I'm not serving any Italian customers today... especially if they mention the football.
An Aussie friend sent this movie through this morning and I thought it worth posting:
Italian Training Camp
Obligatory Disclaimer:
Please do take it in the spirit intended. Don't worry, it's not rude or offensive
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
World Cup
Just a quick one: Jo's off to watch the Australia vs Italy match at a nearby pub with a couple of Italians from our local caffe.... I told her to take photos so I could re-live the excitement at home (assuming we win...). Fabio and Alessandra have both promised to be gracious in defeat; I was going to bet them a coffee, but the stakes were too high.
Right, back to the bike shop to sell bikes to customers who have no interest in Football (stupid customers).
Right, back to the bike shop to sell bikes to customers who have no interest in Football (stupid customers).
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Update to the Fantastic Weekend
Aware we owe you an update on the 'Fantastic Weekend', here goes:
As you may be aware, earlier in the year Jo was offered a 'discount voucher' for hair care / personal beauty; the voucher gave her (and a friend...me) half price hair cuts for a whole year (no, no beard trims, Rick), and a number of other freebies. One of these was a free whole-day photo shoot / general pamper for her and a friend (yes, that's me again).
After another Saturday morning sleep-in, we arrived at the studio (all quite a new experience for me) and drank the complimentary wine while waiting for our turn.
After a bit of a wait we were made up, Jo got her nails done (I didn’t like any of the colours), our hair was done (none of the hairdressers could do guys' hair so I did mine myself...since when is guys' hair more difficult than girls'??) and we were off to meet our photographer.
She had us lay out all the clothes we'd brought, before telling us what to wear and when. As you can see from the photos, we mixed&matched (Jo made it all look natural) and before we knew it, we were done and waiting to 'process' the photos with one of the editors. Jo now has a complete modelling portfolio that she can send off to agencies and jobs. Jo is trying to persuade me to do the same but at the moment I’m not sure my engineering degree qualifies me for that. I guess we’ll see.
Jo here now.
While it was a fantastic day of being totally pampered for free, it was a long day. We left the studio and arrived back at Bayswater to grab a bite to eat. After a few rejections from some pubs who had closed their kitchens, we managed to persuade an Indian restaurateur to serve us dinner starting about 11pm.
We filled the next day doing those touristy things Matt mentioned: visiting St Paul’s Church (not the tour as they don’t run on Sundays), Millennium Bridge and then the rest of the day at the Tate Modern which was fantastic. God has blessed me with a man who walks as slowly as me through an art gallery!
After such a fun/creative weekend, what better way to spend the evening than to go to Hyde Park and enjoy the twilight on a rug writing in our journals?? (Matt even secretly enjoyed it) It was 10 pm before it started to get dark.
It was such a fun weekend that we (retrospectively) claimed it our 2nd anniversary weekend.
(if you missed the reference before, see here for some of our photos from the weekend)
As you may be aware, earlier in the year Jo was offered a 'discount voucher' for hair care / personal beauty; the voucher gave her (and a friend...me) half price hair cuts for a whole year (no, no beard trims, Rick), and a number of other freebies. One of these was a free whole-day photo shoot / general pamper for her and a friend (yes, that's me again).
After another Saturday morning sleep-in, we arrived at the studio (all quite a new experience for me) and drank the complimentary wine while waiting for our turn.
After a bit of a wait we were made up, Jo got her nails done (I didn’t like any of the colours), our hair was done (none of the hairdressers could do guys' hair so I did mine myself...since when is guys' hair more difficult than girls'??) and we were off to meet our photographer.
She had us lay out all the clothes we'd brought, before telling us what to wear and when. As you can see from the photos, we mixed&matched (Jo made it all look natural) and before we knew it, we were done and waiting to 'process' the photos with one of the editors. Jo now has a complete modelling portfolio that she can send off to agencies and jobs. Jo is trying to persuade me to do the same but at the moment I’m not sure my engineering degree qualifies me for that. I guess we’ll see.
Jo here now.
While it was a fantastic day of being totally pampered for free, it was a long day. We left the studio and arrived back at Bayswater to grab a bite to eat. After a few rejections from some pubs who had closed their kitchens, we managed to persuade an Indian restaurateur to serve us dinner starting about 11pm.
We filled the next day doing those touristy things Matt mentioned: visiting St Paul’s Church (not the tour as they don’t run on Sundays), Millennium Bridge and then the rest of the day at the Tate Modern which was fantastic. God has blessed me with a man who walks as slowly as me through an art gallery!
