Becka's 30 Things

11 Months. 30 Things.

[thethirtythings]

No. 12 - Watch Star Wars (well, Episodes IV, V and VI...)

I consider myself a bit of a film fan. I enjoy watching them, talking about them, researching them needlessly on IMDb and Wikipedia...all of that malarkey. I would also say that Science Fiction is my favourite genre. Mostly because it’s so vast.

But, for some unknown reason, I had never seen Star Wars - until now. Perhaps they were slightly before my time? To be honest, I think it’s more likely that these kind of films weren’t the sort of films my parents wanted to watch. I think they were perhaps a bit too sci-fi...so although I was brought up with the likes of Indiana Jones and Back to the Future...my initial reasoning of why I never saw these films as a child is perhaps because my folks just weren’t that into them.

I’m pretty sure my brother has seen them though so maybe that’s bullsh*t.

Anyways, so... what did I think? Here are the the things that I learned watching these three classics:

- Harrison Ford is truly a legend, and in my humble opinion, the best of the entire cast. I love him.

- I understand why Ross had a thing for the gold bikini. What a gal.

- I wish Yoda was my best friend.

- I sort of want to give Luke Skywalker a slap round the chops.

- I also would like to add a lightsaber to my birthday wish-list. 

- If these films were written as books, most of the sentences would start with something along the lines of “And suddenly, out of nowhere....!”, or “In a flash, Luke realised”, or “Just in the nick of time....” etc.

- The change of heart with ol’ Dath Vader at the end of Episode VI was a surprise. And I wish he stayed super duper evil.

- Chewbacca also rocks. Although it’s really annoying when you’re watching the films and your husband repeatedly makes the same noise over and over like I couldn’t quite hear the noise the actor just made.

- But what is fun is to pronounce HERE IS THE BADDY or whatever whenever Vader’s Imperial March comes on.

- I want to have Ewoks living in my garden. Lots of them. Thank you.

So overall, a fun and entertaining experience, but only watching them now as a (sort of) grown up has spoiled the magic a bit. I found myself questioning the plot, getting slightly bored with some of the fight scenes in space, and generally feeling a bit cringe most of the time. I’ll probably watch the first 3 episodes, but not any time soon!

But the most important thing, is that I’ll be making sure my children watch these when they’re young enough to appreciate the magic...and I think that’s a damn good sign and why films like this will always stand the test of time.

[thethirtythings]

No. 4 - Professional Cooking Course: Week 4 (Final Week)

Well. Let me tell you this - the 4 sessions of this course were worth it, not necessarily for the learning, but for the FOOD!!

ROAST RACK OF LAMB, DAUPHINOISE POTATOES, GREEN BEANS & LAMB JUS

I was reeeeally excited about this week when I saw it on the list as the menu is pretty much a selection of my favourite foods. So, once again, I headed over to the school and got my learn on. We had a new French chef, I forget his name, who was nice but spoke pretty quickly in a thick french accent so it was hard to understand him sometimes.

First up was slicing the potatoes with a mandolin - and luckily for clumsy me, also a guard. It was actually harder than it looks but super quick once you got the hang of it. Plus, everything’s nice and even so it all cooks evenly. The picture below is only two spuds chopped up. You get a lot, huh?

We then chucked about 4 ltrs of milk and 12 ltrs of cream (I am only exaggerating slightly) into a pan with some garlic, a ton of salt and some pepper. This would help the spuds cook. 

The thing I got used to a bit more here was the seasoning. We didn’t pre-cook our spuds so there was no way to infuse any seasoning in them. Therefore, you have to over-season the liquid to ensure it transfers to the spuds when you’re cooking them. Clever!

So in the spuds go into the oven, covered in foil. This took AAAAAAAAAAAAAAgges and I didn’t actually think they were going to cook in time but did eventually. They would probably take about an hour if cooking at home.

Next up was prepping the jus - but I won’t bore you with the ol’ mirepoix / bouquet garni info again. It was very similar to Week 1′s jus - cooking off the lamb bones and some cuttings from the rack, add the stock and some mustard when reduced and boom. Tasty stock.

So, the lamb. We were taught how to “French Trim” the rack so it was all neat and tidy, and also take off some of the fat so there’s an even distribution of fat and meat across the whole rack. You then score the fat to ensure it goes nice and crispy when cooking.

It was then cooked - first in the pan a couple of times on each side, then in the oven. Finally, it was the beans, Fairly simple to cook, but the chef recommended blanching them in ice cold water when they’re done. Oh, this is water with another ton of salt to keep the colour. It also has to be a big pan so they move around when cooking. ALSO, green veg you cook in boiling water, root veg you start in a cold pan. Thems the rules.

Anyways, I normally just take them out of the water when they’re ready but this ice water blanch and refresh really helped keep the greens green and the texture snappy. I’ll certainly be doing this when I cook at home.

HOW AMAZING DOES THAT LOOK?

It was honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. I’m pretty sure Jon agreed too.

So, that’s me done at Le Cordon Bleu. Would I do it again? I’m not sure. For a course that sells itself as “skills”, I guess it makes sense for total beginners, and in hindsight, I knew a lot of the stuff they were talking about, but I rarely have time (or budget) to implement. I think I will try and do the stock thing more often, or at least make really nice sauces from pre-made stock, rather than just gravy granules. When I have lots of time, I’ll defo try the pasta thing again.

I think perhaps a more specific cuisine course would have been better - but I’m going to save that one for Thailand. It’ll be cheaper too!

[thethirtythings]

No. 4 - Professional Cooking Course: Week 3

I turned up to this week's course on tired legs (after the last week's antics) with the only thing getting me through being the prospect of DUCK for dinner. Nom nom nom.

WEEK 3: PAN FRIED DUCK BREAST, PUY LENTILS & VEAL JUS

Our usual tutor, Chef Daniel, is on holiday at the moment so we had Chef Tom Birks instead. Again, a nice English dude who was friendly and informative. We started by preparing the veg - the same bouquet garni and mirepoix as week 1 - but with tiny differences that I guess happen from chef to chef. Again, his precision and knife skills were a thrill to watch and I hope once day I can get somewhere near that.

