needed when it happened to me.

This guy had little money, two dead phones, no phone chargers, no contact numbers and was 130 miles away from home at 1am on a Monday morning.

We hopped in our taxi and I managed to make him laugh, as did he to me; I could see in his eyes he was terrified, but his laughter made me realise he was like me - trying to bring light to the insane scenario. His original plan was to get a train back, hoping for a 1:30am line - but once we arrived there; the next train wasn't until 5am. So we took to the streets. I walked him to McDonalds, he bought me a McDonalds out of thanks, though I insisted he didn't need to. I looked up Travelodge prices, locations, train times, coach times, all prices etc, gave him my spare phone charger - even walked him to the Travelodge at 2am to make sure he was okay.

I did like the guy, we sat down and discussed music, clubs, scenes, history in depth and bonded I guess. I don't think I'd have helped him this much if I didn't have a good feeling about Ben. When we said goodbye, we shared a hug and he said "I'll see you soon"

We didn't exchange numbers or Facebook names, nothing. I just find it crazy that, I sat and shared a big night with this guy and I'll probably never meet him again, it kind of makes it nice for me.

My head isn't in the best position now - with University I feel like I'm lost and am somewhere I shouldn't be - I guess these events conjured a metaphorical balance to my head. While I've spoken to numerous amounts of family, friends, colleagues and classmates about it - I still feel like I'm on this stranded boat.

I guess this entire scenario of Sunday night has grounded a metaphorical balance in my head - that no matter how lost you are; there'll always be people around you to bring you back up to surface.

For that, I am eternally grateful.

LIFE UPDATE: Croft Sessions & Wino Janoski Pickup

Wow! It's been a very long while. I hate to use the old jaded excuse, but I've been so busy lately to even begin to start putting pen to paper (Is that outdated now?) fingers to... keys? It's just coming to 8am now, I arrived home about 45 minutes ago after Charlotte heading off to Paris so I have some time to kill before my day officially "begins" so here we go.

Filming

In the past 2 years; I'd like to think Croft Sessions has really took off. Since my last blog post, so many things have happened! The first main thing is that we finally have an active running website. I made it from scratch with Photoshop & Notepad++. As of now; the website is fairly primitive. It's more of a gallery at the moment - with extended write ups for each artist. I love it; it's simple and efficient. Also, check out our randomizer! (This is what I'm most proud of).

We've also hit a massive 20 sessions, with 52 individual songs on our YouTube page. As of writing this, we're actually at 24, yet to be released! For #20, Chris and I rode up to Leeds to film The Coopers - an energetic and very friendly band who made the best biscuits I've ever had. It was my first time in Leeds and I loved it; I wanted more time to explore and ahem shop. We rung around in some coffee shops - Laynes Espresso and Mrs Athas where I met sneaker legend and all-round nice guy Warren Jones. I'm planning to head to Leeds again later this month, so that should be nice.

In other Croft Session news; Chris was lucky enough to head to Green Man & 2000 Trees this year; where he captured so many great stuff. I'm gutted I was trapped at work, but I'm incredibly humbled and proud of the work he's done for the project.

I'll be joining him at Moseley Folk Festival this weekend - continuing with SoFar sounds that was last night in Birmingham! We filmed for Songs From A Room again in a lovely garden in Moseley. Talent played as the sun set in a wonderful atmosphere and it was just great. It's so nice to be surrounded by so many people with mutual aspirations & interests. I'd definitely recommend going to a SoFar show if there's ever one by you.

Pickups:

Nike SB Stefan Janoski Wino / Terra Brown

I finally got what I consider to be one of my grails - The Wino Janoski. I've been looking for these for so long it's unbelievable. It's ridiculous how hard it was to get these shipped to the UK for a decent price (a little over retail + shipping!). These came from a nice guy in Thailand from N-SB.org - I'd recommend that website for sneakers if you're hesitant on Facebook groups. I think I prefer these over the Digi Floral Janoski. Safe to say that I'll be taking extra care of these.

Going on from that, apparently I'm into sneakers now? My "collection" is minuscule compared to those I know - considering that a year ago I was the type of person to buy and wear one pair at a time for months on end, I've branched out a bit. At the moment, I have a few Janoski, Jordan 4, Roshe & Air Max 1's - I'm looking to branch out to Asics, New Balance and maybe some Saucony's in the coming weeks, though.

On the Supreme front; I picked up a 2012 Comme Des Garcons x Supreme Polka dot Pullover for little over retail - another Supreme 'grail'. I think that's me mostly done with Supreme for a while - the new season and characteristics of the community treating the brand like a religion is irritating, So I'd only really look for older 'preme.

- Jon

6 months with the raspberry pi - a reflection

In January, I posted about picking up a Raspberry Pi, and touched on what I planned to do with it - since it's been 6 months since that purchase & post, I've decided to check in on how it's going.

If you don't know - the Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized micro-computer built with the intention of teaching basic programming to kids (and new programmers). As it's intended to be fiddled with, there have been a wave of great projects for it - networked hard drives, mini-robots, LED signs, home automation, theatre PC's and much, more.

