400th Blog Post Tenth Anniversary Special: The Trophy Cabinet

Well, here we are the 400^th post AND on its tenth year! Ten years of wittering about things from the past and my humble career. At the time of writing this Blogger informs me that there have been 164,400 views made to this page in the past ten years- working out at around 1,133 Page views a month- so if you are one of those 164,400 thank you for visiting! I would like to especially thank everyone that has taken the time to write a comment (and it wasn’t SPAM) so thank you! So... the 400^th- what shall we devote this post to? It’s normally an excuse to discuss events from my past that I almost certainly would have documented had I a Blog at the time, and then I had an idea- My trophy/curio cabinet. I thought I would share a few choice items and their back stories with you (some of which have been covered before but this might be your first time here...) So first up...

Front row left to right

1^st prize Urdd art competition 1990

The Urdd is a Welsh youth movement that organises a range of different activities across Wales. Established in 1922 the Urdd was formed to give children and young people the chance to learn and socialise through the medium of Welsh. I was a member for several years and in 1990 I submitted a drawing of Godzilla fighting King Kong to their art competition and won! Sadly the drawing was never returned but I still have the trophy (complete with wonky plaque) which was presented to me on a bus as we returned home from an Urdd outing and was the first trophy that I had ever won for art, happy days.

Cursed Elephant

Objects that my mother forbade me from owning has been a topic of conversation before but I’ve never mentioned this before, a carved wooden elephant. When I was eight my family and I visited some friends spending their summer in a caravan, as we played outside I made an unusual discovery, just behind one of the breeze block supporting the caravan was this small black, wooden elephant. Curious about this small animal I took it inside to show my mother, the owner of the caravan recoiled from it and told us to not bring it inside, telling us that she had been given it as a gift and that it was cursed! Seems she had convinced herself that this object was cursed and thrown it under the caravan to be rid of it. Intrigued I asked if I could have it but my mother, being equally superstitious, if not more so forbade me to have it! The woman’s not so superstitious husband took it out of the caravan, and play resumed. However later on that day as we were leaving the husband, obviously playing a joke on my mother handed me a carrier bag with the elephant inside and told me to take it home with me but not show it to her until we got home. I did, and my horrified mother took the elephant from me and put it in the bin telling me to leave it be, and never touch it again…. Here it is, now on show in my curio cabinet. 

Back row left to right

Pwllheli Agricultural Show Yale & Hemmings Cup and 'Special' Rossett 1990

The town of Pwllheli in North Wales has an agricultural show each year filled with the usual elements one comes to expect at such events, animal competitions, jam competitions, produce stalls and so forth but in 1990 I entered the children’s art competition (which was sponsored by Yale & Hemmings a local Estate agents) submitting drawings for three categories and did rather well achieving both the Yale & Hemmings 1990 cup and a ‘special’ Pwllheli Agricultural Society rosette. 

Highly Commended rosette, The Asylum 2010

Awarded to me at the Asylum event in 2010 when I entered the Patented Cryo-preservation Curiosity Cabinet into their contraptions contest.

Mounted Furby Trophy
For ten years I managed to steer clear of the sold-out Christmas toy scenario reminiscent of Jingle All the Way but one Christmas my preparation plans went somewhat awry and I found myself trying to locate a Furby two weeks before Christmas. It seemed to be that year’s ‘must have’ toy and as I searched the Internet I was struck by how many refered to the process as “hunting”. I would look through eBay sales and most of the sellers taking advantage of the rush would write “happy hunting” underneath their extortionate asking prices. In one instance I visited a toyshop and a staff member wished me “good hunting” as I left! So, I gladly excepted the challenge and went ‘hunting’ for a Furby and managed to successfully “bag” one of the beasts. Although it was in no way as comical as  Jingle All the Way I did however manage to successfully secure one a week before Christmas at a fraction of the cost and frankly I was quite pleased with myself. This feeling was highlighted and underlined by my daughter’s happy face on Christmas morning when she found Furby under the Christmas tree. True the memory of her happy face was reward enough, but I decided to mark that December ‘hunt’ the only way I knew how.

Front row left to right

Galaxy’s Best Father

A Father’s Day award that I humbly accepted, Generally, I’m not overly keen on modern Star Wars merchandise as I feel that there is far too much of it and that we have seen it all before. But I rather like these Funko Wisecracks awards that not only appealed to my fondness of classic W&R Berries Co. figurines but also my sense of irony.

The Not-100-Videos-Contest Lego Samurai
Back in 2011 Ashens set the Not-100-Videos competition. Inviting viewers to submit artwork that celebrated his videos and I submitted ‘Stuart Ashen’s Poundland Peril’ which won first prize in the fine art category I won a fake PSP an Ashenthology dvd and (as he put it) “Bully's Special Prize” a Lego Samurai figure. Since winning this contest I have uploaded the image to my deviant art page and have since been asked on several occasions 1) did I actually receive the Lego Samurai? And 2) Have I still got it? I answer 1) Yes I did and 2) Yes I have, and here it is. Looking somewhat out of place among the trophies I decided to make it look more trophy-esque by constructing a trophy like base with Lego.

