I will try to avoid saying this phrase because it comes across as hypocritical.

Have you ever come across a post from someone on a forum, on Facebook or Twitter, who respond to one of your posts with 'no offence'? And yet they say something that is rude or offensive?

Often in certain situations, it depends on the context of what you are saying. Yet no offence is so often mis-used a lot by people. But it is mis-used to the point that it becomes derogatory or it is deemed derogatory.

Saying ''no offence but your ugly'', or 'no offence but that is awful' is basically you being offensive. It is contradicting because it implies that you don't want to come across as being mean to that other person, when your words will be construed as being rude. It is offensive no matter what, and it does not in the slightest sense, make it any less offensive than it was beforehand.

I saw a reply from someone when I was on Twitter about a background I made and he said 'No offence but...' I did take offence to what he said.

Saying ''no offence'' only makes it even worse. It is another way of putting another person down but you don't want the person to feel angry or upset, when s/he becomes angry, upset because of it. I ask, do the people who say ''no offence'' at the beginning of a sentence realise how much they are contradicting themselves? It is probably one of the worst phrases ever and is up there with say ''ignorance is bliss''. Which it isn't.

You know the saying: 'if you have nothing nice to say about someone or something someone did, don't say it at all'.

If you don't think about the consequences of what you are going to say and how it impacts on other people, and you just jump in with 'no offence but', then it's pretty obvious you did it intentionally, just to p*ss him/her off . And that folks is why 'no offence' is hated by a lot of people, as it is so blatantly patronising.

As an alternative to saying no offence, say something like: 'I like that dress, but I think it will look better if you wore a different top, as it makes you look even better', for example.

When someone is offended when you say or post 'no offence', be it online or in real-life, be prepared to be blocked by that user you offended, lose a friend.  

Waiching

Tutorial: 

• Go to the Google site, type 'brushes, photofiltre, photoshop' in search box
• Examples of brushes include smoke brushes, paint splat brushes, ribbons, stars and hearts, light flares to name but many 
• When you have found the one you like, click on image, right-click, then download onto computer
• Open up Photofiltre editing program and get the image you want to edit
• Go to where it says 'Filter', scroll down to 'Photomasque' 
• Click on the Yellow folder. You will be taken to the masks folder
• Open up downloads from you computer, find the brushes you have downloaded. Click on it, then drag and drop the brush pic into the folder.
• Go to your image and from there on, click on mouse and draw a small square. Do not make this too small, then position it to where you want to put the brush
• Go to Filter> PhotoMasque. Choose brush by clicking on folder 
• Leave opacity at 100, unless you want to make the brush lighter. Choose a color and untick 'Blur'
• Click on this brush, then click on preview to make sure it looks ok. When it is, go to ''Ok' 
• It should appear on your image 

Too Blue For you? 

Comment:

With months to go until the start of the London 2012 Olympic games, German sportswear company, Adidas with the help of designer and Sir Paul McCartney's daughter, Stella unveiled the new Olympics kit for team GB (Great Britain). Yet the designs drew plenty of reaction from the public, mostly negative. 

Personally, I think the concept for it is good.... it's the execution of it and the way the idea had turned out that is botched. 

I understand Stella wanted to add a twist to it; Stella says this is her contemporary take on the flag, but the olympics is about tradition, - and you don't mess with it. You just don't. Yes utilise the Union Jack flag and do something interesting with it. Alter the placement of the elements of the flag yes, but it doesn't mean one ought to change any of the colours. 

The flag is undoubtedly one of the things that identify, unify and symbolise a country, and if you get rid of one of the colours and replace it with say Turquoise Blue/Light Blue, then its meaning is pretty much lost. It is also claimed that the vibrancy of Red as a colour- which is in the Union flag itself- evokes passion, spirit and sparks confidence, not just in the athlete but for the nation too; therefore, it's a bit of a shame there wasn't much Red shown because I think had there been much of it on display, then the kits would've been slightly better looking. 

For many people, it's the case of too much blue and not enough red more than anything else. 

Stella McCartney is a good fashion designer, but insofar as a sports clothing designer goes, I'm not too sure about that. And Adidas could've (and perhaps) should've hired a different designer or a graphic designer of whom has as much or more artistic flair than Stella. Preferbly someone who specialises in or is a fan of sports clothing. At least with them, it's more likely they will stick to the theme of the Union Jack as closely as they would've done. 

But the thing that gets people's backsides more is how because of this kit, it conveys more of a Scottish theme, rather than one that is British because of the Blue. You can't even see part of the St George's (flag) that makes up one third of the Union Jack in there. 

If it really did take 9 years for Stella to come up with those designs, then surely one would say she should've tried harder than that. Any other sportswear company who did what Adidas did to the Team GB kit, but for that respective country by overhauling the kits, would've felt the wrath of the public as well. I for one, could've came up with something different yet it would still retain the true U.K feel of Team GB.

Actually, if you follow my updates on Twitter, then you will see I have posted my own hand-drawn version of Team GB's Olympic shirt. It's my own take on it. 

I do wonder what other Team GB athletes who aren't sponsored by Adidas make of these designs; notably athletes Paula Radcliffe, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Kelly Sotherton, Mo Fariah and cyclist Mark Cavendish who represent the Nike contingent of the Olympics team. 

This was a missed opportunity on Adidas's and Stella's part; it's not completely terrible, not according to me, but it certainly could've and ought to have been a whole lot better. 

....But hey, who am I to ask, as I am more of a Nike fan than an Adidas one. 

Read the rest of this post »

I was at my parents house last Saturday and my mother received a phone call from my sister over in New York. She moved there from London last year during the summer to start a new career and new life. 

Over time, my parents, especially my mother regrets having my younger sister move to New York. She keeps saying how she never calls home over the weekend and that she should move back to London. 

Last I heard, it now appears my sister and her new boyfriend, who she met in NY are returning to London, but at my mother's expense and happiness. Not my sister's or anyone else's. Just hers.

And that, in a way doesn't sit with me very well at all. 

I'm not happy about this for 2 reasons: first of all, you met the person you fell in love with in another country and plus, you have a good job in one of the most exciting cities in the world. You are about to graduate from law school in N.Y where my sister has been studying U.S law for over a year. You just moved to New York in June of LAST YEAR. and now all of a sudden, you are willing to give all that up, the job, the NY lifestyle to return to London where the job market is in the worst state it has ever been in over 5 years or so? 

Secondly, why should my sister who is at an age where at 28, she can look after and fend for herself, be treated like a child and do what most parents tell her to do? 

The point I am trying to make here is that regardless of what people tell you to do or say, one has to stand on their own two feet and live the life for themself- not for their parents, friends, or anyone for that matter. 

The path you undertake and the choices you make, will ultimately define the life for you in the present and beyond that. You should NEVER do anything that someone tells you to do to make them happy, especially if it is something you're not entirely happy or sure about. 

And anyhow, if I received a job offer in another part of the world, I'd accept it- no matter how much my parents dissuade me from doing so. I don't care if they don't like it- TOUGH. And I wouldn't return to the U.K on the orders of my parents or anyone. 

If my sister was around, I'd tell her to continue sticking it out in New York because she has everything; a steady job, a good boyfriend who takes care of her and a nice apartment to reside in. 

My advice to anyone in this position is to do what is right by you and you only. And if you are sure it is the right decision to take, then good on you, and that is the way it should be. 

The Black sitcom, as we know it, may be non-existent on mainstream TV in the U.S sadly, only to appear on Cable televsion.

However, the TV sub genre has produced many African- American sitcom shows during the past couple of decades. Especially during the 1990s- arguably the best period for both African- American and White Sitcoms. 

Here is a slideshow of my favourite Black sitcoms  via PhotoPeach, that also includes the U.K based, Desmonds. 

My favourite black sitcoms on PhotoPeach

List of Black sitcoms as displayed in gallery:  

1. The Cosby Show (1984-1992, NBC)

2  The Jeffersons (1975- 1985, CBS) 

3. Good Times (1974-1979, CBS) 

4. What's Happening!! (1976-1979, ABC)

5. The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air (1990- 1996, NBC) 

6. Living Single (1993-1998- Fox) 

7. In The House (1995- 1999, NBC, UPN; although I liked the first 2 seasons more than the last 2)

8. Desmonds (1989-1994, Channel 4 (U.K) ) 

9. Martin (1992-1997, Fox) 

10. Hangin' With Mr Cooper (1992- 1997, ABC) 

11. The Parkers (1999-2004, UPN) 

12. The Steve Harvey Show ( 1996-2002, WB) 

13.  Diff'rent Strokes (1978- 1986, NBC)

14. A Different World (1987- 1993, NBC) 

'Follow me on Twitter and I'll follow you....'

Thanks, no thanks. 

In fact, nobody is entitled to or should be entitled to follow any one back on Twitter. What is this? You pat me on the back-yet you expect me to do the same to you? No, sorry, it just doesn't work that way at all. 

When you click on that person's follow button, you are doing so because a) you read their tweets, b) liked what you have read and c) intend to follow him/her. 

One mustn't assume that by clicking on that follow button, they expect that person to return the favour. 

Following lots of people, whilst having very, very low followers numbers and not replying, talking to people will arguably dent your chances on gaining more followers, as well as lower your Kred, Tweetlevel score. In addition, less people will talk to you. 

The auto-follow back rule is much worse than the standard follow-back; these are websites and followers, who proclaim they will follow-back any one, if s/he follows them. 

The worst offenders are users who try and crank up their followers numbers, thinking Twitter is about seeing who gets the most followers out of everyone else by bulk following people, then a few days later unfollowing them, as and when they feel like it. 

To them, Twitter is nothing but a numbers game- they are not here to converse, interact, talk to you, rather they are on Twitter adopting the follow-back rule in the belief quantity does equal quality. 

It isn't. 

Quantity Does Not Mean Quality 

There is no added value or incentive by following people back on Twitter, all because they say that you should follow them back without proper reasoning as to why you are following them. It is like trying to be friends with someone who has little or nothing in common with you. They chose to be around with you because you have lots of friends too. 

Not because of the type of person you are, that you share similar or same interests and hobbies and not because of the types of content you post. 

Twitter is about quality, style over substance; like Twitter itself, never judge a book by its cover. But there are people who do judge Twitter for what they think it is, as opposed to what it actually is. Alas, the same applies to followers and your tweets: the quality of what you put in means the quality you will get out of it.  

Quality on Twitter is far more important than quantity: the quality of the conversations you have with other users on Twitter, the quality of your tweets and the content of your tweets. If you engage with people on Twitter, then people will show interest and partake in future conversations with you. 

The follow-back rule on Twitter offers no real worth and value; it is as much a farce as it is to beg and plead celebrities, other users to retweet their tweets, follow them. 

Relationships And What We Want to Get Out Of Twitter Is Through Knowing And Observing His/Hers Content And Gaining Satisfaction From them 

If Twitter incorporated some kind of rule saying if you follow-back people X number of times without sufficient @mentions, replies and engaging with other users, your account will be -I don't know- suspended for 1, 2 days, then perhaps people will be wary of this and the follow-back thing will be clamped down. 

The thing to understand is that a) we should concerntrate on quality, as quality goes a long way and b) we should build Twitter relationships with people we resonate with and with whom feel we are getting great satisfaction and value from and out of them. 

You can tell that you have not only the right followers, but the right types of followers through the types of things you tweet, talk about, the conversations you have and the feeling you have found people you can talk to on Twitter. 

And that is by far the most logical way of getting a lot out of Twitter, because it is just pointless trying to appease users, who offer little or no return, of whom don't care about what you say and won't ever converse with you but who will follow you, just to read, listen into every word of yours, perhaps post spam AND try to get you to follow them back. 

You want followers? Ok..... But do you REALLY want those types of followers who follow you and expect YOU to follow them back, because they say so? 

I ask, 'do you?' Because, deep down you just wouldn't. 

Waiching

The second instalment of my favourite fonts that I have on my computer: some of these were quite difficult to find in terms of example images, and thus, I would just create and type the name of the fonts and add a link to them instead. 

In addition, in the case of America's Best Dance Crew, this logo utilises 2 font types, as opposed to just one. 

Download links for these fonts can be found by clicking on the names below the images.

Continuum Bold - Nintendo Wii Logo 

Andes  - font used for logo of U.K indie band, The Feeling. Retro-ish, very early 1940s style 

Babyface 

Bad 

Battlefield Shadow Italic - futuristic style

CargoCrate 

CGF Locust Resistance  - inspired by Gears of War Video Games 

Challenge Contour - cheerleaders-style font 

Collegiate flf  - font of the players names found on the back of (American) football jerseys 

D3 Circuitism Oblique 

Delta Overlap - font type from the movie, Tron 

America's Best Dance Crew- looks like a mixture of both Avant Garde Gothic Bold T with Devil Breeze/Demi for letters A and W  

Final Frontier Shipside  Star Trek 

Free Agent 3D 

Ghostbusters

Hybrid - futuristic style font 

Infected 

NeverSayDie 

Scream/ Scream Real  - based on the hit movie of the same name 

Sonic/Sonic Cut Thru Heavy - The Game logo from the hit B.E.T show 

Stereofunk

Super Danger  - ransom note type font 

TBL_ Vintage

TeamSpirit

Variete Artist  - can be found in early 1930s, 40s French movie posters 

This tutorial will show you how to add a glow effect to a picture or image using Photofiltre 

Instructions: 

1. Open up Photofiltre 
2. Click on File > then Open 
3. Get the picture you want to use either from your computer or USB stick: E:// drive
4. Click on the Polygon icon shaped like an arrow that comes after the lasso icon 
5. Using the polygon tool, cut out your image by clicking on outline and dragging it around the picture
6. Once you've done this, at the very top of the screen go to and click on Filter> then drag to Stylize> then go down to where it says Progressive Contour
7. You will see a small box that says Progressive Contour. Make sure 'outside' is ticked/checked and choose the width and colour for your glow. Do not change the opacity and under 'Effect', see that 'Blur' is ticked/checked. If it isn't, click in the box next where it says 'Blur'
8. Click on Ok
9. You should see the coloured glow; on the picture, right-click> then Hide Selection 

Read the rest of this post »

Created by Granada TV studios  

Duration: 2005- present 

No of episodes: 200 and still going including Celebrity Come Dine With Me

Comment: The Reality TV Cooking Series 

A group of 4 or 5 people, most notably strangers, compete for the £1k cash prize and the title of ultimate dinner party host on 'Come Dine With Me'.

