Walking through the streets of Kanazawa today, the beauty of the architecture and environment was inspiring. Looking up was good, but looking down was as good. All across the city, the Manhole covers have a vast variety of beautifully crafted logos and typographic devices that are wonderful. This selection only covered about 2 streets. 
When you are up against a tough decision between two things, objects or options, now is the time to use your Vs. journal. ‘Life is full of decisions, and our choices make up so much of who we are. The Vs. journal features over 230 illustrated face-offs of psychological import, insightful interpretations, and plenty of writing room for contemplation to provide self-awareness that you could never achieve on your own’. While you are purchasing this, check out the ‘MY LIFE IN GRAPHS JOURNAL’. http://www.knockknockstuff.com/catalog/categories/books-other-words/journals/vs-journal/
I posted this in February 2011, but felt it is worth remembering the origins of St. Valentine. Added to the Irish aspect, it is a lovely, but tragic story.
In the 3rd century AD, Claudius II, or Claudius the Cruel as he was known, ruled Rome. Claudius banned marriage, on pain of death, saying it distracted his soldiers and made them less likely to leave their wives to go off and fight.
The Christians of Rome, however, thought it a terrible suggestion and sought to get married. So their priests, one of whom was Valentinus, married the sweethearts in secret. Claudius learnt of Valentinus’s disobedience and sentenced him to death by clubbing, stoning and then decapitation.
A prison guard friendly to Valentine asked him to help him with his blind daughter, Julia. So Valentine taught Julia to appreciate things with her other senses and to regard her blindness as a gift, another way of ‘seeing’ things. When Valentinus was to be executed he wrote a note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God and signed it ‘From your Valentine’. He was killed the following day, February 14, 269 AD. When Julia opened the note she could see the bright yellow crocus inside. Her blindness was cured and the miracle was attributed to St Valentine. That is why Valentine cards are traditionally signed ‘From your Valentine’.
A little known fact is that St Valentine, martyr for the cause of matrimony and patron saint of love, is buried in Dublin. His remains are in a casket in Whitefriar Street Church, Dublin.
Many of you may already know of our love of all things by Robert Brownjohn at this office. The Maverick’s artwork for the Rolling Stones’ 1969 album Let it Bleed goes on sale at Bonham’s auction house next month with an estimate of anything from£30-£40,000, and anyone who would like to give me an early Christmas gift can readily bid for it. The lot includes two felt pen concept sketches on envelopes, together with two colour positives and two colour negatives of the final front and back covers; a US pressing of the album; a photo of Keith and Mick checking the cover proofs; five British postage stamps featuring the cover; and a copy of ‘Keith Richards: Satisfaction’, by Christopher Sandford, Carroll & Graf, 2004″. It will be included in Bonhams’ Entertainment Memorabilia sale on December 15th in London.
Keith Richards asked Brownjohn to work on the sleeve – the pair were friends at the time. The working title of the album was ‘Automatic Changer’, hence Brownjohn’s approach referencing the way that old-fashioned record players allowed users to pile up records so that they played one after the other as they each dropped down in turn. But instead of records, Brownjohn stacked up a dinner plate with a magnetic tape/film reel cannister, a clock face, a pizza and a bicycle tyre. This little lot was topped off by a garish cake made, trivia fans have delighted in informing people over the years, by a young Delia Smith.
Have been looking for this card for a while, found it in my sketch book today. Stunningly simple, beautifully executed. Circa 1992.
What does one do with the remnants of that last relationship? The discarded toothbrush, the hairdryer or even the framed photos of happier days ? Well, a travelling exhibition that has just arrived in London may be your answer. The Museum of Broken Relationships is a travelling exhibition that first started in 2009 in Berlin. It has now opened at the Tristan Bates Theatre. It is a constantly evolving exhibition, and the curators are actively encouraging Londoners to submit their artefacts to add to their growing collection. Think of it as a Spring Clean. www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk
“Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” is the Beastie Boys new song and video (directed by Spike Jonze) featuring each of the band members as action figures. Now those action figures are available to buy. Produced by Nowhere Ltd, the 11.5 inch action figures come in a 16 x 12″ metal box and are accompanied by plenty of accessories and gear. The set is priced at approx. £460 and is now available to buy online over at the official Beastie Boys store, with all proceeds going to charity. We love them. 
Gone are the great Un PC days when office staff used photocopiers to take snapshots of their anatomy. Shame. In this new era of sensibility, and scanners, www.scanwiches.com help fill a space in the world of office boredom. One can scan their favourite sandwich or roll and upload it for their fellow scanwich makers to vote on which one is the best and most enticing. Tasty, but please remember to wipe clean after use. The next presentation could end up very messy. 
www.preserve.co.nz Preserve is an on going project to produce a permanent visual record of hand painted building signage. Many are being erased from cities either being worn away by weather over time, covered as buildings have been repainted, disappearing as buildings are demolished or replaced with modern signage equivalents. The site is run from New Zealand but they are requesting submissions from all over the world. It’s a great source of typographic imagery.