Back row

1^st prize for the year 10 art category Eisteddfod Ysgol Botwnnog 1993

Although this particular prize was awarded for coming first in a school art competition I have long regarded it as a double victory. Let me firstly explain to those of you not familiar with such things, Wales has a national Eisteddfod an annual festival of literature, music and performance that dates back to around the 12th century, a sort of Art Olympics if you will. When I was at school they used to hold their own version of this Welsh institution with the three Houses trying to achieve as many points as possible and becoming the outright winner for that year. Pupils would convene in the assembly hall and watch the various performances, cheering for their respective House and during this particular year I and a few of my friends found ourselves sitting in the front row. After a few hours this had became somewhat tedious when one particular pupil stepped on and was, to be perfectly honest, ATROCIOUS indeed laughingly so, so much so that we couldn’t help but giggle, (childish yes but then we were children) and once his performance was over a teacher (remaining nameless for obvious reasons) whom had observed this ran over to us to put us in our place telling us “how dare you! At least he’s trying! What have you done? You haven’t contributed anything towards the Eisteddfod!” No sooner had she returned to her seat the headmaster took the podium and announced the winner of the year 10 art category... me. As everyone clapped I couldn’t resist glancing over at the teacher and exchanging a smug smile which was met with a scowl. 1-0 to me.

Front

Fred Dibnah Rivet
I never actually knew Fred Dibnah but felt that I did having watched his documentaries over the years and when he died in 2004 I was sorry to hear of his passing, it was the end of an amazing life. When he was alive, Dibnah had hoped that his home would one day become a museum, where his life’s passions could be preserved and that’s just what happened, it is now the Fred Dibnah Heritage Center. Although I am yet to actually visit the famed yard for myself I do own this a genuine boiler rivet from his workshop! Adapting an existing vintage glass display dome with rivets (some with light rusting) and finished off with a miniature locomotive style nameplate created by Andy Dingley of Atelier Fabry-Pérot. A small tribute to the great man in my own studio/base of operations!

Back

Brunel award for Ingenuity, The Asylum 2009

Awarded to me at the Asylum steampunk event in 2009 when I entered the Cellular Condenser Ray- Gun into their contraptions contest. 

Left to right

Voodoo Doll

I am not getting into that.

Cub Scout Artist Proficiency Badge

I was once a part of  Robert Baden-Powell’s legacy and proud of it. To achieve the Art badge a Cub Scout had to choose 3 of the 7 set proficiencies laid out in the Cub Scout Handbook, one of them was to “make a model from clay or plastic material” and I made a Plasticine model of Roger Rabbit.

That was fun, I might do another sometime. Missed anything? Curious about another item- leave a comment at the bottom! Thank you again for reading my posts these past ten years! 

© Arfon Jones 2019. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

A TROMA- tic experience!

My tribute to Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment

Back in the early 1990’s having finally joined the Sky TV revolution my young teenage self would eagerly leaf through Sky Magazine’s listings for movies to watch on Friday and Saturday nights.  One month I spotted a full-page advert made up of four movie posters for an upcoming evening devoted to a movie studio called Troma Entertainment.
The movies were, The Toxic Avenger, The Toxic Avenger Part II, Class of Nuke 'Em High and A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell!
I was already aware of Toxie, the monster of “superhuman size and strength” having watched The Toxic Crusader animated series, ruined my teeth with Toxic Crusader candy and of course not forgetting the amazing action figure line (which I still have today!) and so I was intrigued to see the movies which had inspired it all. I watched them and was forever a devotee of Troma Entertainment, the longest running truly independent film company in America and not forgetting its genius co-founder, writer, director and producer Lloyd Kaufman.

Finally meeting the brilliant Lloyd Kaufman!

