Over to Victoria

I rolled up my clothes into a tight wad once again as we hit the road today. We big farewell to Vancouver and hello to Victoria. Only took a bus ride and a ferry to make the crossing but now we're firmly in a city that we can legitimately walk across in just a dozen minutes. Our hotel is pretty quirky, offering Gilmore Girls vibes with the biggest bed we've ever seen! We'll explore the town proper tomorrow, till then we're having a double king sized snooze.

Smitten with Squamish

One of the main things I wanted to do while out in Canada was go up the mountains and see some snow. That dream came true today with our visit out to Squamish. We caught the bus out of town and rode the gondala up almost above the cloud line into the frost dusted peaks. There were a multitude of view points and short hikes to go on, the latter of which took us along some fairytale looking routes through a snowy mountain trail. Rebecca wasn't quite wearing the right shoes for the trek though, so I effectively became one of those plastic penguins on skates that they give to children to hold into at ice skating rinks. I was her crutch for the slippy patches but she did really well considering. I was too smitten with the scenery to pay much mind.

Stanley Park

After five days of rain the weather finally let up so we ventured out into the mighty Stanley Park - a hunk of nature only a bus ride away from downtown. It's vast, wild and gorgeous. We took a walk up and through it before ending up on the Sea Wall. The views there were spectacular so we just kept on walking, marvelling the whole time about how one skyline could contain trees, a metropolis, mountains and oil tankers all in one.

We he back to the same bar as yesterday, the beer menu was longer than my arm so I still had plenty to choose from but we really wanted to try the food. I had a near religious experience with a burger in one hand and a dark IPA in the other. It set us up for a cinema trip to see Project Hail Mary - a book Rebecca and I have both enjoyed. This is also my first real movie-going experience in another country. Aside from the adverts, it was pretty similar as it turns out. I was low-key expecting more whooping from the audience, guess they used up all that enthusiasm for the hockey game. 

Go Cannucks, Go

With the rain reaching its zenith today, we decided to take it very slow - a kind of mini recharge day. We popped out to a trendy cafe for brunch and coffee then headed Downtown a bit later on to check out the library. That passed the time til the big ice hockey game in the evening anyway. We hit up a bar on the way to get some cheap happy hour drinks, that at least got me just buzzed enough to get hyped about eating stadium food. I was gassed for Poutine, but that's more of an East Coast thing we discovered so it had to be a hot dog for me. I was a bit nonplussed when they handed it to me, but then they gestured to the condiment bar where I rekindled my love affair for sauerkraut.

Going into the hockey stadium I was once again reminded that North Americans don't do sports in small measures. It was huge, with pumping music and a jumbo screen. The hype for the Home team was built up to legendary proportions, before the game even started we were treated to a massively overproduced video starring all the Vancouver players as they literally save the world from an alien invasion. Thank goodness I was half cut because I don't think my retinas could survive a sober eye roll. Then after witnessing all the hype and build up, the home team got totally glazed, losing by four goals. But they had a lotta heart and in my books that counts for something.

Another Big, Wet Walk

We naively thought we saw the last of the rain, but the weather instead doubled down, giving us a deluge just in time for another big outdoorsy walk. We caught a bus to the outskirts of the city to visit another suspension bridge followed by a mini hike along the river. By the end my jeans needed to be peeled off my thighs. I hung them up to dry and slid into my only other pair of trousers: my pyjamas. I had to slip my still wet jeans in once more though to head out for dinner for an Asian fusion place that provided the best meal of the holiday so far. Vancouver's weather occasionally leaves something to be desired, good thing the restaurants don't disappoint.

Vancouver Suspension Bridge

With the weather still being rainy in the Rainy City, what better place to spend the day than in a rainforest? The world famous suspension bridge was our daily destination, a chance to marvel at the engineering and to climb high above the canyons and the treetops. It's certainly a one of a kind attraction, at several moments Rebecca and I just had to pause to take it all in. Doing it in a raincloud kinda made the whole thing a bit more unique too, misty vistas and the constant downpour gave it all a tone I don't think you'd get on a clear day. Our clothes need a day or two to dry out but it was well worth it.

Fair Weather Ferry

The rain threatened our plans but we adapted and endured. The best place to be in a drizzle is down by the docks, so we bought a day pass on the City's ferries so we could spend some time on the water and visiting the places that would have otherwise been a mission to get to. We sampled the markets on Granville Island and took a rainy stroll along Kitsilano Beach. Back home we caught 40 winks then moved on to get a North American staple: a good old burger. Luckily we have a half dozen pubs in our area and finding a good watering hole was easy enough. Now we're both a mite tipsy, but that might help us sleep off the last bit of Jetlag.

Jetlagged to the Max

Day 1 in Vancouver was a real 'get to know the place' kinda day. We started off with coffee and a pastry from a place just a few doors down from our Air B&B. From there we caught the Sky train to Downtown, we stood along the seaplane strip, watching them take off and land while quietly processing the fact there's mountains next to a metropolis. 

I firmly believed I could best jetlag, yet I found myself at its mercy halfway through the day. I couldn't quite muster a nap in the afternoon but an early night should help me recoup. We both had ambitions to head into a bar for happy hour, but after dinner we both just wanted to crawl into our pajamas .

Vancouver Day 0

Can't believe I woke up in London and will be going to sleep in Vancouver. Rebecca and I travelled 4700 miles today over 12ish hours, 1 bus, 3 metro trains, 2 planes and 1 of them little runway bus things they always fit too many people onto. We did a brief change at Reykjavik, alas, not long enough to see the Northern Lights, nor long enough to really warrent going in the country's gift shop (I mean we did anyway). I packed my Kindle with a 800 page book loaded up, I locked in pretty hard on the flight and already took a big chunk of it out. We arrived in Canada feeling somewhere between jetlagged and jazzed. We checked into our Air B&B and took a stroll up our high street. A late night pizza filled our bellies and now we're ready to hit the hay.

We did just travel 4700 miles after all... 

Packing Light as a Feather

The final push before the big holiday. Rebecca and I have checked if we have our passport two dozen times already, you know, just to make sure. Aside from clothes and toiletries, the only fun things I'm packing is my notebook, my kindle a d a very small Gameboy/emulator device. Bag feels approximately light and I'm ready to roll onto that plane tomorrow.

Before all that though I waltzed up to meet Louis to discuss his new game. I read his script and we went through the beats, blow by blow. It was a really positive meeting I thought, good to share notes and to hopefully be of some good use to him. 

Emergency Packing

The most stressful part of going on holiday is emergency purchasing all the bits you need. I've told everyone I'm packing light for this holiday which is still technically true, but now I have a sleep mask, ear plugs, portable lunch box... Basically a lot of extraneous stuff I hadn't fully factored in. But I got it all now, all that's left to do is cram it all into a bag.

Script Nodding

Still chipping away at some of the residual work that creeps in at the end of a big job. But in between that I had a superb day in. I read the script for Louis' new game which is in a much better place than he lead me to believe. I'm writing up my notes on it all now to hand over soon. I needed to catch up a bit on my movie watching quota so I caught It Was Just an Accident on Mubi which was well worth my time. While Rebecca was out doing yoga I headed to the digital mines and hung out with a few chums online. 

Now that I'm unemployed, I don't know how I'd ever find the time to do my job! 

D&D

I put the F in Funemployment this afternoon. I drummed up some enthusiasm for a cowboy themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign that I've been working on for the last couple of days. Working on it was like cramming for an exam, I did my best to flesh out the world and the people, I prepped answers for any rouge question and planned rewards and outcomes for any scenario. My over-worrying paid off though, I sat down with my old coworkers (who are out of work now, just like me) and we had a whale of a time playing through my little scenario. I mentally locked in, and before I looked up from my various notebooks I noticed that three hours had gone by. My first every lengthy TTRPG campaign completed!

Opportunity comes with Freedom

First day of freedom! Aside from the stint of work I did this morning to mop up my lingering to do list. I suspect there'll be a few more odd jobs and bills to settle as the dust settles, but I'll take those as they come. In the meantime, I noticed just how content I felt. The days are getting longer, my obligations are only to myself and the horizon ahead feels vast in an inspiring way. I've got a small hit list of activities to crack on with before my holidays, the most important being having Dan over for some games. So I messaged him out the blue with the offer of dinner and beers but he honestly didn't need persuading because we had a great time hanging out in the evening. 

Mr Popular

Took our guests up to North Street where I was spotted by not one, but two other groups of friends. My network of Bristol people is clearly growing, nice to know that there's a small chance of always bumping into a familiar face. Rebecca and I bid our guests farewell as the Sunday scaries started to set in.

I mean, they should have done, but I'm free as a bird! Monday tomorrow will just be an extension of the weekend, no obligations, no stresses, no income... But I'll be more than fine til the next one rolls along, just got to enjoy the time I got, it'll be over before I know it. 

Pit Stop X Pub Stop

I don't even remember closing my eyes yesterday but I slept for a good long time, finally catching up after the end of the job. So I felt rested, better yet having house guests over (Matt and Ben) meant we had an excuse to cook an all-out breakfast which really brought me back to life.  

We took a walk into town for coffee, cookies and charity shops... Plus a few pub stops along the way. A Mexican place I was at the other week was on the ticket for tonight too and lighting did strike twice because it was a huge hit. We rounded the evening off with a final cute pub stops alongside some dice games which got us whooping. Just a lovely Saturday all in. 

See Ya Production Office

 Work drinks are fun, but boy you gotta pace yourself. My sleep was interrupted by my survival instincts telling me 'something is wrong', turns out that was my gut churning out the booze, never quite deciding if it'll come up or not.

Thankfully it didn't, and I wasn't alone in being in hungover so we commiserated together with a McDonald's breakfast than got to work on the big push to clean out the office. I had to really dig deep at times, moving bags of rock salt and peeling off hazard tape off studio floors was not on my mental agenda for today. But we got it done, or there's abouts.

We packed it all down then all just quietly took in our office one last time. The space we worked, laughed and panicked together. A lot of memories in that space, and it was bizarre to think that after just over a year it's all over. I'm officially unemployed now, but I already cannot wait for my time off. 

Work Drinks...

Every job must come to an end. 

But before that must come a bit meal. To be exact, one that starts at 3pm then goes on til 10pm. 

All paid for.

Including drinks.

You do a lot alof crazy stuff on a job but it's occasionally worth it for a mad one. 

Pontoon Pub

I recently adopted using a standing desk at work, not only are my legs getting a real workout, but it's gotten to the point where sitting down just feels wrong. I mean, now that I've been sat at home for a bit it's felt extra nice, but now my thigh muscles have all seized up a bit, guess that's a sign of my legs getting stronger but it's crazy to think how quickly I've acclimated to standing and working.

Back at home I returned to Minecraft and spent longer then I'd care to admit to make a pub on a pontoon. I really wanted to make some pirate looking lanterns that require iron to make, which only spawns in the dark, dangerous depths of the world. Cut to me dying multiple time in trying to get some, every time I do die the server let's all the players know that I succumbed to a terrible fate and everyone laughed at me...

They won't be laughing when I refuse their bar tab at the pontoon pub.

Return to Minecraft

Been a while since I've had such a physical day at work which makes a nice change. I broke down about 60 costume rails and shimmied a whole bunch of stuff into our shipping container to go into storage. There's been a big push to clean out the office today so it looks nice and clean for the team coming in tomorrow - more and more it's looking like a blank canvas of an office once again.

In the evening I hopped onto a Minecraft server with a bunch of friends online. I heard stories of how impressive some of the builds were there but nothing quite prepared me for when I logged on for a 'house tour' which lasted about half an hour. I saw windmills, underground sushi restaurants and frog sanctuaries. Grand temples and mossy grottos. Boats, castles, market streets and their shady back alleys. After devoting most of my life to exploring digital worlds, this one blew my socks off because everything was wonderfully curated and bespoke to the person. It was a dozen visual styles and stories all coexisting in some kind of harmony.  

