ROY X CONE contest, 1.1.11 - 2.1.12

[riff]

^ Great post & shots Zissou - must spread!

That soap "recipe" is amazing! Where did you find it?? Roys are looking great btw

[zissou]

Thanks, riff. I just found the recipe on some 'homesteading' website. The ingredients make a lot of sense for getting clothes clean. The Fels Naptha is a heavy duty laundry soap for getting out stains (the very same that was used with washboards), the washing soda is simply sodium bicarbonate that softens water and removes oil and grease, and the Borax is a naturally occurring borate compound that removes dirt stains. Borax was mined in Death Valley, CA, and transported by the "20 mule teams" that you see on the box. It's still mined there, but by trucks You have to be careful with the Borax, though, because, aside from being toxic if ingested, it can bleach clothing if it is in higher concentrations or undissolved chunks sit on wet clothes.

[ThisSunday]

[lostinthesupermarket]

Great post zissou. Wish I could rep.

Looking sharp This Sunday....

Anyone else feel like the fading on theirs started to pick up speed lately?

[roy6]

^Yep, it really seems like this last couple of weeks I can almost see daily progress.

Some of that could be my imagination I guess...

[rnrswitch]

^Yep, it really seems like this last couple of weeks I can almost see daily progress.

Some of that could be my imagination I guess...

Most likely imagination.

[roy6]

In my imaginary mind, rnr's pants are actually getting darker and less contrasty.

[rnrswitch]

In my imaginary mind, rnr's pants are actually getting darker and less contrasty.

That's true. In your imaginary mind..

[zissou]

Thanks, LITS.

I can see your lap fades better in the closeup, ThisSunday. Coming along great. Fantastic shirts, too

[mikecch]

Spent the last couple of days being a tourist in my own town.

Free hotel stay...why not?

Warning: two very pic heavy posts...not fantastic pics either, but since riff hasn't posted photos in this page yet, I think I'm safe

[mikecch]

Replica "The Hunter" (2 of):

Hope your taste buds have been stimulated enough recently dkatz...if not, don't look!

Unlimited, free food:

[Medine]

wow, yummmm

[mikecch]

^ Best buffet I've had in ages~

Quick question:

I have around 20 RxC update pics/denim porn, should I:

1. Post them all here

or

2.Post a few and add a link to the full set

[zissou]

Post them all here of course!

Nice photos of dinner. Now I have to go to bed feeling hungry! I have fond memories of the brief few days I spent in Melbourne. I remember arriving downtown, thinking it reminded me of NYC. Then a lady walked by in a black tracksuit with a black hat that said "NYC" I also remember it being much colder than Brisbane and even Sydney. I had to buy me some clothes just to stay warm!

[mikecch]

^ Yeah, Melbourne's weather is a bit cooler and more variable than Sydney or Brisbane...

I have never been to NYC - I suppose it's like a much larger, busier version of Melbourne?

I grew up in Brisbane actually (missing all that sunshine).

Anyway, since Zissou said it was OK, I shall flood this page with more pictures...(my progress is lagging, since I sit on my behind all day).

[mikecch]

Cont.

[mikecch]

Last one.

Background with a very different denim (Nihon Menpu 40300, 14.25oz Strobilanthes cusia dyed, LHT, a couple of years in):

[Dr_Heech]

@ Mikecch

Great pics mate, cant rep again so soon. I especially love melbourne, to me the nicest/friendliest city in Oz.

.

[Max Power]

beautiful pics and evo Mike

[mikecch]

Thanks Dr_Heech and Max!

Yes, my gf and I were talking about the people in Sydney versus the people in Melbourne the other day...she grew up in Sydney, and she also reckons folks in general are friendlier here in Melbourne!

It's strange, since they have better weather.

[Paul T]

Lovely shots, Mike.

A fun week last week. And a rite of passage, too.

THis was the reason: nipper off on a four-day school trip.

Now lady t has joined the freelance world, we could bunk off. Which we did that afternoon, and the next one.

Destination was Oxford, old university town, with some of the most beautiful buildings in England. THe first of which was this old pub…

At a time when people report the world is getting worse, I am happy to suggest it's getting better, alcoholically at least. This Jaipur India Pale Ale was top-notch; slightly medicinal, and pokey. I had a lovely buzz in my head when we left the pub. Normally when that happens i go out and buy things I can't afford but today I restrained myself.

