February 15, 2010 : 10:58 PM

2003: Year In Review

While looking for an old document of junk I found this Year in Review document. I present it to you in unedited form. Note: If only I data vized my stats I would have had 3 years on Feltron.

I'm unsure why I didn't post this. It's quite funny to me now.

I did a year in review for 2005 and for last year.

2003 Year In review:

Soap went from 3 people to 2, then to 3, then 4 then 5.

The first full year of working for myself.

We launched a new website in December which we started in January.
Had a client get arrested and go to jail for importing $100M+ of Ecstacy. We never saw our money.

We bought a heater, 3 Emacs, 2 PC's and 2 printers. And numerous software. We also bought numerous chairs which will all be obsolete in January 2004

Did our first eyeblaster banners with Syrup.

Completed our first commercial CDROM job for Contiki and HOST.

Built our first flash desktop app for Big Brother 03.

First mentioned in B&T for Moboy and Big Brother

Got the Flash Forward award we won last year from Leo


----------
I retired my laptop to work on a Emac. The took my laptop out of retirement with OSX 10.3 to work occasionally at home.

Bought an IPOD. Converted all my CD's to MP4's. Realized Itunes was useful.

TOP Songs/Albums of 2003: According to Ipods Play Counts:
24 Doves: Lost Souls: Firesuite
22 Coldplay: A Rush of Blood: Clocks:
22 COldplay: Parachutes: Shiver
21 The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land: Climbatize
The Shins: Og Inverted World: Caring is Creepy:
AIR: Moon Safari: Sexy Boy
Cat Power: Moon Safari: Cross Bones Style
Eels: Novacaine for the Soul
Easy Me: Faith No More
Oh Yeah: Yellow

Faith No More is the only artist i own a CD off. The rest I burnt from friends. Weird they should make up the top 25 in my Top played songs:

Only Smashing Pumpkins with 1979 and the before-mentioned Faith No More are the lone artist's in my Top 40 of which I own CD's of. I guess my friends have good taste and I'm a stingy bastard.

Finally understood XML and it's worth

The first full year in sydney I have lived in the same apartment.

In December I finally bought a PS2 and tried to make up for lost time.

I raised $2,150 for Oxfam to travel to China only to have SARS and work interrupted plans.

I Visited Melbourne for the first time.
Visited QLD twice

>> Spoke at 2 conferences this year: Flashklt and Digit. Both ill-prepared but went down well. Also got asked to speak in Singapore (free flight) only to have a job due the same day. Then find out the job is delayed.

My little sister moved in to live with me for a while.

Still haven't got Private Health Cover, Insurance or Laser Eye Surgery.

We bought a new kettle.

Bought a DVD player to go with the DVD's i own.
http://www.theslipperytruffle.com/v4/archives/2003_06.html#000972

Finally started paying for dialup after my free UUNET account stopped working.

Realised i can make good smoothies. Made and consumed around 50

Bought my first ever suit for Robs wedding.

Finally got a electric toothbrush

Realised i like Felafel Kebabs from Ali Baba. Bought and consumed about 15

Sworn off soft drink about 10 times

Got a new mobile phone (Siemens S55) and have hated it ever since.

Number of times vomited: 4
Number of Migraines: 3
Number of fights: 0
Distance i drove a car: 0km
Number of Weddings Attended: 1
Pairs of Shoes bought: 1
Pairs of Shoes worn: 3
Number of times rent paid late: 18
Number of times sunburnt: 1
Allnighters at work: 3
Number of times went to bed before 12am: 50


won ticket to premier of Matrix 2. 1 ticket!!!! I sat behind Jimmy Barnes and next to 2 suited people. I saw the president from 24 on the Red Carpet

i made a google #1
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=bored+stiffy+in+public+places&meta=

February 13, 2010 : 1:11 PM

A Sad Case of Blog ADD

toothpastefordinner.com
toothpastefordinner.com

I have a serious case of Blog ADD. Here's my train of thought for a typical lazy raining Sunday. Part of getting over this problem is sharing the problem so here goes.

I'll get a list of posts I need to do for Sleevage (including ones that I have promised bands and designers sorry guys) and start researching a post. I'll then end up with 25 tabs open and then see something about an underground dance party and start to flag that for the underground blog. By this time I've forgotten about Sleevage. Either that or my tabs crash and I lose all the links.

I'll then see a banner on one of these sites that reminds me to audit the submissions for Bannerblog. I'll look through those which is also littered with viral videos and campaigns. While checking out them I'll see something which triggers a thought for this site.

It's usually a pet peeve or something stupid yet insightful so I open up the admin here. But opening up this admin reminds me of all my other posts I promised myself I'd do. I search for an old list I did somewhere. Google Docs or Toodloo.

I can't find that list but see another list of the collaborative posts/articles I have on the go for Soap Creative and my real job! Oh yeah that Community Post with Matt! I totally forgot. Oh the white paper on Micro Transactions. This is why we got the 2010 Digital Predictions doc done in <5 days because it would have dragged on otherwise.

