Taste the Rainbow

Settling back into the slow life is so comforting knowing that you are doing something for your future, and living the present the best way you know how.

I want to inject a bit of nostalgia into this post, knowing full well that this blog has started to show its receding hairline this year with the lacklustre modicum of posts. As the new year beckons, and lets be honest its already on the horizon, I usually turn the content switch to “past” and start idolizing the perfect moments from the year gone by. And this year will be no different in some respects, but I want to start early because it’s been such an incredible year!

January

My best memories from January lie scattered amongst many weeks spent in Switzerland, as in fact most of my memories from the year. But there’s another theme for January, random lols. If it was Sophizzle offering words of comfort to her triffle on the bus home from Tesco, Frazer and I contemplating the benefits of nipple cups, or Sophie getting a super-low voice over serious Skype discussions about housing… it was a laugh. The best moment however?

Walking around an empty Zurich airport in bare feet. Like the set of a film…

February

Another month filled with Swiss air, but also featuring a couple of trips to London to see Maroon 5, Mr Scruff and Lifehouse. And while going dressed as Sherlock Holmes into Guildford town was the best fun ever, the Lifehouse gig at the Roundhouse has a special place in my heart…

March

Sometimes life hands you fragments of perfection, that second when the world stops and you feel that despite the worries you may have, and the challenges you face, you’ve actually got it pretty good :) One particular Friday afternoon, sat outside Lugano airport in the gorgeous sunshine waiting for a plane back home after another great week at work, and the fragments just seem to fall into place. You know you’re doing the right thing and you should never stop being who you are.

April

The last one for today… April. April. Where do I start… There are two things that stand out about April. One was the house boat trip, possibly the single most hilarious, drink-fuelled, best times of my life – spent on my dad’s narrowboat with my then-future-now-current housemates. Initially a bonding weekend to get to know each other better, but once we’d got the formalities out of the way it was all about having the time of our lives. The week was so good we are still quoting from it now, in fact we have a book of quotes in our living room from that trip that goes some way in recreating some of the hilarity: everything from carnivorous geese to gooches, heart-attack sandwiches to the helm of insobriety. This is undoubtedly not the last you will hear from this trip in the run up to the new year. And as for the second thing about April, that will have to wait :)

I want to finish the post with a few pictures from the start of the year that you hopefully haven’t seen before…

Even as early as January the temptation to buy chocolate (against my new years resolution!) was staring me in the face… I walked past this particular idol in the Zurich terminal building every Friday on my way back to Heathrow…

Jake comes to Guildford, and we find the FREE Guildford museum to be worth every penny…

Doing the speed limit in a Mercedes convertible on the Swiss motorway…

 

The sign outside the building next door to our hostel in Amsterdam. It was ideally located for our needs… there was a supermarket and bus stop nearby.

The boat trip provided lots of time to relax and take it easy, and have cider at every possible moment.

Charlotte’s birthday party had a “what did you want to be when you were younger” theme… obviously I chose geek.

Next time I promise I will talk about my current housemates and give you a tour of the grounds. I just need to be writing in here when it’s light outside!

Until next time…

Charles x

Dear Life,

Thank you. Thank you for the amazing times of the last few months. For giving me the privilege of working in Switzerland. Allowing me to go to Amsterdam and have the time of my life. Giving me the best friends I can hope for and more.

I know I’ve sometimes been frustrated with you, and it’s easy sometimes to get trapped in stress and not see how it will all work out in the end. I now have faith that when the time comes, you will provide me with a life I can’t imagine. I know I will have to work, I know I will have to try hard and not always do what I might want to, but in the end it will all pay off.

The last few months have been a dream and I know I will wake up soon and have to fall back down to reality, but right now, every day I can wake up with a smile and go to sleep knowing my dreams will not be as good as the last 16 hours… I can’t help but smile when I think how lucky I am to be here and to know a small part of it is because of the endless days I spent working every evening and taking my studies seriously.

