Pensive Poppadoms

Tumbleweeds blew through the cafe once again today so I whittled down the hours by sipping iced coffee and chatting with my team. Found out that on of the weekend guys, aged 19, didn't know what mango chuntney was, or what a poppadom was... That alone gave me conversation ammo for the rest of the day, fascinating to think about the smaller culinary awareness of some people. This chap was also a self appointed picky eater but recently they've tried to branch out. 'You can't go wrong with a poppadom' is what I told him, as if my advice was a sacred piece of wisdom.

Following an uneventful 9 hour shift I kicked back a little and put the flat back in order after Rebecca's absence. Started planning my upcoming week and what I'd like to achieve. Bought a quirky 'stay focused' app where you grow trees by not touching your phone. It appeals to my zen side and I reckon it will legit safeguard me from procrastinating online. Fingers crossed I'll hear back from that job I applied for last week, thought I fit the bill neatly so I'm really hoping to hear from them soon.

Elbow

When I first started at Coffee #1 I was warned that the Summer periods were by far the busiest. Well you could've fooled me, because the warm weather meant our cafe was dead. I'm talking running out of stuff to clean levels of dead, it was frankly embarrassing to have 4 members of staff on standby for a weekend rush. Thankfully my manager spotted this and sent me home an hour early, just in time to drop in with Louis and Rachel who were doing some house viewings. Been wanted to get the vibe of window shopping so I tagged along and looked at a strangers house, good fun too.With Rebecca out I thought I'd spend the evening writing another game review for my portfolio, I figured this one I'd turn into a video and use that as my calling card to send away to prospective Games Journalist positions I find.


Also, Elbow have a gig going on in Bristol tonight. I know this because whenever I open my window, it's like getting free tickets.

Fever in Flight

Returning home I tended to a rather poorly Rebecca, she wasn't feeling 100% at the cinema yesterday and her well-being was only hampered further by her hay fever. In fact, my hay fever was going crazy too, I wasn't sure which of us should have been making the 'get well tea' really since we were both in fits of sneezing. Through the mucus we managed to book our flights to Germany at the end of July and plan an exhaustive travel route for all parties involved - in case you couldn't tell, it was a wild Friday night.

Toy Story 4

When I first heard that Pixar were making Toy Story 4 I immediately thought 'uh oh'. Even after seeing posters and watching trailers I wasn't convinced that the story needed a follow up. But a calm washed over me when I heard generally positive things about it and I got incredibly excited to get the the cinema this evening just to see what it was all about and when I heard Randy Newman's familiar theme song I knew I was in good hands.

The overriding narrative focuses on Woody wrestling with the fact he's no longer the favourite toy, especially after a new art 'n crafts toy spork (creatively named Forky) becomes his new owner go-to toy. After a quick set-up we are rushed onto a road-trip and later an antique store where Forky goes missing and where we meet this film's new villain.

The ever expanding cast just about reached breaking point here though with many of the OG toys being relegated to the sidelines in favour of new friends. Key and Peele's fluffy duck/rabbit combo in particular hog the limelight but I was surprisingly ok with that.

I think their inclusion is somewhat indicative of the tonal shift of the film as a whole. Though it's still a kids film, the sense of humour is certainly skewed more towards adults with some more left of field jokes plus one extended gag that would have felt right at home in a Rick and Morty episode. I chuckled the whole way through even when my brain was telling me the comedy wasn't tonally consistent with Toy Story 1,2 and 3.

In the end, Toy Story 4 isn't unnecessary, on the contrary, it's actually pretty entertaining. It ends well too which was my biggest concern, it doesn't pack the same emotional whallop as the previous entry but it concludes with it's heart very much in the right place. I thought I come out of this one wrestling and screaming with my mind but instead I was treated to a good, but not great film which offered a welcome opportunity to have one last 'yee-haw' with all the character's we've come to know and love.

