Just a quick entry to sum up January…

The month started off with a bunch of production shoots for work which were a lot of fun. I’m really enjoying going to peoples houses and filming. Not just because our clients are beyond wealthy and visiting the mansions they call heir homes is always an experience, but because its really fun to interact with the families and kids because they are so excited about what we’re doing. Later in the month I got to direct and conduct my first interview which I loved… cant wait to do more! But other that that, work in the office was a bit of a struggle. January is always slow for our company after the big Christmas rush. I did manage to get one project that lasted me about 3 solid days of work. Otherwise I was doing all sorts of random admin and research tasks. Goody goody gum drops.

The really big excitement for the month was finding a new place to live! It was relatively painless this time around, mostly because I went with my gut and took the first place I viewed simply because it sounded too good to be true. It is a studio flat, with a sofa bed, little kitchenette, and private bathroom. It felt really clean and new. Plus the neighborhood is really good as its West London, in Zone 2. Granted it is very, VERY tiny. Think of a standard college dorm room, and half that. But essentially its got everything I need! And the huuuuuge selling point is that it’s a whole ten minute WALK to work!! Oh. My. God. This will revolutionize my life. No more 1.25 hour commutes to work each way on public transport. I can sleep in longer and thus stay up later. I can go out with my colleagues after work and not have to worry about leaving early to make the epic journey home. I don’t have to pay a whopping £115 every month for my travelcard. (And because of that fact it is actually cheaper than what I am paying now even though rent is a bit higher). I am absolutely ecstatic about this change. I move January 31st!

As for other activities I finally saw Avatar at the Imax. Not the most unpredictable story, but man it was definitely the most beautiful piece of visual film I’ve ever seen! I also went to an open mic film night where any film maker can just get up and show their 6 minute film. I went and saw Toy Story 2 in 3D with a big group of friends. The highlight had to be my team outing with work though. First we went to this really kitsch and crazily decorated Russian restaurant. The elaborate bathroom was worth the trip alone! Then we went and played what is called ‘Rebel Bingo.’ It pretty much was what it sounds like! Bingo with lots of loud music and people in their 20s and 30s. Started at 11:30pm and went into the wee hours of the night. They gave away some really cool prizes. It was just a different night out. It also had a dress code of “Flash Dangerous,” whatever that means. Here was our interpretation (my antennae and plastic gun lit up with flashing red/green/blue lights!)…

  

Looking ‘Flash Dangerous’ at Rebel Bingo

So this last week I feared was going to draaaaag being the final 10 day countdown until my long-awaited return to the Emerald City. BUT this past Tuesday the big boss called me into his office. After several very kind words and praises about how I’ve been doing (including that I was beaten out by a mere two votes for the prestigious company award for “best new comer of the year 2009″ that is voted on by my peers), he asked me to direct, produce, and edit the new promo video for my company’s website!! Very, very exciting. But high pressure! A basic idea had already been laid out, he just wanted some movement on it asap. He said he’d like in in two weeks, but I pointed out that I’m going on holiday the next week. So basically I’m cranking this baby out in SIX days. That’s all creative planning, interviews, digitizing, editing, visual effects… the whole schabang. I sure hope it turns out well! So far so good… I’m really enjoying getting to take the authority on making most of the creative decisions. So needless to say my schedule is jam packed. Which is excellent! I’ve been filming all this week, then I’m going on a production shoot all day Saturday, moving house on Sunday, then editing like a mad woman until my flight on the 4th!

I cant believe a week from right now I’ll be nearly landing in Seattle. WOW. I mean, TWO Christmas’ have passed since I’ve been home. I haven’t seen my Dad, Grandparents, most of my cousins, and all of my friends there since the very beginning of September 2008! Heck, I haven’t even been in the country since Obama became President. This is definitely the longest chunk of time I have been away from home at once. I cant even express my excitement for my trip and all the fun things I have planned! I know it will fly by, but I guarantee I will enjoy every minute of it. Check back here for the epic blog come March!

**FYI – This was written on January 3rd, the website didnt want to upload pics until now!

First off, happy 2010 to everyone!!! Can you believe its 2010? A brand new decade. I’ve been out of high school for nearly 8 years, and graduated from WSU 4 years ago! That is crazy. I’m quite excited for this year though, I think its going to be really good! I’m moving house closer to work at the end of this month, then my Seattle visit and trip to the Olympics in February cant not be awesome. I’m going to travel to the last two places in Europe that I want to go to (Prague and Budapest) sometime in the summer, then my cousins and I already have our 4 week adventure through Asia plotted out. I’m planning on moving back to my Seattle when my visa is up too, so that will be a whole new adventure to start! I guess that means the end of this blog as well… but thats a result I’m willing to deal with! Im just impressed I’ve kept it up this long. So I better not stop now – lets get to my Norwegian New Years adventure shall we?

Tromsø, Norway at 2pm

Now I’ve been to Norway before (Oslo, actually) back in September of 2008. But that is significantly further south of where I went this time with Ciara, an Australian friend of mine from work. On Tuesday, December 29th we got an evening flight from London all the way to northern Norway to the city of Tromsø which is well within the arctic circle and actually only 2000km (1243 miles) from the North Pole! It was freezing when we stepped of the plane at nearly 1am. Ironically, the Tromsø airpot’s customs area is’nt big enough to fit a plane’s worth of people, so we had to wait outside in the queue for a bit. Then we had to queue outside again to get a taxi to our hotel! Welcome to Norway i guess. The Hotel was great though, it was a great price, provided a yummy breakfast, and had a nice cozy lounge area. Plus it was a very short walk to the town centre.

Tromsø Waterfront

On Wednesday we slept until noon and then walked around the city which was adorable decorated in garland and heart lights for the holidays. After grabbing an omelet for lunch at a cafe, we relaxed at the hotel which provided an infinite supply of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, lattes, and cappuccino from a dispenser! That evening we embarked on a 7 hour snowmobiling adventure. I’ve always wanted to try it – and where better?! First was a 90 minutes drive north to some inland mountains. The sky was clear and clouds were streaky and slightly tinted green, but unfortunately there were no Northern Lights. The full moon however probed lots of illumination on the snow covered scenery, made for a very scenic bus trip of mountains and large frozen lakes. After getting thoroughly bundled up in marshmallow snow suits, boots, wool socks and sweaters, head covers, and gloves (it was -20C, or -4F, when we were finished – but i swear it felt colder!), we were debriefed very briefly on how to operate the snowmobiles. Then we were off! Ciara and I shared one machine, switching drivers every once in a while. Those things are beasts!! definitly bigger than my Dad’s Harley. They require some serious force/muscle too to turn and menuever the tight winding paths. But I admit I felt pretty badass driving it. I just wanted to go faster! I kept slowing down then gunning it over the bumps. Fun! We made our way through the arctic wilderness for about 45 minutes. It was stuning! First we went through a little forest filled with glittering, snow covered stick trees. But then we went through the hills of the mountains which were barren of any life. We eventually reached a huge flat, open area between the mountains which turned out to be lake that was frozen over! But it held our weight (Thankfully). We each got a go at driving the snowmobiles straight as fast as we wanted. I got mine up to 82kmph (about 50mph) – which felt lightning fast in the darkness with the rushing cold breeze in my face! When we all turned our machines off it was deathly quite and still outside. So cool. On the way back we stopped at a traditional Norwegian herdsman Samui tent, which looked like a huge teepee with a hole in the top for the smoke from the fire inside. There we ate bread and soup with reindeer meat! A traditional Norwegian dish. It was like eating in a sauna though cause the soup and everyones breath was so hot it was all steamy! I could barely make out my food.

