I write this on the way back up to Wrexham from a lovely weekend in Keele with my friends. A third of the way in to my penultimate physio placement. From what I’ve seen of Wrexham itself, it’s perfectly nice. The hospital I’m working in is friendly and well run and I’m enjoying the change of pace a ward based placement offers. However, I’ve been feeling pretty down at times and this is because I’m living in Wrexham on my own. I’ve never been a homesick person or thought I’m someone who really relies on the company of others. However, being in Wrexham alone has made me realise I’m only ok with my own company as long as I know someone is nearby if you do need them. I don’t have that at the moment. I’m 3 trains and a bus away from my friends in Keele and even more from my family in Cofton. Despite this I have been thinking about just how lucky I am that I have friends and family to miss. It was my birthday 12 days ago and as I was going to be in Wrexham, I celebrated it 4 days in advance. My parents insisted on a party (I prefer ‘celebration’). I’m not a fan of being the centre of attention so wasn’t keen. However, at a nearby hotel, about 60 people made the effort to come and wish me happy birthday. A mixture of family, friends, neighbours all came along bearing gifts. I had a really good night. It was a perfect, relaxed atmosphere with people staying as long as they wished. Cut to this weekend and I finally got to see all my uni friends since before Christmas. For my birthday they had made me a beautiful scrap book full of photos from the last 3 years. I’m very lucky to have had (and still be having) such a great time at uni and have met friends for life. I flicked to the last page of my scrap book to find a voucher to go indoor skydiving in Manchester. Something I’ve really wanted to do. Just another example of how lucky I am. Just to spend time with people I love was enough for my birthday but am now even luckier to say I have an iPad courtesy of my parents, tickets to go skydiving and see Derren Brown (not at the same time), a whole host of jewellery, clothes, and enough chocolate and Cava to last me the year, as well as vouchers and money to go straight in to savings. I’m not one for resolutions, but I definitely want to start being more positive about what I do have, rather than thinking about what I don’t have. I am very lucky to have more than I could wish for in material things, but more importantly people who I love.
All very emotional and not really me. So, in Miranda style I’m going to end this with a funny word… ‘plunge’.
A random post on my favourite TV series ever in the world. LOST.
CONTAINS SPOILERS
Sawyer’s Nicknames:
- ‘Dr Giggles’ (Jack)
- ‘Dr Do-Right’ (Jack)
- ‘Jackass’ (Jack)
- ‘Saint Jack’ (Jack)
- ‘Boar expert’ (Kate)
- ‘Pippi Longstocking’ (Kate)
- ‘Freckles’ (Kate)
- ‘Thelma’ (Kate)
- ‘Sweetcheeks’ (Kate)
- ‘Sugarpop’ (Kate)
- ‘Captain A-rab’ (Sayid)
- ‘Al-Jazeera’ (Sayid)
- ‘Genuine Iraqui’ (Sayid)
- ‘Johnny boy’ (Locke)
- ‘Steakpuff’ (Hurley)
- ‘Deep dish’ (Hurley)
- ‘Muttonchops’ (Hurley)
- ‘International House of Pancakes’ (Hurley)
- ‘Jabba’ (Hurley)
- ‘Chewie’ (Jin)
- ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (Jin)
- ‘Twitchy’ (Daniel)
- ‘Plato’ (Daniel)
Amusing Lost Scenes:
- Jin’s ghost story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uRl1hd0cqE
- Ben and Hurley share a chocolate bar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aksfqu-9dT8
- Sawyer teaches Jin English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V9v2IRYqpU
- Pierre Chang interrogates Hurley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggmv9VFtAGk&feature=related
- Hurley throws a hot pocket at Ben http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhGX-DPXS1s
- Richard giggles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc7ntzR9Gys
- Hurley fights Sawyer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1OVl8aAmA8
- Hurley gets stung by a jellyfish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpyWNaO2gjE&feature=related
- Miles and Hurley discuss time travel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_dH4xOFp9w&feature=related
- Jacob tells Hurley he has ink on his forehead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6VJIry-_9M
- Henry Gale asks for milk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBuuT6x4IL4
- Charlie and Hurley sing to Arron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG26OdMCYQg
- Ben Linus’ star sign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLTquVUq080&feature=related
- Sawyer forgets he’s on Kate’s side http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0jIGH6Kupw
Powerful Lost Scenes:
- Locke vs Jack (Science vs Faith) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A45RHPYOuw
- Sawyer tells Jack about Christian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjOhGrcm1vU