When I purchased mine, I only really had one main intention for it: a multi-purpose Home Theatre PC that was cheap and had a variety of options. I wanted it to make it easy to have quick access to media that had a nice interface ("girlfriend friendly", if you will). I think in a lot of aspects the Raspberry Pi has fulfilled this request, although I have come across a fair few downsides & limitations.

The Positives

It's Cheap.

- The actual board --- ~£25
- Spare 8GB SD Card --- Free!
- USB WiFi Dongle --- £5
- USB Hub with power supply --- £10
- 500GB USB Hard Drive --- £40

Total: £80

While £80 is obviously higher than the initial "Wow,a £25 computer!" excitement - £80 is still very good for a PC that can playback full 1080p HD without a hickup. Which brings me next...

It's played every file I have
My biggest annoyance with having a PS3/360 has a Media Centre is that it could only play certain filetypes - to play I had to convert them - which can be very time consuming and a tricky split for my aging PC. The Pi pleased me by playing any format I've thrown at it without a problem. 1080/720p HD .mp4 & .mkv without an issue - leaving me very pleased with the quality. As well as the older (and bigger) .avi files - no issue. XBMC automatically scales each video to supply the best quality. A lot of older content does look very pixelated on my 40" TV, though.

Wireless Drag and Drop

I have linked my Raspberry Pi to my home network - making it accessible via my main PC where I obtain my media. Meaning I can obtain media, access the Raspberry Pi's file-system & copy it to the Pi from my computer, without having to fiddle with the Pi's setup. What's great about this is that the Pi will scan new content and automatically organise & attach information to the media such as cover art & synopsis.

Add-Ons

I have installed software called XBMC - Xbox Media Centre. software designed to be installed on the modified original Xbox's with the intent of having a home theatre. XBMC's since been ported to other systems, but the name's stuck!

Anyway, third party developers are able to create and upload their own add-ons. So far, I only installed Project Free TV, 4oD, iPlayer & TVCatchup. There are plenty more available in a variety of genre's - but I do like that these addons are free available.

- It's easy to use once configured
- It uses low power
- It's silent
- It's very small
- I can control it with an app on my phone
- I can send YouTube videos from my PC to play on the TV
- It supports AirPlay

Negatives
There are a bunch of negatives which I have come across - some understandable - (it is a £25 PC of course), some which are irritating - and some which are down right embarrassing when you have company!

It can be very laggy
I'm running RaspBMC on a 512MB Rapberry Pi - initial bootup takes ~30 seconds; which is fine - I want to leave it on all the time anyway so I can instantly add media. But the menu's can often be quite laggy depending on what theme you have. I'm currently running "Quartz Light" which is a mimic of the Apple TV interface optimised for the Raspberry Pi. There are so many beautiful, convenient skins out there, a lot of which are simply too much for the Raspberry Pi to handle, I tried some.
There have been times where I've been navigating to watch something and the interface simply freezes, before responding after a bump. It's something that isn't too annoying but after it repeatedly happens...

The WiFi Drops
This is something that never used to happen - and it's not something I'm specifically blaming the Pi for as it could be some settings I've changed myself, or how my internet is now configured - as I control the Pi with my phone over WiFi - if I leave the Pi inactive for a certain while, the WiFi seems to sleep and I'm unable to wake it up with my phone - so I have to reboot the Pi and it tells me off "The Pi was not shut down properly!"

Of course, this leads to another wait while the Pi reboots, then scans my media etc. - it's something that is irritating if I want to come home and watch something without fuss - or even worse when Charlotte and I want to watch a film, I feel very awkward!

It is obviously, limited

While the Pi is open to so much, it does have it's limitations. as mentioned the user interface lagging - streaming TV from TVCatchup has been iffy (my actual freeview box is a pile of crap...) and streaming seems to be very hit and miss from Project TV. A lot of the graphic intense stuff seem to hold it down everywhere but the actual video playing.

Conclusion
It's a great device, I'm not going to fault that. I think with every flaw it has I do have to take in consideration it's cost & admire how much it can do for how little I paid. When I brought it I wasn't expecting it to be an absolute powerhouse of a PC but it has done what I originally wanted it to do.

Whether I keep it as my main Theatre PC or replace it with an Android box - or maybe even buy a small "conventional" PC to use as a Home Theatre PC, the Raspberry Pi is going to continue serving me very well.

Although, I do like the idea of turning it into a retro gaming station...

iOS 7 is hungry for Ice Cream Sandwich

This past week, Apple unveiled to the world their long anticipated iteration of their mobile software, iOS 7. The software update comes with new features as you'd expect - but also the first major design overhaul the iOS has seen since it's launch in 2007. A pretty big deal for Apple - considering it's taken 6 years for a change.

Apple had always taken baby steps when it comes to design revisions and feature additions when it came to the iPhone - for instance video recording being added in iOS 3 and being able to set a background in iOS 4. This is because Steve Jobs had been quoted in saying that 'customers don't know what they want until you show them' - a business philosophy to which Apple stays loyal to - however, it does intrigue me as to why these simple features weren't available on a premium phone from the get go.

