Hi!

Guess what? It was my birthday a few days ago. Woo! There was much cake and joy :D

Also, I got some lovely things. Let me tell you about them.

Lovely Thing #1

Nick sent me the most vile beautiful card in the world. Look at it!

Look how beautiful it is! And Nick even wrote a beautiful message on the inside!

D'awww.

Lovely Thing #2

I am so chuffed with this book. I found it in a random pub when I was on holiday. I hastily tried to read as much as I could in the time I was there, but eventually we had to leave the pub and I had to say goodbye to the book.
But my sneaky parents were keeping an eye on me and ordered me my own copy from amazon.

It's very interesting in a light-hearted sort of a way. The law is a complex and shady subject!

Lovely Thing #3

I got a new tablet. I was fed up of my old one refusing to work every 5 minutes, so I decided to ask for a new one for my birthday. I just installed it today; it only took 2 hours! (Windows 7, your inability to install new hardware easily is criminal.)

Still, after much stress, I managed to get it working. And, I have to say, it's so much easier to use than my old tablet. I don't know why. It could be that I'm actually using a widescreen tablet for a widescreen, um, screen. Or it could be that I've never had a pressure sensitive tablet before. Either way, it's a joy to use.

To practice, I scribbled out a little doodle of Rochelle.

The good thing about vampires that are really old is that you get to dress them in lots of old costumes! This time I decided to draw 16th century Rochelle. I imagine him being rather young at this point; young enough that he hasn't had time to build up all his walls, so his youthful arrogance and ambition shine through. Or something :D

Lovely Thing #4

This one isn't a birthday present, but it is lovely!

I have just fallen hook, line and sinker for the BBC's new Sherlock Holmes drama.

Now, I don't normally watch dramas. It's not really my thing, but one of my friends mentioned having enjoyed the first episode so I decided to give it a go. I only had half an hour to spare, so I thought I'd watch the first part and then watch the end later. As it turns out, I couldn't turn it off; I watched the whole hour and 30 minute episode in one sitting!

The basic premise is that they've set Sherlock Holmes in the 21st century. It sounds gimicky and awful, but actually, it's really good! It's fun and fast-paced and has some amazingly funny lines.

I don't quite know what's wrong with me. I never normally become a fan of things so quickly, but I can't stop thinking about it. (Only 4 more days until the next episode!) :DDDD

I spent all evening making this. What that says about me, I don't know.

In other news:

I have to thank Auto for pointing me in the direction of this Vampire Weekend remix by Miike Snow.
It's like a burst of euphoria on my eardrums. Oh baby. *heavy breathing*

I have been so productive recently! Woo!

It's all boring real-life grown-up sort of boring stuff though:
- I applied for some jobs!
- I filed my CPD notes!
- I cleaned the flat!
- I went to visit my Nan!

Although, I think all this productivity has worn me out. The last couple of days, all I've done in the evening is go to bed early (which is boring for you, wonderful for me).

Today though, at work, I did completely un-grown-up un-boring stuff: I spent the morning drawing and colouring a map of a Tudor village that I made up. So much fun :D (If only I could use colouring pencils at work every day, it would be awesome.)

Re the conversation I mentioned in my last post:

I decided to draw everyone's favourite monarch.

When it comes to running the country, Elizabeth I likes to use the carrot and stick approach.
Both.
At the same time.
Preferably.

So. I suppose I owe you folks an explanation. It goes a little like this:

1. I got hacked.
2. So I pulled the blog from the internet.
3. To get everything back up and running again, I had to reinstall the blog script and customise it all over again.
4. I went on holiday.

Point 4 isn't actually related, but it does explain why it took me so long to post :D

So, now I'm back and can have my blog fix again (going cold turkey is hard ;_;), there are a few things I'd like to point out:

- I am now running on a new version of the blog script and it looks like it has a few more bells and whistles and bells than before

- I think I've got everything looking and working ok, but I'm not entirely sure (see above). If you see something that looks off or doesn't work right, please let me know and I'll try to fix it.

