canadian_turtle

My next week is going to be quite insane as I am basically spending my days either queuing/attending Cabin Pressure recordings or running from a job interview to a temp job to another job interview and more temp work and then I also have a few movie screenings and the Bafta preview + Q/A for Game of Thrones to cram into my days (my life, it is so hard). Anyway, I was getting pretty stressed about it and what I'd like to do best to clear my head is hike. I am not a sporty person at all but give me a hill or a mountain to climb with the promise of a beautiful view at the top and I am game (must be mountain envy because I am from a country known for being entirely flat XD). Sadly I am no longer living in Australia, New Zealand or Canada, instead I am living in a big city not particularly known for its scenic mountain ranges, but I read somewhere about "Primrose Hill" and figured it'd might be worth checking out. So on Saturday I spent a few hours enjoying the beautiful weather and exploring a part of London I had not been before. I started off in an area nicknamed Little Venice, where an arm of the Grand Union Canal meets Regent's Canal, wandered along Regent's Canal to Primrose Hill and Regent's Park and finally worked my way down to Queen Mary's Gardens. While not exactly comparable to the Blue Mountains or Whistler it was still a very nice walk and of course I took pictures along the way:

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Current Mood: busy
Current Location: United Kingdom, London
Current Music: Linkin Park - "What I've Done"

I have been feeling quite down lately because of the lack of success in my job hunting and the increasing stress and money worries that come with that but today's sunny weather certainly lifted my mood somewhat (I was able to wear a t-shirt instead of a hoodie, omgwtfbbq!). And I decided to spend some time outside with my camera as it's been ages since I have taken the time for photography (stage door pictures hardly count). My camera is absolutely rubbish as I am still using the compact one I bought in a rush in the US when my other one broke down (a proper DSLR is on my to wish list for when I actually manage to find a job) and I still cannot figure out how to upload pictures to Facebook without them being resized and turning slightly grainy but even so I wanted to share a few of the photos:

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Can anyone recommend me nice parks or gardens to visit in London? I don't mean a general place such as Hyde Park but somewhere a little more colourful where I will be able to photograph the up and coming Spring flowers (wildlife a bonus!). Many thanks ♥

Current Mood: okay
Current Location: United Kingdom, London
Current Music: Cabin Pressure 2x05

Last night I went to see In a Forest, Dark and Deep at the Vaudeville Theatre which stars Matthew Fox and Olivia Williams (and only them as it's a two-hander). The play centres around two siblings, Bobby and Betty, and their rather complicated relationship. It's supposed to be provocative and disturbing and while at points I did think: "They did not just go there...", let's be honest the storyline was also highly predictable and the 'shocking' twist near the end could be seen from miles away. Highlight by far to me was the dialogue given to the character of Bobby. It got a fair few laughs from the audience throughout, both when intentionally funny as well as after the more cringeworthy moments 'shocking' the audience into a sudden burst of laughter.

Unfortunately there were no jears to be seen at any point during or after the performance, I was a tad disappointed by that I have to say. However I thought Matthew was absolutely fabulous as Bobby in every other aspect (and he plays a mean air guitar!). Admittedly no matter how much I love Lost and Party of Five I did not have very high hopes for his live acting skills, but I was pleasantly surprised when proven wrong. Olivia Williams on the other hand I have to say was underwhelming. She was by no means terrible but I did not find her to have a very strong stage presence either. And her American accent was nowhere near as believable as in Dollhouse making me question for a while if I was watching the understudy instead.

The performance we went to was part of a What's On Stage outing and because of that was followed by a Q/A with Matthew, Olivia and writer/director Neil LaBute. It lasted for about half an hour and we got warned beforehand that the only questions allowed had to focus on the play and not anything else the actors have been involved in "such as TV-shows they may be known from". In other words: don't mention jears, the numbers, Dharma or randomly shout omgwtfpolarbear. For the most part of the Q/A it was Neil who was speaking though both Olivia and Matthew talked briefly about their opinion on Neil, the play and their characters as well. I recorded a few answers but I think the sound quality is fairly poor and I can't check properly right now because my headphone jack seems to be buggered (ie. when watching movies I can't hear the dialogue though the sound effects and background music sound flawless and when listening to music the sound wavers. Anyone familiar with this problem? I think it's the headphone jack but ugh I don't want to send my laptop away - who knows how long it takes to be returned?). I do have pictures, which you can find below. The programme looks fabulous and has a few fantastic photos in it so I included those as well (and completely unrelated but it mentions both Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant - can't escape those two!).

