On the toilet

Well following on from my previous post, I did indeed get a Hu2 sticker for my toilet for Christmas! Thus I thought I would share with you my now new and improved toilet. I must admit I never expected to be blogging about my bathroom throne.



I'm very pleased with the overall effect and it was pretty simple to do. It did cause me some concern as it's a one time deal, you mess up the sticker and that would be that. When I finally got it all to stick on the vinyl (this took a bit more time than they suggested) I then had the tricky process of positioning it just right on the toilet itself. I did encounter a few air bubbles but once those were spread to the edges it made no difference to the sticker left on the surface. The end result is a very neat and interesting image which makes for a very original bathroom.

After seeing a sticker in action I am definitely interested in ordering some of their wall stickers and I suggest you do too. www.hu2.com

All I want for Christmas

A couple of nice little sites for some quirky Christmas present ideas for those who like something a little different. I love finding original and cool items that nobody else I know will have or even seen before. Below are a couple of sites I have come across recently:

www.meninos.us

This site has a load of design and Apple related stuff. I really like the Designer set of coasters, the fridge magnets and doormats. All very cool, especially for someone that is involved in the creative industry.

www.hu2.com

Some fantastic wall stickers here, I think I want them all! I particularly like the ones that go on the toilet and the skyline stickers would look great in my room.

With all things like this the hardest thing for me is to control my spending. It's very easy to get carried away. May have to limit myself to one or two things but hopefully (as I have been a good boy this year) Santa will help me out with some more...

Football's a Beach (ball)

So one of the most bizarre goals in history was scored at the Stadium of Light on Saturday 17th October in the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool.

A red Liverpool inflatable beach ball found it's way into the Liverpool goalmouth at the start of the match. Liverpool's goalkeeper Pepe Reina soon spotted it and safely placed it in the back of the net. Or so he thought!

As Sunderland attacked Liverpool's goal in the 5th minute, a gust of wind moved the beach ball out from the goal and into the field of play. Darren Bent made his way inside the area and a freak twist of fate sent his shot into the path of the ball, changing the direction of his shot and wrong footing the keeper to put Sunderland in the lead. It was an amazing series of events and of course hit the headlines as Sunderland held on for a 1-0 victory and debate raged whether the goal should have stood or not.

What impressed me however was that on Monday 19th October, at an English League One game between Leeds and Norwich, quick thinking sponsors NetFlights.com had some large inflatable beach balls of their own made up. They placed them in the goalmouths before the game to advertise their website.

Seeing as they are a flight company they may have had these balls made up for other various promotions but if they didn't then that is some pretty impressive quick-thinking marketing! Well done them. I'm sure that will help 'inflate' (sorry) the number of people visiting their website...

Curb your advertising

Whilst brainstorming possible advertising and promotional concepts for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I came across this London based media company, Curb.

www.mindthecurb.com

Curb promote themselves as the world's first natural media company. They offer a range of highly effective media solutions solely using natural earth elements. They now have a portfolio of unique eco-advertising services and team of creative experts, to provide clients with outstanding natural marketing which impacts on their target consumer without impacting on the environment.

I was initially interested in their 'snow tagging' which of course had possibilities for the Winter Olympics. They basically create a stencil/stamp, say of a company logo, and literally 'tag' the snow. A really simple but very effective idea that can target a range of unused advertising spaces that are eye catching and unusual. Of course once the snow melts, the 'tag' disappears and no cleaning up or removal is required.

They have a great range of solutions including 'clean advertising' where pavements are cleaned with a high pressure washer. A stencil is created so only certain areas are cleaned thus leaving a message etc marked on the pavement. It's a green version of graffiti. Again within time it wears away and nothing has been permanently marked or damaged.

Other solutions available are moss art, sand sculpture, beach tagging, information waterfalls, crop and mow ads all of which create unique, interesting and of course environmentally friendly advertising. And in a world where 'green issues' and the environment are getting increasingly more publicity and importance, Curb really have founded concepts for the next generation of branding and advertising.

Panor-campic

Following on from previous posts, about my first camping experience at Glastonbury and my proposed camping trip to the Monaco Grand Prix, I recently enjoyed a fantastic weekend camping trip to the Lake District.

