Mar 26th
Hello fellow grumblers…
We’re talking about letting you vent your frustration with life right now… every time you grumble, you put 20 grumbs into the cash box…you can cash the grumbs in for free business cards (Streetcards/Blogcards) later too!
Join us, click here to add your own witty rants…. and if yours is voted the most enjoyable rant that month, you’ll win free streetcards. Go on, put the kettle on and join us… what’s wrinkling YOUR brow today?
Is this really the best we can do?
Jun 13th
Sorry I’ve not posted any grumbles for a while… I must have been exceptionally happy for a while there!! But I’m back! I don’t imagine I’m the only one who is thoroughly disappointed in the design for the London 2012 Olympics… every time I receive an email newsletter, I cringe… the latest is for a father’s day promotion… I mean seriously, is this really the best we can do? 
Look at this bad design!! Look at the ridiculously amateur joke of a font?
We pride ourselves on the fantastic design talent we have here in the UK, what happened? Who was in charge of choosing the design? It’s an embarrassment. I am part of the design community here and we are all shocked by this logo. Don’t even get me started on the mascots. Somebody should explain to us why this happened and then they should be removed from any further design decisions!!
I am going to an interview in July to see if I meet the necessary criteria to be a volunteer ‘games maker’, I might be the first person that turns down the task on the grounds of poor event graphics!! :-)
Winter goes on…
Jan 30th
and on, and on… or so it seems… enough with the cold, please bring on the hope, at least, of spring warmth? We are good at talking about the weather here in England, its one of our specialities, and for good reason… it’s usually because we are either shocked when it’s warm and sunny, so we have to shout about it over the rooftops, or because we are suffering from the rubbish weather blues and are desperately wishing for something better…. but you know what, I’ve lived in a sunnier clime, and yes, it’s great, but there is something about England that just draws me back here time and time again… it’s certainly not for the weather… not sure what exactly it is, but it’s strong and I miss it when I’m gone for too long…….. until that grey, cold weather sends me over the edge and I start to plan my next escape of course….!
Getting your price right
Oct 31st
Are you continually second guessing your prices? As a designer that has been in the business for 20+ years, you’d think I’d have it figured out by now but it’s a crazy world out there… there is no consistency of rates, everyone wants something done for as little as possible, everyone tells me they have no money… and when you are brave enough to stick your head above the water and price up a job at the price you feel you deserve, you spend the whole time worrying that you might have priced yourself out of winning the job! If anyone has any tried and tested remedies for this, do let me know! I did find this article… check it out
Freehand MX
Sep 1st
Okay, so this won’t mean too much to most of you out there, but as a diehard Freehand MX user, (fantastic design application that Adobe swallowed up in 2003 when it bought out Macromedia), I want to express my frustration about its sinister demise! Today I was listening to a radio station and they asked people to phone in if they were still using some ancient technology because they don’t believe anyone has done anything better that they’d like to use! Well, my colleagues all suggested I phoned in… but instead of that, I googled “are there any other freehand users out there?”, to which I discovered there were! Hurray! So I’m here to ask you all to support the www.freefreehand.org campaign… even if you won’t benefit from it yourself, it’s supporting competition and is against large corporations buying and then burying other competitor’s products. We all know the results of that policy… the Tescos of the world take over! So, please, sign up, support the cause! :-)
www.freefreehand.org
Was it truly Concorde’s last hurrah?
Aug 14th
Did anyone watch the really great TV show about Concorde’s Last Flight that was shown on Channel 4 (UK) in July? It truly was a fantastically beautiful plane, ahead of its time, and an amazing achievement for Britain and France. And yet, despite the fact we all loved it, and that the intense noise of it passing overhead instilled joy rather than anger, it still had its life tragically shortened in November 2003. I dare you to watch this video without it stirring your emotions … British Airways Concorde
Well, I heard a rumour, a glimmer of hope, and dare I start to believe it? There is a team comprised of the ‘British Save Concorde Group’ (could they have come up with a more appropriately desperate sounding name do you think?!) and the ‘French Olympus 593′, who are going to try to restore the Concorde currently resting at Le Bourget Air and Space Museum, in time to fly in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics!!
Anyone who is a fan might be interested to check out our tribute to the magnificent Concorde with our very own streetcard design, click here… let’s start pushing that rumour along, shall we??!!! 
Even Terence Conran was nearly in tears when he was talking on the Channel 4 program about his last flight on Concorde…… and as for me, I believe I’m still in denial, and that one day, she’ll be back! If you want to join the campaign, visit the Save Concorde Campaign
Is a slap just a physical grumble?
