A quick saunter down memory lane as I’m out and about getting knees deep into some quality fodder about now, but looking back on the week that was - it looks like traditionally I enjoy a whole ton o’ paint around about this time of year
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Massively missing the days of when the Hippodrome would throw a bit of cash at shipping in some global kings; good times meeting good people 🥲
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#artisnotacrime #hellomynameis #graffitiphotographer #nofacenocase #super_graffiti_channel
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Hold tight Bio, Rasko, Tizer, Orgh, Awone, Skore79 and Opium, and salute the locals like Pwon, Swae, Tempo, Gent, Hoaks, Posea (happy belated dude), Medik, Lerk and all the attendees of the drains a few years back
I was today years old when I learned that apparently your brain can “see” through your tongue, via a process known as sensory substitution
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Some dude in the ‘60s named Paul set up a camera system connected to a grid placed on the tongue, converting visual data into electrical zaps that test subjects’ brains then converted into images. They apparently could successfully navigate obstacle courses using nothing but their tongue and the cam setup (a bit like me heading to the fridge for an emergency Kinder Bueno during the night when the hunger awakens me and I don’t have my glasses on but the tongue just knows where the good stuff’s at)
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So next time you doom scroll by a Cola post, lick your phone screen and who knows, you may “see” the beauty in the everyday that he does 🥹
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#thecity_life #urbanjungleblogger #thought_landscape #mundanebeauty #graffitiphotographer
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Blowing raspberries blindly in the direction of Ziner, Sober, Kev, Evoke, Lerk, B666 Mob, Keto, Kaystar, Gypsy, Serf and Optimus Prime 😍
Walk Home With Cola: That Last Glass Wasn’t Required Edition
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I can’t be done with wastage, but yeah - that last one may have affected my settings and/or balance and/or memories of getting home (:
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#satellitetales #lightthenight #quietchaotics #nightshooterz #urbanjungleblogger
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Navigating my way home in a stupor via the gift of tags to identify where I was (I do it more often than you’d think); big thanks Kazu, Freedom, Orb, Fucs, Tokes, Neo, Tempo and the shining lights of Balsall Heath for acting as homing beacons
Another fave new word for the Cola lexicon - SONDER: The realisation that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own
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#outofservicemag #thecity_life #concreteconstruction #mundanebeauty #foreveronstandby
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I doubt anyone has ever had this realisation when I go yomping on by; my life consists of work, walking, kebabs and a love of doggos and paint 😮💨
Randomly assembled scenes from life lately with little to nada thought, ‘cause I’m presently too busy chilling on a wasteful week off to engage the Cola brain cell o’ glory
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Highlights of the week so far including (but not limited to) buying a new fast boil kettle from Big ASDA, finally cleaning the bathroom after what feels like (and probably was) 3mths or so, binging season one of Last One Laughing in one night with a cheeky Tempranillo and a bag o’ nuts, swatting off work based Whatsapp messages like a ninja being attacked with a flaccid baguette, 18 miles & counting walked with the camera ‘cause I need a perfect week on Apple Fitness, having to be checked on by secca in the secret garden atop the Brum Library for going a whiter shade of pale whilst stood 15m back from the edge ‘cause heights, and getting to bed silly late every evening ‘cause dem roads and monorails in Death Stranding 2 ain’t gonna build themselves
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A good week so far
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#thecity_life #urbanjungleblogger #style_and_decay #building_shotz #graffitiphotographer
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Hold tight Panda, Lewse, Gent, Isor, Gamo, Kitsa, Metsu, Owed and Kojima-san
I’ve just ordered the BADDEST pair of Cons I’ve ever seen, just because they have Optimus Prime on them, and I wouldn’t mind but I’ve had two new pairs of sneaks sitting in the drawer for the last two years which I’m terrified to wear lest they get dirty on my adventures. The mid-life crisis continues…
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#outofservicemag #mundanebeauty #style_and_decay #welcometomylife #foreveronstandby
Sunday Funday watching paint dry alongside the gents like Rask & Diva
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Good as ever to run into the chaps, with many giggles had amidst much oddness going on around us, including but not limited to Millenials crashing their cars into each other for no apparent reason, a Stella swigging northern fella seeking out limited edition football shirts whilst getting a bit huggy on the back streets, a veritable army of rando giggling ladies wanting paint to drop tags (big ups Max!), and two lovely fellas in high vis on their bikes asking the wrong questions of the wrong people. It’s what Sundays are made for
