Party until the sun comes up!

After what felt like a very long day at work in the office I headed off to another party. Initially Dan Mark and I were planning on only staying for a bit then heading home when we got tired, after a couple glasses of ale however I felt somewhat obliged to see the evening through until it's end. I had a really cracking time though, I did get to bed as the sun was rising however, and the floor was harder than a stale cake, but I was so tired at that point that it felt like home.

Sink or Swim?

Yesterday we finally got the chance to visit the nostalgic Aquadrome and we had lots of fun while we were there, despite stepping on someones foot plaster once it was overall a great experience. I'm off to work in Dad's office in just a bit, slight change in pace for me, going from frying chips to litigation but we will see how I do for the time being.

Year 13 Prom

It is currently 4 in the morning, I have finally returned from our year 13 prom, hosted a very small after party and went with Mark to make sure everyone got home safely, been a whirlwind of activity this evening but all of it was a ton of fun.

Cleaning and Camping

I did desperately try to blog yesterday but I had the internet connection that would only satisfy a sloth and my phone for 5 minutes then and I didn't have enough time (or patience) to blog. Again I was out camping in someones garden for a party last night, many games were played and many jokes were told. Highlight of the evening was when the hostess decided it would be oh so funny to go running in the nearby wheat field, about 20 meters in she exclaims 'I've lost my glasses!' Searched for about 15 minutes in total darkness with no luck but we did find them in the morning. Returning home I was gripped with a sudden urge to give my room it's annual deep clean. The 'to file pile' has been eradicated, desk scrubbed and everything unnecessary put away, room looks amazing but I know it's only a matter of time before it gets into a state again. 

Miiiiiiiiiinecraaaaaaft...

Good lord, that was a lot of Minecraft today, I think I committed a little bit more time than I care to admit on it today, hopefully it was worth it though. For anyone who is an avid player however they will appreciate the difficulty of the feat to obtain 1533 pieces of iron and 97 diamonds, took forever! I have also recently attempted to sort out my dodgy hearing issue by applying drop of olive oil into my ears to soften the wax (Internet Doctor's orders). But also, if I keep it up for 10 days then I can have my ears syringed and that apparently helps dramatically, there's something to look forward too!

Day trip out

Got up this morning with a clear understanding of what I wanted to do and that was to go swimming with Mark and Louis, a plan we had discussed in detail yesterday. So after a hearty breakfast of bacon with more bacon we left to visit our nearest and most fondly remembered indoor water park with great ambitions for what to do when we got there. Being clever folks we realized that we were going during school hours so the number of scabby children would be minimized and there would be no ques for the slides, this fact worked terribly against our favor however as they were closed during term time school hours. Massive dissapointment.

We still decided to try and make a day out of it because Mark had driven us a long way, after a hilariously uncanny rendition of the infamous Wicks slogan we hit the shops. Louis bought a Chinese waving cat doll in an awesome shop and we ate out at Wimpys because, apparently, they are still in business... Good thing too because Louis really likes those coca-floats they do. Overall, the day was a little disappointing but we did our best to make it memorable, we later agreed to try again some other time in the holidays.

It's all over

Exam went as well as I could have possibly hoped, my questions came up in one of the three sections and I gave it my best shot. That's it though, no more exams, no more compulsory education, The Summer beckons and I am free to do anything I like! The group are quite eager to get some more films made over the holidays so you have that to look forward to, Louis has already scripted a hilarious short for us to do about his favorite drink; there's something to look forward to!

Tomorrow is the last one...

With my final exam looming, it made sense to get as much revision done as possible. I also have tomorrow morning and early afternoon to cram in all the good stuff I will need for the final thing. I did briefly have time to attend a Youth for Europe meeting in the evening. Basically Newbury is joined in an international association called the Twin Town where they visit European countries or host visitors from other places, there is a small spin off version for 15-25 year olds and we are hosting this particular event which I am very much looking forward to! Hope it all goes well for me tomorrow, just got a nice encouraging email from one of my film teachers so that has somewhat boosted morale.

Many a movie...

Ooh boy, that was quite rough. The whole expressionist film marathon thing went ahead and it was exceptionally boring. Got through Caligari with Louis as me and Mark gave him an ironic directors commentary and we sat through Nosferatu with a really interesting directors commentary. Coming to Metropolis however, I recalled we didn't own the 2008 complete version but rather an atrocious copy of the film with a comparably blurry print and ridiculously honky-tonk musical score; Fritz Lang would have been doing somersaults in his grave. 