We headed for the old college area. Past some great Wren buildings and towards Radcliffe camera. Although designed by James Gibbs, the plan for this building was actualiy laid out by Hawksmoor, a fave of mine, who once lived in Greenwich.

This is Hawksmoor's All Souls building. He and Wren were unusual for 17/18C architects - they liked the old, Gothic buildings - he called them Monkish - and would design in that style. But they added their own spin… so these are uniquely of their time, I guess built around 1710.

Round the corner is the well-known Bridge Of Sighs…

[Paul T]

The city's actually surrounded by meadows. Very beautiful. One of them apparently played host to a pioneering balloonist.

All around are private little alleyways and paths thru college buildings. This one goes past the botanic gardens, lots of old buidlings that could be greek or roman, and exotic plants.

THis is Tom Tower at Christ Church, a college more or less established by Henry VIII, which was completed by Wren - again, he did in in a kind of modernised Gothic. This, as much as anything, is the start of the Gothic Revival, that gave us the Houses of Parliament - and Dracula.

Later in the evening we set out for a part of town called Jericho. Some of the buildings are more ramshackle.

This is now a cafe. I guess it dates from 1810 or so, but it's so worn and weatherbeaten, it could be Greek.

Main destination:

Then back to work. But, hey, it could be worse. ENd of the week I was shooting a few Bowie locations to add to my website.

In London once more. This is Trident Studios, on the left. The Beatles recorded Hey Jude here - Bowie made his 'Space Oddity' album, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane here. It was also a fave location for Elton John, because it had that terrific 'Hey Jude' piano. However, they restrung it, the piano lost its unique timbre, and the studio became less popular.

[ranonranonarat]

hey mike those are some very nice pictures. i stayed just a few streets away at my friend's place at the apartment near southbank, just behind hamer arts hall and beside this little hotel. its such a nice place to live just close to flinders station and so near the NGV. splendid weather and i enjoyed melbourne so much i ddint really want to go back to sydney. the weather also seemed a lot better to me. nice lovely place to be at and would love to go back to visit again.

nice update paul, must have a lot to look forward to now that your lady has switched to doing freelance jobs. sleeping must be one of the most fantastic things to do. you guys are making me feel like i nede a bit of traveling. ah, so many places i want to visit. hopefully a long awaited trip to the US is in the books.

lifes been a bit stale at the moment since its a lot of work but come july i will probably be doing a bit of traveling around the region (bangkok, hong kong and sydney). still want to go to NY and the UK though. travel bug.

[Dr_Heech]

Paul, is that pub the 'Lamb'? If so, one of my 'regular' Oxford pubs. Glad you pointed out the bridge of souls (prefer that one to the one in Venice anyday) and the walks through/around some of the colleges. I often go to the Pitt rivers museum (near the science college) which apart from being an excellent Natural history museum, also houses a MASSIVE collection of worldwide cultural objects from early twentieth century explorers and is housed in a unique (if somewhat unfinished) artist's-designed building.

Me and my roy's are also skiving off today (and possibly tomorrow)

.

[entertainment!]

This photograph brought back a very strange memory. When I was twelve, i visited Australia with my family. One day my father and I took the train into Melbourne from the suburbs through Flinders Street Station. On the way back home we stopped at a newsstand right in front of the station entrance to look at the magazines. To my father's dismay, they were almost all pornographic. One was called "Nipples and Knockers." I started laughing and my father wanted to know why, but I wouldn't tell him.

[almostnice]

just received some great headgear to go with my Roys.Bear workman caps from San Fernando Valley Mercantile:

included was also a tee,two small towels and two handprinted boxes.

excellent stuff,fitpics coming next days.

[Dr_Heech]

Nice duck cap markus! Must spread.

.

[zissou]

Agreed, those caps look great. I'd kill for something like those in a 5-panel design, especially in duck and covert twill.

[Joseph Hill]

Amazing magic lanterns. I've dabbled in stereoscopic photography, but this stuff is just that much more beyond. These things are always bittersweet to me. It feels so good to know there are people keeping these things alive, yet it also sometimes feels like a losing proposition postponing the inevitable. I always hope for more of the former, and less of the latter though.

Great homemade soap Zissou. I think they took the napthalene out of the Fels Naptha that gave it it's name. Nasty stuff though, and it doesn't sound like it was missing it.

[almostnice]

zissou,answer to your rep-question:the belt enjoyed some sun on my balcony a few afternoons,i also applied a coat of Redwing bootoil when new.

apart from that i just wear it every day.

close up from todays waywt: