So I went into central london (as I generally do on a Saturday) and grabbed some comics. While we’re on the train, Stathis tells me we should go via Old Street to grab my prints from Constandinos. I actually got a small tingle in the back of my neck when he said this. Words cannot describe how amazing it felt to actually see my prints there ready to go. I hinted at this at the beginning of the year, start my limited edition print shop. I’ve been building towards this point for a good long while now.

Ages ago I had the idea of creating a small shop where I’d provide things that I myself would want to own. I see a lot of Cafepress shops around the place, and I can’t imagine lots of people buying things from them. The reason being that the actual items aren’t really all that appealing. It’s like a half assed effort on the owner’s part. They stick a logo on a mug and sell it for $15 plus postage, screw that for a laugh. I’d never sell something that I myself wouldn’t buy. If I decide to have a T-shirt on offer, you’ll be sure I’ve done it so that I can wear it myself, before I try to sell it off to anyone.

The first item on offer is the very first

CoCo Limited Edition Print

Any print I decide to offer will have a print run limited to a maximum of 10 copies. The first copy will be mine (like the one pictured above), which reduces the number down to 9 copies to be sold. Since they’re coming from me directly I’ll sign and number them, on the front or back depending on the actual person’s preferance. This thing measures slightly larger than your typical A3 paper, and the paperstock is a fantastically thick 250msg. Costandinos, you sir, ROCK.

Once they’re gone, that’s it I guess. So if you’re interested go over to the shop.

So I decided to wear a tie yesterday. I don’t normaly wear ties, as I’ve been getting into my jumpers this winter, simply because I’m a mediteranean soul and need my warmth. However sometime on Thursday night I just had the inclination to wear something a bit smarter. I don’t know what it was, just had that feeling. So I ironed my white shirt, which I swear my mother would slap me around the face for even contemplating about wearing (it’s a pretty old shirt and looks old as well, there’s some rocket science for you); and my favourite blue tie. From the second someone saw me till the moment I walked into my house, I’ve been getting comments about that tie.

It’s made such an impact that no one that sees me hasn’t commented in one way or another. Don’t get me wrong some of the comments have been nice, it’s just that does wearing a tie really elevate you to becoming smartly dressed, or is it just the novelty that you generally don’t wear that sort of thing. I generally wear smart casual to work. The more I think about it, the more I’m actually contemplating continuing with the tie trend.

Then I’ll stop wearing one suddenly because I got bored, and everyone will be telling me how casual I look ^_^.

Well that’s depressing. I’m a MASSIVE Flash fanatic. I love how the program is built, the interface, the freedom it provides. All these things make Flash one of my favourite programs, except for the past year or so I’ve got to say I’ve only really used it for colouring in and completing my images. The real reason behind that is I’ve been concentrating on creating content for a portfolio website, and that CSS has been occupying my time immensely.

I finally sat down today to try and start on the often beleaguered Emmortel.com. I thought well might as well have a nice animated button on BK. So I fired up the program,…and NOTHING. I’ve forgotten soo much. I guess everything is practice, but it’s pretty scary how rusty I am since I was really getting into Action scripting a year ago, and now I’ve got to effectively start from the beginning in that department!!

Nothing like a challenge really, since I’ve got less than a month to whip out a portfolio website, with a WordPress front page and a completely Flash interface.

Ages ago, when I finshed Grass for his Pillow I said that I’d write a better more full review of the great trilogy, Tales of the Otori. This set of books caught my eye in an ad on the tube in Camden. I remember the poster clearly since it’s also the cover of the first book. What attracted me to the actual story wasn’t soo much the poster, but the name of the book.

The first book as called ‘Across the Nightingale Floor’. I remember standing there thinking what a fantastically lyrical name for a book that was. I read the blurb which was something about forbidden love etc, and thought ok, it’s got samurai’s, and a fantastic name, let’s give this book a shot. Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed. The books are written by one Lian Hearn, which is a pseudonym. A friend a work, who we used to talk about books all the time, mentioned the writer was originally a children’s author from Australia, and decided to go for another name to prove that she shouldn’t be categorised as a children’s author alone.

