I felt it was time I wrote a new blog. I just can't fit my time in Berlin into a 140 character Twitter update. So I did it! After 23 hard weeks and almost 700 miles of training I ran the 36th Real Berlin Marathon on the 20th September 2009. I have this sheet of paper with a short list of things I would like to achieve in life. I have now scored out the 'Run a Marathon before you are 25', but no I will not say what else is on the list!
So I arrived in Berlin on the Friday. On the plane over there must have been at least 200 other runners with me. There was a really great atmosphere, but I have to say that even this early on I started getting quite nervous. I had been preparing for this event for the last 6 months and only now was it properly starting to sink in and I had been talking to everyone about it endlessly - especially over the last couple of weeks before I left. Suddenly now having set foot on German soil I had to actually go and run it - fuck!
At Schonefeld train station I bought my 7 day AB travel pass - this covers trains, trams, metro and busses in the A and B Area of Berlin) - and guess how much? 26 Euros! Puts SPT to shame. I got off at Alexanderplatz and changed there for the U2 line to Rosa-Luxembourg Platz - the station right next to the OTA Berlin Apartments where I would be staying for the next 5 days. Once I had checked in, I sat with the owner who helped me out with some of my travel plans. I was staying in Mitte which is right in the centre so I knew that most of the places I needed to get to were walking distance, but my main questions related to how I would get to/from the Marathon Start/Finish Line. I then headed out to Berlin Vital Expo to pick up my Race Pack (race number, Championship Chip, T-Shirt, Sponge and Free Pasta). This year they held it at the former Tempelhof Airport with something like 5 hangers full of running gear - some of which is yet to be released. I could have easily spent a fortune here, but I just stuck with the Race Pack and remained focus on what was to come.
On the Saturday before the long 42 kilometre race through Berlin, runners gather traditionally at 9:30 a.m. for the Breakfast Run, to slowly warm up for the big race the following day with a short run. The approx. 6 kilometre warm-up course runs from the Charlottenburg Palace on Spandauer Damm to the Olympic Stadium where we all have breakfast. My initial thoughts were that it would not be such a great idea running any distance at all a day before the Marathon, but once we set off I realised that not only was the pace controlled - it was a nice steady pace also. This was a great opportunity to get a feel for what the big run would be like the next day. Many spectators lined the route to cheer us along and people were singing, doing Mexican Waves and all sorts. Such a great atmosphere especially when running through the tunnel into the Olympic Stadium (where Usain Bolt broke the record just a couple of weeks ago) for the 400m blue track finish before breakfast. Great stuff.
On my way back to the flat I picked up some Muesli and fresh fruit. I decided against having anything too filling to eat that could potentially cause harm on the big day. One of the most important things (along with all the training) is the food you eat on the morning of the marathon. Light cereals work best for me. I stayed in and watched Sunset Boulevard on TV which was dubbed in German. That made it quite interesting! Strange as it may be I kinda got used to it after a while and managed to watch it all the way through - even though I can't understand a word of German! After some late night stretches I went to bed. I expected to be up all night thinking too much/sweating away etc about the day ahead, but I actually managed to sleep just fine despite a late night call which let's just say did NOT go down well.
When my alarm went off at 05:45am on Sunday I was already awake and ready to go. I was up extra early to ensure there was no need for me to rush at any point before the marathon at 9. I took a quick shower, applied all the required skin/sun lotions for the run, donned my chosen running gear and race number, my Saucony ProGrid Omni 8 running trainers with Championship Chip (records my official time) attached to right shoe, my iPod Shuffle containing pre-selected running albums by Kings of Leon, There Will Be Fireworks, Frightened Rabbit, The Temper Trap and Sigur Ros alongside my Sennheiser PMX 80 Sport running headphones - let's do this! On the U-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz there was no room to move with all the runners crammed in like sardines. I am glad I chose not to cover up on the way to the run as it was extremely hot underground and some people exited the trains already dripping with sweat. In the short walk from Potsdamer Platz to the Start line the nerves really started to kick in. Alongside a sea of other runners there was this real eerie silence for the entire walk...a few people running up and down to warm up...I did nothing of the sort until I had dropped off my Race Bag and was at the Start Line.
It wasn't until I turned onto Strasse des 17. Juni facing the start line with the Siegessaule in the distance that I realised how many people there were about to run this Marathon with me (I believe the starting number was over 40'000). It felt like standing at the back of the crowd at TITP. I began scanning the area for the Yellow Balloons that the Pacemakers were carrying. It took me some time, but after about 15 minutes I was able to shuffle through all the runners to get right up next to the 4hrs Pacemaker - and what was he wearing? A kilt of course with a Jimmy Hat with a brave attempt at a Scottish accent to boot. My plan was to run alongside this guy for 30km then perhaps push for a sub 4hr time if everything was perfect. It was meant to be. My main worry of course was the predicted hot weather forecast predicted - I think they said it might hit 25, but I can't remember. Heat can really kill a race for you especially if you are looking to get a good time. All sorts of things can go wrong and majorly so if you haven't trained at least a little bit in the heat which thanks to that short heat wave we had in Scotland for 1 week a couple of months ago I at least had something to go by.
At 08.45 I began doing my basic stretches and my last sip of water before the race. I felt perfect and was ready to go. At around 8:50 or so they began announcing the Elite Athletes up at the front - Haile Gebresalassie (WR holder), Duncan Tibet, Francis Kiprop etc along with many loud cheers from the crowd. Then right before the race they started to play "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis. You might be thinking that this is a little cheesy, but I got goose bumps and was almost shaking with nerves for the next couple of minutes before the gun was fired. I can confirm that I have never been so nervous in my entire life. The pacemaker reminded myself and a few others alongside him to use him only as an aid to get the pace going and that in the end we were all running our own race and wished us the best of luck.
Bang on 09:00 all the front runners were off at alarming speed (20.7km/h I believe). It would take a further 13 minutes before we crossed the finish line, but once we crossed it we were off. It took a good couple of minutes before I got into my stride to the sounds of Kings of Leon and made sure that I remained next to the 04:00 Pacemaker for what was intended to be for the duration of the race. I ran the first 5k at a comfortable 28 minutes and for the next two 5k's I ran 28mins also. At 10k my time was 0:56:17. However, once I hit around 18k I really started to feel the heat. Things were starting to get pretty tough (I am told it reached a temperature of 26 degrees). It didn't help that I had missed the last water station. I had to learn as I went, but the thing to do is to actually run ahead a little when you see the water stations so that you don't lose time. It is just absolute chaos at the water stations and some really stupid people just stop dead in front of you then walk over. At the first water station I didn't have to stop, but found I had to jump over several people that made the mistake of stopping dead rather than gradually veering off towards the station (the way you are supposed to). Madness.
Anyway, once I hit 20km I realised I was a little behind my sub 4hr target. I had run the previous 5k in 31minutes with the 4hr pacemaker a few hundred yards in front. When I crossed the Halfway line I had a time of 02:01:35 which was when I realised that unless I really picked up the pace in the final 5 or 10k my aim for a sub 4hr time wasn't going to happen today. My slowest 5k was between 20 and 25k which took 35 minutes after which I took my time at the next water station - 2 cups water, 4 banana's, 1 tea, 1 basica energy drink. I also made use of my sponge. I hadn't planned on taking it with me for the race, but boy did I need it!
At 30km I had a time of 3:03:05. The 5k between 25 and 30k in 34 minutes. I had used the previous 2km to get back into my marathon pace. Once I crossed the 30km line I turned on the There Will Be Fireworks album. As I do not own a heart rate monitor, or any Garmin gear for that matter, I knew that at marathon pace I would run 1km(or 0.6 miles) in around 6minutes. I worked this out by calculating the distance from my house to Great Western Road (Exactly 1km) and knowing that it took me the first 2 tracks of the TWBF album to cover it.
At 35km I had covered the last 5km in 31minutes. I was back on track and I felt great going into the final 10k. I had to take my headphones off momentarily as the crowds were amazing at this point. Along with all the bands along the route there were just thousands and thousands lining the streets. After a run under one of the fire hoses I high-fived some of the kids cheering along the route and got back into the race. At 40k I realised things were slowing a little as I ran it in 35minutes so for the last 2km or so as I turned to see the Brandenburg Tor in the distance I really picked up the pace. It is indescribable the feeling running through the Brandenburg Gate just after 41km. I had my fist in the air and everything. So overwhelming and I won't lie - I think there were a few tears also, but it was worth it if only just for this one single moment. Once through the Gate it was a sprint to the finish line. Besides some trouble at halfway there were no problems - my legs were still going and I felt great. How I was able to sprint for the remaining half km I have no idea, but I had enough left in the tank to cross the finish line with 04:37:03 on the clock. I would find out later that my official time for the race was 04:23:46 with an average speed of 9.6km/h and 6mins 15 per km. Not sub 4h pace, but being my first marathon and in such heat I am just happy I got through it and with no wall or injuries to stop me and am very happy with my time.
In the finish area things had stopped dead and my legs really started to cramp up at this point. I had my medal and Erdinger AlkoholFrei in hand (and boy did it taste great!). All that was left was my Massage and to have my medal engraved. Along with my friend Oliver we must have went back and forth from the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate at least 4 times with wrong directions to here there and wherever. My legs were so painful at this point. I had to sit down, but once I got to the massage area and had what would be my first ever massage (and easily the most painful for some time I think) I was up again and felt great. After a few finisher photos I decided to walk back to Alexander Platz (around 4km) to ease off my legs. This was NOT such a good idea!
After a couple of hours of rest, a long shower and applying some creams for my feet (they were such a mess after the run) I was off out to Goya for the Marathon After-Party. Here I was just inches from the legend that is Haile Gebresalassie. He was unable to break the record this year, but still managed to cross the finish line in an incredible time of 2hrs 6mins. He claims that he can do a sub 2.03 time if conditions are an ideal 17 degrees with light winds. Yes and me too Haile! He gave us a little dance on stage, said congrats to everybody then played us a tune on the keyboard - this is what he does to relax when not running 2 marathons a day during training. It was at this point I turned round to notice what I can only describe as a Saturday night on Sauchiehall Street - everyone was limping around as if in slow motion. So fragile. This made me laugh, realising that I wasn't the only one suffering from what was a hell of a race. I partied until the early hours with some of the Kenyan runners (I think they were the pacemakers, but don't quote me on that), some Danish runners and a group of Hungarian models who liked my accent. Can't complain and let's just say my first beer in 6months went down WELL. We were all thrown out around 2am, but I was up for more. We were then joined by our new local friend Sebastian who gave us a personalised unscripted walking tour around central Berlin as we scoped for any open bars/clubs. When it got to around 3am this group ended up just being Sebastian and myself. We decided to just grab a few beers from a paper stand, grab a few chairs and set up outside Hotel Adlon (the one where Michael Jackson held Blanket out the window yes) facing Brandenburg Tor for Sunrise. If only I had a camera!
The next day (Monday) I was up early and surprisingly felt just fine. My plan was to visit Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam. Being the oldest film studio in the world, I felt I had to while I was here. They filmed Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' and Josef von Sternberg's 'The Blue Angel' among many others including, most recently, Tarantino's' Inglourious Basterds'. I also ended up getting a surprise call from Maja with an invite to Munich for Oktoberfest. More on that later. Once I got there I noticed that the Filmpark itself was closed on Mondays, but with the Cafe inside the official Studio Lot open this was my only alternative. On the way I had a sneak peek inside some of the sound stages as I walked along G.W. Pabst Strasse. The place was huge. I would love to film here one day, I thought. I had a beer with some film students/filmmakers at the cafe before heading back to town. I decided to take it easy on my last night here so I went to the Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauerberg for some great beer and a wee dance with a nice German girl who failed to pronounce my name so she called me Dave instead.
I woke up Tuesday morning nice and early with my bags already packed and ready to go. My initial intentions were to cycle to Schonefeld Airport (around 35k), but when I got down the desk to Check Out I was told that I had just 25 minutes to get there in time (the old local time mix up. It wasn't clear on my Easyjet printout awright?!). They booked me a taxi and were flying along the AutoBahn at what must have been at 120mph. Madness. I arrived at the airport at 12:23. Check-in Closed at 12:20. I wasn't allowed through, but it would be ok if I only had hand luggage. So ok I said. Here, destroy my case. It's just smelly running clothes. I will run to the plane I say pointing to my medal and then my running trainers - No she says. Gutted. So I change my flight to same time next day and head back into Berlin! I call home to give an update then Lesley at work and all was ok. Plus for my flat I had already paid for 5 nights minimum so no extra cost on staying an extra day/night. I decided to make the most of it and do the 1 thing I had left to do - Cycle the Berlin Wall Trail.
Once I got back to the flat some jokes were had at my expense, but they were totally cool about it (thank you OTA) and I went for a walk to the nearest Bike rental area. Here I unveiled my crazy plan to my new Berliner friend George Wanjala. I wanted to cycle the route of the Berlin Wall - the main North-South divide through the centre of Berlin (42km) then perhaps consider doing the full 160km round West Berlin through the night depending how I felt. Hell yes! I had my bike and headed up to the northernmost point where I would start. I realised almost instantly that this was the best way to see the city - and fast. Although I have to say that the signage could have been better! I got a little lost around Potsdamer Platz and once I was out into the forest in the dark around Charlottenbourg area. From what I could work out from the map I took a wrong turn towards Schonefeld Airport at around 50km into the trail. It was pitch black at this point and cycling through sandy paths with nothing and noone in sight for miles.
The first sign of life and I headed straight for it. This turned out to be a traditional remote German hotel where I had a massive dinner, a beer, then instructions on how to get to Liechtenstrabe where I could then cycle straight ahead for a final 5km to get the U-Bahn back to Berlin. So I managed 60k in the end and with ease. If I had a full day I am pretty sure I could have done the full 160k. It would have just been a little too crazy (even by my standards) to cycle through the night. I got back to the flat around 2am and returned the bike the following morning. Next time I go to Berlin I intend to cycle the full trail and at record speed! Although, I can still say that I did it! At least the main part of the wall anyway. At the airport I spotted a sale on Mini Kegs in Duty Free. Paulaner and more. I couldn't resist! Ended up on the plane with under each arm. The kegs of course ended up at Morag's flat party last night.
So that brings us up-to-date pretty much. For the next week or 2 I will rest my legs before I get back into training. I may be going to Munich next weekend for Oktoberfest and to visit Maja. Only possible if I am able to get next Monday morning off work. Think I should go? I am not sure when my next Marathon will be, but I intend to continue training towards a sub4 time and who knows maybe in a year a sub3. I hope to eventually run all the 5 Marathon Majors (Berlin, London, New York, Chicago, Boston). We will see. Suffering from runners back, however, I have been advised to take up Yoga and given I will be training into the Winter I will probably have to join a Gym to avoid the Ice on the roads and finally start working on some Upper Body Strength. I am also strongly considering going Teetotal. I can't say I missed being hungover (like I was this morning. Cheers for the punch Morag!) during my disciplined no-alcohol stance for the last 6 months of training and there were just endless benefits along with the incredible fitness from such an intense training programme. The good thing about running is that you can run anywhere and at any time and it is easily the fastest way to get fit - fuck your Wii Fit, fucking iGym, your Carbo Crunchies and yer Botox bars. Just get out there and run. Cheers to all for the support. Pictures will be up soon as I have them.
Take Care
R
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
There Will Be Fireworks Promo
The 'There Will Be Fireworks' music video I worked on with Accidental Media has recently been put up on their site. It was shot in Barra back in June on 35mm. Check it out!
R
http://www.accidentalmedia.com/twbf.php
R
http://www.accidentalmedia.com/twbf.php
Sigur Ros, Glasgow Carling Academy, November 6th
I've been a big follower of Sigur Ros ever since I heard 'The Nothing Song' at the end of the muchos disappointing film 'Vanilla Sky'. This then resulted in me buying everything under the sun with 'Sigur Ros' written on it. Costing a small fortune I might add, but worth it of course. I have wanted to see them live for years now and they didn't disappoint. The support band For A Minor Reflection were also great. Once they finished their 3 song set, a drunk/probably high girl beside me shouted "Is that it Jonsi? Have Sigur Ros finished?" to which I replied "Em no, thats just the support band. Jonsi will be on in a minute don't you worry!" She probably doesnt even remember it, but soon after Sigur Ros came on stage. I don't think i've ever been in such a mixed audience - old/young/ned/toff and more importantly such a chilled out audience. No shout outs for requests...no mobile phones being constantly held in front of your face for the entire set....even an apology when someone pushed into me. Looking around the audience I couldnt help but notice so many people just smiling. looking up. their eyes closed. Their music just takes you somewhere.....it has such a profound effect on you its so hard to describe in words. For me it just takes me back to the days at SMO and the many road trips to/from Skye. Good memories of course.
