Thursday 29 September 2011

The Scandalous Affairs of Barbara & Boris Hoganstein: Part 8

Jonathan and Kitty Empire arrived early to the Halloween Ball. They had decided to arrive early in order to leave early. Jonathan didn't enjoy these large gatherings even though his wife did. He always felt out of place and in some cases unwanted. Kitty thrived on the attention and liked to dance with as many people as possible, mostly because she liked to be social and also to annoy her husband. For this particular event she wasn't keen to stay too long as she had planned to meet up with Devon Cain later that night. Jonathan knew this. Before the P.I had gone to confront the Hogansteins he had checked in with Jonathan to let him know the latest update. When asked how he had found all this out in an afternoon the P.I had mentioned George McJanet. In that second, it all moved into place for Jonathan. He remembered George and his connection to Devon Cain, he remember that George had been fired and had threatened Jonathan with exposing his secrets. He looked at all the blackmail notes and sure enough it was George's handwriting. He knew it was familiar but couldn't quite put a name to a face.


At the ball he remained calm and continued his usual behaviour. He watched Kitty as she moved round the rooms, watched her dance and talk to people. He said next to nothing until Devon Cain walked through the door. Cain immediately walked over to Kitty, a worried look on his face.

Then, Boris Hoganstein walked through the door, alone. He went over to the nearest bar and gulped down a whiskey. Cain and Kitty both looked concerned by this point. Jonathan calmly walked over to Boris and started to make conversation. In hurried whispers, Cain urged Kitty to find Jonathan before found out from someone else not knowing that he known of their affair since the beginning.

At that moment, Barbara Hoganstein ran through the doors, slightly out of breath. She tried to compose herself and walked as daintily as she could towards the bar and Boris. He spotted her across the room and nodded. She nodded back. He sighed with relief and ordered her a glass of rose wine. Jonathan greeted her as her husband handed her the wine. Kitty looked towards the bar and locked eyes with her husband. He moved outside to get fresh air, she followed him.

When they both outside, Jonathan had his back to Kitty. She started to talk to him in that soothing tone she used when she was about to tell him something he didn't want to hear. He turned round to face her and without warning pulled out a gun.

Inside it was rather noisy but from where the bar was the gun shot could still be heard.

The Scandalous Affairs of Barbara & Boris Hoganstein: Part 7

So far in this story, things have happened quite out of place and important players and characters have been introduced at the last minute. But this should shed some light on the P.I that Jonathan Empire had hired to spy on his wife. He had also hired the P.I to find out who was blackmailing him about the office affair and company money. The P.I had hit a dead end with the blackmailing. He had questioned everyone who was connected to Mr Empire, he had investigated the wife to see if she was involved, he had followed the secretary for a week straight to see if she was to blame, but nothing.

It was the night of the Halloween Ball and after an afternoon of spying on Mrs Empire and Devon Cain the P.I went to his usual pub for a drink. He had just sat down when he was approached by a man. He claimed to have worked with Jonathan Empire and knew who the blackmailer was. George McJanet gave all the notes from the blackmailer to the P.I and told him a fictional tale about the Hogansteins. Thinking he finally had had a breakthrough, the P.I thanked George and immediately went to confront the Hogansteins. And we all know what happened to him when he got there.

While the Hogansteins were murdering the P.I, George McJanet went to see his friend, Devon Cain. He felt he should warn him about Jonathan and tell him the truth about his debt. He called him first, said he would meet him at the ball that evening. But George never made it to the ball.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Eating Poetry and Poetic Violence?

So today was the Young Poets Network: Poetry Digest Launch which was help in the cafe of The Poetry Society. There was a competition to write a poem on the theme of 'Limelight' and if it won it would be put on a cake, lime flavoured. I missed the deadline but I thought I'd go along to see whats what and of course to eat some cake. It turned out to be a very pleasant event. Some of the winners read their poems out and then we ate the cakes with the words on them and they were delicious! I quite enjoyed the cafe and its decor, especially the light shades which were inscribed with poetry in old fashioned ink. There were also plenty of magazines and books to read while you drank a coffee or tea. The people were lovely, very welcoming and I will definitely go back there next time I'm in London.


And if there is anyone out there who enjoys writing or poetry or both, go have a look and a wonder:
 http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/cafe/



The other part of my day was saved (and had been for months) for Drive, the awesome festival winning film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling. Without giving much away, the film is about a Driver (Ryan Gosling), also his name as its never mentioned at any point in the film, who is a stunt driver, mechanic and caring neighbour by day and a getaway driver by night.

