A Most Excellent Week and End So Far . . .

Wednesday was the party, Thursday was the Exhibition opening, Friday was Chessington, Saturday was, well a long day and mostly just me sitting in the edit suit, but Sunday was surprisingly good!

Be prepared for a long blog today! I'll skip the party for now, on to the Exhibition. The bar that spent Monday painting was put to good use as a popcorn and drinks bar which was amazing we has jealous students from other courses trying to steal the popcorn away. The studio looked great made up like a little cinema and the edit suit was busy all night with people going in and out looking at our films. It was a success in my eyes. I did go and look at the multimedia exhibition upstairs and the special effects work in the gallery, some awesome designs and models. It was great to be apart of! But there was a downside, I had to go sit in the edit suit all Saturday afternoon, as no one had volunteered, all on my lonesome. No one came in for almost two hours, but then a group of people came in, loudly and couldn't work out how to watch the films. Obviously I helped them. Then later a really nice lady came in a watched my film, luckily she enjoyed it, said the image caught her eye. Yellow was definitely a good choice.

Friday we went to Chessington, truly a world of adventures! Not only did we go on a few rides, the dragon ride being the best, but we also watched a sealion show! It would have been even better if it hadn't been over crowded with children, who I might add, stole all the best seats and didn't even know what was going on! We also looked around the zoo which was also far better than I remembered. We found a very sad looking binturong all alone. Later I was told by one of the volunteers there that the baby binturong had escaped into the lion's area and it was killed by the lion. No wonder the adult binturong was so sad. On a slightly happier note we also went to the sealife centre where I touched a dog fish but then the salt water stung my hand. But the best was yet to be discovered because in the gift shop I found a seal money box and a seal mug, which I just couldn't resist!

This brings us to Sunday. Nothing special, managed to write a poem version of the epic story We Rode The Hills then I submitted my film to another festival, Cinematique. Its a student festival and it is at BFI IMAX 4th July, remember the date because my film, Space Detective will be on the programme! Its looking to be a very good day!

"I Like, Old Movies . . ."

I declare that May 20th is officially Old Film Day!

I wasn't really having the best of days yesterday all because of one thing, but I won't get into that. Anyway to cheer myself up I decided to watch some old films because I do so enjoy the classics. Started off the day with The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera, which is in my top ten favourite films. I needed something to make me laugh and think of the old times and it did just that. Only a handful of my friends know who the Marx Brothers are, which surprises me greatly, but only because I grew up watching the films with my family. Something that I'm very grateful for my parents doing, making me watch old films.

Of course when I was younger, ten or eleven, I'd be talking about The Marx Brothers or The Court Jester but all my friends wouldn't know what I was talking about, they thought all black and white films were rubbish. But hahahahh to them, because if it wasn't for those old movies who would we wear on our t-shirts and have on our accessories and what the hell would films be like now. Those silly children didn't realise then, but why do people keep remaking films and recycling stories, because old films are important. Of course, if I had said anything like that then (it would have been weird) they would just called me stupid or something childish.

After the Marx Bros I moved onto another classic, something from good old Frank Capra, It Happened One Night. I first saw this film with my mum after a shopping trip a few years ago. I had bought it on a whim as I had always wanted to see it. I had only ever seen the hitchhiking scene and a few photographs and that peaked my interest. It was great and it was ten times better than any rom-com these days. The formula was so familiar but used some much better. Plus it was actually laugh out loud funny.

Dinner time arrived which meant one thing, it was time to watch some film noir, The Maltese Falcon and my it was good. First time I had seen it and it was slightly confusing to start with but I picked it up. I couldn't work out if Sam Spade was an arse or just really smart and the mystery was a tad unusual but it was a really good film. I don't want to say too much don't want to spoil it.

Last but not least, I couldn't go to sleep without seeing one of favourite director's films. Hitchcock just before sleeping is always a good plan to me and I chose another of my top ten, Rear Window. One of my favourite film sets too, the background actors actually lived in on set while filming. Hitchcock made films so well that I couldn't imagine anyone ever remaking them. I block that Psycho remake from my mind and whenever I hear rumours of other remakes and just hope the plans fall through. You shouldn't mess with a masterpiece.

So next year remember, Old Film Day, May 20th!

I Fortold It And Behold It Is True

When it was announced, many were sceptical, many didn't even know what I was talking about. But here it is! The poster! And tomorrow, the trailer! When Empire magazine first did a spread on the film, that's when I got really excited. The pictures were amazing and the fact that it is written by Moffat & Wright, well this film couldn't get better! Jamie Bell as Tin Tin, perfect casting in my eyes! The possibility that there might be certain cast and crew members at Big Screen this year makes me really want to buy a ticket . . .

