Sunday 30th December 2001

So why is it that as soon as the temperature drops to minus seven here in the UK that my bloody underfloor heating packs up? I mean there were plenty of oppurtunities when it wasn't so cold and plumbers weren't on holiday, but oh no, it has to wait unitl now! (I'll stop here before I turn into Basil Fawlty).

Friday 28th December 2001

Got back from friends in the country yesterday. Cold by the sea but no snow. Now into that lovely period of limbo between Christmas and New Year when everything is still warm and friendly - just saw Kate Beckinsale in the park!

Time for another mince pie I think . . .

Monday 24th December 2001

Christmas Eve. . .

The fires are crackling and the presents are under the tree. Nicola and Tilly have put their stockings out, and there's a carrot for Rudolph and Port and a Mince Pie for Santa. Magical night. Will it snow? Merry Christmas everyone - it's a wonderful life!

Saturday 22nd December 2001

Christmas shopping finished. Off to see Aladdin tonight. Of course the Christmas tree lights fused this morning, but why is it always the last bulb you try that has blown? Wrapped pressies this afternoon with crap seasonal movie on TV (wrapped them with paper, not crap seasonal movie).

Wednesday 19th December 2001

Computer problems fixed - server error apparently. Relief all round.

Tuesday 18th December 2001

Major computer problems. Final straw was power failure. Had enough so we ran off to Grayshott Hall Health Farm for 4 days! Blissed out . . massage . . La Stone therapy . . organic food . .aromatherapy. Feel spiritual, relaxed and ready to dive back in (apart from stomach that is - too many sit ups!).

Got the Christmas Trees this afternoon and I'm taking Tilly to a Doggie Christmas Party tonight! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thursday 6th December 2001

Fantastic. Seem to have picked up some Virus that won't let me send email. Will have to put my Mac together again . . . computer flu perhaps?

Friday 30th November 2001

Goodnight, sweet George. Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright!

Wednesday 28th November 2001

Well, I got over the flu during an experimental weekend devised by Nicola, who had collected tokens from a newspaper offering a 'three nights for one' hotel offer. The Hotel was terrible, so we stayed one night and went in search of another - also terrible. Ended up coming home. Got rid of the plague though. There is no place like home! Never seen Tilly swim before, but she fell into a pond so she had to learn pretty fast!

Watched 'Shrek' on DVD last night - what a fabulous film!

Monday 19th November 2001

Now I've got flu . . . bugger!

Friday 16th November 2001

We were supposed to go and see our friend Nick Heyward perform at Wembley last night, but Nicola is in bed with the flu so I was on nursing duty instead. Mainly working on Library stuff this week - TV commercials seem to be dead and everyone I speak to is experiencing the same thing! Roll on the New Year . . .

Sunday 11th November 2001

Harry Potter!

Saw a preview tonight of the film that everybody is talking about in the UK. Harry Potter is a truly magical movie, even with many omissions from the book. The John Williams soundtrack is quite stunning, being a cross between his best works and something that Danny Elfman might have come up with (my two favourite film composers!). Bit scary for young children though . . . made me jump at any rate!

Tuesday 6th November 2001

We were unusually lucky with the weather on Guy Fawkes night (Nov 5th) - just as well as we had around 50 people over for Fireworks. Tilly was a party animal and didn't seem to mind the loud bangs so long as people gave her sausages!

Spent today in the studio with Doug working on some new stuff. Always amusing working with Mr Boyle . ..

Saturday 3rd November 2001

Halloween was great fun (a beautiful cold clear night, a full moon, and 25 sets of trick or treaters) - now gearing up for Guy Fawkes on November 5th! Got the Fireworks last week. Looking forward to toasted marshmallows and chestnuts on the barbecue, mulled wine, pizza, and all our friends and neighbours - great stuff!

Saturday 27th October 2001

Working on spooky soundscape for Halloween. Keep scaring myself.

Tuesday 23rd October 2001

Saw the Royal Ballet dance Don Quixote at the Opera House tonight, and I have to say the chap playing DQ bore a striking resemblance to Ian Anderson in his codpiece and hose Jethro Tull / Aqualung days. . .

Monday 22nd October 2001

Bought many pumpkins for Halloween today - I make pumpkin soup every year served in hollowed out pumpkin shells. Also we don't allow any electric lighting on Halloween (candles only) and I knock up a spooky soundscape (howling winds, thunder, screams etc) which is piped around the darkened house. We play candlelit Cluedo into the night with friends - fabulous!

