Earlier than planned.

Yet again, the title says it all. Great, these concise titles that sum up what you want to say... except now I have to elaborate on precisely what's 'earlier than planned'; well.. it's this blog.

As you can probably tell from that strangely formed piece of self contained discourse; I'm in a blabbing mood, where I mainly blab about complete rubbish in an incredibly round about way. It's what I do best.

So the first week back at uni has been completed, and I've already had enough. I'm joking, it was brilliant to be back, surrounded by social interaction and cerebral stimulation. However, it was made very clear within that short space of time that this year is going to be hardcore! From having nothing to do on my 'to do list', I now have 2 music videos to produce, an interactive DVD game, a grading assignment, two research projects and the foundations of my dissertation to start. This is going to be a jam packed few months!

I mentioned the job on the Thames Clipper in my last job. I also mentioned how I wasn't going to get my hopes up, I was right. Nevermind! With all this work to be getting on with, I shall just tighten my belt and live without the burden of a part time job upon my shoulders.

Besides, I do get my freelance work every now and again.

I'm currently on a break from editing a short film. It's taken me at least 4 hours to just synchronise the audio with the video because the marker couldn't count so everything to was labeled wrong!

Now comes the fun bit of actually editing! Yay!

The mice in the house are still abundant. Not only has the the novelty value of the small creatures scurrying around now gone, but their numbers seem to be escalating, and their courage increasing. Last night they were just walking around the living room whilst me and Chloe were sat chatting. It wasn't even as if it was silent, they didn't seem to care about our presence at all. Arrogant little sods.

It's freshers week next week, which is why I'm battling to get as much work as I can done over the weekend. I won't be writing next week I don't expect, I'll show you why:

Monday: 8pm - 2am - Welcome to our SU night

Tuesday: 9.30am - 4pm - College, 8pm-2am - Pirates Pub Crawl

Wednesday: 1.30pm - 4pm - College, 10pm-3am - Inc Club in the O2

Thursday: 10am - 4pm - College, 10pm-3am - Foam and UV Party

Friday: 10am - 3.30pm - College, 8pm - 2am - 1920's Boat Party on the Thames.

This week is going to be amazingly fun, but at the same time is going to kill me! I actually only wanted to go to 2 nights, but after a bit of persuasion from the SU team, and a change of heart from me, I decided to buy a week ticket!

Write next weekend!

Dan x

Back to reality, but not necessarily normality.

Finally, the time has come to return to the magical place that is Ravensbourne. Thank God for that.

That's not the only thing that's looking up; my persistence of obsessive online job applications may have actually paid off, finally. I've got an interview for a job on the Thames Clipper. Not the most relevant or glamorous of jobs, but relatively easy, and nice cliche job for London.

Of course I won't get my hopes up too much. That'd be silly.

So I've had two days back in education, and it feels good! Once again I have a purpose, and not only a purpose in a bodged 70's building in deepest darkest Kent, but a purpose in a brand new lovely building in London. Although it has it's negatives (mainly the highly irritating alarm that goes off every 10 seconds because someones done something wrong with the security barrier), the new place is amazing, with an array of new, exciting and cutting edge pieces of kit for us to mess about with.

For instance, today we went into our new sound recording studio. It had many buttons, lights and faders, and hundreds of racks with various limiters and compressors etc. After trying to get it to work by pressing any button we could, we decided this state of the art ProTools HD desk had beaten us. I need to find the manual I reckon.

If you'd like to see a sneak peak of the new building, you can view this video which is pretty cool. (click here)

This year I have less money than last because officially I'm on the last year of my course, so I'm expected to have a full time job by May. That's not going to happen and is a small inconvenience, so I've set up a nifty little spreadsheet which works out how much money I have left per week. With this years enhanced social life (as we have a decent students union in the o2) I will need to keep track of the pennies and not over indulge too much!

Having said that, after yesterdays lecture, we went to the SU to celebrate the beginning of term. This started at about 2pm, and went on, with a move half way through to Wetherspoons, till about 9pm, where we decided we'd had enough and went to bed after acquiring a skateboard and a roadworks barrier. Tragic.

The 10am lecture on grading wasn't entirely appreciated by my brain.

So that's it! Back to reality (but not necessarily normality, nothing and no one is normal in this house!)

Write again soon!

Flan x

Blagging.

It's fair to say I came home at a great time, and whilst being here I've exercised the power of blagging as much as possible.

Blag (v)

British Informal

1. A violent robbery or raid

2. An act of using clever talk or a deliberate action to obtain something.

You'll be happy to know I haven't been holding up banks whilst wearing a pair of tights on my head.

During my week home, I will have gone out for 3 meals, obtained a free drink in a club and a free ticket to see 'The Social Network' at the county's best cinema.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to blag a free bus ride, unlike the girl yesterday who got onto her bus, fluttered her eye lashes and claimed that she had no money. Now that was good blagging. Oh to have a pair of breasts and an angelic voice...

