Me and The Cats

August 24th, 2010

I’ve been back in London now for a couple of days; it’s so good to be back! I was 3.5 weeks in the Netherlands and, while it was good to see family again, I was glad to come back home. Plus I had two new roommates to meet: our two newly adopted cats, Casey and Dusty!

I haven’t blogged much since I’ve been back, mainly because of these two. They’re so cute! Here’s a pic of me and Dusty:

Melinda loves cats!

Dusty is the more quiet one of the two, but likes to be held (and cuddled). He’s a bit on the skinny side, so we’re making sure he gets enough food. He’s got a little square bit of white near his neck, but is completely red for the rest:

Dusty

Dusty

Casey is clearly the more dominant one of the two, but can be really sweet too. He’s got white paws and a huge piece of white fur around his neck.

Casey

Casey

Neither of them will settle on your lap, and I’m still wondering if I can turn them into proper lap cats. They will come and sit next to you though, and both of them are completely mushy and let you do anything to them. I’m still trying to get the hang of everything, but it’s so much fun getting to know these two.

Funny Amazon Recommendation

September 15th, 2009

A couple of weeks ago I somehow ended up on a Amazon giant rubber duck page (most probably because of some friends from Mr Duck) and the next I got this funny recommendation from Amazon:

Amazon-Ducks

Breaking The News

July 16th, 2009

At previous Hackdays/BarCamps I’ve gotten involved in making ‘funny’ videos, but nothing as elaborate (or professional looking) as what these guys have done. Tom Scott and Matt Grey challenged each other to getting in the most camera shots on the news as possible:

[Watch on MissGeeky.com]

Brilliant!

Digital Artist Awards

July 9th, 2009

Again another event I’ve been meaning to blog about for ages, but just never got around to. A couple of months ago I got to go to the launch party of the Digital Artist Awards, a brand new competition for anyone with a passion for digital art and design.

These awards revolve around all things digital, and aims to inspire, recognise and reward the highest standards of digital art across a range of genres and categories from concept art, illustration, architectural visualisation, and animation to character design and videogame art. From what I can gather these are the first real awards to celebrate digital design as an art form.

digital-artist-awards

If interested you can still submit your work until the 31st of August, but check out all the rules first. There are thirteen categories to choose from, and and you can enter a total of 5 submissions across all of them. Here’s a list of the thirteen categories: Graphic Design, Animation, Motion Broadcast, Web & Interactive Design, 2D Illustration, 3D Illustration, Character Design, Concept Art, Product Visualisation, Games Design, Architectural Visualisation, Visual Effects (short form), Stars of Tomorrow (sponsored by Intel).

Digital Artist Awards – Deadline 31st of August

Pac Man Poufs

May 12th, 2009

I’m wondering if these seats from Qayot were intentionally meant to look like PacMan; either way the result is wonderfully geeky:

[Via Shiny Shiny]

This is such a great idea! Paint to transform a random wall into a white board!

16_idea-paint-9

I love white boards. I used to have one in my student flat, but never got around to getting one after moving to London. I always wanted a nice big one to be able to scribble anything I wanted on it. But an entire wall? I hadn’t even thought about that. It would be perfect!

16_idea-paint-0

Sadly though the price for IdeaPaint is on the high side: it’s $200 per 50 square feet. For that size I can easily find a much much cheaper solution.

I Dream Of… Pillows

April 27th, 2009

Remember those cool coffee mugs I blogged about a while back? That design studio (Studio Psyho) has again come up with another pretty product: dream pillows! 

Aren’t these pillows the cutest? I especially love the orange ‘cocktail’ one and the dark blue ‘Starry Night’ one. 

Enter My Humble Abode

April 16th, 2009

I love this doormat from BigBolt.com:

Keyboard keys! As a doormat. Where people enter your house. Brilliant, right? I know, I know, it’s a bit on the dorky side, but still pretty cool. There’s also a “home” version:

Both doormats are available for $30 on Kikkerland (Enter Doormat and Home Doormat).

Via SwissMiss

I’ve already finished all my Christmas shopping for this year, so I thought I’d give my best tips.

1. Don’t Wait Until The Last Minute

My best has to be: not to wait until the last minute. Don’t go the day before Christmas to find your presents. For starters, you’re not the only person with the same idea; it will be one of busiest days in the high street. Plus, there’s less chance you’ll find what you are searching for.