After such a fun/creative weekend, what better way to spend the evening than to go to Hyde Park and enjoy the twilight on a rug writing in our journals?? (Matt even secretly enjoyed it) It was 10 pm before it started to get dark.
It was such a fun weekend that we (retrospectively) claimed it our 2nd anniversary weekend.
(if you missed the reference before, see here for some of our photos from the weekend)
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Dance Photoshoot
I had a fun photo shoot the other morning. A photographer had seen my profile on a modelling database and contacted me for a photo shoot for his photography company - Lithium. For this shoot, he was attempting to fuse the art of dance with the urban/industrial atmosphere of the streets. We shot the photos in Bayswater in a few different locations. The only thing was... the shoot was a 4:30am!!! Gregori (Polish photographer) used Medium Format on his camera (none of this post production digital stuff) and wanted to capture the light and atmosphere at dawn. Ouch!
Matt came along as my chaperone and ‘jumper holder’ between shots; thanks Matthew!! It was a fantastic experience, not only for the professional exposure but also seeing the people around London streets that early in the morning; quite an entertaining experience.
I will get a whole lot of free shots from the shoot and will be shown on the company’s website. Will post through some photos when I get them.
Matt came along as my chaperone and ‘jumper holder’ between shots; thanks Matthew!! It was a fantastic experience, not only for the professional exposure but also seeing the people around London streets that early in the morning; quite an entertaining experience.
I will get a whole lot of free shots from the shoot and will be shown on the company’s website. Will post through some photos when I get them.
To Keep You in the Loop...
Just to keep you in the loop about a few things that are happening at the moment with performance stuff. I have an audition this Sunday with a contemporary dance company which I think with be a winner if I get a part; I have made the first cut so far, will let you know.
I went to another casting on Saturday for a film. A really weird experience. After waiting in line for a little while at the Washington Hotel in Mayfair, I went in to a Hotel room to meet the director and producer and casting assistant of the film. They asked my name, looked me up and down, asked me if I could dance, and sent me on my way. That’s what you get when they are after a specific ‘look’. Will let you know if I had ‘the look’.
I have a modelling job on the coals as well - a month long photo shoot out of the UK for good £££. 1300 people applied and I'm now in the last 100.
The loop continues... much love
I went to another casting on Saturday for a film. A really weird experience. After waiting in line for a little while at the Washington Hotel in Mayfair, I went in to a Hotel room to meet the director and producer and casting assistant of the film. They asked my name, looked me up and down, asked me if I could dance, and sent me on my way. That’s what you get when they are after a specific ‘look’. Will let you know if I had ‘the look’.
I have a modelling job on the coals as well - a month long photo shoot out of the UK for good £££. 1300 people applied and I'm now in the last 100.
The loop continues... much love
Monday, June 12, 2006
Fantastic Weekend
Just a quick post to say that Jo and I had an absolutely fantastic weekend doing all those things we didn't do last weekend - although somehow we managed to do most of the 'sitting in the park' things too...
Fantastic. In fact, I'd almost say it was so good that even Monday morning didn't take the shine off it (just dulled it a little).
More details to come - together with photos... happy days.
Fantastic. In fact, I'd almost say it was so good that even Monday morning didn't take the shine off it (just dulled it a little).
More details to come - together with photos... happy days.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Car Nabbing
One of the things Jo and I have really been enjoying about living in Bayswater (and to a lesser extent, Greater London) is the sport of 'car nabbing'.
What makes the sport all the more entertaining is how seriously the attendants play the game. The uniformed parking attendants - so called 'Parking Police' - try to seize an illegally parked car and tag it with an Infringement notice before the owner of the car returns and can escape.
'Points' are scored - or rather deducted - if the car is tagged with the Infringement before the car is driven off (often via the attendant). If the owner of the car hasn't returned during the tagging process, then the car is deemed 'fair game' to the similarly uniformed 'Car Haulers' who literally lift the car from its park and either dump it in a compound or position it in an even more illegal position somewhere nearby. These Haulers do laps around the block waiting for a car to be tagged.
The 'Residents Only' parking and the proximity of good restaurants make our street a relative Mecca for both Parking Police and the Car Haulers.
Jo and I usually see a car being nabbed once every few days.
