Tuesday, 21 July 2009
The Glitter Tattoos are here!!
The Pink Jack glitter tattos have arrived! They're not on the website yet so to order them please email me via the website at pinkunionjack@hotmail.com Only £5 for three tattoos. Easy to use, peel off, stick on, simple. Go to the Pink jack Facebook page to see pictures.
Monday, 6 July 2009
London Pride 2009. Part 1
What an amazing and crazy day we had, brought on by not doing the stall in Soho as usual. Early in the day I had to go to The Edge Bar in Soho Square to put up flag decorations for them. When I arrived at about 10am barrels of beer and crates of drink were being unloaded and dropped into cellars and scaffolding was being erected by teams of workers. Because everyone was there before me I suddenly felt seriously late and under pressure to get ten flags on poles and three sets of bunting (as butchly and) strategically placed at various windows in time to leave to get to the front of the march. In theory there was plenty of time to do it but when flags started to get blown and get stuck on window ledges and the poles had to re done and stones stapled into the corners of the flags to weigh them down and withthe sun beating down, I began to feel more and more pressured....and sweaty...and there was still the bunting to be done! I dropped a pebble on a workers head (Oy!), cut my thumb, got more sweaty, got dirty and got in a panic when I'd finished the job when I thought my marching flags had been nicked. ''I'm sure they've just been put somewhere'' the manager said calmly. He was right I'd left them in their office! Grabbing them (untold flights of stairs) I washed my face in their sink and set of to the march.
Oxford St was calm and I waited for a bus with about thirty other people. None came. 'Are buses running today?' I asked. Everyone started to cluck, then one nice chap said he thought perhaps they weren't and we instinctively started walking together up Oxford St. He was going to the march too. As we chatted it turned out he was the lead singer with The Feeling! Dan. He set a good pace and then someone said they'd heard that the march was starting at 12.00 not 1pm! Dan said his Mum had said it was starting at 12.30 and angst set in as we thought we wouldn't make it. We grabbed rickshaw then abandoned it when it wanted to detour. Dan had to be at the front of the march to meet his Mum and Ian McKellern. His Mum was a keen gay Pride marcher and he said he'd been raised by two gay women. Cool. He also said he Pink Jack was iconic. Cooler. Official stewards started to appear and I asked one what time it started. 1.30pm they said. We relaxed and began to feel the excitement as we got closer to the start. Thank heaven we hadn't been met by the march coming at us head on!
We met Dan's mum and they headed off and I went to check out the march. Peter Tatchell was there and Paul Burston looking like a 1970's Black Power supporter in his tight, flat, black leather cap, dark aviator shades, bracelets and placard. I hung around at the front waiting for my mates, the excitemnet started to build. Peter was being interviewed by everyone and photographed with every passer by. The Homovision group tried to push to the front but stewards held them back, the polite calm started to change into inpolite political activism. Fab. It was almost 1 o'clock and whistles were blowing and people revving up to march..it's the best feeling in the world , if you've never marched you just have to do it, it's fantastic. Suddenly Michael Cashman was standing next to me. 'Hello!' he said 'Hi' , I said. 'This is Sarah' he said 'Hi' I said. I'd just been introduced to Sarah Brown! I gave them all hand waving flags and then all of a sudden the march was off! We all shuffled forward and I looked for my mates and then there they were running to catch up. Thank heaven they'd arrived.
The march was mad, in front of us Sarah Brown and Michael Cashman and right behind us were the Big Wigs who lit up the whole parade making the crowd scream in excitement at their outrageous outfits. Camera's flashed, people shouted, blew whistles, waved flags, everyone smiling. We had four big PinkJack flags all flying together it was agreat visual and got lots of attention. The march kept stopping and at one pont The Big Wigs stood with Mrs B and Michael for a photo opportunity. We said that'd be the front page tomorrow and sure enough it was. I'd stuck a flag behind them so we got in the act too!
At one stop I met Angela Mason ex head of Stonewall. She said how good it was to have some pink back in the Union Jack.
As the march came to an end thoughts turned to Trafalgar Sq where I had to be to film Qboy on the main stage..to be cont'd
Oxford St was calm and I waited for a bus with about thirty other people. None came. 'Are buses running today?' I asked. Everyone started to cluck, then one nice chap said he thought perhaps they weren't and we instinctively started walking together up Oxford St. He was going to the march too. As we chatted it turned out he was the lead singer with The Feeling! Dan. He set a good pace and then someone said they'd heard that the march was starting at 12.00 not 1pm! Dan said his Mum had said it was starting at 12.30 and angst set in as we thought we wouldn't make it. We grabbed rickshaw then abandoned it when it wanted to detour. Dan had to be at the front of the march to meet his Mum and Ian McKellern. His Mum was a keen gay Pride marcher and he said he'd been raised by two gay women. Cool. He also said he Pink Jack was iconic. Cooler. Official stewards started to appear and I asked one what time it started. 1.30pm they said. We relaxed and began to feel the excitement as we got closer to the start. Thank heaven we hadn't been met by the march coming at us head on!