Meanwhile, we par-boiled the lentils and bacon so ease the cooking later on. It also takes out some of the salt from the bacon, making it a bit more palatable. Then, we put the veg in the pan to sweat, added the chopped bacon and lentils plus 450ml of pre-made veal stock. Veal stock, is used often in cooking as stocks made from lamb or beef have a very strong flavour, so veal is almost a "neutral" that will pack in the flavour but not have strong undertones of a meat not used in the dish.

Then, it was on to the duck. Chef Tom prepared his beautifully by first taking off the silver skin. This appears on all meat and should be removed as it's a tendon that is chewy to eat and will make the breast curl up when cooked. Who knew! We pan fried these skin-down first to crisp, then turned over. I didn't cook mine the whole way through as I wanted to eat it at home so it went straight into the blast chiller to stop the cooking process. This meant it was still pink and juicy once heated up in my oven, rather than being all dried out and over-cooked by the time I had got home and got it into the oven.

The only other thing to do was reduce the stock to make a tasty sauce. Et Voila!

To be honest, I really don't think I learnt anything in this lesson. The veg was a repeat and whilst it's good to practice, the mix of them and the lentils was very basic. I believe the lesson was more basic than the first lesson and perhaps should be swapped round? It was nice to see how to cook the duck but I've done that before and again, really only learnt that small snippet about the silver skin. Still, that'll be useful in future.

Onwards and upwards - next week is a rack of lamb and some other stuff which I can't remember...with a French chef! Perhaps my worries and woes from week 1 will come true after all!

Oh...and who cares if I didn't learn much. Dinner was TASTY.

[thethirtythings]

No. 4 - Professional Cooking Course. Weeks 1 & 2

I’m lucky enough to receive a benefit at work called a “Personal Interest Allowance”, which means I can take any course on the planet, and they will pay 50% of the fee, up to a certain value. It’s a really great perk and I also used it for the photography course way back in February.

I also used it for this cookery course, which made it way more affordable as the course wasn’t cheap - probably because it’s at one of the most world-renowned cookery schools, Le Cordon Bleu, a world leader in French gastronomy and education for 120 years. It’s super posh, the London school based in Bloomsbury Square, with a fingerprint entry system. Ohh err!

Anyways, so the course I am taking is called “Cuisine Technique Essentials” and is less about the recipes, and more about the core skills used in French cookery - stocks, butchery, knife skills etc. The recipes themselves, I am discovering, are things you would normally cook at home, but expanded and made more complicated by the techniques and ingredients used. A gastro take on your Sunday lunch, for example. They taste bloody awesome too.

WEEK 1 - ROASTED POUSSIN, POTATO PUREE & CHICKEN JUS

So I walked from work up to Bloomsbury on the first week, feeling a bit nervous about the course. I’m not sure why - I can cook sure, but I had no idea of how the course was going to run or what the people would be like, or the chef. I imagined him to be a loud and scary French man shouting at me for not cutting the veg all at the same size, to the millimetre.

However, our chef and teacher turned out to be a really nice and friendly English guy called Daniel Hardy (tough to find any info on him, but see page 2 of this doc if you’re interested), bit of a joker and London wide boy. I immediately thought we were going to get on swimmingly!

He started by giving us all our welcome pack which included the recipes, a tea towel and a very fetching LCB apron. We then went through to the kitchen and had our basic safety briefing - washing hands regularly, different coloured chopping board for different ingredients, etc. Today, we were cooking roast poussin (or baby chicken) with pureed potatoes and a chicken jus (gravy). 

It seemed fairly simple, but as I said at the beginning, this was basic cookery made complicated! We started off by making a basic chicken stock, including a mirepoix, and leaning how to make a bouquet garni - which is basically a bundle of herbs and veg (we used celery, thyme, parsley stalks, a bay leaf and a layer of leek) to help deepen the flavour.

Once that was on, we learnt how to correctly prepare a chicken for roasting - including taking out the wish bone, before it’s cooked. Who knew! Also, Chef Daniel recommended we cook the chicken on each leg and then flat on its back when roasting. This is so the leg cooks first, as it’s bigger, and protects the thin breast part. Curious! I’ll definitely give that a go.

Next up was the mashed pureed potato. Fairly simple, but an interesting tip was to bake the potatoes on a bed of salt, rather than boil them, as the latter takes out all the lovely flavour when you pour away the cooking water. Makes sense! And damn did the spuds taste good. We also put a shitload of butter and cream in them, so that helped. (Curious fact, the school goes through 30kg butter EVERY DAY). 

Finally, we made the jus with a bit of leftover mirepoix and stock by cooking on the stove and reducing down. Oh. All the way through this, we were SEASONING. We have to do that a lot. (If you have problems with too much salt, don’t eat chef-cooked food!)

Oh yeah - then we boiled broccoli with half the ocean’s worth of salt.

Ta Da!

So overall, the class was pretty good, and although I didn’t feel like I came out with a wealth of knowledge, the things I did learn will be very useful in the future.

WEEK 2 - TAGLIATELLE, PAN FRIED SCALLOPS & CREAM SAUCE

When I saw the recipe list for this week, I was one very happy bunny! I’ve never made pasta before and I’ve always wanted to try - plus I bloody love scallops! I managed to take a few more pics this week too (albeit pretty rubbish ones!)

One thing I didn’t mention before was the help we get - there are two Grand Diplome staff working with us, helping get set up and checking our work as we go along, as well as two kitchen staff in the back doing all our washing up. Fantastic!

First up was making the pasta. A fairly simple recipe of 00 flour, 3 eggs and oil. Boom. The process itself is a bit like making bread so I felt fairly comfortable with it. The kneading process was much less rigorous too, which is always a benefit. Here’s my pasta dough and finger, sealed due to a burn the previous week! Apologies for the shit photo.

Next up was the scallops. Chef Daniel talked us through the two ways that scallops are fished - dredging and hand-dived. If you get the option, go for the latter as it’s much more sustainable and doesn’t damage the sea bed like dredging does. We then were taught how to open them, take the scallop from the shell and take off all the unwanted bits. I found it a bit fiddly as the scallops themselves are very fragile. I also got two really small ones, but the girl’s next to me were massive. Boo hoo.

