I saw a sign

Right, let’s get cracking with the knacking

I had the privelage of becoming aquainted with Johnny Hubbocks, he of Johnny Boy Signs.

https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyBoySigns?fref=ts

We met in his natural habitat of the local booze servery in Kallio so I could get the low down on what he is all about. If you live in Helsinki and go drinking in the centre then you have probably seen one of his classy chalkboards or A-frame signs in and outside of the bars. He really is a talented man.

Don’t believe me? then check out some of these.

Whilst this kind of work has been predominantly has been his bread and butter, I am pleased to announce that he has decided to dip his whole foot into the warm and tingly ManCave waters. This meaning that he is available to do custom chalkboards for your personal bar, door designs and anything else that the paint will stick to!!  I’ve seen one of his guitar jobs and it was killler. Hell, he will even do your whole room if you want and it won’t look like the photo below which is the best likeness I could find of a horrendous monstrosity of a room that I was shown in Derry, Northern Ireland many years back. The story goes, from a guy I was hanging out with (who may or may not have been an unsavoury I.R.A character) was that his upstairs neighbour was dealing in hard drugs and the I.R.A. gave him his marching orders, out of the country, on account of dealing in anything harder than wacky backy was frowned upon. Anyways, from the looks of it he made a quick exit thus leaving his flat with all of his skanky belongings still scattered about.

Think this but with dull pastels and dark lighting and that is what it was like

I digress. Whilst talking with Johnny about his work, I couldn’t part ways without asking him why ManCaves are so important to men. He looked whistfully in the direction of an approaching tram, paused for what seemed like a long time and said “It’s a sanctuary”. Beautifully put.

Keep Johnny in mind for any of your artwork needs and get his contacts from his facebook page.

We shook hands and went our separate ways. Johnny, who had been pondering whether to go home and put on his running shoes to train for the upcoming Helsinki Half Marathon, or to  go down the road and have another coldie disappeared around a corner. I’m not sure what he chose but I’m sure he made the decision that felt right to him. And remember, if Johnny and any of you others are planning on taking  part in the Marathon, never trust a fart after the 3/4 point.

Always look over your shoulder

It is with sadness that I have to report something like this so early on in this Manisphere journey. In an outer suburb of Helsinki a man who wishes to not be named ( so I will refer to him as Auvis) is in the midst of a very disturbing situation. His studio which adjoins onto the main part of the house is slowly being eaten up by common family domesticity. I visited him a year ago and at that stage, he had a very lovely set up for his musical endeavors and just for “being”. It is a room that appears to have been intended as an office when the house was built and with his passion for making music, it was an obvious choice for  a ManCave. The room itself is only separated from the rest of the house with a light partition but hey, better than nothing!.  With his studio headphones on, he was able to transport into manlyland.         Don’t get me wrong, he has a lovely family of 3 kids with his wife but I don’t think they understand the urgency of the situation. Little by little Auvis’ studio is becoming another cupboard for stuff. And that’s not the worst thing as it is becoming  a regular occurrence for  Auvis to find notes on his workspace of things that he has to do around the house…..on his workspace!!!!!

Wow

The mancave in it’s present state. You can feel the tension in the photo that there is something not right. And whats the deal with that cat?!

A slightly different angle, I still feel the tension and now the cat is looking at me. I’m outta here!

This is a sweet home studio that is being slowly battered by a regular family tsunami. It goes to show that you can never be TOO relaxed in your space as things like this are possible as outlined here. It reminds me of a saying I made up 10 seconds ago that “complacency breeds invasive tendencies”. You need to have the metaphorical sandbags at the ready at all times.