Special Post #27: Music of 2009

This list is compiled by last.fm using my most played songs in the last 12 months. These are the songs that I listened to most in 2009.

#10: Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me

• Started Listening: End of summer
• Reminds Me Of: Going back to university and seeing my friends again
• Play Count: 46

#9: Lazlo Bane – Superman

• Started Listening: Beginning of the year
• Reminds Me Of: Scrubs :)
• Play Count: 46

#8: The Fray - Never Say Never

• Started Listening: Easter
• Reminds Me Of: Being alone in Cathedral Court for a week
• Play Count: 47

#7: The Killers – Mr. Brightside

• Started Listening: Last year
• Reminds Me Of: All the good times in the union with mates
• Play Count: 48

#6: Smash Mouth – All Star

• Started Listening: Start of the year
• Reminds Me Of: This used to be josh’s ringtone, so it reminds me of laughing with Josh.
• Play Count: 52

#5: Smokie Norful – Nothing Without You

• Started Listening: October
• Reminds Me Of: Nights spent talking on the phone for hours…
• Play Count: 53

#4: Nickelback – Rockstar

• Started Listening: Summer
• Reminds Me Of: Moving into the house
• Play Count: 59

#3: The Fratellis – Whistle For The Choir

• Started Listening: Summer
• Reminds Me Of: Moving into the house
• Play Count: 70

#2: Jason Mraz – I’m Yours

• Started Listening: Start of Easter
• Reminds Me Of: Time spent with my brother over Easter
• Play Count: 124

#1: The King Blues – I Got Love

• Started Listening: End of Easter
• Reminds Me Of: Guilfest… and just a great 2009
• Play Count: 125

So there you go! I would like to briefly mention a couple special songs/artists that didn’t make this list. David Place, an artist I saw at The Bedford who plays great acoustic music. And I’m On A Boat, for the great memories of the boat trip. Long may life continue to deal me the best hand…

Special Post #26: Still Charles

This last year I have learnt so much about myself that I thought it worth wile sharing a few gems…

• Alcohol. This year saw me get drunk on a few occasions. I think it’s fair to say I have now become a typical student, and it’s all thanks to cider!
• Confidence. I have definitely become a more confident person this year, and I put it all down to my wonderful friends who are there to support me through everything. People are good really, so why worry about what they think about you?
• Friends. Leading from the last point. This year has been the year of friends is so many ways, but it’s great to be able to know so many people and hang out with different groups of people. Housemates, ex-housemates, stage crew, MAD TV, course mates, mates from home, family… the list goes on.
• Independence. Going to university kind of throws you in the deep end some what and this year I found my sea legs.
• House. I’m living in a house! Enough said.
• Birthday Success. My birthday party had so many of my friends there and I genuinely had one of the best times of my life so far. It’s how every birthday should be spent: with the people you want to get older with.
• GuilFest Responsibility. Being given a stage to changeover for 3 days was a big challenge and I loved every minute of it.
• Trust. Being given committee positions on Stage Crew and MAD TV meant a lot to me.
• Not Enough Time. Seriously, there were not enough hours in the day this year. It’s all that trust I tell you…
• Stress. You’ve got to learn to deal with it. I’m managing it so far, but being given so much to do can really get you at times…
• Girls. I’ve hidden this in the middle so no-one sees it :P
• Go With The Flow. Gone are the days when I needed to know every intricate detail of what I was doing, I’m much happier now to roll with it. Sure I still plan my days, but that’s a necessity to keep me on track.
• Less OCD. A lot less. I used to obsess about little details, but when time is against you, you learn what is essential and what is a waste of time. I still obsess over a few things, like my calendar and  having to have volume in multiples of 5.
• Delegating. With all this trust, I’ve had to trust others with the work I’ve been given. I delegate things I previously would have done myself. Especially for MAD TV where I’m relying on a whole team of people to get the job done.
• Phone. Over the last year I’ve got to using my phone a lot more. Where previously £5 of credit would last me 3 months, I now have a £10 a month contract that just about gets me by. How did I ever live without this I don’t know!

Who knows what I’ll  learn in the next year, but whatever it is, I’m looking forward to finding out!

• Happiness. 7 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5
• Workload. 8 out of 10 (but not for now…)
• Last Meal. Sugar Puffs
• Song of the day. Ke$ha – Tik Toc
• Thought for the day. Bring your own lampshade...
• What I’m Doing Now. Waiting for the New Years party!

Special Post #25: Top 40 Moments 2009, Part 4

This is part 4 in a mini-series of posts that looks into the best year of my life, two thousand and nine. This is the gripping finale to the countdown of the top 40 moments of the year. These are my top 10 moments of 2009…

Before reading any more, make sure you’re up to date with 40 down to 11 by looking at the last 3 posts.

Right, here goes nothing!

#10: 10 Days Of Consecutive Drinking During Fresher’s Week

This year’s Fresher’s week laughs in the face of last years! Not only did I mange to make this one last 10 whole days, but I avoided the awkwardness of being a fresher while still meeting new people and having a great time. Not only was a great end to the summer, but it was a great way to get back into uni life!

• Day 1: Channies with Julie. Catching up on summer while drinking Kopparberg
• Day 2: Sophie, Julie & Phil come round to my house for Korma (and more drinking!)
• Day 3: Chesney Hawkes in the union. I did video, but also saw more of my friends again
• Day 4: Citrus in the union
• Day 5: Comedy Night
• Day 6: Calvin Harris! Great night!
• Day 7: Open Mic Night
• Day 8: Wetherspoons with Josh & Foam Party!
• Day 9: Beth comes down. Meal at Old Orleans, then a few bars
• Day 10: Monopoly finishes a great week.

#9: Becky Making A Surprise Appearance At My 20th

My entire 20th birthday was too brilliant for words. I love my friends, and there is no better way to celebrate turning twenteen than having a big BBQ!

#8: Sophie Helping Me Buy A New Wardrobe On Oxford Street

That day was lots of fun. I learnt that girls know what they’re doing when they go shopping!

#7: A specific 10 seconds of Sunday 1st November

I was waiting for my train at Greenwich train station. Never has a train arrived two minutes early in my life! Typical, exactly when you want it to be late…

#6: The MAD TV Social

Another great night to add to the portfolio. Nandos for dinner, then off to Bar Med, Wetherspoons, Flares and finally Dusk. I didn’t have too much to drink, just enjoyed the night.

#5: Seeing My Sister Getting Married

Truly a great day! If you told me a year ago that this was going to happen this year, I wouldn’t have believed you. But yet, there it is.

#4: Drinking With Jake At Becky’s Birthday

What a night! I can comfortably say that my sister should turn 30 more often!

#3: Wednesday Night On The Boat With Phil, Jake & All The Cider

What happens when 3 guys decide that all the cider has got to go? Hilarity ensues… Highlights of this evening were cheesecake in Jakes face, Jake failing at climbing a ladder and ask Jake about the other one :D

Since this is the last boat memory in this list, I thought now would be a good time to point to “the boat video”, enjoy it if you haven’t already :)

#2: Somerset House With Sophie

I have a love for London, and exploring the sights such as Covent Garden, Somerset House, Tate Modern, Southbank and more all in one day was overload! And on top of that Sophie and I had some great conversations. Combining my two favourite things in life, London and conversation, is what made this day second to none. Well, second only to…

#1: The Longest Conversation Ever With Josh In April

I had come down to Guildford a week early after the Easter break to get a head start on revision (because it wasn’t getting done at home). Josh thought this whole revision lark could be useful too so he came and joined me for two days. At 1pm on the first day Josh came over to go to Tesco. At 2am we we’re still talking… We talked about everything: girls, parents, university, the course, cooking, getting old, our pasts and god knows what else. I’ve always felt this conversation is what makes me and Josh such good friends even today. We do spend surprisingly little time with each other considering we live together and are on the same course. But all I can hope is that we continue to be friends for a long time to come…

So that concludes my top 40 moments of 2009. While you’ve been reading this you may have noticed some glaring omissions (such as getting my results), but there will always be some gaps. There are only 40 in this list after all, and 2009 was littered with memories that any other year would have made number 1…

Special Post #24: Top 40 Moments 2009, Part 3

This is part 3 in a mini-series of posts that looks into the best year of my life, two thousand and nine. This part continues to countdown the top 40 moments of the year. We’re at number 20, so lets go!

If you haven’t, be sure to check out the first 2 parts of this countdown before you continue!

#20: The Boat Breaking In Rugby

On the first part of the boat trip, while Ben, Kevin & I were on board, the boat broke. We’d already spent a day in Rugby to celebrate Ben’s 19th Birthday, and we woke up early the next morning to pull a long day to make up the time we lost by not moving. However, the boat usually does something when you put it in gear…

A call to the 4th emergency service, Steven, and it transpires a part had broken on the drive shaft. So now what do we do? Go to McDonalds and abuse their free wi-fi of course!

Steve managed to fix the boat in record time, and that evening we were off. And we didn’t stop until midnight! There’s nothing like a spot of night-time boating!

#19: Juggling Changeovers & The King Blues At Guilfest

Guilfest was an amazing week. I learnt a lot and loved moving all the equipment for each band on Stage 3.

The other best part of Guilfest was seeing The King Blues. They are definitely one of my favourite bands of 2009 (number 3 according to last.fm)

#18: Apocalypse With Jordan & Barry

So funny standing at the top of Apocalypse, when Barry has been trying to persuade Jordan to go on it for ages, and seeing him drop one in his pants! Laugher ensued for ages!

#17: Queuing Hours For SAW At Thorpe Park

This was such a good day with my mates. I’ve been wanting to have a big trip to Thorpe Park for ages, but every time I organise it people let me down. Not this time.

10 of us in total, and we had a great time! Fright Nights at Thorpe Park have always been a father and son affair, but this year I branched out and it was fantastic. Even the 3 hour queue for SAW at 11pm at night was fun with Anne, Viv, Phil, Lauren, Heather, Ben, Kevin, Murat and Sophie for company :)

#16: First MAD TV Studio Session

Setting up the studio was a great experience, even if it took hours to get none of it working! And then filming with Yasna and Mike couldn’t have been funnier!

#15: Showcasing A Video I Edited To 200 People

The Fresher’s Angel Health & Safety was shown to 200 students at the briefing. It was the biggest audience I’d ever had, and it went down really well :)

#14: Standing on the back of the boat in the rain with Becky

In fact, standing on the back of the boat with Becky, full stop. I love talking to my sister. And where better to do it than watching the English countryside slowly pass you by and without a care in the world…

#13: Anne Arriving At The House… Our First Proper Conversation

This is a good one. I went back to Guildford a week early to get myself sorted. On the second night, who turns up but Anne! Just stopping over on her way to Birmingham to see Viv, but that didn’t stop us having a good natter. It was one of those impromptu moments that got better and better. I came away so happy that I was living with Anne, and looking forward to the year even more!

My housemates…. an anagram for “a thyme mousse” (it’s true!)

#12: That Late-Night Talk With Barry About Life

Barry and I often have these epic conversations these days. And when I say about life, that only really means one thing: Girls. This one can be picked out because the hours just melted away and I’d been waiting for it for a while.

#11: Last Day At University 2009

The most recent moment in this list doesn’t quite make it into the top 10. It was a great night and I can only hope for many more in the future!

Only 10 to go, and they’re the best 10. I don’t want to give away too much, but from now on they’re all really close, and it was a real toss up to the number 1. But don’t worry, I haven’t copped out, there is a number 1, and it’s definitely the best moment of the year! Come back tomorrow at 4pm for the answer!

Special Post #23: Top 40 Moments 2009, Part 2

This is part 2 in a mini-series of posts that looks into the best year of my life, two thousand and nine. I’m continuing to look into the best moments.

Make sure you’ve checked out the first part which covers numbers 40 to 31 before you continue reading.

#30: Taking The Adventurous Route Under The M5 On The Boat

Kicking off this 10 is another moment from the boat trip. Becky and I decided to take the alternative route to Merry Hill from Birmingham. It’s another 6 locks, but the canal plays chicken with the M5, which makes for some very arty shots.

#29: Snow Day!

Realising all lectures were cancelled on snow day and joining in a massive snowball fight. One of the best things was just how unexpected and impromptu the whole thing was.

#28: Waves On The River Thames Boat Trip

This was such an amazing day. Seeing all the best sights in London in a very short space of time and from a completely unique view all while fearing for your life! But seriously, it made me realise just how compact London really is.

#27: Drinking Too Much At Jongleurs The Day Before My 20th

A good night of comedy and getting a lot of my friends in one place for the first time. I couldn’t have asked for anything more, except maybe paracetamol in the morning! And the train home was not the best experience thanks to the people sat behind us (people who were there will know what I’m on about!)

#26: Getting Sun Burnt At Wimbledon (And Queuing!)

One of the few times I’ve spent with my mum this year. Such a great thing to do and despite being burnt to high heaven, it was great to watch professional tennis at the best tennis championship in the world!

#25: Royal Ascot With Josh And The Pink Bench Picture

I had such a great week, and I remember coming away from it with a new found respect for checkout staff and people who liaise with the public.

#24: Phil, Julie & I Standing At The Back Of The Boat In The Rain

I don’t know why. I guess you had to be there.

#23: All the dingy fun in Henley

This was comedy beyond belief. Good times like this don’t come along very often, but then they do they can knock you back and make you appreciate just how great your friends are. This was one of those moments.

#22: Phil Almost Falling In At The Lock

As we entered the lock Phil had the job of putting the front rope around the bollard. Phil had had plenty of practice at this, he knew that as the boat crept in I would line him up so he could throw the rope over the bollard.  I’d then put the boat into reverse to stop it, and this would pull the front of the boat away from the side, but because Phil had the rope around the bollard, he could hold the front in.

All was going well, Phil had managed to get the rope around the bollard, but as the boat crept away from the side, he lost the end of the rope. Phil being the man he is doesn’t give up easily, so lent over to get the rope. In this motion, the boat got further away from the side, leaving Phil no option but to jump for the side of the lock. Phil was now precariously positioned hanging from the side of the lock.

Luckily the man on the boat in front had spotted Phil so came running over quickly. But instead of helping Phil out of his predicament, he preceded to grab he dangling rope and help pull the boat back to the side of the lock. Phil’s extreme upper-body strength saved him until I could give him a hand getting up, but let this be a lesson to you – always have large abs!

#21: Seeing My Name In The Credits Of The Fallow Field

Being a Foley Artist for The Fallow Field always seems to skip my mind when I think of things I’ve done this year. It was a great experience and I loved being part of an independent film production.

That concludes the first half of this countdown to my favourite moment of 2009! Come back at 4pm tomorrow to read about queuing, crying and THE END OF THE WORLD!

Special Post #22: Top 40 Moments 2009, Part 1

This is part 1 in a mini-series of posts that looks into the best year of my life, two thousand and nine. In this part I start to go back a remember the moments that have stuck with me.

For the first few posts in this series I’m going to be counting down my top 40 moments of 2009. I’ve put a lot of thought into this list because it’s something I want to get right. But what is a ‘moment’?

I’m seeing a moment as a very short space of time. I don’t want any of this “the boat trip was amazing”, that’s too vague (although it was). I want to talk about specific events, small fractions of time, that define the moods we have and the time we call “the best times”. So lets get started:

#40: Building Josh’s Computer

I’m kicking off the list with one of the many great moments of summer. I went to Josh’s house to help him build his computer. It was a geeky evening, but we had a good time slotting everything in and I think I managed to teach Josh a thing or two about how a computer works

#39: Getting My Files Back

You may remember my post back in January about losing all my files. Well it was more than a relief when I managed to get them all back!

#38: Sunday Night Live

Back in February I ran video for a gig in Rubix. We had a total of 10 cameras and 6 people operating. It was definitely the most successful video rig I’ve ever ran and it was amazing fun. There are plans to do another one of these next year, which I’m really looking forward to.

#37: That Afternoon With Three Cakes

The afternoon where Phil and I baked three cakes between us while watching the Grand Prix. Simpler times…

#36: Pimms Next To The Thames With Heather & Lauren

Drinking a pitcher of Pimms with Heather & Lauren at my favourite pub next to the Thames.

#35: Southbank With Lauren After Avenue Q

I love walking down Southbank at night, and it was great to share that Lauren.

#34: Walking Into The House & Knowing I Live There

This is a bit of a weird one, because it happens almost every day. I just love that feeling. And the first time I put the key in the door was magic.

#33: Being At Merry Hill With Sam, Matthew, Kevin & Ben

This is the first moment from the boat trip, believe me there are plenty more to come! This was right at the humble beginnings, the first day, when we went to the cinema to see The Hangover and had a meal, a brilliant film.

#32: Climbing The Trees In Sam’s Garden In Scotland

The first time I’d seen Sam in literally years! So great to catch up.

