October 2025

The A's

ALL IMAGES OPEN IN TECHNICOLOUR

31 October 2025

Hello and a very Good morning.

I was up at 7:20 am.

'Tis Halloween and my left foot for some unknown reason, has decided to throb like a fucking bitch.

No idea why, as I haven't cracked it on anything.

I took the dog out but didn't make it through the woods.

I just took her up the sand path, through St Andrews Church and hobbled around the graveyard.

I got back in to Julie hollowing-out a pumpkin.

We are expecting some kids banging on the door later.

I know Luke and Charlotte Platt's two - Declan and Isobel, are calling round to scare us.

Julie also dropped in a basket of sweets for Bethany Hughes' (nee Price) little girl yesterday.

I have mentioned before that Beth owns a beautician's up in the town centre and was at one time engaged to our Jamie.

Beth showed us a video clip of her little girl - Morgan, practicing her lines for some play, when she and her partner dropped on us in The Red Lion one teatime.

Just like her mum she is very pretty.

We've also got a load of sweets in the house, just in case.

Pumpkin's are scientifically a fruit because it develops from a flower and contains seeds - however, in a culinary context, it is often regarded as a vegetable due to its savoury flavour and use in dishes like soups.

Therefore, I'll be making some pumpkin soup later and taste it up with a couple of potatoes and a red onion as pumpkin's from a taste-perspective are as bland as a day out in Cleethorpes.

I'm currently at the breakfast bar with my second coffee whilst Julie is just bagging up sweets.

Tomorrow, we are flying out to Cyprus.

We are there for 11 days.

It's our last trip out this year as we don't go anywhere in December.

Well, I managed to give a slight introduction to The A's yesterday, and was ultra-pleased with the resolution.

From Day One I have moaned about the unwillingness of the software to accept big files. The new software, however has been accepting files up to 20MB.

I'll test it later with some bigger files.

I have to admit - I love shooting and rendering in monochrome - noir. There is just something about it.

I never realised how many recent films were shot in monochrome (Black & White). There are quite a few.

The Last Picture Show (1971), The Girl on the Bridge (1993) and Schindler's List (1993) are three which I have - the former being a very good film and one that captures the era of a dusty Texas town in the mid-1950's.

It is something to think about.

Animation. Opposite is Anita's father Olaf Pallenburg. Olaf is a Series 2 character.

--

It's 8:20 am, we are in the priority lounge at Luton Airport and I've just had a shit sausage and egg bap and Macchiato. And shit describes it quite perfectly.

Luton is much better than the Leeds Bradford Airport's Lounge's but they are fucking dire. You get served better food in prison.

The drive down was pleasantly uneventful and hopefully the flight will be the same.

30 October 2025

Hello and a very belated Good morning.

I was up at 7:30 am after a late night.

I didn't get to bed until after midnight.

This animation takes over your fucking life as it is so time consuming.

Julie gave me a boot at 5:45 pm yesterday.

"Scott and Edyta will be at the Indian in fifteen minutes," she said. "And you know they are never late."

I'd been in my scruff since the morning and not had a bath or anything.

We had a nice night. It was great to catch up.

Big Scott is a character. I've known him years.

Not much to say today as I'm cream crackered.

The animation opposite is quite good. The resolution is getting better too.

See you tomorrow.

Halloween - yeah!.

29 October 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:50 am and through the woods with the dawg.

It's not cold - just fucking wet. I need some new dog walking boots as my trainers and socks were saturated when I got in.

It's my mum's birthday today.

Posthumous birthday, that is - she died in 2008.

I have been hammering away at my day job for the last couple of days and trying to play catch-up.

I generally work every day - but the watershed moment in the animation process - making the characters speak, has taken up a lot of my attention. And it takes a fucking age to train up a voice.

I've certainly mastered Jenny Mellor's - but it still takes between two and eleven takes to perfect the clips - but it averages around four or five.

The Gaynor character is another one who's voice I've mastered - however, she has two speeds. Posh and thoughtful - and irate, vociferous and indeed viperous.

There is a reason - and that is to keep Mason under control.

Why?

Because in Series 1 - Mason is two people, which was something Angie Mellor touched on in her interview, which you can see in the videos section of the website.

Having an inordinate I.Q brings with it, its own problems and Mason is on Med's to control certain aspects of his personality. And at times he definitely needs to be controlled.

You might not think so, but Gaynor immediately mastered it.

Mason's family referred to Gaynor as "our beautiful distraction".

And the reason is, is that she knew exactly how to look after him.

In Series 2, Mason's problem appears to have gone - however, the word appears, can at time be quite rangy.

The outlet for Mason's personality in Series 2 - is his job.

Opposite. This is a lovely animation of Jenny. Personally, I feel it is the best yet, as I managed to get some emotion into it.

You have to remember - I have only had the voice capability within the animation for a week. Therefore, it is a massive leap - especially when I am having to write up and set an extremely time consuming 84-page magazine each month.

Right. My day job calls.

28 October 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 7:00 am.

Julie was up and out with the dog around five or ten minutes before me.

She is now cleaning the new all singing and dancing microwave as we had jacket potatoes with our tuna and prawns last night. The interior of microwave oven's are susceptible to rusting if you don't clean them out. And more importantly, they need drying properly.

There you go - a mind of shit information.

I worked until midnight yesterday - playing catch up with my day job as I'd been a bit intense with the animation process over the weekend and had spent around 50 or 60 hours in front of the computer. Probably more.

It's very interesting - especially trying to manipulate and prompt the algorithms that generate both the speech and movements of characters.

Opposite is the Series 2 version of the Mason Green character.

I'm absolutely not happy with it as he is a bit stiff and starchy in some of the clips. That is purely my fault as I was rushing to get him chucked up on here.

His facial appearance is also a bit washy but that is the 2D image that I am working from. 3D will rectify that, as it will with all the characters as you can add complexions, facial expressions, hair etc..

I dragged the Pat Marshall character out of the cupboard yesterday evening and if I am honest, he drove me a bit fucking mad.

Just like the Mason Green Series 2 character he is a bit low-res and washy. However, that wasn't just it. Getting his accent right was a right ball ache as he kept wanting to speak as though he was from Manchester.

In the story he is originally from south of the river and born to Irish parents.

He has a brother - Sean, who a bit older - my intention being to use the same character asset as I have done with the Francis and Maurice Blum characters.

Sean's wife is Sienna and they have a son by the name of Marvin who appears in both Series 1 and 2, as a 12-year old and 19-year old respectively.

He first met Mason Green at his Uncle Pat's wedding reception whereby Mason gave him his nickname - which is M and M.

Marvin is an extremely good character... and watch his reactions when Mason is mentioned.

To Marvin, Mason is some God-like presence. However, there is a reason or reasons for this.

27 October 2025

Good morning.

I was up and out with the dog at 7:00 am, which was really good timing as when I got back in to my coffee it began pissing it down.

I was also just in time to see Julie dissect another half of melon.

"Should I take a photo, and I'll put in the blog?" I asked.

