A Friendly No

So, went to my interview today, met some really lovely people and had a little chat with them about my experience in films and the like. About halfway through the chat though, I got a real sense that I didn't quite have all the technical knowledge and expertise they were looking for in a candidate. Surely enough, I got an email a few hours later letting me know I wasn't successful. In all honesty, I was actually more relieved than disappointed as I feel like I probably would have made a real arse of myself if I had landed it - the super techie side of editing just isn't my forte.

Got back with a great work ethic though and smashed out some footage capture for not one, but two new videos I want to make next week. I even wrote the script for one of them in just under an hour, which is crazy fast for me.

End of September Pie

Morning was spent shooting off the application form I spent the past week perfecting. Felt good after I sent it off but I was hit with this horrible wave of uncertainty. All I could do was sit on the sofa and stare into space as I pawed over what I needed to accomplish next to get me closer to earning a job, and feeling like I spent the day well.

Respite suddenly reared its head however, as a college from an old filming job shared a Facebook link with me about a local company needing a Technical Assistant for edit jobs. The post had no details about how to formally apply, so I sent them a private message expressing my enthusiasm and desire to apply. They then said I should drop them a CV to their personal email address, which I did right away. What I didn't expect to do was write the single greatest covering email I have ever written to go alongside it. I just whipped on up in half an hour and sent it over... Don't know why the hell that last one took me a whole week to 'perfect,' when this spontaneous one was pretty spot on. Regardless I sent that off and had a spring in my step for the rest of the day.

Made Sheppard's Pie for dinner tonight. Haven't made one since we went to France so I was eager to make it good. Had to pop to ASDA to get some extra bits, but after that I cracked on with the cooking. Felt a bit more appropriate to cook the pie now that the temperature has dropped a bit too. Hang on...

My phone just went off with an email about the CV, they want to meet me for a chat tomorrow.

Holy cow.

Everyman Tickets

Sending off my latest job application as of first thing tomorrow morning. Rebecca and I really hammered down the covering letter into something mighty fine, and I'm eager to send it off to get it out of my life.

Met up with Mark for lunch and he presented me with 2 vouchers to go to Bristol's lovely Everyman Cinema to see a film of my choice. Have to pick wisely, its not everyday you get to see a brand new film while chilling out on a sofa - pumped for it!

In Joke Movies

Booted my body in recovery mode and lived off a steady stream of jam on toast and lemsip today. Just shaking off the last ounce of this cold now and I turned to film to sort me out.

Our family has a running stream of holiday films that ended up becoming in-jokes, Dad always brings the same handful of DVD's with good intentions, but they never get watched. Countless years have gone by where All or Nothing, or The House of Sand and Fog are brought to Bournemouth or abroad and we never give them a chance. Well at long last, I put one of them on my telly, and that film was Munich.

Basically it's Stephen Spielberg's most unknown recent movie and a lot of people have probably never heard of it, which is a real shame, because I ended up really liking it. It starts off a little bit Kitschy with a rag-tag group going after the terrorists who plotted Black September. But it turned into something a bit more than that down the line and that really engaged me. Ultimately the subject matter turned off a lot of people at the time, and many critics didn't think Spielberg provided a real voice on the issue on Palestine and Israel, but I think that's unfair. It was a well paced, occasionally tense piece that massaged my brain in all the right places by the end. Little gem.

Prank Me Screening

Spent the first few hours of the day with Lincoln, watching Rick and Morty and continuing to reminisce about the glory days of living at Frederica. Following that, I attended the Prank Me screening session for the cast and crew which was lovely. Great to see all everybody who worked on it again, especially since we had such a great little team going on. The series came together really well and I'm very excited to see how its received.

Just got back to Bristol after a very long weekend, my bones are weary and I can't wait to collapse into bed.

Lincoln and Logan

Woke up with a stonking cold that really knocked me for six. Felt a little bit bad, because I was meeting some of Rebecca's relatives, one if which was down from Canada. Don't know if I made an excellent first impression, especially since I had to pop up to the toilet to blow my nose, since it felt like I'd been run down by a train.

I muscled through the worst of the cold so I could meet up with Lincoln for a few drinks. Ended up heading back to his house to watch Logan which was pretty good - I'm too I'll and knackered to give a full review but I thought it was flawed, but a good sendoff to the series.

Adult Life Friends

Down in London for Rebecca's friend Birthday bash. We got invited for a quick dinner in their lovely new flat before heading out to a cocktail bar. So many of our old friends are really starting to settle into adult life now and that is absolutely brilliant to see.

Jesse James and Robert Ford

Conscious that I hadn't seen a new film for a long while, I spotted The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford on Amazon Instant Video and gave it a play.

I was treated to an epic western and biopic about the infamous outlaw and his eventual killer. Its a remarkable story, expertly told through gritty dialogue and gorgeous camera work. A lot of people have said the film is overly long, even Terrance Malick apparently! The length didn't bother me one jot though as it all served to develop the characters and chart the course if their futures in a way that felt wholly natural. And when Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Roger Deakins are all bringing their A-game, its hard to complain about the run time.

