Yesterday, I spent most (if not all) of the day working on a music video not for myself but, for my friend, James. We just about managed to film all of it in one day with a little uncertainty as to whether or not we will need any additional actors, even though in the end we managed without.
We had two different locations which were the subway/underpath in Ilkeston and under the A52 bridge near Stapleford by the canal but on the opposite side of the toe path. Once we were on location it didn't take long to record a few takes that we could mash up into the video. We shot all of the intro and verse one in the subway and focused more on verse 2 at our second location. I felt like the second location was a lot brighter because more natural light coming into the shot and seemed to give the video a more hopeful feeling.
You can watch the full music video on Youtube here:
One Last Time M.I.L.L.I.E. - JEM The Ruff Diamond feat. Ali
Check out 'JEM The Ruff Diamond' for photos of the shoot, tour dates/gigs and extra content.
Tuesday, 19 July 2016
Thursday, 14 July 2016
Two Years Of Employment
Two years ago, this would have been my first official day of starting work at the Esso Petrol Station. It does still feel like it was only yesterday (well, there abouts) and I can't quite believe that it has been two years already. I still vaguely remember my training shifts with Vicky, whom I still work with to this day at the now ASDA Petrol Station, and other training shifts working on my own where Ash, the manager would come into the store every now and then to check up on me. I had to be able to work alone because there was never anyone else working with me unless we had a special visit from Mr. Ronson who basically owned everything, bringing flash cars, many guys in suits/ body guards all the way up from London with him. He always took up a lot of space as he trotted around the forecourt, inspecting it and from what I heard about him and his ways I quickly took a disliking to him. I never got a chance to speak to him really, just be in his presence but he seemed to have these old sat ways where he would prefer one or two ladies working on the till to a guy. So, yeah a little sexist but that wasn't a problem for me and those days are over, for me at least.
I remember the the big announcement last year in the end of January that something big was about to happen and then having about an hour long meeting the next month with an ASDA lady. Before everything made sense, I remember a bunch of people walking around the site not quite like Mr. Ronson's but there was one that gave it all away. One of the men was wearing his hi-vis jacket the right way around and it quite clearly said 'ASDA' on the back of it. It wasn't long until one of the others told him and then he turned it inside out to cover it up. I didn't think much of it at the time, just that maybe that was the only hi-vis that he had but no, they we sizing up the place ready for the take over. Making plans and stuff.
It wasn't long from that point that we transferred over to the ASDA at Long Eaton so that they could host us while our store was in the process of being knocked down and then rebuilt. I spent most of my time there working on the produce section quite simply because it was the most fun and the most hard work, lugging vegetables around the place on what they called a 'Dolly'. It was like a trolley but, with a de-tactchable handle. I made some new friends over there, some who even joined us at the new petrol station. Of course, working at a store that just about qualifies as a 'Superstore' isn't the same as working at a tiny little petrol station so eventually we had to go train elsewhere. Woodville.
Woodville was rather nice, I really enjoyed my experiences there even though it was so far away and the tills were very easy to get used to. There was only a slight difference to what I was used to and they made a different kind of irritating noise when the pumps go off. A slight improvement to constant beeping, it was the sound of a males voice that said which number pump not so constantly. I made a few knew friends at Woodville too which I was a little surprised at with the short amount of time we was there. Did I mention that we got paid for travel too?
I had never prepared a brand new store for opening and I guess its one of those things that you just don't do every day! When opening week came, we had a lot of shelves to stick SELS on and then fill up once we had our very first delivery. I remember the first few days of that being literally just putting all the SELS out and then when we had our first Ambient delivery in the middle of the week, it was time to start filling. We got all of the fresh stuff last minute, I think it was the day before we opened so that the shop was all ready on time for its big day. We had photographers from the Ilkeston Advertiser and an adorable group of toddlers from a local nursery to be involved with the grande opening. Its not far off the store's 1st Birthday now (29th July) and I can't believe we've already been open nearly a year! Its been a crazy experience, yet alone with just the transformation of the site (I have still kept my other blog open with all of the photos, http://larklands.blogspot.co.uk ), how well customers have adapted to it. Some still come in through the exit but, we can let them off for that a few times.
