"Get yourself an egg and beat it"

Whilst eating my brunch, I landed up doing the normal thing at the moment, of having Come Dine with  Me on in the background.

Come Dine with Me is one of those programmes that I originally chose to watch of an evening and these days, just land up watching whilst doing something else.

What is it about this programme that people like?  Initially, I would have said to get ideas for new things to cook.  But over time, it is just to watch the relationships of 4-5 people (depending on the episode/season), who are pushed together for a week and have to cook for each other.  Some of them don't even cook their own meals or have never cooked the dishes they have chosen to do that night - it's the weirdest rules ever.

My brother has filmed the Iranian version before and he said it is completely different.  It is filmed in London, but with arabic speaking contestants.  He said it is about the social experience and the food, but less bitchy.  It's hard to imagine this, as in our version, people expect the contestants not to get on with each other and if they are all nice, we seem to enjoy it less.

Who can forget the women in one of the first seasons who gave everyone 4 or less points because she obviously wanted to win and landed up re-scoring (cos she was told to) and cried her eyes out on camera (this became one of those episodes that was repeated all the time - how embarrassing for her, lol).  Or how about the celebrity versions.  One of the most awkward ones being where Donny Osmond had a dwarf dressed up as Elvis to sing at the dinner table.  What spurred that idea?

Come Dine with Me has now been on since the start of 2005, so I suppose they have to choose funny contestants and people that will clash, otherwise we may stop loving it and thus, it will stop airing.  But what else keeps us watching?

I suppose the other thing is, is that we all like to see an everyday person mess up - we all mess up at some point or another and it always feels better when someone else is involved.  I mean we have had people throw things on the floor, burn things to a crisp and even one episode where someone undercooked their egg dish and someone ran up the stairs to throw up - yes, apparently, this is entertainment!

I have to say though, for me, it has now lost something.  Its not that I don't like watching people in  this kind of show, it's just there are other shows that give me more enjoyment.  For instance, Dinner Date, where three people cook separate meals at their homes, in order to try and secure a 2nd date with the 4th person or Four in a Bed, the programme where 4 B & B owners visit the other establishments to decide between them, which one is the best.

The thing is, Come Dine with Me has opened the doors to newer, fresher programmes, that offer us the same amount of bitchy and cringeworthy TV.  So for many of us, we have just moved on.

I don't think it's over for CDWM yet (as it still has so many fans) but I think the competition is getting stronger from other programmes and can they really continue serving up a good TV dish - only time will tell!


Post title comes from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJjMnHoIBI

"They are gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds"

I apologise for the long pause since my 30th birthday.  I've had lots to sort out as well as feeling old and fighting flu : s

                                                        ------------------------------------

Today I had a rather unexpected invite - it was to a college reunion.  Now for someone that did not enjoy education until university asides from extra curricular, the sight of a reunion invite is not overly welcome.  Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be thought of, but I don't want to go, lol.  Luckily for this particular one, I'm busy with work, which is a perfect cover for my real feelings.

College and secondary were always a tie on which one was worse.  I was bullied halfway through secondary (which was a really difficult time) but at college, it was more the fact of seeing other people taking it tough from class mates - overall, not good.

Some people's college years were really happy, but mine was just another reason to dream about being an adult and going to work - something I'd always quite wanted to do, as I'd been reasonably mature from a young age.  

My biggest problem with college was that in some cases our teachers were worse than the pupils.  Several of the teaching staff not only stood by the bullies of our class, but also constantly told me what I should be doing with my life (move out of home - even though I was 17 with no money, go to university).  I suppose I should be glad they weren't telling me to get laid, but who knows what they would have said if I'd stayed another year. 

The problem with college was I was doing a Performing Arts course with people that mainly didn't love the arts in the way I did.  I wasn't doing it for fame or money, I was doing it for the passion I had had for it since I was young and couldn't imagine doing anything else.  There were several of my class who were serious about it (several who I am still in contact with now) but unfortunately we were mainly over ruled by the ones that weren't.  Although acting was my third strain of interest, I actually enjoyed drama, I just felt I wasn't supported by my class at college and just lost more and more interest as the course went on.  I also had the fact that I was still doing weekend stage school where I liked most the people and was enjoying the practical sessions much more than college.  We also got to perform in professional theatres, which was much nicer than a "drama hall" with curtains and massive cotton reels (imagine that it's Willy Wonka's Factory, lol) and gave us better experience of the theatrical world.

