Here's my first set from the Heroes and Villains party.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Becoming Phwoarty - Heroes and Villains party
I really wanted to have a party to remember my 40th by so chose fancydress. Thankfully my wife came up with the theme of Heroes and Villains which allowed a wide-interpretation. It wasn't all smooth sailing with the planning and preparation. Finding a decent venue in Brighton before Christmas proved to be expensive or couldn't offer a late closing time. Fortunately, good friends Paul and Sarah stepped in to host it.
Rejected costume ideas for me were Link from Zelda, Snake (with cardboard box) from Metal Gear Solid, Han Solo, Mad Max, Tron or a Galdiator/Trojan Warrior. Instead I kept it simple and played it for my look-a-likee, Simon Pegg having done Shaun of the Dead at a previous party. So, discounting films like Paul (not that funny), Run Fatboy Run (as a jogger?!) and Star Trek (love to but too geeky) I went for Sergeant Nicholas Angel.
Basics like the white short sleeved shirt and black combats were easy. Ebay came to rescue for the gun holsters with the leg strap and belt ones easy to buy. Cheap aviator sunglasses were also easy to find and buy. I'm glad I spent the extra on some reasonably priced boots to get the look right. Guns were a little tricky but found a pair of £1.99 hand pistols (Poundstretcher) that fitted nicely into the holsters I'd bought. Finally, the epaulettes were a tricky one and could have turned out to be very expensive if I wanted to be really genuine due to be very collectable. Luckily the stab vest already had the black clip-on shoulder flaps so I found some sergeant stripe badges via ebay. The chrome/silver officer numbers were just not worth it in the end.
Rejected costume ideas for me were Link from Zelda, Snake (with cardboard box) from Metal Gear Solid, Han Solo, Mad Max, Tron or a Galdiator/Trojan Warrior. Instead I kept it simple and played it for my look-a-likee, Simon Pegg having done Shaun of the Dead at a previous party. So, discounting films like Paul (not that funny), Run Fatboy Run (as a jogger?!) and Star Trek (love to but too geeky) I went for Sergeant Nicholas Angel.
Hot Fuzz costume
Possibly the most iconic part of the costume which had to be just right was the Police stab vest. I'd seen quite a few on ebay ranging from new ones around £300 to second-hand vests finishing their auction around £70 with loads of different sizes on offer (we're talking real ones that actually protect you from stabbing). After losing out on a few and worried about getting the wrong size I finally found one at Denbigh Army Supplies for £65. Bizarrely, there's an American Ebay trader who makes the iron patches for Sandford Police.Basics like the white short sleeved shirt and black combats were easy. Ebay came to rescue for the gun holsters with the leg strap and belt ones easy to buy. Cheap aviator sunglasses were also easy to find and buy. I'm glad I spent the extra on some reasonably priced boots to get the look right. Guns were a little tricky but found a pair of £1.99 hand pistols (Poundstretcher) that fitted nicely into the holsters I'd bought. Finally, the epaulettes were a tricky one and could have turned out to be very expensive if I wanted to be really genuine due to be very collectable. Luckily the stab vest already had the black clip-on shoulder flaps so I found some sergeant stripe badges via ebay. The chrome/silver officer numbers were just not worth it in the end.
Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman or G-Force ) Princess or Jun costume
My wife went for a more ambitious outfit which involved weeks of sewing machine and pattern cutting training plus a lot of time and stress sourcing and creating a helmet. We'd found an American website offering cosplay custom-made helmets and took the risk of the long lead time needed to make and ship. By the time it came for the latest date to ship a phonecall to California revealed that the helmet was still being made in China and they had no way of contacting the supplier! Plan B was to find a suitable helmet that could be painted and adapted with a visor. Ski helmets were the chosen for their lightness and reasonable cost. More stress added with the Royal Mail playing silly delivery games and an angry misunderstanding between neighbours but we eventually got there.Heroes and Villains costume party
Here's the evening's results including a lot of great friends going the extra mile for an excellent night:Piñata Party
Another highlight for the night which I wanted to do was having a Pinata. Instead of the colourful paper-made donkey I found and adapted one shaped as a vinyl record. Here's the video of me bashing the crap out of it (filmed by Mark Allison):Friday, 9 December 2011
New Twitter
My HTC Desire smartphone updated last night with the new Facebook and Twitter apps. Really like them both with Facebook finally looking more like its full website version. But its the Twitter new look and function that's inspired me especially as I use it so often for both personal and professional purposes.
I've never really bothered with third party apps for Twitter and maybe I've been losing out on some cool gizmos but my phone's internal memory is already full with non-movable apps. For the mobile version of Twitter you can now switch accounts. Plus there's new icons to deal with:
I must admit, Twitter had been looking a little stale for awhile especially with Facebook making some 'marmite' changes and Google + trying desparately to pull in punters upgarding all its services like Gmail, Blogger etc.with the G+ corporate identity.
Embed this Tweet is a new feature which will allow you to add a related tweet to another website. In my line of the work this could be a really useful thing to stimulate debate and spark off more influence and conversation.
Here's an example of a tweet I did yesterday:
HTML version
[tweet https://twitter.com/gingerdj/status/144814141805301760]
Link version
https://twitter.com/gingerdj/statuses/144814141805301760
It looks like the HTML version works best with Blogger when clicking the date link where you'll see the status plus any Replies or other activity associated with the tweet.
Here's what social media gospel, Mashable say about it the refresh- 4ways the new Twitter is taking on Facebook
Next I'll be testing it out on the website I work on but currently only my personal Twitter account has updated with the new version.
I've never really bothered with third party apps for Twitter and maybe I've been losing out on some cool gizmos but my phone's internal memory is already full with non-movable apps. For the mobile version of Twitter you can now switch accounts. Plus there's new icons to deal with:
Embed this Tweet is a new feature which will allow you to add a related tweet to another website. In my line of the work this could be a really useful thing to stimulate debate and spark off more influence and conversation.
Here's an example of a tweet I did yesterday:
HTML version
Maybe I'm paranoid but when I'm introduced to new staff as the one who manages the website its like I'm just the handyman or cleaner hereShortcode version
— Robin Coleman (@gingerdj) December8, 2011
[tweet https://twitter.com/gingerdj/status/144814141805301760]
Link version
https://twitter.com/gingerdj/statuses/144814141805301760
It looks like the HTML version works best with Blogger when clicking the date link where you'll see the status plus any Replies or other activity associated with the tweet.
Here's what social media gospel, Mashable say about it the refresh- 4ways the new Twitter is taking on Facebook
Next I'll be testing it out on the website I work on but currently only my personal Twitter account has updated with the new version.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Beach of the Dead: Zombie walk in Brighton
I'd always missed the previous year's Zombie Walk perhaps down to being the same Saturday as Halloween parties or White Night. For this year's Beach of the Dead a few of my friends decided to join the undead celebration which by the end of the day seemed to be the biggest and best yet.
Zombie friends consisted of office worker, disco dancer of the dead, dead Alice, senorita and a dead Jane Austin. The dining table was covered in copydex glue, fake blood, powder, some mirrors and a bottle Tuaca, the zombie choice of poison.
As if a distant church bell rang at 3pm, all zombies shuffled over to Victoria Park in Brighton where everyone compared bites, cut off limbs and zipped up skin. There didn't seem to be much organisation as for a starting time to get the mass killed off conga through town as everyone was either posing for the living. Somehow, they all set off down Church Street past the Brighton Dome causing traffic queues. I managed to find a good position away from the grabbing zombie hoard to stand on a bollard and look down and see a mass of undead harrassing cars, minibuses and pedestrians. It was a sound moaning, shouting and young children crying at the bloody sight.
The route winded its way through town and down to the seafront of which we took a short cut to catch them before they entered the Concorde 2 event.
Zombie friends consisted of office worker, disco dancer of the dead, dead Alice, senorita and a dead Jane Austin. The dining table was covered in copydex glue, fake blood, powder, some mirrors and a bottle Tuaca, the zombie choice of poison.
As if a distant church bell rang at 3pm, all zombies shuffled over to Victoria Park in Brighton where everyone compared bites, cut off limbs and zipped up skin. There didn't seem to be much organisation as for a starting time to get the mass killed off conga through town as everyone was either posing for the living. Somehow, they all set off down Church Street past the Brighton Dome causing traffic queues. I managed to find a good position away from the grabbing zombie hoard to stand on a bollard and look down and see a mass of undead harrassing cars, minibuses and pedestrians. It was a sound moaning, shouting and young children crying at the bloody sight.
