Went off to Memorabilia at the Birmingham NEC on Friday, stayed the night in the usual hotel, trotted off to the show clutching my Early Bird tickets, and things got off to a pretty good start when I got handed a City of Villains DVD box set, including a book of concept art from City of Heroes/Villains, some Heroclix figures from the game, and everything I'd need to play the game (free for the first month!) online.
After that, it was the usual, systematic wander round the show. It was about average for the winter show in terms of number and variety of stalls, but there were vastly fewer attendees. Even by lunchtime it wasn't remotely as crowded as it has been in the past.
Despite having almost £200 in my wallet when I arrived, I didn't spend a great deal - both because I was intending to be sensible and because there actually wasn't a great deal that I really wanted. I picked up Deep Space Starscream and BT20 Argent Meister from one stall (the guy who always has a tin of Quality Street) at 20% off the marked price because the stallholder wanted to clear his stock, then grabbed the Japanese (Henkei) version of Classics Sideswipe elsewhere. The temptation to pick up Omega Supreme is still not quite strong enough to overpower my aim to avoid overspending on toys.
I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't pick up obvious Christmas presents for anyone, but I have several already, so that wasn't too bad.
The big disappointment was the lack of stuff happening on stage. At previous shows, they've had several stages running all day, but this one had only one stage, sparsely filled with a small number of events each day... And no really interesting ones at that.
But on the whole, it was a good day out.
Dinner that evening proved to be a bit troublesome, in that I tried a small sample of beef from my companion's plate. I don't normally eat beef because it can make me ill, but she was so emphatic in her praise of this beef that I couldn't resist. After all, it could well be that the beef I've eaten has been cheap and poor quality, or badly cooked.
Sadly, it seems that beef generally will make me ill. About 15-20 minutes after eating it, I felt like I'd swallowed a lead weight. The morning after, I threw up a couple of times.
Thing is, beef has kind of a musty aftertaste... and I suspect something to do with that is causing my stomach to act up. It tastes off, so my stomach behaves as if it is off, even if it's not.
The drive home on Sunday took a brief detour but was otherwise uneventful, largely because my companion saw the need to get me home as soon as possible, so I could lie down and start to feel better.
Monday 24 November 2008
Sunday 23 November 2008
Shellshock
Got back from Memorabilia today and learned withing a few minutes of walking into the house that my sister is pregnant.
When I spoke to her on the phone later, she was a little put out that she wasn't the first person to tell me, but only a little. She's not looking forward to being pregnant during the summer - she's been told its most uncomfortable... though this probably assumes a hot summer.
So, I'm going to be an uncle around August next year...
Hell's bells...
When I spoke to her on the phone later, she was a little put out that she wasn't the first person to tell me, but only a little. She's not looking forward to being pregnant during the summer - she's been told its most uncomfortable... though this probably assumes a hot summer.
So, I'm going to be an uncle around August next year...
Hell's bells...
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Tuesday 18 November 2008
Familiar (as in derivative) Dreams
Imagine, if you will, a stately home on a large hill (or mountain). The house is owned by a disgraced superhero, occupied only by himself and his ever-loyal butler. Surrounding the house is an artificial moat. Not a large one... more of an inconvenience than an outright deterrent to would-be invaders. Plus it's empty of anything but algae and the sludge that accrues in such places. The butler asks either if the drawbridge (such as it is) should be lowered, or if it would be acceptable to leave the moat drained... I'm not quite sure about that detail.
This evening, he has invited over four friends... Each of whom happens to be a superhero, and each of whom played a part in his disgrace.
Before they arrive, the butler remarks to his master how lovely it will be to have company for a change. "Happy Human-things", he says, as one might say 'happy birthday'. His master merely glares at him in silence.
The four heroes arrive one by one - each by unconventional means, and in their superhero costumes - and, when the arrive in the entrance hall, they are illuminated by what could easily be some kind of targetting system - orange circles, dancing red lines, that kind of thing. They introduce themselves to each other... by explaining the part they played in their host's downfall. "I stopped him blowing up the city", "I stopped him poisoning the air", "I stopped his Death Ray Satellite", that sort of thing.
