Ninjabathy's Blog

If you didn't believe that I was crazy...

2010-04-08T19:37:00.003+01:00

The things I do to fill me time, eh? Today, I decided I'd like a nice, bassy shakuhachi... I went with 3' of the left over piping; it was waaay too hard to make a note and kept hitting harmonics, so I scaled down to the longest shak I've heard someone repeatedly make - a 2.6. It played a note! Great!! Now, where the feckles do the holes go? I used http://www.mujitsu.com/howtomakeshakuhachi.pdf for a really awesome guide, and just like that, it played in tune! It's in G#, to be precise! Magical. It actually sounds pretty nice, but you have to take it slowly with the notes, kind of letting them warm up... it's not responsive like the one I made on Tuesday! Have a listen... sorry!

I then had another tiny bit of pipe and no joints left, so I thought, "why not make a mini one?". So I did. It's official size is a 0.5 (only 15.5 cm - lol), but guess what... it's in tune as well! G# again... freaky. It's got no second (Kan) octave, though, unlike the bassy-one which always wants to jump right out into the upper-register where it plays responsively at last!

It's very interesting, this shakuhachi flute-making malarky! Wee oop!

Here are some piccies and sounds!

Shakuhachi Crazy!!

2010-04-06T15:13:00.001+01:00

I think I've gone a bit (more) mental. Y'see, I've got this problem... I'm addicted to musical instruments; I always have been. Anyway, I recently decided to buy another Shakuhachi, which is a type of end-blown Japanese bamboo flute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuhachi), from a NY-based maker, Perry Yung. I say "another" as I already own an "Earth" model flute by him, so I know my next one will be lovely too!

The wait was just too much for me, so I decided to make my own while I waited. It cost me a grand.... (lol, just kidding)... total of £2.99 (and I could make at least 3 more the same for that price), and only took just over an hour and a half to get the stuff (some pipe and a joint) and make it! Pretty good, eh?

I'll probably get round to blogging all of the instruments I've made/own eventually, but I can't be bothered just yet so it's just this one today. I call it my "Crapucrapshi". Hehe. It's actually not all that bad... have a listen. BTW... I simply couldn't be bothered to spend all day recording something nice and adding reverb etc, so I just plugged in a camera-mic and played some rubbish, so don't expect anything lovely... lol. Enjoy...

We might have been from the good food guide...

2010-02-28T16:43:00.001Z

Lucy and I had a brilliant day yesterday! Apart from the evening power-cut and some family-related downers, that is, but I shan't bore you with here! We went to Avebury and then Salisbury to have a look at some stones and logs. Check it out: http://kipperfrog.blogspot.com/.

Today's rock climbing, so we figured we should get up, chillax for a bit, buy a new chalk bag, have some lunch, potter around the shops looking for a new Iphone case for Lucy, and then go home for a bit before we head back out for our climbing sesh. It started off so well, but then we went to Harvester in Salfords...

Harvester is crap. I won't ever go there again. I hope no one I knows ever goes there again, and that because of this, they then shut it down because of that 6 degrees of separation thingy... Anyway, here's why it was sooo crap.

1. Shoddy welcome. The exact words were "Sit here for me", rather than the usual, "follow me this way please, Madam, Sir. Please take a seat", as they pull the chairs out for you... A great start to customer services. The waitresses name was Farrah, I believe. This is an excusable start and wouldn't have been worth mentioning if it wasn't for what followed...
2. The food is what followed... The help-yourself salad bar was looking very un-delicious. The green things weren't green, rather a pale-yellow, just like the red things, funnily enough! The sweetcorn was dried out, yet watery at the same time. Very tasty. Not. Again though, this is excusable; what do you expect from a free salad bar?
3. The main course killed it for me. The fresh garden peas were not fresh. They were yellowy-brown again, just like everything else, and were so overcooked they were almost mushy peas. The chips were lumpy and soggy at the same time, and the beef (an 8oz rump steak) I ordered well-done was burnt to a cinder. There's well done (soft, tender, juicy, a little pink right in the middle, but definitely no blood), and there's a lump of charcoal. I had the latter. And it wasn't even hot.
4. Lucy had a similar experience, and her piece of salmon was waaay dry and again, black. Apparently, it tasted not unlike beef that's been burnt until it tastes like charcoal. Nice. I'm sure the grill was really clean.
5. When we tried to pay, things go even worse. The lovely, polite, and ever helpful Farrah was nowhere to be seen. For 10 minutes. The other waitresses/waiters etc. just ignore you.. they're not going to get your tip, so why bother, I guess. We got out of our seats with our coats on to wait by the tills for another 5 minutes.
6. When Farrah did at last show up, it was to seat another family. She simply said, "move to the side, please", before hurrying the next family into place, and then scurrying off again.
7. When Farrah next turned up, it was to take Lucy's money. I feel bad about this, but I was refusing to pay. Lucy didn't want me to be quite so harsh and just wanted to get out of the place, so stubbornly, but still reluctantly, handed over the card. I bought some chocolate to try to make up for it a bit...
8. The machine wouldn't work. "Come with me", Farrah said as we both had to walk over to another till, while, instead of apologising for the various complaints I had about her service and the food, she blamed almost all of it on other people before saying everything was fine and that the clearly disgusting open grill was only just cleaned. I wish I had that on tape with a photo. It was grim.

Harvester Sucks. The Hornbrook Inn and the Rajkumar in Horsham are wonderful, the service is brilliant, and we'll never pass them up for Harvester again. Even Frankie and Benny's in Crawley is nicer than Harvester. In fact, I think Burger King and MacDonald's do better meat than Harvester. And in McDonald's, they apologise. Can you believe the service is better in McDonald's than a supposed family restaurant? Neither can I. Please don't go to Harvester. Ever. You have been warned. ;)

Wowsers!