The books are set in a world that resembles Feudal Japan in many ways. The thing is though, it’s not set in Japan. I think this was because Japanese History buffs are fanatics. They’ll remember every minute detail about everything, and call you up on it when/if you go wrong. I guess it would also restrict the story a great deal, as there are some elements of the supernatural in here as well. These are very subtle but add another great layer to the story itself.

The main characters are Takeo and Kaede. It shows their struggle to being with one another in a world mired in tradition, rules and regulations. The story fuses all the ingredients of a good story, mystery, love, war, betrayal and revenge.

There is serious talk of the movie being made, but personally I think you should get these books first. They are very well written books, with a lot of great twists and turns. Now that I’ve finished them I’m a bit sad because I’ve got to wait a while before I find the next set of books that will take my imagination away.

Tales of the Otori:

Book 1 - Across the Nightingale Floor Book 2 - Grass for his Pillow Book 3 - Brilliance of the Moon

Okay so we’re driving down to Wales. I get in the car (it was a rental),

Does it have a CD player….Oh shit, only cassette player? Do they still make those things? What the hell are we going to do Stathi, sing to each other for 3 and a half hours????

Luckily he actually had 3 tapes on him. Where, why and how, I do not know. We get to Yiota’s place and she’s kept his ENTIRE cassette collection. Over 100 of these things!!! Now those who know me know what a complete techie junkie I actually am. The only accessory that I’m not all that fussed about is my mobile phone, but that’s another post for another time. Having said that, after this weekend drive, I really miss the low tech situation induced by having cassettes. I’ll explain.

Growing up as you can imagine everyone had a walkman, much in the same way everyone’s got an ipod now. These things go in cycles, and there will come a day, when the Ipod is a thing of the past to be replaced by something more fresh and lively etc. The problem however with the transition between going all digital, is you can no longer share music in the same way. When I used to make a mix tape, it would take me 3 hours. To choose the songs, work out how long they were, how they would fit into the tape. How one song should flow into another. Then you’d spend time sorting out the outside cover of the tape. Do I make it colourful. Can I be bothered to write the song name and the artist name. Hell I got this off the radio, do I even KNOW that information?

And then once it was all over and you’d listened to it for like 1000 times, you would either relegate it to the old tapes pile, to be replaced by the new one.

Ah but here’s where the magic comes into play. Years later, as you’re driving from Wales to London, and the radio is playing the latest shit from Britney Spears, you relive your teens in a way only a tape could do. Sure the songs exist on my ipod, but not those specific songs, not in that order, and not something that can be shared around, as a PHYSICAL object with a stamp of your character all over it.

I’m down in Cardiff this weekend. Or as the Welsh like to call it Caerdydd! Road trip down with Stathi and his dancing ass, to brighten up his sister Yiota’s who’s a completely stressed bunny. She’s in the final month and a half of her course, so obviously this is where you stress the most when in University. Then once that’s over you’ve got the great situation of stressing to find a job. Ah the memories.

It’s really funny but Wales is known to be a pretty rainy place. Must be pretty lucky since both times I’ve been here (last time was for Sarah’s wedding) the weather was as stunning and fresh as it is today.

Rin got second place in the Alex King Theme Design Competition!

Well it’s not really an award, it’s a competition I know, but still it’s the closest to an award the WordPress community has so indulge me for a moment while I bask in this feeling, and go through this little acceptance speech, honest it’s not going to be long. (Now if I ever get an Eisner that’s a completely different issue altogether, all bets are off then, but I digress).

First off I’d like to thank my partner in crime Joshua, who came through in flying colours. It took us three days to convert Manji2 into Rin, and another day for me to sort out the actual manual etc.

Rootie for being there at the beginning of the Rin & Manji expedition.

To all the users who’ve posted here and on the forums and sent me e-mails of thanks, support and bug reports I thank you, would have been what it is without you guys.

Honestly I’m not just saying this, after seeing some of the other entrants I thought that at best we’d get a mention, but nothing else really. So it honestly came as a complete surprise to see it there up second. Completely solid competition.

