Just One of The Fans

The other day, I got up early to go the office, early. I had intended to get their early so I could leave early. 

But that was until I saw an event on Facebook (like you do) saying there was a signing. Not just any signing though. To celebrate the up coming release of The World's End, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost would be signing of posters of the new film in the afternoon. There was a limited amount of people allowed (200) and they would be given wristbands.

I, of course rushed to HMV in the morning, early, to make sure I got a wrist band. 

Later that day, I got to HMV way too early for the signing and wondered around for a bit before going to stare at books in Waterstones. I got back to HMV bang on time to see the other 199 people waiting in que. We, the loyal and eager fans, all waited for ages for the three to turn up. They were 45 mins late. Not to mention that they were also in a rush as they had to be on a TV show later that day. So we weren't allowed photos unless it was from the que and instead of the DVDs, they were only signing posters. Can't be helped.

I didn't mind, I was meeting them. I had met Edgar Wright before, briefly at Movie Con a few years back. I have a blurred photo my friend took to prove it.

I was annoyed in the queue though as this totally douche had shuffled in front of me, I tried to trip him up, but in vain. He shuffled past the guy in front of me too, I really wanted to punch him. I hate queue jumpers, what's the point of pushing in front of two people?? None you fool! I really hope his signed poster was ripped or damaged on his way to dungen. 

Away, they were really cool (we had a little banter), just wish I could have had a photograph with them or a proper one of them.

When I got home an hour later, guess who was The One Show (terrible show by the way). Simon Pegg and Nick Frost being interviews about the film. So they really did have to rush right over.

No idea where I'm going to put my poster . . .

June Hit, Miss or Maybe

1. Byzantium - HIT

I would describe this film, not about vampires but about a mother and daughter on the run, which is technically right. The fact that they are immortal beings that live on blood is just an added detail. I though this film was so refreshing, especially if you compare this to other vampire genre films. The two leads are brilliant, playing the whore mother and the mysterious writer daughter. The way they have survived for years is intriguing but lightly touched upon which makes them more mysterious and in some part intimidating. The story of the brotherhood is well played out too, making the men the evil ones, which I liked, nice touch. The location which most of the film is set, a seaside town that seems a dead end but in fact begins a new chapter in the runaways lives. The daughter befriending a sick young man worked well too, this character has a reason to believe her story and has no fear of dying. The dying guy in question, Caleb Landry Jones. He was in X-Men First Class, Contraband and Antiviral, I've said it before but he is one to watch. Great cast, plenty of excellent British actors, story is good and not stereotypical. People should have given this film more of a chance and not just assumed, oh its a vampire film, its not. It is about survival.

2. Hyde Park on Hudson - MISS

I love all the actors in this film, especially Bill Murray and the underrated Samuel West, but the film was dull. Had to say it. The only good scenes were with the King and Queen (West and Olivia Colman), they were actually hilarious. The film, I thought was about the visit, when the King and Queen of England came to visit Roosevelt (Murray) to ask for help with WW2 but it wasn't. That part of the story was only a quarter of the time. The rest was so dull revolving around Daisy and her affair the President and how she discovers that he actually had affairs with loads of other women and how she was eventually ok with it. Terrible story basically. The rest was just making fun of English people which is always tedious. I waited for DVD for this and I'm glad. Very disappointing.

3. Much Ado About Nothing - HIT

Words are not enough to describe how perfect this film is. Shot in black and white in one (amazing wish I lived there) loaction, Weadon's house, the cast is just utter perfection and the play, well it's one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I couldn't ask for more! The cast, mostly from Weadon's past shows, used to gather at his house and read Shakespeare plays. So when there was a break between the end of Avengers shoot and post production, Joss Weadon shot this film on a very low budget and in a 12 days. There are a few stories going on but the one everyone knows is between Benedict and Beatrice who are are at war with each other but eventually fall in love as they are made for each other. Another main attraction to this film was obviously seeing Fran Kranz in a main role again, he plays the lovesick Claudio. I think I just love Shakespeare plays told in a contemporary setting that works.