2010-02-25T18:09:00.014Z

I've been sooo busy with work and hobbies lately, so I've been neglecting the blog big-style!

Anyway, aside from work, Lucy and I have been rock climbing a couple of times each week, swimming, and walking a lot, too! We've even had a bike ride here and there, and a few trips to London, National Trust Properties, and English Heritage Sites! Blimsters!

Climbing's been the main vice, though; it's almost become an obsession! There's this entire mysterious world of language, technique, and even culture to get your head around, but it's a fantastic community, a bit like the fishing community; you know, really friendly, welcoming and helpful. It's a lovely sport to do!

I thought I'd include a quick guide to getting into basic indoor sport-climbing, if anyone's interested:

Step 1: Find a local wall/community. Try http://www.climbfind.com/
Step 2: See if you like it! Do a taster/beginner course. If you like it, this is what you'll need next...

Equipment: (See http://www.bananafingers.co.uk/ or http://www.v12outdoor.com/ for online buys, but I'd advise trying gear first; there's usually a shop at most walls)

We got a discount after we completed a beginner course, so the whole lot of what I'm about to list came to about £120 per person, but the only things we needed each where the harness, shoes, and chalk bag; the other stuff is better shared as only one person can use it at once anyway! You'll need a partner as well for vertical roped-climbs, but for bouldering problems, you'll only need yourself, the shoes, and the chalk.

This is what I splashed the cash on:

Harness - Black Diamond "Blizzard" - My 36" fat-boy waist needed the large, it's a perfectly centered fit.

Rock Shoes - La Sportiva "Katana" - I wear a UK size 10 street shoe, these are a UK 8 rock shoe...

Carabiner (HMS/Pear shaped, screw-gate) - DMM "Sentinel"

Belay Device - Black Diamond "ATC"

Chalk Bag and ball - La Sportiva "Katana"

Get/make a ground anchor if there's a big weight difference between your partner and yourself, from a short length (we went for 3m) of rope with another pear-shaped, screw gate carabiner tied in at the harness-end with a double figure-eight knot and a double fisherman's stop knot, and fixed to the floor with a more adjustable clove-hitch on a D-shaped carabiner hooked into an anchor point. You should also stick an overhand stop-knot on the end of the loose end.

You'll also need some sensible clothes as anything too tight and un-stretchy will restrict movement, but anything too baggy will get in the way...

How to tie-in and belay:

This information is EVERYWHERE, but I'll stick it here anyway for completeness. Dunno why the ratings are so bad on these vids; I think they do the job even though they're in American instead of English... lol

Go to http://www.animatedknots.com/indexclimbing.php for guides on how to do all the knots described in this post and the video above!

For technique tips, grab a copy of Neil Gresham's "Improve Your Climbing" Masterclass series, and for inspiration, check out Dean Potter or watch "The Sharp End" by Sender Films. That'll show you a LOT more than just indoor climbing, but I mustn't bore you any more!

Indoor sport climbing is just the start, but I think that'll do for now! Go try it, it's great fun!! :)

The dream:

Psycho-Bro (and family)

2010-01-04T18:04:00.002Z

In case any one here was in any way in any doubt that my entire family is mental, here's a nice little video my bro, Will, and the folks put together... I'm kinda proud of them... Is that wrong?

Christmas Time!!

2009-12-27T12:54:00.003Z

WOOHOO!! Christmas time ROCKS! Without sounding like a Grammy acceptance speech, I'd just like to say thank you so much to all my loved-ones, family and friends, that made Christmas so special this year. It was an awesome few days, and I hope everyone had as nice a time as we all did. One little point I want to make that I found really pretty heart-warming is that Kipperfrog and I went to midnight Mass this year on Christmas eve, in really quite a big Church, and it was wonderful to see the sheer number of people that turned out that are still thinking about the real reason why we celebrate Christmas in the way we do, and trying to live better lives and be good people. This had to be the same pretty much country-wide, and it makes me glad! Nuff said. :)

New Year next! 2010, here we come! HooRAH!!!

SKY...

2009-11-25T18:17:00.008Z

I usually rave about how great my Sky subscription is... And it is! The selection of channels is great and the UI is awesome. The only gripe I have is when it goes wrong...

You see, a couple of years ago, we got sky+ installed. All was well until, one day it just stopped working. We rang Sky, and they sent a bloke over 2 weeks later (!) who did absolutely nothing. Fair enough; they didn't know that we needed a heights-specialist team. Nevertheless, I was irritated by the wait. I was even more irritated with the fact that I had to wait another week before the heights team showed up. Anyway, the problem was solved by putting the dish up a pole, and all was well. For a month.

By the way, even when they "fixed" the problem by adding a pole, they said that "ideally, the dish should be just under the apex of the roof of your house; they should've put it there in the first place so that that hedge over there didn't block it out when it got thicker in the Summer". I guess they just couldn't be bothered to move it, then...

