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.

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ;)

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.

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 :)

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.