Afterwards some people moved towards the stage to see if they could get pictures and their programme signed (think Jeffster after the Comic Con panel) so we followed suit and I believe all tree of use managed to get our programme signed by both actors. They were both personalising which was fantastic (& Olivia said she liked my name, pronouncing it with a long z and very rolling r and Matthew had to ask me to spell it about 25 times before he got it right).

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Current Mood: lazy
Current Location: United Kingdom, London
Current Music: American Idiot OST - "Jesus of Suburbia"

This year marked the first World Book Night (not to be confused with World book Day on March 3) and I had the great pleasure of not only helping them out as a volunteer but also to be one of the 20,000 givers to get a batch of 48 books of one of the 25 chosen titles to hand out on the night of March 5th and thereafter. A total of one million free books will have 'released' across the UK and Ireland when everyone has given all their books away (I know 20,000 times 48 does not equal one million, the remaining books are given to hospitals, prisons, etc. by WBN directly).

I received 48 copies of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman to give away (with a special World Book Night cover and info on the inside and everything) and I picked them up at my local library on Saturday morning where I also met two other givers who were kind enough to offer me copies of their books One Day and A Fine Balance! Receiving free books is a fabulous start to the day, I must say. I spent most of Saturday morning/afternoon registering the books on bookcrossing.com, writing the individual identification numbers in them and basically getting them ready for handing out in the evening. While it was a long process it was a satisfying one too (even though writing in the books felt so very, very wrong).

There were thousands of events across the country for WBN and I went to the one in the South Bank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in London which consisted of readings from debuting and well-known authors. The first few weren't particularly interesting to me until Joe Dunthorne came on and read the first chapter of his novel Submarine (of which a movie adaptation will be released in cinemas soon). It was very quirky and funny and definitely made me want to seek out the novel. Also wonderful were Margaret Atwood and Mark Haddon. I even managed to catch Mark afterwards to get him to sign my copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which he not only personalised but also drew a picture in, awesome! When all the guest speakers had finished I (and several other givers) gave away the books I had brought with me (not all 48 copies though as I couldn't carry them all) and it was wonderful to see people's faces lit up after receiving a free book without any strings attached. Some people asked me questions about the book and I also got into discussions about the various other titles being handed out on WBN which was just fabulous.

I also attended the launch in Trafalgar Square on March 4th and while it was absolutely freezing I had a great time. The evening started of with receiving a World Book Night t-shirt and a free book and book magazine from the Waterstones booth (score!) and it only got better from that point onwards. The event consisted of readings from books, poems and short stories and was hosted by Graham Norton who was absolutely hilarious throughout (point in case: "Many of you may be surprised to learn I can actually read."). Celebrity speakers included: PHILIP PULLMAN, STANLEY TUCCI, DBC Pierre, Sarah Waters, BORIS JOHNSON, Alan Bennett, RUPERT EVERETT, John Le Carré, Nick Cave, Hayley Atwell, MARGARET ATWOOD, Monica Ali, Suggs, Lemn Sissay, DAVID NICHOLLS, Edna O'Brien and MARK HADDON. Highlights: Boris Johnson reading an account of a hangover, Philip Pullman reading an excerpt from Northern Lights with wonderful voices for Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby, a lovely poem reading by Stanley Tucci and Hayley Atwell, a touching reading from Stuart: A Life Backwards and David Nicholls reading a hilarious excerpt from his novel One Day (which I want to read asap now!).

As mentioned before I've given a bunch of my books away on the night itself and I am planning to 'release' the rest in the London public transport over the course of the next week. However before doing so I wanted to offer them up on here! So, who would like a free copy of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights? I am afraid I do have to see you in person in the next few months though so I don't have to hoard the books forever (and unfortunately I do not have the funds to send them over post either). Comment below if interested!

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Current Mood: busy
Current Location: United Kingdom, London
Current Music: Music: Lord of the Dance - "Don Dorcha and the Warlords"

After discovering Misfits a few months ago (and because of that the awesomeness that is Iwan Rheon) I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Iwan's also a musician. I saw some of his Spring Awakening performances on YouTube and he sounded absolutely brilliant so of course I was stoked when I heard that he regularly performs in London as well. The gig I went to this week was in Belham and when I got out of the tube station there was a very familiar guy walking in front of me, guitar case in hand: Iwan himself! I didn't bother him, but it was pretty neat to see him before the show like that. As soon as we got to the pub/venue he went over to a table where some of his friends were seated and started chatting to them, so I just I went to the area where the gig was going to be held.