For context, I had the original iPhone, back in 2008 I think - then the 3G; until I moved to Android. I've since worked closely with all sorts of phones from all sorts of brands. I did love my iPhone, I really did. The design is sleek, the build is solid and it did feel good owning one. After a while however, limitations did show. I couldn't do many things without needing to jailbreak (gaining root access to the phone to be able to truly modify it to your own needs) the phone.

Back when I had an iPhone; here's how it went. The jailbreaking community would always stay 2 steps ahead in terms of offering tweaks and features in which Apple did not want to include. Many of the official iOS updates generally started to include these features. Video recording? Bluetooth Transfer? Tethering, Quick Settings? Jailbreak beat ya to it. If it wasn't for Cydia and the third party apps, I wouldn't have enjoyed the iPhone experience as much - and this brings me to iOS 7.

SBSettings - the original "control centre"

I am very happy that Apple is progressing and finally adding such features into their OS - it's a good step. The thing that bugs and irritates me is that they will introduce these things as 'revolutionary' and 'amazing'; but the fact is that hell of a lot of these features have been lifted directly from Android (lockscreen anybody?) and have been available many years before the iPhone even came to be.

The lockscreen has been taken from Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4) - the multitasking interface taken from HTC's Sense - the 'control centre' has been deemed similar to Android's quick settings (but look at SBSettings above..) and AirDrop is rivalling NFC transfer and Samsung Beam  etc. etc.

I feel like at one point - Apple was at the top of the game in terms of smartphones - hell, it is literally because of the iPhone that we had the influx of smartphones and the true innovation & progress we've seen from our handheld devices within the past half-decade. I think that now every other company has played catch-up and, inevitably overtaken Apple in terms of out-of-the-box features (not including third party apps) - Apple seems to be the one who need to catch up. In doing so, the mass redesign is seen as a radical move in hopes of breathing new life into iOS - without forgetting the irresistible force of Apples dominate marketing team.

The icons are ugly, though.

pick up: nike air max 1 FB yeezy

Just a quick post on my phone while my girlfriend showers.

Picked up the Nike Air Max 1 FB Yeezy colourway last week. The very clean design takes inspiration from Kanye West's Air Yeezy packs with its subtle pink on the sole and mint green borders and even the swoosh is 3M.

I preferred these AM1 FB to the Yeezy Roshe Runs - which would have sold me but I think the swoosh placement is really poor. Though my Roshe are comfy as well, the AM1s look a lot neater.

I do love these things, gotta keep them clean though...

"i got a blackberry and all i got was this lousy messenger service"

Earlier today, Blackberry announced that BBM would be available for free on Android & iOS - this is a pretty big deal (or at least I think it is).

I see this as the first step towards the end of Blackberry as we know it.

It has been rumoured for a while that Blackberry would turn BBM cross-platform; but I didn't think they'd actually do it. I think there's no doubt that Blackberry are getting desperate to retain their customers - the whole 're-imaging' of the brand via the Blackberry Z10 & dropping the 'Research In Motion' title for 'Blackberry'. Not to mention that they literally paid Android developers to quickly port their apps over to Blackberry.

There was a time where Blackberry's were the top dog in the smartphone industry (hell, they're the original smart phone manufacturers); targeted at business environments due to the how secure it was. Since the iPhone, however - the smartphone has become a mass consumer point and frankly, Blackberry are falling behind as the alternatives have rocketed ahead. It appeared that Blackberry's one major selling point was the BBM service; exclusive to Blackberry's and from the people I've spoken to overtime was the one thing keeping people owning a Blackberry.

Since data messaging services such as Whatsapp, Kik & Facebook Messenger have emerged though; is it too late to save BBM? I see making it available on iPhones & Android as a move of desperation on the companies behalf to simply keep customers. If they're not buying their phones then at least they're using a Blackberry service, right? Right?

It might be a little too late, though. I think BBM was popular in it's prime but a lot of people have moved on. What I'd like to see in the Android version though; is unified messaging; similar to iMessage but with BBM and Google Chat integration  I don't think it'd happen - in reality it's just going to be yet another data messaging with Push notifications.

I think that the Z10 hardware is gorgeous, similar to the HTC One but a huge step up for Blackberry. The OS is pretty nice, but not quite there yet. If I had to make a bold prediction it would be that eventually Blackberry will go the way of Nokia & start focusing primarily on hardware (& software services?). Judging by the lack of Windows 8 BBM - I'd be sure they'd manufacture for Android.

In a sick way, it'd be nice to see Blackberry evolve and become legitimate competition in the smartphone wars again - however, I think they've missed their opportunity window. The Blackberry name has become an unreliable joke, meanwhile customers are sitting comfy in the world of iOS & Android.

birthday recap (+ pickups)

It was my 20th (!!!) birthday last week, which I guess marks the end of my teenage years - which is sad, but now this could be considered "the next part" of my life. University in September to study Media & Communications. I'm thankful I'm going, this year has really taught me a lot and made me more introspective about what I want & what I'm doing.