Anyways, with that all done, it was on to the pasta - getting it rolled and cut. It was easy, but definitely something to do when you have time, as you have to pass it through the machine a lot, but also quickly as you don’t want it to dry out. We were making tagliatelle, which was one of the options on the cutter. The only annoying thing was that we were told to only roll and cut half of the pasta - as there was enough in our portion to serve 4 - 5. So, Olga and I (the one with the massive scallops - Lolz) dutifully shared our pasta machine and rolled and cut half of our portion. BUT. Everyone else in the room did all of theirs. This meant we went over time and were rushing towards the end - with Olga and I waiting for everyone, then upon realising what they were doing, had cleaned up and removed the pasta machine, meaning we couldn’t do the same. Grrr. Anyway.

Finally, we boiled the pasta and made a cream sauce by reducing some stock which was also being infused with peppercorns, and adding cream and lemon juice. YUM. Finally, we pan fried the scallops and the roe - et voila!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMM. It was seriously tasty, even when warmed up when I got home. The scallops were soooooooooo good, and definitely benefited from the over-the-top seasoning I was made to add!! The only minor annoyance is I now have pasta dough in my freezer (don’t even know if it will freeze well) that I can’t easily do anything with as I don’t have a pasta machine. If anyone would like to lend me one, I’d be very happy!

Next week - pan fried duck breast and puy lentils. NOM.

EDIT - They have awesome icons on the toilet doors...

[thethirtythings]

No. 11 - Geisha Tattoo

This week has been a fun week for me as I started my cookery course (post to follow) and also got my Geisha tattoo finished by the awe-inspiring Valerie Vargas who co-owns Modern Classic Tattoo in Fulham. 

We started the tattoo back in May and got the line work completed. It was originally supposed to be a 5/6 hour appointment to get the whole thing done in one go, but Valerie had to shorten it - and it turned out that I was actually grateful! 2 hours under the needle is fine, but anything longer than that and it begins to test my pain threshold. Perhaps I’ll get used to it, but for now, I’ll keep to short, 3-4 hour appts., max!

So once we had the line work done, I booked a follow up appointment in July - and waited. I felt like I was waiting forever, but the day finally came on Wednesday this week.

I had some nerves before the appointment, but I was also looking forward to the afternoon as Valerie is not only an awesome tattooist, but I also think she’s interesting, funny, and generally easy to get on with. She loves movies so we often talk about what she’s seen recently, and generally about the day to day life of running a tattoo studio.

Once Valerie had added the clouds and some shading, it was on to the colour - and lots of it! One of the reasons I love Valerie’s work is because it’s unashamedly bright and colourful, no muted tones or pastels - it’s big and bold and awesome. The original Sailor Jerry design of this geisha was fairly muted in it’s colour palette and if you look at that link, you can see how much more colour we’ve added.

After about 3 hours, my pain threshold was waning, but it was over fairly soon after that. I’m super happy with the final design, and I hope Valerie is too. Can’t wait to start planning the next one (as I can see lots of flesh coloured gaps on my arm now!!) but that will require a bit of saving up. Perhaps for my 31st?!

Pictures show a very raw and very fresh tattoo, so I’ll post a healed shot when it’s done :-) 

[thethirtythings]

A Summer Update

After a bit of a hiatus, I thought it was high time to provide a bit of an update for those who have been missing my random ramblings. Here you go, friends.

I’d say with all of the below in mind, I’m about halfway through. 

4. Take a professional cooking course - Booked, starts in July at Le Cordon Bleu cookery school. Watch this space!

7. Achieve a fitness goal - Well, I scored two tries for the Tag Rugby team I play for! Not much, but it was pretty exciting for me. It took two whole seasons for me to score one and I was trying really hard! I’ve also started a new -fitnotfat regime to try and get into shape for the big 3-0. I’m gonna cross this one off for now, but keep at the new regime.

11. Geisha tattoo - Half finished! Will post a pic once it’s complete, but it’s looking good so far!

12. Watch all Star Wars films - I don’t know why this is taking so long, but we now have them all so as soon as we have a crappy, rainy weekend (and we don’t have any plans), it’ll be marathon time.

13. Tarot cards - Complete! I didn’t blog about this at the time because the experience actually really wound me up. I was expecting something fun and lighthearted, but I actually found the whole thing fairly negative. As one could have guessed, the info from the card was fairly generic, but that wasn’t what frustrated me....I simply found that every card that was pulled brought negative connotations and bad emotion. Perhaps I’m just unlucky but I left feeling frustrated and kinda sad. Ha, not really what I was after! Experience done and won’t be repeated.

22. Expensive wine - When I put this on the list, I was thinking some kind of posh champers would fit the bill, but Jon and I shared a lush bottle of 2009 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape on Saturday evening, whilst sharing a Chateaubriand at L’Escargot. Excuse the crappy picture but it was super dark! At a price of £45, it’s certainly the most I’ve ever spent on wine...and not too much to break the bank. Trouble is, when you drink something so delicious, it’s all you want to drink thereafter, right?! Any donations of an even better vintage wine would be welcomed to take this one even further ;-)

27. Posh hotel - For our 1st  anniversary, Jon and I went to a gorgeous little cabin in Kent, complete with sky light and private hot tub. Although this wasn’t in London and wasn’t in a hotel, I’m still going to allow myself to “complete” this, as it was the most wonderful, romantic weekend we’ve ever had, excluding the actual wedding/honeymoon! See soppy lovely dovey picture below :-)

28. IMDB Films - You’ve seen my reviews, but I’m slacking and need to post reviews for The Terminator, Vertigo and Scarface. Watch this space!

[thethirtythings]

No. 19 - Highway to the Dangerzone

For Christmas, Jon bought me a voucher to fly a helicopter for the day, and I completed that lesson yesterday. Another from the list crossed off - No. 19: Adrenaline.

We stayed at Mum and Dad’s on Friday night, and Mum kindly drove us to Elstree Aerodrome, about 40 mins down the A1. We arrived at Flying Pig Helicopters for my briefing, and after signing in and milling about a bit, I had my pre-flight safety briefing about 10.45am. This consisted of a video that explained (rather quickly) the three controls of the helicopter we’d be using. We’d do one at a time, then if we were any good, the pilot would let us use all three at once. I came out of the briefing then promptly forgot everything I had be told, obviously.