Snowmobiling

Now, the flaw in our making this a New Years trip is that it didnt really register with us that being there on New Years Eve and New Years day meant that everything (seriously) would be closed. So we didnt get to check out any of the museums or even get to ride the cable car to the top of the city’s mountain! None of the shops were even open. It turned into a bit of a ghost town. We did manage to get one water cruise tour oporator to run a tour for us though! It was on a really nice couple’s catamaran around the island that Tromsø is on. In lasted from noon-2pm and since no one else was interested that day it ended up being a private tour! Complete with food, snacks, and traditional Norwegian blueberry tea was was very good. While it was pitch dark when the tour was over at 2pm (sun stayed below the horizon the whole time. But from about 10am-2pm there was a glow on the horizon, making it feel like dusk or dawn for a few hours), in one direction ther was a view of the full moon low on the horizon which had a very bluish tinit to it. Then when you turned around there was the horizon where the sun should have been which was glowing orange. The views were just stunning, and we were lucky for the clear weather.

The Moon at 12:30pm

The lack of activities confined us to the hotel for the rest of the night really. Luckily Ciara likes to play games so we played card games and paper games for a good 6 hours waiting for midnight and all the festivities. at about 11:30pm we bundled up to brave the cold, put some hot chocolate in the thermos, and went right outside our hotel which happened to have a pretty good view of the harbor and the city! From 11pm people were setting off fireworks alllll over the place. The city was going nuts! It must not be illegal to set them off cause people were doing so right next to us on both sides in the streets! On the moutntain that over looks the city they lit up a “2009″ in flames. Then at midnight they got the flames to switch to saw “2010″ while a big fireworks display went off the top of the hill. the fireworks, city, full moon, and mountains made for a very neat site indeed!

Happy New Years 2010 (notice the 2010 in the hill behind us!)

January 1st was another slow day. We slept until noon, took  a walk around the city, and had some lunch at one of i swear 3 places open. Then we chilled in the hotel watching a Norwegian cross country skiing competition on TV. Around 6pm we left for our little dog sledding adventure tho! We were driven to the Tromsø Wilderness Center which was on the island of Kvaløya. The Center is home to 300 dog sledding huskies. They were surprisingly happy and super friendly! Check out the video below to see some of these professional glove-eaters. We got suited up in the huge suits and hunt out in a Samui tent again with tea and coffee. Then we got an hour ride in one of the sleigh with an 8-dog team. Lets just say the term “smooth ride” could not be further off! It was also slower than I expected it to be. But it was still surreal, accompanied by the beautiful mountains and lit-up city in the distance. Another unique experience to add to the list!

Dog Sledding

We had a 6:30am flight back the next morning, and I was back home in London by 11am. Overall the trip was great! I was so thankful Ciara wanted to go with me (its just not the same traveling alone), and we had a great time – she was good company. The obvious disspointment though was not getting to see the Northern Lights. But I always knew it was a bit of a risk… its not like visiting a monument that has been staninding there in one place for hundreds of years. I guess th lights were out the night before we were there. And while we lucked out with clear skies all three nights, the full moon (though beautiful), didnt help. Even though we were there in the perfect month in what is considered the best city in the world to see the lights, I guess the arora activity is at a several year low right now too (it goes in like 20 year cycles of low to high activity) But regardless, it was a really neat experience that I never imagined! And a very memorable way to ring in the new year. Check out the video below which are all the videos we took edited together very roughly:

Back to work tomorrow! Thank gawd though, February cant come soon enough! I gotta get up at 5:30am tomorrow for an 11 hour day… I’m going on a shoot with the production team in the west of England to get 4 interviews for a Friends Roast film. Its going to be a long drive, and my friend Phil is driving who hasn’t driven in a year and a half and has never driven in the UK!! Luckily he is Australian though, so I figure our odds are better with him and the whole driving on the left thing. Anyways…. 31 days and counting to Sea-town!

Happy Christmas everyone!!! Gosh, wasnt it just Christmas last year and I was in Lithuania?! Its hard to believe that two Christmases have gone by since I’ve been back home in the U S of A. 
 
This Christmas is a bit quite for me this year, first time I’ve spent it alone! It sounds like a pathetic story, but so far its a nice, quite relaxing day.  I’m currently listening to some festive music and have just had a delicious mug of hot chocolate and marshmellows, complete with a Tim Tam (an Australian cookie you use as a straw for hot drinks). I’m all geared up for a day of relaxing and watching Christmas movies…. Elf, The Polar Express, and Home Along (appropriate I thought?!) are all on the line up! I seriously havnt just relaxed and not left the house for an entire day since before my mom came… so August?! All the buses, trains, and tubes arent running today anyways, so I’m forced to stay in which is fine.I need therest! I went to sleep at 9:45pm last night and didnt get up until 8am!!! That is nothing short of a Christmas miracle for me.
 
But perhaps some reviews on my past month since I last posted?? Alright, sounds good. The majority of the rest of November was spent busily working on projects for work. I love to be busy! I really like the office, so I dont mind spending all the extra time there. Its so friendly and homey. Being an editor is fabulous so far, I absolutely love it. Straight up. Finally get to get the creative juices flowing…and i love tackling all the new challanges, whether thats technically, creatively, or dealing with clients. Anyways, those weeks were sprinkled with a few fun activities here and there. Some friends of mine at work and I have started a monthly visit to My Old Dutch once a month for their  £5 Monday Madness pancakes. Americans would call them crepes… but oh man are they amazing! Words can not describe. They are the size of a hub-cap and they have the most amazing flavours, savory or sweet. One guy called it a religious experience, another said she experienced first hand that scene in Ratatouille where they visually animate the sensations of the tastebud’s experiences. I’ve been three times now – irs brilliant! And just a fun evening out after work.

 

At My Old Dutch with my “Amsterdammer” Pancake

Speaking of food, for thanksgiving my American friend at work and I went to Subway for lunch and got Turkey subs. She made a pumpkin pie and I made a chocolate chip pecan pie and we brought those in on the Friday. Then on Saturday I went to her Aunt’s thanksgiving dinner she put on for 40 people. She prepped the main dishes, then the rest was potluck style. I spent 5 hours that morning making 40 handmade rolls… but dang they turned out good if i do say so myself. The dinner was fun, a bit impersonable as it was held at a school her aunt works for to accomodate all the people, so it didnt have that cozy thanksgiving feel. But still good fun and lots of yummy food!
 
One night two friends and I went to be audience members for the taping of The Graham Norton Show, which is a late night talk show here similar to Conan OBrien or Jay Leno. Format is a bit different (all the guests are on the couch with Graham for the whole show, which makes for interesting dialogue). The guests that night were Jimmy Carr, Catherine Tate, and 50 Cent. Then Graham Norton himself is very, very camp. So bascially it was hilarious. And never in a million years did I think I’d ever see 50 perform live. It was my first time to attented the taping of a talk show and i really enjoy it – interesting to see how they do it! Here is a link to the episode if you’re interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xntv7uqdy8I&feature=related
 
On a Friday night early in December a group of 10 or so of us went ice skating at Somerset House in central London, which is one of the more famous places to skate in the city. Its actually put on by Tiffany & Co. I’ve never been ice skating outside before. There was a huge Christmas tree, and a live DJ playing songs, and the rink was surrounded by beautiful old building. Very Picturesque! (click here for a photo)
 
The highight of the season though was when my cousin Zach arrived on December 11th to visit me! He stayed until the 22nd. It was so great to see him and I had a lot of fun showing him around! Hanging out with him reminds me of home so much – and makes me miss it and my family even more! He arrived on a Friday and I went and picked him up at Heathrow. I brought him back to my place, got him some food and bedding, then let him sleep! He was out by 5:45pm when I left to go to my Company’s Christmas Party. That was a good night as well… they go all out! We hired out a venue in west London and had a reception of mulled wine and canapes, followed by a posh dinner (i chose the traditional christmas roast dinner), then a fancy dessert (I went with the blueberry creme brulee). After that was dancing! It was fancy too, everyone in suit and ties and cocktail dresses.
 
