Vanilla Sky

Bid work farewell and finished packing for my camping holiday in Braunfels. Just about squeezed everything into my case in the end, I'm seriously regretting not getting a travel pillow now since my full sized bed pillow is eating up a lot of real estate, if I sit on the case I can barely zip it up so I reckon I'm all good.

Seeing as I'd be surrounded by 30+ people over the next few days I took a slice out of my day to enjoy my last bit of 'me time' for a while by watching Vanilla Sky, and I'm not ashamed to say that I really liked it. Cameron Crowe knows how to use a soundtrack and this might be his most visionary work. If you let it sweep you up you'll be along for the ride, if you're still resisting its tone, characters or story after 30 minutes then its a lost cause.

Swinging Shoes and Tiny Tacos

The packing for my camping holiday officially begun this afternoon once I was done with work. Got our tent, sleeping bags and roll matts all tucked into our pair of suit cases, now it's just the clothes and personal knick knacks. I'm so glad we each bought a microfiber towel, those things can fold up into basically nothing, taking up minimal room in my case. Once I was tired and sweaty from tightly packing everything on the hottest day of the year so far, Rebecca and I went out for a little date night to a Mexican restaurant that sells small plates that pack a wallop. Seriously, my taco had the circumference of a crumpet but the flavour was astounding. Ice cream and hanging our feet over the river came next and I felt truly at peace in that moment. I just keep thinking one more day of work before Germany, cannot wait.

Bric Company

The early start hit me hard this morning. Could barely keep my eyes focused while eating breakfast and the walk to work was fraught with angry dogs and too much sunlight. The actual customers in today were friendly, but overly plentiful, could've done with 20% less of them overall, then I could drink my own coffee without having to make teacakes all morning. My hostility evaporated once a friend came in to drop off my Bric bag, basically a reusable lunch-bag that's an absolute delight to hold in the hand. I got it as a 'thank you freebee' for posing as a model for their website/product range a little while back, they just launched their website too and you can check it out here - see how many times you can spot me in their photos. Took it home to use as a temporary fruit bowl but I know it'll come in handy when I'm off camping later on in the week.

The Red Planet

Hit up a friends flat for a night long session of Terraforming Mars, it was probably the fastest three and a half hours of my life, I was so invested I didn't notice the time fly by. The game ended a lot later than I expected, normally I'd be a bit non-plussed about going to bed late before an early open shift, but I was having so much fun I didn't even care.

Fair Game

Had the briefest day of work I've had in a long time just so I could go out and compete in my first ever Smash Brother's tournament. With Louis by my side, I felt like I was ready to take the entire tourney by storm... In reality though, it was quite a humbling experience. For so many years I've only really played games within my immediate friend group and I more often than not came out on top, kinda like a big fish in a small pond kinda thing. Well now Pandora's Box has been opened and I know that I am total trash at Smash. Louis and I swiftly lost in our doubles brackets and though I won a one game in singles, it wasn't enough to get any further in the tournament. Louis and I even lost our only qualifying games in the 'amature bracket' which meant we were officially out the competition.

While it was an eye opening experience, it was great to be a part of that community for a spell and to do battle with some tough opponents. For the time being though, I think I'll keep my Smash Brother's games among friends, were the tensions are low and the vibes are easy going. 

Sick Critic Staff Writer

Said to myself this morning that I was going to throw myself into the journalism deep end and submit a new article for Sick Critic, the website I'm volunteering for. Got into Wildseed, sat at my desk and cracked out a news article I was chuffed with. I submitted it for posting and it went live on their website a few hours later - my work has officially been published on a legit gaming website. If you want to read it, you can click right here.

The article itself is just a news piece about Plants vs. Zombies 3 being announced, but I think I lent my voice to the piece and made it light. The bit I'm proudest of is my little bio:

Big shout out to Mark too who came down and proof-read everything, always nice to have a friend who's willing to look over your shoulder.

Hot Desking

Because I'm a trendy millennial I went into Wildseed to do a bit of hot desking today. They had a few free spaces in their downstairs portion and Mark offered it as a work space for me to crack on with video editing, writing or any other work in general. I found myself being a lot more productive there too. Spent the morning familiarising myself with the formatting and writing style that my game magazine are looking for and tasked myself with writing a news article based on a recent, but not breaking news story. It turned out to be an immensely fruitful exercise and I learnt a lot from fumbling around trying to construct something that could go to publish - I can hit the ground running now. 

The Smash Broskis

Officially signed up for the Bristol Smash Brothers tournament going down on Saturday. Louis and I registered not only for singles, but for the doubles bracket too, our team name: The Smash Broskis. If it makes at least one person smile and/or roll their eyes then the name is a success.

Work had a team meeting too this evening featuring a pop quiz - I got the lowest score of the bunch mostly because all the questions concerned frappes and smoothies rather than coffee. If I ever own a coffee place here is a brief list of all the things I'll never serve:

Babycinos - They are worthless, flavourless and invite messy kids into cafes.

Frappes - In my mind I perceive hoards of teenage girls swarming the cafe, dying for a tacky, overly sweet drink, in reality, the people who mainly go for them are Baby Boomers with sweet teeth.

An abundance of cakes or savory items - Do one thing and do it well. I'd sell brownies and homemade soup. That's it.

Don't like it, then go to another cafe! I don't cafe if omitting these menu items drives away business and profits, it would be a simple and honest place to get a good coffee, everything else like frappes and babycinos are keys being jangled in front of the public in the vain hopes of getting people's attention and cash. Focus on the coffee and keep it simple.

Funny Ol' Morning

First customer at work inexplicably put one of our coffee grinders out of action, I could tell from that moment that the day was gonna be an odd one. Some bloke came in shortly after who boasted about going to the gym all morning then asked for two of our largest sandwiches, didn't quite have the heart to tell him that exercise and diet weren't mutually exclusive when it comes to weight loss. Rebecca then shot me a message at lunch time telling me her train bound to London hit not one, but several cows on it's way into Reading - like I said, I felt it was going to be a bit of an odd day.

Did some preliminary packing this evening, blocking out which suitcases the tents, sleeping bags and roll mats would fit in, to my delight everything squeezes in beautifully. The programme for the trip to Brainfels also arrived today, high ropes courses, castle tours and canoeing equals a guaranteed good time.

The Dead Don't Die

Volunteered to be the unofficial chaperone of the visiting Spanish group who were in Bristol for the day. Ate my breakfast while planning a nice little route we could all do, complete with lunch breaks and cafe stops along all the great sight-seeing bits. That all went right out the window after the first thing they all said to me was 'We all need the toilet.' All 24 of them. Honestly, it was like herding cats for the first hour or so, ever now and then someone wanted a photograph, someone was walking too slow, someone wanted to put on sun cream. All I could do was laugh it off. Eventually the groups splintered off and I was left with a core group of 8 who were keen to do my cool itinerary. We did St Nicks food market, Cabot Tower, Park Street, Pinkmans and a ferry tour - basically a Bristol greatest hits record that I've played for several visitors but it always goes down a treat. They loved it all too, the icing on the cake was a massive environmental protest which was so Bristol it hurt, really helped the Spanish get the vibe of the city and my core group really gelled with it.

Had a chance to quickly wharf down a Tesco sandwich before heading to the cinema to see The Dead Don't Die with a handful of friends and I'm sad to say that I wasn't a fan. Not witty enough to be a comedy and not post-modern enough to be interesting, the film just ends up existing, usually that's a compliment when attached to Jim Jarmusch films but I mean that in a sadly negative way. It seemed content to be a pastiche of Romero zombie films but never daring enough to add anything unique to a genre that's dying to be reanimated with original ideas. As soon as the final act drew to a close, it was clear that the joke was on me, despite a promising set up, it turned out to be a shaggy dog story of a movie. Certainly not for me, but you might find some charm in it.

Good Old Winchester

Took our guest family out to Winchester for the day, I'd only really been there in passing so the city tour was all new for me too. We snuck into the Cathedral while the ticket lady wasn't in her box to have a look around and see Jane Austin's resting place. A picnic followed before heading to see King Arthur's Round Table, or at least a ancient remodeled version of it. Think our Spanish guests enjoyed it all, plenty of quintessential English architecture to pose in front of for  photos.

Met up with the whole Twin Town group for a final meal and barn dancing. We'll be seeing most of them In two weeks time for the annual Youth for Europe meeting, now I'm more eager than ever to head out to Braunfels.

Dancing like I'm 19

Long ol Saturday for me. Got up at the crack of dawn to head to work and then it was off the Newbury. There's a Twin Town association event going down this weekend and it only felt right to show my face. Rebecca and I hooked up with several of our Youth for Europe friends for a nice meal, a dancing session and to enjoy some complimentary booze. Full on day, but it was amazing seeing everyone and dancing the night away.

