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THE BLOGGY BIT...

This is where I ramble on about nothing in particular, in the hope that something may strike a chord with you, whether it be graphic design, football or real ale.












Friday 31st July 2009 10:37

A true football legend and gentleman died today, after a 15 year battle with lung cancer. Born on the 18th February 1933, Sir Robert William 'Bobby' Robson had an illustrious career both as a player and manager within English and International football. The 76 year old became a Knighted Bachelor in 2002 and, a year later, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame. On 9 December 2007, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year show in recognition of 'his contribution as both player and manager in a career spanning more than half a century'.

His playing career spanned 18 years from starting in 1950 at Langley Park Juniors, with Fulham signing him up that same year. He played there for six years, making a 152 appearances and scoring 68 goals. In 1956, he then went on to play for West Bromwich Albion, making 239 appearances and scoring 56 in the six years he was there. He returned to play for Fulham in 1962, scoring a further nine goals in the 192 appearances he made until he switched clubs in 1967 where he played for the Vancouver Royals. In between all this time, played for England between 1957-1962, scoring four goals whilst earning 20 caps.

His career in management started a year after his playing career ended at the same club, Fulham. He was manager there from January - November 1968, winning only 6 of 36 games yet in January of the next year, he was appointed manager of Ipswich Town and remained there for over 13 years, winning the FA Cup with them in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981.
His desire and dedication to be one of the top managers in English history earned him the job of managing the England national football team from 1982-1990 where he and the team managed an impressive 47 wins out of the 95 games. In 1990, he took the England squad to the semi-finals of the World Cup of that year, held in Italy.
Later on in the same year, an immense amount of controversy was caused when Robson then switched from his England post to becoming the new manager of PSV Eindhoven. It seemed rather strange at the time and even now, there is still speculation as to whether he chose to go or whether the FA gave him a 'push', so to speak. From him joining the club, he took them to win successive titles in the Eredivisie, the highest football league in the Netherlands.
In 1992, he moved from PSV Eindhoven to Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon, where he stayed for almost two seasons. In 1994 he then moved to FC Porto and won the Cup of Portugal with them in the same year. In the following two seasons 1995 and 1996, he took them to win the title of the Portuguese Liga, Portugal's primary football league.
Not content with his amazing track record, he moved to FC Barcelona in 1996 and won the Spanish Super Cup. In 1997 they won the Copa del Rey and then went on to win the European Cup Winners' Cup in the same year.
In 1998 he then moved back to PSV Eindhoven before being offered the job at Newcastle United in the September of 1999 where he and the team enjoyed 119 wins in 255 matches.

sir bobby robson foundation

It was in 1992 when he was first diagnosed with lung cancer and he managed to remain positive and dignified about it all, something I have ultimate respect for. In August of 2008, when it had been confirmed to him that the cancer had become terminal, he said, "My condition is described as static and has not altered since my last bout of chemotherapy. I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute".
Having retired from football, Sir Bobby then decided to concentrate all of his efforts with fighting cancer - in his own battle with the disease and through his charity.
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation focuses on the early detection and treatment of cancer and the clinical trials of new drugs that will eventually beat it. Please click on the logo above to find out more, or make a donation.

Today, he died at his home in County Durham, literally miles away from where he was born and several leading figures from the world of football paid tribute to him. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson called him "great friend, a wonderful individual and tremendous football man." UEFA president Michel Platini said: "He will be remembered not only for his playing career and his outstanding managerial career at both club and international level, but also because he was a truly warm and passionate human being."

Thursday 30th July 2009 21:53

I have a secret to tell (Birdhouse - They Might Be Giants)... seriously though, I do. Well, I have some internet knowledge to share with you.
It all started when an advert was shown during a programme that Tanya was watching. The particular advert is for the Ford KA, a car that I absolutely detested when it was first launched but now think it's quite a cool car on the whole.
Anyway, the advert is a clever bit of marketing, in my eyes, because it's slick, there's a lot of things going on and, although you're not asked to participate directly, a subtly-used question appears at the very beginning, almost inviting you to answer. You'll see what I mean!
To watch the advert, click on the KA logo below.

KA

No, I haven't forgotten about the secret... all in good time (just as well, because that was one of the most rubbish secrets I'd ever heard - Ed)

So, other than the marketing, what else do I like about the ad? Well, it has to be the music. Choosing the right music is essential particularly with modern day advertising (sound like a right Oldie, don't I?!) Not only does music tune into your subconscious, it also allows an advert to be more memorable. It's taken me some months to find out what the track's called and who it's by - there was varying speculations on some of the sites where I am usually able to source such information. Nothing, until recently that is.
The song was specifically written and recorded for the Ford KA advert, by a new London-based pop indie band (they've been compared to the likes of The Cardigans, Feist, Roisin Murphy, Nouvelle Vague, Sia) and the song, 'I'm Not Invisible' features Megan Wyler on vocals. The song is now available on the Universal label and also via iTunes.
Click on the logo below to listen to the track in full.

myspace music

(Phew! So that was the secret? - Ed) No... I haven't finished yet!