As said elsewhere, the real winners however in this competition where all the WordPress users. I can think of 50 designs that look absolutely fantastic, and they’re all under a GPL license. Sweet.

How come no one’s really mentioned this on the blogosphere? Symphony is the new kid on the block when it comes to blogging software, and it’s a complete beauty. It looks as slick as hell and has got some great little features.

As I look at what they’ve done to it I can’t help but smile at the fact that we’ve also, so far on the shuttle team, addressed several of these points as well. We may have gone about them in a slightly different way, but it’s still very cool to see we’re on the right track.

It’s been a bit of a slow development 3 weeks on that front, since the design half of the team is a bit pre-occupied with the real world. I’m making it a point to jump back into it later on this week.

Now why did they change the name from Typeworks? I did like that name, not that I’ll use the system mind you, just wondering is all.

In what shall be now lovingly refered to as my IMPULSE buy of the year, I got myself an A4 wacom tablet today. Am I not beautiful?

You certainly are.

I’m sitting there and Darren walks in and sees how frustrated I was getting with my mouse, and trying to colour in my latest drawing. So he asks me why I don’t buy a graphics tablet? Honestly I couldn’t give him a reason, apart from the fact that they were too expensive. My daddy always says that you should never let money stand in your way….no that’s a COMPLETE lie, he’s more than happy for me to store the cash away for rainy days, I on the other hand don’t have that much restraint when it comes to certain things. Art equipment, books, graphic novels, and as it would seem computer equipment.

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, since I took a picture of the tablet, I thought I’d also show people where Broken Kode is made every day. Hey who knows how long I’ll stay in this house. Does anyone else have similar photos of their ‘work’ environment?

About 3.5 years ago I was scared of computers. Well not so much scared, as just didn’t really want anything to do with them. This I guess was due to my brother, who when we brought a computer back in 93 or whenever, decided to methodically trash the thing, and install viruses on for shits and giggles. Obviously my frustration had it’s limits and I just didn’t bother with the whole thing.

Fast-forward to University and I got by using the Uni computers and borrowed a 586 from my buddy Richard who’d just bought a Laptop. I did a bit of word processing, e-mailing and message boards. Very little else. My main creative output was to actually drawing and painting. I would spend days on end on a single drawing. After I’d compiled enough work I decided to set up a website and have an online portfolio like all the pros. The only person I knew that could help me with this project was my brother.

We spent an entire month sorting out my website. I would sketch it and he’d do everything else. I’d ask him if he could make this happen or that happen. He came through in grand style, and that’s when kalscreations was born. It was updated once, and never again. This was back in 2000.

When I graduated in 2001, I decided it was time to get another website up and running. Again I enlisted the help of my brother for this little project. This time however he didn’t last. If anything I was even more demanding than before. You see I’m a complete anal perfectionist. It’s a sickness I guess. He lasted 2 weeks this time before he just looked at me, having reached the end of his rope, and said

’ You know what, if you want that effect, DO IT YOURSELF’.

‘What do you mean do it myself? I don’t know how!’

‘Learn.’

So I did. It was tough. It took months upon months to understand photoshop, it took agest to understand how Flash worked. It took a while to get to grips with vectors. The main thing was persistence. I don’t know what reminded me of this story but I thought I should write it down and say thanks to my bro who pushed me into the deep end when the time was right.

In a bit of an unusual mood for me. I was meant to do a bit of drawing this weekend. That’s not happened. Instead I’ve gone out with friends, played some basketball, done some reading and generally speaking very little creating. I think after close to three months solid of concentrating on my various projects I just really needed the breather. It’s strange but I just really can’t bring myself to write any words on my script, can be arsed to open up photoshop, don’t want to pick up a pencil and concentrate on a drawing.

One project that I couldn’t help but tinker with was the site design ever so slightly; wish I could make my comments details show up in IE (god how I loathe IE bugs, I can never get them to work out, seriously pisses me off every single time I do a redesign, something screws up in IE).

Tonight’s agenda is more reading and Smallville. Hopefully this break will have energised my batteries, and I can create like crazy from tomorrow.

