all a bit of a rush >> space

it has all been a bit busy on the 'house of george' in the last few days I am almost looking forward to going back to teaching stuff next week as it will be a bit less stressful, well it probably won't but it feels like that today.
my eldest son luca has moved from brighton to live with us while he goes to college which is really nice so I have spent a lot of the day organising a room partition so that he has his own much needed space. as well as putting up a new bedroom wall light for my youngest son ben, the partition made his space a bit dark. all pretty routine for most people I know but still, I don't really do d.i.y. unless its painting walls which I enjoy.

anyway I have very nearly thought myself to sleep today. so I wanted to put up a picture just to make me remember just why I choose to live in the area I do, and surprisingly it is not a surf picture.

it's one carol took yesterday while she was walking on the moors with ben and her mum (who has been down for a few days from south yorkshire). it shows the space we are luckily enough to live near never mind room partitions.

why I am back in love with radiohead >>

for years I have liked a lot of the music radiohead have produced but as many people haven't gone out of my way to buy their music. so I thought I would wait a while to see if the in rainbows download was worth writing about.
pretty much as soon as it was available my son downloaded it and gave me a copy which I have had in the car ever since, to be honest it is the only thing I have been listening to and what a great collection of music it is. I am now thinking of digging out all the shop bought radiohead cd's I have to re-listen to them.

but what an excellent idea to have it available to download and you decide how much (or not) you pay. I will probably buy more radiohead now as I have fallen back in love with in rainbows.no wonder then that cliff richard and the charlatans are the next to release their music through the internet leaving the price paid decided by the person downloading.

busy day >> simple

well in short I have had a kind of busy day, in to the city for some looking about (shopping) and 10-pin bowling, then a meal out (well I am supposed to be on holiday). at the same time as advising on employment stuff, re-writing CV's/personal statements (not mine). as well as trying to find a way to get a new macbook, but I just don't have the money at the moment.
it is really true the more you do the more you can.


today I feel a like the twitter logo for when the their site is not working properly, I am not working properly. perhaps because I still haven't learnt to relax yet.
that said I actually like the logo.

sir ken robinson >> ted talks >> do schools kill creativity?

I make no apology for posting this video, I think it has to be watched. even though I am sure many of you will have seen it before.
I also make no apology for finding directly from a link on davidthedesigner's blog.
I hope that as many of the people I work with each day both as colleagues and students get a chance to watch it as it says more in 19 minutes 29 seconds than I have done in the last 7 weeks of term.
I agree with what davidthedesigner says it is brilliant.

PETITION TO STOP BRITISH AIRWAYS SURFBOARD BAN

To represent the needs of thousands of surfers who are shocked by the new British Airways (BA) ban on the carriage of surfboards (effective from 6th November), the British Surfing Association (BSA) has set up a petition to lobby the airline to reverse their decision.

The organisation is also urging all surfers to utilise a new members group on the social networking site Facebook, complain directly to BA and spread the word amongst other surfers.

Karen Walton, National Director, BSA, says, “If everyone who surfs could take five minutes to go online and follow our recommended action steps then we will have a real representation of the swell of support for the reversal of this absurd decision. The Facebook site already has in excess of 1,000 members and lots of our members have been making complaints to BA. Our new online petition means that people all over the world can add their support to our campaign and can add their personal comments about the issue. We will then be personally delivering the petition to the management at BA in the near future.”

Surfers are urged to take the following steps to help us lobby British Airways to reverse their decision:

1) Go onto www.britsurf.co.uk and click the ‘SIGN ONLINE PETITION OF PROTEST IN THE NEWS SECTION ON THE HOME PAGE’. Follow the easy steps to sign this online petition and add any comments.
2) If you have a Facebook account, join the Facebook ‘British Airways Surfboard Ban’ group
3) Click this link and register a complaint with BA directly
4) Encourage all other surfers to follow these steps

bayonne >> just because

bayonne I have a real affection for this place I have been to there a few times and each time it has made me think. I like the way the town presents its self, both in 2 & 3 D.
its not just because it is near the surfing areas that I aim for whenever I can but the way of life and perhaps more importantly the way the place makes you feel is for me so positive.

famfam >> I love sites like this

I very rarely find something that really makes me sit back and wonder, this site does. it is the personal site and web playground of birmingham (UK) based developer mark james (his words).
he has painstakingly created 1000 icons as part of his silk icon collection. to make it better still you can download them for free!