AND NOW, because I'm back, I can post about all my wonderful adventures that I've been having in the mean time :D

Adventure #1: BATH

I took Mariya to Bath so we could be proper tourists for the day. We also met Steve and Heather there and had some French sandwiches :D

Among the touristy things we saw:

1. ROMAN BATHS

2. FASHION MUSEUM ABOUT FASHION

3. NON-ROMAN BATHS
Here. I'd never been to a spa before, but now I can happily say that I am a convert. Scented steam rooms are officially the best thing ever! I've tried to recreate the experience at home, but sadly, drinking mint tea while in the bath doesn't quite cut it.

4. SITTING IN DIDCOT PARKWAY STATION FOR AN HOUR
So much to see and do! Including a departure board and a ticket booth and a toilet and a Spar!

Adventure #2: LONDON

I went on a jolly to London with Susan and Emma and the three of us went up the monument near the Bank of England.

A large phallic object in the heart of my capital city? Why yes!

The views from the top were pretty cool (even if the stairs are murder on the old calves and feet).

Then we toddled along and had a look in the church of St Magnus the Martyr which used to stand right at the entrance to London Bridge. It's not beside the bridge any more because they knocked the bridge down and built a new bridge a few feet further upstream (crazy victorians). So we had lots of fun standing next to the church and saying: LOOK! I AM STANDING ON OLD LONDON BRIDGE EXACTLY WHERE IT USED TO BE. (Yeah, we're hardcore like that.)

Adventure #3: WEST SUSSEX

I went there for a week with my parents. It was nice in a quiet, walking in the countryside and enjoying the wonderful sunshine kind of a way.

The village we stayed in was very pretty and overflowing with flowers.

Things I did on holiday:

1. Saw some Roman mosaics (my parents love them some Romans like you wouldn't believe)

2. Walked up a lot of hills

3. Had a fun conversation with my Dad, in which he proposed that Elizabeth I was actually a man and that she he kept his country in line through the use of some tactical buggery.

Dad: Listen! I can do an impression of Elizabeth I! Sir Francis Drake, get over there, I'm going to bum you.

I love my Dad.

4. Importantly. I played some serious Phoenix Wright. I've just finished Justice for All and I can't get enough of those crazy lawyers. It is so much fun. The last episode, in particular, was brilliant. I cackled so loudly that my parents asked me if I was ok. Matt Engarde, you are hilarious.

Apologies for the quiet spell!

I've been busy continuing my developing profession (developing my professional continuance?) or, as it is more commonly called: Learning Stuff For Work

I've just started putting together a portfolio of all the stuff I've learnt so far and it's hard, because I've kind of gotten used to full-time work and having free time to piss away as I see fit. Oh well. This stuff's not too hard once I actually get down to it.
Bonus: I just SWOT analysed myself! (No, I didn't realise that was possible either.)

Other things I need to learn in the next 5 days: Everything there is to know about the Swing Riots of the 19th century.
D: Oh God, I actually know nothing. And I feel like this sort of thing should be common knowledge too. Why isn't it my common knowledge? How embarrassing.

But the reason I'm doing all this learning stuff (apart from the swing riots, which are terrifying but not really related) is because it's that time of year again: TIME TO FIND A NEW JOB
Goddammit. Now I get to piss-away the rest of my free time on job applications.

In other news:
I went to see some hills at the weekend. They were quite pretty.

In other different news:
I forgot to mention earlier! Deborah is getting married next year and she's asked me to be one of her bridesmaids! Awesome. Not only do I get to play dress-up again (and help Deborah play dress-up too), but she's having two weddings: one in London and one in Milan! So I might get a holiday out of it too :DDD

PISS

Oh well, at least the Tories will be watered down with a bit of Lib Dem.

But let's think positive here (because we have to put up with it now - providing the coalition actually works of course ahahahahaha ;_;) It is the 21st century after all. Maybe the Tories have changed. Maybe they're not all twats. Only time will tell.