If I ever need the motivation again to do the right thing, remind me of this moment: when I look out over the expansive skyline beyond the borders of this balcony, where the alps fall off into the clouds and the Swiss sun creeps slowly over the clear blue sky. This. is. the. moment.

• Happiness. 10 out of 10
• Tiredness. 0 out of 5
• Free Time. 2 out of 5
• Last Meal. Pancetta & gorgonzola sandwiches
• Song of the day. Jessie J – Price Tag
• Thought for the day. Take pride in being whoever you want to be
• What I’m Doing Now. Living the dream

LX317

Another week, another flight to Switzerland. I'm still having the best year ever and travelling over the Swiss alps every week for work.

I know in my last post I tried to justify how little I've been blogging recently by saying what I've been up to, but there is another reason. I'm kind of doing the same thing every week... Work in Switzerland Monday to Friday, then try and live my life at the weekends. That usually constitutes more travel and catching up with as many friends as possible.

Now we're in May it's beginning to dawn on me how this phase of consistency in my life is coming to an end. In 2 months time I'll have moved out of my current house and be living with a friend for 2 weeks before moving into my new house. I know I still haven't got around to that accommodation post yet, but it is brewing. Not only will I be moving out of my current house, but my current housemates and lots of my other friends will finish university and leave Guildford for good. And that smells far too much like growing up for my liking. Friends going out into the big-wide world: travelling, teaching, moving back in with parents... It's scary to think I'll be walking through that door in only 12 short months. And if they go half as quick as the last 12, it'll be coming sooner than I can possibly imagine...

Since I haven’t done a “moments” post for a while let’s get you up to speed.

• Day in London with Charlotte. Went to a vegan all-you-can-eat restaurant, Covent Garden, met up with Beth, went to Camden market, saw Lifehouse live, went home and saw Becky… it literally couldn’t be any better.

• Going to Weymouth town and visiting the cider bar!

• Games night playing Cranium and Twister
• Sat at the bus stop in Lugano in the sunshine after missing our flight…

• Getting a Mercedes convertible as our hire car. Driving in the sunshine by the lake with the top down…

• Going on a pub crawl in Amsterdam

• Hiring a bike in Amsterdam and getting royally lost

• Going to an amazing steak house in Switzerland with the customer and having a horse steak.
• Getting very drunk on a bottle of port on the boat trip and going on a midnight mission to get McDonalds chips.

• Having a BBQ in Birmingham in the glorious sunshine, miraculously meeting up with Adam Hurd and going rowing in the dingy with hundreds of people watching.

• Having my first pint of Guinness on the boat trip.
• Drinking 4 pints of very strong Cider with Katherine on the boat trip, then all staying up until 5am.

And that’s all for this time, I swear I have actually started writing the Accommodation post, and the first one will be ready very soon!

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5 (my special power is sleeping on public transport) 
• Free Time. 1.5 out of 5
• Last Meal. Steak :P
• Song of the day. Creed – One Last Breath
• Thought for the day. May the fourth be with you…
• What I’m Doing Now. In Switzerland until the 12th May…

Get A Move On

Last year I posted a monthly update of my best moment, which was a great way to count down the most memorable parts of every month. However, this year I’m taking a more casual approach.

My last “moments post” was about immeasurable subtleties… how the finest moments often cannot be described well in words. So let’s keep this list short and sweet :)

• Mike Frazer (of MADTV fame) coming to Guildford for the weekend. Oh the Banter we had, ambling around Guildford aimlessly and having 3 different kinds of cake for breakfast :P
• Drinking a slow pint of Strongbow with my cousin Jake in Cardiff at a club called live lounge.