Saturday morning started Zach and my tourist marathon. First I showed him the London Eye, Southbank, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. After that we journeyed to St Pauls Cathedral and climbed all the way to the very top for the panoramic view of the city. Then we ventured to China Town and had the BEST Dim Sum of my life. It is quickly becoming my favourite food. This was a creme custard kind with the fluffy sticky bun outside. Heaven! It was like a cinnabon without the cinnamon. I got some really good noodle soup too unlike any I’ve had before. It was authentic thats for sure! The waiters didnt speak much english and wrote everything down in Chinese characters. After that we wandered around Oxford street and did a bit of Christmas shopping. The Christmas street lights are up which are always pretty, we went and saw this years display on Carnaby street too. Next we made our way to the Comedy Store where we queued outside in the cold for 1.25 hours to get tickets to that night’s show. We easily got in and placed ourselves in the 2nd row for that evening’s Stand Up comedy. I’d been twice before, and its always brilliant. SO funny. Its pretty famous, lots of people got their start there, such as Robin Williams. We sampled the ciders for an hour and a half until the show at 8pm. Big shocker that Zach was that guy who shouts out very loudly when they ask if anyone is from overseas. The comedian singled him out and lets just say he didnt make too many friends that night, lol.

 

Zach and I with Big Ben

On Sunday we started in Trafalgar Square where we had to get our photos on one of the lions. Those suckers are NOT small. I failed misserably when my mom was here to get up on one. And this time I needed a boost from Zach – but I made it! I’ll give him the satisfaction of saying that he did get up all on his own (well done Zach), and I have a video to prove it. Then for some reason next we went and queued in the massive line to get into Hamleys, the world famous Toy store thats been open 250 years. Its a madhouse, like something out of the movie Jingle All The Way. When we went by Saturday night and you had to queue to get in, and they closed off part of the road to accomodate the overflow of people. So we went in to check out what all the hype was right when they opened Sunday morning. It was pretty neat! Bit of nostalgia going through the floors of toys. We continued with a bit more christmas shopping, and made a trip to Selfridges which I had never been to (another famous department store thats not quite Harrods, but along the same lines). Regardless, their yearly Christmas window displays which span the length of the store (a very large block) are always interesting to look at! We also stopped to buy and eat some Chesnuts from a street vender that were roasting on an open fire. I’ve never had them! Very delicious, and nothing like i expected. After a light lunch we went to Hyde Park to visit the Winter Wonderland fair that goes on every year. I went last year, but it seemed a bit bigger this time! Theres tons to wander around and look at, a German Bavarian village with all sorts of food and drinks and crafts. Hot bevarages are a plenty, including mulled wine, hot toddys, and hot chocolate and rum. Theres ice skating and rides as well, and of course lots of pretty lights! It was good fun. When we got home I made Zach some Winter Pimms (they werent selling it this year in Hyde Park), which he loved… I forgot how good it was! A nice warm treat.

 

On a Trafalgar Square Lion

Monday evening after work Zach and I just hung out, watched some Family Guy, and I made some of the loose cinnamon tea I bought in Turkey back in June but have never tried. It was a nice relaxing evening. During the day Zach had ventured to see Stonehenge all buy himself! He made me proud! I figured he traveled with me in Costa Rica, Egypt, and Jordan… I thought i’d trained him well, and apparently I did! Tues-Thurs he went up to Edinburgh all by himself and stayed in a hostel there. He went hiking in the highlands which sounds like it was quite the picturesque adventure! He even went to a pub with some guys he met in the hostel. On ThursdayI guess there was a freak snow storm when he was visiting the castle in Edinburgh, and they made everyone leave (with a refund luckily!) So he came back to London a bit early and came out to dinner with myself, Lina, and Carey and her Mom who were passing through london on their way to Tunisia for Christmas. We had some delicious Turkish food. Then Friday of that week Zach met up with me at a pub near my work where everyone came for a colleague’s ‘goodbye drinks’ since she was leaving the company after 3 years. This was Zach’s true pub experience with the English! After an epic battle with public transport and the freezing cold tempuratures afterwards, we got a good nights rest for the weekend’s activities ahead.

Saturday began with a trip to Greenwich Park which was quite pretty in the moring sun and dusting of snow. Here we visited the Royal Observatory and a did a Planitarium show that included a bit on the Christmas star. Here we also got to visit the Prime Meridian, or the “center of time and space” as the plaque reads! Its the line where all of the earths clocks and spacial coordinates are based off of. Next we made our way to Harrods to revel in the amazing scale of everything. Man was it bustlin’ with Christmas shopping madness! We had Afternoon Tea and Scones in the very lush and posh Georgian Restaurant. We were seated out on the indoor balcony with a window view of the sun setting over the London landscape. If that, combined that with the tea and fancy restaurnt, wasnt the most quintessentially British experience/setting, I dont know what is. This all took a large chunk of the day, after which we headed home for a fun movie night complete with Pimms.

At the Prime Meridian, “center of space and time”

On Sunday we got up and went out to get Zach a Traditional English Breakfast. This even included some infamous Black Pudding (type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled), which I ventured to try! The lingering iron/metallic flavour doesnt make for the most pleasant aftertaste. Next we went and climbed The Monument for a nice 360 view of London in the beautiful sunny (but very cold) weather. We made our way to the theatre to then see Stomp. I have never seen it, but always wanted to. It was SOOOO good! I could watch that stuff all day. Zach really liked it too! (it was even his idea to go!) He said it was way better than the video. They advertised it as new and faster and funnier… I dont know what it was like before but this was great! Sure makes me miss tap dancing. Next we stopped back in China town for some stuffed lettuce leaves and very authentic Bubble Tea which was fabulous. Next it was time to brave the bitter cold and join the queue again for over an hour to get into The Comedy Store, this time to see Improv. I’ve never seen it there, and luckily it didnt dissapoint! The things they come up with are rediculously impressive.

Christmas on Regent Street

Monday after work Zach and I met for one last meal at My Old Dutch. I finally tried a sweet pancake with bananas, chocolate sauce, and ice cream which rocked my world. Zach had the asparagus with cheese and some sort of pesto which  was also amazing (you just cant loose with that place!). We went back home, packed up, then hung out a bit more until it was time for bed. He left Tuesday afternoon – so sad! I got home that night and was sad when I walked in and there was no Zach there on the couch to say hello to! I really enjoyed his visit, it was so great to catch up and hang out and show him where I’ve been living for the past year and a half.

 The last two weeks of work have been a bit slow unfortunately, as the Christmas rush is over and projects are scarce (ie non existant) as clients are all off enjoying the holidays. Unfortuantely January is doomed to be quite as well! So the days will drag. But I have february to look forward to! Woo! It snowed one day in london for a few hours which was so pretty! It influenced my team and I to dawn our festive hats for the afternoon! Here is a picture of us at our desks at work (a bit like working at Pixar maybe?!):

 

My Team at in the office and at the Christmas party

After completing a very slow week at work, they let us leave at 1:45pm on Christmas Eve. I went to Subway and got the Chicken-Stuffing-Cranberry Sauce – Gravy sub on Honey Oat for my Christmas Eve dinner. Surprisingly good! Later last night I went to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall called Carols By Candle Light.  It was pretty neat… the orchestra were all dressed in white wigs with the frilly suits, and the singers were in just as fancy gowns. The Hall it self was absolutely stunning (see a picture outside and inside). The music was very pretty, and they even handed out sheets with all the lyrics on it to follow along!

Well, I hope everyone out there has a wonderful, jolly, and festive Christmas! I’m thinking of you all today. Seattle is in less than 6 weeks, cant wait to see everyone!

How on earth has it been over a month since my last entry?! Time is absolutely flying by now. Its going to be 2010 in a blink of an eye.

Well, since I last wrote life seems a lot different! I am absolutely love, love, LOVING my new position as an editor at work. It’s night and day for me really. Finally I’m back to that creative role, something that demands the use of my brain all day. And the necessity of being creative is invigorating. Now there’s just not enough time in the day! Instead of watching the hours drag on while I scan photos, I find myself glancing at the clock going, ‘holy crap! How is it 4pm already?!’ I usually get in about 10 to 8am, and leave the office around 7pm. I pretty much spend my free time commuting, then am only home to shower and sleep! I need to move closer to work.

