I dreamed up an exciting new culinary product the other night. Didn't think it up, literally dreamed it. As you may be able to guess from the title of this post it's called flavour bomb. It's like a stock cube but oh so much more. "Delicious in soups and stews, crumble over a chicken before roasting. Or why not add boiling water and enjoy as a hot, savoury drink on a cold winter's eve? Flavour Bomb. Drop a Flavour Bomb on it! Now available in lemon and thyme." There'd be all kinds of flavours. Also, the name reminds me of bath bomb, so maybe it could be effervescent or something. I'm thinking of taking it to Knorr.
I was watching Escape from L.A. a couple of days ago and it gave me an idea for a way of making myself look really tough and mysterious. Try it out.
When someone approaches you, perhaps at a party, and says "hey, aren't you (insert your name here)? You slowly turn your head away, squint as though remembering some long distant hardship and utter in a slow, throaty growl, "I used to be". Leave a few seconds of silence and then change the subject. Give it a go, you'll look awesome. Guaranteed.
Going to see Watchmen tomorrow, I am very excited. Bye.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sunday, September 21, 2008
illustration
Check it out, only 2 months since my last post. I thought I'd just stop by because I remembered saying I'd post some more pictures and I just did a new flyer for the star. Rob's got an offer on for the new students and as it involved corona and tequila it seemed like a no brainer that the flyer should be Mexican themed. I was just going to do a picture of a guy with a sombrero and a big moustache but after doing an image search I thought a Mexican wrestler would be cooler.
Not bad for one evening, I usually like to spend a little longer on the flyers I do but this one was needed quickly. The most time consuming part was colouring it in photoshop. I don't use it very often, and when I do I find that I've forgotten everything I figured out the last time. I've also started working on the new star halloween flyer as well and I'll post that up when it's done.
In other news I've signed up for an illustration night class that will be starting soon, I did the same course a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it. It's being taught by a local, children's book illustrator called Korky Paul who's artwork advertising last Christmas's production of Cinderella at the Playhouse can still be seen on many bus shelters around Oxford. (Bus shelters! Surely I could have come up with a better example) Anyway, he's an amazing artist and a thoroughly nice guy to boot so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll let you know how it goes.
In other news I've signed up for an illustration night class that will be starting soon, I did the same course a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it. It's being taught by a local, children's book illustrator called Korky Paul who's artwork advertising last Christmas's production of Cinderella at the Playhouse can still be seen on many bus shelters around Oxford. (Bus shelters! Surely I could have come up with a better example) Anyway, he's an amazing artist and a thoroughly nice guy to boot so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll let you know how it goes.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Update
I saw Axl and Emma the other day. I hadn't seen either of them in a while and it turns out they were both mad at me for not updating my blog in ages. Well here you go guys, see what your disappointment has wrought.
Lots has happened since my last post:
My foray into the world of modern technologies that others have been enjoying for years has continued at a breakneck pace with the inclusion of an i pod and a laptop into my arsenal. Obviously I am taking advantage of only their most basic functions at the moment as my tiny, dinosaur like brain struggles to comprehend their vast array of applications. Baby steps.
I have entered Batman challenge, aka Batmanathon, in which me and a group of friends have given ourselves 9 months to workout to see who can make themselves most like Batman. How exactly we're going to figure out who the winner is I don't know. There's been talk of feats of strength, skill based competition and even the bleep test. They all sound good but I think the most important element should be us wearing our own, home made Batman costumes while we compete.
Talking of Batman, the Dark Knight hits U.K. cinemas this week. The hype surrounding it has been practically impossible to avoid and I for one have been looking forward to it for some time. However, that excitement has been surpassed already. A few days ago the trailer for the Watchmen movie appeared online and I spazzed out about it immediately. This movie is going to be amazing. Guaranteed. If you haven't read the the book then it won't mean much to you yet as you won't know any of the characters, but this movie will almost certainly put every comic book movie that came before it to shame.
