Creative Retirement Activity

Some of my former business associates among other acquaintances have asked me what I do with my time, now that I am retired. I have decided to distribute a series of brief articles on what one can do to remain mentally active in such circumstances.

1. Kill a few Flies

2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.

3. Once they are dry, pick a pencil and paper... Let your imagination flow.

Here are a few examples...

The Wisdom of Bill Gates

Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

East meets West

Just after the new year I went to Harrogate local rock bar, called The Blues Bar. My friend Simon has just turned 40, so in keeping with his mid-life crisis, has bought a Stratocaster guitar! lol which lets face it, is cheaper than either the sports car or teenage girlfriend! ;) Plus, his good lady Lois would have his balls on a plate if he got either of those lol

So he got guiter and guitar lessons from a local legend, and off we went to see this guy in action with his band. And yes, he is a boody genuis! A very, very talented guitar player.

But the really cool thing was, he had a dancer on the little stage with him. And she was a Belly Dancer! East meets West in sharp contrast. She looked amazing, and we both had a great night. I should go out more!

Walker-Rutter Production Services

I have set up a production company with my good friend Pepper Rutter. We worked together a couple of years ago on a short film in Yorkshire which was called Forty Thousand Reasons. We clicked and kept in touch over the past couple of years.

http://walker-rutter.jimdo.com/

Pepper used to run a company with her ex husband, but after their separation invited me to join her in re-branding of the company for 2010 onwards.

Pepper is a brilliant actress and singer, as well as producer extrodinaire! And between us, we have contacts in all aspects of the Industry, so can offer all services, from crew database, to headshots and agents for actors, upto producing any piece of media, from promos to feature films.

Its early days, of course. We've set up a website and email addresses for us, but we both feel that - sometimes you have to make your own luck! And this is our attempt to do that. We want to ultimately produce a film, and are already talking to some people about it. Big dreams, of course, but you never get anywhere unless you try!

So wish us luck, and watch this space!

Work update

Basically, nothing much to report!!

I am still up in Yorkshire and am currently doing some temporary Market Research work to tide myself over. The film industry basically grinds to a halt in Winter. This is something that I need to get used to if I am to stay in this industry.

Most people work like crazy over the Summer months, then can take it easy or do temp work over the Winter months. So this could be a common occurance for me then.

I was involved with two projects that I was going to do for free, but this inconvenient requirement to earn money and pay bills meant that I wasnt able to see them all the way through; which was frankly gutting as I am not in the business of taking something on that I cant finish. But I was able to find the locations for both of them before I left London, but was not able to be there durnig the filming of them. They were The Tower (gritty urban TV pilot), and Breathe (a 3D sci-fi short). Reports of the filming were that both went really well! I look forward to reporting on both of them when they are finished!

I am also finally moving to London properly! Probably sometime in March, I hope! I am currently re-decorating my flat so I can rent it out, so come March off to London I go! Exciting stuff!

And hopefully my next film jobs will come up around then too. I have spoken to a couple of people about various projects, so if all goes according to plan - ROLL ON MARCH!! :D

Simons Cat - Snow Business (part 1)

Told you it was snowing!

The UK has been hit by a mini cold snap. In fact its been the worse snow and winter since 1983, then before that 1963.


Harrogate, my home town in Yorkshire had 8 inches of snow in one day and even made the national news! lol, and Harrogate only ever gets on the news for flower shows and policital conferences (it is a Conference town). Its snowed so much that kids have been making, not just snowmen, but igloos! lol And sledging down the hill in everything from plastic bags to washing baskets!


Thanks to milder winters, people have forgotten what proper snow feels like. But I am old enoough that I remember proper snows, and my parents taking me and my brother sledging in the Valley Gardens in town, our famous steep gardens, which turn into a wonderful sledge run due to the steepness of the slopes.


So I've been taking pictures for the past 3 weeks or so. So here you go.....snow! Now hurry up and bloody thaw! Im sick of it!!! lol ;)

Not just a photograph

The idea

I had this sent as a pdf butI couldn't find a way of getting it on here, other than screen caps. Best. Email. Ever! lol

As always, click to enlarge.