To begin with, I’ve spent a large portion of my time recovering from the surgery on my lower jaw. I’ll put on my ‘doctor voice’ and explain…

This diagram shows the cut the surgeons made through my lower jaw, which was slipped forward and screwed in place. Giving me approximately 6 weeks on a liquid diet and 9 months to wait until I can finally bite into an apple! Unfortunately for me, the most I’ve eaten in the last 2 months has been the pizza, the remains as seen below, that I ordered from Bella Italia on my date last week.

Which brings me to another new addition to the extraordinary world of Sharon Haigh…I have a boyfriend! Yes, some how within the 2 months of sipping on sizzurp (not literally), I managed to woo Josh Rumble. Widely known for his skills in the vocal department, for different projects such as Last Of The Pilots (watch this space), I’ve spent the last few weeks discovering that he’s more than just a pretty voice…or face for that matter!

Aside from the broken face and becoming sickeningly smitten, I’ve begun some new literary adventures too. Starting with the Richard Branson autobiography, Losing My Virginity. That literally is the real title of the book, which raised a few eyebrows when I returned to UCB to finish the last leg of my Management studies. It’s an excellent book and vastly intriguing but it didn’t distract me from saying my farewells to the team at UCB.

After spending just over 9 months with the Hope Generation Team and with the friendly kids at The Potter’s House Church, I’ve had to tear myself away from Stoke-On-Trent to come home to Basingstoke. Well almost, I did take a detour to pop to Ibiza for a week. My best friend Sarah Jenner took me away to Es Cana, where the beaches are beautiful, the people are…different and the night life can only be described as ‘interesting’! Boys and girls, if you get the chance, go to San Antonio’s night club Es Paradise, it’s a hoot! But never ever eat the puddings at the Hotel Ereso, unless you want your face frozen like this:

You can’t say I didn’t warn you!

This incredible specemin of human talent has been on the scene and making waves since I can remember Leeds even having a scene. Vibing with the likes of KidKanevil (manifested DOPE), the lovely Corinne Bailey Ray, Andreya Triana and a personal favourite, Soweto Kinch (who we had the pleasure of seeing at last years Garforth Music Festival) in the latest of his musical ventures, Homecut is really making moves and proclaiming a message that illuminates the reality of life. DEEP. In fact, I feel bad that I havn’t caught up with this man’s live performance of late. THE SHAME.

Ironically, this cheers me up every time.

Believe.

Just remember I said: ONE TO WATCH. The reviews for Common Prayer’s debut ‘There Is A Mountain’ are rolling in thick and fast, with the general consensus being that it’s completely awesome. NME said of it “music doesn’t get much more care-free sounding than this” - and RISE couldn’t agree more. Great news for the UK is that Jason Russo and co are heading over to the UK for a handful of dates, starting off this Saturday and carrying on all the way into August. Full schedule below.

Last but not least, Common Prayer have made a little video in preparation for the forthcoming tour. Watch it below:

Common Prayer UK TOUR 2010 Trailer from ILL FIT RECORDINGS & PROMOTION on Vimeo.

Live Dates:

July 17 - ABINGDON, OXFORDSHIRE Truck Festival Warm-up Show, Details TBA
July 18 - CARDIFF @ Buffalo Bar w/ Dreaming Spires
July 20 – OXFORD @ The Cellar w/ the Dreaming Spires
July 22 - LONDON @ The Relentless Garage (Upstairs) w/ Neil Halstead, the Silent League / Maps
July 25 - TRUCK FESTIVAL UK with Teenage Fanclub, Mew, Fucked Up, Los Campesinos!, and many more
July 26 - KEMPTOWN, BRIGHTON @ The Coach House, Kemptown w/ Caroline Weeks (Bat for Lashes)
Aug 1 - CAMDEN @ Shhh Fest

the STRADA

DOPE right? I’m even gonna throw a lil bonus pic of the STRADAs being complimented by some nice selvage denim…you know i’m obsessed with the stuff…

Volta have a totally sick site too, always a bonus. I usually skip over those boooooooooring site intro’s but this one for some reason I watched twice….heck yeah I like it. Sorry for the partial agression, it’s hard not to be when Drake - Over is on in the back.

Believe.

The inspiration for the print is a Ninja Assassination by a skeleton. After getting numerous requests for ninjas to be incorporated into a design, and the fact that during the 80’s Ninja craze they were DBD head honcho Chris Manning’s childhood obsession, the design was born. This illustration is done in a Noir Comic Book style with dynamic lighting effects and nicely plays on perspective.

Head over to www.dbdstore.co.uk to grab this now. Only 30 pieces.

A DIY aesthetic permeates everything they do - they made this video. A veritable madcap ride of Dadaist proportions, historical figures warp into ice cream cones and trombones emerge from pineapples. Talent spotted by Vogue (oh yes!) and championed amongst the Steel City glitterati - Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley, Matt Helders and Toddla T - The Heebie Jeebies are currently taking their endearingly shambolic live show around the UK.

JULY
22 - MANCHESTER - Deaf Institute
23 - SHEFFIELD - Bowery w/ Darwin Deez
30 - CREWE - The Box

AUGUST
3 - LONDON - Buffalo Bar
30 - BIRMINGHAM - Of Step

SEPTEMBER
2 - INVERNESS - Mad Hatters
4 - DUNDEE - Duke’s Corner

The Heebie Jeebies - Misery Guts from owen adams on Vimeo.

