Hello folks,

I’m sat in a swanky London flat overlooking the Guerkin whilst Germany are in the final throws of thrashing Argentina in the football. Whilst this goes on Chrissie gives me the usual guilt complex of not updating the blog I created in the first place…so here I am

What’s going down, I hear you cry? Well, this flat belongs to our friends Paul & Davina and we are in London for the weekend just to generally visit and be nosey. We are going round for a BBQ later hosted by another old friend, Josh.

What is towering over our heads at the moment? The Wedding, of course!! With less than two months to go, most things are booked apart from the bit I’ll probably enjoy the most: The Honeymoon. Where will we go? We flit from Ireland all the way to New Zealand. Though we really should decide soon.

If anyone out there reading this has any ideas whatsover, do let us know…

Note to self: Try blogging regularly, and often. Who knows, someone may take an interest…although I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you found better things to do. Much…

Twas my Birthday yesterday, and, although being a fairly muted occasion as my Gran is in hospital, was made bearable by Chrissie buying me DVDs and generally making my ego feel very padded as she usually does.  Which is a shame for her really, as I tend to like the view of me she presents through her very rose tinted glasses.

More over than that, the DVDs have encouraged me to look at buying a big widescreen to view them on, which will no doubt impact on which University we can afford to send our future kids to.  Poor Chrissie.  Poor kids, for that matter.  However I’m sure they’ll thank me when they grow up watching She-Ra: The Next Generation in 70 inches of pure technicolor. I know I will.

I digress, I really should be talking about the Bungalow?  Well, as usual progress has been teasingly slow: The carpets, as Chrissie notes, are now DOWN.  DOWN, I say.  So it really is starting to look livable in now and I am running out of excuses to continue depending on my Mum’s cooking and bedtime stories.  It’s time to grow up, Mark-son.  Wax on, wax off.  So to speak.

We aim to make it in by Christmas, where things may not be complete, but there should be at least a bed and some form of cooking facility.  Though what more can you expect in this crunching time?

Very disappointed, however, that I can not split myself in half and go on a Christmas trip with some friends in London - but these are the sacrifices a near-30 something has to make.

Evening viewers,

Chrissie is asleep, and judging by how delighted she is whenever I devote time to K-North, and because I can’t sleep, I thought I’d give a random blog.

Progress on the bungalow;  the day started promisingly, where the glossing went well and I fought the hunger through lunchtime to try and get every door done.  I failed.  There are two main doors left, both with 12 horrible little windows built into them.  Trust me, if you ever find yourself buying doors - don’t but these types.  They are a pain to paint as you have to run the smallest brush you have along all the frames, trying your best not to mark the glass.  Well, that’s how I started.  Now, I splatter the gloss on like gloss is growing on the trees outside.  I am as flamboyent as a Turner painting on those doors now, as my spirit has been broken by them and I now attack the job with the thought that I am going to scrape it off the glass after.

This, amongst other things, I am making known to you so you are careful not to comment about the marks of white paint on the door glass when you come visit, as I may not talk to you for the rest of your stay.  Chrissie may talk to you, but trust me, that’s only because she’s being polite.  You’re not welcome here, please go.

So, ahem, anyway.  After failing with the gloss the rest of the afternoon was spent buying kitchen worktops and door handles.  I am quite pleased with the worktops we got, but more impressed with the ease with which I talked Chrissie into buying them.  I was put a bit off balance, if truth be told, as I had expected an all out fire fight to break out in Wickes.  I think it had something to do with me agreeing to buy the cheap door handles.  I shouldn’t have said that.  We bought the finest door handles in western civilisation, I’ll have you know.  I expect you to comment on their high quality if we invite you to visit.  IF we invite you, mind.

Well, I do sound very aggressive tonight. I apologise.  I think it’s because it’s the run up to Christmas, and I am so ready to be there now.  I has almost been 8 months in renovations, and I truly can’t believe it’s taken that long.  I start to gently rock back and forth at the sight of Sixty Minute Makeover.

But not long now folks.  Not long now…

Lying in bed this morning, Chrissie turned to me, fluttered her sweet brown eyes, and softly whispered in my ear: “Can you put a link on K-North along the top that links to my YouTube channel?”

