So, nearly 3 weeks since my last article, it’s surely time for something fresh, new and inspiring.

Err, well no. Not really.

With full honestly, I have been immensely busy this past few weeks. Yep, even too busy to blog! ‘Heathen’ I hear you cry. Alas, it’s true. And I assure you’d love to return with an unbelievable article of only the highest quality, but I can’t even stretch to that for you. So to keep you busy for what will hopefully be no more than a few days, I will offer you the following:

Fifty People, One Question

The wonder that is Twitter offered me a little jem today. I can’t remember who it was who recommended this short viral video, but I thank them for it.

Fifty People, One Question is a beautifully crafted 8 minute long short where random people are grabbed on the streets of New Orleans and asked the question ‘What would you wish to happen by the end of today?’ (or something very similar). The idea is so simple it could almost be ridiculed, but the outcome is so fantastically composed, the emotions so perfectly captured and every aspect of the film including the editing, soundtrack and photography so considerately pieced together that the outcome is just superb.

Good eh? But seriously, please don’t just comment here (obviously do comment here, but follow the link through as well!) Check out the Fifty People, One Question website for more information on the video and other people’s responses.

A selfish note

I think it might also be worth noting that I’ve been asked to write for a Web and Graphic design tutorial site based in Manchester, for money. Don’t worry, I’m not selling out and will still be focusing on Redswish, but may throw the odd article out in exchange for payment.

The reason I’ve brought it up is mainly to thank the readers of this site who’ve helped it grow over the past few months and to reach the attention of a wider audience. It is only through this that the effort I’ve put into my writing has began to pay off, but it has also inspired and urged me to write to a constantly better standard.

So, once again, thanks all. I promise I’ll get something out again soon.

Nathan x

Check it out, it’s in the big purple box:

http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/airport-parking.html

Ben, our copywriting guru (I’m beginning to dislike that phrase), created a top script that caught their attention and made it through to the final cut with hardly any edits. Justin McArdle was brought in to steer the reigns and working with Flame Digital and actor Paul Kaye; produced the 90 second viral.

Let me know what you think. You can either comment here or find out more on the Flame blog article.

Loosing touch

I sometimes must remind myself that redswish is my personal blog as well as a web design resource. Maybe that’s not the best idea, to combine both. But I wouldn’t post often enough on my personal life to maintain a solely self-centred blog alongside a contributing online design resource. Alas, this is the beauty of the internet in that I can balance both.

I feel like I’ve been lacking the personal touch recently in an order to obtain more traffic, striving to provide solely web-related information and tools in an attempt to coerce new visitors to the site, and indeed to keep current ones interested. But why? I earn no money from this blog, I have no intention to (yet!). I write because I enjoy it, I love getting comments back from readers, regardless of whether they’re positive or negative, and I love it when something I’ve wrote has directly affected someone else. That’s the buzz I get from blogging. So, kind readers, please indulge me while I sum up my summer with little regard for whether you care or not.

How time flies

Indeed. The past few months have indeed wizzed by, perhaps because I’ve been busy, or perhaps because I’ve not been paying attention. On June 9th I started my first real, real job at Flame Digital in Manchester. I stress ‘real’ because it’s my first occupation that involves a career, a future. And it’s been great, not a bad move for a self-taught 18 year old. Things are flowing at Flame, while I’ve slowly been trying to whittle down my freelance work for there are only so many hours in the day and days in the week. And that’s enough about web design!

An explosion of cash from obtaining a sturdy full-time job has sent me dizzy spending money. In less than 2 months I’ve bought a 24″ iMac (and don’t regret a single penny), an iPhone and a new car. And new shoes, clothes, dvds and lots and lots of drunken nights out. I’m not bragging, a still have the constraining ‘luxury’ of living with my parents so I’m making the most of it while I can.

To cut to the end of summer, because I have to admit that the previous 3 months have been as ‘un-summerly’ as they come in Manchester, the highlight of August has been Leeds Festival, to which I attended last weekend. It did not dissapoint.