After that, we had some pics taken next to the helicopter, and all apart from the guy who went first, trundled back to the reception to keep warm. The original voucher allowed for about 6 mins of flight time, but all our group had paid for some additional time, taking the flight time up to 15 mins. It’s worth noting that the other group who didn’t pay for the additional time went in a 4-seater craft, whereas our was a teeny tiny 2-seater. The other group did their flight, landed, then switched seats so someone else could have a go. So, they only flew for 6 mins themselves, but went up and down in the air numerous times which still makes that option worthwhile, in my opinion.

Anyways, I had opted to go last (tactical - perhaps I’d get a little extra free time?) so hung around chatting to the receptionists waiting for my go. At this point, I was super excited but also had built up a few nerves. But, the time came and I was escorted to the airfield, nervous or not. In I got, the pilot Paul said hello and gave me a brief run down of what we were going to do. Then, we had lift-off!

He took us off and we zoomed out of the airfield pattern and really high up into the air. It was scarier than I thought it would be, simply as the helicopter was so tiny with huge windows, I didn’t really feel like I was in anything, just kinda floating miles up into the air! Once we were away from the airfield, Paul instructed me to put my hand onto the Cyclic, basically the t-bar joystick that controls the pitch of the rotar blades. If you move it forward, you pitch forward and speed up - move it backwards and the nose of the helicopter goes up and you slow down. Same principle for left and right, causing sweeping bank turns.

Paul says “Cyclic only - you have control”. Argh! I was flying! I did all of this! We went forward for a bit, then I made a huge banking turn to follow the motorway on the ground.

I could feel quite a lot of resistance on the stick so thought Paul was pretending - looked over and could see he was barely touching the controls, so I knew I was doing it. Eeeeek! 

So we did that for a bit, then Paul took back control and banked us round to an empty field where I could practice the other controls. Next up was the Collective, which looks like a handbrake on a car. Pull it up, and you go up, push it down, and you go down. Simples! 

My task now was to use the Cyclic and the Collective to make us hover at the same height, facing the same way. Harder than you might expect. I did well though and hovered for about 12 seconds. Paul said the average for learners like me was about 5 seconds - so go me.

The final controls to learn were the Anti-Tourque pedals. They control the tail rotar blade and you use them in conjunction with the Cyclic. So if you want to turn left, the helicopter naturally wants to go in the opposite direction to the way the rotar blades are tilting, so you use the pedals to counteract that....I think. It was a bit “information overload” by this point.

So, I did that for a bit, then...it was time for me to use all 3 at once. Paul said the words “You have full control” and I responded by saying “ARRRRGH!”, or something to that effect. I flew about for a bit - but let me tell you, it was really hard to use two hands independently, plus both feet. Talk about co-ordination.

After I had sent us flopping and flailing around for a bit, Paul took back control and showed off with some cool manoeuvres - going backwards, spinning in a pirouette, going really high and dropping down vertically etc. So much fun! That was the end of the lesson so we landed back in the airfield and Paul turned everything off. He even said I was a natural and I asked if I rode a motorbike as I have great hand-eye co-ordination.

In fact, he said I was the best of the day so far.

Pfff, yeah right. I bet he says that to all the girls. Anyways, I did feel like I was up in the air longer than the rest of the group, so maybe it’s partly true, or maybe it was the right decision to go last.

Overall, it was a really good day and I’m super stoked to have done it. I’d recommend the company, and even if the photos you can purchase are a bit pricey (and not taken by a professional), I’ll let them off as I got a free cupcake and bunch of flowers for Mother’s Day weekend - and they even gave an additional bunch and cake to my Mum. Very sweet.

Photo credits to Jon and Mum - plus extra kudos to Mum for driving us there.

There’s only one more thing to say...

“This is Ghost Rider, requesting a fly by”...

[thethirtythings]

Willkommen in Österreich - No. 8 & No. 25

So this post officially ticks off two of my 30 things! I'm feeling really happy with my progress and really enjoying the planning and the challenge of working out how to complete each task.

The two I'm ticking off here are: No. 8 - visit a new European country; and No. 25 - do something awesome with my brother. I returned from a ski holiday to Austria on Saturday (new country) and my Bro was on the ski holiday. In fact, the whole family was there!

I have never skied in Austria before, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. The ski area was MASSIVE, and although not as big as some of the vast mountain ranges in France, more than big enough for me, someone whose skiing is average at best! 

I love skiing with Jon, as we both love it so much and even though he's a snowboarder, I find we are roughly the same in terms of pace, when and where we want to stop, and I generally just enjoy chilling out with him in a beautiful place. It was also great for him to meet the group of people we were with, as I've know them my whole life (mostly) and they are like a second family to me, what with the hockey club being a big part of my childhood.

There were roughly 30 of us, that number increasing and decreasing over the course of the week, all from Letchworth Hockey Club (or friends of), celebrating the birthdays of Alison and Gordon, who are both turning 50 this year (or in the case of Alison, turned 50 on the holiday). Dad is also turning 60 this year, and I'm 30 at the end of the year, so it turned out to be a big celebration of 0 birthdays!

It was also great to ski with Matt again, although he far surpasses me in the ability stakes these days. I like to take things easy but he can more regularly be found zooming off down steep reds, paying no mind to the fluffy moguls that cause me to revert back to snow ploughs. We skied, we laughed and we partied, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks Bro (handsome portrait follows, skillfully taken by me).

We stayed in the town of Söll, not as picturesque as some mountain villages, but it did have some lovely touches, like the house below with it's cute yellow accents and cobs of corn hanging from the rafters.

One of the most impressive things was the church. From the outside, it was plain white with yellow ridges, fairly plain but prominent on the vista, but the inside was nothing less than spectacular. I noticed that there were a lot of shrines, crosses and hints to Christianity throughout the resort, but I was blown away by the decor inside the church. Unfortunately, I didn't have my tripod with me so the next photo isn't as crisp as I would like, but you get the idea.