I hastily pulled out my laptop and made the change, for all of you to see.

Oh, and do you know you can follow people like Stephen Fry on twitter.com?  I’m probably a bit slow on the uptake for that.  He’s currently enjoying the snow flurries down 5th avenue.  Fascinating.  Well, more fascinating than me and my day of glossing skirting boards.  And the front door’s going to be a conker colour.  Don’t ask.

It’s been 2 years since I created this humble blog and left Chrissie to do all the work - so I think along with noting the blog’s 2 year anniversary we should also give Chrissie great credit for keeping it all going, getting very excited when a half dozen people appear to be on the site at the same time, and generally documenting our journey through life.

It is great to be able to look back and see a record of all that has transpired through Chrissie’s eyes, and I look forward to reading many more posts in the future - some of which should definitely be my own.

Take care and - ahem - thanks for reading and generally being nosey

Mark Kingsnorth

Evening all,

Well, it’s been some time since I last posted - as Chrissie has helpfully reminded me, it could well be over a year ago, so without further a-do I shall drop a few well chosen words to you.

As you can tell by Chrissie’s fervent posting, we are well into getting our hands dirty with the Bungalow. As the Crunch/Inflation/Deflation/Recession shadows loom, we plan to batten down the hatches in this humble abode. The Kingsnorth family has been busy preparing for the coming storm, oh yes - cans of food have been stockpiled, electric fences erected, so don’t any of you bloomin well come near unless you have something to trade.

Progress is slow and painful, much like listening to me talk about it on the youtube videos (http://uk.youtube.com/chrissiebradshaw) - which from what I gather mainly shows me either wiping already clean surfaces or painting white paint on white walls. It keeps Chrissie happy, mind.

I’ve taken time off work to concentrate all my bulging muscle on the task at hand - to get us in by Christmas - and although I am failing miserably, every day the glimmer on the horizon gets that little bit brighter. But don’t get in your cars to come see us for some mulled Christmas wine yet - there are still leaks to fix, floors to level and skirting boards to sand. And believe you me, I’ll take my sweet time over it.

So, that concludes my annual post. Should I be more regular? Yes. Perhaps if Chrissie keeps the pressure on I’ll do this again someday. I might do a lot of things someday, she thinks. Hope springs eternal.

It’s the weekend and, as I lay in bed, I thought it would be a good time to endeavour to type random stuff into this blog.

I am nearing the end of reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone to Chrissie; A strange pass time to have in bed, you might think, and even stranger that a grown man can’t find better things to do; but it was the only way I was ever going to read the thing. Chrissie is a big fan and has pestered me to read it, even though I usually try to be a bit more high brow and read something like Catch 22 or The Catcher in the Rye…

However I have been quite surprised over how well the story flows; JK Rowling certainly earns at least a portion of what she has made out of the franchise, painting a rich and vivid canvas with her descriptions; and you can see that, especially from a child’s point of view, it is simply fun to read.

Taking the strange slant of reading it out loud to Chrissie has made it surprisingly more enjoyable, too - I love to do the voices in it, as the frustrated thespian in me struggles to the surface. I gruffly rattle out Hagrid’s lines, or attempt to smartly dictate Professor McGonagall’s. Harry I tend to leave alone; but I feel the need to tarnish Ron with a cockney accent.

* * *

Our dog, Molly, is currently attempting to dig to Australia behind the kitchen in the back garden; Chrissie finally dragged her in as it got dark - her front feet caked in mud, she slumped onto the clean leather sofa and began to fall asleep. The disappointment in her drained eyes was palpable. Sydney, it seemed, was further away than she thought.

Just to revisit the Gremlin I created earlier - this is another youtube I created of him rotating like the apples and knives! Marvel at the near Disney-esque skill of it all!

The latest results of my latest 3D graphics modeling assignment: To make a wine glass, bottle, apple (one half eaten) and knife using the techniques I’ve learned so far on the course. These were therefore created using a combination of subdivision/box modeling for the knife as with my gremlin before, as well as a method called patch modeling for the glass, bottle and apples. Textures and lighting were the created on the fly by simply messing around with 3D Max’s settings until something looked good.