I became curious as to whether there was an application program available for Mac OSX that would enable you to record directly from the internet, thus avoiding any download licensing laws... after quite a hunt, I found one. Not only that, you're able to use a full version trial for a 30-day period - how cool is that?
By using WireTap Studio, developed by Ambrosia Software Inc., you can record the discrete audio output of any application, as well as all system audio, or record audio input from any microphone, line-in, or audio input hardware.
Basically, if you can hear it, WireTap Studio can record it.
Once you have recorded your audio, you can then organise your recordings with ease in the convenient Recording Library, and edit them with WireTap Studio's integrated lossless audio editor. The program also has a full Audio Unit effects support, for adding professional quality effects to your audio.

ambrosia software

So there you have it, the secret is out, and now you know how conveniently easy it is to record from the net, thus avoiding any download detection. (Isn't that a naughty thing to do? - Ed)
To download your full trial version, click on the logo above.

Wednesday 29th July 2009 21:00

As well as The Apprentice, there's another great show which fits into the same sort of ilk and that's 'Dragons' Den'. The first ever show was transmitted as long ago as 4th January 2005 and has since accumulated a memorable history of moments, particularly when entrepreneurs freeze in front of the BBC's cameras.

dragons' den

The original team of Dragons comprised of Duncan Bannatyne, Rachel Elnaugh, Peter Jones, Doug Richard and Simon Woodroffe. In series 2, Simon Woodroffe made way for Theo Paphitis to make his debut and the following year, Deborah Meaden made her debut, taking the place of Rachel Elnaugh. In series 5, Richard Farleigh left the show leaving James Caan to fill his post and make his debut. Now in its seventh series, The Dragons' line-up has remained unchanged since then.
So, what's the programme about? Well, The Dragons are multi-millionaire investors looking to invest in the budding entrepreneurs pitching in the Den. Often, the pitchers are more than unsuccessful, especially when their whole idea is put under a microscope, coupled with the most scrutinising and uncomfortable questions about how the money is going to be spent and whether they have researched the market under a fine tooth comb. The pitchers must be incredibly prepared, otherwise they're in for an almighty shock.
Please click on the logo above to find out more about the Dragons and the show.

Tuesday 28th July 2009 18:04

I had good reason to celebrate tonight, I finished another of the 3D vector artworks that I've been creating for Tanya's boss, Dave. This time it was another Jumbo Weigher, with a different spec (20,000 x 10kg) and a totally different shape. I still have another four or five to complete, most of which are a little easier than the ones I have completed recently.
So... the celebration... yes, it involved a couple of bottles of real ale, one from a Manchester-based brewery, J.W. Lees, established in 1828 and the other from Everards, based in Narborough, Leicestershire, established in 1849.

jwlees

J.W. Lees 'John Willie's' is a 4.5% ABV premium bitter, named after Mr J.W. Lees himself. Amber coloured with a nutty finish, this robust beer is made from Pale Ale malt, Northdown hops and Golding hops. This well-balanced ale is very smooth and full-bodied and would make a great session beer.
For more information, please click on the logo above.

everards tiger

The second ale was 'Tiger' from Everards. Another 4.5% ABV best bitter, which has won many awards. This chestnut brown coloured ale has a perfect balance between sweetness and bitterness and it has gained universal appeal because of it. With an aroma of spicy hops and Crystal malt, it gives the beer a rounded toffee aroma and the subtle sweetness and makes it another superb session beer.

Monday 27th July 2009 20:37

Whilst on the hunt for Christmas related images and artwork (yes, customers of mine have already started to pre-plan), I stumbled upon this very slick website, full of icons that have specifically designed with Mac OSX in mind.

icon drawer

Once again, there's little in the way of finding out more about when the site, 'Icon Drawer' was established, although there is a very nifty tutorial on there, detailing the process of creating your own simple glassy ball using Photoshop. There is also a very impressive portfolio of icons that Eugen Buzuk, one of the site's contacts, has created for both Mac OSX and Win XP applications. Their client list is somewhat impressive as well.
To download free icons, or to find out more in general, please click on the logo above.

Sunday 26th July 2009 07:07

Had a fairly uneventful day today, although I did have an email from Dave (Tanya's boss), directing me to an incredibly funny website called Kemp Folds. I really had no idea what to expect. I can tell you that to date, there are 133 of them and lots of people have been folding lots of Kemps... any the wiser?
Click on the logo below to satisfy your curiosity...

kemp folds

Having had a brisk walk around The Mill Pond at Emsworth, I decided a trip to Halfords was in order, for I desperately needed some new wiper blades (one had developed a tail during the past week) and since I had Bosch on there, I'd have replacements to match. I guess £19.99 was a fairly reasonable price, although I certainly said no to having them fitted.
For more information about Bosch and the multitude of products they have to offer, please click on the logo below.

bosch

Since I'd worked part of Saturday and today, it felt like it was time to sit down and enjoy a film so we opted to watch 'Jackie Brown' as it was the only Tarantino film that had seemed to go undetected on my QT radar. Having seen all the films he's directed and the majority of ones he's written, Jackie Brown is excellent, not quite the excellence of Pulp Fiction but certainly up there.
A brief summary of the film is that Jackie Brown is a 44 year old flight attendant and ends up being caught with gun dealer Ordell Robbie's money. To get the ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) off her back she sets up Ordell with her new friend, a bail bondsman named Max Cherry. But what the ATF doesn't realise, is that they are part of her wild plan to get Ordell's half million dollars and without being caught.

