Gemma Cartwright

Stuck.

2008-08-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

I've hit a wall with my novel and it's driving me mad. I know exactly where I need to go, I've even jumped in and written others bits to see if I can slowly tie it all together, but I keep going back to the end of the 20k I've written in sequence and thinking 'what now?'.

There are a few obvious problems. A lot of the story takes place in flashback form, or as descriptions from the main character. Two of the 'leads', or at least the most influential characters, spend most of the story away from the action and we only hear about them through the narrator. This was probably a mistake, because it's causing me all kinds of problems, least of all the fact those who've read the first 15k didn't like either of the characters, probably because they don't speak, and they're only ever described through the eyes of someone with a real chip on her shoulder. Of course they're meant to be likeable. Well, one of them is.

Any tips on how to get over writers block?

The culture shock

2008-08-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

I grew up here...

Not in the pub, obviously, but in the village. According to Wikipedia, there are 2,549 people in our village, which also boasts a shop, a hairdressers, a village hall, a village green, two schools (one private, one primary) and a castle. Still no street lights, though.

Then, at 18, I moved here...

Bit different, isn't it.

This weekend, I had a real 'I love London' moment. I went to look around Crystal Palace, where I'm hoping to move next month, and I just loved it. It was one of those perfect days - the Sun was out, the place was blissfully quiet, the nutters were well hidden and I even discovered a shop that sold vintage glassware (babycham coupes for £4.50 each...amazing considering they're a tenner online). Then on Sunday I went for drinks near London Bridge and being sat on the banks of the Thames with a glass of bubbly I just thought 'you're bloody lucky to live here'.

Then on the way home I almost got run over and remembered why I sometimes hate this place. Oops.

Best film in the world ever...possibly

2008-08-10T14:08:00.001-07:00

It's like they looked into my brain and made my dream film. If only JJ Feild had Lee Pace's part. I don't think you'd be able to get me out of my seat at the end.

Quarter Century Decisions

2008-08-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

Another year has passed, and I'm 25. No more of this 'early twenties' malarkey for me. I'm proper old now, kids.

Not that I act it. I had my party on Saturday, with 30-odd of my nearest and dearest and a few of their friends piling into Geek Central dressed like pin-up girls and hawaiian partygoers for my retro tiki themed party. As you can see, I went for the subtle approach. This is me with Colin the hula boy, who adorned my wall for the party. He's not the only one, he was joined by Polly from Polynesia and a set of wall decorations that turned ceiling to floor of the disco room (yes, we have a disco room) into a tropical paradise.

I have now set something of a party precedent, so I reckon that'll be the last one I have for a few years. Me and Susi (who shares a birthday with me) have decided it may be a good plan to alternate the responsibility each year.

Anyway, now I am 25, I've decided there are a few things I'd like to do in the next twelve months. They are...

1) Move into a flat on my own. I already plan to do this in September. I'll still be renting, but I won't be responsible for anyone but me, which will be wonderful.

2) Finish writing my novel. Decide I hate it. Get drunk one night and delete the whole thing from my computer. Wake up the next morning realising my terrible mistake. Thank the lord for the windows recycle bin.

3) Take up sewing again. Vintage patterns only.

4) Get my weight back to what it was circa November 2006. I doubt this one will happen.

5) Have a relationship. A proper one. Not an inappropriate fling. Not a string of dates that lasts months but never goes anywhere. Not an unrequited crush. Definitely not an obsession with a gay man who sings showtunes. Or someone else's boyfriend.

6) See Kim again. Be it her coming here, me going to Oz or us both meeting in Vegas. I'm pulling for the latter. New York New York is calling to me. As is the Fashion Show Mall.

7) Be on telly as a professional in my industry. Properly this time, not as a 'frenzied fashionista'.

8) Join (or start) a band, a choir, a choral society or similar. Or start going to dancing lessons.

9) Actually *go* to the gym. This ties in with 4) really.

10) Drink less. Yeahright.

Twenty five years of this.

2008-08-01T03:34:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday on Monday. Right now I'm having to really stop myself from doing a Zara.