Apart from the fact I was sitting next to two arseholes who asked me to move seats, at the start of the film, because they said they had other people coming (there was a whole free row in front of me, the idiots) and they talked through it too while eating disgusting nuts, I really was absorbed by the film and soon forgot their presence. 

I can't explain how much I love this film or at least I won't be able to explain it in words, I could do it in actions but words just aren't enough. There is hardly any dialogue throughout the film, things are said through expression and glances. To me, it makes the film all the more heartbreaking. It doesn't matter that its violent, it doesn't matter who Driver is and what hes done, he's still a hero, just like the closing song says. The soundtrack was atmospheric and felt like I was watching a 80's noir film, which made me fall in love with the film even more. Noir? Hell yes, I'm there because that's what it was. It had all the noir elements, but to go into this further I would ruin it for people, so I'll say no more. I actually ran over to Fopp to buy the soundtrack only to find it hasn't been released yet. Nicolas Winding Refn deserved that award at Cannes and the film deserves all the good reviews and press because to me, its a rare film and yes, it pretty damn cool too.

I will definitely be going to see again!

Friday 23 September 2011

The Return of The Scandalous Affairs of Barbara & Boris Hoganstein: Part 6

To recap: Boris and Barbara had murdered the P.I who Jonathan had hired to spy on his wife, Kitty and her lover Devon Cain. But when the P.I confronted the Hogansteins he spoke of blackmail and money and no one knew what he was talking about.

Devon Cain was a decent sort of man and was always too happy to help out a friend. In this particular case, his friend, George McJanet whom he had know all his life, was in a tight spot. He had invested his money, a great deal of money, in a scheme. This hadn't gone according to plan and he had lost nearly all of it. He was debt and needed a little extra cash to stay afloat. This is when he asked his good friend Devon Cain to lend him some money. And, like I said, Devon Cain was only too happy to help. He was in a good place financially, recently bought a house in a well established neighbourhood and had rekindled his relationship with long lost love, Kitty, now Mrs Empire. He lent his friend a large sum of money happily and continued on his way. Little did he know that George McJanet was in a far greater debt than he realised. In a desperate attempt to make more money he began blackmailing a former collegue, a certain, Jonathan Empire.

Before leaving the firm where the two men had worked together and before putting all his money into that scheme, George had found out something about Mr Empire but had decided to keep it to himself until this moment. Remember I said that Jonathan had a some bad habits and secrets, well George had found out that Jonathan had not only been skimming money off the company but had also been having an affair with his secretary. A bit of a cliche, I know. George had kept it to himself thinking it was none of his business, but now it seemed the perfect opportunity for blackmail.

After sending the first note of blackmail to the Empire's front door, George noticed something. He saw Jonathan's wife, Kitty getting out of a car, with another man. Again, he saw the prime opportunity for blackmail, scandal and money. But then he saw who the man was, Devon Cain. His heart stopped. What should he do? He walked around the neighbourhood for a good few hours trying to think clearly about what to do next. A light came on in the house opposite, a man walked up the steps to the door and before he could open it, a woman stood there in the doorway. She kissed the man and grabbed his tie and pulled him inside. George walked over to the house, walked up the steps and almost tripped on a letter that hadn't been posted. He picked it up and read the name: Mr & Mrs B. Hoganstein. And from that moment a plan was put in motion. A plan that would end in murder, lies and later arson.

Monday 19 September 2011

An Un-Birthday Tea Party!

Its my 50th post!

After weeks of preparation it finally arrived! On Saturday was my Un-Birthday Tea Party shindig and my it was fun! I was inspired to have the tea party after looking through 'Everything Alice' a Wonderland book of makes. It has reciepes, hows to make various things for a party and its centered around the theme of Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland.

Started the day off by making biscuits and manically making some Pear and Ginger Cordial. I also quickly put together a Cheshire Cat for a game of 'Pin the Grin on the Cheshire Cat' just before my first guest arrived. I was also still icing the 'eat me' biscuits when a few more guests arrived.
We all enjoyed plenty of tea, each guest with their own tea cup and saucer, which I had gathered together over the past weeks. Our background music was from Disney's Alice in Wonderland (the awesome animation not the trash Tim Burton one). The Pina Colada fruit tea and the Strawberry tea seemed to be the most popular, Both very delicious. There was also an assortment of savory snacks for everyone to nibble at. After a few cups of tea, we played pass the parcel. And I annoyed everyone with my fancy cellotape because it may have looked nice but very difficult to rip off.



Later into the evening we consumed even more tea and biscuits and played 'Pin the Grin on the Cheshire Cat'. We ate lots of cake of all kinds, made by me, my sister and my friend. We were all quite full but still managed to try a bit of the 'Drink Me Cordials' I had made. There was Strawberry and Raspberry Refresher that was quite sweet and the Pear & Ginger Cordial which went well with lemonade.