Saturday 25th July 2009 10:31

Had a relatively early start this morning and decided to go out for a lengthy walk. We parked up in Havant and then did one of our regular walks along the Billy Track to Langstone and back (using a different route, taking us towards Warblington on the way back). Anyway, as we headed towards The Royal Oak at Langstone, we started to hear loud music, in fact, I heard a couple of elderly gentlemen having a good old moan about it. As we walked nearer, I worked out that it was '21st Century Boy', originally recorded by Marc Bolan and T-Rex and by the time we arrived at The Royal Oak, we'd determined that the music was coming from The Ship Inn, a short walk around the shoreline.

the superheroes

It turned out that it was a live band, The Superheroes, who advertise themselves as 'maximum rock and soul' and they were absolutely brilliant. The band are made up of Matt O'Neil, lead vocals and guitars who is a songwriter and a self-taught musician, Jim Slade is the bass guitarist and is also an accomplished brass musician. On keyboards there's Dave Edgeller and Danny Gawn is the other guitarist in the band. Finally, the drummer, Steve Duffy is apparently the only one who cannot gig on a school night!
Their website, which can be accessed by clicking on their logo above, is full of photos of the band, music and video downloads and you can also book the band from there.

Friday 24th July 2009 22:34

There are many superb film directors, but who would be in your top ten of all time? Alfred Hitchcock? Jean-Luc Godard? Stanley Kubrick? Woody Allen? Steven Spielberg? The following names I've listed were in MovieMaker Magazine's rankings of the '25 Most Influential Directors of All Time'.

One of Jonathan Ross' guests on 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' was Quentin Tarantino. He would have to be in my top ten, because although he's a relative newcomer in terms of his resume, the quality of directing (and not forgetting writing) that he's managed to accumulate in such a short space of time is astounding. Having read a few people's comments on the internet, they consider him vastly over-rated, I consider that view to be 'talking out of one's arse'.

tarantino films

You only need to look through the list of films to realise how much quality there is... Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 (2003-2004 respectively), Grindhouse: Death Proof (2007) along with other films he has written the scripts for, such as True Romance (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Crimson Tide (1994) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1995). Now do you believe he's one of the best?

inglourious basterds

Anyway, as of August 21st, he has a new film released, 'Inglourious Basterds' which will undoubtedly be a box office smash. To find out more, please click on the movie poster above.

Thursday 23rd July 2009 17:13

As a child, I had an immensely sweet tooth and cared little for anything savoury. A few years later on, (aren't we talking decades here? -Ed) my tastebuds have definitely changed, nevertheless, there are certain desserts that I will always love. Lemon meringue pie has to be at the top of the list, followed by many other lemon flavoured items of confectionary. Anything with strawberries in is always a hit with me too and tonight Tanya and I tried a new shortcake biscuit called Whipped Cream that comes in two flavours, Sinfully Strawberry Conserve and Lustfully Lemon Curd.

fox's

As described on the Fox's Biscuits' website, they're satisfyingly naughty grown-up indulgence. They're made with buttery shortcake, with a filling of cream and one of the two flavours I mentioned earlier. They then go on to say that they're so naughty, they should be on the top shelf in a brown paper bag... whatever could they mean?!?!
To find out more about Fox's who were established in 1853, please click on the logo above.

Wednesday 22nd July 2009 16:36

I love designing, whether it be logos or websites. Logos can prove to be tricky at times and so long as you're in the mindset, they can almost be created via the conveyor belt that is your imagination until, Bingo! You've created a masterpiece and no matter how many times you revisit it, it cannot be improved upon. Designing websites is a totally different kettle of worms though, especially if it's all done via HTML or CSS or any other acronym whose definition converts to a load of bollocks.

dynamic drive

Scripting, as it's known as, is as exciting as watching a turd dry. I find it almost impossible to even begin to understand what goes where and once it is there, does it work? I mentioned CAPTCHA the other week and lo and behold, I'm no nearer to knowing how to make it work.
Luckily though, there are sites out there that actually explain how to make scripting work in an unusually human way; none more so than Dynamic Drive who provide 'dhtml scripts for the real world'. They have also attained numerous web and magazine awards for their continued excellence, having been included in PC World's Top 100 most useful sites. Within the site, you're able to optimise your images, generate favicons (the little graphics that appear next to a URL in your browser window) and even ban certain .htaccess. Unfortunately, I know little about who runs the site or how long it's been established.
Please click on the logo above, which is a mixture of weights from the font Korataki, to find out more.

Tuesday 21st July 2009 08:11

Forty years since man landed on the moon... incredible. What's more incredible is that 40 years on, it's only happened once since then, and that was only three years later!
The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth and is 3476km in diameter (how do I know? I measured it). It has been known since prehistoric times and is the second brightest object in the sky, after the Sun of course. The Romans call it Luna, the Greeks, Selene and Artemis and it has many other names in different mythologies.
So, what else is there to know about it? Well, as the Moon orbits around the Earth in its monthly cycle (careful how you phrase this - Ed), the angle between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes; this is visible as the cycle of the Moon's phases. The amount of time between successive New Moons is 29.5 days (709 hours) which is slightly different to that of the Moon's orbital period which is measured against the stars, since the Earth moves a far greater distance in its orbit around the Sun in the equivalent time.

nasa

The Moon was first visited on September 13, 1959 by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 and some ten years later, the first landing was on July 20, 1969 which makes it the only extraterrestrial body to have been visited by humans; the last was in December 1972. The Moon is also the only body from which samples have been returned to Earth and in the summer of 1994, the Moon was extensively mapped by the little spacecraft Clementine and again in 1999 by Lunar Prospector.
For more information about the 40th anniversary and NASA, click on the image above.

