My Black Ford Focus
As you all know i have ended up buying a brand new car, because my Rover failed the M.O.T and what it ended up failing on was bad, and meant that i couldn’t get the parts i needed to fix it. So after everyone told me to get a Ford. I listened and got myself a Ford Focus. Shes called Ebony. And is amazing to drive. Smooth and was a very good deal, because i got a £700 pounds off AND a new clutch. So everything is good. Here are a few photos….
Lady Hawke
Philipe Gastone, a thief escapes from a dungeon at Aquila, triggering a manhunt. Just before he is captured Philipe is rescued by Captain Navarre who takes him under his wing. Navarre has been hunted down for the past two years by the Bishop’s men, ever since he escaped with the Lady Isabeau who the Bishop had lusted after. The Bishop calls upon the power of darkness for the means to damn the lovers and in his fury he struck a dreadful bargain with the Devil, and so Navarre becomes a wolf by night whilst his lover Isabeau takes the form of a hawk by day. When the hawk is injured, it’s up to Philipe to save her as he travels to find an old monk named Imperius. He is the one who betrayed the couple after getting drunk and telling the Bishop everything. Imperius comes up with a cunning plan to break the curse, as an eclipse is due which will allow the couple to face the Bishop in their human form so meaning the curse is broken.
This movie is a true love story and will pull at your heart strings making you cry. It’s very well thought out and its nothing like the other chick flick romantic movies that are around now. Throughout the film it’s all about the love they share as you see that they never leave each other’s side and so for me the best phrase is “so they are always together, eternally apart.” It’s my favourite love story film of the year!
The Holiday
In London, Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and has fallen in love with her colleague Jasper Bloom. Near Christmas, she is informed that Jasper is engaged and will marry another colleague, which turns her life head over heels. However in Los Angeles, a movie-trailers maker Amanda Woods has just broken with her unfaithful boyfriend Ethan and wants to forget him. Amanda accesses a house exchange website, and ends up swapping her mansion for Iris’ cottage in Surrey for a holiday for the next two weeks. While in Surrey, Amanda meets Iris’ brother- Graham a book editor- and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile Iris meets her next door neighbour, a ninety year old screenplay writer Arthur, who helps her to retrieve her self-esteem, and then meets a film composer, Miles, and they too fall in love with each other.
The Holiday is so romantic and made me cry throughout the entire film. It’s one of those movies that makes you think about all the princess movies and how you have always wanted that happy ending yourself but never got it. Throughout the film there is a wonderful storyline and it’s very well acted out. I especially love the scenes involving Judea Law’s character Graham Simpkins, Cameron Diaz’s character Amanda Woods and Graham’s daughters. It’s such a wonderful scene where they invite her into the family after losing their mum in an accident.. it just blows you away.
Seven Pounds
Haunted by a secret, Ben, played by Will Smith, looks for redemption by radically changing the lives of seven different people he doesn’t know. He has a list of thousands of people’s names and then ends up making his list of seven. After this he investigates whether or not they are worth saving by interrogating them. But what Ben hadn’t planned on was falling in love with one of the candidates on his list, and she’s the one who ends up transforming him. Throughout the film you see Ben plan his own death, and when he realises that the woman he loves will die without a donor heart, which is very unlikely because she has a rare blood group, he takes his own life by jumping in the bath with a jelly fish, after dialling 911 to report his own suicide. At the end of the film you find out why he decided to help these seven people through his suicide, as he caused the death of 7 people, including his wife, in a road accident.
Seven pounds is a very confusing film, as throughout you see flash backs of the accident but not enough to register what’s actually happened. You also don’t get to see who else he helps because it’s mostly about his new lover; Emily Posa played by Rosario Dawson. The love story is sweet and makes you think about whether you’re other half would do the same for you. It was an interesting film to watch but you would need to watch it a couple of times to get your head around it all.
Pier read by Casey Magnus
Planet 51
Lem is just an average teenage alien, who ends up trying to win the girl next door, but also is trying to hold down his career at the local planetarium. When U.S astronaut Captain Charles T.Baker lands on his planet, the aliens believe that he is there as a brain-eating, zombie-creating monster. Lem finds himself trying to save this astronaut as he only has a few hours left before his mission is over and he is shipped back off to Earth. However when they both discover that his ship has been taken captive by the alien army they end up captured too, before a hazard happens killing many alien men and when the astronaut saves the General, he gives him permission to take his ship back and fly off home. Lem ends up with the girl of his dreams although he ends up sacrificing his job to save Captain Baker.
