» August 2006 (10 posts)

Traditionally the most important material for jewellery down here in Syria was silver, but for poorer people copper and bronze were also used. Silver gilt and gold were less common and used only in exceptional cases. Precious stones played no part in folk jewelry, but semi-precious stones occur occasion­ally. Cornelian, agate, turquoise and amber were the first choice, and magical properties were attributed to them, because of their colours. Consequently glass beads of the same colours could be substituted. This is what i have learned talking with the people in Damascus.

It is extremely difficult to draw the line between Syrian folk Jewellery and the jewellery of the neighbouring regions, as traditions of late antiquity and Byzantium are still just as apparent as those of the Near East. Syrian jewellery, however, also shows influences of Egyptian, Palestinian and Yemenite jewellery, as well as of jewellery from present- day Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran and Central Asia.

And jewellery is what my last design is about. Down here in Damascus, no matter the amount of work i have, i also find some time for designing. Check above. Back home to my lovely Spain tomorrow.

¡Mercurio, Venus, Tierra, Marte, Júpiter, Saturno, Urano, Neptuno y Plutón!. ¡Hidrógeno, Litio, Sodio, Potasio, Rubidio, Cesio y Francio!. ¡Berilio, Magnesio, Calcio, Estroncio, Bario y Radio!. ¡Mi Mamá me mima. Amo a mi mamá!. ¡Tú tío te tima!. ¡Tómate tu tila!

¡Oh dios mio, es lo único que recuerdo del colegio de carrerilla!. Esas frases largas que me aprendía de memoria. Pero ahora a mi hija no voy a poderle enseñar las mismas, han jodido la de los planetas.

¿Y ahora se dan cuenta los cabrones estos?. Dios mio, ¿qué va a pasar con todos esos libros de texto que ya se han editado, publicado y vendido, para los niños el año que viene en el colegio?. Es el fin del mundo.

As they would say: "When you try your best but you don't succeed, when you get what you want but not what you need, when you feel so tired but you can't sleep. Stuck in reverse." Well, yes, that's how i feel now. Next Sunday i will be flying to Damascus up there in Syria, to work for this guys and their GSM network. Considering that a couple of weeks ago, my company didn't allow us to travel there (due to a high risk situation) and they removed the restriction yesterday (funny) ... well....!! It is more because of my wife being alone with the baby we are waiting . I don´t feel like going up there. But it is a MUST.

Damascus is known to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. There is firm evidence that in the third millennium BC, Damascus was a population center of a civilization that was considerably prosperous and economically influential. The earliest reference to the city was found in the archaeological site of Ebla in 1975; where the word "Damaski" was found on one of the clay tablets. Some historians believe that the city actually dates back to the seventh millennium BC.

I am not sure if the title of this post should be like that considering i talk about porn in here 60% of the time. But, don´t you think God is getting also in the CSS webdesign?. It is amazing the number of well designed church websites that are poping up during the last 3-4 months. For inspiration, you can always go and have a look at our friend's Churchbeauty showcase.

I totally agree with Sean : "Everyday more and more churches are realizing the awesome power of the internet. There are many churches websites that are amazing. Not only do they look great, they are functional and user friendly. Many of them have become the number one information source for their congregations. When a church website is done right and properly cared for, it can be a powerful tool."

Funny weekend the one i had. As i already explained, i use anything as inspiration for a design. Then my wife told me that the baby we are waiting for (a girl) was kicking her stomach too much during the last two days. I said : "Susana, that's cause she wants daddy to do a design based on her". And that's what i did using my flash knowledge. And then the baby stopped. Enjoy as my wife did. Logo Inspiration.

Well, we are a bit impressed this weekend; seems like nobody heard about Carbonmade since they launched back in February more or less. When i talk about being impressed is just because several friends we consider gurús in terms of "what's going on in the internet", they have never mentioned or payed attention to it until last week where most of them have written about it in their blogs. Well, for this people, myself at Cssmania showcased it in February. And it is today when i decide to give it a try with my portfolio.

Building a portfolio is an excellent way to establish an online presence for yourself. Whether you are a designer, photographer, fashion designer, or whatever it may be, a portfolio allows you to show your work and make an impression. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to build a portfolio online and not everyone wants to spend a fortune for someone to make a portfolio for them. This is where the new not so new service called Carbonmade can help you. Carbonmade allows you to make a very nice looking and functional portfolio in no time. It is amazingly easy to make a portfolio that was presentable to anyone you will have an interview with in the next 2 hours.

Bueno, algunos de vosotros me ayudareis en lo siguiente. Me da mucha risa cuando llamo a la Direccion General de Tráfico para preguntar algo que me está quitando el sueño; el otro día cuando me pararon en un control de alcoholemia (en el que dí negativo evidentemente) se me ocurrió preguntarles a los agentes de la ley la duda que tengo (.... y evidentemente casí me multan por preguntarlo y las caras fueron un tanto raras). Ahí va : "Se puede conducir un coche con casco de moto puesto, sin ser multado?". Esta pregunta es crucial para el próximo proyecto web que tengo entre manos.