I'm case you can't tell, I was a fan. Its the Amadues of Westerns and you should watch it the first chance you get.

One thing that was quite cool though is I went to google the film afterwards and there were all these brand-spanking new articles written on the film. Turns out, it was released 10 years ago yesterday, so that's pretty neat.

Watershed Application

Continued writing up my application for the Watershed's communications job. Basically they want someone who's capable of being creative online and someone who can edit and film things - I basically fit the bill perfectly. Once again though, I find myself desperately trying to perfect the covering letter and that takes a lot longer than I really want it to. Maybe I over think these things way too much, but I just really want a job now and I want it to read well.

The Bloody, Sobering Brutality of Hotline Miami

Guess who's finally committing to Twitter? I started up a new account under Eyebrow Owl and begun following everyone I could so I could start branding myself a little online. Just in time for my new video too!

I'm proud to present this small video article on Hotline Miami. It's not a review this time as I'm branching slightly into a different style. Video is just below.

Small disclaimer, the video features a lot of blood and gore, albeit in video game form. Discretion advised if you don't want to see that Gubbins when eating breakfast.

Met up with Louis and Rachel to take a trip to a good eatin' spot called Asado. The burgers were pretty dang good and the atmosphere was gently buzzing, until it was shattered by the couple that started arguing violently next to us. Was a good meal though, Louis really seemed at home in Bristol and it'll be groovy when he finally comes down for good.

Trimming Videos for Days

Phew, spent the day editing together the most complex video I've done for my channel yet. Ended up having to dive back into some games to get extra footage and basically play around with a few things after my software kept crashing. But I persevered, and I'm actually quite pleased with it! It is uploading right now, so I'll probably post it here tomorrow when its been submitted to the internet... Along with a little bit of rebranding.

Louis' Birthday Bash

Came back fairly late last night after going out for a decidedly mild pub session for Louis' Birthday. Only had two beers and then we just kinda, sat and chilled in the park with a few of his friends with no real pressure to keep drinking. It made for a nice change of pace, I'm going out next weekend for a Birthday cocktail evening and no doubt that will be a completely different vibe.

Today, I mostly took care of a poorly Rebecca. After I set her up with Netflix and a blanket she was happy as Larry, so I was able to crack on with some work. Firstly, I did the voice recording and some extra footage capture for my next video, fingers crossed, it will be  out tomorrow. Then I started writing a covering letter for a creative position at the Watershed, I hit all the requirements for the role and I'm getting good vibes from them in general so that's one to really work on.

I built the foundation for this week, now I just need to work hard and tick the boxes on my mental check-list.

Whole Lotta Mezze

Checked in on the hedgehog once again, this time though, I deemed the designated pooping area to be a little unsanitary. So I cleaned it all up for her and made it look spic and span. Had to dash back so I could meet Rebecca and her folks at the fabulous Mezze Palace! treated myself to the 'spicy' option for the first time ever too. It was all going well too... Until I bit into something that ramped up the heat dramatically. Spent the rest of the meal blowing my nose (I tried to mask it to save my male pride), but I actually found it to be a good spicyness overall, and any excuse to eat there is great.

Farewell Cassini

Captured my game footage for the upcoming video and popped round to Mark and Lucy's to look after their hedgehog. Peered into the glass pen and couldn't see he immediately so I had a gentle rummage until I heard her sniffing - she's not big on strangers. Filled up her hot water bottle and topped the food up so  she's good to go!

Also, just want to take a moment to say farewell to Cassini, everyone's favourite satellite. After spending years in orbit of Saturn, it finally gets to be a permanent part of the planet.

Feature Article Script - Complete

Woke up today with the goal of finishing up the script for my next video, and by gum, I think I've just about done it. This one has been months in the making now and I've been tending to it in a very on-off fashion. Its not a review either, more like a feature in a magazine and I'm really excited to edit it all together now.

Tomorrow and Saturday I am hedgehog sitting for Mark and Lucy, I spoke to Jenny and got the low-down on how to loom after the hog so I should go in and smash it.

Wax on...

Shot off possible the best CV I have ever written today. There was just something about it that felt right, when I went to review it I was like 'Damn, this is a tight CV.'

Not that I'm penniless or anything, but Rebecca offered a quick bit of dosh for washing her car down. Haven't done a car wash for several years now, but after buying a bucket, sponge and some special detergent it all started to come back to me. Didn't really help that she has to park on the side of the road all the Asda customers use to leave, one side of her car is certainly a bit cleaner than the other as I had to dodge traffic to rinse down the other.

I also got a brand new wallet today, Rebecca bought me one for my Birthday, but we found it to be a bit too diddy for all my Subway loyalty cards and other important knick-knacks. New one is lush though!

And if that wasn't enough, a big envelope from Jamie arrived today too, carrying what I think are the nicest coasters I have ever seen, they are almost too nice to use.

.

Gift from Stockholm apparently, well done Jamie!