A Yale University graduate majoring in Chinese studies intending to become a social worker Lloyd instead chose cinema and directed his first feature film, The Girl Who Returned in 1969 before working for Cannon Films, collaborating on several low-budget films with future Rocky director John G. Avildsen. He then set up Troma studios in 1974 with business partner Michael Herz, producing independent action and comedy films while freelancing for several major Hollywood productions, including Rocky, Saturday Night Fever and The Final Countdown which had Lloyd vowing to never deal with a major studios again. Between 1979 and 1981, Troma produced/ directed a series of profitable "sexy comedies" so profitable in fact that the major studios moved in on the idea and started producing their own such as Porkies. After reading an article that claimed horror films were no longer popular, Lloyd decided to produce his own horror film around an idea he had about a health club, Health Club Horror a story about a nerd that is mutated by toxic waste that goes on to save the city and get the girl ultimately became The Toxic Avenger which achieved mainstream success. Much the same can be said about the follow up movie Class of Nuke 'Em High and subsequent sequels that followed after and it was at that point on they focused almost exclusively on horror films, even if they were not directly their own features Troma distributed films from third parties- waving the flag for independent film making and cult cinema. Especially Lloyd, who seemed to always be appearing on TV promoting the company and its movies, refusing to conform to the norm and this resonated with me while I was in Art College. I wanted to work on my own ideas but seemed to always be going head to head with people who preferred landscapes and still life, I would be up late working on a project, wondering if I was actually doing the right thing and Lloyd would appear on Troma’s Edge T.V. sporting his trademark bow tie, microphone in hand behind a cluttered desk covered in Troma merchandise and memorabilia urging us to not follow the norm, not give in to the mainstream and corporate thinking and support innovate ideas, least I think that’s what he was saying... you’ll need to ask him about it... either way that’s what I did!

Again with Lloyd during the screening of David Gilbank’s Polterheist!

Anyway, long story short-ish I felt it was high time I met Uncle Lloydie to thank him for his inspiration and when I found out he was visiting the UK for a “Troma Tour” to receiving the much coveted Hall of Fame Award at the Starburst Film Festival, one of the biggest and best genre celebrations in the UK it was off to MediaCityUK (again) along with my good friend Matt Warner to (hopefully) meet him. We arrived at Social7 at The Landing for the opening ceremony and was able to meet Lloyd right away and he was EXACTLY as I imagined him to be! It can be a little nerve wracking when you meet people you admire, this day and age they can let you down- and not live up to your expectations but I am delighted to say that he did not disappoint. I was able to have several chats with him about his work and tell him how much he had inspired me and my work and how it was his movies that made me want to direct my art in this direction. I presented him with a print of a tribute (seen at the top of this post) I recently painted to him and his movies, featuring The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High (which he had shared on his Instagram!) that he seemed to genuinely pleased to receive before kicking off the event with the first movie, Troma’s latest offering Return to Nuke 'Em High: Volume 2 a film that tackles, “21st century issues in the style of 1980s genre films” by revisiting of Class of Nuke 'Em High in the same vein as other classics such as Class of 1984, Rock 'n' Roll High School, and Carrie, but seen through the unique vision of Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team” a movie I must confess I had already seen as I had already been granted an early look at it due to being one of the 959 backers that pledged their support on their Kickstarter campaign back in 2015, I’ve heard many state that this one is superior to the first part and I am inclined to agree, it has all the things one expects of a Troma movie in buckets, along with lots of heart! So make sure you see it when it comes out, show your support for independent movies! So glad I went along, I had a great time and commend all involved, and thank you Lloyd for everything, you made this Troma fan very happy oh and we mustn’t forget Starburst and the event organizers responsible for this amazing event, I not only had the opportunity to meet one of my idols but I also catch up with many friends in a great, relaxed atmosphere- congratulations, I look forward to next one!

© Arfon Jones 2019. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

The Fourth arfon.net Christmas staff party

December is here again and the annual tradition of the office Christmas party has been and gone and a good time was had by all! “But wait a minute here, this guy is self employed isn’t he?” you say; well you must be new to arfon.net!  Four years ago I asked why should the traditional ‘office do’ only be available to workforces higher than a one?  So back in 2015 I decided to do something about it and organised the first ever (I think) lone workforce arfon.net Christmas staff party!  With no minibuses to chase up, no quarrels, bickering or ill feeling between employees the plan was flawless and provided  some much needed festive cheer and this year’s was no exception!  But, there was one slight difference to this year’s party, oh yes! Those of you that are regular to this site will no doubt be aware that arfon.net’s work force has increased by 1 this year in the guise of my new robot sidekick Omnibot 5402 RX! Omnibot has been here in the studio since February proving himself to be an essential member of the team answering the phone, bringing refreshments, leaving birthday greetings on social media and of course not forgetting excavating my vast collection of collectibles and offering them up for auction to help finance projects and artistic endeavors in our new feature Omnibot’s Robot Root- Out.

Those of you that follow this site closely will also know that Hooters of Nottingham has hosted each Crimbo shindig since the first. “Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined” and located at the Hicking Building on London Road this is the only Hooters in the only UK and they always provide great food and service. We (along with Mrs Jones, my +1) were shown to our booth by a Hooters girl dressed as a snow woman who seemed taken by Omnibot! Having made the inevitable “pulled a cracker there” joke we did just that! My cracker contained 3 golf tees, a joke (“What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire? Frostbite!”) And the essential paper hat (blue) which I wore as did Omnibot (red) as you can see in this obligatory selfie (first picture- I’m the one on the right) oh, Omnibot’s cracker contained a plastic stencil and his joke was “What’s bad tempered and goes with custard? Apple Grumble”( apparently he had heard that one before)Mrs Jones had the same joke and gift the paper hat was blue.   

