...in the morning, it's nearly 3AM and I'm up at 6:30. Once we're in Manchester a full English is in order, then we're off for an adventure and we won't be coming back until Monday night! It's going to be AWESOME. I kid you not.
I've left this post a bit late but I really should go get 3 hours sleep so I'm all ready for the day ahead... I'll post again when I'm back and I can get everything in order.
See y'all later!
Friday, 26 June 2009
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Monday, 8 June 2009
BARGAINS!
Everyone knows how ace it feels to buy something new, but it's a special feeling when you score an absolute bargain. I'm not talking about Quality Save and Home Bargains or Lidl and Aldi here... I mean an honest 'how the hell did I ever find that?' moment.
I decided I wanted to get a bass guitar because I don't have one, have never played one and always thought it'd be the kind of thing that suited me. I'm a big lover of unique items, I'd much rather have something that was crappy but unique as opposed to something amazing but well known. So I started to look around the net for something with a bit of character... I trawled eBay and found nothing that really tickled my fancy (one or two maybe, but they were obviously extortionately priced because the seller knew they were rare, even if they were poor.)
Eventually I decided to have a little peek on Gumtree for the first time in ages and found a guy who lived about 5 minutes drive from me selling a bass for £40 which was perfect - wasn't massively unique but I intend to strip it down and repaint and refit it, so that it's a bit more personalised. The cool thing though was that he was also selling a guitar - a rather fine guitar, for a mere £90. I couldn't resist. I managed to get it down to £120 for both and now I'm rather satisfied.
Feast thine eyes.
I decided I wanted to get a bass guitar because I don't have one, have never played one and always thought it'd be the kind of thing that suited me. I'm a big lover of unique items, I'd much rather have something that was crappy but unique as opposed to something amazing but well known. So I started to look around the net for something with a bit of character... I trawled eBay and found nothing that really tickled my fancy (one or two maybe, but they were obviously extortionately priced because the seller knew they were rare, even if they were poor.)
Eventually I decided to have a little peek on Gumtree for the first time in ages and found a guy who lived about 5 minutes drive from me selling a bass for £40 which was perfect - wasn't massively unique but I intend to strip it down and repaint and refit it, so that it's a bit more personalised. The cool thing though was that he was also selling a guitar - a rather fine guitar, for a mere £90. I couldn't resist. I managed to get it down to £120 for both and now I'm rather satisfied.
Feast thine eyes.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
My birthday was classic.
It's a bit late doing this now but I thought this birthday was the best I've had and it deserves a lengthy post!
I woke up Friday morning, slowly realising that the 29th of May hath rolled round yet again... and for the first time the usual excitement was replaced with an urge to get five minutes more kip. How old?! I didn't think it'd be like that at 22! But all was good, I went downstairs and headed for the cards and the presents - got a pile of T-shirts that was like a Kafka novel made of cloth, it was so thick.
I got an iPod dock/alarm clock thing that should hopefully do a better job of waking me up (not that I need it considering I've got no reason to get up until September) and a speaker pillow which is delightfully odd - useless for music because there's no low end (I'm a sound student, I'm sorry but I do need a wide frequency response before I register any real audio-based pleasure) but it's bob on for audio books. Since I've pushed and prodded this pillow and can't feel ANY kind of solid tweeter whatsoever, I'm convinced that it's actually infused with some kind of magic spell. Listening to an audiobook made me think a miniature Lenny Henry had somehow squidged himself into my sleeping arrangement.
I also got UNKLE's 'End Titles... Stories For Film' which is a well cool album, and City Of Men which is an AWESOME film and I do need to see it again so it's come at a great time. Also got the Futurama DVD 'The Beast With A Billion Backs' so I've got plenty to keep me occupied!
Anyways, the nightly adventure. Me and my two fantastic hombres Simon and Liam met up at about six (ish) and proceeded into Manchester in the general direction of Chinatown with the intention of sinking some classy all-you-can-eat buffet cuisine. Buffet City has become a bit of a tradition when me and Simon are out on a Friday so we thought it'd be ideal, since we had plenty of time to kill. Lots of food and ice cream later (combined with cost effective student discounts) and we were on our merry way. Not for long though, as we didn't get past Fab Café, which is right below the buffet, before deciding a cheeky beer was in order. So after seeing some of a dodgy Superman film plus a guy behind the bar with a T-shirt that said, quite plainly, 'Have a wank, have a wank, have a motherfucking wank' we were on our way yet again!
We got to Matt & Phred's for nine and it appeared that something had gone a bit awry with my table reservation but we still got one so it was all good...