Thinking about this then reminds me that I should tend to HeroHQ while we're in hiatus awaiting the new game to be announced (soon guys!). I'll check there and someone will link to a crazy X-Men related costume which reminds me that no only did I sell WTFcostumes too soon but my other 3 blog ideas (secret ideas right now) haven't even got off the ground.

The one blog that did get off the ground is the neglected Cool Shit You Can Buy. On official hold due to a blog embargo by my wife.

I then check my email to see another request for a custom Mr Potatohead. I look to my left and see a box of Mr Potatohead parts and piles of clay that have been untouched for almost 2 years now. I resist the urge to make a Predator potatohead yet again.

Looking at my Mr Potatohead photos reminds me that I still have thousands of travel photos to process. It makes me reminisce when I had a proper photoblog back in 2000-2004. Ahh Happy Snaps I miss you. I also find it funny I used to post images 320x320 size. I was worried when I went above 40k for a photo. That was dial up in 2001 I guess.

It's about this time I realise I've done nothing, I'm still in my underpants and I haven't eaten anything. Oh and it's time for bed.

The only saving grace is that Bannerblog has a solid team of editors who keep the site rolling along and Ross, Alex and Matt continue to hold the torch for Soap on the blogs even when I don't.

I hope others out there share the same problem. Maybe I just need a personal assistant?

Disclaimer: Facts may be exaggerated for dramatic effect.

July 11, 2009 : 11:53 PM

Man Week Post

Ash with Shotgun vs Zombie

I was away getting married when Man Week happened so I thought It's better to be late than never for the party of all things manly.

Heroes: Ash

As usual I can't write a good story just lots of little tid bits so here they are. Anything man related I can think of.

1: My Dad's Name

It was at the signing ceremony during the wedding that I discovered what my dad's name was. Gerald Anthony. Not Brock Sampson as I was hoping :(

It was weird seeing his name as I have seen about 3 photos of him and never had any interest in catching up with him since becoming an adult.

The first thing that came to my head when I saw the name was "wonder what will come up if I Google him" but then realised it's a pretty generic name and thus nothing comes up if you try.

I guess my mum gave Ervi's family his name as when they asked me I said I didn't know and if not needed to get married then don't worry.

Update: I did have a father figure (my sisters dad) growing up (well say 50% of it) but this wasn't the best example. Ie he's a douche bag :)

2: Barber Shave

While in Indo (again for the wedding) I decided to get a shave at the Barber's. I've wanted to do this for ages and Indo is great as it's so cheap for this type of stuff. I went to the same place Ervi's dad has been going for 25 years. I'm not sure if it's just this place or what I had was the real deal but it fucking hurt. I was expecting a hot towel to start but the guy just cleaned me up then went into shaving balm/creme stuff. And then right into using the blade. My eyes watered it hurt so bad. The guy ended on a hot towel? Either way I'll be sticking to my Gillette Quatro with aloe vera blades from now.

Funny but this was the most painful experience next to having my blackheads cleaned while getting a facial. Which I also did in indo as again it's so cheap and Ervi was getting one too.

3: Dick and Balls

Being a man is being obsessed with dick and balls. No man can say he's never drawn a dick and balls on a photo of his friends. How detailed you draw the dick and balls is up to you but everone has a style which is similar to a hand writing style.

Here's the ones I've tagged with penis on my Flickr

penis man

nude_kite

alien E

batter_up

mr_touch_it

pelvis_and_penis_proud

touch_it_dude

zombie_nude

penis_dick_man

I believe this might have been Rob's creation.
And here's Superbad talking about dicks

Update: Women don't seem to draw Vaginas so it's a MAN thing.

4: Hair

My most mainly features would be my ability to grow facial hair. Although now I hate shaving as it's a pain in the ass.

Here's me trying to think of more manly things

Planet of the Apes

In addition to facial hair I now have Magnum PI chest hair in addition to other parts I wish didnt have hair. I remember when I just had hair around my nipples in primary school. Ahh those were the days.

This hair however did help me sneak into Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast and nudie bars when I was 16-17 as I looked older.

Additional 5: Man Stuff

In terms of checking off the items on "Being a Man in Australia" sadly I can't change a car tire, even a bike tire would confuse me. I don't own a tool set and only last year got a hammer to um... hammer stuff. Never owned a shed, was always bad at chucking a wheelie on my bike. I'm also shit at fighting and the last time I punched a punching bag I hurt my wrist. (I am a whiz on the speed ball though)

And that's about it for manly stuff and me. Here's a post from Mark P which covers everyone else's posts about man week. Which I haven't gone through in full as I'm lazy and skim read.

Also Mark P and Gavin are putting a book together for Man Week which you can contribute to. More info here.

June 14, 2009 : 5:03 PM

Getting married soon

3606916765_5c845361c5_o.jpg

My wedding date is closing in June 26th and the thing I was most worried about was the conversion to Islam but that will all be sorted soon in Indonesia.

So now I just have to sit back and let is happen. As it's in Indonesia I didn't have to organize anything which was good. I just sent money over :)

The photo at the top is the pre-wedding photos which I'm told we needed for an indo wedding. These will be printed large and around the wedding reception.

The wedding will be a big one 500+ people but in Indonesia that's a normal size. Here's a 1,500 people wedding and it doesn't seem that big. Although I didn't take any crowd shots.