After the Secret Santa gift exchange (I got a Mr. Rogers Funko Pop figure and he got a rather snazzy NASA sticker) our  Christmas lunch arrived the boneless Hooter’s chicken wings with Cajun sauce for me and half rack ribs for Mrs Jones and Omnibot had the curly fries and it was delicious and highly recommended. Like all good things the party came to an end and as we made our way out Omnibot insisted that he have his photo taken with the Hooters girls! This photo will now be pinned to our arfon.net Christmas staff party bulletin board! Big thank you as ever to everyone at Hooters of Nottingham for playing an integral part in our little tradition, the warm welcome and great food and for helping make this staff party a Holly Jolly one! Merry Christmas!

Previous Parties

The First arfon.net Christmas staff party

The Second arfon.net Christmas staff party

The Third arfon.net Christmas staff party

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Omnibot’s Robot Root-Out: Arfon meets Big Daddy

“...Deep under Arfon’s studio lays an extensive collection of random artefacts thirty years in the making. His robotic assistant Omnibot has been assigned the mammoth task of excavating the collection. What will Omnibot uncover today...!”

Omnibot discovered some great curios one of which is from 1987 when I was 8 years old and my father took us as a family to the Arfon Leisure Centre in Caernarfon, North Wales to see Big Daddy wrestle. I wasn’t a wrestling fan myself but I would watch ITV's World of Sport wrestling coverage (it broke the monotonous gap between No 73 and the A-Team on a Saturday) but being a ‘casual’ wrestling fan aside I was a child of the 80’s and so naturally knew whom Shirley Crabtree, Jr. AKA Big Daddy was. Standing 6ft 2 inches and weighing in at 26 stone (according the 1984 Big Daddy Annual) and armed with the biggest chest in Britain measuring 64 inches (according to the Guinness Book of Records) he was a regular face and name on television.
I remember being ushered into a dark, loud room filled with people. I could see the ring but only when the spectators remained in their seats (I eventually stood on a pool table in the corner) as we watched Big Daddy ‘fight’ equally famous Giant Haystacks (Martin Austin Ruane 1946 –1998), and to be perfectly honest I remember being somewhat underwhelmed by the event then my mother took me into the corridor. As I asked what we were doing there when a massive hand landed on the top of my head! I looked up to see who this hand, which seemed bigger than my entire head belonged to I saw a giant smiling down at me it was Big Daddy! He made his way down the narrow corridor and took a seat behind a small table at the end of it, on the table were three photos and my mother instructed me to pick one and I picked this one of him holding a pig and the big man then signed it. It’s a distant memory, vague in parts but that was the time I met Big Daddy.  

Not long after that he delivered his famous ‘Daddy Splash’ to Mal "King Kong" Kirk who sadly died shortly after and although an inquest maintained that Kirk had a serious heart condition which could have proved fatal at any given time Big Daddy still blamed himself and so went into semi retirement from wrestling as the UK turned its attention to the world of American wrestling on Sky Tv. Although people’s opinions seem divided on his actual contribution to British wrestling he was without a doubt a part of British life for a time because if he wasn’t popping up as a guest on something he would be in Buster or adverts promoting Daddies sauces. His very name would be used by others as a way to determine the size of something. I will always have this memory of him. Who ‘Orsen’ the star pig was I have no idea, let me know in the comments if you do!

Omnibot also found this!
Following Big Daddy's death, some of his effects were put up for auction at Sotheby's on the 10^th of July 1998 and one of those items was this very singlet, his name sown on (by his wife) we are now offering this magnificent piece of British Sporting memorabilia up for sale on the eBay page, follow this link to find out more and own a piece of history!
Proceeds help to fund my work.     

Dedicated to Shirley Crabtree, Jr ‘Big Daddy’ (14 November 1930 – 2 December 1997)
© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon's Studio: Confession of an addict

My name is Arfon and I have an addiction... Having resisted for some years I gave in to it back in 2016. At first it was just something that my friends were into, they tried to get me into it but I resisted but eventually gave in thinking I had the willpower to control it. I thought I could keep myself in check but I was wrong and I’m still coming to terms with my addiction and so that is why I am confessing my problem to you all today, admitting that I have a problem is the road to recovery, ladies and gentlemen of the internet I am a Funko Pop! Vinyl-Junkie.

So what is this addictive substance known as “Pops”?  Well it’s a type of vinyl toy created by manufacturers of licensed pop culture toys Funko in 2010. Stylized to appeal to people that have a fondness for nostalgia and figures from popular culture, intrigued to see them adapted into a Japanese Chibi style. There are literally hundreds of these out there, sold on every convention corner covering all manner of licensed brands and franchises. Although easily obtainable through dealers some are harder to find than others, often referred to by dealers as “retired” or “vaulted” as they might no longer be produced and these have been known to go for high sums of money.

