Upgrade to Premium Unlimited

Last week I was sent through my Cineworld Premium Unlimited card. It's black which makes it feel even more exclusive than it probably is. It's a card that I pay £14.99 per month for and which allows me to go to any Cineworld cinema and see any amount of films in a month as i want. (At least, i don't think there's a limit to the amount of films you can see. Who reads the T's and C's anyway!).

The premium unlimited card has been introduced to people who've been unlimited members for more than a year. That's me! It also allows you to get a much needed 25% discount on food and drink in the kiosks and you can now even book a ticket online too. This is a long awaited feature. The only problem is that that day i did just that, the queue for the ticket machine was extra long and so my ticket was re-sold as i hadn't redeemed it within 20 minutes of the performance starting. I think this system will only work if there are a few unlimited members only collection machines in the foyers so that we don't have to wait in super long queues. Just a thought.

My Cineworld card has been one of the single most useful and important things i have ever purchased. I'll tell you why...

I'm often to be found wandering aimlessly through town or the city if i venture out at weekends. This card means that if i have a few hours spare (which let's be honest for me is most weekends), then I can simply walk to the nearest Cineworld cinema and see a movie. I've really gone to town and taken full advantage of the card recently. I've seen a great number of brilliant films. Some good films and maybe one or two not so good films.

I wanted to share with you some of those films and why i thought they were brilliant or just plain good. Don't worry i'll try not to spoil them for you. But I can't guarantee i won't tell you some details so don't read any further if you want to avoid them...

Argo

Ben Affleck directs here. An absolutely brilliantly told tense true story. I was on the edge of my seat without even realising. Set in 1980 the clothes and hair are bang on. The story is mostly set in Iran and follows 6 fugitives and how they were extracted from a volatile troubled Tehran. You sorta knew the ending but how it got there was a different story. I'd never heard about this true story before. It's almost unbelievable but true. I've always liked Ben Affleck. Good Will Hunting is one of my favourite films ever. He stars and directs Argo and it's a triumph. "Argofuckyourself"... you have to see it.

Rust and Bone

A French movie with subtitles. Stars Marion Cotillard. I'd seen the trailer for this a few weeks before the movie was released and I immediately fell for it. I waited on the release and then one lazy Wednesday afternoon i took myself specifically to Glasgow to see it (it wasn't in any cinema in Stirling). It also stars Matthias Schoenaerts who is a Belgian actor (no i didn't remember that, I IMDB'd him). But he's not forgettable - ladies! He's Ali in the film. Father to a young son who leaves Belgium to live with his sister in Antibes, but all doesn't go to plan. Marion Cotillard is Stephanie. Ali and Stephanie meet in unusual circumstances. It was so good from the start. I wasn't sure what the story was at the beginning and then it started to make sense. Things happen (no spoilers) and this film turned into a beautiful tale of hope and ultimately it's a love story too. It's harsh at times. There are brutal and devastating scenes in it but this is what gets you so attached to the characters that you care what happens to them. Well, i cared. It's beautifully shot,  great music underpins it and the characters were real. I'd highly recommend you see this.

End of Watch

Wowsers. Great film. Shaky camera work, great rapport between the two main characters and Jake Gyllenhaal doing funny! What's not to love. Again, with this begin a cop drama set in the tough South Central LA, there are scenes that might make you look away. But that won't be for very long. I saw Jake G talk about this film on tv the other night. He said one of the crashes in the movie did actually happen in real life, accidentally, but the cameras kept rolling. You see that this was shot on handheld cameras but that kinda brought it more in your face. A good solid cop drama.

Silver Linings Playbook

Woah. A bit off the wall is our Patrick (Bradley Cooper). Patrick has just been released from a mental hospital where he's been for 8 months following an incident with his wife! He's now trying to get his life back together whilst living back at home with his parents. He meets Tiffany, a girl who seems to be just like him. Patrick is trying hard to win back his wife after the incident. It might all go to someones plan. It's a bit kooky, quite funny and was a bit of a change to Cooper's outings in The Hangover films. He makes you see the heartache in Patrick's mind through his lovely blue eyes (I couldn't write a little tale about the Cooper without mentioning those eyes). Robert De Niro wonderfully plays Patrick's troubled dad. Great. An enjoyable film I could relate in a weird way. I loved it.

The Imposter
This is a true story/documentary about a guy who pretends to be a boy who went missing from a family in America. Except he turns up in Spain! It's intriguing. It's weird. And if you didn't know it was true you'd think it was totally unbelievable. But all is not what it seems with the family... This was a step away from what i usually watch and i thoroughly enjoyed it even though i left feeling creeped out.

Other mentions go to Ruby Sparks and of course, The Perks of Being A Wallflower...

Alex Cross wasn't up to much apart from Matthew Fox playing a really great maniacal psychopath killer and Edward Burns being Edward Burns.

Anna Karenina was a bit slow but the wonderfully mesmerising dance scene at the ball had me in awe. All those hand movements, i wanted to get out of my seat and start practising straight away. Oh yes!!

Now we get to Skyfall - The more i think about Skyfall the more i get annoyed by all of the blatant product placement that was in it from the very start. I'm not a huge Bond fan but I've seen the last few. This one was beautifully shot in parts, especially the scenes in Scotland. They were breathtaking. I recognised a road I've driven a few times and my first munro i climbed too. Braw. In this one Bond has been absent for a while then reappears. (I don't want to give too much away). Javier Bardem is really good as a menacing Bond villain, almost creepy. To me there is absolutely no point in the Bond girl in this film. I think I'd prefer to know the actress playing a Bond girl so you could maybe relate to or at least care about what happens to her. I didn't here. Incidentally i thought Craig started to look a bit older in this one - dare i say past it... It started to get a bit silly at one point, people are saying it's like Home Alone. I thought that scene went on a bit too long. Oh, I must mention the opening scene (before the opening credits). Now, I can see why they had to put it there but i just found it a bit tedious. Too long perhaps? But, then came the opening credits and i was mesmerised again. The song and the graphics that were all flowy and liquid looking and kind of reminded me of Tales of the Unexpected back in the day. If you can remember that then *high five*! Overall it was a decent movie with some stunningly shot scenes. If i had to I'd give it 3/5.

Movies I'm looking forward to seeing are Les Miserables, Seven Psychopaths, Pitch Perfect, Lincoln, Gangster Squad, Hansel and Gretel and OZ; the great and powerful. Phew!

Angela x

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TDKR

The Dark Knight Rises. Wowsers, I loved it. As usual there'll be no spoilers here.

The opening weekend has been a little bit marred by a lone gunman entering a cinema in Colorado and mindlessly shooting people. Dick. Ban guns. All guns. You don't need those sorts of guns to protect yourself. End of.

Anyway, back to the main event. I saw TDKR at the IMAX. I had a great seat two rows from the back. I imagine a front row seat of the IMAX could be sore on your neck and or your eyes.

It starts with a stunning scene filmed high above the Highlands. Inverness area to be precise. No visual effects here, all performed by real stuntmen. Spectacular. That's as far as this post will go with the story. I'll not spoil it. 

Bale was his usual cool self. His Batman is deep, lonely, wanting, noble, a fighter, a force for good, just one really good Batman. To me anyways. I haven't really seen other ones. I was never into that other set of films with Michael Keaton et al.

It's hard to describe scenes without giving too much away, so i won't. I was surprised by how much I liked Ann Hathaway's cat burglar woman Selena Kyle. Albert (Sir Michael Caine) looks older and it fitted well with the story, since we are now 8 years on from The Dark Knight. Master Wayne is a recluse. His body and mind battered, bruised and scarred by his previous exploits. Commissioner Gordon is hiding a few secrets too all the while still seeking out The Batman. Enter the new baddie, Bane. Bane (as you'll all have seen no doubt) wears a mask. A mask that hides most of his face and gives him this robotic-type voice, but it's all in Bane's eyes... He's a formidable enemy. We have a young buck on the block called Blake. What a mouthful that was, and a pure accident! Yes, Blake. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (from Inception and 10 Things I Hate About You and 50/50 and 500 Days of Summer) to be exact. I've always loved him in movies. He outwardly appears young both as himself and as Blake, but as Blake he grew and his story is a nice addition to. 