Funny, after being with Ervi for 10 years now the marriage part of things seems like a small part.

April 30, 2009 : 9:52 PM

Wisdom Teeth all Removed

My left side wisdom teeth were removed today

My Wisdom teeth

My Wisdom teeth

The dirty one is the top one which I had no idea was so bad. Glad that's out.

I found there are quite a few photos of people's wisdom teeth on flickr. I only wish I took my camera with me and got a shot of the bloody tooth. These washed teeth have much less "character" I guess the dentist assistant wanted to make it all clean for me. Oh well.

It's funny how events like this are ones I want to capture. The dentist and the assistant seemed OK with me having the teeth but I got the feeling not everyone keeps the teeth they have extracted. Why not it's a great souvenir.

I wish I owned a camera when I sliced my finger open in highschool and when I was badly sun burt in primary school and had to go to hospital. Not having any record of these events annoys me now. Kids these days have camera phones and will be able to keep a record of pretty much everything that happens to them.

April 18, 2009 : 2:26 PM

My Google Reader Trends

Here are my Google Reader trends which I'm disspointed in seeing that Google Reader only keeps the last 30 days. Very lame. I have made a huge effort lately to keep on top of my Google Reader as I used to let it just pile up and then "flag as read" but now I've made an effort to keep on top of a few of my sets of feeds.

google_reader_trends_09.gif


Comparing this to my Google Search history it seems there are no trends between the two.

I dont seem to read anything on Wednesdays and Sunday is my day to catch up before the start of the new week. 8-9am is a big time too as I read when I get in early to work and 3-5 is either catchign up on a few during the day or that's the time I read most on the weekends. Then you have the 11pm and 1am last minute reading before bed.

I'd like to see other people's trends and see if they match mine.

Also I have been sharing and starring heaps as I've used this as bookmarking and a way to share items with friends. I see this as the way I blog now. Rather than just reporting stuff I'll just "share" it on my reader. Check my shared items here. So much good stuff these days it's hard to keep track.

February 11, 2009 : 12:45 AM

20+ Things you did not want to know about me

I like this post from Julian with 7 things you didn't know about me. I actually did this for a bio I sent out. This is the bio verbatim:
Ashley Ringrose is the co-founder of Soap Creative (soap.com.au), creator of Bannerblog (bannerblog.com.au) & has blogged at The Slippery Truffle since 2000. (theslipperytruffle.com/) How to spot Ash in a crowd: Male, just under 6ft, Caucasian, fair complexion, blue eyes, glasses, deep voice, hairy arms, shaven hair while sporting the T-Shirt with a print on it. He is usually found unshaven with a DSLR camera taking photos of abandoned chairs.

Fact you wouldn’t know: Loves pinball machines.
Fact you don’t want to know: Got so badly sun burnt one once he had to go to hospital.
Fact people usually don’t believe: Doesn’t drink alcohol. Sorry just an OJ thanks.
Celebrity he most resembles: Moby
Favorite drink: Milk and Milo.
Favorite film: Back to the Future 2

But I thought after reading Julian's post I might expand on these further. So here's a few extra details and some weird stuff about me that you might not know.

This isn't one of those look how cool I am posts. This is more of me using this as therapy so i'm gonna go deep and share some stuff most people don't know. Not that deep though :) I got a few skeletons that have been locked away tight.

"this is like Facebook's 25 things" which I didn't know as I try to avoid Facebook. But now I read I guess it is. Too bad I have 30 now.

1: I love pinball machines.


I was in a pinball league when in high school. This basically meant I met once a week and played pinball with older people. I also have a "Billion Point Trophy" form Timezone awarded to Ashley Ringrove. This was for the Star Trek pinball. The funny thing is a pinball friend actually got 900,000,000 and I played the last ball. It lasted 30 seconds and the bonuses wrapped up to make 1 Billion. I got the trophy as the guy had already won previously I used to go to Timezone and watch the Aussie champ play. I actually saw him get 1 Billion on the first ball on Getaway. It was the best 5 hrs I spent :)

Here's a tip he taught me. If you reach under a pinball machine to the left you'll find the off switch. Perfect for when you want to go for a smoke (or eat) and don't want other people to jump on the machine.

My fav Pinball machine? Adams Family by a long shot then Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or Creature from the Black Lagoon.

I'm now in a financial position to own a pinball machine but have resisted. Sometimes it's good to not get everything you want. That and I have no room for it and a guy told me that becasue all the pinball companies have gone out of business it's hard to find parts and pinball machines require lots of maintance. And me I'm not a handy person.

2: I got so badly sun burnt one once I had to go to hospital.
Anyone who has met me in real life will realize I'm fair skinned. When I was in primary school on long holidays we went to wet and wild for the day and I got burnt. So badly that my entire back, shoulders and down to my elbows were covers in blisters. I went to hospital and they gave me burn cream. The same you get when you are burnt in a fire.

I then spent the rest of the school holidays (about 3-4 weeks) sleeping slouched over a bean bag with a spaghetti fork/spoon thing. I used that for scratching my face and reaching. As I could not bend my arms.

