Wrapping Up my Thoughts on Wrap

Feel very much like n the eye of this job's hurricane. Lots of other people are running around while I'm just quietly working through emails now while starting to think about our wrap workload. But it's not all paperwork, the wrap party is all important and I'm turning into the chief organiser of that one. I drove up to a potential venue today to chat requirements and to get some more pictures. While we have shortlist if places, I very much have a favourite child. Just got to make a few more wording adjustments to my pitch document and we'll be there I think. 

Missing Notes

Out on location to do a day's work on my laptop in a car park instead of an office. I also had one of those days where nothing quite went as smoothly as it should have done. None of it was actually important, but I missed a lot of beats and that's ultimately quite frustrating for everyone. Keen to do better tomorrow though and get back on form. But to do that, I gotta get my beauty sleep, that's something in high demand right now.

Turn Up the Tempo

A shorter day of shooting is a blessing and a curse. We all get to go home earlier but we lose an hour out of our day at work, so everything needs to be done 10% faster to compensate. The chaps down on set had a rough go at it, all the whole I was in the studios catching up on admin and diligence. I'm down there tomorrow actually for my first trip to location in almost a year. As much as I love working on the truck, the drive is always the naff bit, especially when I look at what time I set my alarm to...

Back Over The Garden Wall

The Halloween weekend continued with us hosting a little watch party of Over The Garden Wall with a bunch of my colleagues. Rebecca and I put our a massive spread of sweeties and pizzas for everyone to pick at while we ploughed through all ten episodes, chuckling all the way through. Everyone kept remarking how cosy the house felt, especially with our lit pumpkins illuminating the corners of the living room. Think we're all ready to face the last hurdle of the year now, bring on November!

Happy Halloween 2026

Mark and Lucy had all of us round for an all day Halloween bash 'for grown up'. Mark knocked up a steak and chips lunch so good that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, but it set us all up for our pumpkin carving workshop. Jenny brought over a set of pumpkin carving design books from the 90's which instantly cast my mind back to the one Mum used while I was growing up. We each picked a design and just went at it, I opted to do a owl design which looked fiddly, and at one point I really feared I bit off more than I could chew, but it came out really well. In fact, we all nailed it! 

We put them out on the road for the world to enjoy and to signal to trick or treaters that we we're up for visits. The house got loads of attention, thanks massively to our pumpkins, the compliments kept rolling in. Once the knocking settled down I offered to do some tarot readings by candlelight which was well received. The night winded down in front of the telly with Mark showing us Widow's Bay and I already want to watch more. 

Such a cosy Halloween with friends, basically the perfect little Saturday. 

20 Years Since the Wii

At almost exactly 4am this morning I was jolted awake by a thought. Not a noise, nor a bad dream. A simple thought came into my mind as my eyes opened:

The Nintendo Wii came out 20 years ago.

I know that's a bizarre metric to live my life by, but I actually found it hard to quantity that fact. I can remember looking forward to that console, reading press articles about 'The Revolution', as it was once known as. I remember the games Louis and I played on launch and the subsequent titles we enjoyed in the coming years. I remembered the bonus applications like the Mii, Photo and Map Channels. I remembered waggling the controller, learning how to use motion controls on Christmas Day. 

All these thoughts came rushing in, keeping me from going back to sleep. The tape player if my memory kept getting fixated on that timeframe of two decades. I had to do the maths over and over to make sure I was right too. 

Eventually, the sensation passed. I got up, went to work and then met up with Dan and Rebecca in the evening to listen to an orchestra play some video game music from the Witcher. Guess how they opened it? By informing us that the game was enjoying its 10th anniversary.

I started to spiral again.

Pop culture is valuable to us because it acts as a tidemark for our time in Earth. We can point to a fixed era on the spectrum of the human experience and say that's where we were. Some feelings are so intense they drag other memories with them, a chance to revisit a silent nostalgia that makes you whimsical for the good old days. 

Admin-ish

For the first time in almost a month, I felt like I could finally catch my breath at work. I made my to do list and struck everything off of it. Now I just have all the admin-y, paperwork filing-y stuff which I'm admittedly quite rubbish at (always room for growth). Going into tomorrow though I won't feel stressed or swamped. I can start enjoying my work a little more, after all, I'm not in this line of work to feel like I have a stomach ache all the time.

Quite, Quiet, Busy.

With no one around in the office I thought I could finally do a bit of catching up but somehow the day still evaporated from under my feet. The centrepiece of the day was decidedly the crew drinks which I just about managed to make after rushing home. I thought I'd only be out for one, but I got suckered into some reminiscing chats with old colleague and then getting unofficially adopted by the AD team (as is standard for me somehow). A good night enjoyed by all, I did plenty for the inter-department relationships and got a couple of drinks out of it too. 

Serenity Soon?

Things are starting to get a little easier now at work. Things are settling in and I found a workflow that is serving me a little better now, mostly thanks to me using my pocket size journal as my to-do list which I always keep handy before things fall out my brain. There was also a coffee truck on site which really lifted the mood. I still managed to do ten thousand steps, pretty good considering it's an office role. Tomorrow everyone is out on the road proper, which leaves me to catch up with all the things I've been putting off doing. Here's hoping for some serenity.

Rain Dodger

Before we had even turned over today I had driven a Luton van, fixed a printer and dodged a few thousand raindrops. It was non stop for me today as we got everyone up to speed with the rhythm of the shoot. I was kept on my toes by almost everyone but I batted away every curveball, including late script pages. Knackered now and it's only the first day of filming.

Delicious Blue Pills

Rebecca bought a pack of those cold and flu tablets with the night time blue pills in (the kind without caffeine and knock you out). Well I took a dose before bed last night and woke up in a different timezone... Literally because the clocks went back too. So I slept for a solid 11 hours and felt like a million dollars. My head felt congested still but I had all my energy and senses back. A walk up and down North Street cleared my airwaves and an arancini ball warmed me up good. 

Back home we watch the original Friday the 13th which I was lead to believe was a bit rubbish but we had a great time watching the counsellors get picked off one by one! Might have to watch a couple more of them now. The last jumpscare really got us good too. 

Woe Is Me Day

Got to indulge in a 'woe is me' day as my cold took a turn for the worse. I was counting down the hours between Lemsip sachets and trying to do as little as possible. My haircut appointment was my only engagement, thank goodness the chap is quick because my nose started running just as he was finishing up. 'Does this looks good?' he asked. Fella could have shaved a curse word into my scalp for all I cared, I just had to get out of there pronto.

Bless Rebecca though, although she was out with friends all day she came back ready to look after me. We watched a couple of old Disney Channel movies she saw growing up as our brain off evening activity and I must say, I'm feeling all the better for it. Hopefully today was the apex of the cold, guess we'll find out tomorrow. 

Five Years of Board Games

Blew my nose two dozen times as I convinced myself that I was ok. In reality I pushed myself a little too hard at work as the requests came in thick and fast, all I could do was rise to the occasion. Now I have a nice long weekend ahead of me and I cannot wait to be a potato. I did have just enough energy to attend our board game night, which was celebrating it's five year anniversary. Nuts to think that almost half a decade ago I walked by a poster that said 'free board game night' on my nearby high street. The rest is history. We have friends we meet up with for dinners and have expanded our love of being politely competitive. During our last game I felt like death warmed up so we called it a night. All I have to do now is sleep.

Prep Be Gone

There was a near imperceptible shift as my cold migrated from my throat to my nose. But still I felt the tiredness behind my eyes, which only grew as more and more email piled into my inbox. I started thinking about bed. The warmth of the duvet. The sweet embrace of the dreaming. The lack of responsibility gifted for 7-8 hours. Just nothing. Just peace.

But late-ish arrivals of scripts meant I was at the office a little later printing for the read-through tomorrow. We were busy bees today so we could afford some respite, but we'll see if that actually translates or not. One more day of prep, let's see it through. 

Cast Composure

I kept my composure as I wrestled with tech in front of cast members so they could join a Zoom call. That was my early morning tasks anyway, after that I was once again dealing with lots of little bits plus hopping onto a hour long workplace training call, awkwardly timed to being just three days before we start shooting. A bunch of my colleagues think they're getting colds now that the temperature has changed, so I made a big pot of my supercharged lemon and ginger tea. Between that and a whole bunch of ginger shots I think I'm going to be ok...

Putting off the Admin

My workload cooled off at bang on 3pm, which left me not really knowing what to do with myself... Minus all the admin stuff I've been putting on the back burner that is. It was gratifying to finally take my foot off the accelerator though, unless this is the eye of the hurricane that is. At least the thought of watching Bake Off carried my through til the evening and the episode didn't disappoint. Halfway through the series now though and the weather outside has taken another decisive step towards Winter. It's funny how we can mark the seasons to the TV shows we enjoy.

Couriers and Commiserations

Some days I look forward to the curve balls, but some days they leave bruises. Most mornings now start with about two hours of catching up with everything and dealing with little requests from everyone. I don't mind any of that stuff (it's nice to do favours for the crew and help them out) but sometimes it pulls me away from the other bits I need to do. What really scuppered me was all the couriers I booked last week suddenly decided to go a bit wrong. Each one in a different way that needed constant attention and stress. Even when I got home I was getting messages about how late one of them was running. It was all outside the sphere of my control but I still felt like I could have done more. Thankfully my team were equally battered by different elements, so we commiserated together. Tomorrow can only be better.

Tailed by a Cat

Cooked a breakfast that kept me going all the way til dinner for Rebecca and her family. We walked it off during a Sunday stroll across to Wapping Wharf for a coffee and some book shopping. There was just the right amount of chill the air, you could feel it on your nose and the tips of your ears. All signs lead to jumper season, and boy, I am so ready for that.

Rebecca and I had to take a nap before we were ready for a board game evening with some friends up the road from us. Container is a very cute bidding and commerce game which I wished I was better at, but we had a real hoot playing. On the way back we heard the distressed call if a cat stuck in a park. We helped it out but then it wouldn't stop following us back home. We didn't want to pull him away from his home base so we tried to speed walk around corners onto adjoining streets to see if we could loose him. You always hear of lost cats, well this one was near impossible to lose! Eventually we slipped away and got back to our own cat who greeted us with hungry meows. 