I Swear Miss Marple Was Filmed Here

I'll start off with a Eurovision mention. First of all, the country that won, Azerbaijan, had a really bad song and should not have won, but then I reminded myself that all the countries vote politically (apart from UK and Ireland) and plus, the competition was fixed. The comment made by Graham Norton at the end "Azerbaijan were desperate to win as they have enough money to host the Eurovision" this confirms that it was fixed, shame, I liked Moldova's entry.

Moving on.

Yesterday I (and Amy) finally visited Hatfield House and I was pleasantly surprised. After three years of living in Hatfield I finally saw the famous House. I expected to just see a large old house but no, there was a small courtyard of shops. The buildings were fantastic, it was great to see. It was also a strange feeling knowing that all this interesting history was in Hatfield! It got a little stranger when we walked around the MASSIVE park. It seemed to stretch for miles. It was amazing, mainly because I couldn't believe we were still in Hatfield. We couldn't understand where they had been hiding all this land. We did attempt to find the famous oak tree which Elizabeth I was sitting under when she found out she was Queen. But after a nice old couple showed us their guide we all realised it wasn't actually there, but instead a another tree was planted in memory of that tree. The house was amazing too, I particularly enjoyed the library, so many books. It looked to me, like a smaller scale Beauty & The Beast type library. But it was a shame the staff weren't so nice. I expect it was because we were students. When we first walked up the small hill and saw the house I did get pretty excited because I realised that an episode of Miss Marple was filmed there, that was definitely a highlight. 

Comics and Moomins and Olives oh my!

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, which I was lucky enough to stumble across while walking around town. Unfortunately there wasn't much left to choose from so I picked up the one called 'Witch & Wizard, which looked ok. I am more likely to pick up a comic that has 'wizard' in the title than one that has a fat guy in a helmet on the cover, most off putting. I haven't talked about comics yet and I really should have. Here are some comics that people should be reading:

• Fables (has 15 volumes published already and they have all featured in the New York Times best selling list)
• House of Mystery (same author, different crazy story every month, but I should say the earlier comics were a tad better than they are now, the story has strayed from the path)
• Morning Glories (quite a new comic, about a group of teenagers who may or may not have unusually skills. They are taken away to  a mysterious academy where more questions arise)
• Cinderella: Fables Are Forever ( the second spin off from Fables about Cinderella and her special missions)
• Dollhouse (filling in the gaps)

Next year I think I'll venture to a bigger comic book shop to see what treasures I can find . . .

Other than realising it was comic book day, I also ventured around the market and oh what a marvelous market it was. The food looked delicious, especially the mouth watering olives! I was treated to a large container of various olives and some amazing bread, a focaccia I believe which I enjoyed with some olive oli and balsamic vinegar. I was then treated to (one of my favourite animated characters) a Moomin keyring. A small event of the day, but I used to collect keyrings when I was younger so getting a Moomin one made the day!

The Scandalous Affairs of Barbara & Boris Hoganstein: Part 4

I apologise for the long wait dear friends, but now the story can continue.

Who was this man? What was his mistake? What secrets had he been hiding?

The last event that took place was the murder of the blonde intruder. He had made a mistake but the Hogansteins had made a mistake far worse than his. A murder is easy to commit, (whether it is passion or planned) but difficult to get away with. Left standing over the body of the scruffy haired stranger, the couple had to catch their breath. After a minutes' pause they looked at each other. And for a moment their arguments and quarrels seemed so small, almost forgotten. They reached out to each other, blood covered hands holding on so tight. They needed to act fast, after all they did have a Halloween Ball to get to.

First Barbara fetched the old red rug from the dinning room. It had been a wedding gift from her Aunt Sylvette, an aunt she wasn't too fond of. They both hated the rug and had only put it in the dinning for the benefit of Aunt Sylvette who had visited a few years back. The couple had never bothered to remove the rug once she had gone. Now it had a purpose, it was to be wrapped around the body and moved to the boot of the car.

Thinking it best that at least one of them show up to the party in good time, they decided to flip a coin to see who would bury the body. Boris called 'heads'.

The body was buried in Farlee Woods not far from the Watch Tower, close to an old oak tree. A special place for the Hogansteins as this was were they said they loved one another for the first time. Now it was where the body of the blonde intruder lay, six feet beneath the ground.

But what of his mistake and these secrets? These are questions that only the Hogansteins neighbours can answer. And I must say, they are a curious bunch.