We met Dan's mum and they headed off and I went to check out the march. Peter Tatchell was there and Paul Burston looking like a 1970's Black Power supporter in his tight, flat, black leather cap, dark aviator shades, bracelets and placard. I hung around at the front waiting for my mates, the excitemnet started to build. Peter was being interviewed by everyone and photographed with every passer by. The Homovision group tried to push to the front but stewards held them back, the polite calm started to change into inpolite political activism. Fab. It was almost 1 o'clock and whistles were blowing and people revving up to march..it's the best feeling in the world , if you've never marched you just have to do it, it's fantastic. Suddenly Michael Cashman was standing next to me. 'Hello!' he said 'Hi' , I said. 'This is Sarah' he said 'Hi' I said. I'd just been introduced to Sarah Brown! I gave them all hand waving flags and then all of a sudden the march was off! We all shuffled forward and I looked for my mates and then there they were running to catch up. Thank heaven they'd arrived.
The march was mad, in front of us Sarah Brown and Michael Cashman and right behind us were the Big Wigs who lit up the whole parade making the crowd scream in excitement at their outrageous outfits. Camera's flashed, people shouted, blew whistles, waved flags, everyone smiling. We had four big PinkJack flags all flying together it was agreat visual and got lots of attention. The march kept stopping and at one pont The Big Wigs stood with Mrs B and Michael for a photo opportunity. We said that'd be the front page tomorrow and sure enough it was. I'd stuck a flag behind them so we got in the act too!
At one stop I met Angela Mason ex head of Stonewall. She said how good it was to have some pink back in the Union Jack.
As the march came to an end thoughts turned to Trafalgar Sq where I had to be to film Qboy on the main stage..to be cont'd
Monday, 29 June 2009
Clapham Street Party June 27th 09
Clapham Street Party on Saturday was their busiest yet, 8,000 people apparently passed through the party...a record for the event....and throughout it all you could see the street and stage lined with large Pink Jack flags and bunting which, thanks to a constant breeze, continued to flutter as the party swelled.
A big thanks to Kazbar and Matt Joshua for using the Pink Jack to decorate their party and look out for us at The Edge Bar at Pride too.
To see photo's of the event go to the Pink Jack Facebook page.
A big thanks to Kazbar and Matt Joshua for using the Pink Jack to decorate their party and look out for us at The Edge Bar at Pride too.
To see photo's of the event go to the Pink Jack Facebook page.
Monday, 8 June 2009
Crusaid's 'Walk for Life'. Sunday 7th June 2009
What a fabulous day it turned out to be. Saturday had been a washout and the rain was still slaughtering down at 6am Sunday morning but by the time we arrived at Potters Fields by Tower Bridge the sun was shining and the place was awash with people in thoer official 'Walk' T-shirts, the sky was blue and a very English, genteel mood of bonhomie pervaded the air. We signed in, got our wrist bands and Lucozade and relaxed in the sun listening to the music and taking in the sights of Tower Bridge, The Gherkin, The City & St Pauls....and of course the obligatory fabulous drag queens, without which no gay event is complete. It was glorious.
Start time approached and we were warmed up by four cheerleader type instructors, I wondered if this was a world record as a thousand people did the grapevine in unison.
And then we were off. It was exciting to be part of such a such a fun crowd and to soak up the atmosphere and sense of well being as we meandered up to Tower Bridge and began to stride out.
Along the way we saw some very interesting London sights making us feel like tourists in our own city which onlu added to the wenjoyment. We also saw Graham Norton doing the walk with his dogs and all the coffee shops we passed were full of walkers in their yellow t-shirts, could we make this walking with stops for coffee an Olympic sport? I think so!
We had a great day made perfect by the weather and great organisation and by all the support we'd received. A big thank you to everyone who donated money. Next year we will definitely do a Pink Jack team, so if you fancy joining us, let me know!
Lol, David
Start time approached and we were warmed up by four cheerleader type instructors, I wondered if this was a world record as a thousand people did the grapevine in unison.
And then we were off. It was exciting to be part of such a such a fun crowd and to soak up the atmosphere and sense of well being as we meandered up to Tower Bridge and began to stride out.
Along the way we saw some very interesting London sights making us feel like tourists in our own city which onlu added to the wenjoyment. We also saw Graham Norton doing the walk with his dogs and all the coffee shops we passed were full of walkers in their yellow t-shirts, could we make this walking with stops for coffee an Olympic sport? I think so!
We had a great day made perfect by the weather and great organisation and by all the support we'd received. A big thank you to everyone who donated money. Next year we will definitely do a Pink Jack team, so if you fancy joining us, let me know!
Lol, David
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Pink Jack & 'Blighty'
This weekend I've seen ...with mixed emotions...tube posters, promo give-aways and celeb's talkin about a new TV programme starting soon called 'Blighty', which is about the best of Britain in all it's diverse and quirky ways. Why mixed emotions? Well, Pink Jack was approached by the company making the show, they wanted to use the PinkJack in the programme's idents ( the trailers advertising the show) This obviously would've been really cool but just when everything was agreed Ofcom ruled that it was against their regulations to use a company logo in an ident...commercial impartiality etc etc. ...and this obviously was a real bummer (can I use this word critic's of Lisa Tarbuck?) We could've still been the partner of the show but without the PJ in the ident the significance was lost.