I think they are so good, have look at his site famfam

$100 >> laptop >> £100

hardly the first to post about this but I do feel there is a massive market for a budget laptop, using open source software, and OS. within the £100, price range never mind $100. I also feel that the market is not simply the developing world for which it seems to be targeted at, but for the UK.
one laptop one child

professor guy claxton >> creativity

I spent a large part of today listening to professor guy claxton speak at a network learning day he managed to make me think about things like I haven't done for some years, which has to be a good thing & I am still thinking................ as much about my work as a teacher as I am about myself as a learner.
creativity a guide for the advanced learner (and teacher) .pdf
guyclaxton.com

angel interceptor >> tv21

I was in a moment of not really thinking, very rare for me. when for no constructive reason remembered a snippet of my childhood, in the sussex village of hassocks.
I remembered sitting in a very big blue chair (which I will write about another day) reading tv21.
I was/still am a fan of the angel interceptor in the captain scarlet comic/tv series. thoght I would share these pictures.
more links
tv21
tv21 thunderbirds

kneeboard surfing

I thought it was about time that I got back to the things that matter especially as I have had such a bad time with not being able to get in the water in the last few weeks. I had another day at the hospital today trying to get my shoulder fixed (with yet another cortisone injection guided by ultra sound). so this film is the closest I have got to the ocean in a while.
check theses sites for more
simon farrer
KSUK
british kneelo club

I am as surprised as you are............

I am not sure what is going in the tiny little design mind I have. it wasn't more than a few weeks ago that I was talking about how I was using powerpoint again. I have justified that to myself as a very necessary evil, as part of teaching.today I had a productive 2 hour meeting concerning a website design project that I have been working on for a while. I left the meeting having agreed to create a splash/entry page probably using flash, though I will have a think about that.

a few years ago I would have refused to even consider such a thing!
all the usability studies suggest that these pages detract even alienate visitors but I am think perhaps not now, with better internet connections and faster processors perhaps now is the time to revisit preconceived ideas and do it properly, that or I have just gone a little mad!

just because I like it >>

I have always tried to keep fresh as far as ideas in design and illustration, but when I saw steven wilson's work I was draw to it immediately.
not just because I am originally from brighton as he is.
but in the early seventies as a teenager trying to to learn to draw and spending ages looking through poster books, I really liked the splash posters of that time I even had one on the wall at the end of my bed. steven wilson's splash

billboards >> advertising

when I first saw this way of marketing I thought it was a joke , and thought it can't be real I know I live in the SW of the UK and we are regarded by the london area (& the SE) as being behind the times (something I don't agree with but still). but apparently they are a good way of advertising products read more perhaps more of a standard way of making promotional billboards are created my this french company that even work in the SW of the UK are jcdecaux.comthese promotional bikes are an interesting way of getting a marketing message across but does the fact that the bikes become more interesting than the advert make the standard age old billboard still the most cost effective way of getting a ad campaign to the public?

play misty for me >> so cool

I first saw this film in when I lived in cornwall in the 1970's. I moved around back up to sussex, hampshire and london but the film always seemed to follow me around!
it is not classic, but it truly is one of my favourite films ever. now living back in cornwall for the last 10+ years I found myself watching it tonight on TV on ITV4, it's such a cool film. play misty for me.

stormsurf >> probably the best

in another web presence I maintain. I spend ages looking at weather charts on the internet in order to produce the data for surf98 the uk surf site. along with actually looking at the ocean which is almost at the end of my road (I do feel lucky).
of the many different weather forecast sites the one that stands out and probably is my favourite along with the bbc, is stormsurf.
This picture /chart shows what will be reaching the shores of the uk in the next few days. to me it is a thing of beauty not just because it means that we will have some very good surf (probably the best weekend so far this autumn) but as an image it is also very pleasing to look at.

more architecture >> liking the guardian

just a short one today, but no small feat some excellent work from the guardian newspaper this week some excellent architecture stuff especially for the arm chair architecture fan like me.