(But the thing that really concerns me: David Cameron, why is your face so shiny all the time? You look like you're wearing a mask of your own face. That's weird, man, really weird.)

In other news, I went to go see Four Lions at the weekend. My review:
It was good. And it was funny. Not quite as funny as I'd been hoping (it doesn't reach In the Loop standards) but I did spend a large portion of my time laughing. What I wasn't expecting was how dark it was going to be. I should have known given the subject matter, but maybe the fact that it was a comedy had lulled me into a false sense of security.

As the film went on, the laughter from the audience grew more and more hysterical (not hysterical in a 'I'm wetting my pants laughing' kind of a way, but hysterical in a 'I feel kinda bad for laughing, but if I don't laugh I'm going to start crying' kind of a way). And, you know how normally, when a film ends and the credits start rolling, you hear a murmur as people begin to gather their things and leave? At the end of this film, when the credits started rolling, no one moved. There was nothing but complete silence for a good few minutes. Everyone was just stunned.

So, yes, most funny film I've ever seen? No. But a thought-provoking emotional rollercoaster with a lot of laughs along the way? Yes.

It's not very good \o\
Candidates campaign in your neighbourhood /o/
*jazz hands jazz hands*

You know, I'll almost be sad when the election's over, because it'll mean an end to all these wonderful spoof videos that have been coming out of the woodwork.

Like this wonderful rap battle between Gordon, Dave and Nick

After weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks, I finally finished that drawing meme.

The final request, made by Nick, was for a picture of cheeky gardener, Sonia:

Who's the heart for? I will let you fight it out amongst yourselves, because I can't remember if it was Nick or James who she had the hots for. Maybe it was both, you lucky boys.

At first, I found this request quite hard, because the last time I saw Sonia was 4 years ago, so it was quite hard to remember what she looked like. But then I made a fortuitous discovery and found that I have 230MB worth of video of Sonia gardening on my computer, all with Steve's dry commentary.
One of the commentary highlights:
"You can see some cars in the background. It shows you what a busy street this is. Only the hardiest of gardeners can be prepared to take on such an environment."
- Yup. That Sonia. She was hardcore.

This picture was sketched out very quickly on my tablet, which explains why it looks so bad XDDD One day I will master the use of a tablet for drawing, but not today!

In other news, it's time for...
Best conversation of the day
At work, we got to talking about what would happen if the one ring, in the Lord of the Rings, was actually a Prince Albert. Suddenly the whole story has a different aura. And it makes Gollum talking about 'his precious' rather... interesting

BONUS SECTION: SONG OF THE MOMENT
It's old, but it's good. I'm not sure, but this may just be my favourite song ever.

I spent nearly the whole day cutting and sticking today :D
Why bother with any of that 'old documents' rubbish when you can make things out of bits of coloured paper! But the reason I'm doing this is so that I can make these things with a load of children on an open day in just over a week's time. I've never worked with children before. Hopefully it's not too difficult D: D: D:

In other news, I found out today that I've just been published for the first time! Woo!
Ok, so, I didn't write the book (ok, list; it's more technically a list in book form). It was written years ago. But I did help overhaul the previous edition, including a whole lot of proof-reading. (In fact, it was quite hard to restrain myself from proof-reading the final volume as I was looking through it today!) So I'm down as a joint-editor, and I'm jolly chuffed with that.

In other news, I am well late, but have some general election fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0QsSoV0SRo
(I didn't see the first debate myself, but I hear that this was exactly what happened.)

Do you remember that unicorn game?

Earlier in the week, I decided to draw a unicorn game/gundam 00 fanart, which I think is overwhelming proof as to why I should never be allowed any days off work, ever.

Click below to see it!

Read more »

Hay guys,

Have you had a nice Easter? I've had a pretty good time so far, and I've also got the next couple of days off work too, which I am going to use for important things like sleeping and playing Phoenix Wright.

