it was the night before christmas and im at work

So here I am working till 9 ish on Christmas eve, then I have got a bit of a drive before I get to relax and enjoy half a day before I'm back in the car for a few more hours. This is what I lave about Christmas, the things you will do just to make sure you get round and see your family and friends on this one day of the year without fail. It would have been a bit easier if I had some of the evening free tonight but its not like I'm driving to Scotland. Not Christmas day is a bit of a rush as I have 2 parents to get round and then a lovely girl friend and as anyone would expect they all don’t live on the same street and it will take more than an hour to get to each one so there will be a large part of Christmas day in the car but I have planned! Got an awesome playlist to go, going to keep warm, got my headset if I want to get in to radio competition, what else can you do if you’re on your own in the car?

But right now I have about an hour before i can get out of work and get back to the flat, get everything in the car and get on my merry way with my fingers crossed that the roads are clear, last year I should have turned back when I started to pass cars on their roofs but I managed to get through, just. So back to the flat and get gone. Even tho I'm looking forward to the next few days there is a small part of me which would be just as happy to get back to the flat, crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy what Christmas eve tv has to offer, may be its the chance to enjoy the time for myself but that's not an option and the road is.

I did get all my xmas shopping done in one day and the only gift I had planned and ordered from Amnesty international didn’t come! The only one planned and not just picked up as I walk around in town looking at everything. I could have done without that day but I did go ready for shopping so close to the weekend, so rap/rock angry music on the mp3 player and I ploughed through town only giving way to old people and prams. Don’t get me wrong I was not just hitting people I was walking around like I normal do but when you have a line of people coming at you with no gap for you to walk through I was quite happy to make my own. (I do come across as a rude person don’t I?)

Well 34 mins and another 10 on that and I'm out of work, until Friday but that's just half a day or so.

Well all I can hope is you all have the Christmas you want, if its driving to see everyone or you have that bottle of wine I was talking about I just hope its a good one.

Hey! Wasn’t that my idea?

Hey! Wasn’t that my idea?

Hallo blogger from all over the world, how are you today? I hope well.

So one Christmas party, early start at work the day after, one big Short film festival later and I find myself very tired and ready to enjoy my 3 days off.

I like staff Christmas parties as I find it hard to get round and say hi to everyone at work as normally I have a lot to do so when the parties come along I like it, get to do some chatting and drinking and this party was no exception. There seemed to be a lot of throughing up going on around the place and I didn’t get any free drinks as I have another party to go to on the 11^th. The bad bit of it all was the fact I had to get up at 7am the following morning and that did not feel too good at all. The main reason I had to be in work at that time was we were doing a dry run for the short film festival we were holding at work, everyone who works for the company could make a short film and submit it with a chance of going to Hollywood! There were some set thing that had to in there and some things which were not allowed but. So today was the main event and what a hard day, it all went really well and looked fantastic and I know it was down to the hard work myself and my boss put in, I did get a massive bottle of Champaign for the work I put in today which made it worthwhile, not the booze but the token. But as I was just finishing off a few jobs got taking to one of the people I work with and he ask if I was pissed off, I was not too sure what he was on about until he reminded me of a conversation about a year ago, the company wanted more ideas of what we all could do for fun and my idea......what for it.........yes was a short film festival as most people who work in the industry I work in like films and that’s why they are there. The cheek!

i type them ,just need to post them

Went to the Apollo last weekend to watch The Hives play, well it was not the thing that caught my eye as it was Dan Sartain who was supporting the Hives and he is very good. He played well but I think his guitar could have done with being turned up a little. The Hives were very good and the front man was fantastic. The only thing I did like about the night apart from one of the support acts keyboard player turning in to a spitter was the no re-admittance rule so once you were in that’s it for the night, not to good if you want a cig at any point, Smoker discrimination? I wish. Apart from that its been all work, topping out at 55 hours this week and it was a hard6 day week but things went well so tired but happy, will be more happy when I get to claim my hours back.
So me and my flat mate have a new bet, Kane and Lynch has just been released for most consoles and he has just got it for his nice new PS3, I'm going to get it for my PC and we are going to have a race to see who can finish it the fastest, now I think I have a good chance as not only do I have a few more years of gaming under my belt but I think the controls for such a game are easier on a PC the a controller. So all I need now is the game and time to play it, girl friends don’t like it when all you do is play computer games. This is something that I have started to notice about games and that’s how much people are starting to notice what big business they are, seeing the advert for Kane and Lynch it looks like a trailer for a film, the latest episode of Chuck from the USA shows the hype around Call of Duty 4. I think from a normal society the people who read books or more accepted than the people who play games for recreation.
Its Christmas part tonight, let’s see what work has to offer in the way of Xmas cheer this year as last year was a very good night in so many ways, I don’t think this night will be as big as last year but lets hope the less they spend on venue the more they spend on drinks. One down point is the fact I have to be back In a 8am the following morning, I would have been out last night if it was not for the fact I had to be in a 7am for an event. Rubbish!

this week, that week, it all some sort of week.