In TDKR, Nolan has given us endings to stories. He's tided up loose ends (cliche alert). There are some stunning visuals and the pace quickens up towards a climax. It crept up on me mind you and i was sat there at one point thinking oh my god, this is too tense! heart beating ten to the dozen.

In short I loved it and am so glad I went to see the previous two films last week on the big screen. I'm going to go back for a second viewing, so good it was. I hope that you're familiar with the previous two films and have seen them recently before you see this. It'll make it all the more special.

Go see.
Angela x

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Cinema: an escape

Getting a Cineworld monthly cinema card was the best idea I've ever had. It costs £14.99 per month and you can go to the cinema every day if you wish. There are extra charges for 3D movies but who likes those anyway. Personally all I get from 3D movies is a sore head. I wear glasses to see every day and so going to the cinema and putting 3D glass on top of my regular glasses is not the most appealing idea. Besides, of the few 3D movies I've seen I can't say my experience was enhanced by the 3D-ness or indeed that lack of it because lets face it less than half the film you can't actually tell if its is in 3D or not.

Anyway, that wasn't what it a showing to talk about. When I go to the cinema and see a movie it's like a form of escapism from the outside world. It's a chance to sit in a big dark room and watch a movie. I rarely choose to see a movie if it doesn't appeal to me. A recent example is The Artist. I have no desk whatsoever to go and see a black and white movie in which no one talks. I mean, seriously, is it really that good?... It doesn't appeal to me therefore I won't see it. No big deal.

I like all sorts of movies, although I'm not keen on stuff the is too sci-fi inspired. Like Star Warzzzzzzzzzz. Boring. To me that is, you may love them. And that's fine too. I really dislike cinema and music snobs. I like movies that have a story, are gripping sometimes oh and a nice male lead to look at is always a bonus. When people talk about movies and say the dialogue was weak or that the Plot was predicable I don't really get that. I'm not sure i could tell good dialogue from bad, and that doesn't make me a rubbish movie goer. Because like i said for me it's an escape, it's not a lesson in movie making. Of course you're there to see what hopefully will be a decent movie. I kinda like that you can predict the outcomes of some movies, it's all about how the director takes you there that can make the difference. For example, a rom com we know isn't going to be an intellectual adventure is it. But what it can give you is a laugh, a good (or bad) love story and two characters that may or not have a happy ending. Predictable? Yes. Good fun? Probably. Eye candy to look at? Sometimes.

This weekend: The Dark Knight at the IMAX. Woooo.

Movies. An escape for a few hours. Fun, lots. Sometimes it's not but that's OK too.

Angela x

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5 Things on a Friday #5

 Friday again. Five things again. Enjoy.

1. Well I somehow found myself included in a tweet by @bengoldacre and this little ol' blog has had its biggest views since its inception. It was my post is written on Sunday morning whilst watching the Australian open tennis final. There was the story about Facebook tearing families apart which i think is a load of bull. I blogged my thoughts. I think he must've liked it and gave the link in one of his tweets! WOWSERS. So that was quite nice. Downside is the two comments I got on it were anonymous and silly. I kept them there though. I may rethink that strategy. But yeah that was a nice start to the week.
2. Two cinema visits this week. Shame with Michael Fassbender on Monday and The Descendants with George Clooney on Thursday. Shame: an18, lots of nekedness, he doesn't do a lot of talking but a strong performance from Fassnbender. Carey Mulligan was good too but I hate to say it, I'm getting really bored of her. She seems to play the same part in all her movies. Quiet, moody, sad. If I was her i'd take a more upbeat role next. The Descendents: a lovely movie. Clooney is fab as usual, although Oscar-worthy? Not sure. He plays the part well but the youngest daughter 'Scotty' stole the show for me. So funny and exactly like someone I know when they were wee. I choked up at a few bits so for me that's a good sign that a film has got to me. Two thoroughly different but equally as good films. Oh by the way, Shame is not a first date movie. Just a head up there.
3. Had myself a nice little afternoon tea at a nice little tea room in Glasgow. Kimbles. The tea is by good and they do great hot scones with cream and jam. I have it minus the jam. I've never eaten jam #AngeFact Anyway that's become a regular haunt whenever I'm in Glasgow.
4. Drive came out on Monday. I'd forgotten so never pre ordered it. When I came out the cinema I decided to take a detour to Tesco see if it was in stock. It wasn't, what's that all about? But I did take the opportunity to buy Crazy Stupid Love. Loved that film at the cinema and, of course, you can never have too many DVDs which The Gosling stars in. Noice. For the record, I ordered Drive from amazon and it was delivered today. yay! I'll be having me some of that soon. 
5. Doubled up on spin classes on Wednesday night again. The first one is with Julie. She's so good at taking the class. Really motivating. The second class is with Tim, I think he's a fireman. I know this because he came in with that uniform on.... I'll leave that thought with you just for a minute....*wink*... Anyway, I'm loving the two classes in a row so it's definitely becoming part of my routine. LOVE IT.