I went to Cambridge with Theresa on Saturday for her birthday. We went punting! Which seemed to consist mostly of crashing into the banks of the river every 2 minutes and trying not to fall into the water. GOOD TIMES. Then we had a look around one of the colleges.

Cambridge looks a lot like Oxford when all's said and done, although that's not really that surprising. Here, have a look at the photos what I took.

SOME COLLEGE BY THE RIVER. They all look the same. I think it's Kings? (EDIT: Actually, I have no idea which college this is.) Also, that tree tried to eat us later, because David kindly steered us right into the path of its branches.

PUNTING

The ducks on the river are absolutely fearless. They love tourists. This one has probably been caught in a million tourist photos. What a camwhore.

I think this might be Kings College as well >_> Shhhh. I can only remember the name of one College.
EDIT: Actually, it's St John's College orz

Hello pretentious photo of stairs :D

And then, later in the same day, I took the train to London to go see Deborah get baptised and confirmed. I didn't actually realise this before I went (because my knowledge of Catholic ceremonies is not so great), but this meant that we went along to the Easter Saturday evening vigil service. Which lasts for TWO AND A HALF HOURS D:

Luckily, it didn't seem so long in the end because there were things to keep me occupied, like singing, and bells, and candles! You have to admit, these Catholics know how to give their services a bit of a spangle. (We'll not talk about how I got wax all over my coat - Who thought it was a good idea to give me a naked flame anyway?)

Also, I got to see Esha, who I haven't seen for TEN YEARS. Wow. I didn't realise I was that old! We had a good time reminiscing though. Hopefully we won't leave it another 10 years before we meet up again.

At the weekend I went with my parents and my grandma to go visit my grandma's sister. It was nice to have all that quality family time. And we ate out for well cheap and well tasty nomnomnom.

Also, I took the time to go indulge my pastime of looking at old stuff:

SO PRETTY.

In other old stuff news, I came across an old passport today at work. It was from the 1920s and the guy in it had a stern expression and a little bow tie, which amused me to no end :D (Seriously, if you want to distract me, go stick an old photo in front of my face and you're away.)

This is an additional entry for that drawing meme. AC requested that I draw Soma from Gundam00. (I quite like these memes. It means that I end up drawing characters that I wouldn't normally draw.)

I had such a fight with my hardware to get it done though. I'd bought a new scanner, which refused to install properly. And then my old tablet, which I thought worked fine, decided it didn't like my screen resolution. I tried reinstalling the tablet drivers but they crashed my computer in a big big way D:
Now I want to get a new tablet, but I'm not sure if I'll find one new enough to work nicely with Windows 7 (Jesus, Windows 7, why do I have to keep buying new things for you???)

In other news, I just finished watching Bellamy's People. What a brilliant show that is. The characters are so well done, and it's very funny. Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9CijaMuytA
Just goes to show that Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson have still got it. But that's not to detract from the other actors too, because they all of them pull it off wonderfully. My favourite character is this guy, he seems like such a nice old man!

I've just gotten Windows 7 for myself.

Using it is kinda like learning how to write with the wrong hand. There are several times where I've just stared at the screen for 10 minutes saying 'Why isn't the button there any more! Where's it gone? I'm lost! I'm lost!'

Some features are nice though, and the whole thing is kind of shiny and twinkly.

Now, if only there was some way I could find a Tieria-based desktop theme, I'd be all set XD

Songs of the moment

Vampire Weekend - Cousins
How have I not recced this song before now? I LOVE IT. It's so fast paced and happy :DDD

Audio Bullys - Only Man
The riff is so catchy. And don't forget the saxophone! (According to the blurb on YouTube, "Only Man is a throbbing piece of electro disco" I think that deserves an Ooh Matron if you ask me.)

Arctic Monkeys - My Propeller
This is pretty unusual for an Arctic Monkeys song. It took me a while to get into it, but when I woke up singing it one morning, I knew I was a fan. And I have no idea what the lyrics are about, but to my ears they sound pretty filthy. (Is it bad that I think that it sounds a little like the ending from Gankutsuou?)