The Tenacious Yuletide Greeting.

I received this on email today, so please accept this as The Tenacious Towers Yuletide card. This is as good as it gets.  Mwah. x

*I would love to be able to credit this but I can't make out who it's by. Sorry!*

Procrastinating my NaNoWriMo off...

Along with all the fantastic pep talks sent through from NaNoWriMo HQ (as previously mentioned), there are also a great deal of dedicated ways to procrastinate - including an entire Procrastination Station where you can choose what to faff around with on a particular day.  

I must say I steeled myself against looking at any of these escapes whilst battling my way through the novel but now I'm done...I've really been enjoying myself.  Here's one, for  example, and knowing me as you do peeps, you'll already have guessed I had this lined up in my brain:

If your novel was a  movie, what song would play during the credits?

EASY!

Opening Credits  - "Je t'aime moi non plus'" - Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin

Closing Credits  "Fairytale of New York"  - The Pogues/ Kirsty MacCall 

And then of course, the ultimate in procrastination - the book cover!

I must credit the delightfully talented Natalie Paquette for the beautiful photograph I have used in the book cover design. Now and again, I drop by Natalie's online gallery - FetishFaerie - since I stumbled upon her on deviantART a while ago. Her photos create stories of their own without the need for any words, and they always have such a rich, luxuriant "visual feel".  Stunning - and thanks again, Natalie!

Anyway, this is all so much fun: and then the re-writing starts...arf.  Must remind myself to update my word count again after the 25th November otherwise I wouldn't be deemed as having officially finished... and that would be a tad annoying, n'est pas?

Chapter One will be projecting itself onto the walls of Tenacious Towers pretty soon, as I thought it might be quite nice for the villagers to see the written word rather than just the usual three mile tangle of fairy lights that entwine the turrets every Christmas...

Until then - onwards.

x

It's Snowing...

As I watch the fluttering snowflakes falling outside, this seems a very appropriate moment to carry out the tag order served by Elinor...

List the top five ways you distract yourself when you should be writing and then procrastinate some more by sending it to all those other writers who should really procrastinate more often (so we can all catch-up!).

Here they are:

1. Watching snow falling/drifting (if not outside my window then via Alpine webcams) - a creative, visual release
2. TV - could be seen as indirect research
3. Gardening - it does actually help me rationalise plot holes/issues
4. FaceAche - doesn't help anything
5. Doing these memes/tags - ditto
   

Anyone who is reading this, hasn't completed the task and wishes to procrastinate - consider yourself tagged.

As for me - having been gardening most of the day and now in front of the TV completing this tag, I'm just going to check into FaceBook and then watch the snow fall again. :0)

One 2 Go!

That's what The Kid says at the top of the stairs before launching himself into my (thankfully) outstretched arms.  But it also lends itself beautifully to this weekend...I seemed to be waiting for "three" and then suddenly - the weekend was gone.  Although my geeky iPhone application reliably informs me I only have 60 sleeps until Christmas I am still smarting over the fact I got an extra hour in bed but feel no better for it. Ho ho ho. Sparkly baubles with bells on to you, sleep deprivation fairy.

I have not managed to complete any work over the weekend as my hands have been rather full with The Kid and his headstrong ways, (not really sure where he gets that from...) but I have been toying with a new idea, which - if I can rationalise in my nonce - would be jolly good fun for all those taking part. But perhaps more on this another time. 

Whilst lazily floating around the Scribosphere today, I noticed quite a few peeps have been partaking in a Drawing Personality Test.  I thought: well it's Sunday night, all's quiet on the western front, so let's have a go.  Scary.  Not sure who it is describing but it couldn't possibly be me.  Here's my titchy doodle:

And the analysis:

You are driven and ambitious and tend to make radical moves to reach your goals.
You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.
You are creative, mentally active and industrious.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

So off you go...what does your drawing say about YOU?

Have a laugh and help a ProdCo!

I promised I would post this info up for newly acquired blog follower, Owyn Stephens.

It's an unusual fundraiser on 23rd October at the Half Moon Pub, Herne Hill. Described as "a completely insane and unique, one-off impro fundraiser night to help get a new television and film production company on its feet. 'Go Dodo Productions' aim is to produce and encourage fresh, new writing, acting and directing talent - which can only be a good thing!"

So, if you fancy a bit of mad comedy, would like to mingle with a bunch of actors, writers, directors, casting peeps et al, then get yourself there.  Here's the info you need:

IMPRO COMEDY NIGHT - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL at The Half Moon Pub in Herne Hill. 

Hosted by Satan himself, come and see a ghoulish group of hilarious, professional impro comedians fight to save their souls in this fast paced battle of wits. A devilish mix of classic favourites and brand new, never-seen-before game mayhem. Plus a private screening of Go Dodo's acclaimed spooky short, STORAGE. With all this, music and private bar, you would have to be a saint to miss out!

DATE: Thurs October 23rd 
TIME: Doors open 7.30pm for an 8.30pm start
COST: £6 on the door
VENUE: Half Moon Pub, 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, SE24 9HU

TRAVEL DETAILS: 
HERNE HILL STATION (Zone 2) is a 10 minutes train journey from Victoria or Blackfriars stations. Turn left outside the train station, walk under the rail bridge and we are directly on your right - literally thirty seconds from the station! The last train home leaves Herne Hill at 23.35 and arrives at Victoria Station at 23:44. (See http://www.halfmoonpub.co.uk/contact.php for further travel and venue details)

For further info on Go Dodo Productions click here  

Inflatable Dog Poo, Anyone?

