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God I've neglected this blog recently. I've just spent too much time updating my training one (which is all going well if you wondered at all). Anyway, I said my dad was bound to send me more pictures of me as a kid. Sure enough, he did...
As you may have noticed, I haven't exactly been "captain blog" over the last few days and there's a very good reason for this, and that is because I've been playing away and setting up the 'new' blog. I'm not going to giving up doing this blog, but now you'll no read about any of my training because my 'new' blog is just about that and I don't see the point in writing it twice. Besides, I'm sure that most people who read this blog aren't at all interested in what I can bench or the circumference of my thighs.
For those who are interested in that kind of stuff and who want to keep up with the new twelve week intensive training program that I started this week, you can see all of that at http://liftingthebar.blogspot.com, but otherwise, like I said, you'll hear no more about training on here.
So, what's been going on you may ask? Well, yesterday was interesting as I had to dodge a motorbike as I crossed the road, only to have the guy shouting obscenities at me and then watch him get hit by a taxi and go sprawling over the road. Fortunately he was ok, but I had to hang around for ages to give a statement to the police, making me even later than I already was because of all the train fires. I tell you, people in South London should stop playing with matches!
Other than that, not a lot else has really happened over the last few days. Work is trundling along, I have my tattoo appointment book and Roz has jetted off to Cuba for a couple of weeks. All's good though, don't worry about that... all's good!
Being as I went to see 'Magicians' this weekend I thought I'd share with you the one magic trick I can actually do. And no slowing down the video to see how it's done (though I do make a major blunder at one point and give it away)
As for the film, well I don't want to say I was disappointed, as I wasn't, but a the same time it wasn't as funny as I expected. Being as I'm a massive fan of Peep Show, and that 'Magicans' has not only most of the same cast (as well as the ever brilliant Jessica Stephenson) plus the same writing team, I expected a lot more from it. Sure, there's some laugh out loud moments, like when Harry (David Mitchell) is asked how his wife died and he comes out with "You know, the usual. Decapitation. By Magic" and there's some very funny characters and moments, but they're just not as good as I think they could have been. Maybe it's because I'm so used to seeing Mitchell and Webb together on the small screen creating laugh after laugh after laugh that their transition to the cinema didn't really work for me.
I'm not saying that 'Magicians' is a bad film, not at all, it's funny and well written but I think that it had the potential to do a lot more which it just didn't achieve. My verdict would be go and see it, but only if you have an Unlimited Card, otherwise, wait for the DVD.
Since starting this blog back in September the slogan has been "You put your left foot in, your left foot out", just because that was the first thing to spring to mind when I was setting up and I had no real idea in the direction that this would go. Now, four days short of my eight month blogging anniversary I fancy a change and I'm after some suggestions.
So, the slogan fate is now in your hands... what do you reckon I should go with.
Oh, and try to be serious
Courtesy of my dad (and for some stupid reason, requested by myself) I've just recieved some pictures of me when I was a wee nipper. It seems like I was always set up for a life of continous talking and a love of music by these childhood images. The things to notice outside of the main frame of the photographs though are:
a) The carpet - could it be any more 80s?
b) Those green shorts - ouch!
c) The Mickey Mouse t-shirt - I remember that (I think it's burned into my mind forever)
d) That hat - what the hell is that???
I'm sure there will be more to come...
After more and more thinking about this tattoo design, i decided that I wanted one no-one else has, and do do this I was going to have to design one myself. I really like the tribal style, and I also really like dragons, so I decided to create a design that merges the two together, and in doing so I came up with the following design. The main principle about the design is that it's a battle of good and bad in the shape of two inter-weaved dragons, one with smooth curves (good) and one with sharp edges (bad). One thing I tried to achieve (and think that I have) is the fact that at first glance it doesn't look like two dragons, it just looks like a tribal tattoo, but once you look closer it becomes more obvious what it is. Also, I managed to incorporate a curve around the shoulder using the wings of both dragons that I'm really proud of and think makes all the difference to the design.
Also, in the side on view, you can't really see the heads as they'll wrap around to the front and back of my shoulders so you'll have to use your imagination a bit. But what about design three. What do you think of that? I'm really pleased with it, and unless I can think of any reason not to, I'm going to go for it
Or there's option number two, a tribal dragon. I've always had a love for dragons for some unbeknown reason. I have pictures in my flat as well as a multitude of models and figurines, as well as an amazing painting that an Jenni did for me a few years ago.
Throwing this design into the ring, what do you think?
Getting a tattoo is no small thing, especially when it's going to be covering half of one of your arms, and with this in mind I decided to Photoshop a "try before I buy" of what it will look like. I'm really pleased with it and think it'll look really good when it's done. Apparently it's going to take close to eight hours over two sessions, the first being a two hour session to do the outlines, and the second being a six hour session to do the filling in.
I've also decided that if I go in there with the mindset that it's going to be agonising (especially when they go over my collar bone) then it will probably not feel as painful as I expect. But hey, if a 15 year old girl can do it, I'm bloody sure I can!
So, what do you think?
After my experience of doing this last night I can give you a really good tip. If, like me, you enjoy taking guitars apart, cleaning and generally tightening them up before putting them back together, be careful when soldering the jack wires back onto the base of the plug. Burning hot solder and a finger don't mix - no sirey!
Every now and again, I have a really good idea, and last night was one of those times. I was giving the flat a good once over after clearing the gym room of paint and doing my workout and I came across an old wardrobe frame. You know the kind, the ones you get in Argos for £4.99 that are literally just some metal tubing for you to sling your hangers on. It was Claire's if I remember rightly, and being as she moved out around six months ago now, I guess she's doing fine without it.
Anyhow, after months of initial research on doing up my bike, I found that the people who did the best paint jobs were the people who had support frames for their bikes meaning that they could walk all the way around it and go under and over it as they pleased. I think you might be able to see where this is going. Fortunately, there are two perfectly places holes in the back of the frame (where the spoiler attaches) which I was able to insert a wire coat hanger through (after untwisting it then re-twisting it afterwards) and make my very own 'spraying frame'. Not only does it mean that all the bits take up less floor space (not that that was really a problem), but it also makes the whole entourage look a lot neater, which I like.
I've now been doing further research on the knackered cranks (the thread on the crank arms is torn, meaning I can't use my crank extractor) and it seem the only way to get them off now is with a big saw and a chisel. As much as it's going to pain me to break the cranks off it's going to need to be done in order for me to do the paint job to the standard I want it to. Also, the sanding is becoming a real pain as four hours into it I've done around 20% of the job. Also, the bare metal is getting some speckled surface rust where it's being left out so I'm going have to retreat the entire frame before undercoating it. I think the solution might be to wait and just pay someone to sand-blast it as that would all be done in one quick go that way. Though, I am going to borrow Roz's belt sander and give that a go first. If push comes to shove I can always get a new frame off eBay. Good old eBay.
On that note, I had to return my bathroom scales today as they don't show body fat percentage like they said they would, they show BMI which is completely different. They're obviously not by Ronseal as they don't do exactly what they say on the tin
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