Quavers and coffee

Spent all day drinking coffee, eating quavers and dipping in and out of revision. Preparing myself for the mass revision session Mark and I are going to do tomorrow which involves reviewing all of the key texts in the expressionist film topic, so we are watching Caligari, Nosferatu and Metropolis back to back all morning/afternoon. Wish us luck!

Father's Day 2012

Got Dad a bag of coffee for Father's Day, he never was too big on the holiday so we just got him that and a card made by Louis, a familiar combo which also serves us very well on Mothers Day. Went to the cinema this evening for the modern experience of seeing a taped stage performance, in this case, Danny Boyle's Frankenstein. The cinema version did provide some advantages with smart use of camera angles and not being put in an embarrassing position when you accidentally make eye contact with an actor. That said, that is exactly what makes seeing a live performance special, you begin to feel a part of the action and the performance as a member of the audience, when the cinema ending occurred there was taped applause but not need for it where I was sitting. The play was phenomenally good however, a very smart and well written with knock-out performances all round, especially the two leads. I saw the Johnny Lee Miller Monster version, came out thinking it would be impossible to see it the other way around but I hear its just as good in vise versa.

TV movie

Got tipped off by a friend via email that Anatomy of a Murder was on BBC2 this afternoon. It's been a very long time since I actually caught a film on TV, last time was when I conveniently flipped over onto the Incredibles which I just watched all the way through, because it was there. Anatomy of a Murder was really very good, some great performances and characters across the board with James Stewart driving the piece with some charming mannerisms and witty lines that neatly break up the heavy drama of the court-room without distracting from the plot or moment whatsoever. If you like courtroom films at all, this is definitely one you'd want to see.

Not quite a driving lesson.

Mark attempted to teach me to the theory of driving forwards and backwards on our driveway this afternoon, he quickly learnt that trying to teach me that was like trying to train a goldfish to recite Hamlet. Plenty of stalling occurred and I just had a lot of mini heart attacks whenever the car rolled by itself, just guess its something to adjust to...

Moonrise Kingdom

Just got back from watching the new Wes Anderson film, and I gotta say I really enjoyed it. Camera angles and set designs have always been a stand out in his works, and here it really was something to write home about and certainly marvel at while you watch. Once again the character were unique and interesting, the actors playing them was all excellent, especially Edward Norton, his emotions are quite palpable in every close up of him you see; any time you see him in a pair of shorts is just hilarious. If you like Wes Anderson, Indie films or something quirky then definitely check this out, it even has a smattering of homages to other classics to seal the deal.

Teacher presents

Got up nice and early today, got the knack of how to wake up fresh in the mornings and that is to set your alarm to a well known song. My brain just went along with the tune and I didn't go back to sleep but rather I got into what I was listening to, worked a charm. A few moments later though I did get woken up by Mum who was checking up on whether I was awake to go to school, to which I bluntly replied 'It's my day off.'

That said, Mark and I did head back to school for a film lesson, for which we were 20 minutes late as Mark overslept. Present giving was our ulterior motive, we gave the film teacher we did Fight Club with a bar of official soap and our German Expressionist teacher a Metropolis bobble-head of the iconic robot. Image of the day would be when we saw him walking back up the corridor, after presumably showing it off to a college, swirling it like a glass of brandy as the little head bobbed along with a big ol' grin on his face. At that point Mark and I knew that we done good.

Wasabi diet

History exam done and dusted, got some nice questions this time around which was fairly straightforward to answer. Immediately afterwards I was whisked home to finish off the second half of Hard Boiled, which was so action packed that Mark, Dan and I were quite loudly enjoying it. Film ended with about 7 minutes before I was due at work, and I didn't factor in any time for lunch so my 12 o'clock meal consisted largely of wasabi peas and a kitkat. My actual time spent at work was good however, initially I thought it would be packed to the brim with mums and their children on a rainy day, but the weather was so-so and we had plenty of time to give the place a deep clean. I was also complimented by a co-worker and my boss for our Cafe Studios films, for which I was very humbled, got me in the mood to make another film right there and then!

