Laser Game!!!

So what did I do last night? I went laser gaming! I had never done it before, but it was so much fun. After having cleaned up my room and I mean really cleaned up. I had not been able to hoover/vacuum clean my room for days so it was about time. I also cleaned my desk and everything else. Today I'm going to do my laundry as well. But after cleaning I worked a bit and then at 6 went to Alice's place. Marion was already there. I wasn't sure how many people would come, but Sandra came as well, as well as Marijke her friend who is from Germany but who's mother is Dutch, hence the name ;) We went into town on foot. Marion told me about her seminar and everything while we walked towards the Odeon. The laser game building is a bit behind the Odean, the cinema in town. A lot of people came, we ran into the whole group. Clement and his housemates were there, Nicola, Lorraine. We were with something more than 20 people. The game can be played with 50 at the same time so having a really large group wasn't a problem. We got to play two rounds, both 15 minutes each, for only 5 pounds. There are three teams, blue, red and yellow. At first I was in the blue team against people like Marion, Heidi, Clement and Sandra. But the second round I was on the yellow team with them against the rest. The first round I didn't do that great. I was hit 83 times while only having hit people myself 71 times. I ranked 20th of the 37 people who played. The second time I ranked 7th! Yippie! I was first in my group, but as a group we were last, which was mostly I gues sbecause of Heidi, who managed to score -720 points! Poor girls, she ranked last. I was 7th out of 38 people, hit 73 people and got hit myself 62 times. But I had a blast, it was so much fun. And even though 2x 15 minutes doesn't seem that long, it's enough because afterwards you're so warm. They had this whole room with stairs and tunnels, you could even clime down a pole. It was great. The second time we really worked as a team. I definitely want to do it again. Afterwards most people of the group went to McDonalds, but because some of us didn't feel like ging there, Alice, Marion, Sandra, Marijke and I went to this other place. It was the pub/restaurant where we had dinner the first time we went into town when we got in Canterbury. I still remember it very clearly. I first wanted the goam vegetable curry, but they didn't have that one anymore so I went for the vegetarian burger just as Sandra. It was really fun to eat out in town again, which was somethign Alice and I wanted to do for quite a long time. But every time everyone was too busy so we eneded up going to the cinema. So finally we got what we wanted. I said i would take pictures but I forgot. But anyway, I couldn't have taken pictures of us playing the laser game. Well, enjoy your day and have a nice weekend!

Like Missing A Day

It was less crowded at the library yesterday so when I arrived in the afternoon after going into town to buy my groceries I immediately found a place to sit. I was in computerroom 3 and both Heidi and Clement were there as well. I worked until some minutes before 5 to then go to the life drawing session. This time we made a lot of drawings and it was the first time the mdoel was a boy instead of a girl. But the drawings are kind of the same, the difference is just that this boy dared to stand in more difficult and interesting positions then the girls usually do. Afterwards Clement, Claudia and some others went to the Gulbenkian to have a drink, but I decided to go to the library to work. The dat before I didn't do anything because of this file I could not find anymore, all I did was look for it. So I felt I kind of missed a day and I really needed to work. The drawing session itself was already my break, so I felt that also having a drink after was a bit too much. But i didn 't mind because this evening I'm going to do something really fun which I will tell you about tomorrow. I will make some pictures as well. Not with my polaroid camera though, caause I couldnt find a film for it. Maybe they also have cheap ones on ebay, I will check. Enjoy your day!

Get Out Of My Library!

Even though I brought my own laptop there still wasn't enough room in the library yesterday afternoon. I wanted to stay there and study. On Monday I was there during the evening and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Lately I preferred working at home, just because of the crowdedness and some people being a bit loud or doing no work at all just talking and laughing which doesn't really stimulate. But during the evening it's much better. Most people who are still around at that time are more serious and are there because they're really busy. So going from one floor to the other I searched for an empty seat, but none. At the third floor I ran into Clement who managed to get a computer and was working. But I left because it was completely filled. I then went downstairs to the ground floor to go and sit where they have all the journals and periodicals. But even there there were so many people so I eventually decided to go home. I worked just a bit in my room and then at 5.45 went to Alice's place to go back to the library with her and Marion to start a working session. I, however, left at 7 to see The Merchant of Venice which they showed at the film society screening. Afterwards, around 9, I went back to the library. I did not work though, because I was tryign to recover a file. I think I saved it, but I don't know where and my computer doesn't seem to know where to find it. It sucks just a bit, but I can write things all over again. It wasn't that much and I'm not sure if I would have kept the text anyway. So it isn't a really big deal. Just some minutes ago I came back from Tesco doing my laundry. My polaroid camera arrived yesterday so now I will look for a role of film to put in there so I can start taking some pictures and see how everything works. This evening there's the drawing session from 5 to 7. i will go to the library before and hopefully am able to find a place to sit comfortably and study.

Long Time No See, Long Time No Say

The reading week is over, which means I have to go back to going to my seminar. Yesterday we already had the screening. I finally got to see In The Mood For Love by Wong Kar Wai. Clément decided to go and see the movie just for fun which was great because I had not really seen him for quite a while as he was very busy with essays and had a friend over. After the film we had a coffee at the Gulbenkian talking about the film and future plans. Later on we went to the library to work. I did quite a lot of working and got some new insights. The more I work on it and think about my subject the more shape it gets and the more new things I discover. I reached some new useful conclusions and managed to type a lot. Today I will go back to the library after my seminar. I have to rewatch La Pianiste. I still had not completely seen it the last time I went to go watch it in the library, so I have not analyzed all. Today there's no salsa class which is too bad since last week i really enjoyed it, but it's okay, because the screening of the film society is at the same time and I want to go and watch. They will play The Merchant Of Venice with Al Pacino. The play always reminds me of the time I went to see it at secondary school and we also did a workshop before, playing a scene from the play. That was really fun. Apparently I can look into the future. Because I happened to think Alice said on Saturday there wasn't going to be a salsa class. So I mailed her to ask if I was right or just dreamed it. I was right, there's no salsa class, but Alice only found this out on Sunday, sooooo... what does that mean? :)

And The Oscar Goes To...ME!