Final week of prep starts tomorrow. Let's see what they can throw our way this time. 

Living Room Jam Party

 Rebecca and I got the house together for her parents who were staying with us for the weekend. They all went out to enjoy an afternoon tea while I stayed home and recharged with a quiet spell with the cat. While the new Castlevania was high on my priority list, I did find time to make a batch of brownies for a games night we'll be at tomorrow night.

Until then, I had another evening plan to enjoy. Namely a very old colleague and friend of mine was hosting his annual living room jam party. By that I do quite literally mean we crammed about thirty people into a living room to rock out to a live band made up of the host and his friends. It was intimate and radiated good vibes. I'm always really touched by well attended parties for really honestly good people, it refuels my faith in humanity and makese proud to be a part of that circle. 

C'mon Friday

Only hand a couple of pints last night but the telltale signs of a hangover were present as I clambered out if bed. I styled it out pretty well but I spent most of the day wishing it was home time. The thing that kept us all going was the knowledge that a special baguette was incoming for everyone from lunch, all the way from Cardiff no less. So come lunchtime I left renewed and ready to power through the last couple of hours, which went very quick as the workload picked up again. I have a kind of boneyard of jobs to do, mostly when I get a spare moment now (which is never). I'll get round to it all one day... But it all sounds like a Monday job to me.

Tall, Frosty Pints

Decided to put my watch on because it felt like that kind of day. Production Meetings, Tone Meetings and all the in between stuff - we did it all today. Lot of turbulent, seat of our pants kinda a prep stuff at time, but the movie business is all about what's in front of camera, the rest is auxiliary. While I camped out in the sidelines, my team did some really exceptional work. We got all the busy stuff done and dusted now, roll on the final week of prep.

It was also the kind of day that called for a nice, tall, frosty pint. What started as a work thing capitulated, but from the ashes rose a nice double date opportunity with Rebecca and my colleague (plus their partner). We hit up an old favourite pub, met the new owner and tossed darts til the little voice in our heads said 'but it's a school night'. If it was a Friday we'd be there til the small hours, still it wouldn't have improved our darts skills... 

Massive Mirror

I pride myself in my ability to pull rabbits out of any crack, and I got a chance to flex that muscle this afternoon. I managed source and get delivered a mirror about the size of my height and armspan all within a 90 minute turnaround. We got it all done and the Costume Supervisor was rendered dumbstruck by my efficiency. When I do good I really knock it out the park it seems, but the rest of my day was again spent without catching much of a break. We have the big production meeting tomorrow so it'll be all hands on deck for most of the day, after we crest that hill though everything should get a little easier. Til then I'll just continue to white knuckle it.

Death by A Thousand Favours

Had a taste of 05:30 alarm goodness for the first time in a while because those early recce breakfasts won't collect themselves. All in we actually had an incredibly smooth experience (it's almost like we've done this a few times now), but the meat of my day was packed. Yet, I still wouldn't be able to tell you where all the time went. I would blink and two hours had passed. It's lots of little jobs all adding up into grander ordeals, death by a thousand favours. That and sustainability bits which hoovered up a lot of my mental bandwidth - all for a good cause thankfully but it's put a lot on my plate now.

Society

It wasn't until about 3pm that I came up for air. Before then I was drowning in an ocean of emails, WhatsApps and post it notes reminding me to do things. Everything is really heating up now and the workload is reaching it's zenith prior to the shoot actually starting. But it's also reach that point where we've all planned it for so long that it's honestly just time to go out and shoot the damn thing. 

I'm doing well on my October watchlist too. There's always an 80's SFX video nasty every year and this year's pick was Society which gets appropriately squelchy in the final moments, aka, exactly when Rebecca comes home from yoga. I basically had to pause it to give her a warning that the living room was going to be mighty unpleasant for the next couple of minutes, and boy, I didn't know the full truth of it then but I do now. Probably not in a hurry to recommend it, but that last sequence is something else. 

Glassy Potatoes

Just the other day Rebecca was flaunting about how she never really gets hungover. When I woke up and rolled over to look at her she said in a raspy voice that she didn't feel so good. Thankfully neither of us were actually very bad, a cup of coffee sorted us out so we were ready to do the North Street Shuffle. Every time we go now I bump into someone I know, crazy how for such a big town I'm still never more than a stones throw from a friendly face. 

I accidentally made the best roast of my entire life tonight too. The chicken I brought had more meat than we bargained for and my potatoes were glassy and fluffy. One of those dinners where all the planets aligned and it became the best version of itself. It was so good I almost forgot I had work tomorrow... What can next week bring I wonder? 

Maybe Mixology

Worked a little hard and played equally hard by doing some chores interspersed with some games. The kitchen wall had started to shed some of its paint so Rebecca rolled up her sleeves while chipped in where I could. In the evening I went out to an old colleagues Birthday party which was open to a lot of team from Rivals 2. A lot of them I'd grown friendly with over my extended hiatus but it was still lovely to enjoy eachother's company once more. Especially since I got to play barman at the party and mix a couple of drinks - maybe my true calling is as a mixologist?

The We Hate You Email

My laptop needed a pretty critical update first thing at work. I had to use my iPad to browse wave one of my emails, most of which were 'you did this wrong' ones which I had to scramble to fix. I still feel like I'm running on my hands a bit, I couldn't settle into my usual rhythm, mostly on account of a nasty headache that kept manifesting. I'm going to try take it easy tomorrow and actually stay in bed for a long snooze.

Wine and Work

Bunch of my team got hit with a wave of extra work they were previously promised they wouldn't have to worry about. I was lucky it didn't impact me too bad but I was getting a lot of secondhand stress. I buried my head in a big, long sustainability Zoom call which went well, plus some other bits and pieces. Latterly our Producer brought in some very fancy bottles of wine to say thank you to all the prep crew for undertaking such a rough week. All the departments came into our office, laid down their tool and lifted a very small glass. It felt like Christmas 1914 for a moment.

Rebecca was out tonight so I could watch a weird horror film. One Cut of the Dead was my chosen movie which started off as one of most ropey zombie pieces I'd seen in a long time. By the end of it I felt it I realised that the film was actually perfect for my Mum of all people as it ends up going in a very different direction to what you'd expect. Get through the first 30 minutes, and you'll get it. 

Work Hourglass

The work hourglass has flipped over. I've gone from leisurely and quiet to frantically busy almost overnight it feels like. It's that horrible period of prep where we're trying to squeeze everything in last minute now but we're up against a couple of elements that mean everything is taking slower than it should. I'm keeping my head just above water though and I'm still smiling, mostly because I'm chatting with a lot of regular vendors of mine that have given more a lot of grace and kind words. It's kinda cool to think that I've fostered some good relationships with businesses over the years.

Home Visit Doctor

Got to do something at work that rarely trickles down to me: find a doctor available for a house visit for a few member. It always struck me as an incredibly French thing, having a roaming physician on a bicycle for home calls. Alas, we're in England and finding one was like panning for gold. Just as my two leads fizzled out I found someone who had better reviews, better availability AND was a little cheaper. I was already buzzing off that win, then my third coffee hit me and I was basically flying for the next hour. The work load is picking up a bit now and I'm ready to meet the challenge. 

Good News Bomb

I could barely pack the tiramisu into my car today because it was so big. I went through most of the day just waiting to drop the good news bomb on everyone and when it eventually came time to peel back the tin foil everyone was chuffed as chips for a little pick me up. Beyond that I'm just cranking through my workload and getting things ready for the coming weeks. Things are getting busier slowly but surely, but our team are tried and true so we're already several steps ahead in the planning, now it's coming to the time to see things through.

Tiramisu Boy

Saturday's chores were put off til Sunday, and now here we are. I was on my hands and knees vacuuming the skirting boards of every room in the house in aid of the Sunday Reset, but to be very fair, they did need doing. We tied in the laundry and Rebecca's bake off contribution to a free energy hour courtesy of our provider - oven on full whack and the longer hotter laundry cycle for us. Once the dust settled though I went about making a tiramisu for my colleagues tomorrow. Even when I started the job I shook hands with people who started with 'nice to meet you Theo. I hear you make an amazing tiramisu.' I've made my peace with the fact I'm a personality hire, but I have many other talents besides puddings.

The Village

Had a Saturday all to ourselves which meant I had the time to make every meal for us. Rebecca will tell you the highlight was the omelette, which landed in front of her just as she finished catching up on Traitors. I'm starting to gear up on my horror movie hype train again, I got a big old list I'm going to try and work through but up for today was The Village which surprised me with how much I liked it. It certainly casts a spell on its audience and plays it all with a sincerity that can captivate if you're on board. Thankfully I was and the movie was still good even after 'the twist' was revealed. A good start to the movie marathon and one I'd certainly recommend.

Sense and Sensibility Redux

We all agreed to try and get out the office nice and early today as it might be our last chance to do so. Everyone rushed to get their work done and a few clocked out leaving me and a few others behind. Naturally, I got slammed with a last minute rush from a slew of emails that all needed attention. So I left at a normal time, but still with plenty of headroom to watch the new Sense and Sensibility with Rebecca and her friends (two cinema visits on the trot, what a joy). The film itself was solid, played well, shot well and earned all its moments. But it didn't feel interesting in any way, not that it needs a novelty to excite me, but there's very little in terms of USP here. 

Bad Apples

After work a few of my colleagues met up with Rebecca and me to go to the cinema to watch Bad Apples. It was being filmed in Bristol about two years ago and our screening even started with a pre-recorded message from the director saying how much he enjoyed making his movie in the city. The film itself was a real romp, lots of thrills and shocking moments that left you asking if you should be appalled or left laughing. The real joy though was sticking around til the credits to see a world of familiar names scroll up. Each of us pointed and silently cheered at each name recognized. It's a tight community of filmmakers out here and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Verily Vetting

I worked from home for the first 45 minutes of today, all in aid of helping Rebecca get the cat into her carrier for her annual vet visit. This ended up really skewing my perception of time, everything came up much quicker than expected, lunch, coffee break and home time all whizzed by in the blink of an eye. But in between that, we managed to sing Happy Birthday to our 1st AD, plus I got to have a scheduled Bake Off debrief with some colleagues which was a ton of fun. 

