Welcome to Cool as... the website of Allister Mackrell
Sydney based freelance designer. From cutting edge websites and new media projects through to printed media, point of sale, corporate identity and illustration.

21/12/05

MERRY CHRISTMAS
It's almost that time of year again. To mark the festive season I have a new put together a new animated Christmas card, to check it out click here: Xmas Card

URBAN COLLECTIVE
See my latest submission for Urban Collective: Theme: Grunge, at: www.urbancollective.com

28/11/05

SITE UPDATE
Work on Cool As... is continuing. I am currently updating the illustration section, which I hope to have finished before the year is out.

URBAN COLLECTIVE
See my latest submission for the new and improved Urban Collective: Theme: Mother Nature, at: www.urbancollective.com

Cool As... has now been visited by over 8,000 people.

01/11/05

2000AD
I've just had two more of my illustrations added to 2000AD Online. Click here to see them:www.2000adonline.com

MUSIC
I have uploaded four pieces of music I bashed out a few years ago. Just a bit of Drill and Bass. Click here for downloads: Al's Music

GIGS
I saw Turin Brakes play in Oxford last week, excellent gig with some amazing guitar work. This weekend I'm off to see The Bluetones play at the Zodiac in Oxford.

17/10/05

SITE UPDATE
Cool As has had another make over. The new and improved site can be seen by clicking the link below. I've added hundreds of photographs to the photography section, previously known as 'travel'. More of my Illustrations will follow. I am about to start work on a 6 page comic strip which I will upload as soon as it is completed. Click here to see the new site: www.coolas.co.uk/ice

Cool As... has now been visited by over 7,770 people.

SEA VISION WEBSITE
I've almost completed work on a website for Sea Vision UK. A national campaign to raise awareness and increase understanding of the sea, the value of the wider maritime sector and to attract the best young people to participate in maritime activities and careers. Click here to view: www.seavisionuk.org

TRINITY HOUSE WEBSITE
I recently finished a website for Trinity House Orthodontics. An Orthodontic Practice in the heart of Yorkshire. Click here to view: www.trinityhouse-orthodontics.co.uk

URBAN COLLECTIVE
See my latest submission for Urban Collective: Theme: Beautified Abstraction, at: www.urbancollective.com

15/09/05

SITE UPDATE
It's over 2 months since my last entry and I've been extremely busy, hence the lack of updates. I've been to both Reading Festival and V Festival. Both were fantastic, full review to follow (possibly). Pictures will be appearing on the new and improved photography section of this site. I'm in the process of adding a hundred or so photographs to the site as well as tweaking the interface to give a more pleasurable viewing experience. It's due to go online on 12th of October 2005, 3 years since I set off on my year of travels around the world. Where the vast majority of the photographs were taken.

Cool As... has now been visited by over 7,500 people.

ANAPHYLAXIS WEBSITE
I recently finished work on a website for The Anaphylaxis Campaign; Thousands of people in the UK have life-threatening allergic reactions to peanuts and many other foods.The condition is known as anaphylaxis.The Anaphylaxis Campaign was set up to help them. Click here to view: www.anaphylaxis.org.uk

URBAN COLLECTIVE
See my submission for Urban Collective: Theme:Fear, at: www.urbancollective.com
See my submission for Urban Collective: Theme: Skate or Surf, at: www.urbancollective.com

14/07/05

REFLECTIONS
I don't usually reference world events in my news section but I'll make an exception today. Last wednesday was a good day. I'd made it to 30, outliving some of my favorite musicians (Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and jim Morrison) by 3 years. Despite feeling that I should have achieved more (something, anything) with my life, you could say that I was feeling reasonably content with my lot.

I supped a well deserved beer at lunch time as the news broke that London had won it's bid to host the Olympics in 2012, beating our arch rivals the French (It may interest you to know that 2012 A.D, is the year that the Mayans chose to end their Long Count calendar, then again it may not). The G8 summit had begun and there was genuine hope that the issues of poverty in Africa and global warming were going to be addressed. I do not really believe that either can be stopped whilst we still have corruption endemic in all the higher echelons of power. But at least Britain could lead the initiative in an attempt to create a better future, our 'special' relationship with America could reap some reward for those less fortunate and make the world a slightly better place. Lofty aspirations, perhaps, but not unattainable.

24 hours is a long time in politics, so the cliché goes. The terrorist attacks last Thursday pushed all thoughts of winning the Olympic bid and solving the worlds problems to one side. Whilst the attacks were not unexpected, they were deeply shocking and ultimately futile. A waste of human life and totally deplorable. They only served to strengthen the resolve to put an end to needless blood shed. London coped admirably with the aftermath of the attacks that indiscriminately took the lives of people from all cultures, creeds and walks of life. I sincerely hope that the attacks will not serve to further divide the many cultures and individuals that make up our nation. Perhaps we can rise above our differences and seek to find a better way that will not tolerate the shedding of innocent blood. Whether it is by terrorists, dictators or the leaders of the 'free' world.

Now is not the time for reprisals or recrimination, we should attempt to move forward. To move towards a better future. That is my hope however foolish it might sound.

'He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.'
Albert Camus

NINE INCH NAILS Vs R.E.M.
Back to talking about myself. Tonight I'm heading into London to see Nine Inch Nails play at Brixton Academy. To say I'm looking forward to it is an understatement. They are one of the groups I have always wanted to see live, their performances in England are as rare as rocking horse shit. The last time they graced our shores over least 5 years ago.