I work next to Punk Publishing who produce books including the 'Cool Camping' series. So, not to spurn this opportunity for campsite research, I set about looking for prospective locations for a weekend away that me and a friend had planned. We eventually decided on Turner Hall Farm in Southwaite. It was an inspired choice as the surrounding area was stunning. Completely off the radar and totally uncommercialised it was a brilliant little site. The facilities were basic but totally adequate and the pitches (although not specific, you could pitch anywhere you liked) were awesome. Using three fields within the farm, the craggy landscape provided plenty of sheltered and interesting places to pitch.

With several Lakes a nice driving distance away and the area around the campsite amazingly beautiful, it really was a great place to visit. The walks were fantastic and the local pubs friendly and inviting. Managed to get some great photos, which leads me on to something I discovered in Photoshop...

Now I sort of knew that Photoshop was capable of some sort of 'photo-stitching' for panoramic style images but had never used it before. I took a series of about 6 pictures of the landscape around our campsite and wanted to 'stitch' them all together to make one long image. To my delight Photoshop has an excellent couple of tools for this. First roughly position the images on separate layers so they are in the right order and place. Then go to 'edit>auto-align layers'. This curves the images so that all the elements of the image line up. It's truly fantastic. But that's not it. Then go to 'edit>auto-blend layers' and it matches all the colours and hue's etc. You then have a seamless panoramic photograph which you only need crop to complete the process. It's genius and one tool I will be using a lot more in the future.

Let's dance to Joy Division

Now I'm not much of a music buff so excuse my ignorance. I have recently discovered the, errr, joys of 'Joy Division'. Now I knew nothing of front man Ian Curtis or anything about them (as I say please, please excuse my ignorance). I'd only heard the reference to the band ('Let's dance to Joy Division') in the lyrics of another band, The Wombats.

It was by chance in fact that I have 'discovered' them. I was looking for DVD titles to add to my rental list when I saw the cover to the film 'Control'. It looked edgy, looked cool, so I added it. After watching it I was hooked on the music. The film itself is beautifully shot and put together. Then the end title scene really does hit you like a brick... square in the face.

"Ian Curtis died, May 1980, age 23."

Shocking that after watching such a turbulent life that it only lasted a mere 23 years. Just really knocked me back. A very sad thing indeed but like most talented people, a troubled mind often comes hand in hand with extraordinary ability.

Anyway brightening the mood back up again... I'm loving the music! So much so in fact that I went out and brought the album, something I haven't done for ages. I also bought a 'best of' New Order album. New Order being the rest of the guys from Joy Division (they felt they couldn't keep the same name after Ian committed suicide). I have then ordered a book, yes a book, written by his widow Deborah Curtis, called 'Touching from a Distance'.

Joy Division is on constant loop in my head and on my music player at the moment and I can't wait to read the book and listen to some of the New Order stuff.

'Love Will Tear Us Apart', now I know why and where it came from, really does give me goose pimples. Amazing track. So happy I found them. Joy indeed.

In pursuit of the latest thing

Good site recommendation now. I found out about this site through none other than Ashton Kutcher! I follow him on Twitter and he posted the link. I checked it out and started following the site and it's a really cool mix of all sorts of stuff from the world of fashion, technology, art, pop culture and design (amongst others).

www.trendhunter.com

They regularly post links to featured articles which always come with a series of photos. It's a really nice way of getting some creative stimuli and the subject matter is always original and sometimes bizarre. As an example some of the items on the list currently are; creative police cars, celebrity barbies, controversial couture, faceless bodysuits, $10,000 jet bikes, boardwalk strut shoots, geek fashion lines and hydrating with brewskies. So yes, a varied host of stuff there!

Just a cool site to get some inspration and ideas and if you are a twitterer, then I would recommend you follow them and go hunt some trends yourself.

My First Glastonbury

I'm not a big follower of music, don't get me wrong I like the stuff but I have never been a person to go to gigs and the likes. When a friend of mine asked if I was interested in going I thought it would be a great opportunity to tick another item off the 'to do list of life', so jumped at the chance.

My younger sister had been a couple of times before in recent years and had said how much fun it was. For me though I'd never even been camping before so this was going to be a challenge. My big concerns were of what to pack, I'm a person who likes to be prepared, and also what I should wear so I looked like a veteran festival goer rather than a festival virgin. So with wellies, wet wipes and straw hat packed, the adventure begun.