Last day of September too, the leaves are already turning near my offices and the knitwear in my wardrobe is making increasingly convincing puppy-eyes at me. The spooky times are soon upon us and I'll have to embrace some horror in all its forms. 

Clocking Off for Custard

Just more dabbling at work, inching the needle in the right direction for the most part as I get stuck into all things sustainability. All the grown ups just up and left at about five pm so we followed suit shortly after. It's not often you get a chance to leave early at this stage in prep so you gotta take it while you can.

Louis and Rachel were back round for Bake-Off, I served up my shonky custard creams, which went down well enough with a cuppa as predicted. I may have said this last week but when this part of the year is upon us it feels like a clean run up until Christmas. Lots of cosy TV and baking to come. 

Homemade Custard Cream

While Monday was a tad busier, the office still felt lethargic in a lot of ways. I was keen to get home so I could crack on with my Bake-Off bake. Seeing as it's biscuit week I wanted to make homemade custard creams. I didn't have the stamp to add the fancy detailing, but that wasn't going to stop me. My end product wouldn't be winning any beauty pageants the bake and taste of them is pretty good... Not good enough to bring into the office, but very serviceable with a tea.

When I was finished I was left with a bowl of what childhood (and adult) me craved - unfiltered custard cream filling. I could hear the echo of my grandma, mum, or frankly any responsible person telling me that I'd make myself sick of I ate that. Still, a little couldn't hurt. 

Homemade Granola

Another lazy get up followed by a delicious breakfast from Ben (homemade granola this time!) We took a little stroll out through a nearby woods then onto coffee from the nearby market. Before we knew it we had to hit the road so we were back in time to feed the cat and apply our war paint for the upcoming week. 

I got a new camera as a birthday present to myself earlier on in the month and I finally got a chance to put it to good use this weekend. I took a bunch of shots with it during our quiet moments, I got a lot of Rebecca reading in various spots alongside scenes of food, cafes and walks. I'm super pleased with how they come out, a bonus memento for the weekend.

Totoro Puppets

An exceptionally delicious date and brown sugar oat bowl set all four of us up for a terrific day. Matt and Ben took us for a sunny walk around their ends, which naturally included pit stops at a coffee place and a superb little bakery which did some of the best sweet treats we'd all ever tried. A period of rest followed, I closed my eyes for a bit and felt at total peace with the world. I couldn't stay too sleepy though because there were homemade smash burgers to dive into and a train into town to catch. The main reason for our visit was to go see the stage show for My Neighbour Totoro. I had some reservations going in because I adore the original film but I was pleasantly surprised by the production. I had a few issues with the script and dialogue in this new one, but the puppetry and technically elements were all fabulous. We came back humming the theme song (well, mostly Rebecca did) and toddled off to bed. Another pretty perfect Saturday with friends - we keep such good company.

Murderous Lullaby

There was a readiness to leave the office today that radiated off everyone. By the last hour of the day a lot of us had finished our work and were watching the clock slice away the seconds. I was keen to get home so Rebecca and I could get on the road as soon as possible to get to Matt and Ben's in good time. I was so zonked from the week that I started snoozing during Rebecca's true crime podcast (something about Americans plainly talking about murders is like a lullaby). We landed A-OK and I'm already looking forward to a nice long snooze without a little cat threatening to attack my toes in the night. Roll on another London weekend with friends!

Silent Hill Townfall

 I quietly launched my initiative to train up our two Production Assistants, both of which are very interested in stepping up soon. I made a little WhatsApp group with just us on it so we had a quick and easy line of communication where I can drip feeds them little jobs as they come up. I'm still a bit quiet at work so hopefully I can feed them some bigger crumbs soon.

Back home I wanted to start the spooky season early. The hours drawing in and the damper air always reminds me of Silent Hill, and today was the release date of the latest entry in the series. The publisher has outsourced the property to a handful of new developers, one of which are based in the UK and have set the latest game in 90's Scotland. I was giddy with delight to see what might well be the first ever zebra crossing in a game. That and the architecture and interior design that reminds me of beach holidays from my childhood... All now shrouded in fog and unspeakable evils, but the nostalgia still stands. 

70up

If I'm being totally honest, I felt a little glum at work today. We're in that awkward sweet spot in the job where all the hard work is being done by everyone except me. I can offer to help as much as I can, but there's a point where another pair of hands will only muddy the waters, so I did my own prep so I was ready for when my own work load takes precedence (I will certainly happen, just not today it seems).

Instead the best thing I did today was watch 70up, the conclusion to the long running Up Documentary series. I was expecting to be moved by it but I was emotionally demolished by the ending. It's easy to say it's the best one by virtue of it being the last, but the change in director lets the project push against the show's format. It's more reflective and revalatory thanks to bonus archive footage that recontextualises plenty of the subjects - I thought I knew everyone but even after 70 years you still discover new things about them.

Bake Off is Back

Bake Off season has returned. Armed with a bigger TV that's actually capable of putting out HD channels we could finally agree when a judge poked a cake and said "this bake is too dry'. It's always a bit manic going into the first episode of the season. Lots of new faces and personalities to keep track of but they mostly won us over by the end. It's nice to have a regular meet up with Louis and Rachel again too, it's a cosy tradition that segways us wonderfully through the Autumn season as it gets chilly and damp. I'm actually keen to try to do some baking this year too... Biscuit week next week, I wonder what I could do. 

Secret Squirrel Fan Club

Another old colleague joined our humble team, we're basically now at full fighting force and armed with 100% more in-jokes so I'm feeling pretty good about everything. I had to explain who Secret Squirrel was to an American co-workers today after she was bemused by the fact we all kept saying it in reference to the set of 'inner sanctum' documents. Funny how that's become some British film-making jargon. I also drank one cup of coffee too many around midday and got the zoomies, bit like our cat at the moment. Now the weather has cooled off the cat has been a lot more active, it's nice to see her jumping around a bit more and getting excited about sleeping on our bed again.

Listless Lists

Enjoyed a Sunday reset of sorts. Rebecca and I finished season two of The Pitt which rocked our worlds, then I rolled credits on Kingdom Hearts 2 (a game that appears on the tip of some lofty lists but I didn't think was all that). I found myself feeling a bit listless afterwards though - it was early afternoon at this point but too deep into the weekend to commit to doing much else. So I just pottered, but it was nice knowing I didn't have a false sense of urgency to use every second of my spare time to rush in finishing the game I was playing. I felt at peace and ready to see what the next week brings.

Karaoke Knights

Frantically got the house back in order ahead of Rebecca's return. In between I was manically trying to get through the game I've been playing for the past couple of weeks to make room for the onslaught of other stuff to enjoy next month (AKA, the spooky season).

All this running around was put on hold by a big group night out on the town. Mark, Lucy, Danz Rebecca and I met up for Korean BBQ followed by some karaoke. I belted my little heart out to Born to Run alongside a few others, mostly though I was blown away by the amount of passion and talent my friend have for singing. That and the royalty free visuals and B-roll that occasionally accompanied a few of our tracks. We all had a great night together throug, solid little Saturday out. 

Mooncake Nightcap

Friday came and went, all in service of having a belated birthday hangout with Louis in the evening. There was Street Fighter, cheese & wine, couple of beers and even some Mooncake. Rebecca and Rachel were both away so today was very much for the boys, which will be in stark contrast to the upcoming Bake Off evenings. Chatting about games and our childhood never gets old with Louis, even better when we're playing games at the same time.

Happy Birthday Louis 2026

It was Louis' Birthday today, I dropped him a Steam code for a few more Street Fighter characters online while keeping my evening free in case he wanted to do something. He went to a sauna in the afternoon and literally sweated himself dry so he said what he'd like best is to just take it easy at home. I stayed back with the cat after work, Rebecca is up in London again meeting friends, leaving me to have a bachelor evening at home: oven pizza and video games. What a dreamy Thursday.

Nose Deep in Scripts

Quietly kept myself to myself at work so I could finally bury my nose into the scripts. It always helps to do this so I can answer any wacky questions that typically blindside use about animals, SFX and the like. That and I enjoy being an oracle of knowledge on a very niche front - that makes me useful in a bunch of different ways. It certainly beats lumping office furniture around anyway. In classic Production fashion, we only really got busy in the last hour of the day which meant we all left a bit later than we would like. I'm trying to draw better boundaries on this one about home time, so far it's working out.

Barista Life Beckons

Found cause to print off my ever handy 'How to Brew with a French Press' cheat sheet. It's a little document I've been fine tuning on jobs and often blue tack it to cupboard doors for the team. No matter where I go, the life of a barista beckons me back, especially when the show runner wants a good coffee.

After I packed the laptop down I met up with Mark, Lucy, Dan and Jamie for some drinks in town, because Jamie is a Doctor now! He's earned his PhD and that was worthy cause of celebration. Just kinda sweet to get everyone around a pub table on relatively short notice too. 

Sound Booth Be Gone

Our team got a little bigger, taking away a few of my covering responsibilities like the lunch run. Now I'm full time behindy desk, reading emails and quietly getting on with my work. The hardest part of my day was actually after work at Louis and Rachel's. Their Mk1 sound booth needed removing, which instantly triggered flashbacks to us putting it up in their bedroom - to this day it might just be the heaviest thing I have ever lifted so I went into this job tentatively. Turned out this was an easier gig, still some heavy lifting but mostly dealing with stubborn screws. Our work really freed up a lot of space back in their room, a job well done for sure, Rachel has already promised us baked goods as payment, and with Bake Off returning next week my body is so ready.

Cocktail Coma

Thank goodness I set the cat feeder last night, otherwise I'm certain the cat would have nudged me out of my cocktail coma. Calling it that makes it sound a lot worse than it was, in reality I was just lethargic and sleepy for most of the morning. My lunch consisted pf last night's leftovers which I scoffed while waiting for Rebecca to come back home from London. I treated her to the first cottage pie of the season when she came home - the first of many I'm sure. The last couple of hours were all about pushing down those end of the weekend feelings. Back to it tomorrow, let's see what next week brings.