Here are some close up animations of the knife and apples, just because I was like a proud father when I created them (Humour me):

I went into the course quite head strong, thinking I knew Max well from my experience years before - but I don’t think I could have accomplished these models as easily as I have done without learning these techniques. Still, not Shrek, is it?

It’s been a while since we posted, mainly because any updates we have appear to be absorbed into Facebook, but just a note to say we haven’t forgot this humble site.

What have been the highlights of this Month? Well, we attended the lovely wedding of Nicole and Ben Renton - congrats to them both, it was a great shindig they put on, to which we picked up many tips Ahem.

Also, I got horribly tiddly down at Reflex in London with Paul, Josh & co. Well, you could have guessed that as there’s a fair chance that will happen in any month of the year.

However I did also find time to wonder around the South Bank and reminisce about the time I used to work there. I gorged on Borough Market for old time’s sake, too. We are heading there again tomorrow for a birthday party, but this time I’ll be keeping a more watchful eye on expenditure as Chrissie and I have finally booked our first proper proper Holiday.

We’ll be living it up for a week in Sorrento, Italy in mid-October; High time we gave ourselves a little reward for all the life-changing upheaval I have subjected us to in the last year. We plan to stand atop Mount Vesuvius and enjoy a little Cultya, whilst trying to avoid any food poisoning as we experienced in Milan last year.

That’s probably not about it, but it will do for now. So I have not forgot you, dear k-north; Just trying to find somewhere to fit you in my life.

As world markets teeter on the brink of collapse and billions fall off share values, you have to admire the World according to Declan Curry from BBC Breakfast News.

Hastily reporting the current financial crisis this morning, Declan soon moved on to more important things: “Now let’s talk about wine,” he said, and then proceeded to chat at length to some random suit about the merits of plastic wine bottles versus the more conventional glass type.

I sat there in stunned amazement; Is it only me, or does BBC Breakfast nowadays happily skim over matters of grave importance in favor of lighter subjects such as sticking someone in the Blue Peter garden so they can talk about shrubs?

Here’s the latest fruit of my 3D course: A fat green gremlin. All grown from a basic box by a modeling technique called Box Modelling, funnily enough. You create a basic set of lines and shapes and then smooth the hell out of it. I textured him (although you wouldn’t know he was a “him” from the image above) using an elephant-like skin for a bump map.

Chrissie has spent many a lonely night waiting for me to come to bed whilst doing this, so I shall credit her by calling him Chris the Gremlin. She says she was flattered, before slamming the bedroom door in my face.

Cool - more time to play on the ‘puter.

(Click on the smaller images to enlarge)

On the last few movie outings, Cineworld has for some reason been able to start showing films the weekend before their release date under the banner of “Previews” - I’m not sure why, and I’m not going to look a gift horse too much in the mouth; for this is the reason I have managed to see Transformers one week earlier than expected.

I squeezed into the aisles with Chrissie; the cinema was fit to burst, so I can’t have been the only one who knew about this special deal. I was also quite pleased to find that I was not the only nearing-30 year old who was eager to see a live action Transformers movie, no matter how bad it might turn out to be. There appears to be a latent fear attached to any Michael Bay movie as of late; all action and no plot. I was not particularly worried about not enjoying the movie; I think anyone else who has dealt with the disappointment of The Phantom Menace will understand that by now you are a little jaded and accepting when things like this don’t live up to expectations.

I had heard encouraging things about this movie, however; the fact that Peter Cullen was reprising his role as Optimus Prime filled my inner kid with a quiet sense of hopeful joy, for one. It meant that the production team must at least give one hoot about how the movie turned out. Perhaps it’s because they were young too when Transformers first came out.

The lights dimmed and the certificate card came up, and I noted that the film was a 12A. Something for the grown-ups then, I thought.

Then, from no-where, a strong and proud voice rumbles around your ears:

“In the Beginning, there was…the Cube.”

It was, it was….OPTIMUS! My inner kid shrieked with joy, and I was quite unprepared for the big boyish smile that spread across my face. Coming from anyone else, those words wouldn’t have exactly baked my cake; But then I remembered that anything Optimus Prime said always sounded as if it had drifted down from a god.