On Saturday I'll be heading to Hyde Park to see REM play the gig that was postponed from last weekend in the wake of the attacks on London. I have seen them play live a couple of times before so I will be going with the knowledge that they will be playing a stellar show, despite a rather weak new album (sorry guys).

GENERATION X
I have just finished reading the Douglas Coupland book; Generation X. Written back in 1990 it captures the mood of the time and the generation that it spawned perfectly. I have made a page featuring the Generation X dictionary, check it out at:
Generation X Dictionary

06/07/05

GONNA PARTY LIKE IT'S MY BIRTHDAY
It's that time of year again. Today I am celebrating my 25th birthday for the 5th year running. Those of you with a modicum of grey matter will have done the math and realized that, despite my youthful good looks I am in fact an old bastard. At least I no longer have to justify being a miserable sod, now it is expected.

As it's my birthday I'm feeling generous and will share the webs best site with you all, check out the cartoons:
www.fat-pie.com

BUDAPEST
As part of my birthday celebrations/commiserations I visited the wonderful city of Budapest with my friends; Steve, Em and Gem (which one's which? Nobody knows). The local beer (lager, that is) was fantastic and we drank no small amount of it. There was plenty to see and do. We even managed to perform a mountain rescue on the way back from one of the monuments, snatching a young girl from certain doom. Actually it was more of a muddy hill than a mountain, and doom is probably too strong a word. But she would have definitely have got mud all over her pretty white dress. I have put a bunch of pictures from the trip on my Travel site in: Europe: Budapest.

23/06/05

MORE GIGS AND BIRTHDAYS
I saw Beck play live in London 3 weeks ago now. A fantastic eclectic gig. One of the highlights was when Beck decided to play some acoustic numbers. A couple of roadies bought a table onto the stage ladened with food and wine for the other band members to tuck into. When they had finished gorging themselves they proceeded to supply musical accompaniment by tapping on plates and glasses. Very col and it sounded fantastic. Beck was on top form and his voice soared when he came on to perform a track from Sea Change for the encore accompanied by a squeezebox

It was another birthday the following weekend. This time it was my friend Ruth who is studying to become a Nurse at Oxford (Brooks) University. I was joined by Ruths brother (and my good friend) Stuart. We managed to get through ten pints before we even went out at 8pm. On empty stomachs as well. We were joined by my brother Andrew and his girlfriend Sharon, and a whole bunch of rowdy nurses. A good time was had by all, say no more.

Last weekend I saw Green Day play at Milton Keynes (home of the roundabout) Bowl, with friends from Thame; Will and Jamie. Will was suffering from a black eye supplied the previous evening when he was jumped by 5 morons on entering a fast food establishment in Thame. I always tried telling him that fast food was bad for him. It didn't stop him pulling an Aussie girl who was drawn to my shorts, don't ask. The Gig was great, the sun beat down and the beer flowed expensively. I made the school boy error of wearing sandals. Not a good idea when heading to the front to pogo in the mosh pit. My toes were a mangled mess of blood and mud when I left. Support came from Jimmy Eat World, another great band.

SITE UPDATE
I have changed the home page recently and added some short page construction animations to my Travel and Heaven + Hell sites. Still work to be done, but not when the sun is out and beer is being served. Cool as is fast approaching it's 7,000th (unique) visitor. Thanks for looking, hope you like what you see.

26/05/05

GIGS AND BIRTHDAYS
Last week I went to see Teenage Fanclub play in Oxford. A very good gig, with some great guitar playing. The tracks from their new album, 'Man-Made', sound like a return to form after the mellower melodies on 'Howdy'. Anyone who doesn't own their fantastic album 'Bandwagonesque', should click on the link and buy it now.

I put my Go-Karting skills to the test last weekend, and they were found wanting. It was my friend Steve's little brothers 30th birthday, which was a good enough excuse to throw myself around the track. Wheels and kart spinning in ways that should not be seen in public, perhapse if I didn't spend the majority of the races travelling sideways I would have qualified for the final. The evening that followed was a typical affair of drink sodden excess in the bars and clubs of Reading.

On tuesday I headed down to Brighton to catch The Chemical Brothers play at Brighton Centre. Another great gig, one of the loudest I've been to. At one point my spine was turned to jelly and people were leaving the venue with blood pouring from their ears. The whole audience was really into it, they are one of the few live acts that can get everybody moving, even the people seated on the bacony were up and dancing on their chairs.

Next week I'm heading to London to see Beck play, supporting the great new album Guero. I last saw him play in Melbourne a couple of years ago and he put on an excellent show so I'm looking forward to it.

I saw the new Star Wars movie last night, exactly 28 years after the first movie was released, an amazing spectacle. I'm not usually a fan of CGI but it was used to a lot greater effect than in the first two rather dismal movies. It was still a case of style over substance, but it did fill in the gaps nicely.

SITE UPDATE
I have been adding links from the news section to Amazon for those of you that want to read reviews/purchase albums by the artists mentioned. Remember if you want to buy something from Amazon use the link at the bottom of the page and I'll get a little kick back. When it gets to over £25 I will be able to cash it in for beer tokens. Although at the present rate it will take me another 12 years, which will probably buy half a pint of nats piss, but there you go.