August 2003
August 31
My brother, Howard and I are going to be teaming up to form Mitchell and Mitchell; a web design outfit. Our first project will be a website for our local high school and community sports centre. It will be made for free, and we’ll use it to show case our talent, hopefully encouraging some paying clients. I’m not sure exactly when we’re going to start, but I’m ready and waiting; it’s an exciting prospect.
In site news, the Tape Trading section has been updated once more, having received two new CD’s since the last update, and four new tapes (including an original from Hysteria). Mostly Hyper D’s, but there’s a lot of other MC’s on the tapes too — some wicked B2B deals at One Nation with Skibba, Hyper D, Fearless, 5ive-O etc. all going for it. I have a few more trades in the pipeline, I’ve just got to get some more blank tapes first (some CD-R’s would be nice too).
And in other news, on the 24th we went to Distinction night club in Ipswich to celebrate Ian’s birthday, which was that day. Being a bank holiday weekend, it was a big night on at Distinction; headlining was Goldie with Adam F and J Majik. DET was down to MC, but he never turned up! It’s doubtful he was ever going to, which is pretty bad I think. There should be some rule that prevents a club from using a DJ/MC’s name to draw a crowd, unless they’re 100% confirmed.
Nevertheless it was a great night, probably my best out in Ipswich (that or the Skibadee night at Venom in April). Despite most people abandoning the place mid-way through Goldie’s set (3 – 5am), we were dancing hard till the last beat. At the end of the night I went up on stage, met the man, shook the hand and got his autograph on my t-shirt! Chuffed, I was!
August 22
Today I’ve added a shortcut icon to the site, which is in fact the Mitchell Tartan. Well, almost. I had to change the brightness a bit so it would stand out at such a small size… Those using Mozilla should have noticed it in the address bar already, while those still using the primitive Internet Explorer won’t get to appreciate it unless you’ve added me as a ‘Favorite’.
August 18
Photos from July’s holiday in Amsterdam have now been added to the private photo archive along with photos from the weekend’s rave at Kartouche in Ipswich, with plenty of Skibadee tearing up the mic. The Tape Trading section has been updated with another ten mix tapes or so, mostly with ‘Hyper D round the mic, amongst other MC’s. I’ve also [finally] archived journal entries from May, June and July.
August 16
The two CD’s I spoke of in my last entry arrived yesterday, only two days after they were sent out from Germany, which is pretty impressive. Especially considering two packages I sent out this week to my English homeland both took the same amount of time, despite being first class!
Stevie Hyper D’s album, The Next Step was part of the deal, and man am I pleased it was! It’s sad though to think Stevie never got to see its release and see what an impact it would have on the scene. After listening to it year’s after its release, I think it must have been a bit before it’s time, with outfits like Reprazent and MC’s like DET only recently daring to release tunes with vocals (with obvious influence), that even now aren’t up to the quality of Hyper’s. One can only imagine, if he lived on, how the place of the MC would have evolved, and where it would be now.
Also received yesterday was a tape of Mickey Finn and DJ Hype from Slammin’ Vinyl, 1997 with the vocal talents of Stevie Hyper D once more. I believe they are both from a 4-pack that was listed at their online store a while ago, but has since been removed. Maybe it’s out of stock. Mickey Finn wasn’t at the November event of ‘97, and I have the September pack, so by way of elimination, they must come from that 4-pack. Anyone with the other two tapes please mail me to arrange a trade!
I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, well kind of. I’m hoping to get my hair cut in the morning (depending if I can borrow the money from my parents!), go to a barbeque in the afternoon round Ian’s and from there head off into town for another big D&B night at Kartouche. Incidentally my Dad brought home a flyer for Distinction yesterday, which confirmed two things about tonight: Kartouche is going to be rammed, while Distinction is going to be empty!
August 13
The CD’s from Germany haven’t arrived yet. It turns out they haven’t even been sent out yet, which is fair enough: first time around I was late in sending away my CD’s. Raffael mailed me to say they’re being sent today, so I should be listening to them before the end of the week, hopefully.
Two tapes came in the post this morning though, from Jon in Devon. I’m not particularly happy with them, for various reasons — aside from the fact one of the sets I already have — but there is one good set between them. Maybe my expectations are too high, but I expect tapes to be labelled, and to be filled with agreed sets… these were neither. “You win some you loose some,” seemingly.
So I’ve added the new Darren Jay set to the Tape Trading section, and expect to add another few tomorrow, when two more tapes should arrive.
Layout changes have been made throughout the site, with the addition of the Gainsboro-coloured borders either side of the main content (and 2px above and below), slight tweaks to several pages, and the base font size has been reduced by 10%.
August 11
I’m reduced to typing with just my right hand, after a terrifying bike accident on Friday night, in which I consider myself very lucky (for once!) to survive with just a fractured Clavicle and numerous cuts and bruises. My arm is in a sling, and have been advised to keep it that way for the next three weeks. Needless to say I’m not happy …and nor is Phil at The Kings Head (where I wash-up part-time) as my injury kind of means I can’t work.
“The accident” also might have putpaid to plans of going out to Kartouche in Ipswich for another big Drum & Bass night on Saturday. In fact there are two I was planning on going to; the first is Shy FX’ and T Power’s album launch party for last year’s Set It Off and features DJ’s Hype and Shy FX himself alongside MC Skibadee; the second on Saturday the 30th, labelled ‘The Summer Session part 2’ features DJ’s Kenny Ken, Mampi Swift and Freaky Flow with MC’s Skibadee, Spyda, IC3 and Flipside. Both nights are run by Venom and are going to be absolutely large. I really don’t want to miss either of them, and nor should you if you’re in the area.
August 8
After two months of neglect, The Programme Covers Project has been updated with 40 new covers from around the world, mostly from America it has to be said. It’s sister project, The Hydroplane Programme Covers Project (yes, I like long titles!) has also been updated, but with only a few new covers. Mad 4 Driving (the hosts of this site) have asked that all hostees now carry two advertising banners on every page, which is a shame, but I can’t complain, having avoided them for the last 4 years! Yesterday I added them to 115 pages …just 500 odd to go now!
August 4
I’m getting used to rejection by now, after the recent most job I applied for was given to another candidate. That’s slightly miss-leading, since it suggests I was a candidate too. I apparently wasn’t even considered, because I lack the experience. I wonder how many ‘Junior website assistants’ run their own .com…
I may not have the experience of working in an office at an Internet company, but surely the websites I have created and maintained in my bedroom are worthy experience, if not success stories?
In case you hadn’t noticed, cosmetic changes have been made to each and every page, including; adjusted sizes and weights of headers; re-worked menus, so they now look good in IE; and some slight layout changes (probably not even noticeable).