By way of introduction, I have uploaded a quick movie of a truck being tagged while the owner was sitting on the back offloading bricks to the house next door. Unfortunately the driver drove off before the truck was hauled. (Seeing the truck being hauled with the guy still on the back would have just been great - maybe tonight)
What makes the sport all the more entertaining is how seriously the attendants play the game. The uniformed parking attendants - so called 'Parking Police' - try to seize an illegally parked car and tag it with an Infringement notice before the owner of the car returns and can escape.
'Points' are scored - or rather deducted - if the car is tagged with the Infringement before the car is driven off (often via the attendant). If the owner of the car hasn't returned during the tagging process, then the car is deemed 'fair game' to the similarly uniformed 'Car Haulers' who literally lift the car from its park and either dump it in a compound or position it in an even more illegal position somewhere nearby. These Haulers do laps around the block waiting for a car to be tagged.
The 'Residents Only' parking and the proximity of good restaurants make our street a relative Mecca for both Parking Police and the Car Haulers.
Jo and I usually see a car being nabbed once every few days.
By way of introduction, I have uploaded a quick movie of a truck being tagged while the owner was sitting on the back offloading bricks to the house next door. Unfortunately the driver drove off before the truck was hauled. (Seeing the truck being hauled with the guy still on the back would have just been great - maybe tonight)
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Sunday Adventures
You’ll be pleased to hear that Jo and I are learning how to relax.
We were planning on waking up early and either walking or tubing into the city, grabbing a coffee and be waiting at the Tate Modern Gallery when it opened this morning. After spending the day there, we were going to walk back out of the city, via the Millennium Bridge and up through St James Park, Hyde Park and then Kensington Gardens (thereby fulfilling Jo’s ‘walk in the park’ mandate).
Waking up rather reluctantly about 9.30 this morning we grabbed some breakfast before sitting down on the bed 'for a moment’ to discuss if it wasn’t worth ditching the whole lot and just sitting in the park for the whole day... You’ll be pleased to know: that’s exactly what we’ve done – more or less: we actually fell back asleep, woke up at 3.30 this afternoon, and then came straight to the park (where I’m now blogging).
(As I type, Jo is making the most of her ‘fresh grass’ allergy and is busy transferring an entire box of tissues to the bin via her nose.)
Oh, and the day’s been beautiful: Sunlight, lively Brazilian party behind us, more sunburnt Londoners than you can point a stick at, even more sunlight, and a relaxed pair of Aussies.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
We were planning on waking up early and either walking or tubing into the city, grabbing a coffee and be waiting at the Tate Modern Gallery when it opened this morning. After spending the day there, we were going to walk back out of the city, via the Millennium Bridge and up through St James Park, Hyde Park and then Kensington Gardens (thereby fulfilling Jo’s ‘walk in the park’ mandate).
Waking up rather reluctantly about 9.30 this morning we grabbed some breakfast before sitting down on the bed 'for a moment’ to discuss if it wasn’t worth ditching the whole lot and just sitting in the park for the whole day... You’ll be pleased to know: that’s exactly what we’ve done – more or less: we actually fell back asleep, woke up at 3.30 this afternoon, and then came straight to the park (where I’m now blogging).
(As I type, Jo is making the most of her ‘fresh grass’ allergy and is busy transferring an entire box of tissues to the bin via her nose.)
Oh, and the day’s been beautiful: Sunlight, lively Brazilian party behind us, more sunburnt Londoners than you can point a stick at, even more sunlight, and a relaxed pair of Aussies.It doesn’t get any better than this.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Job Interview
Just a quick update and thanks to those who’ve been praying I’d be able to find a job that pays a little more and is something more in line with a standard aerospace/business career ☺
I’ve been applying for a bunch of different positions, through a range of different agencies and companies, and had an interview with BMS, a recruitment agency that focuses on the sales industry, this morning. The interview was just an opportunity for a BMS consultant to meet me and find out all the usual: what makes me tick, what type of roles am I interested in & why, can I speak English, all that jazz.
The interview went well and had a good vibe; we now wait (and hassle) and see what comes up (and hassle some more). I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks again for prayers. Please do keep them up.
I’ve been applying for a bunch of different positions, through a range of different agencies and companies, and had an interview with BMS, a recruitment agency that focuses on the sales industry, this morning. The interview was just an opportunity for a BMS consultant to meet me and find out all the usual: what makes me tick, what type of roles am I interested in & why, can I speak English, all that jazz.
The interview went well and had a good vibe; we now wait (and hassle) and see what comes up (and hassle some more). I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks again for prayers. Please do keep them up.
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