So, I was in Ted Baker today and saw they were now the company replacing PinkJack. It felt kinda good to know that Pink Jack was first but at the same time there's a sense of disappointment as 'it coulda been me up there'. Thanks to Ofcom a great opportunity was missed but a big thanks though to the Blighty team for considering PinkJack. Next time!
So, I was in Ted Baker today and saw they were now the company replacing PinkJack. It felt kinda good to know that Pink Jack was first but at the same time there's a sense of disappointment as 'it coulda been me up there'. Thanks to Ofcom a great opportunity was missed but a big thanks though to the Blighty team for considering PinkJack. Next time!
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
What a gay day
I've had the gayest day today. First, meeting & photographing Bette Bourne this morning, then meeting and photographing April Ashley at the Festival Hall. I was also meant to photograph Peter Tatchell in the afternoon... but he was unfortuntately struck down with flu so we had to postpone our session.
Bette was such a nice bloke, very welcoming and happy to play around and do anything for my camera. I'd arrived 10 minutes early and he was still finishing off his morning toast. Unperturbed he had a happy smile on his face and a cheeky look in his eye. Soon he was donning his make up and creating what he called his 'Beethoven hair'. He lives just off the Portobello,a perfect location for his bohemian style.We messed around trying on differnet hats and I think I got a great image of him in his 'record hat' (a hat made out of a 12'' disc...actually it was probably an old 8'') He was very easy to talk to and listend well too and batted ideas back and forth, which made me feel good. Bette is famous for his Resident Alien about Quentin Crisp. I thought he was much more engaging than Quentin (I met him once) and certainly easier to photograph. Can't wait to see Resident Alien next month. Hope my pictiures turn out good.
April was very regal, what poise, what style, what a woman. She gave a talk at The RFH. Her life story is incredible, apart from the sex change this woman bedded Peter O'Toole & Omar Sharif in the same night...and with great dignity (beleive it!) Sharif never knew of her operation though O'Toole did but never told Sharif.
I was a bit of a paparazzi and snapped away and got a private session backstage though it's difficult to get 'great' photo's in this environment. As I said hello the look she exchanged and the smile and her kind words made an instant accolyte. She said'Do you mind if I just....' and gestured with an elegant hand, to the loo. I said 'Yeah sure, if you just do what you need to do...' and she said with a mischievous smile 'Yes I will , I always do'.
She inspired a protective devotion from her admirers and friends present and it's easy to see why. Seeing how people eresponded to her you could see she is true inspiration, especially trans gender people.
Afterwards she was mobbed by pretty boys, TV's TS's, queens young and old and she received us all with such feminine grace (now I know how Bowie got that lyric) Sorry I know I'm gushing but she really was AMAZING, no artifice, this was genuine regal fabulousness!
Thank youooo to the ever dashing & darling Rupert Smith for allowing me backstage to meet this legend.
Bette was such a nice bloke, very welcoming and happy to play around and do anything for my camera. I'd arrived 10 minutes early and he was still finishing off his morning toast. Unperturbed he had a happy smile on his face and a cheeky look in his eye. Soon he was donning his make up and creating what he called his 'Beethoven hair'. He lives just off the Portobello,a perfect location for his bohemian style.We messed around trying on differnet hats and I think I got a great image of him in his 'record hat' (a hat made out of a 12'' disc...actually it was probably an old 8'') He was very easy to talk to and listend well too and batted ideas back and forth, which made me feel good. Bette is famous for his Resident Alien about Quentin Crisp. I thought he was much more engaging than Quentin (I met him once) and certainly easier to photograph. Can't wait to see Resident Alien next month. Hope my pictiures turn out good.
April was very regal, what poise, what style, what a woman. She gave a talk at The RFH. Her life story is incredible, apart from the sex change this woman bedded Peter O'Toole & Omar Sharif in the same night...and with great dignity (beleive it!) Sharif never knew of her operation though O'Toole did but never told Sharif.
I was a bit of a paparazzi and snapped away and got a private session backstage though it's difficult to get 'great' photo's in this environment. As I said hello the look she exchanged and the smile and her kind words made an instant accolyte. She said'Do you mind if I just....' and gestured with an elegant hand, to the loo. I said 'Yeah sure, if you just do what you need to do...' and she said with a mischievous smile 'Yes I will , I always do'.
She inspired a protective devotion from her admirers and friends present and it's easy to see why. Seeing how people eresponded to her you could see she is true inspiration, especially trans gender people.
Afterwards she was mobbed by pretty boys, TV's TS's, queens young and old and she received us all with such feminine grace (now I know how Bowie got that lyric) Sorry I know I'm gushing but she really was AMAZING, no artifice, this was genuine regal fabulousness!
Thank youooo to the ever dashing & darling Rupert Smith for allowing me backstage to meet this legend.
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