I woke up around the time the third arrival started telling his story, which is a real shame. If it weren't so derivative, it would have been a really cool story. It reminded me of Watchmen... Hell, I think a Doc Manhattan clone appeared in one flashback! I seem to recall that the idea of the invite was much the same as in Watchmen - to announce that his latest plan was already in action, and there was no way even the four of them could stop him this time. Shame he never got to deliver his monologue.
In the real world - as much as work could be considered 'real world', the record for latest night in the office has been broken by my team (oh the shame of it), and now stands at 9.30pm, largely because one particular Salesman didn't bother sorting out his feature sales. At 5.30, he was still chasing copy. While my team are understandably rather pissed off, I am at least glad that the problem wasn't ours except by default.
The salesman in question announced at around 8pm that he needed to go home to his daughter. I turned to his manager and added "Because obviously the rest of us don't have social lives". He had the good sense to apologise. Towards the end of the evening, he decided that, next month, he wouldn't sell features. His manager informed him that wasn't an option. I really wish he gets fired... but I doubt it somehow. Too many morons get second chances... then third... then fourth... until it just gets ridiculous.
My kitchen is basically done, though, so that's a good thing. I'll be arranging an official viewing (I popped over before and after work today just to have a quick shufty), final payment and handover of keys for tomorrow. Aside from the few glitches in the last few days, I'm very happy with the end result. It looks like my kitchen, which is quite significant.
Also significant is that my bin has been nicked. There goes another £35 to the Council.
Still haven't received my Memorabilia tickets... which is a little worrying, considering it's this weekend. Still, I only ordered them last week, and I'd imagine they do these things in batches.
This evening, he has invited over four friends... Each of whom happens to be a superhero, and each of whom played a part in his disgrace.
Before they arrive, the butler remarks to his master how lovely it will be to have company for a change. "Happy Human-things", he says, as one might say 'happy birthday'. His master merely glares at him in silence.
The four heroes arrive one by one - each by unconventional means, and in their superhero costumes - and, when the arrive in the entrance hall, they are illuminated by what could easily be some kind of targetting system - orange circles, dancing red lines, that kind of thing. They introduce themselves to each other... by explaining the part they played in their host's downfall. "I stopped him blowing up the city", "I stopped him poisoning the air", "I stopped his Death Ray Satellite", that sort of thing.
I woke up around the time the third arrival started telling his story, which is a real shame. If it weren't so derivative, it would have been a really cool story. It reminded me of Watchmen... Hell, I think a Doc Manhattan clone appeared in one flashback! I seem to recall that the idea of the invite was much the same as in Watchmen - to announce that his latest plan was already in action, and there was no way even the four of them could stop him this time. Shame he never got to deliver his monologue.
In the real world - as much as work could be considered 'real world', the record for latest night in the office has been broken by my team (oh the shame of it), and now stands at 9.30pm, largely because one particular Salesman didn't bother sorting out his feature sales. At 5.30, he was still chasing copy. While my team are understandably rather pissed off, I am at least glad that the problem wasn't ours except by default.
The salesman in question announced at around 8pm that he needed to go home to his daughter. I turned to his manager and added "Because obviously the rest of us don't have social lives". He had the good sense to apologise. Towards the end of the evening, he decided that, next month, he wouldn't sell features. His manager informed him that wasn't an option. I really wish he gets fired... but I doubt it somehow. Too many morons get second chances... then third... then fourth... until it just gets ridiculous.
My kitchen is basically done, though, so that's a good thing. I'll be arranging an official viewing (I popped over before and after work today just to have a quick shufty), final payment and handover of keys for tomorrow. Aside from the few glitches in the last few days, I'm very happy with the end result. It looks like my kitchen, which is quite significant.
Also significant is that my bin has been nicked. There goes another £35 to the Council.
Still haven't received my Memorabilia tickets... which is a little worrying, considering it's this weekend. Still, I only ordered them last week, and I'd imagine they do these things in batches.
