I managed to snag myself a fantastic and legitimate Windows 7 upgrade for £30. It's 64 bit, which makes me worry ever so slightly because I am only assuming my very recently bought processor can handle it, and won't give me any problems when I upgrade. I have faith in it though!
TV has been the main pleasure in my life recently. I have been fascinated watching all the brand new shows that are out in the USA, deciding which ones I will follow when they make it to the UK (Some, like Flashforward, are incredibly close to their US airing dates which bodes well for us Brits!) Out of the ones I've seen, I'll be following these with eager anticipation:
1. Glee - A musical show following a school's glee club. Yes, this does sound a little bit camp, and it is which would normally put me off, but what's not evident until you work your way through to episode four is that this shows really got heart. In fact, if the fourth episode doesn't at least make you laugh and tear up just a little bit then you may be a broken individual. It moved the story surprisingly quickly for a drama too which is my biggest complaint of the genre.
2. The Good Wife - It's one of those 'smug' drama shows (Like Trauma and Mercy, two pilots I didn't care much for) but it teeters very carefully on the edge of being excellent and doesn't fall into the pretentious category... yet. It had an interesting storyline, and the acting in it is really good. Amazing almost. It's about the wife of a politician involved in a scandal who decides to be a lawyer again despite things like her family, her situation and her age and gender being against her.
3. Community - This show has Chevy Chase in! That should be enough, but this comedy has great characterisation and enough variety in them to provide plenty of interesting scenarios. It's about a group of misfits in a community college organised into a study group by a sarcastic prick who wants to bed this smart, gorgeous woman. It's gonna be a grower but I have a good feeling about it. Which probably means it'll get cancelled.
4. Modern Family - The greatest thing about this show is the variety of actors in it. It's got 'Ted Bundy' playing the older husband of a hot, younger mexican woman, and the geeky guy from the underrate show 'The Class' from a couple of years ago, who I always thought was great. And I won't tell you what it's about because the reveal at the end of the pilot was great and I didn't expect it, despite it being a pretty lame 'twist'.
Also, I've wondered whether I could try to carve myself out a career as a writer for games, especially after the issue of bad writing was highlighted in last nights airing of Gameswipe in the UK. I've always spent lots of my mind wanderingtime thinking about epic stories, and trying to construct them into working projects, and also when playing games I've always thought of ways to improve the story or at least make it more entertaining. Could I possibly create myself a wonderful little niche career here?
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Multiplayer
I was just having a nice little think back to the time when I was forced against my will to partake in a little game called 'Red Steel' (Okay, it wasn't technically forcing, but they did decide to play it despite me protesting that it would be rubbish!) That was as close to a weird and frustrating multiplayer gaming experience as I've ever had.
Firstly, the controls are extremely fiddly and lead to you not actually being able to aim. Compare this to any other first person shooter, you know that upon sight of an enemy, either you or him are going down mostly within the three seconds after initial contact. In Red Steel, seeing an enemy is an experience that is shortly followed by you losing sight of them as you struggle to face them due to the overly sensitive motion sensing dynamic. A few seconds later, you catch sight of them through sheer luck or determined co-ordination, and then you try to shoot them. This becomes a greater challenge, and results usually in running past them, losing sight of them again or simply missing them. I swear there was one time where me and a friend had been trying to kill each other for nearly three or four minutes before one of us took the other out. What a mind bendingly annoying game.
As for my personal life, I've found myself just coming out of a groove of having little contact with real people, through my own lack of motivation. However, now that my best mate Dave has been down in Swansea for the past few days I've hung out with him a lot, have sorted out a few meetups during the next couple of weeks and got myself a lovely and desperately needed job interview for next week I feel a lot better about my situation.
I hope Red Steel 2 is a bloody awesome game, cos aside from Mario Galaxy 2 I have no reason to keep my Wii as it stands. Where are all the good games Nintendo?
Firstly, the controls are extremely fiddly and lead to you not actually being able to aim. Compare this to any other first person shooter, you know that upon sight of an enemy, either you or him are going down mostly within the three seconds after initial contact. In Red Steel, seeing an enemy is an experience that is shortly followed by you losing sight of them as you struggle to face them due to the overly sensitive motion sensing dynamic. A few seconds later, you catch sight of them through sheer luck or determined co-ordination, and then you try to shoot them. This becomes a greater challenge, and results usually in running past them, losing sight of them again or simply missing them. I swear there was one time where me and a friend had been trying to kill each other for nearly three or four minutes before one of us took the other out. What a mind bendingly annoying game.
As for my personal life, I've found myself just coming out of a groove of having little contact with real people, through my own lack of motivation. However, now that my best mate Dave has been down in Swansea for the past few days I've hung out with him a lot, have sorted out a few meetups during the next couple of weeks and got myself a lovely and desperately needed job interview for next week I feel a lot better about my situation.
I hope Red Steel 2 is a bloody awesome game, cos aside from Mario Galaxy 2 I have no reason to keep my Wii as it stands. Where are all the good games Nintendo?
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Cube
Time for a little spiel on ITV's newest game show output, The Cube. I admit, I was hooked on this idea from the very moment I saw it advertised. It has all the makings of a videogame, specifically comparable to those on the Nintendo DS, Wario Ware comes to mind but even the Brain Training series must bear some of the inspiration for this programme. (Interestingly, a game show based around the latter has already been created: Britain's Best Brain) I like it the same way I liked the Krypton Factor when it was on, less so the modern version, because it challenged the contestants on it to use not just their knowledge but also their brain's more obscure abilities.
Just a simple summary for those who haven't seen it, the Cube is a roughly 10 foot perspex cube in which each player has to step inside to perform simple tasks like throwing a ball into a bucket or counting the number of squares on the floor. They begin with 9 lives, losing one every time they fail a task, but once they decide to go for a game, they must keep playing until they win or lose all their lives. While it sounds simple, the pressure is immense and the prizes are steep, and each game has the chance to take away everything as there are no safe zones.
The games, while they are simple, are more fun to watch the contestants do than answer any question or guess any value, because it almost feels like you could be there with them, or instead of them, performing these tasks and winning money. Most other game shows I've watched don't seem to get this; take Crystal Maze, one of my favourite activity based game shows out there. Instead of rooting for them to win, I always feel cringeworthy because they take the most idiotic selection of people and put them in these fun games which they almost inevitably balls up. It makes for very uncomfortable watching.
That brings us to these contestants. While we've seen only 6 or 7 of them on the show so far, they all have a likeable quality to them. This is down to the people producing it, who have selected some very fun or very entertaining people to watch. None of them are perfect, and each of them have come very close to losing the game, but they all are doing it for decent enough reasons and ease you into the spirit of the game. One guy on last week was 'wacky' enough to take his trousers off to complete one game, but he won £50,000 from it so all due respect to him!
As for the best and worst moments on this show, well the latter is clearly the over stylised camera zooming, slowing down and rotating, which tries some new things but ultimately comes across as trying too hard. On the opposite end of the scale, Philip Schofield is a top choice as presenter, as he makes plenty of brilliantly amusing noises every time the contestant comes very close to winning a game, with plenty of 'OOOOH!'s and 'AAAAAAH!'s, worth watching for.
If you'd like to watch it, currently all episodes are on the ITV Player (Which I think is the worst of the online catch up services atm, but at least it doesn't skip whole passage like it did before) but it's on ITV1 every Saturday at around the 8.30pm mark. Watch it.
Just a simple summary for those who haven't seen it, the Cube is a roughly 10 foot perspex cube in which each player has to step inside to perform simple tasks like throwing a ball into a bucket or counting the number of squares on the floor. They begin with 9 lives, losing one every time they fail a task, but once they decide to go for a game, they must keep playing until they win or lose all their lives. While it sounds simple, the pressure is immense and the prizes are steep, and each game has the chance to take away everything as there are no safe zones.
The games, while they are simple, are more fun to watch the contestants do than answer any question or guess any value, because it almost feels like you could be there with them, or instead of them, performing these tasks and winning money. Most other game shows I've watched don't seem to get this; take Crystal Maze, one of my favourite activity based game shows out there. Instead of rooting for them to win, I always feel cringeworthy because they take the most idiotic selection of people and put them in these fun games which they almost inevitably balls up. It makes for very uncomfortable watching.
That brings us to these contestants. While we've seen only 6 or 7 of them on the show so far, they all have a likeable quality to them. This is down to the people producing it, who have selected some very fun or very entertaining people to watch. None of them are perfect, and each of them have come very close to losing the game, but they all are doing it for decent enough reasons and ease you into the spirit of the game. One guy on last week was 'wacky' enough to take his trousers off to complete one game, but he won £50,000 from it so all due respect to him!
As for the best and worst moments on this show, well the latter is clearly the over stylised camera zooming, slowing down and rotating, which tries some new things but ultimately comes across as trying too hard. On the opposite end of the scale, Philip Schofield is a top choice as presenter, as he makes plenty of brilliantly amusing noises every time the contestant comes very close to winning a game, with plenty of 'OOOOH!'s and 'AAAAAAH!'s, worth watching for.
If you'd like to watch it, currently all episodes are on the ITV Player (Which I think is the worst of the online catch up services atm, but at least it doesn't skip whole passage like it did before) but it's on ITV1 every Saturday at around the 8.30pm mark. Watch it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wrotten
I've never felt strongly about a lot of things in my life. I put this down to my carefree and mellow personality, or maybe due to a frequently dissipating interest in certain passions of mine. When I do get worked up about an issue, it's nearly always one that many others have already trodden, and thus I feel like some kind of 'hanger on', which does nothing to maintain my attention, and so I leave the ranting and the raving to the professionals who can make better arguments than me (I have never been one for articulating). So it surprised me the other day, when watching nothing other than an unrealistic, entertaining film, that I felt so invariably worked up over what was really a minor issue.
The film in question was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I know all the issues people had with it, including the oft mocked final reveal, which I must confess I was one of the majority spouting about how ridiculous it was. None of the big aliens reveal really affected me, because looking back to the other chapters in the series there were ghosts, demons and ancient booby trapped mines, all of which were equally as implausible, and at the end of the day, they are films to wile away a couple of hours not historical re-enactments or educational vehicles. No, what really got me was the rather minor side story involving the tiny monkeys and the Tarzan escape scene.
If you've seen the film, and I think it's worth checking out, you'll know how this bit is set up. Mud, played by Shia Labeouf, is standing on the top of a moving vehicle in the jungle, gets distracted by something, and ends up getting whomped (Gotta love that word, it so perfectly emulates the sound) by a stray vine leaving him up in the trees. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a horde of monkeys approaches him and he eventually catches up to the vehicle convoy by swinging on the vines and landing in one of the jeeps which are zipping alongside the edge of a cliff. Now, I can forgive this jovial and almost ridiculous side story, I understand the whole film is full of little jokes and unreal situations, but what tipped it over the edge for me was the complete lack of LOGIC to this nonsense.
Logically, if the three cars that he catches up to have been going at the same speed the whole time, where it is clearly shown that they do not ever slow down in between these two events, then there is no way in hell he could have caught up to them by simply swinging along. Not only is the speed of vine swinging much slower than the cars velocity, but that's neglecting the time he takes to sort himself out after getting stuck in the first place. Then there's the matter of whether he had the strength to be swinging along the whole time without his arms hurting. Topping it all off, the cars never once seemed to turn around even the slightest meaning that he could never have caught up with them by taking a short cut.
Okay, by now you probably think I'm an extremely pedantic moron, but would it have been so hard for the writers to have come up with a slightly more realistic way for the boy to have made it back to the convoy? Realistically, they could have opted to show the vehicles turning a long and drastic curve along the cliffside, or perhaps not having Mud get swept up into the trees in the first place. I'm thinking even being picked up by a gigantic eagle would have been more plausible, maybe even finding some of those floating treadmills they always have in platforming games, the type that speeds up your movement in a certain direction. I would even have accepted a teleportation device, but the vine swinging is such an awful decision I'm tempted to believe they came up with this at the end of the writing session, when they resorted to filling plot holes by throwing darts at a dictionary!
It's episodes like this that truly encourage me to believe that I could be a writer one day, and a successful one at that. I wouldn't let this type of shit slide in a film that was supposed to resurrect, even temporarily, a MEGA series. I can't even honestly say that I would be happy for this gaping error to be fitting for any particular genre of film, and thus I deem it shameful. Shame on whoever wrote that abysmal piece of script. If I ever find out who you are, I will hunt you out and sit you down, explaining to you EXACTLY what you did wrong and make you cry through your awful writing ability! It's lucky for you then, that I probably won't see this through, because like I said, my interest in stuff wanes rather quickly...