The story is set in an alternate 1985/86 where Richard Nixon is serving his fifth term as president and the threat of nuclear war is constantly looming. Superheroes, once so beloved by the people, have long since been outlawed, but the brutal murder of one of their own forces a handful of retired heroes to join forces again and investigate what seems to be an elaborate plot to kill off the old "costumed adventurers". But things are worse than they think.
Watchmen is one of the most highly respected graphic novels ever and is even included in Time magazines top 100 books alongside the likes of Lord of the Rings, 1984, Catch 22 and One flew over the Cuckoo's nest. I highly recommend reading it but I'm sure it won't be essential to your enjoyment of the film when it comes out in March next year. You can watch the trailer here.
That'll have to do for now folks, maybe it won't be so long until my next post. Maybe.
Lots has happened since my last post:
My foray into the world of modern technologies that others have been enjoying for years has continued at a breakneck pace with the inclusion of an i pod and a laptop into my arsenal. Obviously I am taking advantage of only their most basic functions at the moment as my tiny, dinosaur like brain struggles to comprehend their vast array of applications. Baby steps.
I have entered Batman challenge, aka Batmanathon, in which me and a group of friends have given ourselves 9 months to workout to see who can make themselves most like Batman. How exactly we're going to figure out who the winner is I don't know. There's been talk of feats of strength, skill based competition and even the bleep test. They all sound good but I think the most important element should be us wearing our own, home made Batman costumes while we compete.
Talking of Batman, the Dark Knight hits U.K. cinemas this week. The hype surrounding it has been practically impossible to avoid and I for one have been looking forward to it for some time. However, that excitement has been surpassed already. A few days ago the trailer for the Watchmen movie appeared online and I spazzed out about it immediately. This movie is going to be amazing. Guaranteed. If you haven't read the the book then it won't mean much to you yet as you won't know any of the characters, but this movie will almost certainly put every comic book movie that came before it to shame.
The story is set in an alternate 1985/86 where Richard Nixon is serving his fifth term as president and the threat of nuclear war is constantly looming. Superheroes, once so beloved by the people, have long since been outlawed, but the brutal murder of one of their own forces a handful of retired heroes to join forces again and investigate what seems to be an elaborate plot to kill off the old "costumed adventurers". But things are worse than they think.
Watchmen is one of the most highly respected graphic novels ever and is even included in Time magazines top 100 books alongside the likes of Lord of the Rings, 1984, Catch 22 and One flew over the Cuckoo's nest. I highly recommend reading it but I'm sure it won't be essential to your enjoyment of the film when it comes out in March next year. You can watch the trailer here.
That'll have to do for now folks, maybe it won't be so long until my next post. Maybe.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
you have been invited to join the justice squadron
Please meet at the municipal building of vengeance on Monday morning, 9:00 am sharp.
I started jury duty on Monday. Obviously my reputation as a master crime solver, up there with the likes of Batman and Sherlock Holmes, has preceded me. I was therefore hand selected as an essential candidate to take part in our fair city's war on crime. My many hours spent watching CSI and reading detective stories are now unarguably well spent.
Now unfortunately I won't be able to go into any gory details about any cases, not because I've sworn an oath not to but because nothing has happened. I arrived at ten to nine on Monday morning feeling rather nervous but also quite excited. There followed an induction and role call which lasted about an hour and then at 10 am my group were told our trial would begin at 2 pm. Four hours to kill. I read for an hour and a half, strolled round town for an hour and ate a sandwich and then returned to read for another hour. Then I read some more. Then at quarter to three we were lead to a small room adjoining the courtroom where we waited for another 45 minutes. Finally we were ushered into the courtroom where we took a seat, briefly watched the defendant argue with his counsel and then were ushered out again one minute later. Then after a further 45 minute wait we were sent home. Day 1 over.
On Tuesday morning I arrived for 9:45, as instructed. This was in readiness for a 10 o'clock case. I then sat and read until 12:15 when we were lead once more to the small room adjoining the court. Then 45 minutes later we were sent home again. I stopped by the pub to say hi on the way home and when Rob asked me why I wasn't in court I informed him that crime had taken the afternoon off.
Jury duty is supposed to last about two weeks, that's how long they tell you to prepare to be off work for, and that's how long I booked off work. When I rang the information line on Tuesday evening I was told I wouldn't be needed the next day. Then when I rang again on Wednesday I was told that my jury service was completed due to the Easter holiday. I took 2 weeks off work and my service was completed in a day and a half, only one minute of which was actually spent in a courtroom. I don't really know what to make of all that.
I never actually got sworn in, but when you do you can either swear on a holy book or you can make an affirmation if you aren't religious. I was surprised by the number of people who actually wanted to swear on the bible, it made me want to see if I could swear on a copy of Lord of the Rings. Han's got a very handsome leather bound edition that would have looked right at home in the courtroom. But the judge probably wouldn't have accepted an oath sworn by almighty Gandalf.
Anyway, that's it... all over with. It's kind of a shame that I didn't actually get to take part in a trial, I'm sure it would have been very interesting, and probably quite satisfying too. But on the up side it's my birthday on Monday and now that I don't have anything to do I can concentrate on celebrating in style, by which I mean getting boozed up. I'm going to be 30 years old by the way, eeeek!
I started jury duty on Monday. Obviously my reputation as a master crime solver, up there with the likes of Batman and Sherlock Holmes, has preceded me. I was therefore hand selected as an essential candidate to take part in our fair city's war on crime. My many hours spent watching CSI and reading detective stories are now unarguably well spent.
Now unfortunately I won't be able to go into any gory details about any cases, not because I've sworn an oath not to but because nothing has happened. I arrived at ten to nine on Monday morning feeling rather nervous but also quite excited. There followed an induction and role call which lasted about an hour and then at 10 am my group were told our trial would begin at 2 pm. Four hours to kill. I read for an hour and a half, strolled round town for an hour and ate a sandwich and then returned to read for another hour. Then I read some more. Then at quarter to three we were lead to a small room adjoining the courtroom where we waited for another 45 minutes. Finally we were ushered into the courtroom where we took a seat, briefly watched the defendant argue with his counsel and then were ushered out again one minute later. Then after a further 45 minute wait we were sent home. Day 1 over.
On Tuesday morning I arrived for 9:45, as instructed. This was in readiness for a 10 o'clock case. I then sat and read until 12:15 when we were lead once more to the small room adjoining the court. Then 45 minutes later we were sent home again. I stopped by the pub to say hi on the way home and when Rob asked me why I wasn't in court I informed him that crime had taken the afternoon off.
Jury duty is supposed to last about two weeks, that's how long they tell you to prepare to be off work for, and that's how long I booked off work. When I rang the information line on Tuesday evening I was told I wouldn't be needed the next day. Then when I rang again on Wednesday I was told that my jury service was completed due to the Easter holiday. I took 2 weeks off work and my service was completed in a day and a half, only one minute of which was actually spent in a courtroom. I don't really know what to make of all that.
I never actually got sworn in, but when you do you can either swear on a holy book or you can make an affirmation if you aren't religious. I was surprised by the number of people who actually wanted to swear on the bible, it made me want to see if I could swear on a copy of Lord of the Rings. Han's got a very handsome leather bound edition that would have looked right at home in the courtroom. But the judge probably wouldn't have accepted an oath sworn by almighty Gandalf.
Anyway, that's it... all over with. It's kind of a shame that I didn't actually get to take part in a trial, I'm sure it would have been very interesting, and probably quite satisfying too. But on the up side it's my birthday on Monday and now that I don't have anything to do I can concentrate on celebrating in style, by which I mean getting boozed up. I'm going to be 30 years old by the way, eeeek!
Monday, February 18, 2008
spaceman
Here's a painting I finished the other day. I keep saying I'd like to be an illustrator (when I grow up), but I never seem to see any pictures through from beginning to end. No way to go about getting a portfolio together. Anyway, ta-da!
He's a spaceman of some sort and although he's not perfect I'm pretty pleased with him. He's painted with some really nice water colours I got off Han for Christmas.
What's next? Don't know, but I do hope to start posting more pictures.
He's a spaceman of some sort and although he's not perfect I'm pretty pleased with him. He's painted with some really nice water colours I got off Han for Christmas.
What's next? Don't know, but I do hope to start posting more pictures.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
backlog
I've done it again, left it ages between blogs and forgotten how to write. Also, thinking back over the last 6 weeks or so since my last post it seems as though nothing has happened. Well, a few things have happened.
I had a chest infection for a while. That was pretty lame. Everything ached, I had a raging temperature and my nights were filled with fevered nightmares. Han said it was like sleeping next to a giant, boiling hot eel as I spent all night sweating and thrashing around. Good times.
Axl asked me to do a guest blog for the Potato Farm so I drew him a little comic which turned out pretty nice. You can see it here.
I've been watching lots of tv shows on the internet too, American shows that we don't get over here. My favourite of the lot is called Pushing Daisies. It's about a pie maker who can bring the dead back to life just by touching them. However, if he touches them again they die again forever. But if he lets them stay alive for more than a minute then something else has to die instead. He makes the most of this ability by touching murder victims, asking who killed them, touching them again and claiming the reward. Its a black comedy with a strong Tim Burton influence and well worth a watch.
Finally, I've been doing a bit of Christmas shopping. I've left it all late again like I do every year, I never learn. I even went into town at the start of the month and saw a load of things I wanted to buy for presents, but then I thought to myself that I'd buy them another time and came home empty handed. I don't know why I do that. Mental problems or something I expect. Anyway, that's it. Merry Christmas and that.
I had a chest infection for a while. That was pretty lame. Everything ached, I had a raging temperature and my nights were filled with fevered nightmares. Han said it was like sleeping next to a giant, boiling hot eel as I spent all night sweating and thrashing around. Good times.
Axl asked me to do a guest blog for the Potato Farm so I drew him a little comic which turned out pretty nice. You can see it here.
I've been watching lots of tv shows on the internet too, American shows that we don't get over here. My favourite of the lot is called Pushing Daisies. It's about a pie maker who can bring the dead back to life just by touching them. However, if he touches them again they die again forever. But if he lets them stay alive for more than a minute then something else has to die instead. He makes the most of this ability by touching murder victims, asking who killed them, touching them again and claiming the reward. Its a black comedy with a strong Tim Burton influence and well worth a watch.
Finally, I've been doing a bit of Christmas shopping. I've left it all late again like I do every year, I never learn. I even went into town at the start of the month and saw a load of things I wanted to buy for presents, but then I thought to myself that I'd buy them another time and came home empty handed. I don't know why I do that. Mental problems or something I expect. Anyway, that's it. Merry Christmas and that.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Mini Rant
Remember my rants about customers from a few months back? I've got another one.
It was the big fireworks display in South Park last night and that means one thing (apart from fireworks). Several hundred people simultaneously thinking "hmmm, what shall I do now? Oh I know, I'll go to the nearest pub, no one else will think of that." So off they trot, en masse, straight to our front door. So it went from being dead to absolutely packed in about five minutes, and the idiot ratio got bumped right up. Example:
Idiot: Busy isn't it!
Me: It is now.
Idiot: That'll be the fireworks.
Me:Yes...I know.
Idiot: Pint of cold Guinness when you're ready.