Skipping around Skips

A colleague has left the job a week ahead of the rest of us so a bevvy of their old jobs landed with me. The chief one being in charge of skips which really blew up in my face first thing this morning as I scrambled to understand then resolve the situation. All the while we continued to slowly load bits into our storage crates and finish up the online paperwork. The clock is ticking now and I'd love nothing more than to close the door and walk away on Friday... But a niggling feeling tells me there'll be some bonus bits.

Earplugs or Nay?

Did the last few bits of prep for our Canada trip, booked a hire car, ferry and our US visa. Rebecca's attention is now turning to 'how to sleep best on the flight'. We're talking earplugs, sleep mask, compression socks etc. I'll probably just tilt my neck to the side and suffer in silence, but I should probably invest in some goodies to make the trip a little more comfy. 

One more week at work now too. Lots to polish off but it should all be achievable. With any luck it won't turn into a photo finish and we can continue gliding over the finishing line. I'm ready for a break now though, I'm already planning all the things I want to do while I'm off. One way or another, it'll all be over soon.

Resident Evil Requiem

Like a kid on Christmas, I woke up early to play a brand new video game today. Resident Evil Requiem launched very recently and I wanted to dive in with the rest of the world to enjoy the games thrills and chills. I was perhaps a little too keen to see it all though because I ended up finishing the game tonight too. The only thing that threatened my progress was a giant spider boss that Rebecca very kindly dispatched for me after I got myself in a bit of a tiz about the prospect of fighting it. All in the game was actually low-key disappointing, but I still had a fab time playing it with Rebecca on the sofa as she read a book while I screamed softly to myself whenever something jumped up. 

Bye Bye Production Runner

Though we have a full week left at work, some of my team bid farewell to us today. Specifically our Production Runner who started on the same day as me and who I shared many a shoot day on the truck with. We worked with eachother for so long it's frankly alien to think they won't be in on Friday now. I handed over my wrap gift, gave them a hug and watched them walk into the sunset. But we've already discussed making plans to meet up soon, even though this job is coming to a close the friendships will last a lifetime.

Over Caffeinated

Got given a pair of bulk upload tasks to do, the first of which was gonna be a long one as it involved dragging, renaming and filing just over 100 files. I made a cup of coffee, accidentally over caffeinated myself then proceeded to peek beyond the realm of space and time to bash them out at a rate that shocked my coworkers (and myself). I rode that high for the rest of the day it felt like. It helped that we watched Grease on our big office telly in the morning, a real team bonding moment where people stopped what they were doing to watch their favourite bits. Just an oddly productive day in a lot of ways.

Drip Feeding Work

The work has continued to flat line now and the team have lost all momentum. We're like soldiers with no war left to fight, drifting, ever hopeful for an email or phonecall. My last big project job is slowly arriving at completion point too, after that I really will start to feel like a bit of a spare part, but that's a good thing at this stage, beats rushing and stressing, especially when we've all got so little left in the tank.

Goof Off

Having smashed through my to do list I found myself with a pair of thumbs to twiddle. This is rare for me but I found myself in a position to 'save my energy' with is the perfect euphemism for 'goof off'. For about an hour I just stood up, shuffled some bits around the office to help with the pack down and then enjoyed some time off my screen. Until people eventually got back to my emails that is, then I was jumping back into action. 

Our production team enjoyed our last meal together at an upmarket Italian place which was certified delicious. It was swell to buy a bottle of wine for the table and enjoy it in the company of the team and we reflected on the victory lap. Best of all, because we're all so quiet there was virtually no talking shop. 

I'm also delighted to report that my efforts to give up Margaritas for Lent are still going strong. 

Closing Ceremony

Caught up with my work after the first hour of the day, after that I was just treading water and watching the Winter Olympic closing ceremony. The wrap has been smooth so far, we're uploading all our documents in a gradual manner while I continue to plug away at the rest of the logging. The WiFi set up and a bunch of Luton vans went back today too, the list of kit I'm responsible for is ever diminishing. I left earlyish so I had the chance to get the house ready for Jamie who was coming over to visit. He's staying the night so we had a chance to catch up and hang out into the small hours. He's almost done with his PhD now and working in different Uni's around the country, but for now he's sleeping in our house and taking it easy.

Bristol Light Festival 2026

Only had a little over an hour to hoover the whole house in anticipation to have Mum and Dad over for a day of Bristol sightseeing. Two things on the agenda: 1. A nice Korean lunch. 2. The Light Festival. I do feel a little bad because in previous years the Bristol Light Festival has always been pretty underwhelming, but we wanted to give it a fair shake this year so we tried to see everything. Turns out, Bristol is quite a big city and the sheer step count required to see it all was no small order, what deflated our spirits further was just how hit or miss some of the exhibits were. I can charitably bumb up my evaluation of the even to 'almost good'. The ballerina shadow casting trail was easily the best thing, but most of the other stuff failed to say anything interesting beyond 'pretty colours'. 

The real highlight was being able to spend time with my parents however and doing something a little different with them. I never thought in a million years we'd be eating corn dogs in Cabot Circus. 

Margarita-ville

I tried to do my Blog last night but my fingers wouldn't let me. That was on account of the no less than 8 margaritas I had after a cute meal out with the Accounts team turned into a bit of a session. It was a rollicking good time but I spent all of today paying for it. Anytime I stood up my stomach contents threatened to jump out my mouth so I spent the day in bed, in the fetal position. Rebecca's grace was saint like, fetching me water and buttered toast on request. I still don't feel normal but hopefully tomorrow I'll be right as rain.

It goes without saying, for Lent I think I'll be giving up margaritas. 

