Sunday, May 06, 2007

Spiderman 3

We went to Spiderman 3 this morning. Dylan was so excited waiting for the lights to go down, and so was I. Regardless of the lukewarm reviews I've seen around, I LOVED SPIDERMAN 3! Ok, it's not as good as 2 but that movie is so awesome that 3 really doesn't have a chance of topping that. And anyway, what law says that the next thing in a series must be better than the last? The main characters drew me in as they always do, the funny bits made us laugh and the action sequences have certainly cranked it up a few notches. The dizzying battles taking place during falls from skyscrapers really blew me away. I want to see it all again, right now. Looking forward to the DVD release to really study the great CGI work.

Watched the rest of the Heroes episodes last night so we're now up to episode 18. Wow! The story continues the gallop along with connections being made all over the place. Can't say too much about the plot content for fear of spoilers. But suffice to say the series is absolutely fantastic. Got to download myself the next batch now.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Coming Up

Up early with leg pain despite a late night watching Heroes last night. Got the last bunch of episodes on DVD from Steve and planning on gorging myslef on them all this weekend. It's a treat not having to suffer the usual annoying adverts.

Some contact re-established with the Siemens organisation during the week. I'm hopeful that Phil is in line for a contract position that's coming up. It will be a good strategic move to get back in with them, especially as they should be able to support a working arrangement outside of IR35. It's good just to make contact to let them know I can be available and interested.

Reminded this morning that today is the 24 Hours Of Flickr so I'd better get my camera out and take something. Not expecting much though as I intend to continue decorating Dylans room and have all painting jobs completed this weekend. Stated the big Link picture soon.

Jacq has taken Dylan down to swimming this morning as she hasn't seen him swim for ages. I'm pottering around the house tidying up before getting my painting clothes on. Tomorrow morning is Spiderman 3 and we'll be there for the early showing. Me and Dylan are looking forward to that. Not sure about Monday but as it's a bank holiday it'll probably be chucking it down.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

What's The Time?

Jacq has been chuckling all weekend at her MacBook. She has set it to 'speak' the time to her every half an hour. It's cheesey robot sing-song voice cracks her up every time.

The kids haven't been around much this weekend. Harriet was sleeping over last night and out all day with friends today. Dylan was at a birthday party this afternoon and is sleeping over tonight. Where has my little gang gone? Still, on the plus side, it did enable me and Jacq to get into some serious DIY. Cracking on with Dylans room, we got some more painting done and I've installed a couple of extra sockets.

Grabbed a moment in the garden this afternoon with the dog and took a few photos. I've been trying to 'capture' Pebbles for a while now and I think I might have finally got one. Check it out on my Flickr stream here.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Restarting DIY

Another nice weekend just gone. Finally back into working on Dylans room. I should have been into it last weekend but the shower needed replacing and that was a higher priority. Really have to get a wriggle on and get the room done so Harriet can have her bedroom back to herself.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

What Kind Of Madness?

Most mornings I drive into the city centre and straight out the other side on my way to the motorway and another city. What kind of madness is this? I'd love to work in the city that I live in but I've never managed to find work based here.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

More Exercise

Appointment with the doctor this morning about my hip joint pain. He prescribed some painkillers and recommended that I increase my exercise time to 45 minutes a day. If only it were that easy to fit such a time in. I suppose I could always visit a local gym in the evening but I don't think my energy reserves could support it.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Coffee Break

Pain in my hip joint today caused me to suggest a lunchtime coffe to Phil in place of the normal trip to the gym. Phil agreed and so we popped down to Starbucks in the local Borders bookstore. The car park was very busy for a bookstore but it seems that everyone is in the coffee-shop, not browsing books. It was a very pleasant time spent chatting away with Phil fueled by coffee and cake. At the end of the hour I'd really lost my work-mojo and didn't relish returning to the dull workplace. I think Phil felt the same as the conversation extended into the office and it was a struggle to get back into the document I was working on.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Uber-Demo

I continue to be impressed with Phils MacBook Pro. At work this afternoon he presented the uber-demo, showing off some of the neat apps that I've been hearing about on podcasts over the last few months. Quicksilver, Scrivener and iGTD all look like the business. Seeing iPhoto being used from a photography perspective looks a breeze. Of course the Apple hardware itself just rocks and seeing the keyboard softly illuminate was super-neat.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Beadnell

Some notes from a wonderful holiday.

Packed the car and got everything in the boot so I was happy with that. The kids were well setup in the back with their dvd player and the dog in the middle. On the journey up, Harriet got a text from a friend saying that Dylan had won the easter egg competition with 'Egg Wars - A New Yolk', an egg-based homage to the movie. Another winner for Jacq.

The holiday cottage was great with lots of space and nicely decorated. Everything in place we wanted for a relaxing holiday. Talking a stroll with Pebbles, I found a path which lead between houses straight to the coast in less than a minute.
Saturday morning I walked to the shop with dog and boy to fetch paper and milk. Slipping easliy into the relaxed pace with breakfast followed by a long read of the paper. Looking forward to a walk along the north beach later.



