Meme’s are wonderful things. Everyone loves to hate them but everyone also feels the need to join in so they don’t feel left out. Now that we’re living in a blogging world where everyone is a writer and think that other people are actually interested, they are becoming even more of a nuisance.

Every morning, I check my favourite RSS aggregator. Lately, I’ve been noticing many of the Brit Pack and other Big Names of the Web getting tagged by the latest “Four Things” meme and I thanked my lucky stars that I am still an unknown entity in the great big World Wide Web. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Paul decided it would be good fun to join in and tagged my ass so I’ve decided to spend my lunch hour putting together my Four Things just to keep everyone else happy.

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

1. Turnstile Operator at Northampton Town FC
2. Checkout Monkey at Tesco’s
3. Burger Flipper at The King of Burgers
4. Glass Collector at Brannigan’s in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
   (I think these jobs just about sum up my student days)

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Human Traffic
2. Die Hard (1, 2 and 3)
3. Lord of the Rings (again, 1, 2 and 3)
4. any Pixar cartoon (R.I.P!)

Four places I have lived:

1. Derby
2. Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire
3. Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
4. Walsall, West Midlands

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. The Simpsons
2. Futurama
3. Friends (damn these US-comedies!)
4. Bottom (God bless Britcom!)

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Hong Kong
2. Tokyo
3. Thailand/Singapore (honeymoon!)
4. Greece (a few times)
   (There have been other hols but these are my most enjoyable and memorable)

Four of my favourite dishes:

1. Spaghetti bolognese
2. Mum’s cheesy potato
3. Dad’s chips
4. Curry!

Four websites I visit daily:

1. SitePoint Forums
2. My Google AdSense account (I can’t believe how few people have said this)
3. BBC News
4. Google
   (who doesn’t??)

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Down the pub
2. Germany (for World Cup 2006)
3. Miami WMC
4. On any sunny beach with an ice, cold beer and my wife

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Well seeing as Jon did the honours to me, it seems only fair to tag a couple more Multipack members. So… (prepare yourself lads)

1. Tom M
2. Tom J
3. Rob
4. Bruce

Done!

With my wife being a blonde, I’m slightly wary of most blonde-oriented jokes but this one is actually quite good! So good, I had to actually blog it.

The lack of posting on here is due to several reasons at the moment:

1. Our house move all went through last week so the majority of my spare time was spent either packing or moving into the new house. We picked our keys up on Friday lunch time after a scarily smooth process. Luckily for us (being first-time buyers too) all other parties involved in the property have used the same solicitors as we have so that helped big time! We only realised yesterday though that there are some issues with the boiler which has thrown a (slightly small) spanner in the works. Its a good job we still have our flat available which has rent paid up until the 29th December so we can use this as a base until everything in the new pad is sorted.
2. While normal work is consistently busy, I am also in the process of setting up my first official web consultancy with a colleague from work. We have worked together for two years now and I have moulded him as much as he has me into two rather knowledgable “web pro’s”. It seemed only natural to put our money where our mouths are and setup business. Hence, a lot of our spare time (and lunch hours) is spent on the company website and other “setting-up” tasks. (We will announce the company launch all in good time - keep checking back for the latest.)
3. If juggling a house move and establishing a company isn’t enough, the Multipack are still going full force with group discussions and our first collaborative project. Most members are really busy with clients and projects at the moment but when we find the time, we are working on a project that should come in handy with many UK residents when launched which also incorporates a couple popular Web 2.0 services. Again, further information coming soon.

As you can see, life is kerrrazy right now so bear with me while I get my bearings and try to enjoy the festive period. Why don’t you prepare for the party season and check out my Sold mix? It should be a good warm-up for any night out or party you might be having (I know, shameless plug!).

It’s been one helluva week for the Joblings residence. We started the week by putting an offer on our first house which was accepted. During all the paperwork involved, we fitted in a visit to the NIA to see the artist they call Jamie Cullum. Friday morning was taken up teaching kids about animation. The week came to a close with the second Multipack meeting on Saturday.