But really though, It's not different at all.

My birthday was great, though. Best birthday I've ever had. On the Friday, Charlotte cooked me a 3 course meal & made me a Dr Pepper cake. It wasn't even my birthday yet and it was going off! Seriously though, that cake was amazing, as was the meal, it's definitely a sign that she should cook for me more often, but hey - that's just wishful thinking.

The Saturday night, a few of us went to Drop Beats Not Bombs 10th Anniversary, at Q Club, Birmingham. The venue was moved there from Rainbow due to "a catastrophic power failure;" which I thought would suck, as they were closing the entire street by Rainbow for this.

Luckily though, the converted chapel was probably one of the more surreal arenas I've been in, I just remember looking up & thinking I was in Hogwarts, shit was amazing, even if it was £4 for a can of Red Stripe.

I'm not gonna recap the entire night (partly because I can't) - but it was easily one of the best nights out all year, set a pretty high standard. I felt blessed to have such people around me.

Supreme x Kermit

I finally acquired one of my grails!

Picked it up from a guy on Reddit for a good price (a birthday present to myself...).

It was a good week clothes wise - new jeans & shirt from Charlotte as well as some Nike Roshe Runs (Light Bone colourway). It'll be nice to add a bit more variation to my wardrobe





It's still early in the morning and I'm still very tired, So I think I'll publish this, re-read it and think 'what the fuck?'

I'm writing a post about Hype Clothing, so that should be up soon.

Peace

nike digital floral stefan janoski pickup

Digi Floral Stefan Janoski

I've been waiting for these since the design was leaked a few months ago; expecting an exclusive release - they landed in the UK last Friday, I managed to pickup a pair from Prime Delux before the availability switched to 'In Store Only'.

The Digi variation of the full camouflage print has been seen as an alternative to Supreme's Power, Corruptuon & Lies Vans. The Supreme PCL retailed at around £114, with resell from £150+; this pair of Janoski however, retail from £65.

They are very nice in person. I loved the design from the leak; however the official capsule image made me skeptical. But good thing is that they're a helluva lot nicer in person. What did disappoint me was that the shoes come with 2 pairs of black laces - if it were me, I'd have offered white as a variation. Looks Like I'll have to pick some up off eBay.

Digi Floral Stefan Janoski - another view

It does seem to me that the 'digitalisation' of these full prints - floral, camo, leopard (soon?) are an attempt to rehash a trend that has been ongoing for at least a good 2 years now. While I do think that a bit of originality in print is necessary - the digital variations are a good step towards that; whilst maintaining a reflection of the current digital age we're currently in.

I believe these drop in the US next month.

the music industry does not own the internet

Today, I discovered that UK Internet Providers Virgin Media, BT, O2 & BE have recently blocked three major BitTorrent websites - being KickassTorrents, h33t & Fenopy. The censorship follows suit of a High Court order a few months ago, blocking BitTorrent king, The Pirate Bay.

This issue is something which bothers me; I've briefly touched on censorship in my Google Glass post; but I feel this is more current. I'm a big believer in the open internet and anti-censorship because that's what makes the internet what it is. You have access to every single piece of information ever recorded, written and archived, from any perspective you want. The best part is that the information is constantly updated and open. We live in a time where we have access to all this at the push of a button. Take Wikipedia for example; an entire unbiased encyclopedia available for free.

I don't think the internet should be regulated or 'owned' by anybody - especially the media industries who insist on throwing stacks of cash towards lawyers to keep their archaic business model in place. The dynamics of how consumers are accessing new media is shifting entirely; but it appears that the music industry isn't playing nice. The conventional method of purchasing music is moving towards a more open-ended access with platforms such as Spotify and pirating music.

Piracy has become an issue with so much propaganda around it; it's unreal. Last year, I wrote my EPQ on the effects of piracy on music industry sales; and recent studies have found that piracy doesn't affect sales and statistically, people who pirate are more likely to buy more music than non-pirates simply because they have access to it (think 'try before you buy'). So why are the music industries so hellbent on protecting their business model?

I feel like the RIAA are stubborn to adjust their business model in a way that the television indsutry are doing. TV is slowly moving to on-demand - a la iPlayer, Netflix, 4od, Internet TV boxes etc to stay relevant and it's working! My prediction is that conventional channels will be no more, in favour of internet/on-demand based TV. Now, if the music industry could do this more willingly, we wouldn't have an issue.

Censoring these torrent websites is an incredibly short-sighted ruling and The Pirate Bay actually gained more traffic (thus more pirates) from news coverage of the censoring - I'm sure that's not what the music industry hoped for. Besides, there are literally 100's of ways to bypass the websites block. So what good is blocking a website doing? Making an example? Asserting authority, or a desperate attempt to stay in charge?

Censoring concerns me because the line is going to be incredibly blurred. Government wants to introduce certain bills to allow censorship and monitoring without warrant, such as SOPA, CISPA. The trouble with these bills is that while the government representative will say "it's to protect children, it's to stop copyright theft" - the actual written law is done so vaguely that it can cover any form of censorship.

