Disappointment

Dis·ap·point·ment [dɪsəˈpɔɪntmənt],
A cape of southwest Washington on the northern side of the mouth of the Columbia River. It was named in 1788 by a British sea captain who was searching for the fabled River of the West and was disappointed when he did not discover a wide river mouth.

Unfortunately I'm not referring to the southwest Washington cape but the human emotion of feeling dissatisfied after ones expectations are not realised.

It's always the way! You get yourself all excited about going somewhere, meeting someone or buying something new and the time comes round to go, see or buy and it all goes wrong.

Although my birthday isn't until May 9th, I am planning to treat myself to a MacBook Pro this Sunday as there is an offer on at KRCS that ends that day. That was until I was persuaded by a certain Sammie Price (see and follow her great blog here...) to get one today. Excitedly, I trundled off to KRCS to pick up a 17" MacBook Pro only to find that they had none in stock. I could buy any, as long as it was the 2.8GHz 15" one. Not much help.

Still, this does mean I have the chance to take a road trip to the Apple store at Highcross, Leicester tomorrow to hopefully pick up my now over-due 17" MacBook Pro.

Feel free to send taunting tweets or messages but I'm now excited about my trip tomorrow. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that.

I'm hoping my next blog will be from Safari tomorrow. I will see you all then, hopefully with an Appley update!

Chris

Adrenaline rush! - Sport

Sporting activities make up a special part of my life. Even watching childish films like The Mighty Ducks gives me goosebumps as Charlie Conway triple deke's his way past the goaltender to win the State Championship. My earliest memory of that feeling was sprinting down the right wing in a primary school football match with my friend screaming for a cross.

Whether the cross made it or not or whether Steve made the header is also irrelevant; the rush and shiver that that experience gave me had me hooked. Ironic really as I now hold football at the low end of sport entertainment, even cricket provides more excitement. But it was the same rush and elation I felt later in life sprinting hard to the line in the swimming pool and sensing I was just millimeters ahead of the competition. Adrenaline kicks in, you reach further, pull stronger and drive to the finish.

As much as it pains me to say it but it's America who have the entertainment right.

Sports should give you those sort of adrenaline rushes as often as possible and give you goosebumps at every opportunity. In this regard basketball, baseball and to some extent american football have most other sports beaten hands down! There is something happening in a basketball game every second that can affect the outcome. The 2008 Playoff finals between the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers was one of the most incredible spectacles in sports history; Game 4 being the highlight, the Celtics clawing back a 24 point half time defecit to win 97 - 91! Every basket greeted with yet more goosebumps as they fought proudly for the win!

This is what we want from sport! Something that raises the blood pressure and has us biting our nails on the edge of our seats and I think sports such as basketball, rugby, baseball and even cricket supply that with every ball passed, hit or bowled! Something game changing can happen with each moment and it's basketball that takes my award for the World's greatest team sport!

I'm hugely biaised with this next choice but for me the worlds greatest individual sport is without a doubt tennis! For me, there is no other sport that delivers such a test of an individual on a level playing field as this. Out on the stage on your own pitting your skills and endurance against another, and if you're struggling to compete there's no help; YOU have to change something and figure out how to win. It's such a closely contested sport with such incredible strength in depth all the way through the worlds top 200 players and more, that it creates more incredible conflicts than any other sport. Wimbledon 2008 was one such tournament with some of the most incredible tennis being played for the whole two weeks, ultimately culminating in what is now considered to be the greatest tennis match of all time - Federer vs Nadal in the final. There is no other word for it than point after point of awesome tennis.

These are atheletes who play their sport for all the right reasons. A love for the game, to set records, to achieve ambitions! Basketball players are icons and role models in America, showing what hard work can accomplish. Tennis players, also hold their sport with such appreciation as it takes an immense amount of hard work to play tennis to their levels and I think all sportspeople should try to remember where they came from and remember the hard work they had to put in to get to where they are now!

What drives you when you compete? Why do you watch a sport and what is your favourite?

I'd love to hear your views on this topic and without wanting to end on a negative point, I do wonder how many footballers can claim they are true 'sportsmen' and positive role models.

