However, I noticed a few ten things which I fear may deem me ‘too old to go to gigs’ (at the ripe old age of 23):

1. I didn’t recognise any of the music played between bands
2. The music (see above) was too loud – I could barely hear myself talk never mind anyone else!
3. I didn’t seem to be wearing the new breed of gig-goers’ uniform which seems to have developed (crotch-restrictively-tight jeans & pointy shoes)
4. I felt very under-dressed – since when did people get ‘dressed up’ to go and see a band?!
5. I only came out with enough cash to get a rabbit drunk
6. The enjoyment of one band’s performances was marred by the vision of some middle-aged woman’s arse hanging out of her jeans that I could see out of the corner of my eye
7. I couldn’t understand what the singer was saying when he wasn’t singing
8. It was far too hot
9. That damn Too Far North stamp is as stubborn as a really stubborn mule!
10. I felt old enough to be some of the punters’ father

So, there you have it. I love music. I love live music. I love having a beer and watching a local band.

But I can’t stand all the things that go along with that, like people, and expensive beer, and loud/shit music!

Yep, I really am a grumpy old sod.

I hopped, skipped, and jumped on over to Pearltrees and was filled with a mixture of feelings: amazement, bewildered, baffled, intrigued, and questionful(?).

According to the folks behind it, Pearltrees “let’s you organize the web your way” by ‘pearling’ your favourite sites and organising them in such a way that it creates your very own world wide web, which can be viewed, connected, and pearled by other users.

I’ve only been signed up a couple of weeks but I think I’m hooked already.

You may argue that it’s just another social bookmarking service like Delicious, Stumbleupon, or Digg, but it’s the aesthetics, the care and attention you have to put in of organising your own web that appeals to me and the many other Peartrees users.

Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

It appears I haven’t added a post to this, my fledgling blog, in quite some time; since last year, in fact.

Well, it’s a new year, it’s the second month of that new year, so I thought I better pull the proverbial finger out.

I’ve started by updating the appearance of said blog: I’ve opted for the new Monochrome theme – I like it a lot. Hopefully I’ll settle on this theme instead of flitting about every couple of weeks in search of the perfect one. And spend my time more productively, maybe even blogging!

A lot happened last year, as you may be aware of if you’ve read my Year In Review post. This year hasn’t started particularly brilliantly either, with yet another family drama. I’ll not go into this one, though.

I’ve some interesting things in the pipeline, here’s a little rundown, which will hopefully act as a reminder to do some writing in my spare time:

• Moving house in the near future
• Conducting research into social networking demographics across the globe (what % of each country uses which social network. . .that kind of thing)
• Hopefully buying a Digital SLR – expect some pics up here if that happens
• Started writing a series of kids books – this is Top Secret for now – but all will be revealed over time

I’m sure there’s more to come, but that’ll do for now.

What a strange post – hopefully in the future they’ll be more meaningful and structured.

Until then,

Farewell. . . .

There’s been funerals and marriages break down, redundancies and postponed weddings to deal with, and I’ve had to cope with the guilt of condemning my first car to the scrapyard.

There’s been some pretty major events on a global level (take a deep breath. . . ): Swine Flu, Jade Goody, Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, Baby P, MP’s Expenses,  Nick Griffin, Slumdog Millionaire, Transformers 2, Balloon Boy, Patrick Swayze, Stephen Gately, Sir Bobby Robson, Brawn, Jenson Button, Usain Bolt, Susan Boyle, Snow, War, etc. etc.

All of those should spark some kind of memory of 2009 for most of us; good or bad.

Below is my year in review. Let’s hope 2010 is a better one. For me, and for all of us.

Now That’s What I Call 2009: My Year in Review
Twitter went mainstream
Spotify revolutionised my music listening
I joined a band (Revelry)
We rehearsed and gigged
We gigged in Newcastle, Gateshead, and Sunderland
Revelry changed direction
I left the band (they’re now called Perfect Strangers)
I attended one funeral (Rest In Peace Uncle Brian)
I gave in to Facebook
I played drums for another band, The Stunt a couple of times
I signed up to Linkedin
I found out Michael Jackson died after coming off stage at the head of steam (me, not Michael)
Paulo the Punto got his wing mirror kicked off
I got serious about Social Media
I was made redundant from my job at EthicalSuperstore.com
I carried out some freelance Social Media work for GCSEPod.com and Citrus Audio
I had to move back in with my parents due to redundancy
I attended one wedding (Congratulations John and Jen)
I worked as a barman at one of Newcastle’s finest pubs, The Strawberry
Cider became my drink of choice
I found alternative employment at Berghaus
Paulo the Punto went to the scrap yard
I bought a car that works properly
eCommerce became my ‘thing’
Manchester Orchestra became my new favourite band
The Answer rocked my socks off
the wedding I had planned with my fiancée was postponed
I went to Nottingham and Blackburn for the first time
My parents marriage fell apart
I bought a Christmas tree
I went to London with work for a couple days
I felt the least Christmassy I’ve ever felt
I went to Whitby – it was shut
I discovered vanilla lattes
I drank my first bottle of red wine
I couldn’t go a day without reading the eConsultancy blog

What’s made or broken your year? Any momentous occasions or utter disasters? Share them below. . .

It was christmas eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me: won’t see another one
And then they sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away and dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I´ve got a feeling
This year´s for me and you
So happy christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
Where all our dreams come true.

They got cars big as bars
They got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It´s no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold christmas eve
You promised me broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome you were pretty
Queen of new york city when the band finished playing they yelled out for more
Sinatra was swinging all the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night.

And the boys from the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out for christmas day.

You´re a bum you´re a punk
You´re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy christmas your arse I pray god it´s our last.

And the boys of the NYPD choir’s still singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For christmas day.

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can´t make it out alone
I´ve built my dreams around you

And the boys of the NYPD choir’s still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For christmas day.

The first, though, is my roundup of my personal Top 10 Sites of 2009. Not necessarily my favourite sites, but, according to my History, my most visited sites over the past 12 months.

Here goes:

1. Twitter
2. Google
3. Yahoo
4. BudURL
5. LinkedIn
6. Facebook
7. WordPress
8. Amazon
9. eConsultancy
10. JobCentre

Well, I think we can all see some trends there…

Social networking and interaction sites have been top of my agenda for 2009. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all feature in the top 10, as does link shrinking site BudURL.

The fact that Amazon makes an appearance underlines the importance of (or at least the importance I put upon) eCommerce and online shopping.

eConsultancy has become a treasure trove of information, news, fun, and contacts that seems invaluable now.

JobCentre Plus illustrates that 2009 has been far from plain sailing for me as I found myself out of work following a redundancy in the middle of the year.

What were your most visited sites of 2009? And what do they say about you and your year?

It would be great to hear some of your thoughts . . .

From the rich food and the flowing drink, to the festive smells and the Christmas jumpers; it fills me with a warm feeling inside.

The highlight of Christmas for me, though, has to be the soundtrack. Just think for a minute: Easter, Summer, Halloween. All good. But none have a significant playlist. It’s the tunes that make Christmas for me.

So, with that in mind, I set about devising my All Time Top 10 Christmas Classics:

1. Fairytale of New York – The Pogues & Kirsty McColl
2. 2000 Miles – KT Tunstall
3. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day – Wizzard
4. Happy Xmas (War is Over) – John Lennon & Yoko Ono
5. Merry Christmas Everyone – Shakin’ Stevens
6. Step Into Christmas – Elton John
7. White Christmas – Bing Crosby
8. Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney
9. Merry Xmas Everybody - Slade
10. Carol of the Bells - John Williams Chorus
    

Hope you like them and they fill you full of festive cheer and Christmassy goodnesss. If your favourite didn’t make the grade, let me know via the comments below.

Alternatively, join in and contribute to my Spotify Christmas Playlist!

Cheers, and Merry Christmas!

However, in another instalment, members of the public were invited to fill in a four question form detailing the following:

What did you want to be when you were young?
What is your current job?
What is your ideal job?
What would be your nightmare job?

My answers were as follows:
A dog;
Web Administrator;
?;
A bird keeper (yes, I really do not like birds!)

I struggled to answer the ‘ideal job’ question. I thought about being a full time musician but decided against it as it would involve too much time away from home. A footballer seems a good choice but I would not want to be subject to such media attention, potential hatred, and to be honest, I’m really not that good. Another potential was a farmer. But then I remembered I don’t like farms.

So, there I was, in the Discovery Museum, questioning my life’s ambition. What is my ideal job? My fiancée’s is, apparently ‘Archaeologist/Indiana Jones’, interestingly, the same answer as the first question. If only I could be a dog. . .

I’ve given this question a lot of thought recently, having graduated from university, found myself a suitable job, been made redundant, worked in a pub, and found myself a decent job again all in the last 18 months.

Every time I think about it properly, I always end up deciding that the best way I can achieve what i want to, personally, professionally and financially, is to start my own business, be my own boss, run things my way. There’s one thing holding me back, though. What on earth is my business going to be?? What DO I want to be when I grow up??

Share some thoughts, what did you want to be when you grew up? What’s your ideal job?

Drop a comment below, or better still join the When I Grow Up. . . Facebook Group.

This list is generally focussed around eCommerce and transactional websites but could also apply to most customer facing sites. It’s by no means exhaustive, but is a cathartic exercise in helping me vent my grumpy old spleen.

Enjoy and feel free to add your own gripes via the comments below.

• Don’t disable ‘open in new tab/window’ – browsers want lots of tabs open at once!

• Don’t fill the page with ads or popups

• Don’t make the route to basket involve more clicks than necessary

• Don’t have a slow loading home page

• Don’t hide important info in hard to reach place

• Don’t put important product info below the fold

• Don’t hide your contact details/faqs page

• Don’t have too much white space

• Don’t bring back ‘No results’ pages for search – offer alternatives

• Don’t ignore social media – Twitter, Facebook etc exist – your customers use them – so should you!

• Don’t deny me the right to filter by brand, price, size, colour etc.

• Don’t make the search box too small

• Don’t make clickable areas of the page (navigation, pagination etc.) too small

• Don’t bombard me with options once i’m in the checkout tunnel, close it off  – focus me!

• Don’t bring back irrelevant search results

• Don’t have live chat and then never chat!

• Don’t have broken links!

• Don’t use incorrect alt-text

• Don’t underestimate the power of a Page Title

• Don’t use ugly url’s – remember seo!

• Don’t use Twitter and then not follow anyone back!

• Don’t fill your site with loads of dirty rotten links at the bottom of the page – it’s not big and it’s not clever.

Borders UK is the latest in a long list of casualties over the past 12 months as it enters administration this week.

Over the last year the high street has lost some household names, retail parks are becoming a white elephant, shop units sit empty, and some of the nation’s favourite, most well-loved ‘institutions’ have been lost to that cancerous word; ‘administration’.

Having discovered the news about Borders on Retail Week, I started digging around to see who else had faced the chop over the last 365 days.

No less than 30 retailers made my (by no means exhaustive or comprehensive) list of those that we’ve loved and lost.

It’s worrying to think what may come over the next 12 months. A few companies have come close to the brink this year and may find themselves the wrong side of the administration tight-rope this time next year. The likes of JJB and Blacks’s days may be numbered.

Have a browse and rekindle memories of pic’n'mix in Woolies, bargain hunting in Zavvi, getting trollied on cheap plonk from Wine Cellar, and being left bedless, cupboardless, and sofaless from the likes of MFI and Land of Leather.

If I’ve missed any or you spot any errors just drop a comment below and I’ll add/amend as necessary.