About 1 week out of warranty, which was also about 2 days after Sky asked me if I wanted to extend my warranty (which I refused), everything stopped working again. After going through the reset-process for the umpteenth anger-making time (they insist you take the steps even if you just did them 5 minutes ago, which I hate, and then they do nothing), the out-sourced (read as "crap") team (on 08442411411) finally agreed to call someone out to me. At a cost, of course. They continued to charge me for my viewing as I waited for another MONTH for my HD upgrade to be ready so they could come and fit the thing. (I insisted on an HD box as the call out charge for the sky+ box would have been the same as buying and installing an HD box for a new customer). They also hung up on me when I asked to make a formal complaint about the procdures and lack of cooperation/politeness. I was apalled, and ended up writing to james.murdoch@bskyb.com; an address I found hunting on forums... His secretary called me back that very day, was very polite, and everything was finally sorted and compensation was given, so I was happy and stayed with sky. I would've rather that it had been fine in the first place, though.

So, we're into Sky+HD warranty now. *phew* No charges for call-outs = good. We had some stormy weather a couple of weeks ago and our dish was blown out of alignment. It's swivelled on the pole... I called the heights team out (Custom Group - 08456125555), but they were so busy, we had to wait 2-and-a-bit weeks for them to finally arrive. Kipperfrog worked from home (she says) to wait in for them, and despite promises of calling to arrange a time-slot the day before, they never bothered, even on the day. Nice.

And guess what... one bloke, and he wasn't a heights specialist. Day-off wasted. Rearranged for Saturday when 08000512592 rang up. Not this Saturday, next Saturday.

This really isn't good enough, Sky! That's why this is now public. I feel another complaint coming on... Oh, and if they just tighten it on the pole again, it won't be just a complaint they'll be getting... (it's an idle threat, but I just wanted to say it, so don't anyone be offended and phone the police or anything; the worst they'll get in real life is £20 less a month when I leave, and maybe an anonymous turd through their letterbox...)

If you're from sky and you want me to remove your logo, just ask and it shall be done.

One last thing... If you're Sky dish/box is busted and you live in a poor-signal area, http://www.tvcatchup.com/ is a great place to watch free, live UK TV without hassle. And BBC iPlayer's pretty sweet, too.

Chickenfoot

2009-11-11T21:07:00.003Z

My little bro's just come back from America, and he was bearing gifts! Among them was the brand, spanking new album, "Chickenfoot", by ... Chickenfoot!! The album was released in here in the UK on Mon 9th November, but you really must check it out.

I've been aware of the project for some time as I'm a bit of a Joe Satriani fan. Satch is my fave current guitarist, and probably one of the best guitarists of all time (other faves are Slash, Vai, EVH, Brian May etc...). In Chickenfoot he's joined with Van Halen singer Sammy Hager, Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, and RHCP drummer Chad Smith. What a MASSIVE line-up!!

I'm not going to harp-on about it any longer; Chickenfoot just won UK 2009 Classic Rock Awards Best Newcomer prize, so just buy it! NOW!!

Sketchbook by Autodesk on iPhone

2009-11-06T22:02:00.001Z

I couldn't resist... These two sketches probably took just over 2 minutes each I reckon (I wasn't actually timing, though!). It's lovely to just be able to sit and draw on the phone; it doesn't use any paper, you don't have to scan it, and it's super-relaxing.

Apps galore! I got a bit carried away...

2009-11-06T19:31:00.002Z

Right then... I promise this'll be my last iPhone-related post for a while. At least, it better be! (EDIT: Dammit, I couldn't help myself!!) The weather's been a bit miserable lately, so we haven't been out much... Anyway, I kept looking for the coolest apps around, and there're loads of "staff-picks", "top 10s" etc, but they all seem either biased, or out-of-date.

Here're my "top-picks", just to aid those of you who might care! They're not necessarily the "best" apps out there, or the most impressive, but they're the ones that are seeing by far the most use on my iPhone...

SketchBook by Autodesk - Really relaxing. Even better with a pogo stylus. Nice
Air Mouse/Remote - I'm a teacher. This is super-cool for controlling the iWhiteBoard/iTunes!
Stanza - A great eBook reader with a HUGE library, including Project Gutenberg...
Ocarina by Smule - A proper instrument on the iPhone! Even better since I play ocarina in real-life, too!
Guitar Toolkit - Simply the best reference/toolkit you could ever have. If you play guitar, just buy it!
Jamie Oliver - 20 minute meals - A super-professional quality app. And who doesn't ever cook?
WunderRadio - All the radio you could ever want. Great if your sick of your playlists! (as if...)
Sky+ - You can look at listings on your phone and record on your Sky+! Great if you forgot something!
TVGuide - BBC iPlayer is built in to the listings. A must have!
TVCatchup mobile - Live TV. Bookmark the web-page to home screen for most major channels!
My O2 - Super-useful to keep tabs on your bill!

Games (They deserve their own top 10 - In no order though, they're all great):

Real Racing by Firemint - This is easily the most polished racing game out there. It's great fun, too.
Fieldrunners - This is achingly-addictive. You just keep on playing! One of the only games I can say that for.
Doom Resurrection - Another highly-polished game, this FPS has some on-rails elements to improve flow.
SkySmash - A typical scrolling-shooter, but it's how you want them all to be. Great!
Sonic 1 - It's Sonic 1.
Rolando 2 - Check out any review, this one's brilliant. There's no getting away from Loco-Roco, though...
Fling - Another highly-addictive puzzle app.
Zen Bound - It should be crap... it's not though, it's really very addictive!
FS5 Hockey - Simple but awesome. Two people can even play on one iPhone! (or over bluetooth)
Worms - Hehehehe.

There are so many other great apps, too. More that deserve a mention are...

MGS Touch, Assassin's Creed, Monkey Ball, Tetris, BrainExercise, Touchgrind, Tiger Woods, Sky News, Quickoffice, eBay, Amazon UK, thetrainline, TubeMap, Facebook, Flickr, Skype, Flixster, wikiHow, SkyGazer, Yelp, iTaekwondo, iZenGarden, iBonsai, PocketGuitar, Bump, heyWAY Pro, Traffic Info, Trapster, Dynolicious, Shazam, Google Earth and finally... WC Finder (!)