I almost forgot to write today. I'm sitting here watching some Oscar speeches and the performance of Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for the movie Once, they won for best song. The song is great, so that's a real triumph. Anyway, have to work today on my long essay and then go to the screening for female performance and afterwards work again. Yesterday I worked, I even went to the library for a while, which I really enjoyed since on Sunday it´s not that crowded. I was supposed to go to the cinema in the evening, but I ended up staying at home and bought a polaroid camera for not so much money on Ebay. It´s something I wanted to haver for quite a long time, so I have one now. It will arrive maybe tomorrow, but at least this week. Really cool. Just some hours ago i received a package with a T-shirt from We Are Scientists and their debut album. I ordered both and I´m very happy! Alice who wanted to go to the cinema to watch Closing The Ring, which was the reason I decided to maybe go just to keep her company, eventually didn´t go either, feeling too tired from having lunch and singing songs. Their was this Italian mass she togetehr with some people from the Italian society arranged. Later on Marion asked if we wanted to come over for some hot choclate and cake. Alice was busy working on her essay and just started eating dinner so she couldn´t make it, but I went and Marion and I had some big pieces of chcolate cake, which she bought at the campus shop. It was really good, nice and sticky, melting on your tongue. Yum! It was a while ago since I ate some cake or something like cookies or candy. So it felt like a real treat. Lauren her housemate ate a piece too and later on came downstairs after finding a fly in her room. She doesn´t like them and hoped it would eventually fly out the window while she was in the kitchen waiting. Dennis joined us as well for a nice conversation as always. He always makes for a very interesting chat, so that´s relaly nice. Then I went home to go to bed. So yes, today i will work. I still don´t know why i had not sene the movie when it played multiple times here at the Gulbenkian, but I´m sure she deserved to win, Marion Cotillard. Everyone was thinking Julie Christie would win sicne she won so many important awards already over Cotillard. But the one most important trophy Cotillard took home, being absolutely perplexed. It´s great, cause not that i have anythign against old people, but I like it more when younger actors win because theys eem to appreciate it way more. For those odler actors it´s most of the time just something extra, soemthing at the end of their career they didn´t expect anymore. So congrats. I will take a shower now. Wooohoo, enjoy this week! And everyone listen to Throw Me The Statue, he´s great, love his album!

We're All Covered In Green!

Out On The Dancefloor

Standing In the Way

I'm sorry for blocking off part of your face friend of Aurélie and Loraine!

Alice And Marion x 3

Great facial expressions!

Taken By Nicola

No, I didn't want to smile a big smile. Sorry :p

2 Pounds For A Party

It took a while, but finally some new pictures and this time from inside The Venue. I didn't do anythign really interesting I could tell you about yesterday, I just worked on my long essay, analyzing the brutal and almost unwatcheable rape scene from Gaspar Noé's Irréversible. Not exactly a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. Because this week the different societies got the chance to promote themselves again, there was this party last night and everyone who would come before 9pm could go in for 2 pounds. I met up with Alice in front of the reception and we met up with Marion on our way to The Venue. Marion just came back from watching Sweeney Todd with Heidi, still having the songs stuck in her head. At the entrance we ran into Nicola who was ging to the party as well with a friend. He made some of the pictures we later on took, so thanks for those! At first some societies gave some perfromances, like pole dacing, the salsa society and the belly dancing society, which Marion might join. Afterwards around 10 pm we all went upstairs into what is called The Light House for an afterparty. This 'party' consisted more of having just a nice chat and a drink, there were almost no people dancing. So after a while having said goodbye to Aurélie and Loraine who are both housemates of Anne, we went downstairs to check out what was going on at the dancefloor. Besides two crazy boys dancing and a boy and a girl, the dancefloor was empty. At this moment they happened to play the coolest songs, though. A bit of Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys and a song from a band I don't know, but which I really liked. I have no idea how to figure out which song it was. Too bad. After a while they played one song, I can't remember which one and all of a sudden people popped up from everywhere and in no time the dancefloor was filled and the party really started. Thanks Alice for saying that we could just stay and see what was gonna happen. There were two other parties, which we later onw ent to but of which one was more of a private party and the other was a real bore, so I'm glad we just stayed at The Venue, cause eventually it turned out into a great event. They played a lot of ncie tunes, some dance and hip-hop/R&B. It was nice. Because today Marion is going to write her conclusion for her essay, we left around 12.30 to not be too tired today. Right now I am feeling a bit tired still, but I'm doing alright. I might go to the library to work, I might stay home at work, I might go to the cinema tonight. I'll just have to decide. Enjoy your Sunday.

Another Afternoon At The Swimming Pool

After weeks of waiting Sweeney Todd finally arrived at the Gulbenkian. I went to see it last night. I expected to see more people, but out of everyone we know, only Amandine and me were there. Marion and Heidi must have been really busy or tired that they didn't immediately went to see it. But Amandine and I went and we both loved it. It's a musical, but one in which a lot of things happen during the singing. The characters find themselves busy doing something while they sing, so the action goes on. It's not that the focus is all on the song, which can make it tough to sit through. Only some songs at the beginning get a lot of attention by not letting too much happen while an actor sings. Overall the film is very funny, especially because of Helena Bonham Carter's character. Bonham Carter almost outshines Johnny Depp, but Depp is great as well. His voice sounds dark and crisp and it was fun to hear him sing. It's really a film that is very entertaining. Again I went to the swimming pool in the afternoon. I enjoyed it a lot on Thursday that I thought let's go again. It wasn't that crowded, just like Thursday which was nice. I came around 5 and stayed for a bit more than an hour. Before I went I was at the library after handing in the essay for Female Performance. It's the weekend again right now. Maybe I will go to The Venue tonight, because there was this special night because of the week where all the societies get to promote themselves. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Like A Dolphin