So my first 3 weeks as an editor were training days, practicing editing to my company’s style using old client footage. Then I got my first project! It was short though, and we’re still waiting for the client to be back in the country to contact about coming to view it. Then I did a really short other edit for another client. (Both were for Americans actually… hmmmmm). But unfortunately the company’s work queue is a lot smaller than anticipated for some reason. Not enough projects to go around at the moment. So one day my supervisor and the head of creative asked me to come have a private word really quick. I was absolutely panicked that they were gonna ask me to go back to being a PA (not that they have enough work to do either at the moment). But luckily my brief (but intense!) panic was short lived. See, we edit 3 levels of video projects, each being more expensive, time consuming, and difficult to produce than the last: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Usually junior editors when they start just do Silvers, then move on to Golds. Then Platinum’s are way down the road . The girl next to me just got her first Platinum project last month, and a couple others who recently did too and waited for about 8 months until they were entrusted with one. Platinum’s entail a lot of AfterEffects animation (which I did at Intava in Bellevue) which I have experience in, so my manager has been saying hopefully come the end of January they could put me forward to possibly try a platinum. But because of the low work flow, my previous animation experience, and I think just the fact I was doing quite well, I got asked to do a Platinum!! The Head of Creative actually has too much work, and decided to let me have a go at one of her projects! I really feel like I’ve been given an opportunity here, and am so grateful she is entrusting me with this project which is for a very important client of hers that get edits done every year. This is at least volume 6 for them, so they have high expectations! So that first project I did was a 20 minute Gold, then I did the 8 minute Silver, and now BAM an hour long Platinum! I’d only been an editor for a month. I mean, she comes and sits with me every morning and reviews what I’ve done the previous day and gives me feedback. I’ve been working on this for a week now, and she seems really impressed! Very few changes each day, which seems promising for me! I feel like this project could be my big break, so I feel a bit of pressure to do a really good job. I’ve been in the studio every day for the past 13 days for a minimum of 10 hours each day, but I absolutely love it. (I had to force myself to stay home today!) The days just fly by. So anyways, in sum, work is good. BUT there are many editors with nothing to do…and in a weeks time I may join that group. So fingers crossed!

 You may also remember me mentioning that I was promoted to the Production Team at work in addition back in June. I’ve pretty much completed my training with that. Now I just go on shoots as a camera operator when they arise. A couple weeks ago my colleague and I who joined the team at the same time as trainees were let loose to do a shoot on our own! It was a lot of fun though. It was basic luckily, not throwing us into the fire too hard. It was 2 interviews for a World According To Kids film. We took a taxi out to the family’s house in northern London and set up interviews for the two little boys in their rooms. One was 7, the other 8. They were TOO cute. Each interview lasted about an hour… they way kids think and how their minds process how the world works around them is amazing. I wish we didn’t loose that creativity as we grow older! I’m going on a Biography shoot next week which should be really interesting.

Anyways, enough of me rattling on about work! But to be honest, that’s the majority of what I’ve been doing the past month! In other news, Carey came and visited Lina and I again for Halloween! It was really a lot of fun. We went out to dinner, saw the musical Les Miserables (the world’s longest running show! I felt it was a classic I needed to see before it was too late!), which was really really good. We had a Halloween party at Sarah’s house (my old house in Penge) which a few friends which was really fun. I wore a cavewoman costume from a fancy dress birthday party I went to the weekend before (‘fancy dress’ is the Brit’s way of saying costume party… they’re pretty into them all year round. The theme for that party was that you had to come as something starting with the first letter of your first name. Hence, I came as a Cavewoman. I was well impressed with how all-out people went with their costumes… especially considering the majority of them had no plans for Halloween the next weekend cause its not really celebrated here!)

  

Fancy Dress Bday Party & Halloween

Other activities included doing a traditional English High Tea on a Sunday in one of the fancy 4 star hotels in the city. It’s basically what all little girls’ tea time sets are basic off of! You get fancy tea with tea pots and cups, then a 3 tear platter of finger sandwiches, scones, and posh pastry sweets. It was pricey, but very worth it! I also went to the Artistic World Gymnastics Championships at the O2 with Sarah. I’ve never seen gymnastics live like that before, it was really interesting! Also my first visit to the O2 Arena, which apparently knocked Madison Square Garden out of the top place for the world’ best entertainment venues! November 5th was Bonfire Night , and I went with some friends from work to a fireworks display at park in the area. The show was quite impressive for the size of the park! It was like the Brit’s 4th of July, but freezing cold out.

Bonfire Night 2009

Well thats all for now! Lots more to come in the following weeks I’m sure. Also noteworthy is that I come back to Seatte in 81 days! Woo!

So, I figured it was time to share the great news! At the end of August I had my monthly one-to-one meeting with my manager at work where we discuss how I’m doing, goals for the next month, etc. It was there that he dropped the bomb that they were hiring new Pas and he was going to do everything in his power to find TWO new Pas, so both the current Senior PA and myself could move up to be a junior editor. Now for those that don’t know, that’s kind of been the whole point of this job for me! Put my time in at the low end so I could eventually be an editor and gain that experience. This originally wasn’t supposed to happen until January at the EARLIEST, and potentially longer. I just assumed this was still true as August was such a slow month and there didn’t seem to be enough work to be hiring on extra people.

Then, on September 23^rd, I found out they found the right people and I was going to become an editor!!! I can even tell you how ecstatic I was. It really was a delightful shock. I’ve been at eDv for a little over 10 months now…Its really, really rare to move up in anything under a year, let alone two people at the same time (or so several coworkers who’ve been there a while told me). I didnt even have to be senior PA! The promotion came at the perfect time too, when I was just getting so fed up/bored as a PA. I mean, I didn’t get my masters degree to spend my hours scanning photos! I need that creative challenge and mental puzzle that animating brought me at my last job… editing will certainly bring it here. This job will have a lot higher degree of satisfaction I think to… I’ll get to produce and then see firsthand family’s reactions to the film I’ve made them. Its something they will keep for years and years to come, passing down generations even! It will be neat to be a part of that.

So last Monday, October 5^th, was my first day! I have 2 weeks of cumulative training time. I’ve jumped right in and am doing practice edits for Silver level projects, timing myself to see how long it takes, and getting feedback from my supervisor and stuff that’s good and what to improve. And it’s safe to say I LOVE it! The day just flies by. Not to mention it is so, SO nice to have my own desk again. Anyways, this week was cut unfortunately short by a client’s need to have an urgent photo sort done at her house. So I spent Thurs/Fri  at her house in London (or should I say mini-mansion complete with maids and personal assistants running around!), and will most likely spend Mon, Tues, Wed there as well putting her 11,000 family photos in chronological order, then making selections for 3 albums, a media edit, a collage, and photo installation. Sheesh! Bad timing if you ask me. Ah well, fun stuff awaits on the other end of finishing this project up! So more to come later on how I’m finding my new role.

Last weekend (the weekend before I started), I decided I should give Avid (the editing software my company uses) a go for practice! Anything to give myself a little bit of a head start. I’ve done editing in the past at university, but it’s been 3+ years since I used Avid to any extent, and over a year since I did any basic editing on any software. So I decided to take my random point-and-shoot videos from my camera for the past year as well as some associated still photos and have a go at editing them together using some of the styles I’ve seen used at work.  I thought it would be fun to share what I came up with here. Enjoy!

(For a higher quality version, CLICK HERE)

So here are the epic adventures of Casey and Dianne in London! I’ve tried to keep each day to the length of a paragraph, to hopefully make it more readable. Enjoy!

DAY 1

First I picked mom up at Heathrow around noon. I know this was a happy day, but I was freaking crying while I was standing outside arrivals waiting for her! Sheesh! That is rare, let me tell you. I’m not the super emotional type and I hate to cry, especially in public. But I couldn’t control it! I had to keep looking up and thinking about random things to stop the waterworks! It had been a eyar to the day I’d last seen her. But then she came through the gate and I started sobbing like a baby, lol. Talk about making a scene! They were happy tears though I suppose. Anyhow, we lugged ‘the goods’ (aka the large suitcases stuffed with my requested items) and eventually made it back to my place. I then forced her to stay up until at least 8pm to fight the jet lag. We got some groceries and I showed her some pictures and such…but she was in a bit of a daze! It was all for the better tho!