Monday 20th July 2009 21:39

What's your memory like? Do you remember such TV classic cartoons like Marine Boy? Do you remember Spangles? Do you remember the 'Today' newspaper? If you were to delve deep into the corners of your brain, I'm sure you'd be able to remember lots of other things as well, like some of the lyrics to 'Bad Boys' by Wham! I'll remind you... "Bad Boys stick together, never sad boys, do do do do do woo woo, good guys, they make rules for fools so get wise". Classic stuff.

do you remember?

Anyway, where's this going? (Apart from down the pan - Ed) Well, there's a site where you can be reminded of all kinds of stuff that date back to the 70s and 80s. DoYouRemember.co.uk was launched back in March 2004 purely for sad old gits like me who want to be reminded of the things that made life great... not only that, you can add your own memories of the things that you can recall from your childhood. As the site states, it's like the most glorious toyshop you'd ever hope to stumble across. I have to thank my mate Lee in America for sharing this one with me - what a superb site!
To access your childhood memory banks, click on the logo above...

Sunday 19th July 2009 16:42

Following on from last weekend, I'd had another idea for one of my 'play on words' photographic creations. In actual fact, I'd had two ideas, one of which involved smashing up a watch and I decided that that would have been mindless vandalism, even though the particular watch I'd chosen was really old. That left the one idea, although it needed a good deal of forward thinking and some very precarious stances using a remote shutter release and the self-timer on my camera...

armchair - the making

From downloading the first batch of images at 11:13, I started work on what would hopefully be a masterpiece. I'd taken seven different photographs, yet Tanya soon pointed out that three of them were superfluous to what was actually needed so I ended up scrapping the majority of the work I'd done in Photoshop and it wasn't long before things really started to take shape. At 13:38, I downloaded the final piece of the jigsaw and then continued to 'construct' the rest of the image. Some final touches were made, especially with regards to where the light source was, which meant significant dodging and burning on the many layers that I'd created within the file.

armchair

Having flattened all the layers, I then added the necessary sepia look to the final image and the final piece was completed at 16:42. My armchair was ready...

Saturday 18th July 2009 09:30

Started the day off with an invigorating walk around Emsworth Mill Pond. It's a great way to start the day, especially when there's an enlivening wind to hypothetically slap you around the face. Other than that, we had a very lazy day and mid-way through it, Abbi, Tanya and myself decided to sit down and watch a recent Film Flex release that we'd been wanting to see for quite some time.

the curious case of benjamin button

The film stars Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett and received a staggering thirteen Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, who played the excellent part of Queenie, Bejamin's surrogate mother. It went on to win three Oscars for Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects. The film, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is an adaptation of a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in Colliers Magazine during 1921.
Rather than go into too much detail about the plot, the main storyline is about Benjamin who is born with a young mind, yet the body of an 85-year-old man and as he grows older, his physical appearance becomes younger. In the midst of all of this, there's a mix of tragedy and love along with a good mix of humour.
Please click on the movie poster to find out more.

hotel babylon

Later on in the day, we then caught up with the latest episode of 'Hotel Babylon'. I can liken the programme to 'Hustle' for its slick, almost upmarket production and although it's lost many of its original characters, I still think it's a highly entertaining watch. The very first episode, broadcast on Thursday 19th January 2006 had Charlie (Max Beesley) and Rebecca (Tamzin Outhwaite) as the main characters and since then, the hour-long show has enjoyed over 6 million viewers at times.
The series is based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones and it follows the lives of workers at a glamorous five-star hotel.
Another plus point to the show is the abundance of eye candy, the past cast including Tamzin Outhwaite (as I've already mentioned) as well as Natalie Mendoza, Emma Pierson (who is stunningly attractive) along with the current cast, Anna Wilson-Jones, Alexandra Moen and Danira Govic (both very sexy indeed). For the girls there's ex-EastEnder, Nigel Harman.
To catch up on the latest show, please click on the logo above.

Friday 17th July 2009 17:05

Some time at the beginning of June, I talked about how I'd been commissioned to do some 3D drawings of various products for Tanya's boss. All of these will be being used on their website which Tanya is currently redesigning and an up-to-date price list which I'll be working on within the next few weeks.
Here are two more that I've worked on...

JWPMCWATEX

To keep up some energy (those 3D drawings can be very brain-draining), rather than plumping for a real ale and making myself ultra-tired, I decided to put some goodness into my body with another one of my favourite things to eat, yogurt.
Danone have a fantastic range of Activia yogurts which are creamy, probiotic yogurts and contain a unique culture called Bifidus Acti-Regularis. I particularly like the Vanilla flavoured ones, not only are they great tasting, they're fat free as well. Activia is the only probiotic yogurt that is scientifically proven to help improve slower digestive transit, so it does make a refreshing change to be putting something that's healthy into my body!
For more information, please click on the logo below.

