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.