DAY 2

This day was the first of sightseeing, and Mom’s first taste of London and all its history! First we toured the State Rooms inside Buckingham Palace and viewed dresses of the Queen’s wardrobe from over the years as part of the Commonwealth Exhibition. We were done there with just enough time to catch a glimpse of the highly over-rated Changing of the Guard. We did a walk through of Piccadilly Circus and China Town before heading to check out the street performers and market stalls of Covent Garden. Next we visited the London Transport Museum which was actually really, really interesting, following the development of public transport (horses, horse-drawn buses, trains, buses, the Underground) with real-life examples of each. Finally we rode a double decker bus around London as an extra added bonus tour! We stopped off at Trafalger Square which mom fell in love with on first glance.

Mom in Trafalgar Square (Best pic, ever!)

DAY 3

Well, today I had to work 9am-8:30pm, so mom just relaxed at my place! But this meant I earned some extra play time for the next day…

DAY 4

I got off work today at 1:30pm, and met Mom to spend the afternoon in the sun! (It was a miraculous 75 degrees or so, bright and sunny!) After some soft-serve ice cream with a Cadbury Flake, we visited the Tower of London and did one of the free guided tours. Its so interesting! I love that place. Def a London must see. Next we walked across Tower Bridge to the other side of the Thames where we had dinner outside at a dim sum restaurant called Dim T that overlooks the river and bridge. It was gorgeous! (and delicious!)

In front of Tower Bridge

DAY 5

I worked another half day today, and met up with Mom to go and view the inside of St Paul’s Cathedral. This is one of ‘the big 3′ in Europe, so needless to say mom seemed impressed! We climbed the stairs up to the dome where we could get an aerial view of the nave. Oddly, right as we were leaving their was an emergency evacuation! Definitely not a normal tourist experience. We then had some super delicious burgers at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen across the street, dang the Scot’s know how to grow their beef! Then we rode a double decker down Oxford Street (the main shopping district) where mom was just in absolute awe of the volume of people. And it wasn’t even Christmas! We took a stroll down Carnaby Street, a quaint shopping street with a very European-feel. Next we went and saw the musical Sister Act which was SO good!! The costumes and sets were too fun, and the singing was amaaaazing. It was produced by Whoopi Goldberg, and was an adaptation of the movie so the songs were different. But I wanted to just get up and dance at the end! It was definitely a feel-good show!!

DAY 6

After sleeping in a bit, we packed a picnic and when to enjoy a bit of sun and card playing in Hyde Park. We then saw a matinée performance of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a new adaption that has a special made tent in the middle of the park. It was in the round, and around the whole top of the tent was a 360 degree projection screen which was sooo cool. Instead of backgrounds, they projected animated video graphics. So if they were on the pirate ship, there was an image that looked like of part of a ship with wind blowing through the trees and the sea water gently rising and falling. The best bit was when they flew through London to Neverland in the beginning – they hung on wires and dove/spun/glided through the city that was rushing by. Fun stuff!

Next it was time to go help film my friend’s pilot TV show for the BBC! As I couldn’t arrive until later, I was just a grip on the day. But that was fine, I still really enjoyed helping out and observing everything that was going on. Three guys I use to work with at Brookes were there helping too, so it was neat to see them as its been 2+ years! The jazz bands that played were surprisingly good, I really enjoyed the last group from Hungary. My mom came along cause Nik was able to get her a free ticket. I felt bad making her sit off by herself, but when I went to check up on her she seemed fine and had even bought herself a glass of wine! She said she enjoyed it. We didn’t get home until 1am, but I’m glad I went in the end. I gave the the final draft of the animation I made for the opening graphics, which was really my biggest contribution (especially time wise). Now I’m just waiting to hear when it airs!

DAY 7

Yay, no work again! Today was another big sightseeing day that I really enjoyed. We lucked out with some decent weather again! We started the morning out with a 40 minute open-top boat tour along the River Thames which I’ve never done. It was really interesting, and neat to see the city from a different angle! Then we walked along South Bank for a bit, checking out all the quirky street performers that always frequent its sidewalks. After an extremely delicious candied waffle with soft serve ice cream and chocolate sauce (a common street vendor treat here), we went and watched the 4D pre-London Eye movie which was fun. Then we rode the 30 minutes around the London Eye taking in the awesome 360 aerial view of the city.

Inside the London Eye Overlooking Big Ben

Next we walked by the Houses of Parliament and took the obligatory pictures with Big Ben (which we learned is actually called the Clock Tower – Big Ben is the name of the bell inside that you cant see). We then went inside Westminster Abby which has a much different feel than St. Pauls. The history in there is incredible, not to mention the number of tombs of past kings and queens of england as well as famous poets and musicians. The coronation thrown is there as well. Next I took mom to a British Pub and she had her first Pimms, ever! Summer is behind us now, so it wasnt properly made up with cucumber, mint, strawberries, and oranges. But the essential taste is the same, and luckily she loved it! (Or I may have had to ditch her right then and there in the pub.) Finally we took a quick stroll through The National Gallery so she could say she’d been in and seen the paintings before going home to relax and play some cards over dinner.

DAY 8

This was Oxford day! I couldn’t believe it had already been a year since I was there for my Masters graduation ceremony (it ironically was graduation day today and we saw everyone walking around in their robes!) We took a bus there from Victoria, being oh so fortunate to get stuck in some dense British traffic on the motorway. The 1.5 hour journey ended up taking nearly 3. But oh well! Fun to look at the countryside nonetheless. Once we got there I walked her around my university really quick, then we strolled the half hour into the city centre of Oxford. I love all the historic sandstone buildings and dreaming spires! So beautiful in the sun against the blue skies.

We went to Oxford’s own G&Ds and had amazing bagel sandwiches for lunch (the pest, mozerella, sun-dried tomato is superb!). After this re-energizing meal we walked around a bit more, taking a look at the famous landmarks of Oxford University. No trip to Oxford is complete without a visit to the Covered Market with its produce stands, coffee shops, and cake decorators. BUT the absolut must is the original Bens Cookies – literally the BEST cookies i’ve ever had. They are super, super thick and chewy… melt-in-your-mouth amazing! They have all kinds of great flavours, but the best has to be the chocolate chip orange in my opinion. Another insiders tip is to ask for whats fresh out of the oven… which we did and it was sooo goey and amazing. YUM! I’ve seen that they’ve recently opened a branch in London which I must visit! After this we made our way to the bus station and got a front window seat on the 2^nd level of the bus for the ride back to London.

DAY 9

And for today’s entertainment it was a day trip to Brighton, a beach town on the southern coast of England about 2 hours south of London. It was fun to ride the train through the country, even though it wasn’t exactly sunny for the day. We got in the early afternoon and walked down to the beach where we had some traditional fish and chips from a chippy along the shore. While many would see this as a crime, this was my first fish and chips in England ever! Its pretty much a staple in the English diet. Its weird though, cause you don’t get a bunch of small pieces of fish – you get one large fish (no head or tail or bones) that still has the skin on and is then deep fried. Really not my cup of tea, but hey, I tried! After mom rode the carousel on the beach, we walked along the Brighton Pier which has a casino, some little shops, and even carnival rides! We rode a rollercoaster which had a neat view, but spun in circles waaaay too much. After that we walked around a bit more, checking out the motorcycle festival that just so happened to be in town that day! There were bikers and bikes EVERYWHERE. I think mom felt a bit at home with all the hogs and Harley Riders about! It was fun. Then we did the open-top bus tour which drove us around the city with commentary on what we were looking at. We took another quick walk by the Brighton Pavilion (with Indian-style architecture), then headed back to the train and back to London!