I’ve got two posts in me today, one I’m going to let fester in me for a while, the other one is right here. Yesterday went out for Tracey’s Birthday. For a very brief couple of minutes I was contemplating about not going. This was after the 3 hour basketball session, and a splitting headache. I was lying there in bed, Perfect Circle in the background but I made it in the end, and it was best night I’ve had in London. Been here for 2 1/2 years, and I’ve not been to a single bar/club that I actually enjoyed. The reason is very simple, generally speaking the music that I like to dance to is just not something you find readily in England. Trust me, I know, I’ve lived here 8 years. The general populace will want to listen to UTTER shit when they dance. So I’ve developed a special talent, I can block out ALL music in places I go into.

Due to this, I generally have no inclination to actually staying late. Ah but this place Anam is different. I got in there, and it’s tiny. Hmm let’s see what it’s like downstairs. Still tight, and then I realised what music I was listening to. Cool and the Gang, the good MJ stuff, some funk, some soul. The DJ attempted putting on some hip hop which lasted 2 minutes with this crowd. Don’t get me wrong some Hip Hop I can handle, but not what he put on and not following on from the fantastic selection ( a lot of which I must say I’d never heard of but Archie asked for a couple of tracks from the DJ so maybe we’ll get some more new music as well).

I liked the atmosphere in there, and the people that worked there were pretty cool as well. Definitely one to do again.

I’ve got a backlog of magazines the size of a small mountain and I’m just filing though it over the next couple of days. Today I went through WebDesigner issue 103. Now generally speaking it’s a decent enough magazine. I like some of the tutorials they’ve done (bearing in mind I’ve only bought this mag twice before), this issue had a massive feature about web templates. The last third of the article actually had a decent enough write up of blogging templates and generally explained a lot to the novice about blogs in general.

Our very own ScriptyGoddess got a mention, as did Not (that) Ugly as well. It was really strange seeing these familiar net faces being mentioned in a magazine, but there you have, well deserved Ladies. It’s great to see that WordPress is spoken in the same breathe as Blogger and Moveable Type, hopefully in the coming years it’ll be Blogger, WordPress and then Moveable Type as WP takes over.

Searching for a link to Webdesigner, I’ve got to say for a magazine that is all about the web, that’s an incredibly CRAP online presence they’ve got there. I mean what the hell? Poor, poor showing guys. I expected oh soo much better.

As my magazine subscription to Computer Arts comes close to an end, I’m really thinking about switching over to Digit, as the content in there is more focused on actual reviews and articles, and they provide and really support open source programs. Blender for example was featured in the previous issue, and I found out about Expression via Digit.

I’ve decided to go for a more dynamic approach to v3 of this site. There are a number of reasons, but mainly it’s because I’ve been sitting on this design for a while now, and I really wanted to start using some of the features I’d set up for it, mainly my snippets column. I plan on updating that part of the site pretty regularly.

The actual redesign was spawned from the need to showcase certain things and to actually highlight others. I knew that I wanted to showcase Manji and Rin a bit more on the front page, and subsequent themes I am actively involved in developing.

There are loads of tweaks I’ve got to get around to and complete a number of static pages, some of which are hinted at the top of this page, but I’m in no rush right now. If I build this content in such a way I’ll be able to reuse it later on down the line for future updates. I wonder how long I’ll stay with this design?

Themes Tangent: What I’ve found really amazing, is just the sheer number of themes that are now available for the WordPress community. We’re talking well over 100 themes and counting.

The trick now is to try and seperate the good from bad, from the ugly. Some I’ve got to say are exceptional themes. Blix is one theme I think is brilliant. It’s subtle colours and clean lines really do appeal to me. Another one is Green Marinee which I think is another slick addition to the great WordPress theme arsenal. K2 is lurking on the horizon, and Persian has always been around kicking ass and taking names.

Having a good looking site in WordPress is now not an option, it’s a given.