My one big regret of the whole 6 days (we went from Wednesday-Monday) was getting a little bit too drunk on the strawberry cider on day one! The sun was shining, everybody was in high spirits so it was hard to contain oneself. Cue memory loss and the inevitable long search for my tent come the early hours of the morning. The hangover that followed was not pleasant. A baking hot tent first thing in the morning didn't help. Add that to a toilet trip to the long drops and you had yourself a very nasty experience. Lesson learned for the rest of the festival, I tried to limit my drinking and I have to say I did well. When the weather is hot (like it was) a hangover in a tent coupled with walking long distances, is just not worth it.

After that hangover though the festival really took off and I had an amazing time. When you are with friends having a few beers in the sun, laying on the grass/mud and listening to live music, it just doesn't get much better. In all I saw 21 bands (well one was Rolf Harris) but over a weekend you really do get your money's worth. The list in full is as follows: Gariella Cilmi, Golden Silvers, N.E.R.D, Fleet Foxes, Lily Allen, The Specials, The Ting Tings, Bloc Party, Rolf Harris, Dizzee Rascal, Passion Pit, Kasabian, Bruce Springstein, Franz Ferdinand, Status Quo, Madness, Bon Iver, Jason Mraz, Glasvegas and the Prodigy. Not bad I'd say.

Ok so some items are expensive at the festival, like any event really but overall I didn't really think anything was too overpriced. And yes the toilets are vile but there are better ones dotted about and you soon learn to plan your toilet visits. It did rain as well but I actually wanted it to, I mean what's Glastonbury without a bit of mud? We were very lucky with the weather though and I can imagine this has a great deal to do with your Glastonbury experience. I even got quite a nice tan!

Overall the atmosphere and friendliness are the things that stick in my mind. Everybody is your friend and you can literally talk to anyone. I saw no negativity or anything untoward at all. The staff were truly amazing as well. Always happy to help, they strive to solve your problem and go that little bit further to help you out. The operation as a whole is quite incredible and it blows my mind to think how an event like that is organised and run so efficiently. It definitely isn't for everyone (and I am of the opinion it isn't for children either), it is hard work at times but it has definitely won me over. I have the bug. Roll on next year!

Giveitarestival

If you have never listened to BBC 6music before, I suggest you put that right. In particular the George Lamb show weekdays from 10am-1pm. It's pure genius. Loved by the country's Graphic Designers & Dancehall enthusiasts, the Sony award winning show is a fusion of mayhem and complete and utter randomness.

Anyway, I have previously had a poster up on the site for a random story from the co-host Mark. Now, due to popular demand 'Giveitarestival' is back for another year and I have had my suggested logo put up on the site. View it on the site here.

Giveitarestival is a concept festival where bands book to NOT play there, people try their best NOT to make it, Camping fields are NOT made available etc etc. It's random yes, you need to listen to the show to understand. Give it a listen, you won't regret it, certain sure. Shaba!

Twitcom

Twitter. Now it took me a little while to 'get' Twitter but I am slowly coming round to the 140 character entry limit phenomenon. I have to say there are a few things happening that are very clever indeed.

Now I don't think I'll ever be a professional Twitterer, just a casual one. It's quite fun to follow a 'celebrity' and find out what they are up to and get a small glimpse into the type of people they are and the kind of lives they lead. I of course haven't got that many people following me (@theyidthatis), but that's fine, I can live with the fact that my life in comparison is pretty boring.

First thing that I thought was really clever was in one of my updates I had mentioned I was suffering from hayfever. A couple of hours later and 'Kleenex' were following me. You go to their Twitter page and they have a link to their site with tips on surviving the summer etc. I thought that was very clever and can see that it can be used as a very interesting marketing tool.

Then I heard about the first ever Twitter comedy night. Someone thought of the idea of inviting real life comedians to do a 10 minute 'virtual gig'. This happened last night and they had a compere and everything! Very clever. You follow the tweets from one act to the next and obviously the comedians involved had to think of ways of getting their gags across in just 140 characters a time. Some acts were not very original and just split their jokes into about 20 parts.

Some however really embraced the concept (PappysFunClub) and organised intricut conversations involving posted photos and the likes. It ended up being really really funny and at times it felt like an actual real life comedy night. You can read all their posts here. Anybody following the tweets could also heckle and applaud if you so desired! Just like the real thing however, hecklers were quickly shot down with devestating effect.