DAY 10

I had to work a full day today, but afterwards I met my mom and we went to an Indian restaurant in the West End. Her first Indian meal, ever! I’m proud of her for being a bit adventurous. (she is a very, very picky eater… even more so than me!) After some delicious tandoori chicken and naan bread, we walked to the theatre where we saw the live stage adaptation of the movie Dirty Dancing!! Mom absolutely loved it, I guess it followed the movie pretty dang close – script and music! It was a lot of fun, the audience (aka hoard of woman) kept hooting and hollering. Little did we know Patrick was going to die that night in the States! Very sad!

DAY 11

Today was another work day, but mom was quite brave and conquered the London transport system by herself to come meet me at the office! I gave her a little tour of eDv and introduced her to some of my coworkers. It was weird to have her there, in the place where I spend most of my time here! But I was so happy to get to show it to her. After that we went to the Westfields London mall (the largest shopping center in Europe) and had a fantastic Greek meze meal. The haloumi and courgette souvlaki was superb!

DAY 12

This was the epic trip to Paris day!! I hadn’t been in 3+ years, and it was Mom’s first time into a country that didn’t speak English! We got up kinda early, and took the Eurostar through the chunnel to France. The journey only takes 2.5 hours! Its crazy how close it is. After we go into Paris Nord we happened upon a stand that was selling open top bus tour tickets, and learnt it picked up right outside the station. So we hoped on! We basically road this around Paris all day, getting a great view of the city and all its sights. The audio commentary really enhances the experience by knowing what you’re looking at. We got off once to go inside Notre Dame, which turned out to be my Mom’s favourite church we saw during her visit. It is quite amazing! Very dark and gothic. Then we went on a bit of a hunt for a falafel place I had visited while I was backpacking, and we luckily found it… SO delicious! And of course Mom was in heaven with all the bakeries and patisseries. She went on a bit of a shopping spree, buying all sorts of stuff to try! (With her amazing French I might add… aka pointing and looking at me expecting me to fluently express the kind of products she wanted to the cashier! Lets just say my French stops at ‘bonjour,’ so there was lots of pointing and nodding). It was well worth it though! Then we rode the bus some more, getting off once more to visit the Eiffel Tower. Mom was really impressed with how large and intricate it is – I agree it is a bit more imposing in person that you expect it to be! We rode up to the top and took in the view. Then it was time to get back on the bus and ride it back to the train station. We spent a good 7 hours or so seeing the city, so it was a great whirlwind tour! After buying some more fresh bread from a French bakery along with some French cheese (which was a total guess cause we couldn’t really read the containers), we got back on the train home and enjoyed our dinner and played cards!

Notre Dame & Mom Drooling at a French Bakery

DAY 13

And alas, we reached shopping day! Actually we’re both not chronic shoppers at all, and hadn’t done any shopping the whole trip. The special outing today was to go see the world-famous department store Harrods. It is a bit mind blowing if you’ve never been. Its so elaborately decorated. We went through the extensive toy land, and even visited Petworld which is a whole area with fancy pet clothes and products! (and puppies for sale! They were too cute) And the must-stop floor was Christmas World! From August until December there is a super extensive Christmas shop that is a huge glittering room of tinsel, ornaments, and decorated trees. Lots of fun to see! Mom was in heaven of course, being the Christmas junkie she is! After that we made out way down to the Food Hall which is the most impressive part of Harrods I think. All kinds of fancy foods, divided up into rooms by type (ie teas and coffees, chocolates, meat, deli, sweets, etc). My dream of Harrods’ ice cream was finally a reality! Theres a place in the food hall called Morellis that does super-duper elaborate sundaes. There are loads to choose from, and man did we pick a winner! Chocolate, vanilla, and toffee ice cream, with all sorts of cookies and wafers on it. There was even a bowl of melted chocolate with cookie pieces in it that we later discovered was edible hard chocolate itself! Mmmmm! Oh yeah, we also had a traditional English scone as a bit of an appetizer. Heaven. After Harrods we stopped at a few other places, including a quirky paper store called Paperchase and a clothing store where mom graciously bought me a few coats in hope I dont freeze this winter like the last! After that we got some dinner to bring home and relax and play cards. A very good day indeed!

DAY 14

Today was a local Walthamstow day. We made two trips to the grocery store to stock me up with food, and cause obviously you dont drive to the grocery store here, you can only buy what you can carry. So with our powers combined we were able to pull of a massive haul! I’ve never felt so well stocked in London! We bought some Crazy Corn (a funny thing here you can buy at special stands… basically a cup of hot corn kernels mixed with you choice of spice such as Chicken, BBQ, Garlic, Cheese, etc.  And at home I made Mom a proper glass of Pimms with all the fruit and garnish! It was fabulouso. Otherwise we just relaxed, repacked her suitcases with all my crap, and played cards.

DAY 15

As always, the final day came too quick! Luckily we didn’t really have to get up early. We were at Heathrow about noon with plenty of time for Mom to get her flight. And then came the dreaded good bye. I tried to be strong and not cry! But I couldnt help it. I found myself crying both because she was leaving, and because I didnt want her to leave me here! But luckily its only 4 short months until Seattle.

And there you have it! Wow, I’m on page 5 in Microsoft Word (pre-pictures!) Overall, Mom’s visit was excellent, and it was SO nice to have her here for a few weeks. It was great to reconnect, if anything it really made me miss America and home even more! I’m so glad she got the opportunity to go abroad, cause otherwise she would have never come. Hopefully its given her both insight into how people in another country live, and a glimpse of why I like to travel so much and explore new places! Love you mom!

I really, truly, cant believe it, but I left home for London exactly one year ago today! (Gosh, just look at the “Archives” list on this page to the right! All the months are now listed!) It seems like just yesterday, but at the same time it seems forever ago. It’s officially the longest time I’ve gone without seeing my parents/family, and just being out of the country! (And I still have another 5 months to go with that.) Even more poetic, my mom lands at Heathrow in just a couple hours! So it will be a year to the day that I last saw her when I was saying goodbye! Hopefully there will be no tears today though. I am off to get her right after I post this…hopefully she survived her first trans-Atlantic flight and isn’t too shocked by the jet lag. I’m so excited to see her!!!!!

 As a little tribute my anniversary of leaving America, I thought I’d make a little list of some of the little things I really miss and took for granted while I was there. It could go on forever… and some things I miss I could do here, but just aren’t practical (like driving a car, going on Costco runs, and playing golf). But below are things I just cant get/do/experience here. If you like anything on this list, hopefully this will make you appreciate it more as they are things I cannot get while I’m here! Granted most of it is food related, I still miss it all nonetheless!

Cool Whip

Yogurt that isnt runny

Safeway!

Honey Bunches of Oats

Life cereal

Golden Grahams

Subway with normal mustard

Panera Bread

Cold Stone Cake Batter ice cream

Taco Del Mar

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese

Dill Pickles

Tootsie Rolls

Graham Crackers

Jet Puffed Marshmallows

Hershey’s chocolate

[smores, for that matter]

Red Vine Licorice

Stove Top Stuffing

Caramels

Apple Sauce

Blueberry Vodka

Rootbeer

Snapple

Lipton Brisk Ice Tea

Jamba Juice

Eggos

Boca Burgers

Twizlers

 

American vacuums

The fresh smell of the PNW

Having bodies of water within a few minutes drive

The mountains in the skyline

Going for rides on the Harley

Screens at the cinema being larger than a big screen TV

Playing Whirly Ball

Power outlets in bathrooms

Dryers (and washing machines not in the kitchen)

Target

Having baseball on TV

I’m not gonna lie, but the later half of August was kind of spent willing time to go faster so September would come. I have/had lost all hopes for nice summer weather, so I figure lets just move onto fall. But really I can wait for my mom to get here for her big visit!

I have done a few things to occupy my self in the mean time, however. I went with my team from work for our monthly outing to a cinema with couches as seats and waiters who come right to you which was neat. We say Sin Nombre though, which was not neat. I’ve only ever walked out  of a film once in my life, and I really wanted this to be number two…but I felt a bit rude seeing as how it was a team bonding activity. Luckily for me, it was short. For work I went on my first paid, all day production shoot on a Sunday down in Kent. I learned loads. It was a video a client commissioned as a surprise for his wife of his family singing a music video to Abba’s Dancing Queen, but with new lyrics about his wife. It was a good laugh, some of the grandparents and aunts got really into it!