Ni que decir tiene que no he encontrado nada al respecto en la web de la dgt , que no me han contestado los 5 mails que he mandado, y que me da la risa (o a mí o a la señorita que me atiende) cuando llamo por teléfono. Ayudadme por favor con el Poll de arriba.

Summer is peak season for most domestically grown fruit. It doesn't have to travel as far, so it can mature longer on the tree before being picked and take less time to ripen at home. Fruit tastes sweeter, too, when it ripens on the tree. (There are exceptions: Pears and bananas ripen better off the tree). Not all fruit ripens after harvest. It may become softer, juicier, or less acidic, but its starches stop converting into sugar after it has been picked, so it's important to select good quality at the store. Fruits that don't ripen further at home include berries, citrus fruit, grapes, and pineapples. They must be refrigerated or they will rot.

Of the fruits that do ripen at home, some reach their peak faster than others, provided they were picked after what growers call the "mature green" phase. Common ones include: bananas, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, and kiwi. These fruits naturally emit ethylene gas, which accelerates the ripening process. Placing fruit in a paper bag and closing the top helps concentrate this gas, causing fruit to ripen faster. Bananas are particularly prolific ethylene producers, so if you enclose one in the bag with other ripening fruits, it will accelerate the process even more. Check them regularly, though, to catch them before they rot. After ripening, most fruits like it cold and humid. But they also need to breathe, so don't store them in a closed plastic bag. Open the supermarket plastic bag in which you bought the fruit before you place it in the refrigerator. Transfer fruits that need ripening into a paper bag, close the top, and let them sit at room temperature.

Those are the lessons i learnt while talking with the guys who hired me for their webdesign you can see above. One of the biggest fruit exporters down here in Spain. So, enjoy and eat fruit during summer.

Can a porn movie be scary and sexy at the same time? It can if you're director Michael Raven and you’re at the helm of The Visitors - one of the spookiest adult features I have ever seen.

There’s a lot to admire about The Visitors DVD release, but let’s start with the movie itself. This is a simple story, shot on what appears to be a modest budget (or at least a mid-range one), but yet it’s one of the best adult releases of 2006. Why, you ask? Story...plain and simple. Raven, who often lets his music video style get the best of him, doesn’t bombard the viewer with too many quick cuts or fancy visuals. He lets the story drive the movie, and we all appreciate that.

Also, Raven makes the extremely smart move of never giving us a direct look at the aliens...they exist in the shadows (aptly, Raven originally wanted to call this movie “The Shadow People”), and because we never get to see exactly what they look like or find out their true purpose, it makes the movie that much more scary. As any horror filmmaker worth his salt will tell you, a movie monster is much more terrifying when you don’t let the audience see it...that’s because the monster we create in our mind’s eye is almost always much more terrifying than anything a filmmaker could put on-screen.

But hey, you want to know about the sex, right? Raven’s story doesn’t skimp on the erotic action, with five boy/girl scenes and one alien abduction involving star Kimberly Kane and an alien probe. Remember those horror movies from the 80s where having sex on camera also meant that you were next on the serial killer’s menu? Raven does a similar thing here, where shortly after the sex, the participants are abducted. So after the “moans and groans,” get ready for some additional screaming.

As if the film alone wasn’t enough reason to pick this one up, Wicked Pictures has gone all-out with the bonus features, providing a second DVD in this set that is just loaded with material (and some pretty nifty menus, to boot). The second DVD is divided up into four different sections: “Classified Recon,” “Analysis Database,” “Auxiliary Stimulus,” and “Intelligence Report”.

The “Classified Recon” section is full of behind the scenes material, starting with a 24-minute making-of featurette entitled Incident At Desert City. “Analysis Database” is where you’ll find all the sexually-themed bonus material, starting with a 15-minute look at some of the sex in the movie from the crew’s point of view. The “Auxiliary Stimulus” section of Disc 2 contains 3-minutes worth of bloopers/outtakes from the movie. “Intelligence Report” is the area of Disc 2 where you’ll find all the slide shows, with separate sections for the female stars, the sex scenes, the overall movie, and behind the scenes photos. Cast biographies are also located in this section.

If there’s a downside to The Visitors, it’s that the movie leaves you wanting more. Who are these mysterious aliens? Where do they come from? What do they want? The truth is still out there, but until Wicked decides to green-light a sequel, we’ll have this release of The Visitors for those late nights when we’re looking to be both aroused and scared at the same time.

Sorry for the lack of updates the last two weeks, NV30 was on holidays as you all may know. One of the reasons i went down to Ibiza was the wedding of my good friends Niko and Nadia. A Japanese couple born in Tokyo that i first met while working in El Divino 5 years ago. He wanted me to design his wedding webpage and i did what you see below. I love the photogenic these japanese couple are.

All the best , Niko and Nadia.