Alexander McQueen Dies

The British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead at his London home at the age of 40.

His death comes just days before the start of London fashion week and a month before he was to unveil his new collection at Paris fashion week.

His family asked for privacy to come to terms with the death of McQueen, also known as Lee.

His company, Alexander McQueen, issued a statement saying: "On behalf of Lee McQueen's family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee's family.

"Lee's family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this."

Born in London in 1969 as the youngest of six children, McQueen left school at the age of 16 and was immediately offered an apprenticeship at the traditional Saville Row tailors Anderson and Shephard and then at neighbouring Gieves and Hawkes.

McQueen was a four-time winner of the British designer of the year award as well as the international designer of the year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He was awarded the CBE in 2003.

The Guardian 2010

I'm listening to Sasha Global Underground San Francisco 009 whilst writing this...

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I'm still about and training for the marathon.

Evening All

It's been a while since I last posted to my blog. I'm still about but have been a little lazy since Christmas. I do want to keep this blog alive so will post every now and then.

Been training hard for the Virgin London Marathon. I've been running 13 miles easily and looking forward to an 18 miler in the next couple of days. The weather has been conspiring against me. It started to snow again today. Great!

I've been listening to a M.A.N.D.Y CD a lot lately. Also been caning the new Robbie Williams album loads. Both links will be at the bottom of this post. I can't get a link for the M.A.N.D.Y cd but it's called '12 Great Remixes from 11 Great Artists'

I've also just finished reading the Sebastian Faulks James Bond Novel- 'Devil May Care' . It didn't change my life, it was okay not great and I certainly put it down a lot and sometimes didn't turn the pages.

Athlete - Tourist 2005 and a pregnant wife

This is the 2nd and the last Athlete album I have. I found the receipt in the CD Booklet. CD bought at 11.05am in 31/1/2005 from a Tescos in Sudbury in Suffolk. I also had Cereal Bars and chewing gum on the receipt.

I have a very clear recollection of the time and place of this CD. I was working for a publisher and had my first opportunity to 'work from home'. It was also the first time a company had given me a 'car allowance' instead of giving me a car. I went out and spent a load of money on an inappropriate, powerful, fast Japanese car. The petrol allowance I got per mile did not cover the actual petrol I used getting to get to and from meetings.

I also got given a company mobile phone, my first company issued one. The company were shit hot on Health and Safety and had a man come over to install as proper hands free kit in the car. The best one I have ever had in a car. I remember leaving Warwick after a meeting and chatting to my mate all the way back to Essex whilst driving. Ahh happy days and no phone bills.

This album still reminds me of my pregnant wife and the excitment of our first baby. It also reminds me of setting a home office up, looking for a proper leather chair and trying to fit a PC, Laptop, Anglepoise, Printer and a fax machine on a big desk from Ikea. The CD got a caning in the car for months. I still love it and still listen to it. There's a track on it called 'Wires' which really tied this album in with a pregnacy and a birth of a child.

My daughter was born fit and healthy and was taken home in the inappropriate Japanese sports car, however in my defense I did have the 5 door model...