That's is for this week. Share yours please?

Wait!!! An extra number 6. I've booked a ticket to see Zach Braff of Scrubs fame at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow. He's bringing a new play that he's wrote and starring in. Can't wait. I liked that film he was in with Summer from The OC. Exciting. 

Angela x

 

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Thursday thinking and Tuesday blues

So much to think about just now. Haven't blogged for a few days. There'll be my usual Friday Five tomorrow. I have got a post lined up on another of my favourite photo apps, Camera+. I did have it set to go live last night then i noticed someone else done a post on the same thing so for now I'm holding it back.

I feel a bit bleurgh just now due to eating too much chocolate fudge and sweeties whilst sitting in the cinema for an hour on Tuesday night and not a film to be watched. Disaster. Well, maybe a bit annoying really. Booked tickets to an RBS Film First preview screening of Haywire. It was at the Odeon on Lothian Road in Edinburgh. I met Karlie for a lovely catch up lunch at Illegal Jacks, went for a wander around then headed to the cinema around 6.15. I handed over my ticket. He never checked it against my bank card, which they're supposed to do to make sure you are who you say you are. Anyway I headed in and it was screen 3, small screen which was already half full. I sat in the back row. I like to sit quite high up so I can see the screen properly through my glasses. Anyway, I opened my crisps and ate them. It was now full. I swigged on my juice. The lights went up. The lady told us due to demand that more people had turned up than they thought would and RBS generally over subscribe the screens in case no one turns up. I suppose it's a good idea in principle but in January when its cold and people have less money of course they're going to go along to a free cinema screening.

Anyway we moved into screen 2 which was much bigger and sat down. I opened my chocolate fudge ate a few pieces, then a few more. The music suddenly came on over the system. By now it was 6.45 and the film should have started. About 5 minutes later the lights came up and the lady came in again to say the film would be another 10 minutes (7pm) as it was taking time to load onto the servers. (Is this how they do films these days?)...

7.10 still no film. We were now onto All Saints greatest hits album over the speakers. People were getting tetchy. I saw a few people go out and then come back in. A lady told a few people what she'd been told and they got up put their jackets on and were leaving. Around this time i was tweeting and sending comments to the RBS facebook and twitter pages. Someone else who was in the same cinema was doing the same. A reply came via Facebook that they were trying to find out what was happening. After about another good 10 minutes I decided I was leaving. My plan was to watch the film and be out to catch the 8.38 train home to Stirling. If the film only started now I would be catching the 9.38 train and not getting home til gone 11pm. I decided to cut my losses and leave and a few others did too. It didn't really matter to me. I can see the film free on my Cineworld card but still, that wasn't the point. By the time i got out (with a free cinema ticket from the lady at the door, but no explanation) i decided to try and run to Haymarket. It was no use. I wouldn't make it so i double backed on myself and walked along a creepy empty Princes Street to Waverley. By now too my phone was completely dead. I had the iPad but its Wifi only. I arrived at Waverley with 40 minutes til my train was leaving - the 8.33pm. I managed to log onto The Cloud wifi - 15 minutes free. Then headed for the train. Good job i had my wee iPod to keep me company. I'd have looked like a right knob sitting with the iPad out listening to music haha.

