POLO IN THE PARK

For the first time in over 70 years, the hallowed turf of Hurlingham Park will thunder with the hooves of high-class polo ponies. Players from all over the world will battle each other in a furious display of horsemanship and polo strategy to win the ultimate polo prize - The World Polo Series.

Between the 5th-6th June 2009, the inaugural tournament of The World Polo Series will take place in Fulham, Central London.

Shall enjoy trading at this event, more my kind of people...might even wear me Ralphie!

ELLESSE COMPETITION

ellesse is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the design competition CREATE TENNIS ART. Uber cool illustrator and typographer Si Scott designed the flyer and will be part of the jury; the iconic Italian sportswear brand has also collaborated with textile print superstar Kate Gibb and Greek animation genius Babis Alexiadis (check his animation here http://vimeo.com/4150738). Two great inspirations to enter the competition!

The winning designs will feature on http://www.ellesse.com/50thAnniversary/ and will be showed during the ellesse 50th anniversary party in Rome in July 2009. Eva will attend the event in Rome as part of her prize and also receive £1,500 and a fully paid 3 month design-based work placement.

You too could be part of the ellesse 50th anniversary celebrations, win €4,500 and be sent to the ellesse 50th anniversary event where your work will be on display. An opportunity you shouldn’t miss...

All you have to do is create a piece of art or design to commemorate the ellesse 50th anniversary inspired by the brand’s Italian heritage and sporting roots in tennis. The categories for the competition range from fashion and textiles, right through to fine art, sculpture, street art, graphics and digital. Deadline is May 10th and all the details and application form can be found on http://www.ellesse.com/50thAnniversary/

Updates and news can be found on the competition’s facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/ellesse/53970558799#/pages/ellesse/53970558799?ref=nf

SUPER TROOPER

After being sent an email to check my van/blog the night before it was by remarkable coincidence that Nikolai, the founder of Rift Trooper should find the next day on a visit to London that I be the first thing that greeted him exiting his taxi in Marylebone. After a cup of my finest and a Portuguese pastry he told me that he is no longer doing the original and pioneering site that strove to highlight all that was good about sneakers, streetwear and general stuff but last year started doing his own blog.

With its snub nose, the resemblance of the H-van to Darth Vader is quite obvious. So why someone would want to transform a perfectly good looking vehicle to look like this is beyond me. It should be melted down into bats and the owner given a right good hiding.

PLUS ONE MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

Plus One magazine did an interview with me a couple of weeks back. To have a look download the latest issue.

SELECTISM

Steve Monaghan, one of the lads I used to know from Duffer, has kindly let me babble on about Cwtch and the H van on his Selectism blog. Check it.

THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THEY USED TO

In fact they do, in Hungary. After the death of the original owner who passed it on to his sons, Velosolex were bought by Yamaha who in turn closed the plant and ceased trading. The original tools, however were sold and with them, a new company, Impex has started production again now in Hungary.

Complete with 50cc's of guff this bad boy can get up to a quiff shifting 24mph! The fact that it's a motorised bicycle and not a moped doesn't mean that you can skirt around the contentious issue of insurance or having to look a plum in a helmet. Which is why, for a design classic, I think that it never really took off in the UK and probably wont on it's re-introduction.

Although marketed as virtually bullet proof the reason why the Velosolex was so popular in Europe and Scandanavia was thanks to its post-sales service. In addition to a network of servicing centres, Velosolex used workshop vans to tour towns and villages to provide free adjustments and inspections.

Still looking at the breasts aren't you?

SQUARE MILE ROASTERS

Having found inspiration from Gwilym Davies the recently crowned UK Barista of the year my coffee journey has led me to East London based Square Mile Roasters. Recently started by James Hoffman (himself a former UK Barista champion) and Annette Moldvaer, SMR has already made serious in-roads into becoming one of the most up-front roasters in the UK today. From his coffee tinged teeth and the fact that he was brewing on a super rare Synesso machine that is the price of a small car I could see that he was very serious about coffee. His passion oozed into his patter like a freshly brewed espresso when he explained that they operate a system whereby they produce seasonal blends rather than same one throughout the year. They've just moved in to the Spring espresso which is composed of two different lots of coffee from two different origins (80% Del Obispo from Huila, Columbia and 20% Fazenda Monta Alegre from Minas Gerais, Brazil). It is a very clean and sweet espresso with notes of black cherry, toasted nuts, treacle and chocolate, with a soft buttery texture.

I've just taken stock of the new blend so if you would like to try, come see me.