Have just watched the third film from Channel 4's 50 films to see before you die lie. Raising Arizona is an 80's film with Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter. It was funny and a good light film to watch on a Sunday evening.
I have been working on starting some other challenges on the list this week. I am planning to go away over Christmas this year. A friend of mine and her boyfriend is up for coming and it looks like it's going to happen. We are planning on Lanzarote where my friend has found a good deal. It is going to cost us about £300 each for our flights and accommodation. I'm really excited and it'll be so nice to have some winter sun. The temperature around that time of year is on average 17 - 20 c. We are going for a week from around 22nd December. It will be strange to not have a British Christmas but fun to do something different.
Another task that I have planned to start working on is to do a creative writing course. A college near me runs an 8 week course called writing Children's Stories. I have sent of the application form and it starts in January. I have had a Children's story in my head for such a long time and at one point did try to sit down and write it but I didn't get very far. It'll be interesting to do the course and see if it'll help with getting something down on paper! It didn't cost too much either as it is only a short course. After so many years of wanting to write a children's book it will be great to do something about it. I don't know if it'll end up with writing the book but at least I'll be able to say I've given it a go!
Sunday 30 August 2009
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Chicago - First target ticked off!
I can finally cross of the first completed task from my challenge! I went to London with a friend over the weekend and did lots of things! It was a very busy weekend and we certainly gave our legs a good stretching!
On Friday we went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace before heading to the Tower of London. I had been to the Tower a few years ago but we went on a tour with a Beefeater this weekend and it was really interesting to hear some of the historical stories and history from him. He was also the Beefeater in charge of looking after the ravens so that was pretty cool. That evening we went to see Troillus and Cressida at The Shakespeare Globe. It was a play that I hadn't heard of before so was unsure what to expect. It turned out to be brilliant though and it's so good being able to stand so close to the stage. We were standing throughout so it was pretty tough on our legs especially after the full day in London before! Matthew Kelly was in it and he was so good. Definitely made for the stage rather than the TV.
On Saturday we continued on our mammouth trip of London. We went to the Globe exhibition and then a tour of the Rose Theatre. This is another theatre of the Globe's time just nearby to the Globe. They found the foundations of the Rose in 1989 when excavating the ground to build an office block. The office block has been built but the Globe Trust owns the basement of it with the foundations. They have had to recover the foundations so that they don't crumble away but they hope to be able to open them up again over the next 18 months and preserve them with a glass cover so they can be on show. They then plan to make a theatre on that spot so the foundations can be seen. The theatre will obviously not be open air like the original because of the office block but it is still exciting to have a theatre back on the original site. It was great to hear about the area during that time in history. It was very rural and stinking with very marshy ground. It would've been where all the entertainment of the time would've been such as brothels, gambling dens and theatres which not only put on plays but also were the venues for bear baiting.
After the Globe exhibition we walked a little further up the river and went to the Tate Modern. Again this is another place I've been in the past few years but it was nice to go back. They had different exhibitions on display and we had a good laugh. Following that we went to Planet Hollywood which was on my friends list to do (in fact she ticked of 7 things on this trip!). It was really nice food and I enjoyed it but it was a very very noisy place to eat!
Now comes the bit where I can cross of one of my targets. On the Saturday morning we passed through Leicester Square and went to the TKTS Booth there. This is where you can purchase half price theatre tickets. We got some fantastic tickets to see Chicago for that evening. I had some vouchers for the theatre so it worked out we only paid £7 for each ticket in cash and we were sitting 5 rows from the very front! I didn't know the story of Chicago before this but it was a brilliant show. All the singing and dancing was so much fun. It is definitely a musical of all musicals!
What with the Shakespeare play of Greek and Trojan Battles and Chicago with half clad men I think my overall lasting picture of my trip to London is of very fit men's torsos!
On Friday we went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace before heading to the Tower of London. I had been to the Tower a few years ago but we went on a tour with a Beefeater this weekend and it was really interesting to hear some of the historical stories and history from him. He was also the Beefeater in charge of looking after the ravens so that was pretty cool. That evening we went to see Troillus and Cressida at The Shakespeare Globe. It was a play that I hadn't heard of before so was unsure what to expect. It turned out to be brilliant though and it's so good being able to stand so close to the stage. We were standing throughout so it was pretty tough on our legs especially after the full day in London before! Matthew Kelly was in it and he was so good. Definitely made for the stage rather than the TV.
On Saturday we continued on our mammouth trip of London. We went to the Globe exhibition and then a tour of the Rose Theatre. This is another theatre of the Globe's time just nearby to the Globe. They found the foundations of the Rose in 1989 when excavating the ground to build an office block. The office block has been built but the Globe Trust owns the basement of it with the foundations. They have had to recover the foundations so that they don't crumble away but they hope to be able to open them up again over the next 18 months and preserve them with a glass cover so they can be on show. They then plan to make a theatre on that spot so the foundations can be seen. The theatre will obviously not be open air like the original because of the office block but it is still exciting to have a theatre back on the original site. It was great to hear about the area during that time in history. It was very rural and stinking with very marshy ground. It would've been where all the entertainment of the time would've been such as brothels, gambling dens and theatres which not only put on plays but also were the venues for bear baiting.
After the Globe exhibition we walked a little further up the river and went to the Tate Modern. Again this is another place I've been in the past few years but it was nice to go back. They had different exhibitions on display and we had a good laugh. Following that we went to Planet Hollywood which was on my friends list to do (in fact she ticked of 7 things on this trip!). It was really nice food and I enjoyed it but it was a very very noisy place to eat!