She actually got the perfume, you know. They sent it to her by courier on the day.

*awe*

The Dark Knight review. Taken from The Daily Emma

2008-07-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

'The Daily Emma' is what I jokingly call the pop culture emails (film links, reviews, Doctor Who gossip etc) I get from my friend Emma, who up until last month lived in Geek Central with me.

This was too good not to post, she really should be working for Empire magazine.

"Let's get the Harry Knowles hyperbole out of the way right now, shall we? The Dark Knight is fucking awesome.

There, that is the succinct version of my opinion. I, however, thought I'd give you a little more detail on my views as it's Friday lunch-time, no-one else is in my office today and I can't do it over a takeaway because well, I don't live there anymore.

So, The Dark Knight. It's had the biggest ever opening day for a film in the US and it has gone straight to no1 in the IMDB chart of Greatest Movies Ever deposing The Godfather. It's had five star reviews in all the genre publications and tabloids plus four star reviews from most of the broadsheets. Nice going for a sequel to a movie that was only considered a moderate financial & critical success on release three years ago. There has been a significant amount of drama surrounding this film that has undoubtedly contributed to the box-office and press coverage but I'm not going to go into that as it's irrelevant to the quality of the film and frankly, it annoys me. For once, the financial success and hype of a blockbuster is justified (this is not Pirates 2 or, god forbid, Spiderman 3) and I will now tell you why!

Firstly, the script. The Dark Knight is penned by Chris and Jonathan Nolan rather than a comic book hack like David Goyer. These boys wrote Memento so an understanding of structure and character is naturally expected. What they deliver is an expertly structured movie that balances character moments and set pieces but never at the expense of telling an overall story. And it is a sprawling story typical of a comic book sequel but for once, it is one that is worth telling. It's not just a series of plot points that are there to get characters from one action sequence to the next. It's also a story that ties nicely into the previous film but isn't alienating to anyone who hasn't seen Batman Begins.

There is also a large cast of key players for the writers to contend with; characters played by A-list names. Luckily, everyone has a role to play and very much like Begins, none of the characters feel superfluous to the plot (a la Pirates 2). Conversely and, despite several recent reviews to contrary, no one character dominates the film; it neither belongs to Batman or The Joker and both characters are given equal focus. Consequently, the movie feels balanced and is in no way self indulgent unlike Burton's Batman. It is the same with the set pieces. They are perfectly paced and placed within the film and do not skimp on spectacle (a vehicle chase between Batman, the Joker and many others is one that is particularly jaw dropping) but more on that later.

Finally, the dialogue is cracking. People have proper conversations and while there are the typical comic book sound bites delivered with an utterly straight face (mostly by Batman it has to be said); it is all very cleverly written and doesn't feel silly or cheesy. The Joker does, of course, get some very choice lines but he by no means gets them all. 'The funny' is distributed evenly between the characters and there is no 'omic relief' as it were.

Onto direction. Firstly, this film may be dark in theme but it is certainly not on screen. There are night scenes but they are not the majority and most take place in broad daylight or the harsh halogens of a police cell. The most obvious comparison to make with the Dark Knight (and one that has been made numerous times already) is that it is very Michael Mann. It is a fair comparison with Gotham being a neon soaked cityscape of glass skyscrapers very reminiscent of the setting in Collateral. The opening sequence is also very Heat in its execution but that is no bad thing.

This is not to detract from Nolan's own distinct style or very obvious talent. Nolan is very controlled with the camera and unlike many comic book directors, isn't over-reliant on zooms or jump cuts to build tension or convey a race against time. In character scenes there are a lot of tracking and steady cam shots to capture the actors performances and make the audience feel part of the scene (characters are often followed or tracked by the camera as they walk for example). As for the set-pieces, they are magnificent. Again, there is no epilepsy inducing editing and the action is captured beautifully with gorgeous wide shots. It is fast paced but not confusingly so and the audience can always follow what is happening. The stunts are also very muscular and visceral and metal crunches and bones crack with as much realism as a comic book adaptation will allow. Lastly, the score is brilliant. While using the main themes from Begins to give continuity it builds in scale and grandeur to match the scope of the film. It is never bombastic, however, and never drowns out the audio track.