The film in question was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I know all the issues people had with it, including the oft mocked final reveal, which I must confess I was one of the majority spouting about how ridiculous it was. None of the big aliens reveal really affected me, because looking back to the other chapters in the series there were ghosts, demons and ancient booby trapped mines, all of which were equally as implausible, and at the end of the day, they are films to wile away a couple of hours not historical re-enactments or educational vehicles. No, what really got me was the rather minor side story involving the tiny monkeys and the Tarzan escape scene.
If you've seen the film, and I think it's worth checking out, you'll know how this bit is set up. Mud, played by Shia Labeouf, is standing on the top of a moving vehicle in the jungle, gets distracted by something, and ends up getting whomped (Gotta love that word, it so perfectly emulates the sound) by a stray vine leaving him up in the trees. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a horde of monkeys approaches him and he eventually catches up to the vehicle convoy by swinging on the vines and landing in one of the jeeps which are zipping alongside the edge of a cliff. Now, I can forgive this jovial and almost ridiculous side story, I understand the whole film is full of little jokes and unreal situations, but what tipped it over the edge for me was the complete lack of LOGIC to this nonsense.
Logically, if the three cars that he catches up to have been going at the same speed the whole time, where it is clearly shown that they do not ever slow down in between these two events, then there is no way in hell he could have caught up to them by simply swinging along. Not only is the speed of vine swinging much slower than the cars velocity, but that's neglecting the time he takes to sort himself out after getting stuck in the first place. Then there's the matter of whether he had the strength to be swinging along the whole time without his arms hurting. Topping it all off, the cars never once seemed to turn around even the slightest meaning that he could never have caught up with them by taking a short cut.
Okay, by now you probably think I'm an extremely pedantic moron, but would it have been so hard for the writers to have come up with a slightly more realistic way for the boy to have made it back to the convoy? Realistically, they could have opted to show the vehicles turning a long and drastic curve along the cliffside, or perhaps not having Mud get swept up into the trees in the first place. I'm thinking even being picked up by a gigantic eagle would have been more plausible, maybe even finding some of those floating treadmills they always have in platforming games, the type that speeds up your movement in a certain direction. I would even have accepted a teleportation device, but the vine swinging is such an awful decision I'm tempted to believe they came up with this at the end of the writing session, when they resorted to filling plot holes by throwing darts at a dictionary!
It's episodes like this that truly encourage me to believe that I could be a writer one day, and a successful one at that. I wouldn't let this type of shit slide in a film that was supposed to resurrect, even temporarily, a MEGA series. I can't even honestly say that I would be happy for this gaping error to be fitting for any particular genre of film, and thus I deem it shameful. Shame on whoever wrote that abysmal piece of script. If I ever find out who you are, I will hunt you out and sit you down, explaining to you EXACTLY what you did wrong and make you cry through your awful writing ability! It's lucky for you then, that I probably won't see this through, because like I said, my interest in stuff wanes rather quickly...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Inbetween
Just a quick update to keep myself assured that I will keep up with the next batch of updates.
I'm currently looking for a job in the TV industry, and so far I seem to be stumbling across a couple of good potential opportunities. Whether I get any further than the application process remains to be seen, but I will surely let you know in time if I do. What's good about this is I have a plan. It is very difficult to get a proper job without any experience whatsoever. I have very limited experience, especially to a professional, in that I've only done student TV and nothing more. I do however have a couple of work experience positions lined up for me in January, and so I feel that even if I do fail to get any of the jobs that crop up between now and February, I will almost be certain to get something off the back of the things at the beginning of next year, so as I said, I have a plan. An approximately 6 month plan, but still a plan nonetheless.
Also should be working on Uncovered, and I really want to get this done soon, but my PC still has the incredibly irritating problem that it doesn't want to play any audio without accompanying it with a horrific scratching sound that does nothing to quell torrents of unholy rage that comes from its irritation.
I'm currently looking for a job in the TV industry, and so far I seem to be stumbling across a couple of good potential opportunities. Whether I get any further than the application process remains to be seen, but I will surely let you know in time if I do. What's good about this is I have a plan. It is very difficult to get a proper job without any experience whatsoever. I have very limited experience, especially to a professional, in that I've only done student TV and nothing more. I do however have a couple of work experience positions lined up for me in January, and so I feel that even if I do fail to get any of the jobs that crop up between now and February, I will almost be certain to get something off the back of the things at the beginning of next year, so as I said, I have a plan. An approximately 6 month plan, but still a plan nonetheless.
Also should be working on Uncovered, and I really want to get this done soon, but my PC still has the incredibly irritating problem that it doesn't want to play any audio without accompanying it with a horrific scratching sound that does nothing to quell torrents of unholy rage that comes from its irritation.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Uncovered
Yes, it's that time of the year again, when I get round to editing the newest episode of the show I produce. I haven't been too good with hitting deadlines recently, but I don't think I ever have been. All I wish to say is that this episode will be worth waiting for, and I hope people will appreciate that.
I still have two tapes to find before I can start a proper edit, one of them I can grab the data for off the XTV computers if I don't find it, the other is extra footage which will make one of the features I'm editing easier, but is not absolutely necessary.
And that's that. Need some inspiration now!
I still have two tapes to find before I can start a proper edit, one of them I can grab the data for off the XTV computers if I don't find it, the other is extra footage which will make one of the features I'm editing easier, but is not absolutely necessary.
And that's that. Need some inspiration now!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Serious
How do you tell somebody that the reason you've been so cold to them lately is because you cannot possibly tell them what you really think about them? Bonus points for being able to do this without telling them the real reason.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Quickly
I wonder how many grand pianos have been destroyed in the name of comedy or art over the years?
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
TV
I think I may be adding another blog to my collection at some point, but this one will be a more bullet point format, adding little tidbits of news rather than a full blog entry. What shall it be about? Check the title of this post for a clue.
So, I have a few enticing newsbites about some TV stuff, so for those of you who are ultra keen to avoid any spoilers of sorts, look away. Even though they really aren't very big spoilers at all.
First up, My Name Is Earl, a very entertaining comedy show by NBC which ran for four seasons before being axed at the end of the last season is potentially being rescued by a cable company TBS which already airs shows such as Ten Items Or Less. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this to go through, I would always resent the fact that the show never got a proper finale if it doesn't!
Secondly, Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica [A really fantastic show, check it out if you can] is going to be joining the cast of 24 for season eight. This comes along with the news that she will be playing the love interest for Freddie Prinze Jr's character. Now, Katee was a superb actress in BSG so this only excited me more about the new season, especially after seven was so great. Source
Finally, Margaret Mountford off The Apprentice is leaving, but who is going to replace her? This woman: Karren Brady aka the only woman interviewer from the penultimate episodes of the show. She's more attractive than margaret, but will she hold up to her predecessors eye rolling expertise and sharp criticisms? Only time will tell. Also, I should note that this is only speculation and not based on any fact, but it does seem likely doesn't it?
That's enough TV for now.
So, I have a few enticing newsbites about some TV stuff, so for those of you who are ultra keen to avoid any spoilers of sorts, look away. Even though they really aren't very big spoilers at all.
First up, My Name Is Earl, a very entertaining comedy show by NBC which ran for four seasons before being axed at the end of the last season is potentially being rescued by a cable company TBS which already airs shows such as Ten Items Or Less. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this to go through, I would always resent the fact that the show never got a proper finale if it doesn't!
Secondly, Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica [A really fantastic show, check it out if you can] is going to be joining the cast of 24 for season eight. This comes along with the news that she will be playing the love interest for Freddie Prinze Jr's character. Now, Katee was a superb actress in BSG so this only excited me more about the new season, especially after seven was so great. Source
Finally, Margaret Mountford off The Apprentice is leaving, but who is going to replace her? This woman: Karren Brady aka the only woman interviewer from the penultimate episodes of the show. She's more attractive than margaret, but will she hold up to her predecessors eye rolling expertise and sharp criticisms? Only time will tell. Also, I should note that this is only speculation and not based on any fact, but it does seem likely doesn't it?
That's enough TV for now.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Opposites
Hmm. Well it seems that the situation in the gaming industry is far from the right way up at the moment. A quick example to illustrate my point;
Nintendo, family friendly, lovely, nicey-nice company now have set their sights on reaching out to the Halo audience now in a completely different direction to their current market: Source
Meanwhile, hardcore gamers console manufacturer of the Xbox, Microsoft, has decided that their future lies in motion controlling controllers. Of the full body not-actually-a-controller variety, a style Nintendo has clearly dominated already: Source
As for Playstation, they've even so much as, and remember this is my opinion, regressed in gaming terms with their ugly looking PSP Go which is quite far removed from the sleekness of the PS3 and inevitably pointless.
And then there is Apple, who is more than likely going to announce a brand new iPhone today with a built in 3D graphics card to better handle gaming applications, and who currently have an in house team of developers working on games ONLY for the system!
It's madness. But in the good way that allows us, the consumer, to have a wider selection of choices when it comes to spend our precious, hard earned cash. So yeah, keep twisting and turning you crazy gaming machine, I guess.
Nintendo, family friendly, lovely, nicey-nice company now have set their sights on reaching out to the Halo audience now in a completely different direction to their current market: Source
Meanwhile, hardcore gamers console manufacturer of the Xbox, Microsoft, has decided that their future lies in motion controlling controllers. Of the full body not-actually-a-controller variety, a style Nintendo has clearly dominated already: Source
As for Playstation, they've even so much as, and remember this is my opinion, regressed in gaming terms with their ugly looking PSP Go which is quite far removed from the sleekness of the PS3 and inevitably pointless.
And then there is Apple, who is more than likely going to announce a brand new iPhone today with a built in 3D graphics card to better handle gaming applications, and who currently have an in house team of developers working on games ONLY for the system!
It's madness. But in the good way that allows us, the consumer, to have a wider selection of choices when it comes to spend our precious, hard earned cash. So yeah, keep twisting and turning you crazy gaming machine, I guess.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Summer
Well, the weather has blessed us for the past couple of weeks and I have definitely felt the warmth of its glow and it has considerably lifted my own mood!
Over the past few days I've done everything from running, swimming, playing football as well as lots of revision in my room despite having a stunning view of the sunshine and many sunbathers walking past, to and from their various sessions. I've had no ice cream, as I have been trying to think consciously about eating less unnecessary crap and this as well as my very regular gym sessions have resulted in me losing some weight which has made me so much happier!
As for creativity, I've started writing episode two of Steve on TV which should debut after my exams sometime, and have also kept on writing my novel which means that chapter 4 is not that far off with chapter 5, a very exciting one, not too distant behind it. I've also done a couple of videos for a new website, along the 'How To' style which got me quite a few quid and may lead to further money from them in the future if things go well. I was quite chuffed when they told me the people at the website really liked my presenting style :)
Also hoping to get a proper acting gig in XTV over the next few weeks, as I'll be putting my name out there to try something different. Trying new things seems to be in my blood these days!
Well, that's all for now, just a short little update to update everyone on my goings on. Hoping to have some exciting post exams news [i.e I did all right in them] and so until then or maybe before that time, I shall leave you!
Over the past few days I've done everything from running, swimming, playing football as well as lots of revision in my room despite having a stunning view of the sunshine and many sunbathers walking past, to and from their various sessions. I've had no ice cream, as I have been trying to think consciously about eating less unnecessary crap and this as well as my very regular gym sessions have resulted in me losing some weight which has made me so much happier!
As for creativity, I've started writing episode two of Steve on TV which should debut after my exams sometime, and have also kept on writing my novel which means that chapter 4 is not that far off with chapter 5, a very exciting one, not too distant behind it. I've also done a couple of videos for a new website, along the 'How To' style which got me quite a few quid and may lead to further money from them in the future if things go well. I was quite chuffed when they told me the people at the website really liked my presenting style :)
Also hoping to get a proper acting gig in XTV over the next few weeks, as I'll be putting my name out there to try something different. Trying new things seems to be in my blood these days!
