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As we edge to towards the end of May I thought I’d recap on what has been going on with my resolution. I’ve been hunting far and wide for the piece of paper that I wrote down the monthly short list on but to no avail. So I shall now regale you with a short rundown of how things went over the past few months.

January: Well I’ve already gone into detail on launching of the first Mobile Voting App in the UK previously but on top of that I also went to my first ever Qype event. For those who don’t know Qype is a very handy website and Mobile app that provides reviews and information on restaurants, bars, museums and most other types of venue and events. Users can review and submit their own photos and I have found the app really useful for finding out more about places. I was lucky enough to get onto the list for one of Qype’s events, this one at All Star Lanes where we got treated to food, julep cocktails, bowling and Kareoke. You can read more about the event here – Qype Does Booze And Bowling

February: Whilst being a short month also proved fairly difficult one in terms of the resolution. I had very little time as I was working quite hard and Sundays were being taken up with work as well which is why this months first was to work on a live final and backstage at a large event. During the month I had been lucky enough to work at Pinewood Studios in one of their offices but not actually behind the scenes.

I had been luckily in my previous resolution in my trip to New York that I got to stand backstage during the Filming of So Graham Norton thanks to the friend I was visiting however this was the first time I had worked backstage at a major event. I was luckily enough to be sat with colleagues in our makeshift office at Olympia and got to see the massive queues of people waiting to get in, meet the winners afterwards who came round and said hello to everyone as well as catch up with a friend in the green room who happened to be there to see the show.

There was also the first of living in the kind of property I am now living in. I won’t say where or what it is but let me say it’s a fun place to live and I’m enjoying being there so far. I can also say I had my first ever Martini as well, I tried a Vesper Martini but wasn’t really to my taste however the Borough Marketini at Village East was amazing!

Borough Marketini At Village East

March: This was the big one, and I will go into detail about the years worth of firsts I did another time but my trip to Australia was a massive first in that not only was it there first time in Australia but there was several events, drinks, and adventures that were a first for me.

Standing on top of Sydney Harbour Bridge

April: April was mainly a food based month for me. I tried a couple of things that I had never tried before in cooking (well preparing as well). For those of you that know me, i’m not the slimist of people and salads aren’t generally the think eat as I find them horrible and boring and cold and bland. After a bit of nudging I had started to have the odd bit of Italian Leaf Salad (thank you Sainsburys) with my food and had a dressing on it. So first up was my attempts at making a vinaigrette dressing. I was surprised at how easy it was, red and white wine vinegar in equal measures, olive oil and mustard and a massive shaking up was all it took. I’ve made it again several times since.

Bacon And Egg Pie - Before going in the oven

The second food related thing was making a pie from scratch. As part of an Easter weekend including some quiet bank holiday weekend drinks I made, using the Speights Southern Man Cookbook their massive Bacon and Egg Pie. Having never made a pie before I managed to pick a nice easy, and very very tasty, recipe. It seemed to go down well with the guests at the party and no one mentioned they didn’t like it so hopefully it was well recieved

Bacon And Egg Pie - Fresh out of the oven

As part of that Easter weekend I also attended for the first time ever and Easter Choral Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral, a very interesting event and procession, whilst it wasn’t my normal kind of thing it was good to see what goes on and did make me think a little.

May: Well that is still to come… I need to get myself on a Boris Bike by the end of the month to complete this one.

The other things initially planned (Some of them might change slightly) are

June: Being away for my birthday for the first time and going somewhere unknown

July: Still TBC…

August: Tea at the Ritz

September: Bass lessons

October: Cook a 5 course dinner

November: Put on a photography exhibition

December: Christmas out of the UK (well SW England) for the first time.

If you think you can help with any of these then feel free to let me know…

It’s amazing how family and friends and can help you sometimes, tiny little things can play an important part in realising how good a friend they are or how close to your family you really are.

I won’t go into it too much but the really big thing that was in my resolution for 2011 – Going to Australia for a friends wedding, is now a reality! I’ve managed to get the cost of part of my flights covered which means I am going! I am stupidly excited about flying all the way over, about being in the sun and of course being at the wedding.

