Friday 30 August 2013

Sometimes it's okay to be ridiculous.

This is the reason why I haven't written for a while. After feeling discouraged and confused about whether or not to begin updating my resume or do something completely ridiculous, I opted for the latter. I've always enjoyed creating comedic short films but it has been quite awhile since I've created a suspense filled mystery show. "Bess Unexplained" tells the story of Andrew's family dog.

Having experienced her animal's reoccurring disappearances and strange behavior, Andrew's mother begins to investigate herself, and then turns to the "Unexplained Mysteries" team of experts to figure out what is going on with dear Bess. 

The story is both suspenseful and comedic, it's fictional yet sort of believable. See for yourself ... 

Bess Unexplained Part 1

Bess Unexplained Part 2

Bess Unexplained Part 3

Bess Unexplained Part 4

Monday 26 August 2013

Pizza and the Sunset

The best recipes call for simple ingredients. 

Preston Kitchen Quick Pastry Pizza 

1 pack "Jus Rol" pastry
Bell peppers
Tomato
Tomato Puree
Ham
Sharp cheddar cheese
Bacon 
Basil

Sunday 25 August 2013

Portobello Market, Notting Hill & St. James Park

I apologize. It has taken me absolutely forever to edit and decide on which photos to use for this post, there were simply way too many!

Portobello Market. Notting Hill. St. James Park. Big names and spectacular places. Last Thursday I was lucky enough to have visited all of them with Andrew's aunt and cousin. We had the greatest time.

Portobello Market is actually in Notting Hill, an area of London well known for it mix of culture and quaint antique market atmosphere. It's an extremely posh place to live and has been the home of many famous people, fiction and reality both. The blue door (shown below) was used in Notting Hill, a film starring Julie Roberts and Hugh Grant. We didn't come to see the door, but it turned out to be a very exciting part of our wonderful outing. We started our day on a train journey from Eltham Station and arrived at Notting Hill Gate pretty quickly. Immediately I felt the speciality of the place. A sort of "nook" of London, the place immediately struck me as a cultural hub filled with history. One of the most well known features of the area are its pastel colored homes and street doors. Even though it was raining off and on I couldn't miss the photo opportunities all around. As we neared the market we stopped off at a sign shop (first photo) and had a laugh at some of the old signs. We noted many of the old brand signs such as Oxo and Fairy Liquid and were reminded of our plans to visit a small brand museum later on in the day. We stepped inside a few antique shops and I was able to find some special antique military related items for my family (CHECK!).

We visted out booth after booth of antique jewelry, an assortment of souvenir stalls, vintage clothing stores and even a shop that sold Bansky prints. I've developed an interest in all kinds of street art in the last couple of years and was tempted to buy a print until I saw the prices of them. It was just an hour or so later that we stumbled upon some original "icon" work down the road (shown below). It was so strange to see the famous robot charging station in person after seeing it in my modern art textbooks back home. We continued our day at The Museum of Brands Packaging and Advertising. The dark tunnels of nostalgic packaging and branded material (and real antique chocolate bars) was so interesting. On of my favorite things we saw here was the victorian "tunnel books", a very intricately done pop-up book tunnel style. I'm having trouble finding anything on them and have been researching for a few days off and on. They're curiosities, I want one. In fact, I want all that is old and all that is curious, which makes Portobello Market quite dangerous. Fortunately I was able to control myself.

Before heading home we made our way to a cool little pub near St. James Park called the Old Star. Each of us ordered a drink and a meal. I chose the scampi and chips and had Kopparberg cider, one of my new favorite drinks. While we ate we chatted about what we'd seen throughout the day, we laughed about things and enjoyed each other's company. After filling our selves up with delicious batter encrusted seafood we headed off in the direction of Buckingham Palace. We stopped and said hello to the squirrels (complete with small and friendly warm hands), dodged the pigeons, photographed the queen's beautiful and exotic collection of birds and stood in awe of the views which incorporated both the city and the beautiful old growth trees of the park. As we headed for the station and throughout our journey home we made a recount of the things we'd achieved and places we'd been. 
It was a lovely English day. 

A big thanks to Doreen and Lucy! <3

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Chucking Hogan

Sometimes it's okay to wear your pajamas into the fields with you brother-in-law-to-be and throw a rag doll fox in the air. 

I found hogan at a boot fair (enormous yard sale held in a field) and we've been best friends ever since. I felt sorry for him laying there alone a crooked table alongside dusty VHS tapes and half empty nail polish bottles. So of course, it was only natural that I take him away into the fields the other day to experience some airborne freedom. I swung him over my back as Mathew and I started down Cuckolds Green country lane and then up onto "Farmer Joe's" wheat fields. We made our way to a public footpath, an open area between two vast seas of green and beige and began chucking Hogan far into the sky. His rag doll body made him look as if he was doing tricks. Mathew and I laughed until we cried. On our way back to the house we began to share stories of how Hogan had "fallen from the sky" to be with me, how he'd experienced deep depression and finally found freedom through our relationship, how we'd left home and lost ourselves in the country air. 

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. - Epictetus

I am happy to do things that hardly make sense to others for my own wellbeing.
I am happy to finally feel free.