- We have to go back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39BIdOP0D6E
- Keamy calls Ben’s bluff and kills Alex http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlg4qh6ohI4
- Jack, Kate, Hurley cry over Sun and Jin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_yWqCcjsOI
- Hurley finds out Charlie is dead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLwTHOOhOI0&feature=related
- Not Penny’s boat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS7WEmYMbA8
- Do you love him? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqbYiMMAzPM&feature=related
- Desmond and Penny phonecall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JUuCK3IEtk
- Opening scene of the pilot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s96iG2lwam4
- Jacob’s wine bottle analogy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgGTJYqthbo
- Ben kills Jacob http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxCe0biKq8E
- Ben kills Locke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnBVOZo5x7Q
- Jacob and MIB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPqImu_kz8
- Jack and Hurley inside the lighthouse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCYH8MPsI68
- Hurley gets the Dharma van to work http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEjPryaIDaA
- Otherville see the plane break up (could only find a clip with commentary) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGS4EVJSP5k
- The island underwater in the flash sideways http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShXUNZng5Y0
- Obviously, the ending (2 parts) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8WPSiGBCAA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vrNyC25-8Q&feature=relmfu
All character deaths should be included here (except Nikki and Paolo :P) so instead I thought I’d just leave them all out and mention them at the end. I did, however, include some murders.
Main Character Deaths:
- Jack – In one word? Perfect. Sacrificing himself for the good of his friends and the island. Everything came full circle. I can’t say any more – I WILL cry.
- Locke – The last thought to go through his head was ‘I don’t understand’. So so tragic. He connected with the island more than any other character and wasn’t really rewarded for it.
- Charlie – So heroic. ‘Not Penny’s Boat’ is now iconic.
- Sayid – His actual death! Selfless and heroic.Such a brave character. One of my faves.
- Shannon – I was mostly sad because it made Sayid sad.
- Boone – At the time I was devastated. One piece of eye candy gone by season 1! I’m over it now.
- Jin & Sun – I cried for a long long time. It was one of the saddest moments in TV history for sure.
- Juliet – I can’t decide which was more sad. Juliet or Sun and Jin. Sawyer’s reaction…
- Michael – Hmm. I wasn’t sure about his character tbh, same about his death
- Ana-Lucia – Meh
- Ilana – Meh
- Eko – Meh
- Libby – Only sad because of Hurley
- Daniel – Shot by his mom. Ouch. He was a great character.
- Charlotte – ‘Raised in Bromsgrove’. Sad only because of this.
- Nikki and Paolo – literally couldn’t care less
As a big fan of Hustle, and of my beloved Birmingham, I signed up for a tour of locations that have been used in Hustle, and a number of other TV series and films. So, yesterday, a small group of people braved the wind and rain to be led around Birmingham by chief tour guide Mark Wilson and Sindy Campbell of Film Birmingham. I include the main locations/the ones I remember!
Dressed in a parka (yes, a parka in June) and armed with an umbrella, I met Lucy at New Street station and we made our way to Snow Hill station, almost passively getting high as we walked via the infamous pigeon park. After a quick intro, we learned that the station/surrounding buildings served as location 1 of the tour.
Due to my tender years (only born in 1992!!) I shall focus on Hustle locations as I’m afraid to say I had no idea what the other TV/films series were (Crossroads, Survivors, some Cliff Richard film etc)!
One, Colmore Row had been transformed in to a London police station where Sean made a deal with a corrupt PC who had set up his sister, Emma.
Next, we went to St Phillip’s Cathedral where a scene from the same episode was filmed with a character named Cat. We also visited Hotel Du Vin – a favourite venue for Hustle. According to Mark, rumour has it that they had to end Hustle after 8 series as they’d filmed every possible angle inside Hotel Du Vin!
Just around the corner was the location for one of the last scenes ever of Hustle. For fans of the show, it was where thousands of pounds worth of money rained down from the roof of their hotel.
This graffiti, done by Sean Kennedy, still remains on a wall near Broad Street. I couldn’t place when this featured in an episode, but after a watch of season 7 episode 4 when I got home refreshed my memory. Subliminal messages – Derren Brown style.
