I'll Give You "Lumpy."

Inspired by Sarah and Taz I have decided that I shall resurrect this blog for the purposes of archiving my pointless drivel once again. Hooray! It's been over a month!

I think there's just too much to summarise, to be honest. Bought a bike, shot one an event with over 950 cadets on parade, had a major diplomatic incident, finally got a new phone, had a couple of parties, took my GCSE exams and escaped death no fewer than eight times.

But, summer has begun. And I'm loving it, especially as the others are back at school this week. I'm enjoying lie-ins until 11 ish even more. Then breakfast, a pleasant cycle and the rest of the afternoon to do with what I please. Exxxxcelent, Monty Burns-style.

Wimbledon was good this year, and The World Cup also happened in the time I've been off line. Not much to say, I think! Useless donkeys. In contrast, DI had a successful couple of months, being hard pushed to get a team out a couple of times. And we had our Annual General Meeting, which [rather predictably] quickly became an Annual General Chat. Point is, we're not disbanding. For now.

We've worked so much in the past few weeks that Kenneth has been locked away in his flightcase in the hope that I won't take any more pictures for a little while - let's see how long that lasts! Joseph was so tired at a cricket match we covered, yesterday. Bless him, dead on his feet!

I had a lovely weekend with Dearest Taran. I helped with tech for his annual gymnastics display - which I pointed out was basically glorified dancing and was therefore lured there under false pretences. I spent the rehearsal complaining that I didn't have a desk on which to put our various bits of watered-down sound kit. He was a good girl and found me a desk, and after a quick bit of rewiring we got some Owl City on and had a sandwich.

The show went okay - there was the inevitable cock-up, but that wasn't our fault. If we'd been told the right song, I'd have loaded the right CD. The eyes of every gymnast, every coach and every single member of the audience fell upon me. IT WASN'T MY FAULT OKAY?

Afterwards we de-rigged in record time, bought a new inner-tube for my bike and boarded the lovely 84 back to Broughton. I walked home, fitted the inner-tube, had a swift jam sandwich and headed back to Lutterworth, to Taz's. We'd been invited to the afterparty, and willingly obliged. Change of shirt and we had a lovely evening with Katie and Nick...well I dad, Taz just got abused.

I've pretty much slept since.

Although I did rather enjoy a trip to Leire today, to see Sarah. I murdered the back of my leg on my crank, I may never walk properly again, but it was a very pleasant evening with a well-loved friend who I very nearly lost through my own stupidity. Very nearly spoiled, although I think we're beyond that.

And I've returned to Channel Four showing soft/medium porn in the interest in boosting ratings with the excuse of "Education."

So yeah - I'm back, bitches. Now, to add some more pertinent labels...

"You know you love me"

Bidz x

Don't Stop - Never Give Up

Busy, busy, busy. This is only to be expected with GCSEs so close - well, over a month away. Some of the examinations have started already...Drama, Lighting, PE and other such shit. Oh yeah, French.

It's the most important few months of our lives - apparently. You'd better believe it. I've been working so hard with my IT work, getting all four problems in on time this week that everything else has slipped, a little.

We've had some interesting Digital Impulse stuff recently. Firstly, we've been chosen to take the photographs for the 2010 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Army Cadet Force's big parade in June this year. Very pleased, but it's the Sunday before a mad week of exams, so we're having to draft in a few BYPA photographers as not all the DI team are happy to do it.

In other news, we had a really lovely evening shooting a very nice lady's birthday party in Thurlaston on Saturday. Joseph and his camera went with Kenneth and had a great night of magic, music and mutual flashing. Not in that sense, though.

Also, my Leicester College interview went really well. I walked into the control box - which to be honest, is not a lot bigger than that at Thomas Estley - saw the Frog and about died. A beauty of a lx desk, and I'm looking forward to learning how to use it. I met a nice guy called Aiden, who's the lx tech at the Concordia, got a feeling he'll be creeping into lots of blogs from September onwards.

