Tag / Family

by Gareth

Work’s going really well…

It’s been a couple of months since my last post, so I thought I should bring my blog up-to-date with stuff that’s been going on.

The big project we worked on at the end of last year was ‘The Vicar Of Dibley’s Greatest & Top 40 Moments’, made by Tiger Aspect for UK Gold.

dibley

We did the titles, interview background graphics and studio backdrops, plus the animated stings to appear before each clip as they counted down – basically anything graphical in the two 90-minute shows! Our work got a really good reaction, and UKTV said the show was one of their highest rating original programmes which was good to hear. And the show was repeated loads over Christmas, so it’s sure to have been seen by a lot of people! And we should have another show from Tiger Aspect to work on from March – this time a series for ITV, so a busy time ahead!

Also before Christmas, I spent a lot of time working with Rob editing the Cannonball 8000 programme. It was a pretty big job because we had to deliver an hour long episode for ITV1 and ITV4, as well as re-cutting it all into 4 half hour episodes to go out on the Extreme channel later this year. There were a lot of late nights, and I was even editing on Christmas Day and Boxing Day!

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‘Channel M Breakfast’ titles shoot.

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by Gareth

Dad’s funeral

Just got back home after being down in Tamworth today for my dad’s funeral. He’d been ill for a very long time but it’s still weird when it actually happens, because no matter how much you’re expecting it at some point, you don’t know how you’ll react.

I guess I still feel a bit numb over it all… today was really hard, especially the funeral service itself. There were a lot of people there – loads that I didn’t recognise, and some faces from the past that I hadn’t seen for 10 – 15 years. As part of the service, a song that my sister recorded with him a few years ago was played, and it was difficult hearing him sing at his own funeral.

I don’t know if I’m going to have some proper reaction further down the line – it feels a bit bottled up at the minute. In the last few years I’d not really been close to him and we’d had a lot of disagreements, but at the end of the day he’s my dad, and he’s now no longer with us, and I know I should react in some way.

Just not sure how at the moment.

by Gareth

Ste & Julie’s wedding

Julie and Steve.

Thought it was time for one of my not-so-regular blogs! A couple of weekends ago, my brother Steve got married to Julie, so that leaves me as the only one not married!!

It was a nice day – they’d asked me to film it for them, so it kept me busy and gave me a job to do! Not sure when I’ll get a chance to edit it though… I still need to do Vikky and Damien’s one from last September! It was a bit weird, because apart from family, I didn’t really know anyone else there – Vikky knows a lot of Ste’s mates, but being up in Manchester means that I lose touch with all stuff like that. There are photos of the day here.

It kind of makes me think about my own life a bit though. Both my brother and sister are now married, and I’d always hoped that the same would happen to me, and that I’ve have my own family and all that, but as I’m getting older, I see all that slipping away from me which makes me really quite sad at times. Also, I suppose as you see your mates around you getting married and having kids, it just reinforces it to you all the time. I know I’ve wasted my life a bit over the last few years… I’ve let my head get totally screwed up twice by someone I really liked (going back for more heartache obviously wasn’t the wisest thing I could have done – but sometimes you don’t act rationally!) It’s a bit weird how much your emotions can switch from having really strong feelings for someone to then never wanting to lay eyes on them again, especially when at the end of the day, the problem is mine not theirs… there’s no law that says they have to feel the same way! Even now though, I’m still struggling to put all that behind me and move on, but by never having to see her again, that should at least mean I can just wipe that period of my life away, and try to move forward. It is totally rubbish though – 5 years of spending your time thinking about one person is such a waste – but it’s a lot easier to say you’re over it than it actually being true!

Wow – that was all a bit more open and honest than I planned… though sometimes it’s good to get things off your chest!

by Gareth

Mr & Mrs Wood

Well, the wedding all went off great, and my sis is now officially Victoria Wood (insert your own gag here!)

Damien and Vikky.

