Dog Walker

Celebrated Jamie's final shift at Wagamama by going down to the beach late at night with several of his colleges. We ended up building a moderately successful fire, mostly for the benefit of everyone who decided that a midnight swim was a good idea, they were certainly grateful for a little warmth then. Someone bought their dog along with them for the night and I was handed the lead, considering my singular experience in dog training comes from Nintendogs I was quick to realise I hadn't prepared me for what was effectively an energetic rat; It was walking me!

All that aside, I spent most of today recovering and scrounging for food. Since we are moving out relatively soon we are trying our best to use what we have left in the cupboards. Dinner was a Spanish omelet with six eggs and a hell of a lot of cheese and peppers. In some spectacular feat I managed to fold this gargantuan omelet. My victory cry could probably be heard by the neighbors but I don't care; thing was huge!

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

This afternoon marked my 1,100th film watched with Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God. This was also my first fictional Herzog film (I have previously seen and enjoyed Grizzly Man) so I was very excited to dive into this one. And it's one of those rare films that even though there is nothing terribly remarkable about the camerawork or lines of dialogue there is something that really gets under your skin, especially during the ending. I would dare say that it's a better 'Men going down a literal and metaphorical river' film than Apocalypse Now if such a category existed outside of this blog. If you like thoughtful films that don't obviously make a point about their themes, in this case the darkness and corruption man is capable of then this would be to seek out. To sum it up briefly, it's like Lord of the Flies in medieval Spain where certain characters are beyond saving.   

Haircuts

Although I find it to be an incredibly socially awkward task since I am still relatively new to it, I walked into our nearby hairdressers and asked for my usual. My hairdresser now recognises me whenever I come in which is nice though, we have a small bit of conversation as initial ice-breakers every 2/3 months. He's apparently a professional kick-boxer which probably explains all the flinching I do during the trim. I'm not really used to other people touching my face aside from myself. Didn't help that I tried shaving before and I did a really bad job of it.

Ninja Loot

Had to go into my ninja mode to get a game this morning out of Jamie's room. I woke up unusually early and thought I could use that extra time to get a head-start on Uncharted 3. Ironically a game about thieves, the sneaking in process was very well planned. I spotted the case on his bookshelf on the other side of the room, I put on my slipper-socks so as not to make a sound, after that I just moved like a shadow. While I wasn't playing games I was watching Breaking Bad with Mark. Ploughed through five episodes in an afternoon. No regrets... well, now my eyes are beginning to hurt ever so slightly.

Nidhogg

Dah, woke up late today after spending all night waiting on a chance to pick up Tim Schafer's latest adventure game Broken Age for a heavily discounted price thanks to Steams voting system. Pried my eyes open until 2am only to discover that it wasn't on sale... Nothing a strong cup of coffee didn't fix though. At least it geared up my brain for making another tasty salad for dinner this evening, snagged a packet of pine nuts (fancy, fancy) and toasted them for the gang. Kept us nice and fed in between games of Nihogg, the latest indie game I picked up in the sales. You play as a pair of fencers fighting for the right to be sacrificed to an ancient god. Confrontations are lightning fast and games with friends result in a lot of swearing, and also a lot of potential bruising. I sat in arms length to Mark who got a little frustrated at losing so he punched my shoulder a bit. Great to know that there are still competitive games out there that put you back in the mindset of a prideful 6 year old. 

Kitchen Kapers

The self-proclaimed video game day was punctuated with several moments of significance in our kitchen. The first of which being me doing the washing up which I usually supplement with some music, before coming back yesterday I asked Louis to put a few new albums onto my phone so I gave two of them a listen. As soon as both albums finished I felt like a new man, my spirit was humbly cultured while my hands were amidst the soapy suds. Hip-hop was the decided genre too so I was a little bit surprised with just how much I enjoyed them both since I scarcely go for that genre - apparently heavy film sampling is the key to getting into my good books. 'Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)' and 'Her Favorite Colo(u)r' are both strongly recommended if you interested in getting into that music style.

Other kitchen events were a lot less spiritually engaging. I managed to burn a whole lot of freashly baked bread in our oven, our bruschetta resembled a wheaty bit of charcoal more than a summer snack. Moments later a large spider scuttled across the floor so we had to get Jamie to quickly dispose of it. I did my typical run out of the room until the all-clear has been issued but something must have continued to unsettle me about being in the kitchen as I managed to cut my finger with the bread knife. I honestly cannot recall the last time I ever sliced my finger, just something I thought I grew out off after my limited culinary expertise hit a certain point. Nice to know that I am still human enough to have fears and mess up though.

