New Hair... New Me?

New Hair!

Nope. Just new hair! Of course, noone changes their personality with just a hair cut! Unless you count the reason for my new hair....

You see, I didn't just choose to get my hair cut for a change. It wasn't like I was sick of my long curly hair, or that, in anticipation of spring I thought I'd let my ears roam free (the groundhog, on groundhog day today predicted an early spring!)

Nor did I choose to walk into the hairdressers and say to the hairdresser "could I have 1950's style hair cut please" just for fun. No, as with all changes, there is a story behind it.

And this story starts with an article I read in the Wisconsin State Journal before Christmas. Wisconsin has some great 1950's style bed and breakfasts, and a 1950's theatre; a writer-director from Hollywood decided it was the perfect place to shoot her short film, starring some Hollywood actors. Local Madison actors were wanted too.

After a forgotten email over a month later, I ended up auditioning for a role in a 1950's short film called "The Mourning Hour" (google it!). A phone call later and I found myself cast as an extra, filming a movie (albeit a short one) alongside of some Hollywood actors, one of whom I absolutely loved in the TV show Heroes! (and Prison Break- Robert Knepper). I auditioned for a role with 2 lines of speech, but I didn't manage to nail the American accent. Nevertheless, I still ended up in a role with a name, not just some nondescript extra.

Frank will be my name. And shooting is scheduled for tomorrow. 7am. Here's to a 4.40am start, and more details (and hopefully pictures) to follow soon.

(Pics and details on the epic snow storm too coming, along with many other posts!)

Badgermania! Camp Randall Madison, WI and the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA!

I've already blogged about the Badger football team plenty of times, and my experiences at the Rose Bowl.

I finally uploading pictures to Facebook though; here's the public link if anyone wants to check them out!

 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=261970&id=511178313&l=5201d83f28

A Big Distraction and A Great Souvenir

Two wonderful holiday season presents.  A brand spanking new TV, and some special "customised" merchandise!

Our new TV

We were given money for Hanukkah/Christmas and told to buy ourselves a TV; to make use of the free cable in our apartment, watch the Oscars and other such shows, and relax with a great movie without having to crowd around a laptop. So, we ordered one from our best friend Mr. Amazon, and it arrived Saturday. After multiple furniture rearranges, (and coming to the conclusion that the window in the apartment is in the wrong place and our furnishings don't fit in any other place very well), we finally found a spot for our new TV. And it really does look great; a 32" flat screen

LCD HDTV, with a built in dvd player. A great deal we found, if I do sa

y so myself in a slightly Yoda-esque tone of voice.



We've already watched a dvd on it, and lounged about in front of it all day Sunday, browsing the channels. Where better to watch the Greenbay Packers win the NFC Championship and a place in the Super Bowl than our shiny new machine of awesomeness!

I can see myself spending a lot of time in the living room, reclined in the leather sofa, watching some lifetime movie or another. Or I could just pass the time watching infomercials, weighing up the coolness of a TV offer item with its actual uses. I have found American adverts to be very entertaining over the years, and I am sure a blog post will come about one stupid commerical or another. One of things I noticed just watching the football game today was that companies here are not afraid to compare themselves to other brands. In the UK, in the comparison adverts for example, you usually only see "the product in question" vs "other leading brands"; here though it's "Pampers is way better than Huggies" or "Why buy a Mercedes, they're old and outdated, when you can buy a modern state of the art Audi". Perhaps there is less regulation here? I don't know.

The second present I want to tell you about comes courtesy of my Dad, and I actually should have gotten it before we left for California. But the weather and the postal service conspired to make that impossible. Instead, it was a nice surprise on returning. For this one, it's certainly better for me to show you than describe it. Just don't mock my catwalk stance!

Stateside Mancunian in print!



Yes, that is our new crock pot in the background! But this T-Shirt was a great idea (thanks Dad), and perhaps its a sign of things to come. I can promote my blog wherever I go, and if I should suddenly go viral and acquire a huge readership and fan base, I can sell merchandise from my site, including t-shirts like this one!

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But it doesn't hurt to dream.