It was a great holiday, and probably the last skiing holiday Jon and I will have over the next few years (grown up stuff like houses to follow) and I am pleased I got to enjoy it with my family and people that mean a lot to us.

Thanks all! 

[thethirtythings]

No. 28 - IMDb's Top 250 - The Reviews

Recently, I started out on my list of 100 films from IMDb’s Top 250. I decided that I would write a short review of each film as and when I watch them as that way, I can keep count. Enjoy!

No. 134 - Boyhood (2014)

Filmed over 12 years, this movie is most definitely a ground-breaker. It follows the story of Mason and his sometimes-troubled upbringing, along with his sister Samantha, his Mum and Dad, as well as a couple of additional drunken husbands.

The thing that stuck out for me, is that really, nothing much happens. The biggest WOW moments are usually to do with the pain his Mum is going through and Mason’s viewpoint on those moments...but even then, you only see a snippet of that moment in his life. Reading the trivia, there is roughly 15 minutes of Mason’s life shown on film over the 12 years. So, you don’t delve very deeply into each scenario, but only see the “highlights”. It’s sometimes difficult to even see that time has passed, mostly only conveyed through subtle pop culture references...or Mason’s hair cut.

However, the film was beautifully shot and I still found it captivating...all 3 hours of it. But my interest wasn’t really with Mason himself...I found his character, especially as an older teenager, really ridiculously annoying...self-centred and moronic, with a splash of melodrama thrown in there.

The real stars of the movie were Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette...the latter providing an absolutely stellar and heartfelt performance - more than worthy of the Oscar in my opinion. She was engaging, entertaining, and I felt so disappointed for her bad choices in husbands...especially when they seemed so promising when she first met them.

In summary, I don’t think I’d watch it again in a hurry, but I really like the innovative way it was filmed, the dedication of the cast and crew, and the way it made me feel at the end...as it evoked memories of starting a new life, heading off to uni, and putting all that had happened behind to begin all over again. 8/10.

No. 37 - Rear Window (1954)

I loved this movie! Once again, there isn’t a lot to say that hasn’t been said already, but I loved the messages about nosy neighbours, voyeurism and the human instinct that seems to be fascinated by crime. 

One of my favourite aspects of this film is that almost all (apart from the very beginning) the music is played comes from the scene itself - diegetic music, if you want to use the real terminology. I think this really adds to the “real” feel of the movie, using ambient sounds and shots from only one place in the set (i.e. Jeff’s apartment), it means you’re forced to not only be the voyeuristic movie-goer, but see and feel the sense of “watching” that has Jeff so enthralled.

The film also showcases a lot of the HItchcock classics - the use of shadows, focusing on objects as a key part of the storyline (the camera, binoculars, the jewellery) and, of course, a beautiful blonde. 

It’s a Hitchcock so I knew I would enjoy it, but it’s definitely been bumped up to one of my favourites of his that I’ve seen. (Vertigo coming up soon!) 9/10.

No. 30 - Casablanca (1942)

To be honest, I can’t believe I’ve never seen this film before! It’s absolutely gorgeous, isn’t it? I was surprised about how much I got into it, but it’s charm, gorgeous cast and fast-moving (if a bit ridiculous) story line kept me sucked in. My favourite scene was when all the French nationals over-sang the Germans and rocked out La Marseillaise. IMDb tells me that the tears in the eyes of the cast were real as many of the extras had recently escaped the Nazi regime themselves, some being Jewish, others simply fresh from the tribulations of war.

That’s something that stuck with me as well, seeing as this film was made during war time. Warner Bros. was one of the first big Hollywood studios to stand up prominently and overtly for the anti-Nazi movement. So technically, as beautiful as this film is, it’s actually a big slap-in-the-face propaganda piece.

But you can’t talk about this film without talking about the wonderful Ingrid Bergman. I find her character interesting in this film, as usually such a softly-lit, damp eyed wuss would annoy me as a lead female part. But there’s something about her portrayal, her frustration with the world and torn heart that softens me towards her. I also find it interesting that themes of infidelity and loose women are portrayed at this time, but hey, she thought he was dead, right?

Overall, fantastic film, and I can see why it’s such a classic. Here's lookin' at you kid. 9/10.

No. 15 - One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

What can I say about this film that hasn’t already been said? I guess it was different to what I expected. Considering the narrative is set in a mental institution, I think I expected it to be more, well, mental. What I actually watched was a bleak, desperate, yet heroic story commenting on the life of inmates who have been institutionalised, how it can save them with the right mix of order and chaos, but also how it can break them. 

Actually, my favourite part of this film was watching a cast of then “unknown” actors, who are now part of my film rhetoric - Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd to be specific. Reading the trivia behind the film, the “unknowns” were cast as the Director thought it would be more plausible for them to see Jack Nicholson as their leader and therefore follow his crazy schemes if a “known” actor was surrounded by “unknowns”. I wonder if that worked for the original audience that saw it first? For me, I saw some outstanding debut performances from actors who I adore, whose films drew me in to the magic of movies from a young age - and it makes me happy that this film was the reason I got to enjoy their skill at their craft in the movies they went on to make. 

If it wasn’t for this film, who would have cried “Great Scott, Marty!”? Who would have been Arnie’s tiny twin? 8/10.

[thethirtythings]

No. 29 - Photography

On Sunday, Mum and I ventured down to Brighton and went on a photography course - Getting Off Auto.

f/3.5, 1/30 exposure, ISO-400, 4mm focal length

It was a really interesting day, run by Going Digital and the lovely (if a bit bonkers) Tish. We learned all the basics of how a camera works, sensors, what each big of jargon meant - Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed, Exposure etc. I've read a lot of that stuff before but it makes SO much more sense when someone is talking it through and you can discuss, ask questions and look at your camera whilst you're learning it.

Overall, I'm really happy with what I've learnt and I've made a pledge to practice as much as I can. I've also started following various groups on Facebook that set weekly challenges that you enter photos for (thanks for the inspiration Regan, you yogi genius) so I'm looking forward to planning and posting those, and seeing the feedback from the community. A great way to learn and get inspired, I think.