• Sitting in the Swiss hotel lobby with a tasty beer and working for hours…
• The house viewing with all of my NEW housemates, being amazed and getting the house (all of this story to come…)
• Going to a fancy dress party in town dressed as Sherlock Holmes and the sheer number of random people who saw this attire and thought “I must have a random chat with that chimney cleaner!”
• Spending the weekend in Guildford with my old housemate Will, more ambling around town and cake eating… (wow, I eat a lot of breakfast cake…)
• Getting to fly Business Class :) the best bit was the little cup of poo that turned out to be chocolate mousse… risky first mouthful paid off :P
• Spending the day watching Family Guy and 24 :)
• Finally getting around to watching Pulp Fiction
• Going climbing with Sophie Dean! Climbing virginity gone!

• KOKO with Julie! Amazing venue, amazing music!

May the best days in your past, be the worst days in your future

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 2 out of 5
• Free Time. 1.5 out of 5
• Last Meal. Steak :P
• Song of the day. Maroon 5 – Sunday Morning
• Thought for the day. Make us a brew!
• What I’m Doing Now. Waiting for the weekend! Gig 3 of 3 :)

Immeasurable Subtleties

This year I’m redefining moments. I’m returning back to the roots, back to the value the word always had.

To me the best moments cannot be measured with words. You may have noticed some of the top 40 of the past weeks being vague. It’s not because I didn’t want to elaborate, it’s simply because what made it great was something you can’t easily write about. Last weekend was a good example of such a ‘moment’:

My housemate, Sophizzle, and I went climbing and swimming at the sports park. It had been too long since we last did this and it was such a laugh. See, that sentence alone is vague. The best part of the day was when we were on our way home. After rushing around Tesco in a “supermarket sweep” fashion for Sophizzle’s monthly shop, we decided to purchase a trifle for our eating pleasure that evening. On the bus journey back to the house, Sophizzle got worried about the poor trifle. It’s certain disfiguration from the motions of the bus and instability of the items in the weak bag in which it was positioned caused distress to Sophizzle. Her sweet words of comfort to calm the trifle invariably helped it through this difficult time. Without Sophizzle’s TLC the trifle would have been helpless. I, mean while, couldn’t help laugh at the situation. The sheer sight of someone trying to comfort a trifle was hysterical. This is a moment. But the problem is they don’t come across in words very well.

I’ve thought of a few more from the last few weeks:

• Sat in the hotel Jacuzzi, thinking this… is… the… life.
• Being on Skype with Sophie where some technical fault resulted in Sophie having a radically low voice… hilarity ensued… which resulted in more hilarity.
• Telling my workmates about the Bristol Stool Chart… hilarity ensued… for days lol

And there will be many more to come :o)

• Happiness. 9 out of 10
• Tiredness. 4 out of 5 (but Italian coffee helps a lot)
• Free Time. 0 out of 5 (this weekend is gonna be MANIA!)
• Last Meal. Hawaiian pizza
• Song of the day. Howie Day – Collide
• Thought for the day. Buongustaio!
• What I’m Doing Now. Talking on Skype :0)

December: The Best Moment

Well that was the end of the Top 40! But it’s a shame I stopped looking at the top moments of the year on December 22nd. I started writing up my top 40 on the train on the way to my sisters, with the intention of finishing it while I was there. However, having not seen my sister for 5 months, we had too much catching up to do for me to lock myself away typing for hours. Hence the deadline slipped and it’s only just been finished.

Christmas day was amazing, and nothing beats the look on Alastair’s face when he ran into the living room straight passed the Christmas tree only to realise that Santa had come!

Everything about being at my sisters was just brilliant! We even went to see the Sheffield Steelers play Ice Hockey and win 6-3!!! What a beating!

James and I drove back to London on the 27th… I’ve spent a curious amount of time with my brother in December, without so much as a single argument! Maybe I’m finally growing up :P

James convinced me to straighten my hair “to see what it does”. I was the personification of sceptical about this idea, assuming that hair straighteners were reserved for women and gays, but I take it all back… since I am now the proud owner of a pair (of straighteners, that is!). My god what have I become :S

And then there was Jake and the New Years Party. The day before, we went shopping on Oxford Street in the sales because we didn’t fear for our lives enough.