For more info about Streetammo, visit:

http://www.streetammo.com/page/about

Soap-Box is an artistic design house run by two guys, Daniel and Ben, based within the UK. They provide exclusively designed products, with runs as low as 25 pieces. Their brand uses an ‘eclectic combination of suburban, street culture and lifestyles’ to create refreshingly edgy tee and crew neck sweatshirts.

Who are you guys, where do you come from, what do you do?

We go by the very standard names of Daniel and Ben, we are both from planet Earth living in the UK and we design, create and everything in-between for Soap-Box. These can range from us doing just sketch work and illustration to 2d & 3d animated projects. We also do client based freelance work which include Graphic design, logos and album artwork.

Tell us more about Soapbox, what’s it all about?

The brand was developed in 2008 and is a design house, which is focused on delivering quality products and services, which include limited edition artwork, apparel & graphic novels. Soap-Box also stands for ‘freedom of speech’ which we put across with our clothing and designs.

How did it all start?

It all started with the idea of us using tees as another blank canvas for us to work with but to mix it with our love for oldskool video games, which is why we was working with the mantra of the Mode-7 name to begin with. This soon changed however, because we wanted a brand that would last and stand strong for years to come, so we developed the project more and kept reworking and tweaking until finally Soap-Box was born. We felt by calling the brand Soap-Box allowed us to express ourselves more within what we produced and left it open for us to experiment with many different concepts and art styles.

What’s been the highlight so far?

The highlight so far has got to be the journey itself and where we have come from to get to this point in time where we are now, meeting and working with new people as artists or client/customer is a really good feeling, may it long continue into the future.

What inspires the designs/designers Soapbox?

Inspiration comes from many sources, which include music, different cultures, comics, animation and the all-important one, life and the people around us.

Who are some of the other brands out there that you look up to, if any?

There are a lot of brands out there that are doing really good things, but to be honest we only really focus on what we our doing and how we can grow and develop our own brand and ideas.

What have you got going on at the moment, any interesting projects for 2010?

We have a few things in the pipeline including a couple of surprise collabs and extending our product range, but I would say the most interesting project we have is our graphic novel pack due for release later this year, really excited about this particular project.

If you were to do a collaboration with anyone, (celeb/artist/other designer) who would it be and why?

Hmm tough one this, as there is a lot of really good artists, think company wise it would have to be SEGA, they have such a huge back catalog of diverse and artistic characters, especially the classic works like Golden Axe, Space Harrier & Streets of Rage etc, so many things could be done with such a collab its unreal. Then as a musician it would have to be Madlib because of his unique sound and the concepts he creates within his work, which makes his distinct and abstract style stand out.

I came across Camille Rose Garcia’s artwork, whilst browsing Hanna Beth’s stream. Her artwork is both beautiful and extremely unique. I’ve never seen anything like it. Her portrayal of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, is a brilliant twist on the original Alice character and the strange and magical world of Wonderland.

A truly magnificent artist for sure, some one I’ll be telling my house mate about except I’ll have to visit the Dublin car rental and use it as an excuse to stay with her over there as the course I’m on finishes soon! Oh to lose a house mate, it’s as distressing for me as it was for that poor white rabbit to lose time!

I’ve been following Jamie Campbell’s photography adventures for the last 9 months. I can tell you now, there’s not been a single photo that he has shot, that I haven’t been distracted by. Even his candids and his various photos of his cats are beautiful, and I’m not much of a cat lady!

His raw and edgy photography is captivating and never ceases to make me wish I lived within his camera lens! There’s something so realistic and honest about the shots that he produces. I don’t know who birthed this man, but kudos on making such a talented and creative humanoid!

“Jamie Campbell works with the themes of insecurity, burden, vulnerability and desperation, but does it with self-deprecation and humour and profound honesty, leaving you unsure of whether you want to hit him or hug him.”
- Anthony P

It also turns out that not only is he great at photography, but he grows some rather interesting facial hair. Jamie Campbell, your photos and beard growing skills captivate me and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Thank you.

EASILY the dopest find this week!

I love it when a brand totally speaks my mind as a physical and fashionable manifestation that i’m gonna wear. This needs to be added to my wardrobe…now.

Limited Edish prints, quality manufacturing, dope designs and just a real brand…I can’t really hype it any more.

Here’s what they have to say…

WWW.PAPERPLATESCLOTHING.COM

“IN A NUT SHELL, PAPER PLATES CLOTHING IS A MESH OF HIGH-END QUALITY MIXED WITH PLAIN AND CLEVER DESIGNS. WE LIKE TO THINK OF OUR PRODUCTS AS MORE THAN PHYSICAL THING; IT REPRESENTS A “HUNGRY” LIFESTYLE. THIS SITE WAS CREATED TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE JOURNEY OF A BRAND, THAT PLANS TO LEAVE ITS MARK IN CULTURE. HERE AT PAPER PLATES, WE PROMISE TO DROP CONSISTENT HOT SHIT AND KEEP EVERYTHING LIMITED. WE EMBRACE THE RED CUP AFFAIRS, LOCAL CELEBRITIES, FLY GUYS, AND GALS, FIJI WATER DRINKERS, MERCEDES BENZ DREAMERS, AND VIP SOFA SITTERS. CHECK ON US DAILY, WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED ABOUT FUTURE RELEASES THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLY HERE.”

BELIEVE.

BELIEVE.