Another one down

Who needs parents? We had a great Christmas yesterday, for all 3 of us (Ben, sis, me) our first away from home. Our menu: roast potatoes (with garlic, rosemary), sweet potato, baked field mushrooms with goat cheese, yorkshire puddings (Fliss and I ate 17 each!! They were smaller than usual, but that's still a good effort!), beans and mini zucchini with pesto and gravy. Yeah. Total awesomeness. Plus a few glasses of wine and some Baileys. Oh, and mixed berries with clotted cream for dessert. No-one was missing the turkey.

Basically we watched DVDs all day. TV (Extras, Gavin & Stacey) and classic movies (Errol Flynn's Robin Hood and Casablanca). A perfect Xmas. Sis went to bed at 10pm because she was so full. Then today (Boxing Day) she has gone to visit a friend in Norwich. I can't take Norwich seriously as a place, thanks to Alan Partridge. There are a few locations in Britain that suffer from that problem in my mind, they've been mentioned in some famous sketch or comedy show and now that's all I associate them with!

Working NYE, so no exciting plans there. But I should be finished in time to go and see the fireworks on the Thames.

Hope you all had a great (hot) Xmas and are enjoying your holidays.

xxx

Merry Xmas to you and to you...

I can't believe this year's almost over. It's been quite a big one! And next year looks like it will be almost as hectic (not quite as intense, because I have no plans to get married again or move country!) If The Bacon has her way (my new boss, for those who don't know) then I'll be making 4 films in the first half of next year - two docos, a corporate for the theatre company and a viral campaign about illegal immigrants.

It's just a pity I won't see Ben for most of the year! That's going to be weird. It's been pretty nice having him here. At the moment both my flatmates are away (back home for Xmas) so we have the house to ourselves. Almost like being a real married couple.

I've got some meetings with journalists first this in the new year. Just some meet and greets, to introduce them to the organisation and to me. The media here is crazy. And I have to say that it's a poor reflection on the British people how crap their media is, because there is so much competition here that if the Brits want high-quality journalism they can get it... instead the highest selling papers are the awful tabloids (I think the Sun is the biggest seller, Murdoch's contribution to the UK scene). People even read the News of the World - which is that paper that often reports on aliens landing and huge imaginary sex scandals. I thought it was a joke! But you see people reading it on the tube!

Here is a nice little summary of the British press to leave you with, from comedian Russell Howard. The quality of the video isn't great, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the content. The sad thing is that it's true.

Merry Christmas!

xxx

Christmas craziness

This week has (thankfully) been a bit more relaxed than last week, probably because last week I tried to shoot a film in amongst working 2 jobs! It was a bit stressful, but the film was for a competition and is now up on Youtube. Check it out (it's very silly, but I think it's funny!)

The film had to somehow be inspired by this short story, which is quite absurdist and our interpretation is loose to say the least! Basically we started thinking about what furniture gets up to when people aren't in the room.

My theory over here is I'm just going to enter everything and anything. Put myself out there. However I can. Hopefully next week though I'll have some time to relax over Xmas and coming into the new year!

xxxx

Une nouvelle expérience...

Living with my new multi-lingual housemates has been really fun so far. My French housemate, AB, made the most typically French dish the other night (no, not snails). It was something her grandma had taught her and seemed to involve balls of batter (boiled) with grilled halloumi and chunks of ham. So pastry, cheese and meat, not a vegetable in sight! The German, SJ, seems to eat more generic food (not just sausages, par example) but she gets unnaturally excited when I offer her a beer! I think she used to share a beer with housemates back home but AB doesn't seem to drink beer, so perhaps she misses the experience. I've never had such a positive reaction to such a simple offer before!

Very busy week at work, which was good, and I have training for my new job at the Barbican on Mon/Tues so this week could be busy too. Luckily I don't have something on every night, like I did last week.

And Ben arrives in 2 weeks!

The next dilemma, now that the house and the job are sorted, is what to get Ben and Fliss for Xmas...! Christmas carols have been haunting me in supermarkets and cafes since the start of the week. And it will only get worse from here. Ugh.