2010 is Here - It's Resolution Time!!

Welcome To A New Decade - Time To Get Organised!

Quit Smoking, Don't Drink As much, Lose Weight, Find A Girlfriend/Boyfriend, Get A Life..

I'm sure these are some resolutions which have been made, and probably broken already. I for one, am a habitual resolution breaker myself, so this year I decided to push the envelope a little fuirther, being a new decade and all that..

This is because I'm spurred on a bit by the fact that I was actually quite organised for the first time ever in my life last year, having actually achieved quite a few of my past-yearly goals, so I'm now a believer of the old 'you can do anything if you put your mind to it' scenario.

"So if you're gonna do it, you may as well dive in head first and go for broke.." I'm currently thinking, so with that in mind, my resolutions for this year are (in no particular order) :

Write, and actually complete a game..
Procrastination has always been my weakness, more so, in the world of game development. I've written so many briefs, sketched so many ideas and planned so many scenarios, but this year, I really must get something out there, uploaded and actually played. For once.

Get back into creating artwork:
I've been a keen artist all my life, although my creative side was beginning to dwindle as I started clubbing more, I think that it's time I put a really thoughtful gift from my wife (an art set, with easel..) to use, and start sketching again.

Music is my life, so why not make music?
It's been said over and over again, I started last year, and again, I stopped - so this year, it's time to really get to work on my musical projects, the studio's ready, the kids are outta the way this year at school, so I really do think that it's about time I dusted off the Korg, sat down and get some material put together..

Animation..
As with the Game resolution, I'm thinking of killing a few birds with one stone by incorporating my music, animation and game creating resolutions into one big project..

Sort those MP3s out for Christ's sake!!
This is actually last years resolution, and I'm still on with it!! - it's probably the only one I've stuck to, it's simply taken me all year to do it haha!

Stop Drinking.
Yeah right, like that's ever gonna happen..

What have you guys got in mind? - let me know eh?
Happy New Year Everyone!
DK x

A New Decade Awaits, New Grounds To Cover...

In December 2009, just before Christmas, I decided to wander about the interwebs and clean up all of my on-line profiles, mainly with sites where I have my many online accounts, usually featuring various uploads, music files and artwork etc.

Some of you will have probably received a message about this, featuring information about the cancellation of my Bebo and MySpace accounts.

There is no negative reason to my submissions being removed from the web by the way, I'm simply having 'Spring Clean' so to speak.

This is because, over the few years that I've been a member of so many sites, my submissions werent really suitable for some websites - remixes with other artists vocals etc, werent really suitable for other websites dedicated to making games etc.

So, as a result of my realisation to this, any future submissions will hopefully be made to be more suitable for other websites - I also look forward to maybe even hearing some of my work in future Flash files, animations or games!!

Don't panic though! - I will be re-uploading my submissions, once I've remixed the tracks (now that I have the correct software and studio setup) and the majority of my tracks will have been mastered to a better quality than previously - this is mainly to keep my work up to the standard of the work submitted by other users..

YouTube:
I will be updating all of my YouTube submissions shortly too - as with my muscial remixes, the videos will be remade, mainly to keep up with todays online technology such as the addition of better sound quality and of course, the appearance of so many HD videos.

NewGrounds:
I've been a keen member of NewGrounds for a few years now, and over this perios, I've always shown a keen interest in developing a few games and animations for this site, so I'm aiming at popping my NewGrounds animation cherry in 2010, and I hope you look forward to seeing some of my work as much as look forward to making it!

DJ Work:
As some of you may have seen in my many FaceBook status updates, I've been spending the majority of the year sorting out my vast MP3 collection. Again, this is a major overhaul of my music collection, aimed at my club classic tracks, so I can be a little more specific to the kind of classics I aim to play in the near future.

FaceBook:
I will remain with FaceBook, simply because of the majority of people using this site, common sense really is'nt it?

DeviantArt:
This account has been cancelled, mainly because I would rather keep any of my artwork on my website, purely for copyright reasons.

Twitter:
This account is staying as it it, I mean, there's not that much to Twitter is there really?..

Apart from that, I'm in for a pretty quiet new year with the family - but I'm looking forward to it already as I have a few other exciting projects coming up in the New Year.

So, roll on 2K10 eh? - and I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas, And A Completely Mental New year.

Happy Holidays Everyone
DK.

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The Bogeyman..

This is a short tale, told to my by a friend, whilst we were making our way into town for a spot of Christmas shopping, one cold and windy morning..

Shortly after hearing this story, I relayed it to my wife, however, upon posting her reactions to the tale on FaceBook, curiosity got the better of some of my friends, so after many enquiries, I've decided to repeat the tale, only this time on my blog, for the benefit of my curious friends..

By the way, if this does'nt make you cringe, you have a will of steel:

I went shopping on Tuesday/Wednesday (or something) and while I was travelling into town in the taxi, I picked Andy up - I had Jessica (my 2 year old daughter) on my knee, and she had a runny nose.

As a result of these circumstances, it reminded Andy of something that he witnessed whilst visiting Wainhouse Tower with his kids.

