The return of Euro-comfort
Oi Polloi Shop Manager Vacancy
Lightweight pac-a-macs at a lightweight price
"This next dubplate is one of my most prized possessions. On one side it says Waterhouse, on the other FIREHOUSE… and it's signed by KING TUBBY… THIS IS THE BLUEPRINT!"
- David Rodigan, Tempo dub intro.
For those that don't know, Mr Rodigan recently beat Bass Odyssey in the one-for-one stages of World Clash 2012, which took place recently in NYC. Longtime legend in the soundclash business.
To celebrate ten years of trading, we're throwing a party. Seeing as Charlie Chalk's Fun Factory was fully booked and we couldn’t get hold of a magician in time, you’re going to have to settle for the hallowed halls of the Soup Kitchen basement. Entertainment-wise, expect a psychedelic smorgasbord of funk/rock/disco/balearic/house and avant-garde oddities supplied by the following disc-jockeys, charity shop lurkers and eBay magpies — Andy Votel (Finders Keepers), Bad Passion, Cherrystones, Moonboots (Aficionado), Ruf Dug (Wet Play) and Non-collective.
Although we can’t promise there’ll be slices of caterpillar cake left over for your party bag, thanks to the good fellows at Lee, Superga and Fjällräven there’ll be a raffle on the night for a chance to win some pretty exclusive gear, which may or may not include some deadstock Fjällräven G1000 jeans…
Some of you might remember Elliott's last Monday Mixtape entry, a transmission from his time in Argentina. 'Discos Brasileiros' could be seen as a continuation of sorts, adventuring further into Southern American music — Brazilian disco/funk/boogie to be precise.
As to be expected, it's ace… inspiring much Shazam-scrabbling here at Oi Polloi, largely to no avail (afraid he's keeping stum on the tracklist for this one).
Elliott returns from his travels soon, meaning Naive Melody will be making a welcome reappearance. More on this to follow.
You could do a lot with 500 quid — you could be Mr Sensible and use it for a few months’ rent, whack it down on a deposit for that Segway you've had your eye on, or maybe invest for the future with 50,000 penny sweets. Luckily we’re narrowing it down a bit by offering you lot a staggering £500 to spend in the confines of our shop (or on our website for the tech-savvy amongst you). What have you got to do? Just head over to our Facebook page, ‘like’ our page, click the ‘Win £500 to Spend…’ bit and enter in your e-mail address. So there you go, £500 worth of Oi Polloi garb for doing next to nothing, can’t argue with that.
Enter the competition here
An important note - for all the futuristic types with smartphones, this won't work on them, so hold your horses 'til you get home then enter on the trusty desktop.
It’s fair to say we’re firm fans of a good old archive trawl, be it weird photographs found in a car-boot-sale or Victorian-era viaduct specifications, we can’t get enough of a trip down good old memory lane. Luckily for us, the good chaps at Patagonia know the score and have sent us these cracking photographs from the early days of the forward-thinking outdoor brand. Standouts include Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s Mario-esque moustache, some well-thought out fleece coordination and some lovely 4130 chrome-molybdenum steel bar stocks.
"Beginning of Phun Hog trip Ventura, CA to Fitzroy, 1968. L to R: Doug Tompkins, Yvon Chouinard, unknown, unknown, Tom Frost." Photo - Patagonia
"Yvon Chouinard forging as Tom Frost supervises, Ventura CA, circa 1970." Photo - Patagonia
Chimpanzees abducting women, round-house-kicking orang-utans and killer elephants — yep, this may sound like a regular night at The Printworks, but they are in fact some of the fabulous wonders of nature featured in J.W. Buel’s 1889 book of illustrations, Sea and Land. We may have just received a shipment of swimming shorts from Robinson Les Bains, Hartford and Mr Bond’s favourite, Orlebar Brown, but looking at these pictures, maybe it’s best to swerve the danger of the beach and just stick to the local baths.
Pictures courtesy of this ace flickr set.
The story of Watershed bags takes place in the forward-thinking days of the early 1980’s when anything seemed possible and fantasies were one small step from becoming realities. Sat at the riverbank, drying off damp clothes over a camping stove, a group of like-minded canoeing guides started to think about how they could make dry bags that would actually keep their stuff dry. As the sun slowly descended, flasks of wine were drunk and the discussion was knocked back and forth, they finally came up with the ground-works for their dry-bags.
The first thing to consider was the closure, ignoring such mainstays as the humble button or Velcro, they looked to the sandwich world for inspiration. Remembering how their butties were kept fresh in a freezer bag they beefed up the classic hooked zip mechanism, gave it the snappy name - ZipDry, and then applied it to their bags. As the next suspect for leaking bags is usually the seams, our protagonists decided they may as well not mess around, and instead of just using a sewing machine, welded the seams together using none other than radio waves. Fabric-wise, our lads settled for nothing less than polyurethane coated nylon, an ultra-durable, non-toxic and proper-flexible super-fabric. And just like that, the Watershed dry-bag was born.
Perhaps most famous for directing everyone’s favourite feel-good comedy — Kids, Larry Clark isn’t just a dab hand at motion pictures, he’s also pretty good when it comes to regular old still photography too, as documented in his 1971 book, Tulsa. Probably not too much of a surprise if you’ve seen any of his films; his photos are a long way from Anne Geddes, as they document him and his mates having a real scream of a time shooting both amphetamines and small firearms. Take it away Larry…