"No, you fucking shan't," was more or less the answer I got back.

It's a work day today and I have to smack it up as this weekend was all about mastering the animation process. And the Anita Pallenburg character.

After nearly smashing my computer to bits and turning my desk over in complete frustration, I finally got it to do as it was told. I did however, have to shoot the scene in monochrome to get what I wanted.

The problem, as with the younger Angie Mellor character is, I think, with the hair.

Julie asked, why I didn't change it, but that sort of defeats the object has her hair is part of who she is.

I've said on the blog before... hair - especially blonde hair, or blond if you're a dude, completely alters a person's appearance and in my opinion, makes them look ten-times better.

Gaynor and Angie were always going to have blonde hair, and with Anita - I thought going down the same route would be a bit naff. I needed her to look different, therefore I kept with the Brigitte Bardot-look.

I have portrayed the Anita Pallenburg character as the girl who every man would want. A sane man that is.

She is ultra-loyal, in no way insecure and needy, and loves her husband and his daughter. She also takes no shit, which is something that you will see when Gaynor tries dictating play in Series 2 - The Arabian Princess.

Anita has three elder sisters. Sienna, Kajsa and Cheryl - with the latter being a complete and utter bitch.

I'll try and get her talking about them at some point without ruining the story.

Anita's parents are Olaf and Louisa, the father originally coming from Sweden.

As I have said before, her mum is the cousin of Alice Layne - the wife of Teddy, who live next door to the Mellor's at number 6 Marquis Gardens.

Anita gets on extremely well with both of them and when she was much younger addressed them both as Uncle Ted and Aunt Alice.

Olaf used to work with John Mellor on the London Docklands Rail project over 30 years ago.

He retired, and along with his wife, went to live in the fictitious Norfolk village of St Annes-on-Waveney as that is where Anita's grandmother lives.

26 October 2025

A very Good morning.

We have had an extra hour in bed as the clocks have gone back. This however, is when the dark nights start drawing in - next up being Halloween.

I was up and out through the woods with the hound at 6:40 am and it is quite cold out.

I made leek and potato soup yesterday and we nipped up to The Red Lion. I had five beers and Julie shifted a bottle of wine.

The sup was just something to eat when we got in, however all the trouble and strife did was moan about me ruining it as she said I'd over-peppered it.

For my end, I moaned about the three-foot-long baguette she'd bought from the little Tesco's in Crowle as it tasted absolutely fucking dire.

I've no idea what it was but it tasted garbage. Very sweet but not in a nice way. Therefore, it got immediately binned and Julie got the normal Warburton's seeded loaf out of the cupboard.

And henceforth there was no poached eggs and toast as promised this morning, as we'd eaten all the fucking bread.

Julie's nipping down to our Jamie's in a bit and she said that she'll call in and get some on her way back.

I'm not a breakfast person as such, but I like my poached eggs on a (cold) Sunday morning.

She's also calling in at Gravel's grocers to pick up some vegetables - namely new potatoes, green beans or whatever as we are having salmon fillets.

That, however, could change by the hour!

Animation. Yesterday, was as annoying as fuck.

I wanted to animate the Anita Pallenburg asset with sound, but the new software would not touch it and kept on giving me an exaggerated version. I must have done it 30 times and each time it had me scratching my head.

I had the same problem with the Angie character asset until I changed her hairstyle into the sleek bob cut that you see her with in the interview over on the Videos page of the website.

I need Anita to give her version of the Mellor's, so I'll have another play around with it today.

Opposite is Gaynor and how she looked and indeed acted when she was first seeing Mason.

On the home page of the website you can see the change in both her appearance and indeed her demeanour and attitude in the space of nine months.

I need to put that fact over to give the series its reality.

In the Anita interview, when I eventually do it, you will see a different angle or perception of the Mellor's and more so Gaynor.

(Above) A 2:40 minute animation of Gaynor Mellor in the bedroom of the fictitious 24A Boelyn Mews in Ravenscourt Park

The difference of Gaynor throughout the series isn't just staggering it is wild. Even more so, if you knew how she was just a few months earlier with the braces, long hair and glasses.

Gaynor was a girl that didn't just grow up to fast - she exploded.

Here she looks cute and quite innocent.

The animation was created using several frames with transitions and from an image that I created with Adobe Photoshop 2025 earlier this year.

25 October 2025

A very Good morning.

I was up at 6:30 am and out through the woods with the hound and got into my coffee on the breakfast bar which due to whatever fucking virus I have (Co-vid probably) - tasted like sludge.

Being that that is the case I've put the metaphorical flat cap on and am now drinking tea - with a sugar in it.

Last night whilst listening to My Bloody Valentine's 1987 album Ecstasy and a half of a Greatest Hits compilation by The Monkees on the B2 I cooked those £12 apiece lamb fillets for tea that I bought from Marks & Spencer.

I have to admit - they were good.

I still prefer a fillet steak, however - rare or medium rare - and preferably with chips and egg - although I am banned from cooking chips in the house as not only do they stink out the kitchen - Julie is back in a size 10. Therefore, we are supposedly watching what we eat a bit more. A bit more meaning that we aren't at the Curry Leaf twice a week.

The A's. The animation process with sound is one of THE dark arts. You think you have cracked it - then fucking bang!

Please, just do what I fucking ask, please!

The prompting of the algorithms is where I am at.

In the story the Gaynor character swears a bit, but certainly not like she does in the animation that I have chucked up on here.

The continual facking prompt helps me to control the algorithms and gives her a sort of mood to her character and not make her boring - the same as they do with Mason. Therefore, it may be that I may have to alter the story a bit and make her a bit more potty-mouthed.

It's not a problem as the facking - used alone or as a noun or verb in various phrases to express annoyance, contempt, or impatience, is a very good word to give the character - character.

Anyway, I know what I'm on about!

Also. I have to stress that the animation you see on here is NOT what will appear in the two series.

It is shit resolution at 720K.
It is in 2D (although I will use some 2D), and
All the scripting has been done ad-hoc meaning that it hasn't really been thought out properly and is me just trying to banter the characters.

I did quite a bit of animation yesterday - mainly trying to train the voices.

I have another of Jenny Mellor - so, I've chucked that up.

24 October 2025

A belated Good morning.

It is now 2:00 pm.

The dog had the house at at 3:30 am barking at that fucking cat again!

I came downstairs went outside and flashed to torch around the patio, went back to bed and got up again.

At 4:25 am I was in the study at the main computer with a cup of tea as it was dark outside and far too early to take the hound out.

Anyway, since she awoke the house, she was laid asleep in her basket until 7:00 am.

I slept better last night which sounds a rather stupid statement since I've only been in bed around five hours, but I've still got that feeling on the right side of my chops as if someone has given me a winder.

Two Anadin's along with my twice a day illegally procured antibiotics should kick in shortly.

We nipped out to The Red Lion yesterday evening. I didn't want to go but the dog insisted. She needed her twice weekly fix of a plate of fish goujons.

She had a right plate-full.

