Deck the Halls with Boughs of Sickness.. x

Aloha festive friends..

I hope everyone is having a marvellous Christmas.. ? You are? Good.

I thought I'd write another Christmas related post, just because I can!

Having finished my placement with Freud Film Team on the Tuesday, I waited for my beloved sister to arrive in London Town, ready for our manic journey to Hereford the following day.

Thankfully, it only took four hours to get there, even with the snowy weather looming.. and we arrived at Lemore Manor in one piece... yes you heard correctly, the Manor.

(www.lemoremanor.com to be precise).

The timing was impeccable, as father pulled up to the front about five minutes behind us, ready to go and collect mother from Hereford station, a mere fifteen minute drive away. Or so we thought. I dutifully decided to go with him to the station, thinking we'd be back in plenty of time for mulled wine and mince pies... I was wrong! We set out at 4pm, which is when the snow blizzard began... meaning it

actually took us over 3 hours to get to the station, find mother, and return to the Manor at 7.20pm!!

Immense journey aside, we later had a lovely meal all together in the dining hall, what a lovely start to the events.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve saw the next lot of troops arrive from across the country, putting our total at over 20 people.. what fun! Lots of festive frolics and carolling:

Followed by feast of traditional Indian Takeaway.. haha. Maybe not so traditional, but went down well nonetheless. I've not seen that much curry since I had dinner at Rozeena's house back when I was 16.. what a delight. It was rather fabulous.. and we all ate far too much, before retiring to bed to wait for Santa to arrive with his presents..

Christmas Day

7am - Stockings from Santa.. amazing. I've never had such a bizarre and wonderful selection of things! Mini snooker table, expanding bugs, alien goo, bubble blowers, a harmonica and an array of other such splendid items.. well played Santa!

9am - Off to one of the local Churches for the family service. I think we must have stopped in Royston Vasey, as it really was a local church for local people.. and turned out to be the most hilarious service I've been to yet. The Vicar sped through at a rate of knots, before announcing they had no choir or organist so he would be accompanying the carols with his guitar, oh yes. Did I mention it most probably was out of tune and he would strum a few chords and then stop? That's right, brillant. He also wins the award for the shortest intercessions to date.. which went something along the lines of 'We pray for everyone who is dead or ill, and alive, Amen' .. literally, classic. A highlight of the service was watching Vicky crack under the pressure and burst into fits of giggles towards the middle of the service, which lasted an impressive 40 minutes. Result!

12.45pm - Back at the Manor we were plied with various moreish canapes, leaving people to wonder whether they'd have enough room for the actual meal.. but oh well! They were rather fabulous, a favourite being the bite-size toad in the holes, yum. The Christmas dinner was just as splendid, with food and puddings galore.. alas it was also during dinner that disaster struck for Tom.. and he retired to bed.

3pm - Presents o'clock! Several hours of small people going insane over wrapping paper and the mountains of presents.. resulting in various scooters and electrical toys and whatnot.. great fun! I personally got lots of lovely makeup and girly things, much to my delight.

5pm - Sick bug takes another victim as mother rushes to her room, where she stayed for the rest of the evening... followed shortly by other members of their house (to their own rooms, not hers!)

The evening was rather splendid, having beaten Alfie quite brilliantly at Backgammon, and then attempting to play Junior Scrabble with Adam.. all good fun.. followed by Gavin and Stacey (which I shockingly laughed at.. even at Mr Corden, shock horror!) .. and Catherine Tate Christmas Special .. of which I only saw half due to..

11pm - I got hit by the horrendous sick bug. Having not been sick since the age of 12, I was rather horrified by the whole thing.. and the phobia of being sick really didn't help very much! I managed to decorate the wall and my duvet.. lovely. Enough information but several hours of a similar variety happened.. and I spent half of my evening in the bathroom shaking like a wimp...!

Boxing Day

My Boxing Day consisted of lying in bed, throwing up, drinking water, drinking lucozade, feeling crap, and not eating.. how miserable! I did, however, manage to watch two full series of The Inbetweeners, which was actually rather amusing (whether the illness affected my judgement, I do not know). It was rather uneventful and dull, and meant I had to stare at my room for most of the day. As the day went on, more of the group were hit by the joyful bug.. resulting in the festive sound of running to bathrooms and being sick.. delightful!