Drag and Drop Everything

Went to sleep last night dreaming of my game plan for today, how I'd grind my to-do list under my heel. My ducks were in a row, all I had to do was make the magic happen. Instead, I'm hit with a nasty old curve ball from one of our departments, a classic one I should have seen from miles away... I had to back up all the photos off their iPads. A couple would have been pretty easy of course, but 50,000 of them was a little hard to fathom in the moment. That's a figure so great that the file copying process started to kick up a hissy fit, insisting I chunk it down into manageable pieces of a thousand photos at a time. Constantly tending to this becamey full time job for the day, the sticky tar of responsibility that dragged down all my other efforts. Even before bed right now I'm slowly watching a little progress bar full the screen so I can drag a set of files and do the whole thing over again.

Lock in and Pack Up

The paperwork wrangling continues, this time though there's a big ol' checklist to work against now. The team and I are chunking through it, while I independently finish up all of our sustainability reporting. It feels like there's a mountain to do still, but by this time tomorrow it's going to feel like it's all in hand. Everything is slowly winding down now and we're slowly packing things into storage crates now. Little by little, every trace of us will be scrubbed from our hired production office. But if you squint, you'll see our finger prints and our shadows lingering in the doorways.

Pancake Day 2026

Today marks a first for me, a work anniversary! It's almost unheard of to stick around on a film and TV job for an entire year but I've been blessed with a long haul job with a good gang of people so I feel incredibly lucky. It also happened to be pancake day at work (again) so we set up a little pancake station with fruits, syrups, lemon, sugar - you name it, we had it. As a bonus, I made some crepes for Rebecca and myself this evening which came out amazingly well. I am beyond stuffed now though, I'd be turning into a pancake if I had one more bite...

Wrapping Yarn

Got up at a sociable time and got to work at a comparatively normal time. We have entered the wrap phase now so things are looking nice and chill for the next week or so. All I did was catch up on paperwork from last week and input a lot of data to the courier log. That was broken up occasionally by people coming up and saying goodbye to us, lots of crew are peeling away now and pretty soon we'll be the last few standing - the alphas and the omegas. 

Tonight I just wanted to wrap up my crochet project, just a few more odd techniques to get my head around before I could call it a day. I took my time though and nailed everything out the gate, finishing it off with time to spare! I made a drawstring pouch - I can't believe how well it turned out. I just keep looking at it, still processing how it was just wool on a string this time yesterday.

 

In the Market for Wool

Had the sleep my body needed and followed it up with a hearty bowl of porridge - I was truly prepped for anything today... Except for the wool shop I found on East Street this morning that totally blew me away. I'm still trying to get a handle on the technique for my next project (12 failed attempts so far, but every failure a lesson), I have the colour vision for it though so I was in the market for yarn. Google Maps didn't point this new shop out to me though so finding it was a real treat, I ended up spending way to long obsessing over what colour wool to get but I left confident in my choice.

This afternoon Rebecca and I stepped into our war room to do some serious holiday planning. We arranged travel insurance, booked ferries, visas, accomodation and even seats to a hockey game. Lotta work for a Sunday, but it's all to ensure we have the best holiday possible. 

Taking a break from that prep I returned to my crochet project and at long last, it all clicked. I ended up going for nearly two hours on a new roll. Probably quietly scared I'll forget the technique if I stop, but it's more than half finished now! 

Happy Valentine's 2026

A slightly horse voice was the only evidence of last night's shenanigans, got away scot free without any hangovers or enduring nastiness. That meant more time for video games and continuing my crochet project which I'm eternally finding myself restarting. Rebecca and I never really do much for Valentine's Day, but we did end up finishing a coop game called Split Fiction together which really put or communication and teamwork skills to the test.

Happy Wrap 2026

Wrap days are often madness. Present giving left right and centre, cleaning out all the trucks and running around to make sure we saw the important moments. This was a relatively chill day compared to most, we got the work done all with a big smile on our face. I was lavished with a handful of cards and gifts and before long I was whisked away to the wrap party for some beers and some boogieing. I thought I'd be down for a late one but I'm back in comparatively good time, with less alcohol in my system than expected - guess I won't have my head in a toilet bowl like I thought.

Flowers for a 2nd Unit

I stood proud at the head of our final 2nd Unit day. Danced around some curveballs at the start of the morning for sure, ended up buying a bouquet of flowers for a wrapped cast member (which was quite tricky considering Valentine's is fast approaching) but we do best under a little bit of pressure. Otherwise we shot it, wrapped an hour early and then we went home. Gotta get ready for the big final day tomorrow now!

45 Seconds

Turns out today was NOT my final dentist appointment, however they ended up tending to the literal root of all problems. There's a jutty out part of my front tooth that clashes with my lower levels, rendering it painful to do a 'resting bite'. This was the thing that got me returning to the dentist a few years back and ultimately going down the route of braces. The process mitigated it all but never outright solved the issue. I flagged it once again last session and they agreed to take a proper look at it today. I sat in the chair, they pulled out an electric file and within 45 seconds they shaved part of that tooth stun down. They asked me how it felt after. I bit down. The problem was gone. 

Almost 3 years of discomfort and pain vanished in 45 seconds. That was that. 

T Minus 1 Day on the Dentist

Just had another day on the truck - maybe my last one of the job. Things are slowly winding down and people are going through the stages of grief but right now we're in the acceptance stage. We're smiling about it ending now and looking forward to the wrap party.

In slightly exciting news, tomorrow is the final bout of my dentistry. Should be getting all the accessories removed, my teeth power washed and my next retainer passed on. Fingers crossed I'll get some before/after pictures.

Running out of Show to Run

Seemingly sleepwalked my way through the day, treading water and doing my daily duties. A lot of the day we spent waiting on responses and filling up spreadsheets with all th information people desire ahead of wrap. The running of the show gets in the way of that still from time to time, but we're so very close to the end now that side of things will start evaporating. 

A lot of my spare moments are now spent dreaming of all the things I can do during my time off. Little creative projects and other bits that'll keep my cup full. It's been a long while since I've done anything spiritually nourishing so I won't waste any time neglecting that. 