The eventual party was a blast! About 20 people came in the end including my friends, Jake’s friends and Beth’s friends. Beth made cupcakes (yummeh) and we had champagne courtesy of yours truly. Party games (AKA drinking games) ensued, including Irish Snap (that will mean something to some of you :P) and my favourite game of the night: “what can we make Jake drink without him questioning it?”, the winner was Matthew’s concoction of dark rum and Jägermeister :D

So to answer the question of the best moment of December, it would have to be the New Years Party! It would definitely have made it to the top 10 if it was in time to be added to the list. However, half of the party was in 2011, so maybe it counts as the first top moment of 2011. Let the new list begin!

Special Post #42: Top 40 Moments of 2010–Part 4

ok, so it’s 2011 guys. But lets get to the end of this trip down memory road. We finished yesterday at 21 with Jake and I going to Rubix…

#20: Fri 09 Apr: IT Crowd Filming

Criddle, Ben and I went to see the IT Crowd being filmed. I absolutely love the IT Crowd, its a sit-com about 2 guys and a girl who work as tech support for a big company. Sounds right up my street right? The day was also interesting from a technical standpoint, getting to see how a proper studio is used for filming was really interesting. We failed at getting in to the studio the week before and ended up having an impromptu night bowling instead. That night came into this chart at #64.

#19: Sat 01 May: Jake & BBQ

What do you know?! The day after #21 (see yesterday). This BBQ has been a reference for the rest of the year in terms of house parties. Lots of friends came over to Zion for a big BBQ. The weather was fine and everyone was in a good mood. The party went on late into the evening too as we played Irish Snap and ate strudel. Below is one of my favourite photos of the year from that day… Beth is wearing heels and is stood on a step. lol.

#18: Sat 22 May: Frankie & Mike BBQ

Number 18 is another BBQ! This was the last drinking session before end of year exams started, so it was bound to be a good night. As it happens this was the night Frankie and Claire asked me to live with them for the first time. I’m glad they did, because that’s where I’m living now :)

#17: Sat 28 Aug: Trip to Isle of Wight… From Southampton

I’d gone down to Southampton for the weekend for a friends 20th Birthday party. On the Saturday we took a ferry to the Isle of Wight and visited the needles. Then we went to the IoW Zoo. That night we got drunk. Good times.

#16: Tue 30 Mar: Boat Trip!

This day stands out as the best day on this years boat trip. Going through Netherton tunnel (one of the longest tunnels on the canal system) and taking the scenic route around the many Birmingham canals. I don’t know if it’s the way the canal and the motorway seem to duel across the landscape or the many aqueducts, but that bit of canal always gets me. In the evening we moored at Merry Hill and had such a great laugh on the boat about god knows what.

#15: Sun 14 Feb: Frankie & Bennies with Anne & Josh

We were ‘kicked’ out the house so decided to go to Frankie and Bennies for a ‘romantic’ dinner. The three of us spent about 3 hours there killing time. Which was interesting since we’d eaten after the first hour. There’s something uniquely cool about not rushing out of a restaurant and being in good company. We’d been there so long we nearly ordered a second main course :P

#14: Wed 20 Oct: Go Karting with work

This is a good recent one. One evening after work we went go karting. What a way to de-stress… seriously. This needs to happen again. So we certainly weren’t the fastest team there, but we skidded round the corners the best!

#13: Sat 13 Nov: 1st Day off in Switzerland

Here it is! Switzerland! Good times. On a day off we went all out. We drove up Mount Bré, a tall mountain about 15 minutes drive from our hotel. And my gosh the views were stunning:

Then we took the Funicular railway down into town and to the chocolate festival! Free samples of Swiss chocolate. Heaven. I’m not a chocoholic… honest. In the evening we decided to try the ‘shortcut’ back to the hotel. An hour later we figured it was probably not a shortcut. But we did get to drive along some pretty crazy Swiss roads!