When that happens you know Hassan is the chef.

We called in at the Tandoori to order a shit curry on the way down.

The young kid pissed me off the last time I called in to pick up the order as he was on the phone gassing to someone in Urdu or whatever language they speak and had me waiting 20 minutes longer than I wanted to wait.

Which was 20 minutes if you're interested, as outside of boarding a plane, I refuse to queue for anything.

We saw Big Scott and Edyta on our way down.

We are out for a meal with them next Wednesday.

They have a had some horrible news in that his son's girlfriend has just had a baby and it was born dead.

I know it happens but I've never come across it before until this year. And this is the second time at has happened in six months.

Animation. Mmm. This has been all over the shop for the past few hours taking anything from between three and eleven takes for just a five second scene. A bit frustrating to be honest, but then again it is new technology.

Yesterday I got another animation of Jenny Mellor in next to no time with her voice spot on.

Here I am animating the Gaynor and Mason characters and both are being fucking awkward.

Anyway, opposite is the awkward animation.

23 October 2025

Good morning.

We were up at 7:00 am - Julie happily volunteering for this morning's dog walking duties in the lousy horrible rain.

Er - not!

For the past three days I have felt like I did at the beginning of the year whereby my nose is leaking like a pipe and I have that glue-like phlegm in the back of my throat.

It appears that Co-vid has reared it's pig-like fucking head again.

And the right side of my face feels like someone has kicked me in it.

That being the case, I went into the last of my stash of illegal antibiotics that Nikolas the Lebanese Traffic warden-cum-waiter at the Red Ruby got me the other year - the idea being to nuke it.

I am a bad patient as I am rarely ever badly. All I want to do is overload on tablets and fuck off out of the way.

Anyway. Enough of that.

I had my three coffee's and some toast and watched Julie dissect a melon for her sort of work lunch.

Over 20 years of having a place over in Cyprus has made her quite professional at it.

She'd make a good back street surgeon.

I've not mentioned music for a bit as if I'm being honest, I've not had time to listen to any bar what gets chucked up on Radio Caroline.

Betrayed by Jeff Tweedy (2025); Midlake by The Ghouls (2025); Ghost Run Free by The Lemon Twigs (2023); and C’mon People (We’re Making It Now) by Richard Ashcroft (2000) were a few that jumped out.

The Lemon Twigs are rock band from New York who when I have heard them are a bit 1960's-ish.

I should get their full discography as I reckon that there could be some gems in there.

The Ghouls are a punk band from Philadelphia and look a bit fucking wanky if I'm being honest. That said - you just never know.

How people present themselves - dress-wise, can give you a false impression. A sort of false flag.

I know a few people that look and dress like twats and most of the time, that's exactly what they are (sic).

Jeff Tweedy may have been around forever but he is someone that I have never heard of until the other day. Again, it is worth getting a few albums and giving him a listen.

As for Richard Ashcroft, he was part of the indie - Britpop scene and formed The Verve who sang one of my favourite tunes in Lucky Man.

Animation. Opposite is Rod The facking Mod.

I enjoyed doing him. A minor character that gives a bit of background to The A's.

Over the past five days I have become very quick at animating with sound, although 2D has its limitations and is a bit flat.

Last night I gave little Jenny Mellor her voice.

Training that, with prompts to manipulate the animation algorithms and get her to speak in a northern accent was great fun.

Very cute.

22 October 2025

Morning campers.

I was up at 6:45 am and out through the woods with the dog.

Not bad really as I didn't get to bed until midnight.

Whilst I watched the football results come in I was trying to refine a minor character by the name of Rod The Mod and more to the point train up his voice.

It was good fun.

He is in Series 1 and features a couple of times in the fictitious Speedibar diner off the A315 - which is one of the two businesses he owns. The other is Hammersmith Rifles - the Vespa dealers.

Sometimes you need characters like this to help you carry the story as Rod is someone that is always in the know.

Opposite is an animation of Ana Reung - Mason's grandmother. She is originally from Laos.

She is a character that animated very easily.

In the story - or in my mind rather, she is a bit more straightfaced and serious but lets Mason get away with murder. She was put together as a combination of the best bits of the three grandmother's that I had.

What was interesting is that when I chucked in the far-eastern accent, it gave me a different perspective of the character in that she seems much more happy.

Ana (Rochana) absolutely adores Gaynor and as you will see, she talks her up all the time. This happens in Series 1.

In Series 2, seven years have past and Ana has a completely different perspective of Gaynor. What is interesting is that she still keeps in continual contact with Gaynor's mum - Maureen. As does Mason.

I suppose this tells you everything about Maureen Mellor.

The same could be said of Angie - as in Series 2, Angie's best friend is Mason.

21 October 2025

What would have been my grandma's birthday. My mum's mum.

Good morning.

I was up and at 'em at 7:00 am.

After a miserable rainy day yesterday, this morning's dog walk was quite nice.

I stuck the headphones on and listened to some music and came in to my coffee made and some buttered pikelets (crumpets).

I didn't get to bed until 12:15 am as I was rendering the animation of John Mellor.

That is the lovely character opposite.

This morning I had to adjust the animation as for some reason the frame within Adobe Premier Pro 2025 had changed shape slightly.

300 days and I am still rectifying my mistakes.

It is what is known as a continual learning curve the end game being of course near-perfection.

I now have all the voices of the Mellor family and of course Mason Green.

Next come some hard ones.

Pat Marshall animates shit in 2D so he'll be an interesting one.

His family are Irish but he is just south of the river - Mortlake I think.

I am saying "I think" as it's been a long time since I wrote it up as it gets mentioned at his and Angie's wedding when Mason is wheeling Gaynor and Angie's granny around in her chair.

Their granny - Maureen O'Hara has dementia and is in a care home.

What is strange when I wrote it up was that Julie's mum was quite happily living at home with her husband, Bill.

Who would have thought that within a couple of years she would be in a care home with the exact same thing.

What is even more strange about that is that a character by the name of Jane Mason is a carer at the Sir Richard Reynolds Care Home.

Jane was named after Julie's sister, which is something that I have mentioned before.

Today I have to smash my day job as I have been more pre-occupied with the animation process.

I now need to add a new page on the website to accommodate the videos.

There is nothing wrong with hard work.

It's even better when you enjoy it.

20 October 2025

An extremely belated Good morning.

It is 5:15 pm.

I am knackered.

I was up at 6:45 am.

Julie was on dog walking duty and even though it is absolutely pissing it down with rain now - she is out on her second dog walk.

If I am being honest - I am a bit consumed with the new software and have learned more over the past four or five days than I have in the past 200.

The new software is very good and what I do know is that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I am now 100% sure that The A's will be produced.

I have now trained up the voices of Gaynor, Mason, Angie and Maureen and have got them where I want.

To take something from nothing is always a great feeling. None more so than this.

I remember sat at the kitchen table over at the house in Levanda Hills with a blank canvas and a map of London Underground's District Line. And that was it. That is where the story I was to write was going to take place.

