A lot of us use the web in our every day lives. We book holidays on it, we order our groceries, or we even apply for jobs on it. But the problem with the web is that it's dynamic. Why is that a problem I hear you say? When we buy things or read information about a product or service, we are being told information from the web site that we believe is what we get. But of course, that web site can change and we can lose all evidence of the previous information. Usually this is to fix an error that they were previously unaware of. I am a believer that a large company should be responsible for the mistakes that they put on their web site. Even if it is simply an acknowledgement that they made a mistake, rather than changing the rules and expect us to just like it.

Why do I mention this? I recently purchased a few X-Celerator tickets for Alton Towers which, at the time of buying I was led to believe it allowed priority access to all rides, with any number of goes on each ride.

However, a few days later the web site changed and only said, "one entry per ride". Having brought the most expensive ticket Alton Towers offer, expecting something that doesn't cost them any more money, I was a little frustrated that they could do something like this without explanation. So, from their web site, I rang the number listed and they simply said, "we don't deal with the web site here". Huh? Well who does, because their number was on the web site! So, under their instruction I emailed their team lead for clarification on *why* the web site changed, and who is accountable for the wrong information that I made my purchase over. There has been no response at the time of writing.

So, sure, I am ranting here, but it's a valid point. Large companies need to be able to talk to their customers who are affected by changes they make on their web site. The left hand needs to talk the right hand; not slap it in the face. As a customer, I do enjoy catching large companies out and making sure they hear my voice. If I didn't, I wouldn't be working for IBM since they changed the application deadline on the web site after I had started to fill in an application. If I hadn't printed out the original date from their web site (which was by pure chance), I would not be working for them. They changed the rules, and I got lucky I could prove what they had done. A reason why the dynamic web content isn't good for the little people.

But alas, I went to Alton Towers yesterday, equipped with my X-Celerator ticket. After pursuing the web site issues I had with them, I managed to get (by a good will gesture of Alton Towers staff), 4 additional goes on rides that we could choose. This was a nice result; despite still wanting to have them admit that, yes, they did change it and we were caught out by their mistake!

Issues aside, the trip to Alton Towers was fantastic! The weather was perfect and I got on soooo many rides. Here is a list of all the rides which I went on:

Spinball Whizzer, Oblivion, Submission, Enterprise, Hex, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Skyride, Rita Queen of Speed, Corkscrew, The Flume, River Rapids, Duel, Runaway Mine Train, Nemesis, Ripsaw, Air, Air, Nemesis and The Flume.

Yep, that's 19 rides in one day. Pretty good going! I guess my favourite ride is Air and the most intense was Ripsaw. Not because of the motion or speed, but because they spray freezing cold water in your face that felt like diving head first into a lake - especially when it goes up your nose!

All in all, I would easily spend the extra money on the X-Celerator tickets again. The longest queue time was about 10 minutes. Awesome!

That was a nice way to end my week long holiday. I did however squeeze in time to paint a picture before I pack up and head back South ready for starting the constant deadlines, progress reporting and overtime. It's nothing fancy, just this:

I seem to be burning through this year far too quickly. It's been a over a month since my last post. As I said before, I feel 2007 will just fly by; and so far, I'm right. I dunno why, but I actually feel like 2008 will be a better year.

So why this feeling? Simple. Too much to do, and too little time to do it in. I have also realised that I have an addiction. I'm addicted to trying to do everything leaving me in the category of "Jack of all trades, master of none". And it's true. In fact, knowing this is nothing new. My shelf contains at least 45 training DVDs from traditional drawing, painting, music to 3D modelling and animation. As it stands, I only have enough time to spend about an hour on these in a given month.

So, it's a given month, and the good news is that I've managed to produce something from the modo training series. Nothing too fancy.


I feel like my life at the moment is just a chapter. It's just a matter of time when I'm ready to turn the page and write a new one.

If I seem happy it's simply because I don't want to bore you with the details. This week is going to be a very tough week. The Blue Fusion video is coming to a close, and so is a deadline on in the day job. The harsh truth of the matter is that both sides require 100% of my attention. Right now, that's 200% more than I'm wanting to give. But even if I don't know the exact route on how to get through this, time will grab me by the hand and pull me through.

But in the midst of all this frustration, relaxation was sought with a little dry point printing.

We're 12th through 2007 already, and sure, the time is going fast. Life at the moment is rather hectic with doing overtime at work, pressure to complete the Blue Fusion video, and of course, doing the usual things like evening classes and well, living in general.