#12: Sat 14 Aug: Phil’s Birthday

This was a fantastic weekend all round. Going down to Devon for Phil’s birthday. But on the Saturday we went to a nice secluded beach, had lunch and played rounders. Despite the strong currents, we decided to go swimming in the sea. Such a good move! I hadn’t been swimming on a beach for years and it was just a childhood moment. Good times.

#11: Mon 21 Jun: Wimbledon

Wow! This was a good day! This year my mum and I went to Wimbledon with my friend Criddle and Josh. Criddle is a tennis fanatic so he knew all the good matches to watch and where to go. The weather was very kind to us to, and this year we remembered to bring sun cream! Ok, so we queued for about 4 hours, but that’s all part of the experience!

tomorrow its the top 10! You might be able to see a few glaring omissions in this list so far… well they are coming! a certain sister, a certain concert, a certain company and a certain party all to come!

Special Post #41: Top 40 Moments of 2010–Part 3

continuing the countdown with numbers 30 to 21. Lets get started!

#30: Tue 23 Mar: House Viewing & Meeting Housemates

In the part 1 I explained how this list was compiled as the year went on, and this is a good example of a day that is now very different looking back at it than it was at the time. At the time it was really exciting to find a great house and meet the guys I was going to live with for a whole year. As it turns out, these are the people I screwed over.

#29: Fri 16 Apr: Criddle Back From Easter Break

After Easter, Michael and I went for a night out in Guildford with lots of chemists. Great to get back into the swing of things, playing Scrabble in the pub :) Then we went to Wagamama’s, clearly the best restaurant ever, and then went back to ZION for strudel and a game of Monopoly. Classic night out, lots of laughs and strudel :)

#28: Fri 23 Jul

I’ve said before how this blog is sometimes a diary and sometimes a voice. Number 28 happens to be one of those “diary” moments.

#27: Wed 21 Jul: Working At Arsenal Stadium

I’ll be honest, I’m not a football person. I had far more fun working in the stadium than on the day out watching the game from the Sony private box (that ended up at number 49). This day was made special in the evening when I made the most if being in London and visited the folks. Victoria invited us over for dinner to celebrate my news about going to Switzerland (Any excuse for a party :P). My cousin Beth came round later and we had a wicked catch-up walking back to Balham :)

#26 Sat 21 Aug: Orpington

One of the “famous three” August weekends of 2010 :) Heather invited Lauren, Sophie and Me to her house for a BBQ with lots of her friends. The sleepover was hilarious, as is every second with the girls. The highlight has to be Heather making up theme tunes for everyone on the piano. Good times.

#25: Sun 19 Sep: Wembley Arena

Yesterday we had the first 21st celebration, well today we get the last! Frankie had got some tickets to see the final of “Must Be The Music” at Wembley Stadium! An audience of 10,000! Such a fantastic atmosphere and a great vibe.

#24: Sun 02 May: Jake in Guildford, Starting at Wagamama's

The second Wagamama’s today! What can I say, it’s stolen 2010! This was a fantastic day. It started out at Wagamama’s, with a Yaki Udon if my memory serves me correctly. We we’re with Katherine, Charlotte and Liz, AKA “The Maths Girls”. We ended up at Free For All, an event the University Music Department put on with live music. After that we played a version of snap (the card game) called “Irish Snap”… basically, it hurts. The highlight of this night has to be that Katherine, the 2nd year maths student, didn’t know what number came after 6 :S

#23: Fri 16 Jul: Grad Ball

Frankie and I went to this year’s Graduation Ball to film for MADTV. We had such a laugh filming, check out the final video:

#22: Sat 24 Jul: Grandad's 80th

This weekend needs no introduction. Get the whole family in a cabin in the middle of the Peak District, add Jake and I and cider and vodka. You get the picture. There’s nothing wrong with taking a midnight walk up a hill to get a phone signal…

#21: Fri 30 Apr: Jake & Rubix

OK, so quite often Jake and I get together and have a drink or two. But this was the pinnacle of those times this year. Jake came to visit and we went to the students union. Lots and lots of banter later we return to Zion, only to discover that I had lost my keys! Luckily Jake woke up my housemate Anne by making TARDIS noises outside her room. I’m eternally grateful that she still talks to me since she didn’t seem very impressed with us :S

well call that a day today, but more to come tomorrow when we get to the day after the one mentioned in #21 above, and we get to see water in a canal and at two beaches.

Special Post #40: Top 40 Moments of 2010–Part 2

Welcome back to 2010’s top 40 countdown. Today I promise we will actually start the countdown!

#40: Sat 11 Dec: Family Christmas Meal in Scotland

It’s slightly ironic how this one happens to be number 40 since it happened only 2 weeks ago… This was a brilliant weekend, getting the family together is not easy at the best of times, but when mother nature drops a thick layer of white stuff across the British Isles, it becomes near impossible. But somehow, it just worked. The whole family got together in Scotland, a tradition going back many years from before my uncle died. I know it sounds clichéd, but it was great to see the family again. Not just uncles and aunties and cousins, but also my parents and my brother! Walks across the countryside and up small hill provided ample photo opportunities, but also times to relax :)

#39: Sat 11 Sep: Surprise & Night Out

The first 21st celebration to hit the list! I knew something was up when Mum asked me the night before if I had a suit to wear… this was no ordinary party. Mum and Dad had setup a massive dinner table in the local church, and loads of people from over the years came to celebrate. The highlight of the night was my fathers speech, he spoke of the trouble I’d had at secondary school, and how the church had provided an outlet for my creativity. He went on to say how university has been a big change for me and that he’s seen me grow up to be a more confident and sociable person in recent years. It was great speech. Then I got pissed :P I mean, a few of us went out on the London Town and had a great end to the night, thanks to my cousin Beth :)

#38: Mon 18 Jan: Uno with Anne until 3am

This feels like a long time ago. Anne and I were massive fans of Uno, the family card game for all ages, but we didn’t play it nearly as often as we should have. On this particular occasion, I think the Uno provided a good distraction for both of us. We had exams and coursework coming out of our ears, so we sat up and talked until the little hours of the morning. I miss these times :(

#37: Tue 07 Sep: Alastair, Climbing, Tickled Ivory

This started off like any other, until I got a phone call to tell me that Alastair, one of my closest friends at secondary school, had committed suicide. That evening my housemates cheered me up by taking me out to a Piano Bar in town. Tickled Ivory is a small place, but what it lacks in floor space it more than makes up for in music! Live piano provided interesting covers of both modern and classic tunes. My housemates, Sophie and Claire, went crazy on the dancefloor as we partied until the small hours drinking cocktails and dancing. I must go back here in 2011 when I don’t have to go to work in the morning!

#36: Mon 19 Apr: Becky Visits

Nothing like spending time with my sister. And Becky found the time to visit me in Guildford for a whole day! We had lunch in town and chilled out back at the house. Not much else to say, just good times.

#35: Wed 24 Feb: Sony Interview

And so it begins. The start of the Sony experience. I was so excited to have been selected for interview after submitting my CV a month prior. The day went really well, I was shown around a 3D OB truck and interviewed by my now boss. It’s funny to look back on this day knowing what I know now :)

#34: Thu 20 May: Student Awards

MADTV won Special Society of the Year! And Mike Frazer won the Student Media Award! A fun and laughter-filled night, topped off by the after-party in town with MadSoc (the theatre and drama society who’d won Society of the Year) and all the MADTV crew.

#33: Sat 16 Jan: Not Climbing

One of those spontaneous evenings. Sophie Jones and I went to go climbing, but the Gym was closed. So we ended up going to Sophie’s house and talking for hours. I love spending time with Sophie, as everyone who knows her will agree, she is mental! In the nicest way :)

#32: Mon 08 Feb: Walk & Talk with Hannah B

Something that should have happened a long time ago… Hannah lived on the floor above in first year, and we’d never really spoken to each other. Last year our houses were pretty much next to each other, so we decided that was a good reason to get to know each other. Genuinely great evening walking around Guildford in the cold and talking about uni life.