And finally, onto the performances. First up is Christian Bale as the titular Knight (or is he...?) He is, of course, brilliant as usual. Physical, intense but not completely po-faced, he expands on the Wayne (and Batman) he showed us in Begins. He may be just as conflicted as Bruce Wayne (and in his relationship with Rachel) but he is more settled as Batman and the role he has to play in Gotham. It is only the introduction of The Joker that brings him doubt about what Batman has to do to save his city and Bale portrays this destabilisation with subtlety and presence. He is also surprisingly humorous playing the Himbo Playboy to perfection whenever Wayne needs to distance himself from Batman. Heath Ledger is equally brilliant as The Joker. Full of ticks and quirks he is the embodiment of insanity but he never mugs or 'performs'. He is charismatic and terrifying in equal measure and in a brilliant move by the writers, he remains completely unknowable. He is also very witty rather than being funny and is all the better for it. Then there is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent who is the beating heart of the movie. I can't say too much about him without spoiling the plot but his story arc is the most complete out of all the characters and he is heartbreaking to watch. The supporting players (Caine, Freeman and Gyllenhall) are all uniformly excellent as usual and it's great to see Maggie showing us how it should be done. There is also a lovely little cameo that almost made me 'woo-hoo' out loud in the cinema so look out for that.

So, overall The Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the best comic book film ever made. It's probably one of the best blockbusters ever made and definitely the best film of the summer. Will it rank as high on IMDB once the hype had died down? I doubt it. There are minor plot holes and couple of visuals are over the top and it is, in the end, a comic book movie. It really doesn't rival The Godfather or The Shawshank Redemption. It is, however, an undoubted creative success."

So there you go. Apparently it's not bad.

I'm not a blogger vs PRs.

2008-07-22T08:17:00.001-07:00

Vero wrote a really good piece today about the relationship between bloggers and PRs. It was mainly in regards to technology journalism, but the points are valid across everything and the comments bring up really interesting points from both sides.

I don't think it comes as a surprise that the PR / blogger relationship can be strained, and the fault lies on both sides.

I have friends in PR, I have friends who blog and I have friends who work in print media. All of us are battling it out for our little piece of the pie, and we all have to remember one thing about each other. It's my motto for life, which I repeat to myself whenever things don't work out how I planned.

They're Just Doing Their Job.

For every PR that sends me info on a security tether after contacting me about a shoe website (this actually happened and she got very hostile when I said it wasn't relevant) there's one who couriers over a lipstick last minute so I can fill a gap in my video. For every PR who won't return my phonecall when I ask for information on a product, there's another who takes me to Nobu for dinner to talk about their new clients.

Similarly, for every PR who calls me to check what I'm working on so (s)he can send me relevant press releases or samples, there's one who tells my colleague they won't send anything to Catwalk Queen (even images) because they're 'not doing online'.

[name and shame removed because, ironically, they have now invited me to something. No idea if it was after seeing this - I doubt it - but if it was, thanks for listening!]

By nature, bloggers write opinions, they're honest and they don't hold back. The freedom of blogging vs print media is what appealed to me in the first place. I know we're a bit scary because we won't pander to people quite so easily. We're also a bit contradictory. We want to be treated with the same respect as press, but at the same time, we don't want to be treated like press. We want to be recognised for what we are. A new breed of writers who bring together old skills and new ideas in order to deliver content in a new way.

But those 'weaknesses' are also our strengths. If a product is good, blogger buzz can really sell it. Plenty of people have now realised the power of 'underground' buzz from new influentials (argh, jargon-speak) and witnessing the PR about turn has been really fantastic for me. All I've ever asked is that PRs show some kind of interest in understanding bloggers, and that definitely seems to be the case (as a whole) now. So for those who're out there flying the flag for good PR practice, thanks. Those who aren't...go to your clients, tell them about blogs and get them to invest some money in targeting them.

Contrary to popular belief, we're not just in it for the freebies.