Climbing to Greatness

Rustled up a killer breakfast then bid adieu to Rebecca's parents. The house was our once again but we mostly just wanted to recharge our social batteries. I played games for most of the day as a result, finishing up my climbing game and watched it immediately go into my Game of the Year list for next December. I'm on a hot streak at the moment, gotta play some garbage again soon - that's how the universe works right?

Last week of filming coming up. What a blooming marathon. I'm gonna start experiencing phantom pains by the end of it I reckon but for now, as I said earlier, all I can do is enjoy it.

Unsubtle Cake

Rebecca's Birthday weekend kicked off with a visit from her parents. It was raining a fair bit today so we settled on doing the North Street Shuffle so we could dip in and out of shops to counteract the weather. All good Birthday meals happen at A'Capella Pizza up the road so we headed there in the evening for food and wine. Last up I did what was possibly the least subtle birthday cake prep possible, but Rebecca was still surprised when I put the candles in front of her as we sung out. 

Happy Birthday Rebecca 2026

 Rebecca set her alarm just as early as me this morning, all so she could enjoy a bit of time with me to open her cards and her presents before I had to scarper off to work. I say this every year, but I'm always blown away by the correspondence she gets on her Birthday. Swathes of goodwill texts and heartfelt cards land her way on the big day - a testiment to how many lives she's touched.

This year's gift was a joint effort from the whole family: a Fuji Film Camera with the ability to print out mini Polaroid style snaps. I can't wait to see what memories she starts printing off.

We went out to dinner to Honest Burger (thank you, various vouchers) and then met up with her visiting parents for drinks. The long week caught up with me finally after my second pint so I started yawning uncontrollably. Back in bed now with Rebecca, wishing her one again a very Happy Birthday. 

Accelerating to the Finish

Blinked and the day passed me by. That's how it always goes as we approach the end of the shoot, things just accelerate beyond comprehension and the next thing you know everyone has moved on. But until they get there, I'll be weighing wigs, doing paperwork and sorting the odd jobs as the come through. I just wish I could catch my breath a bit and enjoy the end of it a bit more.

Usual %

Made some good strides forward at work, yet the day was still defined for me by my slip ups. All of them innocent and without meaningful consequence, but I hold myself to a fairly high standard at work and take failings a little too deep. As a result I couldn't get into a groove at work, mostly because I had to revisit old bits I thought were done to unpick them. I'm chauking it up to a bad day, I'm already ready to start anew tomorrow and return to my usual 100%.

Weighing Wigs

Found myself embroiled into the world of sending equipment overseas - and to do that you need to do a riggerous inventory of everything. My colleague and I spent the last four hours of our day logging, weighing and price guessing wigs, curling irons and scissors. Never a dull moment in the world of film and TV... 

Here Comes the Curtain

Working split shifts again which means emails before my work day has officially started then coming how in the wee hours of the night. To break it up a bit though we did a scavenger hunt of sorts on the truck as a kind of prank war. That kept me smiling, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this was the last two weeks of shooting and things were slowly coming to a close. The curtain call is on everyone's minds now, and it's making me a little blue.

Cairn

Treated myself to a little indie game that came out last week (my first game of 2026). It's a mountain climbing one called Cairn, the big thing is you have to individually place your four limbs into ledges as you climb, you're basically an octopus mountain goat. It's incredibly engaging so far, every sheet wall is a little puzzle to solve and every accent begins with me holding my breath as I double guess if I truly selected the right spot to for the climb. 

Rebecca came home just in time to watch a whole lot of The Bear's latest season. The Sunday scariest manifested a little bit as the sun started setting. Luckily I have much later start tomorrow so I can get a Monday lie in... But that also means I have a later finish.  

Wes Exhibit

Dan and I drove up to London to meet up with Rebecca, Mark and Lucy for a little day of activities. Spearheading it all was a trip to the Design Museum, which was hosting an exhibit on Wes Anderson's films and I was blown away by how expansive it was. Script pages, photographs, original props and costumes, it was such a treasure trove. I was surprised by how emotional bits made me feel, knowing that only a piece of glass was separating me from some elements of my favourite films. After that we grabbed a cheeky Nandos and did a bit of pub hopping, ending up in a hotel bar drinking some left of field cocktails. The day was full of food stuff but best was just hanging out altogether again, enjoying eachothers company and shooting the breeze.

Board Game Dan

 A quiet office day was all I needed to get more or less back on track. I didn't actually have a moment to stop still but at least the pressure and threat of new working coming in. I finished work in good time and was able to head up the road for biard games - this time with a special guest: Dan! I knew it would be his scene and the games we played tonight really were pitch perfect for him. Hope he had a good time, now that he's here in Bristol it's been fun finding excuses to hang out a bit more again.

Martini Shot

Lordy, I felt like the behind the scenes Mastermind today as I wrangled this 2nd Unit into shape. My biggest one ever at 250 people was big one to look after, especially with multiple catering points and people to keep happy. I clocked over 20,000 steps marching around set, making friends and solving problems. I found myself shilling out lunch boxes to a tsunami of supporting artists at one point, running up and down a queue throwing boxes into their hands in a desperate attempt to bust the queue. Had a little over an hour to catch up on emails, then I had to return to set in a ceremonial capacity.

A famous piece of film jargon is the 'Martini Shot'. This refers to the final set up of the day, a nod to the fact the crew can all hit the bar after this last beat. We decided to take this phrase literally today. We surprised a cast member one their final day with us by presenting to them a Martini cocktail, in a chilled glass, garnished with an olive. I know this because 24 hours ago I had never made a Martini, but I had to learn fast because I was the chosen one to make the famous drink. 

4 Parts Vodka

1 Part Vermouth 

 Stir through with ice and pour.

For a chap who has never made one before, the kudos I received on set was hilarious when I presented them. The cast loved the gesture and the crew all pointed to me when they asked where this came from. Just another funny story that wouldn't happen in any other industry. 

