How is it February and Week 6 ALREADY?

We've allready had 5 weeks of term! I've been so bad at blogging.. i've just been very busy!! I'll write an update soon x

: 06 Feb 2006 21:26 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Technical Gospel

Ok.. I despise the term 'techie', but david showed me this last night and I found it quite ammusing…

The Book of Genesis

In the beginning there was the Stage, and the Stage was without lights or sets, and darkness was on the faces of the actors. And the Technical Director (hereinafter referred to as the TD) said, "Let there be Lights!" and the TECHIES worked and wired, and there were lights. Spotlights and specials, areas and backlighting – yea, lights of all shapes, sizes and hues. And the TD saw the lights, that they were well aimed and focused, gelled according to the scene, and no more was there darkness on the faces of the actors. And it was good. And the evening and the morning were the First Day.

And the TD looked upon the actors and saw that although they walked in light, they did walk upon a bare stage, and had no place to be, and the TD was moved to pity. And the TD said, "Let there be a Set!": and the TECHIES scrambled and worked, and there was a set, with platforms, wagons, stairs, and furniture of various types and sized, each according to the need. And the actors did walk within the set, and did have a place to be. And the TD saw the set, that it was good, and the evening and the morning were the Second Day.

And the TD saw the actors, that although they did have a place to be, they did look like fools, for they waved their hands, clutched at open air, and struck each other with nothing. And in his heart, the TD was moved to pity. And the TD said, "Let there be Props!": and the TECHIES worked feverishly and did buy and build, and there were props. And they were good, and the evening and the morning were the Third Day.

And the Costumer looked upon the actors, and saw that they did go forth in blue jeans and the Costumer knew that this would not due. And the Costumer said, "Let there be Costumes!": and the TECHIES did cut and sew and shape, and there were costumes, each sized to the actor, according to the play, and keeping in with the role. And no more did the actors go forth in blue jeans, and the Costumer saw the costumes, that they were good, and the evening and the morning were the Fourth Day.

And the TD watched the play, and saw that the actors did wait in silence, and was moved to pity. And the TD said, "Let there be Sound!": and the TECHIES worked and taped, and there were sounds, each according to its place and cue, all at the proper levels. And the TD heard the sounds, that they were good, and the evening and the morning were the Fifth Day.

And lo, all these works were completed in five days, showing that if God had used sufficient TECHIES in the first place, He would have finished sooner.

The 15 Commandments

1 Give not unto the actor his props before his time, for as surely as the sun does rise in the East and set in the West, he will lose or break them.

2 When told the placement of props by the Director, write not these things in ink upon thy script for as surely as the winds blow, so shall he change his mind.

3 Speak not in large words to actors, for they are slow of thought and are easily confused.

4 Speak not in the language of the TECHIE to actors, for they are
uninitiated, and will not perceive thy meaning.

5 Tap not the head of a nail to drive it, but strike it firmly with thy
strength.

6 Keep holy the first performance, for afterwards you shall party.

7 Keep holy the last performance, for afterwards you shall party.

8 Remember always that the TD is never wrong. If appears that he is, then you obviously misunderstood him the first time.

9 Leave not the area of the stage during the play to go and talk with the actors, for as surely as you do, you will be in danger of missing
your cue and being summarily executed or worse.

10 Beware of the actors during scene changes, for they are not like unto you and are blind in the dark.

11 Beware of actors when flying in walls, for they will stand and watch and get crushed.

12 Take not thy cues before their time, but wait for the proper moment to do so.

13 Take pity on the actors, for in their roles they are as children, and must be led with gentle kindness. Thus, endeavor to speak softly
and not in anger.

14 Listen carefully to the instructions of the Director as to how he wants things done – then do it the right way. In the days of thy work, he will see thy wisdom, give himself the credit, and rejoice.

15 And above all, get carried away not with the glow-tape, or thy stage will be likened unto an airport.

There are a couple more to follow at some point…

xx

: 01 Jan 2006 21:11 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Christmas!!

So nearly there… It seems ages ago since the end of term, yet christmas is almost upon us once more. For some reason though the world doesnt' seem ready for christmas quite yet.. there doesn't seem to be the spirit i've experienced in the past, but maybe its called growin up and no longer being an excited little child waiting for santa.