4. The Aryan Couple - MAYBE

I saw a trailer for this film years ago and waited for the cinema release and then DVD release that never came. I found it on ebay eventually and watched it. It is a familiar setting, Germany, Nazi's are exchanging safe passage out of Germany to wealthy Jewish families in exchange or all their money. The story is based on fact which makes this film more terrifying to watch. The treatment of the people was hideous, as well as the non Nazi German people. The couple in question are working for the resistance and are servants to a wealthy Jewish family are being shipped to Switzerland. The couple are in fact Jewish themselves and try to escape. The isn't bad, it's well done but ultimately it is so-so. There are a few typical war story elements that don't make it stand out. Such as the one crazy Nazi officer who, for no valid reason, becomes obsessed with the couple. Things like that.

5. Behind the Candelabra - HIT

I don't know much about Liberace, just that line from that song 'Mr Sandman'. Steven Soderbergh's last film, and its a definite high end. Matt Damon and Micheal Douglas are a very convincing couple, so effortless, and very well played. I did think half the film was creepy but that just shows how good the acting was, then I was told, Liberace was actually even more creepy than that. The story is heartbreaking in places, such as when Liberace wants to change Scott's face to look like him. Scott later has a breakdown saying he has nothing, not even his own face. The film is carried by the two leads as it seems they are the only two in the film, this isn't a bad thing at all. It is a great biopic of sorts even though its seen from Scott' point of view.

6. Mean Girls Quote Along

Written by Tina Fey, who could ask for anything more. Apart from the above event!! I have only been to one quote along and that was the Labyrinth Masquerade Ball and that event was amazing. This one was a bit more low key. It was in the screen up stairs at The Prince Charles Cinema, which is smaller but on the plus side more intimate. We were greeted by a fabulous host, complete with pink shirt just like Damien from the film. He interviewed Mark Waters the director and he gave some details about the film that I, personally wasn't aware of. For example, Lindsay Lohan was originally going to play Regina and Amanda Seyfried was going to play Cady. The original script was also R rated and the director shot takes with Regina swearing like Joe Pesci in Casino. Classic. Being in a room with other die hard Mean Girls fans was great. We all laughed ridiculously at everything, the Pimms helped, and we all quoted together. Bliss. A fantastic event! No, a Fetch event. #FetchEvent

Mousehole and Homeward Bound

It was my last day in Penzance on Monday and I made the most of it. Firstly by keeping to my word by having a cooked breakfast. I was going to be out all day without rest so a bigger breakfast than usual would be fine.

I had to check out at 10am and I wanted a head start to my day as it would be cut short(ish). I usually got tired around 4pm anyway but I still wanted to explore some places in Penzance that I'd missed. I caught the bus to Mousehole the last place I wanted visit on my trip. I had been there once before when I was younger and I knew about it from the famous book The Mousehole Cat.

The bus ride went a different way to the previous days as Mousehole is only a 15 minutes away from Penzance even though it is in the same direction as Land's End. There were a few curious tourists on the bus with me and we all wondered around in the same direction. Mousehole is very small and as the lady in the Pilchard Press Tea Rooms told me, it is made up of 75% holiday homes and during the Winter months it is like a ghost village. It was very windy on the last day and actually quite cold. But that didn't stop me from climbing around the rocks near the harbour walls. I had done this before when I was younger. My parents showed me photographs when I got home. But after a while I needed some warmth so I went and had a Cornish Tea,  but with coffee. The scones were homemade this time, so extra delicious.

Then I wondered around the very shops, well art galleries. I wondered into The Little Picture Gallery and stared in awe some of the artwork in there. But the greatest surprise of them all was finding a book and artwork by one of my favourite artists when I was young, Michelle Cartlidge.