Buying

I’ve come to that stage in my life when you realise you are officially a “grown up” and it’s time to start applying for a mortgage to buy your first real home. I’ve only been married for 3 months but it already seems like an ideal time to stop wasting money on rent and take the next natural step towards home ownership. Myself and the wife started looking around Walsall for a new home only a few weeks ago but we have already found somewhere that we both love, put in an offer seven thousand pounds less than the asking price and are now awaiting our mortgage certificate. All in the space of one week!

Now, most people I’ve been talking to have told me that buying your first house is one of the most stressful times of your life. I’m not sure how to take this. So far, its been quite stress-free. We are first time buyers so there is no chain on our side. The property we are going for is actually empty. The previous tenants part-exchanged with the builders so there is no chain on the other side. The estates agents told us that they are hoping for a move by December 2nd so that leaves us with 3 weeks until we potentially move house. We’ve already done the hard work with the mortgage application so hopefully the deadline is acheivable. Add to this the fact that I have the most organised wife in the world and I reckon we have a recipe for success. Fingers crossed for a Christmas in our new home.

Gigging

I’ve got to be honest - I haven’t been to many concerts in my life. In fact, I’ve (now) only been to two! So I’m not really in the position to compare the quality of these gigs with others. But I must say that those I have been to have been outstanding in my opinion.

My first concert I went to was Jamiroquai’s Wembley Arena gig during their Synchronized tour. JK put on an amazing performance (as you may imagine) and I would recommend to anyone who likes his music to try out any future gigs they have planned.

That second gig of my life belongs to Mr Jamie Cullum. When he started promoting his latest album Catching Tales the other month, I was straight on to Ticket Master to see if there were any gigs planned. As soon as I realised there was a Birmingham stop-off of his tour, the credit card was blown free of dust to buy some tickets for myself, the missus and some friends. It was probably the best £45 I’ve spent this year. His performance was second-to-none even with one of the least motivating crowds I’ve ever seen. He was dancing all around the stage, jumping and throwing his stool onto the piano keys - even his drummer decided to take his 10 minute solo all over the stage, using whatever he could for an instrument. Again, if you can book yourself on to the last few gigs of his tour - do it! It’ll make a great Christmas present that most would enjoy.

Teaching

My wife is an art teacher. Scratch that - my wife is a fantastic art teacher. So good, she has been made Head of Art within two years of teaching and looks to be unstoppable on her quest to make kids love art and design. The other month, she asked me to visit her school and teach some of her Year 8’s how to animate in Macromedia Flash. The curriculum is now attempting to introduce new methods in art and one of these methods focus on digital art. Lizzy thought this would be an ideal opportunity for me to use my knowledge and show kids what they could actually create with a little time and thought. The course will last 3 weeks and last Friday was the first lesson. I used the time to introduce the kids to computer animation and to start thinking about what their animation would consist of. I decided to showcase some of the amazing artefacts submitted on The Greatest Story Never Told to give them an idea of the level you can go to, as well as the different styles that can be implemented such as thick-outlined cartoons, detailed Photoshop created artwork and interaction with real-world video. The second half of the lesson was spent storyboarding their animation. Next week, I will show them the basics of drawing in Flash and how to break up their characters/objects into different layers for easier animation.

Meeting

Six weeks after the previous gathering, the Multipack met again in Birmingham with a much stronger attendance yesterday. I arrived about the same time as Trev and the Two Toms and after the obvious introductions (and buying of rounds) conversation was soon underway about Google Maps and Yahoo’s alternative. We were still a couple of people down but conversation was pretty intense and we covered a lot of interesting topics such as the monopoly of Google and Microsoft (including a lot of MS-bashing along the way), blogging, preferred serverside languages and the inevitable launch of IE7. It was also agreed that their should be a design competition for the upcoming Multipack website (details coming soon) which can be judged and discussed at the next meeting, which nicely coincides with Christmas. So if you fancy joining us for a merry xmas lunch in December (which should be Saturday the 17th), you know you’re welcome. (The venue is still in discussion so keep checking the Upcoming schedule for the official venue.)