It was a completely mad morning – I was staying at Steve & Julies’, and I got up about 8.30 to watch a bit of tv… the calm before the storm! Then it was time to get my suit on, and it was going okay until the phone rang, so I opened the door to go and answer it, forgetting that the suit jacket was hanging on it. I picked it up off the floor, to discover it covered in cat hair and sawdust (Steve had been constructing a wardrobe in the room the day before!) I tried my best to get it all off, but eventually I decided that everyone would be looking at Vikky’s dress rather than my suit, so I stopped worrying too much about it!!

The weather forecast for the day was pretty horrendous – heavy rain had been predicted all week, and we certainly had a downpour first thing, but by mid-morning the heavy rain stopped and it wasn’t too bad.

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by Gareth

‘Freedom Of The Seas’

Well it’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks for me. I got back yesterday from doing a 3-day shoot on the world’s biggest cruise liner, ‘Freedom Of The Seas‘!

‘Freedom Of The Seas’.

I was second camera for filming a First Choice conference, as well as general shots of everything on board, and we travelled down to Southampton on Sunday night, and then boarded the ship first thing on the Monday morning.

It was its first sailing with passengers, and just did a trip around the channel islands, but we were kept really busy with work (18 hour days!), so it didn’t really matter where we were to be honest. The scale of the ship was immense, and it had so many different things on board. As well as a massive ‘Promenade’ high street, it also had a theatre, ice rink, sports pitch, surfing pool, crazy golf, a casino, and even a climbing wall!

Also, for the time we were on board, we didn’t have to pay for any food and drink, and it was all of a really high quality. It was a great experience, but to be honest, I don’t think a cruise would be the kind of holiday I’d go for at all. Just my taste I guess.

Check out the photos I took whilst on board here.

Just before all that, I went down to Tamworth for the day on Saturday because it was Steve and Julie’s engagement party, and I also went to see Vikky’s new house which she and Damien have just bought, and I think it will end up being really nice. It’s a good size, and it’s got a really massive garden – miles bigger than mine!

And then today me and James have been filming some interviews for the Preview DVD, so it ended up being another long day… I could really do with a bit of a rest sometime, but I’ve not got a day off until next weekend!

by Gareth

Nan

It’s weird when you see a picture of someone you’ve only really known as quite old, but the photo that you’re looking at is of them much younger.

It was my nan’s funeral yesterday morning down at the Coton Centre in Tamworth, and for me it wasn’t a great day. I really don’t like funerals – I find it really odd sitting there knowing that the person you’re there for is in a box just a few metres away. During the actual burial, I kind of stayed back a bit – I didn’t want to look into the hole after the coffin was lowered. And then the thing afterwards where everyone gets together for food. I just don’t really get it. I suppose it’s what people do, and it’s quite normal, but I just feel uncomfortable with it – I guess I just don’t like death and all that. Also it didn’t help that I had a splitting headache, so didn’t really have anything to eat all day… though I managed to get through quite a lot of water!

Anyway, back to the photo. I don’t know how old my nan was when the picture that was on the order of service was taken, but it looks like she was quite a bit younger than I am now. Not sure why that makes me think about stuff and what relevance it has in the grand scheme of things, but it does!

by Gareth

Weird couple of days

Today was James and Helen’s wedding, and I was invited to the service and to the evening reception. Didn’t really get a chance to speak to them at all, but they seemed to be having a brilliant time, which is what’s important! I’ve put my photos of it here.

It was a good wedding, with some really nice touches…during the signing of the register, they ran a video montage of photos of them both growing up, which looked really cool, and there were some other bits that stood out as well.

I guess though that I found it pretty tough – I didn’t really feel right being there. It’s really hard to explain (and I’m certainly not going to try too much here!), but I just felt uncomfortable for most of the time, and I left at the end of the night not feeling too great. I suppose in the end it doesn’t really matter, because I won’t see anyone from there again anyway.