That Feel

 Another day out on the road with the 2nd Unit. The guys were all out doing car bits which is notoriously slow and monotonous so I kept my head down and cracked on with my duties. I spent the whole day watching the time to see if I could get away early to make the screening of my short film at a small Bristol cinema. First I heard we were going to wrap early, then late, but then bang on time - giving me just enough wiggle room to get to the church on time. In the midst of all this Rebecca agreed to go in my stead to possibly introduce the film - what did I ever do to deserve someone as giving as Rebecca?

Luckily I made it in time so she needn't embarrass herself. It's been a hell of a long time since I had something of mine put in front of an audience. Not since the days of Cineclub I dare say, but I never forgot that feeling. Sitting with a group of strangers and hoping they laugh and react to your work as much as you'd hope. When No Show came on, people responded loudly with awws and yays in all the right places. 

It's the one thing I won't lose, that feeling. 

Too Much or Not Enough?

Braced for a wet and wild day, instead it was the definition of mild. Things were normal, and fairly easy going, yet I still find myself in a position where if I slow down I feel like I'm going to slip behind. Am I doing too much or not enough? Who knows? I just gotta keep on trucking and remember the job is slowly coming to an end now. Gotta enjoy it while it lasts, but that's so tricky to do when there's so much to crack on with.

Cold Scare

Much like the killer in a good slasher movie, my cold came back for one last scare. I was weary for the drive in and sniffly for the one meeting I was privvy to. I muscled through it for the 2nd Unit though, keeping up enough appearances to hopefully convince everyone else that I knew what I was up to... Well in fairness that describes my whole life.

Witch Doctor Sofa

The healing properties of our sofa should be studied. Whenever the world overwhelms me or when my cold gets the better of me a short lounge does me a world of good. That, and Rebecca's roast dinner's, I felt like a whole new man after some roast chicken. I think this is the backside of my cold now, at least I hope so because I have a very early start tomorrow morning to chaperone a 2nd Unit towards success. The Sunday went too quick, let's hope the week follows suit.

(Almost) Burns Night 2026

Even with a head full of cold I still pushed myself out for a Park Run today. I kept a brace face in front of my colleagues who I did the event with, but as soon as I got home I crashed out hard. All the while Rebecca shook her head while saying 'I told you so'. Luckily I rallied in time to make pudding for Burns Night (technically it's tomorrow but tonight worked better for all of us this year). We popped to Louis and Rachel's for haggis, red wine and whiskey, now much cup and stomach is full putting me on the road to recovery.

Seeing Double (Denim)

In honour of making a few smiles happen, I donned some double denim and a tasteful tie, as did a few of my co-workers, all so we could share the aura of our Costume Supervisor. He was thrilled when he saw us all, or rather, when he saw a tiny army of himself. We all had a good laugh and so did the rest of the crew when we put the photo of all of us together on the steps of the costume truck (big 2000's punk band energy). After that it was back to business as usual, this time with a little more heavy lifting in places to get us ready for next week. It 2nd Unit city over the next few days so I need to be at peak strength.

Also I'm getting a cold. 

Brain in Two Places

My head felt a little split asy attention was constantly being vyed for. More colleague car woes and then some fun animal stuff, my plate was seldom empty. But I managed to find a quiet space this evening while hanging out with Daniel at his flat. It was just a quick after work hangout but it was really chill just playing games and chatting. Can't wait for the weekend now so I can really feel the benefit from a shift down in momentum.

Trays Be Gone!

Attended one of my last dentist rounds for my braces. Gist was that treatment was basically complete, they did a quick teeth scan so they could start 3D printing the long-term retainer and asked if I was good to call the treatment finished. I'm pretty chuffed with it all so far and I can't wait to finally be able to drink coffee and eat without having to schedule it all in first. Almost a year wearing these things now so it's become part of my routine, but I'll be glad to see them gone. 

A 'Birthday' to Remember

Had a very long day on account of a late Callsheet going out, but I didn't want my naff experience to be the star of today's anecdote.

There's a recurring on set joke every block that it's our Script Supervisor's birthday (even though it isn't). This bit started off as a very harmless prank as the crew all sung her the birthday song during protests of 'It's not today guys!!' It turned into one of those gags that only got funnier the more we did it. Today was to be the forth, and final fake birthday celebration, so we wanted to send the home out with a bang. Firstly, a cake, which I helped to organize and collect. Then, we arranged it on a day where a live band plays music for our dancing cast members, well we got them to sing happy birthday during the presentation. It turned into such an elaborate hoax that our Scripty simply had to go along with it, even as the rest of us were leaning crazy hard into the bit, laughing all the way.

It's been a grueling week for a lot of us, but it was nice to have played a part in bringing a lot of joy to a lot of people. It will certainly be a 'birthday' to remember.

Blue Monday 2026

Endured a day that was certifiably odd. Just a lot of off kilter things occured, ensuring I never quite found my footing. Mostly it was car troubles for everyone that I had to sort out, but then there were eerily quiet spells where there should have been work but there wasn't any. I caught up on our sustainability reporting in the time at least, another reminder that things are beginning to wind down. It's been almost a year since I joined this one now, what an odd thought that is.

Happy Blue Monday Everyone 

Hamnet

Felt those two limoncellos first thing this morning... 

A cup of coffee and a pair of painkillers sorted me out though, enough to stomach the drive back to Bristol. I say this as if I was driving but I was just the passenger princess who learnt how to recline the car seat for improved comfort. We drove into the stormclouds and braved the rain on foot to head to the cinema once again, this time for Hamnet. The film was a tad maudlin and I found myself hardening as it tried to pierce my heart. The ending just about turned everything around though. The screening was alive with soggy sniffs and one pair of cinemagoers had to hug it out as the credits rolled. I felt a little guilty I couldn't share that reaction, but I'm glad people are getting genuine responses from the story.

