A Cat-astrophe

Rebecca's dream of owning a cat came as close ad possible to coming true today. As a late Mother's day present, she took her Mum out to Bristol's Cat Cafe which was choc-full of personable kittens. One of which was a little too comfortable with Rebecca as he ended up weeing on the jacket she left on the floor. This was the bugger, but with a face like that how can you hate him?

Afterwards we hit up a pub and them got some grub at Bill's with Rebecca's folks. Ended up having a really jam-packed day.

Early Bird Stoph

I couldn't believe how early Mark was up today. Normally on Saturday's you'd be lucky to get a peep out of him just after midday, but come 9:30, he's asking me to play Don't Starve. Of course, I obliged and had a cracking good time. We got this amazing system in place which is ripe to take on whatever the game can throw at us.

Rebecca and I went over to Louis and Rachel's pad in the evening for dinner. Rachel always makes something neither of us have tried before, and its always great! I was under the impression that they had a stockpile of Chinese Supermarket goodies that needed eating up so I was happy to help. Good to see them both again, its always really easy going hanging out with those guys.

Late Night Date Night

Spent a fair bit of time writing up the script for my next video. Because this next one is t a review, the structure of it is a little more foreign so its taking a little longer. Plus, I keep coming up with new ideas I want to write and discuss in between all of it, from what I've do e so far, I know its going to be a fun one.

Rebecca and I went on a mini 'date night' this eve. Went out to the bar at the Watershed, which was amazingly nice and followed it up with an ice-cream from a late night parlour. Turned out to be a really fun and easy going night, perfect way to round off the week.

Spin 2 Win

Its been nearly a month since the 'Manic Monday' incident when our washing machine and fridge suddenly broke down. Fridge got replaced just last week and today, the washing machine got sorted - we can finally return to our normal lives.

Using the washing machine again forced me to rekindle my relationship with our airing rail who I hadn't seen in yonks. For the first time ever, it felt good to do some laundry.

Productivity Park

Took a walk into our nearest park today as an excuse to get me out of the house. I took a pad and paper with me so I could get some work done too, and I actually ended up planning and writing a fair bit for my next video, which is going g to be more of a short essay/editorial rather than a review.

I even spotted an urgent job offer on a Facebook page for Bristol film and TV. They needed a runner this evening. Spontaneously, I applied for it and heard back immediately. Sadly, the position for this evening had been filled, but they may need someone tomorrow so they asked for my CV so they could keep it on file. Bit of a result there!

In between all that, I wished my Grandmother Happy Birthday. She sounded over the moon when I called and we had a nice little chat about her plans and my job news. Even though I only saw them around Easter, I'm already looking forward to seeing my Grandparents  again.

Going for the Big One

Sent off an application to the one and only BBC. I made sure my covering letter was absolutely perfect before sending it off and I think I really smashed this one, so once again, fingers crossed. I also begun the 'mulling' phase for the topic on my next video. I have two potential things I'd like to discuss and I'm trying to decide which one I'd like to do first.

Prepped for Production

Prepped some more job applications a d tried to be productive. Ended up making a good sized list for all the stuff I want to get done tomorrow, if I get through them all then I'll consider it a successful day.

Pub Grub Lunch

Rebecca's parents came down for a quick day visit and a Sunday Roast from a nearby pub. Ended up having a really nice bit of chicken with all the trimmings, and people who know me well know that I love me some gravy. For the first time ever though I would say this place put on way too much of the stuff.

Rounded off the evening by showing Rebecca The Green Mile, and I got wrapped up in its world all over again. It's incredible how engaging it remains, even after a third watch, the three hours fly by and there wasn't a dry eye in the flat when the credits rolled.

Of Mice and Men

I borrowed Louis' copy of Of Mice and Men just after Easter and I sat down to read the first chapter this morning. Two hours later I was turning the last page and nodding approvingly. Immensely solid little book. At school we studies Lord of the Flies, while other groups covered Steinbeck's novel, and frankly I'm glad I got to appreciate this one on my own terms, in my own time.

Rebecca had her final day at Folyes too so I shot in at lunch to make one last use of her staff discount. Ended up walking away with The Nao of Brown, a book someone recommended in passing a few months back which I am really looking forward to reading.

Mr Philpott also made a surprise appearance after a quick phone-call, turned out he had the day free and want to hang out, so that exactly what we did. Went out to the park and spent the rest of the evening playing video games, ideal Saturday really. 