She might not be all there but her dreams are Vanity Fair

2008-07-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

I dream of one day having a house big enough to store all the things I wish I had. I collect a few things already; shot glasses, hair accessories, Escada perfume bottles, sunglasses and things with butterflies on. But there are so many things I wish I could hoard alongside those. Las Vegas memorabilia, vintage movie posters, Varga girl prints, vintage sewing patterns...and the latest, limited edition Barbies.

I first went through this phase about five years ago, when I wrote a feature on the evolution of Barbie as part of my final University project. Jenni bought me a book full of collectors (ie adult) Barbie dolls and I became obsessed. I used to search ebay on a daily basis trying to find the doll I still maintain will be the basis of my collection. The rule was I couldn't buy any more until I had this one. It's Barbie dressed in the Dior 'New Look' suit from 1947. The Ultimate Fashion Moment in miniature, if you will. Who cares if Babs is genetically impossible and so busty she'll fall over. She looks good in couture.

Yep, even I sometimes worry that I am becoming a parody of myself.

Anyway, if anyone knows how I can get hold of it, that'd be lovely. It's my birthday in a couple of weeks...

ps. Dear eBay sellers, those '40s style tea dresses' you're selling as vintage for upwards of a tenner? We know they're from BHS in the early 90s. They're still ugly.

Stabbing and dancing. Not at the same time.

2008-07-09T09:19:00.001-07:00

Fact: Digressica's post about London knife crime says everything I want to say about London knife crime, but in a much funnier way. If I address the subject, I am likely to lapse into a long rambling post about my knife / blade phobia, which will involve me saying things like 'but I don't have problems buttering my toast'. Nobody wants that.

So, onto something a little more fluffy, because that's what is expected of me. I have a question. I'm slowly becoming an old lady, so I figured it was time to embrace that. I knit. I sew. I buy cider so I can put it in Somerset pork casserole, rather than so I can get ratted mid-week.

Next up, I figure I need to hone my ballroom dancing skills. That seems like the logical next step, no?

I'm ok with latin. I did a fair interpretation of the Cha Cha Cha with my dad at a dance a few weeks ago (no, you really did just read that right) so I'm ready to move up in the world. Where can I learn to do the American Smooth? I want to be like Kelly Brook (left), all Ava Gardner curls and Marilyn curves and amazing frocks.

I will need a partner, of course. Preferably someone who looks like William Holden and dances like Fred Astaire.

Email me if you can help...

Doctor Who, Hard Rock Calling and Wii games.

2008-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

A few things to talk about that have happened recently...

Firstly, last Saturday I went to Hard Rock Calling, the most unfortunately named London 'festival' ever. You can read about that here.

I also went to Nobu, the fantastically overpriced but wonderful Japanese restaurant at the Metropolitan Hotel. You can read all about that here.

This weekend, I've mostly been playing my beloved Nintendo Wii and anticipating Doctor Who. The Who anticipation wasn't really worth it since I predicted what was going to happen almost to the letter, but,in usual RTD style, it was a very neat and tidy, emotional finale that ticked all the fangirl boxes while successfully pissing off anyone who wants any kind of scientific backing to support all the 'wibbly wobbly timey wimey' stuff.

Ironically, that's a quote from a Steven Moffat episode.

And then there's the Wii. Ah, the Wii. I've only had it for about a month and already I'm on my third galaxy on Mario Galaxy, I'm halfway through Guitar Hero on hard (that orange fret button will be the end of me) and I've just added Lego Indiana Jones and The Sims 2 Castaway to my games collection.

I can't buy anything else, ever.

I'm a bit concerned I'm not going to like the Lego game. I should probably have tried Star Wars first before throwing away £30 on this, but I think it'll grow on me. I can always flog it on eBay if I don't like it, I suppose.

Now I'm just trying to convince myself that buying a Wii fit is a complete waste of money when I have a gym membership I never use.

Bad Wolf.

2008-07-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

I keep getting emails from a certain pair of friends relating to Doctor Who. The last one didn't even have a message body, it just said 'why isn't it Saturday yet?!'