The thing is reunions are great for the showoffs and the people with the great memories, but for so many people, the past wasn't so bright and the present is what they are enjoying now - who wants to go backwards?  Besides, I'm not the person I was at college and I'm quite glad.  It was the start of my adult journey where I was getting to grips with who I wanted to be and not enough mistakes had been made til after this time - I like the person I am now a lot more.

So I hope my class have a great night, remembering all the things I like to forget, but I'll be working with the stars that night baby and for once, I wouldn't change it for the world : )


Blog title inspired by: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6EQAOmJrbw

"They say it's your birthday, We're gonna have a good time!"

So it's the official close to the current blog title - in around 2 hours I officially turn 30 : s

I have to say the last year has gone really quickly and definitely since I started writing this blog earlier in the year.

So what have I learnt on the lead up to this milestone age:

- That it is not possible to do everything before your 30 
- That I can still achieve goals and do new stuff (however big or small) if I am open to chances
- That I still need to improve my work/life balance and give more time to my family/friends 
- That I'm not old, I'm just older
- That I become happier with myself, the more I make my life my own
- That I missed my writing and drawing and I shouldn't have put them on the back burner
- That I can be a creative all-rounder and get on in this industry without always being typecasted
- That I really want a job as a Copywriter/Creative, where I can put my array of skills to the test.
- That I really want to learn how to drive (as I feel I have been left behind on that one)
- That life is for the living, so LIVE IT!

So how am I currently feeling?  Weird and pre-occupied.  I just had a shower and when I got out to see my 30 year old body, I definitely thought "Tone up luv" lol.  

I think back to how my 20s started.  So young, so new to the industry I have now worked in for just over 11 years.  At that age I thought I wanted to be married with kids by my mid-late twenties (and then realised that wasn't what I wanted, I wanted all that to come when I was ready) and still had pipe dreams of performing again (I hate working nights all the time, so it's a good thing that this disappeared, lol).  At that age I had only just found my love for clubbing, so I was doing it all the time, instead of for birthdays and to cheer my friends and I up after a bad week.  Things were simpler then and life seemed less scary and I am sure the post I received was a lot more exciting than now : s

I don't dislike this age though, as I feel I am a lot more confident then when I left college, I know what I want from life most of the time and I may not be as skinny as I was 10 years ago, but apart from some more exercise, I think I can live with it.

So, as you can imagine, the title of this blog will change.  For now, I can't think of a great title so it will be Route to Happiness (mainly because I will continuing going for all the things I want, whilst observing things en route) and I don't want it to be Route to Forty at the moment (one milestone at a time, lol).  There are two reasons I want to carry on with this blog (which I wasn't sure would be the case initially).  One, it is a great way to practise my writing in a creative way but two, I feel it pushes me to strive for things I want (I don't want to be writing a blog just for the sake of it, I want it to have purpose and meaning).

Well, I'm going to leave it at that for now, as it is my birthday and I don't want to be tied to the computer all day.

Love and hugs to all the fab people in my life and see you on the other side : s

Me at 19, a few months before my 20th birthday.

Post title from the fab four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztoSUhbNntQ

"Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go, I wanna be sedated"

The other day at roller disco, I managed to slip up and fall on my coccyx.  Not clever and definitely not that funny - it really hurt!  Stupidly, I did know in the back of my head when I went that I was going to be doing a one week contract job starting less than 2 days later and a sore bum was not going to be ideal.  Due to it being really short notice (and the fact I had to cancel another job recently because of my left knee playing up) I knew I had to go in.

Now asides from the job itself, one of the worst things about many of my roles, is the travel.  I very rarely get offered a job really close to home, so I always land up travelling about an hour to 1 & 1/2 hrs.  When your injured at all, this seems like longer.

Anyway, the thing that I noticed the most the other day was the lack of disability access.  A few years ago at least, things to do with buildings and public places making changes to access was a big thing, yet in some places, not much has changed.

I have had problems with both my knees on and off for awhile and have also had my back lock in the past.  On a bad day, lots of stairs plus crowded places is not a place I want to be and I have a lot less problems than some people. 