Overall a genius concept and one that was very enjoyable. I think we are only just beginning to see what Twitter can be applied to and I imagine more intersting concepts to follow in the near future.

@theyidthatis (http://twitter.com/theyidthatis)

The Bridge

Firstly I'm a Spurs fan. Just wanted to make that clear before I go any further.

I played in a football 5-a-side tournament on Saturday (FA Cup Final day) at Chelsea's ground, Stamford Bridge. Now this for me, although I'm not particularly fond of the Blues, was a very very exciting prospect. The chance to grace the turf of a Premiership ground was an opportunity not to be missed.

Unfortunately we had to meet at 9am at the ground so it was a very early start traveling down from Bedford, 6.30am wake up call to be precise. Arriving home the previous night from London at 1.30am was not the best idea I've ever had. Anyway it was a glorious day so what did I care.

The first disappointment was not being able to change in the actual dressing rooms. Instead we had to make do with 'porta-cabins' just outside the ground. Chelsea were still running their stadium tours (it's all money, money, money with them) so the changing rooms were off limits. Shame as a West Ham supporting friend of mine had requested that I 'relieve' myself in the middle of the home team dressing room floor.

The tournament was reasonably enjoyable although it was spoilt by the games being only 7 minutes long (one way) and the gap between games being around 40 minutes on average. You just couldn't get into it and by the end I still felt like I could play a regular 90 minutes of football. As a team we didn't do too well, the standard was quite high, and we ended up with a record of 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses in the group stages. We didn't progress further but to be honest it worked out perfectly as we popped round the corner just after 3pm to watch the FA Cup final and sink a few cold lagers.

It wasn't so good for my Everton supporting friend however as, apart from scoring after 25 seconds, he then had to endure watching his team eventually lose 2-1 in the middle of a packed Chelsea pub, 2 minutes away from the ground. I don't think he enjoyed walking to the station through crowds of celebrating Chelsea fans on the street, waving flags and tooting horns. Oh dear.

All in all a good day... but White Hart Lane would have been a million times better.

Mission: Monaco

I suppose it's because my next birthday is the BIG 3-0 but recently I have been looking at certain things and thinking to myself, right, I should really just do that. For example, watching the Monaco F1 Grand Prix in all it's sun-kissed and high glamour glory, I got the strong urge to be there. I'd really love to go and watch a Grand Prix and if you have to pick one, it's surely got to be Monaco. The location and the event as a spectacle is just amazing.

So with this in mind I have made it my mission to attend the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix in some capacity. Now of course we come to the situation of cold hard cash and the main stumbling block of me not having any of it. I then thought to myself there must be some way around this. Some way of doing it on the cheap. A quick search on google and voila! an article on the very subject:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/jun/17/escape.france

It seems very do-able. Simply get cheap flights to Nice, maybe rent a car and camp at this fantastic looking camp site in between Nice (6km away) and Monaco (8km away). Simple. Ney problem.

http://www.campingromarins.com/

I think it's a perfect plan. As long as you get in early and book as soon as humanly possible I reckon it's a total winner. Even if you were to just attend the qualifying session and stay away from the no doubt utterly manic race day itself. Because of the location there are plenty of other places to visit, maybe go for a week, maybe just go for 4 days or something? Now all I need to do is see it through. I can't let this sudden surge of determination (and desperation to make a dent in the life's to-do list) pass me by. I must get these things done otherwise I will be stuck in the pit lane of 30-something whilst all the things I want to do whiz past me as fast as Jenson Button on the home straight to the checkered flag.

WUW HOO

Picked up this magazine the other day called WUW Magazine. Basically I'm a sucker for a decent cover so handed over my hard earned (well earned), well I handed over my £4.95 cash without really knowing what the hell I was buying. Pleasantly surprised however as WUW describes itself as a 'little book of ideas' and that's exactly what it is. It features artists of all sorts (graphic designers, illustrators, photographers, product designers etc) and is filled with other snippets of inspiration from all things creative.

Just my cup of tea really. Milk no sugar.

Too much to talk about but I will pick out a few things that caught my eye. Jen Stark creates sculptures out of paper that are usually intricately cut and painstakingly put together but the results are spectacular. There was a nice quote in there (not from her) but that described the process quite nicely; 'Maturity means to rediscover the seriousness one had at play'.