Boxing Day (Take 2)

Ahh.. I woke feeling much better, but still unable to eat.. so joined the Merry Band of both well and ill people, and set off on a bracing walk to the local pub, a couple of miles away. It was actually a rather splendid walk, of which I regretfully have no pictures.. but I'm sure some will crop up on Facebook in the near future.. lots of mud and wellies and being at one with nature!

The afternoon consisted of yet more carolling and frivolities.. as well as watching Casper, The Holiday, and Top Gear, absolute bliss. It also involved me spending about two hours with little Charlotte and a plastic duck.. providing much amusement.

I was also lucky enough to partake in the roast beef dinner with Yorkshire puddings in the evening.. oh yeah!

The Last Day

Much to everyone's dismay, we had to leave Lemore the next morning, clutching our copious amounts of food and alcohol that had been left behind. Poor Susan had been struck by the bug in the evening, so I was asked to drive her home with Peter to Hammersmith. A rather daunting task, as I'm not great with passengers, especially ill ones. I wasn't going to leave them behind feeling ill though, so we set off on the journey.. and it wasn't half bad. We did it in under four hours, with no sick in sight, huzzah.

I am now, alas, suffering from a grotty cold.. but all in all a wonderful Christmas with the family (and extended!).

Merry Christmas everyone :o)

xx

On a List-related note..

My time over Christmas has also let me catch up with a couple of things from my list..

I've managed to read another of my books:

The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. It follows Port and Kit who are married and travelling around the world. It seems that Port is the ringleader, and Kit would much rather be in modern civilisation than stuck in the desert with the bad food and bad company. They are also with a friend of Ports, Tunner, who seems to have a fondness of Kit, much to her dismay.

The book is split into 3 different parts, the first following Kit, Port and Tunner, the second following Kit and Port alone and the third focusing on Kit. It's full of bizarre events and I really couldn't get into the book very well.. I didn't really get it.. which probably means I'm not quite intellectual enough yet!

Anyway, I'd give the book 6/10 for its descriptions of the different countries and things that happen throughout the story.

I have also finally seen:

The Shawshank Redemption

Incredible. That's all I really need to say. Can't believe I'm 23 and only just seen it, bad Lucy! A definite must - see film, and I can totally understand why it's on the list of films to see before you die - 5 stars!

Two weeks to go... x

Bonsoir..

I hope you are well.. I thought I'd do an update, as it seems a while since my last..!

I've had a rather interesting weekend, full of festive frolics and film madness! Went to the cast and crew screening of Nine on Saturday, which sadly was a bit of a disappointment (the film, not the company Nick! hehe). I love some of the songs, but some are stupid, and the story doesn't really flow very well.. but worth seeing if you fancy Penelope Cruz, she's ridiculously pornographic in this one, boys!

After the screening I did Nick's Christmas shopping for his mum and sister, much to my enjoyment! I hate having no money to buy presents for people, so it was nice to spend his (on his family, not moi before anyone gets the wrong idea!). We then went and sat in a lovely little cafe and drank mulled wine and ate mini mince pies... yum! Afterwards, Nick went home to the middle of nowhere.. and I met Alex and Sarah at the Hagen Daaz Cafe for a chinwag and to say Happy Birthday to Miss Biscuit again.

The afternoon consisted of wrapping presents, sorting out things in my room, sorting out some life things, and feeling a little more relaxed about life..! This is before having to get up at 5am ready for the long day of shooting in Stratford (not shooting people, as much as that probably happens there anyway).

It is official: I am not a caterer. Seriously, when I was a teenager I can remember being desperate to cook a roast for my parents, and spent so long worrying about the chicken being right that I forgot to make anything else.. FAIL. So when Candy asked me to help out with the catering, I jumped at the chance.. forgetting said story. We managed to forget to cook the rice, run out of vegetables, and then run out of the vegetarian option (even though we only had 3 official vegetarians, what?!).. much to the crew's annoyance and grumbling. I think Candy's chocolate and ginger tart made up for it though.. so so good! All in all a fun day, and was nice to have a chinwag with Mr Steele who had come along to play with the grumpy sparks. I am not envious of poor Beth who has the rest of the week to deal with them!