Animation. Opposite is hours of work from two images that I created yesterday afternoon using Adobe Photoshop 2025 and Adobe Firefly Model 4.

As with the Wizard of Oz scene it is not actually part of The A's. It is just my way of firming up the personalities of the characters, fine tuning their voices and mastering all the software.

I am nowhere near there yet, but I know it will come.

Sorry about the lateness of the post.

19 October 2025

A belated Good morning.

It is 12:35 pm.

I was up at 6:55 am and out through the woods with the hound to get into my coffee on the breakfast bar and have just got a window to post the blog.

Julie has gone with our Jamie for breakfast to Sheffield's Meadowhall. Frankie & Benny's - I think.

Yesterday, I managed to perfect the animation of the Angie Mellor character.

I spent the morning scratching my fucking head as she just would NOT animate properly.

I found out the reason.

Angie Mellor has two looks: The younger look and indeed the older one.

To separate the two they have different hairstyles.

The new 720KB software wouldn't touch the younger look and was converting the character into some PlayStation-cum-Anime character.

I thought it was the contrasting of the colours that was the problem.

It was not.

It was to do with the wispy hair style and it interfering with the software as it must have been confusing it a bit.

I chalked fuck on it and tried the older version with the sleek bob haircut and bang! I got her.

Perfecting her voice was great fun as to separate the same voice as Gaynor - I used a Lisp.

The heavy lisp wouldn't let her pronounce some of the words which made her sound a bit special needs, which at times had me shaking my head, therefore I went with the slight lisp.

And that smile, laugh and sense of humour she puts over is absolutely fantastic.

The Angie asset a great yardstick to work to.

I am very happy with her.

It is fillet steak for dinner. With either vegetables or salad. I think Julie mentioned the former, as there are some carrots and parsnips that want shifting.

Have a great day.

18 October 2025

A belated Good morning.

It is 12:15 pm.

I was up at 7:30 am and out with the dog and came back in to coffee and toast.

Yesterday, we had a day off together and went shopping to Marks & Spencer and B&M in the Glandford Park retail park which sits alongside of Scunthorpe F.C's football ground and is located just off the A1084(M) roundabout.

M&S is sort of a treat as they do specialist food that Tesco's don't really stock. I mean - Lamb fillet's. Outside of a butchers I have never seen them before. And I gotta admit - their Melton Mowbray pork pies are shit hot.

Animation. Opposite is an animation that shows you the personalities of both Mason and Gaynor.

They both have a very serious side - but when they are on their own, they banter. They banter a lot.

One of the things that you will see in the story is that the people at the 40 Martyrs College in Chiswick Green don't see this side of the couple.

They see a pair of students - a male and a female, the former aloof, reticent and stand-offish - the latter, a studious girl - a swat with glasses.

Mason is only there on a Monday and Tuesday to get his final few A Levels and as at university the rest of the week.

When he isn't there, Gaynor talks quite a bit and it soon becomes apparent that they are indeed living dual lives.

And this is the ultimate understatement.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the animation.

17 October 2025

Good morning.

I hope all is well.

It is 9:20 am.

I was up at 7:30 am but Julie insisted on taking the dog out for her walk through the woods.

Well, she didn't really. I just hung it out by staying in bed until she got out first.

Trivialities aside.

I chucked up the animation that you see opposite last night before we nipped out to The Red Lion for an hour.

I am pleased with the voices for the three characters that I have done so far. That is an art in itself.

The Gaynor character has a sort of split-psyche whereby on one hand she is the needy middle-class-cum-posh bird, and on the other she is an irrational high-maintenance potty-mouthed chunk of baggage.

Both persona are ably manipulated by the Mason character - however, what he doesn't realise is that his management of her so-called split-psyche is the thing that keeps him in check.

He has a through-the-roof I.Q and with that comes major baggage as I'm hoping you'll see once I get the series' up and running.

As for the lovely Maureen Mellor character, the idea is not to cram too much speech into these short frames as she has a tendency to lose that beautiful Gaelic accent.

These are huge learning curves and being as there must be more than 100 characters through both series' it is going to take some juggling.

So. At the moment I'm knocking the speaking animation out in 720KB which is fairly shit-res. The updated software when I eventually put it in motion will render at 1020KB, which is better but still not good. However, the frames will be much longer.

The good thing about the new software is that it accepts larger files and yesterday it was taking well up to 20MB.

By the time I am ready for animating the series I am hoping that it will accept larger files up to 50MB and will output at 4MB (4K). That is the acceptable norm for TV.

Over the next few days I will try and get the beautiful Angie character speaking.

I had a go at it the other day and she was frustrating the life out of me and looking very robotic-cum-anime. I thought it was the contrasting of colours but that wasn't it.

In my mind her voice is similar to her younger sister's although after some thought, I made the decision to add a lisp to her voice to separate the two.

And Angie doesn't swear. Ever.

And for that matter nor does any of the Mellor household.

The reasoning is a simple one.

Maureen is a staunch Catholic and deeply religious.

There is a side to Maureen, however - which you will certainly see when it comes to Mason.

And as Pat Marshall (Angie's husband) said to his wife in Series 1: "If I'd have done half the stuff he had done your mam and dad would have dis-owned me."

It is a valid statement but it isn't really a true one as Maureen is extremely protective over all her family including what she terms as her boys.

And if you think she is protective - it is absolutely nothing in comparison to how Mason looks after the Mellor's.

16 October 2025

Good morning.

It's just after 12:30 am.

I have been in front of the main computer system all day and experimenting with the new software and to see how it acts.

Aside of the resolution, which is shit - everything else is much better and I am now getting the hang of fine tuning the voices.

I have Gaynor and Mason's - and now I have Maureen Mellor's - who is Gaynor's mum in the series.

Anyway, I'm going to bed as I'm knackered.

I'll tune in after breakfast.

--

My second Good morning.

I was up and out through the woods with the dog at 6:30 am. I came in to the coffee on and a Mr Kipling Chocolate & Orange Slice on the breakfast bar as all the Fiendish Fancies have been eaten.

I blame the dog!

Quite a bit has happened since the weekend - however, if I'm being honest - everything has been a blur.

When you are busy - it is always like this.

On Sunday we had the kids over for dinner (Above).

It is their fourth anniversary today.

Generally we pay for the train journey up to Edinburgh - as The Caledonian Hotel is where they spent their honeymoon.

They have just come back from Cyprus and Lianne has been on a works-do to Bulgaria, therefore we bought them one of those rechargeable vacuum cleaners - a Bosch - the exact same one that is in the house over in Cyprus.

He said he thought it was good - therefore he got it!.

Julie has just nipped down to theirs to drop in their card from us, his nanan (who is in the care home) and the dog.

I've no idea if the dog has actually signed it.

I have seen Julie sticking the card on the floor and drawing around the dog's paw before.

Animation. Opposite is my crack at giving the lovely Maureen Mellor her voice.

As I've said before, she is a very good character and throughout both series' comes over as a fantastic wife and mother.