Maybe it was their reading week? I was going to watch Une Femme Est Une Femme by Godard which they were going to show during this sound course. However, I guess they had their reading week, because when I finally opened the door to look in the room it was completely dark and empty. I waited first outside when it was just 12 o'clock. I didn't want to interrupt, because last time they were in the middle of showing a clip as an example and then I walked in. It wasn't a problem, but i feel it's just not really nice. But ebcause they always have a short rbeak between lecture and screening I thought I would wait until some people would come out. But then noone came out, so I went into the room and it was empty. Last week they wee supposed to show Mean Streets but changed it into Chungking Express, so i guess I can't really trust this course anymore. So I went home again. Because I felt a bit fed up with the boxing class, even though I might still go today, I started looking at what time the swimming pool would be open at the Kingsmead Leisure Centre. Clement had already been there and Jan apparently swims there as well sometimes. He told me he will go today. So I checked the public swimming time and I'm 100 % sure it said from 3 until 9. So I went by bus to the west station and then walked to the swimming pool. The last time I walked there, which was also my first time, I went to Sainsburys which is at the same street as the pool. But at that time Sainsburys and the pool seemed much and much further away. It seemed like a long walk, but isn't at all. Maybe just ten minutes and it's really easy to find. The first time I guess I had to really pay attention and was a bit cautious about taking a wrong turn so it all seemed to take longer. I arrived at the centre and asked for the swimming pool. However the girl at the desk told me the public swimming would start at 4 not 3. So I ahd to wait an hour. I decided to go to Sainsburys to by 2 bottles of juice, because I forgot to buy drinks when I was doing my grocery shopping. This juice turns out to be sweet! It's like liquid candy. Not good at all. So i will just drink it as lemonade. A little bit of juice and then add a lot of water. Then I walked into town and went to Wilkinson where I bought a thermos and some rubber bands. When I was done doing that it was almost 4 so I went back to the centre again. The swimming pool is really nice. I didn't realize it, but the water is pretty warm, not cold like at the pool in my town. It was when I spoke to Jan last night and he said he wasn't to the warm water, I realized it was warm. It didn't cross my mind. Most of the time the pool for recreation with a glide and everything is the warm one and the one where people swim back and forth, more as a sort of training or work-out, that one is cold. But here they're both warm. I actually quite liked it though. I swam for about 1 hour and a half and then went back home. When i arrived home I didn't have much time to eat, but when I was in town I also bought a muesli bar which I had eaten the half of, so I had at least eaten soemthing already. At 6.50 they would play ne Touchez Pas La Hache (Dont Touch The Axe) at the Gulbenkian. I was pretty amazed by it. It feels like a play at times really feeling the tension between the two main actors. It was wonderful and the camera was great, lingering and being very slowly, floating through the space. Really nice. I thoguht the film would last something like 80 minutes. I don't know how I got that, because apparently it is 137 minutes long. So my first idea was to go home after the film and eat and then go to the library to meet up to speak about our holiday in Italy this August at Alice's and then go print my essay. But after the film it was already a quarter past 9. So I went directly to the library. We met up downstairs nearby the library cafe which was already closed. They have some sofa's there, which are very comfortable. We spoke about everything and we can stay from 18 to the 29th of August. I have to see what i'm goign to do. Maybe I would liek to do this interrail trip and visit multiple cities and then end it in Italy where I then will continue the trip with the rest of the gang. So it's gonna be exciting, but it's also weird already making plans for this summer. Today I will hand in my essay and tonight watch Sweeney Todd at the Gulbenkian. Amandine and Marion really have been waiting to see this film, so now finally they can. Alice, however, already saw it, since she nowadays is a downloading fanatic watching almost every film online. :) Have a nice Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Some Colour On My Walls

I'm having sushi for breakfast. Yummy! :) I bought it last evening when I went to Tesco to do my grocery shopping. I didn't have any bread left or rice milk and other things, so I needed to go there. Half of the package of sushi I already ate last night for dinner and now the rest is for breakfast. I really like sushi. Before going to Tesco I had the drawing session and this time we got to work with paint. So now my room has some colour stuck onto the wall, cause I hang them on my wall as posters. It's really nice cause I don't have that many things to stick onto my walls. I also met up with Euan to speak about our filmproject. Because Clement is very busy with his essay and long dissertation for France he couldn't make it. Also a friend is coming over from Amsterdam. This girl is from France but she studies abroad at my university right now. So Clement wants to be finished by this weekend just to be able to spend some time with her. So Euan and I spoke just about little things which still needed to be taken care of, such as umbrellas, things like that. It can get pretty cold in the landscape and once it starts raining there's no place for shelter. We then went to the drawing session together. I already kind of forgot he is the president, but was reminded of it when we just went into the seminar room we always use and he started to turn on the computer and set up the tables. Cause first I was like, shouldn't we wait for someone from the society to come and then I remembered, of course not, he is from the society, he is the president. I forgot it already. I did not go and see the moon eclipse, I will wait another three years :). I did set my alarm clock, but I was so tired and it was probably cold outside, so i stayed comfortably in my bed. Today I will go to see a screening of Une Femme Est Une Femme by Jean-Luc Godard. I havent seen it yet and I believe it will be only my third Godard film! Maybe I will go to the boxing class if I'm in the mood. The thing is I like it, but it's a bit too bad they don't spend much time on boxing sometimes. Especially on Thursday it's more about staying in shape so we start by running and at the end we do all these excercises. The time we really box is maybe 30 minutes of the 90 minutes every class takes. Also I would maybe just like to try and do something else. I have my sports centre membership right now, but havent got the time yet to really go. So I want to go and check everything out. And for the boxing you also still have to pay 2 pounds for every lesson. Tonight we will have this meet up at the library to speak about our trip to Alice in Italy. In August, once this is all over :(, we want to visit each other and Alice's place is one of the places on the list. I've never been to Italy so I'm sure it will be great. Well everyone enjoy your day wherever in the world it is you are right now ;)

First There Was The Filmmaking, Then The Boxing, Then The Drawing And Now... Salsa!

I went and I liked it! I'm very surprised, but the salsa class was so much fun. I had a blast. It's fun and not at all so difficult. It was my first time ever dancing salsa or even dancing like that, two by two. I never did any of that ballroom dancing or anything. So this was my first time and I believe I did quite alright. When I danced with Alice she told me I danced better than this other guy and I don't think it was his first time. This girl Jade, it was her first time as well and she also thought I did quite well. But it was really funny and it's a nice way to get to know some new people, see some new faces. There are three classes, all of 1 hour. There's the one for beginners starting at 7.30, one for people who have already passed the level of beginner and a last class for the really advanced people. Because there's not a really big difference between the beginners class and the one after I stayed for the second class as well. Veronique told she also went to that class the last time so I decided to also stay. Also because I really had fun and didn't feel like leaving yet. But it was really funny, because the teacher, she had these 4 steps and during the beginners class we only learned the first one. That one I know now, but still it was a bit difficult because it involves a lot of dancing. And as a boy you have to know the steps really well, cause you're the one who has to lead. But number 2, 3 and 4, I didn't know yet. Last week she probably explained them really well during this second class, but the beginners apparently are still at step 1, so she went through the 3 other steps really quickly, just for everyone to refresh their memory. I started with Veronique and the two of us kept laughing, because we messed up really badly. My neck almost started to hurt having to look at the teacher all the time to get the steps right. But I bet with more practice I will get these steps as well. But yeah, I had more fun than I could have ever imagined. I don't know why I didn't decide to come earlier. The reason why I finally decided to go was just because I was in the mood to try something new again, meet some new people and also out of curiosity, because the two of them keep telling me I should come. So I thought, why not go and have a look. If they go and have fun, maybe I will enjoy it as well. So next week I will be there again. I already paid my 3 pounds to join the Latin American society, so I'm completely ready. Before going to the slasa i was at home and before that at the library. However, I don't really enjoy the library anymore. Sometimes it's full of people who aren't studying seriously and only keep talking with each other about stupid things. They don't even come to study or really discuss things. Because the computer room had a discussion area, but most of the people there think it means you are allowed to speak, so you can talk crap all day long. But most of us come to really work and not that they are really loud (at least not always) but it's just a bit annoying having these people around just sitting on the table, chatting, like they're having a break or something. So i rather work at home right now. Also yesterday i brought my laptop, but I forgot to bring my mouse and the right plug to plug my adapter into the socket. So after a bit more than two hours I went back home again. I don't know what happened to the weather today, but it's foggy, no sunshine. If the sky is like this tonight we won't be able to see the moon eclipse. Here we should be able to see it at 3 am. But if it's worth it to stay awake to see it. I don't know. I'm sure there are more to come, so i can watch a different time. This afternoon I will have my drawing class and before i will meet up with Euan at the Gulebenkian. So the rest of the day I have time to work, which is necessary since I feel I have such a busy schedule nowadays with all the filmmaking, salsa, drawing and boxing. And at the Gulebenkian they will play a lot of films I NEED to see like Juno, There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men!