Chariots of Fire... watch it :)

Apple! (vs PC's)

Now synonymous with style and the techy face of 'cool', Apple have produced what have been voted some of the best technological products of the last decade; revolutionising the mobile phone, reinventing the mp3 player and creating a portable web browser tablet. The iMac is where the change in image started and I'm sure everyone remembers the egg shaped colour monitor in commercials making a point to the world that their computers didn't have to be ugly silver boxes. They've been steadily climbing the popularity tree ever since.

My thoughts about using Apple products at home have been the same for many years since I used a Mac Pro as a graphic designer. They've only ever been able to provide full functionality in an exclusive environment; that is with no PC intervention. For instance, in my opinion an iPod never really sync'd well on a PC, especially when you already have most of your music converted to mp3 and organised into artist and album folders. To use their products you NEED that central Apple hub, be that a MacBook with an external drive or an iMac.

There is no doubt that Apple make some of the most desirable and aesthetically pleasing technological products but to use them to compliment your life means commitment. Unfortunately for me I had a period in my life where gaming took up a vast majority of my computer life and hence a PC was an essential tool. From this base I was engulfed in the young and still growing online social networks of EverQuest, Quake III and Command and Conquer. Leading on from that I was locked in the world of the PC, my life stored on it and it is only now, having moved away from PC gaming that I have reassessed what I want from my home computer.

Primarily now used for social internet connections I can confidently move towards the Apple range at home. In this regard I cannot see how the PC can compete. Apple do everything better! The PC software world is full of people searching for freeware programs that do the job at hand with the minimal amount of intrusion to your control. The infamous paperclip "It looks like you're writing a letter" being the perfect example.

The iPad is looking to take yet another step into revolutionising how and more importantly why 90% of us use our home computers. Why buy an awkward slow laptop with un-necessary ATI graphics driver programs, touchpad control panels and throttling icons in your system tray and annoying power cable keeping the measly battery charged (a contradiction in itself), when for less money you can sit comfortably on your sofa with a smart and sexy internet browsing tablet.

For me this is Apple's joker card and the iPad should sell in it's millions if only the user interface could be portrayed as intuitive and not something to be scared of for those who have used Windows for all their computer life. The App Store alone should open up hundreds of new doors for the average home internet user who until now has just googled the subject of the day on their laptop or browsed online stores for new shoes.

In the next few weeks I am planning to take a MacBook Pro as my media centre with an external drive for the extra data my PC. The MacBook should take care of my one other requirement - Photoshop and web design allowing my upcoming iPhone (and no doubt iPad) to take care of any mobile needs; music, communication and organisation.

I'm very excited about being able to take these products anywhere and everywhere with me confident that back home they will connect and act as one easy network to compliment my lifestyle. Afterall, technology should be there to aid us not hinder our life and in this I believe Apple have the market there for the taking.

In my opinion, the only, and I mean only, obstacle they have to overcome is how to portay OSX as the very user friendly and intuitive interface that it clearly is and to take the fear out of swapping from the 'norm' of Windows. Crack this image and I can see their products dominating.

What do you think? It'd be great to hear your views on this subject. Feel free to comment below and I'm sure I'll run an update post in a few weeks once I've bought my MacBook Pro and started that transfer.

Thanks for reading, Chris

Music at its best

Everyone has opinions on music. What they like and why they listen to certain artists and bands can be argued and discussed for hours amongst friends let alone on social network sites.

Personally I've always enjoyed listening to those artists who seem to be able to portray feelings in their music through just that as well as the words.



I'm currently completely impressed with 30 Seconds to Mars. I saw their This is War tour in Nottingham a few weeks ago, have all their albums and also their Radio 1 Live Lounge tracks they have done and would like to share their most recent one with you now. They were at Maida Vale for Radio 1 on 29th March 2010 and sang another amazing cover version along with an acoustic version of This is War that you can see above. Now here's the cover track they performed and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Close your eyes and take a listen.



Enjoy!

And if you're curious about their first cover they played at Maida Vale Studios... have a quick search for Stronger.

Chris

Life in Tennis

I've played tennis since I was very young, in fact there is a photo of me somewhere aged three playing with my Dad. I have since been reliably informed that I insisted that I was Bjorn Borg while my 'opponent' was John McEnroe! My first tennis racket was a sawn off old wooden one of my dad's; not the most maneouverable of rackets for a two or three year old but non-the-less it kept me amused whacking tennis balls against the wall of the house.