The first walk along the beach was a real life-giver with the wind in our faces. Pebbles loved the beach from the start, dragging great clumps of seaweed around with her. Although there was a chill in the wind, the sun shone through and lifted the scene. I took some photos and we collected some pebbles. Real ones, not the dog. Back to the house for some warm baths. I'm sat outside on the back patio with a coffee enjoying some sheltered sun. It's a meditation in itself. The first of many hopefully. Me and Jacq popped down to the local chippy later then we all sat down to watch the start of the new series of Doctor Who.

Sunday morning strolling along the south bay beach, just me and Pebbles. A huge stretch of sand backed by dunes, a perfect scene. We all returned later in the day running up and down the sand dune hills. Totally lost track of time, it reminded me of how it felt to be on holiday as a kid. Afternoons streching on forever. Time goes slow on this holiday.

Monday morning slowly stirring. A bath in Lush Blue Skies is a refreshing delight. Shorts on today even though it's not that warm yet. Another afternoon on the south beach dunes. We took sledges found at the cottage to ski down the dune hills. Jacq took some video. Pebbles had such fun greeting everyone on the beach and making friends. Back at the cottage and it's only just gone three in the afternoon. It's great to actually feel each moment of the day pass by naturally.

Weather got nicer as the week went on. We hadn't expected he sun and packed no sunblock so I burnt the top of my head. Apart from a trip to a Roman site to get Dylan a sword and shield, we just simply hung out in Beadnell and relaxed. Sublime.

I'm glad we didn't take all of our usual gadgets up on holiday with us. I was free of the opression of possibilites. Would I be happier without it all? No, the holiday was a refreshing break from the routine that should hopefully renew and refresh my creative goals. Normally by the end of a holiday I've usually had enough, ready come back home. But this time I would have loved another week in Beadnell living at that same pace and just enjoying each moment. I could tell it was a good holiday by the despair in my mood on returning to work the following week. It took nearly all week to re-adjust back into things.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Blow Away The Cobwebs

Not blogged for a while but that doesn't mean I've not been online. I've been online loads, in fact, I've probably been online too much. Well, tomorrow we're off on holiday and I'm looking forward to being very much "offline". The only gadget I'm taking away with me is a camera. We've got a cottage in the village of Beadnell in Northumberland and the dog is coming with us. Hopefully there will be lots of invigorating walks on the windswept beaches. Should blow away the cobwebs.

Saw Phil today in the office for the first time all week. Good to see him and his swanky new MacBook Pro. I'm ever so slightly jealous. At the risk of being seen as a copycat, I want one.

Another good session at the gym today. 20 minutes on the cross trainer and all of them in the cv zone. Hope to work some exercse into my relaxing routine next week.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

History Is Fantasy

Eduardo Recife is a graphics guy I like a lot. I've been checking his Misprinted Type site for years now but only today did I find his commercial work site here. Really great stuff that guy does, so inspiring. Following a link to some video for an HBO history lecture show called Assume The Position. It looks pretty good stuff and I might just BT some of it for a look-see. You gotta love bittorrent, it's so cool being able to just download stuff that seems interesting without having to wait for your own broadcast networks to pick up on it. Phil passed over a bunch of episodes of Dexter in the week that I'm looking forward to sitting down with.

Only a week to go until our Easter holiday break up in Northumberland in the village of Beadnell. Really looking forward to it. Taking Pebbles up with us will force us into a different sort of holiday I reckon. A simpler holiday, consisting of fresh air and beach walks hopefully. Dylan is keen to check out out some Roman stuff so a trip down to Hadrian Wall is definitely in the plan, if only for another sword for his collection.

Not much to summarize from the working week. Ducked out of gym on Friday due to strained muscle in the hip area. I'll be back on Monday, if only on weights. Popped over to Coventry on Wednesday to catch up with ex-colleagues and members of the elite Chancers team. Great to see everyone and love the fact that eveyone seems to really value keeping in touch. Long may it continue.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Karting

Karting last night with some of the guys from work. The group split into teams of two for a 1 hour endurance race. Phil and I teamed up in Kart 11. Phil drove first and set off at a great pace getting miles ahead of the pack. I was half-pleased and half-terrified, concerned that I would let the side down. It took me a while to build up the required agression to go full-out around the course. But once I got into the zone, the red-mist came down and I was pushing myself hard to keep the pace up. I was stoked. In the end, we came in third place which I was chuffed with considering it was my first time karting. Glad I didn't let the side down. Top fun all in all. The kids were impressed with my bronze medal. You can see an example lap of the track here.

A lovely spring-like sunny morning, Dylan and I did the swimming lesson routine and Harriet played out with her friends. Later on I went down the high street to pick up the obligatory mothers day flowers and bumped into Mike who was looking well. I hope we can get together for some creative action soon.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Games In Good Health

Listening to the 1Up Yours podcast on the way to work this morning reporting from the current Game Developers Conference. It sounds like Sony may finally have some interesting stuff coming up on the PS3. It will be nice to get excited about that bit of kit at last. Hopefully some Nintendo news will be coming out from there soon too. Go Ninty!