Application Double Whammy

Sent off two application today, finished off the one for the magazine which was my crowing achievement of the day. Rustled up an eggs florentine before restocking our freezer with all the stuff we bought 3 weeks ago but had to keep in Rebecca's work's fridge; its the longest I've ever had to wait to get some ice cream.

The New Fridge!

Praise the lord, we got our new fridge today. Its crazy how impress I was with it, I felt like the first man to ever see a refrigerator. Every 5 minutes I was opening it up to look inside again, not because I was searching for food, the thing was empty and I just lived the way it looked. Did our weekly shop and I was just so pumped to chill some food.

Almost finished writing up the application for the local youth magazine, just one more question I gotta nail before I shoot it over.

Metal Gear Solid 5

Started my application for a local youth magazine today, made a mental checklist of all the relevant stuff I've done for boasting purposes and I've actually done quite a bit. This blog, Nerve Media, Wildseed Sci-Fi and Rubber Republic, it all adds up to one huge experience pool that I am looking forward to flaunting.

Finished up Metal Gear Solid 5 as well today... at least I think I did. Such a shame that the game lacks a definitive ending, the experience sadly fizzles out right at the end and just doesn't deliver the emotional punch the series has been known for. Still, it was one hell o fa ride there, and you know what they say about journeys and destinations...

Might as well be a Bullet Train

Louis and I got the the faster train home I think we ever got, we arrived a full 20 minutes ahead of time which was glorious. The news of the next general election broke as we started traveling and Louis got very excited, haven't seen him so pumped in a while. Got back home to a very pleased Rebecca who still hadn't found some of the eggs I hid around the house a few days ago. We watched Airplane! since it was on Film4 too, Rebecca hadn't seen it before and I don't think it was quite what she was expecting.

Rebecca has flagged my attention to a youth magazine writer position for a local Bristol thing which I am going to apply for tomorrow. All those video reviews and gaming blog posts may well pay off if I use them as examples!

The Wrong Mans

Started watching The Wrong Mans with my folks and it was pretty dang entertaining. Good blend of adult comedy with Hot Fuzz meets Wallace and Gromit style set pieces. A series I plan on finishing.

Louis went out for a poker night this evening so we'll be getting the slightly later train back to Bristol. Looking forward to crawling back into my flat and hanging out with Rebecca again.

Happy Easter 2017

Woke up unusually early for an Easter Sunday, just eager to get up and see the day I guess. After a big breakfast courtesy of my grandparents we were treated to the usual batch of chocolate goodies. For the first year ever though, I still haven't cracked into any of my stuff just yet. I wish I could say that I am resisting the urge to eat sweets, but in reality its because everyone else has been sharing bits with me, may soon have to return the favour.

Had a very chill Easter Sunday overall, spent it mostly in Orpington and then headed back to Newbury for a long session of chatting in the living room. Hope everyone else had an easy, chocolaty day.

Sweet Home Newbury

Louis and I made it back home to Newbury with a little help from Mark. Hit all the usual beats when we got back: haircut, bowl of soup and living room chilling. I've had more cups of coffee today than I've had for a few months too, it's a change I think I could get used to.

Ready for Hometime

Louis and I are ready to head back home for Easter. I've packed up everything I'm gonna need over the next few days, which is basically Zelda. Here's to a good extended weekend!

Video Review: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Finished up writing, recording and editing my latest video review for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, a game I played over the summer that I felt deserved a shout out. I feel that this video is already a dramatic improvement over the first one as I've injected a little bit more personality into the reading, and the tone of the piece is generally more friendly.

Again, our upload speed is pretty naff so the video will hopefully be up and running in the morning so watch this space as I'll be updating this post once its all uploaded.

UPDATE: 9 Hours later, its finished uploading... Enjoy!

Neck Deep In Reviews

Got really stuck in with writing my next video review piece today after having a good chat with Louis. Very eager to work on my voice in the next video so it doesn't sound so sedate, its all a learning curve though.

Prepped what I though were legitimately the best looking burgers I think I've ever made. I know I say that every time too, but this time I really, really mean it!

These are the real deal, lettuce, tomato, beef and halloumi cheese... Without looking unbelievably greasy.  

Cookie Monster

Did something a little bit spontaneous this  evening: I decided to make cookies! To my knowledge, I can't actually recall baking cookies before so this was a bit of a learning experience for me. I immediately knew what went wrong after I took them out the oven though, I portioned them too generously and the tray I used wasn't big enough. As a result, I was left with a big, globby mass of cookies which I had to chop up - tastes good though even if they look a bit naff.

We Survived Winter!