27 years later and I'm sharing my love for the game and helping others develop. Having coached for six years now, I can confidently say I'm very very lucky to be able to do this every day.

The LTA have structured British tennis for juniors in such a way that children as young as 4 or 5 are able to compete and play a very high standard of tennis.

Under 8's can play on a court the size of the width of a tennis court with a sponge ball to develop their hand-eye coordination. The ball is slow enough to work on fundementals of their swing and allows us to help them learn the rules of the game. Simple things like where to serve, what is 'out' and where to stand all the way up to much more advanced skills like moving forwards and backwards on the court. Coaching to this level of detail at such a young age means when they are ready to move to the next level we already have skills in place that are repeatable and trainable. Between the ages of 8 and 9 players train and compete on an Orange size tennis court (see the photo above). Seeing some of the best players nationally play and compete on this size court at this age is an absolute eye opener.

After the Mini Tennis Orange stage, 9 year olds train and compete on the full size court with a slightly softer ball: Mini Tennis Green. We are now playing on a larger court with a faster ball but because the fundamentals have been practiced and trained for three, maybe four years, players look very very comfortable on court and again, the level of play in matches and tournaments can be incredible to watch.

It is only after these three stages that young tennis players finally use a hard 'full' or Yellow tennis ball. At ten years old and because of this tier system, they have been practicing all the skills and tactics that are essential to their game at this stage. These players are now ready to challenge on a full sized court and indeed some 12 year olds who have worked through this system are often more than a match for a club adult player. Under 12 and 14 tournaments, of which I have been able to run both on numerous occasions, are a fabulous way of being able to see the development that players have been through.

It has been a fantastic change of career and one that I intend to stay in for many years. The enjoyment and satisfaction you get from coaching is unrivaled in my view and I hope to share some more of my experiences and stories on this blog in the future!

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you have about anything I write about here, so please don't hesitate to comment or email.

Speak again soon :)
Chris

How we spend our time

Ok, so watching Wonders of the Solar System has really got my science mind going again. I've always had a thirst for scientific knowledge and some of the images and facts I'm seeing on this program has awoken my mind to this again. I stumbled on some incredible infrared images of the sun a few years ago and I'm sure everyone has seen the beautiful photo of a sunset viewed at the north pole or the Aurora Borealis.

Seeing these awe inspiring photographs has really made me question where I go and where I WANT to go on my next holiday?! Surely the best use of my holiday time would be going to see some of the most incredible views available on Earth?

There's a volcano in Ethiopia that bubbles lava permanently, a cave in Mexico that has 50 foot crystals, an ice field in Iceland that resembles Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon. 1/4 million gallons of water flow over the Iguaçu Falls every second.

These staggering sights across the planet must be worth a little of our time?! To come back from a trip saying that you've seen and experienced a crystal clear view of the solar winds reacting with our Earth's magnetic field in a polution free sky, or felt goosebumps at the view over the Grand Canyon at sunset! I think I'll definitely carefully consider what my next holiday will be, and maybe this short blog has triggered a child hood memory or ambition in you, the reader, to chase a view or experience you will remember forever.

Feel free to comment, agree or disagree with me or share some of your own experiences and wishes.

Thanks for reading, and I'll speak to you all again soon :)

Chris

The Mystery of DNGRMS

I'm sure this may be a question that will haunt many future readers of this blog for hours, maybe even days on end but it is actually rather a simple collection of letters that resulted from some feeble scribbles many years ago at work with a good friend of mine.

Well, being the first post of my newly created blog, I'll quickly say hello and hope you're all having an interesting weekend. I've been inspired to start one from reading a friend's blog regularly (Abbzzw) and maybe in the future she might like to do a combined blog topic, we'll see.

In the coming days and weeks you will no doubt find bizarre ramblings from my mind which will hopefully raise a smile as well as views about the world and our lives which you may or may not agree with and on those occasions I urge you to comment on my post; it'd be fab to hear some views on the words I'm writing.

Right, enough typing, I'm going to have a think about laying out this blog and making it look even better ;)

Speak soon!