This movie is very strange and isn’t really that exciting if I’m honest. Although the animation is very well presented, it is only a basic storyline which doesn’t really inspire you to sit and watch it all the way through. I actually found it hard to stay awake whilst watching it in the cinema. Its not one that I would watch again nor have in my DVD collection, but if you’re parents of children under 5 it is probably a fantastic film to see as it will definitely appeal to the younger viewer.
Pier Read by Casey Magnus
Interior Design
Interior design is all about creating the space within a space for example designing the interior for a hotel, or shops. It can also be the space outside for example, promoting an exhibition, you could have one of the pieces outside with directions for the public to follow. Although really it can be anything and anywhere.
Now there are certain sectors within Interior design;
- Residential – Houses,Flats, Canal boats. these can be new builds or existing builds.
- Workplace – Factories, Offices
- Temporary exhibition pieces – Museums, Gallery’s
- Commercial – Shopping malls, Warehouses, Conference centers
- Leisure – Cinemas, theaters, Health centers
- Hospitality – Hotels, Restaurants,Pubs, Cafe’s and Nightclubs
- Education – Schools, colleges and Universities
- Health care – Hospitals, Care homes and Nursing.
Salary
Many Interior designers are self-employed so they could be charging anything from £30-£50 an hour.Depending how experienced you are, you could be charging up to £100 per hour, for your time. Junior Interior Designers will be empoyed by an agency and could earn anything from £15,000 – £20,000 a year.
In 2008 the average salary for someone who has been working in Interior for 3 years was £23,000 year. With 5-6 Years experience can earn up to £25,000 – £30,000 a year. Designers with over 10 years of experience can earn up to £32,000 a year.
Responsibilties
In interior Design, tasks and responsibilities may vary depending on how experienced you are and also the size of your company, however the following would usually pop up in your contract.
- Client briefing – this might include a dissuction of needs, desires and initial ideas. Branding consideration may also need to be considered. Also the budget and also a time scale.
- Research – This will involve showing your client photographs and mood boards, with samples of furnishings and lighting (basically anything that will be going into the room/space)
- Proposal – This involves producing sketches and more detailed drawings, sourcing and choosing specific fabrics and also fixtures and fittings.
- Monitoring costings and timescale.
- Preparation of a contractor brief and selection of contractors who will help you on your build. Also a list of suppliers, budget, experience from the workers.
- Project management – Supervision of the work on site.
- Project delivery and handover – Making final inspections and handing all the information to your client.
- Follow up – Resolving any problems that may have happened.
Qualification
A professional qualification is essential in order to pursue a career in Interior Design. There are a wide range of courses available as well as extra training. The British Interior Design Association provides a list of higher education establishments offering Interior Design courses.There are hundreds of courses ranging from a 10 week certificate to a full time 4 years BA Honours degree.
It depends which area of Interior Design you are interested in and what one would suit you best. You also need to look at the entry requirements and what restrictions there might be. also the distance and time scale.
The following City & Quilds courses are a good option which will get you started in Interior Design:
- Level 1,2 and 3 Certificate in Design & Craft
- Level 3 Diploma in Design & Craft
- Level 1,2 and 3 Award / Certificate / Diploma in Creative Techniques.
You could also study for a BTEC National Certificate and Diploma in Art & Design or ABC Diploma in Interior Design.
Degree courses may vary from 2-4 years. Although there are many different courses such as: Interior and Spacial Design, Interior Architecture, Interior Decoration, Interior Textiles, Furniture Design.
There are also elements that will be included for example:
- History of the discipline (art, architecture, interiors and furniture)
- Theory of design
- Materials studies (finishes, furnishings for interior design)
- Drawings, photography, also including technical drawing applications such as Auto Cad
- Spatial layout and planning
- Budgeting and time planning
- Professional practice (communication, office organisation)
Skills
Interior Design employ wide range of skills for example:
- Technical skills are important, especially in Auto CAD and drawing and sketching ability.
- Good spatial awareness, imagination and creativity are also essential.
- you will need excellent communication skills, both for client liaison and research plus to manage to talk to your suppliers and contractors.
- Team work and management skills are important especially in Interior Design. Its important because you have to direct the build and supervise the contractors and any work going on.
- Motivation and the ability to work unsupervised are also important, especially for freelance designers.
- Business skills will be important for most designers especially if you’re self-employed. This includes budgeting, marketing and time management skills.
- The ability to work under pressure and attention to detail is also important.