Leicester now has links with the old Phoenix theatre, now called Upper Brown Street. We'll be supporting professional productions there as well as working on student stuff at Abbey Park.

A chapter of my life that I'm now penning, and am looking forward to flicking through every page...

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve is excellent if you're grumpy like me. I started this year drunk, and I intend to stay that way for as long as feasible...literally. I got up and had a Guinness. NYE = Excuse for a party. Cue Hannah. So here's the story of my passage into 2010...

Thursday morning, bright and cheery. I got out of bed at 8:55am, knocked on Hannah's door at 9am. With her brilliant Mum Sophie driving we went to a local supermarket and stocked up on party food and drink. We got back and started clearing space and making the house a little more party wise, under the watchful eye of the three cats which, incidentally, hate me.

I headed home at 11:15am and did a bit of hoovering for Mum, before heading back around the corner at noon with the sound kit. Several trips and a hand from Hannah soon moved various amplifiers, cables and speakers the short distance from my abode to hers. She did get sent back for Wilde (my iPod) as I'd forgotten it and can't soundcheck using the rubbish she has on hers...

I attempted multi-tasking and more or less pulled it off. The bass amp got wired up outside first, followed by a little bit of DIY to affix a plastic sheeting cover over the little outside area we'd created. Meanwhile, Hannah and Jess painted a bedsheet with the words "HAPPY NEW YEAR" on, which held some balloons to the ceiling which we let down at midnight. Cleverly, they'd managed to paint through the sheet and onto the wall it was pinned to. We laughed, Ryan arrived, more balloons got blown up, Sophie and I started on the Baileys and Take That were played as I carried on rigging the sound system, aided by pins, tacks, velcro ties, duct tape and of course my trusty hammer.

Ryan and I made a visit back to mine about 4pm to pick up an airbed and a gazebo. Then Jess and I came and picked up the computer which would be central to the night's sound system. Hannah and Ryan then came and picked up some fairy lights, and then a large amount of alcohol that David had dropped off. Slowly but surely, the whole system got wired, nailed down and then gaffa taped in place for good measure.

Cue some guests. The party got started, the booze started flowing, and by half ten chaos had erupted. This was mainly the fault of people who aren't used to drinking, drinking. Lots can be said and none of it is necessary, really, but everyone calmed down a bit and sorted each other out. Josh was on tea duty and I had two cups in five minutes, then Ella was sick all over my hands. Pleasant. However, a special mention is necessary for my good friend Joseph. Director of Photography for the British Young Photographers Association. Instrumental in the way the DI business works. A truly great friend. Not a great drinker. Not at all.

Anyhoo, we got things somewhat back on track by 11:50pm, and those that could still stand gathered in Sophie's front room to count down the seconds to 2010, aided by Big Ben on the television. And of course followed the greetings and kissing, and then a very shouty and un-lyrically-correct version of Auld Lang Syne. I then checked on Joseph who had taken refuge in the attic room, where I had designs on the bed... These plans were later flattened when Ella decided she was sleeping there. With my quilt.

After the pleasantries were appropriately and politely dealt with, I led a troop up to Charmaine's house where my Mum, Dad and sisters were celebrating. There were quite a few of us that went, and to be honest I don't really remember too much about who went, but I know that Josh and Lily did...we got back, did a tad more people-dealing, a spot more Joseph-checking and then went for a walk with Katie Lock.

Now, this didn't yield a lot more than hypothermia and for some reason we walked down a dead end street. And we played on the park, on the swings...then Lock magically got tripped up. Anyway, I'd had enough for all my memories from now onwards to be a little fuzzy around the edges, but there's not a lot a don't remember. I eventually slept beside Joseph.

The morning after the night before, and Henry got a bit stroppy before eventually buggering off out of everyone's hair. Josh made me a lovely coffee, milk, two sugars, and I surfaced to find the house in fair shape. Which meant Sophie was up already. Sean and David had disappeared, having cycled to McDonalds to get their breakfast. I was in awe for the rest of the day that they were open! I opened my last can of Guinness. Cue a bit of Facebook and a bit of Guitar Hero as our worse-for-wear guests cleaned up and shipped out. The grand operation of unwiring our lovely events venue then came about but I gave up after a short while and we watched Part One of the last Tennant Doctor Who episode on iPlayer.

The morning rolled into the afternoon and the sound system came apart and got put in the box, ready to go back home. Fiona made her way home and we moved the kit back round to my house, leaving me, Hannah, Jess and Ryan to have dinner and then kill a couple of hours before Dr Who Part Two. It was a lovely end to a lovely couple of days, and thanks and well done to Hannah, Soph and the cats for putting on a great night.

Happy New Year, best wishes to everyone and I hope 2010 is a prosperous and happy year for you all...

Get Some Guttering

Yesterday, we went to Leicester to see a film. I shan't name the film, but it's about three singing chipmunks, one of which is called Alvin. It was the second one, and I rather, liked it's predecessor. Sean claimed it was Lou's fault we were seeing it...

So, firstly I had to catch a bus. This, in my world, is a dangerous and risky task involving murdering drivers and shifty-eyed members of the public. And Joseph, usually.

(Although, a couple of weeks ago I had to take a bus to Lutterworth all by myself in pursuit of a rogue SD card. Without Joseph I was a bit scared, so got on dead early when there were few other people on the bus. I had to have a cream cake with Ellie just to be brave enough for the trip home)

Now, I managed to walk the 149 miles to the Warwick Road stop and co-ordinated my bus-boarding with the others so that we got on the same 84 to Leicester. Win. David, Nathan, Sean and Joseph were already on the bus, and so was Jesus.

The trip into Leicester was fairly uneventful I didn't get shot at or spat upon. We then ran across the Aylestone Road with me in heels. Fail. We bought out tickets from a weird little bloke without a real name, and then went over to Morroways to stock up on cheaper-than-cinema food. After a few minutes of fun with a Self-Checkout Machine and an oh-too-happy-to-help attendant, we left Morroways stuffing various items of confectionery products into inside pockets and, in the case of a rather firm tube of Pringles, down my jeans.

We successfully smuggled our haul into the cinema and settled down to watch the film.

IT WAS SHITE.

Joseph pointed out there were only three funny parts to the film and he was spot on. If it wasn't for my Pringles, Jelly Beans, Mint Cremes and Liquorice Toffees, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it very much either.

I've just discovered that my cousin of six years also went to see it, and "enjoyed it." Enough said really, and Sean - or Lou - shall not be allowed to choose the film in future. Thank you very much.

After the film, we walked through the sleet to St Margaret's Station. Our first stop along the route was behind some blue bins at the Tiger's Stadium on Welford Road, hiding from Joseph who had ran off to recover some money that was owed to him by a tramp near the LRI. The rain was pouring, and was dripping in "litres" according to David. Several of these huge droplets fell on Sean's head, leading to disgruntled shouts about the need for guttering on the new stand...

A bit of a run through Granby Halls Car Park and a back track towards the Toyota garage followed in search of Squidders, but we didn't find out if he got his money back. We then took the second leg of our walk, which terminated at a McDonalds on Horsefair Street.

A bit of dawdling down to Town Hall Square revealed something just shocking. There was a display in which ratty weasle things had guns and bum sex, but there was someyinh more shocking...in the stable, JESUS HAD GONE! Thank God David still had the little model Jesus from the bus in his pocket...

Then we made the final epic trek through dangerous light snow and hazardous little breezes to the Bus Station, where there were a large number os half-dressed young girls, escorted by a bunch of chavs. Oh yes, m'dears, welcome to nightclub country. Being teenage boys, we started a 1-10 rating system, with points being deducted for glasses, limping and wearing tablecloths or curtains.

We caught the bus home sodden and bitchy - David brought up Love Actually comments and then I nearly got murdered by some Broughtonite tosser that Nathan assured me was "a twat." Nathan's semi-Northern mother gave me a lift home from David's, where we'd sheltered in his extraordinarily long kitchen from the snow that had stopped outside...

Batman and Robins

Think Pogues.

It was Christmas Eve, babe, and in a forest, two photographers, took pictures of robins...

Almost. Well, we had a lovely morning shooting today, on Christmas Eve. Squidders popped himself on my doorstep for about 9:10am and after a brief moment admiring each other's new Lowepro bags, we walked the short distance past the Blitz rock, over the bridges, past the pub and the church (in Ireland they're the same thing) and up into the same bit of footpath that Henry and I walked yesterday.

It was blooming freezing. So much so that droplets of water had frozen to a branch. This provided the first oppourtnity for us to whip out the cameras. Joseph [Squidders' real name, for newbies] has the Lowepro Slingshot AW300 which in theory should allow him lightning fast access to his camera. The design is flawed by the fact that his head gets in the way when pulling his bag over his shoulder...

I smugly pulled Kenneth from his new bag, the Lowepro Fastpack 250. We had a bit of an argument about the usual things - white balance, shutter speed and Nikons. I remembered what I learnt from the incident with the robin yesterday and told the camera to always use the centre focus point, not guess at which one I'm trying to use. The Tamron lens is a bit slow and fussy when it comes to focussing, but I nailed a pretty nice shot of the branch...

I win. Anyway, we calibrated the cameras and I dialled in a shutter speed of 1/125 which actually worked out pretty well with some of the later exposures. We caught sight of a couple of birds but it was only until we got to the path up to the hill that I got anything remotely decent...

Epic win, I even danced at Squidders who was a little way off. Silent dancing of course, we wouldn't want to disturb the birdies. We then paced up and down the path, which slopes up to the first stile to the hill from the Croft side. The robins came and went, and after yesterday it was one of them that I really wanted to get and get right. A lot of patience and careful management of the odd-focussing Tamron lens led to a couple of really close shots of some pretty robins...

We eventually got disturbed by a group of runners and then the loudest children in the entire country, so we buggered off further around the base of the hill, eventually putting the cameras away to climb up this really steep, icy, dodgy bit of slope. We sat atop the hill, chatting shit and looking out over lovely hazy Leicestershire that stretched out in every direction...

Our attention was caught by a mountain biker, who had cycled the entire way up Croft Hill. Bloody idiot. Then a jogger ran past, slipping slightly as he ran down the other side of the hill. The cyclist turned and went the other way - straight down the dodgy bit we had just climbed. Brave bloke. We stood there talking about bananas, and Joseph then noticed the cyclist bloke out on the other hill, right round near Huncote! Brave bloke!

Then the jogger went past again, this time falling flat on his arse as he descended the hill. We laughed, naturally...

This was the scene from the top of the hill, looking towards what I believe to be Broughton Road in Croft. Pretty misty, we mused. Then the jogger ran past again, this time choosing to run back down the hill on the slightly grippier edge. We stood and saluted the single most brave man in the county of Leicestershire. Feckin' nutter...

How Batman fits into this I'm not quite sure, but the title looks good. On the way back home, we bumped into a couple of Croftian locals. Joseph thought we were going to get mugged for a moment, before realising it was somebody he actually knew. We then went ice skating with them, and I decided to try and crack the ice. I even tried bunny-hopping through it on a scooter the Croftians had stolen, to no avail. Joseph was getting a bit worried for my safety, especially as large cracks had formed, spider-web style around the epicentre of my jumping.

As we were coming off the ice, a broken bit near the edge showed us that it was a good four or five inches thick...my jumping was a pointless waste of energy, I'd have never gone through that...

It's Christmas tomorrow, lads. Have a good one...Beannachtaí na Nollag xx