After a manic weekend, I was back in the game and ready for what Freud had to throw at me.. dear oh dear. What a bad start to the day.. the hard drive with all of the Kick Ass stills had broken, I wanted to cry! Thankfully we've got hold of another copy.. but means I have to redo about 3 hours work tomorrow morning, yuk :o( don't think Jim was too pleased either. In all fairness, it wasn't me who broke it, it's just those stupidly over sensitive hard drives! All will be well though, I'm sure! It was also a bit bizarre as we now have another work exp girl, and I was half showing her the ropes as well as panicking about the Kick Ass pics, and worrying about the evening events that were to begin..

.. the Sherlock Holmes premiere..! Somehow I managed to end up on crew for the premiere in leicester square, and it was great fun. Bloody freezing though! I couldn't feel my toes by the end, and my hair looked like a drowned rat from the rain, but I enjoyed myself. Anything that involves Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Gwen Stefani on one red carpet can't be a bad thing! Generally 'helped' on the red (well, blue) carpet and made sure everyone got interviewed and photographed. Felt really bad for Rachel thought, as I think she has the flu but had to stand out in the cold for a couple of hours talking to press, bless her. All in all, a good evening and another reason I want to stay at Freud!

Apart from my mad weekend, I've also made some progress with my list.. I finished the latest book on my list, Beloved.. and I think I'll give it 7/10.

Beloved - Toni Morrison

This was a toughie to read. It follows Sethe, a woman in her 30s, and her 18 year old daughter, Denver. They live together in a house that is haunted by a ghost, so the local neighbours never visit. It's set in the 1870s, at a time when the Klu Klux Klan are in force, and the black community are bound to slavery. Early into the novel, a man from Sethe's past returns (Paul D) and decides to stay and rid them of the ghost, much to the dismay of Denver, who sees the ghost as her only company. We then meet a stranger outside the house, Beloved.

It follows the relationships between the central characters, as well as dredging up memories from their past, with some quite shocking and powerful descriptions, as they learn more about one another. Who is the ghost? Who is Beloved? Why did Paul D return? I'll leave you to read it to find out how it all falls into place..

So there you have it... Screenings, festivities, food, wrapping and premieres... what a rather good few days. More to come? Yes please!

xx

Work updates (I'm sure you're dying to hear about it!)

Bonjour,

My first post on this blog was basically a rant about work, and what I want to do with my life. Now, as much as I still haven't found an answer, I've been exploring the different possibilities. This has involved writing, emailing, CV pimping, and has so far resulted in two different PR placements..

DSA PR

I spent two weeks at the lovely DSA thanks to Ceri, one of my old housemates. The company are mainly consumer based with products such as lady products, contact lenses, and consist of quite a small team, but a good one. Everyone was lovely, and let me get involved in research and day to day tasks in the office. Found it really interesting to see how campaigns are organised and get coverage in different press. I did really enjoy myself, and it gave me a good taste for the PR world.. just made me look forward to Freud even more than I already was..

Freud Communications

I'm now doing a couple of weeks with the Film Team at Freud Communications, to see if I like this side of the Film Industry any more than the Production side... so far so good. It's so bizarre to have normal hours, so I feel I have far too much time on my hands in the evening. Only downside is I've not been going to the gym as much.. oops. Work-wise, I've been doing pretty similar things to Production, phone calls, emails, research, cuts/scans, uploads etc, and it's been really interesting to see how they get coverage for films in the lead up to releases and premieres etc. Hopefully will get to help out at one of the events, something that I'm working on this week when I go back! The Company itself is amazing, they really look after people.. mentoring schemes, social events, weekly breakfasts, monthly lunches.. a place I really think I'd love to work.. here's hoping they have some vacancies in January..!!


So there you go.. Lucy has entered the world of PR.. will she stay? Who knows.. for now I am enjoying trying new things so shall see where it takes me..


xx

Holidays are coming... x

Hello..

.. those famous words 'Holidays are coming..' are upon us, which can mean only one thing, the Cola avert is back on our screens to mark the commercially 'official' beginning of Christmas! To mark this momentous occassion, my housemates decided to throw Luis into the loft to drag down the tree and decorations and embark upon what seemed like hours of magic in the house. I say hours, it was probably one... we couldn't hear the festive music... we didn't have enough plugs for all the lights .. and we ended up with a bizarre array of delights on our lounge ceiling!

Nonetheless, we completed our ridiculously early (going by my own traditions this is, we don't put our tree up til Christmas Eve!) festive cheer.. and this is what it looks like :

Isn't it lovely? All together now... oooooo.. ahhhhh...

Also this week, I began to conquer one of my bizarre fears (I have several). The fear in question was my irrational phobia of horses. It all began when I was a wee child (a small one, not one made of urine) and I decided to sit on a horse whilst it wandered about... until disaster struck, and my lens fell out of my glasses, causing me to panic that it would a) tread on my lens or b) make me lose my balance now my vision was a bit squiffy.

Really, you'd think I would be scared of shoddy glasses craftsmanship, but instead I projected this fear onto bloody big animals, otherwise referred to as horses.

The lovely Samantha invited me to her stables for stage one of said conquering.. I was to meet Nipper, her beautiful horse. I could say it was love at first sight, but I think Nipper took more to the fact that I had a carrot in my pocket, and he wasn't intending on letting it stay there for long..

Having cleaned said lovely horse of the dirt he had spent so long trying to perfect across his face and side, Sam decided that I should try and mount the poor thing and go for a walk.. so one shaky climb onto Nip, half an hour of walking along .. some attempts at steering (not as easy as my car!) .. and several close shaves with tree branches..

Tada! .. Ok, so I look remarkably 'ginge' and horrendous in this picture, please do not judge.. just be impressed that I've not fallen off by this point!

I actually didn't fall off at all.. although I can't say my dismount was very graceful.. points lost if the judges had seen such a tragedy.. haha! Now conquering this fear wasn't on my list of 30, but it was on my list of general things I should do.. so I'm rather proud of this... Apparently next time we have to speed up ... uhoh. I'll let you know how it goes..!

Lucy xx

An update you say?x

Hi-di-hi campers!

I thought it was time for another update for those people who are gripping the edge of their seats to know what has been happening in the world of 'The List'!

Anyone who owns a television (I hear they're quite popular these days), a radio, or even a window in their room, will know that this week has seen horrendous downpours across the country. I can't say I know how the people in Cumbria feel, but my thoughts go out to them as they start to rebuild their lives after the floods. It's scary to know that the weather really is a force we cannot contend with! Thankfully, for me and the rest of London, it seems that we have survived the stormy conditions, bar a few strong winds and some monster puddles!

So, having looked out of my window to see the clouds moving in and passers by dripping wet through, I have spent most of the week curled up on my bed working on my list whilst drinking tea and longing for biscuits that I cannot afford at the moment.. God bless the recession.

So here is what I've been up to:

1) Write for a paper/magazine

Stage one for this task was to set up this blog.. which you are reading this very second, so I can't say that's new!

Stage two is now in the works ... to build up a portfolio of any writing I've done to date and to add to it as I go along. Having been home last weekend I sifted through my old University junk to find my old articles from Bluebeard Magazine and Unsigned Magazine (although one of my interviews with a band I loved has gone astray, gutted.).

Stage three has also begun .. I want to build up some extra credits by writing for online magazines and any local papers etc I can for free, to add to my other work.

http://insidegossip.co.uk/?p=2023

Tada! My first online article has been published (if you've read my blog below, you'll notice this is a slightly edited version of that.. but published nonetheless!).

This means I've completed number one on my list of things to do... however, I'll keep writing in the hope to be put in a mainstream paper / magazine...

2) Visit Santa in Lapland

With a month til Christmas, I will not be attempting to do this task in 2009! I have, however, looked into prices.. and it seems that going all that way to visit St Nick is going to burn a hole in my non-existent pocket! With prices starting from about £400 per day.. this is going to have to be a budgeted and planned out event... but I can't wait!! Ok, so I'll be surrounded by six year olds and grumpy parents, but isn't that magical? I wonder if they'll let me sit on his knee..

17) Read all 100 of The Times Top 100 Novels

Goodbye spare time... hello books! It has begun..

When a window of dry weather opened on Monday, I dragged myself to my car and bumbled along to the joy that is Acton to visit and join the local library. DEAR GOD. Seriously, I have never met people quite like it! Don't get me wrong, having worked in a library for six years, I've met some crazy librarians in my time... but these ones? Different planet! I half wanted to jump over the counter and do the job myself, in fear that I reach 30 without completing my list - as I'd still be stood there waiting for something to happen.

Having finally managed to become a member of this glorious place, I went upon my search for some titles from my list. A simple task? Far from it.. It seems that most of the titles I need have been a) stolen, b) defaced, c) been sucked into oblivion or d) run scared from the crazy women that work there. By this point I was getting a tad irate, so took matters into my own hands and borrowed the library catalogue.

They weren't lying about the majority of the books, apparently Acton has a lot of book thieves? I find this strange, as I was under the impression that keying cars and terrorising old people was the 'in thing' for Actonians? Apparently not.. they also like to steal classic literature to try and stop me completing my list.

I did, after several sighs and urges to rip out my own hair, find five of the books I needed.. so they should keep me busy until I can find a library that stocks the rest..

Book number one on said list is 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison.. which I will talk about soon..


So there we go... some lovely updates for you all. No doubt there will be more to come over the next few days / weeks.

Much love,

Lucy xx

16) Be a Bridesmaid

Bonjour,

I thought I'd do a mini update on my past week as it involved another item on my list.. Number 16 to be precise.

Did you ever have a friend at school that you knew would be the perfect bride? I did... her name was (and still is) Jennifer Hanson. An incredibly intelligent and beautiful lady who I knew would succeed in life.. and she's not yet proved me wrong!

I've known Jen since she was 11. I can't say we got off to a great start, as she was dating Joseph C ... who at the time was a bit of a God, and I was rather jealous. We must also bear in mind that I was a bit of a tragedy until the age of about 18... so was often jealous of anyone who managed to get a boy to go near them. However, once that fizzled out we became rather good friends. Jen lived on one side of Halifax, and I on the other.. and we would often show up unannounced at one of the two houses and stay the night, much to our parents' bemusement. I can safely say I had as many good times in the Hanson household as I did in my own growing up, what a lovely bunch..

We parted ways for University as Jen learnt how to teach, and I learnt how to use Babelfish to translate English to French! This involves a few blurry years of ups and downs and ins and outs.. boys, stress, and giggles.. with the occasional reunion oop North.

Having finished uni Jen went on to put a deposit on a lovely little house and is doing an amazing job as a Primary School Teacher. I often wish I could revert back to my youth so I could go and be taught by Miss Hanson (especially having seen the mini crisp packets she's turned into keyrings, genius!).

Along the way she met Alex... tall? Check. Dark? Check. Handsome? Check... she's got them all ticked off the list, and what a lovely man he is indeed. So much so that he's taken his life into his own hands and asked Miss Hanson to be his Mrs Mutch.. brave man! (I jest, of course, he is very lucky indeed!).

FYI - Where did he make such a proposal? Only in bloody Egypt, *swoon*.

So who was delightfully surprised to receive a phonecall informing me of thus engagement and asking me to be a bridesmaid? Oh hello .. me!! In July 2010 I will officially be walking down the aisle.. at Jen's wedding as one of three Bridesmaids, I cannot wait!

So much so that I had my first fitting this weekend oop north with the Hanson clan.. which proved great fun as the dress I tried was a thousand times too big.. but having stuck in a few pins - hey presto, I'm a princess!

Absolutely GORGEOUS dresses, I finally get to look like a grown up, shocking eh? Was a tad disappointed that I didn't get to see Jen's dress.. but it's all a bit top secret til the day... dum dum dum..

So there we have it.. stage one towards crossing off Number 16... and I couldn't think of a lovelier couple to do it for.

More updates to follow.. xxx

The List xx

So here is the official list of '30 things to do before I'm 30' .. I just have a few notes (as I've had some confused comments from readers..) x

• 1) Write for a paper/magazine
  
• 2) Visit Santa in Lapland (and see Northern Lights)
• 3) Learn how to swim
  
• 4) Attend a convention (Star Trek has been suggested!)
• 5) Print all of my online photos and make real albums
• 6) Get my Canadian Citizenship
• 7) Watch all 50 Movies on Film4's List
• 8) Work on a live entertainment show
• 9) Visit every stop on the Bakerloo line and take pictures
• 10) Watch a match at Wimbledon
  
• 11) Visit Australia
• 12) Go to Ireland
• 13) Take poledancing lessons
• 14) Go to a music festival
  
• 15) Go speed dating
• 16) Be a Bridesmaid (I was when I was 4, but yet to be a grown up bridesmaid)
  
• 17) Read 50 Books to read before you die
• 18) Go to a Michelin star restaurant (need to pick one)
• 19) Do a trip round America
• 20) Attend a Film Premiere
  
• 21) Go to the Olympics
• 22) Take part in a charity event - to be decided
• 23) Write a script of some sort
• 24) Help in a soup kitchen/charity kitchen
• 25) Attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• 26) See Shakespeare at the Globe
• 27) Go Cheese Rolling in Gloucester
• 28) Have my own flat/house
• 29) Go in a hot air balloon (inspired by Grandma M)
• 30) Get a tattoo

I'm going to start my research into costs and practicality of the things on my list as my next step.. will blog with updates soon..xx

17) The Times - 100 Best English Language Novels

Here are the 100 Best English Language Novels according to The Times... a list I intend to complete.. eek!! (Some I've read already so have marked them off..!!) xx

A
The Adventures of Augie March (Saul Bellow)
All the King's Men (Robert Penn Warren)
American Pastoral (Philip Roth)
An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser)
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Appointment in Samarra (John O'Hara)
Are you there God? It's me, Margaret (Judy Blume)
The Assistant (Bernard Malamud)
At Swim-Two-Birds (Flann O'Brien)
Atonement (Ian McEwan)

B
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
The Berlin Stories (Christopher Isherwood)
The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandier)
The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)
Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
The Bride of San Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder)

C-D
Call It Sleep (Henry Roth)
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D Salinger)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
The Confessions of Nat Turner (William Styron)
The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen)
The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)
A Dance to the Music of Time (Anthony Powell)
The Day of the Locust (Nathaneal West)
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)
A Death in the Family (James Agee)
The Death of the Heart (Elizabeth Bowen)
Deliverance (James Dickey)
Dog Soldiers (Robert Stone)

F-G
Falconer (John Cheever)
The French Lieutenant's Woman (John Fowles)
The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing)
Go Tell it on the Mountain (James Baldwin)
Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinback)
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald)

H-I
A Handful of Dust (Evelyn Waugh)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene)
Herzog (Saul Bellow)
Housekeeping (Marilynne Robinson)
A House for Mr. Biswas (V.S Naipaul)
I, Claudius (Robert Graves)
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)

L-N
Light in August (William Faulkner)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S Lewis)
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien)
Loving (Henry Green)
Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis)
The Man Who Loved Children (Christina Stead)
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
Money (Martin Amis)
The Moviegoer (Walker Percy)
Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
Naked Lunch (William Burroughs)
Native Son (Richard Wright)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)
1984 (George Orwell)

O-R
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)
The Painted Bird (Jerzy Kosinski)
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
A Passage to India (E M Forster)
Play It As It Lays (Joan Didion)
Portnoy's Complaint (Philip Roth)
Posession (A S Byatt)
The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark)
Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
Ragtime (E L Doctorow)
The Recognitions (William Gaddis)
Red Harvest (Dashiell Hammett)
Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates)

S-T
The Sheltering Sky (Paul Bowles)
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)
The Sot-Weed Factor (John Barth)
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sportswriter (Richard Ford)
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (John le Carre)
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
Tropic of Cancer (Henry Miller)

U-W
Ubik (Philip K.Dick)
Under the Net (Iris Murdoch)
Under the Volcano (Malcolm Lowry)
Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons)
White Noise (Don DeLillo)
White Teeth (Zadie Smith)
Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)

If anyone owns these books, please may I borrow them?

xxx

7) Film4's 50 Films To See Before You Die

As I couldn't squeeze all of these into the list on the left of my blog, I wanted to type out the list of films I'll follow, as per Film4's 50 Films to see before you die... I'll cross them off as I watch them.. and let you know what I think of them as I go along...