Sadly I have no photos of this at all. Lame, as it was pretty fucked up and now would make an awesome end to this story. So I have to tell you this disturbing fact to make sure it resonates.

While burnt we went through a car wash I had a massive blister on my chest that looked like a snake. It made no sense the shape but it went from my shoulder down to the middle of my chest. Half way through the car wash I complained that water was getting in and the windows should go up further. They were all the way up??! Oh my massive blister had burst and sprayed onto the windows.

3: I don't drink alcohol.
In the last 13 years of being of the legal age to drink I've had alcohol about 4 times and been drunk 3 times. On all 3 occasions it was to the enjoyment of friends rather than myself. I succumbed to peer pressure and made everyone happy by slurring my words.

I talk about being a non drinker here at length.

I did drink in high school and have many memories of peeing off overpasses onto people, arriving home with a letterbox, not as many memories of pashing girls and the ones I do are all bad, many many memories of throwing up on the lawn of a friends house party and one of riding my bike into the bushes at full speed the next morning. Oh it's how I think I lost my virginity but I have no idea as I was so drunk. So I'll count that as a no.

Being a non drinker is great as everyone thinks you're smart (you can think fast when not drunk) + I have been able to keep Ervi happy by not making a fool of myself or being a hot blooded douche bag.

4: I like Milo
I used to eat that shit right from the tin. I would tear up the roof of my mouth eating that stuff. I still go through a 1KG tin of Milo every 2 months. I'm the eat it dry with the milk to wash it down. That's how I roll today too.

5: I almost drowned
One time during primary school I went to the the beach (that would be one of the 20 or so visits in my life) with a friend on the weekend and nearly drowned.

I was standing on a sand bank and then bamn it was gone. I was too embarrassed to wave my arms and was really struggling to keep my head up out of water. A surfer came past asked if I needed help and then took me to the shore. He then carried me like a baby to the Life Guard area thing. I was Ok by then.

I haven't even told my mum that as i was too freaked out by it.

6: I'm a shit swimmer
This is probably related to the one above but I skipped as much swimming lessons at school because of my white complexion. I am super white. I got called "Casper the hairy ghost" on the rare occasion I did actually swim. Oh I was hairy too earlier than most teens. Sure if looks great on Magnum PI but not me :) My only consolation was that the middle eastern guy had a hairy back and it was pretty thick.

Friends at highschool joked that if we ever crashed in a plane in the middle of the ocean I'd be first to drown.

7: I've seen Back to the Future 2 about 12 times
So I guess this is my fav film. It's the first movie I had on VHS tape which was a dodgy copy from an Aunti in Tasmania. I watch that movie back to back heaps of times and to be fair it does kick ass. Ask anyone about Back to the Future and all the scenes they remember are from 2. It's the best example of a sequel there is.

8: I grew up in housing commission
I grew up on the Gold Coast but was born in Tasmania. We moved to the Gold Coast when I was around 4 (I think). We did have a proper house for a while but that was sold and some stuff happened with my mum and we ended up in housing commission. I didn't even know what they meant at the time. It didn't dawn on me what it was until I moved to Sydney in 1998 and I heard the term "Westie".

I remember being made fun of from other kids in housing commission as our place didn't have lawn. I thought WhoTF wants lawn? We then stole newly laid lawn from the other houses at night (that shit's heavy!) to keep up with the Jones'.

This is the place for those interested.

9: My first job was picking up cigarette butts for ice creams
This is related to the housing commission but I also lived in a "caravan park/ mobile home" place in Tweed Heads. It's now a major motorway I think. I was asked by the guy who owned the store at Sunshine Caravan Park to fill a paper bag, to the top, with the cigarette butts that littered the park. If I did I was given an ice cream. I still remember there was one tent that I found that pretty much filled a paper bag by it's self.

My second job was a paper run which I used to do a pretty good job.


10: I was fired from McDonalds for "Bad Attitude"
After 2 years service I was fired for "Bad Attitude" at McDonalds Pacific Fair. That's after winning "Rookie of the Year" (still go the trophy for that) the year earlier. That was 1995.

But after 2 years of McDonalds how could you not have a bad attitude? But that 2 years taught me a lot about work. It also taught me how to fall on my ass, work will 1am and team work. I still remember going into the freezer and punching the boxes of fries in an effort to break them and lower the fry yield. Also I stole a heap of Hotcake Mix too.

I still use my "timer" knowledge to see if I'm getting an old burger although this freshly made stuff seems to have stopped most of that.

Oh back in 1996 a large drink used to cost 17c including cost for drink, lid, straw and cup. It sold for $1.80 back then. The only thing that's the same cost is a 30c cone. That's 14 years at the same price!

The day I got fired I was asked "you can either leave or fix your attitude" I said " OK I'll fix my attitude, i'll do good and they just kept repeating the options until I said "OK, i'll leave then". Seems like hardcore tatics for a 16 y/o if you ask me.

11: I've had one Xmas tree ever
While it didn't seem as lame as when we did it one Xmas tree that doesn't count was when we decorated pine cones. I used to think people who had xmas lights were "rich". The one tree I did have was at my sisters dads place. We also had a pool so at that time I guess we were rich!

