Finally Bollywood!

Well, it finally happened. I did it, I am on a Bollywood feature film.

Over the last four days I was a Background Actor (aka: 'extra', though Background Actor sounds a lot better on my CV) for the next Bollywood Film, coming out in October. :) It was a fantastic experience being on the set of a Feature Film. There was a bit of sitting around as you can imagine (especially in Bollywood land). If you don't know much about the Bollywood Film genre then get to know it, because it is taking over Hollywood, quite literally. Presently Bollywood Films are doubling the amount of £££ Hollywood makes per annum. There are a few rules about Bollywood Films - no kissing, no sex scenes, usually full of colour and dancing and lots of music; and, in 'real' Bollywood Films (unlike the Hollywood Bollywood film Bride and Prejudice) the film usually has voiceovers instead of dialogue shot on set).

While I spent most of my time dressed to the nines on a casino set, playing the pokies all day, I was amazed at the power of the 'Bollywood Actor', after every shot, even if it lasted only 10 secs 4-5 people would swarm to the 'star' and powder their nose, wrap them in an blanket, fix their hair and clothes for the next shot. The stars we had a chance to rub shoulders with were Sanjay Dutt, Anuuj Sawhney, Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu & Satish Shah; the directors are Abbas-Mastan. They have made other films like 36 China Town (the most recent one), HUMRAZ (The better half or Partner), Aitraaz (Objection), Khiladi (Player). It was lots of fun and I met some great people and made some great contacts for future work.

Maybe Bollywood isn't so bad after all. I can go and have that red meat now. :)

BTW - the guy in the top photo is Satish Shah - look familiar?

Moüstache Mondays

You’ll be please to know that I shaved my beard – especially you Rick (though, truth be known, I think it was more a jealousy thing).
Given that it was a Monday when I shaved it, what could be more natural than to make it a Moustache Monday?? Moreover, what better way to sell bikes than to let a moustache do the talking – after all, doesn't everyone trust a moustache??
Jo didn’t seem to see the appeal, and the moustache crumpled two days into the kissing embargo. Bit of a shame – especially as there were a few guys at work who said they’d join in next time...

See here for a pictorial tour of the Many Moüstaches of Matthew.

Birthday Update

Sorry things went a little quite there after the ‘birthday post'... After quite a nice dinner out on the 24th (though it was the 25th in Australia) I was expecting a quiet one on the 25th – having forgotten that Jo’s agency was throwing a ‘love us and tell your friends’ party, complete with free food and alcohol. Despite my rather tenuous link to the party, I obliged (being the good natured chap I am) and – together with Jo – had a fantastic evening... Jo had even arranged for a ‘Special Announcement’ (read: Good chance to embarrass Matthew with a round of Happy Birthday). Fun and Games. It was a good night and I can recommend Protocol Teaching Agency to anyone interested in great birthday parties.

The evening’s festivities had left no room for present openings (you’d be surprised how long it can take to open 3 presents), so Friday night finished up the best three-day birthday I’ve had.

Big thanks (and kisses to the girls) for all your birthday wishes.
You’ve been doing a great job closing the distance between Sydney & London. Please do keep it up.

Matt's Birthday

Hi all, Jo and I out to celebrate my birthday (Australian time)....and no, I haven't shaved the beard yet ☺

MP3ing Legal in Australia Now

Warning: Technical Content ☺
Some of you will be interested that copying CDs onto your computer and making them into MP3s (so called 'format shifting') is set to become legal in Australia as reported by The Age.
Slashdot has some interesting commentary on it - well worth a read if you're feeling like a bit of tech-talk.

(You're right, this has nothing to do with London, the UK or our life at the moment, but I thought you'd be interested all the same)

BOLLYWOOD, SHMOLLYWOOD

Well, my starring role in the Bollywood film has confirmed that Bollywood films are not what you expect, or plan for....
The whole shoot fell through.  Not really sure what happened, maybe they decided they didn't want a train scene after all and they wanted an elephant ride in bright clothes and lotsa jewellery instead. :)
In short, the shoot was all packed up and KB Productions decided the train scene was not a goer for "Scotland Express" (what sort of movie named "Scotland Express" doesn't have a train scene?)
Back to the drawing board.. soup and bread and no red meat. :(

London in Late Spring

Hello there, here's another snap-shot of our life in London in late Spring.

We'll continue to add more photos to this as it develops so stay tuned.
Be sure to check the panorama out too.

Please comment.

Hungerford Bridge Panorama

I love the way this panorama turned out. Yesterday was the first time I stopped and actually looked at what I cycled past every morning and night. I'm going to keep my eyes open a little more from now on. ☺


Be sure to check out the full set of these photos too.

>> I've uploaded a larger res version of the photo here that will let you actually pan across the view. It is approx 1.4Mb and probably best downloaded and viewed from your computer: Right-click and then Save Target As... ~MW

Walking in Hyde Park (with the Squirrels)

This post really just serves to introduce squirrels.
As a rule, squirrels tend to be pretty jittery, and following is a photo of a particularly manic squirrel we saw while walking in Hyde Park yesterday evening - and for all those who were wondering: Yes, it really is as beautiful as Jo said. Just amazing.