Hot, hot Bournemouth

Feels like weeks and weeks since I've been home to Bournemouth. Didn't realise just how hot it gets down here though, all that sun and sea really gets to you after a while, I'm sat here sweating buckets but glad to be back on my lovely computer. Saw Jamie and Lucy and cracked out a very special bottle of wine for them all after another episode of Breaking Bad. The plan for tomorrow has been set in motion: Play video games with Daniel all day. Already looking forward to waking up.

The Piano

Recovery day number two. More sitting around and watching films basically. Watched 'The Piano' after having a massive pub lunch with my Brother and Granny so I felt very stuffed and sleepy while watching and it's slow pace didn't help much. Although technically it was a very impressive film with an awful lot of talent behind it I couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't know who to care for. None of the three characters were presented in a very interesting way, Holly Hunter's character showed a lot of promise at the beginning but her actions and motives became increasingly nonsensical in the worst possible way. I guess I didn't get it, nothing about the story made an impression or caused me to feel emotion, which is ironically quite sad.

Filming wrapped in Camden

Wrapped filming Wildseed's latest internet comedy pilot very late yesterday evening. Let me just apologize for the complete lack of any blog over the past week, not only have Mark and myself been absolutly rammed with stuff to do for the film shoot, but I didn't bring my laptop with me to keep you lovely people up to date on my endeavors. I can now happily say that I have spent nearly a whole week getting work experience in London (fancy, fancy) and got very good use out of my Oyster card which I cannot imagine living without now that I own one. 

Although I will probably get around to doing a big entry about all the stuff that happened last week (a-la Marijana) I will again say that even though I am shattered almost to the point of no repair, it has been completely worth it. The rest of the cast and crew were really appreciative of the work I was putting in, mainly in the catering department. The sound technitians would often eagerly ask me 'What's for lunch today Theo?' and I was always happy to give them something tasty to picture until we wrapped for food. Work was tough and hours were long, but everything was overwhelmingly rewarding. Even when Mark and I put our heads down upon our pillows, at 2am on one occasion, I always felt like I accomplished something special and I had really earned my right to fall asleep. 

Still recovering though... My knees currently feel two sizes too small for their caps and my eyelids are anvils.

King of Packing

While walking home today I couldn't help but once again realise just how hot it has gotten and how thirsty the heat made me. Poured myself a very large glass of water and raided our freezer for as many ice cubes as I could get my hands on. After drinking an Arctic ocean of water my core body temperature was satisfied. Then I felt a bit dozy, it was perfect napping weather, I wanted to curl up like a cat and let the sun be my duvet. But I forced myself into packing up for going back to Newbury and later London for Wildseed filming. Actually managed to fit a crazy amount of clothes into my rucksack thanks to a rolling technique I tried out - I felt like the king of packing and laughed quite hard to myself. It was so easy too! Just layer all your clothes on top of one-another and just roll them up like a sleeping bag, give it a go next time you at in a jam for packing space.

Wilko Employee

Apparently I am still a Wilko employee at heart. Went there to grab some further DIY pieces when a lady asked me about what nails I would recommend for attaching fencing to a post, so naturally I pointed out those little curved, crescent shaped nails like a pro. She was very grateful too, good deed of the day sorted. Rounded up the last of the props, burnt some wood and helped Mark pack up the car with all the filming equipment for the weekend and next week, getting really excited to be a runner again!

DIY Props

Mega prop buying and assembly day, with a little bit of DIY thrown in for good measure. Hit the high street for shot glasses, dusters, action figurines, hand gel and scarfs for the latest Wildseed project which is based on music management and all the toils that come with it. Our biggest prop to build is this weird mounted holder thing with hands sticking out of it. We bought a big bit of wood that needed cutting down so I decided that it was time to bust out the old saw and take it down a few inches. I haven't used a saw since explorers but it quickly became second nature and I did a pretty good job of it too. Sanded it down a little (one of my secret life pleasures) and tried to singe the sides of some wood on our BBQ... but apparently I'm a little rusty when it comes to lighting fires - my scout training only stretched so far!   

Voyage for Wood

Let the prop hunt commence. Today's tricky piece was a large bit of wood to mount two golden hands to. Jamie and I traipsed around Winton looking for something that would do the trick and eventually we decided to hop on a bus to the closest home DIY shop. We were then rudely told that no bus goes the way we wanted and walked there instead. Funnily enough, the last time I did this walk was 6 months ago in the cold and pouring rain, today was the opposite since it was way too hot and water was unfortunately not falling from the sky. The journey would take many a minute and we both knew deep down that the only way we could go was forward.