Well, that's all for now, just a short little update to update everyone on my goings on. Hoping to have some exciting post exams news [i.e I did all right in them] and so until then or maybe before that time, I shall leave you!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Borsch
First of all, a little update as to why I haven't been blogging recently, and really, it's an absolutely terrible excuse. It boils down to me not having it bookmarked in my internet browser! [Chrome, in case anybdoy was wondering]
I don't remember how far I got in my life story in the last blog entries, but to fill you in briefly on any big stories I'll recap them in short below.
i. Hard Drive broke
This was the worst for me personally, I had saved all of my Come Dine With Us footage on an external Hard Drive, and in the time it took to take it from the XTV office to my house, it decided that it wasn't going to work anymore. So, all the footage is lost, except for the minor possibility that a friend or a rich person takes pity on me and pays for a big company to recover the data or have a look themself. All credit to my mate Jamie though, he seriously did his best when trying to recover it for free, but to no avail. All my photos and music and writing was on it, so take a tip from me and get a backup of everything you treasure asap!
ii. Steve on TV
As a direct result of the above, and progress on Fifty Fifty grinding to a halt I decided to bring out a brand new idea from within my brain and turn it into a show before Paul Jackson came down to the Uni to see some new creative stuff, something I wanted to make the most of and hopefully show off my skills to him. So, within 9 days, I'd gone from bringing a rough idea in my head to a script, a second draft then casting, filming and editing a show together. The result can be seen online at this location and please comment on it if you loved or hated it.
iii. Xmedia Awards
Heartbreak and losing stuff was about to resurface after the hard drive issue, as being nominated for four categories in the Xmedia awards was to come up with nothing not even an internal award. Yes, I played it calm and unaffected but it did suck a lot to have had no recognition for all the hard work I'd put into the society over the last year. However, I did win a raffle prize which was £30 worth of money vouchers for a local restaurant which was nice, and a few people who did manage to catch up to me after trying to hide from them [Not because I didn't want to speak to them, but because I didn't want 30 different variations of the 'I can't believe you didn't win anything!' conversation] did say some really uplifting stuff which made me feel happier. A lot of thanks to those people :)
So, not a lot really, but enough. Anyway, more blogging shall commence from this point onwards.
I don't remember how far I got in my life story in the last blog entries, but to fill you in briefly on any big stories I'll recap them in short below.
i. Hard Drive broke
This was the worst for me personally, I had saved all of my Come Dine With Us footage on an external Hard Drive, and in the time it took to take it from the XTV office to my house, it decided that it wasn't going to work anymore. So, all the footage is lost, except for the minor possibility that a friend or a rich person takes pity on me and pays for a big company to recover the data or have a look themself. All credit to my mate Jamie though, he seriously did his best when trying to recover it for free, but to no avail. All my photos and music and writing was on it, so take a tip from me and get a backup of everything you treasure asap!
ii. Steve on TV
As a direct result of the above, and progress on Fifty Fifty grinding to a halt I decided to bring out a brand new idea from within my brain and turn it into a show before Paul Jackson came down to the Uni to see some new creative stuff, something I wanted to make the most of and hopefully show off my skills to him. So, within 9 days, I'd gone from bringing a rough idea in my head to a script, a second draft then casting, filming and editing a show together. The result can be seen online at this location and please comment on it if you loved or hated it.
iii. Xmedia Awards
Heartbreak and losing stuff was about to resurface after the hard drive issue, as being nominated for four categories in the Xmedia awards was to come up with nothing not even an internal award. Yes, I played it calm and unaffected but it did suck a lot to have had no recognition for all the hard work I'd put into the society over the last year. However, I did win a raffle prize which was £30 worth of money vouchers for a local restaurant which was nice, and a few people who did manage to catch up to me after trying to hide from them [Not because I didn't want to speak to them, but because I didn't want 30 different variations of the 'I can't believe you didn't win anything!' conversation] did say some really uplifting stuff which made me feel happier. A lot of thanks to those people :)
So, not a lot really, but enough. Anyway, more blogging shall commence from this point onwards.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Coffee
This is the best news story I've read all week:
'Pay It Forward' in real life
It really is great when you hear about things like this. I've heard many other ways in which this kind of thing is done, such as leaving a pound coin on a street for somebody to find, letting somebody ahead of you in a supermarket just 'because' and giving complete strangers a compliment and then simply walking on.
This story led me to this website: HelpOthers.org which is a simple page with many stories of genuine kindness on. Sure, some of it is clearly an exercise in creative writing, but think about it. Just because the message doesn't come from a real source, does it make the meaning any less worthy? I for one think not.
In times like these, we have newspapers and websites and TV channels that try to turn everything into something watchable, so the less shocking items take a back seat. I want this trend to change [As does this show Newswipe produced and presented by Charlie Brooker, a genuinely brilliant man] and to stop news channels monopolising our opinions.
One of the ways of doing this is simply being nicer. You can surely spare a couple of pounds now and then, can't you? And you at the very least get a nice anecdote to share with your friends out of it and a feeling of good in your heart. You might think this is a pointless exercise, because the already nice people won't turn nasty if they don't do it and the horrible people won't suddenly don a halo, but by at least tilting the balance a little more to 'kindness' side it will help in the long run. I think.
N.B: I finished the title sequence! I've gotten feedback from a few friends and family and they really like it, which I can only feel relieved at. Also, the previous blog broke the record for most number of posts in a year! Considering I have also posted a couple of entries on my related blogs this is a good year for me, and I hope this commitment of mine will last for a lot longer :)
'Pay It Forward' in real life
It really is great when you hear about things like this. I've heard many other ways in which this kind of thing is done, such as leaving a pound coin on a street for somebody to find, letting somebody ahead of you in a supermarket just 'because' and giving complete strangers a compliment and then simply walking on.
This story led me to this website: HelpOthers.org which is a simple page with many stories of genuine kindness on. Sure, some of it is clearly an exercise in creative writing, but think about it. Just because the message doesn't come from a real source, does it make the meaning any less worthy? I for one think not.
In times like these, we have newspapers and websites and TV channels that try to turn everything into something watchable, so the less shocking items take a back seat. I want this trend to change [As does this show Newswipe produced and presented by Charlie Brooker, a genuinely brilliant man] and to stop news channels monopolising our opinions.
One of the ways of doing this is simply being nicer. You can surely spare a couple of pounds now and then, can't you? And you at the very least get a nice anecdote to share with your friends out of it and a feeling of good in your heart. You might think this is a pointless exercise, because the already nice people won't turn nasty if they don't do it and the horrible people won't suddenly don a halo, but by at least tilting the balance a little more to 'kindness' side it will help in the long run. I think.
N.B: I finished the title sequence! I've gotten feedback from a few friends and family and they really like it, which I can only feel relieved at. Also, the previous blog broke the record for most number of posts in a year! Considering I have also posted a couple of entries on my related blogs this is a good year for me, and I hope this commitment of mine will last for a lot longer :)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Titles
I've been struggling to find the motivation to work on Come Dine With Us [No typo there, if you read the earlier posts you'd understand] because without the facilities to record good sound and capture it, there's only so much I can piece together. The narration is also the best part of the programme, so it means it's doubly as frustrating.
Hence my decision to work on the titles instead. This has been a big project as it turns out, but having fought my way through the ins and outs of After Effects [Finally!] I am now more than halfway through the process. It's looking quite good for a first attempt, and I did scrap two half done ideas along the way, but I've now narrowed it down to one final plan. The following is an image taken from it, bear in mind this isn't finalised and could very well change before it's complete. It should give you an idea however.
I went for dark purple as my colour of choice in an homage to the real series, and also to class it up a little. I hope to be able to show you the full sequence once it's done.
My productivity, as usual, has hit the slowdown I am used to upon coming home. I have however packed a lot more into the holidays than normal, including a trip to visit my friend in Maidenhead [Documented in an earlier post] but also Easter weekend saw me and my family spend a lot of time together. We went to Brecon, which is a beautiful market town in Mid Wales, to visit the famous Farmer's Market which only occurs once a month. It was really nice to be able to stroll along the canal towards the town, and once there tread the streets of such a wonderfully vibrant place, all the while soaking up the sun from a cloudless sky.
The market itself was a little smaller than I had anticipated, but what it lacked in size it made up for in the diversity of products on display. Hand made soaps and toys, locally produced chocolate and beer, food products ranging from fifteen varieties of scotch eggs to a stall dedicated to milk and cheese all made from goats milk. There was a lot to spend money on and if I hadn't been so broke I certainly would have come home weighed down with stuff!
Easter Sunday meant a trip to Mums to eat a delicious roast dinner, and I was really enjoying spending the time with my little sister too who I see only once or twice a month these days on average.
With three excellent weekends in a row, I only wonder what the following one will entail, but most likely expect it to be largely quiet due to having no plans made. Oh well.
Hence my decision to work on the titles instead. This has been a big project as it turns out, but having fought my way through the ins and outs of After Effects [Finally!] I am now more than halfway through the process. It's looking quite good for a first attempt, and I did scrap two half done ideas along the way, but I've now narrowed it down to one final plan. The following is an image taken from it, bear in mind this isn't finalised and could very well change before it's complete. It should give you an idea however.
I went for dark purple as my colour of choice in an homage to the real series, and also to class it up a little. I hope to be able to show you the full sequence once it's done.
My productivity, as usual, has hit the slowdown I am used to upon coming home. I have however packed a lot more into the holidays than normal, including a trip to visit my friend in Maidenhead [Documented in an earlier post] but also Easter weekend saw me and my family spend a lot of time together. We went to Brecon, which is a beautiful market town in Mid Wales, to visit the famous Farmer's Market which only occurs once a month. It was really nice to be able to stroll along the canal towards the town, and once there tread the streets of such a wonderfully vibrant place, all the while soaking up the sun from a cloudless sky.
The market itself was a little smaller than I had anticipated, but what it lacked in size it made up for in the diversity of products on display. Hand made soaps and toys, locally produced chocolate and beer, food products ranging from fifteen varieties of scotch eggs to a stall dedicated to milk and cheese all made from goats milk. There was a lot to spend money on and if I hadn't been so broke I certainly would have come home weighed down with stuff!
Easter Sunday meant a trip to Mums to eat a delicious roast dinner, and I was really enjoying spending the time with my little sister too who I see only once or twice a month these days on average.
With three excellent weekends in a row, I only wonder what the following one will entail, but most likely expect it to be largely quiet due to having no plans made. Oh well.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Truth
I do not wish to dwell on this subject any more in this blog, but it must be noted that Michael Parkinson was quoted today in the news saying that Jade Goody represented 'wretched Britain'. I'm not normally a Parky fan, but I can't find any fault in his statement. He reminds people that this woman grew up in a council estate, was a bully and a criminal as a teenager and was uneducated as an adult. She got famous for doing nothing, and I loved his blunt statement that she was not a Saint or a hero, and I really hope the time when she is forgotten comes soon, even though as I've mentioned before I do wish her kids the best in life and applaud Jeff Brazier's efforts to maintain their private lives.
I also heard a story in the news that suggested sex offenders would be required to take a lie detector test. Source. I thought this was taken straight from the headline of The Sun or The Daily Mail, and I honestly thought polygraphs weren't reliable enough to use as evidence, so why are we using them in the justice system elsewhere?
I had a fantastic weekend, though I'm feeling the effects of exhaustion a little bit. I think I overdid it, and if you include the past week too, it's been a hectic and non stop few days.
Anyway, to sum up this weekend, it involved a fantastic gig with a good friend of mine Katy, by a guy called Jason Mraz who I've been avidly following for at least two years now, and it was the best he's ever done. Five stars! I also met up with an old friend from Essex, and had a great time catching up and finding out what she'd been up to. Overall, an enlightening day. The day before and day after I spent with my housemate Simon, and we didn't do anything adventurous, after all, it wouldn't have been typical Simon if we'd done anything wildly out of routine [And I mean that in the best possible way!] but there was still lots of enjoyment through dossing around the town and meeting his slightly eccentric family. They also made me feel incredibly welcome which is the best possible thing to happen when visiting someone else's home.
Now I have several tasks to do before I go back to Uni, including some writing, some editing and some revising. Better get started soon.
I also heard a story in the news that suggested sex offenders would be required to take a lie detector test. Source. I thought this was taken straight from the headline of The Sun or The Daily Mail, and I honestly thought polygraphs weren't reliable enough to use as evidence, so why are we using them in the justice system elsewhere?
I had a fantastic weekend, though I'm feeling the effects of exhaustion a little bit. I think I overdid it, and if you include the past week too, it's been a hectic and non stop few days.