Also, I really enjoyed spending the day with Mum. For those who know her, you know she's super creative so she was the best person to go with to steal some of those creative vibes, learn from (as she's great at composition), and generally have a blast with. Thanks for the fun times Mum - let's do more! (Mum's also started a blog - check that out here)

So, please see the best of my shots below! I've tried to critique them a bit and also only posted a few (can 10 be called a "few"?) as I took LOADS that I'm sure you don't want to be bored with.

Without further ado...

*All photos taken on a Sony DSC-HX50 / 35mm lens, working in Aperture Priority, so didn't have any control over shutter speed but could manually override the ISO if I wanted to increase it.

**None of the photos have been edited post-production, as I don't know how to do that yet! ;-)

***All photos have also been compressed for web usage as Tumblr had a little dying fit when I tried to post the original 3MB files! I hope that doesn't diminish your opinion of their quality....

f/5, 1/80 exposure, ISO-800, 12mm focal length

So I know this is a boring image, but it's the first time I've taken a photo and played around with the aperture to focus on something in the foreground, therefore making the background fuzzy. Go me!

f/6.3, 1/200 exposure, ISO-200, 34mm focal length

Super happy with this doggy! The shutter speed was fairly high but now I know that to ensure this kind of shot is even more in focus, that needs to go higher still! I was very lucky that this little pup sat nice and still for my portrait (which I actually requested. Poser dog.)

f/8, 1/320 exposure, ISO-80, 34mm focal length

Much higher shutter speed here, so combine that with a large F-stop so this has come out fairly crisp. Hit up that shutter speed for even crispier waves!

f/5.6, 1/40 exposure, ISO-800, 8mm focal length

I like the composition of this shot, but I had to crop in from the original. The low light also means it's got a lot of noise...but I'm not totally sure how to fix that as the flash probably would have blown it out. One for some research.

f/8, 1/320 exposure, ISO-80, 8mm focal length

The course instructor told me that this had perfect exposure, as the large F-stop meant the camera took in all the details from the people at the front to the buildings at the back. Yay! However, this probably needs some better composition (too much sand) and a tripod to get it super crisp.

f/6.3, 1/400 exposure, ISO-80, 82mm focal length

This shot was pure luck, and I think that's going to be important, especially when it comes to wildlife. I'm pleased with the focus on the birds, but the shutter speed wasn't quick enough to capture all of the movement. Perhaps a smaller aperture would have really popped them out of the shot too. But, I wasn't even expecting this to happen so I'm very lucky it turned out so well at all.

f/6.3, 1/250 exposure, ISO-80, 82mm focal length

After I got the bird shot, I tried to capture some of the dogs roaming the beach. I love the detail and framing of this image, but it is cropped in from the original. A slight blur on the dog's fur could have been fixed with a higher shutter speed, and it's a shame a lot of his face is in shadow. But, really happy with it.

f/4.5, 1/250 exposure, ISO-80, 7mm focal length

f/4.5, 1/500 exposure, ISO-80, 7mm focal length, -0.7 Exposure Bias

I've posted these two to show that I was playing around with the exposure bias too. The light in Brighton was really bright so it was hard to capture colours without them blowing out. Here, I fixed that by amending the exposure dial, taking out some of the brightness. Perhaps it's too dark here but it's a start!

f/8, 1/640 exposure, ISO-80, 15mm focal length

I love the movement in this photo, as the dude was mucking around with his son and the football, then started doing headers. I think a smaller aperture probably would have brought out their silhouette a bit more, perhaps also with a tripod? More research needed.

************

There's many more but I'll leave it for now and post when I've be practising a bit more. If you have any tips, tricks or critiques, please let me know!

[thethirtythings]

IMDb - Another List

It's February, it's been snowing and I'm saving money for exciting adventures coming up over the next few months...so it's time to look at number 28 on the list - IMDb's Top 250 Films*. As this is a list based on reviews, it changes from time to time but I'm just going to go with what was there today.

Below you can find the list, as well as which I have already seen crossed out like this. I have printed myself off a list and highlighted (I can't work out how to do that on here) the ones I'll start with. I've based these on:

- New - From 2013 /2014 that I'd like to see - Classics - The Godfather, Casablanca, Apocalypse Now etc - THE Directors - Hitchcock, Scorsese, Coppola, Tarantino etc. - Should Have - Films I should have seen and don't know why I haven't - i.e. why I have I seen Terminator 2, but not Terminator 1? Rocky? etc. - No. 12 - i.e. All of the Star Wars films (see post 1)

If you have any recommendations to watch first (or avoid), or a DVD I can borrow, please let me know!

I'll let you know how I get on, and maybe post a review of the ones I like the most? Let me know if you'd like that!

IMDB Top 250 Films – *As of 04/02/15

1.            TheShawshank Redemption (1994)

2.             The Godfather (1972)

3.             The Godfather: Part II (1974)

4.             The Dark Knight (2008)

5.             Pulp Fiction (1994)

6.             The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

7.             12 Angry Men (1957)