It was only the other day when I went to work with my sore coccyx, that I noticed how bad the access was.  First of all, the train station I went to only had stairs to get to the platform.  So slowly I managed to get myself up them.  When the train came, it was one where the train sits high above the platform, so I had to pull myself carefully up (way to big a gap really - also, no one mans this station, so no one to help).  When I changed trains to the next station, I realised that this station too only had access via steep stairs - not only bad for people with walking problems but also for people with pushchairs/wheelchairs. After getting on and off my 2nd train, I realised at the final station not only do you have to use stairs to get up and down to the platforms, but you have more stairs to contend with at the front entrance.  

Now the things I have looked at only regard walking impairments, but you don't tend to see things like Braille in stations for like the Oyster Card barriers or lower train announcement signs for those visually impaired (something which I know if I don't wear my glasses - which are meant for reading - I can't always see).  It's awful to see that sometimes money is spent on stupid things in this country (don't even get me started with the giant boulder story the other day: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/a-meteor-storm-antiparking-boulders-which-cost-7000-spark-fury-8212824.html ), when there are so many people having problems living a normal life, be it because of disability access, housing, job hunting etc.  

All I can do for myself is to try and keep as healthy as I can, so my problems do not get worse (my coccyx is doing fine now but I still need to work a lot on the knees).  However, that doesn't mean I think the standards shouldn't change.

Here's hoping that 2013 brings a bit more luck and good change for us all, as I don't want to get sedated to get through it!

This helped the pain in my coccyx : )

Blog title comes from the awesome Ramones:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FxaJKm9sdI

"No turning back, we're lost in music"

Roller skating is a bit of a past time for me.  I didn't do it a lot as a kid, but when I did I really enjoyed it.

I did not have conventional roller skates, I had the old skool ones which were basically wheels on a metal sole and you strapped your shoes into them.  In some ways, really cool because you could wear nearly any of your shoes and trainers with them and they were adjustable in size, so if your foot grew bigger, you just got one of your parents to sort it out - it was great!

I think I mainly used roller skates when I was in primary school, because by the end of this and onwards, I was more likely to borrow a bike and going cycling round the area - something I was really good at then but have had to gain my nerve back when I tried it recently.

I did go to a roller disco thing at my school, but they didn't let us skate on the school hall (because it damaged their floor and it was more dangerous).  Instead, we had a make shift floor made out of different coloured panels (hired from a company) that attached together, which you skated over.  Does anyone remember these?  

My memories of this roller disco were really good and I remember having lots of fun, so I have always wanted to go to a real adult roller disco.  I also have loved the show Starlight Express since I was that age and have always wanted to be able to dance on skates : (

Well, the other day (after being unavailable to go at least 4 times before), I was swayed and went for a pal's hen do.  Firstly, I didn't realise how expensive it was.  I know you get the skates and all, but are the people running it taking the piss (would it be cheaper if I bought my own?)! As you can imagine from anything inspired by the 70s, there were lots of colourful lights and walls and a kind of "we're all friends here" feel to it.  

Once you've paid, you put anything you don't need in the cloak room and then queue up for the skates. I had forgotten how different my skates were and found the weirdest thing to be how far the roller skate boots go up the leg - I found it really weird not having proper movement in my ankle : s

Anyway, it was the getting up in the skates that was the hardest.  Having probably never been on wheels since the age of 13 (over 15 years ago), I found it hard getting my balance and the stance.  To start with, I wouldn't even go on the main floor, because I was scared of falling over.  Their was also a floor for more experienced skaters, but I knew from the start that was never going to happen, lol

In the end, I built up my courage and skated in the main area.  I have to say, it was scary but it also felt like an achievement.  It was slightly off putting seeing all those people who were experts doing their fancy moves, but I think it was just a bout of jealousy.  I managed to do this at various points for the first hour (which was great), until I then fell over onto my coccyx and then lost my nerve again.  The problem was I fell so hard, it really hurt and the last thing I felt like doing was skating around again.

For me, it was an interesting experience (which I am glad I did) but it's just not for me.  Just like many others, I think my roller skating days should be left in the past, along with some of the tracks they played, lol.  

Blog title comes from this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43qB9FpfCR8

"When the working week is done, Oh, girls just want to have fun..."

I always thought that at some point I'd get too old for a sleepover, but there is nothing like a girly night in with friends : )

I remember having sleepovers when I was still reasonably young (as in between 11-14 years old) but honestly can't remember which friends of that time they were with.  All I remember were things like staying up really late for that age (like 2am) and watching things like "God's Gift".  If you never got the pleasure of seeing this program, it was a show for I'd say women in their 20s upwards, where men did sexy things to gain approval from the female audience members.  It was kind of like a sluttier version of "Man-O-Man"  hosted by Chris Tarrent in the 90s and played in prime time.  It was basically a chance to giggle and joke at men with their tops off and then to go silent if you thought your parents were going to come downstairs.