Anyway, to sum up this weekend, it involved a fantastic gig with a good friend of mine Katy, by a guy called Jason Mraz who I've been avidly following for at least two years now, and it was the best he's ever done. Five stars! I also met up with an old friend from Essex, and had a great time catching up and finding out what she'd been up to. Overall, an enlightening day. The day before and day after I spent with my housemate Simon, and we didn't do anything adventurous, after all, it wouldn't have been typical Simon if we'd done anything wildly out of routine [And I mean that in the best possible way!] but there was still lots of enjoyment through dossing around the town and meeting his slightly eccentric family. They also made me feel incredibly welcome which is the best possible thing to happen when visiting someone else's home.
Now I have several tasks to do before I go back to Uni, including some writing, some editing and some revising. Better get started soon.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Surreptitious
I can't believe I'm about to bring up this subject, but it's quite relevant to the last couple of day's activity; the weather. It has been absolutely incredible during the past week, and here's proof:
So today I took a walk after somebody else suggesting it a few days ago, and it turned out to be a great idea. Lovely weather, interesting characters and mysterious places. It seems to have given me a new appreciation of this wonderful city.
So, harking back very briefly to the subject of the previous two posts, I am wondering whether it's worth going undercover and working with this guy who beat me, or just avoiding working with him altogether. The former shows I've not let this defeat mar my character, and will show everybody I'm not affected by the situation which is the complete and utter truth, while the latter allows me to focus my energy on proving to myself and everybody else that I am perfectly capable of producing great work without the need for guidance. I'm tempted to use the latter approach but don't want any awkwardness in the future.
I've got a lot of plans for this Easter. Seeing James Morrison gig this Friday, going to Southampton for the NaSTA awards the Saturday and Sunday, going home for a bit the following week, then spending the weekend away in Reading/London where I'll be going to see Jason Mraz in a gig, and it turns out an old friend of mine will be attending so chance for a further catch up, spending a day with my favourite girl in the world is also occurring that weekend. Then completing work on four episodes of Come Dine, and also organising a shooting schedule for my three part drama. Coursework is also added on top of that, which hopefully won't be too difficult and some revision too.
So that should give me enough to talk about for a few weeks!
So today I took a walk after somebody else suggesting it a few days ago, and it turned out to be a great idea. Lovely weather, interesting characters and mysterious places. It seems to have given me a new appreciation of this wonderful city.
So, harking back very briefly to the subject of the previous two posts, I am wondering whether it's worth going undercover and working with this guy who beat me, or just avoiding working with him altogether. The former shows I've not let this defeat mar my character, and will show everybody I'm not affected by the situation which is the complete and utter truth, while the latter allows me to focus my energy on proving to myself and everybody else that I am perfectly capable of producing great work without the need for guidance. I'm tempted to use the latter approach but don't want any awkwardness in the future.
I've got a lot of plans for this Easter. Seeing James Morrison gig this Friday, going to Southampton for the NaSTA awards the Saturday and Sunday, going home for a bit the following week, then spending the weekend away in Reading/London where I'll be going to see Jason Mraz in a gig, and it turns out an old friend of mine will be attending so chance for a further catch up, spending a day with my favourite girl in the world is also occurring that weekend. Then completing work on four episodes of Come Dine, and also organising a shooting schedule for my three part drama. Coursework is also added on top of that, which hopefully won't be too difficult and some revision too.
So that should give me enough to talk about for a few weeks!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Why? Part 2
I've had time to settle down now, and I still don't get why what happened, happened. I've accepted it at least now though, and I hope this is over.
I've decided to work on slowing things down in my life in general, there's been far too much rushing around. Also concentrating on my work and improving my skillset. I won't let something like this happen in future.
I'm reminded of the proverb "Sometimes not getting what you want is really a blessing in disguise"
I've decided to work on slowing things down in my life in general, there's been far too much rushing around. Also concentrating on my work and improving my skillset. I won't let something like this happen in future.
I'm reminded of the proverb "Sometimes not getting what you want is really a blessing in disguise"
Why
I need to figure out the answer to this question.
I think I just entered what turned out to be a popularity contest and lost, but why the hell do I hate it so much even when I want to be absolutely cool with it? Surely the need for something should overpower any other thoughts, so why do I keep trying to convince myself I'm fine, only to get told by another part of me that I'm not?
My head hurts.
I think I just entered what turned out to be a popularity contest and lost, but why the hell do I hate it so much even when I want to be absolutely cool with it? Surely the need for something should overpower any other thoughts, so why do I keep trying to convince myself I'm fine, only to get told by another part of me that I'm not?
My head hurts.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Ineptitude
I wish I had a tiny little book and pen that I could carry around with me wherever I went. I then also wish that alongside that book, I would have the memory to remember to bring it with me all the time. If I had these two things, I swear to you I would come up with a lot more insightful posts on this or any of my other blogs.
As it stands, all I have to talk about is what I can recall from a whole day of insightful thought and crap filler material.
Earlier on today, I ventured onto youtube and commented on a video where some guy was singing a comic relief song. What was annoying was when he did a little talking bit after the song, his eyes would never look at the camera, but off to the side a bit. I figured he was, like many others, just looking at himself in the computer screen while he was being recorded. I hate it when people do that, so I commented. Next thing I know I'm being barraged with insults and comments about my 'insecurity' and god knows what. Bloody youtubers, want to start a fight over anything. If I'd learned anything from this, it's not to comment on a youtube video ever, but where's the fun in that?
Oh man, I cannot believe I forgot to add this in; I'm only writing this because I know nobody involved would read this until it's long but forgotten. I get some stick off my housemate today for not attending my other housemate's birthday celebration in a pub. Immediately, you might think I'm wrong, but here's why I made the decision. Firstly, his birthday was on Tuesday, and I saw him for pretty much the whole day. I not only wished him a happy birthday, but baked him a huge cake. Then, in the evening I joined him and his mates in the lounge while they played the Wii and generally enjoyed the evening. The accusing housemate buggered off to another friends birthday party by the way!
So tonight, I was all up for going until I checked the guestlist [On Facebook, useful tool that] Two people out of a handful were actually people I don't actually like. No big deal you might think, but only a couple of weeks ago a similarly attended gathering in the same pub was extremely uncomfortable because I couldn't get involved with the people I mostly know due to the two previously mentioned morons. So I made sure it was cool with birthday boy housemate to not go tonight because I hated the last time I went, and he seemed fine with it. Then I casually mention this to other housemate and he gives me attitude over it. I didn't say anything, but after going to the shops to get something I came back and said he had no right to make me feel bad after I put in so much effort over his birthday, to which he apologised, and I think things are cool now.
Okay, so when I said a couple of posts ago that this wouldn't turn into a whiney diary like blog I must have been lying, but I will buy that book soon and then I will come up with more interesting thoughts to mull over. Then you will enjoy reading this! [I hope :)]
As it stands, all I have to talk about is what I can recall from a whole day of insightful thought and crap filler material.
Earlier on today, I ventured onto youtube and commented on a video where some guy was singing a comic relief song. What was annoying was when he did a little talking bit after the song, his eyes would never look at the camera, but off to the side a bit. I figured he was, like many others, just looking at himself in the computer screen while he was being recorded. I hate it when people do that, so I commented. Next thing I know I'm being barraged with insults and comments about my 'insecurity' and god knows what. Bloody youtubers, want to start a fight over anything. If I'd learned anything from this, it's not to comment on a youtube video ever, but where's the fun in that?
Oh man, I cannot believe I forgot to add this in; I'm only writing this because I know nobody involved would read this until it's long but forgotten. I get some stick off my housemate today for not attending my other housemate's birthday celebration in a pub. Immediately, you might think I'm wrong, but here's why I made the decision. Firstly, his birthday was on Tuesday, and I saw him for pretty much the whole day. I not only wished him a happy birthday, but baked him a huge cake. Then, in the evening I joined him and his mates in the lounge while they played the Wii and generally enjoyed the evening. The accusing housemate buggered off to another friends birthday party by the way!
So tonight, I was all up for going until I checked the guestlist [On Facebook, useful tool that] Two people out of a handful were actually people I don't actually like. No big deal you might think, but only a couple of weeks ago a similarly attended gathering in the same pub was extremely uncomfortable because I couldn't get involved with the people I mostly know due to the two previously mentioned morons. So I made sure it was cool with birthday boy housemate to not go tonight because I hated the last time I went, and he seemed fine with it. Then I casually mention this to other housemate and he gives me attitude over it. I didn't say anything, but after going to the shops to get something I came back and said he had no right to make me feel bad after I put in so much effort over his birthday, to which he apologised, and I think things are cool now.
Okay, so when I said a couple of posts ago that this wouldn't turn into a whiney diary like blog I must have been lying, but I will buy that book soon and then I will come up with more interesting thoughts to mull over. Then you will enjoy reading this! [I hope :)]
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Confrontation
Is it worthwhile to oppose somebody publicly if they have caused you considerable frustration? This occurred to me the other day when I encountered such a situation. I apologise in advance for the following definitely doesn't rank very high on the list of things to get justifiably annoyed at, but it led me to this thought process so I am including it for its relevance.
I'm in the library, waiting in the PC lab for the next available terminal. There is a girl in front of me, fair enough. You should know this PC lab consists of two rooms, one tucked away behind the main one, both of them have PC's in. A girl struts in from the main entrance, walks straight past the two of us queueing and goes into the other room, expecting to be able to use one of the PC's in there should she spot one, despite two people already waiting. When she came out having had no luck finding an empty spot, she joins the queue behind me for approximately 30 seconds before walking out.
This situation almost got me confronting the girl in question asking her if she thought she didn't have to queue to use them, as she apparently didn't believe that was the case. Except I didn't, because where would it have gotten me? Would I have been seen as the bad guy for making a scene out of it, even though she was in the wrong? Would she have learned from it? Would I have learned from it?
Despite the tameness of the above example, it does make me wonder when it is ok to take the step of confronting somebody. Certain situations, where for example your girlfriend has been made the target of mocking, or had something happen to her like a drink spilled on her with the perpetrator seemingly oblivious, it seems like it's expected for you to stand up to them. Other situations, maybe when your friend has inadvertently made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome, it seems almost expected for you to keep quiet as not to cause a scene. Is there a middle ground, or is it always one way or the other?
If I were a braver man, I would probably challenge myself to confront everybody for one day or even a week and see what reactions I get. However, realistically given the average day for me, it wouldn't really be enough of an experiment. If anybody happens to come across this and believes in it one way or another, I would be really interested to know what you think.
In other news, I tried this really easy recipe out today, and it turned out really tasty. I highly recommend it: Yum
I'm in the library, waiting in the PC lab for the next available terminal. There is a girl in front of me, fair enough. You should know this PC lab consists of two rooms, one tucked away behind the main one, both of them have PC's in. A girl struts in from the main entrance, walks straight past the two of us queueing and goes into the other room, expecting to be able to use one of the PC's in there should she spot one, despite two people already waiting. When she came out having had no luck finding an empty spot, she joins the queue behind me for approximately 30 seconds before walking out.
This situation almost got me confronting the girl in question asking her if she thought she didn't have to queue to use them, as she apparently didn't believe that was the case. Except I didn't, because where would it have gotten me? Would I have been seen as the bad guy for making a scene out of it, even though she was in the wrong? Would she have learned from it? Would I have learned from it?
Despite the tameness of the above example, it does make me wonder when it is ok to take the step of confronting somebody. Certain situations, where for example your girlfriend has been made the target of mocking, or had something happen to her like a drink spilled on her with the perpetrator seemingly oblivious, it seems like it's expected for you to stand up to them. Other situations, maybe when your friend has inadvertently made you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome, it seems almost expected for you to keep quiet as not to cause a scene. Is there a middle ground, or is it always one way or the other?
If I were a braver man, I would probably challenge myself to confront everybody for one day or even a week and see what reactions I get. However, realistically given the average day for me, it wouldn't really be enough of an experiment. If anybody happens to come across this and believes in it one way or another, I would be really interested to know what you think.
In other news, I tried this really easy recipe out today, and it turned out really tasty. I highly recommend it: Yum
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Nationalism
I think it says a lot about the pride we Welsh have when, after suffering our first defeat in the RBS Six Nations against France and not even by a large margin, we are so extremely disappointed in our team because we have said goodbye to our chances at winning the Grand Slam for a second time in a row. If we beat Ireland, we can still come top of the table, but winning just seems like a compromise now that the big GS is out of our reach. We obviously want to aim high because we are so confident that we can do it.