Jul 17th
I was passed on this quote from a friend I work alongside… and it did make me laugh! If you know someone who just needs a good slap, you’ll appreciate these words…. “People who need a slap affect the lives of many. There is still no known cure for someone who deserves a slap, except for a good slap, but…we can still raise awareness and avoid the next stage… a punch in the face”. Seems like good advice… and before the ‘politically correct’ police ‘slap’ us with a scowl, we’re not promoting slapping children here!
Heston’s neighbour flies the flag
Jun 5th
I hear that a neighbour of Heston Blumenthal’s ‘The Fat Duck‘ restaurant in Bray has painted a giant St George’s cross on the front of his house… in support of the England team in the World Cup… the silly Parish Council has branded it as ‘hideous’, but the owner isn’t worried… he’ll remove it when England win or leave the tournament anyway… he says ‘I’m behind my national team, it’s light hearted, I’ve not intentionally set out to annoy people”. And so say all of us! Get a grip Parish Council members, and let a smile sneak onto your faces for once!! Does anyone know what Heston thinks?! I’m sure he’s loving it!
British Airways Strike
May 18th
Does anyone else out there agree with me? This continual strike action by the British Airways cabin crew is going to be the death of British Airways, and then where will they all be? Don’t they get it? They are lucky to have a job, never mind one that has perks that fly them ANYWHERE at hardly any cost… which they knowingly chose to throw away for the cause and now want back... I mean, get real, have they had their heads buried in the sand somewhere… its ridiculous! I don’t know the ins and outs of course but it doesn’t look good and they appear to just be greedy at this point, certainly to those of us with small businesses who are finding the current economic climate tough. I wish they would get on with their jobs and stop expecting the moon!!! If there is anyone out there that cares to join me in my disdain, or tell me reasons why the cabin crew are doing the right thing, I’d love to hear from you! I’ve just found an article in the Times Online that agrees with me… “the reputation of the cabin crew is in tatters”.
I’m glad I travelled in Europe pre-mobile phones…
May 8th
So, a friend of mine is setting off on an adventure, they’ve sold up, bought a motorhome (not allowed to call it a caravan!), and off they go… footloose and fancy free, leaving this rubbish English weather and hopeless ‘hung parliament’ behind with their sights firmly set on sunshine and good food and wine down south!
She mentioned that her journey would be told on facebook, which made me long for the days when travelling meant really being out of touch with the world, no mobile phones, no silly looking luggage with wheels, we’re talking trekking with heavy backpacks containing the bare essentials and a sleeping bag, and calling home once in a blue moon from those international phone booths you could find back then in the big cities… oh, and we could check for messages at various american express locations that we had plotted on our journey so our parents could send us news of the real world and be reassured that we were still alive! Now, that was an adventure! I was 18 at the time and had the best 3 months travelling with my sister and two friends… our furthest destination south was Corfu, back when Greece was cheap, beautiful, quiet, and there was no sign of the bland Euro coin that came along later and spoiled all the fun of travelling!
Northern Corfu Coastline
So, yes, never mind a motorhome with all the luxuries on board, bring back the Eurail pass, traipsing in new cities trying to find a place to sleep, and the chance encounter of new people along the way on all the long train journeys….. ah, those were the days! And not a mobile phone in sight! We simply jotted fellow traveller’s names in our miniature address books, vowing to stay in touch…… by post, not email!!
The humble potato
Apr 24th
Well, this is about a very good friend of mine who flew in from California to celebrate my recent birthday. A year ago, he lost his sense of taste and smell (a whole grumble story of its own), and because of that, what had previously been a life that revolved around the pleasures of cooking and eating, is now a life chasing the rare ‘sensations’ that surprise his palate… which brings me to my story: I cooked a roast chicken feast the day he arrived, and for some amazing reason, he got total pleasure from the roasted Maris Piper potatoes, believing they were the best potatoes he had ever had!
So began the quest to purchase and eat Maris Pipers (now fondly called MPs) in every form possible during his visit here… which brought us to a particular spotting on the side of the road in Sussex for ‘home grown maris pipers’. When the wheels of the car came to a screeching halt, with total and utter glee, he bought a massive bag from the seller… his spirits were high, we even took a photo of him next to the potato sign…. but on closer inspection, when we got the bag home to my house, the glee turned to dismay… they were soft to the touch!! So, there we were, stuck with an enormous bag of potatoes that had been bought with such promise, but failed to deliver. So, I ask you this… why on earth would someone sell something under the guise that they were ‘freshly grown’, only to offer up potatoes that weren’t even firm to the touch!?
Jeff on his quest for Maris Piper Potatoes...