Interior Design is the career choice i have always wanted to get into, although from doing these course i would like to become a lecturer and teach in a college rather than a secondary school or primary. Although i have the patience to work with children at those ages, coming from Interior Design wouldn’t be enough to work from as in school they cover a wide range of art, although i have previously done BTEC National Award in Art & Design as well as a Diploma.
Also from college i have been accepted for interviews from Hertfordshire, Writtle College, Suffolk – Ipswich and Canterbury all doing Interior Design, Interior and Spacial Design or interior Architecture. From then on i will be either accepted from all 4 choices or from 1 and my university application will be verified and i will be going to the university that accepted me. After 3 years i will be then graduating and applying for a TLLS – Teaching for life long learning sector.
Hopefully after a year of the TLLs course i will applying to any colleges around my area, and waiting for reply’s to see if i have been accepted to work. From there on i will be a lecturer and although i wouldn’t mind doing secondary work, I’d prefer to work with the older students, although know that i may not be working for an entire week so may end up having to look for another career in between.
INT Canteen Day
The play has a very unique twist as to start off with you find that Tom and Sara have only just met each other at their canteen, however Tom becomes more and more freaky as sara finds herself to be married to this guy with children, that she never even knew existed. at the end it seems as if the relationship between Tom and sara was true as this new guy comes into the scene, as both seem very uneasy of what the two of them have shared.
To me this play seems very weird as i’m confused to whether or not the two of them have actually got a relationship or not. It’s also ot very inspiring to me as i believe the twist could have been a lot stronger and not only that but in a different scene. The part where the photos disappear, is a very goo scene as it gets you thinking whether ir not Tom is actually real, if the photo disappeared, then why not Tom/
during the middle of the play where Sara and Tom have a discussion about whose idea it was to try for a baby girl; i found it quiet funny as i can imagine a proper conversation between a married couples, complaining about the situation. I believe that there could have been something between them although i’m still unsure to whether it’s true, but with them feeling annoyed and guilty always shows theres more to it than meets the eye.
MY Snowman…Plus snow update…
Well today is 9th January 2010… And its still snowing! Getting a tad few up with the snow now and wants to all to just go away, although I know that the met office have said it will be here till Monday… so not that happy…although thought I best make the most of it and so I decided to create my very own snowman, and take some pictures of the view out my mums window so heres an update of the snow really……
You wouldnt believe it but my car was clear the night before and now look at it..!!
Haha this is my snowman…he has red grape buttons and eyes and a carrot nose 
.. he does have stick hands but you cant really see them…. good effort though seeing as i was out there making him in the FREEZING cold whilst it was still snowing heavy.
We ended up going for a walk so heres our stick face that we made….made him from the end of our walking sticks ..
We even have icicles …..
SNOW!!!
Cant believe we had snow for xmas!.. I do like looking at the snow but hate going out in it…and it totally ruined all my plans.!!!…which was soooo annoying!!
But here are a few snaps of the snow down our way.
This is my beautiful car under all the snow and this was taken outside my mums window..
We had loads of children and their parents playing in the snow…
Me and Mum in the snow..
I do really enjoy the snow..as you can see
The view up our road a bit.
We throughly enjoyed looking at the snow but not trecking out in it, although when we went out in it atleast my car didnt get stuck.
Wolverine
Two mutant brothers Logan and Victor born 200 years ago suffer childhood traumas and only have each other to depend on. They both have the same power which is to grow claws from their hands just like a wolf. When Stryker a U.S colonel, recruits them and other mutants as commandos, Logan ends up falling in love with a teacher and then refuses to join the gang. However his brother becomes too powerful and the colonel ends up needing Logan to help save everyone. When Logan’s skeletal system is reinforced with adamantium – a virtually indestructible metal he goes to save the rest of the mutants that Stryker has imprisoned. After realising that Victor didn’t kill his lover, they team up to fight off a Frankenstein monster with the abilities of several of the killed and captured mutants. After the fight Logan informs Victor that they’re relationship is over and is told that it’s never finished because they are brothers. As Victor vanishes, Kayla, Logan’s lover is injured but as he goes to save her he is shot in the head by a adamantium bullet which causes Wolverine to forget everything about his past. Kayla uses her powers to order Stryker to walk away until his feet bleed and her wish comes true after she dies.
This film is amazing! It’s packed with high tech action and with so many special effects that blow you away. It’s a fantastic movie which allows you to see why Wolverine is the way he is, that’s only if you’ve watched the previous X-Men films. It’s a must have in your DVD collection.
Pier read by Casey Magnus
