So here’s a quick update with some piccies of how it was on the day I got the keys. There’ll be some more going up as and when I get round to doing some stuff to it. Front room, Bathroom, Garden is the order I’m gonna be working on it.

The House

Entrance Hallway

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Landing

Spare Bedroom

Spare Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Study / Spare Bedroom

Bathroom

So I hope you like the piccies and, I’ll be back soon with the updates on how I’m setting up the Living Room with a nice Tv and entertainment centre. Plus (maybe) the £577 sofa I’ve just made myself poor with, thanks to Homebase.

Elbow Grease™

My wheels on my car are now shiny white. The car’s still covered in crap, but the wheels are nice and clean! I’ll probably get around to the bodywork today or maybe tomorrow. Then do the inside. But I feel it’s time my car had some TLC to get it back into top condition so I’m going to give the paint a good clean and try to t-cut out some of the lovely souvenirs that students in the car park at work have left me. And shine up the inside too.

So here’s to step one of the process. Black wheels into white.

Back to promise that I’ll be back again… Again.

This time with a small twist. I’m going to say that I won’t be posting for a week or so. But will then (hopefully) be posting on a regular/semi-regular basis. I’m going to use the slower summer and lack of ‘work’ I have on to try and rebuild my web presence. From this blog, to my ‘professional’ arm (cd03.co.uk). Plus all the bits inbetween (meaning I’m gonna have attempt number 3 at actually using Twitter ).

So once work is all quietened down – which will be after I have done the final Magazine and sent it off to the printers, and then done a quick cleanup on any loose ends that have come in whilst I was magazine-ing [sic] – I shall be making a proper effort to be posting up what my life is getting up to.

Thanks, once again, for coming here thinking something interesting was going to be said – seeing it wasn’t – and then not attacking me in the street with a bottle because of that fact.

Looking forward to getting to use it a bit. Trying desperately to scrape the cash together for a decent flashgun which should make work a whole lot easier when being photographer at the gigs and events. Not so much on stage action, but in the crowd and group shots mainly. Not that a decent bounce flash wouldn’t help no end with some of the sketchy lighting on our stage. Then again, we do have the new lighting rig that hasn’t lost it’s virginity yet, so that may make things better?

Will try throw up some shots with the new lens when I get some. For now you can have Dave, was just a quick shot to make sure the lens was all working. Don’t expect miracles!

With the sun out and summer in bloom I’ve been playing a lot more and really getting back into it. Now to start my foray into spending spare money on photography I’m deciding if my Birthday present should be a shiney new 40D or if I should stick with the 350D and look for a good quality lens with the money instead?

I’m not really that interested in the MP difference. But the higher ISO, fps and general improvements of the 40D are very welcome – a majority of my shots are taken indoors and low-light. But that would also point me to getting a decent, fast, lens and/or flash?

A 40D (new) would be slightly over my budget, but I can offset that a little by selling the 350 on, whereas a fast lens would likely be just as much without me being able to recoup some cost by selling a body (unless it’s mine)

Otherwise I’m maybe looking at something like the Canon 23-135mm USM IS lens or the EF-S 17-85mm USM IS.

I hate spending money. And not knowing what to spend it on. Grr…

http://aspamaday.blogspot.com/

Fantastic implementation of the ‘taking spam email titles and making a funny cartoon’. It’s a great style and has some impressive artwork. But overall, quite a funny site.

I’m sharing the love. Check out the site; there’s a few giggles in hiding.

Any suggestions are welcome.

(if you’re reading this in Facebook then it’ll mean nothing to you, please go about your life and ignore me)

Summer is usually the time that the website gets an overhaul from the ground up, to cement in all the bric-a-brac that’s tacked on during the year and not had enough time dedicated to making it really work as such.

I had a quick look round at some of the big sites that I visit often, or daily. I have been known to ‘borrow’ some ideas from sites. Yes, yes, I know – bad me. But everything’s really been done before. The trick is in re-doing it in a way that’s equal or better and not just a carbon copy. That’s a plus with webdesign – an idea can be ‘borrowed’ and the code or implementation can be worlds apart. It’s only the interface that will parallel the original.

Lightbox JS, and many other ‘add ons’ are become more of the norm. With mild templating changes being all that’s needed to make a good idea one that can be used all over. Obviously GNU and more open source licensing has meant that copyright isn’t so much of an issue anymore.

Well, as I flaunted with the ideas of re-jigging the website to a more aesthetically pleasing work, I realised that the content of the site and the ‘way it works’ from an inside point of view (corporately) was the biggest limiting factor. A nice clean design would only work so far until someone uttered those fateful words ‘can we make it do this™’. Then, it would crumble to pieces. I can’t say no, and no one else realises the implications of working against a CMS system’s inherent structures.

So, for one screenshot only, I bring you what would happen if I was Apple and had control over my own website and it’s contents.

Not normally one for the spoof movie genre I did catch ‘Meet the Spartans’ the other day. And although not a ‘good’ film, it’s something I’d recommend to anyone who’s seen 300. Instantly forgettable, it’s still a film that will manage to hold your attention throughout and occasionally deliver real laughs. “let us talk by the giant pit of death” , “I look like Jabba the Hutt; that is hot to me!” and “whatever you do don’t kick him into the pit of deat… stop kicking people into the pit of death, really!” are lines that are delivered in ways that tap directly into the hilarity centre of your brain. Unfortunately it’s riddled with a lot of American pop culture sketches. American Idol, Deal or No deal etc. that don’t really hit home to a UK audience even though we do have English versions.

It starts well, but loses momentum around half way through and some of the scenes seem drawn out or simply don’t work (the Spiderman 3 bit for example) but there’s still enough to keep you watching if it’s your type of funny to start with. Though a large percentage are gay jokes, so be thus warned if you are PC or find homoerotic jokes tasteless.

Sean Maguire is an excellent choice for Leonidas, and he plays it with a straight faced dryness whilst capturing the enthusiasm and shoutyness perfectly to spoof Gerard Butler’s performance. I can honestly say a lot of the lines delivered wouldn’t be funny at all if not coming from his mouth. Whilst Kevin Sorbo is excellent as Captain – plus steals the show with his “I’m gonna go Hercules on your ass” line.

Don’t get me wrong; this is not a good film, but it is good entertainment and will deliver at least one or two real laughs that make it worth the watch themselves. Well worth a gander.