Tex Mex

My circadian rhythm woke me up at the crack of dawn. Usually I'd try to roll over for a few more winks but a golden opportunity to play Starfox presented itself. The remake came out earlier this year and I got it for my birthday. I can remember getting the original game from Software Exchange in the very early 2000's. I knew nothing about the game minus the fact it had a big robot in the cartridge and it was with the budget afforded by my pocket money. Louis and I took it home and immediately fell in love. This many years later I found myself playing the shiny new imagining of the game, the same beats made me smile and the music still made my heart swell. Call it nostalgia goggles I guess, but this one lives in one of the softest spots in my heart.

That took me to 8am. Where I then said goodbye to Rebecca who was off to a baby shower. I had the day to head up the road to a local bake sale, then to the shops to gather ingredients for the Tex Mex dinner party I was attending. It was a everyone bring a dish situation so I locked in and made Cowboy Caviar, which has virtually all the best beans and peppers mixed into on delicious side salad. On arrival it was clear that everyone made a big effort too, the desert in particular was a knockout. We just drank margaritas, chatted and played a few parlor games til today turned to tomorrow. The highlight was the pinata we busted up. His carcass was left with me which felt so natural in my hands - probably because of the pinata short film we did twelve years ago. Time flies, but the good times keep coming and our films stay the same age. 

Working Friday

Rounded off my full working week with a perfectly regular little Friday. Again, I'm feeling more at home within the office, more people know my name now and everything is slowly settling into place. I even bumped into a old colleague at Screwfix during a 90 seconds window in the middle of the afternoon, coincidences like that always make me smile. Now that I'm fully at work I'm gearing back into the mindset of making the weekend count, I've already got a stacked plan for the next few days so let's see if I can make the most of it.

Happy 33, Me!

Rebecca is always such a trooper when she elects to wake up at the same time as me. 6:20 is early for a random Thursday but she still managed to spoil me with a pastry breakfast and a few presents.

Going into work was the most surreal part of the day. I intentionally told myself that I wouldn't tell anyone it was my birthday today, mostly because I didn't want the fuss. New job, new colleagues and all so I didn't expect anything either. Ten minutes into my day someone walked in and declared 'Happy Thursday'. Which someone misheard and worriedly replied 'Happy Birthday?! Who's Birthday is it?!' I stayed quiet here, but the office chat quickly turned into a conversation about when everyone's special day was, so everyone went round in turn, like an ice breaker, revealing their birth date. Still I kept quiet, really hoping no one would ask me. Then they did. Point blank. 'So, when's your Birthday Theo?' In that moment I knew I couldn't lie so ai sheepishly said it was today. They asked if I was joking at first but the silence was held too long for it to be a bit. The office immediately imploded into a frenzy. One colleague who I'd worked with a couple of years now, felt so awkward that she seemingly went out and orchestrated a typical office birthday out of thin air. Massive credit to her though - she got a card signed by everyone in the office, a cake and a couple of gifts. I'm actually quite happy it went the way it did, we all got a great story out of it.

Back home I had the place to myself for just under an hour. I got a new game as a gift so I booted that up and sat back in the sofa. At that exact moment, I clocked the birthday bunting Rebecca put up for me, which made me aware that I was literally living inside the short film I made with the sock puppet. Only difference was I knew friends and family were only a couple of minutes away. Louis, Rachel and Dan turned up for an evening of laughs and burgers. We watched an ideal comedy film for our crowd: Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie which tickled us all pink. I'm so grateful to have spent my double three day with people who were there to make sure my Birthday was a special one.

So Long, 32

Had five days on the job now and I've just about got the measure and rhythm of things now. Office crew know my name now and come to me for help on things, I like being useful so I'm warming up to things moreso. I'm slowly building up my banter, it always takes me a while to show my stripes, but having one familiar face in my team helps expedite this. 

My last day being a 32 year old was today. I always had the idea that 32 was the perfect age when I was growing up. Young enough to be cool, but old enough to be mature. I hope I spent it as well as my young self dreamed, but like the rest  of us, I only got one shot at it. 

Studio History, As Told By Office Furniture

Pivoted away from emails, instead I was out and about to IKEA to buy and assemble some office furniture. I've been working in these studios so much now that I began to spot my handiwork everywhere I look. Desks built on old jobs. Shelves oiled and drilled into the walls. Old fridges I brought off Facebook marketplace. Every humdrum piece of that place holds a story of some kind, a history barely worth remembering, but it's there because someone made it so. 

History is in my mind a lot at the moment, not just because it's my birthday soon, but Nintendo just showed off a trailer for a remake of Ocarina of Time. Shiny graphics and modernised gameplay but still the same adventure underneath. It's crazy to believe that game is almost 30 years old now, but just a few notes from a song takes me right back. 

Sliding into Monday

Slowly remembering my roles and responsibilities. I set up a meeting room, sent some emails and just generally tried to make things go smoothly. Got back on the world of hire cars too and tech support for my colleagues. It's nice to be useful I suppose. 

Yesterday Rebecca updated our framed collage of our time in Canada. We have postcards, ticket stubs and even Polaroid photos of some moments. I caught myself looking at it quite intently today, I felt it's power as if to say 'This is one of the reasons we work.' Wonder what adventures Rebecca and I will go in next. 

Quizzing Sunday

Now that Rebecca and I are fully back at work we wanted to spend today doing nice and calm things. We took a walk out toward the harbour, popped into a book shop and brought a big cookie to indulge in. I cooked a roast dinner too, the first of the Autumn. Best part is knowing the leftovers will be in the next few dinners this week. 

So while the daytime was calm, the evening was combative... I went cross city to meet up with some friends for a pub quiz. The quiz's theme was the 60's which was sounding a bit rough on the outset, thankfully there were a ton of questions that were film centric. I'm glad that's my mastermind subject because I actually had to dispute the quiz master who made an official correction to the marking for a specific round about Oscar winners. My team found it hilarious I went up and the team next to us were flabbergasted at how our score sheet went from 0 to full marks. Glad I did though because we won!! I've never won a pub quiz in my life so I'll be riding this high for a while.

Apple Tree Hydra

We took the final steps of taming our garden for the year by cutting back our apple tree. I remember last year being an absolute mission and this time around was only fractionally better. The whole tree was covered in nasty white stuff (I've now learnt is Wooly Aphids) but in order to do anything I had to get my clothes, skin and hair covered in gunk. While Rebecca was whimsically pruning the roses, I was in Vietnam with a hacksaw cutting heads off our garden Hydra. Thankfully we got it all done in just over an hour and took it all up to the tip shortly after. Just another weekend job done and the garden has been packed down til next year now. 

Here to Listen

Im in an odd sweet spot in my job where I'm relatively important, but still not high ranking enough to sit in on a lot of meetings. Imagine my surprise when I was sat in a room with literally all the important people as they hashed out the next steps of prep. I think we all had different expectations on how that meet would play out, turns out I had nothing to input so I kept quiet and listened. Back at my desk it didn't quite feel like a Friday, and not just because I only worked two days this week. I guess the office hasn't been moulded by us enough just yet to support some big fun vibes from time to time. We'll get there though.

Back 2 Studio

Day one back at the studios and in a weird way it felt like I never left. All the old hands who run the site are still there and we're chuffed to see me back, same goes for all the familiar faces in my crew. I had a really lovely day getting back into the groove, slowly warming myself back up and starting to onboard all of my old responsibilities. Nice and easy two days week too, as far as first weeks go, I couldn't ask for more. 

Scaries in the Sea

Felt like the last day of my Summer holidays. We said goodbye to Bournemouth and its ocean with one last swim. It was overcast and grey but we still made the most of it. We gave the house a tidy and signed off, til next year.

I got my work bag ready for tomorrow, I start on my next gig which runs from now til Christmas. Going to feel a bit surreal heading back into the world of semi regular employment. It was a bit odd to get the Sunday Scaries in the sea earlier too. But there's always an opportunity for one last hurrah, we got in another session of Big Walk, this time bringing in Lucy and her brother, making our squad a six. The added chaos was a lot of fun, lots more of us got lost in total darkness which made their eventual return to the group feel like a real homecoming.

Seaside Snaps

Our last full day in Bournemouth which we spent out on the shores of Mudeford, taking in the smell of the sea and the taste of the local ice cream. Rebecca brought out her small digi camera to take some beachy photos, she got some really cute ones if the two of us, plus some moody pictures of the water. We're planning on having one last swim in the sea tomorrow before returning to reality.

Hengistbury Haunt

We took Matt and Ben up to Hengistbury Head for a walk up the cliff side and round the banks. They managed to squeeze one more dip in the sea before their train was due to take them home. The house is noticeably quieter now with just me and Rebecca pottering about. 

A newer tradition in Bournemouth is the annual 'visit the Korean supermarket and make a dinner using mostly their stuff'. We had some chicken left over from yesterday so a makeshift ramen/broth bowl was in order, plus a soft boiled egg and some kimchi from the literal 1.2kg tub we got in the shop. It turned out hilariously well.

It's a little weird to consider today is the last day of the Summer. The never ending heat waves, droughts and scattered jobs. With it effectively comes the end of my Funemployment. I have a few days left now but the long holiday is all but over. Time to buck up my attitude, tuck in my shirt and put in my biggest smile. Showtime soon.

Swimming in Gravy

We went into this Sunday with two objectives:

Go in the sea.

Have a roast dinner. 

I'm delighted to say that we smashed our goals. The weather was looking a tad dicey, but we timed it well and arrived at the beach in a perfect window of opportunity. The weather meant the water was a bit more 'fun' than usual too so the four of us had a good lark as waves knocked us over. 

Back at the ranch Matt and Ben took over the kitchen and whipped up a roast chicken and a apple & blackberry crumble pudding. I haven't had one of those since the heatwaves started, the first of many I'm sure, but I doubt any will top what we had for dinner tonight.

Sideways Rain Seaside

The sound of the rain roaring through the drainpipes was loud enough to wake me up this morning. The forecast was already bleak but seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely. There was sideways rain for all of breakfast, we waited for a break in it before heading out into Bournemouth town centre for a jaunt. Each time I go there I'm always taken back by how ramshackle it all is (in fairness, the weather didn't help the situation) but it was just so unappealing. We got the measure of it all quickly and headed to the beach, the sea was fierce on account of the wind, but that didn't deter Ben from going in for a dip. We all watched in awe as he ran straight into the water as we tugged our raincoats closer to our chins.