And to change the subject totally, the other news is that my nan died yesterday morning. It wasn’t totally unexpected, because I found out a couple of months ago that she’d had got cancer and she’s been in hospital since then, but it’s only been in the last two weeks that the cancer got really aggressive and spread like it did. I actually went to see her in hospital about a month ago, and she seemed fine – the plan was that she was supposed to be going home and starting radiotherapy this week, but then all of a sudden it really took hold. To be honest, I’m glad I last saw her like that, rather than in her last few days of life. The funeral will probably be the week after next, but no date’s been set yet.

by Gareth

Decorating blitz!

I’m the Wallpapering King!

I’ve spent today putting up some paper on the walls and ceiling of my landing to give me a decent surface to paint on – and it was the first time I’d ever attempted the art of hanging wallpaper!

Mum and Elaine have come up for the weekend, so they were giving me a hand with it – though to be fair, mum was taking more of a ‘supervisory’ role! (Though I have got a cleaner bathroom now ‘cos she blitzed it whilst we were getting covered in wallpaper paste!)

I’ve decided that it’s actually quite difficult to hang wallpaper well, though I was definitely getting better the more I did! Unfortunately the very first piece I had to do was on the ceiling and had a light fitting smack bang in the middle of it – which was probably not the best thing to have to deal with when you’re doing it for the very first time! And there are still quite a few air bubbles which I couldn’t get rid of, but I’m assured that they should disappear as it dries out… not totally convinced to be honest!!

One thing which is pretty rubbish is that I’ve got a leaky roof, and it looks like a lot of water has seeped into my walls – the ones in my spare room are soaking at the top, so that room will need re-wallpapering, and maybe even part of it will need re-plastering once I’ve managed to get the roof fixed. And also, my central heating died a couple of weeks ago, so that’s another thing I need to get sorted… arghh!!

by Gareth

Two more weddings!

Well, since my last update, I’ve been to two more weddings! The first one was my cousin Tanith’s wedding, and I ended up videoing it with Vikky’s camera and have started editing it for them and am going to put it onto a DVD for them when I get a chance. There are some photos from the wedding here.

Then this weekend just gone, I’ve been back in Tamworth for Dave and Hope’s wedding – and this time I was the official cameraman! I had 4 cameras there, so have ended up with 15 hours worth of footage which I now need to trawl through! It was a long day, but a really cool wedding, and in the evening we had some mini-performances from Dave along with the other 29th Chapter guys, Hope did a song with BlushUK, and then the Tribe also did a couple of tracks! Quite unlike any wedding I’d been to before!

by Gareth

Bits & pieces…

Thought it was about time I did another update! Not much has really happened in the last few weeks, apart from doing a few odd jobs on the house! Did my first bit of tiling in my kitchen on Saturday which was a learning experience! I’ll be discovering the joys of grouting later this week! I’ve also replaced some of the end panels in there, and painted all the cupboard doors white, which makes it look cleaner and bigger! Now in the process of ripping the wallpaper down so I can give the whole room a lick of paint! I suppose I should also do something about getting my other downstairs rooms finished, considering I started them about a year ago, and they’re in a very unfinished state!!

Sarah and Emma came round for some food on Thursday night, which tested my culinary skills ever so slightly!! I thought I’d try and cook something that I hadn’t done before, so I found a couple of recipes that required me making my own herby breadcrumbs and marinating vegetables in olive oil, garlic and herbs!! I actually surprised myself because it tasted pretty good!! Makes a change from the usual meals I end up having!

Also, some of the guys from Reach are talking about going skiing in the New Year, and I’m kind of tempted to go too. I’ve never skied in my life before, so that could be quite difficult, but I reckon it could be quite a laugh. The only things I need to look at is getting the time off work, and also whether I can afford it ‘cos it’s slightly more expensive than the holidays I usually go on! I think I’ll try and make a decision sometime this week.

