Christmas at Ingrids Mums

Had a great time at Ingrids mums place over the christmas vacation. There was me, Ingrid, Taras, Leah and Maya. As well as Ingrids sister, husband and three kids. It was one of those vacations where everything centres around food....and lots of it. The kids got loads of presents from santa on christmas eve.....(swedish rules) and everybody had a great time. I got a cool manga style figure that you had to construct yourself. It was from Taras, and came from Japan, and you would not believe how well moulded it was!!! The funniest thing about the whole trip though was coming back and stopping at MAX burger. They were giving away these free whoopee cushions.....I had forgotten just how funny these can be!!

Radio Controlled Helicopter

Just got a new radio controlled helicopter to go with my aeroplane. Its pretty cool, and i can fly it in the house which is not possible with the plane. Its a bit hard to control though and really the plane is a bit more fun, especially in the park. For only 20 quid though you cant really complain. www.silverlit.com if you want one.

Johns Surprise 30th Party

Travelled to germany to visit some friends, and to surprise john for his 30th birthday. Must say thanks to Andrew, Melissa and "Mads" for putting up with me and Paul for a couple of days. And for letting us have a key so that we could come back from johns party at 8 in the morning. Paul, i dont think anything will ever beat our 4.5 hour journey home from that party!!! After the party went down to Pauls place and visited his new baby, Lucy. Also got to see Pauls flash new house. Unfortunatly I didnt get any pictures since i spent most of my time relaxing and sleeping in until way past noon. Thanks for letting me do that Carmen. It was a lovely time, and i look forward to coming back in the warmer weather. I may even help Paul with a bit of digging in the garden if he is lucky!! You will have to send me some pictures of the house, see if I can do an "artists" impression of what it could look like. Give you something to aim for Paul. Finally, thanks to Sue for arranging the surprise party.....and not getting too annoyed at my efforts to blow out the candles on Johns cake. Now.......who is going to arrange my surprise brthday party?? April 5th for those who have forgotten!! I hope though that nobody has to endure the length of journey it took to get back. Paul, it was a 12 hour journey back from your place. Two trains, a bus, a plane, a bus, a tram and then a walk. There must be an easier way?!

Teaching in Umeå

Went teaching again, this time in Umeå. Some really talented students up there, and I am hoping that I can persuade some of them to take a little time from their studies to write some tutorials for DesignerTechniques. Aside from the teaching, one of the students also had the coolest little electric scooter ever. Really cheap as well....although you have to import them from Korea. Perhaps something I am going to have to buy early next year. I will certainly let you know if i get one!!! By the way, cheers to Linnea again....I didnt take any pictures in Umeå either. Actually, i really must buy a digital camera!

Short break in Scotland

Went back to scotland for a few days. Nothing to interesting to report.....apart from I missed my flight back. I did come across this rather amusing picture of my dad though (the one on the right). Its from back in his army days, and I just thought it would be nice to post it up here for the whole world to see. Dad....your now famous!

Teaching in Luleå

Spent an interesting couple of days in Luleå (very northern Sweden). Actually had to lecture to just over 100 students, and then run a sketching workshop with about 30 students. Talking in front of 100 people was a bit of a new experience for me, but it went really well. I actually went over time...with no complaints. The students were not actually training to be designers, more studio engineers. It was good to try to show how important the role of studio engineering is in matching the designers ideas to engineering led production reality. Hopefully these two days lecturing will lead to more, as I had a great time running them. By the way, the picture is here is actually from a few hours I spent teaching at HDK in Göteborg. I didnt take any pictures at Lueleå. Everybody say hi to Linnea.

The end of an era

After just short of three years of sharing an apartment, Wayne has finally took the plunge and quit his job...and Sweden. There have been a lot of fun times and I wish they could continue, but now I must find a new flat mate to share my apartment with. I only hope he proves to be as good at making tea as wayne was....and cooking. I hope everything goes great Wayne and I look forward to seeing you back here from time to time. There will be plenty more parties happening and you are always welcome. After all, who else is going to supply the champagne??