I remember the the big announcement last year in the end of January that something big was about to happen and then having about an hour long meeting the next month with an ASDA lady. Before everything made sense, I remember a bunch of people walking around the site not quite like Mr. Ronson's but there was one that gave it all away. One of the men was wearing his hi-vis jacket the right way around and it quite clearly said 'ASDA' on the back of it. It wasn't long until one of the others told him and then he turned it inside out to cover it up. I didn't think much of it at the time, just that maybe that was the only hi-vis that he had but no, they we sizing up the place ready for the take over. Making plans and stuff.
It wasn't long from that point that we transferred over to the ASDA at Long Eaton so that they could host us while our store was in the process of being knocked down and then rebuilt. I spent most of my time there working on the produce section quite simply because it was the most fun and the most hard work, lugging vegetables around the place on what they called a 'Dolly'. It was like a trolley but, with a de-tactchable handle. I made some new friends over there, some who even joined us at the new petrol station. Of course, working at a store that just about qualifies as a 'Superstore' isn't the same as working at a tiny little petrol station so eventually we had to go train elsewhere. Woodville.
Woodville was rather nice, I really enjoyed my experiences there even though it was so far away and the tills were very easy to get used to. There was only a slight difference to what I was used to and they made a different kind of irritating noise when the pumps go off. A slight improvement to constant beeping, it was the sound of a males voice that said which number pump not so constantly. I made a few knew friends at Woodville too which I was a little surprised at with the short amount of time we was there. Did I mention that we got paid for travel too?
I had never prepared a brand new store for opening and I guess its one of those things that you just don't do every day! When opening week came, we had a lot of shelves to stick SELS on and then fill up once we had our very first delivery. I remember the first few days of that being literally just putting all the SELS out and then when we had our first Ambient delivery in the middle of the week, it was time to start filling. We got all of the fresh stuff last minute, I think it was the day before we opened so that the shop was all ready on time for its big day. We had photographers from the Ilkeston Advertiser and an adorable group of toddlers from a local nursery to be involved with the grande opening. Its not far off the store's 1st Birthday now (29th July) and I can't believe we've already been open nearly a year! Its been a crazy experience, yet alone with just the transformation of the site (I have still kept my other blog open with all of the photos, http://larklands.blogspot.co.uk ), how well customers have adapted to it. Some still come in through the exit but, we can let them off for that a few times.
Monday, 11 July 2016
Trying To Get Back On Track
I currently feel like these next few months are going to be a lot different from all of the rest for many reasons. I recently received my welcome pack from NCN (07/07/16) inviting me to welcome event at the Broadway Theatre. Now I have the chance to get all excited again about actually going to university... well, college again but it is the same thing. As an addition, I've been trying to eat a little better and have been going to the gym more frequently in the past week. I'm doing fairly well so far as I've lost a little bit of weight, I don't need to loose much really but I really want to be back at a weight where I feel comfortable in time for going to Uni, so that when I meet my fellow students I might have a little more confidence.
I know I'm a lot more confident than I ever was before but, I've still got a lot of work to do. It has been a while since I last performed on stage and I'm going to have to get used to it again. This weekend I will be playing an open mic with my friend Lara, who I met at NCN from my intro course. We have been back in touch and have been practicing a couple of songs. It is nice to feel like "I'm back in the game". This doesn't seem to be anything serious at the moment, just a few cover songs but, I know whichever way things go that this shall be fun!