I Completely Forgot About It, But Now I Finally Saw It

So yesterday afternoon I had lunch at the Gulbenkian with Marion, Amandine to meet Marion's Friend Sofia from France. Alice came as well, so together we had lunch. Afterwards Marion was going to show Sofia the Canterbury cathedral, which made me realize I had not seen it yet either. I had completely forgotten about it. I had been walking around it, seeing it from the outside but never got to see what's inside. But yesterday I finally did. The reason I had not seen it yet was that I was supposed to go see it once with Clement and Marion, but Marion first wanted to study some things about it so she could give us a little tour, being the history student. So because I had not seen it yet I was invited to come along. So after the lunch I walked into town with Marion and Sofia and we went to the cathedral. The weather was extremely nice. The sun was shining and it wasn't cold at all, at least not during the afternoon. Once it gets later it starts to become colder and you feel like freezing. But when we walked towards the city it wasn't that cold and the sun was shining wonderfully. From the inside the cathedrail looks very beautiful. There are lots of tombs and the glass of the large windows are filled with colorful paintings. And like always inside it looks much bigger than you expect when you see it from the outside. We also walked back to Park Wood and when i got home I prepared my dinner. Marion had invited me and Alice for a drink at her place at 7.30 so at 7.30 I was there, but Alice was still taking a shower so she would come a bit later. When I got there Marion was speaking with her housemate David and her boyfriend Richard, who I had not met yet. We just talked a bit about music and David's T-shirt which had drawings on it Marion found to be a bit scary. Dennis arrived as well but had to go back and forth, as he was doing his laundry. Alice arrived later on. The purpose of this little meetign was actually to get Marion's friend better, but because the two of them went to London early this afternoon, she went to bed early. After talking in the kitchen to Dennis and Alice for a while, Alice and I went home. Marion went out with Richard for a while. But because we didn't know how long it would take, Alice wanted to go and check out this party at Grimshill 5. So we left, but walking passed Grimshill 5 it seemed the party had not yet started. But then again, it was still before 10 pm. So we both went home and I jumped into my bed to sleep and dream. Tonight I'm going to the salsa class. I have never danced salsa before and it isn't that i really have the urge to learn it, but Alice and Veronique keep telling me how nice it is and that I should come with them. So today i will have a look just to check it out. I still want to meet some new people as well, so this might be an opportunity. But t's cool that I'm going, because I'm pretty curious about how this whole class is. And this one according to the girls is much better. They first went to this other one, but they got bored of it, because they didn't feel like they were really improving, because everytime they learned new things, but the things they learned the week before were never repeated. So it was no use. But this class is from the Latin American society. Besides salsa they also show movies every week and have this meeting where people just talk in Spanish while having a drink, so that everyone who wants to improve their Spanish can come along for a Spanish chat. Maybe I should go and start learning some Spanish too. I've always wanted to learn it, so why not. But yes, I'm going to do that tonight. Tomorrow I will have a meeting with Euan about our project just before the drawing session. I saw him on my way to the Gulbenkian yesterday, which was really cool, because I never run into him. But I guess that's because he's a physics student and therefore he has to go to the Biosciences building, which is before all the other lecture buildings and the library. So it was cool to run into him. Today I will work on my long essay. I will probably work in the library for a while just to be in a place with lots of people, instead of at home. I also like the walk to the library. So have a nice day!

Finally Finished

I have finished my essay for Female Performance, so now I can go and focus on my long essay again. Today I will have lunch with Marion and her friend who came from France and Amandine and everyone else who shows up. I went to see The Darjeeling Limited yesterday and I liked it a lot. Wes Anderson's style is really nice with lots of tracking shots. The rest of the day I was working on my essay in the kitchen. And later on I made my dinner. Vescna, a friend of Farhad was in the kitchen as well when I made my dinner. Saturday night she went to London to go to The Fabric, a nightclub where I went during those days before Christmas. So she slept until the afternoon and hand not eaten anything yet, so Farhad was making a dinner for her and some other friends. Today I will probably go to the library after lunch to work. I don't have any other real plans. Just have to wait and see what comes up. Mitch, if you read this, have a nice trip and enjoy your stay in Tanzania. I'm sure it's going to be great and one of the most wonderful experiences of your life! And everyone else have a nice week as well, bye bye.