My next memories of sleepovers were being 16-18years old, when it was all about daring friends, fake saonsis, watching horror films and talking about boys.  These years had fond memories, as I started to make decent friends, who I could have a joke and a laugh with whilst growing up.  One of the funniest memories from this was definitely when we made a pact that whoever fell asleep would be drawn on.  We all tried so hard to stay up but then one of the other girls fell asleep.  It seemed really funny at the time that we should draw on all her limbs where her pj's didn't cover.  Shortly after we all fell asleep.  In the early hours of the day (as in 7am ish) she woke up to find the drawings on her legs and arms.  I can't quite remember if she screamed or just woke us up, but we were soon all laughing and giggling, even though we were so tired.

The years of 19-23, were mainly alcohol fuelled and there is probably many an occasion that I can't remember.  However there is one night that always comes to mind.  Ages ago I had the idea of Anti-Valentines day (or alternative, as I kind of call it now).  It was the idea that anyone should have fun with friends, family or loved ones).  On the first Anti-Valentine's day celebration, a group of us stayed at a friend of ours.  It was a mixed group of girls and guys who were all friends and single and we listened to music, drunk alcohol and just had a laugh.  One of our male mates feel asleep and the whole idea of drawing on his face was suggested.  The other lads got in first, drawing on a moustache and I think colouring in his eyebrows - I think some of it was with biro : s  Then us girls decided to add some eye shadow etc.  We decided we wanted him to look like William Shakespeare.  After finishing out master piece, we let him sleep and carried on having a laugh.  When he finally woke, he was still quite tipsy and being an English Student, we asked him to recite his favourite shakespeare quotes and talk about the man.  He was so hard to hold in the laughter, especially as the alcohol was well and truly in all our systems.  Being the mean people we are, we even let him leave the house and get in a cab wearing all the make-up.  We heard the next day that when he got home, he saw his face in the massive mirror that was in his parent's hallway and managed to wake up his family at silly o'clock.  We also didn't realise he had a big interview the next day and I think he had trouble taking it all off before the meeting.  Oops : s

The last big sleepover I had at mine was for my 25th birthday.  I invited round about 8 people to celebrate getting older and being a quarter of a century.  It was reasonably chilled watching films, chatting, drinking and eating.  It was really cool and a nice way to catch up with everyone.

Between then and now, I hadn't been to a sleepover (other than crashing at people's houses when I'm too drunk or can't get home).  Then a few days ago I went to a mate's house for one for her 29th birthday.  There were 6 of us who all roughly knew each other and the night consisted of a board game, karaoke on the wii, one friend was painting peoples nails, drinking, chatting, eating and laughing.  The thing I liked about it the most is, we all might be mid-20s to early 30s and doing all different kinds of jobs, but when it comes to a sleepover, it's all about having fun.  For our ages, we all managed to stay up until about 1:30-2pm - which is impressive, as we mostly find late nights quite difficult now.  One mate also decided to go with a onesie, whilst I decided to wear my Selk bag (a sleeping bag that has arms, legs and a hood - its very cool!)  

The thing is, you are as young as you feel and although we had a sleepover, it is completely different to when we were younger.  For me, it was just nice to have one night where you could forget about everything else and just have a night in with the girls.  After all, "When the working week is done, oh girls just want to have fun".

Blog title is from this 80s song (and also the title to a film I like from the same period : p): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

"Dun dun dun dun DUN, dun dun dun dun DUN DUN, dun!"

If you haven't guessed it.  The title of the blog is the end of the theme tune to Red Dwarf and the new Series X is starting tonight on Dave.  As homage to the series, I decided that today's blog would be about my love for this cult series.

Let's go back to the mid-90s.  I was about 12-13 yrs old and a good middle class girl who spent time watching TV after participating in one of my hobbies and doing my homework.  Red Dwarf, like may 90s comedy programmes, was on around 9pm, which was perfect timing for me having nothing to do (and I always found it hard getting to sleep).  Thanks to my dad being a massive comedy fan, we would watch all kinds of british comedy before bed and I loved it!  One of the programmes my dad liked watching was Red Dwarf.