Waynes BurstaBubble site

Since he has not written a new article for DesignerTechniques I have been unable to plug Waynes new site so far. Then I thought why not put it on here. For those of you who dont know, Wayne is my current flat mate in sweden (he is leaving soon....but more on that later). He started his website at around the same time as I started DesignerTechniques. He will hate me for saying this...but whilst my site has grown to the point of getting 15000 to 20000 visits per month, his has had a grand total of about 500 since it launched!! I get more than that in a day (cue big cheesy grin from Allan!). Anyway. Its a pretty cool site and idea. I wont try to explain it.......its best you just go and visit the site. I have already ordered a pair of jiffy pants! Cant wait till they get here! ANYWAY....GO AND LOOK AT HIS SITE NOW! Just click the link at the top or look under links over on the right of the page.

FH16 ROADSHOW days five to ten

Well, I have been trying to remember what we did everyday since day four....and to be honest it is all a big jumble in my head. There was so much going on that all the days have rolled into one. If only I had remembered to update my blog every day like I planned. Because I cant remember I have decided to finish my FH16 tour update by just putting up a few more pictures. The rest of the journey did have a lot of excitement though. Some things that come to mind? Well we bought Johan a radio controlled helicopter for his birthday (although we could not get it to work). We did an all night drive from Austria to Germany (plenty of red bull and loud music). We drove on some very narrow roads (you can see this below), and we managed to fit in a few party nights. There was also the highlight in Austria of seeing a truck being driven rather poorly...and into another truck.....this you can also see below. I think it is fair to say that I had an awesome 10 tens and would gladly do it all again. Getting back home was nice though....a good nights sleep was the first order of the day! Thanks to all of you who were involved in the tour.

FH16 ROADSHOW day four

With some spare time in hand this morning...and since i spent so long laughing at Linus yesterday, I decided to try my hand at the dolly trailer. Crap....its not easy. You have to steer in the same direction as you want to go....as if you have NO trailer! I would love to see you have a go at this dad. Anyway, after shaming myself for half an hour we hit the road and headed to our first stop. I didnt get too many pictures of this event. It was a small service station and we didnt have much space. The weather was good though....and I even found time to contemplate the Imperial ambitions of the USA and the Bush dynasty!!

During the day we also managed to take some time out to drive over to Vienna. I have never been here before and it is a pretty place. We went on a horsey ride, saw Mozart covered in gold?? and ate the biggest schnitzels we have ever seen. I even found time to buy a new pair of jeans!!

FH16 ROADSHOW day three

Well, I finally found out what truck I will be driving. ONLY THE COOLEST ONE (the one above which was the only fully chromed one on the tour)!! Or at least I thought that it was the coolest until everybody else unanimously decided that it was indeed the gayest truck. Never mind. I am still pretty sure that you dad will be very jealous. You can see in these pictures as well, the sheer size of our convoy. In fact, in these two pictures you can see no more than 6 trucks at a time. The convoy was actually nine. Factor in a safe driving seperation and that makes a half a kilometer roadtrain! We did make a bit of traffic chaos!

Anyway, the plan was that only the lead truck knows the way.....everybody else just knows their place in the queue and follows the guy in front. This in general seemed to work very well....until. When the guy at the front of the queue gets lost and starts pulling into petrol stations to ask directions, general chaos can result behind him. This is exactly what happened as we tried to drive through rush hour Bratislavia. Throughout the entire time though I had the windows open....the sterio up loud...and the biggest grin ever!

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventfull and we eventually reached our first destination. A Volvo dealership where we could park up the trucks for the night. The one small amusement at this first stop was I did get to watch Linus attempt to reverse park his truck. To explain to those in the know reading in Britain. Although his truck looked like a regular trailer and drag....its not. It actually has a short bogey attached the rear trailer. In short this means that it bends in two places. Go away and think about that for a moment. Uncle alec...I am talking to you here!