They gave us an excellent mix of the favourites from all of their albums to date and a number of their songs from their latest album worked very well live - Gobbledeegook especially where they had the crowd join in. Im still finding confetti everywhere and it will be months im sure before its all gone. There was also a moment during one of their songs where Jonsi managed to hold a note for what must have been a good 40 seconds, but felt like an hour. I was curious to see how they would achieve their iconic sound as a four piece minus Amiina and the Brass Band...which in hindsight resulted in a more intimate, emotionally charged performance. I was impressed by how the band managed to move around the stage to different instruments mid-song. The lighting was very impressive also. They had their signature balloons hanging from the ceiling that were lit differently for each song and I remember in the encore they had small white ghost effects dancing off them when lit red. Fantastic. They also had some camera's hidden secretly on the front of the stage where they would project images of Jonsi playing his guitar with the bow among other things onto the screen on the back wall. I couldnt think of a better song than Popplagið (Untitled 8) as a send off. So fucking intense.
I will most definitely look to catch the band next time they are in town! Perhaps the Reykjavík gig on Nov 23rd. By car of course...and maybe film the journey this time too - it's to be expected by now, right? Handed over a DVD copy of our yet unfinished 'Long Island' project to their manager John Best as promised. Lets hope that it was actually passed over to the production team and that its not some security guy that now has it playing on his DVD player...the project still isnt quite finished yet, but ill be sure to put it up here in full when it is.
Following soon after the gig, drinks were had of course, out came the Champagne at the Buff....the first two glasses of it were on the floor within seconds - courtesy of some fat chick on E who for some reason felt that, not being able to afford Champagne that buying us Vodka Lemonade's and a horrific/slow motion lap-dance right in our face would be sufficient. Aye maybe for your average joe....or joe the plummer....but not me. Proper Phoenix Nights moment. Followed by a Subway that I dont believe was mine...then Chips and Curry Sauce because....well i have no idea. Lost Angus for an hour aswell and I cant remember why. Woke up this morning hugging the floor, franticly texting Angus soon after asking 1. how the fuck I managed to get home as I couldnt for the life of me remember a thing and 2. that I didnt just dream seeing Sigur Ros and that.....wait a minute....maybe it was a dream.....shit.
Moran taing for such an awe-inspiring performance. Oh and cheers Angus for deciding to give me that spare ticket the night before!
Setlist:
01 svefn g englar
02 ný batterí
03 fljótavik
04 við spilum endalaust
05 hoppípolla
06 með blóðnasir
07 inní mér syngur vitleysingur
08 e-bow
09 sæglópur
10 festival
11 hafsól
12 gobbledigook
---
13 all alright
14 popplagið
Part of this review is now featured on the Sigur Ros site:
http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/tour/2008...
Hope everyone is dandy
R
They gave us an excellent mix of the favourites from all of their albums to date and a number of their songs from their latest album worked very well live - Gobbledeegook especially where they had the crowd join in. Im still finding confetti everywhere and it will be months im sure before its all gone. There was also a moment during one of their songs where Jonsi managed to hold a note for what must have been a good 40 seconds, but felt like an hour. I was curious to see how they would achieve their iconic sound as a four piece minus Amiina and the Brass Band...which in hindsight resulted in a more intimate, emotionally charged performance. I was impressed by how the band managed to move around the stage to different instruments mid-song. The lighting was very impressive also. They had their signature balloons hanging from the ceiling that were lit differently for each song and I remember in the encore they had small white ghost effects dancing off them when lit red. Fantastic. They also had some camera's hidden secretly on the front of the stage where they would project images of Jonsi playing his guitar with the bow among other things onto the screen on the back wall. I couldnt think of a better song than Popplagið (Untitled 8) as a send off. So fucking intense.
I will most definitely look to catch the band next time they are in town! Perhaps the Reykjavík gig on Nov 23rd. By car of course...and maybe film the journey this time too - it's to be expected by now, right? Handed over a DVD copy of our yet unfinished 'Long Island' project to their manager John Best as promised. Lets hope that it was actually passed over to the production team and that its not some security guy that now has it playing on his DVD player...the project still isnt quite finished yet, but ill be sure to put it up here in full when it is.
Following soon after the gig, drinks were had of course, out came the Champagne at the Buff....the first two glasses of it were on the floor within seconds - courtesy of some fat chick on E who for some reason felt that, not being able to afford Champagne that buying us Vodka Lemonade's and a horrific/slow motion lap-dance right in our face would be sufficient. Aye maybe for your average joe....or joe the plummer....but not me. Proper Phoenix Nights moment. Followed by a Subway that I dont believe was mine...then Chips and Curry Sauce because....well i have no idea. Lost Angus for an hour aswell and I cant remember why. Woke up this morning hugging the floor, franticly texting Angus soon after asking 1. how the fuck I managed to get home as I couldnt for the life of me remember a thing and 2. that I didnt just dream seeing Sigur Ros and that.....wait a minute....maybe it was a dream.....shit.
Moran taing for such an awe-inspiring performance. Oh and cheers Angus for deciding to give me that spare ticket the night before!
Setlist:
01 svefn g englar
02 ný batterí
03 fljótavik
04 við spilum endalaust
05 hoppípolla
06 með blóðnasir
07 inní mér syngur vitleysingur
08 e-bow
09 sæglópur
10 festival
11 hafsól
12 gobbledigook
---
13 all alright
14 popplagið
Part of this review is now featured on the Sigur Ros site:
http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/tour/2008...
Hope everyone is dandy
R
Springsteen, London, Gary Lewis, Accidental Media, Indy 4 and Why I Hate Reality TV
After going dark for many months I thought it was about time that I posted another blog. So here we are a selection of things I have done, some thoughts I have had and a few rants along the way. What have I been up to? Lets just say i've been asking myself that very question almost on a daily basis.
I went to see Springsteen in December with Daniel. London O2 Arena (Millennium Dome for those that aren't cultured enough). Just to add to all the madness we decided to drive down there too(950 miles there and back) so it was a Road trip in its own right (hence the Road Trip video). I filmed the journey using Dan's Digital SLR Camera so we're not talking Full HD quality, but it was a lot of fun filming/editing it with a random London-by-night tour after the concert. The concert itself was fantastic of course. The Boss certainly did not disappoint and had a full back catalogue of songs to please the crowd. All I can do is recommend all of you to get your hands on tickets for his open air stadium gigs across the UK over the next few months if you haven’t already.
After the London gig, Dan and I started filming more road trip vids and have planned many more (generally the distance got longer and longer building up to what will be our year long delayed Euro Road Trip next Easter). Such projects have kept me busy over the coming months. Our latest project which shall remain nameless is almost done in the edit and ill fire it up on here once its done. I applied for a Working Title Films Internship in January which was a big jump, but long story short over 3'000 people including me applied for 3 posts and I didn't get it. I also had an interview with South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) for a Directing job in one of their newly Lottery-funded Online video services. Didn't manage to get that one either, but all feedback was positive. I applied for a whole bunch of other things aswell, but as we all know…sometimes people just don't get back in touch which really stops things from moving along.
I attended the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) in February which was a good laugh. Attended screenings/master classes and drank far…far….far too much. So much so that I cant even recall what films I went to see……well 2 come to mind. Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream at the Opening Gala and John Sayles' Honeydripper. Despite the poor reviews from the critics on Allen's latest film I really enjoyed CD. Especially Colin Farrell's performance. I also attended the John Sayles masterclass which was great. He's one of the few talented Directors (in my opinion) in the States that also writes his own scripts. He spoke about his career from past to present and I had the opportunity to meet him after the screening of his latest film Honeydripper too which was great. I also met Gary Lewis at the Opening Gala Afterparty. He's worked with a number of big name Directors like Martin Scorsese and Stephen Daldry so we had an interesting chat about that over a beer or 10. I also networked at a couple of open panel discussions on short films and professionally whored myself out to another producer or 20. Its always a bit daunting at first, but I think i've pretty much mastered the whole process now.
Recently, I got a job with a company called Accidental Media (www.accidental.tv), an award winning Indie production company. I start tomorrow (Tuesday) when their latest project goes into production. They are shooting on 35mm film a music video for the band 'There Will Be Fireworks' and after asking around the music scene there is certainly a lot of buzz about the band said to be the next big thing to come out of Scotland. With a background in Music this certainly fits the bill…..and it's a film credit which I can say for sure is pretty rare to get in Scotland. Ill be assisting throughout the production/post production edit and of course on set which is in Barra in early June. Its all pretty exciting really, with a potential for a lot more – some documentaries, a drama in the Highlands, maybe even another music video. Watch this space.
Over the past few months, the majority of my funds have gone towards my unhealthy addiction to Cinema and films in general. Summer is here and brings with it many highly anticipated Summer Blockbuster Movies; Ironman, Prince Caspian, Indy 4, The Dark Knight just to name a few. I am currently desperately trying to avoid being dragged to what can only be described as the anti-viagra-personal-hell-slagcom that is the Sex and the City movie. After narrowly escaping a trip to 27 dresses with my girlfriend, who helpfully informed me "that it looked like a really nice film. It's about dresses" I'm putting my foot down and boycotting this man torture and any of many to come. I suggest all other men do the same in such a footus downus manner.
Anyone seen Indy 4 yet? Well here's my take on it. Despite the uproar in fan disappointment online on the, in my honest opinion, the minute details, since its release on Thursday May 22nd, im sticking by the raving critics reviews on the 19-year-long-awaited addition to the franchise. I went to see it in the morning with my dad – both of us big Indy fans. ***SPOILER ALERT*** It was exactly what I wanted it to be. 20 years down the line and they managed (Ford especially) to retain the original Indy. The cinematography was outstanding – I really enjoyed the pastel look they went for. As always of course top direction from Spielberg. 2/3 of the film was just pure Indy fun – the opening scene, the motorbike chase, Indy’s dry one-liners and of course the action sequences once again raising the bar. Oh and don’t forget the fantastic original score by the genius that is John Williams. I was also concerned about the addition of Shia LaBeouf to the cast….but it certainly worked in my opinion. He's a great actor and one of the few promising actors to watch for the future. Cate Blanchett was a nice addition also….not the best of villain’s though. She seemed to be smiling….ALL the time. Ray Winstone only seemed to talk to Indy now and then throughout the last act….just kinda tagged along and didn't say much. John Hurt just seemed to hold onto the skull and mumble a lot. These are top rate actors – which I felt were left with not much to work with. Also bringing back Karen Allen was a bit of a waste. Sure – she's Mutt Williams( Shia’s character)’s mum…..oh and guess what…that makes him Indy junior Junior – hmm.
The final 3rd act of the film however, as im sure a number of you have read about just gets a little crazy. Shia swinging in the trees like Tarzan with a group CGI monkeys in the Amazon……Intergalactic Aliens from a space between spaces in space or some shit. Perhaps I was just a little hungover at the time, but a lot of scenes were pretty much a mind-fuck with some overly complex chat between the characters about Crystal Skulls.. Possible Indy Jr Jr franchise to come? They play with it a little in the end scene as Shia plays with donning the Fedora. I guess it all depends on the success of this film. I can see it being one of the highest grossing opening weekends of all time. I stick by Empire's review - 4 Stars.
On an entirely different note I would like to address the evil that is Reality Television. Although this is not a new topic I cannot help feel, that with the continual increase of these programmes, that the reality tv star is still rising, and not as predicted waning. As someone who actively avoids watching these programmes I am astounded that I know who half of these people are. With the media's continual exposure of these characters, the saturation effect is complete. Having never watched these mediums of evil I still know who Chanelle
Hayes is and that she is attempting to carve out a pop career for herself and more shockingly have come to understand that the fat reprobate that is Kerry Katona has given birth on camera during her reality programme (definitely someone who should be considered for sterilisation). These programmes offer a stage for the thick and uncultured. If ignorance is bliss then they are fucking ecstatic!
Programmes like these have created a society where ignorance and loutish behaviour is rewarded. The fact that Jade Goody, possibly one of the dumbest people in existence is a millionaire speaks very gravely of the direction society is headed in. When 24 hour news channels are reporting on a minute by minute basis the goings on in the Big Brother House you really have to take a minute, step back and ask why? Additionally, talent shows such as X-Factor and Britain(supposedly)'s Got Talent are merely vehicles for on-screen humiliation and pushy mothers promoting there oh so talented children. With so many millions of pounds going on this shit the injustice throughout the industry is strongly felt. With so many documentaries, dramas and independant films being shelved you cannot help but feel that producers have by-passed the genuine talent and gone straight for the same old formula of bland idiocy with a hint of racism. From Beauty and the Geek………to Big Brother….to X-Factor…..Nancy and Joseph….Dancing on fucking Ice…..what the fuck is next seriously. Big Brother will probably keep plodding away year after year getting more and more controversial until they fill the house with murderers and rapists that'll end up killing each other. Who knows....it would probably get the highest ratings of all the BB shows. So who comes up with these things?. 80% of TV today is just absolutely SHITE, dont you think? Just imagine...the producers sitting round a table thinking up such 'creative' drivel. The brains of a blood orange and the imagination of a Bin…... Entertainment at its worst and in its quantity, not in its quality. Anyway, ill stop this one short before it easily goes to 10'000 words.
Hope you're all well
R x
I went to see Springsteen in December with Daniel. London O2 Arena (Millennium Dome for those that aren't cultured enough). Just to add to all the madness we decided to drive down there too(950 miles there and back) so it was a Road trip in its own right (hence the Road Trip video). I filmed the journey using Dan's Digital SLR Camera so we're not talking Full HD quality, but it was a lot of fun filming/editing it with a random London-by-night tour after the concert. The concert itself was fantastic of course. The Boss certainly did not disappoint and had a full back catalogue of songs to please the crowd. All I can do is recommend all of you to get your hands on tickets for his open air stadium gigs across the UK over the next few months if you haven’t already.
After the London gig, Dan and I started filming more road trip vids and have planned many more (generally the distance got longer and longer building up to what will be our year long delayed Euro Road Trip next Easter). Such projects have kept me busy over the coming months. Our latest project which shall remain nameless is almost done in the edit and ill fire it up on here once its done. I applied for a Working Title Films Internship in January which was a big jump, but long story short over 3'000 people including me applied for 3 posts and I didn't get it. I also had an interview with South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) for a Directing job in one of their newly Lottery-funded Online video services. Didn't manage to get that one either, but all feedback was positive. I applied for a whole bunch of other things aswell, but as we all know…sometimes people just don't get back in touch which really stops things from moving along.
I attended the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) in February which was a good laugh. Attended screenings/master classes and drank far…far….far too much. So much so that I cant even recall what films I went to see……well 2 come to mind. Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream at the Opening Gala and John Sayles' Honeydripper. Despite the poor reviews from the critics on Allen's latest film I really enjoyed CD. Especially Colin Farrell's performance. I also attended the John Sayles masterclass which was great. He's one of the few talented Directors (in my opinion) in the States that also writes his own scripts. He spoke about his career from past to present and I had the opportunity to meet him after the screening of his latest film Honeydripper too which was great. I also met Gary Lewis at the Opening Gala Afterparty. He's worked with a number of big name Directors like Martin Scorsese and Stephen Daldry so we had an interesting chat about that over a beer or 10. I also networked at a couple of open panel discussions on short films and professionally whored myself out to another producer or 20. Its always a bit daunting at first, but I think i've pretty much mastered the whole process now.
Recently, I got a job with a company called Accidental Media (www.accidental.tv), an award winning Indie production company. I start tomorrow (Tuesday) when their latest project goes into production. They are shooting on 35mm film a music video for the band 'There Will Be Fireworks' and after asking around the music scene there is certainly a lot of buzz about the band said to be the next big thing to come out of Scotland. With a background in Music this certainly fits the bill…..and it's a film credit which I can say for sure is pretty rare to get in Scotland. Ill be assisting throughout the production/post production edit and of course on set which is in Barra in early June. Its all pretty exciting really, with a potential for a lot more – some documentaries, a drama in the Highlands, maybe even another music video. Watch this space.
Over the past few months, the majority of my funds have gone towards my unhealthy addiction to Cinema and films in general. Summer is here and brings with it many highly anticipated Summer Blockbuster Movies; Ironman, Prince Caspian, Indy 4, The Dark Knight just to name a few. I am currently desperately trying to avoid being dragged to what can only be described as the anti-viagra-personal-hell-slagcom that is the Sex and the City movie. After narrowly escaping a trip to 27 dresses with my girlfriend, who helpfully informed me "that it looked like a really nice film. It's about dresses" I'm putting my foot down and boycotting this man torture and any of many to come. I suggest all other men do the same in such a footus downus manner.