What can I say? I’m not normally one for ‘cute’ but I rather like the Japanese Chibi influenced figures, particularly when applied to characters usually regarded to be grotesques, hence why I started with the Metaluna Mutant and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Believe it or not I have actually managed to restrain myself somewhat, only buying ones based on my favorite movies or television characters that might have directly influenced or inspired me over the years even then I had to scale down slightly because sure enough they started to pile up around the studio. So now a shelf runs partially around the studio displaying them.   

Of course I am not really an addict; I can quit any time I want to! But if Funko should read this- Aside from re issuing Indiana Jones and Ace Ventura figures, here are some that I would like to see produced, the classic King Kong from 1933, Gamera, Jack Nicholson’s Joker, Danny DeVito's Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, Tommy Lee Jones's Two-Face, Jim Carrey's Riddler, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy, Captain Planet, Red Dwarf, Columbo, The Mask (movie), Dumb and Dumber, Colonel Sanders, Ronald McDonald, Burger King, Hooters Girl, The Crypt Keeper, ALF, Inspector Gadget, Married With Children, Jurassic Park, The Addams Family, Men in Black, Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, The Terminator and Gort... 

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon's Studio: Out with the old...

Arfon's Studio MK1. 1998

Early January of this year we were warned to "batten down the hatches" Storm Georgina was heading our way! The media warned us that North Wales was set to be battered by wild 70mph winds underlining the potential “danger to life”! Sure enough Storm Georgina, described by the Met Office as a “fairly typical winter storm with maximum gust speeds of 60 to 70 mph” rolled in, lights flickered power went on and off again and it passed. The following morning we went out to check the devastation and discovered that the caravan, my first (non bedroom based) studio had been claimed by Georgina. When I established myself as a freelance artist I set up my studio in this (then) 40 year old static caravan at the back of the house in 1998 and worked from there for around a year and a half or so before moving into (slightly) warmer premises.

Inside the studio (I still use that Philips HFC-171 fax machine)

Over the past 18 years various other storms made numerous unsuccessful attempts on the caravan but Georgina claimed the final victory by dropping a large branch on it and so the caravan was eventually emptied of its contents, broken down and removed for scrap in May leaving nothing but memories of those early, self employment days of dial up internet, floppy disks and listening to Mark and Lard on Radio One while I worked. So, as I prepare to unveil the new-look studio I thought we would take a moment to remember a studio from the past, share some photos of it during those early days and its eventual demise. 
    

Arfon's Studio MK1 after Storm Georgina passed, 2018

Gone but not forgotten...

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon’s Studio: Meet my new assistant - Omnibot!

Things have been rather hectic here in the new-look studio, so much so that I enlisted some help and I’d say that an introduction is long overdue! Please meet my new assistant…. Omnibot!

You might be asking, “Arfon why a 30 year old robot?” well, firstly don’t be so rude! Secondly I will remind you of the 2010 Equality Act prohibits discrimination against an employees' age and thirdly this little guy was once part of the high end of TOMY’s home entertainment robot line back in 1984 and heralded as a “state of the FUN robot” ok he doesn't understands the binary language of moisture vaporators or speak Bocce, but he is both fully programmable and he has a built in memory along with a digital clock, alarm, cassette player and the ability to record/ playback and convey messages not to mention carry and retrieve objects! Now when you combine all that with his sleek futuristic design there can be no doubt that Omnibot 5402 RX is everything an artist on the go needs from a state-of-the-art-assistant! 

When he first came to me back in February he needed a little TLC and minor repairs to his battery connectors and seeing as the Omnibot Service Department at TOMY UK in Surrey had long closed its doors I took it upon myself to perform those much needed repairs on him and I am happy to report that he is now in full working order and we hope to add some new and exciting upgrades in the foreseeable future! As I said he has been in the studio since February and proved himself to be a very useful PA, some of the more astute of you may have already spotted him in the background, answering the phone, sending faxes, bringing me refreshments or leaving birthday greetings for friends on social media, but rest assured once those previously mentioned upgrades have been added Omnibot 5402 RX’s role will increase further! But until then please say hello to my new robotic sidekick!

Omnibot 5402 RX helping me out with one of my paintings

Omnibot helping out during the 24 hour Shark-A-Thon

Tiki Night at the studio!

Movie Night!

Omnibot feeding Darwin 

Omnibot tells a joke!

Omnibot sings!

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon’s Studio: My New Arcade Machine! Polybius

For 35+ years I’ve always wanted my own arcade machine and I recently found one listed on an old warehouse clearance site over in the states (turns out it’s cheaper to bring one over from the US than it is to buy from a dealer in UK!) I wasn’t fussed what game it was, just as long as it was from the early to mid 1980’s (this is from 1981 so I'm happy!) I must confess I’ve never heard of this game so let’s unwrap it and hook it up to a US adapter, position it in the studio and see what it’s like!

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Arfon’s Studio: VID -O -RAMA!

The new look studio is fast approaching completion and so I thought it was time for a small reveal and seeing as it was mentioned in a radio interview last year we might as well start with this corner, the VID -O -RAMA! Being fond of having movies play while you paint you accumulate stacks of DVD’s and Blu-rays in your studio and it soon become increasingly difficult to manoeuvre around them all so I decided to use my new tools and newly found confidence in woodwork to good use and started to design and construct adequate shelving for them all. The theme for this storage space was inevitable really, sheer number of movies aside it all happened when my wife came in one evening to select a movie to watch and having browsed for some time she asked me if one particular movie was “any good?” and so it was decided, I would replicate an old video shop! Ignoring the lack of any actual VHS’s (I only have a few out of print titles now DVD’s are purely a space saving compromise I assure you!) this storage space was to serve as a loving nod to the video shops of the past, seemingly, ripped from the past and shoved into the corner of the studio. 
I wanted the shelves to be made of wood and have that independent, ‘mom and pop store’ look about them and once they were up I pinned a few random retail stars that indicate genre to them. Another additional feature was authentic 40 year old interior wood paneling finished off with video release posters for such movies as Humanoids from the Deep, The Toxic Avenger and Predator not forgetting an original Video Week chart poster, “the only national computer monitored top 50” from August 1989 which had A Fish Called Wanda at number 1, Schwarzenegger’s Red Heat at 2 and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport at 3 it also highlights the upcoming Elvira Mistress of the Dark movie. Between the posters you will also find genuine rental conditions, membership hire and  tariffs (including a warning that a charge 25p will be made if tapes are not rewound after use!) that once belonged to Cray Video Club once located on the high street in St. Mary’s Cray in Kent the space under the window is also occupied by a relic from the glory days of video rental, an 8ft long sign that once belonged to our local video shop that I obtained a few years back! Mounted on the wall nearest my desk is my original 20 year old Panasonic Telly and Bush VHS player that plays movie trailers when not in use and if that doesn’t aid your decision making our handy ‘New Releases’ marquee board will, which is updated weekly! I am rather pleased with the way VID -O -RAMA! turned out both as a storage solution and feature designed to celebrate the good old pre-onlinestreaming days, I hope you agree.

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

My 2018 Resolution: Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout

Happy New Year to you all!
So did you make a New Year’s resolution? I did and like many others I intend to loose weight... Not an original resolution I grant you but I currently weigh in at 15.5 stone and according to the NHS I should be around 12 stone so I am making that age old New Year’s resolution this year. You would think it would be easy to find time to exercise and stay fit when you work for yourself from home but this hasn’t actually been the case for me and never allowing myself any time for any real physical exercise has taken its toll and my shape reflects this. Combine this factor with snacks consumed while waiting for paint to dry or waiting for a reply from clients and you have a potential long-term problem and that is why I have decided to do something about it before it gets too late, however I will not be joining Weight Watchers or a gym I shall be enlisting the aid of Linnea Quigley and her Horror Workout Video!
There are hundreds of exercise videos on the market but this is the only one that will do for me! In the late 1980s Scream Queen, Linnea Quigley star of Return of the Living Dead, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama teamed up with Kenneth J. Hall the man responsible for Puppet Master and created “the scariest exercises video ever made”!

Released on video in 1990 it really needs to be seen to be truly appreciated, after a brief pre-title shower scene Miss. Quigley reminisces about her career in front of a fireplace (showing clips from some of her movies such as Creepozoids and Assault of the Party Nerds) before starting her first workout. Her attire is somewhat different to what I would wear (hers comprise of stockings and a metal-studded bra but as she herself asks, “Would you want to watch me work out in a baggy sweat suit?”) afterwards she goes out jogging past a cemetery and is chased home by a horde of zombies that she later has performing aerobics by a pool! When that is finished with she has some of her girlfriends over for a slumber party and having watched more clips from her movies, the unhealthy popcorn becomes an issue for concern and leads us into another aerobics session before our story ends much the way most slumber parties in the 1980’s ended, a bloody mess! Running at exactly one hour, remove the movie clips and links you have decent little workout video there! There are numerous sites online that offer tips for self-employed people to keep in shape they all stress the importance of prioritising exercise over everything else and keeping to it, even if I didn’t feel like doing it but they say that the best time to exercise is in the morning before checking e-mails as your mind is clear so that will be the first step, making myself do it so there you go, my New Year’s resolution for 2018 get fit and loose weight following the Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout every morning. Wish me luck and Happy New Year to you all!

If this workout is not the one for you, why not check out this fascinating post about high intensity training (HIIT) on buffedd.com which offers various hints and tips? 