Now comes the bit where I can cross of one of my targets. On the Saturday morning we passed through Leicester Square and went to the TKTS Booth there. This is where you can purchase half price theatre tickets. We got some fantastic tickets to see Chicago for that evening. I had some vouchers for the theatre so it worked out we only paid £7 for each ticket in cash and we were sitting 5 rows from the very front! I didn't know the story of Chicago before this but it was a brilliant show. All the singing and dancing was so much fun. It is definitely a musical of all musicals! What with the Shakespeare play of Greek and Trojan Battles and Chicago with half clad men I think my overall lasting picture of my trip to London is of very fit men's torsos!
Sunday 16 August 2009
34 lengths, 7 events and a london show!
I've just been for my first swim of the month. I realised yesterday that it was nearly half way through the month and I hadn't yet been for a swim and this week i'm moving house and next week I'm going back to work so thought I'd better get started!
The swimming pool opposite me, as I said before, is closed for this month. I'm actually quite glad about that as I don't really like it and I have now found a nicer one. It is a gym and swimming complex in Southampton and it has a fun pool and then a lane swimming pool. The length of it is 25 metres which is 5 metres longer than the other one also. This morning I did a whole 34 lengths which is 14 lengths more than before and it is also an extra 5 metres per length. The pool had music playing which I really think helped. It's not so much the energy that I have the problem with but boredom and I didn't get bored at all this morning as I could just listen to the music. I think I will probably make it my regular pool.
I got the tickets through yesterday for the Cheltenham festival. My friend can't make is so I am going on my own. I'm looking forward to it and have booked the events I want to go to and I have the tickets so it's all going ahead now! I just have to make sure I can get the time off work now!! The people I'm going to be going to see are: Kate Atkinson, Alan Davies, Lisa See & Xinran, Jack Dee, Philippa Gregory, Al Murray, Patrick Gale and Marina Lewycka. I have chosen a good mixture of authors I like as well as comedians. It works out that I will have Thurs, Fri and Sat day times to go out and about exploring the area and then Sunday I have a session to go to in the morning, afternoon and evening.
I am going to London on Friday for the weekend with a friend of mine. She is doing 101 things in 1001 days and some of her tasks are in London and I said I'd go with her. I have got some Leisure Vouchers which can be spent on theatre tickets so on the Sat we are going to go the Tkts booth at Leicester Square and see what they have available for that evening. This will tick off my see a London show task which will be cool.
The swimming pool opposite me, as I said before, is closed for this month. I'm actually quite glad about that as I don't really like it and I have now found a nicer one. It is a gym and swimming complex in Southampton and it has a fun pool and then a lane swimming pool. The length of it is 25 metres which is 5 metres longer than the other one also. This morning I did a whole 34 lengths which is 14 lengths more than before and it is also an extra 5 metres per length. The pool had music playing which I really think helped. It's not so much the energy that I have the problem with but boredom and I didn't get bored at all this morning as I could just listen to the music. I think I will probably make it my regular pool.
I got the tickets through yesterday for the Cheltenham festival. My friend can't make is so I am going on my own. I'm looking forward to it and have booked the events I want to go to and I have the tickets so it's all going ahead now! I just have to make sure I can get the time off work now!! The people I'm going to be going to see are: Kate Atkinson, Alan Davies, Lisa See & Xinran, Jack Dee, Philippa Gregory, Al Murray, Patrick Gale and Marina Lewycka. I have chosen a good mixture of authors I like as well as comedians. It works out that I will have Thurs, Fri and Sat day times to go out and about exploring the area and then Sunday I have a session to go to in the morning, afternoon and evening.
I am going to London on Friday for the weekend with a friend of mine. She is doing 101 things in 1001 days and some of her tasks are in London and I said I'd go with her. I have got some Leisure Vouchers which can be spent on theatre tickets so on the Sat we are going to go the Tkts booth at Leicester Square and see what they have available for that evening. This will tick off my see a London show task which will be cool.
Friday 7 August 2009
Cheltenham Book Festival
The programme for the Cheltenham Book Festival, which is in October, came out this week. You can't book for any of the events until next week unless you're a member but I had a good look at it and decided which events I would like to go to. They've got some really good people there including a couple of comedians. I have found a few days in a row where there is at least one person I'd like to see so I have found a B&B and reserved a room there. I'll be going from a Thursday until the Sunday. I'm really excited about it all. I have invited someone from work to come along too and she is going to let me know next week. It'll be nice if she can come as it'll be more fun. We'd be able to make it into more of a girly weekend but even if she can't I'll still enjoy it. I've decided that as a single person I am going to have to become more brave about doing certain things on my own. I can't always rely on friends wanting to and being able to do the same things as me and if I want to do the things I enjoy I will have to do them on my own. In one way going to the festival alone will feel like a bit more of an adventure!!
Sunday 2 August 2009
The Island
Last month I read The Island by Victoria Hislop. It was an amazing book set in the 50s on an island just off Crete. This Island was a place where anyone with leprosy was shipped off to the island so that you couldn't contaminate anything else. A cure was found and eventually the people were let of the island. It is definitely a book worth reading if you get the opportunity.
The reason I'm posting about The Island is that it has helped me choose my charity for this month. At the back of the book there was a little blurb about www.lepra.org.uk. This is a charity that works in developing countries where leprosy is still a problem. I have just donated my £10 for this month and have discovered a new charity!
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