1) Apocalypse now**
2) The Apartment****
3) City of God*****
4) Chinatown***
5) Sexy Beast***
6) 2001: A Space Odyssey***
7) North By Northwest***
8) A Bout De Souffle*****
9) Donnie Darko
10) Back To The Future *****
11) Alien***
12) Lost in Translation***
13) The Shawshank Redemption *****
14) Lagaan
15) Pulp Fiction
16) Touch of Evil
17) Walkabout>**
18) Black Narcissus
19) Boyz N The Hood
20) The Player***
21) Come and See
22) Heavenly Creatures
23) A Night At The Opera*****
24) Erin Brockovich ****
25) Trainspotting*
26) Hero
27) The Breakfast Club
28) Fanny and Alexander
29) Pink Flamingo
30) All About Eve****
31) Scarface***
32) Terminator 2: Judgment Day ***
33) Three Colours: Blue****
34) The Royal Tenenbaums**
35) The Ladykillers*****
36) Fight Club ***
37) The Searchers
38) Mulholland Drive
39) The Ipcress File****
40) The King of Comedy
41) Manhunter**
42) Dawn of the Dead (Director's Cut)**
43) Princeess Monoke***
44) Raising Arizona
45) Cabaret*****
46) This Sporting Life
47) Brazil
48) Aguirre, The Wrath of God*
49) Secrets and Lies
50) Badlands

I've seen some already but will try and re-watch them as part of this challenge... xx

20) Attend a Film Premiere

Hello again,

I forget how difficult it is to be disciplined with blogs.. hence my absence for a few days. However, in my defense, I have been a busy bee.. partly linked to my 30 things to do post.

For my list, I had 'attend a premiere of a film I've worked on' .. so was suprised when I got hold of tickets for one so quickly ...

Tuesday evening was the World Premiere of Harry Brown, the first film to be released with my name on the credits (even though it wasn't the first I've worked on.. just the way it goes..!).
Myself and Beth dressed up in our glad rags and headed to Leicester Square for the big event, but were a tad disappointed that the paps didn't find us worthy of a picture.. maybe one day.

The evening began with speeches from the Producers, Directors and of course Sir Michael Caine, who spoke about his love for the project. I'm really glad that they invited the whole cast on stage rather than Sir Micheal flying solo. Sir Michael commented that he had wanted to be part of the film as he felt passionate about the project and believes that we have left the youth of today to lose their way. He blames our society for the deterioration of estates and the younger generation who have turned to crime and violence. He went on to say that the rest of the cast are amazing in the film and make it what it is.. (rightly so!). He also congratulated our new boxing champion who was in the audience.

So for the film...

It's been hailed as the 'British Film of the Year', and I can now see why. It's incredibly hard to watch as you realise that these things actually happen every day. The film manages not to 'glamourise' violence as many films seem to, rather it shows the harsh reality of gang violence in the UK.

Sir Michael's performance as Harry upholds his status as one of the greatest British actors to date. He shows raw emotion as events unfold throughout the film, and it is heartbreaking to see him break down on several occasions. It is impossible not to connect with him in the film, and the audience feels his pain as he loses those dearest to him. He also plays his vigilante role superbly, having experienced time in the marines when he was young. Again, he doesn't 'glamorise' violence, but makes us realise that emotion can really push people to the limit.

The use of the subway entrance throughout the film is well thought through... we often see Harry consider walking through it, but then change his mind because of the kids that might be in there.. including the beginning of the film when he is rushing to see his dying wife. If he'd taken the subway would he have been able to say his final goodbyes? However, I can't say I'd want to walk under the subway knowing that the boys might be there to inflict some pain on me..

The gang members are scarily real in the film, with amazing performances from Ben Drew and Jack O'Connell. I have to also credit Jamal for his performance.. having never acted before, he was street-cast for the film and he does a great job.

Daniel Barber has really done himself proud. From a commercial and short film background, his first feature is a credit to his work. Hats off to Joe Walker, the editor of the film, for making the film so powerful. His seamless cuts and after effects really help make the film what it is, a great success.

All in all, I am so proud to say that I was part of the project, and so pleased that I was there at the Premiere to see it alongside the cast for the first time. I was also lucky enough to go to the after party to congratulate them all in person. They are an incredibly humble bunch, perhaps influenced by Sir Michael. Even David Bradley commented that he was honoured to work alongside Sir Michael.. which made me smile, as they have both had incredible acting careers. I won't go into the rest of my party shenanigans, you never know who might read this blog!