danoneactivia

Thursday 16th July 2009 10:28

Of recent, I've been receiving ridiculous amounts of spam and if ever a race needed to burn in hell, it's the spammers. I absolutely fucking detest and despise them. I really have to ask myself whether someone's life is apparently that empty, they have to go around creating spam. Total and utter wankers.
I just want to make a few things clear here... I never have and never will want to own a Rolex watch, I couldn't give a flying fuck whether a relative of yours is dying from a strange disease that they caught whilst being shafted by a well-endowed goat in the mountains of Ghana and that they'd like to transfer some money into my account, nor do I care that Heidi from Budapest wants me to fuck her senseless... I could carry on.
Anyway, I chose to report all of this continual abuse to my web hosting company and they suggested I added something called CAPTCHA to my contact forms.

recaptcha

So what is a CAPTCHA? It's a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. It usually involves one computer (a server) asking a human user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human. A common type of CAPTCHA asks that the user type letters or digits from a distorted image that appears on the screen.
Based on the word 'capture', it was first coined in 2000 by Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas J. Hopper (all of Carnegie Mellon University), and John Langford (then of IBM). It is a contrived acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."
To download your very own free CAPTCHA and unique code, click on the logo above.

Wednesday 15th July 2009 21:42

If something is out-of-the-ordinary, us Brits usually condemn it, one way or another. It's almost as if we have an innate ability to disregard unusual things in a cynical way. The Americans seem to embrace individuality with a common expression, 'Only in America'. The reason I'm bringing this up is because of a news item on the BBC's 'Six o'clock News' tonight - a new airline. For pets. Almost a Noah's Ark with wings and this isn't a wind up. The founders of the airline, Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder wish all the 'pawsengers' who travel via Pet Airways, a 'Bone voyage'.

pet airways

It was Zoe, their Jack Russell, who told them the idea (really, it was) because normal human airlines didn't cater for her to fly comfortably with them and she was always treated as cargo. A couple of years ago, the idea was taken further and, quite remarkably, the idea has really taken off (just because they've ben using crappy puns, doesn't mean to say you have to join in - Ed). The company plans to extend services to other major cities and expand its fleet to 20 planes, including Falcon 20, Convair 580 and Boeing 727 by the end of this year.
Click on the logo to find out more or to book a flight!

Tuesday 14th July 2009 11:51

Spent the majority of the day working on a photography job that I've been commissioned to do. It involves a total revamp of an existing brochure, keeping with the original layout and corporate colours, yet downsizing the amount of standard stock items, with the introduction of new ones as well. This means reshooting all the shirts again, so that there's a distinct continuity throughout.
The small insert below is one of the better shots although the final decision as to how they are presented could be some time off yet.

richard jones

Richard Jones have been making fine quality shirts for over 30 years, establishing an enviable reputation as the leading UK supplier of formal dress wear shirts. With more than 100,000 shirts in stock at any one time, they offer the most comprehensive stock replenishment service for the retail, hire and corporate sectors.
For more information about the company, please click on the image above.

Monday 13th July 2009 17:18

Chicken. I love it. There aren't many foods that I never tire of and chicken just has to be one of the best for me. I guess it's because you can have it in sandwiches, in soup, with salad, as part of a roast... and so on. It also tastes just as nice whether it's hot or cold, served with something or just a drumstick on its own. Not only that, it's one of the few foods I can stomach even when I'm feeling slightly off-colour.

Apparently, more than 40% of the meat we eat in Britain is chicken - making it the nation's favourite by far. Obviously there are far more semi-vegetarians out there - people who avoid red meat yet still eat fish and poultry, which is why the figure is as high as it is. Not only that though, a third of families within the UK eat chicken several times a week, then again, as I said earlier, it goes with so many dishes, is easy to prepare and delicious too.

red tractor

Although research has shown that the majority of us prefer to eat chicken that is born and bred in Britain, it's unfortunate that the import rate rises by approximately 10% each year. The way to avoid this is to either ask your butcher where it's from or, if buying pre-packaged chicken, check for the Red Tractor label because every piece of meat that carries this logo can be traced back to the farm it came from and the Union Jack is a clear indication that it has been farmed, packed and processed in Britain. It also indicates that the chicken has followed a very high standard of production, from rearing to processing.
To find out more, please click on the Red Tractor logo above.

Sunday 12th July 2009 15:37

With the weather being much-improved, we chose to have a brisk walk around Emsworth Mill Pond. It seems quite some time since we last walked around and we shared the rare sighting of a Cormorant on there. Obviously there are many to be seen around Emsworth, it's just unusual to see them on the Mill Pond.

Once home, it was time for work and play. I still have several 3D drawings to complete so worked on one of those for a good while and then decided to create some more photographs that I'd had in mind for quite some time.
I knew 'Footnote' had quite a few possibilities, it was more the case of which one would work best; Did I attach a scribbled note on a Stickie to my foot? Did I somehow create a musical note that was a foot (30.48cm) long? In the end, I opted to create this - take note of the composer's name...

footnote teabag

I then revisited an idea that I'd originally had about two years ago. It needs little explanation, apart from the fact that it's obviously a montage...

Later on in the day, I was gobsmacked because a fellow-member of a photography forum I frequent, PhotoPortal, expressed so much of an interest in my 'Footnote' image, she wants me to do a print for her!
Her comments, and I quote: "OMG! I just came back to this after looking at it and not commenting before.....I know, I consider myself slapped!!
I only just noticed the footprint note!!! After thinking, Bl**dy brilliant! I have chosen you as my new hero, Ian!!"
Having someone appreciate your work so much, they want to grace their home with it has to be one of the best compliments you can receive as a photographer. I'm truly stunned.