Whilst being home I've also had my first glimpse of life in Loughborough without a car since I passed my test nearly 2 years ago. Living in London without a car is fine - there's ample transport at all times of the day and night and it's relatively cheap. Being round here in 'the sticks' by comparison is entirely different. Transport is expensive and relatively poor. I didn't really realise this until I got on a train for £4.50 for just 10 minutes. I didn't even get a seat! I don't think Boris would be very happy if he found out.

It's not just my blatant love for free stuff that makes me say it's a good week to be home (did I mention I also just got a free mcflurry?).

For the first time in a long long time, Chloe has walked independently. A lot. I honestly never thought I'd see that again, and it was amazing to be here to help and see her rapid progress. The other day she decided she wanted a drink. I told her she'd have to get it herself, so after a little help getting up, she walked into the kitchen and poured some coke... all over the floor. We found it hilarious. Mum was less impressed.

Back to uni next week! Finally...

Will write to let you know how it goes!

Flan x

Home straight!

I'm writing from my abnormally tall bed in Loughborough. You weren't expecting that, were you? Well, to be honest, neither was I.

After last years slow settle in to the hustle and bustle of London, I think subliminally, this year I felt as if I had to prove my self sufficiency to everyone (and myself) by leaving in a dramatic manner screaming I wasn't returning till at least Christmas. Well, not quite... however I didn't expect to be back in the home town quite so soon.

Let me make one thing clear. Living with other people isn't easy. I naively skipped merrily into this year thinking it was all going to be fun and games, which to be honest, it mainly is. However everyone has different ideas and ways of living, and inevitably this can cause friction. Especially in a house full of males where dominance is some kind of continuous battle. I'm losing.

Don't get me wrong. I adore my housemates and living in London, however with nothing to do, day in, day out, the most ridiculous and trivial things start to become like the riots between the EDL and their opposing union. 'It's your turn to do the washing up!' 'No it's not, it's yours!'

Now lets shut up and do the damn washing up! We did.

It's time to return to uni next week, and that will occupy us and offer us some structure to our lives. This takes me on to the topic of Ravensbourne College... Sorry! Not college; Ravensbourne Institute of Digital Media and Innovative Design. Wow that's a pretentious new title.

We had our induction last week and our first glimpses into our brand spanking new home located next to the O2 in North Greenwich. I've been quite sceptical about the move for the past few months. I've heard pretty negative rumours about the place and they seemed to set in. However after I'd actually seen the place... wow.

The new facilities we have are amazing, and literally every piece of equipment is brand new and industry standard. Post production I have decided is my new house, with the sound studio being my holiday home. Our new HD studio looks wicked and I can't wait to work with the footage coming from there.

Things are going to be very different from last year though. No longer will we be able to 'nip across' to the studio or the gallery to drop off a tape to the VT op, or to check a timecode. If we want to 'nip' we'll probably have to take around 15 minutes out of our schedule. Maybe these journeys will be unnecessary though with our new tapeless workflow and MAM.

It all works in principle, but will it in practise? Time will tell!

I can't wait to get started now, bring on the workload!

Write soon,

Flan x

Not much to report!

Nahh, the title says it all to be honest.

I hate waiting. I've always hated waiting, so this 3 week wait really does make the mic. That's right, whilst I watch friends having a great time at uni, I'm still sat here waiting for uni to start. On the up side there is enrolment and a tour next week to look forward to, even if I have lost the forms to enrol.. oops.

So this waiting around with lack of motivation started to get to me. I finally got out of the house last week to see my Dad in town. That was cool. He threw out a few suggestions and the next day I took them on. I woke up at a reasonable hour and went for a walk.. just following my nose. I walked up to the Thames Barrier and then along the river bank to Ravensbourne and back again. It was a really cool walk and I managed to grab some good photos along the way. They can be seen by clicking here.

I found it really weird how diverse the pictures were, from farm animals, to trains, to the thames barrier, aeroplanes, and city skyline. What an interesting place I live in! Excuse the dirt on the lens. I was most displeased when I saw it on uploading them to my mac.

Last night I went to pick up rushes for a new project which I intend to start on in a bit so that will keep me occupied for a while. In the meantime I think I'll sit here an continue listening to jazz. Brilliant :)

Whilst I wait the last stretch of these 'holidays' It has come to the point where I have run out of money. I would have been fine have my car not broken down.. Hmm. SO for now I'm on rations, it will probably do me good to be honest. The bank won't increase my overdraft limit - something about me 'being in too much debt' or something! Oh to be a student! Roll on the Student loan, that's all I can say!

Write soon!

Dan x

Rainbows, tears of joy, mice and ridiculous hours.

Well it has been a while! I'd like to start by apologising for the ludicrous style I know I'm going to write this blog in. Being up for so long sends me, to say the least, a little bit wappy. The reason I'm still up at 3.54am on a Wednesday night, I will make clear shortly. First though, lets start from the top!

So the last time I left you, I had just returned to London (I think..) and I stayed there for 2 weeks. Within that time, we did the usual stuff; dossing around, watching TV, sleeping etc. We also went to a party at my old house - this messed around with my head a little, seeing as I could no longer 'just put something in my room' or 'just go and make an abnormally large BBQ / bonfire'. It was weird, however a good night.

We also began brewing our own beer whilst I was ba

ck. I bought the ingredients from Wilko, which I've found out is pretty rare down here in London..

We then bought our 'Fermenting Barrel' in the form of a kitchen bin from B&Q. After a few days our beer, which we keep warm by wrapping in a sleeping bag and blasting warm air in a regular intervals, had started fermenting nicely.

Drifting slightly from the chronological theme of this blog, I can say that we have since tried the beer, which we store in lemonade bottles, and it is very nice! We currently have two batches done, and intend to acquire some more ingredients in the near future.

Back onto the road of time.

I went home for a week following the brewing excitement. This was for a few reason, 1 being I had a dentist appointment, which turned out to be in December, not September. Damn. I also needed to bring my car back, as I'm not keeping her in London this year to save money. I'm going to miss her very much!

Finally I went to finish a video about the new build at Rainbows Hospice. After a quick extra shoot and a furious day and night of editing I finished. Not one of my greatest pieces, however the people seemed thrilled, so I'm content! Here it is, incase you're interested!

I then left Loughborough, and embarked on a journey to Warwickshire where I'd arranged to stay with my Dad, to do some work for him. That was a monotonous task and a half, but there we are! That's my share of the TV license paid!

Monday evening, we both came to London. This notion seems pretty straight forward, simple and easy. However, adding a microwave into the equation made the experience somewhat challenging. I never knew how awkward and heavy a microwave could be until now. I'd love to see the CCTV of us on the tube, attempting to get out of the barriers.

Dad stayed at my house that night, and we got up early on Tuesday to visit Chloe who was having her annual check up at the Evelina. I have never been so amazed, seeing my sister, who not that long ago couldn't even sit up do this... (Click here..)

I literally had tears of joy seeing this, I haven't seen her walk like that for such a long time, so this was a really amazing experience.

On my way home I stopped at B&Q to get supplies for a newly noticed problem with our house to add to the list; mice. They're eating our food and weeing on our things so we are not overly pleased. My mum told me to get humane traps, but quite where I'd take a mouse to set it free in London I don't know...

We caught one earlier today and I couldn't help feeling bad. They have to go though, and this is the only way. Others have had lucky (or skilful) escapes too, as bait from the traps has gone missing without the trap being set off. I'd love to see how they do it... I've trapped my finger so many times in the last two days just setting them!

Finally, why I'm up so late; it's now 4.23am. I've been working on a project and the director said that he wanted to see the first cut tomorrow... or today now. It has been, admittedly a little more time consuming that I originally thought, I'm now moving into my 18th hour today, but at least I've finished. I'm just waiting for it to export so I'm ready to show it later on. It says it's going to take 4 hours... maybe I will sleep for a bit.

So anyway, I think it's time to round up, and maybe I should include an AOB section:

• A huge spider managed to climb into my bag, come with me on a 40 minute journey before springing upon me in a public place, causing mass panic.
• My car broke down after a journey through central London.
• During that journey I ticked a box on my list of things to do before I die - Driving across Westminster Bridge.
• Just to clarify from my previous story about the part at my old house - I did actually officially move out a couple of weeks ago.
• I acquired an ear infection.

Well then, I hope not to leave you in the dark for so long this time, it's been a mission catching up!

Write soon!

Flan x

Driving, Bartering and Water.

It's been a while, I have to say, apologies.

So the weekend before last we had our race weekend at my Dads. It was an awesome weekend of Scalextric, go karting as well as other driving events and copious amounts of beer. I started off well with my F1 predictions. I know nothing about F1, at all. However, initiative was on my side, and I have a lot to say for William Hill for this round - thank you.

It was all downhill from there. I lost at scalextric, go karting (although I still blame this on a crap kart) and finally PS2 driving and Lego car creation - my concept self powering car didn't go down well with the judge. However I argue that aesthetics was never the primary concern for the competition, and my innovative design should have taken the prize.

The weekend ended with me being last, for the second year running. Result!

I've never been the most competitive of people, so the fun of the weekend was enough to make me happy.

I had a slow week after that. I dossed around in Loughborough, wondering what else I could do to amuse myself in this seemingly continuous loop of nothingness this holiday has materialised to be.

On the Sunday I did a bootsale with my mum. I have fond memories of selling stuff at bootsales as a child, but things have definitely changed! No longer do people accept the price your asking 8 times out of 10, now, even 50p is too much to ask.

'50p' "30?" 'no... 50..' "30?" 'no.... 50!' "Ok, I'll give you 30." 'no.'

This went on for quite some time before the punter gave up and stormed away.

Funtimes. On the upside I made quite a lot that day to tie me over for another couple of weeks.

The day before I left for London, I went to Waterworld in stoke with my mates before they went off to uni. It was an awesome day out, despite up being too old really...

So now I'm back in London, trying to find work before we go back to uni. I really can't wait to go back now!

Speak to you soon! Flan x