Okay it’s finally here. After nearly 2 months, and 2000 downloads later, Manji2 has now blossomed into Rin. The major differences between this and the Beta version and the final release is really in the stylings. There have been some tweaks in the code, but those are just falling in line with the developments for Manji. Rin has been submitted for the Alex King Design Competition, but I’ve got to say it’s up against some pretty awesome competition. I’ve got a pretty extensive post in me about themes, their development and the current state of affairs on the horizon, but that’s for another time.

So if you want to have a look at what Rin looks like go over here and have a look, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised. (yeah I know the bloody name is still Manji2preview, I’m working on it, trust me I’ve got some pretty major updates for this place as well in the coming 12 hours or so).

As always my partner in crime Joshua did a great job with the mess I presented him.

I’ve been coasting for the past couple of weeks. You know the feeling you get when things go around in a circle and you’re a slave to a certain routine. That’s been my life for the past 3 weeks. I’ve been buried in my design and writing. Not much drawing, which is annoying. I remember when this Easter break came 3 years ago. I spent the entire 3 days drawing. Nothing else. Didn’t touch the computer just drew. There’s something indescribable when a piece is finished. It’s more saticfying than any redesign, because if you’re like me I’m constantly tinkering around with a site. I can’t help it, but a drawing, when that’s complete that’s it. All the faults are there and you can’t do anything about it.

One thing I do wish I had when drawing is a control-z (undo), soo annoying ^_^.

I’ve not actually thought about what I’m going to do this 4 day break, but I think I’ll try my hardest to step away from the computer. It occupies such a massive part of my life anyway, so I’m going to try and recreate 3 years ago and see what I come up with.

Manji2 is NO MORE. I hinted at this before. Manji2 is being renamed Rin. I’ve spent the entire evening sorting out the final release. There has been a lot of stylistic changes to the final theme. I’m currently working on the icons which will accompany it. The first flavour to be released will be Nebular. I’ve got several new flavours up my sleeve, but it’s a bit premature to be talking about that right now. Flipping from Beta to Final release you can see the evolution. The Beta version has been out since the 1st of February, so I think it’s about time I got my ass in gear and released the proper version.

I’ll hopefully release it sometime tomorrow or the day after that, but it’s coming soon, very soon.

First we taken Manhattan, then we take Berlin.

You know all those stories you hear about English weather being terrible, blah blah blah. For the most part it’s true. The thing is it doesn’t rain all day. That’s not true. The standard however is for a constant white cloud to be above your head 70% of the year. That’s what we call in daylighting terms as an overcast sky.

Yesterday ushered the first real day of spring for us here in London, giving us a glimse of things to come. Some would argue that the winter was just too damn long, and to be honest I can’t wait to get down on the basketball court at Chalk Farm and really get fit again. I work on the third floor, and we’ve got phenomenally shit lifts where I work. The irony of having crap services in a building full of building service engineers in not lost on me I assure you, but I was actually caught out of breathe the other day walking up the stairs, and I it was at that moment that I wished for spring to come and for me to actually get some exercise in.

Today it would seem brings about another glorious day, so I’m going to head over to Hampstead Heath, grab a frisbee from somewhere and maybe some nosh, and chill out before the grey/white sky comes back again.

I thought I’d give a small update on the progress of this little project as I’ve not spoken or said anything about it since Joen joined the team. It’s been nearly over a month since we started working on this little project in ernest. The first 2 weeks were spent discussing options, thoughts, design issues, and everything else under the sun. Many e-mails were exchanged between us, and then Joen got the ball rolling with the first stab at a sketch. Since then it’s been a pretty cool session of photoshop tennis between Michael, myself, Joen, and even our code-fu guru Chris jumped into it as well.

What’s great is that with every iteration you can see the actual design developing more and more clearly. I flick through the original sketch and what we’re currenly on and I just have a massive smile on my stupid mug, because I can’t wait to be able to start using this interface. Trust me when I say that it’s going to kick some major ass in both the design department and the functionality/usability department.

The thing is good stuff honestly takes time. We’re all exceptionally busy people, and something of this scale takes hours of careful thought. None of us are in a rush to get it done for any reason. When it comes out it will be something beautiful, and will elevate the ‘Press’ from the typewriters. In the meantime if you’re really wanting some colour in your blog check out Not That Ugly for something different for your interface.