Things just seemed to get incredibly entertaining after that; The assault on the airbase was pretty darn cool and I challenge any one in touch with their inner kid to deny it; and to hell with it - I bloody well liked the story of Spike and his girl and all the military commanders etc. So there.

It goes without saying nowadays that the special affects were on the nose - but you really kind of felt for the Autobot characters and it truly seemed to capture their relationships and backstory well. “Megatron…” Optimus says knowingly to his nemesis, and Megaton growls “Prime!” in return - and even in that exchange you get the sense that these two have fought for countless years. I think the use of Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron also sold the pairing. You really feel it when these titans clash as well; metal appears to smash against metal, and in the final battle robotic limbs fly and skyscrapers fall as the ‘formers literally tear a city apart.

And when Optimus’ arm converted into a flaming sword like in the cartoons, I nearly dropped my nachos.

Another plus of the film is that it never takes itself too seriously; it knows what it is, and has many a comic moment. I think thats what helps the film along; it knows that the critics will snub it, and it really doesn’t care. It was for the people who grew up watching Transformers and the kids who are just like they used to be.

Of course, the story is left wide open for a sequel, and according to rumour we’ll definately be getting two of them. I’ll be there, 30 years plus, nachos in hand.

9 K’s out of 10.

Update: A notable quote from an article at wired.com, just to show I can’t be the only nutter out there, about the return of such a character as Optimus:

“With bated breath and shaken faith we await the return of our Almighty Rig. Because without Prime, we’re stuck with whiney Spider-Boys, metrosexual pirates, and koan-spouting kung-fu Christs in designer sunglasses and unisex clubwear. Because he died protecting us in ‘86, and nothing’s ever been the same since.”

I would just like to say a quick word about and welcome to, as Chrissie mentioned previously, our latest addition to the household:  Molly the Dog.

Pictured behind Tiny, Molly came to our humble abode last week from the same place that Tiny originated from:  Mick the Irishman’s stables.

Like Tiny also, she started off being put in our pen on the side, but soon enough landed a place in the house.  Previously renamed Christina and called Molly for obvious reasons (I asked Chrissie if she would change her name instead but thought it wasn’t a good idea), with beautifully deep brown eyes she has settled in quickly - and Tiny tolerates her, to a point, although likes to wrestle her big Pheasant-style toy thingy in front of Molly in order to show her who’s boss.

She hasn’t had much fuss before but has taken to it well - she leaps up at you, begging for a cuddle whenever you look in her general direction.  I also especially have taken to her as she tried to remove Dylan’s tail from his body the other day, a trait which I admire and wish I could do myself.

Chrissie and I totaled up how many mouths need feeding on Fourwinds Farm the other day, including humans and pigeons; we count 18.  What strange and wonderful creature will land on our doorstep next?  Personally, I think we should open it up as a safari park and charge for people to see Jeremy act like a horse.  Will keep you posted on developments.

To cure my angst over the first Saturday without Doctor Who, I noticed in SFX that there was a Sci-Fi memorabilia show at the NEC organised by, surprisingly, a company called Memorabilia.

So off I dragged Chrissie, kicking and screaming, over to the NEC. I was a little worried that it was going to be a bit of a con, and that Chrissie would then rightly chastise me and we would never go any where near an idea of mine again. Luckily, I was wrong, and it was Chrissie of all people who ended up running around the place, looking at all the “cool” (I use that term loosely, more as in geeky cool) toys that were available.

There was stand after stand selling autographs of every TV/Movie personality, famous and not-so, as well as a plethora of toy stands ranging from Star Wars & Transformers to My Little Pony. There was also a full sized Knight Rider car, the A-Team van, and a Wookie (I almost had my picture taken with him. Almost.)

I did make a few, let’s say, choice purchases - An astromech droid (£2.50), the Starship Enterprise-A (£8), a small Enterprise-B (£8) and the Nebula Class U.S.S. Farragut (£8). I trust and hope you all have lives and have no idea what I’m talking about. And R2D2 Coaster mat for my coffee mug at work. Chrissie had an Angel Cordelia posable action figure (£5), four prints of Serenity, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes (£10), and bought me a Robocop figure (£2).

So, I’m sure you’ll all agree, a real worthy waste of our time Well, think what you like - what do you get the Mark who has everything? More toys, I guess.