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Sunday 16 November 2008
Two Rooms Down (Almost)
The kitchen could definitely be said to be taking shape.
Almost the right shape, too, bar a couple of inconsistencies with the original plan, due either to miscommunication or lack of communication. Also a couple of technical glitches, but these could happen to anyone.
The main issue is with the tiling. All along, I'd said I wanted the tiling to run all the way to the kitchen door from the same level as the rest of the tiling, down to the skirting. The kitchen fitter was not aware of this, and so had finished his tiling at the end of the worktop. This wouldn't be such a problem were it not for the breakfast bar, which has been mounted at the wrong height and, in spite of the instruction to move it yesterday, is still in the wrong position today. Really, that needs to be fitted after the tiling is done.
It also seems as though there's a leak in the pipework below the sink... At least, there was a large puddle there when I opened the cabinet. And it seemed as though the fitter had decided to use a flannel from the bathroom to mop things up, despite the availability of kitchen roll and j-cloths.
I almost regret the idea to go with local businesses for all this work... I don't mind the over-running of the work (it was supposed to be finished on Friday, and it looks as though there's still a couple of days' work before it's truly finished) as long as the extra time is used to get it right, but the miscommunication is very poor.
Almost the right shape, too, bar a couple of inconsistencies with the original plan, due either to miscommunication or lack of communication. Also a couple of technical glitches, but these could happen to anyone.
The main issue is with the tiling. All along, I'd said I wanted the tiling to run all the way to the kitchen door from the same level as the rest of the tiling, down to the skirting. The kitchen fitter was not aware of this, and so had finished his tiling at the end of the worktop. This wouldn't be such a problem were it not for the breakfast bar, which has been mounted at the wrong height and, in spite of the instruction to move it yesterday, is still in the wrong position today. Really, that needs to be fitted after the tiling is done.
It also seems as though there's a leak in the pipework below the sink... At least, there was a large puddle there when I opened the cabinet. And it seemed as though the fitter had decided to use a flannel from the bathroom to mop things up, despite the availability of kitchen roll and j-cloths.
I almost regret the idea to go with local businesses for all this work... I don't mind the over-running of the work (it was supposed to be finished on Friday, and it looks as though there's still a couple of days' work before it's truly finished) as long as the extra time is used to get it right, but the miscommunication is very poor.
Monday 10 November 2008
Intentions vs End Results
It occurs to me, now and then, that I'd intended to document the progress of my flat, photographing each room in various states of refurnishing and writing about how it was all going.
And yet, here we are with the bedroom as complete as it can be till the hall gets sorted out and the kitchen almost complete (I had a phone call today from the salesman, asking how I'd like my cupboard handles fitted - horizontally or vertically), and the only photos I managed to take were of the early stages of fitting the flooring in the bedroom.
So much for that idea.
In other news, work spirals into new levels of crappiness. We have an interesting new system whereby the Commercial Managers now have full responsibility for the content of the magazines. Rather than collecting proofs and sending them to the Printers, we now hand them to the Commercial Managers, who collate them into a book and sign them off. Only when they are happy do we send the magazine to print.
Thus, if the wrong ad goes in and they've signed it off, it ain't a Production error. If a client has a colour requirement, but didn't send a colour proof (as stated in our Terms & Conditions) and then complains about the colour, it ain't a Production error. If pages somehow go in in the wrong order (as happened on one of my magazines recently, because I can't have been concentrating) but they get signed off in that order, it ain't a Production error.
Of course, in practice, we can't do that, and we end up sending pages as they're completed (pretty much as we've always done), but now we have the added hassle of the CMs badgering for more pages.
One, for example, asked me to start handing stuff over for his magazine (deadline this Wednesday) last Friday, the press day for one of my other magazines. I flatly refused - there was nothing to give him at that time, but I was too busy with my current magazine to do anything else.
He complained to the MD that I wasn't doing my job.
My manager got called in, and she and the MD explained - slowly, so as not to frighten him - that this is perfectly normal. The actual production cycle for each magazine is effectively three days. It can be no different, because each team works on six magazines per month. While the CMs are 'responsible' for a set of magazines (2 CMs in our office, one in the North office, one in the South office), they tend only to work on one or two at most.