Debuting in 2005, the show has become such a hit in the U.K, its success and format has resulted in the series being exported to more than 10 other countries. 

Come Dine With Me works by having each of the contestants taking turns in hosting their own dinner party efforts and the others rank those efforts out of 10.

The scores are then accumulated and the person with the highest score at the end of the week wins the prize money. 

In the celebrity version, the rules from the original version still apply but this time round, the winning prize money is donated to the winner's charity of their own choice instead. I like the celebrity versions slightly more as I find them more entertaining and amusing. 

The dinner parties tend to be very informal, although there are instances where a dress code is required, when say it is a themed evening and the guests are expected to turn up in the appropriate attire as stated on their invite. 

Commentary on the show is provided by comedian Dave Lamb.  

There tends to be one person within that group who is put in there by the creators, just to generate hostility and perhaps make the series more interesting to watch. Yet sometimes, their behaviour can irritate or anger both the group and audience watching them and thus, provoke a reaction out of them. Personalities can clash and on this programme, there are instances where this has happened on a number of episodes.  

What sets Come Dine With Me apart from other cookery shows or programmes about food itself, is it is not so much about the dishes and the menu they put out themselves. Rather it's more about perceiving people's attitudes towards other people through their food, their mannerisms, how they convey themselves and their personality on TV. Therefore, it has that voyeuristic, fly-on-the-wall, reality aspect and feel to it that makes the series quite intriguing but also for others, this can make the show off-putting for them. 

There is that criticism that Come Dine With Me is more to do with taking cheap shots at people and humiliating them than the preparation and cooking. You have people saying nice things about the host on their food or their hosting to their face. But when they are in a room by themselves, they say nasty, bad things about them.

I also find some of Dave Lamb's commentary regarding the contestants either sarchastic and a bit witty, - or downright rude and spiteful. It really depends on the types of characters on the series and whether the put-downs are deemed necessary and fully deserved as they ought to be. But it does give it the entertainment factor the show needs. 

I very much doubt that another broadcaster such as the BBC and ITV would commisssion and air a show like this. Yet Channel 4 have struck gold with Come Dine With Me. 

Some have labelled it the 'Big Brother of fine dining'; my disliked episodes are the ones where the nasty person who criticises, nitpicks everyone's cooking and manages to make disparaging comments ends up winning the cash. Although thankfully, this doesn't happen very often. 

Final thoughts: 

Although Come Dine With Me is an entertaining and at times amusing effort, the behaviour and sneaky comments and remarks made by some of the contestants and the host of the show can get to people and rub them up the wrong way.

The scoring system is good, although (sadly) there is a tendency (and discrepancy) by some people to mark others down for non-tactical reasons other than their cooking and conduct; i.e. because s/he doesn't like the other person when that person has done nothing wrong and/or said nothing bad to them.  

If you love food and intend to see past all the backbiting, backstabbing and rude comments, Come Dine With Me is interesting viewing nonetheless. 

Especially for a series that I wouldn't ever consider partaking in myself. 

Out of ten (Overall): 7

Namco's Takuji Kawano is the lead character illustrator of both the SoulCalibur and Tekken series of video games. He has also done work for Namco x Capcom and Urban Reign. Kawano's latest offerings come courtesy of SoulCalibur V.  

He is known for his exceptional style of drawing and iconic body posturing and provides pose reference sketches of the characters for the 3-D renders; i.e. 3-D form. Kawano's style is Anime-like, well- stylised and body posture is replicted well; has a good understanding of tone, shading and lighting based on the skin tone of the characters he captures. The attention to detail, which can be seen in his art, is excellent. 

His 2-D based drawings can be hard to track down on the internet, seeing as many of Namco's video games such as fighting games like Tekken and SoulCalbur are in 3-D, and often it is not known who the artists of the 3-D versions of the characters are behind them. 

It appears the artstyle for the upcoming Tekken x Streetfighter is almost a complete 360 to his efforts in Namco x Capcom but it still looks incredible. 

SoulCalibur V 

Natsu sketch 

Spawn- SoulCalibur 2 

Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion 

(Not entirely sure if this is Kawano's style but it looks as it could be) 

Tekken 4

Bruce of Namco X Capcom

Dimitri of Capcom's Darkstalkers 

Ryu of Streetfighter from Namco x Capcom

Urban Reign 

Concept artwork for the upcoming Tekken x Streetfighter featuring Chun Li and Ryu