'Mid-week Weekend'

Seeing as I had another day off today I thought I could spend some quality time with myself. The last few days I've been applying for jobs or deep cleaning the flat but today was my self appointed 'mid-week weekend' and what better way to spend it than playing some games I picked up in the Steam Summer Sale. I get an itch this time of year to play something really high budget to put my computer to the limit and by golly, I played one of the prettiest games I've ever laid eyes on. Just look at these wooden beams!

Beyond its good looks, A Plague Tale: Innocence has really impressed me so far, I'm currently clawing my way through a rat infested university building in an effort to get a book to cure my young brother from the uber bubonic plague - its good stuff!

Narrative Designer Crash Course

Cleaning was the first thing on my mind today, Rebecca an I have both been suffering from hay fever in varying forms so I took it upon myself to clean our bedroom from top to bottom. Go the dust cloth out and attacked the top of picture frames, door frames and lampshades. No particle of dust was safe from my wrath and we'll see tomorrow night if my efforts paid off.

Outside of my cleaning crusade I watched a really fantastic talk on what it means to be a Narrative Designer in the gaming industry. Seems like a perfect amalgamation of script writing and story theory and then applying it to games. Funnily enough, this particular talk happened to be about a lot of the stuff I talk about in my videos and writing... Maybe I should look into this as a potential areer opportunity.

The Cider House Doesn't Rule

Shot off another job application today with gusto. Followed through on a little writing tip I found, I wrote up my CV and covering letter but before proof reading it, I walked away, did something else (in this case, I went out shopping) and returned to it with a fresh pair of eyes. I was able to be much more objective when it came to double checking that way and reading it back I was even happier with the application than I remembered. Good mental tip for future proof reading.

Louis and I managed to fix up my phone A-OK too, everything is back to how it was plus some new bells and whistles, worth the growing pains and it was nice to flush out my phones system, little detox did it a power of good.

In between running to Louis' house and cooking up a pho for dinner I put on The Cider House Rules to see how it measures up to the book - predictably, it didn't hold a candle to the source material. I actually didn't mind most of the liberties it took with the story but the whole film felt uncomfortably placid. Every scene felt flat somehow, minus some great art direction, there was no depth to any of it to the point where it felt like the actors just turned up to say lines and go home. Wasn't expecting too much out of this one but it still left me feeling undernourished. 

Tasty Bites & Chicken Stock

Louis, Rachel and Rebecca all came down to visit me on my lunch break to tour around the extended Tobacco Factory market, was nice to have something to look forward to on my break. Rachel and Rebecca got some nibbles while we were out but I was good and stuck to my packed lunch, such a delicious selection of food there though... Speaking of good food, Rebecca made a damn nice roast dinner tonight, plus this finally gives me a chicken carcass to use for my first ever batch of chicken stock. I'm hoping to use it later in the week for a supercharged homemade Pho, can't wait to cook that now!

Started watching Chernobyl too and my word it's good TV. Watched the first few episodes and it's like witnessing a sci-fi horror unfolding, really engaging and engrossing and I kept having to remind myself that it really happened. 

Blessing in Disguise

Officially moored up the canal boat back at the hire place early in the morning and waved goodbye to the carefree river lifestyle. Got back to Newbury for a haircut and to help Dad build the brand new chicken coop, with any luck it'll help keep the foxes out this time around. Louis and I had a slightly later train so I thought I'd take the opportunity to update the operating system on my phone, which turned out to be a bit more of a faff than I anticipated. Long story short, my phone isn't really working at the moment, Louis and I are still doing some trouble shooting to sort it all out, we nearly cracked it but right now my phone will only boot into recovery mode. I'd be mad if it didn't feel so liberating to not have a phone taped to my hand, its actually freed up my mind a little bit and when Rebecca and I met up with friends for beer this evening my attention was totally on the conversation at hand. Blessing in disguise this lack of phone thing.