Emma Kennedy’s music video as ‘Kylie Minogue’ in Season 6 epiosde 1 took place under the flyover by the Mailbox.
The final location was a real treat. The old Municipal Bank on Broad Street. We were lucky enough to be invited inside where a massive grand room greeted us with an elaborate ceiling. In Hustle this was the Bank of Syria in Series 6 episode 6.
The bank vault was broken into by the Hustle crew, where a great scene ensued. Emma, secured on a zipwire, stole the contents of one of the safes. We were lucky enough to go down to this spectacular vault and see the thousands of tiny safes. Here, is where my rubbish camera phone let me down, so the picture is courtesy of Mark ! An interesting site on the history of the bank: http://www.bmbhistory.org.uk/bmb_110.htm
This is where the tour ended. A really interesting day, I’m sure all attendees will agree. Many thanks to Mark and Sindy.
I kind of hope this happens to me, and kind of hope it doesn’t happen to me.
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
If you’re ever upset because you’re missing someone, just remind yourself how lucky you are to have someone special to miss.
The people who know me well are probably aware I am a big football fan and have been ever since I was 10 and swapped ballet shoes for Nike Vapours. The most proud moments I have ever experienced have been in the blue of Birmingham City. Signing for them at 12 and coming up through the Centre of Excellence, progressing to the Reserves and eventually the 1st team. Memories that stick in my head most are sitting in Thierry’s seat on Arsenal’s posh coach, inadvertently scoring from the half way line, playing at Leicester’s Walkers stadium, winning the Reserve league title, playing for the 1st team in the FA Cup against Derby, scoring the winning goal in the county cup semi final against Coventry in the 90th minute, winning the county cup final and finally playing against the premier league’s best teams: Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal (at the men’s training ground!).
Since then, I have dabbled in a few teams but haven’t quite rekindled my love for playing. So, at the tender age of 19 I decided to retire. Maybe not forever, but for the time being while I slog my guts out trying to pass a physiotherapy degree.
Today, I added another proud moment to my list. This time I wasn’t on the pitch, but in the stands watching my beloved Birmingham City win the women’s FA Cup for the first time in their history! Having seen the club survive against all odds with basically no money, it was almost unbelievable that they were playing live on Sky Sports and lifting the FA cup. I have had the pleasure of playing alongside some of the players out there today and was coached for a fair few years by the captain Laura Bassett. So it was great to see her especially, lifting the prestigious trophy.
Typically, Blues did not do it the easy way. They came from behind twice, scoring equalisers to take it to extra time and then forcing penalties. I feared the worst, but they held their nerve to win on penalties. I may not be part of the club any longer but I could not have felt more proud. An absolutely fantastic achievement for the club and hopefully this is just the start of the silverware to come this season.
Out of nothing, this week has been one of the best I’ve had for a long time.
It was never supposed to be. My family had gone to Cornwall on holiday while I stayed at home and basically lamented the choice to study physiotherapy. However, this was soon to be pushed to the back of my mind for a whole multitude of reasons.
Firstly, you may or may not have read my previous post on the ending of Hustle and how iplayer carelessly spoiled it.I tweeted the post to cast members Matt DiAngelo and Adrian Lester who both read it and tweeted me back. Extremely exciting in itself. However, I also got a tweet from fellow Brummie Mark Wilson (@Sparks68), a big Hustle fan and extra who appeared in the final Hustle episode. It is worth noting before I go any further, that this guy is essentially a stranger to me! However, out of sheer unbelievable kindness, he said he would send me a souvenir from the last ever episode! So I excitably checked the post for the next 5 days (bloody Easter delaying my goodies). Barefoot and in mismatching pyjamas, I checked the post on Wednesday morning, where I found a single brown envelope with my name and address written in very neat handwriting. I ran back inside the house and tore open the envelope to find 2 fake £50 notes used in the episode and a joker playing card signed by cast members Adrian Lester (Mickey), Robert Glenister (Ash) and Kelly Adams (Emma). I would have been happy with just the £50 notes let alone having something signed by the cast! I was, obviously thrilled and am looking forward to having all of it framed, and for it to take pride of place along with my signed Derren Brown ticket! I have literally showed everyone and anyone, regardless of whether they’ve ever seen Hustle or not. My friend Lucy was particularly jealous, as she too has a bit of a soft spot for Adrian Lester and quite perfectly describes him as ‘the epitome of tall, dark and handsome’. So, a massive thank you to Mark for mementos I will treasure for many years to come.
