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