The owner of the gallery told me she lived just around the corner. I was tempted to go round and knock on her door but I thought that would be weird. The gallery owner was also an artist, and his wife and his son. They were selling a few postcards of their own work so I bought a few. I love buying postcards so I was more than happy to. I also bought a copy of the book above (and its signed!). This was my holiday present to myself, as well as that smugglers brew tea.

After getting excited over that little discovery I wondered into the only other postcard related shop, The Cat & Mouse. It was postcard heaven! I ended picking quite a lot in there, but I say you never have enough postcards.

I caught the bus back into Penzance and finally went to Archie Brown's vegetarian cafe. I treated myself to some homemade orange cafe (its was amazing) and some good old coffee. I sat there for quite some time writing about 10 pages. Then I picked up a Cornish Hen sandwich for the train journey and finally walked down historical Chapel Street. I had a look in some of the shops but The Artist in Residence Hostel was closed and I had really wanted to look around there. I also got to have a good long stare at The Admiral Benbow. Can you see the character on the roof? And yes that is a pirate flag.

After the walkabout I collected my bag from the B&B and made my way back to the train station. It was sad to leave. Unlike other holidays, you get that 'ok its time to go home now' but not with Cornwall. Maybe because its in the UK and doesn't feel like I'm leaving.

I was early at the station so I finished watching Hyde Park on Hudson (more on that later). Luckily this time round, there were mini TVs on the back of the seats on the train, so I had a great time watching Wallander and Vexed on the way home.

I had a great time in Cornwall and I will most certainly be going back!

Definitely a Lazy Sunday

I had a plan this morning which was rapidly changed. In fact I made the plan yesterday evening and it then changed this morning due to the fact that Penzance is a ghost town on Sundays.

 I got up at my usual early time, had breakfast, was slightly moaned at by the B&B owner for not having a cooked breakfast yet again, then went to my room to apply sun lotion, I had to be prepared this time. I was annoyed about the breakfast thing. If I don't want a cooked breakfast, I don't want it!!

As for the sun lotion being needed, it more as a precaution. The weather last night said the morning would be warm then when I checked again it said the afternoon would be. But as I walked through ghost town at 9:30 looking for any sign of life, I thought what the hell, I'm going to the beach today. I sprung into to action then. Tesco was open so I got a few previsions but no cider. They had a curtain drawn over it and I didn't want to explain I wanted to drink it on the beach. So no cider by the sea this time. But I still needed a towel and a mat or something to sit on. The only shop that sold towels was closed so I just borrowed from the B&B and then I wandered around until 10am for Argos to open, the only place that I thought would sell a cheap mat. Ans hazaar they did. A plan foam like map that was cheapish but as a beggar I couldn't choose. Still had to wait a bit for my bus though. I sat downstairs this time as it wasn't exactly warm. The sun shined a bit but the wind made it cooler.

I had my mat, snacks, towel and the means to get there. The walk down to the beach was short (perfect) and pleasant. I took off my boots and walked across the sand to find the perfect spot. I never thought I'd be sitting on the beach for the day just hanging out.

I got bored after 30 minutes. That's why I'm not a beach person. I was too distracted by the people walking on the coastal paths above my head on the cliffs. I listened to some music and wrote a few pages but after that I was back to just sitting. What I really wanted to do was swim. I had no costume though and no one to look after my things. So after an hour or so I gathered up my mat and bag and headed towards the sea. I carefully put them on a rock near the water so I could still see them. Not that any off the families with young kids or the randoms would bother with my stuff.

I walked along the beach in the water. It was great but very very cold. I went back and forth a few times. I really wanted to swim out though.

I'd been on the beach two hours but instead of catching my bus back I went and had a gammon steak at the local, recommended, Cable Station Inn. I also had the local beer, which was refreshing. Then I  looked at the time and realised I had eaten in 20 mins and still had over an hour to kill until the next bus. I hesitated about going to the Telegraph Museum across the way but the leaflet said allow an hour and half for the visit so I waited in the shade. I was freezing by the time bus showed up so I sat downstairs and fell asleep.

