Category: Food and Drink

Happy New Year

I hope everyone is well and you all enjoyed the festivities last night. I dearly hope you had more of a riotous time than I enjoyed. I had a quiet night in and I actually enjoyed the evening. I’ve avoided going out for many years now. In my youth, myself and friends devised strategic (and expensive) plans to see the new year in with a bang. My body can no longer stand such an assault on my senses any more (even if the will was there). I woke up with a clear head and a unwavering desire to go for a long run. Middle age is well and truly my home now.

In any case, I needed a quiet festive period after a busy end to 2017. My inactivity with this blog probably pointed towards being busy keeping clients happy. I worked with a number of clients on relatively short projects for the second half of the year. It was a challenging time and I’m pleased I fared pretty well (even if I say so myself). As I’ve stated before, it’s always a challenge to maintain your skills levels across the diverse worlds of print and digital design. You need to keep your eye out for key, innovative and new developments in the creative world.

Since October, I’ve been working with the team at Comic Relief, with a focus on producing printed material for the Sport Relief charity week in March of this year. It’s been great to work with such a talented, committed and professional creative team. I have another couple of weeks to complete the project I’ve been working on. I then plan to embark on a really busy first five months of the year. I’m on the lookout for challenging, demanding and innovative clients to work alongside. I would love to focus more on my digital work but above all, I want to continue to develop and learn as a creative artworker.

I’ve booked a week’s holiday in May. I’m off to Lyon to hopefully cheer on Arsenal in the Europa Cup (don’t laugh) and I’ll return on the eve of Harry and Meghan’s big day to enjoy the celebrations (again, don’t laugh).

So I’m determined to write for my blog more often. I just need to organise my free time more effectively. I think my next post, which will be up in a few days, will probably focus on the competence of a Premier League referee.

I shall bow out to wish everyone a fantastic year ahead (bar Mike Dean naturally…)

A new site for all those visiting London

I’ve enjoyed designing, writing and coding a site which helps people enjoy London without breaking the bank. From London’s historic landmarks, to where to eat and drink without blowing your budget and some hidden gems that even long-standing Londoners may have missed out on.

I’d love get to get some feedback and feel free to send on any cost-saving tips which have escaped my notice. It would be great to add to the list on the site.

A ‘free bar’ did you say?

It’s a common fact that in London especially, the way to really attract a crowd is to offer a free bar.

With many places in the west end and the city charging over £5 for a pint (especially those sophisticated European beers in the fancy tall glasses), the opportunity to indulge in some free booze needs to be grasped. But my real motivation for going to General Assembly’s Graduation Evening is to catch up with the tutors and fellow students I met during my recent course in Front End Web Development. Honestly.

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‘They’re must be something we can take’

It was an end of an era in West Hampstead with Dave and Edna ending their association at La Brocca.

The place, though not holding the same level of affection as the old Black Lion sports bar, nevertheless still holds many happy memories. It was a night full of nostalgia as many regulars returned for the final night. I was not a regular by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been drinking there for over 20 years. It’s one of the few bars in the area which broadcast Sky Sports and BT Sport. Though the owner was predominantly a rugby fan, he ensured that football was shown (as long as it didn’t clash with Saracens v Bath…..zzzzzzzz).

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