FH16 ROADSHOW day one and two

Did not sleep much the night before.....I have been looking forward to this journey SOOO much. Anyway, it was an early flight, so we were in the airport at about 7.30ish. Johans observation is very true; it doesnt matter what time it is.....people drink beer in airports. Would these people have a beer at 7.30 in the morning at home?? Anyway, we met up with Linus on the way and arrived in Bratislavia at about mid day. First impression it made on me was how much it feels like Russia. Although the other curious thing I noticed was how many advertising bill boards line the side of the road. Didnt get any pictures because I was just too tired, but will try to get some before I leave.

We were collected from the airport by the hotel taxi and then it was a 45minute drive to the town of Piestany. After dropping off our things we went directly to the event and straight away realised that this is going to be a LOT of fun. As you can see there are even dancing girls!!. The trucks are awesome, and everybody has been really friendly since we arrived (not just saying that in case they read this by the way). Spent the day just soaking up the atmosphere and checking out all the trucks and trailers. I also managed to have a go on a hovercraft! Anyway, at the end of the day we all went back to the hotel, and since sunday is a day off (it is illegal to drive a truck on sunday), we all had a nice evening dinner with plenty of wine. Johan, Linus and myself then went into town to try out one of the local nightclubs. It was pretty good and the prices are very cheap. Many people speak good engllish here (better then in germany) so managed to meet a few interesteing people.

After a little lounge in bed on sunday morning I decided to take a cycle through the town . Its a very grey place.....and it seems to be a country with not a lot of money. All the buildings and apartments seem very run down, although in the centre of town things seem better. I didnt once see what you would describe as even a middle class house though. They do have a famous spa here though that was interesting. Either way, it was nice to have a cycle round and work up an appetite. It will be early to bed tonight though (perhaps after a sauna) as we leave early monday morning for Austria. I have posted some other pictures underneath for you all to take a look at. Enjoy. Oh...and would everybody at work please leave some comments!!! I want to here what you all think of my adventures.


Did not take too many pictures at the show as i was too busy wandering round. The trucks are awesome though, and i cant wait to get me grubby little hands on one. I did have a wander around the next day after the show to take some pictures though. The building below was actually right next door to our hotel. I just thought it was really interesting looking. I have no idea what it is, what happened to it, and why it is still there. It was pretty spooky anyway.

Press Truck

Wanted to get a bit of training in at driving an artic before the FH16 tour (where everybody would be watching) so me and Johan (well just Johan actually) managed to borrow this brand new FH16 Press fleet truck. I managed to take a few people out in it from the studio, including Yeom and Klara...although I am sure Yeom was sure that I could nt actually drive it!! Me and Johan then took it on a 300Km round trip, where we concluded we didnt actually like the handling...although it was very windy to be fair. I also managed to practice a bit of blind side reversing in a huge empty yard where nobody was looking. I id fine, but was glad I got a shot at it out of prying eyes first though. We also managed to fully park it inside the viewing garden at design. i dont think anybody has ever put a full size semi fully in there before. And we have the photos to prove it!!!

Comments

I have now modified my comments section. I have taken off the moderation as it was just to much of a pain to check. So dont be too rude, and leave your thoughts.

Peter Guthrie

Had an enjoyable weekend just gone, having both a house party and a visit from an old school friend Peter Guthrie (for those interested he is the second in from the right in the back row). The house party was pretty good with about 25 people...and nothing got broken. Had many...many beers and woke up with a huge hangover. Hope your weekend was good Peter, perhaps we will see you over here again. Say hi to Tina. Oh, and dont forget to write an article or tutorial for www.designertechniques.com

Really Cool Website

Came across this a little while back and thought I would share it. I dont get what the point is, and it is completely useless. It is however the most addictive thing ever. I wont even try to explain, just take a look.

www.sodaplay.com/

London Motor Show

Decided I was going to try out the London Motor show this year. Although the show doesnt have the big vehicle launches like Geneva, Paris and Frankfurt, there was enough happening to convince me to have a look. For instance they had a stunt driving arena, an off road course, a demo driving area and even a rock concert in the evening. I also managed to take a shot at the Mazda Zoom Challenge. Three laps in both a MX5 and an RX8 round a tight handling circuit. I am disapointed to say that my time was only average. Was really impressed with the MX5 though. Its a really cool car, and the folding hard top may force me to consider one (pay rise required however)!

