The Edinburgh Fringe Festival (in photographs)

Such such such a brilliant week! Inevitably I am now suffering from severe Fringe withdrawals (ED-HEAD), a God awful cold (FRINGE-FLU) and what can only be described as jet-lag (So I may have only flown an hour each way but one week of solid drinking, a crap diet (battered mars bar, anyone?) and only 35 hours sleep can produce the very same effects!) but it has been completely worth it and I'd do it all again, I tell you! I will, in fact. Bring on August 2012. Who's in? ;)

Favourite acts included The Boy With Tape On His Face, Frisky and Mannish, Paul Foot, Russell Kane and The Cambridge Footlights. Absolute genius, all of them - go see if you can! Really.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed.

Ed Fringe

source

Just a quick note to say I'm away at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the moment, so I won't be blogging for a good few days. Feel free to follow me on Twitter if you so wish!

Sherlock: Behind the Scenes

Sherlock, Series 2. Oh yes, it's happening and last Monday I managed to get a small peek at filming.

Upon arrival to North Gower Street I found myself greeted by the very interesting sight of Benedict Cumberbatch (spell-check will never accept it) draped in a white sheet, little to no other clothing on. Yeah. Keeping this as "spoiler-free" as possible though, I shan't reveal any more ;) Rather, much of the day consisted of takes and retakes and waiting around between takes. Ah, show business! It was amazing to see how much effort goes into such little footage, though, and watching Benedict and Martin become Sherlock and John was a truly wonderful thing to be witness to.


Despite not sticking around until the bitter end, highlights included Benedict zooming up and down Baker Street on his camera dolly (not for filming, mind, he's just one of those divas who refuse to walk anywhere), 221B/automobiles constantly locking Martin out and... er, lollipops.

The only disruption was a man who pulled up in his car and refused to move it, despite the road being closed for filming. It wouldn't have been bad but he was an absolute knob about it. I couldn't help but think how Sherlock would have ripped him to pieces...

"...the way you look, the way you walk, says wanker. You're in your late twenties, fairly well-off by the looks of things, run your own business-- oh don't look at me like that, it's obvious from the obnoxious logo on the side of your car. Really, is it any wonder the film crew don't want it on set? Speaking of the car, it's very flash, isn't it? You know what they say about men who drive flash cars..." ;)

Aside from that, the shoot ran smoothly and both cast and crew were truly accommodating to locals and fans and vice versa. A successful day for all really, and so fun to be a small part of it.

So there you have it, my peek at Sherlock S2! I think I speak for everyone when I say it's going to be an absolute blinder.

How To: Newspaper Nails

So I shared a quick photograph of my snazzy newspaper nails on Twitter today and had a few people asking how I did it...

1. Paint nails white and allow to dry.

2. Tear a piece of newspaper, place it upon the nail.

3. Take a cotton wool pad soaked in nail varnish remover (or vodka...) and gently press it upon the newspaper.

4.  After a few moments remove the cotton pad and paper; the print should be transferred.

5. Repeat, repeat, repeat, new pieces of newspaper each time.

6. Allow to dry and seal it with some clear nail varnish. 

There you go; easy!

Morrissey, Brixton Academy, 07/08/11

If you've been following my Twitter then you're probably quite aware of my recent action-packed couple of days (If you haven't, then get on it. ;))

Day one: Morrissey, Brixton. First off, £9.10 for two pints of cider is a rip and I'm a mug. Yeah, so not the most typical start to a "review" but I'm still grieving for my money! Clawed back a small victory in convincing the merchandisers to swap the XL t-shirt I bought last month for a Medium (har har har oh yeah, forever beating the system!) but still. #skint

Anyway, the gig! Wonderful atmosphere and Moz was on top Moz-form ("Do you really think Cameron's ever been to Tottenham? I don't think so.") The set was full of favourites and I'm pleased to finally say I've heard Speedway and it was brilliant. Won't lie, the ridiculously long pause towards the end was excruciatingly tense, and for one minute I genuinely thought he might have just cut it but oh no, Moz didn't let me down - the music came back in full force and ha, amazing!