12: I got no idea who my dad is
I didn't grow up without a dad I had my sister's father (read: douche bag) however I have no idea who my real dad is and that's cool with me. I only remembered this as my wedding in Indonesia later this year they stipulate you need your fathers name on the marriage certificate. I just said make something up!

13: I talk to my mum about 3 times a year
I'm just not that much of a family person and talking about the weather doesn't interest me. Sad I know but could be worse.

14: MrTruffle
MrTruffle comes from Christian calling me that at KVB. I arrived in Sydney in 1998 and needed a nickname for online. I didn't know what email was back then. So I came up with Salvador Ghandi. It's like Marilyn Manson but only more positive. So I used that for 2 years until i got sick of being called Ghandi and then changed to TheSlipperyTruffle in 2000 when I started this blog. (which I used to hand update until Shib told me about Blogger.com)

15: I'm a Manga Video Freak
While toiling away at Maccas and then Target after that I used to spend all my money on Manga Videos. I used to buy them all on VHS. I still have a huge box of them that will just get thrown out now. It was the Manga video intro that got me into heavy metal. See this post for more info. Damn video is offline though.

16: I was a Video Game NERD. Capitalization needed.
The only thing I spent more money on than Manga videos was video games. I used to buy so many games magazines it was silly. Hyper, Gamestar, EGM and all the others. I was a Sega Mega Drive player, I had a Mega CD. The original $700 one. That's $700 in the 1990's on a paper boy salary!!! I had it on lay-by for fucking ages!

I used to rent video games very weekend. I would wake up early, ride down the local video store and rent a game. Streets of Rage or Earthworm Jim I remember fondly. I'd play it then rate it on paper on this game rating system. If I could find it now I would implode from nerdiness.

17: I used to enter competitions under false names
I was always a good at drawing when young. Better at copying though. And whenever there was a competition in a games mag I used to do a drawing and then put my age at 11 (I was 15 or so) so it looked like an awesome entry from an 11 year old. I also used to enter multiple times with different names. I ended up winning a $25 cheque for Barry Thomas which I was able to cash. Sometimes I'd win and forgot what names I put down then receive the prize a month later.

I still have all the clippings in a folder.

18: I almost didn't come to Sydney
I studied at KVB as I got a half scholarship (everyone did) but I originally almost didn't even go. On the day of the scholarship test I told my mum "i cant be bothered" as it was in Brisbane and that's 1 hr drive. Too far. But mum insisted (she wanted me out!) and we did the drive. She luckily had enough cash t pay the $14k for the 2 years school fees. I was able to cover my living expenses by working at Woolies and later Kinkos (as their youngest employee)

19: I think cats suck
Dogs > cats.
Snoopy > Garfield
Simple as that

20: I learnt Flash at Kinkos
I have good friend Andrew Bazar for telling me "Learn flash dude!! I'm working Spike and getting paid $50k That's crazy month biatch!" I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist. I was working at Kinkos and decided to uninstall Diablo and fire up flash.

I worked the Graveyeard shift at Kinkos Nth Sydney. That's 11pm - 7 am Friday and Saturday nights. This is Nth Sydney which is a Ghost town all weekend and Kinkos was new so I the nights doing flash tutorials and playing around. I still have the fruits of that labour here. And still ranking for Flashturbation as the search term!

And interesting story from working graveyeard shift during the holidays (5 days a week). I used to get home at 8am, eat a small snack then fall asleep. Then sleep all day and force myself to get up at 10pm to get ready for work. I was eating 1 meal a day and lost heaps of weight. But I did learn flash and that ended up starting my career and lead me to where I am today.


BONUS FACT: (originally published here)

21: My first and only automobile
I was working at McDonalds while in highschool and bought my first car from another staff member.

It was a Holden VC (1980 model I think) and green. I didn’t know much about cars, and still don’t, but $1100 seemed like a good price. I paid cash for the car and brought it home. I then tried to get it registered but they told me it needed $1400 worth of work done on it before I could get it on the road. I’d then have to pay around $500 to get the plates and insurance.

So now my $1100 car was looking very expensive. The previous owner didn’t want it back either. I parked the car out the front of my mum’s unit for months thinking of what to do. I then tried to sell it for anything but no one wanted to buy it (obviously knew more than me). The car sat outside our unit for
4 months before the council put a sticker saying the car is illegally parked and would be removed in 2 weeks. But after 3 days it was gone. Deciding to cut my losses, I forgot all about that little green car.

Three months later I told a friend this story and they said they would buy it for $200 and ay to have it retrieved from the impound lot. Usually a $150 fee. I rang the council only to find that they never picked up my car, it was gone before the councils set pickup day. It was then I realised my car, my first car, had been stolen before I ever got to drive any where besides around the block. I didn’t bother calling the police. The removable tape deck for the stereo is still in
my mums garage somewhere.

Update: Oh here's couple more facts I forgot

22: I'm red and green color blind.
Not 100% but in science class in grade 11 we had one of those dot tests and I could not see 70% of the damn numbers. Everyone in the class thought I was talking shit and the teacher told me I'm red and green color blind. I can see red and I can see green I just cant see slight variations of them.