I’m off down to Tamworth for the day tomorrow – mainly for a dental appointment (arrggghhh!!) – but it’s quite good timing ‘cos it’s Vikky’s birthday on Wednesday, so I’ll be able to see her when I’m down there. The only downside is that my appointment is at ten past nine, so I’m going to have to leave Manchester at about 6am! I think I need to try and get an early night tonight!

by Gareth

Walking up Snowdon, plus a new nationality!

I am aching all over! But that’s probably got something to do with the fact that I walked all the way up to the top of Mount Snowdon yesterday!

A load of us went over to Wales yesterday morning to go for a walk in Snowdonia for Dave Cieszynski’s birthday, and I don’t really think it had registered with me that Snowdon is in fact the tallest mountain in Wales! So we ended up walking about 10 miles in all, and 1085 metres up! It was quite a killer, ‘cos there are parts of it which are really quite steep, and it’s very rocky, so your feet can end up sliding all over the place!

For the first hour going up, I didn’t find it too hard really, but as time went on, it got more difficult. It took us about 3 hours to get to the summit, and the view from up there was stunning, but it was also pretty cold on the top! It was a bit quicker coming down – that only took about an hour and a half – but my feet were beginning to feel the strain by that time. And when I finally got up this morning, it took a little bit longer than usual to walk down the stairs – very painful!… and I’m at work at the moment, and it’s quite a struggle walking from one end of the office to the other! Check out the photos here.

On the way back, we stopped off in Llandudno and had some tea at Emma’s mum’s house. When I was lodging at Emma’s last summer, her mum and her dogs and cats were staying at the house whilst she was waiting to buy this one, so I got to meet all the animals again! Everyone was pretty worn out, and just crashed out in the living room, and I was so glad that I hadn’t driven there – it’s much better being a passenger after a day like that!

Other news… I officially became Irish last week! I received a letter from the Irish embassy in London saying that I’d been entered into the Irish register of foreign births, and that I can now apply for an Irish passport! This doesn’t mean I’m not a Brit anymore though… because my mum’s parent’s moved over here from Ireland, she’s automatically dual nationality, and because I’m next generation I can apply for dual nationality as well and I have! Steve and Vikky are going to apply as well, but we have to do it separately because we need to supply so much documentation! Now all I’ve got to work on is my Irish accent… to be sure(!)

by Gareth

Weddings and parties…

Not that much more to report at the moment! I’m settling into the new house pretty well – I’ve smashed out most of the massive fireplace that was in the living room, but stopped short of totally removing it when it wasn’t totally clear whether or not the wall is being supported by the bricks that I was carefully removing! So I now have a really nice looking feature as soon as you walk into the house!

Had a good day at Steve and Claire’s wedding but it was very tiring. I was shooting pretty much solidly from about 12pm until about 10pm! There are some photos that I managed to take when I wasn’t doing the video here! And a few of the shots that I took of the ceremony made it onto the end of Midlands Today the next night which was pretty cool!

Went down to Bin’s housewarming party down in London the other weekend and it was a pretty mad night! It took hours to get down there ‘cos of engineering work on the railways, so I had to do part of the journey by coach. Jon & Eve were there as well, and there were quite a few Sheffield guys who I’ve met at previous parties when I lived in Birmingham.

It was my sister Vikky’s 21st birthday on Tuesday, so I was down in Tamworth for a load of us to go out for a meal. Was quite a whirlwind trip, and drove back up to Manchester the same night – but had to pull in at a few service stations on the way just for a bit of a rest ‘cos I was so tired! It’s my birthday in a couple of weeks but I’m not looking forward to that event at all – the number is getting too big!!

I’m off to Rhona’s party down in Tottenham this weekend. It’s a Bollywood Bash, and she wants people to go in Bollywood costume! I’m kind of thinking I might conveniently forget that bit of it, and go in normal clothes! I think quite a lot of uni guys will be there as well, so that should be good catching up with everyone.