Mementos

I came across another bag of old photos, postcards, flyers, and ticket stubs from years ago today. Its amazing what you keep to remind you of things. I remember that these used to adorn my walls and mirror when I lived at home. Each one a memory from that distant country called the Past. Each one irreplaceable and invaluable.

Good times, good times!


1. My ticket from the legendary Oasis concert in Knebworth Park. For those who don't know, Knebworth is probably the pinicle of Stately Home concerts as the venue is the largest in the country (I think). 125,000 people in one single arena/field. Although not the worlds biggest Oasis fan (the ticket was bought as someone owed me money, actually being in a mass of 125,000 people at once is a mind blowing experience. Seeing how that many people react, and watching waves ripple out over them, especially when the leftside and rightside of the field started joke booing each other. Absolutely amazing to watch and be in the middle of. For the record Oasis were pretty crap and unprofessional! lol


2. My flyer from the Love To Be night held at the superclub Es Parasis in Ibiza. Es Paradis is a glass pyramid, with ceing-high walkways intercrossing the club, with plam trees and fountains all round. The centre of the club is a sunken fountain that at 6am fills with water or foam as people are dancing in it and the suns coming up through the glass roof. One of the best places I ever went clubbing!

3. My ticket for the V98 festival in Leeds. Also the first festival where Robbie Williams tried his hand as a solo act, and did a bloody good job too! Also saw The Verve. A fun and messy weekend! :)


4. A Postcard from the Palm Hostel in Jerusalem. An amazing hostel made from a converted Hareem. The first place I ever stayed when I went backpacking for the first time. Totally Bohemian, unique, and super friendly. I probably fell in love with backpacking in this place.

Forty Thousand Reasons why you should watch this film

Forth Thousand Reasons, the short film I was 1st Assistant Director has finally been finished and released to the world. And you know what? Its bloody good!

I cant post it on here as the producer Conor Ibrahiem doesn't want it online yet. It's going to have a festival life, and has already been entered and accepted in the regional Bite The Mango short film festival. He hopes to enter it into many others next year as well. So good luck to us all that it gets some good exposure. And who knows, maybe catapults us all to greatness and glory! (A boy can dream, lol)

But it is good! Good music, great pace, and genuine atmosphere in it as well. The director Imy has done an excellent job, as did the cameraman Chen. The acting is uniformly excellent, especially my friend Pepper. And the extra playing "Tourist with backpack and camera", was frankly outstanding! ;)

I hope to be able to show it you at some point. Until then, here is the DVD cover, a few snaps from when we filmed it back in May, and a couple of important screen shots from the film! lol

Its a Bollywood Thriller

This needs to be shared. That is all.

Celebrity Morph

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Pedigree charts - Free family tree

I might not have posted this if it hadn't of said that I look 73% like George Clooney! lol. As George is a good person to be compared to ;) I have let my vanity get the better of me lol

And we shall just not mention that I came up as 79% Mariah Carey!

Eclipse season

This August was eclipse season. The month's first New Moon and Full Moon were both seen in darkened skies during a solar and lunar eclipse. Blocking the Sun, the left panel's New Moon was captured during the total solar eclipse of August 1 from the path of totality overlooking Novosibirsk (Siberia) Reservoir, locally known as the Ob Sea. A lovely solar corona and bright inner planets Mercury and Venus emerged during the total eclipse phase, while the flickering view screens of eclipse watchers' digital cameras dotted the landscape. On the right, the Full Moon grazed Earth's shadow nearly 15 days later in a partial lunar eclipse. That serene view was recorded during an early evening stroll along the shores of the Odet River near the city of Quimper in western France. For planet Earth there are about two seasons each year during which the orientation of the Moon's orbit is favorable for solar and lunar eclipses. The next eclipse season begins in January 2009 with an annular solar eclipse.

The dark, inner shadow of planet Earth is called the umbra. Shaped like a cone extending into space, the umbra has a circular cross section that can be most easily seen during a lunar eclipse. For example, last Saturday the Full Moon slid across the northern edge of the umbra. Entertaining moon watchers throughout Earth's eastern hemisphere, the lunar passage created a deep but partial lunar eclipse. This composite image uses successive pictures recorded during the eclipse from Athens, Greece to trace out a large part of the umbra's curved edge. The result nicely illustrates the relative size of the umbra's cross section at the distance of the Moon, as well as the Moon's path through the Earth's shadow.

Love is in the air - Texas style

I got this email from my Dad, who is an American. Hope none of my regular readers don't have a phobia about snakes lol

Hi Boys, This is how rattlesnakes mate. Ain't love grand! Photos taken somewhere in West or North Texas. Look at the mesquite trees in the background in the first photo. Could even be Archer County! (I've heard of this but never seen it.) Dad

ps I have not shown these pictures to Wendy. It would be guaranteed to cause her nightmares!

Business card mk2

This is my new business card. I have had enough of the railway station card machine ones, and have upgraded to some slightly snazzier ones :)

But I'm already regretting not having put the shiny finish on them! lol. Next time :)

Bailey's Beads

"Just before the Sun blacks out, something strange occurs. As the Moon moves to completely cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse, beads of bright sunlight stream around the edge of the Moon. This effect, known as Baily's beads, is named after Francis Baily who called attention to the phenomenon in 1836. Although, the number and brightness of Baily's beads used to be unpredictable, today the Moon is so well mapped that general features regarding Baily's beads are expected. When a single bead dominates, it is called the diamond ring effect, and is typically seen just before totality. Pictured above, a series of images recorded Baily's beads at times surrounding the recent total solar eclipse visible from Novosibirsk, Russia. The complete series can be seen by scrolling right. At the end of totality, as the Sun again emerges from behind the moon, Baily's beads may again be visible -- but now on the other side of the Moon."

Batchelor boy

I thought I would post these couple of photos. Mainly for comedy value! :)

I've haven't been home much in the last month, and when I did I only seemed to sleep. I hadn't noticed that the freezer door had been slightly ajar. A practical experiment to demonstrate the laws of thermodynamics occurred when I wasn't looking. And this was the outcome!

Scientific proof that single men, even occasionally fabulous ones, can't look after themselves very well. I should have photographed the pile of ironing too! For a full Catholic guilt trip! lol

It took forever to de-frost!

Stunt car

And this is what they did to my car lol

Perseids

We are currently passing through the Perseid meteor shower. Something the Earth does every year. Here are a couple of cool shots from the year and previous years shows. Niiiice!

More Bold new movie posters

Ask and ye shall receive, Nicky Boy! ;) Sulu, Scotty, Chekov, and Bones.

And cut!

The UK part of the production of King Con, aka Con Men, aka Showmen has ended after the star Govinda returned to India unexpectedly! lol All remaining scenes will be shot back in India, including the building fall stunt which I really wanted to see.

Long days, but fantastic fun. The crew were excellent, and even though there were a few culture clashes - I enjoyed working with them all, and would do so again.

So now looking for the next gig. I have a couple of things in the pipeline so wish me luck for what may be coming.

But first, sleeeeeeep! lol

Carlton Towers

I visited the most beautiful stately home today with the film crew - Carlton Towers near Goole in Humberside. A Stunning hidden gem, that is still a family home (although they do rent out bits for weddings and such.

It was like having free reign in a museum lol. And as Locations guy, I got to wander where ever I wanted around the place :) Each room was dripping with paintings, and gilded artwork. Knowing it wasn't a display open to the general public added to a sense of seeing something you don't often get the chance to see.

They had a stunning grand piano that had to be 100 plus years old. I had to have a go, of course - and even had Govinda, our A-lister clapping along to Lady Marmalade and whatever else I could remember from the top of my head. One Indian guy asked me if I only knew Western folk music after one Beatles tune! lol


Govinda is fascinating to watch. Seeing crowds form where ever he appears, you get an appriciation of what a HUGE star he in Bollywood. Filming today in a closed location made a nice change because if the lack of disruption by crowds. The good old British weather did twice as much damage though, as it pissed it down for most of the day, and they couldn't get half of the exterior shots that they wanted. They could do with a break, the Indians, they really could.

But a great day again, and very interesting once again. Its long days 7am to 11.45om today, but it doesnt really feel like work. More like a long and tiring, but fun day out somewhere. Long may it last!


And another cool bit today was when I was having a cigerette outside the house, as was Bond villain Kabir Bedi (and official Indian national treasure), along with the director and a couple of other people. Kabir told a few stories about Roger Moore, John Barrie, and Barbara Brocolli. I know I shouldn't have been impressed - but I was! lol

Laters!


PS. I just wiki'd Carlton Towers and I just realised that Lord Edward who I met a couple of times today, is in fact the Duke of Norfolk!! LOL. The wikipedia entries for him and his title are a brilliant history lesson. Coo, fancy that! Genuine aristocracy lol. I thought it was a pretty cracking house full of cool stuff! Now I know :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Towers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Norfolk

PPS. For those wishing to keep score, I have now appeared in it 6 times (the back of me only was in a bar scene tonight), my car has appeared in it 3 times (I haven't told you yet about how it got used as a stunt vehicle and ragged up and down a road!!), and my Bluetooth Nokia head-piece has been used once (yes, Govinda is wearing my mobile phone ear-peice) ;)