23: I've fainted quite a few times
When in highscool I passed out 2 times and 2 other times outside of school.
1: I got smapped on the back hard after I tripped a friend. I passed out in wood shop about 30 seconds later.

2: I got my arm twisted in a weird way (again by a friend) I passed out a few seconds later

3: I was buying a magazine in a newsgent and next thing I know I'm on the ground. I took out the chip stand on my way down.

4: I was at a friends house making a go kart (how cool am I) and next thing I know I'm on my ass. I landed right on my butt. This one I trace back to not eating anything for about 36hrs+ That's what you get from staying over a friends for the weekend and just playing Sega Mega Drive!

I'm not sure why I passed out. Low blood pressure or something. I was really thin in highschool. I hit my elbow/funny bone recently while playing squash and almost passed out too but that doesnt count.

The only time this matters is when you fill out medical forms. It asks "do you suffer from blackouts etc etc" I usually tick no :)

24: I got caught stealing toys
When I was in primary school I got caught stealing toys from a small toy store and had to apologise to the guy a week later. I got caught as the guy who did it with me blabbed to him mum. My teachers at school even found out which was even worse. I then proceeded to steal M.A.S.K fugurines by myself from a larger depeartment store. Much safer that way.

Right now though I'm a very honest person (no really I am). I haven't stolen anything in ages (not since I worked at Woolies in 1998 and used to steal frozen pizzas to eat on a student wage) and hate ripping people off. Although I realise now when I was younger I was a tad naughty.

Oh and I also stole a massive bag of cans from the local boy scouts hall and then sold it to the can erecycle man for money. I then blew that money on candy.

25: The last time I got stoned
The last time I got stoned was in 1997 and I had such a bad experience that I usually feel sick smelling pot or even ciggerate smoke even today. It was only a few cones but I took way too much as was throwing up in the bathroom into a bath. The thing I remember was that my sense of timing was way off as I'd hear people or the dog and then look up and no one would be there.

Also I was throwing up huge chunks of meat (i'm talking huge chunks that had me going WTF how did I even swallow that!) and other food (i dont think I chew my food that well) and a friend had to chop it up with a knife to get it down the drain. He remarked "it's like I'm eating a dinner of vomit"

I eventually got to outside to throw up like a normal person on the grass. I then got home late and there is mum on my computer, in my room, typing stuff! At 2am! I fell alsleep on the couch/futon thing we had.

I went to high school the next day and then during first class went to sick bay, went to doctor and faked a headache then took the day off. Lesson learnt. I almost gagged when I smelt smoke for the next few months.

26: I camped out for Pearl Jam tickets and put my side to sleep
I camped out for Pearl Jam tickets on the Gold Coast and slept on my side on concrete the whole night. The next day I could not feel my hip area, it was numb like a dead leg but without the pins and needles and that feeling lasted for 9 months!!

27: I have a obsessive compulsion with my pinkie finger hair
Anyone who works with me will see me plucking hairs from my hands and I have this weird obession with plucking the tiny hairs that pop out of my pinkie 2ns knuckle (i have no idea what to call that part of your finger.

28: I was a blonde haird blue eyed kid
I'm trackign down photos to proove this one

29: I had a rats tail hair cut
Until it was removed while I slept by mum.

30: When I was in primary school I went on a diet
Even though I was thin I thought I was fat. Which is ironic as I used to think girls with anorexia were idiots. I used to eat cheese and lettuce and suck on ice to try and lose weight. But luckily I wasn't any good at sticking to a diet so I never got sick


Phew that's my list done and I feel much better. Very therapeutic! If you read them all then you know me better than my mum :)

Also here's my Life TODO list from 2003. These are much more fun to share.

Oh and if you write your down list of things please send me or put in the comments below.

January 15, 2009 : 11:57 PM

My most nervous moment

This is the first time I've watched these videos after being filmed almost 5 years ago.

The reason being was that I was so nervous that I had one of those paper bag moments (sans paper bag) and in my head this interview went so badly I wiped it from my memory. It became a repressed memory until I saw someone posted this last week.

So I finally watched all 20 min! of this interview from 2004 on social media. I have to thank Lara Stella who came to me with the question "what do you think of social media and can you talk about it" I was like WTF is social media. This was 2004 way before any of this was mainstream chatter. I had been blogging since 2000 but I had no idea what social media was. I was pimping blogs to clients but never used the term social media.

So here's me talking about it from the past. 5 years in Internet time is HUGE so I can now sleep without nightmares knowing that what I said still rings true. It's not that insightful or amazing now but when I was researching this back in 2004 after Lara's email I was excited about it.

Last piece of info. I thought this was going to be a text interview. Not a live web cast. So i wore a normal T-shirt and rocked up. Lara's first comment was "oh why are you wearing a crappy T-shirt we are going on live in 5 minutes"

I kid you not I almost fell over dizzy. You can see me swollow hard and touch my face many times. My Adams apple looks like an WIP prop from an Aliens film as I struggled with my words.

Anyway here's the talk and it's kinda funny that Social Media is so popular now and I guess I can consider myself OG as 2004 predates many people's interest in it let alone dedicating their career. I just didn't have the charisma to really sell myself as an expert back then and still dont.