We barely dried off at home before heading out again to a few pubs in town followed by a fish and chip dinner. Ben's mantra is that fish and chips should always overwhelm you when it's all on your plate and I have to say I think I agree with that. I don't think I'll need to eat again til after the Bank Holiday is done. 

Sand Like A Thousand Razors

Bournemouth rituals continue to go unshirked over here. Every year I try to go into the sea at least once, and looking at the weather this week it made sense for us to go today while the sun was still out. Well, it wasn't raining, but the wind was too strong to even lay a beach towel down in so our dreams of reading on the shore were dashed, but we still got to bob around in the water. 

At least one portion of KFC must be consumed too - an annual treat to the high street for the tasty chicken was locked in for tonight, the house only just reset to it's non-greasy aroma just in time for our visitors Matt and Ben to arrive. Matt was brimming with nostalgia too for the area, having studied here with us all those moons ago. Hopefully the rest of their stay will be a pleasant trip down memory lane. 

Wasgij High Street

Went to Lidl not once, not twice, but three times today to collect all of our individual meals. Hey, we're on our holidays and it's nice not to have to make plans for everything and live a little hand to mouth. Rebecca was technically still working today so I busied myself with games and aforementioned walks to supermarkets. We did a very quick walk up the high street, mostly to see what's changed and what stuck around. Mum has a penchant for those Wasgij puzzles and I mostly like the 'Destiny' ones where you get to peek into the past and the future of a classic English setting. Winton High street will forever feel like those jigsaws to me, living in a simultaneous start of then and now in my mind.

Back in the old House

Did the slow packing thing where I knew I had all day to get ready so I spread it over the course of the morning and afternoon. Rebecca are back in Bournemouth for our annual visit. The house still looks and smells the same. In recent years I get a miniature out of body experience whenever I walk through the front door. It's lived a lot of lives since I've known it, from my childhood, Uni, COVID and now - each life smashes together all at once like the floodgates of nostalgia opening up. Time to make new memories.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Felt quite emotionally heightened and subsequently, drained after today - entirely thanks to the games and movies I ended up spending time with. I finished my Donald Duck and anime kids game which ended with a lot of big imagery about doors being closed and friends left behind (all thematically ham-fisted by the writing, but somewhere deep inside it rung true). In the evening we met up with some film friends to check out the new meta horror film Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma which operated on about three levels higher than something like Scream. Self-Referential, genre savvy and morbidly entertaining, it's a film that actually quite exhausting because of how it thinks and presents itself. My head feels full after having watched it, especially because it gets mighty interpretive by the end but it was a great way to end a Tuesday night.

Supermarket Schwoops

A truth as old as time is that we all eventually turn into our parents.

Growing up, Louis and I would frequently have to do a run to a corner shop after Mum planned to make a midweek dinner (let's say carbonara for the sake of this example), only to realise she forgot to buy the spaghetti. 

And the eggs.

And the bacon. 

Well today I did the meal planning and the big shop and only had to go back to the supermarket twice to get the ingredients I flat out forgot I needed for it. Time and genetics catch up to us all. 

Frozen Feast

Jamie took us out to a very alternative Indian fusion brunch spot where we got a spicy rice bowl to kick start our day. We saw a little more of Jamie's ends then packed our bags and jetted out from one city to another. We got back a touch late so we wanted some real 'brain off' food so fish fingers won out. I left Tesco Express with a frozen feast and we unashamedly left no crumbs. Two more weeks of freedom, what could they have in store I wonder?

South-East Londoner's

Took Rebecca's Mum back up to London then continued on to meet Jamie and his partner in their London home. After a hearty lunch we went on a very big London walk, exploring London's South-East side. The Cutty Sark made an appearance (last time I saw it the ship was a burnt out husk). We did it all while the sun slowly set on the city that never sleeps. We dropped into a pub for a quirky pint then headed to a microbrewery for another round of drinks, pizza, games and a chats galore. Jamie has clearly found a part of the world to love and call his own, it was a pleasure to enjoy every part he showed us, while he was beaming from ear-to-ear.

Donald Duck and Friends

Rebecca's mum is staying with us just til tomorrow morning. She did a solo trip out to town centre armed with all our knowledge of local buses and came back relatively unscathed. While she was out I could play video games without feeling self conscious - the one I'm playing right now has Donald Duck fighting alongside anime tweens and I could have lost years of my life trying to explain to her why the internet and a few friends tell me it's better than Citizen Kane. Rebecca's mum thankfully has an appetite for medical dramas and was happy to rewatch a few episodes of The Pitt as Rebecca and I make our way through it. Nothing like finding common ground between families while watching patients get breathing tubes shoved down their throats.

Running in the Drizzles

Now the weather has cooled off significantly I thought now was a good day to get back I to running. I inadvertently ended up jogging during a rainstorm in the sunshine, I spent most of it wiping the water off my sunglasses.

Part two on my unexpected things was finishing up Final Fantasy. I knew I was on the final boss and my characters were all very well leveled and ready to rumble. Shouldn't take more than an hour... Then my whole morning went in the blink of an eye. I'm relieved it's all done and dusted now, this one started to get a bit too long in the tooth.

Client Dinner

I went alongside a PM friend to get wined and dined by a vendor for a camera equipment hire company. I've never really been to a client dinner of sorts I suppose, I was just delighted to find I was sat across from some actually very normal people who didn't push anything on us. It was just friendly networking, plus moussaka and vine-wrapped halloumi. 

I left the lunch to go meet a Canadian Cousin who was spending the day with Mum in Bristol. They mostly went thrifting in the nearby vintage shops and to see some nearby sights the city has to offer. I very much joined during the tail end of their day out but it was fun to show off the spots I hold dear to new eyes. 

Old Town, New Routes

With the temperatures down a smidge and an idle hour or two at my disposal I decided to hit the town. I've been sitting on a cheque to cash in for a little while now, it's just annoying my nearest bank branch is such a schlep away. But I turned it into a fun walk, going along avenues and shortcuts I didn't know existed til today. I have some family coming to visit Bristol tomorrow too so I considered today a little recce of sorts. 

Jamie came to stay with us again this evening and lavished us with compliments on the new shelves. Those things might as well be my life's work, I don't know if I'll contribute much more to humanity after them. 

Finally, Final Fantasy

Felt oddly woozy for most of the day and considering the rest of my week is looking busier by the minute I thought I'd rest instead. This time six years ago I was deep into a Final Fantasy game before heading back into work, felt only right that I'm repeating the trick now. The monsters, the music, the spells - even when the game is new to me it always feels like a homecoming. The temperature finally feels like it's broken too, fingers crossed that's the last heat wave of the year. I've never been more ready for a 19 degree day in my entire life.

The Day After the Feast

Been a while since we did the North Street shuffle, lots of new shops and pop ups to explore. The best one was a new Vietnamese sandwich place that packs their buns to the brim - just what I needed after a groggy morning following yesterday's feasting and drinking. But we had another dinner party tonight - much more civil mind. Some friends turned up to ours for a very sweet little board game night. They brought round a tiramisu that, no word or a lie, rivaled my own. We got some leftovers as well so I'll enjoy it all over again tomorrow.

Nostalgia Dinner

The common thread for all my time in the kitchen making mayonnaise, ketchup and now chicken nuggets from scratch is that it's literally not worth the extra effort. Guess that's why they call it convenience food.

I did this all in aid of the Nostalgia Dinner party - a friendly competition between some TV friends in a cook off of sorts. The best part of the day was seeing everyone's interpretation of the brief. We had two people make potato smilies, an Angel Delight and a mug cake. But there could only be one winner according to the jury and I ended up winning the night with my nuggets! 

Guess it was worth all the time and effort. 

Ketchup and Mayonnaise

Something that wasn't on my Funemployment bucket list but was something I needed to do ahead of tomorrow was make my first ever batch of mayonnaise and ketchup. 

Mayo first. I watched a whole bunch of videos on how to make it, while the ingredients stay the same there's some differing opinions on method. Jamie Oliver has never failed me in the past - a bowl and a hand whisk while drizzling in oil. Except I got a bit scared on how slowly I needed to mix in the oil so I did it at a snails pace. I ended up overwhisking, the mayo split and I got a blister on my finger from mixing - cheers Jamie. Take two was everything in a tall vessel and a hand mixer. 30 seconds later I had mayonnaise, it was perfect.

As for ketchup (a condiment I've never cared for) I just threw all the ingredients in a pan and slow reduced it for like four hours. It makes me chuckle how much sugar you have to put in it to offset the vinegar, basically adding two contrasting flavours to cancel eachother out. My final sauce has a bit of an acidic zing to it, I always hate how sweet ketchup tastes but I might need to mix in a touch more sugar to keep the masses happy.

Both staple sauces ended up being much more complex than I expected, lot of fun to make though. This is all in aid of the dinner party I'm bringing some bits over for. The theme is nostalgia so I'm making homemade chicken nuggets with the aforementioned sauces. Hope they go down well.

Maximum Booch

Every now and then I walked up to my jar of newfound kombucha to give it a taste. Louis warned me this one had a zing, what I was not ready for was how quickly it would be ready. Previously I waited 3 weeks to get my sweetened tea to taste a little vinegary. This new batch was ready in less than 24 hours. Now I have a backlog of sour soda to drink before the next load is ready... Bottems up I guess.

We did have someone we could rely on knocking back a few glasses of the stuff coming over. Good old Dan was with us this evening for a hangout and a board game. Dan's basically the only chap we've shown Obsession to - which is basically Downton Abbey the board game and he seemed to really jive with it. We got a few more virtual sessions to book in with him over the next few weeks now too, looking forward to spending more time with him.

The Eclipse of '26

The whole day I was getting hyped up for a generational event: the eclipse of 2026. I met up with Louis and headed up into our park to secure a good spot. We didn't have the special glasses, not did we bother to put a pinhole in a cereal box, we just went up to be a part of it all. While chatting I was slowly unlocking my memories of the last eclipse back in 1999. I was barely cognisant then but the day still made an impression, guess the novelty of it dimming at midday stuck in my memory. It's also funny to think that I've seen two eclipses, both in green spaces called Victoria Park, albeit in different parts of the country.