Pretty Cool!! But you don't need "an app for that!"

2009-10-28T15:12:00.000Z

So, from those last posts you might have guessed it... I smashed my last phone on it's aerial, breaking the camera, the internal speaker, and signal-quality. It looked fine, but really wasn't...

Anyway, I decided I was going to push the boat out and grab an iPhone. It arrived yesterday, so I loaded it up with apps/music and got everything all nice and set up, and today I spotted that you could blog via email! Made the connections et voila! The posts you see before were there. Good stuff... Is there anything the iPhone can't do? (it's not a very good grappling hook, or skateboard actually, but it does make a suprisingly nice coaster! ;))

You don't need an "app for that!"

Photo iPhone...

2009-10-28T15:06:00.001Z

I'm reckoning that my iPhone can blog photos, too...

PS: I did't take a photo of my phone, I used the phone to take a picture of the phone on the laptop... clever, eh? lol

Testing iPhone

2009-10-28T14:52:00.000Z

This is my first post...

Sent from my iPhone

Let's see if it works!

EyePet...

2009-10-24T12:40:00.003+01:00

What you would normally assume to be the premise of disgusting, pink-fluff-clad 12 year old girls, has made it into mine and Kipperfrog's lounge... And we like it! The "EyePet" is a funny little, monkey-like creature not of this world, but of a virtual one. It's brilliant fun!! Mine's called "Munch". For a review check here:

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/objects/142/14275443.html

Awesome coolness, in a little big way...

2009-10-20T00:29:00.002+01:00

While trawling the interweb for things to do, I found THIS:

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00686/SKM49_2__proj_sackb_686954a.pdf

You seriously need to check it out. And then make me one. Or two... I'm actually hoping that my wonderful wife Kipperfrog is going to make me one for my Christmas present if I'm a good boy; she just needs to brush-up (read: learn) her knitting skills and we're sorted! ;)

I....c.c.can't....n.not....b.b.buy....one!!

2009-10-13T23:53:00.008+01:00

Mornings are about to get better!! Yes, that's right, the awesome tea-maker/alarm-clock combo is back!! Swan, makers of the 1984 classic, the D01 Teasmade, have come out of the woodwork with their new STM100 model, apparently exclusive to John Lewis (from what I read http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/27614/john-lewis-new-swan-stm1000-teasmade).

If you want a brief history of teamakers, go and have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasmade. Apparently, the D01 is quite recent! My Grandma and Grandad had one, and I've wanted one as long as I can remember. £59.95! Alarm clock, reading-light AND TEA!!!?!? Surely, every Englishman's dream. Be still, my beating wallet...

Buy one!! It should be in stock by the end of the month! http://www.johnlewis.com/230641436/Product.aspx?source=14798

FYI, this is what they used to look like... lol, I just lurve the photo-frame... can't imagine it stayed clean long!

UPDATE: I'm getting one for Christmas!! WoOOooOHOoOoOOOooo!!

What an adventure! See http://kipperfrog.blogspot.com

2009-10-11T23:50:00.017+01:00

I thought it'd be nice, as I've started blogging and my wife, Kipperfrog, reads mine, that I should actually get around to reading hers (http://kipperfrog.blogspot.com/) even though I was with her for the duration! What an amazing journey. I looked at it, and there are pages upon pages upon pages of experiences, and we've shared them all (mostly, anyway). I'm very lucky to have her as my adventuring partner! What a great life we're having. I'm very grateful. :)

This is where it all started! There are some funny comments, so go and have a look! http://www.flickr.com/photos/87971452@N00/13414807/

Good night everyone! Another week awaits! As does the rest of "From Russia with Love".

"James, I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you!!"

I must be gettin' old...

2009-10-11T16:14:00.007+01:00

I just cannot get this out of my head... Ol' Sir Terry Wogan plays it every single morning at about 7:35 on BBC Radio 2. The sad part is, I love it and look forward to hearing it every day!! Eek!

Shame he's retiring soon, I think I'll miss him.

This one's a cover by John Fogerty on his "Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again" album. The original's by Ricky Nelson, I think:

Michael Jackson "This is it" Memorial Program

2009-10-11T15:50:00.006+01:00

We had a "Sorry we missed you" card on the floor on Friday morning last week. The post office had been a bit busy, so we picked it up on Saturday morning before the IKEArgh adventure. It turned out to be our "This is it" memorial pack. We'd booked to see Michael perform on the opening night of the second leg in January before his tragic demise, and the memorial program, ticketmaster ticket, and lenticular ticket were what we decided we'd like instead of a full refund.

The following site has it scanned if you're interested:

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/QzWtxPOI9n3/Michael+memorial+service+program/7cGpnaM-qwE/Michael+Jackson

IKEA... I've added it to my thesaurus under "arse" and "pain"...

2009-10-11T15:26:00.005+01:00

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and Kipperfrog and I decided we wanted a wardrobe so we could stop leaving clothes all over the floor in our bedroom because all our drawers are full...

Anyway, we drove there; it took over 2 full hours because the traffic was so bad going through Kenley and into Purley. When we finally got there, after spending 10 minutes finding a parking-space, we bundled into the hell-hole and queued for the toilet. When done, we pushed our way past what must've been thousands of people, my patience with the whole thing thinning rapidly... we got to the bedroom section at last, and looked around all the wardrobes. Happy, and settling at last in the knowledge that it was all sorted, we went over to information and got the list of bits and bobs that we would soon be collecting. Phew!!