That was a longer post than i'd planned. I bought more Haribo sour cherries tonight and have eaten half the packet already so you can imagine how bloated i feel. Spin class tomorrow though and i'm going to totally blast it. Friday night classes are my favourite. Oh and i'm double dipping on Wednesday. Two classes back to back from 5.45pm til about 8. Phew. My thighs will definitely look like Chris Hoy's at the end of this. Or maybe Cav's.

Angela x

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Top Picks from 2011

Since 2011 is over i thought i'd take a loot back and list a few things that i absolutely loved from then. Yes, it's another list and no, i'm not sure how long this list is going to be. And yes, it will be a bit picture heavy too.

So...
* iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4S.
Literally could not live without my phone now. Not for the reason we usually have a phone (to call people) because no one EVER phones me on it. Although i did get a nice surprise phone call the other day from someone who was just about to jet off on holiday. That was particularly nice. No, i use it mostly for the internets. The usual Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Words with fricking Friends. Frankly i could not live without a phone. End of. My trusty 3GS saw me through two years without so much as a slight glitch. The quality of the 4S is more superior and aside from the stupid data usage scandal(!), i actually do LOVE it. That is no exaggeration. I can hear folk groaning at reading this but hey, we all have our things we love don't we.

* Instagram.
I know some folk have only just cottoned on to Instagram [you know the type. The social media luvvies who always seem to be 3 weeks behind on the latest thing! Would you trust anything you read from them?.. No, me neither]. Anyway, some folk have only just cottoned on to the fact that Instagram deserves it's title as App of the year on iTunes (probably the only reason they cottoned on to it). I was an early adopter having posted my first photo on 15th October 2010. And i know this because I got this cool little badge from Statigram (that i run alongside Instagram). It's full of cool stats about your Instagram stream.

What I love about Instagram is that you can see a shot, take the shot, enhance it with a filter if you want and upload the photo and share to the web all within a matter of a few minutes. Seconds even but i'll stick with minutes. The filters are basic and cool, there's enough for now. There's a great community feel. I follow Instagrammers from all over the world. I love seeing photos and lives from the perspectives of these people. It's grand. Take a look.


* blogs.
I've discovered loads of new blogs this year and i'm going to list them below. A list within a list. These have been keeping me entertained all year. Thank you Bloggers!
Vivianna Does Make Up - the clue is in the title. Fab young beauty blogger.
RocknRoll Bride - Kat does a fantastic blog about alternatives to the 'big white wedding' every girl is supposed to dream of. Frankly, id rather my wedding day be like one of those featured here. Fab Fab Fab.
The Daybook - lovely lovely Sidney shows us fashion a shares stories from her life with husband Tyson and new baby Ever. Such a lovely family.
Whatleydude - Whatleydude's happy place. Discovered this one back in April/May time, I think. Love the variety of posts. Some days there's the writings from his Moleskine's. Other days there's three lines of words. Always interesting and sometimes cryptic. But always a joy to read.
Pacing The Panic Room - ok, this is a cheat. I've followed this blog from Ryan Marshall for years. It's so incredibly fabulous i just can't describe it. It's honest and candid and the family are just the cutest. It's the ups and downs and he shares a lot of it right there on the page. He and Cole are also massive Instagrammers too. Hearts.
Miss Smidge - LOVE THIS BLOG. Honest, great writing. Fab recipes. Real stories from the life and times of the writer. Miss Smidge also loves shoes, which makes me happy.

* Elemis skin nourishing body lotion
does exactly what it says on the bottle. I have dry skin all over really, except my tummy, i have a really nice smooth flat tummy. But anyway this lotion sorts my dry patches out and smells lovely and clean. Like a new born baby. It's a bit on the pricey side but i'm on my second bottle from a set i got for Christmas last year and hopefully it'll last until my birthday when i might get another bottle?! someone?

* Converse trainers
Except they're not really training shoes are they. They're the comfiest guttie i've ever worn. My purple 2009 affairs were heading on their way out. The sides have started to split and the purple was feeling a little old so i decided it was time for another pair. A RED pair. I love them. Except i made the mistake of wearing them with new dark indigo and black jeans a few times and now they have that annoying faded mark on them from the colour rubbing. Grrr... Oh well, this means i can buy another pair when we're heading into spring / summer. There's bound to be a nice bright colour i can get.