It's finally dawned on me that going to the RSC to see Hamlet in August with the pair of them probably wasn't the best idea. Now, I'm as big a David Tennant fan as your next hot-blooded, geeky female. But those two take it to another level entirely. There is bouncing involved.

At the RSC at the moment they're using a smaller, temporary theatre. Mom was there recently to see A Midsummer Night's Dream and apparently it's amazing. We're sat in the third row. For this...

Did I mention Patrick Stewart is also in it? It's going to be geek city. Mon dieu!

The Panorama / Primark aftermath

2008-06-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since the Panorama documentary on Primark aired, so I think enough dust has settled for me to comment on what happened afterwards. But first, here is a clip of our five minutes of fame. We were featured again at the end, but you get the idea...

On the plus side, I think Isabelle, Abi and I come across as having a good knowledge of our subject. I'm grateful to the Panorama editors for picking out bits of footage that make us seem fairly intelligent, even if we were just 'frenzied fashionistas'. I thought the documentary addressed a difficult subject in a very interesting way, opening it up for discussion across the industry.

The problem is, I was contacted about this documentary through work, in a professional capacity. I was asked to give my views as a fashion insider, not as a 'fan' of Primark. I wasn't expecting to be lumped in with the teenagers on YouTube who post video diaries. The videos I shoot are part of my job and I was contacted through that channel, as a professional. We even filmed in the same location.

This is where it gets tricky. Despite all this, Catwalk Queen, Hippyshopper and / or Shiny Media were given no credit on the show. Our full names were given, yes, but your average TV viewer is not going to google a name to 'check' if someone has a website.

Three of us took three hours out of our workday to film, yet we were offered no fee and given no credit. It's no surprise my bosses were a bit pissed off. Not only did our company get nothing from this, but my head was on the chopping block too, for being naive enough to think that the BBC would credit the sites or the company without us having to ask.

The aftermath began when Ashley, a director of the company I work for, wrote a rant about the whole affair on the Shiny Media blog. The story was picked up by various other blogs, and eventually by the Media Guardian. Eventually, we got an apology from the editor of Panorama, which I was very grateful for. It was definitely a turn up for the books. You see, after placing a tiny link to Catwalk Queen on the very bottom of a page on the Panorama website (after I chased it up - this was discussed) subsequent emails from my colleague Abi were ignored.

So to Sandy Smith I say thank you for recognising that a mistake was made. I hope this is a lesson to all of us for the future. To bloggers - don't be afraid to ask for credit, a fee or both. To the BBC - don't underestimate or undermine bloggers. They have more power than you realise.

Panorama

2008-06-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm on the telly. Please direct your comments here.

One for the geeks like me...

2008-06-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

All together now...*SQUEEEEEEEE*

[via Planet Gallifrey]

I've been Stinged

2008-06-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

If you thought I was done with the Isle of Wight Festival ramblings, you were wrong. So very wrong.

On Sunday night, after a very apt warm-up from their nervous fans The Kooks, The Police took to the stage for their second to last performance in the UK ever (or at least until Bob Geldof or someone pulls them out of retirement to do a charity gig).

They were, of course, bloody brilliant. As I said before, I was raised on a diet of alphabites, spaghetti hoops and Sting, so seeing them live was a real experience for me. What really surprised me was the amount of people the same age as me or younger who also knew all the words to everything. Not just Message In A Bottle and Roxanne, but the more obscure stuff too. There are obviously lots of dads out there starting their kids young.

There was a moment of Sting-ishness, when the big screens during Invisible Sun showed pictures of deprived children in the third world instead of Andy Summers playing guitar, but I think when you're as amazing as the Police you can afford to do whatever the hell you want. If John Lydon can call people 'homos', you can't stop Sting from pimping out a good cause.

The highlights? The whole audience singing along to the encore performance of 'Every Breath You Take', and all the couples getting all loved-up to a song that's technically about a stalker. Don't Stand So Close To Me, because it rocks. Everyone shouting 'Eeee-yoooooo' to the refrain of 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', and a surprise performance of 'King of Pain', another favourite of mine.

No Synchronicity II though, but a girl can't have everything.