I love the stats which at the time I think were correct. Gawker reached 70,000 a day! WOW

I might be making an appearance on TV this year (not live but live audience) and part of me is excited and part of me is scared of recreating that feeling back in 2004. Watching this was therapy for that fear and reading all the book recently on NLP, Body Language and the like have helped too. Oh and knowing to dress up a little helps :)

bowling shoe

I'm much more confident (with myself and my career) than I was 5 years ago. I used to hate having my photo taken (check all my feet photos) and while I don't think I'm egotistical I do have an ego now which I try and keep in check. What I do have more is an opinion and this I've been much more vocal about. Not scared that someone will disagree and not scared to disagree with other people (or the statue quo)

So if you watch the video all the way through (only 100 or so have) let me know what you think.

September 22, 2008 : 12:42 AM

Life to Do Updates

It's been a hectic last few months. Make that a fucking hectic last few months. I'm the kind of guy that likes doing nothing on the weekends or just chilln playing video games. But I've been flying and being a jet setter lately and working I've had hardly any time to myself.

All this did lead me to tick off a bunch of things in my Life To Do list from 2003.


4: Write an article for an online mag (Smashing Magazine even though they massacred my selection by adding their own in.

5: Speak at a conference in a foreign country IG's Digital Day. Thanks to Marcello and Neogama BBH for making it easy for me

34: Go white water rafting (Was scarier than I thought!)

And I did go snorkelling in Indonesia but my list says Great Barrier Reef so I won't tick that one off yet.
9: Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef

So 3 things in 3 months. Not bad!

23: Become a Muslim: This is currently in progress. I gotta read my Muslim for dummies book first! I'm only at chapter 3

The one I really want to do is 15: Compete in a fun run so I better get the Nike+ strap and get fit.

September 6, 2008 : 2:32 PM

Costume Blog

I forgot that Halloween was just next month and that my costume blog would start receiving a lot more traffic. Ive been using Google Insights to see what tyoe of costumes people are searching for and creating posts just for that. Stuff like Yoda Costume and Burger King costume seem to be indexing high.

Adsense for the site has been 200% better in the last few weeks (originally it was very low) so hopefully the next 2 months will be mch better.

November 27, 2007 : 12:26 AM

10 Year Highschool Reunion

On Saturday I went to my highschool's 10 year reunion. I flew up to the Gold Coast for the event.

There was around 80 or so people which is a lot more than I expected. Initially it was all the guys which is weird I thought they would have been the least inclined to go.

I got to catch up with pretty much everyone. Even people I wouldn't donate blood for I had good chat to. My crew (the guys I ate lunch with everyday, talked about Simpsons with and played handball with) didn;t really turn up. Only one of them who was a newcomer to our click.

Peter, Daniel, Dale, Mark & the two Nathans (sounds like a Biblical role call) didn't turn up. The other guy who I can't remember his name (the amercian guy with glasses and always wore a hat) was one of the few who actually died. Hit in the head with a baseball. Which makes sense as he was a keen baseball player.

Even the girl I had a mad crush on was there alway the sparkle has worn off considerably. Nothing on her, she still looks cute as, I just have something better now.

That said many of the girls have aged well. Although we did have a pretty good line up of talent in our year to start with.

There were a few noticeable characters that didn't turn up (Robert Botkos, Kris Dolinko, Grant Hacket, Chad Walsh, Sam But, Azra, Sumi) which is a shame but there was enough there to make it a really interesting night. People seemed to recognize me more than I recognized them. There was a couple I would not have picked out in a police line that remembered me but I couldn't put a memory to the face or name.

There were three marriages that stemmed from highschool, two from relationships from highschool, which is pretty amazing. But I guess I've been with Ervi since 1998 so that's almost as long.

I'm not sure I'd be so interested in a 15 year reunion. 5 years just isn't long enough for much to change but we'll see. Thanks to facebook I'm able to contact a few more of my highschool friends. It's nice being able to throw a "hey" to people once in a while.

February 5, 2007 : 7:50 PM

I Be Homeowner

buying_house.jpg

I officially got my homeloan approved today and will be exchanging contracts on a unit this week!

This means no more paying rent for me! YAY! Just a mortage! BOO!

I'm buying the unit I've rented for the last year which means I don't even have to move out! I can finally nail shit into the walls and put fly screens up and paint some walls.

And once the mortage is paid off I can go back to buying stuff I don't need instead of saving every penny.

October 6, 2006 : 6:22 PM

Other Ashley Ringrose's

It's wierd to think there are other people out there with your name. Esspecially for one like mine which isn't common.

I remember hearing about a guy who met every other person with the same name as him and had a photo taken with them. Maybe I need to get an arts grant to fund this most excellent idea?

ashley_ringrose_malachite.gif

The freakest one of all is Girl Gymnast of the Year Ashley Ringrose. Whoa. I can't even touch my toes!!!

ashley_ringrose_gymnast.jpg

October 4, 2006 : 9:19 PM

Runiks Cube Solution Video

We've had a Rubiks Cube around the office for the last few months and I've gotten really good at solving them. I asked someone to mess it up in around 25 turns and I told them I could solve it in under a minute. It took me just under that.