Here's a breaking news story for you:

-------------------------------

Inflatable Dog Poo Sculpture Wreaks Havoc

A modern art exhibit has wreaked havoc after blowing away from a museum in the Swiss city of Berne.

The exhibit in question, titled “Complex Sh*t”, was an inflatable dog turd the size of a house.

The exhibit, a sculpture by American artist Paul McCarthy, was blown loose from its moorings at the Paul Klee centre. An inopportune gust of wind then carried it 200 yards.

The giant inflatable stool brought down an electricity line and smashed a greenhouse window before eventually coming to rest in the grounds of a children’s home.

Representatives of the museum later revealed that McCarthy’s work of art had a safety system that would automatically deflate the inflatable turd in the event of a storm but admitted the device had failed to activate.

--------------------------------

Someone please tell me it's April 1st or the inflatable sh*t's gonna hit the fan...

Emm, Emm, Aaaargh!

Today I had that awful feeling of: if I didn't - I was a bad mother; if I did - I was also a bad mother.  I am talking the combined MMR vaccination here, and in the pending wake of an epidemic (or was it going to be a pandemic?), I figured I should be The Bad Mother Who Chose To Vaccinate.  So The Kid is in bed and we've only had one wake up so far to report (just the usual dropped dummy).  However, I did notice he had a feint rash across his cheeks along with a chipmunk-like look.  It could of course be my imagination, which I am sure is going to run riot for the next few weeks.  Elinor has suggested Calpol and Wine, though I'm not sure they taste so good mixed.  You never know, it could be the next Red Bull & Vodka.  I'll let you know.

Talking of drinking - sorry, I meant talking of talking - I had a lovely afternoon in the fantastic company of Far Away, Potdoll & Helen on Saturday and what started out as a very calm, civilised 'coffee and cake' turned into a hysterically funny meeting of the minds (and livers). Think Women's Institute morphs into Coyote Ugly and you're vaguely moving in the right direction.

Right. Back to work I go.  Enough procras for one evening. Laters.

Friday Laugh

Can't believe it's Friday already.  Here's another funny video to ease you into the weekend. Have a good one, all.

Wrath of the Edit Suite

A friend just emailed me this and I had to share it with you all.  Quite the best laugh I've had a for a while.  ;)

Time Out Meme

I seem to be going round in circles with my rough edit mainly because I changed editing software half way through: never a good idea.  I was extremely impressed with Apple's service though - I ordered my software at around 3pm on Wednesday and it arrived less than 24 hours later.  Very coolios.

Now I am getting to grips with all the functionality of the aforementioned software, Final Cut - and there are a lot of functions to get my tired little head round - but all in all it seems to be going ok though. I think. I have sat in on so many edits over the years I can dream-walk through all the correct mouse clicks and visualize the perfect requirement - if only I knew where they were in the menus and what they were actually called to begin with.  "The thingy that makes it go all fadey and frizzly" is a strange way to explain a cross dissolve but as I said, I'm getting there. I doubt any whizzy-dizzy editors would agree, but I'm trying!

In order to rest my Final Cut brain cells a little, I have thought up a new little meme, so here goes; copy and paste this info into yours and off you go...

"Name the last ten (10) programmes/films saved onto your hard drive/ Sky+/ Virgin+Box/ video / other media recording drive and then tag five more people to do the same."

Mine are:

1. In the Night Garden
2. Top Gear
3. Imagine...Annie Lebovitz
4. Rough Guide to Ultimate Escapes
5. Saturday Kitchen
6. Blade: Trinity
7. This is England
8. Rough Guide to Urban Adventures
9. The Ipcress File
10. Gordon The Garden Gnome

I have only stuck the links in mine in case you are really bored today. 

Right then, here are my lucky lot: I tag Potdoll, Lianne, Lucy, Mark, Arnopp & Beckley.

Bitter Sweet Symphony

Yesterday, I was reminded of the story Richard Ashcroft's total loss of composer credits on The Verve's, 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'. That string-based loop was sampled from an orchestral rendition of The Stones' song, 'Last Foundation', and hence all royalties go to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. What a complete bummer; bittersweet indeed. (More about it here)

But hang on a darn minuette...what about all those late 80s, early 90s hip-hop tracks which sampled everything but the butter on my toast? Did they all get stung or did they just grope their groins, threaten in a BoyzindaHood type stylee and get the decks up and running again?

Imagine writing a brilliant song like that and then someone claims it's actually theirs? Imagine writing a massive, brilliant outline/show format and then some smart ass claims they thought of it first - oh, hang on, been there - but I now view it as a compliment without the payoff. Anyway, moving onwards, or rather backwards. Picture the scene if you will...

There is a movie being made of your life and some darn fine actors are playing you and yours. Answer the following:

What would be:
1) The closing credits theme tune?
2) The stand-out line from the movie? The one everyone quotes.

Trust me, this is a really interesting exercise - please share your thoughts amongst friends! The narcissistic amongst us will already have their answers - hell, I do. LOL ;)

It's Bank Holl-eee-day

Only click on this link if you wish to procrastinate more than normal. You have been warned.

A Very Annoying Little Game