#31: Sun 17 Jan: Mum Cooking & Games Evening

Mum decided it was a good idea to come over to Guildford and cook my housemates Sunday dinner. And it was, if it wasn’t for the MAD rush to clean the kitchen before the cavalry arrived! The food was great and it was probably the only time we all sat down as a house and ate together at the table. Then after Mum had left Anne, Josh and I stayed up late into the night playing poker and Uno :)

that’s the first 10 down! come back tomorrow for lots of drinking, strudel and some filming. Toodles x

Special Post #39: Top 40 Moments of 2010-Part 1

Welcome to the countdown of my favourite moments of 2010. Moments can be anything from nights out to nights in and have been chosen based on how special they were at the time (since looking back at some of these, I would rank them lower now…)

All year I have been keeping a note of my favourite moments. Hopefully you’ve been keeping track of my monthly best moment, since they all feature on this list. What makes this top 40 different to last year is that I started noting my best moments right at the start of the year, and have kept it up to date as the weeks have gone by. The interesting twist this provides is that these moments are now ranked in order of how special they were at the time, not necessarily how high I would rank them now looking back. That’s because some moments can be tainted by things that happen afterwards, but nethertheless I’m basing this on how they were ‘in the moment’, if I can put it that way.

Sadly the final list (as of Wednesday 22nd) had 65 moments in it! So there are a whole 25 that I wont even go into here. Which is a shame because there are a few corkers… oh, ok. I’m just going to mention a few of them and then we can get started on the actual list.

#65 Tuesday 30 Nov: Swimming Pool in Switzerland

After a long day working there is no doubt that a quick swim before dinner was a great idea. We did this a few times while we were in Switzerland, but this was particularly memorable because it had been such a stressful day. The swimming pool in the hotel was fantastically warm, and provided it wasn’t too dark outside you could see the wondrous view of the mountains and the lake beyond the town. Bliss.

#56: Sat 23 Jan: Gliding with MAD TV

This day has to go down as one of the best days filming ever. Georges drove us to Lasham Airfield to film the University’s Gliding Society. I had a really bad hangover from the night before, but put my name down for a flight anyway! We had such a laugh filming (as this video shows) and I ended up going gliding twice!

#43: Fri 1 Oct: Freshers’ Fayre

Promoting MADTV to freshers, and actually having them know what you’re talking about was such a great experience. Claire has done a fantastic job with MADTV since she became president, and the fayre went some way to show MADTV’s impact in only a short few weeks at the start of the semester. Overall the day was fantastic fun and a great success since now MADTV has a bigger team than ever and has had the opportunity to join the National Association of Student Television Awards, and cover hot topics such as the tuition fee rise.

OK, I think that’s our fill for this post, but come back for part 2 tomorrow, when the countdown will actually begin with Uno, surprise party’s, awards and not climbing.

October: The Best Moment

Ok, so October. I managed to make a big mess of October. Between readying myself for my trip to Switzerland and working lots of overtime other aspects of life suffered.

MADTV and house things fell by the wayside and it’s purely because work required a lot of my attention. And in my spare evenings I wanted to catch up with friends or sleep. By alas, life goes on…

There were 3 big events for me in October:

The first was Freshers’ Fayre with MADTV. I took a day off work and we went out in force to get freshers interested in their Student Television station. It was great to see so many people who had heard about MADTV and even already seen older videos! And we got loads of people signed up. The first meeting had over 50 people! It’s so great to see MADTV going places…

The second was Go Karting with work mates! Pedal to the metal and all out on the track was a great stress reliever, and getting to know more people at work was a bonus. The indoor track was huge and got plenty of laps in. Our team came 7 out of 8, but it’s the taking part that counts :P Hopefully doing this again soon :)

