2 May 2025

I got up at 5:30 am and took the dog out through the woods. It is another nice morning.

They were a couple of dog walkers just starting their walks as I walked through the churchyard and down the path into the Market Place to finish mine.

I hope today is going to be better than yesterday.

Yesterday was a dog of a day from an annoying point of view.

DPD delivered the starter motor for the FTO - however, a parcel that was being delivered by DHL got given to someone else.

Six NGK spark plugs (again, for the FTO).

This happens a bit. Especially around Christmas.

The last missing parcel was £170 worth of presents Julie had ordered from ASOS.

That was Royal Mail.

The delivery driver lied through his back teeth yet the photo he'd taken wasn't our property.

ASOS reimbursed Julie, but that's not the point.

The delivery people are charged with your trust and whoever got the delivery has basically stolen it.

It is the same with these spark plugs.

Yodel dropped off a package at our door last summer. Some 1980s retro training shoes. I knew that, as I started opening the parcel. They certainly weren't mine. I looked at the name, gave him a search on the Electoral Roll and walked down the street and dropped them off.

I was thanked profusely. They must have been well over £100.

So, now I've got to chase up the missing parcel through both eBay and DHL.

To compound the annoyingness, the tree surgeon was due to come this morning and now isn't.

I put in a request to the council on 14 October 2024 to take four trees down. I had the confirmation and got given a reference number. Seven months later, no-one has done anything about it.

Typical council.

Remember the elections yesterday.

Don't waste what your great grandparents and their parents fought and died for.

Go out and vote.

I did. Julie did. And our Jamie and Lianne did.

Our votes counted.

The shite was voted out.

There is a change happening.

That aside, I did the barbecue last night, but in doing so forfeited my cardio.

I did some animation yesterday and trialed some new pro software which is supposed to be the dogs bollocks.

I set about giving it the task of animating the Gaynor character asset at distance and having her walk across Mason's bedroom floor without any shoes.

It is better, but the resolution is still a bit washy.

As I keep on saying, these software providers need to start accepting larger files - between 50-100MB.

Opposite is the close-up of the animation.

Music. Radio Caroline was on all day, but apart from Final Exit by the Newcastle-on-Tyne-based alternative rock band, The Pale White, nothing really jumped out at me.

A very good track!

Day 123

Gaynor Mellor on the Phone, Again

Rendered at 2160p 4k, 16:9 Widescreen

(Above) A 22 second animation of Gaynor Mellor - rigged out in her college uniform - and on the phone in Mason's Bedroom.

Using the pro software, I created this animation using just two frames with a reverse loop and a video transition.

The quality is exceptional.

I was going to add a further 10 second shot at distance (below) - however, the poor quality would have ruined it - therefore I have kept them separate.

Testing High-End Software at Distance

(Above) An animation of Gaynor - rigged out in her college uniform -using the supposed high-end software of an 11 second walk across the bedroom floor.

Although this is possibly the best animation at distance, the resolution is still washy, and there are no shadows as she walks.

At the moment it is still better to cut the image into three separate frames and make the character asset walk towards you.

The software is getting better, but it needs to be able to take bigger high resolution files.

(Above) Another animation with a high-end software of an eight second walk across the bedroom floor.

Although this is a better animation at distance, the resolution is still a bit washy and there are no shadows as she walks.

Still, it's an improvement.

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Food - BBQ

(Above) The Traditional Cyprus BBQ Charcoal Rotisserie Grill.

We have had a few of these in Cyprus, but during Co-Vid I bought one off the internet.

They are very hardwearing.

(Above) The finished product.

1 May 2025

I got up at 6:30 am.

I can't believe it. We are in May, and today, says the ultra-not-so-reliable Met Office - is going to be even better than yesterday - hitting 27°c in the afternoon.

Wow.

Julie's out through the woods with the dog.

My job? Making the bed, getting the dogs breakfast ready, and getting the coffee on.

It would also be emptying the dishwasher - however, we didn't barbecue yesterday, we went round to the Curry Leaf around 6:45 pm instead.

I had Maharaja Chicken made into a Vindaloo hot; and Julie had King Prawn Shashlik made into a Madras hot.

Post-Cyprus-post-Easter blues, I think.

It's hard to get back into things.

Bar the dog walking, I've done no cardio since I've been back.

I'll do it today.

Two hours. 120 minutes.

And I'll sling the full set of dumbbells around too.

I'll also do the barbecue.

Today is interesting as we go out to vote for the local council elections.

People think that it's not important.

It is.

Council's piss away money on shite - ours (North Lincolnshire Council), in particular.

I owned a gym in Scunthorpe town centre and I saw the garbage that paraded as council employees at first hand - as I did with the populous who conned money out of them for the so-called diversity projects.

As we are in quite a high band, we pay close on £3,000 a year council tax.

It is money that funds them.

Go make your vote count.

The only thing I did yesterday, bar the two dog walks - one with Julie at tea time - and a long night time walk, was to drag the Karcherr and extension outside and vacuum the boot of the car and wash inside the grooves of the boot lid.

This has been nagging me for a while, but it's a big fucking car to clean, and being white - it gets filthy.

Oh yeah - I also went on eBay and ordered a starter motor from Schmitz Rotary for the FTO.  £77.49.

They are thorough - they even wanted the VIN number.

I've chucked two animations up opposite - opposite meaning if you are viewing on a PC or laptop, as opposed to an iPhone or android.

These mirror a very important part of the story.

Music. Radio Caroline was on all day but nothing jumped out at me although, this morning they did play a track by the weird looking glam rock band that are Gyasi.

Snake City, I think they called it.

It's the first time that I've head the radio station play anything by them.

I downloaded two albums yesterday.

Pomegranate by Tess Parks (2024) and Hi-Ya! by the Juliet Dagger (2014).

I'll listen to them later.

That's me done for the day.

Day 122

Angie Mellor: Juggling Oranges

Rendered at 2160p 4k, 16:9 Widescreen

(Above)  A 36 second animation of Angie Mellor doing late night shopping in a supermarket.

I created this animation using only three frames of the pro software and from an image that I created in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

And look at the colours. Wow.

The hardest part of creating an animation is to do one that doesn't interfere with the actual storyline.

In this animation, Angie is happy and acting quite carefree both eating and juggling oranges in the supermarket aisle. This is actually a part of the story that occurs just after Series 1, but is shown in Series 2 as a flashback.

It is a very important part of the storyline.

This actual piece of animation won't be in the series, but a similar one certainly will be.

Angie Mellor: The Hot Chocolate Girl

(Above)  A 46 second animation of Angie Mellor in the spare bedroom drinking hot chocolate.

This animation was created from four frames using the pro software - and using loops with minimal video transitions.

As with the juggling oranges animation - this is actually a part of the story that occurs just after Series 1, but is shown in Series 2 as a flashback and follows on from the "oranges".

It is a very important part of the storyline.

To make the room look like a room, I hung a picture on the wall. The Beatles' 1968 film, Yellow Submarine.

We have a clock over at the house in Cyprus with a similar theme.