Don't believe me? Look at MegaUpload.

Keep the internet open. Freedom of information is one of the most vital things we have.

supreme x comme des garcons 2013 t-shirt pickup

A few months ago, I posted about picking up the black polkadot Supreme x Comme Des Garcons t-shirt and the big faff around with ParcelForce I had. This week, I'm happy to say that I picked up the 2013 edition of the collaboration - but not without the traditional postal service controversy!

Supreme x Comme Des Garcons 2013 olive box logo t-shirt

The second edition of New York's Supreme and Japan's Comme Des Garcons collaborative effort was released last Thursday; this particular t-shirt was one I purchased via Dover Street Market's e-shop & thanks to DHL holding my parcel for 3 days (to which I only discovered during a phone call with DHL's head of customer complaints, Zoe); this arrived at my house this afternoon.

The t-shirt sports the infamous box logo, mirrored on the front & Comme Des Garcons trademark polka dot design on the back. In comparison to last year, the similarities end at the mirrored box logo & polkadot design. See:

Supreme x Comme Des Garcons 2013 & 2012

The 2013 edition sports black polkadots on top of a digi-camo back print. It seems to be that the two companies decided to stick to the traditional themes of what made the previous collaboration successful; whilst maintaining to 'push the boat out' a slight bit more with the digi-camo/polka on CDG's behalf - although relative to CDG, this is very tame. I do feel that the print being back-only is so Supreme can maintain the 'clean cut' theme they seem to be opting towards in some of their lines - it's for that reason I feel Supreme & CDG collaborated in the first place is so Supreme can be looked at not only as a skate brand; but a viable choice for the more formal occasions (aka 'upper market'). However, in this particular collaboration, this definitely applies more to the shirts and wallets, rather than the t-shirt and camps.

It does irritate me how some brands only seem to go all out during collaborations. I can understand the motif is that you're not only catering to your audience; but an entirely new audience; especially two different brands in Supreme & Comme Des Garcons. It's interesting to see what each company can bring to the table.

The material definitely feels thicker and more sturdy on the 2012 t-shirt; however the print has proved to be very weak, with some polkadots fading and smearing. This appears to be the opposite for the 2013 collaboration, but we'll see what time shows.

Overall; I am pleased with the purchase. I did fall in love with the collaboration in the Lookbook preview and doubted it when the Capsule was released.

Which do you prefer, 2012 or 2013?

2013 & 2012 Supreme x Comme Des Garcons

Life in the 'Now' - Google Glass

When it comes to big, ambitious projects - Google isn't a company to shy away. Google Maps, Street View, Google Fiber, Driverless Cars ... the list could go on. Google Glass is no different. I've been following the progress of Project Glass since it's announcement April 2012 and have dramatically mixed feelings of excitement and fear for this project, allured by some curiosity and wonder. I'll outline why in this post.

If you don't know; Google Glass is a head-mounted display, which provides an interface for you -- like you were playing a first person game - your health, a map and information is displayed in the corners; this is essentially that. For a better explanation, watch this prototype video from April 2012:

Looks pretty amazing, right? If you've read any of my previous posts (thanks!), you'll see that I absolutely love Android, Google Now & the idea of a technological ecosystem - Google Glass is essentially Google Now with a much bigger UI. However, this project does raise a lot of pros and cons for me.

I think it's ridiculously innovative, it's going to be painfully convenient, especially for map following! If you have a smartphone, you already have information about anything you want, at any time in your pocket. Just a Google search away. With Glass, you can simply look at something, ask Glass and you have information in your line-of-sight. I usually don't like the phrase, but the possibilities are endless.

What scares me, aside from the fact that I think this may only be voice controlled -- can you imagine going to the Eiffel Tower and having hundreds of people shouting "GLASS, TAKE A PICTURE!" -- is augmented reality.

Augmented reality scares me, because while it can do so much good, it can also be so dangerous. If you don't know, augmented reality is basically "CGI" for real life. In the video, the text messages and map directions were augmented reality. It's adding a graphical layer over 'real life' - here's a better video example:

Tinfoil hat time, now! What happens when augmented reality is used for billboards and advertisements that appear in your face. Google is primarily an advertising company, after all. What's to stop companies wanting artificial advertisements placed in 'convenient' places for the consumer?

The real reason augmented reality scares me, is that while we have the ability to add things, we also have the ability to cover things. If that doesn't ring alarm bells for you, here's why I think it should: it opens up an entire new generation of censorship. This video demonstrates such ability.

Companies & Government could restrict how, when & why we can use such technologies (like Apples already demonstrated stranglehold on their own technology). I think the most horrifying thought is how easily things can be censored and removed. Compare it to Chinese internet filter, where the government block free information they don’t want their people to see; now imagine that, but for reality.

I don’t think I even have to go into how fraudsters, hackers & criminals could use this technology to their advantage.