I'm going to tune into the latest Nintendo Direct tonight too. No doubt it will be a little bit hype, and it can't be any worse than Apple's reveal of the Ipone X.

Keeping my Fingers Crossed

Sent out another few speculative emails, and I actually heard back from one of them! I'm sending in my CV tomorrow as they may have work coming up in the next few weeks - fingers crossed on that one.

'Theo Productive Day'

Outlined all the things I want to get done over the next few months and I got ever so slightly closer today by drafting up a handful of speculative emails to shoot out to people over the rest of the week. That, and I sorted out a few secret jobs and fitted in a very short game of Mario Kart, the perfect 'Theo Productive Day.'

Happy 24th to Me

Had one of the most easy going Birthday's I've ever had. Got up at a good hour for some cooked breakfast and pancakes, I opened up my Birthday cards and presents then too. Got me some really decent headphones to replace my cheap-o earbuds that I don't actually know how I got and Mario Kart which is always a good time.

At lunchtime, Dan, his girlfriend, Mark and Lucy all made it down for an afternoon of board games and big pork roast. We had enough to feed an army and Rebecca and I got our fill for the car ride home to Bristol.

Another year down and I'm a year up. I've already made some plans for how I want this year to be great for me, really want to make some big changes to how I work and generally improve myself. I want to be able to look back on my 24th and nod approvingly.

Beer, Ale, Porter, Rain

Did the rounds once again at the Newbury Beer Festival, and it wouldn't be a typical year without a little rainwater diluting my ale. We sat quite close to the exit this time around and were baffled by the sheer number of tickets people were just handing out to us as they went to leave - its a pro spot to camp out at so I'll remember that next time for many more free beers.

Amidst the golden, fruity ales I wanted to try a porter again after a Polish friend properly introduced me to them. Didn't expect this beer to be so black though, guess that's exactly what porter is though. Here's a good shot of that beer and Louis looking as jolly as anything.

There and Back Again

Weather was less than stellar while I walked to UWE campus. I kept my chin up though as I trudged through the rain with my sound equipment and arrived at the uni with a little time to spare. I spotted the group fairly quickly and begun setting up, then there was a group announcement. Filming was cancelled since the person who authorised the shoot didn't actually have any permission to let us into certain rooms and apparently hadn't told anyone prior, so we were all sent home with a massive apology. The shoot has now been postponed til next month I believe so I'll keep my eye out for the call. Got to walk back home in the glorious weather too.

Geared up for UWE

Geared up for a morning of filming up at Bristol UWE tomorrow morning. Tinkered with my mic at bit since it started to rattle, so I gummed it up with some post-it notes and that seemingly fixed the issues. Be good to put the old sound equipment back to good use.

Heard back from the application I put forward for an office runner position at a media company. They turned me down and effectively stated that I was overqualified for the role, at least they got back to me though, but it was a little disappointing.

Overnight Oats Report

I can safely say that overnight oats are a little harder to make than I first anticipated. My batch tastes like really soggy, sawdusty porridge, probably because I put in a little too much milk. I didn't help that O let the natural yogurt steep with it overnight, the whole thing tasted of that unpleasant sharpness rather than the creamyness you get with yogurt. Willing to try it again though, just after I get the taste of this batch out of my mouth.

Productive and Oaty

Had a much more productive day. Chewed through writing that copyediting CV and got a fair bit done on the script for what may be my next video. Rebecca got her new laptop delivered today and spent most of the ad breaks in bake-off playing with it. It is pretty swanky though I must say.

Followed in my brother's lead and indulged my inner hipster a little by attempting to prep some overnight oats for tomorrow morn. Basically I just threw a bunch of tasty stuff into a kilner jar (I was plum out of mason jars) and chucked it into the fridge to soak. I banking on it tasting like cold porridge, but I'll give you an update later.

Unproductive Monday

Felt a little guilty in that I didn't get as much done as I would have liked today. The job hunt continued, but there was absolutely nothing new on any of the sites I visit, nor was anything else coming up after a Google search. Later in the afternoon though Rebecca sent through a copywriter job which I'll be working towards all of tomorrow so I have a plan for then. Gonna be a lot more productive after a good breakfast tomorrow!

Board Games and Pizza

We hosted a little get-together for Rebecca and her old work friends at put flat tonight. Got some pizzas and folks bought round their board games so good times were guaranteed. Vibe was really chill too but the games still had a competitive edge so it was the best of both worlds.

Last Rays of Summer Sun

Felt like it was the last day of Summer this afternoon so we tried to make the most of it by going out into town. Rebecca needed to buy a present for a friend and we fancied trying out a small cafe at the foot of park street. Just about did the sunshine justice, its meant to rain cats and dogs tomorrow so we are ready to burrow up and not leave the house.

UWE Gig?

Shot off a small application for a days filming nearby at Bristol UWE. Sent off a really easy reading email to the guy who posted the job so I think I came off as quite personable, time will tell if I land the gig.

Met up with Philpott this evening for some games and a chin-wag. We chatted about the film shoot we were on in June and thought back on it fondly. Nice to have catch ups like that every now and then.