* Cineworld cinema card
I've now had my card for exactly 1 year and it's been a godsend. I've seen more movies than i ever would have if i didn't have that card. Let's face it, the cinema isn't cheap so £15 a month isn't too bad. If you go to 3 movies per month you're already saving money. Oh and i only did popcorn once. Never again. it was like eating the most tasteless balls of rolled up cardboard, and that was the sweet flavoured one too. No, my munchies of choice were salt and vinegar crisps and a bag of sliced apple. Oh and a wee bottle of Irn Bru of course. Anyway, i'd recommend the card if you can afford it and like going to the cinema. Some favourite films were The Hangover Part II, Drive, Blue Valentine and 50/50. Not sure if i want to see The Iron Lady though....

* nail polish
I was never ever really into nail polish. You'd never catch me wearing scarlet red nails... until this year. In particular, the summer gone. I suddenly become more than just a pale Rimmel French ivory girl and ventured into yellow Mimosa from Chanel, bright pink strawberry margarita from OPI and even Rainbow collection glitter top coat too.

It's fun and certainly can brighten up your day when you've got nice nails. It depends what mood i'm in too. Some days i'm all about the nudes, others the reds and lately i've even headed towards the nearly blacks. Brave of me. But i'm not buying any more. I bought some more from a great eBay shop (US) which sells all the top brands (OPI, Essie, China Glaze) much cheaper and they were delivered within a week. They're at least 50% cheaper than here and that includes delivery. Pretty good but i have to stop. As you can see there's not many colours i don't have. Oops.

Anyway that's all for now i think folks. What were your top picks from 2011?

Angela x

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Five Things...

So I opened up twitter this morning and there was the usual mix of morning/breakfast/exercise/travel/weather tweets. If you can navigate your way through this river of greige, you can always find a few gems hidden. Like, there was also the much tweeted link to the little ditty played by Zoe Dechanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I decided to watch it and it was sweet and nice. I've followed both people here, well over on Twitter, for a while. They're quite good value.

In addition there was a post over here by @Whatleydude. Have a read. I decided that I'd try the five things list on this blog, after all, yesterday in my Mission 2012 post I did say that I'd like to get this blog going again, make it huge, and we all know I like a list! So here it is... Except it's not quite five things, it's from the past year so it'll be a little longer than five. Next week will be the five things list. Ok enough. Let's go...

•  Multicolour trousers - mostly from Topshop. Awesome. 
• Ryan starting school and getting on fine, what a relief. 
• Meeting Miss Laura Woods. An amazing person and friend. Also on that same trip south in February I met lots of Twitter people who really we're lovely. It can happen. 
• Getting fitter and losing weight. 
• Hello size 8 little black dress. Okay dresses. Plural. I bought two! 
• Three beaches in one day with Surfpunkian. Awesome awesome day. Thanks dude. 
• Finally meeting MisAKis. Fun, bubbly and lots of great stories about social media 'darlings'. Haha laughed so much. 
• My first Illegal Jack's. I'll be back. I did. A few times. 
• Loving painting my nails. With glitter! Me! Glitter! WOWSERS how times have changed. 
• Cycling 55 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Fantastic feeling. 
• Giving blood for the first time. 
• Becoming unofficial aunty to baby Kai. Gorgeous. 
• Weekend cinema trips. A sanctuary. The cineworld card has been a godsend for me. 
• Favourite movies: Drive. Sherlock Holmes. 50/50. The Hangover part II (obviously). 
• Elemis skin nourishing body cream. Smells gorgeous and keeps my skin soft and err nourished. 
• Twitter. My love affair with it will never end. Not for the foreseeable future anyways. 
• Baking cupcakes. Several good attempts. 
• Seeing brilliant Twitter friend @pyllon finish one of his races. I was going to say "for the first time" but what I'd mean is I saw him race for the first time. He's raced loads. And done very well, thank you very much. These are no ordinary races, oh no, they're across tracked up and down hills and are usually never any less than about 50 miles!! No mean feat. 
• Meeting Miss Karlie MacGregor. A wonderful person. Damn straight. 
• My love of spin bike class. I can't miss any now. Except I am right at this minute missing one, but you get what I mean. 
• Seeing Mr Neil Fox (@drgonzolives) perform at the Edinburgh Festival with his fab Great Brain Robbery comedy mates. What a laugh! 
• Finding fabulous blogs to read, like Whatleydude's. I've nearly finished reading all the away back James!
• New Red Converse. Only my second pair in two years. I think I deserve another and I think I found them today! 
• Buying my iPad 2. Finally. Although it may be going on sale soon. I love it but... The screen thing still irks me a little. 
• The joy I had doing my walk with Instagram back in October. Me, my iPhone and Instagram. Walking around Edinburgh. Good day. 
• Taking the boys and my sister to the National Museum in Edinburgh. They had a ball. 
• Seeing Kings of Leon at Murrayfield in June. Sounded just like the cd. Great gig. 
• The Killing (Danish version). I love that programme! 
• My trip to London in April. Three days exploring that fab city. The weather was brilliant too. I'll be back.
• My trip to Philadelphia in August. Ok ok it wasn't the real Philadelphia but Glasgow. The film set for a new Brad Pitt movie. Hope it's good when it comes out. 