A Tent of my Own

It's been sitting in out lounge unwrapped for a few days now, but this evening was finally the time to pitch our new tent. Technically, this is also the first tent I've properly owned, Mark and Dan always had some pretty amazing tents I've slept in over the years for Duke of Edinburgh or various camp outs. I've always been a passenger on their ships, never the captain - but no more! We walked up to our nearest park to pitch the tent just to get a feel for putting it up and it was love at first sight. At long last, a tent to call my own. Already can't wait to enjoy all the quiet nights inside listening to the melodic pitter patter of rain streaking down the canopy.

I also got around to pimping my After Effects into just a little more, with some feedback from Louis I changed the font slightly and added a simple but effective tri-colour wipe at the end - obviously the colours are on-brand too. Looks sleek and professional now, I already sampled it on top of some of my previous videos and I was chuffed to pieces with how it looked.

Staff Writer Perhaps

Worked a pretty chill shift of 8:30 until 12:30, just a cover job while someone was out doing interviews. I joined up with Louis and Rachel to look around another house just next to Victoria Park, we unanimously agreed that it was nice but not a winner. The bathroom was on the ground floor for one and it might've been a bit more of a 'fixer upper' than expected.

In other news, I signed up to be a voluntary staff writer for a gaming magazine, my application was accepted this evening so I might become a regular contributor for Sick Critic, I'll be ironing out the details with them tomorrow. I'm cool with it being unpaid, just happy to get my foot in the door for the time being so I can get a taste for it, may or may not bear fruit but that's what new experiences are all about.

After Effects Trainee

Seeing as Rebecca was working from home today it only made sense for us to divvy up the dining table as a temporary office space for us both. I cracked on with an application for a staff writer position for a gaming website while Rebecca went away for an interview in the morning, and got offered a job a hour later! She didn't know what to say or how to act for a while afterwards but I was immensely proud of her. She's still internally debating about whether she'll accept the role or not, but I know she'll make the right call whatever happens.

Seeing as I was half expecting to see a friend this afternoon I didn't want to commit to anything massive for the rest of the day so I thought I'd continue to give myself a few lessons in After Effects. Been thinking about becoming a video editor/content producer if the right gig ever came up and those skills are always handy. Watched a few YouTube tutorials and pieced together this nifty little thing which I might use as a intro piece for any future videos I make. It's a first draft mind, but I'm chuffed with how it turned out. Props to Louis too for doing the music.

Pearl Harbor

Louis and I are thinking about signing up for a Smash Brother's tournament in Bristol, so that means we gotta get some practice in! I swung by his place for a few rounds while he was on his lunch break and we enthused about attending the tourney. I'm excited to sign up just so I can meet a few more passionate players in Bristol, who knows, could make some new friends there.

Speaking of friends, a few of Rebecca's chums popped round this evening to dine on my hand-cut carrot sticks and to watch Pearl Harbor. Now, I've always mocked this film with little basis, like High School Musical a lot of people like to point and laugh at these movies. Pearl Harbor was by no means a masterpiece, in fact it's a bloated, plodding work of fiction attached to a significant event, but it doesn't deserve hate. I already knew it was going to be a cheesy romance film with a bit of war thrown in so I was in a position to lean into the punch. Glad I finally saw it though so I could make my own opinions on it, makes this song an awful lot funnier now too.

New Tent

With multiple, long work days and earlier starts each morning, I figured I could take the latter part of the afternoon off to chill out and recuperate. Reckon we might have some guests over tomorrow night so I'm prepped to do a fair bit of cleaning tomorrow to make sure the place is spic and span. I'll get a chance to get properly antiquated with our new hoover too. This bad boy is picking up all the detritus our old vacuum could barely get up, it quite literally picked up two and a half years of stubborn hairs and grime during it's maiden voyage according to Rebecca - how can I resist a powerful hoover?

Speaking of random bit cool things, Rebecca and I just bought a tent for when we go camping to Germany. Settled on a nice 3 man tent that's sociable, yet compact. Can't wait to open it up and breathe in that 'new tent' smell.

Growing Pains (I Think)

Gosh and golly, I think I have a growing pain in my leg. Sincerely hope that's not the case since I'm already just over 6ft and life is hard enough for a tall fella like me. Might have just put a little too much strain on it at work today, it was a long shift after all, clocking in at around 9 hours. Just felt shattered and leg-achey afterwards but thankfully Rebecca was there to cheer me on when I got back with some home-made falafel. I'd take that over a Sunday roast any week.