Anyway, if this sort of photography isn't your cup of tea...

screw you

Saturday 11th July 2009 14:25

Today's weather was awful, so much so, it just drizzled all day. However, I was not to be perturbed and not let my spirits be dampened... I had an idea for a photograph, keeping within the theme of my 'Imaginations' gallery. I needed a few components... some wood (or something similar), a flammable liquid and some matches. The flammable liquid posed a slight problem, that was until I went round to our local shop and bought some BBQ lighting fluid... they looked at me in a very strange manner, particularly as it was pissing it down outside!
Anyway, click on the thumbnail below to see the final result.

crossfire

Later on in the day, I'd had enough of being sat in front of my computer so decided to put the television on and chill out for the rest of the evening. As I was channel-hopping, I noticed a programme on Virgin 1 called, 'The Naked Office'. Anything with the word naked in usually triggers a disturbed sensory reaction within the gutters of my brain, so I chose to sit and watch...

virgin 1

With the start of the recent recession, many companies within the United Kingdom are fighting to stay alive and in the show, one particularly brave business attempted to get back on track by stripping away its problems using a revolutionary approach – going to work stark naked! Leading business guru and best selling author, David Taylor, tried to find out whether working naked breaks down relationship boundaries by increasing positivity and productivity? So, a brave advertising-based business in Newcastle put this theory to the test, particularly as the company had suffered some recent blows – weakening communication, general loss of direction, redundancies and low staff morale.
To find out more, click on the Virgin 1 logo above.

Friday 10th July 2009 23:44

Earlier this week I provided a link to Popdog Fonts because a font of theirs, Benny Blanco had been used on a logo I liked. On the site's navigation is 'fonts in use', this is a comprehensive gallery highlighting where Popdog Fonts have been used. I noticed that Spoke Shirts hadn't been included and contacted him to let him know.

pOPdOG fONTS

pOPdOG fONTS is a type foundry that Dimitris Kolyris founded about 10 years ago and the site already boasts 23 very individual fonts with distinct typographical styles, the majority of which have a full greek-latin set. The latest addition to his ever-expanding font folio is one called 'Slang King' which, along with every other font, are free to download and can be used for any purpose 'but don't forget to send a sample of your work' - you can email him via the site.
To find out more, click on the very stylish logo above.

glasnost font

Now then, this blog doesn't end there. Since being in touch, he's given me the right to offer an exclusive download of one of his fonts, Glasnost (it's the font used on the Popdog logo) which will not be available anywhere else for some months - how cool is that?!
Please click on the zip file above to download...

Thursday 9th July 2009 21:51

If everyone who owned a computer was asked what their web browser's home page was set to, I wonder what range of results would come back? I'd say a high percentage would definitely be Google, especially as their mission is 'to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful'. However, I'm finding another website quickly becoming of equal importance and that has to be Wikipedia and I'll tell you why...

wikipedia

For starters, it's a totally free encyclopedia and fair enough, some of the articles that have been added since its creation in 2001 have actually become urban myths; generally though, it's an incredibly useful site. It is now one of the largest reference websites and is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world, attracting 65 million visitors monthly, as of 2009. With almost 3 million articles, 17 million pages and over 800,000 uploaded files, you can begin to understand just how comprehensive the site is.
One last interesting fact; the name is derived from a portmanteau of words, wiki ( a type of collaborative web site) and encyclopedia. By the way, portmanteau broadly means the blend of two or more words (as well as being a large trunk or suitcase).
Just in case you haven't yet discovered Wikipedia, please click on the logo above.

Wednesday 8th July 2009 22:31

Originally launched in 2005 as DTV, this 100% free Mac application (also available on many other platforms as well) was rebranded Miro in 2007. Miro can automatically download videos from RSS-based 'channels', where it can then manage them and play them. The application is designed to mesh with other PCF (Participatory Culture Foundation) products such as Video Bomb, a social tagging video website, and the Channel Channel, a TV guide for Internet television.

miro

Miro integrates an RSS aggregator, a BitTorrent client (based on libtorrent), and a media player (VLC media player under Windows, QuickTime under Mac OS X, and Xine Media Player or GStreamer under Linux). Since version 2.0, Miro supports the adding of website bookmarks under the 'Sites' category; by default, LegalTorrents.com is preloaded in Miro as a bookmark. You can also forget format incompatibilities. Miro can play MPEG, Quicktime, AVI, H.\264, Divx, Windows Media, Flash Video, and almost every other major video format.
That's a fairly comprehensive description of what the application can do however, so click on the logo above and download it for yourself, where you'll soon have the choice of thousands of shows to watch from all over the web, lots of it in HD, with fresh shows being added all the time.

Tuesday 7th July 2009 05:35

By now, I'm sure most of you will know that I love design, fonts, good use of colour and have a strange kind of humour. Put them all together and you're sure to win me over. I also have a lot of time for people with initiative, particularly if it's freshly packaged and the following site certainly fits all the aforementioned criteria.

spoke shirts

Spoke Shirts is part of AKAK Ltd, a t-shirt print and distribution company based in Gloucestershire.
It's owned by keen cyclist, Alastair King, who states that he is willing to spend part of his time in colourful lycra (not to cycle, just so that his wife can point and laugh), but he's certainly not willing to drink beer whilst wearing it. He was unable to locate any decent (and witty) cycling t-shirts so Spoke Shirts was born. He's also welcoming suggestions for new shirts...
Please click on the stylish logo above to find out more. By the way, the main font is called Benny Blanco and is freely available for download here.

