2k

2000 hits in about six months - thanks very much and keep reading. 

I even got 49 hits on one day last week...you must be bored!

Thank you please.

Live advertising

Apparently the first adverts on TV were usually live recordings during the schedule. Well, things have come full circle as the new Honda ads are also recorded live...and that just makes them so much more interesting and exciting. It's not on YouTube yet, but here is a teaser that precedes them. 

Watch out for the next live one on your telly (if you watch it - if not keep checking YouTube I guess).

Exposure

A website called NowPublic got in touch with me earlier this morning. They had seen my picture of St.Peter's Bascilica in the Vatican on Flickr and wanted to use it. Apparently they are working on coverage of the re-opening of a pagan tomb under the Basilica, and said my image would be a great addition...yay!

10 days off Part Two

Part two began with the usually sluggish drive up to that there Yorkshire on Thursday morning, but the A1 was kind to us and we made it to Harrogate by mid-late afternoon. Spent some quality time with my folks (poor Mum wasn't feeling too well - bless her), then popped round to see our muckers Chris and Marianne in there huuuge new pad - the never ending flat.

Friday was the wedding day of Bongo (Al) and Lauren. Bongo was the first person I met when we moved to Harrogate in 1982. He lived across the road and popped over to see who the new kid was. I had a few Star Wars figures, he had all the Rubik's puzzles - we became instant chums. Bar a few random months, we have stayed in touch and are still good friends. Anyone that knows him will confirm that he is a truly unique chap in every way - the eternal optimist and joker who never lets anything or anyone stress him out - qualities some would surely pay dearly for. He met Lauren (lovely, lovely girl) on the t'interweb a few years ago and today they made it all official and proper like. Venue was The Dower House in Knaresborough. My role for the day was Usher and general 'help out' type person. An amazing, happy and sparkly day. So many friends and family from past and present to catch up with. Bongo and Lauren looked so happy and we all partied hard in the early hours. Even the weather was amazing - purfick.

After a hangover crushing fry-up brekky we headed over to Pately Bridge to meet my folks, Stu and his missus Sarah. About 12 years ago my Dad (a total train buff) bought a knackered old train carriage for next to nothing. It had been converted into a sort of holiday home and placed next to a stream at the end of a windy country lane - he and mum have spent the time since restoring it to it's original state (to exact detail) in a labour of love, and it is now our family's little place to find some peace and quiet in the summer - we call it Coach House. It's a beautiful part of the world and has loads of amazing walks (through old lead mines), wild-life and top class country pubs (Theakstons - nice). It's the most peaceful night's sleep you will ever have with only the sound of a trickling stream to wake you up in the morning. After a good few hours chilling we set off on a mad rush round to get provisions for the evening and popped in to see my dear old Nan. The evening was spent round at DragonDrop HQ with it's enhabitants, PaintMonkey and Weseal.Jem. Top night of cheese, wine and laughs with a bit of Micheal Palin chucked in for good measure. 

Up early this morning, said our goodbyes and plowed down the A1 again back to Londinium. What a brilliant and varied 10 days we've had, spent with lots of lovely people. Head back in work mode - keep smiling and throw yourself into it. Summer's here (apparently) and that always makes things easier!

10 days off Part One

A great feeling it is indeed to activate an out-of-office and leave a voicemail announcing 10 days off. All loose-ends were tied up, my cover was briefed (cheers Dave) and all systems shut-down - so began the longest period we've had off work since our honeymoon. The first port of call was Bloomsbury Lanes for Maria's 30th birthday party. Great night and a wicked place - a sort of American stylee youth club, but for 20-30 somethings. Bowling lanes, bands, lardy food and cheap beer. Maria had hired a karaoke booth for the occasion which was a right laugh - not least because it had a library of over 10,000 songs...never thought I'd be dueting Depeche Mode or Stone Roses at a karaoke bar! Did my classic version of Ace of Spades as usual - helps when the 'audience' are as plastered as you are! Missed the last tube, waited ages for a bus, but top night and a very Happy Birthday da Maria.

Saturday I felt a bit wobbly, but not too bad. We drove to East Dulwich to see Sam and Lizzie who are very soon to become parents. Had a much needed hangover killing lunch, then headed off to the train station to travel to London Bridge. I was very fortunate to be bought a wine tasting course for my birthday. It was at Vinopolis which I can only describe as Disneyland for wine (and gin, whiskey and absinthe) lovers. The first part was a personal tasting course with Matt Skinner who happens to be Jamie Oliver's sommelier - fascinating and highly entertaining. Matt is a very laid back Aussie who knows all there is to know about wine, but has a very modern, forward thinking attitude to it. His 'core message' is that wine should be for everyone - I agree. We tasted 2 whites, 2 reds, a fortified and a champagne - all great and very different. I've long enjoyed wine, but now know what to look for and why I enjoy the different characteristics. Apparently I learn towards heavy, big finish, new world reds (already knew that) The second part was entry to the museum and 5 tastings - Great fun and hair of the dog as well. Malbec from Argentina is still my current favourite grape.