Last Wednesday I attended an open day at Bournemouth University as I was keen to know more about their Masters in 3D Animation course. I managed to know a lot more about the course, chat with the tutors, chat with some students (who were trying to get on with their 3D projects) and chat some more with the tutors in the student union. What can I say, if I had the chance to do the couse, I would. It would appear now that doing this course will be the main driving focus to my creative endeavours. I just also need to find the 20K to be able to do it though. But rather than convince myself that it wont happen, I'll convince myself that it will happen, even if it takes a few years yet.

Putting that aside, I'm lined up with two new video projects through work (again, not related to the day job). This would be the 2007 Blue Fusion video and the Extreme Blue video. Should be good fun, but hopefully I wont be tied up in the day job to cause problems with these ones.

My guitar course has come to an end, and after 11 weeks of lessons I have concluded that it was a nice introduction to the acoustic guitar. No, I can't play the guitar. But I understand it a lot more, and have a great basis for when I want to pick it up and give it a go. I have also decided that while understanding guitar tabs is nice, I do miss having the knowledge of sheet music. So I've picked up a couple of books on reading music to read for when I go to bed. Shame I can only manage about 2 pages before I start to nod off. However, what this has made me realise is that I want to get back into learning the piano - eh, but not just yet.

However, coming back to my drawing and painting course, I've completed my next piece using oil paints and, what was intended to be the glazing technique. I will admit though, I was struggling a little with the water, reflections and the reeds, so the tutor did take hold of the brush and show me the way. I'm still fairly pleased with this though, and after all, the paintings so far are just to get a feel for what the medium is like.

Well, I started to play around with some concept art for a project idea. Just really playing about with ideas to see how things develop. Depending on how much time I get will depend on how well the project goes. But nonetheless, here's a sketch of the main character:

The flights are booked. Yep, the holiday for this year is now official and myself, Tim and Robert shall be heading off to New York on the 1st June and returning on the 29th June from San Francisco. We're yet to plan the trip in-between, but at least we've secured our flights.

Aside from that, life has returned to normal. I'm now back at my house after having been away, back to work and of course back to college. So, on the topic of painting, today we had an introduction with oil paints and canvas. Alas, here is my first ever oil painting:

Happy New Year!

A bit late I know. In fact, this post feels like it's a bit late considering it's been over a month since my last. Well, December felt like one of those months where it was very busy, yet so little is achieved. All that present buying just takes up too much time!

So a reflection on 2005. Whoah, I mean 2006! Wow that year went quick. Seriously, putting those Christmas decorations up at work felt so wrong as I didn't feel like there was enough time since last Christmas. Is that a sign of getting old? Probably. But it's also a sign of a never changing scenery. For example, if you're doing the same thing a year later in your work project, where's the closure?

But anyway, a reflection of 2006. I don't recall having a New Year's resolution for 2006, so I can't really say if I achieved what I set out to achieve. So here's a reflection of the small things that happened:

• I started a blog and entered the world of Web 2.0 by sharing my journey in an "online collaboration and sharing among users" (minus the collaboration bit)
• I did the Blue Fusion 2006 video
• My brother's company brought a shop and got a warehouse and I got all those web updates done
• I set up a MySpace and Bebo page; just cause I could
  
• I started a beginner course in the acoustic guitar
• I started a course in drawing and painting
• I worked on two TV ads [1] [2]
• I got my quick and dirty new portfolio site up
  

... and that's about it.

What's new for 2007?

I get the feeling that 2007 will fly by just as 2006 did where nothing major will really happen. Simply because I can predict the projects I'm needed for in the first half of the year. Plus I now realise the harsh truth that my spare time does spread ever so thinly.

Last Christmas I said to myself, "this time next year I want to know what the next step in my future will be". A year later and I clearly don't know. I keep saying that I'll move on from IBM after a couple of years, and for the time being, that's something I still believe (eluding from the fact that I've been there for 2 years already).

I am simply not ready to jump ship and move on; and I don't believe that 2007 will bring that opportunity either. But I do believe 2007 can give the clarity and preparation I need to know where I'm to go next. 2008 feels like a good year.

So what are my New Year's resolutions for 2007? In my mind I know the things that need resolving for this year. But in some way, I would rather this blog be a place of the things I've done, rather than talking about the things I've not done. So I've decided to keep my New Year's resolutions to myself. I shall make a list which shall be archived for a further 12 months. And this time next year I'll be ready to share what I've achieved on that list.

But on the topic of things that I've done, I received my modo training and completed the first project. And here are the results: