Wednesday 17 June 2009

The Blog Police

The Blog Police have been round. Apparently someone reported me for a breach of the public blogging order 2002 - Something to do with not updating it enough...

Yes, I know, it's been a while. I REALLY must update more often! The idea of a blog is to keep a record of your life. According to m
y blog, I've been dead for the last 22 days! That's almost a month!

So, from now on I'll endeavour to update more often. Even if I've done nothing exciting! I'll blog about what I had for tea (a nice p
rawn salad, as it goes) or whatever.

Right, so what have I been up to since we last didn't meet? Well, as everyone else has been doing (everyone that hasn't got a paid commission yet that is) I've been working on a script for the CBBC competition. They didn't give everyone a lot of time so I've had to pluck an idea that was floating around inside my cerebral store cupboard of despair and blast out a first draft. I
'm quite pleased with the concept, but it's a little complicated! Thankfully, I had Michelle on hand to give me an absolutely brilliant critique on it. She not only came up with some brilliant constructive comments but also gave me a few good ideas that I'm currently weaving into the re-write. All this and Michelle is actually starting a different CBBC script from scratch with a completely new story, so a virtual "Big Up!" goes out for taking the time out of her busy schedule!

Okay, so I'm doing the re-write at this very moment (well, not at THIS very moment! This blog isn't going to appear on CBBC anytime soon
!) I don't have much time at all, as I'm out all day (and night) on Saturday and next weekend I'm going to Wembley to watch AC/DC (Friday the 26th) and we're staying in London and making a day of it on Saturday. So, including tonight (which is almost over for me) I've got about 8 days in total to get it completely finished! GULP! And that's if I only leave an extra day for it to get there! I can just imagine the post being crap and it getting there a day late!! In fact, with this in mind, I'd hope to get it finished by next Thursday, so I can post it before I go to Wembley... Sorry? What's that at the back? "I could take it with me and hand post it myself?" Hmmmm, where is Grafton House?

So that's my main concern for the next week
and a bit. I may beg a day off work so I can spend a full 10 hours on it. I'll seriously have to beg though! I had to promise things I'd rather not talk about just to get the Friday off!

I've finally joined the ranks of Twitter! Yes, I've succumbed! I wondered what all the fuss was about until I actually took the plunge! I can see what I've been missing now! In between blog posts there are "tweets", so I can find out what TV's James Moran had for his tea! No, seriously, I didn't realise it was such a goldmine of information! What have I been missing!!!??? I
'm going to add a Twitter gadgety thing to my blog so you can see all of my tweets popping up. Don't expect many at the moment though, I'm still getting the hang of it and sourcing new ways to inform everyone that I'll be getting decidely drunk this Saturday night, while indulging in some Xbox 360 Rock Band action with my brothers (a sort of prelude to the concert next week - but you can't buy tickets to see us - unless you want them of course? In which case they're a fiver each...)

You might think that I'm a bit of a rocker,
but I'm not. I actually like a wide variety of music, ranging from Eminem to Kings of Leon, The Prodigy to The Beatles (incidently, there's a Beatles version of Rock Band coming out in September, how cool is that!?)So there you have it. My first post for a while! I *promise* I'll update more often from now on! If I don't you have my permission to spam the hell out of my Twitter box (if that's what you'd call it) using @Splinter073 many times...

8 comments:

Sofluid said...

Nice update!

And yes, you need to update more often! I was beginning to read "Laptop Heaven" as "Blog Heaven"... Nah, only kidding!

Always happy to help out and critique. Expect a panicky "Quick help me!" plea for a critique for my new script come Sunday! I need some serious lightbulb flashes this weekend in order to strike up an excellent plot!

What's your weapon of choice in Rock Band? I'm a drummer, me. Medium level, working on nailing Hard!

Whoops... That sounded VERY rude indeed! Oh well, it's funny!

Anyhow, back to work for me...

Good luck finishing your re-write! :)

Splinter073 said...

Always happy to critique! I'll be quick with my reply too, so you can continue working on it.

A fellow Rock Bander eh!? Cool! I currently favour the guitar, which I can play on Hard (done a few on expert too ;) ) but I do LOVE the drums! I'm a medium on those too. I also play Guitar Hero, but do actually prefer Rock Band's features! :)

"Working on nailing hard" doesn't sound rude at all... ;)

Sofluid said...

He he... I'm rubbish on the guitar...

Play any real instruments? I play guitar and drums mainly but pretty basic with the guitar, haven't progressed much. Much better on drums though, the conventional kind and folk ones like the cajon and the bodhran. Also dabbling in some violin-playing, too...

Alas I have no time at all for playing music though when every spare moment is taken up writing and reading, reading and writing. Not that I'm complaining. Love it :)

Splinter073 said...

I *pretend* to play a real guitar. I've got an electric one that I like to hold and strum. I keep trying to learn to play, but I'm the same as you...no time!! That's why Rock Band and Guitar Hero are so good - instant satisfaction!!

Got a nice session planned this Saturday night with a few of my brothers. We're staging our own concert...Hahaha! Picture the scene - 4 of us around my brothers TV, 2 on guitar, 1 on drums and one singing (not me, thank goodness!) I might have to get a photo and post it on the blog ;)

Just hope I'm not too hungover on Sunday - gotta crack on with the script! And crit yours of course :)

Sofluid said...

If I manage to get one written that is!

You'll be fine :)

Pic is a must!

Unknown said...

Good luck with the CBBC script. I'm powering away with mine, but a way to go yet before it's finished. I WILL make it, I tell you!

Unknown said...

Let me know if you want to exchange CBBC scripts!

Archangel said...

Funny we should meet this way. I was doing a Google search for my own amateur site and only got a hit on your blog.I guess I need to change my key words or something. At any rate I saw your post about the dead LapTop and had to reply.
I also am a writer but on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am a retired successful grant writer and not-so-successful short story writer. I had one story published many years ago but never had another one accepted. I started doing my grant writing on an IBM ThinkPad with Windows 95 and office97. I never had one die on me but as I upgraded to better laptops I didn't dispose of the previous ones I just stacked them in my Tuff shed. About 6 years ago my wife's friends found out about my cache of laptops and started buying them. They depleted my stock but the requests kept coming in so I started buying corporate lease returns and government surplus laptops from universities. I fix them up and sell them for a tidy profit. I got so good at it that I opened my own shop.
No I didn’t come here to sell you a computer. One thing I’ve never attempted is to write a script but years ago I got any idea for a children’s play or a TV short aimed at grade-schoolers having to do with the “keep away from strangers” theme. I thought you might be still "undiscovered" and might have time to take my cute little story and turn it into a stage or screen script and find a suitable production company of some sort to put it in front of the children. I wouldn’t want to make anything from it nor receive any credit for the idea. If you wanted to get involved and it gains any success you could take all the credit. At he very least it would make an eye catching addition to your resume. If you want to hear about it, email me at info@laptopheaven.vpweb.com. If you don’t want to be bothered, I understand and no offense taken. Good luck with your writing career.