So there we go.. number one on my list of 30 things to do before I'm 30 has happened a lot sooner than expected.. here's to the next 29 .. !

Lucy xxx

P.s .. Go and see Harry Brown if you can, it's out now.. just don't expect to come out of the cinema thinking happy thoughts!

30 things to do before I'm 30..?

Hello again..

.. today I decided that I am going to attempt to revert to my former spontaneous self, as it seems that as I get more obsessed with the world of work I seem to forget that I should be working to live - not vice versa.

So I am going to compile a list of 30 things to do before I get to 30 .. which is 6.5 years away, but that still averages at 4.62(ish) things a year.. which I think is enough, as I'm hoping they'll be worthwhile events...

Where did this idea spring from, I hear you cry?

Well a couple of weeks ago a lovely man in a white coat told me that by the time I'm 30 I'll have to be admitted...

.. wait a second, I'm not talking lunatic asylum or anything..!!

Basically, my feet and ankles have ridiculous amounts of issues.. so they lovely doctors want to crunch them, put them in casts and stick me in a wheelchair for six months before learning to walk again.. fun, eh?

So.. I figured I should do lots of fun things before that event occurs and I am plunged into a world I don't really understand. (Note to self - find out more info about wheelchair users.. seriously, I need to prepare!)

It will go something like this :

Stage one - send email to everyone I know to suggest things for my list.

Stage two - compile the best ideas and put them on a later post.

Stage three - work out how on earth to do them all and cross them off as I do them! I'll even throw in a nice blog to tell you all what happens.

Sound like a plan? I think so.. it's time this girl got back to her old self.. :o) bring it on.

I wanted to add one to the list - go to a premiere of a film I've worked on.. but it seems this may be around the corner already.. updates to follow..

I'll update the '30 things before I'm 30' blogs alongside my regular posts, just to spice it up a little!

But for now, I must get the train to Bedfordshire..

Night xxxxx

P.S ... any posts to do with my '30 things' will be in green... and my usual blog will run along side it in black.. xx

So here I am ..

Bonsoir..

It seems that anyone who is anyone these days must have a blog.. so I have given in and created a space for my thoughts, reviews.. and general ramblings!

If you've stumbled across this by accident then I guess you might wonder who I am?

I'm Lucy.. please to virtually meet you.

At present I'm 23 years old.. meaning I was born in 1986 (in case you wondered) ..

I was born in Canterbury... raised in Halifax... and now live in London .. what a mix, eh?


Today's conundrum involved the joyous world of work.. oh the jumbled mess that forms my career.. or lack thereof!

So far in life I've had the following jobs (from earliest to most recent)

- Waitress
- Silver cleaner
- Cleaner
- Boots shop assistant
- Tesco shop assistant
- Library assistant
- Radio broadcast assistant (In UK and France)
- Magazine journalist (uni)
- Radio station manager (uni)
- Community Liaison Officer (uni)
- River Island shop assistant
- Barmaid
- Floor runner (Film)
- Creature Effects runner
- Production Assistant (Film)
- Production Secretary (TV)
- PR assistant (Work Exp - current!)

... and I STILL don't know what to do with my life ... so for now I shall keep bumbling along and trying different things along the way.

Jobs I'd like to try out:

- Film PR
- Journalism (for a real paper/mag)
- Presenting
- Entertainment researcher (TV)
- Director's Assistant (Film)
- PA to somebody spectacular
- Charity work - Comic Relief or Make a Wish

So there you have it .. Lucy Locket .. 23, living in the Big Smoke and no idea what career she wants (can I also point out that we're in a recession, I am unemployed and currently have £3.74 to my name.. so not really the time to be picky!) ..

So any suggestions fine people of the interweb? What should I do? Do I really need to pick one? Can I just carry on jobhopping forever? Help needed!

On that barrage of questions ... I shall bid you adieu, as I have realised I have to go to bed so I actually get up for work experience tomorrow (oh dear, I sound fourteen again. shoot me.)

I'll post again if/when I find something worth talking about!

Night all,

Lucy xxx