Allow me this moment to take a second and thank EVERY SINGLE person that’s ever given any time to WordPress. Be it in the help forums, helping out with the Wiki, sorting out a theme, sorting out a plugin or generally trying to get people to use WordPress and Open Source software more.

I’ve been slogging away at version 3. There are a number of reasons for me doing this. For a start I learn soo much every single time I do a design. I’m not a coder, not even close, and yet I’m starting to understand what’s going on every time I decide to do something new.

The great thing about the WP community is the fact that if I’ve got an idea for something, chances are somebody’s already had that idea, implemented it and made it into a downloadble script that I can manipulate and incorporate into the design. Sure it’s frustrating trying to get something to work, that just plain doesn’t want to play ball, but I’m extremely lucky in that if I’ve ever got a problem one of my buddies who are infinitely better at this than I am, come in and give me a shove in the right direction.

I’m tweaking this locally, just playing around with things, but I’m really getting into taking my standard base (in my case Manji, since I know the code upside down, and inside out), and tweaking to try and get things smaller and smaller in terms of file size). Every Kbyte I shave off I have a little giggy ^_^.

I’ve got one final script I need to incorporate but I’m having troubles deciding which way to go. It’s that incorporating of images into a design. This is for the Manji gallery that’s been brewing for so long. Basically all I want is a script that will enable me to quickly add a thumbnail to a folder. Once that image is displayed then I want it to be clickable and to have the exact same surroundings as a single post, i.e with spaces for comments etc. Also I want this space to be integrated and controlled via the control panel as well.

Anyone have any ideas which script/hack/plugin will do this? I know it exists, just wish I knew which one it was…

Like a butterfly Manji2 is going to evolve into something more, and the name, well the name will have to change to reflect that. After a few nights of thinking, I’m prone to saying things and then going back on my word, I think there might be a theme for the Alex King Competition coming soon. Probably won’t get there till it’s down to the wire, but alas good things come to those who wait.

I swear this had nothing to do with the actual recently announced $500 prize, damn dog, this thing is getting bigger and better. Work has already begun for a week now, and the proof is in the e-mails…….ooh cryptic.

Hmm seems like we’ve been heard. Larry’s posted on his website about the True Facts review. That’s pretty cool. He checks out what people have said about his books across the net good and bad and presents them. He’s done this for a while now, so it’s nice to get mentioned.

Seems Larry’s also read my previous post where I got on my high horse and said stuff about Brian Wood’s current body of work. Reading that post it would seem that I hated Woods. Which is really not true at all. In fact the proof that I’m a fan of the man’s work can be found in this little post here. In that post I put Channel Zero as one of my Top 11 graphic novels. Considering I’ve got over 300 graphic novels, in two different countries, I think that’s a pretty major indicator that I like Channel Zero; but as that post pointed out I think Woody’s lost his edge. I’ve got most of Bri’s work

1. Pounded
2. Fight for Tomorrow
3. The Couriers
4. Couscous Express
5. Public Domain
6. Channel Zero
7. Jennie 1.0

the last three being what I consider his best work. Notice I don’t own anything past the Couriers.

Since The Couriers I just thought “No this just isn’t good enough”. His work usually has so much energy and passion, but Pounded, The Couriers etc all left me with a sour taste in my mouth, and I realised that he wasn’t a creator I could follow blindly as I do with many creators, whether the story even slightly appeals or not, because a good creator will make me interested in what they’re writing about. I was disappointed when he decided not to finish/start The Walk (aborted series), because that sounded like something I would enjoy and had that Woods edge.

Having said that I will be buying Demo when Larry decides to release it as a trade paperback, because I’m not buying your floppies Larry ^_^.

Finally got around to sorting this out. All I wanted was a holder page. It’s been on my mind for like 1 month, but I always found other things that took preference in completing. Now that a date for it to go live has been set I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’ve not built a complete Flash website in a year, as I’ve been diving deeper in CSS, PHP and WordPress. Let’s see what’s been happening on the flash landscape shall we.