The route winded its way through town and down to the seafront of which we took a short cut to catch them before they entered the Concorde 2 event.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Sonic Sushi 15th Oct photos and gingerdj mix
First of all, thank you to those who came along to make our first Sonic Sushi night a success. We had a blast and from the grins and giggles of those dancing, looks like you had a good one too. We didn't quite expect the crowd to want it quite so hard and fast but you all lapped it up like tech-house nymphs!
As well as our normal party crowd it was great to see and meet some new friends including some from my hometown (Dereham) in Norfolk. Hopefully the venue will get their air-conditioning to work otherwise we'll have to bring in even more fans (the blowing kind).
We've already been asked back but haven't quite decided when's the date.
If you missed the opening set of Sonic Sushi by myself, gingerdj at the Globe then look no further (well look a little further than this awkward statement...its below here, right.)
Full Set listing for the above is:
- 1. Samba By Faze Action
- Kawa Z Gruntem By Catz N Dogz Feat. Pol On
- Indigo (Original Mix) By Azari & Iii
- No More Daddy (Ame Remix) By Dop
- Venus (Sunshine People) (Dj Gregory Remix) By Cheek
- Look Me In The Eye Sister (Audiojack Mix) By Groove Armada
- Vitta Brevis (Pol On Remix) By Franco Cazzola, Titta
- Ride With Me (Feat. Max C) Original Mix By Roberto Rodriguez
- Captain My Captain (Rodriguez Jr. Remix) By Pan Pot Feat. Cari Golden
- Afrodisiac By Cyro
- Peter's Secret Weapon By Tigerskin
- Party Over Here Party Over There (Pol On Remix) By Joyce Muniz
- Jam Hot (Tensnake Remix) By Johnny Dynell
- Under A Silious Moonright By David Bowie
Friday, 30 September 2011
Sonic Sushi - 1st Brighton DJ night!
A date for your diaries: 15th October 2011 will be my first public DJ appearance in Brighton! Along with (secret after-party Disco Dungeon regular, Porntsar (or Kev to his mates) we'll be taking our bouncey, positive house music to the Globe Pub on Middle Street in Brighton.
For a taster of the sounds we will be playing visit my Mixcloud page (gingerdj).
Both Porntsar and myself use Traktor and Native Instrument's excllent Kontrol S4 and plan to link our two laptops and controllers to mix 8 channels. Inspired by Xpress 2's legendary 6 deck DJ performaces future Sonic Sushi play outs could involve multiple sound, sample, loops and effects.
For a taster of the sounds we will be playing visit my Mixcloud page (gingerdj).
Both Porntsar and myself use Traktor and Native Instrument's excllent Kontrol S4 and plan to link our two laptops and controllers to mix 8 channels. Inspired by Xpress 2's legendary 6 deck DJ performaces future Sonic Sushi play outs could involve multiple sound, sample, loops and effects.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Undiscovered pilot episode of Blackadder
I'm a bit late finding this out but my Twitter spies led me to find this very old pilot for The Blackadder. I'm a huge fan of the first series where Rowan Atkinson's character was completely different to the Ben Elton influenced creation. Controversial for some I know but it just worked better for me. Its this more confident character that gets a practice within this pilot episode. It's based on the second episode of the first series, 'Born to be King' where Edmund plots revenge on the Scottish Supreme Commander, McAngus. I've added both videos below so you can compare the two versions where they use alomost the same jokes and script around Edmund having to book the entertainment for the coming feast (i.e. Morris dancers, Eunurchs etc.).
Its amazing that only Edmund, the Queen and Lord Percy were the only characters to be played by the same actors. Can't imagine Blackadder not having Brian Blessed and Tony Robinson, plus Prince Harry in the pilot episode is not the straight man.
The Blackadder Pilot episode
The Blackadder - Born to be King
Its amazing that only Edmund, the Queen and Lord Percy were the only characters to be played by the same actors. Can't imagine Blackadder not having Brian Blessed and Tony Robinson, plus Prince Harry in the pilot episode is not the straight man.
The Blackadder Pilot episode
The Blackadder - Born to be King