For the past few years, Mark and I had a dream: to get through the Winter levels in Don't Starve, and today we finally achieved that goal. Of course it was a bitter-sweet victory as Spring begins immediately afterwards and that comes with its own challenges so we will have to see how that goes.

I kept up with a bit more writing for my new blog too, hopefully I'll have a new post up there too in the next few days.

The Great Escape

A favourite party question of Dad's is 'What's the most famous film you've never seen?' For a long old while my answer to that was The Great Escape, but as of today that can no longer be my go-to answer. Found myself enjoying it a lot more than I was expecting too, I knew roughly most of the beats and the classic imagery, but the characters really shone through here. It really captured that 'Make Do and Mend' mentality, which is probably why the film is so popular around Christmas time, and I found myself getting drawn in almost instantly to it. Possibly the guiltiest thing I can admit is how much I wanted to re-watch Chicken Run afterwards.

The Day I Worked on The X-Factor

So today I worked on the X-Factor. Not the super glitzy, Simon Cowell side of it, but I helped out on the very first round of interviews and auditions. I won't lie though, today's job wasn't exactly glamorous, I was most handing out release forms to the public as they queued for hours inside a shopping centre in Cardiff, but I still had a really great day. Despite the fact that the crowd had been waiting a very long time, everyone was in such high spirits. Each of them had this little twinkle of fame in their eyes and you could really tell that they wanted to go far in the competition. Not that I wholly subscribe to the X-Factor brand or its millions of followers, but after being among them all day, its clear that it has touched a lot of people and inspired them to push themselves out of their comfort zone. Got to meet some really cool and passionate people as a result, and after the release forms were all signed, it was basically my duty to keep the morale whoever was about to go next.

Again, it may sound a little bit thankless on paper, but I had one of the best Friday's I've had in ages.

Specter Knight Video Review

I got super pumped to work today so I blitzed through doing the video review I was working on yesterday. After some initial setbacks with my screen capturing software, I actually got it all done and dusted. As much as I would love to share it with the world, I remembered about 2 minutes after loading it onto YouTube that our internet is cursed with a disastrously slow upload speed. Its been going for 4 hours now, and its has just hit 61%. If I'm up early tomorrow then I'll try and link it here later on.

It was a lot of fun working on the video, it did take a while to make, and perhaps the current style of review is a little too safe and familiar, but that's what I'm doing this for, to find a voice and hopefully get more confident with editing software - its all good.

UPDATE - Video is up here:

Video Review Scripting

A good chunk of today was spent writing up a script for a video review for the latest Shovel Knight expansion. Again, its mostly a means of me to practise some editing skills, but it will also be interesting to dabble back into the world of YouTube. I'm going to hopefully get the video done and dusted by this time tomorrow so stay tuned if your interested.

The Owl's Eyebrows

A little while back I mentioned starting up a whole new blog as a place for me to publish some actual writing about films and video games. Well after much deliberation, and pondering and all that jazz, I am finally happy to present The Owl's Eyebrows!

As a small notice, I will continue to update daily on this blog, nothing is going to change in that regard. The new blog is simply a place for me to publish content that I have actually fostered in some way. I'm hoping to get way more content out on it soon, but until then, if you want to check out my Zelda and Switch reviews then go ahead and check them out; I'm quite pleased with how they each turned out.

From a design position, its a little unfinished (I've had a real trial by fire with WordPress) but I am going to be slowly updating in the future so don't get too attached to the way it looks now as it'll very likely change. 

Settle for Work Experience

Shot out some extra applications today, the pickings were a little slim online but I managed to find another place asking for a very easy bit of work experience that would help me get my foot in the door - I just gotta keep going until I land something dreamy.

5K Cheering Session

Rebecca and I went down to Bournemouth Pier to cheer on her old housemates who were running a 5K. I was surprised by the sheer number of people who turned up to support the runners, it was a really inspiring atmosphere that almost made me wish I was participating too. Before heading back to Bristol we checked in with some other friends at the university which was really lovely. Back home now though and job hunt is really going to heat up, I'm pleased with the runner job I got on Friday, but I'm eager to get myself more positions down the line.

Students Never Die

Experienced some grade-A nostalgia while Rebecca and I drove through Winton high street once again. It was strange to walk around in Bournemouth knowing that everyone I went to uni with has now moved on. We went to an old recreation ground where I used to play rounders from time to time, and Rebecca walked past the house she spent third year in. What struck me most was seeing different uni students around on skateboards or buying bits in Lidl. Winton will never be short of students, its constantly regenerating in that sense. While my uni days are over, several other student stories are being made here every single day, and that thought just made me smile.