I Can Smell Amsterdam

So today I really really really want to finish my essay. The thing is I have finished, but I just need to lose words, because I still have too many. So I really want to finish it, because I now it's more than possible and it doesn't have to take that long. I can do this in one day. I was supposed to do it yesterday, I know. But I got distracted. First there was the weather, but I was able to pretend the sun did not shine. Then however, Farhad decided he wanted to study outside. Patricia then decided to study outside as well and because she has kind of injured her foot a bit, Farhad asked me if I wanted to help him put the table outside. Of course I then couldn't resist to work outside as well. So I took a shower and everything and joined them with my laptop. I worked a bit, but not really that long. We all got distracted again. Firsy because we saw some familiar faces like Schaemus (I guess you write his name something like this) and Patricia saw some of her friends like Naeus (don't know how to write her name either) and Clement and his ousemates were sitting outside as well, so Aina and Clement came to chat a bit with us. Then Patricia decided to practice on her hobo, Farhad went to the sports centre and I went to do my laundry. So I went to do my laundry not bringing my key with me, expecting to just go and then come back. However, I wasn't the only one doing the laundry, Marion was doing hers as well. Because we had not seen each other for a while, instead of putting our clothes in the washing machine, then go home, come back, put them in the dryer and then go home again, we decided to just stay because we were together instead of on our own. So we just stood outside against the building enjoying the sun and talking. After putting our clothes in the dryer we went to the shop to buy something. Marion had not eaten anything so she needed to eat soemthing and I had to get some money for the dryer. And because I didn't havce exactly 60 pence in my wallet I went to buy this muesli bar. We were looking around and then we decided to both try some noodles. You have to add water to them and that's it. I tried them later on at home and they were pretty nice, but of course not soemthing I would every singhle day. But it's nice for a change. Because Marion wa shaving friend over she needed to pick her up at 6, so around 4.30 we got to get our stuff from the dryer and then we went back home. Then later on I might up with Alice at Veronique's place. The three of us were going to Miriam's birthday party. She turned 21 on Friday and celebrated her birthday yesterday. But because the party would start at 10.30 and we met up at Veronique's place at 10.30 we decided to first have a tea not wanting to bee too early at the party. But we talked and talked and talked. And Veronique had to get a lot off her chest, so before we knew it we were two hours later. So then we went to the party. It wasn't a really big party, which partly was because there was already this other Spanish party going on at Grimshill 8. We didn't stay long at Miriam's house, because Miriam, Aina, Isa and Clement decided to come with us to the Spanish party, because we wanted to go to that one as well. But that one was extremely crowded. But for a moment I felt more than home, because there was the smell of people rolling some joints, so my first reaction was, Amsterdam! Such a fmailiar smell, so nice. I loved it. But we didn't stay that long at all, because it was so full with people. In the back I could see Patricia who did manage to come even though her foot was still hurting. Before I left the hosue she and a friend were baking some biscuits, which were really nice. But then we decided to go back to Veronique's place. Clement, Isa, Aina and Miriam went home already as well. At Veronique's place we got another cup of tea and some tangerines and we talked until 3. Like almost always Alice wasn't feeling tired, but she slept in the afternoon, so she was goign to watch The Darjeeling Limited which she had managed to download. Me however, I'm thinking about watching it tonight on the big screen at the Gulbenkian. So yeah, I haven't been able to put those finishing touches on my essay. So I'm going to do that today. Enjoy this Sunday!

Still Hurting

I still felt tired yesterday from the boxing class on Thursday. You feel it everywhere, every part hurts, or not really hurts like your in pain, but I guess you'll know what I mean. But really everywhere. My legs, my back, my arms. So yesterday I did not go to the other boxing class of Friday as well. Would be a bit too much and I wanted to really work on my essay, which I managed to do. Still, I'm not completely done. I will hopefully finish today so i can focus on my long essay again. Also I need to vacuum clean my room and do my laundry. I wanted to do my laundry yesterday, but decided not to. I was too tired when I got back home from the library. Thatw as around 6, so I did not stay at the library too long. At first i maybe wanted to go to a party, but I knew I would not be able to. So I stayed home and tried to sleep early. However, I didn't sleep earlier than 11.30 and even when I jumped into bed it took me long to fall asleep. Right now I'm still a bit tired though, or at least don't feel very energetic. The sun is shining again this weekend. Why? Why at times when we need to work or are not able to shoot our film yet. Hopefully every weekend will be like this from now on, so it will be reat weather when we shoot our film.

A Sign?

When I walked in they were just watching a clip from Trainspotting. The course is about sound in film and at 12 they were going to watch Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese. However, when the teacher said they were going to take a five minute break before showing the feature film he came to me and asked me if I was here to watch Mean Streets. I said yes. And he said, ah, I'm sorry because we made a change and we will be playing Chungking Express instead. I was actually more than pleased with this as I had never seen it before. So far i only saw three Wong Kar Wai films. But now I saw four and after my reading week I will have seen five, because we're finally going to see In The Mood For Love, which is probably still Wong Kar Wai's most well known work. But this sudden change is why I'm all confused at the moment. I really start to wonder if this is a sign, if there's something someone wants to tell me, to realize? Because Chungking Express features Tony Leung, who is this very well known actor in China. He however only appears in the film after the beginning, somewhere close to the middle. So I was already like, hmmm, Tony Leung is not gonna be in it, right, or is he? He did 2046, so I thought it might be possible to see him appear. And yes, he did. So then I was like, there he is again. Last Friday I saw him in Lust, Caution, than on Monday he also happened to be in Hero. And then yesterday, because we didn't see Mean Streets, I have no idea why, I saw him again, but this time in Chungking Express. So, my question is why? Three times in just a couple of days. I was supposed to see him twice, but now I saw him 3 times. A sign? For what? I have to say that I sometimes feel I look a bit Asian. Seeing films by Kim Ki Duk, I sometimes see some of me reflected in the looks of some actors. So I always kind of feel like embracing that part of me. Also I once was in Paris with my parents and brother in a restaurant and then when we asked for an English menucard instead of a France one, the waitress asked us, maybe you actually prefer a Chinese one? No? No! We're not Chinese. Do we look Chinese? I don't think so, not really. A bit maybe, a little. Not so much the eyes, but there is something there. Well. Afterwards I went to the library and than run into the lovely Alice who had been working hard and was in need for a break. Then I went to the Gulbenkian to meet up with our two actors and Clement and Euan. However, I thought Euan knew we were already really goign to meet that day, so i didn't sent another email about it. But he didn't, so he wasn't there and missed our meeting which was pretty important and very useful. We got to see Tom and Rose together and I think it's a match. Tom seems very enthusiastic about the project so I guess we will go for him afterall. Then I went to the boxing class. Normally I used to go on Friday and only went on Thursday once. Because we used to have screening that day I couldn't go. But this week I was able to go and I wanted to so i went. On Thursday it's much harder than on Friday. We have to run and than at the end do all these exercises. It's a lot of hard work. But it's fun and I like the teacher. He mays eem tough and everything but he's actually very nice and really supportive. He's always like, great job, now sprint back, come on, yeah. So that's really cool. During the evening I had dinner and then read an article for my essay. Today i'm going to work on it all day. I have to hand it in next Friday, so I'm actually very early. But that's not a bad thing at all and I still have to work on my final long essay, so the sooner I'm done with this little one, the sooner I can get back to work on the long one. It's almost weekend. Everyone enjoy your day.

