The Perfect Cookie

Rebecca called in sick today on account of her hay fever flaring up massively in the night and she just felt rotten when she woke up. I figured it was my good boyfriend duty to take her mind off it somehow and try to do something a little fun and productive while she was moping around. So after watching a few videos on how to bake 'the perfect cookie' we decided to take a stab at it ourselves.

All the recipes we read called for toasting/browning butter which is something I've never done before but I tell you what, it was totally worth it. We dolloped out blobs onto a baking sheet like so:

They always look a bit funky before being baked, but once they came out, they looked like a bloody treat. Have a nice close-up shot so you can bask in it's glory - if you press your nose up to this picture you can actually smell fresh baked cookies.

 

In case you couldn't tell by the tone of this blog, we were very pleased with how they turned out. So far, they are the best cookies I've ever baked too!

In between all the baking, I applied for another job and generally pampered Rebecca back to health, I think she's doing much better now and hopefully she's much better in the morning.

Last Day of June

Here we go, yet another review video up on Youtube now, this one if for Last Day of June, a pretty cool indie game adapted from a music video. I'm really pleased with how I cut this one and I tried out a few effects here and there that I think help out the look and flow of the piece. I do feel like my writing and script could have been a little sharper towards the end though, but I know now not to make the same mistake twice. Enough modesty and self evaluation though, here is my review for Last Day of June:

 

Finished the video and set it exporting, in that time I made myself the most filthy omelette I've ever made. I was starving at this point, and I just wanted to get something proper cheesy in my belly, can't say I wasn't satisfied as I ate it. I'm a noisy eater anyway Rebecca can attest that I chowed down on this pretty loudly. Eat large, live proud.

Ethereal Editing

Woop Woop. Finished writing up the latest review for my next video and I've already done about 1/3rd of the video editing process. I never pick the easiest games to make video reviews of I realised, I often pick ethereal experiences with no action in and those kind of games rarely have any fist-pumpingly awesome footage to splice in. Think I'm doing the best I can though to keep my video engaging.  

On a slightly less fortunate note, the filming job I went to an interview for last Friday got back to me and its a no from them this time round. I sent them a nice email thanking them for their time. Now my July is looking a lot more free than I was expecting. 

Way with Writing

Big old writing session was on the cards today, went through the script for my upcoming video and I've taken it up to 95% completion. Eager to get it done and dusted now so I can get it out of my life. I realised that I basically end it on a low note before giving it a recommendation so the whoel thing feels a bit false. Probably need to add a small bit at the end to make it a bit softer. With any luck it'll be written up by tomorrow and I'll have started the editing process.

Aside from that Rebecca and I have booked our flights to Spain for this years Youth for Europe excursion. Having looked through the itinerary I think it's going to be a really lovely one and I'm really looking forward to going.   

Badminton Doubles

Mark and I have taken a bit of a shine to badminton over the past few months and this time Rebecca and Lucy came along for a few rounds of doubles. Took a little bit to remember that I had a team-mate and I should let Rebecca have a swing or two instead of bull-charging the shuttle every time. We had some pretty even games though and Mark said afterwards 'ah, I'm glad it didn't feel so one-sided this time.'

Pearless and my second year housemate Beth came to Bristol for a day visit so Mark and I showed them the sights. We hit up the Bristol Museum, Pinkmans bakery and Weatherspoons for a top of Park Street hat-trick and that made for a really solid few hours. Think they both had a good day and they are already speaking about the next time they can come and visit. 

Final Ghibli

Spent most of the day looking after a poorly Rebecca since her hay fever reached terminal velocity.

As of tonight I can now say that I've seen every feature film produced by Studio Ghibli. Louis and Rachel popped round for fish and chips and to watch When Marnie was There which was a nice way to send off the studio. While the central mystery of the story was paced well and the characters were very human, the real showstopper was the smaller details in the background. Interior shots were jammed with tiny things that added a real warmth and charm to the whole piece, grounding it further and making me marvel once again at the talent within the studio.

Speedy Interview

Haven't had a job interview for a little while so I was a little nervous going down to London today to apply to be a runner for A League of Their Own. I was a few roads away from their offices writing up some notes on how to best sell myself and I was about to strike my esteem-boosting Superman pose when Alex Haddon, my old housemate, bumped into me. Crazy coincidence that and chatting with him made me feel much more at ease.

When it came to the actual interview it was over in a literal heartbeat. I would say the whole thing lasted just over five minutes. They had my CV printed off and I took them through what I did super recently and they seemed pretty happy overall. Just a bit peculiar how quick the whole thing was.

Figured I was going to spend a lot of time traveling today so I tried to do something to fill that time and a good book always does me well on long journeys. I packed Rebecca's copy of Animal Farm, I noticed it was only 100 pages long and I thought I'd make a big dent in it, instead I read the whole thing in one sitting - really enjoyed it. Sure the analogy is a little transparent, but I didn't mind, it was like experiencing Russian political history in fast forward and having studies the rise and fall of Communism at A-Level, I had a vested interest.