The actual covering of the Sun part was rather underwhelming. I was expecting the park to be shrouded in an eerie twilight, for dogs to start barking and birds to loose their circadian rhythm. In reality, things just got a little less bright, a pre-dusk before the real dusk. Guess that's on me for not getting the special glasses to enjoy the true majesty of the moment, but it was cool to be a part of something - I'll have an answer to the question 'where were you during the last eclipse.' 

Don't let it Die on the Vine

Made the aforementioned bucket list for my funemployment. At first I peppered in the usual 'watch X number of movies' and 'finish this big video game'. But I realised that I'll still have mental bandwidth to do all those things even with a job. I stead I want to focus more on writing and developing the ideas that I don't want to let die on the vine. 

I got one more video essay to finish writing up, if I think it's good enough I'll commit to making the video too. I want to do another Cowboy D&D campaign with my usual posse. It's so or die time for all that, and when I have a deadline I feel the burn.

 

Last Days of Rome

The call came, the five months of funemployment is coming to a close. By early September I'll be getting stuck into a new job so now I'm treating the next month like the last days of Rome. I did some writing, I watched a Japanese movie from the 50's and while Rebecca was out tonight I played not one, but two short narrative games from start to finish. Gotta maximize the remaining days I have and finish everything I wanted to during this gap on my resume. Maybe I need to make a bucket list of sorts...

Bye Bye Balloons

Scrounged some more blackberries on my return trip to collect my newly sharpened knife. I was so ready to give it a test run on a tomato or cucumber but we had to pack down and leave our Air B&B as soon as I got back. 

We brunched in an overly twee little breakfast parlour, the kind of place that had three cuckoo clocks, none of them kept the right time. Still, the food set us up for a revisit to a walk round Symonds Yat Rock to enjoy the viewpoints. Then it was time to return to Bristol. Just in time to march up the the park to watch the final bout of hot air balloons going over... But they cancelled it. We rolled up our picnic blanket with a heavy heart and returned home to contemplate the week ahead.

Blackberries on the Vine

Visited a familiar English Heritage site, Goodrich Castle to show Rebecca's parents the ruin that's in pretty good condition. We bought some mead in the gift shop (something to enjoy when the Summer finally breaks), then we ventured into Ross-On-Wye for a nose about.

In the early evening I headed out on a solo jaunt. A chap who offers a knife sharpening service lives a half hour walk away from our Air B&B so I made the uphill trek. Because I was running a little early for our appointment I took my time on the walk and foraged a mountain of blackberries. Every bush I found I basically had to eat one from. I'm reading a book all about malnourished and shipwrecked people so being able to scrounge for my own sustenance felt amazing. Just hope my fingers weren't stained too purple as I handed my knife to the fella.

August City Break

Did some pottering around and some slow motion packing for our weekend away. I have no idea why we always end up in the Monmouth area for a city break, but this time Rebecca's parents wanted to experience the piece and quiet that only the Wye Valley can offer. It always takes a few minutes to adjust to the idea that your local post office is also your butchers, bakery and grocery shop. The only pub in town (that isn't a scary looking social club) usually has a food menu but because they don't have a chef at the moment we had to go to the chippy (which is still a win). It really is peaceful out here though, no doubt we'll sleep soundlessly.

With a Paddle

My Summer of 2026 can be mostly associated with boats. Boat parties, holidays and hangouts. Now the season is beginning to draw to an end and all good things must pass. I joined my friend who owns a small riverboat for one last cruise to stash it back in the marina til next year. Just the two of us (and a Bluetooth speaker) on a tepid August day. We did a pair of locks then cruised into the pack marina. The water was full of algae and other nasties, which is what we think clogged up our engine and killed it. Just meters away from our mooring point we found ourselves up shit creek, thankfully we had a paddle... One very small paddle that is. Somehow I managed to row the vessel back towards the docks (my friend was low key freaking out, but I was determined to make it work). So despite it being a fun Summer send off to begin with, it turned into one of those bleak endings that will probably cost my buddy a bunch of money to fix. 

I had a great time though. 

Bookshelves Complete

The final push to complete the bookshelves. All I needed to do was to screw everything down into place and lock it all in. The literal second Rebecca finished work she came downstairs and started making piles of all her books - assigning post-its to label each stack. I was playing games online with some chaps tonight so I didn't get to see her wave her magic wand, I only saw the 'Ta-Dah' photo she sent up and it looks wonderful. There's room for everything, plus space for a handful of small photo frames and knick-knacks. It really completes the room and makes for a great talking point for guest. 

It was only 18 months late in the build... But I reckon it was worth the wait. 

Desirably Uneventful

I let Rebecca sleep in for a couple of hours while I pottered around, she needed the rest so we could make it back home to Bristol in one piece. Time back was desirably uneventful, we played games, read books and ordered take out (we deserved it). Rebecca had a theatre show to catch in the evening, leaving me at home to play a horror game that eventually got under my skin. It didn't help that the cat kept chirping during some especially creepy moments so I couldn't tell what was real anymore. One to resume tomorrow when the sun is up and the lights are on.

Funeral - Dorothy

It's been almost five years since I last wore my funeral attire. I know this because I found a COVID facemask in my trouser pocket from Granny Sue's funeral. But today was to commemorate Rebecca's Grandmother, Dorothy who passed away recently.

I got ready with Rebecca and her family, dressing in all black and waiting for the funeral directors to collect us from the house. We followed behind the hearse in the escort vehicle and filtered into a lovely little service. The wake followed at a nearby pub where select friends and family retired to where stories of Rebecca's Nan were passed around. 

In my mind there's two types of funerals. The kind where you get hugs and the kind where you give hugs. I was mostly there as an emotional pillar for Rebecca, doing all I could to make the day a bit more bearable for her. There was a lot of trepidation heading into the day but she's very glad the day went as it did. She's a very brave lady and I was proud to stand by her side throughout the day.

Book Club Basher

I forgot to mention that a couple of days ago I officially became the owner of a car. Rebecca transferred ownership of her old and faithful Vauxhall Viva over to me (after I gave her a couple of quid of course). Rebecca has recently acquired some new wheels which took us up to London today. Because it had air con and that new car smell I was half convinced it was an airport rental vehicle... Hopefully that magic lasts for a long time.

I brought my laptop and microphone along with me so I could attend my virtual book club. Everyone rated this month's book 4/5, minus me who gave it a significantly lower score. I didn't want to dunk on the book too hard though because I didn't want to make anyone feel too embarrassed for enjoying it - I kept circling back to 'and that's why I personally didn't get much out of it' which absolved me of a lot. These days I'm in the business of speaking my mind but not cruising to rustle feathers. 

Impressionable Stranger

Dropped in to my usual barber up the road for a trim. I've been seeing him for almost a year now and we've seldom said more than a dozen words to eachother in that time. It was only when I mentioned I was getting it cut for a funeral that he tentatively made conversation. A lot of my life I think about the strangers that have made an impression on me - I wonder how many people's lives I've touched who don't know my name.

People that aren't strangers though are Mark and Lucy, whom we shared an almost twelve hour Saturday with. They had a board game they were eager to share with us called Eclipse - an epic scale space war game which took us from lunch til dinner to play. I got trounced, but I didn't mind because they put on an immense spread of food for us. Homemade pizzas, strawberry mess, a light salmon dinner and simmered peaches with ice cream - what a bloody treat. The day went too quickly though, we looked up at the clock and the next thing we knew we were catching the night bus home. 

French New-Wave Nemesis

Caught up on writing my Letterbox reviews for all the films I've seen recently. I also made a little list of all the remaining films I haven't seen from Roger Ebert's 'The Great Movies' volume one. There's only nine I haven't seen so I'm quietly using that as a North Star whenever I fancy an old movie with gusto (there's a pair of hefty pick from the 1920's which will be fun). There was a short Jean-Luc Godard one I glossed over so I gave that a watch today... In doing so I remembered why I don't like his movies. I guess I just struggle with French New Wave, thankfully that's not a problem that affects my day-to-day. Only 83 minutes long and I was still counting down the seconds... Maybe I need to read Ebert's thoughts to see what he sees in it.

Obsession

Did a top to bottom house tidy, which was much needed after a week of DIY, but especially important because we had a bevvy of guests over for another movie night. This group has kinda turned into a 'lets all watch a modern horror film together because there's safety and comedy in numbers'. Obsession was tonight's film which was a remarkably intense viewing. It was virtually all in the central performances which were spellbinding, I didn't want to look away... Until I had to because I was too chicken to keep my eyes on the screen. We all had a hoot though, that was the key thing. It's always fun doing group movies sessions, always takes me back to the days of Film Friday.

Glue, Clamp, Oil

Operation shelves has entered it's final phases. I took some of the excess wood to get trimmed down into bookends which I then glued & clamped. Once bonded, Ioved onto oiling them all. I basically had a little assembly line of bits that I checked on every half an hour as I did other stuff. As a byproduct of this however I never really settled into anything. Even when I was done for the day, my mind couldn't settle on one thing for more than 30 minutes. I was antsy and fidgety for no good reason. The shelves will all be done tomorrow though as a result of my hustling - we can't wait to see them in action!

Manchester Motorhead

A very early night yesterday set me up well for my day of paid courier work for a TV job... At least, I'm cheaper than a courier and I get to keep all the profit! My car was packed out with costume returns heading to Manchester for a pre-9am drop off. This meant my alarm went off at the same hour you might expect when you go to catch a cheaper flight. Even in the middle of Summer I found the nighttime and was even driving in it for almost an hour. I low-key wish the trip out was actually worthy of an anecdote, but I drove there, dropped off, and drove home. Considering I'd been driving for seven hours and messed up my eating pattern I felt close to ok when I got back. The key lag bit me just before supper, but nothing a long sleep won't sort tonight.

Better yet, when I got back my Screwfix order was ready for collection. Rebecca's shelves needed some boards glued together which was a new experience for me, but now they look more robust and premium now. Our replacement internet box also arrived so after three days off grid I can finally doomscroll to my heart's content! 

The Incident at Galley House

 Got totally engrossed in the hottest detective game of July. The Incident at Galley House is a very cool little murder mystery game about stepping into the past to figure out the timeline of suspects and victims. It's plays around with the Agatha Christie whodunnit formula while peppering in a we'll judged amount of Sci-fi. The end result drip feeds 'ah-HA' moments to the point where it's hard to put down... I was so absorbed I almost forgot to drill in Rebecca's bookshelves!