Bye Bye Boat

Last day of the canal holiday was bittersweet. In my mind's eye, today was meant to be a victory lap, a day of reflection and appreciation for the boat and the gorgeous nature surrounding it. In reality, we spent most of the day unwinding locks, doing 17 of them back to back which took around 3-4 hours, we were all shattered when it was all over and all I wanted to do was to lie down. But then I would miss out on all the little bits of magic around me. First thing this morning I was greeted by a chorus of ducking chirps, I was so enamored by them I couldn't resist feeding them a few porridge oats. Things like that are always worth keeping your eyes open for and scenes like that always feel personal. Gonna miss the boat.

Hejira

Can now say I've been to one too many miserable village arts and crafts shops on this holiday. Leaving the boat this morning to see the local sights and to take advantage of the 'on shore facilities' we dropped into a farm shop and a gaggle of 16 craft shops, each one more dire than the last. Glad to say we jetted away pretty quick and we're well on track to get back on time.

Drove the boat for a fair while upstream, jamming along to Joni Mitchell's Hejira, probably enjoying it a little too much because I bumped the boat an awful lot. All part of the fun I say.

The Cider House Rules

Left Stratford to head back the way we came up to Warwick, quite nice to see the reverse version of our journey; we're literally going down memory lane in some respect. Moored up on a dozy bank in the middle of nowhere, when the sun was setting it was nothing short of idyllic. Except for the bloated carcass of a muntjac gently brushing against the side of our boat. I've already had the wonderful job of pushing away with a large pole, its now drifted into the reeds and with any luck it won't be round next morning.

Finished reading The Cider House Rules this afternoon too, it was such a charming read. I just love the way John Irving writes, transcendence and memory always seems to be at the forefront of writing and its a joy to read something where everything feels considered and purposeful. His stories are always about something that all of us get: a life. He's so in tune with that fact that its impossible not to be compelled to read until the final page about the life and death of his characters. His books may be beefy, but they are excellent reads.

Stuck in Stratford

Never unmoored ourselves from our Stratford pontoon today since this was our 'take it easy in a cool town' day. Splitting up we ventured around Shakespeare land, admiring the charity shops and churches, before calling it a day and heading back to the boat I lined my pockets with coffee flavoured fudge which I tried my best to ration throughout the afternoon. Rebecca bid us all farewell, she hopped in a train back home today since her leftover holiday days didn't quite cover the entire vacation. The makeshift sofabed now feels bizarrely massive, but I'm sure I'll manage to get comfy.

All the day I found myself thinking back on the last time I was in Stratford moored up in a canal boat. It was back in 2016 as I helped a uni coursemate with their graduate project, I always looked back on that film shoot fondly. Perhaps I should tell them...

Boat Bound

Sorry for the lack of a blog yesterday, I am somewhat at the mercy of mobile data to publish posts and last night we parked the boat in a dead zone devoid of all data.

Though I'm a big fan of driving the boat, I've earned a bit of a name for myself as the bumpy kid. In fairness, I did knock the barge around a fair bit over the last few days. I'm best stationed by the locks it seems, that and the kettle for teas and coffees.

Gotten used to the cramped living spaces now too, Rebecca and I have got the whole 'setting up our sofa bed' routine down pat and we know how to share gangways now. Dare say it going to make home feel incredibly spacious.

I'm on a Narrow Boat

Got ourselves all nestled into our canal boat, can't believe the last family holiday we did in a narrow boat was in 2005. Feels like only a few Summers ago, mostly because I still remember everything about how to use the boat and how to open locks. Feels like a real homecoming of sorts and I'm super happy to share the experience with Rebecca.

We've done our fair share of locks already today, around 15 or so. It became a tight military operation pretty quickly and since we evenly divvied up the roles I even got to drive the boat for a spell. Did a pretty good job too, looking forward to going further downstream and enjoying the slow pace of life.