Except, all the bits they'd told us to get turned out to be out-of-stock due to "over-selling". After hauling various bits and bobs on and off the trolley (which we queued for for over 10 mins), I tried to get a discount as we were about to buy an un-matched wardrobe set, and they wouldn't budge, so I asked for free delivery when the parts we wanted did at last come in... nope! What would they offer? A trip back upstairs past the thousands of people to the same desk where, once there, we could start the whole process again. nice.

I decided against this, and asked how much it would be just to buy the wardrobe for home delivery. The fee for delivery was £65. The fee on the website was £35. hmmmm. "Can I just order it online here, and get the £35 delivery fee?", I said. "No," they said, "You'll have to do it at home. Have a nice afternoon."

For pity's sake...

4 hours after setting off for IKEA, we had a quick look for some new shoes in Croydon and then drove home after a lovely dinner from Wing Yip. All was right again. Then we got stuck in traffic at Purley.... grrrrrrrrr

Kipperfrog is now calling it IKEAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!!

Oh yeah, and one of the tea cups we bought from Wing Yip had a massive chip 'n' crack in it by the time we got home...

Just one more Science post!

2009-10-06T18:14:00.007+01:00

I couldn't help it, but it had to be done... You've really gotta check these Hubble shots out; I use them as wallpapers a fair bit, and if not on their own, I love to use them as backgrounds for various bits 'n' bobs. I still can't believe they're actual photos. Not sure if I ever will. Incredible.

This'll be the last Science post for ages, I promise. They're just soooo pretty!

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/

I never meant this to be a food blog...

2009-10-06T17:38:00.004+01:00

I was wondering about what to have for dinner tonight; I'm soooo hungry! Anyway, I thought I'd have a Chinese take-away:

What that actually is is an excuse to post a cool scientific fact (sorry, I am a Science teacher). Y'see it isn't actually a noodle, but a type of human tapeworm Taenia solium that can grow (so I hear) up to 22.9m long in your intestines, where IT will eat YOUR noodles. mmm, nice. I nabbed the picture from the site below, where there's also a bit more info:

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/geske_rich/images/OrgWebTaeniaPile3.JPG

I wanna get more dirty, Harry! (ewww, lol. I never thought inappropriate use of commas could make you sound gay! (No offence to gays))

2009-10-03T22:31:00.006+01:00

I've had a bit of a western/Clint Eastwood problem these last couple of months... y'see, I find something I like, and then I collect it. I don't stop until I've got everything. My Dad introduced me to westerns when I was just a wee nipper; The Musical Pocket Watch by Ennio Morricone (from "For a Few Dollars More") has stayed with me ever since - I have it as my ring tone on my phone...

Anyway, the last time I tried to watch any of the Dirty Harry series, I was distracted by something or another, so whenever I looked up at the film, I didn't really get it. Since I got my beautiful gun (picture in an earlier post), I watched it again today. I've got a cold (as does poor Kipperfrog), so I wasn't doing anything else and wasn't as keen to get outside as normal, so I was happy to just sit (read: cough, sneeze, and blow my nose). I'm sure glad I did (apart from the cold-related acts - I could've done without those!!). It was AWESOME (again, apart from the snot)!

......sniffle.....dribble....... uuunnnnggggghhhhh, I haaate coooolds

BTW - You all just escaped a really, REALLY horrible reading experience. You see, I was going to write phonetically as if I had a cold (because I do...). Dike dith.... all ob de werbs cub oup all futhy, thee?

OOH, Goodies!! It's FRIDAY!!

2009-10-02T00:06:00.004+01:00

It's Friday, and we all know how I love my arty-farty graphic stuff. Well, my usual haunt for tips/inspiration/freebies is good ol' deviantart:

http://www.deviantart.com/

Tonight however, while I was doing some waterless-surfing, I stumbled across this little gem of a thread on a Honda forum!

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/water-cooler/121411-post-up-your-pc-wallpaper.html

There are some AMAZING wallpapers there that you really should check out. There're 72 pages at the last count, and I think I downloaded 2 or 3 from every single page... Some good stuff! Not all safe-for-work, though... Happy browsing; I do love a Weekend Treat!

Uh Oh, more guns...

2009-10-01T00:40:00.006+01:00

It's sad, I know, but I read my wife, Kipperfrog's blog. She posted this:

http://newlycanadian.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-glad-i-dont-live-in-fl.html

It's quite a funny story about an idiotic woman who is probably also fat and works with children/the elderly/in the police. I think you should all read it. She reckons it goes quite well with my previous gun-related post.

As a consequence of reading said story, I am now going to be going to the toilet with my gun. And sleeping with it too. Loaded, of course. And cocked. Strictly platonic, mind....

Our walls are only plaster-board. Poor neighbours. Might be good for making peep-holes, though!

Over half way!! BANG!!........BANG!!

2009-10-01T00:06:00.011+01:00

I'd just like to point out that it's now Thursday, which means that tomorrow is FRIDAY!!! So the weekend's tomorrow. Sweet. That pretty much means the weekend starts tonight!! WOOHOO!!

I'm a glass-half-full kinda guy ;)

Oh yeah, and I finished putting this little lot together today (see above)....

I got the gun last Thursday as a little treat to myself for holding on to my job for another year (and getting the corresponding pay-rise)!

It's fun. Awesome fun.

In fact, it's so much fun that I've been shooting it rather a lot these last few days. I shot my fence to see what it would do to solid wood, and two or three of the slugs went right on through, which is a little scary but sooooo coool! hehe. And it EXPLODES pieces of coal.