Contamination Zone

Revision was occurring throughout most of today, a whole lot of it in the morning for my English exam which went about as well as I thought it would. This afternoon, after walking home in the horrible rain, was then spent doing History revision in between bouts of taking care of Louis who seems to have developed a super bug of some kind. Whilst emptying his sick pale I had to wear a pair of socks on each hand in place of surgical gloves and a scout necker to cover my face, their motto always was 'Be Prepared.'

Exams inbound

Its all happening now, got my English Language exam tomorrow shortly followed by the History one of Tuesday. Of course, most of today was spent doing revision with some minor garden activity peppered in between. The chicken's wings have now been clipped and we put up the new bird table which Mum can't reach but in fairness, it is a very tall feeder. Early night for the exam, I should do alright, I also have the morning to revise in case in need to go over anything extra.

Alright team

Had a small team meeting at work today to discuss the future of the Eddie Catz cafe, it was some pretty heavy stuff. Up to that point it was once again very calm at work, came home to a very late dinner made by Louis and attempted to microwave a bowl of cheesy chips but I ended up with some very soggy french fries where all the cheese had sifted to the bottom.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Once again, I was suffering from technical difficulties yesterday as my internet has not been playing ball for some time now. That said, very little has actually happened to me over the course of the two days aside from revision and lounging. It was Daniel's Birthday today however so we did celebrate with some trivial pursuit questions and a little bit of alcohol and a lot of cake/homemade cookies bought by Jenny, the cookies themselves were in the shape of stars, and with the amount of sugar in them, they certainly tasted like they came from Heaven

I was the cat!

Had a first in a lifetime experience today. I was picked to dress up as the cat mascot for the place I worked, this involved me getting dressed up in a big ol' suit, complete with a fiddly zip in the back and a helmet which somehow still had so of last times sweat in it. After crashing my way through every single doorway I went through with my over-sized head I wheeled in the cake for somebodies Birthday. As everyone was singing for the party I had a frantic scan around the room to find the Birthday boy/girl but fortunately he found me. The boss asked if anyone wanted to hug Eddie (the cat) and this was where things got rather sad. Nearly every kid knew that I was some guy in a suit, once they had a chance to grab me they all pulled my gloves and my tail, to no avail! Still, it was bloody sad to see how cynical these kids were, couldn't they just live in the magical moment where they believe in humanoid shaped cats? Now that I said that, I would probably smack my kid for buying into that kinda crap.     

Indie Humble Bundle

Went a little bit mad tonight, buying Mark, Herbie and myself a copy of the current Humble Bundle for 76p a piece. I could have paid a little bit more (Notch has apparently paid $6500 for it) but I was feeling especially frugal, particularly after Nintendo's E3 press conference. Oh deary me. It started off so wel with the announcement of Pikmin 3 but then it just took a steady turn for the worst with a lack of first party game announcements, with the exception of the two 2D Mario games but they are once again just more of the same. Some mildly interesting stuff from Ubisoft but knowing their track record with Nintendo products they will screw up the controls big time. Reggie handled himself very well on stage however, producing some great one liners but otherwise the whole show was just underwhelming on so many levels. Probably will still buy the Wii U because I know there will be a few great games on it, but still, 2012 could have been a great year for Nintendo at E3.

Jubilee BBQ

After a pleasant lay-in the family, Chris and Mark went to a Jubilee BBQ hosted by the same people as the Eurovsion party we went to the Saturday before last. Food was just as good as before to! Spent most of our time there just enjoying the company and the glorious weather.

The Queen is Dead

Weather was pretty ropey today but somehow that didn't turn into customer output at Eddie Catz today, probably because of the Queen's Jubilee ceremonies which I didn't get a chance to see. I did get around to listening to The Queen is Dead over the course of the day, strangely fitting I thought to myself.

Last day of 6th form!

Yesterday was our last official day of 6th form, everyone dressed up as anything they wanted, I think the selection of peeps who dressed up as traffic cones stole the show however. I went as Chaplin again as it was quick and easy, it went down quite well with some of the older students but everyone in year 8 thought I was Hitler. The evening was spent playing a variant on Trivial  Pursuit where the quiz master asked the group questions, the victor didn't have to take a shot a cider. On thing we did learn however, that if we are ever going to repeat this then we should most definitely not get the Sainsbury's basics stuff which was less than a quid a litre but tasted like vinegar.