One weekend Lina and I went to Bournemouth to visit our friend Robyn who we rowed with at WSU. I’d been back in ’07 while I was living in Oxford, but it was still really nice to go again. Very relaxing, nice to get out of the big city and experience life in a smaller British community for a little bit. That weekend just happened to be the Bournemouth Airshow weekend, so we got to see lots of neat WWII-esque aircraft flying around, and shows by the Red Arrows (aka the British equivalent of the Blue Angels). Bournemouth is on the Southern coast of England, so we lucked out with some good weather and had picnics on the beach and layed in the sun. Last I’m gonna see of it until next year, I’m sure! They had a fireworks display off a barge one evening that we watched from the beach which was neat – like the fourth of July I didn’t have this year! And to top it all off I got to play Wii Mario Kart, so needless to say I was in heaven.

With Lina & Robyn in Bournemouth

Yesterday I checked out the Notting Hill Carnival with a couple friends from work. Wow. That sums that up. For those that don’t know, Carnival is a world-famous Caribbean street festival that takes place in west London every August. It’s the 2^nd largest street festival in the world (Check out this link for more info: Click Here  And this one to see the cool costumes: Click Here). It is notorious for violence though (that Wikipedia link lists whose died in the past), as well as thievery. That’s why we decided to go on ‘family day’ (if you can even call it that). Really, it was just bizarre because West London is the nicer, more expensive side of London, and to see it transformed into this mass of people, rubbish on the street, and basically chaos was unreal. The parade goes right in front of my office, a place on the standard working day that is very quite and peaceful. There were just people EVERYWHERE. I didn’t know that many people were still in London on a 3 day weekend. There was a parade route in the shape of a circle, then you could just walk around the streets in the middle which were residential areas. All the roads are closed off, and there are just people (and police) walking about. There are food stands and huge, really powerful sound systems every other block blasting reggae music. People were selling food and drinks (and toilet usage) from their house windows that border the streets, and I swear every freaking person had a bloody whistle around their neck that they had to blow every second. It was pretty much the Caribbean meets Las Vegas meets huge frat party meets New Years Eve meets Amsterdam. I had to see it with my own eyes to believe. If that was family day, I cant even imagine the main parade day. Its safe to say I don’t feel the need to go again.

My big project for the time being however is an animation I am doing for my friend as his project that I mentioned before. Basically, he works with the BBC as an engineer, and came up with a new technology to speed up and improve the quality of HD TV work-flow, and he came up with an idea for a TV series, pitched it to the BBC, and they liked it, gave him £5000 to go shoot the pilot (which is nothing…he says they’d spend about £80,000 on one episode of a show like this). If they like it, they’ll commission the rest of the 13 part season. Apparently there is a lot of talk about it at the BBC and everyone is excited about it. I am going to be a grip on the actual day they film the pilot, but the big deal is that he asked me to do the opening title graphics for it. They had ideas of feel and such, but nothing to specific aside from this first 30 seconds needs to set the mood for the hour and really draw the audience in and impress them. UM, NO PRESSURE?! This is pretty much the biggest gig in my career thus far. Basically everyone whose anyone at the BBC will see this, not to mention all the people who will see it when it broadcasts on BBC HD! It needless to say I feel a lot of pressure to come up with something amazing! The catch is I had 12 days to make it, 9 of those days I’m at work the majority of the day. So unfortunately I’m pretty hindered by this. At the same time, whenever I’ve felt that “oh crap, what the heck am I going to do for this?!” feeling in the past is when I’ve really pushed myself and produced my best work. It’s somehow an exciting feeling, one I haven’t had at my current job… ever. So it’s refreshing in that sense. Even though its consuming my life outside of work and my whole 3 day weekend, its taking my mind off things which is good. I think I’ve come up with an idea that will still look slick and is achievable in the amount of time I have. But only time will tell! I’ve just finished a draft this morning that I’m sending off to the director and producer for feedback. *Fingers crossed!*

So last week I finally went to visit my friend Carey who is living in the Ukraine volunteering for the Peace Corps right now. I was originally going to go see her back in November, but the trip had to be canceled unfortunately (see past entries if you’re curious!).  I went Wednesday – Sunday and had a really great time!

I arrived in the capital city of Kiev where Carey met me and we went to the train station. We took an overnight train (approx 9.5 hour journey) down to the city of Odessa on the Black Sea. (Click Here to see a map) This was my first night train, it was an interesting experience! I like the rocking and sound of the train tracks, but wasn’t to keen on people continuously running into my feet (cause I’m tall they stuck out into the aisle), nor the stopping thru the night to let people on and off. But it sure was time efficient, and we saved the money on accommodation! (the round trip ticket on overnight trains, 9+ hours each way, only cost 150 UAH, or $18.75!! Let’s just say everything seemed really cheap to me, especially coming from London.) We arrived early at the Odessa train station and dropped our bags off at the hostel. Then we gave ourselves a walking tour of the city, checking out the notable architecture and monuments. We had some traditional Ukrainian food for lunch which was really delicious! Our table in the restaurant was in a wooden carriage which was cool. Just to show you a cultural difference, they brought us shots of vodka before our meal without us even mentioning or asking for it. We wandered to the beach as well, relaxing for a bit then seeing a dolphin show and a nearby conservatory.  Through the trip we decided to do indulge a bit and had a food tour of the world (having 3 course meals everyday in very nice restaurants cause it was so cheap! It was like a whole different world then when we backpacked together through Europe both times), and that first night we did Spanish Tapas.  Definitely a winner.

 

Myself  and Carey in Odessa & Me With a City Sign Hat 

The second day in Odessa we did a day trip to an old Fortress a couple hours outside of the city. It was on a ledge overlooking a large body of water. After some Ukranian hot dogs (complete with spiced shredded carrots and lettuce), he headed back to the city and walked around a bit more. That evening we had Bulgarian food which definitely proved to be the culinary winner of the weekend! Not only was the atmosphere good, but the food was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had. For the main course the waitress brought out the tray with a glass window facing the table and just left it there and went away. Completely intrigued, we waited until she returned with our skillet of food, placed it behind the window, poured wine all over it, and lit it on fire!! There was even  ooing and ahhing from other restaurant goers. The waitress left again, forcing us to patiently stare at the food through the glass while smelling the amazing aroma. Finally we got to eat it, which was a mix of vegetables, chicken, veal, pork, and ‘Bulgarian spicery.’ It was food heaven, I’ve never had meat so good. After that we took a digestive walk through the lit-up streets, and headed back to the train station to take the night train back to Kiev.

Me on a ledge at the Fortress – No concern for guest safety there!

Carey played tour guide in Kiev the next two days as shes been there many, many times. So for me it was quite neat! We had a Ukrainian breakfast and then checked out the architectural sights and gorgeous gold-domed churches. We spent some time on the big winding street market too, having to duck for cover for a while to wait out a heavy downpour of rain. We went to the Damien Hirst exhibit that was in Kiev at the time which I really enjoyed. I know some people think he’s crazy (he’s the artist who glued all the diamonds to a human skull and designed the butterfly bike Lance Armstrong just  road in the tour d’france), but I really enjoyed his work – especially once you understand what it was you were looking at. It all had purpose, and really made you thinkabout the message he was trying to convey. I found all his piece’s sheer presence alone to be really powerful. He deals a lot with address the quest for life and inevitability of death, an umbrella theme for reoccuiring subjects of beauty vs decay and science vs religion. The highlight was a shark that had been sliced in two lengthwise and then suspended in two tanks of formaldehyde about 2 feet apart so you could walk between and see the insides. It was way cool. Oh yes, that days cuisine was Moroccan. This place may have had the best atmosphere as it was set underground in a cave-like setting with lots of bead curtains, tapestries, large cushions, and interesting lighting. Food was very good as well – loved the couscous and hummus action!