Oh yeah, and now, every time I shoot it, I can hear a neighbour shouting, "Bang! Bang!", which I find hilarious. It's not very nice, I know, but I just really love annoying people. It helps if you spin the gun on your finger right after you REALLY irritate someone. Adds to the "glee-factor", you see.

Aah, simple pleasures :)

*quietly chuckle to self while rubbing hands together in a satisfied fashion*

BTW, it's all perfectly legal - it's only a 0.177 calibre CO2 (that grates - I teach Chemistry) S&W 586 replica by Umarex, and all I intend to do with it is shoot inanimate objects and targets in my back-garden during daylight hours and out of public view. And it only sounds like hammering. Believe it or not, I'd probably even stop shooting it at certain times if the neighbours asked very politely!! Just thought you should know in case you decide to report me or something!

Night all! And kids, guns aren't cool. ahem

This is it...(for tonight) ooh, I don't like saying that...eek!!

2009-09-30T00:24:00.001+01:00

One last post...

I've added a load of stuff to the blog, so check my linkys! If you're wondering who "Will" is, that's my little bro. He's moved to Paterson, NJ, USA!! I thought he deserved a mention here, so click his links to get to his myspace pages and see what he's been upto. Don't tell me what you think, tell him!

Signing awf for t'night!

Ciao!

OOH!! First post of the day!! Mornin' all!!! Nite nite!

mmmmm.... pizzaaaaaaa....

2009-09-29T23:43:00.000+01:00

Ooh!! I've just thought of another thing to write about!

Today, Kipperfrog and I had Pizza for tea. And we ordered it off the interweb! We logged on to the well-known pizza service named after a game that uses small black (but sometimes white) rectangles with dots and lines on, popular in public house in days-gone-by (can y' tell what it is yit?), and looked through their menu, and ordered! Simples! And from final mouse-click to rat-a-tat-tat on the door was only 20 minute minutes. (see what I did there?)

Let me tell you, one-and-all, that the pizza I got was revoluntionary!! It was described as "stuffed-crust", but it was so much more... the actual BASE was stuffed! Almost like a garlicy-cheesy-sandwich-thing, it was. Amazing, and a real treat! I'd recommend it over stodgy "salad-shack-or-whatever-I'm-called-this-week"'s pizzas any day. I TOTALLY see why the uber-pizza I devoured was called "THE DOMINATOR". And yes, it was properly necessary to put that in CAPS. And yes, the remaining pizza shall be my lunch tomorrow. Suckas. ;)

And English-teachers out there. Sorry ;)

Actually, I'm not... and to prove it...

And,

What's this?! An entry without pictures?!?!

2009-09-29T23:25:00.000+01:00

Right... here's a real (kinda) entry.

Here goes.... Are you ready?

Well I'm not. You see, I live by the philosophy that if I don't have anything worth saying, I shouldn't say it at all. And that wasn't really worth saying, so I shouldn't have said it. I've gone and typed it all now though, and that wasn't effortless, so I suppose I'll just post it anyway.

Now you're asking yourself, "Why am I reading this?". Well, why are you? If you would like to voice your opinion on any expectations you have of my blog, feel free to comment. You might as well, but all you're going to get in the end is an idiot's version of Kipperfrog's blog. We live together you see (being married 'n' all), but I like to think we have interesting lives, and as I'm an idiot (and much lazier than her), I might have a slightly different (shorter) point of view on some of the events that occur during our travels. Except her version will be wrong. Mine will be right. Always. OK?

See you soon!

Dang Blogging Malarky...

2009-09-29T23:23:00.000+01:00

Just looking at this whole blogging malarky... I've just realised that, if I had half a brain, I would've pasted the oldest pictures first so that they would have been in a nice order scrolling down the page... I never was one to think before I acted!

Hibiscus

2009-09-29T23:22:00.001+01:00

Hibiscus
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A macro shot of a hibiscus. It was blowing in the wind, so I used a really quick shutter speed, hence it's a little dark. I tampered with it to lighten it a touch, but I think it looks better like this. Hope you like it.

Me

2009-09-29T23:21:00.007+01:00

Me
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Eww, it's my face. Fuggin fugly. I think I'll super-expose it to make myself less ugly and then use THAT as my profile picture... yeah... ;)

Ryu vs Ken

2009-09-29T23:21:00.005+01:00

Ryu vs Ken
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Sprite rips from SF3, posed dramatically, and filters added to make a nice wallpaper. If you like street-fighter.

2009-09-29T23:21:00.003+01:00

Superman Logo
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A Superman Logo drawn in Flash and then coloured in! That's it. Copyright DC, Probably! Or is that Disney now!?

M25 from Merstham

2009-09-29T23:21:00.001+01:00

M25 from Merstham
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A long-exposure shot taken off the Merstham M25 fly-over when I first got my tri-pod and Canon 400D.

FLY Sky

2009-09-29T23:20:00.005+01:00

FLY Sky
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

The sky is actually taken from a Windows Media Player 10 Visualisation (I think, it might be wmp 9, I can't quite remember). Had this as my wallpaper for ages

Achilles' Bum

2009-09-29T23:20:00.003+01:00

Achilles' Bum
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

For your viewing pleasure. Taken in Corfu.

Ulthwe Eldar

2009-09-29T23:20:00.001+01:00

Ulthwe Eldar
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Gamesworkshop. I know it's sad, but I couldn't help myself. Here are some Ulthwe Eldar I painted a while back.