8.             Schindler's List (1993)

9.             The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

10.          Fight Club (1999)

11.          The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

12.          Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

13.          Forrest Gump (1994)

14.          Inception (2010)

15.          One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

16.          The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

17.          Goodfellas (1990)

18.          The Matrix (1999)

19.          Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

20.          Interstellar (2014)

21.          Seven Samurai (1954)

22.          City of God (2002)

23.          Se7en (1995)

24.          The Usual Suspects (1995)

25.          The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

26.          It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

27.          Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

28.          Léon (1994)

29.          Life Is Beautiful (1997)

30.          Casablanca (1942)

31.          Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

32.          American History X (1998)

33.          Saving Private Ryan (1998)

34.          City Lights (1931)

35.          Psycho (1960)

36.          Spirited Away (2001)

37.          Rear Window (1954)

38.          Whiplash (2014)

39.          Untouchable (2011)

40.          Modern Times (1936)

41.          Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

42.          Memento (2000)

43.          The Green Mile (1999)

44.          The Pianist (2002)

45.          The Departed (2006)

46.          Sunset Boulevard (1950)

47.          Apocalypse Now (1979)

48.          Gladiator (2000)

49.          Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

50.          Back to the Future (1985)

51.          Alien (1979)

52.          The Prestige (2006)

53.          The Great Dictator (1940)

54.          The Lives of Others (2006)

55.          The Lion King (1994)

56.          Django Unchained (2012)

57.          Cinema Paradiso (1988)

58.          The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

59.          The Shining (1980)

60.          Paths of Glory (1957)

61.          American Beauty (1999)

62.          WALL·E (2008)

63.          North by Northwest (1959)

64.          Aliens (1986)

65.          Citizen Kane (1941)

66.          Vertigo (1958)

67.          Amélie (2001)

68.          M (1931)

69.          Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

70.          Das Boot (1981)

71.          Oldboy (2003)

72.          Toy Story 3 (2010)

73.          Princess Mononoke (1997)

74.          Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

75.          Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

76.          A Clockwork Orange (1971)

77.          Reservoir Dogs (1992)

78.          Taxi Driver (1976)

79.          Braveheart (1995)

80.          Double Indemnity (1944)

81.          Requiem for a Dream (2000)

82.          To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

83.          Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

84.          Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

85.          Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

86.          Full Metal Jacket (1987)

87.          Singin' in the Rain (1952)

88.          The Sting (1973)

89.          Bicycle Thieves (1948)

90.          Amadeus (1984)

91.          Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

92.          Snatch. (2000)

93.          Rashomon (1950)

94.          2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

95.          L.A. Confidential (1997)

96.          For a Few Dollars More (1965)

97.          The Kid (1921)

98.          All About Eve (1950)

99.          The Apartment (1960)

100.        Inglourious Basterds (2009)

101.        Some Like It Hot (1959)

102.        The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

103.        Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

104.        Toy Story (1995)

105.        The Third Man (1949)

106.        A Separation (2011)

107.        Yojimbo (1961)

108.        Batman Begins (2005)

109.        Like Stars on Earth (2007)

110.        Metropolis (1927)

111.        Unforgiven (1992)

112.        Scarface (1983)

113.        Raging Bull (1980)

114.        Up (2009)

115.        3 Idiots (2009)

116.        Chinatown (1974)

117.        Downfall (2004)

118.        The Great Escape (1963)

119.        Die Hard (1988)

120.        On the Waterfront (1954)

121.        The Hunt (2012)

122.        Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

123.        Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

124.        Heat (1995)

125.        The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

126.        Good Will Hunting (1997)

127.        Birdman (2014)

128.        Gone Girl (2014)

129.        My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

130.        The Bandit (1996)

131.        The Seventh Seal (1957)

132.        The Gold Rush (1925)

133.        Ikiru (1952)

134.        Boyhood (2014)

135.        The Elephant Man (1980)

136.        Ran (1985)

137.        Wild Strawberries (1957)

138.        The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

139.        Blade Runner (1982)

140.        The General (1926)

141.        Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

142.        The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

143.        Casino (1995)

144.        Gran Torino (2008)

145.        Warrior (2011)

146.        The Big Lebowski (1998)

147.        V for Vendetta (2005)

148.        Rebecca (1940)

149.        Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

150.        Rang De Basanti (2006)

151.        The Deer Hunter (1978)

152.        How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

153.        Cool Hand Luke (1967)

154.        It Happened One Night (1934)

155.        Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)

156.        Fargo (1996)

157.        Trainspotting (1996)

158.        Gone with the Wind (1939)

159.        Into the Wild (2007)

160.        Rush (2013)

161.        A Beautiful Mind (2001)

162.        The Maltese Falcon (1941)

163.        Dial M for Murder (1954)

164.        The Sixth Sense (1999)

165.        The Wages of Fear (1953)

166.        Hotel Rwanda (2004)

167.        The Thing (1982)

168.        Finding Nemo (2003)

169.        No Country for Old Men (2007)

170.        Mary and Max (2009)

171.        Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

172.        Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

173.        Incendies (2010)

174.        Platoon (1986)

175.        Life of Brian (1979)

176.        12 Years a Slave (2013)

177.        Network (1976)

178.        Touch of Evil (1958)

179.        Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

180.        Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

181.        Les Diaboliques (1955)

182.        Annie Hall (1977)

183.        There Will Be Blood (2007)

184.        The Princess Bride (1987)

185.        Stand by Me (1986)

186.        The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

187.        Sin City (2005)

188.        Ben-Hur (1959)

189.        The 400 Blows (1959)

190.        In the Name of the Father (1993)

191.        Amores Perros (2000)

192.        Million Dollar Baby (2004)

193.        The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

194.        Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

195.        Persona (1966)

196.        The Wizard of Oz (1939)

197.        The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

198.        Avengers Assemble (2012)

199.        The Imitation Game (2014)

200.        Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

201.        Gandhi (1982)

202.        The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

203.        Donnie Darko (2001)

204.        Strangers on a Train (1951)

205.        8½ (1963)

206.        Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

207.        Infernal Affairs (2002)

208.        Shutter Island (2010)

209.        Twelve Monkeys (1995)

210.        Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

211.        Jaws (1975)

212.        Stalker (1979)

213.        High Noon (1952)

214.        X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

215.        Before Sunrise (1995)

216.        Notorious (1946)

217.        The Terminator (1984)

218.        The King's Speech (2010)

219.        Groundhog Day (1993)

220.        Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011)

221.        Fanny and Alexander (1982)

222.        Ip Man (2008)

223.        Rocky (1976)

224.        The Battle of Algiers (1966)

225.        The Night of the Hunter (1955)

226.        Monsters, Inc. (2001)

227.        Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

228.        La Haine (1995)

229.        Memories of Murder (2003)

230.        Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

231.        Barry Lyndon (1975)

232.        For a Fistful of Dollars (1964)

233.        Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

234.        La Strada (1954)

235.        Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

236.        The Truman Show (1998)

237.        The Big Sleep (1946)

238.        The Help (2011)

239.        Jurassic Park (1993)

240.        Roman Holiday (1953)

241.        The Graduate (1967)

242.        Papillon (1973)

243.        The Hustler (1961)

244.        Beauty and the Beast (1991)

245.        Prisoners (2013)

246.        In the Mood for Love (2000)

247.        Festen (1998)

248.        Rope (1948)

249.        Underground (1995)

250.        Before Sunset (2004)

[thethirtythings]

The One With The Hop-a-Long

Hey dudes and dudettes!