I’ve still got to cover my internal flights or alternative travel plus my accomodation and living costs whilst I am out there and I’ve got a little over 2 months to sort that! It’s been through the generosity of family and friends, a pair of whom are funding me to walk over the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a treat, that I am going to be able to do this and for that I’m eternally gratefull to them that they would do something like that for me.

I’m still to decide what to do with January, I’ve not got much planned as I need to keep money very tight after christmas and need to fund the trip but this does allow me the freedom to be flexible should an amazing opportunity arise.

You can read about my previous attempt at the resolution in 2004 and what I am trying to do here – http://roryosullivan.co.uk/2010/11/07/resolutions/

If you have any suggestions, ideas or want to offer me an opportunity just add a comment to this or the other post, email me or get me on twitter.

I’m looking forward to this resolution and to 2011 – I hope you are too

After a couple of crap months for me in what has been a mediocre at best 2010, things seem to be slowly sorting themselves out. I won’t go into the details of stuff but lets just say a bunch of stuff that I didn’t want to happen did, and load of stuff I wanted to happen didn’t, all quite closely together after a long slow start to the year.

Waiting for ideas

Things are looking up though, and after several conversations with people and sorting out a few things I’ve decided to resurrect my New Years resolution from 2004 for 2011. It’s a simple principle and should hopefully prove fun. the principle…

Do something brand new I’ve never done before each month.

I’ll be writing up these things as I go, sharing the planning and the results but before I start the first thing in January I need to work out at least some of the things I’m going to do, I want some of the things to be sporadic and unplanned as that should be part of the fun but a small amount of preparation will no doubt be needed for some of the things.

This is where you come in, hopefully there are some of you out there that have done some odd and amazing things in the past or have some skill or talent in something that you think you could teach me or an opportunity that you think I should get involved with

in 2004′s resolution I did some simple things and some fun things. Below is some of the things I tried to give you an idea of what I am trying to achieve.

January – Got my first Tattoo
February – Did proper painting on Canvas (I still have some of them)
March – Went to New York
April – Driving a racecar (single seater) around Brands Hatch
May – Speed Dating
June – Bungee Jump
July – Proper Barbers cut throat shave
August – Played in a band (Well as the”Bez” character, also whilst dressed as Jimmie Krankie – don’t ask) & went wine tasting
September – Customised clothing
October – ? I think this was cooking fish for the first time
November – ? I can’t remember this one
December – Dance Lessons (Rock&Roll/Jive type stuff)

You may notice that October and November are sort of absent, my mind has gone a little blank on these, I think October was the cooking month and November has perplexed me. I tried the wayback archive and I only have 2 blog post title for those months however it didn’t actually archive those pages. Octobers was titled “Who needs Gordon f*****g Ramsey” so I’ve failry sure I got that right. Novembers was titled “Shape and Form” and it has really drawn a blank so if anyone who knows me from back then can remember then please let me know!

So, with a couple of months to go and some planning already started, I want to go to Australia in March for a Wedding (never been to Oz) but without taking out a loan (done that before!) it’s not really looking possible (unless some strange benefactor decides to give me a load of money for no reason or I win the lottery) so the 12 months of 2011 are open for suggestions… write a comment, email me or get me on twitter and tell me your suggestions.

Well I’ve just had another amazing long weekend in Pilton for the 40th Anniversary Glastonbury festival.

The view over the Pyramid Stage

Highlights were

Flaming Lips
Stevie Wonder
Muse
Lou Rhodes
Ray Davies

I’ve created 2 spotify Playlists

Pt1 – The Highlights
http://open.spotify.com/user/rawedge/playlist/0auJ6272FOKDcShh0zXQy8

Pt2 – The Emotional Bits
http://open.spotify.com/user/rawedge/playlist/1CLNRu1w7t3eZGlXiBB1uB

You can also see my photos from my trip here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raw-edge/sets/72157624258148835/with/4745570890/

In my attempts to pull back some creativity in my photography I’m setting myself a monthly photography project. The idea is simple. The lucky dip. What does this involve you may well ask. Well it involves the list below. Each item is printed onto a bit of paper and folded up. They are all stuck in a hat and on the first of each month 2 bits of paper are pulled out, these two words form the basis of the project, at the end of each month I inted to post up on here a link to the flickr gallery for each project aiming for 10 shots for each project.