Now I'll admit, when I was younger, although I was clever, I don't think I really ever got a lot of the jokes.  However,  I liked the vibrant characters, the adventures they went on and I felt that watching it made me more grownup - yes, I was delusional.

Skip forward to being 15.  I was still a massive fan and part of the fan club (but not quite like those really crazy fans - when you read the next bit, remember this sentence).  However, I had become a keen fan of meeting people that I admired - not a stalker, just a fan!  My friend and I then decided that we wanted to meet the different cast members of Red Dwarf.  Funny enough, barring Hatty Hayridge, we did actually interact with them all in some way.  So here it is:

- Two of my friends and I had a joint email account called Girls On Chat (we didn't have computers at home and we always went online in the library - that's how old we are,lol) and we had read Robert Llwellyn's book The Man on Platform 5.  It said on the cover or back page email me and let me know what you think and so we did.  And unbelievably we got a reply (we assume it was him but I suppose it could have been the publicist/assistant) and it was really cool.

- A few of my mates came with me to see the Soul Train tour with Danny John Jules in.  We loved the show, thought he was fab and decided to try and meet him on another day.  Like the crazy teens we were, we waited near Stage Door for AT LEAST 6 hours (and met another group of girls waiting to meet him - one who was my pen friend for years after) and finally saw the man himself.  Unfortunately he was heading into a rehearsal but said if we wrote down our address he would get back to us.  We wrote down one address and all our names and then just went home, happy that we had met him.  Anyway, within a few weeks, my friend called me up and said she had received an envelope.  Inside was signed pictures of him for all of us and a hand written letter - we couldn't believe it!  What a nice guy : )  I get ribbed more for the fact, that the theatre I stood outside of for so long, was the venue I then worked in for years - embarrassing, LOL

- My mate Sam and I went to Catford Theatre to see the stand up tour that Chris Barrie and Norman Lovett were doing.  It was great going because I can't even remember if we were old enough to go, but it was really good.  Unbelievably, they were doing a signing in the foyer, so we made sure we were right near the front of the queue.  It still makes me laugh how red faced and embarrassed we were when we went up to the table (there is a funny pic somewhere, when I find it, it's going up) but they were both really nice (I especially liked the fact that Chris Barrie had a beer with him  - casual, laid back signing, lol)

- Shortly after this, my mate found out that Craig Charles was performing a stand up act at Fairfield Halls in Croydon.  Unfortunately, we were all broke (my friend had managed to see him at another venue already) but really wanted to meet him.  Like teenagers do, we thought, stuff it, we'll wait out near stage door and try and catch him at the end of the show.  We waited for a bit, but no one came out, so we decided to ask the person on duty.  They told us, if we were quick, he was still in the bar at the moment.  We literally ran all the way round (if you know the venue, it's quite big) and dashed to the bar.  Low and behold, there he was having a drink.  It was really cool actually because we chatted to him for a bit and he was REALLY nice (he even hung up on a call to speak to us) - one of those trips where you were glad you had made the effort.

Now fast forward to now.  I'm turning 30 in less than a month (oh christ, lol) and still a massive fan.  What's even better is my boyfriend is a big fan too - he's coming to mine to watch the first episode tonight : )

Red Dwarf is like that thing in your life you can't live without, the Alan Partridge and BlackAdder of sci-fi comedy and the episodes never get old.  It is part of my growing up process, assisted in the love I have for the industry I now work in and it is something that will always sit on my shelf ready to be watched.

Everyone has their own views about favourite seasons and episodes, but I find it hard to pick.  The whole collection makes me smile and shows a great process of change through the cast, technical equipment and the writing.  Nothing can and will stay the same, but that's why this show has been going so long.

I am so excited about the new season and wish everyone involved with it a happy debut tonight.   Oh yeah and so glad that Dave has assisted in bringing it back - your channel ROCKS!  It's weird to think that in 10 years time I could have kids of my own and I could unknowingly be shaping their TV future.  I better make sure I keep Red Dwarf to hand : )

As I thank you to this great programme, I also hand drew this picture today, I hope you all like it.

Blog title comes from a fan's metal version of the title music:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWcA2qOv9Ww&feature=related

Two other great Red Dwarf song links

Rimmer's Munchkin Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-CG6gCrPYM

Tongue Tied: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3t3IKlXqFU (I actually have this on record, thanks to someone I know who gave it to me)