I’ve, rather dirtily, kept last years wristband on my wrist for a full 365 days. The are several reasons I did this, regardless of which by last November I’d forgot it was even there. However with this years golden edition, 2 strips dangling of my arm seemed like enough, and I felt it was time to cut them off, thus they are not tied around my bedpost.

I struggle to remember all the acts I actually saw at the festival, surely this is due to the large quantities of alcohol consumed over a 4-day period. But immediately springing to mind are the incredible Rage Against the Machine, whose performance rivaled pretty much any other band I’ve ever seen. A close second was Justice, rocking out the Radio 1 stage with their grungy electro. I also had the great delight of checking out Tenacious D, Digitalism, Feeder, Queens of the Stone Age, The Mystery Jets, Biffy Clyro, Taking Back Sunday and was passively entertained by Serj Tankian, Dizzee Rascal and Avenged Sevenfold. Looking back, as many bands as I saw, I’m a bit miffed I missed The Killers, Editors, We Are Scientists, Vampire Weekend, Crystal Castles and CSS. Oh well, I still had a top time.

So, not the most eventful summer

And that brings us to this week. I’m saving my holidaying for a decent trip around Europe in November, for which I can’t wait. I’ve not been skydiving again, or bungee jumping or hovercrafting or travelled to South Africa or done many things which I hoped I would, which is slightly depressing. But there’s still plenty of time. Plans change, you just have roll with what life gives you at times.

Speak to you again soon. More boring web-related articles coming this week, so stay tuned.

I’ve been a fan of DC’s work for a few years now, but never really got into them. I’d struggle to name more than 5 songs, never mind sing them. However with the release of the new album, which I must say is fantastic, I’ve been gradually falling in love.

Thus, my mate Tom and I took our precious Wednesday nights out to pop down to the Apollo and thoroughly enjoy the Manchester show of their Narrow Stairs tour.

I must say it’s a while since I’ve been to a gig, possibly as far back as Leeds Festival last summer… so I was in the mood for a good show and wasn’t disappointed.

You don’t go to a Death Cab gig to ‘mosh’, jump around or scream. You don’t go to get hammered or stoned and stumble around. You go to stand and enjoy the beautiful sound of Ben Gibbard’s vocals and the harmonious ambient chorus of the band (except for when it rocks up a bit… then you can be swayed to throw one arm up!).

So suffice to say the gig was fantastic. They played a decent length set covering a wide range of some of the best old tunes and a modest selection from the new album. Thankfully they seemed to favour Transatlanticism, which being my favourite album was pleasing.

Tom had to complain at the fact a huge portion of the crowd were hardly die-hard Death Cab fans as they only seemed to know songs from the new album. I understand his point, a valid point indeed, but at the same time there’s no rule to stop someone simply turning up to a gig to enjoy the music – regardless of how much of the band’s back catalogue they own.

2008 has been a poor year for movies so far. No, don’t argue; it’s a fact. I’ve not been to the cinema once, not even on a date, not even to view the listings. The only good films to appear on DVD were No Country for Old Men and Rambo, neither terrible nor fantastic in my opinion – however brutal! The only thing that’s come close was 21, and that was hardly Spacey’s finest role.

But things are looking up. The big summer blockbusters are showing at the moment, including Hancock, Wanted, Wall-e (the latest offering from CG masters Pixar), The Dark Knight which promises to be awesome and The Forbidden Kingdom with my 2 favourite generic martial artists – Jet Li and Jackie Chan. As my memory serves, this is a far better serving than last summer. I think it’s time for a trip out to the movies!

But even more exciting is what the Fall (or Autumn to us) has to offer. In particular – sequel the fantastic Casino Royale; Quantum of Solace, and of course – a much awaited yet unexpected big-screen appearance of the dark, troubled and ridiculously violent Max Payne.

More and more game characters are finding their way into movie theaters. Hopefully it won’t be too long now till we finally see a Metal Gear Solid movie. God I hope so!

Snake, Snake, Snnaaaaaakkkee!