The final cover, until Rupert launches The Sunday Sun.
Summer holidays always bring back memories of earlier ones. This photo of myself and my brother in our garden in dublin always reminds me of hot days in ireland. (there weren’t that many). 
Ok. Today is Friday 13th. The fear of this day is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom “Friday” is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen). The fear does not derive from scientific explanation, It stems from mythology, superstition, old wives’ tales and stories of tragedy that are connected to this day.
The superstition surrounding Friday 13th is mainly linked to Norse mythology. According to legend, 12 gods were at a banquet at Valhalla when Loki, the god of mischief who was not invited, turned up, bringing the total number of guests to 13. He was responsible for the chaos that led to the death of one of the gods so all the gods grieved. The name Friday, as mentioned previously, was derived from the Norse goddess Frigga, who appeared before a group of 12 witches and gave one of them her cat, which then made their grouping up to 13.
It is easy to blame Friday 13th for unfortunate events but this day was not always believed to be unlucky in history and in some cultures. The ancient Egyptians thought the number 13 was lucky because they believed that the 13th stage of life was related to the afterlife. After the decline of the ancient Egyptian civilization the number 13 was still associated with death but in a fearful manner.
Oh, and yes, I consider it my lucky day.
I often wonder why people throw their shoes onto overhead telephone lines. Some say it signifies the positioning of crack houses, but that theory falls flat when seen on lines adjacent to a beach. Some say that it commemorates the location of a gang related death, others just say it’s drink related mayhem. Whatever it signifies, it’s bloody hard to achieve on first throw, believe me.
In Easter week, it is always refreshing to see how all faiths encourage their flock. www.churchsignmessage.com is a site that shows the best church signs in America. 
We all have friends who have a predisposition to buying self-help books and spoken word CDs / tapes. Artist, Christopher Baird, makes things alot easier for them by creating boxed wooden sets for that instant collection. The sets are available at Partners and Spade store in New York. Be careful, they’re addictive. www.partnersandspade.com
Today is 17th March, Saint Patrick’s Day. The most Irish day of the year, when anyone with a tenuous link to the country can claim celtic membership. Irish people often mock second generation Irish and disparagingly call them ‘plastic paddies’. Sadly for those snobby irish, It is a little known fact that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family’s estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity as a slave. We all know that six years in Ireland is an eternity.
During this time, he worked as a shepherd. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. After entering the Church upon his return to britain, he then went back to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north west of the island. It was during this time that he worked as a missionary, dedicated to converting the island to Christianity. No snakes were killed during this period, contrary to popular belief.
Our friend, Rob Ryan, has been creating and sending me silkscreened St. Patrick’s day cards for the last few years. Rob’s work is sympathetic, poetic and crafted in such a beautiful way. www.misterrob.co.uk. He always beats me to it, but this year I have a surprise for him. As fellow Irishmen, we grew up with the worst sort of greeting cards available to mankind for this National celebration. Sprigs of shamrock along with a huge ball of irish mud attached were commonplace on most children’s lapels back in the 70s. Great anticipation about tomorrow to see what Irish tragedies will be on show at a bar near you. 
In the 3rd century AD, Claudius II, or Claudius the Cruel as he was known, ruled Rome. Claudius banned marriage, on pain of death, saying it distracted his soldiers and made them less likely to leave their wives to go off and fight.
The Christians of Rome, however, thought it a terrible suggestion and sought to get married. So their priests, one of whom was Valentinus, married the sweethearts in secret. Claudius learnt of Valentinus’s disobedience and sentenced him to death by clubbing, stoning and then decapitation.
A prison guard friendly to Valentine asked him to help him with his blind daughter, Julia. So Valentine taught Julia to appreciate things with her other senses and to regard her blindness as a gift, another way of ‘seeing’ things. When Valentinus was to be executed he wrote a note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God and signed it ‘From your Valentine’. He was killed the following day, February 14, 269 AD. When Julia opened the note she could see the bright yellow crocus inside. Her blindness was cured and the miracle was attributed to St Valentine. That is why Valentine cards are traditionally signed ‘From your Valentine’.
A little known fact is that St Valentine, martyr for the cause of matrimony and patron saint of love, is buried in Dublin. His remains are in a casket in Whitefriar Street Church, Dublin.
Off to New York later tonight..carrying my St. Christopher’s medals with me. Found in Mulberry Street, Little Italy during the summer of 2010.