Below are my initial bits and pieces, the idea is there will be more than 24 items so that some will be missed and it gives a greater chance of a random project being created. Please feel free to add some suggestions in the comments or If you fancy joining in then let me know.

Adventure/Action
Animal
Architecture
Artistic
Black & White
Camera Phone
Commercial
Documentary
Event
Macro
Nature
Night
Panoramic
People
Pinhole
Scenic
Sports
Travel
Time-lapse
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow

2009 has been an odd year, there have been some good bits, some very good bits, and some, well, bits that didn’t go to plan. The main thing was my lack of inspiration and drive outside of work. Work has gone great, I’ve taken a step up and am working on some great projects now. However that’s not what has concerned me.

I’ve defiantely lacked the inspiration and drive to get out and do things outside of work. From my photography to keeping in contact with friends and family I’ve just well, not been massively bothered.  I’ve not purposely been crap at contacting people or anything like that or purposely not bothered going out if anything has been on but I’ve definitely lacked the creative inspiration to get out there and photograph and do things.

I’ve decided that 2010 will be a year of change. I’ve already made a couple of choices which I’ll reveal early in the year but for know I’m working on the friends and family thing first. I’ve never really used Skype although had it installed for ages. I finally imported my contacts from my address book and hope to make sure of that more to keep in contact. I’ve also decided that once a week I’m going to pick a facebook contact I’ve not spoken to in ages and send them a message.

The second thing I’m attempting to do is find some creative inspiration. I’m hunting out photography blogs and project ideas but i’m also trying to find something to inspire me. I suppose what I’m asking anyone reading this is, what inspires you?

I’m starting a detox today. I think there is benefit not only to my body but to my wallet as well. It’s a simple 4 step, 4 week plan i’ve set myself, each week I will get rid of something in my diet to help give my body a bit of a break, when something is removed it will stay out for the rest of the detox time.

Here’s the plan

Monday 28th – Booze
Monday 5th – Crisps and Chocolate
Monday 12th – Cooked breakfasts (I generally have 1 or 2 a week)
Monday 19th – Soft Drinks

So thats 4 full weeks without booze, 3 without Crisps etc etc you get where this is going.

I’m going with the most difficult first, It’s far too easy to be invited out for a quick drink and it turn into more than one as you get chatting away. I’ve got my first test ahead of me this weekend, I’ve got a friends birthday drinks and a trip to the rugby, one group of friends have been pre-warned I’m not drinking, the others haven’t, it will be interesting to see peoples reactions.

One thing I’m not detoxing from is cigarettes. I’ve tried several times before to give up and hopefully If I can prove to myself with this willpower from these this will help me strengthen my willpower for that as well.

Open House London is something I’ve been meaning to do over the last couple of years and this year I wasn’t working so took the opportunity to look at a local building that I’ve always wanted to nose around. The Gaumant State  opened in 1937 on KIlburn High Road and was a very popular theatre, show venue, cinema and eventually a Mecca Bingo Hall before it finally closed. The Grade II listed building was acquired by a church group who are renovating the building and bringing it back to it’s former glory

Gaumant State - Kilburn

When Mecca too over the building they added false floors to cover the sloping seating and false ceilings to cover the pulleys and mechanisms for the curtain and stage. The Church will be removing these and adding in original seating. The only way you can tell you are standing where the stage was is because of the curtain still hanging above you, the flat false floor covered in bright blue and red carpet hiding what lays below.

Original Seating

The booth style  tables around the upper circle will also be removed and replaced with original style seating

Bingo Seating

The church believes they can get the 4,000 seater main hall back to it’s glory in the next 1.8 months. As part of the deal with the council the Church must make the Grade II listed building available to the public. The UKs largest working Wurlitzer still sits in pride of place next to where the stage should be and original light switches, electrics, signs and still stand proud.

Original light switches

One of the most standout things is the art deco style foyer that greets when you step inside off the grubby Kilburn High Road. Most impressive is the chandelier, a replica of one in Buckingham Palace I believe, that greets you. I hope to get back next year to see more of the building and see it, hopefully looking more like it was when it opened in 1937

Chandelier

The company I work for treated all it’s staff to a special present at Christmas. We got the choice to pick one of several options for free as a present. From the traditional Christmas hamper to a variety of activity days, theatre tickets and spa sessions there was plenty to chose from. As I read through all the options one stood out as looking like a lot of fun and son on Tuesday I jumped on the internet and booked my session at Airkix in Milton Keynes.

The Airkix Building in Milton Keynes

So this morning after a restless nights sleep, I made my way down the road and onto the train across town before jumping on another train to Milton Keynes. Airkix is situated on the mind boggling squared block about a mile or so from the train station at the back of the Xscape. To reach it you either enter the Xscape complex which is full of fast food outlets and shops, you then head to the snozone (where you can ski and snowboard), through the snozone you will find the Airkix entrance.

The Airkix Entrance at Xscape in Milton Keynes

After arriving slightly early I signed in and made my way to the viewing gallery to see some ohers, it was clear it was going to be fun but it also looked difficult. I made my way back downstairs and got ready for the briefing which was clear and concise and went through the basic hand signals and what would be expected of us. Once briefed we dropped our belongings into the lockers and got kitted up with suit, goggles and helmet. We made our way into the tower and after watching the last couple of flights from the group before us we sat down in the holding area. It was time to fly. How well did I do you ask, well you’ll have to judge for yourself. And you can. Here, now.

Rory – Airkix at Milton Keynes from Rory O’Sullivan on Vimeo.

Alternative youtube version – http://www.youtube.com/v/9VTVasaEFZM

Well? what did you think, I sort of flew for a bit, I needed some help a couple of times but on the second run I managed to twig what the instructor was telling me about how to go up and down and understood the very basics. Would I do it again? Hell yeah, it was great, thoroughly recommended, it can be a little pricey but it’s cheaper and safer than skydiving (according to their information). I spent the train journey home thinking about how I could have controlled my movements better, how my arm and legs made me turn, or go forward, or how even the heavy belly I have could make me go upwards!

I even got a few ticks on the certificate to show what I did, so all that flailing around you saw apparently means: I have attended the introductory class and flew in he tunnel; Can follow instructions and and fly in a basic flying position with little assistance; can hold a still and controlled body position, can move forwards and backwards with reasonable control and I can move up and down the air column. What do you mean I didn’t do all of them? It says so here!

My Airkix certificate and DVD

I woke up around 6, then 6:30, then 7, then, well you get the idea, I finally surfaces around 11am this morning, the severity of my hangover was amazing, I slept on and off from about 5pm, the sleep was punctated with waking up feeling awful or coughing or both, occasionally I had a full sweat on. I tried watching a film (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) which took my mind of the hangover successfully for 2 hours (it’s a very good film, soundtrack amazing, predictable ending though) but as soon as I tried to crash out I felt bad again.  After watching the film it was time to go for one last cigarette, at abut 11:40pm  I smoked that last cigarette. It was a nice cigarette. I miss it already.

I then proceeded to head back to bed were I lay awake and thought about a few things for a while before putting on the Paul McKenna Relaxation/Quit smoking MP3. That certainly did it’s job, I relaxed and I dozed off to the sounds of McKenna’s voice, I woke up about an hour later, the mp3 had finished and I twisted and turned and attempted to sleep again.

At around 6 when I clearly had got a couple of hours sleep, I woke up quickly.  I coughed up a lungful and went back to sleep, I can vaguely remember words and phrases from the audio saying things like “your lungs are relaxing” so maybe they relaxed enough to losen some of the debris that no doubt fills them up.

Today itself has been purely about doing as little as possible, especially anything that is part of my monday routine. I’ve not been at work today so there are no temptations there and i’ve hardly eaten which helps me stop having the after meal cigarette. I had to call into a conference call this afternoon but apart from watching episodes of Two and a Half Men, The Sarah Silverman show and what was the best waste of a couple of hours, Shoot ‘Em Up,  I’ve done nothing, on purpose, to resist temptation.

I have definitely felt like smoking several times today but i’ve not resorted to playing the MP3 again, or giving in. I will be strong, I’ve typed this up about 10 times to make my fingers do things and I’m now rambling, time to treat myself to a Pizza and and attempt to beat the temptation of a post meal cigarette.