But the best moment of October, and my a far wack it has to be said, was Fright Nights at Thorpe Park! The yearly tradition got even better this year! A small group of us went and it was great to chill out and chat in the queues. But luckily the queues weren’t as bad as we expected and we managed to go in most of the mazes. This year, the horror mazes seemed to be much better than previously. And one maze in particular scared the bejesus out of me, something of a rarity these days. The company was a brilliant laugh, as expected when Heather, Lauren, Anne, Viv and Luke are involved. And I can’t really mention fright nights without saying that the Waffles and Ice-cream was the icing on the proverbial cake :D

So there you have it! November is going to be full of Switzerland banter I’m sure :D

Love you all,

Charles xx

September: The Best Moment

September was a rollercoaster of a month. I experienced some real highs and lows: from my awesome birthday party to one of my friends from secondary school dying. The latter really has a long ripple and I still feel hit by a wave occasionally when people say things or when I hear certain songs. Needless to say i’m sure it’s something that will get better with time as my mind gets used to the idea of never seeing him again, but until then I feel there’s more “waves” to come…

As for crowning the best moment of September, it has to be the hardest month to decide so far by a donkey’s mile!

Wembley arena is up there… I went to see the live final of Must Be The Music, a Sky1 talent competition much like X-Factor to find the best up-and-coming music act in the country. It was a bleeding brilliant evening and I can’t stress enough how awesome it is to be at a live recording with over 10,000 other people, the atmosphere was just immense!

^ Just some of the crowd…

It’s weird to think that only a week later I was at Arsenal with 60,000 football fans watching West Brom kick some emirates ass 3-2.

^ Just some of the crowd :)

So yea, getting my face out there :D

September can’t go a mention without Amsterdam! The business trip to end all business trips, and on my birthday! OK, so we didn’t go into the town centre, but we got to see some pretty cool tech including glassless 3D TV’s, 3D cameras, 3D rigs, a 152” plasma TV and a 16K projector (that’s 256 times higher resolution than HDTV… it was pretty savage).

But the best moment of September was, of course, my highly anticipated 21st birthday party in Guildford. Even after dragging my 21st over 2 nights out in London, a surprise party, a lunch, Amsterdam and a night out in Guildford I can safely say the house party was the best!

^ Just some of the crowd :P

What the phrase “good times” was made for.

So there you have it folks, and not even a mention of the night out at the Guildford piano bar or seeing Spamalot at the theatre! September truly was a great month :D

So, dare I speculate as to October? I’m guessing this month will be full of MADTV, working overtime, a trip home, hopefully Thorpe Park, my sisters birthday and I feel I’m forgetting something… oh yea… going to Switzerland!

Toodles x

August: The Best Moment

The summer month has been and gone, and despite working at Sony every week, I managed to have some fantastic days in August.

The first great day was the first Wednesday of the month, when Sony’s 2009/10 placement students gave a leaving presentation. It got me excited to see how much they’d done in their short year and filled me with anticipation as to what my experience would bring!

The last 3 weekends I’ve been a busy man, travelling the length and breadth of the country to parties and celebrations with friends and new faces. The first weekend was Devon for Phil’s ‘birthday’ party. Lots of fun on the beach and a genuinely great time without much alcohol (just to prove it can still be done).

The second weekend was Orpington for Heathers even less so ‘Birthday’ but no less so ‘party’. The highlight of this trip was undoubtedly the Saturday night with all the usual Heather/Sophie/Lauren banter (mostly Nigerian sea-monster related of course)

Then last weekend was off to Southampton for Zoe’s actual birthday this time. And this one did involve alcohol! We went to the Isle of White, saw the needles and coloured sand, visited the IoW Zoo, spent some time on the beach and went out partying in Southampton!

So the real question is which was the best day? This is the hardest to decide so far, but I’ll have to go with… Devon! That day on the beach was amazing, and swimming in the sea was such a good laugh, I wish every weekend was like that!

And then there’s September. Amsterdam for my birthday (albeit on a work visit), night out in London, big 21st birthday party, fresher’s week, lots of MADTV and plenty more to boot! September WILL be an interesting month, there’s no doubt about it.