(Above) A 3:08 minute animation of Maureen Mellor giving an insight into part of The A's. Mainly her family (Series 1. May 2022).

I created this using around 30 clips with transitions.

I'm not happy with either the resolution nor the quick breaks between the frames.

This is due to the clips are too short and the dialogue has to be a bit rushed hence why Maureen at times sounds like she is rushing her sentences.

That aside she - as in the story, puts over her beautiful demeanour and the London-Irish accent is more or less how what I wanted.

The resolution and short clips be a problem when I get on to the new pro software. But as yet - I am not ready for it.

I'm also still working in 2D which is very flat and very shit!

15 October 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:30 am and out through the woods with the dog. It is getting darker each morning as we head towards the shortest day of the year.

The clocks go back on the 26th - however, that will just give us the darker nights and a couple of weeks of lighter mornings.

Yesterday was a god awful day on the frustration front. I set up the magazine in a sort of arse-over-tit kind of way in that I left inserting the 40 photographs for the mag until the last day.

Photographs may make the magazine look colourful but the huge sizes when you are exporting from an external drive - as I do, in order to free up memory (MB) on the main system makes it a ball achingly mundane task. And the fucking AVG anti virus software - which is continually on at me to upgrade is purposely slowing the system down - that is until I do what it commands i.e. chuck a few hundred quid at it to leave me the fuck alone.

So, yesterday I signed off on the magazine and have just uploaded the fact on to LinkedIn - which is another tech-company that has reduced my range until I chuck some money at it for a paid subscription.

A couple of years ago I went down to Stroud in Gloucestershire and stuck a photo on LinkedIn. Within a week I had 60,000 views. Now, I'm lucky if I get 5,000.

It is always about the money.

Right. Enough moaning.

The A's.

Animating the story is what it is about. I knew absolutely nothing about animation until just over 293 days ago and even now I am still on the Janet & John books so-to-speak and pissing around in 2D.

Part of the reason is that I have panned the actual story out to 24 episodes over two series - the other is that I needed extra time for the software to catch up with what I wanted. And we are getting there.

Initially, I thought I'd have to hire in actors and wannabe's to do the voices through MOCAP (Motion Capture) where you film the person talking and it gets transferred to the 3D character asset. Now, I am not so sure as the technology is getting quite brilliant.

I have both the Gaynor and Mason character assets speaking in the voices that I want. I have to admit it has took some tweaking as you have to install their personality-so-to-speak - and that totally falls with me.

So, when I am animating - and just like with an actor or actress you have to do numerous "takes". In one instance Gaynor had to do eight "takes" to do what was a five-second scene. Another thing I have learned when two character assets are in conversation is to animate them simultaneously and ALWAYS index them as you go.

Indexing is a must.

So, today I'll start putting up what I've labelled as The Gaynor Tapes just so you can get a feel for two of the main characters.

I'm splitting into them speaking about different subjects so I'm assuming each segment will be a few minutes long.

I'll also chuck up some of these so-called takes.

At the minute the resolution of the speaking animation is pants and nowhere near the 4K that I want. But I know that is coming and time is one thing that I do have.

13 October 2025

A belated good morning.

It is 11:30 pm.

I was up at 7:00 am and through the woods with the hound.

I'm on deadline day. At the moment there are not enough hours in the day to do what I want and frustration is setting in.

Saturday was the ultimate breakthrough.

I now have sound and to see the characters interacting - for me, it is off the charts. I am very pleased.

The A's is an absolutely massive project and me getting the voices for the characters is immense.

The series is a great story and to finetune the voices and get them interacting was always going to be my biggest hurdle.

The animation that you see opposite is a precursor to what I am going to regard as an animation titled The Gaynor Tapes.

Supposedly videoed in May 2022, they will give you an insight to the two main characters. It is just Mason throwing a load of questions at Gaynor in their fictitious home of 24A Boelyn Mews in Ravenscourt Park.

I'll try and get more animation up over the coming week.

12 October 2025

A belated good morning.

It is 1:30 pm.

I was up at 7:20 am and through the woods with the hound and came in to my coffee and a Halloween bun courtesy of us nipping to Tesco's yesterday afternoon. Fiendish fancies, they call them.

We only went to pick up some vegetables as the kids are coming over this evening for Sunday dinner, and spent £385 - and that was with the club card discount.

We bought a couple of bottles of Moet & Chandon and some cheaper champagne along with some Courvisier brandy in with that lot, as we start stocking up for Christmas.

Yesterday, was a nice day as I got a WhatsApp message from my cousin - Steve Durose who was over on the Isle of Axholme with our Amy and watching her daughter play football.

I try never to go anywhere empty-handed and took the girl - our Mia, a tub of Celebrations and raided the Halloweener's stash from upstairs and also took her a pack of Curly Wurly's.

As for the result, they lost 7-2 - their weak link being the goalkeeper - who was responsible foe six out of the seven.

Animation. I cut dozens upon dozens of clips yesterday - none of which are ready!

(Above) The dog against a backdrop of red sky and the sun (if it comes) rising from the east.

Yesterday, she had a MOT at the vets.

From a health perspective, she is Grade A.

Yesterday, there was also huge movement on The A's.

In 1929 Laurel & Hardy did their first ever talkie - Unaccustomed as we Are. I have it on DVD. It is an awesome short.

Yesterday, I felt like they must have ,when they first saw themselves speaking on screen.

Today is the first day where you actually hear Mason and Gaynor talk.

Check out the animation opposite.

There is more to come as I tweak their voices - however, if I am honest - in my mind (head), this is how they have always sounded.

Gaynor - for reasons I'll not mention as it would ruin the storyline speaks with a rather posh West London accent. Mason does not.

Tomorrow, I will give you a part of The Gaynor Tapes.

These are quite funny and will give you an idea of their personalities.

10 October 2025

A very good morning.

I was up and at 'em - me and the hound walking through the woods at 4:40 am.

It's pitch black out.

I slept like a rock. The first time in over a week.

The journey home was tiring. We got in the house at midday - 12:00 pm within a minute or so - the journey up the M1 with no speed restrictions being uneventful.

I managed to answer a few emails and had an hour on the cross trainer - my left ankle noticing a change in my exercise pattern deciding to twinge a bit.

The highlight was the Tesco's shop being delivered bang on 3:00 pm - with me looking forward to a couple of crusty cobs with strips of fresh (raw) salmon with mascarpone cheese and baby leaf salad.

Awesome.

It is 6:00 am and Julie is at the breakfast bar and has just handed me a coffee.

The dog is at the vets for some blood tests this morning.

The week before we went to Cyprus she'd been acting a bit out of character and at times quite lethargic - especially when it came to her food.

She seems okay now, but it's best to be safe than sorry.

I managed a bit on The A's last night.

It is always the same - just as I'm getting into it and on a roll, we are back home and I am into my day job.

There are just not enough hours in the day as other things always need my attention.

Animation. Opposite top. is another of Angie Mellor in her kitchen looking all seductive - and above, my setting it on the laptop.

No one is no prouder of Angie than her niece.