The Odyssey

We bucked our circadian rhythm, had a big, late breakfast and headed to the cinema at 11am. The Odyssey was almost booked up when we went to get tickets yesterday, but this early screening actually was a blessing in disguise as we got to see the movie on a massive screen and a thumping sound system... So much so that I think my ears are still ringing a bit after watching some of the more intense action sequences. The film was ace though, I actually enjoyed it substantially more than I expected which is always a treat.

Speaking of treats, we decided to keep a good thing going after the film and went out for pizza and then a taproom for a drink. I realised one of my favourite things about our city break holidays is trying out the best foodie spots, and it's nice to treat my home city in the same way sometimes - makes you appreciate it all over again. Lastly we did some prep work on building Rebecca's bookshelves. I'm now ready to drill holes and mount everything on the wall. It's been a long time coming, but I'm really excited for the results.

WiFi Woes Part 2

Wifi is down in the house again, it won't get replaced til Tuesday at the latest. I never realised how shoddy the data coverage was in our home til today either. Internet in the living room? Fuggetaboutit! I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a technician unplugging and replugging wires into boxes behind bits of spider web caked furniture to no avail. All that was left to do was wait for the new router to arrive. 

Thankfully we had a big evening activity tonight that soaked up our WiFi free existence: a friend's BBQ - specially her Book Club BBQ (but partners were allowed over too). So we just hung out and socialised, surprisingly I didn't get roped into the grilling this time so I just sat back and drank beer. 

Farewell Brolly

Did my final day as a Travel and Accommodation assistant out in Cardiff. I did the last of my TMO's and left with a tiny fanfare from the Production Team. I got a bigger response from the Transport Captain who gifted me a really good umbrella just as I was leaving the studio. Old friendships always bear fruit. I'm waiting to hear back on my next set of ventures now - I got a day's work next week, but otherwise I'm freewheeling til I hear back from another big gig I've been optioned for. Things are slowly rejuvenating in Bristol it seems.

I was low-key invited to a wrap party for a job I only worked on for 8 days. Free bar was tempting but the driving this week really took it out of me so Rebecca and I just went up to our local board game place instead. I stayed behind after hours and got a rum in the house - everywhere I go there's a free bar.

Flimsy Firestick

Penultimate day temping and I got to do a but if a fun one today. My colleague and I went to the hotel where one of our cast members is staying so we could say hello, check out their room and make sure they were comfortable. Things came to ahead though when we plugged in a brand new Amazon Fire stick into the hotel TV, we brought it with us so they had access to Netflix etc and to help them set it up. Trouble was we connected to the slowest internet option known to man and the thing had a monster update to do right out the box. So we all just hung out together while we waited for a tiny progress bar to fill. While the activity it took us away from our desks, it was actually quite a bizarre and fun hour out of my day. One more day now, I reckon most people will want to scarper off sharpish on a Friday, fingers crossed I get to join them.

Bye Bye Bear

Back out West for me, putting in my time out in Cardiff. It always tickles me how many friendly faces pop out of the woodwork on jobs. The 1st AD made a point of coming over to me to shake my hand and I've rekindled an old relationship with the Transport Captain. I'm staving off the tiredness more and more too, as if my body clock is re-adapting to long shooting days and the associated drives. 

Down time this week has mostly been dedicated to finishing off the final series of The Bear, which has been a real delight. I was firmly in the crowd of 'I'm glad they're ending this show' before watching it, but this last season was a great homage to everything that came before, reminding us why we all fell in love with the show.

Travel and Accommodation Intern

Been in travel and accommodation for two days now and my head already feels hot with information loading. Massive respect going out to my boss and all the others who get people from A to B. I'm just hoping I'm doing my part enough to support those guys. I'm still booking trains, writing movement orders and filling up logs. It's like I'm on an intensive training course though and I'm trying to make it count.

Cardiff Calls

Ah yes. The early get up. The hour long drive to work. The ten hours without a break. Then driving home for another hour. Welcome to the glamour of working in TV.

In all seriousness, it's actually been quite nice to be back inside a production office again. I slowly remembered all the steps and got into the swing of things. I'm only doing cover work so I don't need to be mega onboarded with all the job's various ins and outs, which is a little refreshing. The drive to and from Cardiff is a bit of a bore though, I blazed through the one podcast I was excited to listen to, now I need something else... 

Gourmand Cat

We felt a bit guilty once we got home only to find the cat's automatic feeder didn't go round for her while we were away for 24 hours. We opened up the case and just let her go mental and gorge herself on a buffet of wet and dry meaty bits. Otherwise I did the routine packing of my work bag before starting on another few days of work. I'll be up in Cardiff next week doing some days in a Production Office, hopefully it all goes well. I've had the Sunday scaries for most of the week now, I've been off the wagon for a while now and I just want to do a good job.

Stasis til Curry

Back on a London bound coach to meet up with Rebecca and her family. I managed to finish up the last few chapters of my book club read on the journey and while enjoying some quiet time in the living room. Mostly I was in stasis til the main event if the evening: a curry with some family friends. When the meal was all done they came back round to the house to watch the football game, and the post match commentary. I can't say I was especially excited by the footie but it was a fun evening.

La Dolce Vita

There's an evolving answer to 'best film I've never seen'. Until today I suppose I would have said La Dolce Vita (I guess I'm doing pretty well if I'm scraping the barrel with Italian Neorealist works). I'm working again next week so I thought I'd sieze the day and give the film a shot. I've always heard it's either a self indulgent mess or a masterpiece, and thankfully I lent rather favourably to it. 

I rode that high for most of the day til the evening. A few jobs in Bristol were preparing to wrap up this week and by proxy I got invited to drinks. Somehow I ended up at a wrap party for a job I didn't even work on, I couldn't help spending the whole time giggling to myself about how the hell I got to free karaoke, but I didn't question. It sure is a sweet life I'm living.

De-hermitting

With Rebecca out of town I found myself home along (minus the cat). While I always manage to find ways to busy myself, I must confess that I felt like I've become a mite reclusive this week and needed some human interaction. I was delighted then when Lucy said she'd be in my neck of the woods this afternoon and wanted to grab coffee. We're both going through small patches of unemployment, but as chance would have it we also both just caught wind of some very promising opportunities. I expected us to commiserate over coffee, but we actually did some early celebrating which was lovely. As a double whammy, I played with a group of 12 other people online to do some social deduction. There were a bunch of new people tonight but I got stuck in and chatted away with everyone (when we weren't trying to murder eachother). 

Consider myself de-hermitted.

England VS Argentina 2026

There was electricity in the air all day leading up to the big semifinals. Just moments before kickoff I waved Rebecca goodbye, she's heading up to London before me so I'm staying home with the cat for a couple of days. The first half hour I spent figuring out which device had the most 'live' version of the match. Eventually I settled on the iPad because I remembered that I live in a neighborhood where everyone cheers loudly at their TV's. If anyone started shrieking, that was my cue to turn my head and watch the next time-delayed 30 seconds to see what all the fuss was about. Our goal caused a ruckus, our defeat caused groans, then silence. England's dream died once again at the semifinals. 

Baby Steps

Jamie is currently staying over at ours for a few days and we've both been enraptured by a game I picked up called Baby Steps, in which you control a blubbering man-child up a treacherous mountain. Catch is, the controls and the obstacles are designed to test your patience. You operate each of his legs individually while also influencing his centre of gravity. This means that every step is an ordeal, and every fall while going uphill is a potential catastrophe. In spite of it being intentionally infuriating, it's compelling in a bizarre way. We filled all of our spare time playing it today it felt like. Laughing when we made a slip, undoing several minutes of progress.

Operation Bookshelf, Continues

Operation Bookshelf continues at full force. I went to collect the wall brackets from a nearby Screwfix, I already knew they were too long to take in the car so I had to go by foot, all the while carrying home a pair of 2m white rails. Thankfully it's cooling down a lot around here so it wasn't too nasty a trek. All that's left to do is mark and drill some holes, all the while I'll remember that age old maxim: measure twice, drill once.

I have a week of quite intense sounding work coming up next week so I'll take this opportunity to be kind to myself prior to pulling my hair out. Got some movies to watch, games to play and bits to write - all of my favourite things. 

Ever Expanding Social Circles

Left Newbury with our usual gaggle of four in the car and pootled back to Bristol. The remainder of the Sunday was the definition of lazy in all the right ways. Rebecca and I had depleted a lot of our social batteries recently so this afternoon was a chance to recharge fully. Right before going over to a friend's house for board games! We're slowly making friends with a couple who live up the hill from us who we met at the board game meetup we go to each week, it's been really swell hanging out with them from time to time. They say making friends past your 30's is tricky, but my social circle has literally exploded in the last year or so it feels. Guess we're just lucky people.

Long Distance Family Garden Party

Did a fair few miles today, all in the name of making it to my Uncle's 60th birthday party. It's been a long time since I've been to a family garden party, the kind where all generators mingle and kids splinter off to find their own amusement. I mostly stood in the shade, enjoyed some drink and nibbles and made small talk with relatives, pretty dreamy event all told.

Coming home we discussed watching England play in the Quarterfinals. I couldn't bring myself to acrew the sleep debt required to watch the whole game so I slunk off at halftime to bed. I'll wake up and learn if we went through or not. 

Bye Bye Boat

Enjoyed our final breakfast on the boat before packing our bags and returning to dry land for good. For the rest of the day we felt the phantom pain of motion, even when standing deadly still the urge to rock gently from side to side was powerful.

Rebecca and I drove back to Bristol to check in on the cat (and to cut our cat-sitting bills right down). The rest of the day was spent doing the classic 'recovering from our holiday' - a chance to recompress and return to the world of land lubbing. 

Hardships: Endured

We all set our alarms for an early rise in a bid to beat the sun. Sure enough though, it found us. We somehow managed to endure every hardship we could on this holiday. A heatwave, running around, getting stuck on the wrong side of the boat, shearing off our TV antenna. But we all did it as a unit, emerging stronger, but just a little more battered each time. 

It's our last night on the boat, all the while temperatures continue to soar. I'm still shattered from all the work of the day so hopefully the rocking of the water will lull me off to my slumber.