Anyone seen Indy 4 yet? Well here's my take on it. Despite the uproar in fan disappointment online on the, in my honest opinion, the minute details, since its release on Thursday May 22nd, im sticking by the raving critics reviews on the 19-year-long-awaited addition to the franchise. I went to see it in the morning with my dad – both of us big Indy fans. ***SPOILER ALERT*** It was exactly what I wanted it to be. 20 years down the line and they managed (Ford especially) to retain the original Indy. The cinematography was outstanding – I really enjoyed the pastel look they went for. As always of course top direction from Spielberg. 2/3 of the film was just pure Indy fun – the opening scene, the motorbike chase, Indy’s dry one-liners and of course the action sequences once again raising the bar. Oh and don’t forget the fantastic original score by the genius that is John Williams. I was also concerned about the addition of Shia LaBeouf to the cast….but it certainly worked in my opinion. He's a great actor and one of the few promising actors to watch for the future. Cate Blanchett was a nice addition also….not the best of villain’s though. She seemed to be smiling….ALL the time. Ray Winstone only seemed to talk to Indy now and then throughout the last act….just kinda tagged along and didn't say much. John Hurt just seemed to hold onto the skull and mumble a lot. These are top rate actors – which I felt were left with not much to work with. Also bringing back Karen Allen was a bit of a waste. Sure – she's Mutt Williams( Shia’s character)’s mum…..oh and guess what…that makes him Indy junior Junior – hmm.
The final 3rd act of the film however, as im sure a number of you have read about just gets a little crazy. Shia swinging in the trees like Tarzan with a group CGI monkeys in the Amazon……Intergalactic Aliens from a space between spaces in space or some shit. Perhaps I was just a little hungover at the time, but a lot of scenes were pretty much a mind-fuck with some overly complex chat between the characters about Crystal Skulls.. Possible Indy Jr Jr franchise to come? They play with it a little in the end scene as Shia plays with donning the Fedora. I guess it all depends on the success of this film. I can see it being one of the highest grossing opening weekends of all time. I stick by Empire's review - 4 Stars.
On an entirely different note I would like to address the evil that is Reality Television. Although this is not a new topic I cannot help feel, that with the continual increase of these programmes, that the reality tv star is still rising, and not as predicted waning. As someone who actively avoids watching these programmes I am astounded that I know who half of these people are. With the media's continual exposure of these characters, the saturation effect is complete. Having never watched these mediums of evil I still know who Chanelle
Hayes is and that she is attempting to carve out a pop career for herself and more shockingly have come to understand that the fat reprobate that is Kerry Katona has given birth on camera during her reality programme (definitely someone who should be considered for sterilisation). These programmes offer a stage for the thick and uncultured. If ignorance is bliss then they are fucking ecstatic!
Programmes like these have created a society where ignorance and loutish behaviour is rewarded. The fact that Jade Goody, possibly one of the dumbest people in existence is a millionaire speaks very gravely of the direction society is headed in. When 24 hour news channels are reporting on a minute by minute basis the goings on in the Big Brother House you really have to take a minute, step back and ask why? Additionally, talent shows such as X-Factor and Britain(supposedly)'s Got Talent are merely vehicles for on-screen humiliation and pushy mothers promoting there oh so talented children. With so many millions of pounds going on this shit the injustice throughout the industry is strongly felt. With so many documentaries, dramas and independant films being shelved you cannot help but feel that producers have by-passed the genuine talent and gone straight for the same old formula of bland idiocy with a hint of racism. From Beauty and the Geek………to Big Brother….to X-Factor…..Nancy and Joseph….Dancing on fucking Ice…..what the fuck is next seriously. Big Brother will probably keep plodding away year after year getting more and more controversial until they fill the house with murderers and rapists that'll end up killing each other. Who knows....it would probably get the highest ratings of all the BB shows. So who comes up with these things?. 80% of TV today is just absolutely SHITE, dont you think? Just imagine...the producers sitting round a table thinking up such 'creative' drivel. The brains of a blood orange and the imagination of a Bin…... Entertainment at its worst and in its quantity, not in its quality. Anyway, ill stop this one short before it easily goes to 10'000 words.
Hope you're all well
R x
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Californication
This show is brilliant. If you didnt catch it on Five, catch it online its hilarious. I felt obliged to blog this one and once you read it you'll see why.
R
Season 1, Episode 5
“LOL”
Written by: Susan McMartin
Created by: Tom Kapinos
Hank Moody: “Thank you, um, but it’s more like pissing outta my ass than anything else. You know? It’s just… things bother me and I vent, I write it down.”
Henry: “Well what’s your latest obsession?”
Hank Moody: “Just the fact that people seem to be getting dumber and dumber. You know? I mean, we have all this amazing technology, and yet computers have basically turned into four-figure wank machines. The internet was supposed to set us free, democratize us, but all it’s really given us is Howard Dean’s aborted candidacy and 24-hour a day access to kiddy porn. You know? People don’t write anymore, they blog. Instead of talking, they text – no punctuation, no grammar, ‘LOL’ this, and ‘LMFAO’ that. You know, it just seems that it’s just a bunch of stupid people pseudo-communicating with a bunch of other stupid people in a proto-language that resembles more what cave men used to speak than the King’s English.”
Henry: “Yet you’re part of the problem. Yet you’re out there blogging with the best of them.”
Hank Moody: “Hence, my self-loathing. You know? (Takes another swig out of his airplane-mini-bottle of whisky.)”
R
Season 1, Episode 5
“LOL”
Written by: Susan McMartin
Created by: Tom Kapinos
Hank Moody: “Thank you, um, but it’s more like pissing outta my ass than anything else. You know? It’s just… things bother me and I vent, I write it down.”
Henry: “Well what’s your latest obsession?”
Hank Moody: “Just the fact that people seem to be getting dumber and dumber. You know? I mean, we have all this amazing technology, and yet computers have basically turned into four-figure wank machines. The internet was supposed to set us free, democratize us, but all it’s really given us is Howard Dean’s aborted candidacy and 24-hour a day access to kiddy porn. You know? People don’t write anymore, they blog. Instead of talking, they text – no punctuation, no grammar, ‘LOL’ this, and ‘LMFAO’ that. You know, it just seems that it’s just a bunch of stupid people pseudo-communicating with a bunch of other stupid people in a proto-language that resembles more what cave men used to speak than the King’s English.”
Henry: “Yet you’re part of the problem. Yet you’re out there blogging with the best of them.”
Hank Moody: “Hence, my self-loathing. You know? (Takes another swig out of his airplane-mini-bottle of whisky.)”
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Travel Journal '06
I felt it was about time I wrote something new on here. Well now that I have got round to it....here is my eventual response to a long standing request and demand for me to transfer my LiveJournal Travel Journals I wrote while travelling across Europe and Russia over onto my Blog Page. Ill post them all in the one Blog just like the Diary so yes as always it will be long but whats new from me eh. Don't drink it all at once (unless you really want to). Oh and excuse the spelling etc they were all first drafted in net cafe's! With time I may also start transfering over all the pictures from Photobucket. Only a couple of thousand or so should...take....long.....but I recon it looks better with pictures embedded into the journal which is what ill do I think instead.
Good memories.
Enjoy :)
R
[Aug. 4th, 2006|11:15 am]
[ Current Location | Munich ]
Decided it is best to create one of these journals online rather than to read back on my written journals that even I myself cannot understand with my infamously shocking hand-writing.
After my brief weeks vacation to Rhodes Island, Greece I now write from Munich, after 2 days in Frankfurt. Time is about to expire on here so ill add more later in the day.
Rory
[Aug. 5th, 2006|03:47 am]
Finally found a cheap internet cafe in the centre of Munich where ive been able to book a few hours at least to write something meaningful.
So where do I start, my week in Rhodes was brief but memorable. Faleraki was a bit mental for me. It’s up and coming but sure to be the next Benidorm. Avoided the majority of the bars that just screamed trouble yet still attended all the major events like the massive Beach Party(claiming to be the biggest in Europe) that went on all night and where I met hundreds of people and a Foam Party which, in short for those of you who have been to one - was nuts. The rest of the week I spent relaxing at the local pool bar and talking nonsense with the locals. I was taken aback by how friendly the locals were. I have always made an assumption from my holiday in Cyprus a few years ago that the Greeks were very rude and not friendly at all. But I was wrong. Anyway, overall Greece was everything I was looking for, a time to relax and do almost nothing, but on the side have a bit of fun and try(and of course fail) not to spend too much money. To get more up to date, I fly back after a week and 2 days later im off to Frankfurt with Del.
After landing in Frankfurt we had our first shot at being tourists, looking completely lost and failing to find anyone that speaks English. This was just the simple (not for us) task of finding the right bus to go from the Airport to the Centre. Eventually we figured it out and then found our hotel was situated in the middle of the red light district.....which was interesting. A warm welcome to the city. Only spent a few days in this city. Known as 'Mainhattan' for all its skyscrapers (has something like 9 out of the 10 largest in the country which were impressive to look at). In short we just drank some good beers and got lost a lot trying to get back to the hostel a bit mashed. On the 3rd we leave for Munich.
The train journey is lengthy but comfortable, at least up until before the kids behind us start crying once a start dozing off. Not had much of a chance practicing our limited German so at least now we make a fool of ourselves testing it out on someone who speaks perfect English. The last few days in Munich have been amazing. The beer gardens are immense (some seat over 5000) and of course the beer is just unbelievably good. Derek and myself have gone a little over budget already with our expensive addiction to Stine's, which if are basically large jugs of 2 and a half pints worth of quality beer.
Yesterday we visited the Deutch Museum which was just huge, with loads of interesting stuff like fighter planes V2 Rockets and U-Boats. Got lost of course in the maze of weird German stuff, but eventually found Derek again about an hour later outside. Last night we followed an Australian tour group and went around a few beer halls which were just nuts. Walked around and got free trams all over the place, ending up in a youth hostel which to our surprise and luck was right round the corner from our hostel. Met a few Australians, really loud and a little too crazy. Still trying to get used to the fact that everyone seems to smoke here. Most likely because I was getting used to the Smoking Ban back home.
Today we visited a market and saw weird fruit and ate surprise surprise, more sausages. We meet Maja in an hour, who might be able to translate half the stuff we are clueless about and show us the more student areas. Possible bar crawl later, certainly a continuation of our daily diet of beer and sausages which ill pretend at least for now is good for you. Forgot to bring the USB cable so all the pictures will have to be uploaded at a later date. Hopefully my next post won’t be so lengthy.
Cheers for now
Rory
[Aug. 6th, 2006|07:37 am]
Yesterday we were shown around Munich by Maja, had some traditional food and saw the University. Food was good, but it was raining for our outdoor adventure and without a jacket, made me miserable. Got the underground back, which was an experience, the place is huge, whole world under there. Not as complex as London though.
Today we visited Dachou, one of the oldest and the first of the concentration camps. A little heavy going, but interesting none the less. Anyway, decided id keep this post a little shorter and ive spent most of the time adding all the photos so far to the Gallery. Some are horizontal im afraid but net cafe won’t allow me to edit them but when I find somewhere I can, I will. In response to Simon, our next stop will be Salzburg, Austria in a couple of days, Tuesday to be precise. Place of birth of Mozart and of course the setting of the Sound of Music (cringe).
Tata
Rory
[Aug. 11th, 2006|02:42 pm]
[ Current Location | Vienna ]
[ mood | determined ]
Ok I give up now before I end up smashing this PC. I attached image tags to my gallery however it seems you need an account to view the pictures....ill find a way around it eventually. Ok, just to update you since my last entry, it’s been a while so I don’t think ill be brief this time.
For our last day in Munich surprisingly we avoided the beer and sausages and met with Maja again early and went to the Olympic Village. Here was an impressive stadium, swimming pool, lake and more. There was also a tower where we went to the top and could see around the whole of Munich. Made us realize how huge the city is and how little of it we have seen. We then went to a Chapel that she liked where del and I were instantly stunned by what was to see inside. Judging by our silence Maja assumed we weren’t interested but it’s definitely one of the most breathtaking sights we have seen as of yet.
After a bit of lunch we went for a walk around Palace Gardens(ill add the name once I remember) which was certainly a change of scenery for such a busy city. Maja continually questioned my silence and thought there was something wrong, but I was fine. It was peaceful and reminded of my frequent trips up to Lewis when I was younger (which I only wish I could go so often these days), going for that very same reason - a little peace from the intensity of city life. Even though this was only for a couple of hours, it certainly paced things down a little and gave us time to relax and for once not have to be getting a train somewhere or booking accommodation here and there. It was definitely worth it. Maja had to leave us after our walk so we said our goodbyes and went to book our accommodation for Salzburg, Austria. This 'simple' task took between us around 7 hours of internet searches and a helpful hand from our hostel owner to find what we needed. We were at each others teeth for the majority of it and Derek kept pressuring just to go directly to Vienna instead and eventually gave up and went to bed, yet I was intent on staying in Salzburg at least for a day and eventually found a hostel in the woods beside the Austrian Alps. Not central but close enough and ended up staying two nights.
Salzburg is renowned for its beautiful architecture and home to Mozart and of course the Sound of Music. On the train we got a private cabin, which was great, constantly reminding us of a James Bond Film(cant recite which).The scenery en route from Munich by train was breathtaking and could easily match or even top the scenery at Loch Lomond and Glencoe. However the main reason for going here and one of the main aims for out strip was to see the Eagle's Nest.
The Eagle's Nest is located in the Bavarian Alps in Berchesgaden (yes in Germany but alike Salzburg in Austria its right on the border). There’s so much history but im not here to write a novel so ill keep it short (at least this section of my post). It was Hitler's teahouse given to him as a present for his 50th birthday. There was breathtaking scenery on the bus journey up the Kehlstein road and then we took a luxurious brass elevator up through the rock into Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest). For fellow Band of Brothers fans, this was the last point taken by the infamous 101st Airborne. Their signature's can still be seen engraved in the fire place in the main room. 1834 meters up the air was thin and it was foggy resulting in a disappointing zero visibility.
However, that aside we were in awe by just being there and decided to be adventurous and walk back down instead (of course going in a circle first of all. These German signs don’t make sense, honestly). Having gone 4 miles down a mountain we are still in agony today. It was certainly worth it though as when we got lower down we could see the Alps and across both Germany and Austria which was breathtaking. So many pictures of course, but ill attach once I have more time.
We ended our stay in Salzburg that night with a walk around the town randomly finding amazing architecture all around. In short, we both agreed it was the most beautiful city either of us have been to as of yet. We went to a low ceiling, very dark bar which reminded us of the Brunswick Cellar but so much better. This night of course ended in shock as we returned to our dorm to find 4 more people in our room which, to begin with was just the 2 of us. They were of course Italian and spoke no English so the light went back off and neither of us slept all night. This being our first experience of shared dorms since a decade odd ago in the scouts. Next morning, we set off for Vienna.
After sleeping for the majority of the train journey we woke up grumpy and moaned for the majority of the evening. Once we had settled at the hostel we bought beers and whisky (four roses for Del of course) and relaxed. Here we met an Irish girl who to date is the more friendly of fellow travelers we have met so far. Played some switch, gin rummy and a few random other card games I swore she just made up off the top of her head as neither of us ever really knew what was happening. Fun none the less, so it was worth it.
Today we slept in but eventually set foot in the centre of Vienna and did the whole touristy thing and saw some of the cities main sites. Lot of nice architecture and certainly one of the weirdest things we have seen so far - a swimming pool attached to a boat, on the Danube Canal. Anyway, walked through a few parks and took a lot of pictures of buildings/statue's/fountains. Then on way home watched an interesting group break dancing in one of the main square's beside a medieval church. Impressive, well at least I thought it was.
Ok, so definitely the longest journal to date, but my fault entirely as ive not updated it for something like a week and at least now that’s us up to date. We have booked accommodation for our next city, Budapest which we well set off to tomorrow afternoon.
Hope your all well
Rory
[Aug. 22nd, 2006|12:47 am]
[ Current Location | Prague ]
[ mood | peaceful ]
Ola.
Once again it’s been a while since ive posted, but it’s been a little crazy over the last week or so to say the least. Overall we were a little disappointed with Vienna and weren’t sorry leaving it the morning after my last journal entry. In all fairness we didn’t experience the night life that anyone defending Vienna seems to rave about, but we're not traveling Europe purely for its architecture and it just gets a little boring after seeing over 15 churches in just one city alone.
So, next morning we headed for Budapest, Hungary. First city we were en route to that we knew nothing about apart from its 'up and coming' night life scene, which was only by word of mouth and not in any of our books. On the train we met a guy from DC, Josh (who has now traveled with us to Krakow and now to Prague). He's traveled over both this year and the last so lot of travel hints here and there has helped us on the way. Our train stopped on the border between Austria and Hungary with intimidating passport checkers storming into our cabin (our first experience of this). They then threw off an Italian kid in the cabin next to us at the next stop which was somewhere in the middle of nowhere which made us nervous. Arriving in Budapest, we knew we were no longer in the Europe we knew. Or in Josh's words 'not in Kansas anymore'. Everything was very Eastern European. Very rural. Some very run-down slum areas. We were almost ready to get the train straight back to Vienna already. Once we reached the train station in Budapest, it was full of backpackers (the most we have seen in one building). We then continued to avoid the drunk that approached us asking 'Are you guys Scottish?' which we immediately replied no, even though he was the friend of the guy at our last hostel who said he would set us up with accommodation in Budapest, he was just bad news so we avoided that and went with Josh to his hostel. We got on the tram going the wrong way to the hostel, then failed to find anyone who could put us in the right direction, even the guy that drove the tram. But got there eventually, didn’t get accommodation there though he called up a friend and got us accommodation elsewhere.