"You want to see my Auntie Angie," Jenny told her friends. "She is right pretty."

It is a theme throughout both series.

I used the song - When I Die by Lush, as whilst reading the bio of Miki Berenyi, she mentioned that the song was written by fellow band member Emma Anderson about her father, who when he died, she found that she knew very little about him - more so his military past.

Knowing that, makes what is already a lovely song - even more poignant.

Below is an animation using some new software.

Lower resolution - but fucking wow. If this takes hold and improves, it will be brilliant.

9 October 2025

A very early good morning.

It is 12:50 am (GMT+2).

I have been up 50 minutes as we are travelling home today.

Another one of those long days.

It' is dark outside as the swimming pool lights have just turned themselves off.

I am sat at the table on my laptop with a coffee at the side of me.

I managed a couple of hours sleep. I am now debating whether to travel home in some shorts or jeans.

I've just heard the alarm go on Julie's phone and there is movement upstairs.

What will it be next?

The running of the bath; or coming downstairs to put the kettle on.

I was going to uncouple the battery on the scooter but there is no real need as we are back in three weeks, which I am assuming will be our last visit to Cyprus for 2025.

Yesterday, I finished the two-part autobiography of Miki Berenyi of the shoegaze band, Lush.

The first part was really good - the second - a bit... meh.

8 October 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:30 am (GMT+2) after yet another restless night.

We walked up to The Lionheart bar yesterday evening - the idea being to retrieve the FTO from Nikos - the auto electrician, and have a meal in the Bulgarian open kitchen a few doors down.

The Lionheart had been shut up for a week - George, the owner - taking his heavily pregnant wife, Denise for a holiday.

The reopening meaning that as the afternoon shift petered away, we got the evening lot - and ended up with some skanky female expat talking boastful bollocks and blowing smoke in my face from one of those stupid fucking vapes.

Thankfully, Paul Shepley (one of the good expats) came in whilst she was midway through her boasting about her house and all the Ikea furniture - and without a thought for her sanity, he blew her out of the water with tales of how he and his mate Chris helped us move houses from Frenaros to Avgorou.

"Me and Chris were absolutely knackered," he told her. "Their house in Avgorou. I've never seen a house so big."

And immediately she shut the fuck up and fucked off.

We never have to say a thing.

The FTO interior is now done and looks great.

Am I happy? No.

I now need to take it to the mechanics on April Avenue. Cue: Kleitos.

Julie booked the November flights yesterday, so we now have a three-week window for him to do the work.

We fly out to Cyprus on the first and come back nine days later.

The A's. I was writing, editing and juggling scenes yesterday and just now - one of which involved breakfast on a Saturday morning.

Check opposite.

The quality is very good.

7 October 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:30 am (GMT+2) after a restless night.

I came downstairs at 2:20 am and got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and had a go at dropping back off.

Drinking alcohol makes for a rubbish sleep.

You may drop off pretty quick but you don't stay dropped off - that much is for sure.

I must have tossed and turned for three or four hours.

I'm just getting ready to nip the car up to the auto electricians for the umpteenth time. Hopefully, to finally get its interior back to normal.

Buy a top of the range music system and end up shelling out nearly £600 for all the bits that he's broken trying to fit it.

We need to book the flights today, as I am leaving the car with the mechanic for what will be three weeks so he can flush out the cooling system and replace all the bits on that.

If I can give him a confirmed date when I will be back I know he will get it done by then. I hope.

Cyprus. Everything runs at snail pace.

I had a mate that used to live over here - Billy Hurst. Your typical south of the river Londoner. Born and bred in Waterloo, his wife died so he brought his son, Ben, over to live in Cyprus. Ben was a similar age to our Jamie.

In London, Billy had been a limo-driver and had drove many a famous face but on landing here he immediately noticed how slow everything was. Especially the roads.

I only drive up the road and I'm effing and blinding.

And the bank. Jesus Christ.

Everybody that goes in wants to chat shit.

Billy died a few years ago and whilst we were having a drink in a pub that was The Wooden Crest, his son, Ben popped in to see us after the owner, Tassos gave him the heads-up.

"How's Jamie?" was one of the first things he said.

I still remember them fishing off the old pontoon on Ayia Triada a diving into the sea off some catamaran that had pulled in to the harbour for the day. They must have only been thirteen or fourteen years old.

The last time I saw Billy, me and Julie were walking through the old estate - again after dropping the car off at the garage, and he was hanging over the balcony of his apartment with a cigarette in his hand. His complexion was jaundiced and yellow.

He came over here and socialised seven days a week.

You can't do it. You need to keep occupied and if that means work, then so be it.

Alcohol numbs the mind and makes you act differently. Chuck in the facts that you live in an apartment; are surviving on what's left of your house or pension money; and your life is shit, breeds contempt.

And then comes the lies...

No matter where you are on the islands it is always the same.

As I've said before, British expats on the island are some of the biggest wankers that you will ever meet. Billy - however, was an exception. Being a Londoner he gave it large, and embellished quite a bit, but he was harmless with it.

(Above) This is a 19 second animation of Anita Pallenburg, Jenny Mellor and Dottie West.

This was created with two frames using both Adobe Photoshop 2025 and Adobe Firefly Model 4.

Unlike yesterday's animation, I cropped it down to get closer to the characters faces as when you are animating at distance you lose resolution.

This 2D animation is much better than yesterday's, but animating Dottie in 2D is always a problem as I am continually shooting from the same-sideways standing start.

In 3D I will be able to shoot from any angle and turn the character's head and pose.

6 October 2025

A very good morning to you or Kaliméra, rather.

It is 5:30 am and I'm at the table on my laptop with a cup of coffee. It is still dark outside.

I'm straight into The A's and doing a bit of juggling trying to get the timing of the story right - as I write in sequences rather than in 1, 2, 3's.

It is something that I've always done.

It will probably mean that I have to move an episode forward - that episode being The Arabian Princess. I will see how today goes.

Yesterday was a nothing day. A typical Sunday if-you-like.

I worked until 2:00 pm and then knocked off.

We walked down through Levanda Hills and along the seafront, past Famagusta Sailing Club, the Tulum Beach Bar, a cordoned off section of the beach where they are having the Cyprus Rock Festival this weekend, through Ayia Triada Harbour and towards the beach bar... where we were going to plant ourselves until we saw that they had a some live fucking band on knocking out Greek Cypriot songs.

I don't mind Greek music if it is played as background music. I certainly don't like it played at full blast.

It has always had me scratching my head that people actually like to watch live acts whilst they eat..

Omar is the same at The Curry Leaf.

"Hey, bro - we've got a musician coming in on Thursday, etc., etc..."

"No problem. I'll make sure that I don't come in on Thursday."

When he owned the Italian restaurant up in the market place he had a chef who liked to play the guitar at people's tables.

I told Imran straight: "Anybody comes strumming a guitar around the table while I eat will get it wrapped around his fucking head."

Over-aggressive? You bet.