Cadence of Hyrule

Packed up all my bits for the canal boat holiday tomorrow, Rebecca adorably asked if she should bring a swimming costume for the trip. I had to gently break it to her that swimming in canal water was a sure-fire way to contract polio, she gingerly reconsidered after hearing that. With bags packed, we went out to celebrate 5 years of being together at a nearby Mexican place, that cusine has long been a favourite of ours and always reminds me of when we first started dating. First impressions of the place were a little dicey, we were basically the only people in the entire place and some of the shelves were full of charity shop bric-a-brac. Fortunately the food was real good, somehow they must've snagged a legit Mexican chef savant and opened a place around them. With guacamole dripping down our chins, we both conceded that we made the right choice eating there.

The bulk of the day was spent writing a review for the newset entry in the Zelda franchise: Cadence of Hyrule which you can actually read here.

I'm hoping to use this one as a bit of a calling card, I intend to send this one out to any upcoming writing jobs I find. I've been developing a concise and personable tone in my writing so far and I think it's starting to take form, plus I managed to play, write and publish this review within 24 hours of the game's release too - check that stopwatch cuz I'm getting faster!

Board Game Boatin'

Was nice waking up with Rebecca again after her time away in Spain. I had the day off again today so I whipped up a batch of porridge which I've now got down to a fine art. I got on with some more writing and even sourced another job to apply for that I've got all the right skills for. Got a lot of plates spinning right now which is a good thing, still gotta pack for the canal boat this weekend too, got a handful of board games that would be perfect for a week without WiFi, plus I'd love a chance to settle back into The Cider House Rules. Can't wait to go boating!

Bootleg Brew

Between bouts of writing I very spontaneously decided to make my own coffee liqueur. I happened to have all the ingredients lying around so I casually threw them all into a glass and was floored when I basically a much cheaper alternative to my favourite spirit, Kahlua. Plus I didn't go blind, that's always a plus when making bootleg booze.

I figured I should probably step outside sometime today so I took my work to work by taking my laptop into my cafe. Got a very warm reception walking in plus a free coffee, I settled into a small nook in the corner and plugged myself in and smashed out a bunch more words. This was the first time I properly experienced the coffee shop as a customer, even though I'm obviously biased, it was a rather pleasant.

I got a rather unusual message from Louis much later on asking if I was 'kicking it' this evening. At that point I was weighing up doing more work or trying to whittle down a movie to watch - the option to hang out with my Bro was a welcome choice. Brought a few beers and chewed the fat with him, we're both pumped to go on the upcoming canal boat holiday this weekend, the prospect of chilling out on a boat sounds magical right about now. Eager to take it down a gear and watch the world go by at 4 MPH.  

Sweet Dreams are Made of These

With a spoonful of porridge in one hand and my driving test revision notes in the other, I got up early this morning to get some last minute practice under my belt. I felt myself getting more and more tense as the morning went on so after I finished my revision I did something I'd not really tried before: gentle meditation. I just closed my eyes, locked in everything I just learnt and tried to relax and you know what, I felt much better afterwards. I hopped into my instructors car with an hour to spare before my test so we did a short lesson before proceeding to the test center.

Long story short, I passed my driving test. It's been a long time coming but I'm super chuffed with myself. This time last year I would say I wasn't the most confident driver to the point where I thought I wasn't cut out for driving. But on my test today I felt like I was in total control of the car and the road around me, I passed with 6 minors and all of them I spotted as they happened so I know how I can become even better on the road in the future. 

Only regret is not getting one of those cheesy 'holding up the pass certificate in front of my car' photos. In fairness it was wet and windy and frankly I was knackered afterwards so I was just glad to get home.

To quietly celebrate I treated myself a a remarkably fresh cup of coffee at home. I got Dad's old coffee grinder working properly now so I can grind my beans immediately before brewing for that added hipster quality. Now I know the grinder works I want to try and make the effort to be 'the guy who's always has good coffee when we go round his place', I'm just one step closer now to realising that dream.  

Speaking of dreams, my 6 year old fantasy of being able to play as one of my favourite game characters will finally materialise as Banjo & Kazooie were announced as upcoming fighters in Super Smash Bros. Lord, I can remember talking to my old school friend Jack Crovetto about how cool it would be if Banjo was ever playable, God that must have been nearly 20 years ago. Just like passing my driving test, it's been a long time coming but it's certainly been worth the wait.

Driven to Revision

Quick day at work into a load of driving revision for my test tomorrow. Blitzed through all the shoe me, tell me's and watched oodles of little tips and tricks videos on YouTube to help me prepare. Just don't want anything to take me by surprise tomorrow that'll cause me to make silly mistakes - I can live with not passing tomorrow, I just don't want it to be because of something dumb. Once my head started hurting from cramming I went shopping for some nice breakfast bits tomorrow, I'm gonna start the day right tomorrow so I can go in with the best possible mindset - roll on the test tomorrow!

Pondering About Driving Tests

Hung out with Louis on this fine Sunday, weekends are for the boys after all. We spoke about our upcoming driving tests while playing games together, even though Louis' done two tests already he's still pretty anxious about the next one. My one is coming up very soon too, Tuesday morning to be exact, spent a fair bit of time watching various videos online on what to expect - don't want anything to take me by surprise. The company of myself was all I needed this evening, big game announcements are coming in thick and fast from E3 this year so it's just as well Rebecca isn't around, she'd grow pretty tired of my little jumps for joy. 

Boyz N The Hood

Been a long time since I've had a chance to take a Saturday nice and slow so I could really enjoy it. Cooked possibly the best batch of porridge I've ever made - Rebecca agreed too. Recently I've been trying to get Rebecca into drinking some variant of ground coffee, all she drinks is instant and I wanted to share the love of what good coffee is all about. The other day I acquired a clever dripper, kinda like a Chemex and a french press combined which I thought she's really like. It broke my heart as she sat there, sipping coffee and pulling a face declaring 'I think this is the worst cup of coffee I've ever had'. Reckon she's a lost cause.

Took a stroll up Park Street to browse the secondhand book shops, got lucky too after Rebecca spied a Jamie Oliver 15 Minute Meals cookbook that we've been hunting for months - £3.49? Hell yes I want that. We looked into the Bristol Museum to catch a glimpse at one of Banksy's older works that came back to the exhibit hall for a spell and had a hot soup lunch back at home. After eating Rebecca packed up to go out to Spain on holiday for a few days and I headed uptown to play badminton with Mark. Smashed him out too, winning 4 games out of 5, every match was pretty close though, it's always nice to play against someone with a similar skill level to you.

Finished up the leftovers for dinner, so that meant I had a mish-match meal of chips, curry and toast... I'll get some proper food in tomorrow. Browsing Netflix, Boyz N The Hood caught my eye so I settled into a film I should've seen years ago. You got such a sense of living and growing up in a downtrodden LA suburb where violence is the only language. I thought it was beautifully done, playing out like a great American novel at times - wholeheartedly recommend.  

The House Abandon

My eyes ache after a busy days like these. Revising for my Show Me, Tell Me driving test was a whole lot of fun let me tell you, felt like I was back doing GCSE French learning how to parrot information rather than how to actually apply knowledge. Squeezed in my last driving lesson before my test next week and that went about as well as usual, nailed the parallel park which was great but I had trouble reverse bay parking, I'm chalking it up to an off day but I'll try and focus up there in time for the actual test. Had plenty of time to mull about how to improve too, we got stuck in a lot of traffic coming back into Bristol, was going 4 mph for about 20 minutes - good practice for the canal boat I'll be on this time next week though.

Hot and bothered from dealing with the busy roads I got back to work on my latest video which I finished just before dinner time. Really short one this time round, 3 and a half minutes to be exact, I wanted to keep this one short and sweet because I knew the gameplay could look a bit plain over an extended period. Hands down my favourite bit comes in at the 7 second mark where I crudely animate the Eyebrow Owl character - I thought it was hilarious. Rest of the video is much darker in tone though, The House Abandon is a rather chilling affair so I wanted to echo it's vibe.

Lads Go Gaming

Been a long time coming another 'games with the boys' sessions, seeing that Rebecca was out for most of the evening I figured it was a great excuse to hook up with my chums. Louis and I played a few bouts of Smash Brothers over the internet (what an age we live in), he promptly flaked off after I beat him one too many times so I got a chance to hang out with Dan and Mark instead. Once I wrapped up doing a bit of editing for my upcoming video I dropped in for a few games to celebrate the end of my 7 day stint at work, got a long weekend to look forward to now, just thinking about it makes my heart smile.

Prototype Pud

Got back home and tackled yet another small script for a new video I'm working on. This one is going to be a super short recommendation piece about a tiny horror game I played last week that really got under my skin. I'm chuffed with how quickly I'm writing now, my pace has always been my biggest handicap and overcoming that this week has been a big old confidence boost.  

Loosely inspired by Rebecca's Dad's fondness for apple crumbles I have gone on a self-appointed quest to make the perfect pud. Been a long time since I last made a crumble but I followed a Jamie Oliver recipe using frozen forest fruits and it came out pretty damn well for a first try. Already made some mental adjustments on how I can improve it for next time, better crumble to fruit ratio mostly, but I'm really pleased with how this prototype pudding went. 

Life Admin Evening

At around 3pm today I felt totally shattered, while not the busiest day, I think the five day stint of long days mixed with early mornings has finally started to catch up on me. I dragged my weary bones home where I was very grateful to hear that Rebecca offered to cook dinner, from there we sorted out our life admin stuff - upcoming holidays, money/bills and new bits of furniture to decorate our flat. Not the most glam way to spend an evening, but since I'm technically an adult now there's always a lot to consider.

Katana Zero

Rushed back home from work so I could finish up a small review I was putting together for a new game I picked up recently. I got a warm inkling about halfway through writing that it would turn out to be a really good piece, while I reading it back to myself my suspicions were thankfully confirmed - I'm really pleased with it! Beaming with pride, I showed it off to Rebecca who quickly picked up on a wealth of grammatical mis-steps. I've since gone back and ironed all of them out (hopefully) so if you want to check out a short written review of Katana Zero then please, be my guest:

https://eyebrowowl.wordpress.com/2019/06/03/katana-zero-review/

I'm treating this one as a spotlight portfolio piece.

Clean Brew

Getting up early on a weekend morning is the best, it's just nice to rise and shine with the rest of the world, take it easy and enjoy a nice breakfast at a leisurely pace. That and it gave me the chance to play Smash Brothers for a fair while before work, I was actually getting so invested in fighting random people online that I noticed I was starting to sweat rather badly, so much so I had to hop in the shower again before work - didn't want to get into the cafe smelling like a champion.

Rebecca's back from her little stint away in London, in other words, the bach pad had to go sharpish. Once dinner was over I hurriedly washed plates and wiped surfaces to give her back her living space. Not only did she return to a semi-clean flat but also a gorgeous jug of cold brew coffee which came out way better than I had hoped. Everyone online always raves about the stuff and now I understand why! Naturally sweet but still full bodied, its perfect on hot days like we've had over the weekend.

Hot and Cold Brew

Almost forgot what it was like to work the morning shift, I was dead on my feet walking to work since it felt so early but to my surprise the sun was positively beaming despite the early rise. The heat of the day contributed to the biggest rush for iced coffee I've seen yet, folks are mad for that stuff - who can blame them though? In fact, once I got home from work I got to making my first ever jug of cold brew coffee - we'll see how that goes sometime tomorrow afternoon but I already can't wait to drink some.

Sat at my laptop and wrote a bit more, I'm juggling a trio of small projects at the moment, all of them are pretty bite-sized though and I'm hoping to get two of them published next week sometime. After all that work I thought I'd treat myself to a movie, Catch 22 to be exact. It dawned on me pretty early on that the film would be near impossible to follow if you hadn't read the book beforehand, for those who had though this film is a treat. A fun cast and incredible cinematography bring certain scenes from the book to life, overall it really impressed me. Plus whenever Orson Welles is on screen you know you're going to have a good time.