Other highlights were I Know It's Over was (beautiful) and Everyday Is Like Sunday (audience singing goose-bumps). We were also privy to a new song called Art-Hounds ("Spelt Art HYPHEN Hounds; Hounds as in Baskerville, Art as in Oscar Wilde.") which was warmly received.

Unfortunately I somehow deleted pretty much everything on my camera pre-encore. Still not sure how I managed that one but I've got a feeling it may have had something to do with the German language setting... schwachsinnige! Proceeded to spend the resulting amount of unused memory on photographs of the Morrissey look-alike next to me.


Uncanny.

Aside from that little mishap, everything was brilliant and we thankfully managed to leave Brixton without any problems relating to the riots. Speaking of, really hope everyone is ok - stay safe, guys! :(

Day two: Behind the scenes of Sherlock. Post soon.

Setlist:

I Want The One I Can't Have / Irish Blood, English Heart / You're The One For Me, Fatty / You Have Killed Me / Scandinavia / Ouija Board, Ouija Board / Black Cloud / People Are The Same Everwhere / Alma Matters / Action Is My Middle Name / Speedway / Satellite Of Love / I Know It's Over / Everyday Is Like Sunday / There Is A Light That Never Goes Out / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Art-Hounds / Meat is Murder // First Of The Gang To Die

"You don't have to say you love me..."

To pretend to be happy could only be idiocy

dress: topshop sale. oh, the irony.

Bit of a cheat - didn't actually take these photographs today, but I am wearing this.

Today has been strange... got a call from Bournemouth Topshop about going for a "Top Level Supervisor" job (!) and had to turn them down. Didn't really want to, but obviously they're looking for someone with long-term commitment and I just can't offer that. #thatswhatshesaid. Originally I applied for the sales assistant role, a job I wouldn't have minded kicking in when London knocked again, but the thought of them possibly training me for a proper, permanent position - getting me all supervised up and then dropping them is a bit too awkward. Kind of left me kicking myself and my plans a bit, but I've got faith it'll all work out for the best. Started looking straight at London now - less likely to end up letting anyone down and more likely to get me into a nice place.

It's like the Lucy in Disguise moment all over again; I have the worst luck with good jobs!

...but yeah, everything happens for a reason, right! They did tell me to let them know if plans change, haha. And besides, I've got Moz to sing my sorrows tomorrow night; maybe life isn't so unfair.

Orla Kiely AW11

Orla Kiely Short Film from Dolce Films

Ok, really needing those get-rich-quick schemes, guys! This may be my favourite collection ever.

Divezes, Wiltshire

There we go, rest your scrolling finger ;) I didn't mean to go all photo heavy on you but I went for a picnic (under a bridge) in Wiltshire's Divezes yesterday and it's such a picturesque sort of place I couldn't help but snap everything.

I don't know what it is about canal boats (suspect it may have something to do with my childhood obsession with Rosie and Jim...) (speaking of tv shows, warning: another Peep Show reference today, I can only apologise) but I've always loved them. Not sure I'd want to live on one, the novelty of it would probably wear off after about a week, but I'd love one for little (canal pub-crawling/cruising) holidays.

Jez: Come on, let's max out the engine a bit, tear it up! 
Mark: Actually this is almost top speed. 
Jez: What if we hit trouble? 
Mark: I don't think we're going to hit trouble on the Shropshire Union Canal, Jeremy. 
Jez: Right, but this is just it? This is totally it? There's not gonna be any waves or mad shit? 
Mark: No. 
Jez: Can I water-ski off the back? 
Mark: You're very welcome to try! 
Jez: Jesus. Well, let's stop here then and go for a drink. 
Mark: Jez, it's 10 in the morning! 
source: that episode
Thanks for all the good lucks on my last post. No word on the job front just yet but I've got quite a lot to keep me occupied with Morrissey on Sunday and then Edinburgh Fringe from the 16th. Exciting! Can't believe we're into August already.