 

Working on the Waterway

You know in old American movies they show chain gangs all bashing rocks together on the highway. That was us today, in the unkind heat as we laboured through more locks than we would have liked. We also clocked onto the fact the boats topside is basically sheet metal, the perfect conductor for the heatwave so sitting inside was akin to bring in a greenhouse. We muscled through it though, in spite of swing bridges and no shade. Once we finally moored up we somehow stumbled into a really remarkable curry place that threw a big reversal in our once dour mood. Same again tomorrow, at least we know what's coming though.

Lazy Accusations

Rebecca heckled me virtually first thing this morning for not leaping out of bed the literal second she did. Called me lazy, so I spent the rest of the day proving her wrong. Today I:

- Made her porridge (I didn't have any so it really was made specially for her).

- Finished reading the second half of my book.

- Did 30 locks back to back, in the full blast of the Summer heat.

- Undertook a pilgrimage to a supermarket to help carry some groceries back to the boat (Rebecca napped while we did this).

Spite, as it turns out, is a powerful motivator. 

Summertime Hibernation

Exhaustion gripped me throughout yesterday, even as I tried my best to style it out. It was the first day of our family holiday out on the canal boat, the first step was a drive out to meet Mum, Dad and Louis who already had a couple of days out on the water. I just slept the whole car ride and once we arrived I made a bee-line to the nearest coffee shop. That made me feel slightly more human, but news that we were about to ascend the biggest flight of locks in Europe (30 back to back) sapped my strength. I put on a brave face though and helped out where I could. Once all was said and done though, I collapsed into bed and never wanted to wake up again.

I end today in a similar stupour, not because I'm tired but because I ate so much fish and chips that my body has entered a hibernation period. Unusual for Summer I know. I'll sleep it off though and we'll be back chugging along the river... Back on the return route now. An encore for the 30 locks. 

Background Check

Alongside an entire cohort of ex-co-workers, I played wingman today. We share a friend who had a potential new romantic partner come over from the States just to spend the 4th of July with her. It was a sweeping, romantic gesture that demanded the call to arms. Or maybe it was just a good excuse to get bladdered on a boat. Either way, I played my part in day drinking and getting friendly with a perfect stranger from the US. We gave a glowing character assessment back to our friend and kept a good thing going by boating all the way into town for more drinks and dancing. Walking home now and I've held hiccups the whole way home.

On the Horizon

Halfway through my day of not working I got a text asking if I could jump in to help out on a project in Wales for a week. I ain't got much else going on so I said yes and now I'm starting to really look forward to it. The only other big job to do before then is sort out Rebecca's bookcase and we"re making even bigger strides now. I sanded down the boards so their ready to use, I got a ScrewFix basket full of all the other bits and bobs ready to collect after our holiday next week.

 Lots to look forward to. A week of work, a boat holiday and some new shelves. 

Superb Shelves

I actually ended up doing one little bit of work for people first thing this morning, but after that I basically took the day off to good off. We're all off on a family holiday in the next couple of days so my attention is being drawn to packing and prepping for that. I also went over to Lucy's brother's place to go pick up some pieces of plywood. A very late Birthday present from me to Rebecca was a set of shelves for her ever growing library of books. What I really struggled with was finding bit of wood that fit the bill that didn't cost the earth and it's moon. As it happens, Lucy's brother has access to a few off cuts and very generously offered to cut it all down to size for us. We're thrilled with how it looks, now it just lies with me and a power drill to make the dream a reality.

Day's Up for Daily

Finished up my last day of temp cover on a shoot. I surrendered my access card and my spot on the production truck, I ate my last crew lunch and waved farewell as I collected the rushes. It wasn't super impactful of course, they're still going on for a little while yet, but it was nice to have joined them for a spell. Back to the yonder of naught for me now. 

Truck DJ, Encore

My main responsibility today was being truck DJ. I'm fast approaching the end of my tenure so it doesn't make much sense to be given any more long term responsibilities, instead I'm just dealing with everything as it comes in. I'll mostly be doing my receipts tomorrow and get ready to hand the reins back to the real team member. Been a fun couple of days though, nice to get a few more pennies in the bank too. I'm feeling the sting of sleeping less hours though, as if I were on a long job. How the hell did I do it all when I was younger? I crave sleep now like I yearn for tiramisu.

Under Everything

Everyone at work had a thousand yard stare. I'm just a daily and I still felt the second-hand exhaustion of it all. Personally I was a little under slept and undernourished. The milk in our fridge curdled and I didn't find out until I poured it all over my precious Fruit & Fibre. Even now I'm back home enjoyingy evening I just feel like the husk of a person. A proper night's sleep will set things right, and right now that sounds better than a paid holiday.

Healthy Competitive Streak

The social weekend continues. I got a chance to rest up after last night's exploits, which put me in good stead for a a pair of back to back board game sessions. We met up with Mark and Lucy for a BBQ and board games lunch, as we packed down the last game Rebecca and I whizzed across Bristol to head to a new friend's house for dinner and more games. Both old and new chums today basically, all united by a healthy competitive streak and a love of games.

Delicious Sweat

In spite of getting 8 hours sleep, I still woke up groggy. And in my living room. We're still down there in the heat wave and it still caught me off guard when I woke up. Rebecca felt identical to me, headachey and in a stupour. So we both took it super slow, careful not to overexert ourselves in the heat. I had a long Birthday blowout party to go to later and I wasn't in any state to head out without a midday nap.

15 minutes later I was a whole now man. I was then at the pub have chats, on a boat having pints, watching England play in the world cup, then onto a bar for a final bout of drinks and dance. About 5 years ago as the mist of COVID was starting to lift I remember going out to dance with some crew, one of them was especially eager for a real session. "I just want to taste somebody else's sweat in my mouth". That was the line that always stuck with me - a true measure of how hard you're looking to go. I daresay a few innocent bystanders may have gotten a few droplets on their tongue.

Base Runner

Did more of my thing on set today. Wrangling ice and all other manners of things that land in my lap. We all thought the heatwave would be subsiding but we were still in for a warm one but we just about got through it all. I inadvertently ended up doing a spot of Base Running this afternoon. I stood by for cast, put them in the chair and grabbed lunch orders - all in a day's work for little old me. 

Sleeping Downstairs

 Got into work early to get a handle on the shoot day, wrangling ice and waters at every turn. The temperature in my car just climbed up and up and up. Good thing I was sat in it all day, slowly cooking myself.

Rebecca and I moved the mattresses downstairs this evening so we could sleep in the comparitivly cool living room. I slept so badly recently that I'm about ready to drift away. 

The Ice Man Cometh

Back on a Production truck, sorting out problems and making dreams come true. For the most part I was sourcing ice for the crew, money is apparently super tight so the gold prize is getting ice for free from local venues. A bowling alley obliged us for a Google review, but after that it was tough pickings. When I got home I batch made iced tea for myself and Rebecca - I sampled the tester and ended up drinking all of it. Now we got three liters of the stuff! 

At the tail of of the day we caught wind that our local board game place was hosting an impromptu evening, mostly to flaunt their new air conditioning. Like lizards who just wanted off their hot rocks, we made the pilgrimage up the road to enjoy feeling a normal temperature for a couple of hours. 

Ice for Days

Just been batch making ice cubes for most of the day, hording them like a squirrel. Every 4 hours, cubes come out the tray, into a box, tray refilled, rinse and repeat. Got enough for doomsday now, also known as tomorrow.

Only twice in my life now have I seen a Red Weather warning for heat, and of course it's those two days where I'm going to be driving around in a car without air conditioning. I'll be careful mind, plenty of water etc, but it's just a sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in. Just before bed tonight I played some online games with Louis while I sat in the hottest room of the house. I kid you not, the heat started to get to my computer, causing all sorts of problems. Guess I'll just back off for a couple of days.

I'm back on a job for just over a week now, parachuting as a covering member of the Production team. It ain't glamorous, but it pays the bills. 

Toy Story 5

With a couple of days work coming up I treated today as a mini finishing things up day. My current game and book were completed before midday and as a small bonus I taught myself how to make a decent iced tea to combat the heat. I nailed it right out the gate I'm pleased to say - and I don't even like tea! Better still ai think I cracked open the writing project I'm doing, I had one of those epiphany moments on how to restructure it to make my conclusion hit harder.

And EVEN better yet, we took Louis and Rachel up to see Toy Story 5. If you thought the fourth one was unwarranted, then you may want to skip this one. The franchise formula is a bit long in the tooth now and the sense of danger and creativity wanes with every entry. I know it's folly to believe that a long-standing sequel to something that should have probably ended years ago might still have the magic, but Toy Story 5 is inessential. 

How Many Toy Stories?!

Sunday's a meant for lazing around and catching movies on the hoof. We're heading to the cinema to watch Toy Story 5 tomorrow, so Rebecca wanted to refresh her memory with the fourth one. It sure is the black sheep of the bunch (maybe 5 will be even moreso, TBC). While it still has all the heart you'd expect, the pacing and sense of humour is way out there, disconnecting it all from the previous movies. I mean, it's still a good time, but it ain't exactly hall of famer. Guess we'll see how 5 holds up tomorrow.

Calm Before the Warm

The calm before the warm today. It's also one of the only weekends we have coming up without any plans so we enjoyed being coach potatos. I was playing games and reading my book for the most part, quietly chipping away at my hobbies. Since it wasn't so hot we roasted a chicken today so we wouldn't have to put the oven on to cook so much over next week. That and we stocked up on ice creams. Bring it on heatwave.

Backrooms

Bided my time today doing all the usual bits and bobs. The main event was a trip out to the cinema with Rebecca a couple of my old work gang to watch Backrooms. We've done quite well in getting through some modern horror films together now, I guess we all just commiserate together in our fear. This was our first attempt at a big horror film on the silver screen though and it was a huge success. It helped the film was just the right amount of scary. Lots of disconcerting imagery, liminal spaces and handheld cameras. Considering most of the film consists of great actors looking concerned as they silently navigate a labyrinth, the tension was maintained throughout and it went by in a heartbeat. We've been really treated to a lot of horror films that don't fit into the 'quiet, quiet, bang' category in the last couple of years and I'm a firm believer that horror should delight more than it scares.