MR P

2009-09-29T23:19:00.001+01:00

MR P
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

MR P. It stands for "My Rittle Pony" :P He smells like peaches, sucka! hehehe.

Fool

Pagoda

2009-09-29T23:18:00.005+01:00

Pagoda
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

I just thought this one was a really nice photo. Taken at Wisley.

Sand Turtles

2009-09-29T23:18:00.003+01:00

Sand Turtles
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Kipperfrog and I made these "Sand-Turtles" on the beach at Fistral Bay, Nequay. We thought it'd be cooler than a castle. What do you reckon?

My Eye

2009-09-29T23:18:00.001+01:00

My Eye
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

It's my eye, and no, it's not really that colour! Although the only thing I did actually change was the contrast, and then b&w the b/g.

Purple Haze

2009-09-29T23:17:00.005+01:00

Purple Haze
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A sunset taken across Fistral Bay, in Newquay. Beautiful, but also not entirely natural! lol

Ryu

2009-09-29T23:17:00.003+01:00

Ryu
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Original Ryu sketch. I didn't want to wreck this, so I actually scanned it and the watercolour is painted over a printed out version! 2 for the price of one! I love computers! :)

Spiderpony

2009-09-29T23:17:00.001+01:00

Spiderpony
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Another my little freakazoid....

Ninjafrog in a Frame

2009-09-29T23:16:00.001+01:00

Lucy & James in a Frame
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Does what it says on the tin ;) Frame lifted (once again) from google images. This went out on our wedding invites... I'm not uploading what's on the thank you letters until everyone's got theirs (which means I've got to finish writing them!! hehe).

Superpony

2009-09-29T23:15:00.003+01:00

Superpony
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A few years ago my wife Kipperfrog (girlfriend at the time) spotted a Wharf character (Star Trek) "My Little Pony" and decided to copy it. She made me do some too, and Spiderpony, Superpony, and the Terminator Pony "My Little Terminator". We've actually had commissions to do some of these things, and "My Little Terminator" hit the number one spot on a Terminator fansite!

Fandomestic: 8 Terminator Tributes

fandomania.com/?p=8460

Peregrine Tattoo

2009-09-29T23:15:00.001+01:00

Peregrine Tattoo
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A non-colour version of the aforementioned piece more suitable for tattooing.

OCC Busters

2009-09-29T23:14:00.005+01:00

OCC Busters
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Shamelessly-pilfered characterisations of the OCC boys and the Mythbusters from google images built into a wallpaper for all of your viewing displeasure! Enjoy :P

Wisley

2009-09-29T23:14:00.003+01:00

Wisley
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A modified and heavily-filtered view of Wisley Gardens. A beautiful place for a walk.

Ryu

2009-09-29T23:14:00.001+01:00

Ryu
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

I didn't want to my wreck my original sketch, so I actually scanned it and the watercolour is painted over a printed out version! 2 for the price of one! I love computers! :)

FLY

2009-09-29T23:13:00.005+01:00

FLY
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

FLY Designs - Signature Graphic / wallpaper. FLY designs is kind of my trademark, and what I always put my design work under. I made it up in a yr10 graphics lesson when I was supposed to be designing a carrier bag...

I recently noticed it looks like a sound company's logo "FLI". I dunno how long they've been around, but either they saw this and stole it (which I doubt), or I (yet again) saw something cool, forgot about, and then drew it later thinking it was my clever idea. lol

Me

2009-09-29T23:13:00.003+01:00

Me
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

An old (shoddy) water colour of myself. I was pretty pleased with the textures in the fabrics at the time (especially the denim), but the face was an after-thought (it's supposed to be me again)... I did this purely to experiment with painting fabrics and materials.

Rose

2009-09-29T23:13:00.001+01:00

Rose
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A coral-pink-coloured rose (not sure what type, sorry) with morning-dew on the petals. Taken at Wisley Gardens and a sepia filter applied later.

Tenchi!?

2009-09-29T23:12:00.003+01:00

Tenchi!?
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

More sketches. My wife asked me... "why did you just draw men when you were little?". My reason was not that I was confused..lol.. but merely that I was embarrassed of my drawings of girls and women. The boobs were always a little on the large side (hehe), the hair was harder, and I just couldn't make them pretty enough, so they all got thrown away! They were also often naked, and thus not suitable for "showing around".... No shame now, though! lol

In case you're wondering, these are done with watercolour, and that wierd Ken/Ryu cross thingy was colouring pencils. As you can see, I like to use watercolours thickly (have a look at Tenchi, in the middle).

Up the top is an attempt at Darren Hayes that my Mum asked me to do when I was having lunch in between revising for my GCSEs once.

Surf

2009-09-29T23:12:00.001+01:00

Surf
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A blank version of the logo surf wallpaper above. The actual wave was just the nicest one I found on a google image-search (so thanks whoever took it, it's one of my fave photos ever!). I drew the hibiscus flowers in Flash (again), and added my Flash sig, too.

Assassin

2009-09-29T23:08:00.001+01:00

Assassin
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A few random (crappy) character sketches I did when I was a nipper! Here just for interest! (I think I was in year 8 when I drew these).

From left-to-right, I named them "Glove", "Ant", "Skull the Assassin", and "Neko". There's obviously a heavy Zelda/Final Fantasy/Spiderman influence going on here which I wasn't aware of at the time!

Pikachu

2009-09-29T23:07:00.001+01:00

Pikachu
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

This has SO got to be breaking some kind of copyright or something (as I bet most of my "branded" stuff does), but I wanted a hi-res Pikachu to customise for my Rockachu and animate in flash, so I made one, and here he is!

