Christmas Is Over

Well that was another Christmas. The season of peace and goodwill to all mankind has nearly finished. This makes me think, 'why can't it always be the season of peace and goodwill to all mankind?'. Why should it stop after Christmas? Let's try and keep peace and goodwill alive all year. Just give it a go for the whole of this next year. We may fail but we can try.

The Work Paradox

Why is it that the more work I have, the less I do? What kind of twisted logic is that? Case in point: I'm doing a blog post right now instead of all the work I need to do. I know exactly what to do, how to do it and everything, it's just doing it that's the problem.

Balloon Project

An unprecedented amount of posts, I know, but I had an interesting idea after reading this. This guy took some photos with a camera hanging from a kite.

I had an alternative idea which was to use a makeshift hot air balloon made out of a bin bag or something which would double as a parachute for the descent. It would have a note asking people to send it back.

The problems with this were threefold: a) the hot air balloon might not get that high, b) the camera might break on landing, c) someone might just nick the camera.

Then I just thought 'screw the camera - let's just see how far one of these can get'. I thought I could just attach a note asking them to email me where and how they found it.

I then decided a helium balloon would work better instead and the note should be laminated to stop rain.

Now we just need to decide where the launch site is to be and what the note should say. It needs to be somewhere with a high density of people like London. But how do I get the balloons there in the first place? I might get some odd looks on the train. I could buy them up there I guess.

Then the note:

Dear Whoever You Are,

I see your curiosity got the better of you and you picked this up.

You have volunteered for a social experiment. The question is: are you willing to take a few minutes of your time to take part?

If you can spare the time, could you please post on ifoundaballoon.chamberlaindesign.co.uk with where and how you found this with a photo.

Thank you for your time and have a good day.

Chris Chamberlain

I'll post if I actually decide to do this and then I'll post any replies at ifoundaballoon.chamberlaindesign.co.uk

List of Random Stuff

I don't want to sound like this guy but I'm sorry I don't post more often. I'm really busy with uni work right now so just a short, random one this time.
Behold, in all it's glory, The List of Random Stuff I Find Hilarious:

• Spoons
• Forks
• Sporks
• Basically all cutlery except knives - knives aren't funny, kids
• Chickens
• Turkeys
• Ducks
• All other poultry
• Rubber ducks
• Bananas
• Shoes
  
• Your face
  
• Spoons
  

Godalming Joigny Site Is Finished

It's finally done and up and running and everything: Finished Site

I had some slight FTP issues but they're sorted and it's all good. Quite proud of myself. Please leave any comments.

Next time back to the normal random thoughts.

Godalming Joigny Site

Sorry its taken so long but life has a tendency to get in the way. You can see my progress with the Godalming Joigny site below. Internet Explorer users - these may not work properly for you so please get a proper browser.
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
Test 5
Test 6
I've now, after a few frustating hours, fixed the Internet Explorer issues in the final version. I've pretty much finished the site but it won't be online for a few days. I'll post a link when that happens.

Godalming Joigny Twinning Association Website

I mentioned at the end of my previous post that I was going to make a website for the Godalming Joigny Twinning Association. Godalming is a medium-sized town in Surrey famed for being the first town to have electric street lighting among other things. Joigny is a similar-sized town in Burgundy, France with lots of vineyards and whatnot.

Currently there is no site and the only web presence the Twinning Association has is a small listing on the Town Council website.

Now then, I started with looking at a few other random twinning websites but they all struck me as a bit rubbish for various different reasons (apologies to the people who made them). See a few examples at http://www.alresford-twinning.org.uk/, http://petersfieldtwinningassociation.org.uk and http://www.bognortwinning.co.uk/. Some are boring, some have text over busy images and others have things overlapping. All in all I hope I can do better but we'll see.

I've had some different design ideas and mocked them up and here they are:




I've done the panorama for Joigny:


I'll come back when I've done more.

My New Website

I've just finished my new website at www.chamberlaindesign.co.uk. It's much better than the previous one because its cleaner, simpler and generally more professional.
The main difficulty I had was with the JavaScript to show and hide the different page content based on which button is pressed. I had some help with this from my friend Tez Grant (www.teztez.co.uk).
Please leave any comments you have about the site, good or bad, on this blog post.

Anyway, one more thing - I've been asked by the Chairman of the Godalming Joigny Twinning Association (who happens to be my dad) to design and build their website. I'll do blog posts with any developments so you can watch my progress, if any.