Two Limoncellos

The Saturday headache didn't manifest because I was one step ahead with a bulletproof plan: wake up early.

Truth be told I was stirring early so I got up to play games before jumping in a car to London with Rebecca. Today once again marks the final Christmas social engagement with Rebecca's family friends. They're known for being drinkers and this time round they had something to celebrate because their son and his wife announced they were expecting a baby. I'm two beers, a champagne, half a bottle of wine and two limonchellos deep right now so I reckon I'll drop right off to sleep.

Least Wild Friday

Friday night and all I want to do is go to bed super early. Is this aging in motion, or is this just because I'm burning the candle a little brightly? Either way I have the weekend to get back to myself again, but all I've wanted to do this week is sleep long and sleep deep. 

Thinking about Nothing

Missed the icy patch and got into work early to finish catching up on my various bits. Now my head is above the water I have space to breathe and look into some other bits to occupy my time. Sustainability reports for one which I'm slowly chipping away at again. Mostly though I noticed getting tired again around the midday point, almost as if my body is screaming at me 'you need a proper break soon'. Let just get past Friday, then I can start thinking about nothing.

Icy Patch

Is all this making you late for work?

Bad traffic in the mornings? Sat nav re-routing you onto unfamiliar roads? You then miss junctions because you don't know the roads? 

Brother, we've all been there. Where I've never been before is on an icy patch of a country road, and then shortly after in a ditch next to the icy patch of road I just skidded off. 

Yes, I took a slip and slide nose dive first thing this morning. After hitting and icy patch on a bend I lost control and glided into a ditch. I was quickly humbled by the response of the general public, the first chap pulled over to sure I was fine, then a few commuting crew members also stopped to check in - I was actually quite touched by how many members of the team came to check up on me. I called a member of the locations team with a pick up and he towed me out of the rough patch. 

The car suffer a bit of wingmirror damage but otherwise was all good. Because there was no impact to speak of I was totally fine too. I had adrenaline in my veins but after that wore off I mostly felt tired for the remainder of the day. I certainly won't underestimate icy patches now, I was actually quite lucky in all this in hindsight.

 

Coffee Company

Mum joined me during my pre-work ritual cup of coffee, we were both quite groggy but it was nice to have a bit of company before driving out to set. I was Script Supervising again today and I think it all went pretty well, no big fires to put out or moments of dread, just a day out the office to enjoy with the crew. The drive back today though was the real killer: 2 hours basically! My energy levels are rock bottom in the evenings since the holidays, maybe I'm out of sync with the pattern of work life, but a sure-fire cure is an early night.

Dropping Balls, Picking them Up

 Tomorrow I'll be back on the floor doing my Script Supervisor thing and thought I could carve out some time to do some prep work for it. But I was bumper to bumper busy, so much so that I noticed myself dropping the ball from time to time. I hope this isn't an omen of things to come, rather an opportunity to notice I'm messing up so I can nip it in the bud. I have a horrid feeling this is what the last leg of the job is going to feel like. Work does take me away from Bristol sometimes and a small perk of today was being able to head back to see my parents and spend a night in Newbury. Unfortunately I spent most of the night doing the aforementioned prep work over having quality time, that's show business though.

Marty Supreme

Utalised 200% of my brain before breakfast as I finished up Blue Prince. Even as the credits rolled I knew I likely still had dozens of little puzzles to solve and sure enough, as soon as I started it up again an in game book with cryptic wording reassembling Kit William's Mascarade crops up, hinting towards puzzles within puzzles that I overlooked. I'll retire my notebook for now though, maybe later I'll get the urge to return and solve a few more riddles.

Today was all about the cinema trip to Marty Supreme though and boy was it worth it. Really fun and entertaining film with an intensity that's impossible to look away from. The screening was packed out when we saw it and frankly, that was the best way to enjoy this one to the max. 

Let's Go, Park Run

I usually catch up on sleep on Saturdays, but today I had a mission: Park Run.

I slow cooked some porridge to fuel up for going out in the sub-freezing temps. Rebecca kindly drove me out to meet up with a few co-workers, we the joined a gaggle of about a hundred people and set out sports watches as the run began. Considering I haven't been out for a couple of months, and I haven't done a 5K in a fair old while, I surprised myself by finishing up in good time without feeling haggard afterwards. In fact, my whole group felt the same way: invigorated by the push out of our comfort zone to be better people. We took a plunge in the cold to meetup and we were all so glad we did.

Since getting into film watching I realize a big part of the hobby is chasing that feeling of finally stumbling onto something that connects with you on a deep and profound level. That's the high I yearn for but always find it increasingly hard to come by. After Life did wonders for me, one of those where I spent about half an hour after the credits to just enjoy the headspace the film left me in.

Only ten days into the year and I've already done a 5K and likely seen the best film I'll watch all year. Hell of a way to start 2026. 

Cast Tracker

Got involved with chatting to a lot of cast agents today to check availability. Not something I've done before but I jumped at the opportunity none the less. That ended up taking most of my morning, after that I was just back to my usual duties and dreaming of what I'm going to do this weekend. I somehow volunteered myself to do a Park Run tomorrow with some co workers, watch this space to learn how wheezy it makes me.

In the Bleakest Midwinter

Kept hearing rumours about snow but Bristol only got the wind and the rain. No magic, no whimsy, just a bleak midwinter. The days work was fraught with me doing a fair bit of running around. It was our last studio day for a while so I was putting plans into motion for when I wouldn't be around, I know I can rely on myself but gifting the reins to another person never feels right to me. I also can't believe we only have one more day before the weekend. I'm counting down the minutes already, all I want to do is get back to being a Christmas potato.

Chris Roast

Reclaimed ground back at the office, we can all just about see from above the clouds. I'm still crunking through a lot of odd jobs and prepping a few things for upcoming days, I only have so much information though and the inclement weather might throw plans into chaos. But we move, we laugh and we stick together.

I popped round to Dan's tonight too to meet up with Chris and Jack, mostly we watched Chris play Zelda while we roasted him. Good times. 