Drawing Session Numero 3

During the morning I worked on my essay and in the afternoon at 3 I met up with Euan and Clement to meet our two actors. However, due to a bit of miscommunication, Tom didn't show up. Rose already mentioned that she was not sure if she could make it because she had to go to London as well. So in the end it was just the three of us, but it was okay, because we had some things still left to discuss. Around 4 I left with Clement to go to the library, while Euan had another meeting. Standing outside we met up with Alice who came to the library to start working on her essay. It was really good to see her again as it already was some days ago since I last saw her. In the library we bumped into Nicola who is giving a party this Friday. He doesn't live on campus but somewhere close to The Works, a nightclub in town. I might go if there's nothing else planned. On Saturday there's also this other party, and lately I'm in the mood to go out and go to these places were it's very crowded and you get the chance to meet up with a lot of people. At 5 Clement and I left the library to go to the drawing session. This time the model was one of Miriam's housemates. i didn't know her, but Clement did, so it must have been a little bit different for him this time. For some reason the session seemed much shorter than last week. But again it was lots of fun and our teacher is brilliant. Not only does he know a lot about art and famous artists and paintings and stuff he also really knows how to improve your skills. And it's nice because he makes that you try something else, something different than you yourself might have done. So that's really cool, because you really learn a lot from him. So that was basically my day. Coming back home I made dinner and that was about it. At 12 I'm going to watch Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese. One of the film courses is going to show it. This does mean however that I have to miss a lunch at the Gulbenkian, but I know there are still many more to come so i don't really mind. And at 3 we will be meeting up with out actors again who will both be there this time, hopefully.

Microwave Vegetables Are Quite Okay!

I started with my seminar and then went home to work on my essay. Like every week I'm really enjoying the seminar, so far it's the only one where I feel I'm really doing something. The other seminars were always more like lectures where you would just sit and listen and look at clips and you were allowed to say something, but you didn't have to. Only sometimes you would work in groups, but almost never. Here however, it's the complete opposite. Every week we sometimes watch a clip together and then can comment on it, but we always work in groups after, looking at a clip, analyzing it, and then sharing our info with the others of the group. Also we discuss the film we saw the day before in groups, talking about things like micro-meanings and looking at the actress' gestures and things that might be of significance for the way to perceive her performance. it's a very interesting course and the seminar makes it all the more fun. Next week is my reading week, so my next seminar and screening will be the 25 and 26th of February. Today it's a special day because Maaike is turning 21! Happy birthday Maaike, hope you have a great day. I'm happy you got yourself a new and place to live in, one that is bigger. I would love to drop by when I get back to see where you live in Leiden. After my seminar I went to the library to print out some things and then worked on my essay at home. Because I got tired of staring at my computer screen after a while, I decided it was time to go somewhere. So I decided, let's go and do my grocery shopping. I took the bus at Park Wood and went into town. At the busstop I met Patricia who was going to west station to pick up a friend. Later on, however, her friend called that it was no longer necessary so then she just went to the campus shop to buy something for them to prepare as dinner. I also spoke to a girl from my seminar, which was really cool. Apparently she lives in Park Wood as well. When I returned from town I made my dinner. I still had some rice from the day before so I only had to add vegetables and because they reduced the prices of some of them I bought some fresh ones to eat. I just steamed in the microwave which turned out to be really nice! I'm pleasantly surprised. Then around 7 I went to the film society screening. Because Thursday it's Valentine's Day, they played Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn. It was actually only the second time I saw a film with her in it and looking at Imdb afterwards I was very surprised to see she has not even played in that many films. But the only one I had seen so far was How To Steal A Million. No, not even Breakfast At Tiffany's or My Fair Lady. I know, pretty bad for a film student, right? You would expect me to have seen those classics. But nope. I haven't. One day I will though. But it was a very sweet film and real fun. I was real happy because Clément showed up as well. I had not seen him for some days, so it was cool to watch the film together. He had been very busy writing his two essays, working on his French dissertation and getting ready for some French exams. he's really busy. And then his girlfriend Léa also came by so he of course wanted to spend some quality time with her. I also had not been able to give him his birthday present yet. I had been carrying it around in my bag the last of couple of days inc ase I would run into him. After the film Clément went to the library to mail something to himself which he had scanned and I walked back home. I listened to music and then brushed my teeth and went to bed. I feel I've slept pretty well. Today we will meet up with Tom and hopefully Rose. Rose is the girl we picked for our film, Tom is one of the potential candidates to play the role of the boy. We will meet them at 3 this afternoon. At 5 there will be the drawing session. I can't believe it's already that day of the week. I'm excited. One of my drawings is hanging on the door of my wardrobe. First I will have breakfast and work on my essay. Everyone enjoy your day, especially you Maaike, it's your birthday!

First Essay

Next Friday I have to hand in my first essay for Female Performance. I already have written 2800 words of the 3500 I need, so it's gonna be quite alright. At times like these it's fun, because last week and the days before I had already worked on my essay, reading books, taking notes, writing little pieces. So now that I'm actually really working on it, I'm like, thanks for already reading this or writing this. Now I no longer have to do all this. It's like it's already been done for me and I only have to rewrite parts or add things. So the bulk of my essay is already there. Working like this it's much more comfortable and relaxed then when you have to do everything at the last moment. The film we saw during the screening yesterday was Hero and the performance we had to look at closely was that of Maggie Cheung. Next week we will be seeing In The Mood For Love to be able to compare her performance in both films. I didn't do much else yesterday, so it's not the most interesting day to write about, so I make this post a short one. Right now I'm eating some bread as I will go to my seminar in about an hour. Have a nice day!

I Won A Grammy!

I slept until 12 in the afternoon yesterday, which is pretty long. I almost always wake up before ten, not later. But I was still very tired from Friday night, so it was good to sleep for a very long time and get some good rest. During the afternoon I spent the day int he kitchen working on my essay for Female Performance. I have to write 3500 words and I managed to write an introduction and another 500 words about mise-en-scene, things like that. I feel this essay is much more fun and less difficult, because it focuses mainly on analyzing a short clip. I have chosen to analyze a clip from L'Eclisse, thus analyzing Monica Vitti's performance of Vittoria. Then afterwards I made dinner and around 9 decided I wanted to watch a film, so i watched Ora O Mai Più. Still, though, I feel I have to definitely watch it again, because my mind wandered of quite a bit. Not because the film wasn't interesting, but because the film apparently made me think about a lot of things which did not concern the film. Then after the film I went to bed, but instead of falling asleep immediately I first happened to have some ideas about our little film. So I had to get out of bed again to write them down. Now I'm awake again. Last night both the BAFTA's as well as the Grammy's were handed out. Apparently Atonement won for best film and Amy Winehouse won best record of the year and some other awards. Kanye West won some as well. Today i have my screening. It will be Hero, which I already have seen once. I'm also able to pick up my Documentray Film essay. I have no idea whether it will be a good or a bad mark. I'm a bit scared :) Part of me doesn't want to know. But yeah, I will do that as well. So everyone, enjoy this week. I'm going to take a shower and brush my teeth.

We Went, But We Didn't

When the sun is shining here in Park Wood I feel guilty to stay inside all day, especially when I end up doing nothing because I feel lazy. So yesterday when I felt I wasn't going to really work I decided to ask Alice if she was home and wanted to go for a walk. I expected her to be out somewhere maybe already having a walk, but to my surprise she was indeed home. She had been cleaning, doing her laundry etc. after waking up around 1 pm. But, in contrast to me, she did really feel like working and at the moment I asked her to go out for a walk she was just grabbing her notes and, ready to start writing. But when I asked her she was too tempted and could not resist. We all have that some times. I had that last week when I wanted to go to boxing class but then Marion asked me if I wanted to watch a movie with her. I could not resisit, but how can I, when a friend asks you to hang out, do something fun together, you can't say no. So Alice came to my house knocked on the kitchen window and then we walked into town. The sun was shining brightly and on our way we passed Ciro, who apparently went for a walk as well and Anne and her housemate Loraine, both on their bikes. They had been making a trip on their bikes all afternoon. In town Alice bought a birthday card and then we walked back home again. It was a really nice day, not cold at all. It's like it is already spring. A few days earlier it was still cold and now all of a sudden the weather has completely changed. I think I will never really understand the weather. When I got back home I had dinner and later on fell asleep a bit when I was lying on my bed for a while. Just when I was awake again, Alice told me she was going to pick up Marion and Veronique to go to this party at Grimshill 9. I actually didn't want to go out anymore, but because they were going I was like, okay, everyone still seems in the mood for another party, why not also go. It could be fun. Turned out though, they were all as tired as I was. And Alice's plan was actually to just drop by and say hi and then leave again. Marion came to her house before, just at the moment she wanted to catch some sleep. So now she blamed me and Marion for not having been able to work on her essay :) The party was at Amandine's place, but I don't think Amandine was really a part of it. We were very early, it was 10 pm and were the first guests. They were all German and we didn't know anyone of them except for Amandine's housemate. But they didn't start talking to us either and kept talking German, so I kind of felt like we did not really belong here. Maybe if we would have been there later more people would have showed up, people we would have actually known, but it seemed like this party was not really goinng anywhere. Marion said she was going to leave and then Alice and I decided to do the same. Veronique decided to stay with her housemate whom she had brought along. When I came home I jumped into bed and slept. Right now I still feel a bit tired, but I have managed to sleep until 12 in the afternoon. So that's great. I just woke up and again the sun is shining, but today I will work. It's Sunday and yesterdayw as already my fun day, so now it's time to go back to work and start working on my essay, filmproject etc etc!

Birthday Video

A video made by Alice with my camera on my birthday, January 7th.

Party Girls

Alice and Marion last night. Always in the mood to dance at a party!

Morning Into Town

Right now I'm eating my breakfast, which as always consists of muesli! But I will also eat some bread. Yesterday morning I went into town to buy this notebook and a dark blue shirt, then I went to the library and afterwards to the Film Society Meeting. The meeting was nothing special and lasted only like 20 minutes. Leon, one of the guys who helps out with the filmmaking and provide us with information, just gave some info on production and gave us some links to sites we could check out. Euan went to the Gulbenkian to see Day Watch and Clément stayed with Léa, his girlfriend who came over from France. Today it's his birthday, so happy birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day, the weather looks awesome today, which makes me just a bit sad, because the camera still doesn't work so we won't be filming this weekend. :( Maybe I will go for lunch at 2 at the Gulbenkian to meet up with Heidi and Marion, go to the boxing class, maybe Gulbenkian, but definitely to Veronique's party tonight! Hopefully this time they will play good music. So lots of Phoenix, please! I wish everyone a great weekend. Ciao!

A Month Ago

I had lunch together with Marion, Heidi, Tania and Clément yesterday at 12 at the Gulbenkian. It was cool to see Tania again as I don't see her that often. I had this sandwich of brow bread, houmous and roasted vegetables. Tasted very good, so next time I will buy the same thing. Then afterwards Tania went to the sports centre and Heidi and Marion had to go to the shop and Clément and I went to the library. I typed some things for one of my essays on my computer and then later on watched À Ma Soeur!, a film I will be using for my long essay. The film was different than I expected. It was less graphic and less violent than I thought it would be. I had read some things about it before, so I had some strong expectations. Then at 5 I went to my favourite class, the life drawing session. This time we started out with charcoal, which was black and then got to work with colour. I choose orange, even though I actaully wanted purple, but there wasn;t a crayon of that colour. It was really fun as last time and when I got home I used some tape to stick the drawing with the orange crayon on the door of my closet, but it keeps on falling, so today I'm going to buy some tape, 'cause I only had a small piece which I took from class to wrap up the drawings I made. I will now brush my teeth, take a shower and go into town. I think there is a filmmeeting tonight of the film society. I almost forgot about it since we missed two the last couple of times because we were so busy with our own project. Today it's one month ago since my 21st birthday. Time goes fast.

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

I had my seminar yesterday in which we discussed L'Eclisse by Antonioni and especially Monica Vitti's performance. Afterwards I went to the library to analyze a five minute clip which I'm probably going to use for my essay which has to be handed in February 22. I added the film to my downloads a couple of days ago and last evening it was done downloading so now I don't have to go to the library every time to be able to watch the film. After analyzing the clip I decided to go back home and type everything I had written. Because last night was the last time they would show Plannet Terror by Robert Rodriguez at the Gulbenkian I decided I wanted to go. I emailed Heidi and Marion about it. Heidi unfortunately had to go to a pancake party of her volleybal team, so she couldn't come, but Marion had no other plans and was up for it. So around 6.25 I picked her up and together we walked to the Gulbenkian to see the movie. It was a very fun film, very bloody and gory. I like these films which don't take themselves to seriously. Together with Tarantino's Death Proof the two films make up their project Grindhouse. The films should have actually been shown together, but because of both film's length, the studios decided to split them up. In this I kind of have to agree as I don't know if I would have still been able to keep my full attention once the second film would have started. But both films are excellent and I cans ee why reviewers called Planet Terror the better one of the two. But I already really liked Death Proof as well. This afternoon at 5pm I will have my second life drawing session. Very exciting. It's the coolest thing to do. And at 12 today I will have lunch at the Gulbenkian with Marion and Heidi and everyone else who wants to join us. Have a nice day and everyone check out Vampire Weekend, they're really cool!