One cold day, Andy is at the top of Wainhouse Tower during one of the attractions 'open days' when, next to him he sees this guy, who, himself has two young children with him, however, due to the cold temperature combined with the added altitude of the building itself, he's in that all too familiar scenario where his kids are suffering from the nasal 'nostril candle' problem.

Andy notices that the guy is checking his pockets, and looking around frantically for a tissue, or something similar as a solution to this rather messy and embarrassing predicament, and as he's doing so, his frantic actions are beginning to attract the attention of Andy, his kids, and of course, the other visitors...

Eventually, he realises that there is nothing he can do, he has no hanker-chief, or tissues to hand, and due to the physical properties of the tower, there's no available bathroom so the unfortunate parent had to take drastic measures, so this is what he did, much to the surprise of his children, Andy, and of course, the attentive view of the other tourists..

Using his mouth, he covered the nostrils of his kids, and with a quick sucking motion, and a rather loud 'sluuuurp' he gathered the contents of his childrens nasal excretions, then with a quick flick of his neck, he swiftly dispatched the gooey gumball over the side of the safaty barrier, into the wooded depths below. Nice.

As you can imagine, the combined reactions of Andy, and the other visitors was quite funny, in a gross and hilarious fashion.

It still brings a rather gruesome lump to my throat, everytime I think of this story, and as you can imagine, Sarah felt the same way when I passed on this legendary tale to her.

It's hard to relay the story in written form, but hopefully I've done a decent enough job, and as a result, it would'nt suprised me if you now feel the same way too hahah.

Times Change, As Do Careers...

Imagine working on a bar somewhere, you're doing the usual routine, cleaning glasses, eyeing up women (or men if you're either the opposite sex or of an 'alternative' nature)or cashing up the till, when for some bizarre reason, your boss thinks it's a good idea to cuts a few costs, and maybe quite entertaining in the process to stick you on a stage in front of 1200 people for a couple of nights..

Well, boys and girls, that's what happened to me nearly 15 years ago. Bizarrely enough, it was that sequence of events which changed my career completely, as I went from Typesetting and Design Office Bloke to Barman, to DJ in an instant. I've done it ever since, and I guess, as a bonus, it brought me to meet the new wife, so it's all good really..

As I said before, that's how it all happened for me, and 15 years, 2 children and a marriage later - I'm beginning to believe that I've achieved everything in that particular field of entertainment, and maybe it's time to look at something different.

The question is, what? - do I go back to the bars, maybe even a spot of management, maybe a bit of promotions, or even go back to promoting my own events? - Who knows, but I think it's getting to the time where I need to take a break from the decks, and maybe do something new.

So come Christmas, I'm looking at alternative options, maybe I should put my NLC Level 1 and 2 Qualifications to good use, and take to the bars again, or even dust off my Food Hygiene bits and get to work in the kitchens.

I'm still unsure of what to do next, so when I have a moment of realisation - I'm sure you'll all find out sooner or later.

Wish me luck eh?
Dk x

Going Back To Basics..

Come Thursday night, it looks like I'll be back right where I started, and to be honest, I cannot wait..

Let me explain..

On Friday, I was chatting in the smoking area to a few of our regulars at the Cell, when one of our security lads (cheers Dee!) pops over and asks me to pop down to Liquid after work. 'Liquid' I ask him' - the returning nod confirmed I had'nt gone slightly mad.

Anyway, fast-forward a few hours, and there I am in that very familiar all-blue reception area, awaiting some attention from the management.

Eventually, after a few moments, I'm quietly ushered upstairs, into an area that greets me like an old friend.

Y'see bloggers, I have'nt been to Maine Street since I worked behind the bar there for well over a decade, and the sight that presented itself to me brought back a whole era of old memories from yesteryear which kinda made me feel all warm and cosy inside.

The reason for this, is because Maine Street has'nt changed. Not one bit, well, apart from a couple of cosmetic tweaks here and there, it's practically as it was all those years ago in the nineties. The music, the layout, the punters, everything. This is a good thing, as I feel Maine Street has become one of Halifax's timeless venues, which thankfully, has escaped the wrath of progression, technology and novelty refurbishments.

Going back to the original reason for this blog, however, the reason why I was in the club in the first place, is because the management have decided to bring me on board to kick-start their Thursday nights..

I've had a few colleagues comment on this new opportunity, some saying 'It's not your kinda place Dannie' or 'But you're a dance DJ' etc. etc. - but many people don't realise the history I've had with this venue.

Maine Street is where it all began for me, many years ago, back in the Brit Pop era, Spice Girls were everywhere, there were no such thing as 'dance sets' and there was a bloody great tree in the middle of the dancefloor. I began my first party sets here, I worked behind the bar here, I used to sweep that floor at the end of the night, and I still have nightmares about that crocodile above the bar.

So putting all my previous experience in the dance circuit, classics events, and other madness aside - I'll be spending most of my week digging through my old party classics, dusting off the Motown, Cheesy Chart, Britpop and even a slice of Elvis.

Bring on Thursday, that's what I say - and bring your flares with you!!

Maine Street.
Nothing Changed. Nothing Lost.