Budapest took us by surprise given our first impressions. We lived like kings eating at an Argentinean Steakhouse we didn’t deserve to eat in and drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol for ridiculous prices. We spent our first day generally walking around the entire city (6 miles odd) and discovering the Sziget festival (week long festival with countless bands, e.g. Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, Prodigy, Placebo). Radiohead played that night though so regretfully we missed them. Budapest has endless amounts of night clubs and bars so I decided to ask a local Hungarian girl where it’s at. Not surprisingly she recommended against a lot of the clubs as they were too expensive, so we went by her suggestion and went to Rudos Romerskt, an outdoor club catering for all tastes. Met a group of Irish and Australian girls in our hostel that night that ended up coming out with us, along with Ed, guy from London. So it ended up being 10 of us out rather than the original 3. Great night, especially when I got lost trying to get Josh back to his hostel. Exchanged numbers with one of the Australian girls Anna, as they are in Berlin same time as we are and want to meet up.
We spend an extra day in Budapest, to then get the night train to Krakow. This train went through Slovakia then into Poland so there were around 4 Border checks which were un-expected. In short Krakow was beautiful, especially the central square and ridiculously cheap to eat and drink. My wallet was stolen on one of our nights out, but there was next to nothing in it apart from one hundred Polish doo daa's which is around 20 quid and more just an inconvenience no longer having my cards which were all blocked. Now just have my money wired to me by my parents via Western Unions which are located all around the world (many in one city alone) so I guess that keeps me strictly to a budget.
Next was our trip to Auschwitz. The place was huge in proportion to our visit to the last camp, Dachou (around 10 times the size). It's hard to believe that anyone on earth could be capable of such atrocities. Our tour guide speed walked us around the camp which really disrupted just trying to take in what we were seeing (in some cases he told us to 'hurry up' which really pissed us off). It also seemed like the guy didn’t really know much apart from what we could read on the plaques and didn’t even explain anything in Berchinau (unbelievably huge) where just a few million people were murdered. We wanted to email a complaint but forgot the guys name so not much point, but in general our anger over-shadowed what to take from the trip to Auschwitz. Although, it still lay heavy in our minds all night and we found it hard to put it aside most of that night.
Went out to a Jazz Rock Club the next night which was like the Cathouse but with more music variety and nicer people. On our last night went to a proper Live Jazz Club. Hearing some famous songs like Sweet Home Alabama in Polish and All Along the Watchtower in a Polish Accent was different but to me any live music with talented musicians is good enough.
Thought id keep this journal a little shorter. I’m writing to you from here in Prague. Our hostel's designed with Soviet architecture so Derek wont shut up about it but its different (ridiculously huge dining hall and high ceilings in all the rooms). We spend our day of arrival walking around the old town and taking pictures and up until the present are drinking in the hostels bar. The clubbing option went out the window as we head for Berlin in the morning to meet David.
Cheers
Rory
[Aug. 27th, 2006|04:02 pm]
[ Current Location | Berlin ]
[ mood | relaxed ]
I now write to you from Berlin on our last day here before we take the sleeper train to Warsaw. After updating the journal in the hostel bar in Prague both Derek and Josh had gone to bed so I just stayed up too late talking to the Barmaid who was of similar age and studied languages at Charles University. We mostly spoke of the night life in Prague which in the end there was an offer to go to a club but checkout was at 9am that morning and it was already almost 4. So I went to sleep and the next afternoon we took the train to Berlin.
Josh decided not to join us and take the train via Frankfurt to Amsterdam where he flew back home from on the 25th. It was good having another traveler tag along with us and we had good times drinking with lengthy discussions about politics and film. On the train we were interrupted by four Italians who insisted on sharing our cabin so we were stuck with them talking aloud when I just wanted to sleep for the 5 hour journey. To our surprise David met is off the train in Berlin, yet not to our surprise he had got lost from the time he arrived getting on platform 9 to who knows where rather than the S9 train. He met us in the end though, which is all that mattered and it was good seeing a familiar face. The Berlin Haupbanhof (Central Station) is ridiculously huge and only just been constructed. It took us a while to find the correct platform to get to our hostel but we got there in the end. The Berlin S-Bahn system is the most complex we have experienced yet but after getting off at the wrong place a few times we got the hang of the journey from our hostel, which was located east of the center, and back again.
The Generator hostel was huge in comparison to anywhere we have stayed so far in our trip. One of the biggest in Europe and one of the top rated in the world. Something like 900 rooms and its own bar and an Internet Cafe that worked. A little more expensive than our usual nights accommodation but we had single rooms and comfortable beds which for me led to a good nights sleep for the first time in a month. We spent 5 days in Berlin. Visited all the sites - Brandenburg Gate(where there was a Kurdistan Hunger Strike but we couldn’t understand why as on their posters they couldn’t spell), Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler’s Bunker(now just a car park for apartments but still there), the Reichstag(which was huge but we were disappointed when we were only allowed up to the roof where the dome is rather than inside it), Museum Island(didn’t visit but walked past and forgot to take a picture of the buildings still laden with bullet holes and general bombardment from the 2nd world war), the Sony Center and(only Derek and David) visited the Sachsanhausen Concentration Camp which had a huge Soviet Memorial. I felt id seen enough concentration camps and decided to just stay at the hostel that day to read and drink. Most of our nights were spent in the hostel drinking either in our room or the bar, where we met a bunch of Irish seniors that were good fun but a little young and on their school trip and among others a group of Scottish guys on their stag weekend. We went out one night to the Matrix Club which was said to be one of the biggest in Berlin but certainly wasn’t the best. It was an interesting task trying to get back to the hostel via the S-Bahn when lets just say not sober.
Overall Berlin was expensive but great fun (even though it rained the majority of the time, just like Munich). We were back to our German Beer and Sausage Diet (or in David's case Beer and Margarita's). Staying somewhere a little longer than one or 2 nights let us fully unpack and relax a little more. Also went to the cinema to see Miami Vice which much to my disappointment, being a fan of Michael Mann and all, was terrible. The cinema was also ridiculously hot which didn’t help.
So that’s us about up to date I think. I will update my journal again either in Warsaw or Riga before we enter Russia on 1st September.
Hope we are all well
Rory
[Sep. 7th, 2006|03:18 pm]
[ Current Location | Moscow ]
[ mood | anxious ]
Greetings from Moscow. Yes, I know I know, no update for over a week, you all thought we were stuck at the Russian Border or somewhere in the Baltic State's trying to bribe officials with Vodka and Onions. We made it and far easier than we thought (getting across the border that is, not the journey getting in).
However, first things first. We took the night train from Berlin to Warsaw and arrived early morning. Still raining of course like most of our journey so we were tired and miserable. Greeted by Hostel Info people we were given accommodation quickly and driven to the door for free which was a relief. Slept a few hours then walked around Old Town which was fairly unimpressive (similar to our overall impression of Warsaw). Staying in a mixed dorm we met fellow backpackers, two English girls who had came to the end of their trip and had the 'seen it all and nothing you can say will interest us' attitude which in all fairness they had but that’s not the point. We got on a lot better with two Canadian's, Lindsay and Scott, who were just at the beginning of their trip around Europe and a lot of fun.
Watched some films in English (Pulp Fiction, Lost in Translation...not dubbed like everywhere else) and drank some cheap polish beer and vodka. Next day went to Old Town again to try and be impressed but it rained so we just got wet. Only highlight of Warsaw was the Ice Bar (bar made out of Ice) which we had all heard about (not the one in Warsaw) and was an impressive first time experience for all of us. Our clothes were still wet so they froze solid (like we did) which was hilarious. Got a bit drunk, exchanged emails then got on the sleeper train back to Berlin.
On finding out the day before that we couldn’t get a train through Lithuania and Latvia to St Pete's for the 1st of September we had to figure out(with help from our parents thankfully) how we would get there on time. Ended up going back to Berlin after 3 nights in Warsaw, then flying to Tallinn in Estonia, spent 5 hours there overwhelmed by certainly the most preserved Old Town's (13th - 14th century) and impressive of the many Old Town's we have visited on our trip. Had some great Estonian Cider (can’t remember the name but need to find out). Really wanted to stay overnight but had to return to the bus station where our luggage was locked in the luggage store that we didn’t know closed an hour earlier than usual. Moment of Panic but it happens all the time with fellow backpackers apprently so a guy kindly opened it up again.
Then comes the horrible overnight 9 hour bus journey with crazy Russians in unbearable heat, guy on front of me practically sleeping on my lap in his chair but I just listened to some Boards of Canada (Derek has me hooked now) and Radiohead Amnesiac which kept me sane, into St Pete's where we were on the border confused by papers we had to fill out but unable to understand as it was all in Russian. Thankfully we weren’t the only tourists who were lost and a Russian guy helped us out and we were across the border without any real problems (surprisingly).
St Pete's reminded us of Budapest, very Eastern compared to modern western cities and well, so Russian. Looks like the 80's. All driving Lada's and driving like maniacs (they overtake on the tram tracks and don’t stop for pedestrians. Crossing the road even has a 20 second timer, sometimes just 10 for you to cross the road that’s like crossing a formula 1 track before the race begins. Drivers nervously reving their engines..crazy). There were also a lot of homeless people inspecting the bins, right outside our apartment also which was horrible. Had a lot of trouble finding our accommodation in St Pete's so had to call the owner who was nice and gave us a free upgrade to an apartment style mini hostel which must have been way beyond our budget, but at no extra charge so didn’t matter.
Spent our first day walking around St Pete's 46 Islands (nope, we didn’t know either). Only saw a small portion of the huge city but it was impressive (and not raining, wow). There was a huge fountain in the middle of the river and being a Saturday, 8 weddings at the bay simultaneously which was strange but we found from local knowledge its tradition for Russians on their Wedding Day to visit all of their Country/Cities main sites. Went to the artillery museum which was cool, saw the Hermitage, Winter Palace, Summer Palace (but didn’t go in, Derek did the following day but I didn’t as it was expensive without student ID). Said it was amazing inside but didn’t take any pictures. Wewanted to return the next day but regretfully wasted it with delay getting my passport registered and unable to get help for train ticket to Moscow.
Quite simply they don’t give a shit about tourists. Don’t want to help. Real big change to anywhere else. Of course there’s even more trouble with the language. Alphabet is mental. Triangles and shit in there. Got lost trying to find a Club that used to be a bunker, saw a girl on a horse in the middle of the road, drinking a beer of course which was like something out of Lost. Struggled to sleep at all during the nights as it was so loud outside and needed the windows open as it was unbearably hot if we closed it. Cold outside but lot of Mosquito's which I didn’t expect (first bite in Warsaw, another 50 here). In short, like all cities we have visited, so much to see yet such little time.
Eventually took the overnight train to Moscow where we were of course at the end carriage of a mile long train which was crazy. Shared a sleeper cabin with two Russians, one a student(Alena) who could speak English and Roma who didn’t but studied Scotland and thought he was the Russian Robin Hood, or something. Me being me ended up talking to them through the night or, well, Alena translating everything for Roma but we had a nice selection of random conversations.
Arrived Moscow station spaced and impatient. People in our hostel gave us simple directions(but seemed like rocket science in our state) We were then introduced to the palace-like metro stations which certainly woke us up. The Trans Siberian Hostel we are staying in, which is where im writing from now is smaller than expected but far more homely and cozy and forces you really to socialize with fellow backpackers, the majority heading further east on crazy 5 day train trips(we thought 15 hours was a record) to Mongolia, China etc.
We have 6 nights here in the last city of our trip which already easily has the potential to be the best. Able to chill out, relax a little unlike anywhere else (aside's from maybe Berlin). Bars and clubs waiting for us, along with the majority of the friendly company in the hostel, including the French owner, Francois who is the modern day Napoleon and the very friendly Darya who has been keeping me company while hungover and trying and failing to watch Russian Dubbed Films.
We have around 500 photo's collectively , not including David's photos from Berlin, to upload when we return home(fly back on 9/11 of all days) so you can all look at the pictures and see everything im talking about.
Good news is my next entry will be shorter and concluding our trip, appart from Derek's additional comments that will probably never be added.
Take Care
Rory
[Sep. 12th, 2006|08:49 pm]
[ Current Location | Home ]
[ mood | accomplished ]
[ music | Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy ]
I write to you now from Glasgow, Scotland. Home at last, after 6 nights in Moscow of seeing all the sites(Red Square, Kremlin, St. Basil's etc) and for the first time in our 6 weeks of traveling being able to take it easy and relax. The Trans-Siberian Hostel we were staying in was excellent and we can only rate it higher than its 95% rating on HostelWorld.com. It’s an uncommonly small, homely, cozy hostel and with the social kitchen area right outside the dorms all staying there are forced to socialize which is really what we were looking for as an end to our trip. Nights in to chill out with fellow backpackers with of course the odd night out and a few crazy traditional Vodka and Pancake parties courtesy of the wonderful Darya.
We had a few memorable moments in Moscow. The two Australian girls Kerryn and Fiona who continually questioning everyone who 'this guy Chi' was. We eventually found out they meant Che Guevara (had to be there I guess, but it was hilarious);Fiona spaced out forgetting her shoes and having to take her bag out of the luggage store twice for her camera and her keys (lady at the store wasn’t happy) then having to go back to the hostel for her student card to get a discount on the ticket to the Kremlin; Walking around the Kremlin with them spaced out unable to identify what anything was and doing daft poses outside all the main monuments; The American Derek convinced that he was from Kazakhstan; Talking to Kate(an Irish Film Student) about film all night and ending up getting no sleep before our journey home.
We met a lot of brave backpackers doing the trans-siberian tour, traveling for months on end(some for years), 5 day train journeys and in general such a grander scale of a journey compared to the short lived, condensed trip we have had. Exchanged emails with many of them who I intend to stay in touch with for an almost certain 2nd trip next year (some of them will still be traveling by then). Think 6 weeks is a long time? Some of them have been traveling for years.
So im at home now, with no excuse or any reason for a delay in uploading all the pictures, so ill get to that over the next couple of days and leave a link at the bottom of this post once they're all up. With many more to come as I receive them by mail. All in all there should be around 700 photos for you all to feast your eyes on.
So I hope you have all enjoyed reading my journal as much as I have writing about our adventure and of course experiencing it. I've gone back and edited everything so that its more readable and with no spelling mistakes. Seen so many places of which I intend to return to in the future. Met so many amazing people who I would never have met if I hadn’t taken this journey and of who I intend to keep in touch with for journeys to come. Derek may eventually add some of his input to our journal, but I doubt it.
"This is not the tale of impressive deeds. It's a piece of two lives taken in a moment along a given path, with identity of aspirations and a conjunction of dreams"
-Ernesto 'Che' Guevara de la Serna
*Ive uploaded all of mine and most of David's pictures so far onto my Photobucket Galleries.Ill tag pictures into each journal entry and properly name the pictures once I have more time. Thought id just get them uploaded for you guys to see first. Here's the link, enjoy:
http://s114.photobucket.com/albums/n241/Rorxy/
Rory
Good memories.
Enjoy :)
R
[Aug. 4th, 2006|11:15 am]
[ Current Location | Munich ]
Decided it is best to create one of these journals online rather than to read back on my written journals that even I myself cannot understand with my infamously shocking hand-writing.
After my brief weeks vacation to Rhodes Island, Greece I now write from Munich, after 2 days in Frankfurt. Time is about to expire on here so ill add more later in the day.
Rory
[Aug. 5th, 2006|03:47 am]
Finally found a cheap internet cafe in the centre of Munich where ive been able to book a few hours at least to write something meaningful.
So where do I start, my week in Rhodes was brief but memorable. Faleraki was a bit mental for me. It’s up and coming but sure to be the next Benidorm. Avoided the majority of the bars that just screamed trouble yet still attended all the major events like the massive Beach Party(claiming to be the biggest in Europe) that went on all night and where I met hundreds of people and a Foam Party which, in short for those of you who have been to one - was nuts. The rest of the week I spent relaxing at the local pool bar and talking nonsense with the locals. I was taken aback by how friendly the locals were. I have always made an assumption from my holiday in Cyprus a few years ago that the Greeks were very rude and not friendly at all. But I was wrong. Anyway, overall Greece was everything I was looking for, a time to relax and do almost nothing, but on the side have a bit of fun and try(and of course fail) not to spend too much money. To get more up to date, I fly back after a week and 2 days later im off to Frankfurt with Del.