There were several acts that night, the first one a group called The Dunwell Brothers Band and their music was upbeat and really fun imho. They were followed by a guy who's name I don't remember and tbh I didn't care much for his act. After a short interval it was finally Iwan's turn and he was brilliant (despite the fact that he kind of lost his voice because of too much drinking the night before roflmao). He played for about half an hour which didn’t give me a lot of time to take pictures because I also recorded a few of his songs, but I still managed to get a few half decent shots (mostly because I was sitting at a table at the front XD). After Iwan, Rich Hall was supposed to be on but he had apparently cancelled last minute so instead the host of the night (and former member of Iron Maiden and Cutting Crew) Tony Moore did a few songs, amongst which the Cutting Crew's most famous single "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight". Pretty fun, but of course not as awesome as Iwan was <3

( Larger pictures + videos of Iwan behind the cut )

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: United Kingdom, London

Or Merry Christmas to those of you who have no clue what I'm on about and assume I've been sipping mulled wine since I woke up (for the record I haven't. 'Meretricious' is a Sherlock reference - what else did you expect!). I hope each and every one of you has a great one! ♥ ♥ ♥ I shall be spending mine with my family, doing very little (besides hanging on the couch with a fleece and a good book and possibly trying my hands at some cooking and baking) and trying not to think of the fact that I have to brave the weather in a few short weeks again to try to get back to England…

( Winter photos from the Netherlands )

Current Mood: lazy
Current Location: Netherlands, Emmen

I should probably start with explaining that I started watching Misfits a few weeks ago (a brilliant British show that all of you should check out btw!) and coincidentally just after I joined the main LJ-community for it I saw a post that the cast would be doing a Q/A at the Apple store in Regent Street. Sounds awesome, yes? Of course I went to check it out. And I met some lovely, lovely girls who's LJ-names I don't remember by heart at the moment other than

rabbitfacts and we happily chatted away the 3 hour wait (I didn't even get one third through my book and my initial plan was to finish it during the wait!) until the start of the Q/A. And we all scored front row seats, because we are awesome like that.

To not make this ramble too long I'll post some bullet points with some of the funny moments/comments made by the actors behind the cut. The full thing will be up on iTunes for free at some point so I'm not going through the trouble to decipher all my notes right now (I have so much to do before leaving for the Netherlands still…) for a full transcript. I've also made tons and tons of pictures from which I posted a small selection of reasonably okay ones behind the cut. They're not amazing because flash photography wasn't allowed (even though the lighting was flippin' purple!) and I uploaded them to Facebook which also resizes them, but I guess they're decent.

Oh and afterwards, while I was checking my e-mails at the Apple store, we saw a girl ran past us and in a moment of spontaneity we followed her and managed to catch the actors at a side entrance outside! It was brief and really busy but Lucy and I managed to get a pic with Iwan (sort of, I had to take it myself Ventimiglia style and I'm crap at that, but at least we're all three on it and Iwan looks adorable! ♥ Night was made, let me tell you that.

( Robert: 'When we were filming that scene on the boat I turned the other way to piss in a bottle but I mainly pissed on myself.' )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: United Kingdom, London
Current Music: Doe Maar - "Belle Helene"

( Huge write-up with pictures and videos (including the 11th Doctor appearance) behind the cut )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United Kingdom, London
Current Music: Murray Gold - "Pandorica Suite"

Please don't take or hotlink! (btw this is not my best shot of Karen but she looks so cute in it!)

OMFG.

The Doctor Who Prom was bloody amazing! I don't have much time right now to elaborate as I have to leave again in about 8 hours for tomorrow's (well technically today's) Prom, but in short: There was adorable, adorable Matt Smith both as the Doctor and later on as host. Karen Gillan was gorgeous as ever. And Arthur Darvill is so cute irl <3 <3 <3 There were vampires, Daleks, Jadoon, Cybermen, Silurians & Sontarans. A compilation of songs from S5 where the Vincent van Gogh bit was overwhelmingly beautiful. There was an amazing montage of all past regenerations (the cheering when Ten came on was insane). They performed Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home as well as Vale Decem (my two favourite Who scores) and everything was just wow. I've got a few hundred pictures from it all (I was standing second row from the front) so I'll make a more proper post tomorrow. I seriously can't wait to see and hear it all again!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: United Kingdom, London