On the other hand, I despise the lengths the English go to to support any team whose win against another would increase their position in the table. It's called tactical supporting and it goes to show that English sports fans are some of the worst in the world. I don't mean to generalise because obviously there are a lot of English fans who don't fit in with what I'm saying, but in my experience it is the case. I've been to watch a few games here in Exeter where Wales are playing, and every time there have been rowdy England fans booing and chanting and trying to cause annoyance when there are Welsh supporters all around. At least so far we've had the satisfaction of having them shut up when they relise Wales are winning all the time. All except the most recent game, that is.
I don't want to end this on a sour note so I'll recommend you check out a band called The Hush Sound. They are really unique, the vocals alternate between the man and the woman depending on which song is playing, and they have a brilliant sound, one which I always struggle to describe with one word. Go and have a listen to them to see what I mean.
On the other hand, I despise the lengths the English go to to support any team whose win against another would increase their position in the table. It's called tactical supporting and it goes to show that English sports fans are some of the worst in the world. I don't mean to generalise because obviously there are a lot of English fans who don't fit in with what I'm saying, but in my experience it is the case. I've been to watch a few games here in Exeter where Wales are playing, and every time there have been rowdy England fans booing and chanting and trying to cause annoyance when there are Welsh supporters all around. At least so far we've had the satisfaction of having them shut up when they relise Wales are winning all the time. All except the most recent game, that is.
I don't want to end this on a sour note so I'll recommend you check out a band called The Hush Sound. They are really unique, the vocals alternate between the man and the woman depending on which song is playing, and they have a brilliant sound, one which I always struggle to describe with one word. Go and have a listen to them to see what I mean.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Almost
I was very close to getting stuck into the first 'entertaining' post I'd ever done, but what stopped me was a task I had put off for longer than I should have; picking components for my self build computer. Being that it is approaching birthday time, and the last PC I owned was bought five years ago and is still 'alive' but in a poorly state, I have decided to finally get around to doing what I'd put off for a while. So yes, I am buying different bits of a computer and putting them together myself; I am such a hero. That, or a complete idiot.
In other exciting news, this extremely intriguing article has brought to my attention such an embarrassing TV show that I wonder why it wasn't commissioned on ITV instead. I certainly won't be tuning in, and I don't see how it will be appealing to anyone other than, and excuse me for the cliché that follows, bored housewives [How many people are still housewives? It seems like such an old fashioned job these days] Never mind, I still have the option of ignoring it!
I'll interject this short post to say that I have nothing but pure hatred for the craptasticular shitfest that is the ITV player. Never have I seen technology and TV come together in such an abysmal fashion. If you've never ventured onto the ITV website for their take on the BBC's iplayer, then you have more sanity than I. I do not enjoy being subjected to a slow loading, poor quality, advert infested flash player in my life, and what's worse is when it does decide to play, you end up being forced to watch through minutes worth of adverts because one segment doesn't work, and you click on it to watch it again hoping for it to work again, only to be forced to watch all the advert breaks again through in a row. STAY AWAY!
Why did I bother using it? To see what new game show ITV have excreted with legendary Millionaire host Chris Tarrant at the helm, who recently admitted that he doesn't want to be known as a gameshow host for the rest of his life. Smart move, Einstein. Well, it's called The Colour of Money and it's lacking a certain something. Unlike most risk based shows, it is less of a case of risk vs reward and more like patience vs odds or something. I didn't really enjoy it, because it doesn't seem likely to spawn crucial moments like most other gameshows can. I stopped watching after the first contestant walked away with/without their winnings [I'm not going to spoil]
And that's it for now, more TV related chat soon.
In other exciting news, this extremely intriguing article has brought to my attention such an embarrassing TV show that I wonder why it wasn't commissioned on ITV instead. I certainly won't be tuning in, and I don't see how it will be appealing to anyone other than, and excuse me for the cliché that follows, bored housewives [How many people are still housewives? It seems like such an old fashioned job these days] Never mind, I still have the option of ignoring it!
I'll interject this short post to say that I have nothing but pure hatred for the craptasticular shitfest that is the ITV player. Never have I seen technology and TV come together in such an abysmal fashion. If you've never ventured onto the ITV website for their take on the BBC's iplayer, then you have more sanity than I. I do not enjoy being subjected to a slow loading, poor quality, advert infested flash player in my life, and what's worse is when it does decide to play, you end up being forced to watch through minutes worth of adverts because one segment doesn't work, and you click on it to watch it again hoping for it to work again, only to be forced to watch all the advert breaks again through in a row. STAY AWAY!
Why did I bother using it? To see what new game show ITV have excreted with legendary Millionaire host Chris Tarrant at the helm, who recently admitted that he doesn't want to be known as a gameshow host for the rest of his life. Smart move, Einstein. Well, it's called The Colour of Money and it's lacking a certain something. Unlike most risk based shows, it is less of a case of risk vs reward and more like patience vs odds or something. I didn't really enjoy it, because it doesn't seem likely to spawn crucial moments like most other gameshows can. I stopped watching after the first contestant walked away with/without their winnings [I'm not going to spoil]
And that's it for now, more TV related chat soon.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Deprecation
I have come to the conclusion that to discover something about yourself is a never ending circumstance. I keep thinking that I've finally figured out who I really am and then I am stunned to discover something new about myself. Take for instance the following situation; I've never considered myself somebody with a short attention span, but I was watching a show recently and despite definitely being intrigued by the content, I just had to tab over to the browser and google something. Now why would I do that? Because apparently I find it difficult to keep my focus on anything. I am wondering if that realisation will help me by my acknowledging it as a flaw and trying to correct it wherever I can, or whether it will not affect me at all, where I will stay as a slightly unfocused individual. I hope the fact that I have stuck to updating this blog for the past few weeks has shown there are certainly some things that I can stick to, unlike the Judo lessons I took as a kid or the many attempts at learning the Welsh language. I hope to keep to it.
Also, you'll be pleased to know that in the future this blog will be less like a diary and more like a collection of weird and/or intriguing thoughts. I will also hope to recommend some music, TV, film or websites for your viewing pleasure, starting with this charming webcomic with some clever little jokes written into some great artwork: It's called Truck Bearing Kibble and it updates once or twice a fortnight, which is not nearly often enough [But you can forgive it considering the quality]
Also, you'll be pleased to know that in the future this blog will be less like a diary and more like a collection of weird and/or intriguing thoughts. I will also hope to recommend some music, TV, film or websites for your viewing pleasure, starting with this charming webcomic with some clever little jokes written into some great artwork: It's called Truck Bearing Kibble and it updates once or twice a fortnight, which is not nearly often enough [But you can forgive it considering the quality]
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saw
I never thought I'd be giving a compliment to a Saw film, but I'm about to. Before I do, I just want to say that I don't hate the Saw series, it's just it has gone beyond its sell by date now and what was interesting and unique the first two times has now become standard. All the plot twists are quite easy to spot now, especially my favourite: "If Jigsaw or whoever is on the tape tells you to do something, try bloody LISTENING to them!" So anyway, as I was about to say, the compliment I bestow upon Saw V is this; it is the only film I know at the moment that has managed to properly integrate a real mobile phone technique into a plot. It's so simple too. Here's what happens, basically this bad guy, steals the good guys phone and rings the police chief with it, then quickly ends the call before he can pick up. The Police chief sees good guy has rung him, and calls back, only by now the bad guy has turned the phone off. Police chief gets voicemail, and tries to trace him. Bad guy puts phone in an incriminating position then turns phone on again, Police chief tracks it down, good guy gets framed! Simple, but believable. Well done.
Today I went bowling, and discovered how bad I can be. I swear there is a rule though that means you can only do well after one game has passed, thus making it the practice round. It happens to me all the time; do crap the first time, do well the second time. Also, if you've gotten bored of regular bowling, try speed or blind bowling by either bowling each ball as quickly after the last as possible or by setting yourself up for a shot but then closing your eyes for the roll. If that's still not boring enough, try combining the two. Just be careful you don't damage the pin guarding barrier.
Today I went bowling, and discovered how bad I can be. I swear there is a rule though that means you can only do well after one game has passed, thus making it the practice round. It happens to me all the time; do crap the first time, do well the second time. Also, if you've gotten bored of regular bowling, try speed or blind bowling by either bowling each ball as quickly after the last as possible or by setting yourself up for a shot but then closing your eyes for the roll. If that's still not boring enough, try combining the two. Just be careful you don't damage the pin guarding barrier.
Bake
Today I attempted what would inevitably turn into a marathon of cooking and distractions.
Firstly, today was Valentine's Day, and I'll preface this by saying that I didn't have a lady with me on this godforsaken event. I will hopefully regret saying this, hoping to one day find myself somebody who I would be willing to share these overly cutesy days with, but I really hate this holiday. The meaning of it doesn't have to be commercial, though it is simply one to sell cards on, but the idea that sharing your love only on this one important date is ridiculous; you should share it every day and be spontaneous, not predictable with once a year.
I decided that seeing as I would never be able to gather all of my housemates together on the same evening for the foreseeable future, I would get four of us and make a house meal. This happened sort of spontaneously, and it happened tonight, though I was a bit ambitious too.
Woah, before we carry on, I don't want to forget one of the most important events of this week; the Welsh victory against England for the second consecutive year, 23-15 at the Millenium Stadium. Now on with the show again.
So, I decided not only to cook lasagne for my housemates [One of them had plans to go out and will get his portion tomorrow for lunch] but also to try making brownies too. Well, trying to make two food items concurrently is a bad idea if you aren't experienced or reasonably fast in the kitchen. Adding to that two of my housemates kept pottering about doing the washing up [Can't complain at all, they really helped me by providing me with clean utensils, so I'm very grateful!] and that when my food was simmering giving me a strict 45 minutes to make brownies to go in the oven and having a friend unexpectedly visit to give me a cupcake slowing me down [The cupcake was AMAZING! and looked stunning] then it turns into a disaster! And it's actually worse than that because I fudged several things up; the lasagne sheets getting stuck together, the oven dish that was too big, the bowl that couldn't contain all the chocolate and butter mixture, the over cooking, the wrong sized pans. Overall though both dishes seemed to get a mark of approval from the housemates and so I am considering it a success. Go me!
A couple of things to mention while I have the energy to write it; this Jade Goody only getting a few months to live business is horribly tragic. I'm betting there are a few people out there who find her as irritating as me, but there's nothing to feel about this cancer stuff except sadness. It's terrible she's got to leave her kids behind if she does get worse, but also because she never really deserved it. I know some people would complain about her whoring herself out to the press even in her current condition, but not only is she making a load of money to see her kids right in future, but also getting maximum footage so that her kids can get to see her [Even if it shouldn't necessarily be her all upset and stuff] and get to know her when they are older. So I do have a lot of sympathy for her and her family at this time.
Also, the newest Futurama movie 'Into The Wild Green Yonder' is truly amazing, and really gets me excited for the possibility of more Futurama episodes [The current status is that the cast and writers are cautiously optimistic!] so let's hope they do the right thing and bring it back so we can get more brilliant episodes like 'The Sting' and 'Luck of the Fryish'
Okay enough posting, I'm getting tired and want to watch QI and Not Going Out before bed.
Firstly, today was Valentine's Day, and I'll preface this by saying that I didn't have a lady with me on this godforsaken event. I will hopefully regret saying this, hoping to one day find myself somebody who I would be willing to share these overly cutesy days with, but I really hate this holiday. The meaning of it doesn't have to be commercial, though it is simply one to sell cards on, but the idea that sharing your love only on this one important date is ridiculous; you should share it every day and be spontaneous, not predictable with once a year.
I decided that seeing as I would never be able to gather all of my housemates together on the same evening for the foreseeable future, I would get four of us and make a house meal. This happened sort of spontaneously, and it happened tonight, though I was a bit ambitious too.
Woah, before we carry on, I don't want to forget one of the most important events of this week; the Welsh victory against England for the second consecutive year, 23-15 at the Millenium Stadium. Now on with the show again.