After landing in Frankfurt we had our first shot at being tourists, looking completely lost and failing to find anyone that speaks English. This was just the simple (not for us) task of finding the right bus to go from the Airport to the Centre. Eventually we figured it out and then found our hotel was situated in the middle of the red light district.....which was interesting. A warm welcome to the city. Only spent a few days in this city. Known as 'Mainhattan' for all its skyscrapers (has something like 9 out of the 10 largest in the country which were impressive to look at). In short we just drank some good beers and got lost a lot trying to get back to the hostel a bit mashed. On the 3rd we leave for Munich.
The train journey is lengthy but comfortable, at least up until before the kids behind us start crying once a start dozing off. Not had much of a chance practicing our limited German so at least now we make a fool of ourselves testing it out on someone who speaks perfect English. The last few days in Munich have been amazing. The beer gardens are immense (some seat over 5000) and of course the beer is just unbelievably good. Derek and myself have gone a little over budget already with our expensive addiction to Stine's, which if are basically large jugs of 2 and a half pints worth of quality beer.
Yesterday we visited the Deutch Museum which was just huge, with loads of interesting stuff like fighter planes V2 Rockets and U-Boats. Got lost of course in the maze of weird German stuff, but eventually found Derek again about an hour later outside. Last night we followed an Australian tour group and went around a few beer halls which were just nuts. Walked around and got free trams all over the place, ending up in a youth hostel which to our surprise and luck was right round the corner from our hostel. Met a few Australians, really loud and a little too crazy. Still trying to get used to the fact that everyone seems to smoke here. Most likely because I was getting used to the Smoking Ban back home.
Today we visited a market and saw weird fruit and ate surprise surprise, more sausages. We meet Maja in an hour, who might be able to translate half the stuff we are clueless about and show us the more student areas. Possible bar crawl later, certainly a continuation of our daily diet of beer and sausages which ill pretend at least for now is good for you. Forgot to bring the USB cable so all the pictures will have to be uploaded at a later date. Hopefully my next post won’t be so lengthy.
Cheers for now
Rory
[Aug. 6th, 2006|07:37 am]
Yesterday we were shown around Munich by Maja, had some traditional food and saw the University. Food was good, but it was raining for our outdoor adventure and without a jacket, made me miserable. Got the underground back, which was an experience, the place is huge, whole world under there. Not as complex as London though.
Today we visited Dachou, one of the oldest and the first of the concentration camps. A little heavy going, but interesting none the less. Anyway, decided id keep this post a little shorter and ive spent most of the time adding all the photos so far to the Gallery. Some are horizontal im afraid but net cafe won’t allow me to edit them but when I find somewhere I can, I will. In response to Simon, our next stop will be Salzburg, Austria in a couple of days, Tuesday to be precise. Place of birth of Mozart and of course the setting of the Sound of Music (cringe).
Tata
Rory
[Aug. 11th, 2006|02:42 pm]
[ Current Location | Vienna ]
[ mood | determined ]
Ok I give up now before I end up smashing this PC. I attached image tags to my gallery however it seems you need an account to view the pictures....ill find a way around it eventually. Ok, just to update you since my last entry, it’s been a while so I don’t think ill be brief this time.
For our last day in Munich surprisingly we avoided the beer and sausages and met with Maja again early and went to the Olympic Village. Here was an impressive stadium, swimming pool, lake and more. There was also a tower where we went to the top and could see around the whole of Munich. Made us realize how huge the city is and how little of it we have seen. We then went to a Chapel that she liked where del and I were instantly stunned by what was to see inside. Judging by our silence Maja assumed we weren’t interested but it’s definitely one of the most breathtaking sights we have seen as of yet.
After a bit of lunch we went for a walk around Palace Gardens(ill add the name once I remember) which was certainly a change of scenery for such a busy city. Maja continually questioned my silence and thought there was something wrong, but I was fine. It was peaceful and reminded of my frequent trips up to Lewis when I was younger (which I only wish I could go so often these days), going for that very same reason - a little peace from the intensity of city life. Even though this was only for a couple of hours, it certainly paced things down a little and gave us time to relax and for once not have to be getting a train somewhere or booking accommodation here and there. It was definitely worth it. Maja had to leave us after our walk so we said our goodbyes and went to book our accommodation for Salzburg, Austria. This 'simple' task took between us around 7 hours of internet searches and a helpful hand from our hostel owner to find what we needed. We were at each others teeth for the majority of it and Derek kept pressuring just to go directly to Vienna instead and eventually gave up and went to bed, yet I was intent on staying in Salzburg at least for a day and eventually found a hostel in the woods beside the Austrian Alps. Not central but close enough and ended up staying two nights.
Salzburg is renowned for its beautiful architecture and home to Mozart and of course the Sound of Music. On the train we got a private cabin, which was great, constantly reminding us of a James Bond Film(cant recite which).The scenery en route from Munich by train was breathtaking and could easily match or even top the scenery at Loch Lomond and Glencoe. However the main reason for going here and one of the main aims for out strip was to see the Eagle's Nest.
The Eagle's Nest is located in the Bavarian Alps in Berchesgaden (yes in Germany but alike Salzburg in Austria its right on the border). There’s so much history but im not here to write a novel so ill keep it short (at least this section of my post). It was Hitler's teahouse given to him as a present for his 50th birthday. There was breathtaking scenery on the bus journey up the Kehlstein road and then we took a luxurious brass elevator up through the rock into Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest). For fellow Band of Brothers fans, this was the last point taken by the infamous 101st Airborne. Their signature's can still be seen engraved in the fire place in the main room. 1834 meters up the air was thin and it was foggy resulting in a disappointing zero visibility.
However, that aside we were in awe by just being there and decided to be adventurous and walk back down instead (of course going in a circle first of all. These German signs don’t make sense, honestly). Having gone 4 miles down a mountain we are still in agony today. It was certainly worth it though as when we got lower down we could see the Alps and across both Germany and Austria which was breathtaking. So many pictures of course, but ill attach once I have more time.
We ended our stay in Salzburg that night with a walk around the town randomly finding amazing architecture all around. In short, we both agreed it was the most beautiful city either of us have been to as of yet. We went to a low ceiling, very dark bar which reminded us of the Brunswick Cellar but so much better. This night of course ended in shock as we returned to our dorm to find 4 more people in our room which, to begin with was just the 2 of us. They were of course Italian and spoke no English so the light went back off and neither of us slept all night. This being our first experience of shared dorms since a decade odd ago in the scouts. Next morning, we set off for Vienna.
After sleeping for the majority of the train journey we woke up grumpy and moaned for the majority of the evening. Once we had settled at the hostel we bought beers and whisky (four roses for Del of course) and relaxed. Here we met an Irish girl who to date is the more friendly of fellow travelers we have met so far. Played some switch, gin rummy and a few random other card games I swore she just made up off the top of her head as neither of us ever really knew what was happening. Fun none the less, so it was worth it.
Today we slept in but eventually set foot in the centre of Vienna and did the whole touristy thing and saw some of the cities main sites. Lot of nice architecture and certainly one of the weirdest things we have seen so far - a swimming pool attached to a boat, on the Danube Canal. Anyway, walked through a few parks and took a lot of pictures of buildings/statue's/fountains. Then on way home watched an interesting group break dancing in one of the main square's beside a medieval church. Impressive, well at least I thought it was.
Ok, so definitely the longest journal to date, but my fault entirely as ive not updated it for something like a week and at least now that’s us up to date. We have booked accommodation for our next city, Budapest which we well set off to tomorrow afternoon.
Hope your all well
Rory
[Aug. 22nd, 2006|12:47 am]
[ Current Location | Prague ]
[ mood | peaceful ]
Ola.
Once again it’s been a while since ive posted, but it’s been a little crazy over the last week or so to say the least. Overall we were a little disappointed with Vienna and weren’t sorry leaving it the morning after my last journal entry. In all fairness we didn’t experience the night life that anyone defending Vienna seems to rave about, but we're not traveling Europe purely for its architecture and it just gets a little boring after seeing over 15 churches in just one city alone.
So, next morning we headed for Budapest, Hungary. First city we were en route to that we knew nothing about apart from its 'up and coming' night life scene, which was only by word of mouth and not in any of our books. On the train we met a guy from DC, Josh (who has now traveled with us to Krakow and now to Prague). He's traveled over both this year and the last so lot of travel hints here and there has helped us on the way. Our train stopped on the border between Austria and Hungary with intimidating passport checkers storming into our cabin (our first experience of this). They then threw off an Italian kid in the cabin next to us at the next stop which was somewhere in the middle of nowhere which made us nervous. Arriving in Budapest, we knew we were no longer in the Europe we knew. Or in Josh's words 'not in Kansas anymore'. Everything was very Eastern European. Very rural. Some very run-down slum areas. We were almost ready to get the train straight back to Vienna already. Once we reached the train station in Budapest, it was full of backpackers (the most we have seen in one building). We then continued to avoid the drunk that approached us asking 'Are you guys Scottish?' which we immediately replied no, even though he was the friend of the guy at our last hostel who said he would set us up with accommodation in Budapest, he was just bad news so we avoided that and went with Josh to his hostel. We got on the tram going the wrong way to the hostel, then failed to find anyone who could put us in the right direction, even the guy that drove the tram. But got there eventually, didn’t get accommodation there though he called up a friend and got us accommodation elsewhere.
Budapest took us by surprise given our first impressions. We lived like kings eating at an Argentinean Steakhouse we didn’t deserve to eat in and drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol for ridiculous prices. We spent our first day generally walking around the entire city (6 miles odd) and discovering the Sziget festival (week long festival with countless bands, e.g. Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, Prodigy, Placebo). Radiohead played that night though so regretfully we missed them. Budapest has endless amounts of night clubs and bars so I decided to ask a local Hungarian girl where it’s at. Not surprisingly she recommended against a lot of the clubs as they were too expensive, so we went by her suggestion and went to Rudos Romerskt, an outdoor club catering for all tastes. Met a group of Irish and Australian girls in our hostel that night that ended up coming out with us, along with Ed, guy from London. So it ended up being 10 of us out rather than the original 3. Great night, especially when I got lost trying to get Josh back to his hostel. Exchanged numbers with one of the Australian girls Anna, as they are in Berlin same time as we are and want to meet up.
We spend an extra day in Budapest, to then get the night train to Krakow. This train went through Slovakia then into Poland so there were around 4 Border checks which were un-expected. In short Krakow was beautiful, especially the central square and ridiculously cheap to eat and drink. My wallet was stolen on one of our nights out, but there was next to nothing in it apart from one hundred Polish doo daa's which is around 20 quid and more just an inconvenience no longer having my cards which were all blocked. Now just have my money wired to me by my parents via Western Unions which are located all around the world (many in one city alone) so I guess that keeps me strictly to a budget.
Next was our trip to Auschwitz. The place was huge in proportion to our visit to the last camp, Dachou (around 10 times the size). It's hard to believe that anyone on earth could be capable of such atrocities. Our tour guide speed walked us around the camp which really disrupted just trying to take in what we were seeing (in some cases he told us to 'hurry up' which really pissed us off). It also seemed like the guy didn’t really know much apart from what we could read on the plaques and didn’t even explain anything in Berchinau (unbelievably huge) where just a few million people were murdered. We wanted to email a complaint but forgot the guys name so not much point, but in general our anger over-shadowed what to take from the trip to Auschwitz. Although, it still lay heavy in our minds all night and we found it hard to put it aside most of that night.
Went out to a Jazz Rock Club the next night which was like the Cathouse but with more music variety and nicer people. On our last night went to a proper Live Jazz Club. Hearing some famous songs like Sweet Home Alabama in Polish and All Along the Watchtower in a Polish Accent was different but to me any live music with talented musicians is good enough.
Thought id keep this journal a little shorter. I’m writing to you from here in Prague. Our hostel's designed with Soviet architecture so Derek wont shut up about it but its different (ridiculously huge dining hall and high ceilings in all the rooms). We spend our day of arrival walking around the old town and taking pictures and up until the present are drinking in the hostels bar. The clubbing option went out the window as we head for Berlin in the morning to meet David.
Cheers
Rory
[Aug. 27th, 2006|04:02 pm]
[ Current Location | Berlin ]
[ mood | relaxed ]
I now write to you from Berlin on our last day here before we take the sleeper train to Warsaw. After updating the journal in the hostel bar in Prague both Derek and Josh had gone to bed so I just stayed up too late talking to the Barmaid who was of similar age and studied languages at Charles University. We mostly spoke of the night life in Prague which in the end there was an offer to go to a club but checkout was at 9am that morning and it was already almost 4. So I went to sleep and the next afternoon we took the train to Berlin.
Josh decided not to join us and take the train via Frankfurt to Amsterdam where he flew back home from on the 25th. It was good having another traveler tag along with us and we had good times drinking with lengthy discussions about politics and film. On the train we were interrupted by four Italians who insisted on sharing our cabin so we were stuck with them talking aloud when I just wanted to sleep for the 5 hour journey. To our surprise David met is off the train in Berlin, yet not to our surprise he had got lost from the time he arrived getting on platform 9 to who knows where rather than the S9 train. He met us in the end though, which is all that mattered and it was good seeing a familiar face. The Berlin Haupbanhof (Central Station) is ridiculously huge and only just been constructed. It took us a while to find the correct platform to get to our hostel but we got there in the end. The Berlin S-Bahn system is the most complex we have experienced yet but after getting off at the wrong place a few times we got the hang of the journey from our hostel, which was located east of the center, and back again.
The Generator hostel was huge in comparison to anywhere we have stayed so far in our trip. One of the biggest in Europe and one of the top rated in the world. Something like 900 rooms and its own bar and an Internet Cafe that worked. A little more expensive than our usual nights accommodation but we had single rooms and comfortable beds which for me led to a good nights sleep for the first time in a month. We spent 5 days in Berlin. Visited all the sites - Brandenburg Gate(where there was a Kurdistan Hunger Strike but we couldn’t understand why as on their posters they couldn’t spell), Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler’s Bunker(now just a car park for apartments but still there), the Reichstag(which was huge but we were disappointed when we were only allowed up to the roof where the dome is rather than inside it), Museum Island(didn’t visit but walked past and forgot to take a picture of the buildings still laden with bullet holes and general bombardment from the 2nd world war), the Sony Center and(only Derek and David) visited the Sachsanhausen Concentration Camp which had a huge Soviet Memorial. I felt id seen enough concentration camps and decided to just stay at the hostel that day to read and drink. Most of our nights were spent in the hostel drinking either in our room or the bar, where we met a bunch of Irish seniors that were good fun but a little young and on their school trip and among others a group of Scottish guys on their stag weekend. We went out one night to the Matrix Club which was said to be one of the biggest in Berlin but certainly wasn’t the best. It was an interesting task trying to get back to the hostel via the S-Bahn when lets just say not sober.
Overall Berlin was expensive but great fun (even though it rained the majority of the time, just like Munich). We were back to our German Beer and Sausage Diet (or in David's case Beer and Margarita's). Staying somewhere a little longer than one or 2 nights let us fully unpack and relax a little more. Also went to the cinema to see Miami Vice which much to my disappointment, being a fan of Michael Mann and all, was terrible. The cinema was also ridiculously hot which didn’t help.
So that’s us about up to date I think. I will update my journal again either in Warsaw or Riga before we enter Russia on 1st September.
Hope we are all well
Rory
[Sep. 7th, 2006|03:18 pm]
[ Current Location | Moscow ]
[ mood | anxious ]
Greetings from Moscow. Yes, I know I know, no update for over a week, you all thought we were stuck at the Russian Border or somewhere in the Baltic State's trying to bribe officials with Vodka and Onions. We made it and far easier than we thought (getting across the border that is, not the journey getting in).
However, first things first. We took the night train from Berlin to Warsaw and arrived early morning. Still raining of course like most of our journey so we were tired and miserable. Greeted by Hostel Info people we were given accommodation quickly and driven to the door for free which was a relief. Slept a few hours then walked around Old Town which was fairly unimpressive (similar to our overall impression of Warsaw). Staying in a mixed dorm we met fellow backpackers, two English girls who had came to the end of their trip and had the 'seen it all and nothing you can say will interest us' attitude which in all fairness they had but that’s not the point. We got on a lot better with two Canadian's, Lindsay and Scott, who were just at the beginning of their trip around Europe and a lot of fun.
Watched some films in English (Pulp Fiction, Lost in Translation...not dubbed like everywhere else) and drank some cheap polish beer and vodka. Next day went to Old Town again to try and be impressed but it rained so we just got wet. Only highlight of Warsaw was the Ice Bar (bar made out of Ice) which we had all heard about (not the one in Warsaw) and was an impressive first time experience for all of us. Our clothes were still wet so they froze solid (like we did) which was hilarious. Got a bit drunk, exchanged emails then got on the sleeper train back to Berlin.