I spent Wednesday in london with alice, lucy and chris..it was a really lovely relaxing day spent wandering around selfridges, hamleys and coffee shops. we also had a lovely lunch in covent garden, though we could have been in the med due to the outdoor heaters being on a slightly too high setting! It was really nice to see uni people again and i know i keep saying that, but for some reason this year it just is!

On the christmassy front.. I did put up our tree the other day and decorate it yesterday.. It is way too big once again and needed 4 ft cutting off the top! It now stands at 10ft and looks as if someone has planted a forest in the room (and it does look a bit like a 4 year old child has decorated it..):

I also picked up the turkey with dad this morning and bought some last minute presents.. Aside from that, today has been spent in the studio finishing the flooring off..

merry christmas everyone! xxxx

: 24 Dec 2005 02:08 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

coldplay..london..holidays..

Somehow we're allready two weeks into the christmas holidays, and although i've got quite a bit of work done, i still feel as if i've been unproductive. I went to see coldplay at earl's court on wednesday which was an amazing concert. The stage rig was amazing with intelligents flying down from the main rig and projection screens apearing from nowhere. The show was run off Midas' XL4 and used a v-dosc array.. it sounded nice!

anyhow.. i got hold of a load of complimentary ice skating tickets for kew gardens and took some friends to skate on thursday evening. It was nice to see people i hadn't seen in a while and we seemed to fall straight back into old friendships.. skating was a lot of fun.. (it didn't rain this time!) Although Maxine is at uni here, we don't see each other enough, so it was really nice to catch up with her and David. It was also really nice to see Talulah and her new boyfriend Damien who was lovely! I now have blisters eveywhere :-(

Si came back down from Edinburgh for Christmas on thursday eve and requested picking up from Kings Cross with his 2 suitcases and 3 guitars!!

For some reason i was fed up of being in London, so have come back up to Warwick in an attempt to have some of my own space and get some work done.. i'm actually managing to get quite a lot done which is surprising! Might stay here for another couple of days, then head over to Oxford for Christmas time! yay x

: 17 Dec 2005 20:14 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Home

I've been at home for two days now and am already bored.. I havn't seen my parents properly yet as they've been away, but I have a feeling that they are going to drvie me mad when they get back. I have had the world's most unproductvie day.. I had another go at editing fame in my makeshift studio in my bedroom:

The desk is now in the way preventing me from working properly. By the end of Christmas it will be in its new home in Oxford in what will fingers crossed be a fully working editing suite. Anyhow, the audio is going well, though i think a bit of dubbing may be required :S…

I started clearing my room out last night when I realised that this will probably be the last year that this is 'home home'.. I came across enough rubbish/old notes/things-i-will-never-need-and-really-don't-know-why-i-have to fill five bin bags!! Room doesn't look less cluttered though…This evening I decided to sort my clothes out as my drawers and cupboard were overflowing. I discovered i had over 25 different promotional/show t-shirts.. 16 paiirs of jeans that fit…too many t-shirts..but not enough jumpers.. I want to keep some of the show tops that have sentimental value, but some have gone in the bin.. I really don't need 16 pairs of jeans though.. maybe i should distribue them between london, oxford and warwcik.. but thats still 5 pairs per location.. Maybe i'll make a trip to the charity shop tomorrow morning unless anybody would like a pair of jeans!

While its playing on my computer… the new(ish) darkness album is great!! Right.. its now another night at gone 02:30 in the morning.. i need to get back into a sensible sleeping routine if i'm going to stand any chance of working productivly this holidays…