The standard part of the show was pretty much as you would expect. A large car showroom. With the only launch of real significance being the new Vauxhall Corsa (and perhaps the new folding hard top MX5). Not much point in putting my pics up here as there are plenty on the net if you want to see.

I also took some time to head to Designers Night as well. I have only been to one of these before, but it was fun, as was this one. Got a little too drunk, met a lot of people I had not seen in a while, and generally had good fun. By the way, sorry Jez for beating you (was it 4 times in a row) on the Playstation racing game.

In amongst all this, the day I chose to go to the show also turned out to be one of the hottest days ever. 36 degrees if I remember correct. It meant the tube was pretty warm anyway!

Summer in Göteborg

Surely one of the best reasons for living in Sweden. Fifteen minutes in the car and you can be lounging around in heaven. Just remember to pack the BBQ and your guitar.

Umeå Degree Show

Took a road trip up to Umeå (just over 1000Km each way) for the Transport Design degree show. Congratulations to all who graduated from Umeå this year. It was a great show, and I had a great time. The afterparty was superb (many thanks to Kristen and others who allowed me to run up a bar tab......have I paid that??). I look forward to seeing Hirash and Yeom in Göteborg.

Radio Controlled Airplane

Anybody who does not yet own one of these MUST go out and buy one. It only costs 200SEK (Toys R Us), which is about 14 quid in real money. It needs a pretty calm day (or a spacious design studio) to fly well, but when it does it is awesome. You can do it all, buzz people in the park, scare pidgeons or get it stuck on the roof outside McDonalds (I had to wait an hour until it blew down by itself).

Truck Driving Holiday

I didnt have many plans for the easter break this year so decided to book myself a truck and go on a driving holiday to Götland. I had heard that it was pretty nice over there, and since I dont think I have done enough sightseeing in Sweden I thought why not. The truck part was just an added twist. It took around 7 hours driving to get to Stockholm, and my charts show that many solid hours of this were spent at exactly 90Kmh. Once there I spent the night at Ingrids mums place (much to the delight of Leah and Mia, who woke to find a big red truck in the garden), and then it was on to the ferry.


After arriving in Götland late at night in the pouring rain, it was nice to wake up the next morning to glorious sunshine (the first pic). I generally spent the next two days exploring the island.

Its a pretty small place and I managed to cover almost all of it, although I was unlucky enough to be their in the off season. This meant that most of the normal tourist stuff was closed. The weather and scenary was plenty enough to compensate though.

After a relaxing couple of days, it was time to get back on the ferry. I decided however to lengthen my holiday once back on the mainland by heading down to Malmo. I have always wanted to see the Twisting Torso building, so thought i would just pop down. It took 12 hours driving to "just pop down". It was well worth it though. The building is awesome, and if you get the chance I would go take a look. Especially at night.

After a day in Malmo it was on the road and back to Göteborg. All in all I covered around 2500Km (Didnt even use a full tank of diesel though) and decided that I really want to do it again sometime.

DesignerTechniques is website of the month

After only a few short weeks on line CarBodyDesign.com has named DesignerTechniques their website of the month. The jump in traffic since this has been noticable, and I hope to keep updating the site enough to make sure they all keep coming back. I owe a big cheers to all the guys over at CarBodyDesign. Take a minute to visit their site at www.carbodydesign.com

Sunset Balcony

Came home from work today and was treated to this awesome sunset from my balcony.

DesignerTechniques online

Well I finally did it. After a lot of thought, and thinking, and then some thought, DesignerTechniques is now on line. Managed to launch with 5 tutorials and my own designer profile. Now it is up to the public to decide. I am really hoping that it will turn into an exciting and popular project. So if there are any designers out their who want to contribute, just let me know by e-mailing me at suggestions@designertechniques.com I look forward to hearing from you.

Snowy Vacation

Spent a lovely weekend at Ingrids (designer from Volvo) mums, with Leah and Mia. It was deep snow and we spent a lot of time making snow angels and sledging around.

The girls were not too happy with being in the snow at first (understandable when it comes up to your waist), but by the end were very happy being thrown into huge snow drifts!