John Barry Triple

Posted By Mark on Apr 7, 2014

So, someone on Facebook shared a video over the weekend of the theme music to The Black Hole. It’s a cracking film and most definitely not the sort of thing you’d normally associate with Disney. The music itself is pretty damn good too. But let us skip on to the next day… The following morning I awoke and there was a tune running through my head. It wasn’t from The Black Hole but was from James Bond. Not the standard theme or one of the movie title tracks either, but rather a snippet of music used in one of the films. The tune repeated and repeated and repeated and I couldn’t place the music. This necessitated a visit to Spotify and the skipping through of track on a James Bond music album by the always excellent City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (check them out if you like movie music). It didn’t take me long to discover the music I was after and when I did I couldn’t believe my ears. I’m very sorry. I’ve been reading too many Upworthy and Viral Nova headlines recently and appear to have become afflicted. Anyway, the composer for the Bond earworm was the same as that of The Black Hole theme: John Barry. Did my brain make the connection while I slept? Was it just a coincidence? I vowed to discover the truth! But I had a cup of tea instead and didn’t think about it any more. Until now! When I’ll also skip discovering the truth in favour of updating the site with one of my occasional threesomes of music video goodness (although less video goodness than usual this time) with tunes by that aforementioned composer. It’s lunch time, it’s raining, I can’t be bothered to go out today, so why not? Like anyone’s reading this. Why am I typing this? It’s quite therapeutic talking to yourself actually, don’t you find? Yes, I do, come to think of it. Although schizophrenic behaviour is a little more worrying. You’re telling me. Let us vow to merge personalities and never mention it again! Like we vowed to discover the truth behind the John Barry music? Exactly! I really hope nobody reads this. Er, three musical numbers from John Barry. The Black Hole The video that started the mental ball rolling. 007 Takes The Lektor From “From Russia With Love” and the earworm that infected my cranium. Midnight Cowboy Hey! I’m walking...

Deal Pier

Posted By Mark on Apr 5, 2014

On a recent trip to Kent we spent a couple of hours in Deal as we knew it had a castle there and we do like a good castle. But we also like piers and we saw that Deal had one of those too. This necessitated a walk down it and led my wife to remark that Deal Pier was "without a doubt the ugliest pier I've ever seen." Well, ugliness is in the eye of the beholder and it just so happens I didn't share my wife's opinion. Deal Pier is a wonderful example of a simple, brutalist structure; raw concrete and rusting iron creating great lines and shapes everywhere you look. What sort of beast couldn't possibly like that? Please don't tell my wife I just called her a beast. #brutalism #brutalist #blackandwhitephotography #monochromeworld #pier #Kent #clouds #architecture #sea #shadow   Google+: View post on...

On The White Cliffs Of Dover

Posted By Mark on Apr 4, 2014

We took a short break recently, spending a few days exploring the county of Kent which describes itself as "the garden of England." I don't know that I'd describe it that way myself but I suppose my first choice description of "far better than Norfolk" – whilst wholly accurate – might be a tad contentious. We explored castles, we visited stately homes, we wandered down piers (and up them too as failure to do so leads to death from exposure or seagull abduction), and a good time was had. We also decided to take a walk along part of the famous white cliffs of Dover (spoiler: no bluebirds were spotted) in order to reach the South Foreland Lighthouse. This, incidentally, is something you too should do should you ever find yourself in the area; there's a rather lovely teahouse there but the personal tour of the lighthouse itself which (pun alert) illuminates the history of the world's first electric-powered building of this type is the (further pun alert) highlight of the visit. I think I'm out of lighthouse-related puns now. The clifftop walk was wonderful, if a little tiring. The windy conditions made the excursion especially exhilirating. Fellow walkers could be seen standing horrifically close to the edge. Sheer faces of chalk stood out marvellously against the blue sky and brownish water. France could be seen on the horizon. France was so close, in fact, that our phones switched to a French network. Many curse words were uttered as we turned off data roaming to avoid excessive charges even though we were on home soil. All-in-all, fun. This photo is from the walk along the white cliffs. Mark, I said to myself. Mark, what composition says iconic White Cliffs of Dover image to you? The answer, of course, was Dame Vera Lynn leading lemmings over the edge to land on and repel Norman invaders because that's how my brain works. So here's a spiky, bushy tree-type thing and some grass. Google+: View post on...

Neo Nazi Bears

Posted By Mark on Mar 28, 2014

Quote Time Estimate

Posted By Mark on Mar 14, 2014

Conversation between client and me: “We’ve been looking through this quote for the work and have a few questions.” “Okay, go ahead.” “Is this quote for the specification we sent you?” “Yes. As it says in the quote itself it’s for the specification you sent us.” “Good. Good. Okay. Now, how long will it take to do this work?” “The quote is for eleven days’ work.” “Yes, I see that, but when can we expect delivery of this?” “After you raise a purchase order we can begin whenever you want, taking the existing schedule of work we’re doing for you into account.” “What do you mean by that?” “Well, if you agree to the quote and tell us that this work takes priority we can start it on Monday and finish eleven working days later.” “And what if we want other work done at the same time?” “Then it will take longer.” “Okay. We’ll get back to you.” Conversation between colleague and me: “That sounded painful.” “It felt painful.” “Have they never been quoted for work before?” “It’s like this every time. Every week. The same conversation. And they’ve been clients for years. I want to...