An accurate rendition of our journey

Success was very sweet, The Range had just the thing we were looking for, a lovely bit of wooden shelving hidden away in the back like the Ark from Indiana Jones. Also lemonade. And buses apparently did run to where we wanted. The bus journey home was like ascension to Valhalla, air-conditioned and speedy, it knew and respected our battle for this plaque of wood and wanted to make our passage painless.

The heat has decended upon us

To use a phrase my brother commonly uses when he gets a bit too hot: 'I'm sweating buckets here!' I can't believe how hot it's gotten today, sitting here in the office I am uncomfortably warm. The problem is largely magnified by a bite I got on my foot last night, which is not only itchy but the spot erupted without me touching it so a sticky puss is consistently being generated from a hideous scab. The same scab I forgot existed until I ripped my socks off in an attempt to cool down and accidentally (and very painfully) tore off the clot which had fused to my sock.

My only escape from the heat came from our local coffee spot, aptly called Coffee #1 and their iced espresso. The whole shop has this great 'I could write my screenplay in here' kind of vibe and is easily comparable to 'Central Perk,' the cafe from FRIENDS. Good little spot to know for next year, I have a feeling I may be hanging out there a lot.  

Daniel's Birthday Celebrations

Had Daniel and Ben come down once again for some quality gaming time to celebrate Dan's (soon to be) Birthday. Towerfall and Mario Kart were popular choices today and seeing as we were feeling especially lazy we ordered some pizza for lunch as well. We were a bit optimistic when it came to portion sizes though as we all started rolling around with food babies in our tummies after only a handful of slices. We tried to burn this all off with another nerf war around the house and I ended up being more sweat than man.  

Coffee Date

Got invited to possibly the first house party I've been to all year last night. Made a very nice change in pace going into town since we could all talk to one-another and generally chill while drinking. Got home a tad late though, dawn was breaking on the walk back and light was slowly encroaching across Bournemouth as I got into bed. Had a nice long lie-in though this morning to prepare myself for seeing Daniel for his Birthday. Didn't actually end up seeing him though as he was desperately hung-over apparently - as in to the point where he couldn't hold a phone conversation in fear of being sick.

Spent the afternoon having a coffee with a very nice girl, ended up staying in the coffee shop until closing time. Because she lives with a course-mate of mine I was later invited back to their flat for dinner - they went all out with sea bass and fried potato cakes and it was delicious! 

Never Underestimate a Spagbol

Took a trip into Bournmouth with Jamie today to scout out a nice, independent coffee shop. Wasn't as hard as we thought it was going to be though as we stumbled into 'The Espresso Kitchen' a java hut about the size of a postage stamp but is just oozing with character. Had a very nice brew in there too, it certainly helped take my mind off this presentation I need to do tomorrow. I scripted a whole sequence of dialogue for myself and two others, just really hope that it goes ok now as its an assessed presentation.

To give myself the necessary energy for tomorrow I very foolishly decided to prepare myself a champions sized portion of spagbol. This was admittedly misguided from the get-go and I ended up with a family sized portion all to myself.

Profile shot isn't too incriminating

On the right we have Lucy's single portion and my monster mountain. Banana for scale.

It was a mistake to cook a kilogram of mince just for myself... I have never groaned so much in my life after taking the last mouthful, typical eating-educed self-loathing occurred shortly after and I talked to myself for a long time afterwards. I feel bloated, but ready for tomorrow now so bring it on!

Beach Campfire

Popped into uni to check on how our final group piece was coming together and was surprised with just how well it all seemed. Home-stretch now, when Thursday is over so will my first year of uni. Just need to script and present a website we designed to the rest of the media school 
Rounded off the evening with a trip to the beach and a campfire. We basically had a load of packing paper and a large wooden pallet to set alight, after a few failed attempts (its been years since I made a campfire) we got it burning and warmed up our little gang. It was great to see all the War Filming crew once again just before heading our separate ways over the Summer. Because I forgot to share it the first time, here's the trailer!

Like a heist

Mark and I were on the ball today when it came to the home duties. We utilized our extreme knowledge of Lidl's floor-plan and organised our shopping list according to aisle, then split it up between the two of us. The whole thing was rigged and pulled off like a heist. In and out within 10 minutes, shooing for the whole week done.

Equal devotion was given to cooking dinner, we finished up an episode of Breaking Bad which ended on a cliff-hanger. Curry has never been cooked faster since Mark couldn't wait to see the next one. The cooking didn't go as smooth as the shopping, we opened the fridge a little quickly and a milk bottle ejected itself from the shelf. Milk explosion. Delicious, what could go in tea/coffee goodness all over the floor.