I am really enjoying the series of blue prints it was the pompidou centre, yesterday a personal favourite the guggenheim bilbao.

chairs >> space

it is sometimes the second thought that is the one that gets me interested, this post was.
I used to think so often that the first mark you make is the right one but I am moving way from that as I become hopefully more considered and thoughtful as the spring of youth is looking far away these days.

any way I had meant this post to be about the classroom of the future but got completely side tracked by chairs.

I have been thinking about chairs for a few days as my eldest son is well in to a serious project with chair as the key theme, (& have seen some good work from him).

but through the little research I have do I found this picture of chairs and yes I know it is shallow and I know I had nothing to do with its creation but I like it enough to make it the reason for this post.

lip dub >> flagpole sitta by harvey danger

I just found this while having a look round and thought it was so good, I had to share with you .

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

jeans for genes >> never thought it would be me!!

for a few years now I have (as part of my work as a teacher) been involved in jeans for genes day which (in the UK) is always the first friday in October so it's today. I never even considered that I would be a beneficiary of it.

I am not going into massive detail but basically over the last year or so I have been sort of unwell. though have continued to work all the time as in some strange way I am driven to work (probably too much) but working is almost as an important a part of my life as surfing, (with family top of the list).

I have had all sorts of hospital investigations from MRI scans, CT scans even been injected with nuclear material in my back to try and find out what the problems where. it seems now that I have a full diagnosis, I hadn't imagined it all. I have a quite rare genetic problem that can now be treated, so I am on disease modification therapy (developed first for children with the same thing) that will hopefully make be much better, had I had this condition even 20 years ago I would probably not have lasted through to old age, and certainly would not be able to work or go surfing!

it all sounds terribly dramatic but to be fair there are many millions of people in the world who are in a very much worse position than me. jeans for genes is specifically set up to help children with genetic problems from sickle cell anaemia to deafness caused by a miss match of genes and a whole lot of other stuff in between. hopefully they should be able to be helped through the research that the 'jeans for genes' charity do.

what is jeans for genes?
it's fun, it's simple and it's a great cause! jeans for genes is a national appeal where everyone across the UK is asked to throw out the usual dress rules, jump into their jeans and donate £1 at schools or £2 at work to help children with genetic disorders. jeans for genes day 2007 will be held on friday 5th october, but if you can't make this date simply pick another – you can hold your fundraising activity on any day of the year!

11 million >> teaching

I was interested to read this in the normally lacklustre 'teaching' magazine that is part of my gtc (general teaching council) membership.
but this really caught my attention the website is worth a look as well. rather than try to explain it I thought I would simply post 11 million's mission. (an interestingly designed site too almost modern flash but retro).

Our mission We will use our powers and independence to ensure that the views of children and young people are routinely asked for, listened to and acted upon and that outcomes for children improve over time. We will do this, in partnership with others, by bringing children and young people into the heart of the decision-making process to increase understanding of their best interests.

yorkshire sculptures >> billy johnson??

I love stories like this, it seems the person/sculptor responsible for the mystery sculptures that were/are appearing in and around yorkshire over the past few months is billy johnson.

it has been reported very seriously in many papers as well as internet sites, the whitby gazette (above) just one. It is a hugley successful bit of exposure for billy johnson's work.

I love the way this stuff continues to surprise middle england (for want of a better term). bansky is the past master. but so many other types of marketing (viral or actual) seem so possible. capturing space and words in the ever hungry 24 hour 'news!?' driven media.
I like the idea of people playing with the media you couldn't buy coverage like this.

more links for the yorkshire stone carvings
one to one
paradox
whitby gazette

something to look at >> yes

I know that 'nothing to see here' the website/blog has been around for a few years now. but I have just spent over an hour reading about all sorts of things on the site from architecture to food and all if it interesting.
I just had mention it as it had provided me with so much information. have a look I am sure you will find something to read.

I am not that sure either >> (.ppt)

after a comment from davidthedesigner to do with the use of powerpoint. I did indeed follow a big route round russelldavies land. so many good things to see and learn, agree with disagree with but well worth checking. well worth checking his stuff on youtube too.
any way this led me on to dave funkypancake and this powerpoint presentation that in its self is a bit special and uses the presentation programme in its real sense. it is a shame that so many of the presentations I have watched, help make, & a long time ago made my self weren't as entertaining. but as to future use of the thing I am not that sure either.