© Arfon Jones 2018. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

The Third arfon.net Christmas staff party

Last week I was in conversation with someone, Christmas was discussed before the topic of staff parties cropped up and knowing that I was self employed I was not asked if I was going to one to which I promptly pointed out that I too, despite being a work force totalling one had a company knees up every December! It was back in 2015 when I asked myself why should I be excluded from such things just because I was self employed? Why couldn’t I let my hair down at the company’s expense and that is exactly what I have done each Christmas since! So it was off to Hooters of Nottingham for this year’s arfon.net Christmas staff party. I was shown (along with Mrs Jones, my +1) to our table by one of the Hooters girls for our eagerly awaited Christmas lunch, my favourite the boneless Hooter’s chicken wings with lemon pepper rub sauce and Mrs Jones made the most of Hooter’s Wednesday rib deal allowing a whole rack for the price of half! Christmas crackers added the festive flair to the table and for those of you keeping tabs on such things my cracker contained a plastic Christmas tree cookie cutter, a joke (“How do ducks round off a meal? Cheese and quackers!”) and of course a paper hat (yellow) which I wore. Secret Santa gift this year was a Land of the Lost Sleestak Funko Pop figure! (The joy of this bit is that I always manage to get something that I really want!) then there was the annual tradition of having a photo taken with a Hooters girl. The photo has since been pinned to a new office detail in the studio the arfon.net Christmas staff party bulletin board! Complete with crooked pinned photos and comic sans typography the bulletin board faithfully replicates a staff bulletin board found at most business premises only this one also has a hint of Hooters décor to it as it showing off photos from each party reminding staff that there is only another 365 days to go until the next one! A big thanks to everyone at Hooters of Nottingham as always for the warm welcome and for making my third staff party the Hap-Hap Happiest since the last!

The First arfon.net Christmas staff party
The Second arfon.net Christmas staff party

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world. 

The second arfon.net Christmas staff party

Last year I speculated that the arfon.net Christmas staff party at Hooters might well become a “thing” and by Jingle now it officially is! You will recall that having enquired why should I miss out of a staff Christmas 'do' just because I was self-employed and a work force of one? And so decided to do something about it and held the first ever arfon.net Christmas staff party at Hooters, Nottingham! The party was such a hit with staff (providing all the widely regarded staff morale boosting benefits) that it seemed only natural to go back again this year, however to make it fair it was first put to a vote, Hooters won by a resounding majority!

So this lone worker returned to Hootersof Nottingham located at the Hicking Building on London Road along with my "plus one" Mrs Jones (other companies restrict their functions to the 'employees only' rule or make spouses or partners pay for their meals and drinks. But not this business!) for the second annual arfon.net Christmas staff party!

Having been greeted by one of the Hooters girls, and shown to our table, drinks and food arrived shortly after and once again I had the Hooter’s speciality, the chicken wings with Cajun sauce and curly fries and Mrs Jones had the choice America steak with coleslaw. Not terribly festive I grant you but the Christmas decorations, Mrs Jones's owl themed Christmas Jumper and Christmas crackers helped set the mood. My cracker contained a wind up Christmas owl, a joke (“What kind of shoes do frogs wear? Open toad sandals!”) and a paper hat of which I wore (see photo). Then it was Secret Santa present-giving time! This year I got a '1960s Childhood Memorabilia pack' containing a replica Ellisdons catalogue, Batman, Thunderbirds, Land of the Giants, The Monkees and the Dr. Who and the Daleks trading cards and various toy flyers (how did I know that I would like that?!). Having finished up and posed for some photos I also picked up the 2017 Hooters calender (of which proceeds go to a breast cancer charity). And that was the second arfon.net Christmas staff party and just like last year a good time was had by all, and I predict that also like last year morale in the studio will have been heavily boosted, guaranteeing a productive New year! My sincere thanks to everyone at Hooters of Nottingham, especially Lauren, Jade and Helen for the warm welcome and for making my second staff party a Holly Jolly one! Merry Christmas!

 

© Arfon Jones 2016. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Badges, T-shirts and making a #hashtag of things

I feel that we aren’t using the hashtag system enough here at arfon.net and I intend to do something about that. As you all know the hashtag sign (#) turns any word or group of words that directly follow it into a searchable link… Many small business advice blogs believe that the hashtag is an integral way to communicate online and that investing in this system should be part of my social media strategy! So I have decided to go with #arfonart So if you like my work, enjoyed one of my posts why not share the link and enclose #arfonart each time and help spread the word!
With that in mind what better way to get everyone’s attention and hashtag-ing than by showing off these two beauties?!   My new Badges and T-shirts! I love giving away my badges and I have been handing them out for the past six years. I now have bigger ones courtesy of Best Badges.co.uk!