So this week has not been to good, im still battling the flu and some days I think im winning but some days this is not the case. as I said the last time I stopped by I had a meeting I had to go ot and I was not expecting much and I would have been mistaken. There were time during this meeting I was ashamed to work for Odeon, not the site I work at but to work in projection. I would say 60% of the people there were some of the most un-nice people I have meet in years and I would be more than happy if I never had to see them, talk to them or even know they exist. I know this may come across as strong but I cannot describe in words alone the attitudes of some of these people.

Having got a new laptop a few weeks ago I can now afford to eat seeing as payday has finally come along and non to soon as I was starting to think if it would be ok for me to eat the grass in piccadilly gardens (it does look nice), this payday would also include my beautiful and lovely girl friend birthday, I would tell you my plans but im not underestimating the lengths she would go to just to find out what im getting her, I think I have a good idea of what she would like and a few things she would not be expecting so we will see if that plan comes together.

Moving on I have a question, how many people walk to work and listen to some sort of Mp3 player? I bet there are quite a few out there in blogger land who do and I am one of these people, there is always a sound track to my walk everywhere I go, but for a change just try one day where you don’t! I know it may sound simple but I tried it the other day and the world seemed so quite, and that was Manchester city centre at rush hour. HA maybe listening to music day after day had make me slightly deaf, hummm that would not be good.

Harmonisation part 2

So now Ex UCI and Ex Odeon have merged to become New Odeon the projection department has to become one in everything we do, this is from how we schedule staff to how the budget is managed. Over the last few months the power that we have started to roll out the changes to both side but from an EX UCI side there are not so many changes as UCI was a very profitable company and all things have been managed like you would expect a divers company to do but this is not the case of the stereotypical Ex Odeon. In the next few days I have to attend a meeting where they try to roll out some more of the changes they expect everyone to do. This would not be the 1^st meeting like this and the last meeting was very hard work. From what I could see the people tended to fall in to 2 groups, group one are people who are willing to change but just need to get their heads around how and what they need to do. The second group are militant people who are stuck in their ways and any idea which is not their own is not going to work and they won’t even give it a try. Being a person who has done everything they are proposing for many years there is nothing new out there which would cause a problem or a challenge but the main reason I’m there is to try and help make the process easier. But it is hard work as most of the people at this meeting are 10/20 years older than myself, I like to help out and I will do my best but there are still some tensions between the two old companies as you would expect from any 2 company who have been competing for years and years. All this is on top of the fact I have a horrible cold at the moment and seem to be grumpy. I think it will make for an interesting day.

Today I spent £3, all day

2 weeks of work

So my boss was on his hols the last few week so I got to do everything I normally do and everything he normally does and some more just for fun. You know it was hard work and it did take a lot of my energy but I did enjoy it, it was not just the amount of work which was hard but having that feeling that you are the one responsible for it all, if something goes wrong it may not have been your fault but you are the one who has to answer for it. In the space of two week we had the Superbad prem (see last post) the Imax bulb needed an unplanned change (£7400 pounds per change is a big deal) and a list of normal things that needed doing. One thing which I was happy to see was the support from the full team over these 2 weeks, it really good to see everyone working in the same direction.

So after spending the last few years going through a work harmonisation I spent most of the time not really thinking about it to the point it would make my angry/upset/pissed off ect as there was and is very little I really could do about it well it finally gone through, what does this mean for me? Well more money for starts and that would be for less hours (now salaried) that means I MUST do 39 hours a week or get them back somehow and trust me I intend to. Another good thing about going from hourly to salary is I get 2 wages this month, Yes 2! And some back pay! I'm sure I will be able to find something to spend it all on but it nice to get something back for once.

Superbad Premiere

We had the premiere of the new film from Seth Rogen called Superbad, I got chance to watch it last week and I have to say I did enjoy it. We last saw him in Knocked up which was a good film but I think Superbad was better. Anyway we got to do the premier with a Q&A after the film with the 3 main actors from the film (Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and the night went well apart from some stupid question and a bit of a broken Mic.

Well after we did a good job we got some tickets for the after show party and after a long day it was a welcome idea to go get a drink so off we went. Once there we got 3 free drinks which was nice and what was even nicer was another 3 free drinks half way through the night, after 2 hours and 6 pints I was done especially as I had to be back to work in 8 hours and god did I feel rough the following day, rough but well worth it.