Oh it was good... the band were setting up and although I was a little disappointed not to see Luke Flowers on the kit, the main man McCallum showed up in his classic velvety looking jazz jacket and everything felt right :D
Seemed aswell that we were treated to a total of five musicians instead of the expected four - a nice little percussion section with triangles and congas! Plus a sax player as well as double bass, drums (a fairly reduced kit with no toms meant no fancy solos unfortunately but still, ace) and Stu on the gee-taaar. I was a bit excited because as I've said before, this was going to be the first time I could stay for all three sets.
Oh and it was good! The percussion really added something special, and cheeky beer after cheeky beer was purchased as the night galloped on, amidst laughter and much joking with my compadres. After the first set, Simon managed to get a cheeky thumbs up from Stu as they left the stage which was just outrageous :P
Being fat and celebratory, me and Simon decided to invest in a couple of pizzas as we had done a few weeks earlier (despite just having had Chinese buffet - that's what happens when you're celebrating and you have far too much money) and I managed to beg Simon to go and ask Stu for a birthday shout out. Upon his return I was slightly heartbroken to hear that 'he doesn't do that kind of thing, it's too Cabaret'. But alas, the second set began and I tried not to cry.
After the first song was over and the applause settled, Stu announced he had something to say for some 'special' people... I perked up a bit. And he said. Lee. My name. Oh the excitement :P I got a shout out! Off Stuart McCallum! GENIUS! Simon was pissing himself and cheers went up... Then he said something about a guy called Ed and it was his birthday too, but thankfully he didn't steal my thunder. Turns out later it was some girl's 25th too, they were totally trying to upstage me! Didn't happen though.
When the second set was over I managed to grab a sneaky handshake off Stu and said thanks for the shout out, which was pretty cool... so yet more alcohol was consumed and the place started to empty out a bit.
The third set started and we'd managed to shift up to a closer table, so Stu in his typically cheeky humorous way greeted all the tables and we all gave him a jazz wave. The last set was really cool, but some people were getting a bit noisy so he asked if there were any requests. I shouted Blue Train at him and he said 'oooh, good choice!' - don't think he was really expecting anybody to come out with anything. So the last song of the night on my birthday was John Coltrane's Blue Train, which was awesome. He even told a cool little story about John Coltrane and something about using vibration to cure cancer - at least that's what I managed to make out, couldn't really hear what he was saying because of some daft annoying loud bastards behind us. It was a top rendition, every time I've heard it played before there was a lot more guitar and drumming involved and if ever anyone is lucky enough to see Stuart McCallum perform this song with Luke Flowers or Mikey Wilson, you're in for a massive treat.
The gig done, we went and got more drinks and when everyone but Stu had gone me and Simon went up to the stage and shook his hand. I told him how much I'd enjoyed it and thanked him for playing the request. Turns out he's going to be playing again on Tuesday so I reckon I'll definitely be there. An awesome night to be had for sure!
After that it was a trip to the bus station for a late bus journey home that thankfully turned out to be completely dickhead-free, which isn't too bad for 2:30AM, especially in Manchester and Farnworth.
Ace night and it'll be hard to top! Big thanks to Liam and Simon for making it such a wicked cool night!
Anyways, I urge anyone with good musical taste to head on over to Stuart McCallum's MySpace or his Official Website for a listen.
I woke up Friday morning, slowly realising that the 29th of May hath rolled round yet again... and for the first time the usual excitement was replaced with an urge to get five minutes more kip. How old?! I didn't think it'd be like that at 22! But all was good, I went downstairs and headed for the cards and the presents - got a pile of T-shirts that was like a Kafka novel made of cloth, it was so thick.
I got an iPod dock/alarm clock thing that should hopefully do a better job of waking me up (not that I need it considering I've got no reason to get up until September) and a speaker pillow which is delightfully odd - useless for music because there's no low end (I'm a sound student, I'm sorry but I do need a wide frequency response before I register any real audio-based pleasure) but it's bob on for audio books. Since I've pushed and prodded this pillow and can't feel ANY kind of solid tweeter whatsoever, I'm convinced that it's actually infused with some kind of magic spell. Listening to an audiobook made me think a miniature Lenny Henry had somehow squidged himself into my sleeping arrangement.
I also got UNKLE's 'End Titles... Stories For Film' which is a well cool album, and City Of Men which is an AWESOME film and I do need to see it again so it's come at a great time. Also got the Futurama DVD 'The Beast With A Billion Backs' so I've got plenty to keep me occupied!
Anyways, the nightly adventure. Me and my two fantastic hombres Simon and Liam met up at about six (ish) and proceeded into Manchester in the general direction of Chinatown with the intention of sinking some classy all-you-can-eat buffet cuisine. Buffet City has become a bit of a tradition when me and Simon are out on a Friday so we thought it'd be ideal, since we had plenty of time to kill. Lots of food and ice cream later (combined with cost effective student discounts) and we were on our merry way. Not for long though, as we didn't get past Fab Café, which is right below the buffet, before deciding a cheeky beer was in order. So after seeing some of a dodgy Superman film plus a guy behind the bar with a T-shirt that said, quite plainly, 'Have a wank, have a wank, have a motherfucking wank' we were on our way yet again!
We got to Matt & Phred's for nine and it appeared that something had gone a bit awry with my table reservation but we still got one so it was all good...
Oh it was good... the band were setting up and although I was a little disappointed not to see Luke Flowers on the kit, the main man McCallum showed up in his classic velvety looking jazz jacket and everything felt right :D
Seemed aswell that we were treated to a total of five musicians instead of the expected four - a nice little percussion section with triangles and congas! Plus a sax player as well as double bass, drums (a fairly reduced kit with no toms meant no fancy solos unfortunately but still, ace) and Stu on the gee-taaar. I was a bit excited because as I've said before, this was going to be the first time I could stay for all three sets.
Oh and it was good! The percussion really added something special, and cheeky beer after cheeky beer was purchased as the night galloped on, amidst laughter and much joking with my compadres. After the first set, Simon managed to get a cheeky thumbs up from Stu as they left the stage which was just outrageous :P
Being fat and celebratory, me and Simon decided to invest in a couple of pizzas as we had done a few weeks earlier (despite just having had Chinese buffet - that's what happens when you're celebrating and you have far too much money) and I managed to beg Simon to go and ask Stu for a birthday shout out. Upon his return I was slightly heartbroken to hear that 'he doesn't do that kind of thing, it's too Cabaret'. But alas, the second set began and I tried not to cry.
After the first song was over and the applause settled, Stu announced he had something to say for some 'special' people... I perked up a bit. And he said. Lee. My name. Oh the excitement :P I got a shout out! Off Stuart McCallum! GENIUS! Simon was pissing himself and cheers went up... Then he said something about a guy called Ed and it was his birthday too, but thankfully he didn't steal my thunder. Turns out later it was some girl's 25th too, they were totally trying to upstage me! Didn't happen though.
When the second set was over I managed to grab a sneaky handshake off Stu and said thanks for the shout out, which was pretty cool... so yet more alcohol was consumed and the place started to empty out a bit.
The third set started and we'd managed to shift up to a closer table, so Stu in his typically cheeky humorous way greeted all the tables and we all gave him a jazz wave. The last set was really cool, but some people were getting a bit noisy so he asked if there were any requests. I shouted Blue Train at him and he said 'oooh, good choice!' - don't think he was really expecting anybody to come out with anything. So the last song of the night on my birthday was John Coltrane's Blue Train, which was awesome. He even told a cool little story about John Coltrane and something about using vibration to cure cancer - at least that's what I managed to make out, couldn't really hear what he was saying because of some daft annoying loud bastards behind us. It was a top rendition, every time I've heard it played before there was a lot more guitar and drumming involved and if ever anyone is lucky enough to see Stuart McCallum perform this song with Luke Flowers or Mikey Wilson, you're in for a massive treat.
The gig done, we went and got more drinks and when everyone but Stu had gone me and Simon went up to the stage and shook his hand. I told him how much I'd enjoyed it and thanked him for playing the request. Turns out he's going to be playing again on Tuesday so I reckon I'll definitely be there. An awesome night to be had for sure!
After that it was a trip to the bus station for a late bus journey home that thankfully turned out to be completely dickhead-free, which isn't too bad for 2:30AM, especially in Manchester and Farnworth.
Ace night and it'll be hard to top! Big thanks to Liam and Simon for making it such a wicked cool night!
Anyways, I urge anyone with good musical taste to head on over to Stuart McCallum's MySpace or his Official Website for a listen.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Happy birthday to me
Hehe well it might be a bit early but... might as well say it eh?
Mmmm. Cake.
What's on the cards for today? Cards, presents, Chinese food, and a night of pure unadulterated experimental jazz from the hands of McCallum himself. Oh the joy :P
Mmmm. Cake.
What's on the cards for today? Cards, presents, Chinese food, and a night of pure unadulterated experimental jazz from the hands of McCallum himself. Oh the joy :P
Monday, 18 May 2009
Result!!!
My film Sleep got 86% and the presentation we did for it got 88%, so two distinctions. Well chuffed!
I'm HOPING that this will have kept my video production average for the entire semester above the 85% distinction threshold. I think I worked it out as being something really daft like 84.1% before these, though I'm not sure which ones they take into account... the only one 'poor' mark I got for any module on this course was 60% (which is by no means bad but still, by my standards, I should have done better!) on a video test, which pulled it down a little. Stupid question where I mis-read and drew the wrong diagram, only realising what I'd done when I stepped outside! Ahhh well. Considering I've done so well at every single aspect of this course I'm rather pleased.
