So I guess you're probably wondering how I got to be this tall. Well, let me tell you, it took years of hard work. You don't get to be this tall just overnight!

This blog has gotten a bit looser, as you can probably tell.

I just got a haircut. Haircuts are never something I look forward to, but over the years I've gotten used to them as a sort of necessary annoyance. Anyway, it's done now. And I feel better.

It's raining. It's cold.

I watched 'Toy Story 3'. Watch it, it's brilliant. Pixar are so consistent with their filmmaking. Compare it to the latest 'Shrek' film which I haven't seen but, it can't be good, right?

I've been watching lots of 'Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job'. I love it, it's the best.

Plus, I've started listening to 'Creative Screenwriting' podcast after recalling a somewhat drunken conversation at a party a few moons ago. It is excellent and quite inspiring.

I started writing properly yesterday and after a bunch of pages of rubbish, I found one reasonable sketch. So that's something.

So there you have it. A scattered blog.

Here's a blog, just for you. I made it out of sticks and glue.

Today I went to the 'Titanic' exhibition at the ol' Museum. Tell you what, it was damn good. The exhibition has actually been really well thought out, every room conveys a different mood, it draws you in, it doesn't just feel like a museum exhibit, it's evocative, interesting, it tells a story. It somehow personalises the whole thing, engages you. Of course, it's hard to mention the 'Titanic' exhibition without also mentioning the film 'Titanic'. So there, I have now, glad I got that out of the way.
Patrick's rating: RECOMMENDED (in bold)

Hey, so I've watched a few movies lately. These include 'The Road' (bleak, depressing, but quite nicely filmed and acted), 'Get Him to the Greek' (not bad, funny in parts, quite patchy in tone and narrative though) and 'Towelhead' (Not bad, not amazing). But the one I really want to mention here is 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans'. Directed by Werner Herzog and starring Nicolas Cage, this film pretty much blew me away. It's bold, extremely unconventional and yet it sits nicely in the hard-boiled detective/noir genre. It's really funny too. I'm a huge Cage fan, I'll happily watch anything he's in and even if the film is horrible, I normally enjoy whatever Cage brings to it. In this film, Cage is given license to go absolutely batshit crazy. This = awesome.
Patrick's rating: See it! (in bold and italics)

Well, an entire semester has passed by. Whoosh, just like that.

Last night was our screening night at the Rivoli. It was a fun evening, it's always interesting watching everyone's films. Unexpectedly, our film picked up a couple of awards which was a nice surprise.

It's been an intense semester, particularly the pre-production and shooting of our 16mm film. However, in some ways I have found that this semester wasn't as stressful as last year. Maybe that's just because coming back to a course after having completed a year, you know what's expected, you have that experience behind you. Even though the projects are harder, you're doing it with a year's experience.

I've enjoyed this semester. My favourite subject turned out to be Directing. Mainly because it exposed a lot of the acting world to me and taught me a lot. Plus it was always engaging and interesting.

So where am I now? I'm on holidays. Sort of. By that I mean, I'm not at uni for a while, but I don't want to look at it as a holiday. It's important to keep momentum going, to keep working hard.

Some things I'm into at the moment:

TV

'Misfits'
The premise of this show doesn't sound all that appealing necessarily - it's basically like 'Skins' meets 'Heroes'. But the writing on this is excellent, every episode explores the characters further while developing an interesting narrative arc. Yes, the characters have powers, a bit like 'Heroes', a bit like 'X-Men'. But it's not really about the powers as such, instead they're simply narrative devices used to explore the character.

'The Inbetweeners'
Extremely funny, well written sit-com. It doesn't feel all that original and yet it still feels very fresh. Simon Bird is excellent in the central role but this show is very much about the dynamic between the characters. Yes, another 'Skins' comparison, but this show feels like 'Skins' except played purely for laughs.

'Community'
If you're not watching this, why not? Best U.S. sit-com for a little while, well, maybe this and '30 Rock'. I like Abed and Senor Chang the best.


MUSIC

The National - High Violet
I really liked The National's last album 'Boxer'. This one is good too, probably not as many hooks as 'Boxer', but still a very solid album.

Hot Chip - One Life Stand
An infectious album. Every song is great. 'I Feel Better' was stuck in my head for days.


RADIO

These three are making me laugh consistently. Track them down.
Hancock's Half Hour
Adam and Joe
Knowing Me, Knowing You