#31: Messing With Chairs With Josh While We Were ‘Revising’

Wheelie chairs can provide a good distraction from revision, especially when you’ve been revising for over 5 hours straight!

Come back tomorrow for the 30-21 greatest moments, including many more boat memories, snow and a pink bench :O

Back to the sofa…

It’s holistic to mention that I’m spending Christmas with my sister again this year. I love it here. Sure, it’s hectic, but that’s the appeal! At home it feels like there are 100 things going on, but all I can do is stay out the way. At Becky’s I can help, and I love helping.

The last few days have given me the chance to chill. A chance I’ve been needing for months now. I shouldn’t necessarily be relaxed, but then when are you allowed to relax really? I’m going back to uni a week early to get work done, so now could be for relaxing. So let’s do it.

This year I’m looking forward to new year more than Christmas. That’s definitely due to organising a party at new year that most of my friends are coming to!

Hope you are all having a brilliant Christmas! and come back on boxing day for the start of something I’ve been working on called “My Top 40 Moments of 2009”. Who knows, YOU might just be number 1!

May I wish you all a very Merry Christmas as much as that worn phrase possibly could!

• Happiness. 8 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5 (me and Barry’s conversations are worth it though)
• Workload. 8 out of 10 (but not for now…)
• Last Meal. Sausage sandwiches!
• Song of the day. Iyaz – Replay
• Thought for the day. I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid.
• What I’m Doing Now. Watching Dora the Explorer

Those 9 Days: Part 3 – Scene Missing

Wednesday 16th December

2 morning lectures to start the day, more things to look over later. Then me and Josh went off into town to do a spot of Christmas shopping. And it started to snow :)

In the afternoon I ended up wrapping presents. Then at 5pm it was MAD TV time. Committee meeting and then the general meeting. Lots of good ideas were put forward. One I really like is a report on international students, how they find surrey,what facilities are available and we plan to get statistics and interviews with people in charge of international societies and applications.

Thursday 17th December

More lectures and more wrapping presents. Then in the evening was the MADsoc Christmas dinner at a local pub. 3 courses for £9.95 spelt a good night :) Another one of those good natured nights just chatting, but the conversation was more lively than crew dinner, probably due to most people being actors.

Friday 18th December

A full day of labs is not a fun way to end the year, but then it had to be done. Fortunately the practical side of the project was mostly done so I spent my time planning the write up and our presentation. Few bits of documentation here and finding out who would do what over Christmas.

At 5pm it was time to leave, and time for the celebrations to begin. At 5pm exactly I had been invited for drinks with other media engineers by our course organiser. Only about 5 people turned up, but it was a good laugh for an hour or so anyway. After that I cycled home for a quick change of clothes before meeting up with Phil, Malcolm and Rob for a Chinese meal in town.

We’d been there once before last year and Lauren and I made the mistake of not ordering the set meal and having to watch as lashings of gorgeous food poured onto the table for Phil and Rob, none of which we could touch. Until eventually 2 small dishes emerged, they were ours… Needless to say this was not a mistake to be repeated, so this time I had the set meal with Malcolm, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

After the meal I went over to Sophie’s and Julie’s for a spot of cider (Kopparberg to be precise) before heading out to Rubix for the Xmas party!

We arrived at about 10:45pm and went straight to the bar. It was a good night in all, at least what I remember of it, which to be honest is very little. I learnt that Goldschlager is an amazing shot, but takes you away to the fairies in no time!

So that’s pretty much it for the end of term, I had the time of my life and couldn’t imagine spending it any other way or with anybody different.

In the next few posts I’m going to be looking back at the last 365 days, and seeing what made it the best year of my life (so far…)

Those 9 Days: Part 2 – Snow White

Sunday 13th December

MADsoc, Surrey’s Music & Drama Society, which, incidentally, MAD TV is a part of, we’re hosting a pantomime version of Snow White for the Christmas holidays. I was asked to film the performances so there was a record of it happening (and possibly for later sale). I turned up at about 2pm on Sunday when they were supposedly having a tech rehearsal. Unfortunately they were running behind schedule, about 5 hours to be exact. So instead I did some other filming on campus with Ankur for a MAD TV project titled “Assemble”. After doing that I went back to the union where the tech rehearsal still hadn’t started. I ended up helping stage crew set up talkback and rigged a security camera feed into the dressing room so the actors backstage could see what was happening on the stage. After that I left homeward bound.

Monday 14th December

Josh and I went to the programming labs to get some of our coursework out the way. Managed to get a fair chunk done, just still have lots to do before the deadline on the 12th January…

In the afternoon I spent several hours setting up for Snow White, sorting out the camera and more bits and bobs. Went home for dinner before dashing back in time for the stage crew meeting at 6pm. Every day of the last few weeks has had to be planned like a military operation in order to do everything. But it also needs to be flexible for those last minute additions that people like to throw at you. Monday’s curveball was a stage crew committee meeting. My plan was to go and watch the play at  7:30 with a friend, and I had since I had no intention of missing it, I had to leave the committee meeting early. Ah well. The play was amazing, and since I knew most of the cast, it added extra giggles.

Tuesday 15th December

OK, so no lectures :) good start. But still had Snow White to film, again. But this time I was also going to a dance show in the evening because Sophie had a choreography in it. But Snow White and the Dance show clash, obviously. So more running around and planning things to the second. I also made some progress on the lab project we have to complete, which suddenly took shape with huge thanks to one of my lab partners.

We’re almost there folks, and the best is yet to come. We still have shopping, Christmas dinner number 2 and the last night of the year to go!

Those 9 days: Part 1

The last 9 days have been hectic in more ways than possible to describe here, but hell, lets give it a go!

Friday 11th December

It all starts a week and a half ago. A full day of labs where we finished the experiment early and got full marks. That put me in a good mood to go shopping at Tesco. While I was in Tesco there was a power cut, meaning I had to wait ages before the checkouts started working again… on my way back home all the street lights were off, it was very strange. Just as well I’d bought some bike lights from Halfords 2 days prior! Once I got back home I invited a friend over for stroganoff!

Later in the evening I went to Rubix, largely to see 2 of Sophie’s best friends from back home who had come to visit for the weekend. Sophie always talks about Ana and Carina, and they came over last Christmas for a day or two, but with labs and stage crew I didn’t ever get to see them. It was one of those times when I felt like we were friends before we’d even met, and it was great to finally put faces to names and get to know each other. All in all, it was a great night. Sophie’s friends were genuinely such nice people I was taken aback at first and then annoyed at myself that I didn’t find time to see them last year!

Saturday 12th December

After getting no more than 3 hours sleep I was up for a MAD TV meeting to discuss a website that we plan to build over Christmas as a central place to hold all our content. It was an interesting discussion, but had to be cut short because one of the guys had to leave. So I went home and went back to sleep. That evening I went back over to Sophie’s to see her friends again before they left on Sunday morning. Ana baked some cakes and I ate some cakes…

I left there at about 6pm to go to the stage crew Christmas dinner. It was a black tie event, and all of stage crew pretty much go. I don’t have much to say about the dinner, apart from it was a really good night for a few reasons: the food was good, I was bought a lot of drinks, half price drinks in the union was amazing, managed to get to subway before it closed at 3am…

It’s interesting to compare this year’s stage crew dinner to last. Last year I didn’t drink alcohol at all, and I had a good time. But this year was very alcohol-fuelled, and I loved it! It’s not just the alcohol, but when everyone else is drinking and you’re not, it’s never as fun, and I hate to say it but you don’t feel as included in everything. Crew dinner was one of the first times I’ve been out this year and just sat in a bar and talked to people, for literally hours, and that’s what I really liked about it.

There’s loads more to talk about… we’ve got Snow White, dancing, shopping, cake, parties and lots more still to come! Part 2 coming soon!

Stay tuned

I haven’t forgotten about you, on the contrary I have an interesting plan for this blog over the next few weeks. I’ve finished uni now for the year, and I have lots to talk about both past, present and future! It’s all exciting stuff so I want to talk about it…

• Happiness. 8 out of 10
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5
• Workload. 8 out of 10
• Last Meal. Sandwiches stolen from choir party :P
• Song of the day. Gwen Stefani – The Sweet Escape
• Thought for the day. If you love life, life will love you back
• What I’m Doing Now. Mainly planning my New Years Party!!

None of the above

Once again I’ve found myself having the time of my life, having experiences I will carry through the rough times and learning more about myself every single day.

MAD TV has got it’s knickers in a twist over how to distribute it’s content and the best way to produce high quality, relevant and informative reports with the limited equipment and small team we currently have. It was a stark realisation today when Mike and I were looking at Exeter University’s Television Station, XTV, which is run by 160 students and produces over 100 hours of content a year, that MAD TV has a huge potential and a long way to go! The last 2 months have been a sort of “proof of concept” and now we need to re-asses what we know, where we’re heading and how we can most effectively get there. I love having such a big input into what could potentially be a lasting legacy on Surrey, which in years to come I can be proud to say I had a big part in making a reality. It’s all really exciting stuff!

Anyway, that’s enough about MAD TV (until the next paragraph :D). I want to mention a bit about Stage Crew. I filmed a live music night on Monday, which was the first time I’ve used stage crew equipment for a month or so now, and I realised just how old it is. After doing Winter Happenings on Saturday with proper cameras and a professional setup, it seemed like going back to nursery and playing with the building blocks with letters on. I still enjoyed it, and want to do it again for the experience of live mixing, but I’m going to need to talk to the Technical Manager about possibly upgrading equipment in the future. It sounds like a MAD TV and Stage Crew collaboration might be on the cards…

MAD TV does seem to be creating a stir around the union offices, as a lot of people see it as filling a hole in the union’s media outlets and also potentially providing an invaluable service to societies and other groups of students who have an interest in getting events filmed. This is the 21st century after all, and not having a video service/TV station just seems archaic.

But the last 4 days haven’t just been MAD TV, although over 15 hours of MAD TV meetings in 3 days might make it sound like it has. Monday started in the now usual way of going to the media labs and spending 3 hours working. I had Maths coursework and Lab prep as my main workloads this week, and I’ve managed to get them both done!

Apart from work, and lectures, and MAD TV, and Stage Crew, there was also my life to lead this week. It seems like my life requires a lot of my time as well, so I can’t just put it on hold. But that’s a good thing because I’m enjoying my life at the moment, I just wish I had more time to dedicate to it. It’s not that I don’t consider MAD TV and all that as part of my life, because it is and without it my life wouldn’t be half as great as it is, but I just feel sometimes I need to have time I can spend how I please, with the people I please. And I bring this up a lot, but for me the most important thing right now is people. I want to spend time with people, learn from people and be able to relax and enjoy being me, in my comfort zone, without being pressured or pushing my boundaries…

In a world where all I want to do is learn and better myself, it’s the time spent making other people smile that makes my life complete.

• Happiness. 8 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5, only had 4 hours of sleep last night :'(
• Workload. 8 out of 10, feel on top of it, but still have to organise my placement!
• Last Meal. Steak & Ale pie with loads a’ chips!
• Song of the day. Three Days Grace – Pain
• Thought for the day. “Can’t we just borrow a bit of the film…”
• What I’m Doing Now. Organising things and catching up on what’s happening

Cute thing 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8

Cute thing 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErMWX--UJZ4

MAD week

The past with its pleasures, its rewards, its foolishness and its punishments, is there for each of us forever, and it should be.

My most recent past shows a lot of MAD TV work. This week our latest episode was released. The Mento’s and Coke report is my baby, that was my Tuesday night, but it was time well spent.

So that alone doesn’t make it a MAD TV week, but there’s been a lot happening this week. I knew it was going to be one of those busy weeks so on Monday and Tuesday I took the liberty of doing lots of work, which made me feel much better about the amount of work I have on at the moment.

Thursday was all about Student Parliament. A event held by the union to give students a place to raise issues and opinions they have. As it happens this was a lot considering the day before one member of the Exec committee motioned a vote of no confidence to the rest of the committee! Made for a very heated debate about the constitution and the role of the Exec in interpreting it. Although the mass-debate was not my cup of tea, and filming for 2 hours was not a perfect evening, it could’ve been a lot worse.

On Saturday I spent the whole day setting up and filming the Winter Happenings dance show in the hall. MAD TV were commissioned to film the event and produce a DVD for sale. Should make an interesting project and it was interesting to organise.

Looking forward to Christmas, but it’s only 2 weeks away and I have so much to do!

• Happiness. 8 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5 (13 hours sleep last night!)
• Workload. 9 out of 10 (About to go to uni early to crack on!)
• Last Meal. Full English breakfast! (oh yea!)
• Song of the day. Sean Kingston – Fire Burning
• Thought for the day. Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
• What I’m Doing Now. Thinking… stand back :)