You will notice that Idiot has cleverly engaged me in conversation here so as to slip his order in at the end of our exchange, thus avoiding having to wait his turn. Also, I hate it when people say "when you're ready". I quickly look around to see if there is someone else I can serve, there is not, so I start pouring his Guinness. I am standing right in front of him at this time and he can clearly see me pouring his pint.
Me: Anything else?
Idiot: (to idiot wife) Tell him what you want.
Idiot Wife: A Fosters and a Guinness.
I pour a Fosters and another Guinness. They watch me pour them.
Me: That's £8.95 please.
Idiot: You know we only wanted one Guinness, right?
Me: Oh yes, of course. That's why I poured two Guinness and rang them through the till. Of course when you ordered two Guinness I knew you only wanted one, it was perfectly obvious to me because I am a freaking mind reader. You shouldn't have to worry about making your orders clear, let me work it out for you. etc etc.
Anyway, enough ranting, other stuff has happened too.
A couple of days ago I was walking down Cowley Road when I saw three students standing around outside the Classic Liquor and Deli looking down at a two litre bottle of Coke in a puddle. I wondered what they were doing. As I got closer I understood the great tragedy that had befallen them. One of them had dropped the bag with their bottle of cheap vodka in and it had smashed on the floor, and as if that wasn't bad enough one the shards of glass had punctured the coke bottle and it was spraying out into the road. Oh dear, no booze for you tonight lads.
Good news as well. Videosyncratic are now selling comics. I went and bought Watchmen the other week, a highly regarded graphic novel from the 80's which I should have read years ago but didn't. It was really good. You should probably read it. And you should spend some money at Videosyncratic.
I'm going now. It's time for a spot of B and E. Bacon and eggs! woo hoo.
It was the big fireworks display in South Park last night and that means one thing (apart from fireworks). Several hundred people simultaneously thinking "hmmm, what shall I do now? Oh I know, I'll go to the nearest pub, no one else will think of that." So off they trot, en masse, straight to our front door. So it went from being dead to absolutely packed in about five minutes, and the idiot ratio got bumped right up. Example:
Idiot: Busy isn't it!
Me: It is now.
Idiot: That'll be the fireworks.
Me:Yes...I know.
Idiot: Pint of cold Guinness when you're ready.
You will notice that Idiot has cleverly engaged me in conversation here so as to slip his order in at the end of our exchange, thus avoiding having to wait his turn. Also, I hate it when people say "when you're ready". I quickly look around to see if there is someone else I can serve, there is not, so I start pouring his Guinness. I am standing right in front of him at this time and he can clearly see me pouring his pint.
Me: Anything else?
Idiot: (to idiot wife) Tell him what you want.
Idiot Wife: A Fosters and a Guinness.
I pour a Fosters and another Guinness. They watch me pour them.
Me: That's £8.95 please.
Idiot: You know we only wanted one Guinness, right?
Me: Oh yes, of course. That's why I poured two Guinness and rang them through the till. Of course when you ordered two Guinness I knew you only wanted one, it was perfectly obvious to me because I am a freaking mind reader. You shouldn't have to worry about making your orders clear, let me work it out for you. etc etc.
Anyway, enough ranting, other stuff has happened too.
A couple of days ago I was walking down Cowley Road when I saw three students standing around outside the Classic Liquor and Deli looking down at a two litre bottle of Coke in a puddle. I wondered what they were doing. As I got closer I understood the great tragedy that had befallen them. One of them had dropped the bag with their bottle of cheap vodka in and it had smashed on the floor, and as if that wasn't bad enough one the shards of glass had punctured the coke bottle and it was spraying out into the road. Oh dear, no booze for you tonight lads.
Good news as well. Videosyncratic are now selling comics. I went and bought Watchmen the other week, a highly regarded graphic novel from the 80's which I should have read years ago but didn't. It was really good. You should probably read it. And you should spend some money at Videosyncratic.
I'm going now. It's time for a spot of B and E. Bacon and eggs! woo hoo.
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