I walked along the entire promenade watching the waves crash against the wall. It was very cool by then I actually started to shiver. I came back to my room and had some warm tea.

Right now I'm about to pack up my things a check out is 10am but the hosts or whatever you call them, said I could store my shiz here while I go and visit one last place, Mousehole.

#adventuresofYellowBoots

Meet Me at Land's End

 I woke up this morning and it was dark. It was raining. Couldn't believe it. I got sun burnt yesterday and today it was raining. Thunder storms and everything. I was tempted to go outside to see a Cornish storm but I had breakfast instead.

I thought about waiting til later for the weather to change because according the BBC it would but I was impatient and went out as the rain calmed down. I was determined that my plans would not e ruined by morning rain. I got the explorer bus that takes you all around the coast from Penzance to St Ives. It was open top and the sun had come out just as the bus was heading out so I braved the upstairs. Luckily my seat wasn't wet from the rain so I settled in for about an hour's drive. It was brilliant. Although my hair was ruined once again and it was really rather windy up there on the top, I had a fantastic view of everything.

We reached Land's End and just as most guide books have said the gaudy 'Land's End Experience' is terrible and trivializing, it almost ruined what is meant to be a famous point in England. It is the end of the land. The visitor centre and all the bits and pieces near it are a waste of space. I walked through that bit to the famous sign post only to find a short queue of people lining up to have their photo taken but a random photographer and charged for something anyone could take. I skipped that part too and went straight to look at the view and walk along the cliff edge path. I thought the 'First and Last House' was interesting but even that was a lame cafe and gift shop. The view was amazing and the fact that I got to see it was enough. The tacky surroundings was something I could ignore. But I was very hungry by this point seeing as it was past midday.

I had planned to go to a recommended cafe but it was inland. I was told it would have taken me 15 minutes to walk. I was lied to. It took me 5 minutes to get out of Land's End and I wouldn't have made it back for the bus in time and I couldn't catch another. They are every 2 hours! So I had a meal at the cantine posing as a cafe. On the plus side, I was fed and I wrote a new story.

I caught the bus just in time, this time sitting on the lower deck as I was getting off at the next stop, Porthcurno. The lady bus driver had some skill maneuvering the giant bus around very narrow roads and dealing with very stupid drivers who kept causing traffic. After a short drive I arrived at my next destination.

I first caught a glimpse of the beach. Oh my god it was incredible. Now, I'm not the type to sit on the beach all day and blah blah blah, but oh my god it looked so inviting. It wasn't crowded and the water was so blue! It was clear it was bright, it made me want to run right in. I am hoping that I can get there tomorrow, but I'm hoping now everyone will do the same. More people seemed to arrive when I caught the bus back. I am also swimming costume challenged so I'll have to make do with paddling. I am also without a anything to sit on or dry my feet. But I was thinking of borrowing a B&B towel and pray they won't notice.

The trek up to the famous Minack Theatre was not as bad as the mount but by this point it was boiling hot. I had had to wear a scarf all day too as I was still sun burnt suffering, not fun. There was also not path for walkers so I had selfish cars zooming past me on the road. The layout of the Minack and the visitor centre is awesome, no other word to describe it. The out door theatre is situated 60 yards above the sea, I admit I did have trouble walking down to the stage on the sea side. The theatre staged its first production, The Tempest, back in 1932. Apart from Twelfth Night, I couldn't image a better production staged here. Mostly because of the island settings. I explored every part of it. If I had had more time I would have tried to see a play performed there. But after some refreshments and quick look around the gift shop I had to dash back down the hill to the bus stop.