I really want to start composing again but, I feel like I already have this endless list of tasks. With other projects on the line, its difficult to pick and chose when some are of higher priority and I just hope I've made the best decisions. I'm still meaning to buy a severn string but, I have had other expense to pay out relating to my car. At least I don't have to worry about the service or MOT now though, during my stay at Uni. It's all paid for for three years. My car had it's first MOT today, it's three years old at the end of this month and I've been driving for over two years now. I'm aware that my front tyres are starting to wear. That was the only problem that was outlined to me from the MOT today but, it's not urgent yet and I think they will fine for one more year.
I know I'm a lot more confident than I ever was before but, I've still got a lot of work to do. It has been a while since I last performed on stage and I'm going to have to get used to it again. This weekend I will be playing an open mic with my friend Lara, who I met at NCN from my intro course. We have been back in touch and have been practicing a couple of songs. It is nice to feel like "I'm back in the game". This doesn't seem to be anything serious at the moment, just a few cover songs but, I know whichever way things go that this shall be fun!
I really want to start composing again but, I feel like I already have this endless list of tasks. With other projects on the line, its difficult to pick and chose when some are of higher priority and I just hope I've made the best decisions. I'm still meaning to buy a severn string but, I have had other expense to pay out relating to my car. At least I don't have to worry about the service or MOT now though, during my stay at Uni. It's all paid for for three years. My car had it's first MOT today, it's three years old at the end of this month and I've been driving for over two years now. I'm aware that my front tyres are starting to wear. That was the only problem that was outlined to me from the MOT today but, it's not urgent yet and I think they will fine for one more year.
Sunday, 5 June 2016
2 Years Without Zebra Crossing
Today marks two years since my pervious band went a little pear-shaped and then totally caved in altogether. I mostly know this because it came up in my Facebook memories or, "On This Day" in the form of a huge uproar on a status of mine when I posted that I had been kicked out of my own band, technically. The post received nearly two hundred comments, mostly of a lot of my Facebook friends trying to cheer me up and even stick up for me. I still appreciate it to this day because I never expected such a maniac reaction from everyone.
It didn't help that Lucy's mother, Deborah tried to defend her daughter when for one, she should have been doing it her self and two, she just looked stupid doing it. I can only remember this now after reading through all of the comments again, early this morning.
It is interesting how things have changed since then. Not long after these events, I went on to get a job at was then Esso down the road from me and I know for a fact that if I was still in the band that I would not have gotten the job. This was my second interview for that job, and I was sure that that was what let me down the last time. I'm still not really in a band of my own and now I work for ASDA after being tupeed over but, I hope I get the chance to try to form another when I go back to Clarendon which is a chance that is almost guaranteed.
In other news thats not of my own, Lucy has her new EP called 'Surroundings' coming out tomorrow. I'm still interested to see what she's doing with music and we do still stand on talking grounds (I'd say anyway) as every now and then I will message her on Facebook. Not long after the uproar I remember sorting things so we're at the least acquaintances again and that there were no hard feelings between us.
It didn't help that Lucy's mother, Deborah tried to defend her daughter when for one, she should have been doing it her self and two, she just looked stupid doing it. I can only remember this now after reading through all of the comments again, early this morning.
It is interesting how things have changed since then. Not long after these events, I went on to get a job at was then Esso down the road from me and I know for a fact that if I was still in the band that I would not have gotten the job. This was my second interview for that job, and I was sure that that was what let me down the last time. I'm still not really in a band of my own and now I work for ASDA after being tupeed over but, I hope I get the chance to try to form another when I go back to Clarendon which is a chance that is almost guaranteed.
In other news thats not of my own, Lucy has her new EP called 'Surroundings' coming out tomorrow. I'm still interested to see what she's doing with music and we do still stand on talking grounds (I'd say anyway) as every now and then I will message her on Facebook. Not long after the uproar I remember sorting things so we're at the least acquaintances again and that there were no hard feelings between us.
Friday, 3 June 2016
My Nerd Corner
Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I have a considerable amount of "Toys" for a nearly-twentytwo-year-old. My collection has been forever growing since I got my first job, probably even before that if I'm honest. This is first time I've ever revealed the entirety of it (or of what I display in my room) on my blog and I thought it would make a nice post after the last one. It reflects all of my interest in Nintendo, retro video games and of course Doctor Who.
Thursday, 26 May 2016
RIP Gizmo
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28/08/09 - 24/05/16
One of our two much loved family cats. Mum found him at about 8:30 Tuesday morning. He's not had great health for the last couple of months but, we believe he may have been poisoned. Whether it be from weed killer, antifreeze or something similar, he went out Saturday morning and didn't come back the same. He wouldn't move very far, hardly ate anything and kept himself hidden away under the beds and sofas. I can't believe he's actually gone. Not even 7 years old!!
Thankfully, we still have his brother Charlie to keep us company. Its going to be odd only having one cat in the house though after having them both for about six and a half years since since they were kits.
RIP Gizmo <3
Monday, 23 May 2016
Everything That's Happened In May & More!!
It's been almost a month since I last posted anything and I feel like I have a lot to catch up on. On the 1st of May, I had a rather long trip out to Trafford Centre in Manchester with my mum and a close friend. The place is absolutely huge! It took about two hours to get there and all day to look around all of the shops. I ended up coming home with two new puppets which are still yet to be officially named, although myself and my friend Jo who also drove us there came up with the names Manny and Maple between us. This day also marks the first day I had ever been in a Selfridges store.
There's been a few things I have gotten back into. I've started watching Doctor Who and going to the gym more frequently again. There has also been a fair few stressful instances at work again recently. Our cash machine broke and everyone expected that we do cash back. We don't. I've had a fair amount of Costa's with my friend that I met from my first college course, Peter.
The wether has been considerably better this month so I have been making the most of it, with the exception of filming. Myself and my mum went to Wollaton Park a couple of weeks ago for a pick nick and a kick about after a long day shopping around Nottingham city centre. I managed to get quite a few good action shots of my mum that day, which I'm not sure she's greatly pleased about. It had been ages since myself and my mum had done anything like this. We used to play about all of the time on the garden when I was still in school but, hardly ever now.
Recently, I've gotten into bad habits of staying up late. My new regular bedtime is now more like 2-3am, which is not healthy. All I seem to do with this time is scroll through Facebook on my iPad or watch videos on YouTube. I've been playing The Sims Freeplay a lot recently too. None of it is healthy. I have however been trying my best to not stay up as late as I have been but, sometimes I just can't help it when I find an adorable, obscure video of David Tennant, a man whom's birthday it was recently. Would you believe he's now 45. It seems only yesterday he was living his childhood dream of playing the 10th doctor, of course I still watch all of the episodes today.
Last weekend I went away for a couple of days with my mum, dad and auntie. We went on the Friday morning and set off to Whitley Bay Holiday Park. We've had been there once before and decided to go again. Friday we didn't really do much, we didn't even go out to see the onsite entertainment. I didn't bother doing that any of the nights because I almost know exactly what its going to be like if its a band playing, give or take stage presence and quality. Saturday we went into the town of Whitley Bay, which was quite nice. Nothing had really changed from the last time and we went to Sambucca's again for lunch, where I also sampled their Nutella cheesecake. Sunday, we went to the Beamish living museum which was certainly very interesting. There was a lot to see and plenty to get around, with a tram and bus service connecting all of the areas. It was quite a fascinating day and probably the best part of the holiday. Monday was the morning we had to leave the site so it was more of a rush around to get off home and not forget anything in the process. I was quite happy to be going home, feeling satisfied. I do worry a lot when we go away incase we ever get burgled but, thankfully that didn't happen. It's always a relief to get home and be back to normality.