I go to a restaurant for one thing only. To eat and to socialise. Sorry - two things

That's why it annoys me when I'm out and someone sticks a mobile phone under my nose. My mate Tim is the worst one for it.

"Look at this," he'll say.

"No thanks."

"No - just look."

It drives me insane.

One of our near-neighbours was in a band a while ago. They knocked out covers of The Undertones, Stereophonics and that kind of thing.

And he nagged like fuck for us to go a watch them. In one instance he actually came around to the house to physically drag us around to see them performing in someone's back garden.

If I wanted to go watch a band I'd pay to watch one that I actually liked and not some star-struck car salesman dressed up like Elvis Costello strumming his fucking banjo.

Rant over.

Animation. Opposite is Anita with Jenny and her friend Dottie - Dorothy Westerman.

Jenny absolutely idolises Dottie, who is without doubt, the coolest kid in school.

5 October 2025

Kaliméra se ólous sas. Good morning to you all.

I was up at 8:20 am (GMT+2).

My sleep pattern whilst here is all over the shop.

The bed is quite comfortable but nowhere near as good as the one at home.

As with yesterday, the back door is open and the sun is out and I have my second cup of coffee in front of me courtesy of Julie, who has just been on about the positives of almond milk and it being kinder to her stomach than normal semi-skimmed milk.

Fine. Just don't give it me!

Lianne has just called and said that the weather in the UK is atrocious with the so-called Storm Amy doing its utmost to piss people off.

Yesterday, I did quite a bit on The A's but I seem to be doing a lot of back tracking and editing.

It is an absolutely huge project.

I knocked off around 3:00 pm and we walked down to the beach bar on Ayia Trias where we ate (eventually) and had a few drinks.

Julie had a tuna salad and I had their great fuck off burger with a fried egg on it along with chips, which I am sure pissed Julie off as she was moaning all the way home.

I stuck Series 1 of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet on the DVD and we watched a couple of episodes of that.

It is one of those sort of comfort series, which you can watch over and over again as you get an affection for the characters as they are all a bit different, but sort of get on regardless.

There is some of that in Series 1 of The A's with Gaynor and her friends and I'm trying to generate something similar in Series 2.

Animation. Opposite is Jenny Mellor standing alongside her mum's old Vespa. This actually happens in Series 2 - The Arabian Princess - however, and as I have said previous, it won't look like that.

I've stuck some Ska-type music underneath the animation being that it is scooter-related...

... 11:04 am. On Cyprus radio - PIK. The First Noel and Jingle Bells.

I've just switched it off. I have enough bad luck without having Christmas rammed in my face this early.

4 October 2025

Kaliméra.

I was up at 7:00 am (GMT+2).

The back door is open and the sun is out. I am sat at the table with the air-con blowing on the back.

May and October are without doubt the nicest time to visit the island. It is between 28 and 32°c and with a breeze, and that being the case - it is very manageable.

I had a restless sleep but I managed to stay in bed.

Yesterday morning, after riding around Paralimni on the scooter and seeing mechanics and auto electricians, I washed the car and stuck a kettle and half full of water in it and we drove to the supermarket.

When we got back there was hissing coming from under the bonnet.

I found out where the leak in the FTO was. It is a split hose in the cooling system in a very awkward place to get at without stripping everything out.

A bottle of RadWeld would sort it as a bit of a sticking plaster solution, but unless you're on about weighing it in for a new car it is best to actually fix the problem.

Last night we ate at the Bulgarian open kitchen after having a few drinks at the beach bar.

It was funny watching Julie explain to the owner - Svetlana, that she cannot eat foot which has been cooked in fat/oil.

She is a character that much is for sure. She'd make a great air hostess on WizzAir.

"Go sit fucking down and shut the fuck up."

Her husband, Ivan - is like Henry the mild mannered janitor in comparison.

You don't know who that is?

Google him.

Animation. Opposite is Astrid Karcherr with her favourite model - Angie Mellor.

They met in Series 1 and stayed friends.

Gaynor did some modelling for her in Series 1 but stopped.

Ever wonder why?

3 October 2025

Pissed off.

I've just deleted today's fucking blog. No idea what happened. I even hit the CTRL+Z button and nothing.

Computers are just like women. Erratic and unpredictable, and as the saying goes - you can't live with them, and you can't live without them.

What I should do really, is type up the blog on MSWord and just paste it in as this web software is shite.

Anyway, Kaliméra se ólous sas.

Good morning. We are in Cyprus.

I was up at 4:00 am (GMT+2) but an hour has passed.

We got to the house around 6:00 pm.

My first job was checking the FTO and the leak from the cooling system and sticking a kettle and half of water in it.

It is 30 years old and the cooling system must be full of debris from the deterioration and internal perishing of the rubber hoses that transport the water through the radiator and around the engine. Again - it needs floushing out and all the new bits fitting that I lumped over from the UK.

Once here, we got changed, fired up the scooter and rode down to the beach bar on Ayia Trias where Julie had a Chicken Caesar Salad, and I had a Baby Calamari with Salad.

I have to admit - the food there is extremely good and not unreasonable price wise.

The trip over went quickly as rather than stick some music through my headphones as I generally do, I read the first half of an autobiography - Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi - the vocalist with the female-fronted Indie band Lush.

Even though I didn't know a deal about her outside of the band, there are a lot of things in her bio that strike with certain things in The A's, not at least one of Jenny Mellor's friends, who I actually named after her - and as with the real Miki - I made her Eurasian.

This morning I need to have a ride down on to Paralimni's April Avenue to see Kleitos - the mechanic, as he didn't return my text nor email.

On my way back I'll also call in to see the auto electrician about fitting the exterior and interior floor consoles and get that booked in.

Animation. Opposite is Angie Mellor.

This is another one that I am quite pleased with.

2 October 2025

Good morning.

It is 3:45 am.

I've been up 40 minutes. Cyprus beckons.

Up next - a drive down the M1 to Luton Airport.

All being well I'll log back on in the priority lounge

---

7:30 am.

It's mad.

Both the departure and priority lounge's are packed.

It was a steady drive down - no 50 mph limits until we hit the Junction's 10 and 11 Dunstable and Luton turn offs.

Julie has just nipped down to swipe her Priority Pass as the girl on reception was dealing with a crowd of people after she'd initially turned us away for 15 minutes as our flight is supposedly delayed by half an hour.

I've no idea if we are as I've not checked yet.

Animation. Opposite is another one of Leoni Middleton with her scooter underneath the viaduct close to the entrance of the fictitious club that is the Hammersmith Vaults.

In Series 1 Leoni, along with Joanne Lynskey, Krissy K, Pammy Antrobus and later on Anita Pallenburg, earn pin money by flying around on their Vespa's placing fixed-odds bets in and around London for Mason Green.

Gaynor played at it for about 10 minutes but found that whilst in a relationship with Mason, she didn't really need to work for her money - hence why she was always referred to as The Princess by a section of The Vaults... and the Wench or the Spoiled Bitch by Leoni.