We got up very early the next day for the early train to Gatwick. Our Christmas present to each other this year was a city break somewhere we'd never been before. Rome was top of the list so off we went. We fell in love with this city from the moment we got off the coach from the airport. Such incredible architecture, art, food, wine, people, culture, attitudes to live - loved it. We were in a great spot as well, right near the Spanish Steps. We had a good balanced 3 days of tourist stuff and relaxing. Obvious highlights were The Colosseum and Vatican - the thought of such spectacular ancient structures being built so long ago is quite mind blowing (and I've been to Maccu Pichu so that's saying something), especially the former. The engineering and thought to detail/function reinforces why Rome lead such a powerful empire and advanced culture. Rome is one of those great 'walky' cities like Paris, Prague, London and Amsterdam where it isn't always necessary to take public transport, but much more rewarding to amble around and see what you find. Then there's the food and wine...we were in heaven. I could quite easily live there! The Coffee's not bad either and the Romans are great  - very passionate, humorous and colourfully expressive. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Back at mothership now, catching up on chores, sweating over a poorly bank account and getting ready for Part 2. It's going to be a very happy and celebratory weekend. Watching Champion's League - don't really care who wins, as I don't like either team. Was meant to be going to see MGMT in town tonight with C and her girly mates, but the old noodle isn't feeling very well flavoured today - needed some me time to sort it out. Check back on Monday for more of my self-centred dribblings if you're interested or check out my Flickr from Rome pictures...or you could just surrender yet more precious seconds of your life to the latest Web 2.0 social networking phenomenon.

Ciao ciao.

The Genesis of Summer 2008

The weatherman wasn't telling us porkies on Friday morning was he? What a fantastically warm early summer weekend! Ah, I love summer - even the crappiest day at work is great because the sun is out. I am a firm believer in S.A.D (Seasonally Affective Disorder) being a very real syndrome: the short days; getting up and going home in the dark; the wetness and cold of weekday winter is enough to get anyone down. I do love a cold sunny weekend day, preferably trampsing across the Yorkshire Dales well wrapped up (with a pint of bitter and a pub lunch somewhere along the way), but it's the endless weeks of grey, damp overcast weather that I am sure adds to a moaning psyche that spreads through the nation (or maybe it's just me...actually it probably is). An Australian colleague says there is a joke outside of the UK that tourists shouldn't go there during winter as everyone is so rude and miserable. Not totally convinced about that - maybe they were just talking about London!

Anyway - A1, tip-top, first class weekend: After slipping out of work a wee bit early we trained it to Portsmouth, then FastCated it to the Isle of Wight. Darby (Alice) is C's bestest bud from school and general all round lovely person. Her folks are lucky enough to own a house 1min from the seafront in SeaView on the east of the island and she had very kindly invited us to stay. Lovely, lovely place and so peaceful - It is still off-season (just) so there were very few people around. Darby took us on a bit of sightseeing tour - did Cowes, the Downs and a really cool Garlic Farm. Didn't make it to the south unfortunately - the beach was calling! Perfect beach weather it was too - hot, but not too hot and a slight wind. The sea was damn cold, but didn't stop us having a swim or two. We had a really cool 2 days relaxing and recharging, plus got a bit of a tan in the process. As always, searched out the local seafood - crab...hmmm! Did my famous burgers for a BBQ too which also seemed to go down well. We could have easily stayed for a week, but headed back to the metropolis Sunday evening. Seems like it had been a scorcher there as well - more than a few red shoulders a Clapham Junction. Thanks Darbs for an amazing weekend - you spolit us rotten. We will definitely take you up on your offer to make return visit!

Back to the weekday routine now - lots and lots to do, some interesting (been storyboarding and producing a 30 second advert for the KLM Open in Holland) and the not so interesting (template customisations...zzzzz), but just got to get through this week before a decent stretch of time off, some great goings on, imminent happy times and seeing lots of family and friends. It has occured to me that this post is quite a contrast in tone to what I was writing a month or so ago. It all goes in cycles I guess and that's good for perspectives and balance in life. Best not speak too soon, before GloomyTrail pokes his head round the corner again!

Must say a massive congrats to Daren and Jem on their BIG announcement. It appears I was a bit slow on the uptake and thought they were semi-joking, but they weren't so it's all very special and brilliant! Very happy for you guys - see you soon for some proper celebrating.

Bryter later.

Bad Lands

Just finished a brilliant book and had to blog a wee review:

A long time fan of the Lonely Planet series of guidebooks (they've seen me right on many a beaten (and unbeaten) track, I was really excited to hear it's c0-founder Tony Wheeler's new book was out. Bad Lands charts his travels through many of the countries he originally visited when LP was in it's infancy in the 70s. Some countries were new to him, but others were re-visits and had dramatically changed politically, environmentally and socially. The main theme is to visit countries in the so called 'Axis of Evil' and report what mainstream media doesn't. 