So that's a few of my most memorable good things from the past year. Next week it'll be just five things from the week. It'll hopefully be a regular post. If not, shout at me!

Angela x
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What an awesome week!

What a week! Feels like I've been on a whirlwind merry-go-round that i never want to get off but i have. And what i've been left with is a stuffy nose, a dry cough and a throat so tight it's taking all my effort to drink my tea. This week has been filled with fun, excitement, nerves, aching-gut worry, cinema, music, birthday, lunches, dinners, baby and the most excellent friends a girl can have. And mostly all thanks to Twitter, and me of course.

Tuesday saw a long overdue lunch and window shopping in Glasgow with gorgeous wonderful friend Nicola (@Lilacswizzle). I really have to thank her for the much need confidence boost and wise words I would never have thought of under the circumstances. I have so much to thank her for this week, you don't even know!

Later on Tuesday I ventured cross country from West to East to Edinburgh, where I was attending a preview screening of new movie Warrior, via RBS Film First. This time it would be a solo trip as cinema buddies were busy. Panic started to set in on the train when the battery indicator popped up like a looming message of doom... 20% battery left. Argh! how would i find my way without google maps?! How would I check in on FourSquare?! How could i review this movie afterwards and let the whole of Twitter now how it was?! But still i continued to refresh my timeline. The train was nearing the East and the signal is really fucking patchy isn't it. So all I had was the O2 O of doom and no 3G. Panic, panic. I sent out a desperate tweet: Edinburgh, where can i find a bite to eat and (more importantly) a plug to charge my phone?!! Refresh.... Refresh.... Switch off... No signal... BUZZ! a reply! "well @illegaljacks of course. Ask nicely and you might get to charge your phone :)" Yay. I immediately sent a tweet, asking nicely of course, and the reply was yes, it would be waiting. Phew, what a life saver. Safe in the knowledge that my phone would soon have juice in it, i settled back to enjoy the remainder of my journey with plenty in my thoughts. Well as much settling back as you can do on a Scotrail train seat without thinking about all the other heas that have touched that spot where yours is... yes this is what i think about?! *shudder*. I digress...

The train arrived and I made my way to Illegal Jacks. It was a lovely not-quite-autumn-but-getting-there evening, a bit windy but the sun was still shining and embracing me in his warmth. Wandering along the street it occured to me that I seemed to be heading in the complete opposite direction to the masses. Rush hour. There were suits, numerous. All shades of dark. Navy, Grey, Black, Charcoal. Suits. But what I did notice that stood out were the sensible women who'd opted for trainers and suits when running to catch the train. I mused how they must've had a pair of work shoes hidden under their desks like me. Just in case, you know...

Anyway I reached Illegal Jacks and ordered from the menu then sheepishly asked if there was a plug. I was pointed towards the window, sat myself down and plugged in. PHEW! It really is a disaster when your phone runs out of battery but all was now well. A few minutes later my very tasty cajun spiced chicken wings arrived. They were hot, hot hot and spicy hot. Lovely. I sat and recharged and watched the world go by out the window. I do love a good people watching session! I exchanged tweets were back and forth from various people and then what a lovely surprise that Kelly (@Macfack) had dropped by to see me. (She saw i was checked in on FourSquare). We had a wee chat then it as time for me to head to the movie. This was the purpose of my visit afterall. I unplugged, 73% battery should see me right.