Mentally Sponged

Still trying to settle into a rhythm now that I'm back at work. My to do list keeps on filling up, then emptying, then filling up faster. We're walking into quite a busy period now which is a wake up call for most of us, I just left work feeling mentally a bit expelled. Best cure for that? Play a puzzle game that is still continuous unfolding at every turn. I said I'd only play it for an hour, next thing I know it's past my bedtime and I feel like my brain has done enough now til 2027.

Catching a Flight?

Had that kind of sleep you reserve for catching a super early flight. I slept little and lightly, lying in fear of sleeping through my alarm, then inexplicably awoke 30 minutes before I had to hit snooze. The work day felt much the same to everyone, out work muscles atrophied over the break so we were all sluggish even after multiple coffees. I only just got the knack of things, and then it was hometime. Just 4 more days til the weekend.

See Ya Christmas

And so, my final day of the holidays was spent doing very little. I got up a little early to play games under the light of the Christmas tree. Just a few hours later we were morosely removed it's decorations before bundling it up in a painting sheet to take it outside. If any curious neighbours looked outside it would have looked like Rebecca and I were turfing a dead body, alas the only thing that died in our household was the Christmas Spirit. Til next December I suppose.

I told myself I'd get to this point in the evening and gone through the stages of grief before heading back to work. Still somewhere in the grieving stage though. It'll come and it'll go for sure but I guess we'll find out what's been cooking for us over the holidays. Nasty surprises or flowers and roses?

Off to the Mini Horse Races

Ventured out with Louis, Rachel and Rebecca to do an afternoon pub quiz just up the road from us. The format was styled in horseracing, you could even put bets on an overall winner, but I ain't the gambling type. If you won a round though you got an intentionally naff prize and we got one of these featuring two scratch cards, again I ain't the gambling type but free scratch cards are fun... If you win that is. 

Much like the rest of the world right now, I'm low-key dreading returning to work on Monday. Seemed like only yesterday I was wrapping Christmas presents and getting ready for all that, now tomorrow we're discussing the best way to put our tree down. Reality bites huh. 

1 Amazon, 2 Amazon...

 One last push of life admin before heading back to work. Took the car to get a new battery installed and took all my Amazon parcels that needed returning to the post office. The latter ended up taking ages after the team there told me that although I was instructed to bundle items into boxes, I would have to individually packed each item. The chaps there helped out thankfully, but when it came to scanning them in the computer was asking why the hell did we do everything one by one? We all just smiled and walked away, Amazon will sort it. Ain't that the mantra of the decade.

Back home I managed to squeeze in a bit of me time. I'm knee-deep into Blue Prince at the moment which is slowly consuming my every thought. I did some more lines of my crochet project and honoured my 'watch a slightly naff film' as my first movie of the year. Anyone But You microwaved the spirit of a 2000's rom com til it was piping hot and easy to chew. Nothing new, nothing fancy, but it was just what the doctor ordered today. 

Handful of Games 2025

Despite drinking a fair deal of beer, wine, champagne, espresso martinis and associated tiramisu goodness, I rose feeling fresher than expected. The headache rolled in like an unwanted storm cloud latterly but that didn't stop us from having a pleasant New Year's breakfast with our hosts. We left theirs a little after midday ready to hop back into the trusty car (now all fixed after its Christmas hissy fit) and drive back home to Bristol. I got in, turned the keys and heard a pathetic sputtering sound.

The battery was dead... Luckily Green Flag jumped us and we were on our merry way, but it's just another hiccup we ideally could have done without. We're back at home now thankfully, ready for a few days to ourselves before heading back to the world of work.

As is also customary, I wrote up my picks of best games I played in 2025. There's some atypical choices this year, mostly because I played some really good stuff that was just off the obvious path. 

Happy New Year 2026!

Woke up in Bristol, ended up in London for one of the best, low-key New Years I've had in recent memory. A Raclette grill was produced for us to cook our own dinner together, I couldn't think of a better way to ring in the new year than steak and melted cheese. The beer, wine, champagne and espresso martinis flowed throughout the night, giving us a booze blanket to head out and face the outside as midnight approached. We did a recce earlier and found a good spot that gave us line of sight with the London Eye, but as we walked up with 10 minutes to go we spotted a gaggle of people all heading in the same direction - naturally we followed and ended up on a green with an even better view of the incoming fireworks. We poured champagne in plastic flutes as I checked the time to start the countdown - in a group of near 100 people I was expecting to be the official timekeeper and start the group on the countdown.

2025 was a year I walked into with lofty intentions but ended up zoning out for almost entirely. In a way I was fortunate in being able to work for every single day of the year, but that was also my curse - it  consumed every waking moment, giving me little space to pursue other interests of mine. Career wise I reckon I did inch the needle forward. I finished up my position as Assistant Script Supervisor and rejoined the Production team as Secretary. I found myself onboarding more responsibilities than ever before and ended up kinda liking it for once. 

I also watched more films, read more books and played more games than any year in recent memory, but that made me feel oddly empty. For a few months now I''ve grown conscious that I'm treating media like popcorn. I loathe the word 'content' to describe media but that's gradually become the way I viewed it. People commit years of their lives producing films which I watch in under two hours, shortly after I'm already thinking about what to watch next. Is that normal? In fairness I did try to keep the thought of a film alive within me, I reviewed nearly every film I watched on LetterBoxd but I still feel like I'm blowing through things without letting them truly sit in my mind.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on myself though. For the first time ever I wrote down some of what are effectively my New Years Resolutions, at the bottom of the list I put 'above all else, be kind to yourself'. A code we can all afford to live by.

My favourite thing of 2025? Easy: making my short film No Show. It's long been an idea taking up space in my brain so it was good to finally put my it out into I the world.

Next year I have medium sized plans and hopes of a more fulfilling year. I can't wait around, hoping for it to happen though, I have to go out and get it.

I hope everyone else has a great new year. roll in 2026!