Oh and also, I hate Adobe Flash with an absolute passion. I've worked on my Flash project non-stop for a week and come to the conclusion that Flash is by far the worst program ever made, and that I hate it to death and don't want to use it again. I handed it in on Friday and I've never felt so relieved.
I'm HOPING that this will have kept my video production average for the entire semester above the 85% distinction threshold. I think I worked it out as being something really daft like 84.1% before these, though I'm not sure which ones they take into account... the only one 'poor' mark I got for any module on this course was 60% (which is by no means bad but still, by my standards, I should have done better!) on a video test, which pulled it down a little. Stupid question where I mis-read and drew the wrong diagram, only realising what I'd done when I stepped outside! Ahhh well. Considering I've done so well at every single aspect of this course I'm rather pleased.
Oh and also, I hate Adobe Flash with an absolute passion. I've worked on my Flash project non-stop for a week and come to the conclusion that Flash is by far the worst program ever made, and that I hate it to death and don't want to use it again. I handed it in on Friday and I've never felt so relieved.
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Storyboards
Since Kayleigh mentioned my style being suited to storyboards I thought I might as well post these that I drew a few months ago. For the short film Sleep we did for uni (check my first post) I drew these up as part of a powerpoint presentation before we went filming. I did all 4 pages in the night before we were due to present it, so about 3 hours worth here. Upon doing a second presentation after the film was finished and comparing finished shots to the originals, my lecturer remarked that we were (or rather I was) probably the most meticulous storyboarders he'd seen!
(Notice how the sketches get progressively lighter and less developed as I get more knackered!)
(Notice how the sketches get progressively lighter and less developed as I get more knackered!)
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Some doodles.
I don't draw as often as I used to, I'm still a serial doodler and always keep a notebook to hand so I can draw/write/generally record anything I need to. I just scanned a few pages (this is just a tiny portion of the feast on offer though) because it's been a while since I've posted anything I drew online and I miss the feeling!
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Free pizza is amazing
Bit of an eventful day, but the title of this post is the highlight...
So me and my good friend Simon made a plan last week to take advantage of some after hours uni work time and mix it up with Matt & Phred's awesome 'buy two alcoholic drinks get a free pizza' deal. Free WiFi plus laptops, short battery life, two pints of Pils and an American Hot is not a good combo for getting work done, I've discovered. Alas it was still ace!
Anyways, after that we went to Subway with a sneaky voucher we got the other day, got a cheapo meal deal but the nice lady didn't take the voucher... so... that might be used again sometime soon...
The most amazing thing though is the following, taken from the Matt and Phred's website:
-----
Stuart McCallum is a 26-yr-old guitarist based in Manchester. His intense focus, phenomenal improvising and restless creativity have not gone unnoticed in the UK where he is rapidly becoming recognised as one of the finest and most original guitar players.
-----
Now taking into account that May 29th is the day I turn 22, it's also a Friday, and STUART McCALLUM is playing, ON A FRIDAY, meaning I CAN STAY FOR THE FULL GIG AND MOLEST HIS HAND AFTERWARDS, I'm more than a bit excited. It almost seems... fated! Furthermore, considering that my mate Simon has offered to book and pay for a table reservation just makes me love my life so very very much. If Luke Flowers is drumming that night, I think I actually will do a wee. Peace.
So me and my good friend Simon made a plan last week to take advantage of some after hours uni work time and mix it up with Matt & Phred's awesome 'buy two alcoholic drinks get a free pizza' deal. Free WiFi plus laptops, short battery life, two pints of Pils and an American Hot is not a good combo for getting work done, I've discovered. Alas it was still ace!
Anyways, after that we went to Subway with a sneaky voucher we got the other day, got a cheapo meal deal but the nice lady didn't take the voucher... so... that might be used again sometime soon...
The most amazing thing though is the following, taken from the Matt and Phred's website:
-----
Friday 29th May 2009 09:30 PM
Stuart McCallum Quintet, £5Stuart McCallum is a 26-yr-old guitarist based in Manchester. His intense focus, phenomenal improvising and restless creativity have not gone unnoticed in the UK where he is rapidly becoming recognised as one of the finest and most original guitar players.
-----
Now taking into account that May 29th is the day I turn 22, it's also a Friday, and STUART McCALLUM is playing, ON A FRIDAY, meaning I CAN STAY FOR THE FULL GIG AND MOLEST HIS HAND AFTERWARDS, I'm more than a bit excited. It almost seems... fated! Furthermore, considering that my mate Simon has offered to book and pay for a table reservation just makes me love my life so very very much. If Luke Flowers is drumming that night, I think I actually will do a wee. Peace.
Monday, 4 May 2009
Plants Vs. Zombies
Thought these videos were ace after seeing the upcoming game Plants Vs. Zombies on Steam...
I love the way he slides round!
I love the way he slides round!
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