: 13 Dec 2005 02:32 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

City of Change..and chocolate

Four hours, fourty-five minutes on the train from London, Edinburgh is a magical city with so much to offer, yet often under appreciated. I am lucky to have managed to come up here three times since August and have always had a great time here. I'm currently staying with Ed for a few days and its been really nice to see him and catch up on all his news, as well as see my dear brother and find out all of what he has been up to. I think I managed 18 hours in London on Wednesday night/Thursday morning before heading off again, and after a train journey of screaming kids it was a lovely change to walk into the centre of Edinburgh. Ed, Si (brother), Matt (Ed's flatmate) and I spent today wondering around the town and shopping at the German Market. I did campaign to go ice skating on the outdoor rink, but unfortunately we ran out of time. Si and I then visited the Chocolate Soup Bar where we drunk melted chocolate.. and far too much of it.. it was soo nice though, and may even beat Harrod's chocolate cafe! This evening, Ed, Si and I went for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe which turned out to be a great evening. Although we all ate a bit too much, it was really nice to relax into old friendships and such a change to be away from campus! Having said that, I am still missing uni :S. My stay is however quite short as I have to be back in London on Sunday, so train is booked for Saturday evening.. lets hope there are no little children seated near me, and that GNER's wireless network is working for my return.. its a more productive way to procrastinate for nearly five hours..

: 09 Dec 2005 23:15 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Holiday Time

Its quite scary to think that i've now finished my last ever christmas term at university.. and indeed in full time education.. I've just arrived back in London from campus for a short stay before I travel up to Edinburgh tomorrow to see my brother and Ed. Aside from seeing We Will Rock You, I haven't been back to London since early September.. It was such a horrible feeling driving back into London. I know most people love London and everything there is here, but after spending 10 weeks in campus/leamington, its not nice coming back to polluted trafic ridden roads..

I started to have a look at the audio from Fame to see what we can get out of it, and it got me thinking about the past term. I can honestly say that this term has been the best so far at Warwick and its down to a combination of a course i'm enjoying, lots of lovely new people and not working for people in the union who really don't appreciate all your effort every night of the week. Thinking about nice things that happened this term.. i can up with the following:

– Fame!! – it has to be at the top.. it was fit
– Ice Skating in the rain after the Wizard of Oz – surreal but lovely evening
– Resigning from the union – a weight of my shoulders
– Joseph – a bit excessive but great fun
– Lectures for a course i actually understand and believe it or not, enjoy
– Getting to know loads of new people – love u all
– Spending endless time with friends just having fun
– Random shopping trips

I'm sure when i was thinking about this earlier there was a longer list, but i guess they fall into the above somewhere. The lase two weeks have been soo surreal.. MTW top b, Tech Crew chinese, Anna's Curry, Wizard of Oz, End of Term disco… i know i've spent too many evenings out, but i've decided that its my final year so i'm going to make the most of it!

: 08 Dec 2005 02:06 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

We're off to see the wizard

I've had a lovely day today.. every night this week has been really sureal for a number of different reasons, but all great nights. Monday saw MTW social at top b with a 'disney theme'. credit goes to jack for hercules… tuesday saw a tech crew social which i won't talk about on here, but it was really nice to catch up with certain people i havn't seen for a couple of weeks. Last night 6 of us went out for a curry in earlson and I've just returned from the best social i've ever been to. A load of MTW went to see the Wizard of Oz at Birmingham's Rep… and aside from a few kids crying/screaming.. it was a great show. We then went off to grab some food and ice skate on a temp rink by the big wheel. We all got a bit wet, but had a brilliant time skating! sorry its short, but i'm tired.. x

: 02 Dec 2005 01:29 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

weekend out of the bubble

I'm currently sitting in stow wondering why I havn't got anything done today when my main reason from coming away from campus to the middle of nowhere was to get some work done. Today i was supposed to:

1. Write a letter that is proving very hard to write!
2. Make some notes so that i can be interview by barclays capital over the phone on wednesday
3. Revise principles of finance for a test next wednesday
4. Buy some shoes (no i'm not a girl.. just have holes in mine)
5. Buy a new pair of jeans
6. Spend some time with the parents

I drove over here at 3:00 this morning and over the course of the day have only managed to drive into banbury in an attempt to buy some clothes, but failed miserably. My letter hasn't really started, I cerainly havn't done nearly enough revision / job applicatoin stuff and the parents decided to watch Strickly come dancing! Sticking with this point for a sec.. who in there right mind would sit through this show.. ok the dancing bit is quite cool.. but it goes on and on and on for like 3 hours!!! . Think I might drive back to campus soon so i don't have to get up too early here! On another interesting point.. my blog might have some interesting content next wednesday…xx

: 26 Nov 2005 23:01 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

maybe not..

Follow-up to Christmas from Jamie :: procrastination

ok.. so the christmassy appreance sucked…

: 25 Nov 2005 12:04 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem