Howl's moving castle: review

With the end of term i had a little free time on my hands before i headed home so obviously my first thought was to go to the theatre!

1 term down 3 to go!!

So my first term is over and I can not believe that it has gone so fast!

METAL WORK

Here it is guys the eagerly anticipated metal work project!!!!

in at the deep end !!

Busy busy busy!!!
They were not lying when they said it was an intensive course!

the count down begins

3 weeks to go!

kicking the habit

So I am free wooooo. I have left Facebook.

post graduate fund raising tips

With only a month to go until i swan off to the big smoke my fund raising campaign is in full swing. 
Results are slow but - slow and steady wins the race.

out of the woods

So into the wood finished a week or two ago and my life is getting back to some kind of normality and MAN IT IS BORING!

GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY

Some of the more eagle eyed readers will have noticed a small amendment on my profile information... go on i will give you a min....

veronicas room

cast and crew

Blimey it has been a while since my last post! Need to get on top of this malarkey!
So what have I been up to – well in a nutshell - theatre theatre theatre oh and I moved flat!

Veronica’s Room opened and closed and we got a good although I would say ‘half’ review from the Nottingham evening post – http://tinyurl.com/68fnlkh .
I am really going to miss that show. As the cast and crew were so small you really got to gel and I had such a blast working with them. As you can see this is Bert the moustache taking a tour of toms face!!

butterflies and Opera's

Ok so I know that I have been a little naughty and not written a blog in a while… I have a god excuse honest!!

smoking in theatre

The smoking ban came into place in England on 1 July 2007. From that date all public places had to legally become smoke free this included pubs, clubs and places of work. There were a few exemptions for example prison cells (if both inmates were smokers), care home bedrooms and of course on stage in the theatre. 

wood working!

I am currently sat here waiting for my hair dye to take and am not wearing my glasses so no doubt this will be littered with more spelling mistakes than usual!

I have been a Little naughty an left it ages since my last blog.

so what have i been up to? well in a nutshell PORTFOLIO!!!

i ain't afraid of no ghosts

1^st Witch: When shall we three meet again?
2^nd Witch : how about 10.30 just after the cast have come off stage?
3^rd Witch: yeah just past the green room by the props store
1^st Witch: oh yeah that’s a good one it will really freak them out!

Ok rubbish jokes aside there is no denying that theatre have a reputation for ghosts and ghouls. It seems that if you are any sort of theatre at all you need to have a ghost.
A general check list for a theatre ghost story is:

Into the woods via Veronica's room

Sunday was the first meeting for the into the woods  crew. It was really good to see some old faces and meet some new ones. Everyone seems to know their job inside out which is great it means that the production should run smoothly (I say that now!)

a newsworthy reveal!!!!

So it is done! The mystery project that is Hardwick hall is finished and opened at 12pm on the 23/2/2011.

Hardwick hall

On Saturday I went up  to Hardwick hall to scope out the room and add some of the props that I have made for it.
 It is a  fantastic place and I do envy Miss S and her  job I would love to work in that type of environment  better than being stuck in a grey box of an office.
I am a little bit of a history geek too i love going around old houses and museums. I was given the grand tour and some of the furniture was beautiful but terrible  garish (by today’s standards) at the same time.
Miss S works  in the conservation team at the hall  so the tour I receive was not all about dates and figures

Theatre, Facebook and time off

So it about half way through Deep  Blue sea. I have not really been there through the run. All the props were personal ones so I left it in the hands of stage manager with my phone number  in case of emergencies.

The review for the Nottingham evening post is up and as always Ghery pretty much outlines the plot and comments as little as possible on the performance. The set is mention

The Deep Blue Sea

Flat – a wooden frame with canvas stretched over that can be erected on the stage to form walls, can be painted to form back drops, there are also specialist flats that hold doors and windows. We are using 2.4 m (8ft)  tall flats of varying widths

Tonight is the 4^th night of the build for the  deep blue sea now it looks like we have done something l thought I would update you.

it's impossible...it can't be true

I would like to take a moment of your time to announce that  My Creative Zen Mp3 player  the little trooper finally decided after to die 7 years. So I have finally turned to…

…the dark side.

October 23, 2001 Apple Inc. released the iPod in response to the lack of quality MP3 players on the market.

They became the most desired electronic on the market and over the next 9 years Apple have released 5 models and 22 generations if the Humble iPod.

I know, I know many people that know me will be crying out in shock*  because it is me the apple hater! I can feel your jaw open in disbelief as you read this, I can hear you thoughts pulse in my brain ‘How can she  after so many tirades of  slagging of apple because they  are rubbish’,  ‘has she lost all of her sense for she was the one that gave us the wise words  “do not buy into their nonsense”?’, and I know you all thought yourselves fools when you bought  an iPod instead if a creative industries product.

 So Your jaws have loosened from the shock and your brain has processed this bomb shell you can only sit there frozen and form one word. One word that silently escapes your mouth…”why?”. Why have I  purchased one of these electronic Pandora’s box which are full  of filth, evil,  sin and  those tracks that you really don’t want your mates to find out you listen to! I hear the scrap of chairs as you all stand up in unison and cry “TELL US!”…hush my people and I will whisper the answer and it will be carried to you on your baited breath.

The answer my friends is… I am a massive hypocrite!

I LOVE MY iPod TOUCH!!!!

Its shiny, smooth, sleek and rounded and fits in my palm like a sexy pebble. I can now sit in a room with the rest of my friends and be anti – social by checking my Facebook and of course…my birds are very angry. I could go on about the better interface, the ease of use, that it is the best MP3 player on the market but I am not kidding any one I was seduced. I held out as long as I could I resisted the curves, the touchscreen the app store that scream “come on make this product all about  you”.

I feel dirty but ultimately satisfied but don’t you judge me you have all been there before!

So I have been swayed and I will admit that Apple have got it right with the MP3 Players. Keep on trucking Steve and maybe in 9 years’ time I’ll be announcing the arrival of an iPhone ;-)

 *well more than likely sneering “ha knew she would get one eventually” in between gasping for air whilst sucking the metaphorical cock  of Steve jobs that is their  iPhone… bastards

Peera by Marlon darbeau

It has been a while since I have looked at any conceptual design but today after I had exhausted the internet of motivational posters, LOL cats and ‘hilarious’ web comics, I decided I would use the internet as an educational tool (I know weird hey?)

I am still very interested in product design and am ashamed to say that since graduating do not follow it as closely as I use to. Researching new designs and products can be a fantastically interesting, informative and inspiring.  It can also be a method of torture especially when you come across  a genius piece of design and hate yourself because you never thought of something that brilliant either that or you just end up wanting a lot of beautiful overpriced gadgets that you will never be able to own!

There are a few schools of thought how to define conceptual design for example

For a design to be a true conceptual design it should not be practical

To

A conceptual design should be a representation of the final design as a whole.

Then there are people who believe that is and can be in-between.

The word concept is design world speak for idea -  so you don’t sketch down an idea you create a concept via the medium of sketch. In my opinion it is all about the wording.

The way I would try and explain it is  

Design concept an idea that is portrayed either by being sketched on paper, created on computer software or made into a scale model or prototype.

conceptual design a non-practical idea/concept  that may be presented as a sketch or a non-working model prototype and could have aspects of it taken to form a working product. Such as Archigram’s 1960’s walking city.

Anyway…I mooched about gizmodo and found that they had a concepts section. Which basically means that the people of the internet had done the hard work for me and packed loads of conceptual designs in one place yey! I did find that the  articles and designs in concepts section of the website (links below)  do vary between design concepts  and conceptual designs. 

In the concept section I found this neat little design (so technically this is a re-re post  Links to original articles at the bottom of the page ) that was dubbed “this is a toolbox with far too many uses”. I would disagree that it has far too many uses, but it does have a great designers take on the traditional tool box.

I do not think that they are available for sale but I would be interested to get hold of the prototype to feel the weight of it before you put the tools. I wander if you would need to take out all your tools to use the bench and stool  as well.

It is a nice design, I do not see it competing with the lighter plastic tool boxes and bags on the market and can see it being more successful if marketed towards the hobby craftsman.

Overall I would say it is a lovely piece and a clever idea and would be a lovely addition to a home garage workshop or hobby craftsman.

If this has sparked your interest  I would recommend visiting some of the links below.

*note it is the article that is called “ a tool box with far to many uses” the actual design is called ‘peera’ and is designed by Marlon darbeau

http://gizmodo.com/tag/concepts/ - concept design section of gizmodo

http://www.designboom.com/eng/   - website dedicated to all thing design related

http://gizmodo.com/5714497/this-is-a-toolbox-with-far-too-many-uses - article i read

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/12569/marlon-darbeau-peera.html - more information about the designer including pics of design process from concept sketches.

http://designmuseum.org/__entry/4509?style=design_image_popup  - example of Archigram’s walking city

"oooo the ballet...how posh!"

Trivia: In the 18^th century dance company managers could throw their dancers in jail if they missed rehearsals or performances!

I went to see my first ever ballet last night at the  Royal concert hall in Nottingham it  was a strange experience i did not know what to expect, obviously I know the basic Jist of the story but I did refrain from Wiki –ing it before I went , mainly to challenge myself on whether I could understand the story or whether my working class genetics would over-power me!  I am not too proud to admit (after wiki-ing it today to see how much of it I understood) I did miss some of the slighter nuances!