Jeremy Pettis is an all round designer who is interested in typography in particular. He developed the 'Twenty-six types of animals' which was a series of animals spelled out, each developed by using the main characteristics from that animal. Nice. He also dedicates Wednesday as 'doodle day' which I think is possibly the most awesome way of spending a Wednesday ever! To be fair though, I spend most of my days doodling.

Ryan Frank is a furniture designer and he creates pieces from old scrap and generally stuff found in skips etc. He also does this really cool thing were he puts up big white boards in urban areas and leaves them there to 'absorb' their surroundings (i.e. get graffiti on). When they are suitably 'stained' he then uses them to create one-off pieces of furniture. Like it a lot. If only they weren't so god damn expensive!

Anyway that's the highlights from WUW magazine and to leave you with a little 'did you know' from WUW... All the chemicals in the human body have a combined value of approximately £4.00. So not that much. There goes my money-making plan A...

Have a blast!

I found this cool little thing yesterday on the BBC website, called Blast Studio. It's a brand new interactive studio space for people to play with. The Blast Studio gives you an opportunity to add to a community art installation that will be created over the next four weeks.

Housed in the Topolski studio at London's Southbank Centre, this initiative allows you to create a real exhibit. Four machines provide you with the tools to remotely control how you paint and design the space. You have a choice of a cool glue gun, paint pellet machine, printer or hanging light strips all directed from your computer. You can then watch all the action online.

I had a go on the paint pellet machine as well as the hanging light strips. Pretty cool idea. You have to 'queue' up but due to the time limits apposed on everybody, it soon goes down and it tells you how long before your turn so you can always go and do something else in the meantime.

The Studio is live everyday between 12pm and 12am, from 12th May till 9th June.

A little bit eh?

Well the eagerly anticipated second series of Flight of the Conchords started last night (Tuesday 13th May) on BBC 4 at 10.30pm.

I was a bit of a late comer to the whole phenomenon that is Bret, Jemaine, Murray, Mel and Dave but I immediately fell in love with New Zealand's 4th most popular folk parody band.

Unfortunately however, as feared, the first episode of this the second series was a bit of a disappointment. The filming style seems to have changed, they obviously have a bigger budget this time around and the whole feel of the episode seemed far too polished for my liking. The initial charm of the series was that it was simple in form, understated, it looked like they had a small budget and this only helped reflect the hapless characters and surroundings involved. The songs were also a disappointment, especially the song featured at the very end which seemed to have nothing to do with the storyline whatsoever and didn't make me laugh once.

It must be given a chance however. This episode did finish on everything returning to normal. Murray now back in the New Zealand consulate and back managing the Conchords. We now have to hope that they return to the previous series style, the songs that follow get back to being lyrically sublime and The Flight of the Conchords get back to having no gigs.

Spreading the T-Shirt Love

Here's a site I have used for a while although I really haven't pushed it to it's full potential. It's basically a site originally for t-shirt printing although there are many more products that can now be printed on. Hoodies, vests, underwear, stickers, hats, umbrellas, bags and lots more.

Spreadshirt is a great site for creating merchandising. You can upload vector graphics (which are quickly approved) or your bog standard images. The products and printing are of high quality and the turnaround times are excellent. You also have the ability to create your own shop, adding on a commission amount of whatever you decide. So it's great for personal use (great for present ideas) but there is also an opportunity to make money from it. This is where I haven't used it to it's full potential!



Anyway I'm going to work on it and see if I can't get a few designs up there and maybe make a few quid! Click here to see my shop (under development!)

The Smoking Room

Thanks to an awesome birthday present, I have discovered 'The Smoking Room', a BBC comedy series. Basically it revolves around the inner refuge of the daily grind, the company smoking room.

Very funny, very witty and stars Robert Webb (Peep Show) and Leslie Schofield (Eastenders, Star Wars!) plus some other exceptional characters.

Worth a watch: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smoking-Room-1-DVD/dp/B000ASALQK

I've watched some great comedy series over the last few years and this is right up there. I think this would be my top 10 at present:

1. Peep Show
2. The Office
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm
3. Flight of the Conchords
4. Arrested Development
5. The Smoking Room
6. Coupling
7. Gavin and Stacey
8. Extras
9. Pulling
10. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

I've probably missed some major ones out but nevertheless that's a pretty god damn good list.

Bleep. Moo. Oink.

