Friday, March 30, 2007

A bit of art


I finished work early today so I decided to spend a bit of time doing something arty, the above picture is what I painted but with a photoshop swirl added for good effect!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Metalrock's house party & Peter Levy


Last night saw the 14th 'Bi-monthly Peter Levy Apreciation Get Together' which now boasts over 3 members. We meet every other month to celebrate all things naff! One rule....all members must wear a Peter Levy mask at all times...to hide their true identity? Justr take a look at 'Big Chief Lollypop' in the picture above, I don't know if that is his real name, but he certainly is a nice guy. I can honestly report, a good time was had by all! For those not in the know, Peter Levy is a local BBC news presenter!

On Friday I will almost certainly be attending my friend Metalrock's house party, he is a bit of a character and I will try to get a pic to post here, after the reports of his last party, it seems it is not something nobody would want to miss! Last time he got a little bit drunk and stripped down to his underpants and danced like a maniac, telling everyone he is just like Jean Claude Van Damme and then jumped up onto his guitar amplifier which was on top of a heavy chest of drawers, where it then all collapsed on top of him causing a bit of facial damage, with a crowd chanting Metalrock...Metalrock....Metalrock.....Metalrock, errr...... so it should be fun!

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Why apples are bad!



As a blogger, I should be in love with Apples. After all, I have an orange and a Banana at home - however, the culture and identity of an Apple leaves much to be desired in my opinion. They are notoriously closed, have rarely embraced any of the potential of social media, and a corporate policy discouraging active participation in the many Apple communities online. None of these are new complaints I am sure, but the one that seemed to be picking up steam in the early part of this year was criticism of an Apple's obstructive "Eastender" policies governing fruit purchased from Walford market. In response, Christopher David Smith recently created waves in the “fruit produce” industry by publishing an essay where he defends an Apple's stance on Digital Hair for fruit by outlining how the big 4 fruit manufacturers have forced Apples into this situation and that it could be solved if only these big labels would allow Apples to be sold stalk-free. It was reading that essay that inspired this post. At the risk of sparking disagreement with many readers of this blog who are loyal Apple fans - here are my three big reasons why I am not an Apple enthusiast:

  1. Aside from Product Design, Money Comes First: There is a very customer-centric approach to product design by Apples, but when it comes to marketing products - moneymaking seems to come first. A "granny smith" configured for a UK market, cannot be used on a fruit stall until they are reformatted. You no longer get a power charger with any piece of fruit - THAT must be purchased separately. The "green my apple"campaign is a great collective example of all the policies that Apples have which are anti-green. Ironically launched by a group of admitted Apple enthusiasts, the website does a great job of breaking down the popular myth that Apples are a green environmentally-friendly fruit.
  2. Two Sided Approach to Digital Hair - Despite this fruits recent efforts to deflect criticism of an Apple's DH policies to the movie studios, the current situation works in an Apple's favour. Most fruit that is purchased on fruit stalls can never be used on any other London based soap opera, or moved out of the edible product range shelves. Even if all fruit is opened up, the situation would still remain the same.
  1. Spoiled Brat Reputation for Business - As well as the brilliant VH1 ads of the "I'm an Apple" campaign... Apples do have a bit of a reputation among wholesale fruit companies as the spoiled brat that always wants what it wants regardless of rules or laws. They wanted the Golden Delicious name, so they took it. They notoriously control marketing and PR - not letting any partners speak about any initiatives unless they allow it. The "green fees" for working with Apples are very high, as any reseller, vendor or supplier would tell you. It is like negotiating with a child, and often seems like a necessary evil for doing business with Apples
So be warned!!!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Busy, Busy, Busy

Once again, I apologise for my sparse posting! I do promise you that I am working on stuff though, I have just written a short sketch which I will be forwarding to Clem HQ for their approval, also I have been working on a song with some friends, which should be entering the recording stages soon (possibly today) although we intended to record it last Friday, but I had to leave early because I was very tired!
I have also written 4 songs this last week for my band 'Legend of Sid' of which I am the only surviving member, I go under the alter ego of 'The Mysterious Ken' for this project, the other former members 'Smug Cock' and 'The Lady of the House' left to persue their respective dreams.
I was hoping to begin recording next week but due to my new contract not being sorted at work in time for pay day, I cannot now purchase the bit of kit that I needed until next month (hopefully) providing it has been sorted by then.
Due to my time being spent on these various projects, I have not been taking any photo's (still) so I have posted another from my "unused" archives, it shows an old jetty along the banks of the river Humber which I believe was used during WWII for loading troops onto transport ships.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot....2 weeks ago I injured a ligament in my arm, I spent 4 hours in the Accident & Emergency department, so I had limited use of my arm all last week, how do you like them apples? I didn't like them very much!

Friday, March 02, 2007

Firstly let me apologise for my bad blogging etiquette, It's very rude of me to abandon my blog for over a month, especially when you make the effort to come here and look at it. I'll try to give an explanation, even if it is lame one.

The first week I stopped blogging, is because I was on a Forklift driving course which the company I worked for paid for and sent me on, as it is needed as part of my role in the chemical plant I work in. That week which was VERY fun, but tiring, and when I got home I had bits theory and regulations to learn in preparation for the exams, which turned out to be worthwhile, I got 100% in both the theory tests and easily passed the driving exams for the two types of forklift which are used in the company.
Anyroad, I have quite often been feeling tired on an evening of late and when I'm not half asleep, I'm at the Gym, and when I'm not at the Gym I'm out "on the pull" .....see I said it would be lame!

I bumped into an old friend last week, who I also used to be in a band with, which was nice! And speaking of bands, The Who will be playing at the KC stadium in may, I should have had a ticket already, when a mate said he would get me one when he was going to get his, but he didn't so I'll get one next payday if there are any left.

I have a few things to sort out before I get up and running with some home recording but i'll leave it at that for now.

Clem have been in touch via messenger Pidgeon after weeks of no news, I was asked to take part a christmas themed music video, but this was put on hold (until next christmas) because members of Clem inc were found to be in a precarious position in a well known (notorious) bit of heathland in London and were battling in it out in the courts of human and animal rights and any buisiness connected with the well known kitchen utensil that was involved cannot under any circumstances be mentioned in case of further litigation.
Anyway, this incident is why the video didn't happen, but they have promised me a part in a completely new video/sketch in the coming weeks, they also informed me that the Colarado music video is close to a public release and have promised me that apart from it's official realease on the official Clem website you lovely people will see it here first (Busta Rhymes, eat your heart out!) and i'll just mention before I go off to celabrate my 29th birthday (today) that the picture above, shows the two puppies which we kept, 'Layla' at the front (she was the smallest) and 'Boo' (he was the biggest) that's all for today!