Not to mention that there could no longer be anonymity. The world as we know it is hellbent on online social networking & always being connected. If, for example, AR technology had Facebook (or whatever popular social networking site is the most popular at the time) integration. The technology could be used to identify any detail one places on their Facebook page just by simply looking at the person and having facial recognition (a technology Facebook has actually introduced) do the rest.

If you also want another reason why I'm hesitant on Project Glass, think back to Black Mirror's "The Entire History of You" (4od link!)

Tinfoil hat aside, I still am excited to see how this project grows and definitely want to have some form of involvement in it. I just hope they release a model compatible for people with glasses...

2013 Clothing Wishlist Recap

I've added a brief wishlist of a couple of items to the sidebar that I'm going to be searching for throughout 2013; they're mostly my sought-after or 'heat' pieces. I'm pretty bored as it's 11:30pm, so here's recap:

If you're selling any of the below, please do get in contact with me

pinkwriting@gmail.com

I wear mediums in shirts, Sz 10 in shoes.

Supreme x Kermit The Frog Red or Teal
I'd consider this one of my 'grail' pieces. If you were to ask me why, I honestly couldn't answer you. I just really like it. One of the possible reasons I'm so heavily after one is because I was sold a fake one a good few months ago. I think it's stubbornness making me do this, so I'd definitely prefer the red colourway because it compliments the green, but I wouldn't mind either.

BAPE x ADIDAS x UNDFTD Campus 80s

Just look at them, they're beautiful.

BAPE x Fred Perry

I've always had a spot for Fred Perry polo shirts ~ as well as polo shirts in general. I've always felt that Fred Perry polo's fit very comfortably and feel more natural to wear over others, while maintaining a snug, strong and warm feel. (same with Lyle & Scott). I'd opt for either white or black colourways. Possibly one of the more unattainable pieces in this list, but who knows?

Stefan Janoski Wino

I feel like I shouldn't love these, but I do. I just do. At the moment, I would class this line of Nike SB's as my favourite; as this year I would like to get more varying colourways. Simply because they are just too damn comfortable. I enjoy the no bullshit, casual look of them, did I mention how comfortable they are? This year, I'd like to cop a pair of Wino Janoski. Released only in Asia, usually go for about double the price of standard Janoski. Finding these in a Size 10, in the UK may prove difficult.

Whilst on the subject of Janoski; I do love this design, I do love the style; however if I had to pick one pair of sneakers that could fall under the same deathtrap as the Classic Vans, Nike Blazer & more recently the Puma Suedes - it'd have to be the Janoski. That or Gazelles.

Comme Des Fuckdown beanie

Following the pattern of rarities on this list, this one may be out of place, seen as it is readily available at a decent price, even after international shipping. I think this is simply a hype piece; evidenced by the onslaught of fakes on eBay (why sell a fake of something readily available?). I do think it is a nice hat, it's in your face, but not as in your face as the crewneck or pullover.

BAPE x Supreme

Undoubtedly what will be the hardest to obtain from this list. Originally released in 2003; most of these went to friends of BAPE & Supreme at the time. As you can probably tell, there is an onslaught of BAPE in this wishlist. This is partly due to our prediction of 2013 being the 'Year of The BAPE'; as it's their 20th anniversary this year, I'm certain they're going to come out with something big. I'm fairly certain I won't own a Supreme x Bape piece. It's something that I won't go out of my way to find, but if it appears, I'll go for it, I may even have to size up to a large...

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There are some other items in the wishlist that I didn't mention, I thought I'd just write about what I'd more like to find.

If you're selling any of the above, please do get in contact with me

pinkwriting@gmail.com

I wear mediums in shirts, Sz 10 in shoes.

so we filmed in a sweet shop

Last week, we had the opportunity to film new talent Cannon Street for the 14th chapter of our Croft Sessions saga. We sat and had drinks with the acoustic duo of whom are very, very friendly people. We chatted, discussed ideas and the Birmingham talent.

Something I love about doing these sessions is that we get to meet such an array of talent and people who have not just an interest in music, but a genuine passion to reach and perfect it; to get involved in the music scene. I've always known that Birmingham is full of special, hidden talents, to which I feel these Croft Sessions do their part in proving that. Quality over quantity.

This particular session was filmed in Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shop; a traditional sweet store in the Great Westerne Arcade. Once we asked if we could film, they shut their doors of customers and left us alone to film, and we're so glad they did.

We have 2 more songs to release with Cannon Street across the upcoming weeks, starting 2013 off in incredible fashion - and, if these are anything to go by, 2013 is going to be an incredible year.

Watch this space.

Facebook / YouTube

london pick ups and take me back to london

Panorama of Buckingham Palace

London is a place that will never disappoint me, no matter how many times I'll visit. I can honestly say that the past few days I haven't wanted to leave - we did seriously consider paying more for another night.

On the first day, Charlotte & I ventured straight into Camden Town which, to sum up: is very surreal, even in January. I spent most of my time there quiet; just taking it all in! If you've been down, you already know what it's all about. I think you'll need an entire day dedicated to walking and exploring Camden to really realize what it's all about. There are so many knock-off stores you just have to love it, & the amount of people flogging their music on the street was pretty cool; you could tell how passionate they were and I spoke to one who seemed quite down to earth about his music - I just wish I had some cash on me to check out his music! I think it's a place where, the people who populate it are already aware of what they are & simply run with it, which I think is absolutely brilliant.