Gym attendance still going strong and I'm starting to feel some benefits from it in a general feeling of well-being along with a flexibility I've not had for many many years. I'm already starting to wonder why I ever left it this long to do this when it makes me feel so good about stuff.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Official Companion

Meeting tonight with my soon-to-be accountant in Birmingham. It was a two-hour chat that went by in a flash. My mind is spinning a bit with figures and I'm musing on some decisions that need to be made. As always, talking it over with Jacq helped me with my moral compass.

Managed a little bit of retail action while walking through the Bullring tonight. Picked up a copy of Firefly: The Official Companion for a real good price. It looks sweet, with lots of pictures and info that I can geek out over later. On a related note, my second set of trading cards arrived today, full of Serenity goodness.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Lunar Eclipse

After swimming, the afternoon was spent over at Marys house for Jodies birthday. Good to see everyone as it's been a while.

Waiting in the drive-thru on the way home, I rambled on about how great our new car is. The improvement in space and functionality for the family is a joy to me. I think it suits us really well.

It was a lunar eclipse last night. The sky was clear so we got a good look at it. Although Flickr is full of moon shots this morning (no, not THAT type of moon), it wasn't worth pointing my camera at it as I just don't have the lens.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Look What Happened There

Can't remember much of what happened at the weekend as it's got to Thursday night already in the blink of an eye. One thing to report though was a quick shopping trip up town on Sunday afternoon where I scored the first series of Battlestar Galactica from Virgin for just £12.99! Thirteen quid for 4 DVD's, that's good value in my book. T'wife says I can't watch 'em as they're too boring but she wasn't keen when I brought Firefly into the house and look what happened there.

Pleased to report that since joining the gym last week it's been 100% daily attendance so far. It's a bit of a mad rush trying to get a solid block of time actually on the equipment so I hope I can stretch my lunch-hour by a bit as I get more settled into the workplace.

Booked holiday for the upcoming Easter break up in Beadnell, Northumberland. Easter is at the end of this month which seems ridiculously close but it will be fun to be away with the dog for the first time.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Trading Cards

First week done at new workplace. Friday night journey home not as bad as expected. Jacq went over to Carols for some cooking-slash-party thing. She found it boring and needed booze to get through it, ending up with the blokes in the kitchen.

Jacq and I went to see Hot Fuzz this afternoon while my parents looked after the kids and took the dog up the woods. Film was good, not as good as 'Shaun', but good.

Some post waiting when we got back home. Love getting post. Love getting post from US even more. I got trading cards. I love trading cards. I don't like buying trading cards by the individual packet, but buying them as a complete set rocks! Got myself a lovely set of Firefly cards which are a joy to flick through. Firefly is one of my most favourite TV shows ever.

Oh and Jacq is great. Great great great.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

New Direction

This week has gone so quick, it's Thursday already and I've not yet blogged about starting at a new workplace this week. I'm over in Leicester now and there are a few friendly faces here. It's great to be working with Phil and Dan again. On the first lunchtime we took a stroll and it was just like old times, except with less to bitch about.

A more than usual amount of TV has been watched just recently. 24 and Lost are essential, but the highlight is Heroes which started on Monday night. I'm loving this. Took me until the second episode to get fully into it but I'm there now. Hiro is my fave character so far but I expect that will change as things develop. The fact that the actor that plays Hiro is also an oscar-winning ILM employee make me sick with envy.

Inspired by Phil and frankly using him as moral support, I've finally joined a gym. It feels like a big step for me and it's long overdue. I'm determined to get into the routine of going every lunchtime and really making this a 'lifestyle change' as my doctor calls it. I've only been twice so far and not attempting anything too ambitious until I've had my induction session next week.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Now I Can Love My Car

So glad to report that I've got the car back from the garage and it's running like shit off a shovel. What a relief that is, I can now allow myself to love my car. I'd been holding off getting too attached on the off-chance that I might have to return it should the lack of performance in the engine become too much to bear. But all is well, the car drives nice now and it's here to stay.

A Flickrmeet tomorrow with the Black Country group, having a walk around Walsall. Looking forward to this as I've never had a close look at the town. Jacq and the kids are coming too and they will mostly be hanging around the New Art Gallery which I hope to check out as well as it's been ages since we've been there. Hope they've still got Noddy Holder as the voice of the lift announcer. That's the best bit. An art installation in itself.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

My Own Personal Flickrmeet

Dropped my new car into the garage this morning to check out the under-powered effect I've been noticing. I hope they can find something wrong to fix otherwise I'll have to swap the car and I don't want to do that. After the drop-off, I took a walk into town through the streets of Digbeth. The sun was shining strong and I enjoyed my own personal Flickrmeet.

I know that lots of people didn't much care for the first Fantastic Four film, but I liked it. I was glad to learn that a sequel had been sanctioned and now I've seen the trailer for it I'm stoked. Check it out here.