Happy New Year! Here we are in the depressing month of new opportunities - January 2015! I've already made countless mistakes naming files at work as "2014"...but apart from that, it doesn't really feel any different, does it?

I haven't posted for a while so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update on my 30 Things progress:

1. Blog posting: Well, this post number 2 so at least we're in a multiple...

3. Non-smoking: I haven't smoked since Sunday 4th Jan, around 2pm? It's now Wednesday 7th Jan, roughly 11.30am. Let's say 3 days.

So, I'm doing quite well I think! This element was always going to be tricky for me, having smoked regularly for around 12-13 years. Wowza, that's a long time isn't it? Almost...half...my...life. Argh.

Anyways, I'm trying my best and although I'm fairly grumpy between the hours of 3pm - 9pm (sorry Jon), I'm fairly determined this time. I've also got a bet for £50 with my boss so there's no way I'm losing to him...

7. Sporting Achievement: No fitness achievements yet but I have signed up to the corporate gym scheme, and I intend to go at least twice a week - three times with the skiing hol in Feb/March looming. Along with Tag Rugby once a week, and squash with Jon on Fridays, I should be fit as a fiddle soon enough. 

13. New family tradition: For our first Christmas as husband and wife (awwwwww), I surprised Jon with a stocking. Not the saucy type, the type with presents in! It's always been my favourite part of Christmas - those fun little thoughtful gifts, the regular things; usually a toothbrush, chocolate money and a satsuma etc. Mum and Dad have done one for my brother and me since we were kids, and started doing one for Jon after he spent his first Christmas with us a few years ago. Jon's folks have also always had this tradition, and Heather kindly added me into their the stocking mix too. So, I'm wondering, now Jon and I are married "grown ups", perhaps we should start doing stockings for each other, and eventually, our own children? Could this be the first off the list?

18. Psychic etc: Bought a voucher on Groupon for this, so watch this space... 

19. Adrenalin!: Jon bought me a helicopter flying lesson for Christmas so that will make up this one - CANNOT WAIT! Love my hubby.

29. Camera Education: Mum and I are going on a course in Feb so again, watch this space for an update!

30: Win a pub quiz.....

So Matt found this gem on Time Out last year, and he, Sadhbh, Sam, Jon and I went along last night. All of us, perhaps apart from Sadhbh and Jon, are GEEKS when it comes to Friends, so we thought this one would be in the bag...

...but alas. The organisers put this link on the event page, and 90% of the questions came from this site. So people knew the answers before the quiz had even started!!! Seems a bit backward to me, but hey ho.

The highlight of the evening was the last bonus round, where teams had to re-enact The Routine. Again, this was given as a heads-up on the FB event page and some Bright Young Things had practiced. A lot. And nailed it. My phone had run out battery at this point but a video of it would have made a marvelous addition to this blog post. Matt and I, of course, would have nailed it too...had he not broken his foot recently and be sporting a full cast.

Anyways, we didn't win, so can't cross this one off yet. Any takers for a decent pub quiz near them, let me know!

[thethirtythings]

Welcome!

             A few weeks ago, I turned 29. That means, in one short year, I will hit the big 3-0.

Me. Thirty.

It doesn't really feel real to be honest...I remember as a kid trying to work out how old I would be in prominent years: "In the year 2000, I'll be 15!" etc. It felt strange back then but it feels even stranger now to say "In 2015, I'll be 30". 

However, I'm not the kind of person to find hitting an age milestone a bad thing. It's just a number after all, and just because I'll no longer be in my twenties, does that mean I have to mope around, feel that the fun part of my life is over and complain about the millions of wrinkles that have appeared on my face overnight (dear God, is that an age spot on my hand?!). No. It's ridiculous to think like that.

I think that this time of my life should be a celebration. I've done some wonderful and awesome things over the last 29 years and I intend to keep doing wonderful and awesome things.

Which brings me to the point of this blog / challenge / bit of fun.

              I have created a list of "30 Things To Do Before I'm 30". As the list says, I'm trying to focus on things to DO rather than things to STOP DOING. There are a few minor exceptions but it should read as a positive list that will mean that my friends, my family and I can all do some fun, weird and potentially challenging stuff over the next 11 months or so. 

(N.B. I know that loads of people in the online sphere do stuff like this so it's not a new phenomenon, but I do hope you'll still find it interesting!)

So, here we go....

Write and sustain a blog!

Save more money

Give up smoking

Take a professional cooking course

Pay off student loan / various debts

Achieve something awesome at work – not sure what this could be yet?

Achieve some kind of sporting or fitness goal? Perhaps a charity run? Or create and stick to a fitness regime?

Visit a new European country

Visit a new city in the UK

Spend some time volunteering for a cause I believe in - at least a couple of day

Get the geisha tattoo I have planned

Watch all of the Star Wars films

Start a new family tradition (Jon and me)

Rave up in Ibiza!

Spend a whole weekend with my best girlfriends and their children – Bry, Stacey & Kristen…that’s you!

Go a whole week without looking at social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…zip (does not count if on holiday)

Learn how to surf

Go to a fortune teller / psychic / tarot card reader

Do something adrenaline fuelled – i.e. sky-dive/ drive over 150mph (track day?)

Learn to ride a motorcycle

Pass the PADI (Scuba)

Buy and drink a really expensive/vintage bottle of wine / Champagne

Treat my parents to something

Treat my parents-in-law to something

Do something awesome with my brother – travel, visit something touristy in London, anything more than getting pissed in the pub

Get a landline telephone

Stay in a posh hotel in London with Jon and have a date weekend, go to the in-house spa, order room service, etc.

Watch 100 of IMDB’s top 250 films that I haven’t seen

Learn how to use my digital camera properly, practice, and enter a photo into a competition

Win a pub quiz

So there we have it. I'm going to print off a list and pin it to the notice board at home, and carry a list with me, probably on my phone, otherwise I think I might turn into that dude from the TV show that carries a scrappy list with him all the time (seriously, what was that called??)

Anyway, please feel free to help me along my progress, join in, have fun...or tell me I'm strange. I don't mind either way.

Here we go...at least I've started on point number 1!

:-D