We decided to visit Big Ben at around 8pm that night - I really wish the photos were developed so I could post them. I was in absolute awe. Looking up at him, lit up and glorious made me feel oddly patriotic and humble. The architecture is fantastic and is really shown off in the night time. The rest of that evening was spent wandering around the Thames & Piccadilly Circus - which is one of my favourite places. London looked beautiful at night.

London Pick Ups

The following day we spent mostly shopping and 'fitting everything in' as we made a map on Google Maps of places we wanted to go, shared on our phones (which btw, Google Maps was a saviour with the London Underground) - so we spent a lot of time shopping around SoHo area. Originally went to Dover Street Market, which unfortunately was closed for the SS'13 swap over. Disappointed but, I was focusing on the bigger picture. As you can see; mostly shopped in Johnny Cupcakes & BAPE. The Bape store was pretty cool, the guy was nice and I'm going to be getting a lot more Bape this year, what with it being Year Of The Bape (#YOTB...). Other stores include the Candy Store, which I'm not the biggest fan of, but seemed slightly better than the Birmingham one and Supreme. The Supreme store was disappointing as most of the items left were S and XL, curse being a medium!

In terms of customer service though, Johnny Cupcakes is next to none. I've been twice and the guy who works there is just so easy to talk to and down to earth. I'd love to just be able to hang in there all day. I didn't expect to come back with so many Johnny Cupcakes items, but hey, 'Oliver Twist effect'. Also, as pictured. I couldn't resist buying a Picadilly Circus road sign from those tacky Britain tourist stores.

I think to really sum up, we didn't do any of the conventional touristy things; which would be cool but I don't know, maybe we're 'too young' to want to spend time doing that, but I had a great time taking my girl to London and experiencing it first hand. I'd absolutely love to go again very soon. This time, I think I'd take more money and have an extra day...

supreme f/w 12 navy box pullover pick up

supreme navy box pullover

I couldn't resist. (Sorry Josh)

Picked her up this morning from the ParcelForce depot north of Birmingham; sent to me from a guy in California & worked out to be priced just above UK retail after currency conversion, so I'm pretty stoked about that!

ParcelForce definitely deserve a shoutout here for assisting me on Twitter, it helped ease the ridiculous customs charge... but hey, I get paid next week so all is fine. I'm excited to wear this around London.

Speaking of London; me and Charlotte head off tomorrow for 2 days. I think our general plan is to see the sights, head to some museums; shop and take all of London in, really. I'd like to lurk around some bars to have a brief encounter with London nightlife! On top of all that, it's gonna be great to have a "getaway" with my girl.

Apparently, we're going to Tiffany's too. I don't know how my wallet I feel about this.

On a side note, I won some tickets for an Enter Shikari return gig in London next week. It's 350 capacity; so that's pretty cool! I've met the gang once, they were insanely nice & a bit drunk. If I can't go, I'm definitely giving the tickets away to some fans who deserve them.

Just a short post today. My next post will no doubt outline some London pick-ups and be written about our time in London. I'd like to write some posts that aren't about things that about events occuring in my life soon, so we'll see how that pans out.

Adios!

Got a slice of Raspberry Pi

1TB Hard Drive, 8GB SD Card & Raspberry Pi

This morning, I brought something I'm quite intrigued and excited about - The Raspberry Pi. This is a small, credit card sized mini PC intended for pure experimentation. My base purpose for this little machine is to be a basic home theatre PC via the 1TB external hard drive you see above.

For months I've been hounding for the ideal set-up when it comes to my media. The Xbox 360 was simply a laughing stock when it came to handling outside media; the PS3 improved this experience nicely - despite PS3 media server not playing nicely on my network and having trouble with filetypes - the 'ecosystem' just didn't connect fluently. Fluency is what I was really searching for when it comes to managing my home media. It was for these reasons that I didn't opt for an Apple TV, Roku, Boxee etc. streaming box. The aforementioned devices each have great elememts; but all just lacked something.

I would have loved to have just purchased an Apple TV; jailbreak it; plug in a USB hard drive and away I go. Alas, in Apple's ideal world; you're locked down to their ecosystem, where your media brought from iTunes is stored in the iCloud and controlled by your iPhone to watch on your Apple TV. Want to take it elsewhere? Fuck you. Want to switch devices? Fuck you. Want to watch it without a network connection? Fuck you.

With the Raspberry Pi, I have a significant amount of freedom compared to a pre-bundled set-top. In an ideal world; I'd have a machine similar to this running Android 4.0+ (albeit there is an Android port for this - though very unstable). Maybe in the future...

To extend on previous posts; I am going to be using my Nexus 4 as a remote for this device and plan to integrate NFC tag use in this automation. For instance, I'd like to have a tag on my wall that, when scanned will enable the remote app, wake the Raspberry Pi up and start playing any random media I have.