They somehow failed to realise that Production is a busy department, and that the time we have to devote to the magazine as a team is very limited. Individual designers get 2 weeks to work on editorial for each of their magazines, but they also have to work on 2 sets of Classified each.
The maths is simple. Really it is. Six magazines per team of three Designers, two Copy Controllers and one Production Manager/General Dogsbody equals not a lot of time.
I also had to point out to one of the Salesmen on Friday that staying past 5.30... or even 7.30... is nothing new to us. Once they've signed everything off and left the office for the day, we often have more than an hour's work still to process. This, too, came as a surprise.
Next, one of the newbie Copy Controllers tried to resign, citing my 'unhelpful attitude' as the reason. Supposedly I'd dismissed a request for help. Not how I remember it, but my manager seems to think my memory is faulty, did not listen to my side, and gave me a bollocking. Then later gave me another bollocking over her "grammatically correct" instruction on proofing.
That said, she has a very painful ear infection, and isn't quite back to normal after her husband's rather serious health scare, so I'm inclined to overlook some of her shoutiness.
Here's to looking for a new job in the new year...
And yet, here we are with the bedroom as complete as it can be till the hall gets sorted out and the kitchen almost complete (I had a phone call today from the salesman, asking how I'd like my cupboard handles fitted - horizontally or vertically), and the only photos I managed to take were of the early stages of fitting the flooring in the bedroom.
So much for that idea.
In other news, work spirals into new levels of crappiness. We have an interesting new system whereby the Commercial Managers now have full responsibility for the content of the magazines. Rather than collecting proofs and sending them to the Printers, we now hand them to the Commercial Managers, who collate them into a book and sign them off. Only when they are happy do we send the magazine to print.
Thus, if the wrong ad goes in and they've signed it off, it ain't a Production error. If a client has a colour requirement, but didn't send a colour proof (as stated in our Terms & Conditions) and then complains about the colour, it ain't a Production error. If pages somehow go in in the wrong order (as happened on one of my magazines recently, because I can't have been concentrating) but they get signed off in that order, it ain't a Production error.
Of course, in practice, we can't do that, and we end up sending pages as they're completed (pretty much as we've always done), but now we have the added hassle of the CMs badgering for more pages.
One, for example, asked me to start handing stuff over for his magazine (deadline this Wednesday) last Friday, the press day for one of my other magazines. I flatly refused - there was nothing to give him at that time, but I was too busy with my current magazine to do anything else.
He complained to the MD that I wasn't doing my job.
My manager got called in, and she and the MD explained - slowly, so as not to frighten him - that this is perfectly normal. The actual production cycle for each magazine is effectively three days. It can be no different, because each team works on six magazines per month. While the CMs are 'responsible' for a set of magazines (2 CMs in our office, one in the North office, one in the South office), they tend only to work on one or two at most.
They somehow failed to realise that Production is a busy department, and that the time we have to devote to the magazine as a team is very limited. Individual designers get 2 weeks to work on editorial for each of their magazines, but they also have to work on 2 sets of Classified each.
The maths is simple. Really it is. Six magazines per team of three Designers, two Copy Controllers and one Production Manager/General Dogsbody equals not a lot of time.
I also had to point out to one of the Salesmen on Friday that staying past 5.30... or even 7.30... is nothing new to us. Once they've signed everything off and left the office for the day, we often have more than an hour's work still to process. This, too, came as a surprise.
Next, one of the newbie Copy Controllers tried to resign, citing my 'unhelpful attitude' as the reason. Supposedly I'd dismissed a request for help. Not how I remember it, but my manager seems to think my memory is faulty, did not listen to my side, and gave me a bollocking. Then later gave me another bollocking over her "grammatically correct" instruction on proofing.
That said, she has a very painful ear infection, and isn't quite back to normal after her husband's rather serious health scare, so I'm inclined to overlook some of her shoutiness.
Here's to looking for a new job in the new year...
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