Shopping made easier

We couldn't live without the internet nowadays we are reliant on it. When christmas starts to dawn on people the first thing they do is hit the internet wether it is to get gift ideas, to price things up or to do all their shopping from the comfort of their own home. This year i have done most of my shopping around local shopping hotspots, i have been to manchester Trafford centre, derby Westfield centre and the potteries centre in Hanley. Some how it feels more christmassy when shopping out and about rather than stuck behind a computer screen, because soon the novelty of shops will disappear, shops are finding it hard to stay open in this unstable climate that's why they are trying all the promotional offers they can think off. It will come to a time when we won't need to go to shops but you won't get the touchy feel aspect of shopping you do now. When you order of the internet it can be unclear what your gonna get. Will it be the right size? Shops solve all these problems you can try items on and if you don't like them you can see there and then rather than running the risk of not being able to send them back.

Using local shopping areas gives you a day out swell, especially if you've been stuck behind a desk all week it helps just to get out to see whats happening. The main reason i enjoy going to these different places is the christmas decorations, i love christmas and as soon as you see them decorations go up then it starts to feel like christmas. Basic thing you use the shops or you lose them.

Vans off the wall

Probably the best skateboarding name in the world started out doing custom shoes. A pair of shoes were ordered in the morning and they were ready to collect that same day, whereas now they are selling millions of units a year. Thats a trend, mass production. Also authentic classics are coming back. Vans used to be mainly for skateboarders with thick soles to stop impact and to not wear so easily. They are now pretty much worn by anyone. The authentic style were designed by Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, these were early names on the vans skateboarding team.

These guy started out skating empty swimming pools now he is one of the most famous names in skateboarding.

London used to be a place i would avoid like the plague

Concrete jungle

Bob Marley wasn't wrong when he described cities as concrete jungles. This is what i thought when i was about 15 the first time i went to london was with my family and to be quite honest it terrified me. The amount of people and the shear scale of everything is unreal. I am a country boy i aren't used to this i am used to seeing at least one field on my travels. Its like a different ball game down there it's so fast paced and no-one has the time of day to say thank you. It might of just been the amount of shopping my mum made me do which scared me but i will say its city life. Anyway i said i would try and avoid it as much as possible.

Change of heart


When hugh mentioned that we were having the chance to go to london i thought yeah i may as well it will give me chance to get know people better. The amount of exploring that we did down there was unreal i really enjoyed it and i will try and go more often. Maybe just for M&M world that was insane. I enjoyed every aspect of the trip bar my feet nearly falling off and sleeping in the middle bed with two people who snore there heads of either side of me. But the top two pictures were my capturing point. London at night is so much better.

It will have to do for the time being

Being an 19 year old male student i can't really afford a great deal but on a budget i have made this my own. I would of had something a lot different if the insurance wasn't such a killer. I have had this car since march now and i thought wow i have landed on a bargain here it was £950. I drove it home it drove pretty well, went out in it the next day and bam my clutch bracket snapped so i read up on it, its one of the polo's common faults but easily fixed "apparently" so me and my dad looked at it but to get to it we had to take all of the steering rack out and with him working 7 days a week till late we didn't have much time to work on it so i was off the road for about three weeks. After it being fixed i fitted coil overs to it and lowered it 70mm all round. it looked good if i do say so myself went out and within a week of having this coil overs fitted i spun off a roundabout on some diesel i thought oh god my parents are gonna kill me but that wasn't that worrying the fact that there was a police car about 3 cars behind me was. I got out the car the first thing they said was don't worry you weren't speeding 6 cars have slid of here today (thats madness) i was relieved then. They checked round my car and by this point the passenger side front wheel was bent into the arch. I thought an easy fix maybe just a wishbone. I rang my dad and said i need towing home and he got in big red (ford transit) and come and saved me. I was off the road for about 2 months. It wasn't just the wishbone. It was the subframe, the hub, track rod ends, the spring was bent, the wheel had a chunk missing so i couldn't use it in case of a blow out. It was a nightmare. Its back on the road now for good, touch wood. It has been lowered a tiny bit more its 80mm all round, handles like a dream well flat roads anyway. Take me somewhere with speed bumps and i quite literally have to get out and push the car over them. But i am enjoying the car especially because its on a budget. Theres only so much young drivers can do to make a car look tasteful i am just glad i haven't been drawn in by body kits and lexus lights.

They don't make them like they used to

Rat look

I was lucky to go to a VW camper show a few weekends back. I have been interested in cars for a while now from when i started working on cars with my dad. The picture shown is one of my favourites its from the rat look scene it just looks so beat up but you can't help but think how cool is that. He told me that when he was younger he had two Type 2 vans he had a split screen 1967 and also a bay window which is ace because these are classics worth a lot nowadays. I am disappointed that he hasn't still got them but they were too expensive to keep and store which is ashame. In the future i hope to own a Type 2 bus of my own or at least a beetle. If not a beetle a mk1 golf or a caddy. I'm not fussy really.