My Hustle Goodies!
Money surrounds the bodies of Mickey and Emma. Potentially the scene where my 2 £50 notes came from.
So there’s the first reason for such a great week. The other reasons were based around fun, lovely quality time spent with my friends. On Monday, my friends Lou and Lucy came round to play Rayman on Wii, drink Irn Bru and eat snacks that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a kid’s birthday party in 1996. On Tuesday, my friend Lauren, who I don’t get to see often, came over to eat smoked salmon pasta, see 21 Jump Street and stay over. I highly recommend the film – sort of a cross between Superbad and Hot Fuzz. On Wednesday, my boyfriend Tom (http://citrussuckingsunshine.wordpress.com) came to stay en route from Crawley to Keele. We watched King of Queens, had nachos for dinner and drank wine in the hot tub. It was basically the most perfect 21 hours I’ve had in a long time. Thursday involved more shenanigans on the Wii, this time on Just Dance, where I realised I have a somewhat of a penchant for funk music.
On Friday, myself, Lou, Lucy and Justine went to see Rhod Gilbert at Birmingham Symphony Hall. After an eventful journey into town, we all enjoyed a brilliant gig by Rhod. It centered around a battenburg tattoo and an anger management diary, concluding with a montage of photos taken in New York with Rhod and a potato, with (my favourite ever song) ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ by the Beach Boys playing in the background. If you are a fan of his and get a chance to see this tour, do go – it’s brilliant.
So all in all, what was meant to be a crappy week, turned out to be a great week.
And for you die hard fans of https://timetravellingbunnies.wordpress.com/ do not panic, I’m sure for my next post I’ll have ditched this soppy tone and found another random topic to rant about.
KG xxx
I love Hustle. Without doubt my favourite British TV show. I got hooked part way through series 3 as it was being aired on BBC1, and I kept watching whilst simultaneously catching up on the previous 2 series. The whole concept of Hustle was like a breath of fresh air in to my old TV schedule which basically consisted of Eastenders, Friends and football matches. Tony Jordan and his team created such clever, complex and exciting cons. I always tried to figure them out before the end, and don’t think I was ever successful (I struggle to think outside the box). The characters were all likeable, witty and so ridiculously suave I think all viewers would admit to wanting to be a part of the crew themselves! In short, (as in the future I plan to do a review of all the series, and the ending in particular) I thought the last episode was perfect. The con itself wasn’t particularly special, but the return of Danny and Stacey and their part in completing the con was exactly what I think Hustle was all about at heart. Yes, it was about conning the greedy marks but the crew were a family and I think, looking back, it was always about this more.
Now, to the main subject of this post. As any finale of a TV series I like approaches, I avoid all related media and potential spoilers, so this meant I had no idea about Jaime Murray and Marc Warren reprising their roles of Stacey and Danny. I understand it was (half) common knowledge that Jaime would be returning as she has done interviews, however, being such a nerdy superfan I successfully avoided this knowledge. This was until, due to a prior commitment, I couldn’t watch the final episode at the time it was being aired! This meant I had to catch up on iplayer a few hours later, where to my horror, saw that BBC had chosen to use a screenshot of all of the crew, Stacey and Danny included, driving away in the car in what turned out to be the final scene! So there went the surprise. I enjoyed the finale immensely anyway, however, I can only wonder what it would have been like if I wasn’t continually expecting Stacey and Danny to appear. It got fairly near the end and Danny hadn’t appeared yet, so he was blatantly going to be the masked shooter. If I didn’t know he was going to be returning, I honestly don’t think I’d have known it was him until the mask was removed! Honestly! It would have been a brilliant surprise. Shame.
In my anger, and teenage impulsiveness, I immediately emailed the iplayer team and I thought you may want to see the reply:
Dear Miss Green
Thank you for contacting the BBC iPlayer Support Team.
I understand that you were unhappy with the screenshot accompanying the last episode of ‘Hustle’ on iPlayer, which gave portions of the plot away.
The image did reveal important plot information and shouldn’t have been chosen to promote this episode of Hustle. We apologise for spoiling your viewing experience. The picture has now been changed and your feedback will help us select images with greater care in the future.
