Rain rain go away

I've just come back from a dreaded tutorial with my course leader. I asked her what sort of level I'm currently working at and because my first finished piece is only research based it can only be at a 2:2 level..but there is good news. She said because I have done my interview..when that is complete, it will balance out my Major Project and I shall be working at a 2:1 level! I'm so happy and although I was barely in her office for five minutes I came away feeling really motivated and wrote a 500 word live review. I'm now rewarding myself with a little bit of music, a new blog post and possibly a cup of tea in a minute. :) I am seeing her again on March 8th, I think she really wanted to see me earlier but she gave me the choice and I can get more work done if I don't see her for a week and a half. She wants my 'Influential Artists' piece FINISHED and I also said I would have the live review and interview transcribed.

Talking of my interview, Tuesday went really well. I was quite nervous because I was on my own and the band and audience were all quite old but I needn't have worried. At 9pm I hung around the Merchandise stall and a blur of long hair and tracksuit (not very metal is it?) came running towards me and asked if I was doing the interview. Myself and Brian (guitarist of Diamond Head) and also another Journalism went into the room next door and did the interviews. Brian was really talkative and even talked about stuff without me even asking the questions first which was really good. Now I just need to transcribe it and hopefully get it written into a feature format like they have in Kerrang! My course leader says I'm taking something or something has switched in me to start doing well as before I was doing horribly and now I really know what I'm doing which is great. :D

A bit of sad news now, my dog had to be put to sleep. :( He was a German Shepard dog but he was quite old, we'd had him 9 years and he was already an adult when we got him. He was quite ill as he had loads of problems with his legs but he had a heart attack on Tuesday which is really sad. :( Dad says no more dogs..but he said that last time after our dog Bouncer died and it's just TOO weird not having a dog. I don't like it, although I haven't been home yet but I can imagine.


As I can no longer rack my brains with more news to bring I shall end it there. Tea time!

Things are looking up..

Since my last blog I have managed to bag an interview with an eighties metal band on Tuesday 23rd in Bournemouth. I can't tell you how happy I am with this, it means my Major Project will actually have some sort of substance and not just be a load of rubbish. I have to take the night off work and travel to Bournemouth 02 Academy but a friend has told me where to go and it sounds so simple, I'm sure I'll be fine. I have to meet a member of the band by the merchandise stall after the show so I better memorise what he looks like...

I'm also going to kill two birds with one stone and write up a review of the show - eighties band's reforming! Hallelujah!

My lecturer also looked over my current 'Most Inspirational Artists of the 70s & 80s' piece and said that she really liked it, I even caught her laughing to herself about it so I must have done something right. Apparently I've relaxed and got over the awkwardness of the first 3000 words I wrote. I don't know what went on there..it must have been some sort of blip because what I wrote belongs in a rubbish dump.

I've also bagged a telephone interview with another eighties band, but in order to do a telephone interview I have to use some massive contraption called a marantz which records the telephone conversation and I cannot for the life of me remember how to use one. I also don't know where my little orange book is that allows me to rent one from Uni. :\


The Life as a Freelance unit is scaring the hell out of me at the moment. Apparently the pay for freelancers has gone right down and my lecturer advises us not to get into freelancing straight away..she has also in the past advised us that we will not get into the magazine industry straight away either..so what have I been working towards for the past three years? A bar job? I'm not confident enough that I will get features done, I'm not confident with ideas and I have a mini portfolio of pitches and feature ideas due in one month. I should probably get on with it..

Excuse me.

I'm currently taking a break from my hectic work schedule of writing about the most influential British rock artists of the 70s and 80s, so far I have Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourne. Although both of their bands were formed in the late 1960s, it wasn't until the early 70s that they gained much success. I felt like on of those music know-it-alls then, but I'm certainly not. This is probably the most difficult subject I've ever written about it, but being a music fan, I was expecting it not to be. I kind of wish I had chosen to write for something like Company magazine for my Major Project but I guess it is too late now. Sob :'( The only thing that can get me through is endless amounts of tea.

Valentines day was fun. Vince got me the new Super Mario Brothers Nintendo Wii game and I'm already onto the second level. I love it. I bought him a new necklace as he lost it and looked naked without it, hehe. Yesterday was also Chinese New Year and there was a big parade in town with lots of stalls, we decided to have all you can eat Chinese for lunch but as the prices were a ludicrous £17.80, we thought better of it and got some noodles from one of the stalls, which actually filled us up just as much as the lunch would have, lol.

We decided we would cook our own dinner this year instead of going out for a meal and being caught out by Valentine's prices like we did last year (our bill last year was nearly £80!) so we made Shepherds Pie and it was the BEST thing ever! We did buy a chocolate cake but we were too stuffed to eat it! In the evening we settled down and watched The Day The Earth Stood Still, which I was really disappointed about actually. It seemed to be over far too quickly, before developing the stories properly.


After having just read a friends blog I've been reminded of something I wanted to say before. In a recent lecture we were told that we shouldn't blog because it makes us put our opinion into our formal writing too much and that employers could look at our blogs and be put off from giving us a job. Can't anything be personal anymore? This really annoyed me actually because an employer should be giving me a job based on my personality and my writing for their magazine, not for a blog where I write down the odd thought here and there, they wouldn't base my job on my private lockable diary that was stashed under my matress would they, so why should they base it on this? If I can write a good article for their magazine then thats great, I am pretty sure I can stop myself putting my opinion into an article where I shouldn't be putting it. /rant.

P.S - My first official blog on February 9th 2009 means that I've been blogging for one year!

Dizzzzy

This morning I woke up with a headache, then I got up and nearly fell over and I've been feeling dizzy all day. It's a bit strange really as nothing else seems to be wrong with me, I'm hoping it will pass and I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I also woke up to a phone call from Argos. I got an email from them on Thursday saying the Wii Fit had come into stock and was available for home delivery so I ordered it. £60 and then this morning I got a phone call saying the Wii Fit was no longer in stock in the Warehouse and that because they've got a new catalogue, everything has changed and the Wii Fit is being replaced as standard by the Wii Fit Plus which is £90, so now I'm not going to bother with it. I'm just going to carry on saving for Green Day Rockband and enjoy the games I have. =[

I have good news! I have written 1000 words of my feature so far. The bad news is, I have only covered the 1960s when I am supposed to write 1500 words in TOTAL about the whole of music history. I'm thinking of changing the piece into a 'where it all started,' feature. I've emailed my lecturer and hopefully she will give me some good advice!


Last night I went to see Vince's band Statement Code at the Talking Heads and I have to say it was their best performance yet, I just wish more people would bother turning up to gigs! There was quite a good crowd but it would be good to see friends there to support as well. They have another gig at the SU on Monday so instead of me working behind the bar I am actually going to be the otherside of the bar enjoying the gig. =] Everyone should check out the band's Myspace.


Speaking of work, we have our new shifts and I'm still working Tuesdays. But this time I'm starting at 5 until close which means there isn't any chance of me going home early anymore but I'm trying to see that as a good thing because it means at least 6 hours of guarantee money! Woo.

Today has been pretty boring to be honest, apart from doing my feature I haven't really done much else and so on with the not doing much..bye bye!

P.S. If anyone knows of any free Blogspot layouts can you please let me know? I want to give this blog a new look. =]