 

By Our Odessa to Kiev Night Train & A Gold Dome Church in Kiev

The next day I only had a half day before my flight. We went and visit the Lavra which is a large church which set against the blue skies and sunshine was stunning. Inside we visited a miniature museum which was mindboggling…all the pieces of art were no larger than a grain of rice and had to be viewed through telescopes. The detail was astonishing; I have no clue how the artists managed it. We fit in one more culture meal for lunch, this time it was Turkish! Also very good! I was sad when the food extravaganza was over!

  

Another Pretty Cathedral & Me at the Lavra

Overall it was a really great trip, the best part being both traveling and sending some time with Carey! Like the good ‘ol days of backpacking, but kind of more adult-like with all the fine dining! Hehe. It was great just to talk and catch up. Not to mention just get out of London for a few days and clear my head.  It was great to visit a place that I otherwise probably wouldn’t unless I had a purpose such as visiting her. It was very much like Russia (or so I’m told), and I don’t know I’ll make it there anytime soon, so it was neat to see/experience that culture. And it totally blew to look over and have my good friend who I’ve known for years speaking to people in a completely different language! Something she couldn’t do just a mere 1.5 years ago. While I know she’s hard on herself, critiquing her language levels, I was very, very impressed. As far as I was concerned she could approach anyone and talk to them, and respond when she was spoken to wherever! Not to mention this was invaluable, as it would be very difficult to get around without some knowledge of Ukrainian and Russian… I would have been lost! A huge thanks again to Carey for all her tour-guiding and translating/interpreting services!! J Anyways, on the whole, the trip really turned out to be a bit of both an inspiration for me and clarification on what I’m doing now and what I think I want to do next in life. Which is good! But I’ll have to leave that as a cliff-hanger and save it for next time! Muahahaha

Let’s see, time to report the activities since I last wrote! We havnt been having the record breaking heat that Ikeep hearing about in Seattle, so I’ve had to entertain myself in other ways.

I went and saw Harry Potter at the Imax. I won’t try to cover up my nerdiness – I loved it! The first 12 minutes in 3D were worth the Imax price alone. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a high quality film…the special effects were stunning, and they paid the closest detail even to things just happening in the corner. Beautiful filming.

Stylin’ at Imax 3D

On a Saturday Lina had off from work the two of us took a train up to Cambridge for the day just to get out of the city and walk around. There really wasn’t much to see, as like Oxford it’s filled with colleges and old buildings. It was graduation day, so it was kind of neat with all the graduates walking around in their robes…gave it that really scholarly feeling. We went into the most famous, Kings College, and saw the historic chapel there built by Henry the VI.  We visited the market too where we had some Wheat Grass shots (like the ones you can get at Jamba Juice. We’d both had never tried and were always curious…my cousin Zach really sold me with his story about literally spitting out all over the floor of a Jamba Juice once). Let just saw that shock of all shockers, grass put straight into a blender with nothing else is, well, nasty. While the smell of a freshly mown lawn is amazing, have that taste in your mouth is not. Anyhow, we also ate lunch by the river and watched the punting (from the back of course, being Cambridge and all. In Oxford you punt from the front). It was fun to go see Cambridge (it was on my list of places to see), but obviously I’m partial to Oxford.

Kings College at Cambridge University

One night after work I met up with Emily, Maj, Jenner, and Nik – all people I went to uni with in Oxford. I hadn’t seen Nik in two year, and the other three since graduation last September. We met up at a Caribbean restaurant (Maj wanted to finally share with us his country’s cuisine). I really enjoyed catching up with them. Good company, good conversation! Nik had some exciting news – he pitched an idea for a TV series to the BBC and they gave him money and said to go film the pilot, if they like it then they’ll commission a 12 part series!! For those non-TV buffs, this is amazing. The BBC pretty much invented high def tv, and have been leading television technology since forever. Now the REALLY exciting news is that he asked me to be a camera person for the live filming!! Um, yes?!! Can you imagine if that aired on the BBC?? Just being a part of it will be awesome. That’s happening in September.

Another night after work I went and saw the play Waiting for Godot starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen (http://www.waitingforgodottheplay.com/). I don’t know the last time I went to the theatre and just saw straight acting, not a musical. I use to go in college all the time. But anyhow, their acting was phenomenal. The story was a bit odd, but they were surreal to watch. I kept having flashes of Captain Picard and Gandalf the Grey. I feel lucky to have witnessed two of the greatest actors doing their thing in person!

In other news, I booked my tickets to Tromso for Xmas/New Years! A colleague of mine and myself are going to up to the Arctic Circle in Norway for 5 days in December (during the ‘forced’ holiday from work) and go hunt for the Northern Lights! We also want to do things like dog sledding and a snow mobile safari.  I did just realize last week that this is the time of year when the sun never rises. So weird, I’ve never had that experience! I won’t see the sun or daylight for 5 days… perhaps that will increase our chance of seeing the lights?

I’ve officially now been at eDv longer than I working for Intava in office.  July 24^th marked my 8 month anniversary. I was at Intava for 7.5 months. How weird is that?! I had my first album viewing with a client the other day, basically presenting them the layouts for the photo album they commissioned that I designed. It was a touching project to be a part of really. This man ordered an album of his wife that passed away less than two years ago, to celebrate her life and memory and to give to his two young children to remember her by. She was less than 35 years old when it happened and they don’t know why, she got back from a trip to New Zealand and never woke up the next day. SO sad. But he really seemed to like it – gave me all 10s on the feedback form! It’s a lot of pressure though, as these clients are paying a lot of money so I wanted them to like what I make obviously! This guy, for example, is paying over £3,000 for his album! And that doesn’t even include copies and other photo enlargements. Serious business. But just to know that I designed something that they will ultimately keep for the rest of their lives and pass down to their children’s children is pretty neat.

On the 26^th Lina and I went to the Ben & Jerry’s Sundae on the Common which was an ice cream and music festival at the Clapham Common park. It was a neat concept! You had the stage where the band played with plenty of lawn to sit on, it was part fair with a couple rides (I finally road a Helter Skelter!) and silly games and food stands. Then there were tents all around where you could get all sorts of Ben and Jerrys ice cream – for free! An endless supply. We got there at a good time when the queues for each flavor where only like 10 minutes. By the time we left the lines were seriously 75 people long! The big bummer was that is was cloudy and a sprinkling a bit. It would have been a completely different experience in the sun. Ah well. Kasia came by for a little bit, so it was good to see her (Lina and I lived and rowed with her in Pullman).  So yes, it was safe to say I ate enough ice cream to last me a while!

Ben & Jerry’s Sundae on the Common Fesitval

This past weekend my friend Jamie (who I met at dance when I was about 10 and later went to high school with) and her friend Lisa came to stay with me here in London during their backpacking trip through Europe. She is officially the first person to come visit from home! (Carey was here first, but I guess she came from Ukraine, hehe). It was a lot of fun. On friday both of them and Lina came to play football with my coworkers and I in the park. Cider and football followed by a pub was a pretty quintessential British experience! It was a bit of comedy given the experience level, but always entertaining and still surprisingly good! On Saturday I took Jamie and Lisa on a bit of a walking tour of London, saw some of the main sights (ie Big Ben, St Pauls, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abby, Covent Garden, & Platform 9 and 3/4!!). We had lunch at a neat Indian restaurant with crazy sequined puppets hanging all over the ceiling. Then we went back to my place and I introduced them to the brilliance that is Pimms. We went out for a bit of dancing that evening too – really good fun! It was so great to see and hang out with Jamie, it’d been nearly a year! Her friend Lisa was awesome too – always fun to meet new people!

  

With Lisa and Jamie and At Platform 9 3/4

And alas, somehow it is August! Tomorrow is my 9th anniversary of getting my drivers license! Still never been pulled over or gotten a ticket *knock on wood.* Guess it helps my record too when I’m not driving, hehe. One month until my mom comes, wooo!