Isle of Wight Festival, part uno

2008-06-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

So (argh, I hate blogs that begin with 'so') I went to the Isle of Wight festival this weekend. It was three days of surprisingly sedate fun, with some amazing performances and wayyy too much food.

The joy of having an ex-housemate who lives on the island is that I got all the fun of the festival without having to go anywhere near a tent for the whole weekend (except to buy drinks). That meant fantastic hosts, a comfy bed, hot showers, pains au chocolat in the morning and cupcakes in front of Doctor Who in the evenings. All in all, a brilliant weekend.

Oh, and there was some music, too.

I was there mainly to see The Police, of course. Dad bought me up on Sting and The Police, so seeing them in the flesh was absolutely amazing after 25 years of listening to their music (I reckon there was a bit of 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' played to me in the womb). Of course, they closed the whole festival, so before the big finale I had three whole days of indie, pop and retro goodness. Here they are in a nutshell:

Friday:
Jumping around singing "this is NO BRIDGET JONES" to the Wombats was great. Their whole set was singalong heaven, and all the girls wanted the t-shirt because it had the same cute Wombat on it as the stage backdrop. It was also much fun doing mock scouse accents throughout. I feel I can get away with it because I'm technically 1/4 Scouse (or something like that).

The Hoosiers were as fun as we expected them to be. Drummers in Spiderman suits, lots of running around energetically, etc etc. Irwin (the brilliantly named lead singer) was a complete sweetie and I may just have developed a tiny little crush on him. The music...I could take it or leave it normally but live it held up to the competition.

KT Tunstall was...er, KT Tunstall. She tried to make nice to the audience by teaching them to body pop. Not a good idea when N.E.R.D are on next.

Ah yes, N.E.R.D. Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid, though I did dance lots to 'Nobody Nose' and 'She Likes To Move'.

And finally, The Kaiser Chiefs. Ricky wasn't on his usual banter-ish form, but the performance was still wicked. Even if you wouldn't sit down and listen to their albums, you can't beat them for crowd-rousing anthemic festival goodness. Nobody can resist the opening riff to 'Every Day I Love You Less and Less' when they're in a field with 50,000 other revellers. Fact.

Saturday:
The least appealing day to me because I don't like Iggy and The Stooges or the Sex Pistols. I'm not going to rant too much, but to me Iggy is just an old man with Jennifer Aniston hair shouting into a mic and gyrating on stage. The Pistols...well Johnny 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here' Rotten came on, insulted all the other bands, spouted out homophobic crap, called the Police 'bumholes' and insulted the sound man. He also sang a bit, but it was overshadowed by the silly, forced anarchy. I did not need to hear him talking about how Gazza is 'one of us'. Whatevs.

The only band I actually enjoyed on Saturday was The Zutons, who really rocked the crowd, and - surprisingly - the Sugababes, who played in the 'Big Top' tent. It was way too small for the huge crowd they drew and we ended up outside being pushed and shoved, but it was still entertaining. I wouldn't have them down as a festival act, but by the end a good few thousand people were bouncing up and down singing along to 'About You Now', including a fair few dads. This set also got the heckle of the week, some blokes shouting "Come on Geri, and Sporty...".

Sunday:
This is what it was all about for me - The Police, The Kooks, Starsailor, Scouting for Girls...all brilliant, and there was a surprisingly enjoyable set from acoustic-folksy bloke Newton Faulkner. I'd never really paid much attention to him before (he seemed a bit dreary even for my American teen drama soundtrack record collection) but he really won over the crowd. He had amazing skills with the guitar, a little 'dance routine' to go with one of the songs, and treated us to an absolutely fantastic cover of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Scouting for Girls were really popular, with everyone singing along to Elvis Isn't Dead and She's So Lovely, but what I really adored is that they sang the two real 80s child songs from the album - The Mountains of Navaho (complete with complete He-Man intro) and Michaela Strachan. I'd forgotten how much I loved their album when I listened to it incessantly about six months ago.