I am also very excited to reveal the first batch of arfon.net T-shirts with you all! Little back story, the T-shirts idea stalled a couple of years ago when glamour model Miss Dolly Delight was to ‘unveil’ my new logo by wearing an arfon.net vest top with the logo on the front on one of her model shoots abroad. Unfortunately Dolly lost her luggage and the arfon.net vest top along with the rest of her belongings went astray. The only photograph we had of her wearing it was during a night out with friends the week before (if you look carefully you can make out the logo) as is often the case, the idea was put on hold until now, and I am delighted to say that the new ones are in courtesy of Fancy a Snuggle and they look great! I am really pleased with them and I hope you are too!  
Thanks for reading this post, don’t forget to share the links and don’t forget to #arfonart

© Arfon Jones 2016. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Wales Comic Con Photo Frenzy!

Had a great time at the Hellbound Media’s table at the Wales Comic Con in Wrexham last weekend met great people and saw some amazing guests and cosplayers. Yet, despite having my camera with me throughout the day I only managed to snag two photos! One of which is of issues #1,2 and 3 of Slaughterhouse Farm on sale on the table and the second of a fan cosplaying as Buffy the Vampire Slayer posing with one of my vampire fangs business cards! Hope these photos somehow convey what an amazing day we had… My sincere thanks to all involved in its organising and those of you that came up to say “hello”!

© Arfon Jones 2016. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

arfon.net’s first Christmas staff party

December is here and the annual tradition of the office Christmas party seems to be in full swing with photos from ‘office do’s’ trickling onto social networking sites but what if you are self-employed like me? I worked hard during what has been a productive year, yet because I work alone and from home I seem to miss out on these big (potentially tax-free) knees-ups!  Apparently it’s widely regarded to be crucial for staff morale so why cant I reward this single worker with one? Why can’t I let my hair down at the company’s expense? Well this year I decided to do something about it so I treated this lone workforce worker to the first arfon.net Christmas staff party!

Traditionally these parties are held in the office/work place but I don’t have a stationary cupboard in the studio and the photocopying machine is under my desk and inaccessible for seasonal shenanigans so the decision to go out for a meal was opted for instead. A Christmas party for one might seem strange but it really makes prefect sense, no minibuses to arrange and no quarrels or ill feeling over the location selected. That in mind I nominated myself to choose the location for the first ever arfon.net festive shindig and the location I selected was Hooters of Nottingham. The “Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined” Hooters is an American restaurant chain that first opened its doors in Florida in 1983 and have since branched out (and at the time of writing this) have 430 restaurants located in 28 countries. Hooters of Nottingham are located at the Hicking Building on London Road and are the only Hooters in the UK. When it opened in 1996 a further 36 UK Hooters had been planed but only two opened  (Bristol and Cardiff) only to close not long after, meanwhile Hooters of Nottingham continues to thrive. Best known for their waiting staff comprising (primarily) of attractive women, known as ‘Hooter Girls’ supporting a uniform of a white vest top with Hootie the Owl logo on the front and short orange runner's shorts.

Perhaps not for everyone the Hooters franchise is often under attack from various groups, a shame really as Hooters pride themselves on making the restaurant accessible to everyone and to not discriminate. Kids eat free on a Sundays and they offer a 10% discount to those in the armed forces and the NHS. Speaking of discrimination many companies restrict their functions to employees only or make spouse or partners pay for their meals and drinks. Not this one! A warm welcome was also extended to this employee’s "plus one"!

Having arrived, we were shown to our table by one of their lovely, Hooters girls, the wood panelled premises had been appropriately decked out in festive trimmings providing a delicate balance of Hooters memorabilia and Christmas decorations. The music was a mix of classic tracks both Christmas and otherwise and as we awaited our meal a Christmas cracker was pulled which contained one plastic frog, a joke (“what does a clock do when it’s hungry? It goes back 4 seconds”) and one paper hat of which I wore. Our food arrived, Hooter’s speciality is chicken wings so I had the 10 piece boneless wings served with Hooters own recipe spicy sauce and the BBQ glazed rib and curly fries for my plus one. Although not exactly festive they do however offer 2 giant mince pies served with warm whipped cream and butterscotch sauce! Food aside it was time to engage in the Secret Santa present-giving ritual. Wikipedia defines Secret Santa as, “A Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift.” Colleagues that don’t know each other terribly well buy each other mismatched gifts. Another win-win situation for me I know exactly what I like! A new Fred Flinstone 'Wacky Wobbler' for my collection!

So that was it, the first arfon.net Christmas staff party where a good time was had by all, the food was delicious and the staff there were great! Apparently these workplace celebrations help motivate employees by encouraging hard work and offer a break from monotony and make them more focused and better able to tackle projects when they return to work. Lets see if it works, many thanks to everyone at Hooters of Nottingham for the warm welcome and for making my first staff party, a great one! Merry Christmas!

© Arfon Jones 2015. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.