February 26, 2006 : 6:43 PM

Searching for Hotels

I've finally booked all my hotels for my Europe trip. Yay.

I found the best site to be Worldby.com as the information and maps are quite good. Other sites either give you a map that has no relevance or the photos are tiny.

The only thing missing from Worldby.com is user reviews which would be good to have but you can usually google the hotel name and find them that way.

Most of my hotel accomodation is 2 star but I'd rather spend more time exploring than sitting in my room. Although I found (form my Australian experience) that a 5 star hotel puts you ina 2 or 3 star room unless you pay an huge fee so star ratings on hotels is useless unless you're loaded.

And I get my own bathroom rather than a share one just in case I feel the need for a 30+ minute poo.

January 18, 2006 : 9:17 PM

Mr Truffle Profiled

I deep and meaningful profile has been conducted on my by Kripy. Check it out here

January 9, 2006 : 10:11 PM

Brown Pen

If you ever use a brown felt tip pen look out for if the ink spills onto your fingers, as it looks really dodgy.

January 6, 2006 : 7:18 PM

Detox

I'm 5 days into my 10 day detox doing well. We didn't have a BBQ at work so that was good. Cause a salad instead of a burger would have been cruel punishment.

I don't smoke or drink or even drink coffee but the detox was to stop and cleanse my system from all the kebabbs, pizza, pides, chocolate I eat on a regular basis. Luckily I'm not a fat bastard!

I even bought a fresh juicer (a big ass one that destroys whole apples!) and it's great. You basically shuck anything in your fruit basket and it tastes good as a juice.

So 5 more days of tempe, tofu, vegies and corn crakers to go. Actually corn crakers, avacado and tomatoe is really nice. I was surprized. Normally I'd munch down a half pack a biscuits but these corn crackers are great.

December 28, 2005 : 6:29 PM

2005 A Year In Review

2005 was one of the most exciting years for me. Not only did I turn 25 and can now easily hire a rental car but I moved out of Ashfield for an inner city apartment. I will not list in point form major events that happened to me during 2005 as I know I will forget what a great year this was. I'm a little hazy before August as my blog entries from OCt 04 - August 05 were deleted.


  • Moved to Chippendale and finally out of Ashfield. I don't miss the trains.
  • Attended Andy's wedding in Indonesia .
  • Soap moved into our own office in Ultimo deciding to purchase rather than rent after securing the deposit and a good position to continue our empire :)
  • Soap went from a staff of 6 to 11 with a few leaving or being asked to leave in between. Right now we have a very strong team with no "dead wood". Two more staff to join in January 2006
  • Attended the 2005 ARIA awards and got within 10mtrs of The Hoff
  • I was asked to be on the jury for D&AD 2006. Graciously accepted :)
  • Moved to a PC laptop after 7 years of MAC worship. I miss expose and that's about it.
  • Bought a PSP
  • Did a talk at Wagga Wagga on the importance of personal work/experimentation and your career.
  • Had my first viral photo with The Fly getting over 80,000 views in a month.
  • Had my blog deleted by my host in the USA. After 5 years he decided to do a runner with everyone's money and delete my files. That's why there is a 10 fucking month gap in my archives!
  • Started www.bannerblog.com.au which is just now reaching it's stride. The initial site was also deleted by the crazy web host in the USA.
  • Moved over to wearing underpants full time after many years of wearing boxers.
  • Soap won awards at Desktop Create Awards, AWARD, Internet Awards and was in the interactive annual for Communication Arts & D&AD.
  • Cashed in my years of Subway Stamps
  • Was nearly beaten up coming out of my favorite restaurant in Canterbury. Yay for the police.
  • Got back from my long trip in Indonesia during which the Tsunami hit (the other side of Indo luckily)
  • Visited Melbourne, Perth, Wagga Wagga, Singapore as well as Indonesia twice
  • Almost converted to Muslim. That's top of my list for 2006
  • Attended an Easter Royal show, Crusty Demons X, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Auto Salon and didn't hate them both. Although I don;t plan on ever going to one again.
  • Got violently sick from some dodgy food court food. Vomited on the bathroom marble that actually left a permanent mark on the marble!
  • Attended the launch of the new A-League (Australian soccer league)
  • I paid for less than half of the movies I saw this year. By having Fox as a client and also a friend who is the security guard at George St cinemas I managed to save a heap on cinema tickets. A big thanks to Julian and Fred!
  • Saw Into the Blue, Night Watch and In Her Shoes at the Fox Studios private screening room
  • Missed the media premier of Star Wars as I directed the guys to the wrong cinema!!! Saw it at the premier 11 days later.
  • Saw Mr & Mrs Smith and Fantastic Four at the media premier at George St. Margaret and David Stratton don't sit next to each other.
  • Stayed at level 68 at World Tower in Sydney.

December 17, 2005 : 5:09 PM

Good Ol' Undies

After 15 or so years of wearing boxer shorts I have gone back to undies. After being the strong advocate for boxers for many years I have now found the joys of having my boys secure.