Monday 6th July 2009 09:12

Whilst in despair trying to find out the name of a font today, I came across this superb website, FontStruct.
So what is it? Well, it's a free font-building tool brought to you by FontShop. It lets you quickly and easily create fonts constructed out of geometrical shapes, which are arranged in a grid pattern, like tiles or bricks. Not only that, it allows you to create ‘FontStructions’ using the ‘FontStructor’ font editor.

fontstruct

Once you've finished your creation, FontStruct generates high-quality TrueType fonts, ready to use in any Mac or Windows application. Youhave the option of keeping your creations to yourself, although FontStruct encourage users to share their 'FontStructions'.
Within this website, you're able to explore the Gallery of fonts made by other FontStruct users and download them or even copy them and make your own variations. Go one step further by using the FontStruct widget to show your FontStructions on your own website or blog.
As usual, click on the logo above to find out more.

Sunday 5th July 2009 14:00

Sat down to watch an absolutely thrilling Wimbledon Men's Final between Andy Roddick (who put Andy Murray out in the Semi-Finals) and Roger Federer who was determined to make history by winning more Grand Slams than any other tennis player in history.

Rather than provide a link to the Wimbledon website, since it's the only one of the Grand Slams played on grass and the longest-standing tennis competition in the world, I've decided to link to the Lawn Tennis Association website. Please click on the logo below to find out more.

lawn tennis association

The match started as expected, both players holding serve with no weaknesses on show, that was until Roddick managed to break Federer's serve and took the first set 7-5, against all predictions. About half an hour later, the second set went to a tie-break, and with four set points under his belt, it appeared as if Roddick was going to go two sets in front. An unbelievable turn of events happened and with sheer guts and the occasional unforced error, Federer managed to claw back six straight points to take the second. It was game on.
Approximately two hours into the match and the third set went to yet another tie-break. Federer took that and was now 2-1 up. The next set took another u-turn, this time Roddick broke Federer's serve early on to go 3-1 up in the fourth and eventually took the fourth set 6-3. Yet another incredible Wimbledon Men's Final was unfolding.
Unlike some of the other Grand Slam Finals, the final set in any match at Wimbledon continues until one player is two games in front. Having played three and a half hours with the final set poised at 6-6, neither player appeared as if they were going to give up the ghost. 20 minutes later, it was 9-9... 15 minutes after that, 12-12, seven more minutes, 13-13... was a champion going to emerge or would this match resume in the morning...?
At 16-14, it was the Swiss, Roger Federer who finally broke the deadlock and his fifteenth major title. An absolutely mesmerising final.

gamehouse

During the day, I also became addicted to playing Scrabble, brought to the Facebook application via Gamehouse. Founded in 1998 with its headquarters based in Seattle, this online casual gaming developer began by offering a game called 'Collapse', similar to 'Tetris'. Since then, RealNetworks acquired the company and they now offer such games as TextTwist, JigSaw, Shape Shifter and of course, Scrabble, along with a whole host of others.
To find out more, please click on the logo above.

Saturday 4th July 2009 11:43

First of all, happy Independence Day to all my American fans.
In case you didn't know, the flag consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating in either red or white, all equal in depth, with a red one both top and bottom. In the canton lies a blue rectangle bearing fiftty small, white, five-pointed stars. These are arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars, alternating with rows of five stars. As most of you will already know, the stars represent the fifty states of America, yet the more unknown fact is that the stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union. To find out more about the historical day, please click on the The Stars and Stripes below (AKA, Old Glory and The Star-Spangled Banner).

american flag

Started the day off with the tempting aroma of a fry-up wafting in from next door... so much so, we went into Emsworth, bought ourselves some bacon, eggs and a thick white loaf from the Co-op and then stopped by Treagust's for some Traditional Old English Pork Sausages. In between all of this, we did manage a short brisk walk along the shoreline and then headed back home to stuff our faces.

The weather was somewhat changeable today, yet rather than sit in front of our computers all day, we chose to drive down to the beach on Hayling Island and soak up some of the sun when it decided to show for brief moments.
After an hour of literally nothing but overcast sky, we decided to head back home in the hope that we might catch some of the Women's Singles Final live from Wimbledon. Once again, the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, had reached the final. Serena won the match in straight sets, 7(7)-6(3), 6-2 and Venus was outplayed. Unfortunately, Women's tennis is quite boring, even with two as athletic as the Williams sisters, the matches just don't possess the same sort of pace as men's tennis.

Having stuffed our faces earlier on, we opted for a evening snack so that we could make the most of the sun (yes, he'd decided to show his face) and drive down to Southsea seafront and walk along the promenade, soaking up the rays and partaking in a little people-watching whilst we were at it.

twister

Along the way, we stopped off for some cooling refreshments, Tanya had a 99 cornet and I decided to give a Wall's Twister a try... so glad I did, they're the cat's pyjamas. It's oozing with the piquant flavours of pineapple, lemon and strawberry and is a tasty favourite for kids young and old, and celebrated its 25th birthday in 2007!
If you want to find out more about tangling your tongue around a Twister, click on the logo above. Once again, there isn't a single place on the net where this logo is available, so I ended up redrawing it as a vector-based PDF.