Love, Drugs and Life at High School

This weekend I watched two films. Both were romantic comedies of varying degrees, while one was focused on high school, the other on 30 yr olds.

Easy-A, loosely based on the Scarlett Letter, starred Emma Stone and Amanda Bynes (two hilarious young actresses), and was about maturing in high school, and the fickleness of peers and rumours. It was funny, entertaining and relatable, and thankfully there wasn't too much sloppy romance. I especially enjoyed its portrayal of fanatical religious types.

Love, and Other Drugs,  was the other movie we watched, and it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I suppose it was more of romantic dramedy; a drama really with a decent amount of comedy thrown in there. It had an interesting story to tell, (particularly about the pharmaceutical industry) and was very funny in parts, and a little sad, though it could perhaps have been told a little better, and with a little less nakedness. I don't really understand why films and tv shows have taken increasingly extreme decisions to show us practically everything during sex scenes. Less is more. Perhaps they think it's more realistic, but I think it takes something away from the scene itself to have naked bodies up there on a huge screen. Even just the kissing seemed to show a little too much. I think on this one, we should be looking back at older films, which were far more seductive, secretive and subtle, and made for "truer" romance in my opinion. Nothing beats ones imagination after all.

Nevertheless I did enjoy the movie, and thought Jake Gyllenhaal and Ann Hathaway were very good in it. I think hopefully it will have also brought to light the sufferings and pains that those with Parkinson's Disease go through, and the impact it has on their lives and their partners. Hopefully more awareness about the disease will come from it.

It reminded me of someone I admire greatly. Michael J Fox has been a tireless campaigner for those with Parkinson's, and has continued to work and fight and be in the public eye despite his illness. He was and I think remains a great actor, staring in THE best film ever made- Back to the Future. Shame I didn't get to see its 25th Anniversary showing at the cinema- maybe in another 25 years. Michael J Fox is a true inspiration to anyone out there, and I hope he continues to be successful in his efforts to allow stem cell research in the hope of finding a cure for those like himself, and simply generating awareness. That always helps. Keep up the good work.

Brrrrr It's Cold!

Snot freezing cold, if you will permit me to be so vulgar.

Despite knowing how cold and snowy Madison can actually get, you still don't get over that shocking moment every time you walk outside, and gasp as the chill hits you. So cold that you better get wrapped up well before you dare step foot outside, for if your scarf isn't tight enough, or your hands aren't in your gloves, you are going to know about it pretty soon. Exposed skin= at the very least dryness. Frostbite may not be that far away.

Indeed it's so cold right now, that if you took a glass and filled it with water from the tap, then took it outside and threw it up in the air, it would freeze before it hit the ground, as my friend Alyssa found out.

This morning, as with the last couple of mornings, the temperature was -6. Fahrenheit. Positive 32 fahrenheit is freezing 0 degrees celcius. -6F= -21C.

On Thurday, it was relatively warm with the temperature at 8.30pm at 4F. Yet with the wind chill factor accounted for, standing outside it actually felt like -14f= -25C. Where better to feel that searing heat than on top of the Capitol building where I work. For at that time, that's where I was; on top of the roof of the West Wing of the Capitol, taking down the American and Wisconsin State Flags. Just one of the roles a page plays during session day. That and walking out into the cold every 20 minutes to get lunch or dinner for the politicians. A fun and interesting job though, and an incredible view of downtown Madison, which I did admire for the briefest of seconds, in between gusts of wind!

We arrived back in Madison after the break to a snow storm, which we then had to go food shopping in. Hauling bags through the snow and onto the bus is always great fun.

This was what it looked like from our balcony. Remember the lake? Well all there is now is whiteness. Couldn't see the other side that day. And it has been frozen for a good month now, probably now with about 10 inches of snow on top, if not more. Safe enough to walk on, though I haven't persuaded Nicole to take a stroll with me yet!

Skate on the lake anyone?

A frozen parking lot!

At least we're not the only ones with snow. Beaches in North Carolina, and as far south as Charleston experienced snow this weekend! Pretty unheard of for them!

Snow falling at the Surf