In Series 1, Leoni is at university studying to be an accountant, and in Series 2 - some seven years later, she has passed out and is working as the Administration and Accounts Manager at the Greenford Group and being prepped for a bump-up to director.

She is extremely close to Mason.

1 October 2025

Good morning.

I was up and out through the woods with the dog at 6:40 am and got back in just as it started raining.

I am looking out of the window now and it is pissing it down.

Julie is at the hospital today.

A pre-op?

I'm not sure as the NHS is a law unto itself.

It is vastly oversubscribed with patients, many of whom shouldn't even be here but more to the point it is overloaded with shit staff. And that goes for those at the GP's surgery in the town - receptionists included.

It isn't just in the now, either. It has always been the case.

I recall Big Scott's eldest kid breaking his femur (thigh bone) when he was about three years old.

He was in bed in absolute agony and screaming the place down.

When we got there I counted eight nurses standing around just talking about their personal shite. It wasn't for five or ten minutes either. It was well over an hour and a half.

Disgraceful.

Out of three messages I sent out yesterday - to the mechanic over in Cyprus, the landscaper, and the door and the window fitter - only the latter came back. And he is away this week!

We had a new window cleaner call round this morning.

No window cleaner wants to do our house.

The last one - Johnny Big Nose was worse than fucking useless and after scamming us for £35 maintained he couldn't do the long one on the staircase - so it never got done.

He could do it. He was just a lazy bastard.

This new one says that he will do them properly for £50 a shot, so Julie has signed him up for the duration.

I've just looked back at what I have written.

I sound a right moaning git!

We are out of the UK tomorrow - the 9:55 am flight into Larnaca.

Roll on.

Animation. I have chucked up four that I've had on here previous. Two portrait and two landscape.

All from Series 1.

NO PART OF THIS WEBSITE MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS.

OCTOBER 2025

The A's

ALL IMAGES OPEN IN TECHNICOLOUR

31 October 2025

Hello and a very Good morning.

I was up at 7:20 am.

'Tis Halloween and my left foot for some unknown reason, has decided to throb like a fucking bitch.

No idea why, as I haven't cracked it on anything.

I took the dog out but didn't make it through the woods.

I just took her up the sand path, through St Andrews Church and hobbled around the graveyard.

I got back in to Julie hollowing-out a pumpkin.

We are expecting some kids banging on the door later.

I know Luke and Charlotte Platt's two - Declan and Isobel, are calling round to scare us.

Julie also dropped in a basket of sweets for Bethany Hughes' (nee Price) little girl yesterday.

I have mentioned before that Beth owns a beautician's up in the town centre and was at one time engaged to our Jamie.

Beth showed us a video clip of her little girl - Morgan, practicing her lines for some play, when she and her partner dropped on us in The Red Lion one teatime.

Just like her mum she is very pretty.

We've also got a load of sweets in the house, just in case.

Pumpkin's are scientifically a fruit because it develops from a flower and contains seeds - however, in a culinary context, it is often regarded as a vegetable due to its savoury flavour and use in dishes like soups.

Therefore, I'll be making some pumpkin soup later and taste it up with a couple of potatoes and a red onion as pumpkin's from a taste-perspective are as bland as a day out in Cleethorpes.

I'm currently at the breakfast bar with my second coffee whilst Julie is just bagging up sweets.

Tomorrow, we are flying out to Cyprus.

We are there for 11 days.

It's our last trip out this year as we don't go anywhere in December.

Well, I managed to give a slight introduction to The A's yesterday, and was ultra-pleased with the resolution.

From Day One I have moaned about the unwillingness of the software to accept big files. The new software, however has been accepting files up to 20MB.

I'll test it later with some bigger files.

I have to admit - I love shooting and rendering in monochrome - noir. There is just something about it.

I never realised how many recent films were shot in monochrome (Black & White). There are quite a few.

The Last Picture Show (1971), The Girl on the Bridge (1993) and Schindler's List (1993) are three which I have - the former being a very good film and one that captures the era of a dusty Texas town in the mid-1950's.

It is something to think about.

Animation. Opposite is Anita's father Olaf Pallenburg. Olaf is a Series 2 character.

--

It's 8:20 am, we are in the priority lounge at Luton Airport and I've just had a shit sausage and egg bap and Macchiato. And shit describes it quite perfectly.

Luton is much better than the Leeds Bradford Airport's Lounge's but they are fucking dire. You get served better food in prison.

The drive down was pleasantly uneventful and hopefully the flight will be the same.

Day 310

The History of The A's: Olaf Pallenburg

Rendered at 2160p 4k, 16:9 Widescreen

(Above) A 5:15 minute animation of Olaf Pallenburg - the father of Anita giving some background.

This animation was created using 100 clips and from an image created using Adobe Photoshop 2025.

30 October 2025

Hello and a very belated Good morning.

I was up at 7:30 am after a late night.

I didn't get to bed until after midnight.

This animation takes over your fucking life as it is so time consuming.

Julie gave me a boot at 5:45 pm yesterday.

"Scott and Edyta will be at the Indian in fifteen minutes," she said. "And you know they are never late."

I'd been in my scruff since the morning and not had a bath or anything.

We had a nice night. It was great to catch up.

Big Scott is a character. I've known him years.

Not much to say today as I'm cream crackered.

The animation opposite is quite good. The resolution is getting better too.

See you tomorrow.

Halloween - yeah!.

Day 309

An Introduction to The A's

Rendered at 2160p 4k, 16:9 Widescreen

(Above) A 1:41 minute introduction to The A's.

Music: Western Playland by the Holy Wave

29 October 2025

Good morning.

I was up at 6:50 am and through the woods with the dawg.

It's not cold - just fucking wet. I need some new dog walking boots as my trainers and socks were saturated when I got in.

It's my mum's birthday today.

Posthumous birthday, that is - she died in 2008.

I have been hammering away at my day job for the last couple of days and trying to play catch-up.

I generally work every day - but the watershed moment in the animation process - making the characters speak, has taken up a lot of my attention. And it takes a fucking age to train up a voice.

I've certainly mastered Jenny Mellor's - but it still takes between two and eleven takes to perfect the clips - but it averages around four or five.

The Gaynor character is another one who's voice I've mastered - however, she has two speeds. Posh and thoughtful - and irate, vociferous and indeed viperous.

There is a reason - and that is to keep Mason under control.

Why?

Because in Series 1 - Mason is two people, which was something Angie Mellor touched on in her interview, which you can see in the videos section of the website.

Having an inordinate I.Q brings with it, its own problems and Mason is on Med's to control certain aspects of his personality. And at times he definitely needs to be controlled.

You might not think so, but Gaynor immediately mastered it.

Mason's family referred to Gaynor as "our beautiful distraction".

And the reason is, is that she knew exactly how to look after him.

In Series 2, Mason's problem appears to have gone - however, the word appears, can at time be quite rangy.

The outlet for Mason's personality in Series 2 - is his job.

Opposite. This is a lovely animation of Jenny. Personally, I feel it is the best yet, as I managed to get some emotion into it.