Luke from The Kooks was even more monosyllabic and slurred than usual, leading me to ask the others if he was excited, stoned, drunk or all three. Whatever, he still managed a pitch perfect performance. They did more stuff from the new album than I expected, but still managed to sneak in my fave - Eddie's Gun - and get everyone dancing to She Moves in Her Own Way.

And then The Police. So good I think they deserve a post all of their own tomorrow...

Fashion-filled excitement

2008-06-10T15:38:00.001-07:00

Today was one of those rare fashion-filled days that make my job seem far more glamorous than it actually is. I started it with a round-table breakfast interview with Gok Wan. He was fantastic. Exactly how you'd imagine he'd be - warm, funny, charming - but a little bit more relaxed and laid-back than he is on the telly (of course). He's the ultimate people person, which is really intriguing to watch since I'm crap with new people.

After that, I had a few hours in the office before heading down to the final day of Graduate Fashion Week. It's been a bit mental this year and I've only managed to see a handful of shows, but I think between three of us we managed to get coverage of just about everything. The less said the better about the fact very little of that coverage is actually up yet. Slight teething problems, shall we say.

I know this makes me sound old, but I cannot believe it's already halfway through June. I feel like this year has passed me by so quicky so far. Granted, I spent just under a month of it in Australia and that feels like years ago, but apart from that, I can barely tell you what happened to March, April and May. They went by in a haze of calories and Catwalk Queen, obviously.

On that note (yeah, thought you'd escaped me my neverending circle of weight issues, didn't you?) I've caught myself saying 'I just haven't had time because of all that's been going on' and 'it's just been so mental I've not had the chance' so often recently that I've decided a really strict plan of action is in order. I need some kind of structure to get me back on track so I think a cold-turkey approach is the only option. This time calls for no booze, no unnecessary events where they serve booze, three gym trips a week and good old Paul McKenna brainwashing me every night.

He can make me thin, you know...

If this works I will literally be speechless...

2008-06-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Dear people who organise the Isle of Wight Festival and Hard Rock Calling...

Hi! I'm coming to your festivals! Isn't that wonderful?!

Apparently, I'm what the world of web 2.0 calls a 'tastemaker'. This is because I'm an 'early adopter' with a 'cult following'. The site I created (not this one, obviously) gets a few hundred thousand unique visitors a month. And by 'a few hundred thousand' I actually mean 'half a million'. Imagine that!

Anyway, I'm quite influential because of that, so if either of you would like to organise it so I can come and drink free booze in your VIP sections, that would be just lovely.

And also, Hyde Park Calling person, I would also really like to meet Jason Mraz. And John Mayer. I'm sure you can sort that out, right?

lots of love, Gemma

NB. Joke, obviously. Though I am going to the festivals and, well, um...yeah.

Just Watch This.

2008-06-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Moving on and making changes

2008-05-27T13:53:00.001-07:00

So, the time has come. Again. I'm not going to go on about this here but it had to be said if only to remind me. No longer can I continue to roll up to work with my Sainsbury's breakfast savory thingy, lunch on a calorie-laden sandwich from Eat and then go home to wine and pasta or takeaway. It was all well and good while it lasted, but now I'm back where I was a month before my trip to Oz, feeling a bit sorry for myself and not fitting into my jeans properly. Going back to blonde didn't make me feel much better, despite what I thought. I'm still fat.

So I'm setting the 'target' at fitting into my cocktail dress by my birthday on August 4th. It's always been tight but I just about squeezed into it in February after a month of tee-total 'fun', so two months of cutting down, going to the gym and cutting back on the vino should be child's play. I would promise myself something a bit more exciting than a dress I already own, but right now I can't promise myself anything that costs actual money because I need to save for The Big Move.

Ah yes, The Big Move. With Emma moving out of Geek Central (officially) on 10th July, the remaining geeks (me and Kevin) have decided to bugger off too when our contract ends in October. In the interim we'll also be paying her share of the rent, which will help me to discover whether I can really afford a place of my own. I have my eye on a one bed flat in Crystal Palace. Not exactly central London, but in the same part of London as a lot of friends, and in a place I wouldn't mind going out on the weekend / in the evening. Also, did I mention it's cheap?

Bank Holiday Monday - Toytanic Time

2008-05-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

I'd forgotten how much I love May. With two long weekends in the course of a month, what's not to love? I spent this 3-day extravaganza up in Lincoln with my old housemate, holiday buddy and all-round fantastic friend Jojo, consuming all her food (and most of the city's alcohol), playing with the cat and honing my skills on the Nintendo Wii.

It was great to get out of London for a few days and take a breather. I ended up staying an extra night after Jo, Chris (her brother) and Amy (Chris's girlfriend) wooed me with the promise of a pub quiz. We ended up coming second. That sounds good until you realise there were only three teams. Still we got a bottle of wine for our troubles and I got all ten of the movie questions right, so my reputation as a film buff remains intact, at least with three people in the East Midlands.

Speaking of films, enjoy...

Erm, am I emo?

2008-05-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today Katie made us take the Enneagram test to see what type of person we are. I've taken Myers-Briggs type indicator tests loads of times before (I'm always ENFP) but it's the first time I've done this one.

Apparently, I'm The Romantic (the Four). According to the site, that means...

Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being a Four

* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being a Four

* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have

Fours as Children Often

* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Fours as Parents

* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Pasta a la Gemma

2008-05-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

This recipe is foolproof. If people don't like it, they are either vegetarian or stupid. Obviously this is not suitable for anyone on a diet, as - if you make it the way I do - it contains the calorific equivalent of an entire week on Weight Watchers. Ish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400g pasta shells
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 - 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Large jar of passata or cheap tomato pasta sauce
Half a large pack bacon offcuts cut down to tiny pancetta size chunks
Generous handful of actual Pancetta (optional)
Tub of full-fat mascarpone cheese (half fat is for wimps)
Mixed herbs
Oregano
Black pepper
Olive oil

Method:

1. Heat 1bsp of olive oil in a pan and when hot add the chopped onion and crushed garlic and a generous sprinkling mixed herbs. Fry until softened.
2. Add in the bacon and (optional) pancetta. Cook gently until the juices are running out into the pan.
3. Add the entire jar of pasta sauce to the mixture and bring to a simmer.
4. In a large saucepan, cook the pasta according to the instructions.
5. While pasta is cooking, keep gently stirring the sauce, allowing it to thicken. Add herbs, pepper and oregano to taste.
6. When pasta is cooked, take off the heat and drain.
7. Just before serving, reduce heat on sauce and stir in Mascarpone cheese one tbsp at a time, allowing it to melt into the saice. Add as much as you like to taste - approx 5 tbsp should be plenty. The sauce should be thick and creamy, with big chunks of bacon and onion.
8. Serve one of two ways - either stir the sauce through pasta first, or spoon it on top and allow people to mix themselves.

Enjoy!

I'm Yours.

2008-05-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not well. But I'm better having watched this.

A wine old time...

2008-05-17T02:02:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to say lots of intelligent things about wine now.

On Wednesday I was invited by Qype to go to an LVMH wine tasting event at Il Bottaccio, one of those beautiful Belgravia houses that only usually exist in period dramas. I'm fairly sure I visited the same place a few years back for Julien MacDonald's aftershow party (hello, did I just do a fashion namedrop?) but all these buildings look them same once the lights are dimmed and the cocktails are free, so I could well have been three doors down for all I know.

Getting back to the wine, I joined Qype's Rob and Andrew and fellow London bloggers / Qypers Annie Mole, Tiki Chris (from whom I 'borrowed' the above photo) Tim and Guernican for a 'multi-sensory' look at some New World wines. This involved a makeshift beach, an indoor Chinese-English garden, a 'mountain' terrace and various mystery canapes created to compliment each of the wines we tries.

Tim has written a fairly in-depth analysis of what was on offer if that kind of thing floats your boat. I will just say that the highlights for me was a sparkling rosé from Green Point accompanied by a red peach jelly with raspberry foam, and a Terrazas de los Andes Malbec with a (supposed) hint of chocolate.

Of course, I'll continue to drink house white for now. I have other obsessions to fund...