I heard this great idea the other day. Someone said wouldn't it be great if the tills at the supermarket checkout made different noises depending on what item was being scanned?

So instead of the usual beep, you could have a 'moo' sound if milk or beef was scanned. That could then be the same for all meats, an 'oink' here, a 'buckark' there. Now that would be pretty awesome. Maybe toilet tissue could have a toilet flushing sound, bolognese sauce a 'mama mia' type sound. The possibilities are endless.

Maybe it could actually work on a serious note. A little marketing prop. So say for a brand like 'Green Giant' sweetcorn, they have their own recognized jingle. So when one of their products is scanned it could be in the tune to 'Ho ho ho... Green Giant'.

Well it's an idea. Yeah ok, so it probably won't catch on, but just think how much more enjoyable the shift will be for your average till girl...

Perfect Pregnancy

Well my sister, who has had two children, has been on at me to start up her website (perfectpregnancy.co.uk). I finally got around to creating a logo and the initial website layout for her. Below is the logo (colours still tbc).


She basically wants to share her own experiences to help expectant mothers with a real and personal opinion on all things to do with pregnancy. Now maybe she will pull her finger out and actually start writing some content for it!

I'm sure it will be a long way from actually launching but as her graphic designer brother, at least I have started to do my bit. I created my fathers site (www.downtoearthelectrical.co.uk), I have done posters for my younger sister so now I'm just waiting on my mothers graphic design request...

Newfound respect for Frank Lampard

Just a quick one. Frank Lampard calls up a radio show that had called him 'weakened scum' after his split from the mother of his two young children. For a footballer I thought he conducted himself very well and handled the whole situation eloquently. Good on him.

A lot of people would say that is a downside of an otherwise very privileged lifestyle but to have people talk about and make judgments on your personal life must be extremely hard to stomach sometimes. I think it just shows you that there should be limits. Of course you have to expect the interest in a 'celebrities' life but when it crosses the barrier into their personal relationship and their children, it has to stop, and their privacy respected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8017456.stm

Click and See

With nobody actually reading this, it's kinda like talking to yourself. I quite like it.

Well I watched this great programme last night about a 14 year old lad, Ben Underwood, who was totally blind after losing his sight to cancer. By making a clicking sound with his mouth, he measured the echo's that bounced back (like a submarine radar) to create a picture of his surroundings. It was quite unbelievable. He rode his bike, roller bladed, walked to school... and with no help from anybody. He basically walked around unaided and was totally against using a white stick and what that stick represented. Unfortunately after looking into it a bit, Ben died in January 2009 at the age of 16. Very sad but I'm sure his story will live on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLziFMF4DHA

To lose your sight is a harrowing and difficult thing to imagine. As a designer especially, everything about the person I am is based on visuals. A scary thought and one I don't like to dwell on for too long. This guy however had no fear, he was truly amazing and just reminds me that we, as humans, are capable of so much more if pushed to the limit.

This kind of ties in with another amazing person, Stephen Wiltshire. I saw his programme a while back and have just received some of his prints for my birthday. He is an artist and is also autistic. He has an amazing photographic memory. He only needs to view a scene for several minutes before going away and drawing it with pin-point accuracy. The programme showed how he took a helicopter ride over London then went back to a gallery to draw the whole aerial view from memory. A wonder to behold and another example of the fact that we all do not use our brain to full capacity. To think that maybe we could all possess that skill yet haven't gained the ability to unlock it is a mind boggling thought.

www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk

All blogged up

Well let the blogging begin. I'm sure it will take me a while to get into this but here goes...

Let's start off with a joke, get things moving in a humorous direction. I brought a tv yesterday, a really good one, flat screen and only £50! Only problem being that the volume control doesn't work, but at that price I couldn't really turn it down.

Now for a recommendation. I always like to follow a joke with a recommendation. 'Buddies' restaurant in Northampton. Now if you're like me and enjoy the whole American diner experience then this place is a little gem. Great decor, vast menu and cosy atmosphere make this a great little venue. Great for a date as well, one of the small touches being Trivial Pursuit cards on every table, so if your stuck for conversation you can put your date under pressure with an intelligence test! Awesome. Sorry but awesome has steadily entered my superlative rotation list.

BUDDIES NEW YORK CAFE
Old Mission School, Dychurch Lane, Northampton NN1 2AB
http://www.buddiesrestaurants.com/