On finding out the day before that we couldn’t get a train through Lithuania and Latvia to St Pete's for the 1st of September we had to figure out(with help from our parents thankfully) how we would get there on time. Ended up going back to Berlin after 3 nights in Warsaw, then flying to Tallinn in Estonia, spent 5 hours there overwhelmed by certainly the most preserved Old Town's (13th - 14th century) and impressive of the many Old Town's we have visited on our trip. Had some great Estonian Cider (can’t remember the name but need to find out). Really wanted to stay overnight but had to return to the bus station where our luggage was locked in the luggage store that we didn’t know closed an hour earlier than usual. Moment of Panic but it happens all the time with fellow backpackers apprently so a guy kindly opened it up again.
Then comes the horrible overnight 9 hour bus journey with crazy Russians in unbearable heat, guy on front of me practically sleeping on my lap in his chair but I just listened to some Boards of Canada (Derek has me hooked now) and Radiohead Amnesiac which kept me sane, into St Pete's where we were on the border confused by papers we had to fill out but unable to understand as it was all in Russian. Thankfully we weren’t the only tourists who were lost and a Russian guy helped us out and we were across the border without any real problems (surprisingly).
St Pete's reminded us of Budapest, very Eastern compared to modern western cities and well, so Russian. Looks like the 80's. All driving Lada's and driving like maniacs (they overtake on the tram tracks and don’t stop for pedestrians. Crossing the road even has a 20 second timer, sometimes just 10 for you to cross the road that’s like crossing a formula 1 track before the race begins. Drivers nervously reving their engines..crazy). There were also a lot of homeless people inspecting the bins, right outside our apartment also which was horrible. Had a lot of trouble finding our accommodation in St Pete's so had to call the owner who was nice and gave us a free upgrade to an apartment style mini hostel which must have been way beyond our budget, but at no extra charge so didn’t matter.
Spent our first day walking around St Pete's 46 Islands (nope, we didn’t know either). Only saw a small portion of the huge city but it was impressive (and not raining, wow). There was a huge fountain in the middle of the river and being a Saturday, 8 weddings at the bay simultaneously which was strange but we found from local knowledge its tradition for Russians on their Wedding Day to visit all of their Country/Cities main sites. Went to the artillery museum which was cool, saw the Hermitage, Winter Palace, Summer Palace (but didn’t go in, Derek did the following day but I didn’t as it was expensive without student ID). Said it was amazing inside but didn’t take any pictures. Wewanted to return the next day but regretfully wasted it with delay getting my passport registered and unable to get help for train ticket to Moscow.
Quite simply they don’t give a shit about tourists. Don’t want to help. Real big change to anywhere else. Of course there’s even more trouble with the language. Alphabet is mental. Triangles and shit in there. Got lost trying to find a Club that used to be a bunker, saw a girl on a horse in the middle of the road, drinking a beer of course which was like something out of Lost. Struggled to sleep at all during the nights as it was so loud outside and needed the windows open as it was unbearably hot if we closed it. Cold outside but lot of Mosquito's which I didn’t expect (first bite in Warsaw, another 50 here). In short, like all cities we have visited, so much to see yet such little time.
Eventually took the overnight train to Moscow where we were of course at the end carriage of a mile long train which was crazy. Shared a sleeper cabin with two Russians, one a student(Alena) who could speak English and Roma who didn’t but studied Scotland and thought he was the Russian Robin Hood, or something. Me being me ended up talking to them through the night or, well, Alena translating everything for Roma but we had a nice selection of random conversations.
Arrived Moscow station spaced and impatient. People in our hostel gave us simple directions(but seemed like rocket science in our state) We were then introduced to the palace-like metro stations which certainly woke us up. The Trans Siberian Hostel we are staying in, which is where im writing from now is smaller than expected but far more homely and cozy and forces you really to socialize with fellow backpackers, the majority heading further east on crazy 5 day train trips(we thought 15 hours was a record) to Mongolia, China etc.
We have 6 nights here in the last city of our trip which already easily has the potential to be the best. Able to chill out, relax a little unlike anywhere else (aside's from maybe Berlin). Bars and clubs waiting for us, along with the majority of the friendly company in the hostel, including the French owner, Francois who is the modern day Napoleon and the very friendly Darya who has been keeping me company while hungover and trying and failing to watch Russian Dubbed Films.
We have around 500 photo's collectively , not including David's photos from Berlin, to upload when we return home(fly back on 9/11 of all days) so you can all look at the pictures and see everything im talking about.
Good news is my next entry will be shorter and concluding our trip, appart from Derek's additional comments that will probably never be added.
Take Care
Rory
[Sep. 12th, 2006|08:49 pm]
[ Current Location | Home ]
[ mood | accomplished ]
[ music | Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy ]
I write to you now from Glasgow, Scotland. Home at last, after 6 nights in Moscow of seeing all the sites(Red Square, Kremlin, St. Basil's etc) and for the first time in our 6 weeks of traveling being able to take it easy and relax. The Trans-Siberian Hostel we were staying in was excellent and we can only rate it higher than its 95% rating on HostelWorld.com. It’s an uncommonly small, homely, cozy hostel and with the social kitchen area right outside the dorms all staying there are forced to socialize which is really what we were looking for as an end to our trip. Nights in to chill out with fellow backpackers with of course the odd night out and a few crazy traditional Vodka and Pancake parties courtesy of the wonderful Darya.
We had a few memorable moments in Moscow. The two Australian girls Kerryn and Fiona who continually questioning everyone who 'this guy Chi' was. We eventually found out they meant Che Guevara (had to be there I guess, but it was hilarious);Fiona spaced out forgetting her shoes and having to take her bag out of the luggage store twice for her camera and her keys (lady at the store wasn’t happy) then having to go back to the hostel for her student card to get a discount on the ticket to the Kremlin; Walking around the Kremlin with them spaced out unable to identify what anything was and doing daft poses outside all the main monuments; The American Derek convinced that he was from Kazakhstan; Talking to Kate(an Irish Film Student) about film all night and ending up getting no sleep before our journey home.
We met a lot of brave backpackers doing the trans-siberian tour, traveling for months on end(some for years), 5 day train journeys and in general such a grander scale of a journey compared to the short lived, condensed trip we have had. Exchanged emails with many of them who I intend to stay in touch with for an almost certain 2nd trip next year (some of them will still be traveling by then). Think 6 weeks is a long time? Some of them have been traveling for years.
So im at home now, with no excuse or any reason for a delay in uploading all the pictures, so ill get to that over the next couple of days and leave a link at the bottom of this post once they're all up. With many more to come as I receive them by mail. All in all there should be around 700 photos for you all to feast your eyes on.
So I hope you have all enjoyed reading my journal as much as I have writing about our adventure and of course experiencing it. I've gone back and edited everything so that its more readable and with no spelling mistakes. Seen so many places of which I intend to return to in the future. Met so many amazing people who I would never have met if I hadn’t taken this journey and of who I intend to keep in touch with for journeys to come. Derek may eventually add some of his input to our journal, but I doubt it.
"This is not the tale of impressive deeds. It's a piece of two lives taken in a moment along a given path, with identity of aspirations and a conjunction of dreams"
-Ernesto 'Che' Guevara de la Serna
*Ive uploaded all of mine and most of David's pictures so far onto my Photobucket Galleries.Ill tag pictures into each journal entry and properly name the pictures once I have more time. Thought id just get them uploaded for you guys to see first. Here's the link, enjoy:
http://s114.photobucket.com/albums/n241/Rorxy/
Rory
Filming, Tarantino, No More SMO - 132 Days Ago
I have to say I knew very little about Kilmartin. Noone seemed to know where it was or even recognise it’s name – Kill what? Did you say you killed Martin? Martin who? After 2 days off work with a touch of a bad cold, I wait for my taxi to arrive at home. It’s past half 10 and my laptop has just restarted itself randomly – while I was in the middle of FINALLY sending that email that Catriona has emailed me daily to remind me about. Think I spent a fresh half hour writing out in far much more detail than required, a Gaelic Academic Blog if you like, notes on all 10 of the attachments I was sending away as evidence of work.
We set off for Kilmartin and we arrive at the museum 2 hours later – roughly. Have lunch. The scenic Kilmartin after 2 days, 2 nights and a morning filming at the museum and out and around at Dunadd Fort, Standing Stones and the Stonehenge of the north – Templewood where I rip my jeans on a wall so bad that the leg is hanging off. Gaffer tape it up. Job Done! Accomodation we stay in is pretty scary. Middle of nowhere. A Norman Bates-like character who runs the place with his wife. Claims they are both Italian while we are at our breakfast and I almost spit half my food out and fail to hide laughing – this guy does not look Italian AT ALL. Like Bill Gates – geeky, glasses, pale skin, shorts, weird t-shirts, knee high white socks. Funny stuff. Seems to be a real struggle at night also where we order beers. 2 Pipers Gold and 2 Fraoch ta. 2 + 2 = 5 yeh?
Next up is Kelvingrove on Friday and Saturday. Was really looking forward to filming here. It’s great. Get a chance to go free with the camera and film whatever. Few Lock-Off’s, I get some shots of Glasgow Uni and the City from the roof. Literally on the edge. Only an 80 foot drop so sure it was safe……wrap party afterwards. Indian food is great. Lismore after where we bump into Ken MacQuarrie(head BBC Scotland), Donnie Dotaman and Carrie’s mum. The first 2 give us a smile and a nod. Speak to Carrie’s mum for a bit. Not seen her in years. Have a bit of drunken chat with bossman Les about travelling, Russian Mafia and the rest I fail to remember. Think I expressed interest in working with them when my course was done but it’s ok he doesn’t remember what we spoke about either.
Film The Lemings gig at BOX.with Cailean – 3 Camera’s, 2 HH (myself and Cailean at the front) – look forward to seeing it in the Edit. Should be great. Ronnie came out for the gig also so we go for a walk and catch up. End up going to Steak and Cherry for tea and pancakes and talk about this that and everything.
Dinner with Ewan at Chinaski’s. End up going to the QM after – not been for years. Play some pool and down the Kopparberg. End up playing double’s against some Freshers. They all look about 15 and I feel like their parents. We win almost every game. Good times. Even the guys fancy us we’re that good. They’d all been working at Retrofest – a girl I recognise as she works at the Art School – sad isn’t it. Guy Rob who asks us for a game is pretty smashed but clearly pretty good at pool./ clenches onto his empty bottle of magners for at least half an hour. Holding onto it like his life.
Meet ross after work and we go for a drink. Ronnie’s on the way into town but takes ages. Must have ben grooming that fantastic handlebar moustache. He eventually joins us in Failte and we debate where we’re going for dinner. 10 minutes of debate later and we decide to go to Ad Lib Bar and Grill. Great food. Good Service. Get a text from Joanne saying Derek Carol and herself are out at Driftwood. We decide to go join them….which by the time we reach Sauchiehall they are in Campus………yeh so few drinks in the magic of a place then we decide to head to the Ben Nevis……not exactly nearby so it’s last orders pretty much by the time we get there. Great being out with Ross and Ronnie never get to hang around with schoolfriends once your all grown up and gone your own way. Good being out with Cursa TV also….everyone seems far happier and less stressed being free from the course and major stressbowl that is SMO. Actually cannot be fucked with Graduation in October so if I cannot just graduate with Absentia ill just not bother fuckin going!
Slept in for work the next day as I was still drunk in the morning and half asleep I assumed the sound of my alarm was….something else. It’s Friday! I decide at around 12 while in work trying very hard to be busy doing fucking transcripts that I’m gonna go to Inverness for the weekend to see Kirsty. Yes. Lets do it. Fuck the transcripts. Fuck Glasgow – just for the weekend. City boy that I am I need a bit of time away to chill too just like everyone else. I leave work early. 4.45. Im already late in whats going to be a bit of a tight schedule. I put on some Sigur Ròs on the Jukebox (my personal Creative Jukebox that is) which really doesn’t help in terms of getting a move on to the train station. But I make it in time for the 4.55 train. Home by 5.15. I take fucking ages getting stuff packed. My bus from Buchanan Bus Station to Inverness leaves at 6.45. Quite the challenge to pack/shave/shower/changed/GET there. Once I get round to showering it’s already 6.20 once im out and dressed. FUCK. My dinner is ready. I have to put it in a container to eat in the car. Can of coke also to wake me up! – what are mums for eh? I arrive at the bus station at 6.44 and 54 seconds. Quite simply if the bus was ACTUALLY there I would have missed it. It eventually took a further half an hour before it arrived. Infact no 40 minutes. 7.25 it left. During the ridiculously long wait I go to the shop and see some right Chav’s running towards me. I clench my fists momentarily incase they decide to have a go….but they run right past. Guess what mad shit they’re getting down to tonight? Jumping the barrier to get into the Bus station toilets! Mental. Pure wide. It costs all of what….20p to get in? An aged im-mature-and-have-a-respectable-job-and-i-no-longer-do-coke guard see’s an opportunity to deck the wee fucks. Shouts ‘HAW YOU’ then jumps in after them. I enter the shop, grab myself a cheeky Bounty bar….some chewing gum and a bottle of Evian…how naïve. When I arrive back at stand 52 some crazy extremely foreign sounding Gouranga-dressed lady approaches. She smells so bad I can taste the salt. Mumbling a lot of nonsense…all I could make out was 53. I turned her away assuming at first she was offering her body. But no she was just asking if she was at right stand. I take a look at her ticket and realise she’s ready and waiting for her bus that’s leaving the stand in……5 hours. I tried my best to explain but naw naw she was staying. Sitting patiently. Aye whatever….left her to it. A bus pulls up at 7.15 and we’re all pissed off with the waiting (there’s a full bus load of people waiting impatiently along with me here). After the call for Inverness…the bus then pulls out and drives off – WHAT THE FUCK?! Will be back in 2 minutes the neddy sounding lady tries to say reassuringly….10 minutes later another bus pulls up. Finally we fucking board. Jesus. The joys of public transport. Some guy sniffing continuously from Glasgow to Perth. I turned round every now and then hoping he’d give ma a smile and that he was only taking the piss but no…..I almost ended up smothering the guy with my jacket…or perhaps kisses…that might shut him up.
You ever feel like the whole world is revolving around you? I do. Things like…..on the bus from Perth to Inverness the girl behind me listening to her Ipod music selection of: Coldplay – Scientist and Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars – I was listening to both these songs that day. Ok not exactly unique they are both fairly regularly played songs but im paranoid ok? The weekend with Kirsty was great. Quiet B&B in Inverness. Time away from the Big City. Don’t realise how intense it is until you’re a bit more out of the loop you know….We go out for drinks and meet with friend Andy who I met up in Stornoway. He comes out with friends David and Claire. David who’s studying media also so we get into chats that noone else can really understand. Geeks yes. He talks of a Lost Series Spoof that him and his mates in College made. I later find them on Youtube and have to say they are pretty good! Good chat and we all get drunk in Johnny Fox’s. According to Claire I look like hmm guess....James Van Der Beek, Dawson from Dawson’s Creek. Aye very good…first one to come up with that eh. But wait just to add to it, I have a Richard Gere mouth. What does that mean?!
The bus journey home is sheer comedy. The bus stops somewhere between Inverness and Perth and the driver announces AT some Chinese guy how his bin bags have blood pouring out of them and all over the Undercarriage – people beside me start freaking out and some quietly scream ‘oh my god, bet it’s a dead body’. Aye ok. Turns out it’s a bag of fish and it stinks like FUCK. My bag was on top of others so im happily fishgut free. Have a good laugh about it with a young student girl sitting beside me who same as me just wants to get to Glasgow. Driver gets back on the bus and shouts ‘Does anyone want to make a complaint?’ and I was just saying slightly aloud ‘em aye, complaint about you…we just want to go fucking home mate’. But then, wait, what can he actually do? Say he’s sorry? Or get a letter sent out saying that Citylink and Megabus are ‘sorry’ ? He can’t do shit and it’s not like City Link will refund. It’s not their problem. Plus they are the tightest bastards on the planet. That time there was a Mudslide and there was NO BUS to Glasgow for a week…they wouldn’t refund my ticket…even after sending a letter to London. Wankers. There is then a hold up ahead because of something going on in Gleneagles. The driver stops the bus again and tries acting the hero asking if anyone knows some alternative route. Probably a dirt track with low bridges to kill us all. ‘I don’t know the route but I’ll do it’ – what does this guy want. A Medal? We eventually make it home like an hour late. Thank you City Link.