I'm looking forward to tinkering with this, I do have high hopes for it but I have to remember that while it can handle 1080p media, it is only a £20-30 device; so I'll have to meet some limitations halfway. I'm also looking forward to making it look nice, I'm going to make a custom case for it. Perhaps hollowing a Tardis, a niPod classic, maybe an old Gameboy. Who knows? I'll be making a blogpost when I decide!

But er, I forgot to buy a USB WiFi adaptor.

Moving Forward

"New year, new me!"

Perhaps, I've seen nothing but absolute disgust for this phrase through social networking platforms and the like. I agree with the instance that you perhaps don't need the turn of a new year to better parts of yourself, but then again I disagree that you need to be cynical against one who is willing to do it. It's my optimistic nature talking; but I think it can be a good thing to use the new year as a time to change yourselves. A lot of humans work better under time frames - think of school and college; how much work did you do when you knew the deadline was tomorrow? That surge of motivation knowing you have a time frame to adhere to did wonders to your work, so what's the difference?

I've been feeling so motivated lately, I love it. I like feeling active and knowing I want to stay active and stay productive. I've been using progressive steps instead of dumping everything at once, I know that overloading will just force me to slump back and forget it all - so, every day I've made a list of things to do that day. Some small, some bigger. As time goes on, I'm hoping to obliterate the idea of making a list and doing said things on autopilot (having a list couldn't hurt though, eh?)

Until the 15th, my absolute priority is UCAS. It's pretty much 90% done - I have a reference on the way and need to finalise my decisions. After the 15th, I'm going to set my priorities to Croft Sessions. Namely getting that website finished, contacting a shitload of people, pushing more marketing and really fine-tuning the whole project.

January is looking to be a pretty good month, Work is going pretty well; David's finally had his baby (congratulations!); I'm in the longest relationship I've ever been in and couldn't be happier. I'm heading to London at the end of the month for a few days with Charlotte and get paid half a week after that. So all in all, pretty damn good month!

Next payday, I plan to pickup a few clothes, NFC tags, spend money on marketing and we'll take it from there.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be getting ready for work and having lunch, see ya next time.

Tech & Life

It's no doubt that in the world of 2013, smartphones have become even more prevalent in our lives. For years, we've been sold the idea of 'constant connection' in terms of socialising and information online. While I do think this is a great concept, I certainly feel the power of the smartphone has been greatly underutilised by the masses.

Since the integration of Siri into Apple's iOS 6, it seems to be that the focus of smartphones has now become more than the already established 'communicating' element and now, marketing domination is now being fixated onto the 'assistance' element of smartphone. As in, your smartphone is not only a tool to communicate, but your very own assistant. Google Now is a brilliant example of this. I referenced how Google Now operated in a previous post - but the brilliant element of this is automation.

Automatic assistance is the thing which, I honestly believe is going to propel this year within the smartphone environment and is something which I am currently looking into integrating more in and around myself now. Android apps like Tasker - an app which revolves around automation based on situation (e.g. If WiFi on, turn sound up) am going to seriously start looking into and utilising more.

As the Nexus 4 is NFC capable, I am going to be buying a few NFC tags and utilising them around my house along with Tasker, just to make things more and more convenient. Eventually, I want to work my way up to create some form of ecosystem between Android, Windows 8 & the PS3. Specifically for TV & Films and what not. I haven't quite thought of the most convenient way to automate this, but it'll come.

Something I honestly can't wait for is NFC payment in-stores to become a mainstream thing. You just have to hover your phone over an NFC tag at the store and you've paid. I can see myself wasting a lot more money when this comes into play. Something else that I think would work wonders is NFC and public transport. Flashing your phone on a tag at the station and a list of ticket options appear on screen to instantly buy

I'm going to London at the end of the month for two days with Charlotte, I'm taking her for a 10 month anniversary present and I cant wait! There's going to be a lot of photosphere's and Android utilisation. We've already made our own Google Map to load onto our phones with places we want to go, so Google Now should recognise that and direct us!

While we're down there, I guess we plan to "see the sights" and we want to go on a lil' shopping trip, so there'll be a "London Pickups" post very soon!

One month later

Wow, has it really been a month since I last posted? I guess time flies when you're... well - what was I doing? I guess you can argue the conventional 'oh work was heavy and the Christmas time.. you know what it's like' excuse but what it really came down to was just myself. |

I absolutely adore my free time and find myself consistently trapped in the juxtaposition of wanting my leisure time but wanting to be productive outside of work. The argument is that I know I haven't been and for some reason I am not combining leisure and productivity. While there have been short bursts of productivity; they are short lived, I've had this problem for too long and it's something that I'm only recently coming to seriously address. It sounds comically cliché but the only person I'm hurting is myself.

That is why I am now focusing on myself. Addressing this issue and abolishing any variance of "I'll do it later" and simply getting shit done. I'm going to become more focused, more refined version of myself. I think acknowledging these flaws is a step in the right direction towards the person I want to be.

2013, I am coming for you.