Friday 3rd July 2009 19:30

Due to the ever-present mugginess of the past few weeks, I really couldn't be bothered to anything in particular tonight, except watch television, drink beer and eat a curry. That first sentence almost sounded like I've suddenly started to lead a bachelor type lifestyle but if you closely scrutinize the sentence, you would see it read 'television' and not 'porno'.

beautiful daze

A couple of the beers I tried were excellent, very different in taste, body and colour.
The first is one from the Otter Brewery and although this golden ale is only 3.6% ABV, it's a light refreshing and outstanding summer's session beer with a characteristic fruity after taste. The ale was first brewed in 2003 for 'The Beautiful Days' music festival, held at Escot Park, Ottery St. Mary in Devon and takes its name after a song called 'Beautiful Day', written and performed by the Levellers. I'd like to thank Patrick McCaig at the Otter Brewery for emailing me some great images of their range of beers.
Please click on the image above to find out more about the brewery.

huffkin

The second real ale was called 'Huffkin', a rich copper-coloured beer brewed by Ringwood Brewery. Considering this brewery are Hampshire-based, it's almost impossible to locate any of their ales in most off-licences or supermarkets. Anyway, I digress... the tanginess of this autumn ale is given with the use of both Fuggles and Goldings hops and at 4.4% ABV it makes another superb session ale. The peculiar name? Well, it's named after Kentish tea cakes, often flavoured with hops, especially with the time of harvesting in September.
To find out more about Ringwood Brewery, click on the Huffkin pump clip above.

shapla tandoori takeaway

So, that's the beer taken care of, now the curry. There are several good takeaways in our area, possibly none more so than Shapla Tandoori Takeaway in Havant. I've tried all sorts of curries, ranging from Vindaloo to Biryani and Korma to Dhansak, yet my favourite is one that I wouldn't particularly class as being hot, it's just full of different textures and tastes, a Chicken Aloo Panir. So what's in it? The description reads, Chicken Tikka pieces in a delicious special Bhuna sauce, topped with thin cut potato fries and cheese... and it is mouth-wateringly good.
Unfortunately, the take away doesn't have its own website but by clicking on the logo above, you'll be able to find out a little more.

Thursday 2nd July 2009 14:30

I finished work an hour earlier than usual so that I was able to both take, and accompany, Tanya on a hospital visit. Nothing life-threatening, yet moral support in times like these is essential, in my opinion.
The appointment was at the Royal Haslar Hospital in Gosport, and for any of you who don't know the area very well, it's a horrible drive down the Gosport Peninsula and seems to take years before you're at the tip. Once there, you really have to ask yourself if it was worth it. As far as I'm aware, even the locals aren't particularly taken with where they live.
Anyway, apart from being passed from pillar to post and having an x-ray taken, she isn't any closer to knowing what's going on. Even the 'consultant' she saw had very little input because he didn't 'specialise' with the problem she had. He even admitted that she'd been seen by him to make the figures look good. That's the NHS through and through, wanting to be 'seen' as being proactive.

gosport borough council

Having almost damned the whole area, I have to say that the hospital is an amazing building, unfortunately though, the building that was designated a Grade II listed historic park in 2001 will close its doors for the final time this year. Most of the departments we went to had signs indicating that tomorrow would be their last day, yet it appears that many of the porters and security guards will continue working there for some time.
Of its time, the building, designed by Theodore Jacobsen, was the largest hospital and biggest brick building in England when it was built during 1746-61. The hospital began as the Royal Navy Hospital in 1753 and has an unmitigated and distinguished history in the medical care of service personnel both in peacetime and in war.
The internet provides little in the way of links but I will no doubt return to this subject another time, however, I shall provide a link to the Gosport Borough Council website.

Wednesday 1st July 2009 22:21

Blink, and a month goes. What happened to June? One thing that has been brilliant about this month is the weather. For the past month or so, we haven't seen any significant rainfall (not that I can remember anyway), although it appears as if we're due some thunderstorms according to the forecasts... we'll just wait and see.

robinsons

Anyway, the reason I'm harping on about the heat is simple, I'm British and have been born with the right to complain about the weather, regardless of how perfect it might be. Another reason is liquid intake. Obviously when it's warmer than a glass blower's arse, you're unlikely to want to shovel hot cups of tea and coffee down your throat, you'd rather be quelling the fact that your body is on a total meltdown. As much as I love my real ale, there's only so much your body can cope with before drinking water is a necessity.
Trouble is, as much as water is an essential part of staying alive, it's a tad on the 'fuck all taste' side of things, so what better way to make it thirst-quenching and tasty by adding some Robinsons Fruit and Barley Summer Fruits (the one with no added sugar). Not only that, Robinsons products have been keeping players, crowds, ball boys and ball girls refreshed at Wimbledon since 1935!
To find out more, please click on the logo above.

britvic

The other great thing associated with Robinsons is the fact that they're part of Chelmsford-based Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd and even though they use one of the many weights of the Copperplate font as the main part of their logo, I still think it's one hell of a cool logo. With great brands like Pepsi, Robinsons, Tango and of course the Britvic brand, along with successful new products developments, such as J2O and Fruit Shoot, the company has become one of the two leading soft drinks businesses in Great Britain.
Click on the cool logo to find out more.

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