Gravity was winning. The steepness of the road made me travel quicker but faster than I wanted, it was a hot day. I reached the bottom in 5 minutes whereas it took me 20 minutes to get to the top. And of course my bus was late anyway so I sat in the shade until I was chased away by a gigantic bee/wasp. I was also colder on the journey back. I sat up top for the view but I still fell asleep and woke up just before I saw a low hanging tree hit someone a few seats in front in the face. Most amusing and I ducked too.

As soon as I got off the bus I ran to Superdrug and got some after sun and sun lotion. On my way back to the B&B there was a man reading a map but trying to keep his coat that was tied up round his waste. He let it drop a little and then got muddled as he tried to walk, pull the coat and hold his map, but the coat was so far down that he couldn't walk. He then just dropped the coat and laughed. I was also laughing as it was very funny to watch.

 Moving on from me laughing, I am hoping that the weather is at least nice until tomorrow afternoon, I am going to the beach. Never thought I'd say that.

Round the Ragged Rock and Castle

I think I should call this the Adventures of Yellow Boots. 

Woke up to the faint sound of seagulls and the sea. Marvelous.

Had my breakfast and some amazing coffee. Unfortunately I've got none of my wheat and gluten free food with me, so apart from the pain, I really enjoy the fresh bread at breakfast.

I learnt-ish how to use the panoramic setting on my camera.

I set out bright and early (as the breakfast ends at 9:00 so I had to) for Saint Michael's Mount.

Even though I set out early with the intention of getting there early but unfortunately I had to wait til 10:30 for a bus. No bother I was treated to some locals moaning about the position of the buses, most amusing. The journey to Marazion, nearest stop to the mount, was really pleasant. Got to see the coast and the mount get bigger and bigger because even though I can see it if I step outside, it seems so far away.

The walk across the sand was amazing too. I haven't been to a beach since last year! And this was a beach trip that suited me, like the last time, no sun bathing, no sitting around but more exploring and watching people walk their dogs. There wasn't a huge crowd either that made its way to the mount across the causeway. The nearer I got the harder it was to simply skip across the stones.

Saint Michael's Mount is a famous 12th Century castle perched on an island, it is a, well famous landmark in Cornwall. Just before I started my trek someone complimented me on my boots and asked how do I keep them so shiny. It's the boots! The walk, once on the island, is at first a hike but then after climbing up the hill in the sun, it gets tiring. At the top though, the view is, I hate saying this, breathtaking. I had a huge grin on my face when I saw it. Being up so high made very hot and very windy, so naturally my hair was a mess the entire day.

The castle itself is interesting to look round. I stayed a long while in the library, it was so odd to have an almost modern room compared to the rest of the castle. Out on the terrace you get another chance to see the amzing views. As a Natural Trust lady said, you get a 306 degree view. Before I went into the little map room, a room with loads of maps on the wall, I turned around and this is the first thing I saw. A mummified cat.

 After that strange discovery I finally had a traditional cream tea at The Island Cafe. I sat outside as I thought it was too sunny to be inside. After about 5 minutes of my hair being flicked about I faced into the wind. It was easier to eat and drink, even though the wind was so strong it blew tea on my scones. Delicious! I also broke into my fancy notebook and wrote some pages of a new short story. More writing to follow (hopefully). I already had an idea before I arrived in Penzance for a story, it was inspired by recent events at work. More on that later.

I wondered around in the beach listening to Kings of Leon. It was just nice to relax and not have to worry about anything apart from what I was going to eat later. I treated myself to some ice cream too, it was so good! If my bus hadn't arrived I would have ran back for some more!

 The afternoon/evening was a little less hectic but still more walking around. I had walked past a cafe/deli place called The Cornish Hen yesterday and made a mental note to return. That I did. Sandwiches made on the spot for you as well as many homemade products. My Cornish ham with mustard and salad sandwich looked so good my stomach rumbled all the way to the sea front where, like yesterday, I sat and enjoyed the sea view. There is something s refreshing to walking out the front door and seeing the sea.

Tomorrow's plan is more packed, fitting in two trips in one. Mostly to save on bus fares.