The Right Boy

It's probably one of the most difficult things I have to decide ever. It's really tough to find someone of whom you immediately think that person is exactly the right one. I'm talking about our casting. We found our girl, there's no question about that, but the boy keeps giving us doubts. We will see what happens though. Hopefully we do get the camera this weekend to shoot, if not then next week, but it would be better not later on. I picked up my package in the morning and in the afternoon I went to the screening of Female Perfromance. The film we saw was l'Eclisse by director Michelangelo Antonioni. Very interesting film with some beatifully directed scenes. I believe it was my first Antonioni film. I know, pretty late. But hopefully I will have the time to see many more. it was also my first film with Alain Delon and Monica Vitti. After the screening I went to the library with Clément who had watched the film with me. I thought he had already seen it, but he didn't. In the library I needed to print a text and Clément had to scan something. Afterwards we went to the Grimond Building for the casting. Because room GS 5, the room where we did the casting the last two times was in use this evening, we did the casting in a lecture room, which was really cool, because it was completely empty, just us and the two people who auditioned. We first had Charlotte and Daniel and then a guy named Tom. Both auditions went really well, so we definitely have some options. But still it's tough. In an hour I have my seminar and then I will go and work in the library. Goodbye.

Into The Wilderness

I just went to pick up the package my mother sent me. I now have lots of bread again so no grocery shopping this week! I was really tired when I woke up yesterday morning. I'm not sure why though. But I had to wake up early because Clement, Euan, Claudia and I went into town. Claudia offered to help us out with the casting and the shooting, so we're now four, even though the project is still really of Clement, Euan and me. It was not so cold, at least in the beginning, but as we stayed longer and longer walking round it became more cold. I walked into town as I had no clue when the bus would arrive exactly. Well, I think I did know, but the but that one bus would arrive in 10 minutes, so I decided to walk instead. I made it to the West station in time. Because they were busy working on the tracks there was no train but a bus that would bring us to Chartham. It's strange how the journey by bus only takes something like 8 minutes and by foot it takes almost 2 hours. Well, maybe it's because we walk a bit slow looking at the landscape and sometimes turn a corner to see what's behind a bunch of trees. Euan had to go to London so after almost two hours in the wilderness he walked back to catch a bus. Eventually my feet got a bit wet because of the ground which was a bit muddy at some places. When we finally gor back into town, Clement, Claudia and I, we went to a bar to drink a cup of tea and then afterwards went to Tesco to do some shopping. At home I made dinner and later on had a small bowl of soup which Farhad had prepared. Today I have the screening from my course and we will be doing another casting. Two boys and one girl said they will be there so hopefully they don't forget about it. We are sure we already have found the right girl, but we still feel we haven't found the right boy yet. I'm going to eat my breakfast and then maybe go to the library or just work at home. See you!

Laundry, Cleaning, Cinema

It seems today will be a dry day so there won't be any problems with the weather when I will go into town to work on our film project. We're going to the location where we want to shoot and write down the exact path and the precise places we will shoot. Yesterday was a pretty ncie day as well even though during the evening it gets really cold. I did my laundry yesterday and cleaned my room. And at 8.30 I left the house to go to the Gulbenkian and watch Les Chansons D'Amour. On my way I ran into Clement who was in London to meet with a friend and at the cinema I was with Alice and Cecilia. They came in after me and also ran into Clement who told them he had just ran into me. The film was really fun. It's very light and sweet. Like Once it's a modern musical, but with contemporary songs, so not with songs you would immediately associate with musicals. They are just normal songs and Louis Garrel sings them beautifully as well as the rest of the cast. I didn't go to one of those parties anymore and it's better I didn't, 'cause withut going there this morning when I woke up I already felt real tired. So I will go into town today and work on the project. Have a nice Sunday!

Too Many Movies

I still feel exhausted. Last evening I saw two films, one at the library with Marion and one at the Gulbenkian. Marion and I watched Dawn Of The Dead, the original version and I was surprised how fun it is. It's a very exciting film, really fun. Its runtime is pretty long, but it's totally worth it. Same for Into The Wild which I saw later on that night. Very beautiful film which takes a while before getting into, but then you really do as the film goes along. But because of that I feel exhausted. I actually had to go to the boxing class yesterday, but I just couldn't refuse on watching a film together at the library. I haven't received any email from the boxing, though, but I heard from Farhad that he saw some people with boxing gloves at the sports centre so I guess the classes already started. Strange though they don't let us know. So next week I will be there, if nothing else comes along. I worked at the library just a bit before seeing Dawn Of The Dead. But today i'm really gonna do more work, probably just here at home. Tonight I will see at least Alice to go and watch Les Chansons D'Amour at the Gulbenkian. I relly want to see it. Louis Garrel is in it and it never really occured to me that I haven't seen any other film with him in it, besides The Dreamers, which is my favourite film. Of both Michael Pitt and Eva Green I have seen some more films, but not of Garrel, so it's nice to finally see him playing another character than Theo. The film is basically a mordern musical, kind of like Once. Clement told me it can be seen as a tribute to those old French musicals like Les Parapluies De Cherbourg with Catherine Deneuve. He gave me the soundtrack for Les Chanson D'Amour somewhere in the first week here, so I know the songs and really like them. During the afternoon, before I went to the library, I met up with Heidi and Marion for lunch. They both had been at the library since early in the morning. I really like having lunch at the Gulbenkian and like almost everytime recently I took one of the salads, which is pretty big and also has some pieces of bread with it. Today I'm gonna work on everything I have to do, from our film to my studies to my blogs, my laundry, cleaning my room. Everything. Have a nice weekend! And maybe, if I'm awake, go to a party at Grimshill 10. Maybe.

Much Better

Much better this time. Last week was new for us, we didn't really know what to do. Now things were a bit different, but especially because the professional approach of the people who auditioned for us, everything went really great. We had two girls who were bot extremely good. They both went into it, playing this little scene without too many questions. They just did it, listened very carefully and took notice. The boy, we actually should have had two of them but one didn't show up, was pretty good as well. Though we're not so sure yet about him, but he at least has more potential than the guy we saw last week. Next weekend we will try to begin to shoot if everything goes as planned. So that's all very exciting. I didn't have much time yesterday to really work. I only managed to read some things and do a bit of writing after going to the screening and lecture of Topics In American Cinema. They showed Chinatown by Roman Polanski. I had never seen it and thought it was very good. Both Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway gave great performances. I always like Nicholson, he has this charm and is funny in his own kind of way. It's always cool to watch him and he seems to always try to make the best of his character. Even though I was exhausted after watching the film and doing the casting I did go to Amandine's place afterwards to help her with a test for her studies. Magali was there as well, so it was nice to both see them and have a little chat. I don't know if my memory is any good and if my scores were high. But if not, it was probably because of the time I did the test and because I felt so tired ;) Today I'm going to work work work, but first breakfast. Tonight Les Chanson D'Amour or Into The Wild or maybe even more, I can't no longer choose. Doei.