I have been trying new things lately out of inspiration from listening to Doctor Who audio books, specifically the tenth doctor collect that was just released this month. So, naturally I decided to have a go at writing my very own radio play. I only started this other night and I managed to reach page 7, including a full page of charter ideas and motives. I really have missed creating my own story. This is another thing that I used to do all of the time when I was in school. One of my old English teachers shot me down for it because one seemed a little too repetitive. It did bother me but, I'm glad I've found a new way of writing and portraying my creative ideas that suits me more. I'm really enjoying it.
In other news, my favourite group of guys; The Piano Guys turned 5 this month and also released a new music video: The Jungle Book / Sarabande (Mayan Style). I would like to take a moment for this part of my blog to congratulate them on how far they have come in such a short space of time. I still remember the first day I discovered them back in college and when I instantly fell in love with their ideas. I hope I get to see them live again soon, even if I have to wait until next year!
There's been a few things I have gotten back into. I've started watching Doctor Who and going to the gym more frequently again. There has also been a fair few stressful instances at work again recently. Our cash machine broke and everyone expected that we do cash back. We don't. I've had a fair amount of Costa's with my friend that I met from my first college course, Peter.
The wether has been considerably better this month so I have been making the most of it, with the exception of filming. Myself and my mum went to Wollaton Park a couple of weeks ago for a pick nick and a kick about after a long day shopping around Nottingham city centre. I managed to get quite a few good action shots of my mum that day, which I'm not sure she's greatly pleased about. It had been ages since myself and my mum had done anything like this. We used to play about all of the time on the garden when I was still in school but, hardly ever now.
Recently, I've gotten into bad habits of staying up late. My new regular bedtime is now more like 2-3am, which is not healthy. All I seem to do with this time is scroll through Facebook on my iPad or watch videos on YouTube. I've been playing The Sims Freeplay a lot recently too. None of it is healthy. I have however been trying my best to not stay up as late as I have been but, sometimes I just can't help it when I find an adorable, obscure video of David Tennant, a man whom's birthday it was recently. Would you believe he's now 45. It seems only yesterday he was living his childhood dream of playing the 10th doctor, of course I still watch all of the episodes today.
Last weekend I went away for a couple of days with my mum, dad and auntie. We went on the Friday morning and set off to Whitley Bay Holiday Park. We've had been there once before and decided to go again. Friday we didn't really do much, we didn't even go out to see the onsite entertainment. I didn't bother doing that any of the nights because I almost know exactly what its going to be like if its a band playing, give or take stage presence and quality. Saturday we went into the town of Whitley Bay, which was quite nice. Nothing had really changed from the last time and we went to Sambucca's again for lunch, where I also sampled their Nutella cheesecake. Sunday, we went to the Beamish living museum which was certainly very interesting. There was a lot to see and plenty to get around, with a tram and bus service connecting all of the areas. It was quite a fascinating day and probably the best part of the holiday. Monday was the morning we had to leave the site so it was more of a rush around to get off home and not forget anything in the process. I was quite happy to be going home, feeling satisfied. I do worry a lot when we go away incase we ever get burgled but, thankfully that didn't happen. It's always a relief to get home and be back to normality.
I have been trying new things lately out of inspiration from listening to Doctor Who audio books, specifically the tenth doctor collect that was just released this month. So, naturally I decided to have a go at writing my very own radio play. I only started this other night and I managed to reach page 7, including a full page of charter ideas and motives. I really have missed creating my own story. This is another thing that I used to do all of the time when I was in school. One of my old English teachers shot me down for it because one seemed a little too repetitive. It did bother me but, I'm glad I've found a new way of writing and portraying my creative ideas that suits me more. I'm really enjoying it.
In other news, my favourite group of guys; The Piano Guys turned 5 this month and also released a new music video: The Jungle Book / Sarabande (Mayan Style). I would like to take a moment for this part of my blog to congratulate them on how far they have come in such a short space of time. I still remember the first day I discovered them back in college and when I instantly fell in love with their ideas. I hope I get to see them live again soon, even if I have to wait until next year!
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