I do understand you that you feel very strongly about this issue, so I’d like to assure you that I’ve fully registered your concerns. This will be included on feedback reports that are available to personnel responsible for maintaining and improving the BBC iPlayer service.
These reports are viewed as important documents that can help shape decisions on future aspects of BBC iPlayer.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
Mark Roberts
BBC Audience Services
So, no offer of meeting the cast or a cut of the profits, but I guess an apology will do.
I’m not really a person that enjoys controversy. However, when something I stand up for and believe in is used in a demeaning way, I need to vent my thoughts.
You may or may not know my family/home situation. I very luckily live in a nice house with both my parents and my two sisters, one of whom is adopted and one of whom is disabled. The latter is 22 and has mild autism and learning difficulties. You may have seen her around and not realise she has a disability as she looks ‘normal’ (I use this word begrudgingly). But not all disabilities are physical. In the grand scale of things she is not severely disabled, she is in fact very lucky compared to others. But this hasn’t stopped people bullying her, making fun of her, taking advantage of her, even being kicked on the way home from school on the bus.
There’s a few reasons I’m telling you this. Firstly I was made aware of a ‘meme’ (bet the people who make these things couldn’t tell you where this word originated, but that’s another rant for another day). This meme in question is a picture of a girl with Down syndrome, who can’t be more than 5 years old, and the caption ‘I can count to potato’. If that description just amused you, I urge you to leave this page and (in the nicest way possible) go and shove a large vegetable up your rectum, as I don’t care for your time or opinion.
I, like others, find the majority of memes amusing. I’m not easily offended, I like jokes, even ones about myself, blondes and (all 1 million variations) of ones about women and kitchens. But here I see a difference, because I, blondes and women can all stand up for ourselves and ‘get’ the joke. Disabled people cannot defend themselves, they can’t change who they are, the way they look or how they act, and neither should they anyway. I have been told ‘if they want to be treated equally, they should be able to be used for comedy purposes’. The truth is disabled people are NOT treated as equals to you or I at present, so I absolutely disagree with comedy being used as a means to attain this equality!
Some may be blissfully unaware of being the butt of your jokes and amusement, but the majority find them cruel and hurtful. I think ‘ableism’ as its known (discrimination against disabled people) should be not tolerated on a par with racism and homophobia. You may not have anyone within your family/friendship group with disabilities, but I can assure you that even if the affected person is not hurt by your ‘jokes’, we as family/friends most certainly are. If you have siblings, you know how you’d defend them against anything. I feel like I have to fight for my sister, and therefore all people with disabilities. I’m not going to seek out every single person and argue it out why they shouldn’t be using these innocent people for their amusement – trust me I’ve tried, it doesn’t work and they’re not worth the time and effort. What I am going to do, and what I’m hoping to achieve by this, is making as many people aware as possible that your simple reposting of a meme or whispered comment to your friend about ‘the weirdo on the bus’ can be very hurtful. How about instead, giving that meme a ‘thumbs down’ and smiling at ‘that weirdo on the bus’? My sister leads a happy life riding around on her bike, going to college, and listening to Westlife! This may not sound like your cup of tea, but it is her’s so let her be.
The second issue this week was the C4 programme ‘The Undateables’. For those of you who didn’t watch, it was a show about disabled people trying to find dates. It included people with Tourette’s, with Asperger’s, with Cerebral Palsy etc. I am in favour of making people aware of the problems these people face in their lives, however the title ‘Undateables’ was completely inappropriate. I mean, jeez I was 18 before having aserious boyfriend, surely that makes me pretty much undateable? Just another example of subtle ableism by C4, and not so subtle ableism was evident on Twitter with sickening comments I’d rather not repeat. One of my best friends has Cerebral Palsy and she has had more boyfriends than me, so why should she log on to Twitter to see comments like that? She may have physical disabilities but mentally, she’s the same as you and me. I’m sure we’ve all being made fun of, I know I have. And it sucks.
Life is too short and too precious to be made a mockery of. It’s 2012 for goodness sake, let’s get rid of racism, let’s get rid of homophobia and let’s get rid of ableism. I’m sure we’d all love to get rid of poverty and suffering as well, but this is more complex and takes a lot of money.
Ridding the world of racism, homophobia and ableism takes only kindness.
Time travelling bunnies 