It really does feel like I’m about to get a new life again. A while ago I was going to write a blog post about needing some kind of shake up in my life, and I feel like this might be the exact thing I was looking for. I’ve wanted to work for myself for some time, I’ve just never had the push I needed to get started. Well, this is the push. And now it’s time to step up to the plate.

In other news (just to make sure I ever get the chance to be bored), I’ve challenged myself and Daveto design a poster a day for the next 365 days. We’re currently on day 10. You should come and check us out. You’ll like it.

The Novl Cuisine Challenge.

That is all.

And this.

I’d been bitten by the photography bug, but longed for something a little bit better than my Cybershot that was becoming a bit battered. Sharing it with a girlfriend, festivals, gigs and jumping around in bags does that to it. Said girlfriend has since lost it.

So, I set about looking for a new camera. I’d had my eyes on the Canon 400d for a while, but I couldn’t justify buying it. Like everything, my willpower waned and I bought the 400d.

I hated it. I took it to London, and took some good pictures.

But I hated it. It took a mean picture, but it removed everything from taking pictures that I’d loved with the inferior Cybershot: the portability, the ability to take a picture in an instant, and the fact that it could fit in my pocket. I either had to carry the Canon beast around my neck – prime picking for someone to punch me in the face and snag it quick sharpish – or put it in my bag. Carrying it in my hands everywhere wasn’t any fun, and London was the first and last place I took it.

So I was on the hunt again. I was tempted to just buy a cheap Cybershot again, but I wanted to splash out on something that was as good as the 400d, but much more portable. I found the Powershot G9. And I bought it, and loved it.

That was a year ago, and since then I’ve taken the G9 all over the place. I love the fact that it’s retro looking, it’s built like a tank, it takes better pictures than the 400d, and it can still fit in your pocket. I’ve had some good times with the G9. Like these.

That still isn’t the end of it. I’ve recently gone back to film cameras, and bought in the Fisheye 2. I’ll tell you more about that when I’ve got my first roll developed.

And no, I’m not giving you a satisfying conclusion.

I’ve had my host tell me it isn’t a problem of the server, so I’m not really sure what do about it. I can’t wait upwards of 10 seconds (sometimes) for the New Post window to load up. This is getting stupid.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on this one.

Bloody BRILLIANT.

9.999999999/10

The biggest thing I’m trying to change in my life to combat these feelings is to start doing something useful on an evening again, even if it’s not something big. For the past few months all I’ve been doing is going to work, coming home, then sitting playing games or lounging in front of the telly. I knew I needed to change it, but I really couldn’t be arsed. There’s a few project ideas I’ve had in my head for a while now that I’ve decided to start, so I’ve got something to do on an evening again, other than just games.

Also, I’m trying to eat/live healthier, which is proving far more difficult than doing something productive on an evening again. I’m starting to get into the habit of going to the gym again, but it’s the eating properly side that’s bloody hard. I’ve never eaten properly in my life, so changing a lifetime habit of eating shit is, well, changing a lifetime habit. But I’m getting there, slowly. I feel better because of it already, and I’m already starting to be more aware of foods that are bad for you.

I’ll keep you updated over the next few weeks how the life-change is going.

After months – probably years – of watching boring horror films and crappy remakes of old classics, Funny Games U.S. appears on my telly and surprises me. Witty, completely bleak, and funny all at the same time, it’s the first horror film in ages that’s actually, you know, good.

9/10

Right now, Grid-a-Licious has many problems, nearly all of them stemming from its awful coding. This I will be sorting over the next few days, then making a few graphical tweaks of my own to it.

But for now, see this as an attempt for me to get back into blogging again. And please God, if you know how to code, don’t look at the HTML. It’ll make your eyes go deaf and your ears go blind.

EDIT: The coding was much worse than I originally thought. Avoid Grid-a-Licious like the plague.

Yes, another new portfolio. It’s about time I made a proper one, because I spend so much time designing other people websites that it’s about time I got a decent one of my own. I’m working on it all this week fingers crossed, with a view to launch it around the end of the month.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that The Last has finally launched again. That’s been the main project that has been niggling at the back of my mind for quite some time as I’ve been desperate to get it up and finished, but I’ve just not found the time. I won’t lie; I’m finding it incredibly difficult at the moment to get used to doing it every week again and finding a place to do it regularly every week, but I’ll get there eventually.

I don’t quite know when it happened, but these days I seem to have no time. I don’t seem to have many more projects or good things to show for it either, it just seems that time now goes faster than every before. The ironic thing is is that I used to get more done when I got home an hour later.

Anyway, toodles for now. Look at that, I managed to write 279 words of utter balls, and I didn’t even try.

It’s certainly not the action scenes that make this film average though. QOS is absolutely busting with some of the best (and most painful-looking) action sequences I’ve seen in any recent film, and when you throw in the fact that a lot of the stunts were done by Daniel Craig (and thus meaning there’s less long shots to hide the stuntman’s face), the action bits of QOS are gritty, real, and downright stunning. In fact, they’ve spent so much time making all these amazing action scenes that they seemed to forgot to write a story.

QOS started production in January without a story, and it most definitely shows. Although Bond films are almost notorious for their lack of any real story meat to their action pie, Casino Royale showed the world that a Bond film can have a good, solid story alongside amazing action sequences. Unfortunately, that skill isn’t on display here, and it’s ultimately the almost complete and utter lack of a story that lets it down.

Some people have spoken about how the story is confusing in QOS, but with a story about as complex as a Spot The Dog book and of similar length to boot (this is apparently the shortest Bond film ever made), you could be forgiven for using the “I don’t understand it” excuse because it must be you that’s wrong. There really must be something more to this film.

That’s what I said after sitting through Quantum Of Solace too. But then I sat back for a few minutes, thought, and then said:

“That really didn’t have a story did it?”

Maybe I was expecting too much. Don’t get me wrong though – Quantum of Solace is still an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride with very few boring bits. It just feels a bit too much like someone made a series of fancy action sequences, then forgot to put the story bits in.

Close, but no Casino Royale.

Toodles.

Before I go, I’m curious: is there still anybody out there who bothers to read this?