I walked along to Cineworld, not too far really, and headed into the cinema. The screen wasn't ready yet so we waited about 10 minutes before being let in. I had a wee chance to think a little. I'm always thinking. I was wishing that i had a companion with me, it would've been nice. Sadly, not this time. They opened the screen and we filed in. I checked in - obviously and tweeted a few people. Then the ads came on and it was time for the film. Thank goodness there weren't any noisy popcorn eaters in my vicinity. It was bad enough on Sunday.

The film began. Warrior. I thought it was about boxing but it was in fact about cage fighting. It was shot nicely and leads were Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton - who you may remember from that Australian programme that used to be on BBC2 years ago, The Secret Life of Us. I loved that show but they never showed it again here. Anyway, Warrior. It was good. It was kinda predictable towards the end but well shot, nicely acted and the emotion caught me a bit at the end. Loved it really. I'd recommend it. Here's the trailer...

Out of the cinema i was a little bit scared walking these strange streets at night. There were one or two people around but as soon as i got back to the train station i was fine. I was freezing cold but. Shivering. And there was still a half hour wait on my train, darn. I was kept company by a few lovely people on Twitter. It's so great for that eh. Soon enough the time passed and my train would arrive on 5 minutes but not on platform 4 like what was on the screen. It always gets moved at Haymarket to platform 2 at the last minute! Grrr very annoying. Anyway the train was warm and I enjoyed a little convo with a totally awesome person via DM. There was something I wanted/needed to tell them but somehow the right words didn't come out. It would have to wait.

Platform clock

I woke on Wednesday with a dry mouth and chesty cough. Bugger it. I was heading out tonight, again! and there was no time for petty ailments. But I smiled when I checked my phone and had a wondrous text. Lovely. headed to work for another busy day answering loads of emails from students and every other thing that needed doing. But i didn't care. For tonight was a surprise do for Lovely Ian, the Surf Punk (@surfpunkian). Today was his birthday!!

The Mayor's Birthday

He'd told me previously he didn't like surprises but i was sure he wouldn't mind this one organised by one of his friends. I left work early at 4 to catch the train and headed through again. Fast becoming a regular jaunt for me. I arrived at Illegal Jacks a little after 6 and a few people were there. He said he was surprised and didn't have an idea. Nice. And he was parading about with a FourSquare Mayor t-shirt, a present from someone. Cool. By such a coincidence, a lovely girl, Andie (@MissAKis) i've followed on Twitter for nearly 2 years was in town with her work and she would be in Illegal Jacks for dinner too. I couldn't wait to meet her and when i finally did she was chatty, bubbly, lovely and such a warm person and a totally brilliant raconteur. Loads of stories. LOADS. Great.

All too soon it was time for me to head to my train and so I said my goodbyes to Andie, she was recounting her days spent in and around Newcastle to the group, and had a little chat and said goodbye to the wonderful birthday boy. I think he had a good birthday...

Heading home i had a few things on my mind. I wanted to kick myself, for a good reason. I wanted to turn back the past few weeks and do a thing differently but you can't can you.

Thursday i woke and was feeling pretty rubbish to be honest. Tired. Knackered. Flu-y. Coughy. Still had work to go to, boo. But i was visiting Linda and baby Kai tonight for a good old gossip and dinner. It was a good night. We had cheesburgers and chips and tea and juice and sticky toffee pudding. A treat indeed. I filled her in on everything from work to me and my past few weeks of fun. All the while Kai snoozed, fed, played on his mat and farted loads. I mean loads. For a month old baby he was farting like an old man. haha so funny and so beautiful. I headed home about 8.30 for an early night but i had a sinking feeling in my gut. You know when you get that? Bleh. I was glad to get to bed that night.

Friday was work and then spin class. And full on flu symptoms. I couldn't even eat the packet of marshmallows i've had for about 2 weeks. What's wrong with me?! I must be sick.
So that dear readers was my full on non stop crazy exciting wondrous gut-achingly massive week. It was emotional...

How was yours?

Angela x

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