2. Don’t See It As A Chore

If there is another thing you shouldn’t do, it’s this. Seeing Christmas shopping as a chore will only make you postpone it, and thus, leaving it to the last minute. I always like to see it as a challenge, as a puzzle, trying to figure out what present is suitable for which person. 

3. Don’t Give Gift Vouchers, Money, Ties or Socks

In my book, a big no no. Unless they are cute knee high black-and-white striped socks, this is just an easy way out. Just think about it: if everyone started doing this, what’s the point of exchanging presents? I’d be much happier with a smaller gift that’s worth maybe less than a gift voucher with no real thought behind it. (Mind you, I am talking about direct family present exchange here. If it’s a not too close friend or a distant family member, it should be fine)

Christmas In Circles

4. Pay Attention Throughout The Entire Year

So how do you get someone a gift that he/she really wants? Now the best way is just to pay attention throughout the year. Be aware and keep note of what the person says when they want something. Also handy: drill people two months before Christmas about what they want. If you do it right (meaning sneaky and not too suspect), you’ll end up with loads of ideas. Plus you can’t really do it a couple of days before Christmas, cause then the person will know what it’s all about.

5. Analyze Your Subject

If getting tips from the person doesn’t help, you’ll have to figure it out all by your lonesome. So: analyze your subject. What does this person like to do? What hobbies? TV shows, sports? The really geeky way is to make a mind map out of it all, and just write everything down that pops into your mind.

6. Keep Your Receipts 

I actually don’t always do this myself, not with all receipts at least. But there are a couple which you definitely should keep: 1. clothing (in case it doesn’t fit), 2. gadgets/electronics (often the receipt is also the guarantee), 3. cd/dvd/book (in case the person has it already, unless you think you’ll always be able to flog it to someone else).

Nightmare Before Christmas Presents 2

7. Remember What You Bought (And Wrapped Up)

You should always write down and keep a list of all the stuff you’ve bought, with how much everything had cost. Next time you go shopping, take that list with you, so you know who you still have to get something for. Then what I always do is wrap stuff up without remembering what was in it; always handy to keep track of this too.

8. Shop Online

Every time I mention to someone that I do a lot of my shopping online, they stare at me and tell me that’s cheating. Cheating?!? How does me knowing what I want to get and order it a place I know that has it classify as ‘cheating’? How is that worse than you buying socks the day before Christmas? The thing you have to keep in mind with online shopping is that you shouldn’t go for the ‘top 10’ lists and stuff like that. You have to KNOW what you want to get.  

9. Try To Avoid Weekend Shopping

Easier said than done, right? Cause when you can otherwise shop. Well, (and I know this isn’t perfect) a lot of stores are open to quite late, especially in such malls like Westfield (they’re open till 11pm on week days).  

Christmas Shopping in Oxford Street

10. Create A Present “Diary”

Yeah, so this isn’t really a tip for now, but one for next year. Remember tip 4 “Pay Attention The Entire Year”? Do this next year. And take it one step further. Write it down when someone mentions they want something or when they mention they’re looking for a certain item. What I mainly do is keep track of the stuff I see in stores, always shelving certain items in a mental bookshelf as possible gift ideas for one person.

Any tips you can give me that I’ve left out?

As I said in one of my previous posts, up until Christmas I’ll be featuring some “geeky” presents, to get for the geeks in your life (or to put on your own wish list). First up, is Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!

I’ve professed my love for this Joss Whedon web series many times on this blog. Neil Patrick Harris stars (and sings) as Billy aka Dr Horrible, an “evil” villain who is in love with Penny (Felicia Day from The Guild), the girl from the laundromat.  All he wants to do is get the girl, join the Evil League of Evil, and rule the world, but his arch-nemesis Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) is standing in his way.

Dr Horrible

The soundtrack has been available for some time now on iTunes and Amazon, but the actual CD
and DVD are coming out this month, with all sorts of extras on it. The most note worthy of those extras is Commentary! The Musical, an extra 42 minutes of songs as the commentary, sung by the whole ‘gang’ (writers, actors, etc).

The DVD is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com and will be released on the 19th of December. This means that (if you pick the right shipping) for US residents it should arrive on time before Christmas, but for everyone else it will be way too late. Still: it is a great Christmas present and I know most people would gladly wait a couple of days to get their hands on it.

What: Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Where:
Amazon.com
Price: $9.99
Notes: Region-free
Special Features: Commentary! The Musical, Commentary by the cast and crew, Evil League of Evil application videos, Making-of featurettes, Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese