Last Day of Briars Wood and Last Time Ever I'll Be In Hatfield

The view from my window:

So my last night ever in Briars Wood I spent helping Casper match his and Chris's socks. It was actually quite relaxing and very amusing. After that I was packing my stuff until 3 in the morning and I still haven't quite finished. I ran out of boxes and I can't put things in bags (my Dad doesn't like that when hes packing the car) so I stopped. I also need to clean the room, which I will do once the room is empty.

Reflecting on the past three years I realised that I have done things I never thought I'd do.
- Buy a teapot because now I drink tea, but only vanilla and strawberry tea
-I stopped biting my nails and they've grown (I did this for my cousin's wedding)
-I've never eaten so much pizza in my life! Dominoes is now my weekness
-I really got into comics while at Uni. I read them while at College but at Uni I discovered even more
-I wrote my last essay, a 6,000 word dissertation, which I'll never have to do again
-I've been introduced to films and tv shows I didn't think I'd watch

In conclusion, I'm so glad I went to Uni and now I'm really sad I'm leaving. I'm going to miss my awesome housemates and I'm going to miss getting up whenever I feel like it and I'll miss my free time which I could use to randomly go to the cinema. But I am happy to leave Hatfield as it is . . . well this sums it up:

This basically sums up Hatfield. Farewell my lovely, in some ways I shall miss you! And thank you UH!

Three Interesting Walks and One Hell Of An Exhibition

On Thursday afternoon I planned to go see a photography exhibition which was near Brick Lane, which I did, but I also discovered (for myself) an awesome part of London.

I got off the tube at Old Street and immediately got myself lost. I was looking for a particular exit and I literally walked down every turning before i found the right road, at least I found a Starbucks on the way. Then I followed my map to an almost alley called Rivington Street. It was awesome! Pubs and unusual cafes and shops and galleries galore. It was my kind of place. I was actually looking for a particular bookshop called Artwords because I knew it stocked a certain magazine. It was amazing, it had every kind of art/photography/fashion/some film magazines, I wanted to buy them all! After I bought Popshot (a really awesome poetry and illustration magazine) I continued on my journey to find the exhibition. I walked through Shoreditch and a few other places and passed some really awesome looking pubs/bars/taverns that I really need to try out at some point. I eventually found my way, thanks to my trusty map, and passed an Urban Outfitters, this location was complete. I think I have to live there.

I finally reached the Photography exhibition and it was incredible. The work was amazing, I was seriously impressed. There were quite a few University and Colleges there, all with their work displayed in unique ways. Each school was complete with an open bar but I only took wine from Farnham's bar. I went there to admire Rachel's work and was awesome. (Rachel's website link is at the bottom of this page)

If you get a free afternoon go and see the work. The exhibition is on until 27th June at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. In true Katie fashion I did go round to all the school's work and picked up postcards of various work because I do like picking things up. The journey back was a tad harder as I had injured my ankle but I was a little tipsy so the pain didn't set in until I got on the train. I had a really good time. The whole exhibition was amazing and can't stop saying it.

Things To Do In Hatfield When You're Dead

I should say now that this is not a crime blog and this entry should not be compared to the 1995 film Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead.

There is a difference in lists when talking about things you should do at University and things you must do in Hatfield. The main difference is that the latter is really short.

1. Visit Hatfield House - I did this only recently, after three years I went to the only famous place in Hatfield.
2. Go to St Albans - I have been to St Albans quite frequently, especially after the discovery of the amazing olives and bread at the weekend market.
3. Go to Watford - Went there once in first year. This is because my friends wanted to go shopping and they offered me a lift, otherwise I don't think I would have gone and after seeing it, I won't go again.
4. The Forum - This is also a Uni thing to do but its a Hatfield thing now because anyone can go to it. The nights out there were better last year, mostly because The Forum was new and interesting, now everyone is poor and going out is a luxury.
5. Various places/shops in the Galleria - most importantly the Chinese buffet and the milkshake place, must try a milkshake place.
6. House parties and BBQ - As there isn't much to do around Hatfield have a party or BBQ once in a while is vital, plus you don't have to spend too much as you can buy all the beer and other delightful drinks as much as you like.

But I have added a few more of my own . . .
- Ride the awesome Tiger Bus to St Albans. Its an amazing orange bus that just appears when you most need to get the bus. Its the cheapest bus (80p) for a ride anywhere!
- Try a Hatfieild's Best Kebab
- Late night run to McDonald's but only after a night out at The Forum
- Only nighter in the Library then . . .
- An early morning (5am) run to Asda for a snack
- Take a taxi to and from Uni because you're too lazy/tired to walk
- Visit the props cupboard in TKMax, so many pointless random objects
- At a house party, burn a few unwanted items that you find around the house
- Sleep in your clothes you wore the night before
- Have an argument with a Jehovah's witness on your doorstep
- Watch Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (many times)
- Have a True Blood marathon or any other TV show marathon
- Make a meal from scratch or make some cupcakes

That's all I can think of at the moment, but these were some highlights and a few things that I have yet to do but I have a week left in Hatfield so I could actually complete the list!

First Wedding By The Sea and More Film Festival News

Last week was the first wedding I had been to and it was definitely a day to remember. It was my cousin Claire and (her now husband) Jeff's wedding. Set by the sea in the forgotten area of Cornwall, it was picturesque to say the least. The ceremony took place in a church on a hill and the bride arrived in a horse drawn carriage, apart from the really mean and angry vicar, the ceremony went well. It was quite amusing during the hymns, as next to no one was singing. In my defense I cannot sing hymns anymore, I sang quietly to the hymns I had the words to though. After the ceremony we all waved the bride and groom off as the rode away in their carriage and we all made our way to what I can only describe as a film set because it looked too amazing to be real. Polhawn Fort, an amazing place, with a breathtaking view of the sea and its own private beach path (middle photo is the view from the garden of the fort). We all enjoyed some peach belinis, I had four then we all had a really good meal, delicious desert, extremely delicious cupcakes instead of cake (good choice) and plenty of rose wine, which I did share and later stash away behind the bar with my drinking pal for the evening. But of course all that wine did cause me to fall down, actually more like disappear, I even have photographic evidence of this event. The evening got better when the dancing began and even better when the silent disco started. Yes there was an awesome silent disco at my cousin's wedding. The entire wedding was great fun and I'm definitely looking forward to my cousin's (Claire's sister, Jeanette) wedding next month.

In other news, the Cinematique student film festival is becoming bigger than I thought. The festival featured in a new film related  New Empress Magazine, here is the link:

http://newempressmagazine.com/2011/06/13/rub-shoulders-with-rising-film-stars/

Ah Man, I Was a Cupcake

So I have difficulty spelling especially when typing. I keep making this mistake on twitter and not everyone understands what I mean, for example, the title of the post.

The real news is this, on Tuesday at the Visions Festival, all the shortlisted films were shown after a few talks in the morning. I was quite nervous when I had to introduce my film. I didn't really say much just 'this is Space Detective and its about a young writer with writer's block and actually was written when I was trying to write something else. I would also like to thank my cast and crew, they were awesome' and then I ran off stage.

Later were the awards. I'll hurry this along, basically, as I sat there while Jan Harlan (the late Stanely Kubrick's producer on many of his films) gave a little speech about good scripts, I began to get even more nervous. I didn't think I would win but then he said 'I'm going to give the award to the Space Detective' and everybody started clapping, I wasn't sure whether to get up or not. When I finally moved from my seat and got up on stage, I was really shaken and didn't know how long I could smile for. Jan gave me the award and Howard handed me some yellow flowers, then I ran off stage, after saying thank you about a thousand times. I really didn't think I would win, I honestly didn't think I would. But I'm couldn't be happier that a drag cameo, some crazy genres, a spoon covered in blood and a pair of over sized glasses won the prize.

So there you have it, Space Detective won The Kubrick Prize for Fiction at Visions Festival. Thank you again to me awesome crew and amazing cast!

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!