Shared the film Monster with Rebecca and after a re-watch I can happily say it'll join the ranks of my all time favourite movies. There was just something else operating under the hood that I picked up on during a second watch that made the film so much richer.

Before We Met

Rung in a friend's 30th Birthday with a few beers and 5 pints of jelly. We played all the typical kids party games like pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey, it was a throwback party and all those game scratched a nostalgic itch. One of the more novel games requires all the guests to bring baby photos of themselves, Louis provided me with a cute picture I'd basically never seen before so I spent a long while staring into the eyes of the person I used to be. When I was 6 years old I probably would have thrown a tantrum if I lost a game, but now I could let it pass and be happy for the winner. Glad to say I turned out alright.

Quietly mulling over the prospect of getting up early tomorrow morning to open the cafe. Thankfully I future proofed myself somewhat by doing a lot of the opening jobs before I left work today so in theory, it should be super easy whatever happens.

Well Jelly

Got stuck back into the folds of coffee after multiple days off all back to back and I once again discovered that the hot weather pushes people far, far away from cafes.It's the first time in ages that I remember closing the shop and getting out all within 10 minutes, everything was ready to go once the clock struck 5pm. Good thing too, had to get back home to whip up a big old batch of rainbow jelly for a birthday party I'm going to tomorrow. It's 90's/nostalgia themed so I thought I could make a huge vat of a childhood favourite.

Chris and Coffee

Spotted a good little office runner job to apply first thing this morning. Whipped up a very fancy covering email and CV and shot it off to them on a wing and a prayer, got my fingers crossed again for this one because it would be really good if I got this one.

Chris was passing through Bristol too so I took some time off to go hang out with him and Cherry, his YouTuber friend/boss. Took them out to a fancy coffee shop: The Department of Coffee and Social Affairs. Thankfully, the coffee was nowhere near as scary as the shops name and was actually a really nice place to chew the fat. He's doing pretty good these days too is Chris, seems like he's finally found some good work and some good people to live with. 

A Plague Tale - Innocence

Once I took a step back from my latest video I realised that I was actually pretty chuffed with it. The pace and style of the editing is perhaps the best I've ever produced, of course it helps that the game is totally beautiful and lends itself well to video editing. A Plague Tale - Innocence not only taught me how to spell 'plague' right, it provided a human adventure set in the midst of the Black Death. The number 1 thing the games got going for it is the rats, those disgusting cretins literally fill the screen at times, so if you got a thing about rodents then this game probably won't be your cuppa tea. If you can stand the sight of blood and are in the market for a spiritual and beautiful game then look no further. You can see the rest of my video review just below.   

Footage Fountain

Put my nose to the metaphorical grindstone to crack on with video editing for my next project. Just about managed to fill up my hard drive with game footage for this one, archiving almost the entirety of my 10 hour play-through. In theory this should have given me a ton of ammo for editing, but in reality it was torture to rifle through so much footage and it made me a little indecisive since I was spoilt for choice. Still, I got a healthy chunk of it done, I'll have it up and ready tomorrow with any luck.

Rebecca is in the midst of looking for another job so she called on me, a living expert in cover letter writing, to help her apply for more jobs. Turns out, she's got a rather rigid approach to the language of covering letters, I'm all for flaunting my personality so people can get my vibe (in a professional manner), Rebecca on the other hand doesn't even abbreviate words fearing that it's a sign of weakness in the eyes of an employer. Despite our creative differences, we landed on a happy middle ground and sent some stuff off for her. Here's hoping she has more luck than me.

Bean Burger

Sat down for a long old time writing today and just about cracked open a review I'm working on. Took me a while to articulate exactly what I thought about it but putting it down on paper has made me feel much more confident when it comes to expressing an opinion. Just needs a final check over before its ready to print. Shared it Rebecca for her thoughs and all I can say is thank goodness for her proof reading skills, girl can spot a mis-used apostrophe from a mile away.

Went out for a meal and a beer with some friends in the evening, this marked another chance for me to try out the vegetarian options at restaurants. Been trying to cut down on meats over the past month or so, I've not gone veggie by any stretch, just want to get some more goodness in me and try out some things I've never had before. Had a bean burger for the first time ever and it was pretty dang good.