On Monday at 12 I go to Virgin Megastore during my lunch break. Buy the Tarantino Screenplay of Death Proof, £7 which resulted in a sexy wrist band for the Tarantino signing this afternoon/evening 5-7pm before his Death Proof Premiere and Q&A at the GFT – wasn’t lucky enough to get tickets for that. After an hours wait outside Virgin in the cold with friends Davyd and Simon – who didn’t manage to get himself a wristband in time – we’re in the door and out comes the camera. We could see Tarantino from outside but hey it’s a little different seeing him close-up in the flesh. We have a bunch of right moron’s in front of us and I quote:
”Haw mate, mate *calls over one of the guards* it’s the score here. You tryin tae tell me that aw these people in here have wan ae these badboys? *points at wristband* Merr than an oor I’ve been waiting here. Kill fuckin Bill aye? I’ll fuckin Kill Him in a minute. “
Fuck. Ok so right when we’re at front of the queue Tarantino is gonna walk out because of these guys. His mate’s face looks like a bag of zips, clearly cut open or chibbed as they say in the G. Scary stuff.
Anyway im up at the desk and Q.T’s right in front of me.
Q.T: Hey man!
me: Hey *shakes hand*
Q.T: Hey, where you get that t-shirt? I love it. *points at my cartoony pulp fiction t-shirt* Noticed a few people have them. Whats your name?
me: Rory. I’m a media student just want to say your films have been a real inspiration. Being a media student they’ve really encouraged me to keep writing.
Q.T:Hey thanks that means a lot man. Really. So you go to film school?
me: Well no im just finishing a trainee course placement. Thinking about film school but im not sure.
Q.T: Hey man with enough passion and a belief in what you have to say, just keep writing. Hell, thats what I did! *signs screenplay* Davyd got some great photo’s of me with Tarantino and I of him. He even turned to pose with me for one. What a guy. So yeh advice from Tarantino what can I say eh?! I think I’ll do what the man says….and maybe at a push send him my T-Shirt too.
I wake up 6.25 to be ready steady go for Faye picking me up at 7 to go to Fort George for our next museum on our list - The Highlanders Museum. I get a call from Faye around 10 past and like anyone else who is not familiar with the streets in the west end, she can’t find my stret. I direct her on the phone – not easy to explain. She arrives around 20 past and we go off to pick up Derek and set off to Inverness
Fort George is well hidden. Unable to see anything, even close up as it’s covered by high walls. Still an active barracks for sending people off to Iraq. Film this that and whatever. Nazi memorabilia/lighter with bullet hole, world war one periscope for trenches. Eerie streets and lane’s remind me of Aushchwitz. I decide to skip dinner with the crew and set off to the Cottage Bar where Kirsty works. I have to wait 20 minutes until the next Service 25 bus at stance 5 going to Dingwall. But im getting off at Marybourgh. I take out my signed-by-Q.T Screenplay for Death Proof. Got about 20 pages in rather quickly it’s pretty damn good. Tarantino as always on top form ith his genius in natural dialogue. The bus arrives – Single to Marybourgh please. There’s only me and 2 others sitting downstairs on the bus. One of those being a young, id say 16 y.o max sitting across from me. What does she decide to do as I read? Turns on her phone like a fucking stereo and starts blaring out DJ Sammy, fucking Tiesto I dunno its ALL shite. I give her my infamous ‘what the fuck?’ facial expression. She recognises it instantly and thinks im flirting with her. I try to block it out but it’s just so fucking irritating. Clearly I need someone to explain to me the reason – any reason at all – to why I should tolerate this bullshit. Why the fuck am I being tortured by this girls TERRIBLE, but rather predictable taste in music for a Non Educated Delinquent. First song has now finished. Here comes the next number – FUCK off it’s a remix of who else but U2. That shitey With or Without you thing with that woman that looks like a man or more politely put, a burst baw. There’s my stop. I give the retarded jungle music girl a fake ckeeky smile and she smiles back thinking she’s scored big time. Made me laugh. Aff the bus.
As I enter the rather picturesque cottage house the bar is full of old men dressed in tartan – it’s the Scotland France game…which regarding the latter we won 2 nill. Eilidh came to meet us 0 eventually after I had a rather excellent Chicken dinner. We speak of SMO, the banter, the bitching, the grading. Eilidh – “What does Glaiked mean? Simple Eilidh. It means SIMPLE
End up going back to Kirsty’s rather than many miles and costly taxi back to the Redcliffe Hotel where along with the crew I have a very small bed/room. So tired from a long long day that im not awake for very long at all. End up having a great sleep. Breakfast in the morning made by Kirsty. I have a far-too-early-in-the-morning-but-nice conversation with Kirsty’s dad and then parents later into the conversation about my work/my life/De-a-Nis and all things Gaelic. Im sad to see my taxi, having arrived early, waiting outside. I don’t want to leave but im needed for another day at Fort George’s Highland Museum. For all of that journey, ignoring the small talk from the taxi driver, I was tempted to ask him to turn back. Fuck it! Take a day off. Tell Caledonia I have to go see about a girl. But im an idiot. I arrived at the hotel while they were all still busy at breakfast.
Today in Fort George to start with im on photography for the crew. Caledonia-at-work shots. Few interesting ones in there. Arty perhaps. Ill post them up later. Then throughout the next half of the day we are in the Indian Mutiny room. Then to the WII and WWI room. One of the big highlights being the Hitler Youth Knife. Getting to hold it. Scary stuff. Engraved on the blade is ‘Blut und Ehre’ meaning 'Blood and Honour’ in German. Filmed some of my own stuff with the DV Camera again. Some footage from outside. Alternative camera angles and Lock-Off’s. We finish at 5.15 as the Museum closes and then headed for Pitlochry.
At the rather large Scotland Hotel, crawling with Old mainly American Couple’s, I accessed my emails from the Wifi Lounge. Nothing interesting really. Some Bebo activity, yet another email from Catriona – I’ve to call Eilidh Grant about Graduation. I don’t of course. I’m working and Catriona of all people should know that. The next morning we head for Anstruthers Fisheries Museum. It is indeed ‘biger than you think’. The usual Camera Assistant/PA/2nd Camera involvement throughout the day. We film a scene using the Wally Dolly – A device invented by an Australian Cameraman. Basically it’s your poor man’s Dolly. You lay aluminium pipes like tracks and stick your Tripod and Cam on top of a T-Joing with wheels and can track smoothly across. Ended up being a great shot. We had dinner in the award winning Anstruther’s Fish Bar. Have to say I have had better though. Wasn’t worth the 40 minute wait in the queue certainly. The next day I shot some footage of the crew going out to sea on The Reaper – a 100 foot, 100 year old ship. Filmed it going out of the Marina, out to sea, putting up it’s sail. Lot of great shots. Good shots of the boat returning into the Marina also. With lighthouse in the background and slow zooms A La Jaws minus the Great White. We then film in the Boatyard which is attached to the side of the Museum. Full size ships and boats in there. Rather impressive…..but not so much after being stuck in a room with them filming GV’s for the rest of the Afternoon. I enjoyed the last 4 days of filming. The last location filming of my placement which in 4 days will have come to an end. I’m not going to lie, I am indeed very nervous of where I go next. What to do, who to work for, who to apply for, who to accept. Who not to accept? One thing I know for certain is that I’ll not rush into anything without thinking carefully about my choices. It is, after all, my future and noone elses. Id like to think also that I deserve a bit of a break! 2 months travelling, 1 week home, 6 months SMO Skye, 2 weeks Christmas, 3.5 months Stornway then an amazing 2.5 months back home. Holiday time though. The very many 2nd weekend return home wasn’t quite the same until I was ACTUALLY home just over 2 months ago and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The friends, the family and of course the social life that a city boy like myself deserves. I will graduate with absentia. Fuck going back to SMO. No accomodation and just a lot of hastle getting there getting back. Is it worth it? No. Reunion coming up on the 28th of this month should be good. Kirsty’s birthday at her new flat in St Andrews the day after should also be good. Can’t say I’ve ever been to St Andrews aside’s from just passing through. Or may I was there in High School but I like to think im good with my memory and that I’d remember.
First day back working in Glasgow and I batter into those good old Transcripts again – yay……..I meet Ewan for lunch at the usual Chin Spankies or Tune Arse Keys (Chinaski’s) for a gourmet Chicken Burger and a pint – classy eh. Back to work a bit more relaxed then I decide to have a bit of a film marathon. Two films out I want to see – 3:10 to Yuma and Superbad. So I decide on both, text Davyd/Simon/Ewan and D bails out saying he’s out of town but Si and EOH are on the ball and up for it. Ewan doesn’t finish until half 8 though so he arranges to meet us after 3:10 for the 8.45 showing of Superbad. 3:10 is great – gritty western remake starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale and a special surprise, Ben Foster who was fantastic. Loved his character in Six Feet under and a number of films that I fail to remember the title of. Crowe and Bale of course being in the top 5 A list of actors so putting the two together was just genius. James Mangold directing also. Director of Walk the Line and Girl Interupted. The Academy love to throw Oscars at the guys films seemingly and of course why not give Crowe yet another nod just for laughs? Maybe Bale too but word on the street is Bale is tipped for his lead role in Rescue Dawn. Still to be released in the UK.
Anyway, after 3:10 Si and I go get a bite to eat in Walkabout. Good old Awesome burger gets us going. Tennents Tops too just to add a buzz to the mix. We head back for Superbad and buy Ewan’s ticket as he’s running late. We make it in just in time though and sit up the back where there are complete morons laughing like Snow White on speed to we go down to the front left aisle. Not my ideal front centre spot but it’s good enough. Fucking funniest film I’ve seen in years I kid you not. Up there easily with Napoleon Dynamite and other favourites. We laughed all the way through it. Drinks after and we end up in the Brunswick Cellars for a few and then to Box where the music is so loud I can’t hear myself think. I spot a stray umbrella though and take it with us upon exiting the premises. Pose for a picture and look like a fag. Call the Canny Taxi and we’re aff hame. Work the next day is pish ‘cause Faye is not in and Les is stressing about the transcripts needing done. Chill man….i’ve done like 15 today already and there’s still millions to go. I find it very hard not to be annoyed at this chat we’re having given the only reason I’m typing up all these transcripts is because Les, bossman and Peter ,Editor, don’t speak Gaelic. Meh. Anyway I get as much done as I can and you know what? Just to please his ass take the rest of the unfinished stuff home to get it done after hours. Cause you know what? Tomorrow is my last day not just of the placement but the course air fad so id like to do a little dance, make a little love ta. Maybe offer me a job too eh? Cheers darlin’…
My last day is surprisingly good…even though noone in work seems to know that it’s my last day until Faye sends Les a text about it! I finish off transcripts then watch through all my Kelvingrove footage. Then Fort George and Anstruthers – Les is impressed and claims my footage might make the Intro to the Anstruthers Fisheries Museum Episode in the Series which is great to hear. They buy me a book on Roman Polanski which is nice and we go down to the Butterfly and the Pig for a beer – somewhere I go quite regularly so it’s a bit odd going here with the bossman! So I don’t get offered a job straight out but I don’t expect to be either. Truth is it’s very hard for any of many of these companies to employee new Gaelic Media Trainee’s especially in the BBC because of doubt of the infamous Gaelic Channel. Although I do express my interest at least in maybe working again with them soon on the final 3 episodes of their Museum Series. Also keen to be involved in their next project which is a film on Cunningham Graham, for which filming would take place in Argentina, Mexico, Taxas and a few other South American hot spots. Truth is though…I don’t even know if they like me? Or want me to work for them? Or enjoyed any of my time with them? I don’t seem to know very much do I…..so that’s the placement over. Finishd. No more SMO. Done. Not quite sinking in yet….a fancy dress party where I reach the glorious stage of drinking wine out of the bottle….then, according to Marianne, refilling it with water to drink out that out of it too. CLASSY eh? Death Proof the next day with Simon and Ryan – it’s fantastic fuck what all the critics slate about it. Whats the bet that majority of them haven’t even seen Vanishing Point hence unable to understand the relevance or….ok ill shut up now. Dinner with Simon in Chinaski’s (where else?) with Simon where we bump into Marianne and her friend Andy….Box after for some live music…..then fail, again, to get into Derek’s work. Too casual. Wanks. Bier Halle instead. Southern Comfort and Lemonade’s. Stop on Buchanan Street to listen to a ridiculously good guitar player. But I think he was just playing a CD…but 3 days of partying later and it’s a hungover Sunday into the September weekend. Im supposed to go to a party tonight but I think ill give it a miss and watch a film. Oh got the green light for Directing the HisGirlFriday Music Video. Kevin Boyle, mate from schools band. Filming sometime over the next few weeks. Along with some time off of course! I decide im going to finish writing up this rather novelesque blog of mine. If you have reached this point? Lets get married baby.
Here’s looking at you, kid :)
R x
We set off for Kilmartin and we arrive at the museum 2 hours later – roughly. Have lunch. The scenic Kilmartin after 2 days, 2 nights and a morning filming at the museum and out and around at Dunadd Fort, Standing Stones and the Stonehenge of the north – Templewood where I rip my jeans on a wall so bad that the leg is hanging off. Gaffer tape it up. Job Done! Accomodation we stay in is pretty scary. Middle of nowhere. A Norman Bates-like character who runs the place with his wife. Claims they are both Italian while we are at our breakfast and I almost spit half my food out and fail to hide laughing – this guy does not look Italian AT ALL. Like Bill Gates – geeky, glasses, pale skin, shorts, weird t-shirts, knee high white socks. Funny stuff. Seems to be a real struggle at night also where we order beers. 2 Pipers Gold and 2 Fraoch ta. 2 + 2 = 5 yeh?
Next up is Kelvingrove on Friday and Saturday. Was really looking forward to filming here. It’s great. Get a chance to go free with the camera and film whatever. Few Lock-Off’s, I get some shots of Glasgow Uni and the City from the roof. Literally on the edge. Only an 80 foot drop so sure it was safe……wrap party afterwards. Indian food is great. Lismore after where we bump into Ken MacQuarrie(head BBC Scotland), Donnie Dotaman and Carrie’s mum. The first 2 give us a smile and a nod. Speak to Carrie’s mum for a bit. Not seen her in years. Have a bit of drunken chat with bossman Les about travelling, Russian Mafia and the rest I fail to remember. Think I expressed interest in working with them when my course was done but it’s ok he doesn’t remember what we spoke about either.
Film The Lemings gig at BOX.with Cailean – 3 Camera’s, 2 HH (myself and Cailean at the front) – look forward to seeing it in the Edit. Should be great. Ronnie came out for the gig also so we go for a walk and catch up. End up going to Steak and Cherry for tea and pancakes and talk about this that and everything.
Dinner with Ewan at Chinaski’s. End up going to the QM after – not been for years. Play some pool and down the Kopparberg. End up playing double’s against some Freshers. They all look about 15 and I feel like their parents. We win almost every game. Good times. Even the guys fancy us we’re that good. They’d all been working at Retrofest – a girl I recognise as she works at the Art School – sad isn’t it. Guy Rob who asks us for a game is pretty smashed but clearly pretty good at pool./ clenches onto his empty bottle of magners for at least half an hour. Holding onto it like his life.
Meet ross after work and we go for a drink. Ronnie’s on the way into town but takes ages. Must have ben grooming that fantastic handlebar moustache. He eventually joins us in Failte and we debate where we’re going for dinner. 10 minutes of debate later and we decide to go to Ad Lib Bar and Grill. Great food. Good Service. Get a text from Joanne saying Derek Carol and herself are out at Driftwood. We decide to go join them….which by the time we reach Sauchiehall they are in Campus………yeh so few drinks in the magic of a place then we decide to head to the Ben Nevis……not exactly nearby so it’s last orders pretty much by the time we get there. Great being out with Ross and Ronnie never get to hang around with schoolfriends once your all grown up and gone your own way. Good being out with Cursa TV also….everyone seems far happier and less stressed being free from the course and major stressbowl that is SMO. Actually cannot be fucked with Graduation in October so if I cannot just graduate with Absentia ill just not bother fuckin going!