Just so you know, his image belongs to Nintendo.... please don't sue me!

Peregrine Tattoo

2009-09-29T23:05:00.003+01:00

Peregrine Tattoo
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A peregrine falcon tattoo design, based on a design by someone else that I saw on google but can't find again (sorry if that's you!!). Anything unsymmetrical is all my own work, as are any effects, but the wing cross-over design (the clever bit) isn't mine.

2009-09-29T23:05:00.001+01:00

Zelda Wedding Cake
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

This is a wedding cake made by our friend Laura Helps at "http://www.CakesbyLaura.co.uk". She built us a traditional white wedding-cake... and then Kipperfrog and myself went to work on it ;)

We based it on the "Wind Caker" (google it). Everything you can see there has been made with icing (apart from Link and Zelda/Tetra, who are both plastic...) Grass made by pushing icing through a tea-strain, rocks made by rolling black/white/grey colours together, wood done the same way, but with reds and browns etc. It's all just hand-moulded and cut/scored etc. Took over 12 hours of solid working, I reckon.... Worth it, we think! Hope you do, too.

Zelda is property of Nintendo... ahem...

Fly Wave

2009-09-29T23:04:00.003+01:00

Fly Wave
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Random surfy wallpaper of all my fave brands. I did it instead of actually sticking real stickers all over my work laptop and getting in trouble (like last time... ahem)

Kipperfrog

2009-09-29T23:04:00.001+01:00

Lucy
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A REALLY rushed sketch of Kipperfrog, my wife!

Nordic Knife

2009-09-29T23:03:00.001+01:00

Nordic Knife
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A piccie of the first Nordic-style knife I ever made. The blade is the "Harding", by Helle blades.

Vermont in the Autumn... in space

2009-09-29T23:02:00.003+01:00

Vermont in the Autumn... in space
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Used a Hubble space telescope image from NASA for the sky here, and overlaid an image of Vermont (again from Google images..Hooray!). Very simple to do... just did an edge feather on the trees!

Peregrine Falcon

2009-09-29T23:02:00.001+01:00

Peregrine Falcon
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Peregrine Falcon head in Flash. It's pretty simple, but it's actually one of my favourite designs I've done, there's just something cool about it, I think!

Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Dorset

2009-09-29T23:01:00.003+01:00

Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Dorset
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A panorama done using various photo-stitching tools. The original photos were taken in RAW format on a Canon 400D, so the resulting image after stitching was about 8m wide and takes up most of my HDD... lol. This one's been "downscaled" a touch...

Rockachu

2009-09-29T23:01:00.001+01:00

Rockachu
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

My Rockachu. He's a modded Pikachu with my first Les Paul Custom (Epiphone).

Superman wallpaper

2009-09-29T23:00:00.003+01:00

Superman wallpaper
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A different Hubble image used here along with one of the Superman logos I drew in flash and an actual photo of a Superman statue I own.

Spidey sketch

2009-09-29T23:00:00.001+01:00

Spidey sketch
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Just a simple Spidey sketch, but it's Kipperfrog's fave cos of the softer lines than most of my work, so it's here.

2009-09-29T22:59:00.004+01:00

Bushcraft knife
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy
My new custom knife! The blade was engraved for me by it's maker, http://swc-handmade-knives.com, but the handle etc. is all my own work! I got much better at wood and metal working since my first attempts last year!

Spiderman

2009-09-29T22:59:00.001+01:00

Spiderman
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A really early Spidey pic I did in a form time once. Ancient, but here for interest. Drawn all in biro!

Beretta M92FS

2009-09-29T22:58:00.003+01:00

Beretta M92FS
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

A (not-so-anymore) recent pencil drawing of my Beretta M92 FS Tactical Master Gas BB Gun, by Tokyo Marui.

Ryu

2009-09-29T22:58:00.001+01:00

Ryu
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Ryu from Street Fighter. A watercolour I did, scanned with a flame b/g added behind.

Rocky

2009-09-29T22:57:00.001+01:00

Rocky
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

I'm continuing with the portfolio theme for now, just posting up all the pics from there... When I've done that, hopefully I'll start actually updating this thing with what I've been up to. Only time will tell if I'm as committed to that as my Kipperfrog and Finkangel... This one's of a horse called Rocky.

Yoda

2009-09-29T22:55:00.001+01:00

Yoda
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Yoda! This is one of the first and only oils I ever did that wasn't for school or work. I did it as a present for Kipperfrog.

Ferrari 458 Nebula

2009-09-29T22:53:00.001+01:00

Ferrari 458 Nebula
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

Ooooh, Ferrari! It's the 458. I stole it and popped a wee piccie from Hubble in behind. Mirrored it for a floor-like effect....

Me

2009-09-29T22:51:00.001+01:00

Me
Originally uploaded by ninjabathy

That last one turned out MASSIVE!! Hopefully this'll fix it. It's my profile pic... ;)

Portfolio

2009-09-29T22:48:00.005+01:00

Portfolio, originally uploaded by ninjabathy.

This is my first little go at blogging! No big deal, I know, but I've never really bothered with anything like this before. My wife, Kipperfrog, and her brother Finkangel are keen bloggers, however; I'm not hoping to keep up with those guys!

My first few posts will just be a few bits from my portfolio. You can find it all on Flickr, too ;)

NEW: This was previously massive. The new post editor (see blog settings) allows you to re-size imported pics/movies etc far more easily using a GUI. Nice.

NEW NEW: html is even better, lol. What a 'tard I am... :P

2009-09-20T12:33:00.001+01:00

Hello World