So here I am, my official first blog in my new Word Press application. I was hoping to get this all kicked off over the weekend but for some reason the One-Click Application was not working on my hosting. I logged a call with my host 123-Reg and they resolved the issue by Monday afternoon. Even though I perhaps expecting far too much gave them a call around 4pm on Monday to chase for an update. The installation process was completely painless and the most difficult thing was deciding on a theme and more importantly name for my blog. T3G:2 does not really mean much to many people and I have been in the need for some inspiration. At first I thought maybe the name of a movie I had recently seen at a friend’s house – What Lies Beneath, but it had too many negative, dark, eerie connotations. I then went for the same approach as my dearest friend Barry Tuck. (It should be noted that he is the main reason I have finally made the jump onto WP). He uses the lyrics from his favourite (or one of his favourite Radiohead songs. So I went with the same concept, selecting Human Nature, my favourite slow MJ song as the lyrics do kind of fit. Once I got my head around how to publish posts, create an account for myself as an author, I began the process of transferring all my previous posts into this online application. Originally I thought I would work my way from October 2009 back but this would mean I would have to go through entries in a second pass to link them to the correct historical page once all those pages were up. Therefore I have gone way back in time, to the start of this blog back in 2002 and started from there. It is going to be tedious job but the outcome is worth it. I will have all my entries ready, you will be able to read and subscribe by RSS and even get e-mail updates when I create a new post. So what have I been up to recently? I must go back to the weekend first. The Drive In Movie at Pinewood Studios was very good, even in the pouring rain. I had not really considering how they were going to pump the audio to us, I just expected large speakers scattered around, but as we entered the main parking area, the attendant told us to tune into 107.7FM. Genius, perfect sound in the car, no need to have windows open and engine noise would not interfere. I had sent a tweet to Pearl & Dean wondering if their titles would appear on the biggest outdoor screen in Europe but even though they had been running competition for tickets recently, their response in a direct tweet on Monday morning was no and I should just hum it myself before the movie starts. Not the same P&D, not the same at all! Notting Hill was very good and better than I expected. I am not a big fan of either Grant or Roberts but it was watchable, in parts very funny and Grant’s housemate, had me in stitches in part. It must be great being Richard Curtis. Having the idea of what it would be like to bring a the most famous person in the world (at the time, in this case a Hollywood actress) to a local dinner party, how would your family and friends react? Sunday turned out to be a lad’s day. After clearing a great deal of paperwork from my room and shredding it, I spent the rest of the day infront of the television watching three football matches back to back. First there was the Merseyside Derby, followed by the London derby (the less said about that the better). This was followed at 6pm by action from La Liga, El Clásico. It was not as dramatic as the match I watched last season over the May Bank Holiday earlier in the year. After all the build up, it was a tight, one nil victory for Barcelona. On Monday I had a few jobs to do in town but it was not the ideal weather to be waiting at the bus stop. It was 10am and I was soaking wet. Ryan’s Punto sped past and he recognised me just in time. He had just finished a shift at the supermarket and was heading home, so I asked if he could give me a lift into town and he kindly obligied. The 100 Park & Ride was already on the circuit down from ASDA back from the Empire Cinema, but I did not have the patience to wait. I collected my Dad’s mail from the Royal Mail sorting office, handed in a job application at Argos before heading home. In the evening, I was hoping to catch FlashForward on five but my Mum wanted to watch some serial on Star Plus, so I used Sky+ to record the show and I would catch it later. In the end, the temptation was too much and I downloaded the Austrialian broadcast version (Channel 7) and started watching around 1am (into Tuesday) but I was so keen to catch the mid season finale and so many questions to be answered. It was good, with a brilliant twist in the middle. The ending though turned out to be somewhat predictable, but I guess that is because we now used to the format of the show. Tuesday was a day spent on the job hunt pretty much all day. I had the treat of Heroes to late in the evening and got to go to my sister, Julie’s school production in the evening with my Mum. I had an interview on Wednesday lunchtime and had been given a great deal of work to do in preparation. I had missed a DHL delivery around 11am, so went to the debot to collect the package (which we eventually found after a little driving around town), drop my sister at school and then return home for a quick bite to eat before we headed back out to Marlow to see the performance. As with these things, it started a little late my Mum and I were seated way in time for 7pm. The show was called Starstruck after the song by Lady Gaga which features on the album The Fame. I became aware of this song, when it was featured in an episode of sci-fi series Fringe screened back in late April. Series 1, Episode 17 – Bad Dreams. The show took the concept of a talent show playing a parody on Britain’s Got Talent format. The show began with an intro sequence of various performances of the younger school children, some miming, so ballarinas, some street dancers. Afterwards the show began itself and we were introduced to our three judges. Simon Crewell, Miranda Holdall, Pierre Moorhen played by Sixth Formers and a school teacher respectively (Mr. Stuart Ross). They were then sat to the right of the stage on the same level as the audience, so at times it was difficult to make them out and I had to just make do hearing their voices. It was then down to business with act followed by act, some good, some very very bad. My sister performed in Street Unity, third on the bill in what can only be called a poor man’s Diversity. It was good fun and I could see my younger sibling was enjoying herself. After all the performances there was an intermission. Although I was not at all thirsty, my Mum insisted on getting a drink (I was able to decline the option of a muffin). I was happy to share a drink but my Mum wanted a drink for herself, so we got two Apple & Mango J2O. Minutes later when we were seated, she moaned that it was too sour! The second act was a flashback, showing how each of the different acts found out about the Star Struck show and then went about preparing for the show. The highlight for me was the performance of Ben by Miss Britney Zavaroni but we later discover it was all planned by her scheming mother. An MJ song was selected to capitalise on his death and the song dedicated to Granpa Ben, when in fact his name was Ted. Britney was also told to cry during her performance midway through to further tug on the judges’ heart strings. Overall it was a very entertaining show and a good way to spend an evening for a change. Rather than the usual visit to Albert Square. When I finally got home last night, I had a nice cup of tea and then settled down to watch Heroes. When I started to play the video file, I discovered the first few minutes were corrupt, with the footage skimming several seconds ahead and missing major parts of the plot. Fans of Heroes will know that major plot devices are always revealed in the first few minutes before the title sequence. I therefore had to go back to MSN and more specifically MSN Plus! Chatlog and pick out the HTTP link from Pav. He has abandoned torrents in favour of direct downloads. He had explained the link was to a super fast server and it took about 40 minutes to download. What was I going to do in the meanwhile? I decided to watch Paradox. I had forgotten to set the show to record on Sky+ so caught up by streaming on BBC iPlayer. Do not get me wrong, it is no FlashForward, but it is good by BBC production standards and has enough going to keep me occupied. I caught episode one over the weekend and decided to give the series a chance. You can therefore imagine that I finally went to sleep sometime near 2am, having watched both shows back to back. Keeping up with what has now become tradition, please see below my Advent Calendar for this year. I actually requested Transformers from my Dad this year, even though he usually just picks up something he believes I would like. Every year, being my Dad he has been spot on but I just thought it would be ideal to give him a slight nudge for 2009! To keep all my images of advent calendars together, I have created a new set on FlickR. Now the question is are you a good person and eat your chocolate only on the designated day or are you like my sisters (particularly Samantha) whom would have eaten all twenty-five before the fourteen of December has arrived.