You Can't Always Get What You Want...

But if you try sometimes, you get what you need.
This pretty much sums up my day today. You see, I applied for a well paying, hard-working job in the office, and today I had an interview for it. Over a selection of 20 applicants, and 5 interviewees, I came out a close second. Beaten by a man who did the job for several years. I beat out people with a lot of experience in the job, but I rose to the challenge and managed to show my managers that I am worth a lot more.
But I didn't get the job. Honestly, I'm pretty relieved, it would have required a tremendous amount of work and I would have to boss round people twice my age with much more experience than me. But because of the research I did for the job, my manager has decided to give me a lot more responsibilities that could potentially lead to me getting to hand craft my own job in a few months. So whilst I didn't get this job, I may have the chance to make my perfect job.
Sometimes life works in mysterious ways.


Oh, and sorry for the lack of posts :)
Hopefully I'll be back soon, now that I don't have to do loads of revision for this job!

Weeks 3&4

Christ I'm terrible at weekly updates, I do apologise. 

So there have been a few interesting updates in my life recently. Firstly, I colleague at work announced she is going to retire in March, meaning that someone will have to be hired to take her place. Naturally I plan to apply for the job, I love working in my department and I'd love to have more money. The only downside is that I have little experience, and I can only assume there shall be others from work who also apply. But nothing is definite yet, so I'll have to make sure I keep you guys updated. 

Secondly, and more importantly, I went to the doctors on Monday and found out I have high cholesterol. Whilst I was hardly thrilled with the news, it has already begun to change my life for the good. I've been planning on getting to the gym, and now I have a reason to do it. But more importantly, getting the diagnosis reminded me of some feelings I had forgotten from my diabetes diagnosis. Back in 2010, I staggered into hospital in a near-comatose state. And with this recent news, it reminded me of the feelings I felt back then. The feeling of being broken, of missing something crucial from my body. The feeling that my life would never be the same again. The feeling that change had turned it's hand on me. 

This isn't to say I've sunk into some sort of Great Depression with finding out I've got high cholesterol. I've always looked for the silver linings to difficult situations. Diabetes has been known to cause it, and my father has it too, and he's ok. It'll just mean I have more stuff to keep in check, which is quite a pain, but I'll live.

Anyway, I've been drafting some Sherlock-themed designs that I'm really proud of, and when they're done I'll be sure to stick them in the store.

Right, I'm tired, so I'll be heading to bed shortly. As usual I'll try and be more proactive in updating. 

Toodle pip :)

Week 2 - Return of the week

So here we are in the second week of 2014, and my God has it been exhausting.
I've got to say, I really enjoy my job, so much so that where most people may wake up on a Monday in sadness, I'm glad to be hanging out with the people I work with doing something I'm not terrible at. But this week, I've woken every morning wishing it was Saturday.
On Tuesday I had to go to the doctors for a routine blood test, and even though I'm diabetic and must be approaching my 6000th injection soon, I can't stand blood tests. So Monday night saw very little sleep. Then after work on Tuesday, I decided to meet up with a friend for a drink, and that drink turned into 6 pints and a cornucopia of assorted shots, one of which was a chilli vodka shot that burned everything it touched. So Wednesday saw me in quite a hungover state.
Wednesday also saw me experiencing the delights of the HR department as part of my training. And I came away thinking how suited I think I would be in that area, so that was good at least. Just before I left work, my boss asked me to put the video I've been working on onto a DVD for the next day. A simple task, so long as things went right, which they didn't. Firstly, I spent 3 hours searching all over my house for the blank DVDs, then iDVD on my Mac decided to crash repeatedly, then the other programs I tried wanted to put a watermark on the finished product, then I found one program that would work, but refused all types of file format I had. Then I finally got it to work, but the process took nearly 2 hours to burn, and then they would fail. So at about 3am I decided to give up, and when I staggered exhausted into work the following morning, I was told I didn't need to put it on a DVD anyway!
But it's now the weekend, and I'm relaxing at home with a beer and I'm about to watch Inglorious Basterds. So this is all I have to say for now, but I hope everyone else's week is going better.
Toodle pip for now guys and gals

New Year

2013 is behind us, 2014 has just begun. It's the time when people make promises to change, it's a chance for everyone to take the next step.
For me, I don't really plan on making any resolutions, just to make sure I do the things that make me happy. That being said, I've decided I'm going to make some smaller monthly goals to accomplish, such as getting Second Solace into a publishable state and cutting out alcohol for the month. That way I've got a timeline to get some stuff done that I've been putting off.
I thought about doing a video blog, not for public viewing, but for me to reflect upon this time next year, but I thought about it, and I'd rather just make the effort to write on here a little more. So hopefully this will be a sign of regular updates (fingers crossed).
So that in mind, today has been quite a regular day. Watched the newest season of Mad Dogs and found the ending somewhat bizarre. Watched Hunger Games and The Hobbit, both of which I enjoyed, and soon I'll be delving into the exciting world of Sherlock.
Last night was good, I went round to my friend's house and we had a good time right up until the next door neighbour decided to start shouting at his wife and beating her up. We called the police and in their usual helpful way they decided to do nothing. So that was fun.
I've also decided to start doing a chart of what I'm eating and how high my blood sugar is in preparation for my lovely blood test next tuesday.
Anyway, I don't want to go on too long with this today. But I had to mention the sad news I heard earlier. James Avery, aka Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, died last night. My thoughts go out to his family and friends. He will be missed.

The First Annual Bouffant Productions Awards

Here ye, here ye! Gather round, for it's that time of the year that hasn't ever occurred before. It's the First Annual Bouffant Productions Awards!

Best Show of the Year
Runners Up
 - Game of Thrones
 - House of Cards
 - The Walking Dead

And the Winner is...

Breaking Bad

Yes it comes as no surprise that Breaking Bad won. But the swan song of Walter White deserved to win with the most astonishing episode of television this millennium, Ozymandias. The Walking Dead was a fantastic first half of season 4, and I look forward to the next half next year. IT was unsurprising how great Game of Thrones was, but it also had the very depressing Red Wedding, and so I always find it hard to re-watch a series when one episode is so depressing (see Dexter's finale season).

Worth A Mention
 - House of Cards

Netflix's political drama was not something I ever expected to watch, but from it's very first scene I was hooked. If American politics isn't your cup of tea, do it for Kevin Spacey's southern accent and ruthless determination.


Best Film of the Year
Runners Up
 - Star Trek Into Darkness
 - Monsters University
 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

And the Winner is...

Gravity

Probably another no-brainer, but watching Gravity up on the big screen in 3d was definitely the greatest cinema experience of the year. Whilst it might not hold the same weight on the small 2d screen, it will always hold the number 1 spot for me for 2013.

Worth A Mention
 - Fast and Furious 6

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Fast and Furious franchise is great. The stories are simple, the acting isn't going to win any oscars, but god damn are those films fun. And with Paul Walker's death, I think he deserves this.


Best Game of the Year
Runners Up
 - Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag
 - GTA V
 - Tomb Raider

And the Winner is...

The Last of Us

Never before have I spent so long wandering round and admiring the scenery in such a linear game. The Last of Us has an unparalleled level of brilliance, even with GTA V, I just found myself so much more immersed in The Last of Us's world. Congratulations Naughty Dog, you once again did a brilliant job!

Worth a Mention
 - The Wolf Among Us

Telltale proved with The Wolf Among Us that they have found the same art to storytelling that Naughty Dog found with Uncharted and The Last of Us. I decided to mention TWAU over The Walking Dead season 2 because everyone knew that WD would be great, but no one knew if TWAU would carry that same level of power.


Best Song of the Year
(with this award, things will be a little different. I'm going to pick the song of the year that I came across this year, regardless of whether it came out this year or not.)
Runners Up
 - 1977 by Ana Tijoux
 - Bang Bang by Will I Am
 - Not Your Kind of People by Garbage

And the Winner is...

Kiss of Fire by Hugh Laurie and the Copperbottom Band

Hugh Laurie is not the sort of man that most would think of as a musician, but by God can he play! Having had the good fortune to see him play twice now (the first at his very first show in London in an old church and getting the opportunity to sit 3 foot away from him) I can honestly say he puts on one hell of a show.

Worth a Mention
 - Odds Are by Barenaked Ladies

I'm recommending this song, because I was in the music video! When I went to visit Rooster Teeth in 2011 for the very first RTX, we shot a video where we all dressed up as zombies and advanced on Geoff and Gus, and when Barenaked Ladies asked Rooster Teeth to shoot their music video, they reused the footage! Plus its a really cheerful and catchy song.


Best Book of the Year
(again with this one, I don't tend to read current books, so it's whatever book I read this year that I enjoyed)
Runners Up
 - Batman: Year One by Frank Miller
 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
 - A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin

And the Winner is...

Never Go Back by Lee Child

Plain and Simple, because I love Lee Child books. Jack Reacher is freaking awesome!

Worth a Mention
-The Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Yeah its a poem, but it's the best poem I've ever read. So go read it.

And that wraps up this years Bouffant Productions Awards. Congratulations to all that were nominated. Hope you all strive to be even better in 2014.

And to all my readers, have a great New Year and I'll see you in 2014.

Finale

Spoiler warning, I'm going to be talking about Homeland and some other shows, but not just yet.

December has a funny way of making you reflect on life, I mean, just because it's the final month of the year, it shouldn't really hold any great value for retrospective. But it does, and I always find myself looking back over the years accomplishments and failures, which in turn usually leads to me summing the year up by one positive or negative factor. 2008 saw me getting a good job, starting university, and turning 18, but it also saw me getting dumped in January, and so now I always think of 2008 as a bad year, when if I think about it, it held many more positive memories than most years.

So when I turn my gaze back over 2013, I foremost find myself thinking that I never really got the hang of writing 2013 down. It may sound foolish to most people, but I thought that if I mocked the whole "mayan 2012 doomsday" thing, then life would go about enacting it out of spite towards me. So for a few years, I didn't know if I would make it to 2013, and now that we've come to the end of it, I never really thought it would happen.

But more importantly, I find myself thinking that 2013 has been quite a waste. Even though I've written and illustrated a graphic novel (which I promise is still finding it's way into the public), worked my way through a Masters degree, and got myself a job I genuinely enjoy everyday, I still think of the year on a whole as a let down. I feel like I haven't taken the chance to properly squeeze this year for what it was worth, perhaps because there have been more than a handful of negative moments peppered throughout the year, and I just can't take my mind off them, or perhaps its another sign that I'm becoming a different person. In July I wrote down a list of 10 things I wanted to do in the next year, and I planned to make at least half of them a reality. So far I have crossed off 2 of them; get a job and make new friends. Frankly I didn't expect to cross that second one off so soon, or at all, but I guess that I have my job to thank for that. I know I work with some truly bizarre and wonderful people, and I'm really happy to have met all of them. Some of the things on my list I know won't happen. Number 6's "Live in York or somewhere nice" I know can't happen if I still want to work in my current job, with it's apprentice wage I can't afford to spend the money I make renting somewhere. But I knew I wouldn't get all of them done, and that is the magic of it. Whilst most people make their yearly resolutions in the December/January period, I didn't want to be stuck with that constant reminder every time I saw a calendar, and I didn't want to get to next December and think about all the stuff I didn't manage to do... which I'm actually doing now anyway, so maybe I need to tweak the system a little.

But I'm a silver-linings kind of guy. If I'm feeling down now, then I want to use this memory as an example in the new year that by December 2014 I will be on my way to the person I want to be. The moments I spend doing things that aren't taking advantage of my full potential will be the moments I purge from 2014 me, then by 2015 I'll be able to look back at this year as the year I corrected my course. I want to be able to look back at the things I don't like about myself, like the fear I feel when an opportunity presents itself, and be relieved that I overcame that. I want to Carpe that Diem right in the face!

Anyway, I did say I would talk about Homeland, and I've been psyching myself up all week to talk about this, so here goes. (Spoilers ahead Cap'n!)
The finale of season 3 of Homeland aired last sunday, and if I hadn't already been told that they were commissioned for a fourth season, I might have come away happier. I wasn't angered that Brody was hanged in the Middle East in front of the mother of his unborn baby, to be honest it was the only real ending he could have had. When his name was picked out of the raffle of life, Brody got a shitty deal, and whilst everything he did in season 1 was done out of manufactured, misguided love to a terrorist's child's death, there wasn't really any kind of redemption that would allow him to walk the streets of America as an innocent man. He had to die, I understand that, I accept that, but knowing that season 4 is going to continue a story that revolved around him just seems wrong. Sure, the first half of the season did a pretty good job at showing a world without Brody, but that was only because everyone was sat on the edge of their seat waiting to see how Saul and Carrie would end up crossing paths with him in the future. To continue the story with him dead would just seem fractured.
I mean, they could always do the old classic "he didn't die really" in the first few episodes of the next season, but I feel like Game of Thrones has bullied all the other shows into packing that in. Either you kill your characters off for good, or you're a pussy! But sometimes that's what we need from a show. We watch these programs to escape from our lives, same with gaming or reading books, we need to experience something other than the lives we were given. But does that mean we have to be tied to the same shitty circumstances that keep our real lives in line? We loved Brody, we knew he was fucked up from all the crap he went through, but he was the reason we watched. Carrie had her suspicions, and we watched to see whether she was right or wrong, and that has been the defining quality of the show. Even in the penultimate episode of season 3, no one could be sure that Brody hadn't decided to shun his homeland and just stick with the people who had welcomed him in with open arms. I don't know what the show would be without that, and I imagine a lot of people will feel the same way.

So maybe Brody will make a return to our screens next September, until then we have Sherlock on new years day, Game of Thrones next spring, hopefully the new series of 24 sometime in the summer/autumn, and the finale of How I Met Your Mother in March. Maybe I will have the time to watch these shows in-between my new uber-productive life.

Have a great christmas guys, I might try and make another post before next year, but if not then I hope we all make 2014 the best damn year ever!

Toodle Pip!

Paul Walker

It is with grave news that I come here today. Paul Walker, actor from the Fast and Furious franchise, died yesterday. I don't know why I felt the need to write something about an actor whose only role I have watched is a series of fast car films. It saddens me to know that because he died in a car crash, the bastards of the internet will go to town with stupid FF jokes, when really we all should remember the man for all his achievements. The FF films were never going to win any awards, but it was because of that that I loved them. They were cheesy and predictable and easy, but they were enjoyable and fun. I built friendships from my love of these films, and they helped more than once to cheer me up in difficult times. The Fast and Furious franchise has had a tendency in the past to mix and match it's main protagonists, and for that I believe they will be able to move on past Walker's untimely demise, but part of the magic will be gone too. I will miss the FBI-turned-streetracer, and I wonder how they will handle his death. But even if they simply decide to scrap the 7th film, I will be happy, because Paul and his friends picked me up when times were hard, they made me happier than most films could dare to dream.
Goodbye Paul Walker. You shall be missed