Saturday 13th October 2001

Busy week in the studio last week but that's okay 'cos I got a new chair . . .Spent most of the time working on Library stuff, and a couple of days on not getting a job for Ford. Had a major database clearout and discovered 105 unused tracks - how did that happen?

Monday 1st October 2001

October already? Still, that means Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes are coming! Personally I love this time of year in the UK - season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and all that! Only thing is Tilly gets very muddy and needs constant grooming . . .

Thursday 27th September 2001

Spent most of this week working on new Library tracks for Cavendish. Had great fun yesterday turning our friend India into a girl's choir and myself into a bunch of Monks! Forgot to mention that whilst in Abbey Road studio 1 last week a very good friend of mine was in studio 2 - what are the chances of that happening?

Thursday 20th September 2001

Spent yesterday and today at Abbey Road studios sitting in on an orchestral session. Soaking up the vibes and learning fast because in January of next year I am being given a 72 piece orchestra and 30 piece choir to play with - the mad fools! So inspirational to watch the guys do their stuff (Chris Slasky and Ray Davies) but above all I am amazed at the power of a big orchestra in full flight. - same sort of emotion as the Rock and Roll thing!

Tuesday 11th September 2001

The pictures on CNN coming live from New York are so sickening, so devastating, yet I can't help thinking that we have become very desensitized because I have to keep reminding myself that this is real. The way those towers collapsed - everybody I know has stopped work and is watching TV in disbelief.

Is it so hard for everybody to live in peace for fuck's sake?

Monday 10th September 2001

Spent most of last week not getting the new Reebok campaign for UK TV. The Agency had too many demos done and confused themselves - sadly this is happening more frequently these days. This week I shall be mostly working on Library stuff to clear my head again . . .

Thursday 6th September 2001

New MP3 section

I have now included an MP3 section for faster access. The quality isn't as good as the REAL stuff if you have broadband, but if you are on a 56k modem and don't fancy watching the films you should use MP3.

Tuesday 4th September 2001

Streaming!!

Finally the entire site is streaming! Took forever to encode everything but it was worth it! All sections of the site are working (at last) so perhaps now I can get back into the studio and concentrate on making some music!!

Thursday 23rd August 2001

We went to see 'Thunderbirds F.A.B.' at Richmond theatre tonight. I first saw this show about 12 years ago and had such a sore throat afterwards from laughing so much! Happy to report that my throat was sore after this performance too! It is amazing how two guys can recreate an entire episode of Thunderbirds incorporating Stingray and Captain Scarlet, with little or no scenery! Brilliant stuff!

Thursday 16th August 2001

Potato evacuates Opera House!

We went to the Royal Opera House tonight to see the San Francisco Ballet (which was fabulous) but a security alert was called during the performance resulting in everybody - audience, dancers, musicians, staff - having to stand outside for 20mins whilst it was investigated! Turns out it was a potato in a microwave that set off the fire alarms!!

Wednesday 15th August 2001

Been working on digitizing all my stuff for the new DVD showreel since Saturday - long and tedious but good fun all the same! Some of this stuff will be encoded for the streaming part of this website - stay tuned!

Thursday 10th August 2001

In the studio all day finishing a track for a TV campaign. Stephanie Benavente came all the way from Wales to do some fabulous vocals for me - thanks for the flowers Steph!

Wednesday 8th August 2001

Commander Shore is now on hand to answer your personal and home related questions. Click the box marked 'ASK THE COMMANDER' or email commander@chrisblackwell.co.uk for his advice!

Tuesday 7th August 2001

The new system was installed in the studio yesterday after many attempts to get my old 450 G4 to accept the DVD burner. Turned out I had 53 MBDF virus strains living in and around my SCSI drives - not good!

The new Mac is an 867mHz G4 with the new Apple DVD Superdrive (although it is actually a Pioneer!). Certainly makes things in the studio very speedy! Initial tests on burning DVD's however show the quality to be quite jerky and not too good at all, and this is confirmed on the Apple website by other users. Once again we are being used at the sharp end as Beta testers having to deal with problems that should have been taken care of before product release. Apple are not alone in this by any means, it's just that usually the products they supply are so fab!

Bugger.

Monday 6th August 2001

Site went live today - hello everybody! The streaming page isn't finished yet 'cos I need to get my head around that one, but hopefully very soon. . . I'm sure it can't be as complicated as it looks!

Many thanks for dropping in!