So, I decided not only to cook lasagne for my housemates [One of them had plans to go out and will get his portion tomorrow for lunch] but also to try making brownies too. Well, trying to make two food items concurrently is a bad idea if you aren't experienced or reasonably fast in the kitchen. Adding to that two of my housemates kept pottering about doing the washing up [Can't complain at all, they really helped me by providing me with clean utensils, so I'm very grateful!] and that when my food was simmering giving me a strict 45 minutes to make brownies to go in the oven and having a friend unexpectedly visit to give me a cupcake slowing me down [The cupcake was AMAZING! and looked stunning] then it turns into a disaster! And it's actually worse than that because I fudged several things up; the lasagne sheets getting stuck together, the oven dish that was too big, the bowl that couldn't contain all the chocolate and butter mixture, the over cooking, the wrong sized pans. Overall though both dishes seemed to get a mark of approval from the housemates and so I am considering it a success. Go me!
A couple of things to mention while I have the energy to write it; this Jade Goody only getting a few months to live business is horribly tragic. I'm betting there are a few people out there who find her as irritating as me, but there's nothing to feel about this cancer stuff except sadness. It's terrible she's got to leave her kids behind if she does get worse, but also because she never really deserved it. I know some people would complain about her whoring herself out to the press even in her current condition, but not only is she making a load of money to see her kids right in future, but also getting maximum footage so that her kids can get to see her [Even if it shouldn't necessarily be her all upset and stuff] and get to know her when they are older. So I do have a lot of sympathy for her and her family at this time.
Also, the newest Futurama movie 'Into The Wild Green Yonder' is truly amazing, and really gets me excited for the possibility of more Futurama episodes [The current status is that the cast and writers are cautiously optimistic!] so let's hope they do the right thing and bring it back so we can get more brilliant episodes like 'The Sting' and 'Luck of the Fryish'
Okay enough posting, I'm getting tired and want to watch QI and Not Going Out before bed.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sabbaticals
As a foreword, I must explain briefly that I have this constant urge to keep things I do secret from others. There's nothing deeply psychological to it, it simply exists because I have always hated having things ruined for me. Imagine knowing you had a surprise birthday party in the next room for example. It would be amazing fun to know that going through there would yield a lot of people cheering for you, but can you imagine how much amazing that moment would be if you hadn't the slightest clue that it was happening? It's the same with movies, I wouldn't waste my time going to see a movie with a big twist in the cinema if I knew what the twist was, it simply removes any reasonable surprise at the end.
So, this is why I feel comfortable writing the following here, because I know it won't be read by anybody who even cares a little about the project. This is about one of the features for the show I co produce. It has been an amazingly productive day, and it all revolved around the filming we were planning to do with an amazing woman called Hannah. She is just a joy to work with and she knows exactly what she is supposed to do on camera and is just friendly and hilarious. The idea is, being that it is coming up to the time here at Uni where applications for Sabbatical positions is approaching, we thought we'd compose a feature following a over the top character as they attempted to apply for one themself, running through each of the stages [Applying, meeting the current Sabbs, campainging and the results] It came out amazing, and it is simply unfortunate how we are unable to use half of the footage we took because otherwise the 4 minute feature would extend up to 10 which is unacceptable! I am looking forward to posting the full length interview on the Facebook group after the show has been uploaded though.
So, that pretty much sums up my day, apart from the relatively minor fact that I got to listen to The Wurzels play their gig today, as I was sat in an office only feet away from them while I was capturing/editing, and they seemed to get the crowd really going. Yep.
So, this is why I feel comfortable writing the following here, because I know it won't be read by anybody who even cares a little about the project. This is about one of the features for the show I co produce. It has been an amazingly productive day, and it all revolved around the filming we were planning to do with an amazing woman called Hannah. She is just a joy to work with and she knows exactly what she is supposed to do on camera and is just friendly and hilarious. The idea is, being that it is coming up to the time here at Uni where applications for Sabbatical positions is approaching, we thought we'd compose a feature following a over the top character as they attempted to apply for one themself, running through each of the stages [Applying, meeting the current Sabbs, campainging and the results] It came out amazing, and it is simply unfortunate how we are unable to use half of the footage we took because otherwise the 4 minute feature would extend up to 10 which is unacceptable! I am looking forward to posting the full length interview on the Facebook group after the show has been uploaded though.
So, that pretty much sums up my day, apart from the relatively minor fact that I got to listen to The Wurzels play their gig today, as I was sat in an office only feet away from them while I was capturing/editing, and they seemed to get the crowd really going. Yep.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Fits
All of a sudden, things have seemed to fall into place for me. I can't even explain it, it's just that things have recently seemed a lot clearer for me and I am really happy about it but also a bit wary because it feels like at any moment, it could all be taken away again. I have become a better person in a way, doing all the things I've wanted to be able to do and have time for other stuff too, but as if I'm doing it while balanced precariously on an unsteady surface. I am going to try and keep it how it is, even if I have to fight hard to do it.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Difficult
Blogging is hard, especially because it's not in my nature to share stuff about myself. It's like a diary of course, but I have never maintained a diary for longer than a few days; the last one I had was a J.R.R Tolkein one which was incredible as it had plenty of great illustrations and quotes from his books, and I had recently read The Hobbit which really is an amazing book to read as a child. I think it was actually the first book I ever read by myself and I was quite proud of it. Anyway, I'm rambling, so I'll wrap it up by saying I hope I can continue this blogging as I wish to exceed my personal best.
The third day of our take on 'Come Dine With Me' called 'Come Dine With Us' went very well! It seems that as we progress into the project, the filming gets easier and despite becoming more jaded due to the constant barrage of filming, the excitement about completing it increases. I actually cannot wait to get stuck into editing it. This isn't my only project going on at the moment, in between we want to get an episode of Uncovered out too, and also my drama all within 10 days. I don't think it's possible but I'm determined to have a go!
That's it for now, I've got to go to sleep for a full day of lectures tomorrow.
The third day of our take on 'Come Dine With Me' called 'Come Dine With Us' went very well! It seems that as we progress into the project, the filming gets easier and despite becoming more jaded due to the constant barrage of filming, the excitement about completing it increases. I actually cannot wait to get stuck into editing it. This isn't my only project going on at the moment, in between we want to get an episode of Uncovered out too, and also my drama all within 10 days. I don't think it's possible but I'm determined to have a go!
That's it for now, I've got to go to sleep for a full day of lectures tomorrow.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Cake
It seems that my attempt at constantly blogging has become a mild success. This will be the 11th post in 14 consecutive days which is potentially something to shout about, but I will be ignoring the fact that most of it has been inane chatter in order to enjoy this mini celebration.
I do warn you, the next section of this entry is full of videogame content, so skip over if this isn't you!
I downloaded and played the Halo Wars demo today which had only been released on Thursday, and my first impressions are quite positive. Essentially, this a RTS game set in the Halo universe, on the 360. First thing you should be thinking is "What the hell?" as you realise that they are trying to put a game mostly suited to a mouse on a console. However, it manages to do a decent job. Selecting particular units is still tricky, but they have managed to work around it by introducing a 'local' and 'all' units select option, the former only selecting those within view. Also, double clicking any unit type will select all units of that type. As far as the gameplay goes, you really get a good feel for the game even after only an hour maximum of playing. I really enjoyed building up my base and kitting out my units, which is really familiar having played a lot of Halo games in my time. I usually find this genre gets quite difficult after only a few levels, but so far I can see this difficulty curve being well defined and more accommodating to the new player, such as myself. I am seriously considering purchasing this when it's released now, so a hearty congratulations to the creators is in order!
Done with videogames for now, [I have a Resident Evil 5 demo to get through at some point too] I shall quickly explain how the filming for Come Dine With Us [New working title] went today. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with it, but the filming took a lot longer than the 3 hours it was supposed to, running to almost 5. Not that it was tedious though, looking through some of the footage we've got has got me very excited for completing it. The first episode will hopefully be done within a week and I can't wait to make it! I'm not giving away too many details because you'll have to watch the show to find out ;)
I do warn you, the next section of this entry is full of videogame content, so skip over if this isn't you!
I downloaded and played the Halo Wars demo today which had only been released on Thursday, and my first impressions are quite positive. Essentially, this a RTS game set in the Halo universe, on the 360. First thing you should be thinking is "What the hell?" as you realise that they are trying to put a game mostly suited to a mouse on a console. However, it manages to do a decent job. Selecting particular units is still tricky, but they have managed to work around it by introducing a 'local' and 'all' units select option, the former only selecting those within view. Also, double clicking any unit type will select all units of that type. As far as the gameplay goes, you really get a good feel for the game even after only an hour maximum of playing. I really enjoyed building up my base and kitting out my units, which is really familiar having played a lot of Halo games in my time. I usually find this genre gets quite difficult after only a few levels, but so far I can see this difficulty curve being well defined and more accommodating to the new player, such as myself. I am seriously considering purchasing this when it's released now, so a hearty congratulations to the creators is in order!
Done with videogames for now, [I have a Resident Evil 5 demo to get through at some point too] I shall quickly explain how the filming for Come Dine With Us [New working title] went today. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with it, but the filming took a lot longer than the 3 hours it was supposed to, running to almost 5. Not that it was tedious though, looking through some of the footage we've got has got me very excited for completing it. The first episode will hopefully be done within a week and I can't wait to make it! I'm not giving away too many details because you'll have to watch the show to find out ;)
Friday, February 06, 2009
Innovation
So, the snow returns. This little city called Exeter hadn't seen a flake of the white stuff in eighteen years before this week, and now it's getting hit for the second time. It's hard to believe it really, and while a lot of people are now continuing to moan about the situation, I couldn't be happier! It's all about what you make of a situation.
I am currently trying to write a thoroughly more interesting blog entry, on something I doubt a lot of you would have thought about, but unfortunately I am lacking in pictures which is quite crucial to this idea! Bear with me for a couple of days, it will get written, and hopefully you will enjoy it. A clue is in the title to this blog by the way.
I have decided that seeing as I lack any real news for you today, I am going to write a blurb/summary of the screenplay I have written. Let me know what you think;
"Life is all about choices, from what to eat for dinner to whether to quit your job to follow your dreams. Faye is a young student moving into halls for the first time, all alone and worried about who she'll be living with and whether she'll cope. However, what she doesn't realise, is that some of the smallest choices can have the most drastic outcomes, and as we join her, we follow Faye along two separate timelines to find out whether there really is a destiny for every person, or whether your path is determined by the decisions you make."
Does that make it sound interesting? That was harder to write than I thought it would be.
I am currently trying to write a thoroughly more interesting blog entry, on something I doubt a lot of you would have thought about, but unfortunately I am lacking in pictures which is quite crucial to this idea! Bear with me for a couple of days, it will get written, and hopefully you will enjoy it. A clue is in the title to this blog by the way.
I have decided that seeing as I lack any real news for you today, I am going to write a blurb/summary of the screenplay I have written. Let me know what you think;
"Life is all about choices, from what to eat for dinner to whether to quit your job to follow your dreams. Faye is a young student moving into halls for the first time, all alone and worried about who she'll be living with and whether she'll cope. However, what she doesn't realise, is that some of the smallest choices can have the most drastic outcomes, and as we join her, we follow Faye along two separate timelines to find out whether there really is a destiny for every person, or whether your path is determined by the decisions you make."
Does that make it sound interesting? That was harder to write than I thought it would be.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Recreation
Wow, it's freezing in my room, my hands are currently resembling frozen ice lollies and I could turn the heating up, but these days it's probably cheaper to go out and buy an expensive coat to wrap up in!
The recession really seemed to show itself to me yesterday, as I saw a mother helping her son out on his paper route. Sure, she was probably worried about him with all this snow and ice, but personally I think she was trying to wow his bosses and steal the job from right under his nose. It was all about the look in her eyes. Oh, and I didn't mention this already, but she was riding his bike too. Can you believe it?
Yesterday was one of those time where an unplanned occurrence happened. Don't get excited, this isn't something amazing, it basically started with me intending to go out to a local club with some friends. Tuesday is the big student night here, and it's become a sort of tradition as long as there's nothing else going on to go to this club.
Inevitably, I was looking forward more to the pre drinks than the clubbing, as the DJ isn't terribly good and goes through a stage of playing cheese, then really bad R&B, and towards the end of the night, cheese and good songs again. I thought when I got there I'd be there for an hour, but nearly stayed there all night because of good company, bumping into cool people there and forcing myself to stick with it just that little bit longer than I was actually feeling it. Dancing through the pain would be a good metaphor.
Changing direction now, I was hoping anybody out there would be able to direct me to some good music? I've become extremely bored with my current itunes library, and having little money I am resorting to using this free service called Spotify, which allows you to search for and stream almost any song with a record label. It unfortunately lost a number of songs via some issue with one label quite recently, but I haven't really noticed it in my recent searches. In its essence, the software is really good, lightweight and the quality of music is great considering its free. The only drawback is occasional advertising through 30 second adverts played after some songs, but I'd say it takes about 5-10 songs before it plays one and they are bearable. Definitely not a big problem at all. So, I wish to be adorned with musical suggestions. Do your worst!
One final note, I had someone add me recently on Facebook, some dude who I stayed in the same hostel as in my US travels, it's quite strange; the full story is long, but a shortened one is that me and him stayed in a hostel in New York city, and then after leaving there, happened to end up staying in the same room in a hostel in DC about two weeks later! I love coincidences like that :)
The recession really seemed to show itself to me yesterday, as I saw a mother helping her son out on his paper route. Sure, she was probably worried about him with all this snow and ice, but personally I think she was trying to wow his bosses and steal the job from right under his nose. It was all about the look in her eyes. Oh, and I didn't mention this already, but she was riding his bike too. Can you believe it?
Yesterday was one of those time where an unplanned occurrence happened. Don't get excited, this isn't something amazing, it basically started with me intending to go out to a local club with some friends. Tuesday is the big student night here, and it's become a sort of tradition as long as there's nothing else going on to go to this club.
Inevitably, I was looking forward more to the pre drinks than the clubbing, as the DJ isn't terribly good and goes through a stage of playing cheese, then really bad R&B, and towards the end of the night, cheese and good songs again. I thought when I got there I'd be there for an hour, but nearly stayed there all night because of good company, bumping into cool people there and forcing myself to stick with it just that little bit longer than I was actually feeling it. Dancing through the pain would be a good metaphor.
Changing direction now, I was hoping anybody out there would be able to direct me to some good music? I've become extremely bored with my current itunes library, and having little money I am resorting to using this free service called Spotify, which allows you to search for and stream almost any song with a record label. It unfortunately lost a number of songs via some issue with one label quite recently, but I haven't really noticed it in my recent searches. In its essence, the software is really good, lightweight and the quality of music is great considering its free. The only drawback is occasional advertising through 30 second adverts played after some songs, but I'd say it takes about 5-10 songs before it plays one and they are bearable. Definitely not a big problem at all. So, I wish to be adorned with musical suggestions. Do your worst!
One final note, I had someone add me recently on Facebook, some dude who I stayed in the same hostel as in my US travels, it's quite strange; the full story is long, but a shortened one is that me and him stayed in a hostel in New York city, and then after leaving there, happened to end up staying in the same room in a hostel in DC about two weeks later! I love coincidences like that :)
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Snow
The title pretty much sums it up for today. It has been a fantastic day, and I am exhausted!
It started off badly, not in a really bad way, but one of those situations where all the little things seem to go against you, and it all builds up pretty quickly. I wasn't even expecting anything to come of the snow talk, the reason being I seemed to have accumulated a 'snow curse' ever since my 18th birthday, as from that point until today it had never snowed in the same place I am. Sure, it snowed often in the past few years, but not where I was. It even got to the point where I went home for a weekend from Uni, and those two days I was gone they had mental snowfall back in Uni, and then when I return, it starts happening at home! Hence my snow curse.
Anyway, I wasn't expecting anything to come of it, even with the crazy weather warnings. After I arrived at Uni and got through 3 hours of lectures, we had a break and that's when it began! The tiniest flakes at first, but then slowly heavier until it really was going crazy. I told my friend it wouldn't stick though, it was just not long enough. An hour goes by, and another lecture passes, the snow had died down a bit and nothing was sticking. Another hour goes by, and we step outside and it is INSANE. Really the best snow I've ever seen!
I have a snowball fight or three, then we walk home. I seek out other snowy people, and head back to campus and find a whole bunch there. We throw snowballs then start to roll the most epic snow boulder ever, from scratch by the way, none of that cheating starting with a rock stuff some others did! It gathers attention, we start to roll it to the top of a hill which was a mission, and we let it go Indiana Jones style after one of us and it breaks up before it even gets halfway! Amazing though, and the crowd that gathered seemed to agree.
Then the rest of the day involved throwing more snowballs, making snow angels and snow beards, making snow showers by shaking trees, and basically getting very muddy and very cold! Nobody could possibly rival the amount of fun I had today, nobody.
And this evening was all about working on the drama screenplay, which is finally getting to the point where it is complete! Hooray for productive/recreational days.
It started off badly, not in a really bad way, but one of those situations where all the little things seem to go against you, and it all builds up pretty quickly. I wasn't even expecting anything to come of the snow talk, the reason being I seemed to have accumulated a 'snow curse' ever since my 18th birthday, as from that point until today it had never snowed in the same place I am. Sure, it snowed often in the past few years, but not where I was. It even got to the point where I went home for a weekend from Uni, and those two days I was gone they had mental snowfall back in Uni, and then when I return, it starts happening at home! Hence my snow curse.
Anyway, I wasn't expecting anything to come of it, even with the crazy weather warnings. After I arrived at Uni and got through 3 hours of lectures, we had a break and that's when it began! The tiniest flakes at first, but then slowly heavier until it really was going crazy. I told my friend it wouldn't stick though, it was just not long enough. An hour goes by, and another lecture passes, the snow had died down a bit and nothing was sticking. Another hour goes by, and we step outside and it is INSANE. Really the best snow I've ever seen!
I have a snowball fight or three, then we walk home. I seek out other snowy people, and head back to campus and find a whole bunch there. We throw snowballs then start to roll the most epic snow boulder ever, from scratch by the way, none of that cheating starting with a rock stuff some others did! It gathers attention, we start to roll it to the top of a hill which was a mission, and we let it go Indiana Jones style after one of us and it breaks up before it even gets halfway! Amazing though, and the crowd that gathered seemed to agree.
Then the rest of the day involved throwing more snowballs, making snow angels and snow beards, making snow showers by shaking trees, and basically getting very muddy and very cold! Nobody could possibly rival the amount of fun I had today, nobody.
And this evening was all about working on the drama screenplay, which is finally getting to the point where it is complete! Hooray for productive/recreational days.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Apologies
Yesterdays blog went unwritten because I had quite a bit to do and not enough time to do it. Excuses aside though, the blog will be updates regularly again at least in the foreseeable future.
At this very moment [Well, outside of writing this update] I am working on redoing parts of my screenplay. Some scenes need to be slightly changed while others need complete rewrites. It's fun, but also aggravating as I'm supposed to be filming this afternoon and it's not even completed! I'll do an extra update tonight to fill in how well it goes.
Last night was a mix of emotions; initially there was relief, because I had finished the second of three exams and it didn't go too badly. Then it was panic as I realised I'd forgotten to pick up the camera that I desperately needed and the place to pick it up from closed at 6pm, which hadn't long passed but was still too late. That led to me scrabbling to sort out alternate arrangements and work out a solution, which as it stands haven't actually been sorted. Happiness soon followed as I decided a last minute cramming session wasn't going to help me that much and so I attended a party for my mate's birthday. It was worth it, I had such a good time and I didn't feel worried at all. Finally, there was tiredness as I looked at a few formulas before dropping off to sleep.
I am hoping to find some extra reserve of energy and enthusiasm for the rest of the day. At the moment I am spent, and it's not long gone 12 and I have to keep this up for a good 10 hours at least. How do people do it?
I hope that in the future, this blog won't simply contain my boring daily schedule but insightful thoughts or interesting anecdotes instead, but I have to at least build up to a point first where I am updating regularly. Only when I get into the habit of doing that will I be able to venture into writing about better things, and unfortunately that means there will be a bit of this ultimately uninteresting stuff to suffer with until then. Unless, that is, you get some kind of kick from hearing about what time I got up or how many lectures I had today. If that is you, I would advise getting some medical help.
At this very moment [Well, outside of writing this update] I am working on redoing parts of my screenplay. Some scenes need to be slightly changed while others need complete rewrites. It's fun, but also aggravating as I'm supposed to be filming this afternoon and it's not even completed! I'll do an extra update tonight to fill in how well it goes.
Last night was a mix of emotions; initially there was relief, because I had finished the second of three exams and it didn't go too badly. Then it was panic as I realised I'd forgotten to pick up the camera that I desperately needed and the place to pick it up from closed at 6pm, which hadn't long passed but was still too late. That led to me scrabbling to sort out alternate arrangements and work out a solution, which as it stands haven't actually been sorted. Happiness soon followed as I decided a last minute cramming session wasn't going to help me that much and so I attended a party for my mate's birthday. It was worth it, I had such a good time and I didn't feel worried at all. Finally, there was tiredness as I looked at a few formulas before dropping off to sleep.
I am hoping to find some extra reserve of energy and enthusiasm for the rest of the day. At the moment I am spent, and it's not long gone 12 and I have to keep this up for a good 10 hours at least. How do people do it?
I hope that in the future, this blog won't simply contain my boring daily schedule but insightful thoughts or interesting anecdotes instead, but I have to at least build up to a point first where I am updating regularly. Only when I get into the habit of doing that will I be able to venture into writing about better things, and unfortunately that means there will be a bit of this ultimately uninteresting stuff to suffer with until then. Unless, that is, you get some kind of kick from hearing about what time I got up or how many lectures I had today. If that is you, I would advise getting some medical help.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Collection
Instead of a run through of today's events, I'm going to share some completely unrelated thoughts and pointless anecdotes in an order that isn't relevant to anything.
That's all for tonight folks.
- I was in the zone earlier on, I had the best line drawing abilities sans ruler around, I mean look:
You just don't see that sort of thing in real life. So I went away for a couple of hours and came back and look what happened :(
- As I was stocking hoodies in work today, this woman comes in, picks up the Daily Mail and goes to my boss who was serving on the till. Queueing up behind her was the Students Guild president, John Cox. Cool guy. So, she pays for it, and he makes a comment about the paper and she says 'The only reason I buy this paper is for the crossword.' And that makes me happy. [Because I hate the Daily Mail, in case you didn't get that]
- More and more websites have started cottoning on to the fact that 'English' isn't what the Americans call English. That's why it's nice to consistently be presented with more and more options to choose 'English UK' over the horrible 'English US' It just took them very long to learn.
- I have lived in the same house for a few months now, and have never, even in my reckless dashing up them, tripped on the stairs. And then today arrives, and I go and do it twice; once banging my shin and stubbing my toe, and once while holding a bowl of hot soup. My housemate later enquired as to why there was 'custard' on the walls and I laughed.
- Had my very first impulse purchase of 2009 today when I saw season boxsets of 24 and Futurama for under £15, so I bought one of each and am extremely pleased, if a little guilty.
That's all for tonight folks.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Well
Would you believe it? I've been updating this blog for a solid five days in a row and I didn't even acknowledge it until today. Am I going to become a blogger from now on? Who knows, not me.
I had a real breakthrough today regarding my screenplay [For those of you not in the know, I have written and cast a screenplay to be shown on my University's TV station by the end of February] I had a really good creative writing sessions where my fellow Producer and Director Katy and I just went through the story and in particular the crucial first few scenes, and threw ideas at each other and really developed the plot and the characters. It really feels like it's alive for the first time in a long while. I cannot wait until Saturday arrives and we're able to film this, it should be amazing.
I love going back over something you think you vaguely know, and finding out that your memory has stored more of it than you thought. This is what happened when I looked over Differential Equations work today. Okay, so it's not exactly the works of William Shakespeare, but it is a lot more relevant to me than he is right now.
Watching TV earlier, and 90210 comes on. All of a sudden, horrible memories from months ago come flooding into my brain as I recall watching the pilot for this teen drama abortion. I'm trying to hold back, but here's what I think is wrong with it:
I couldn't watch it for very long, and even despite it's awfulness, it has achieved success in the US and even has a spinoff in the works. It's doing its part in putting me right off working in the TV industry, that's for sure.
I had a real breakthrough today regarding my screenplay [For those of you not in the know, I have written and cast a screenplay to be shown on my University's TV station by the end of February] I had a really good creative writing sessions where my fellow Producer and Director Katy and I just went through the story and in particular the crucial first few scenes, and threw ideas at each other and really developed the plot and the characters. It really feels like it's alive for the first time in a long while. I cannot wait until Saturday arrives and we're able to film this, it should be amazing.
I love going back over something you think you vaguely know, and finding out that your memory has stored more of it than you thought. This is what happened when I looked over Differential Equations work today. Okay, so it's not exactly the works of William Shakespeare, but it is a lot more relevant to me than he is right now.
Watching TV earlier, and 90210 comes on. All of a sudden, horrible memories from months ago come flooding into my brain as I recall watching the pilot for this teen drama abortion. I'm trying to hold back, but here's what I think is wrong with it:
- Blatantly underestimating its audience (One of my biggest bugbears about TV is a situation where relevant plot details are shoe horned into dialogue because they cant bear the thought of establishing details through other methods which don't intrude on the story e.g "This is Beverley Hills!" "This sucks." "Oh Josh, you've been saying that the last 1500 miles from where we came from, Kansas, which is that place we moved from to come here to help my ill mother." "WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT? I WAS THERE! YOU EXPLAINED THIS TO ME SEVERAL DAYS AGO, YOU KNOW, BEFORE WE PACKED UP OUR STUFF AND LEFT?")
- Horrible clichéd characters (There's the sassy grandma, the quick talking and know everything journalist, the sleazy jock, the cool and witty teacher, the bitch, etc ad nauseum)
- In the opening five minutes, a main character gets into his car at the front of the school, which is populated with students everywhere, and is receiving a blowjob. That's a blowjob, in front of school, with people everywhere, and not even tinted windows, in the front seat. Not only has this never happened in the history of the world, but it also smacks too hard of 'anything goes on here, we're crazy!' which is too unrealistic to forgive.
- MTV generation hyperactive editing disorder, which can be succinctly summarised by the following rule; if it's been more than two seconds since we changed to a different camera angle, then it is too long. It's possible to get dizzy even while you're sitting down inactive.
I couldn't watch it for very long, and even despite it's awfulness, it has achieved success in the US and even has a spinoff in the works. It's doing its part in putting me right off working in the TV industry, that's for sure.
One Down
Another short update for you i.e me. I attended the first examination of my year today, and overall it went all right. A couple of questions I looked at and just couldn't do, while others I looked at and smiled. Then the few in between which could go either way though I know I've passed it, for sure.
I've been Mr Organised today, trying to set things up for this weekend and the epic film session that it is going to be. Getting cast and costume organised, locations scouted, cameras booked and places to meet finalised. I am looking forward to it in the same way I would look forward to a tidal wave if I was freezing my ass off in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the ocean.
And that's all for now. Not even a funny video for you to watch. But if you're after something new to listen to, off the top of my head I recommend you seek out 'Warm Sound' by Zero 7. It is one of the most relaxing and amazing songs I've listened to.
I've been Mr Organised today, trying to set things up for this weekend and the epic film session that it is going to be. Getting cast and costume organised, locations scouted, cameras booked and places to meet finalised. I am looking forward to it in the same way I would look forward to a tidal wave if I was freezing my ass off in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the ocean.
And that's all for now. Not even a funny video for you to watch. But if you're after something new to listen to, off the top of my head I recommend you seek out 'Warm Sound' by Zero 7. It is one of the most relaxing and amazing songs I've listened to.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Finally
I figured it out, I think. I'm talking about my inability to ask for help. I'm quite sure there's a psychological link to something in my childhood about never needing to ask for help, or wanting to do things on my own, but I'm not about to go there. I need to conquer this somehow and just ask when I just don't get something.
A short post today because I'm cramming before work tomorrow morning and the first exam in the afternoon. While I don't get everything though, I am not nearly as bad as some people who only went to 2 lectures this term! I do hope they get somewhere with their all night revision though.
What else did I do today that is of any recognition? Well, it might not seem much, but I completely avoided any sugary foods proving that if I put my mind to it, I can do anything. Actually, that sounds particularly pathetic, but the sentiment is true.
Oh, an addendum to this post that I completely forgot to mention; today I discovered the genius of Karl Jenkins, a Welsh composer and conductor who makes absolutely amazing music. It came about from a message I received through my 'Swansea Media Group' facebook group [Which led to me creating the video I'll embed below] asking for my help in creating a video to play in the background of a choral performance of 'One Armed Man' by a local choir. To cut it short, the man is a legendary composer, and I urge you to listen to a performance or two. Also good is the aforementioned message, meaning I might be able to snag myself some work this May, I just hope I don't forget about it.
Before the video though, just wanted it noted that I actually progressed with my drama today, and filming will begin this weekend. Except I'm lacking two of the actors I need, and need to cast them asap if I want to proceed with filming. This will be all that I think about during this hectic week ahead. Okay, my music video, enjoy:
A short post today because I'm cramming before work tomorrow morning and the first exam in the afternoon. While I don't get everything though, I am not nearly as bad as some people who only went to 2 lectures this term! I do hope they get somewhere with their all night revision though.
What else did I do today that is of any recognition? Well, it might not seem much, but I completely avoided any sugary foods proving that if I put my mind to it, I can do anything. Actually, that sounds particularly pathetic, but the sentiment is true.
Oh, an addendum to this post that I completely forgot to mention; today I discovered the genius of Karl Jenkins, a Welsh composer and conductor who makes absolutely amazing music. It came about from a message I received through my 'Swansea Media Group' facebook group [Which led to me creating the video I'll embed below] asking for my help in creating a video to play in the background of a choral performance of 'One Armed Man' by a local choir. To cut it short, the man is a legendary composer, and I urge you to listen to a performance or two. Also good is the aforementioned message, meaning I might be able to snag myself some work this May, I just hope I don't forget about it.
Before the video though, just wanted it noted that I actually progressed with my drama today, and filming will begin this weekend. Except I'm lacking two of the actors I need, and need to cast them asap if I want to proceed with filming. This will be all that I think about during this hectic week ahead. Okay, my music video, enjoy:
Revision
Another day of revision and all I could do was try and procrastinate. I did a bit of both in the end. Here's what kept me distracted:
Fez Trailer
The game not only looks gorgeous through it simplicity, but it also looks fun as hell. There's a better video out there basically playing through a few minutes of the game but this one is better quality. If you can't be bothered to watch it, the summary is that it's a game that looks like a 2d platformer, until you realise you can flip dimensions and depending on which you change it to you can use different platforms. A bit clever and a bit unique. Looking forward to it.
I've been watching several episodes of Two And A Half Men and going back to the first season, the show doesn't seem nearly as tired as it does in recent episodes. The plot advances and while it's still pushing the boundaries of what it can do, it's not all it's doing. I think this is one of those shows that, like Everybody Loves Raymond, people will either love or hate and I don't know what it makes me but I love them both. I also like Black Books, Veronica Mars and The Shield though so I do have some taste.
I'm writing again, which is a big relief but I'm doing it at the wrong time. Exams start Tuesday, and I'm losing roughly two hours due to actual paid work that morning so every hour counts. I find it hard to care though, but will just have to try my best at concentrating for all of tomorrow. What struck me as weird today was that, as I was revising, I was actually appreciating doing it, as in really feeling somewhat upbeat that I was learning something, even though I dislike the subject. Will that be enough to tempt me into a solid day of revision tomorrow? We'll see.
Fez Trailer
The game not only looks gorgeous through it simplicity, but it also looks fun as hell. There's a better video out there basically playing through a few minutes of the game but this one is better quality. If you can't be bothered to watch it, the summary is that it's a game that looks like a 2d platformer, until you realise you can flip dimensions and depending on which you change it to you can use different platforms. A bit clever and a bit unique. Looking forward to it.
I've been watching several episodes of Two And A Half Men and going back to the first season, the show doesn't seem nearly as tired as it does in recent episodes. The plot advances and while it's still pushing the boundaries of what it can do, it's not all it's doing. I think this is one of those shows that, like Everybody Loves Raymond, people will either love or hate and I don't know what it makes me but I love them both. I also like Black Books, Veronica Mars and The Shield though so I do have some taste.
I'm writing again, which is a big relief but I'm doing it at the wrong time. Exams start Tuesday, and I'm losing roughly two hours due to actual paid work that morning so every hour counts. I find it hard to care though, but will just have to try my best at concentrating for all of tomorrow. What struck me as weird today was that, as I was revising, I was actually appreciating doing it, as in really feeling somewhat upbeat that I was learning something, even though I dislike the subject. Will that be enough to tempt me into a solid day of revision tomorrow? We'll see.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Five Blogs
I counted them on my way to writing this post, and I have that many, which astounds me. It shouldn't, because I created them all, but it does. This either proves my inability to maintain a single blog for long, or it shows my wildly changing focus. However, being my original blog, this is going to be a typical blog entry, so do bear with me if I bore you in parts.
Let's start with my self. I've started running, again, and I'm not covering great distances or beating my times but I am trying. Considering it's coming up to exams week and I've still been achieving about 2-3 runs a week I say that's quite good. I've tried eating healthier and not simply snacking as and when I feel like, and I've been successful in cooking well and eating regularly but the only thing that lets me down is my one true weakness; biscuits! I love them so much and a lot of the time I end the day with a cup of tea and a tub of the little buggers, chomping away. I one day will vow to slow down this terrible habit, but not yet. Maybe when I feel like I just can't get away with it anymore.
University is going ok, though I've lost a lot of the motivation and love for my subject. I just find mathematics boring. I always share the look of confusion when people ask me what I study because I know what they are feeling; I am feeling the same thing "Why am I doing this?" I don't really know what to do about it except grin and bear it and see it through. I do worry that I will end up doing abysmally out of it, and seeing as it's nothing to do with my career aspirations I think will it be worth it? But in this world you need a degree to even be on the same level as everyone else, not to stand above them like it used to be. Outside of scholarly matters, I am finding myself ever more excited for the extra curricular side of it. Particularly XTV and my current projects include a drama and a student ripoff of Come Dine With Me, both of which should be extremely fun. That's when I finally get around to doing them, they follow the exams which have been taking over my mind recently. After they;re done I will feel so relieved.
I've constantly battled with my own conscious about what I should be doing in my spare time. I'm content to watch TV, browse the internet and just do mindless and pointless tasks but the better part of me wants to try new things like learning new recipes, new skills, new crafts and I always find myself itching to write and draw but freezing anytime I am about to do them. Do other people deal with these sort of inner tussles? I wish I was stronger, and could get over things like my lack of 'stick-to-itiveness' and just see something through even if it sucks. I've done that with other things before and recently so why do I find myself incapable of doing it in other stuff?
I hope by writing these feelings down I can learn from myself some day in the future when I decide to read back upon my life. I hope this is the start of a new era in my personal story, one where I realise that I have to take charge of my own life in order for it to be better. I hope the 'Publish Post' button is magical to that effect. Here goes.
Let's start with my self. I've started running, again, and I'm not covering great distances or beating my times but I am trying. Considering it's coming up to exams week and I've still been achieving about 2-3 runs a week I say that's quite good. I've tried eating healthier and not simply snacking as and when I feel like, and I've been successful in cooking well and eating regularly but the only thing that lets me down is my one true weakness; biscuits! I love them so much and a lot of the time I end the day with a cup of tea and a tub of the little buggers, chomping away. I one day will vow to slow down this terrible habit, but not yet. Maybe when I feel like I just can't get away with it anymore.
University is going ok, though I've lost a lot of the motivation and love for my subject. I just find mathematics boring. I always share the look of confusion when people ask me what I study because I know what they are feeling; I am feeling the same thing "Why am I doing this?" I don't really know what to do about it except grin and bear it and see it through. I do worry that I will end up doing abysmally out of it, and seeing as it's nothing to do with my career aspirations I think will it be worth it? But in this world you need a degree to even be on the same level as everyone else, not to stand above them like it used to be. Outside of scholarly matters, I am finding myself ever more excited for the extra curricular side of it. Particularly XTV and my current projects include a drama and a student ripoff of Come Dine With Me, both of which should be extremely fun. That's when I finally get around to doing them, they follow the exams which have been taking over my mind recently. After they;re done I will feel so relieved.
I've constantly battled with my own conscious about what I should be doing in my spare time. I'm content to watch TV, browse the internet and just do mindless and pointless tasks but the better part of me wants to try new things like learning new recipes, new skills, new crafts and I always find myself itching to write and draw but freezing anytime I am about to do them. Do other people deal with these sort of inner tussles? I wish I was stronger, and could get over things like my lack of 'stick-to-itiveness' and just see something through even if it sucks. I've done that with other things before and recently so why do I find myself incapable of doing it in other stuff?
I hope by writing these feelings down I can learn from myself some day in the future when I decide to read back upon my life. I hope this is the start of a new era in my personal story, one where I realise that I have to take charge of my own life in order for it to be better. I hope the 'Publish Post' button is magical to that effect. Here goes.
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