The World Cup

You know I never thought I'd write about the World Cup with anything other than disdain. This is down to one thing and one thing only - repeated exposure to football. This was provided by one Edward Barker, Esq. and was achieved through a mixture of PES, boredom and general abuse.

Now I'm not saying I actually enjoy football. In fact I have always described it as 23 men running after an inflated pig's bladder watched by millions of idiots. This opinion has now been tempered somewhat and, for the first time ever, I actually slightly care who wins. I am even going to watch as many England games as I can due to a stupid promise I made and I'm going to cheer for England.

So without further ado...

COME ON ENGLAND!!!

There, I hope you're happy Ed!

The Papers

This is still so true.

Music Matters

Whilst aimlessly wondering the inter-tubes, I stumbled across a site called Music Matters. The videos on this site are incredible in terms of both the music they contain and the quality of the animations. I strongly suggest you take a look and I especially recommend the Louis Armstrong and Blind Willie Johnson videos. It makes you realise what amazing people they must have been and somehow makes their music mean more because of it.

Anyway these videos set me thinking: what makes a great musician? I don't have an answer to this question but it's interesting to think about.
Is it that they live on through their music in a similar way to the way that actors survive through their films? I don't know whether that's important or not or if all artists have that whether they're good or not.
Is it that they make us feel good and lift us out of day-to-day life? I for one would find life intolerable without music and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Or is it just that inexplicable shiver that runs down your spine when you listen to a truly great song?
Or have I missed something out? Please comment, I'd like to know what you think.
Sorry it's taken so long for a new post but thinking of ideas is harder than you'd expect. Ah now I'm just making excuses. See you next time, whenever that might be.

Boredom

When did the internet get boring? Not individual websites but the web as a whole. What I really mean is the fact that I just spend ages switching between about 5-6 different websites and rarely visit anything else. These are: my email, Facebook, BBC, Google Wave and the Escapist. So after I've run out of things to read on those sites I get bored. I don't think 'Oh, I'll go and look at something else' because I can never think of anything else - I think '*sigh* I'm bored'.

Boredom is a weird thing. The way to stop it is by doing something but it makes you (or me at least) less likely to do so. It one of those self-perpetuating cycles or maybe spirals. And at the bottom of that spiral is depression. Yet when I can hear people talking in the next room, I don't go in there. It's like I'm paralysed by boredom but if I do go in I cease to be bored. So I put it to you that the cure for boredom is people.

Sorry it was mildly depressing this time but it's that time of year isn't it? I need summer.

Haiku

Internet. How nice.
Lots and lots of pointless stuff.
Isn't it lovely?

Solitaire

What is it about Windows Solitaire that makes it so addictive and brilliant and yet a complete waste of time? I have several theories:

1. Failure: You may only win about 1 in 8 times but losing all of those games doesn't put you off but instead spurs you on to eventual victory.
2. Anger: You often want to beat the game into a bloody pulp or maybe headbutt it into a fine paste or maybe... You get the idea - I'll stop before you all start backing away very slowly. This will mainly because the one card you need is under two others. You want to win so that you can shout "In your face, Solitaire! In your face! Ha!" at your mortal enemy.
3. Reward: The big reward you get is the cards happily bouncing off the screen and leaving a nice pattern behind. However, it is annoying when a fully black trail messes the whole thing up.

Just a short pointless one this time I'm afraid but at least it's something, eh? See you next time.

New Year and Snow

Well, Christmas is officially over - the decorations are down, the tree is mouldering outside in the snow and now there's nothing to look forward to for months to come. Presents have ceased to be presents and are now just objects. New Year Resolutions have already been failed at miserably. Now is the time for going back to work, back to the grind. Sorry I'm being so depressing. Let's talk about snow instead.

What is it about snow that turns us all into kids? It's just frozen rain yet we all get so excited about it. I mean, sure, it's pretty - it turns half the world white and makes the colours shine out all the brighter. It makes the trees look less bare and lifeless. And it's also fun - throwing snowballs at each other, breath steaming out under hats and over scarfs, making snowmen (among other things). The air can be filled with laughter and fun.

But despite the glories of it, it seems to bring the whole country to its knees. The post doesn't run, nobody goes to work, people get stuck inside their houses, other people have to walk because their car is stuck. Isn't it fun?

So really snow is lovely for a few days but it soon begins to wear on you and you just want it to go away. Of course if you have no need or desire to go out, like me, it makes no difference and its just wonderfully pretty.

Anyway, my new year resolution is to update this blog more often. Of course it will fail but it might be worth a try. See you next time.