Slept in for work the next day as I was still drunk in the morning and half asleep I assumed the sound of my alarm was….something else. It’s Friday! I decide at around 12 while in work trying very hard to be busy doing fucking transcripts that I’m gonna go to Inverness for the weekend to see Kirsty. Yes. Lets do it. Fuck the transcripts. Fuck Glasgow – just for the weekend. City boy that I am I need a bit of time away to chill too just like everyone else. I leave work early. 4.45. Im already late in whats going to be a bit of a tight schedule. I put on some Sigur Ròs on the Jukebox (my personal Creative Jukebox that is) which really doesn’t help in terms of getting a move on to the train station. But I make it in time for the 4.55 train. Home by 5.15. I take fucking ages getting stuff packed. My bus from Buchanan Bus Station to Inverness leaves at 6.45. Quite the challenge to pack/shave/shower/changed/GET there. Once I get round to showering it’s already 6.20 once im out and dressed. FUCK. My dinner is ready. I have to put it in a container to eat in the car. Can of coke also to wake me up! – what are mums for eh? I arrive at the bus station at 6.44 and 54 seconds. Quite simply if the bus was ACTUALLY there I would have missed it. It eventually took a further half an hour before it arrived. Infact no 40 minutes. 7.25 it left. During the ridiculously long wait I go to the shop and see some right Chav’s running towards me. I clench my fists momentarily incase they decide to have a go….but they run right past. Guess what mad shit they’re getting down to tonight? Jumping the barrier to get into the Bus station toilets! Mental. Pure wide. It costs all of what….20p to get in? An aged im-mature-and-have-a-respectable-job-and-i-no-longer-do-coke guard see’s an opportunity to deck the wee fucks. Shouts ‘HAW YOU’ then jumps in after them. I enter the shop, grab myself a cheeky Bounty bar….some chewing gum and a bottle of Evian…how naïve. When I arrive back at stand 52 some crazy extremely foreign sounding Gouranga-dressed lady approaches. She smells so bad I can taste the salt. Mumbling a lot of nonsense…all I could make out was 53. I turned her away assuming at first she was offering her body. But no she was just asking if she was at right stand. I take a look at her ticket and realise she’s ready and waiting for her bus that’s leaving the stand in……5 hours. I tried my best to explain but naw naw she was staying. Sitting patiently. Aye whatever….left her to it. A bus pulls up at 7.15 and we’re all pissed off with the waiting (there’s a full bus load of people waiting impatiently along with me here). After the call for Inverness…the bus then pulls out and drives off – WHAT THE FUCK?! Will be back in 2 minutes the neddy sounding lady tries to say reassuringly….10 minutes later another bus pulls up. Finally we fucking board. Jesus. The joys of public transport. Some guy sniffing continuously from Glasgow to Perth. I turned round every now and then hoping he’d give ma a smile and that he was only taking the piss but no…..I almost ended up smothering the guy with my jacket…or perhaps kisses…that might shut him up.
You ever feel like the whole world is revolving around you? I do. Things like…..on the bus from Perth to Inverness the girl behind me listening to her Ipod music selection of: Coldplay – Scientist and Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars – I was listening to both these songs that day. Ok not exactly unique they are both fairly regularly played songs but im paranoid ok? The weekend with Kirsty was great. Quiet B&B in Inverness. Time away from the Big City. Don’t realise how intense it is until you’re a bit more out of the loop you know….We go out for drinks and meet with friend Andy who I met up in Stornoway. He comes out with friends David and Claire. David who’s studying media also so we get into chats that noone else can really understand. Geeks yes. He talks of a Lost Series Spoof that him and his mates in College made. I later find them on Youtube and have to say they are pretty good! Good chat and we all get drunk in Johnny Fox’s. According to Claire I look like hmm guess....James Van Der Beek, Dawson from Dawson’s Creek. Aye very good…first one to come up with that eh. But wait just to add to it, I have a Richard Gere mouth. What does that mean?!
The bus journey home is sheer comedy. The bus stops somewhere between Inverness and Perth and the driver announces AT some Chinese guy how his bin bags have blood pouring out of them and all over the Undercarriage – people beside me start freaking out and some quietly scream ‘oh my god, bet it’s a dead body’. Aye ok. Turns out it’s a bag of fish and it stinks like FUCK. My bag was on top of others so im happily fishgut free. Have a good laugh about it with a young student girl sitting beside me who same as me just wants to get to Glasgow. Driver gets back on the bus and shouts ‘Does anyone want to make a complaint?’ and I was just saying slightly aloud ‘em aye, complaint about you…we just want to go fucking home mate’. But then, wait, what can he actually do? Say he’s sorry? Or get a letter sent out saying that Citylink and Megabus are ‘sorry’ ? He can’t do shit and it’s not like City Link will refund. It’s not their problem. Plus they are the tightest bastards on the planet. That time there was a Mudslide and there was NO BUS to Glasgow for a week…they wouldn’t refund my ticket…even after sending a letter to London. Wankers. There is then a hold up ahead because of something going on in Gleneagles. The driver stops the bus again and tries acting the hero asking if anyone knows some alternative route. Probably a dirt track with low bridges to kill us all. ‘I don’t know the route but I’ll do it’ – what does this guy want. A Medal? We eventually make it home like an hour late. Thank you City Link.
On Monday at 12 I go to Virgin Megastore during my lunch break. Buy the Tarantino Screenplay of Death Proof, £7 which resulted in a sexy wrist band for the Tarantino signing this afternoon/evening 5-7pm before his Death Proof Premiere and Q&A at the GFT – wasn’t lucky enough to get tickets for that. After an hours wait outside Virgin in the cold with friends Davyd and Simon – who didn’t manage to get himself a wristband in time – we’re in the door and out comes the camera. We could see Tarantino from outside but hey it’s a little different seeing him close-up in the flesh. We have a bunch of right moron’s in front of us and I quote:
”Haw mate, mate *calls over one of the guards* it’s the score here. You tryin tae tell me that aw these people in here have wan ae these badboys? *points at wristband* Merr than an oor I’ve been waiting here. Kill fuckin Bill aye? I’ll fuckin Kill Him in a minute. “
Fuck. Ok so right when we’re at front of the queue Tarantino is gonna walk out because of these guys. His mate’s face looks like a bag of zips, clearly cut open or chibbed as they say in the G. Scary stuff.
Anyway im up at the desk and Q.T’s right in front of me.
Q.T: Hey man!
me: Hey *shakes hand*
Q.T: Hey, where you get that t-shirt? I love it. *points at my cartoony pulp fiction t-shirt* Noticed a few people have them. Whats your name?
me: Rory. I’m a media student just want to say your films have been a real inspiration. Being a media student they’ve really encouraged me to keep writing.
Q.T:Hey thanks that means a lot man. Really. So you go to film school?
me: Well no im just finishing a trainee course placement. Thinking about film school but im not sure.
Q.T: Hey man with enough passion and a belief in what you have to say, just keep writing. Hell, thats what I did! *signs screenplay* Davyd got some great photo’s of me with Tarantino and I of him. He even turned to pose with me for one. What a guy. So yeh advice from Tarantino what can I say eh?! I think I’ll do what the man says….and maybe at a push send him my T-Shirt too.
I wake up 6.25 to be ready steady go for Faye picking me up at 7 to go to Fort George for our next museum on our list - The Highlanders Museum. I get a call from Faye around 10 past and like anyone else who is not familiar with the streets in the west end, she can’t find my stret. I direct her on the phone – not easy to explain. She arrives around 20 past and we go off to pick up Derek and set off to Inverness
Fort George is well hidden. Unable to see anything, even close up as it’s covered by high walls. Still an active barracks for sending people off to Iraq. Film this that and whatever. Nazi memorabilia/lighter with bullet hole, world war one periscope for trenches. Eerie streets and lane’s remind me of Aushchwitz. I decide to skip dinner with the crew and set off to the Cottage Bar where Kirsty works. I have to wait 20 minutes until the next Service 25 bus at stance 5 going to Dingwall. But im getting off at Marybourgh. I take out my signed-by-Q.T Screenplay for Death Proof. Got about 20 pages in rather quickly it’s pretty damn good. Tarantino as always on top form ith his genius in natural dialogue. The bus arrives – Single to Marybourgh please. There’s only me and 2 others sitting downstairs on the bus. One of those being a young, id say 16 y.o max sitting across from me. What does she decide to do as I read? Turns on her phone like a fucking stereo and starts blaring out DJ Sammy, fucking Tiesto I dunno its ALL shite. I give her my infamous ‘what the fuck?’ facial expression. She recognises it instantly and thinks im flirting with her. I try to block it out but it’s just so fucking irritating. Clearly I need someone to explain to me the reason – any reason at all – to why I should tolerate this bullshit. Why the fuck am I being tortured by this girls TERRIBLE, but rather predictable taste in music for a Non Educated Delinquent. First song has now finished. Here comes the next number – FUCK off it’s a remix of who else but U2. That shitey With or Without you thing with that woman that looks like a man or more politely put, a burst baw. There’s my stop. I give the retarded jungle music girl a fake ckeeky smile and she smiles back thinking she’s scored big time. Made me laugh. Aff the bus.
As I enter the rather picturesque cottage house the bar is full of old men dressed in tartan – it’s the Scotland France game…which regarding the latter we won 2 nill. Eilidh came to meet us 0 eventually after I had a rather excellent Chicken dinner. We speak of SMO, the banter, the bitching, the grading. Eilidh – “What does Glaiked mean? Simple Eilidh. It means SIMPLE
End up going back to Kirsty’s rather than many miles and costly taxi back to the Redcliffe Hotel where along with the crew I have a very small bed/room. So tired from a long long day that im not awake for very long at all. End up having a great sleep. Breakfast in the morning made by Kirsty. I have a far-too-early-in-the-morning-but-nice conversation with Kirsty’s dad and then parents later into the conversation about my work/my life/De-a-Nis and all things Gaelic. Im sad to see my taxi, having arrived early, waiting outside. I don’t want to leave but im needed for another day at Fort George’s Highland Museum. For all of that journey, ignoring the small talk from the taxi driver, I was tempted to ask him to turn back. Fuck it! Take a day off. Tell Caledonia I have to go see about a girl. But im an idiot. I arrived at the hotel while they were all still busy at breakfast.
Today in Fort George to start with im on photography for the crew. Caledonia-at-work shots. Few interesting ones in there. Arty perhaps. Ill post them up later. Then throughout the next half of the day we are in the Indian Mutiny room. Then to the WII and WWI room. One of the big highlights being the Hitler Youth Knife. Getting to hold it. Scary stuff. Engraved on the blade is ‘Blut und Ehre’ meaning 'Blood and Honour’ in German. Filmed some of my own stuff with the DV Camera again. Some footage from outside. Alternative camera angles and Lock-Off’s. We finish at 5.15 as the Museum closes and then headed for Pitlochry.
At the rather large Scotland Hotel, crawling with Old mainly American Couple’s, I accessed my emails from the Wifi Lounge. Nothing interesting really. Some Bebo activity, yet another email from Catriona – I’ve to call Eilidh Grant about Graduation. I don’t of course. I’m working and Catriona of all people should know that. The next morning we head for Anstruthers Fisheries Museum. It is indeed ‘biger than you think’. The usual Camera Assistant/PA/2nd Camera involvement throughout the day. We film a scene using the Wally Dolly – A device invented by an Australian Cameraman. Basically it’s your poor man’s Dolly. You lay aluminium pipes like tracks and stick your Tripod and Cam on top of a T-Joing with wheels and can track smoothly across. Ended up being a great shot. We had dinner in the award winning Anstruther’s Fish Bar. Have to say I have had better though. Wasn’t worth the 40 minute wait in the queue certainly. The next day I shot some footage of the crew going out to sea on The Reaper – a 100 foot, 100 year old ship. Filmed it going out of the Marina, out to sea, putting up it’s sail. Lot of great shots. Good shots of the boat returning into the Marina also. With lighthouse in the background and slow zooms A La Jaws minus the Great White. We then film in the Boatyard which is attached to the side of the Museum. Full size ships and boats in there. Rather impressive…..but not so much after being stuck in a room with them filming GV’s for the rest of the Afternoon. I enjoyed the last 4 days of filming. The last location filming of my placement which in 4 days will have come to an end. I’m not going to lie, I am indeed very nervous of where I go next. What to do, who to work for, who to apply for, who to accept. Who not to accept? One thing I know for certain is that I’ll not rush into anything without thinking carefully about my choices. It is, after all, my future and noone elses. Id like to think also that I deserve a bit of a break! 2 months travelling, 1 week home, 6 months SMO Skye, 2 weeks Christmas, 3.5 months Stornway then an amazing 2.5 months back home. Holiday time though. The very many 2nd weekend return home wasn’t quite the same until I was ACTUALLY home just over 2 months ago and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The friends, the family and of course the social life that a city boy like myself deserves. I will graduate with absentia. Fuck going back to SMO. No accomodation and just a lot of hastle getting there getting back. Is it worth it? No. Reunion coming up on the 28th of this month should be good. Kirsty’s birthday at her new flat in St Andrews the day after should also be good. Can’t say I’ve ever been to St Andrews aside’s from just passing through. Or may I was there in High School but I like to think im good with my memory and that I’d remember.
First day back working in Glasgow and I batter into those good old Transcripts again – yay……..I meet Ewan for lunch at the usual Chin Spankies or Tune Arse Keys (Chinaski’s) for a gourmet Chicken Burger and a pint – classy eh. Back to work a bit more relaxed then I decide to have a bit of a film marathon. Two films out I want to see – 3:10 to Yuma and Superbad. So I decide on both, text Davyd/Simon/Ewan and D bails out saying he’s out of town but Si and EOH are on the ball and up for it. Ewan doesn’t finish until half 8 though so he arranges to meet us after 3:10 for the 8.45 showing of Superbad. 3:10 is great – gritty western remake starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale and a special surprise, Ben Foster who was fantastic. Loved his character in Six Feet under and a number of films that I fail to remember the title of. Crowe and Bale of course being in the top 5 A list of actors so putting the two together was just genius. James Mangold directing also. Director of Walk the Line and Girl Interupted. The Academy love to throw Oscars at the guys films seemingly and of course why not give Crowe yet another nod just for laughs? Maybe Bale too but word on the street is Bale is tipped for his lead role in Rescue Dawn. Still to be released in the UK.
Anyway, after 3:10 Si and I go get a bite to eat in Walkabout. Good old Awesome burger gets us going. Tennents Tops too just to add a buzz to the mix. We head back for Superbad and buy Ewan’s ticket as he’s running late. We make it in just in time though and sit up the back where there are complete morons laughing like Snow White on speed to we go down to the front left aisle. Not my ideal front centre spot but it’s good enough. Fucking funniest film I’ve seen in years I kid you not. Up there easily with Napoleon Dynamite and other favourites. We laughed all the way through it. Drinks after and we end up in the Brunswick Cellars for a few and then to Box where the music is so loud I can’t hear myself think. I spot a stray umbrella though and take it with us upon exiting the premises. Pose for a picture and look like a fag. Call the Canny Taxi and we’re aff hame. Work the next day is pish ‘cause Faye is not in and Les is stressing about the transcripts needing done. Chill man….i’ve done like 15 today already and there’s still millions to go. I find it very hard not to be annoyed at this chat we’re having given the only reason I’m typing up all these transcripts is because Les, bossman and Peter ,Editor, don’t speak Gaelic. Meh. Anyway I get as much done as I can and you know what? Just to please his ass take the rest of the unfinished stuff home to get it done after hours. Cause you know what? Tomorrow is my last day not just of the placement but the course air fad so id like to do a little dance, make a little love ta. Maybe offer me a job too eh? Cheers darlin’…
My last day is surprisingly good…even though noone in work seems to know that it’s my last day until Faye sends Les a text about it! I finish off transcripts then watch through all my Kelvingrove footage. Then Fort George and Anstruthers – Les is impressed and claims my footage might make the Intro to the Anstruthers Fisheries Museum Episode in the Series which is great to hear. They buy me a book on Roman Polanski which is nice and we go down to the Butterfly and the Pig for a beer – somewhere I go quite regularly so it’s a bit odd going here with the bossman! So I don’t get offered a job straight out but I don’t expect to be either. Truth is it’s very hard for any of many of these companies to employee new Gaelic Media Trainee’s especially in the BBC because of doubt of the infamous Gaelic Channel. Although I do express my interest at least in maybe working again with them soon on the final 3 episodes of their Museum Series. Also keen to be involved in their next project which is a film on Cunningham Graham, for which filming would take place in Argentina, Mexico, Taxas and a few other South American hot spots. Truth is though…I don’t even know if they like me? Or want me to work for them? Or enjoyed any of my time with them? I don’t seem to know very much do I…..so that’s the placement over. Finishd. No more SMO. Done. Not quite sinking in yet….a fancy dress party where I reach the glorious stage of drinking wine out of the bottle….then, according to Marianne, refilling it with water to drink out that out of it too. CLASSY eh? Death Proof the next day with Simon and Ryan – it’s fantastic fuck what all the critics slate about it. Whats the bet that majority of them haven’t even seen Vanishing Point hence unable to understand the relevance or….ok ill shut up now. Dinner with Simon in Chinaski’s (where else?) with Simon where we bump into Marianne and her friend Andy….Box after for some live music…..then fail, again, to get into Derek’s work. Too casual. Wanks. Bier Halle instead. Southern Comfort and Lemonade’s. Stop on Buchanan Street to listen to a ridiculously good guitar player. But I think he was just playing a CD…but 3 days of partying later and it’s a hungover Sunday into the September weekend. Im supposed to go to a party tonight but I think ill give it a miss and watch a film. Oh got the green light for Directing the HisGirlFriday Music Video. Kevin Boyle, mate from schools band. Filming sometime over the next few weeks. Along with some time off of course! I decide im going to finish writing up this rather novelesque blog of mine. If you have reached this point? Lets get married baby.
Here’s looking at you, kid :)
R x
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