This is a fascinating and very well written book - Not surprisingly the picture Tony paints is quite different to the preconceptions the general public might have, though some are obviously confirmed and often amplified. What is so refreshing is his experiences with Joe public in these countries and their warmth, humour, generosity and happiness to be ambassadors for their countries, despite the regimes they live or have lived under. The changing fortunes of countries due to the discovery of oil, collapse of communism, war or fall of a dictator have much impact on it's people and the restraints it's governments put on them. For example in Cuba there is relative freedom for tourists (assuming you're not American or a Guantanamo inmate) to search out culture and a real view of the country, whereas in North Korea it is impossible to even get in the country without having a designated 'guide' the show you what they want you to see and brush everything else under the carpet.

He charts a kind of cheesy Evil Meter in the book, scoring countries on human rights, mad leaders, the treatment of it's people etc. which sounds in slightly poor taste, but brings up some surprising results. The most alarming being that the country that has supported terrorism the most is actually the US. Just look at their support for various regimes in Central America and the Middle East to aid their manifestos. I guess terrorism emotes a very different response depending which way it is aimed i.e. one man's terrorist is an other's freedom fighter. Not giving opinions here, but food for thought.

Anyway, if you love travel books as I do and are fascinated by other cultures, people and their politics, it's a fine read. 9/10

Forgot to mention...

...this chap is now the Mayor of London. Give him a go I say - I will watch with interest.

Aircon on the tube would be a good place to start please!

Well, at least sales of hair bleaching peroxide will go up.

Bye Ken, it's been nice (most of the time).

Potters in Toters and long weekends

It's been a wee while since my last post - loads has happened so here goes...

Last weekend was a gem: C and I took the train from Paddington down to Totnes in Devon to meet up with my folks, my second cousin Colin and his missus Di. Colin (Kellam) is a famous potter around those parts and nationally, having been firing an huge variety of crockery and sculptures for over 40 years. We have been visiting him for as long as I can remember, and he and Di are great company. 3 days of getting back to nature and relaxing followed - lots of long walks along the beautiful Devon coastline, visiting Colin's field (better known as Agro Acres by Di - see piccy above - it's the Aston Martin of sheds) which is an Alladin's Cave of reclamation, improvisation and fascination. Made the most of Devon's fine coastal nosh as well (fresh crab - yum)! Totnes is a lovely lovely place - a very creative and relaxed community - could quite easily live there (not in summer though, too many damn tourists). We could have stayed a week to be honest, but work and responsibility called so we headed back to London on Tuesday. I took some pretty good piccies - have a look. 

A 3 day week at work went quickly, if a little stressfully. Our new webby chap has started - James - nice bloke, knows his stuff, fellow northerner, glad to have him on the team. We had to pack up our desks and move 10 metres down the corridor, only to move back to our original spot tomorrow - something to do with packing more desks in. I'm sure there's a cost saving in there somewhere. Maybe they should fix the leaking roof whilst they're at it. Speaking of which, the weather has been nuts over the past week - 4 seasons in a day sort of stuff. Crazy British April atmospherics.

Another welcome long weekend has just passed and it's been mostly glorious sunshine down here in London. Saturday we went to Dulwich Village to meet some friends for a pub lunch followed by a walk and ice cream in the beautiful park there. It was C and I's 7th 'meeting each other' anniversary too (it was actually Wednesday, but weekends are better for celebrating), so we had a romantic night in - homemade burgers, wedges and a top bottle or Malbec - purfik. Sent some roses to her at work - they made her smile (even when I told her they were a special offer from Interflora, when she said I should have saved my money - thrifty/tight bloody Yorkshiremen eh)? 7 years have certainly flown, though we have been through so much together and that night we met in the Jolly Swagman in Sydney seems a loooong time ago. We are very happy together and looking forward to the next chapter and adventures that life throws at us. Sunday we drove to Amersham in Buckinghamshire to see C's grandfolks - always a nice day and we are fed like Kings and Queens - Granny Di's Sunday Roast's are legendary.She must think I need to put on some weight as I always getting 3 helpings of everything. Coincidentally I used to live in Amersham from the ages of 4-9 so we drove past my old house and school which brought back lots of memories - everything seemed a lot smaller than I remember - no suprise there. Got home, saw a few friends and rented Brick Lane on DVD (average - dragged a bit).

Today was the hottest day of the year so far - had to be spent outside. Headed down to the South Bank and went to see Banksy's latest outdoor 'happening' The CanFest. Unfortunately the rest of London had the same idea and the queues we stupidly long, plus it appeared so busy in the actual venue that you couldn't see squat, so we sacked it off and went for lunch in the sun. Sorry Banksy. The rest of the day has been spent doing mundane things we've been putting off for ages - procrastination is the thief of time apparently.

So, another short week in upon us. As always a million things to do at work and not enough time to do them. A nice suprise though - the once thought lost My Bloody Valentine tickets have shown up - yay! On a serious note - spare a thought for those poor people in Burma who have suffered a devastating cyclone. I hope the world comes to their aid after such a terrible event.

Signing off - good night and good luck.