I think Cinemec had a good night with the Zoo Girls!

Mondy Tuesday happy days, Wednesday Thursday Camping days.

So after working hard in my new position at work its review time Tuesday, and it should be an interesting day. After the big take over what feels like 10 years ago we are finally getting to a point where things are starting to get sorted out for the department I work in much to everyone’s joy, now things are going well for them I think it is time I made a move on my job and what I can get out of it. I don’t mean to come across as selfish with all this talk of ‘what can I get’ but sometimes you need to spend some time looking at what’s on offer and just pushing and pushing, remember you can just ask, they cal always say no but you will never get if you don’t ask. I did think about the slogan ‘what do I want’ ‘money!’ ‘when do I want it?’ ‘Now!’ but with only myself singing I don’t think it would have the impact I'm looking for so I'm down to just plain old bartering. I think have done the work needed for me to walk in well informed and with all the points I think work in my favor so now it’s just waiting for the day.

As for this week I managed to get 2 days of which are Wednesday and Thursday so as a pre festive test I'm, with my lovely girl friend going camping! Thinking of Windermere lake but I would like to enjoy the sun at some point so it may be more of a weather based in to where we go. Thought it would be nice to get out of the big city for a few days and its perfect time to get that tent up other than my living room all ready for Lowlands! I can’t quite describe how much im looking forward to going in August and as a cherry on top they are showing Death Proof which was part of the Grindhouse movies, this is a Quentin Tarantino film and it was due to come to the Uk as a double bill with Planet terror (Robert Rodriguez) but the stupid Americans (no offence to you smart one’s) didn’t like it so now they will be coming out a separate releases in the UK but I get chance to see one of what I think will be two very good films.

Big Boss Week

Its been an interesting week so far, my boss is off so I get to take over for 7 days or so and make sure everything runs well, better that well even. It’s been hard work but in a nice way, I like the challenge and I have had a few to keep my happy but I think over all things have gone really well.

But after working the last 7 days and the last 2 of those days were 13hours I'm knackered, you know when you have to walk up some stairs and you mind says yes but your legs say no? Well that’s where I am but on the up side I have only got 2 more days to work this week before I get a week off! And what do I have planned for this week off? Have not got a clue but I can tell you I hope to be doing my micro light thing. Scary but think it will be fun.

So this is where this installment comes to an end as I can hardly see the screen through my sleepy eyes, only got 3 hours to go and I get to go home (even though I should be at a house warming to night)

Night in (out!).........In (Out!)

How do you define when you are starting to get a little older and more responsible? It’s not easy just to point out one action I think, that was until last night when I had the chance to go out to what would have been a good night. But I didn’t! Why not? Well I had to be at work in the morning and if this had been a normal morning I would have still gone out but the opening weekend of Spiderman meant this would be a big weekend. So maybe I would feel good that I took the higher ground let’s say, you know deciding to be responsible would make me feel good about it, well not, I spent all night wishing I was out and even had a few beers to try and make me feel better but to no joy. So lessen is if you have the change to go out now and you don’t feel the ‘responsible’ thing just go out and enjoy it as it’s not going to last forever, trust me.

ps going to do a re install on my laptop, may be the last time we see each other, wish me luck.

Spiderman 3

Working at the cinema has its advantages and one of these would be getting paid to watch films, I wish it was as clear cut as that but if there are any problems for example, scratches, sounds issues, miss prints, poor make up, all these things need to be fixed and you have to keep your eye out of the smallest of these problems that you would not expect the ‘joe’ public to pick up. Saying all that yes the bottom line is I get paid to watch the latest films, sometimes week and weeks early in a screen all to myself without the annoyance of anyone else. Trust me there is much much to the world of projection and film viewing is only a small part of that world.

But back on track and Spiderman 3 which I would say is the 1^st big block buster for the year, I can remember last summer finding some un-rendered footage on the internet of a trailer and then, right at that minute I could not wait to see this film and with all the recent advertising its something I'm looking forward to. So when do I get to watch it? Tonight, and not just any show but in Digital. Digital is a far better format and is capable of displaying a very high resolution but not just that the colors it can show are head and shoulders above normal 35mm (digital has a larger color gamut) which basically means there are move colors and they can be brighter. Digital covers the gap which in the TV world are classed as illegal colors which are colors which won’t be broadcasted in fear of damaging viewers tv sets. So after checking all the setting and making it ready for my screen at 6 today I wait in anticipation.

You can have a look at Digital Projectors and the technology behind it.

long day

I did plan to watch Armrug (who’s myspcae you should check out) but after a long day at work and a total lack of food i decided to retire back to my pad and just enjoy the evening chilling (no homies just me)