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Shout out Oust, Sure, Cruts, Alies, Gypsy, Yats and the various members of NFA who came to say hi
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#artisnotacrime #hellomynameis #graffitiphotographer #nofacenocase #super_graffiti_channel
The Great Flashbackathon of ‘26 continues with another yet raid of the infamous Cola Archives, a) ‘cause I’ve still got a backlog of flicks to work through from last weekend and b) ‘cause I’m genuinely enjoying reminding myself of where I was physically located at this point in history (I’m getting old and forgetful)
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Weirdly enough though, the trend suggests that between the 27th Apr to 3rd May over the last 10yrs, I must’ve either been incredibly lazy or incredibly deep in a coma as I’ve barely any folders or snaps whatsoever 🤔 So I’ve cheated and included the 20th to the 26th April as well, where it appears I was waaaaay more active and adventurous
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Good times papping me mates around the Midlands (hola Kem & Posea, Voms, Medik, Wingy, Mef, Rask, Cry & NFA) and was super pleased to see it was around now-ish a few years back, that I took one of me all time fave snaps in the middle of nowhere whilst getting dramatically crispy via the sun whilst being eaten alive by those countryside based bugs (snappy snap available for purchase via me pals at fine local emporium of all things art Svnth Crcl - check their website for deets 🤺)
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#satellitetales #ok_myworld #graffitiphotographer #urbanjungleblogger #thecity_life
I’ve learned a new word that I like - “Hiraeth”. A profound, bittersweet longing, nostalgia or yearning for a home, place or time that is lost, unreachable, or that never truly existed at all 🥲
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#capturequiet #slowandsimpledays #quietthechaos #emptystreets #urbanjungleblogger
Finally forced myself to watch Days of Thunder the other evening, 36yrs after the event. Was a weeeee bit on the dated side for my tastes (mon dieu I’d forgotten all about Maria McKee’s “Show Me Heaven” and now I can’t forget 👀), and I still think SEGA’s Daytona USA on my beloved old SEGA Saturn did it better (plus whilst the cinematography is good, it ain’t nowt you don’t see on the Queensway of a Saturday night). But I’ll give it a 7/10 just for giving me regrets about not having a super rad name like Cole (Cola?) Trickle
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Recent old and new-ish damage unrelated
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#thecity_life #urbanjungleblogger #hellomynameis #tagsandthrows #graffitibombing
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Gentlemen (like Ders, Memo, Ragoe, Urgh, Isor, Gypsy, Sure, Cruts, Fates, Paic, Skn, Lupo, Aesop, Gusto, Pest, Ohms, Buens, Erner, MJs, Mwavy, Berk & Hare, Soul, Signe, Gent, Aser, KG - only took me a year chaps!, Ginger Dan, all my amigos at The Bench and shout out Yats) - start your engines…
Llévame de vuelta 😩
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#thecity_life #building_shotz #getawayoften #quietthechaos #graffitiphotographer
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Missing such sights (and the stress free living), including the painty bits like those seen here from Cachetejack, Basto, Siko, Sack, Bult, Jale, Pruto, TMB et al. Turns out I missed a bunch of MASSIVE Pichiavo paintings even though I was staring DIRECTLY at them, but that’s what easy living does for a guy I guess, hey ho. La próxima vez!
Walk Home With Cola: Do You Know Who I Am Edition
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Was quite surprised the other evening to find that on a rare warm and sunny day in the 21st century, a certain city centre bar that will remain unnamed apparently still operates a dress code, barring yer boy Cola from entering their domain in his beloved Levi’s (pretty smart) denim shorts for a quick libation on the wander home
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I mean, I get it - no one needs to see the Pipecleaners of Glory winking at them from across the terrace seating as the sun goes down, but when your prime location bar is less than 10% full at foot fall prime time o’clock on a Saturday and one of your sister venues is renowned for being the least dressy venue in the town, can you REALLY afford to be so picky?
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Anyway, you can tell I’m not an ‘influencer’ (unless you add the prefix “under the” beforehand), using my “reach” to blag my way in - I was quite happy to move onto a more welcoming venue sans debate, to pass the cash to the grateful and flash me award winning knobbly knees at their patrons contained within
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But yeah - first time in actual decades I’ve come across this on the streets and I was shooketh, especially given the current perilous state of the hospitality sector rn. I set fire to my shoes and trousers years ago anyway, though on the flipside there’s an argument to be made that I don’t really fancy sinking one in a place that requires doormen in the first place. I’m all about that mega chill stress free life
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Anyhoooooo, tipsy post-grumble wanderings home grab & runs semi-related
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#satellitetales #lightthenight #quietchaotics #nightshooterz #urbanjungleblogger