The party was a success and I enjoyed myself immensely! I think I will definitely have another.

Thursday 15 September 2011

Hand cuffs, Free t-shirts and Live Music

On Tuesday I managed to acquire some tickets to the premiere of British musical festival film You Instead.

Amy and I got to Camden for the premiere at the Odeon thinking it was just a screening until I noticed that the actors were outside (well it was the lead actor's twin brother but I can't tell them apart). We didn't have to wait long before we were allowed to sit in the very hot screen. We squeezed past the photographers taking photos of the actors to get to the room. I managed to tell Amy, 'It's Archie from Monarch of the Glen!' but I think only me and my sister watched it. Anyway, we managed to get seats in the same row as the actors, which was quite cool and then after waiting until the seats filled up, the actors and director came out and introduced the film.

I had heard about the film before but not really delved into my research so it was quite enjoyable to watch. It was set at T in the Park music festival and was about two rock stars who, after an argument, get themselves hand cuffed together. Of course it was predictable and we all knew the ending but it was fun to watch. The lead actors were great, they performed live on stage and in some ways felt like a documentary.

After the film everyone tried as quickly as they could to leave the cinema and make their way to the Camden Barfly. This is because we were all invited to the after party. On our way out  we were given a free t-shirt, some badges and the offer of being hand cuffed while we walked to the Barfly. We declined this offer. When we got there, we were given two free drinks and all crammed into the small venue.

A singer who appeared in the film was first to perform, a very quiet, soulful lady who played a strange instrument, it looked like a mini xylophone. Next were a band, The Great Gatsby, who had won a competition. They were quite fun, I enjoyed their music but some of their songs felt a bit samey. Then Luke Treadaway himself got up on stage a performed acoustic versions of the songs in the film, I particularly liked the song You Instead. Lastly Natalia Tena, the lead actress, performed on stage with her band (not from the film, her actual band) Molotov Jukebox who were awesome. Besides guitars and drums, they had a trumpet, violin and she played the accordion. The music was great, it was a mix of ska, punk, gyps and pop. It got most people who could move, dancing, including me and Amy. But sadly we had to leave to catch our last train home.

It was great night! If you fancy seeing the film, You Instead is out 16th September and here is the website http://www.youinstead.com/


Monday 12 September 2011

Postcards from the Edge (of Berlin)

As I might have mentioned before in a previous post, I have a habit of picking up free postcards, leaflets, free magazines, even if I haven't visited or seen the things advertised. In my recent trip, for my 22nd Birthday, to Berlin, this was no different. Anywhere where we (me and my sister) went I picked up something, if there was something to pick up. I found myself, firstly looking at the awesome places we visited then secondly eyeing up the leaflet stands. There were also an awful lot of places to buy postcards and not tourist type cards but quirky, cool and arty cards, so I of course had a great time buying many postcards.






A more detailed post about Berlin will follow soon . . .

Tuesday 6 September 2011

The Black Abyss of Righteous Hatred Darkly Gothic Poem

Just having a bit of fun. Having just sent off a short story and a poem to a couple of competitions I found a website : http://www.deadlounge.com/poetry/poems.html where you can create your own Gothic Poem, so have a go!

Here is mine:

The Black Abyss of Righteous Hatred

what have you wrought?
a haze of misery as memories twist.
once we tasted paradise,
innocent and wide-eyed,
but your desire perished.
a vengeful fever of agony -
tears follow rain, follow pain,
love torn apart.
in a torrent of vengeance,
i condemn you.

Monday 5 September 2011

The Fox Whisperer

Just a short blog before I leave for Berlin.

The other day, my friend Amy and I decided to visit a park we used to go to when we were younger, I really wanted to go on the swings but of course there were some teenagers screaming about in the play area of the park. After they had left I finally got on the swings. We talked about the past until it got too cold to sit on the swings and walked back.

The park is on the other side of a dual carriage way and to get to the other side you have to go through a subway or underpass. When we reached the other side Amy spotted a fox trying to cross the carriage way on the other side. It slowly ventured across but it was too slow and I heard cars coming nearer, so I screamed out to the fox, 'Get out of the road! A car is coming fool!' and the fox looked up at us and then at the on coming cars and darted back. When it was safely back on the pavement I started clapping and cheering it, Amy thought I was crazy. It waited a while, watching the cars zoom past. Then I decided to call out to it again 'Use the underpass!' and I pointed towards the path. The fox looked at us, not moving. So I shouted again and Amy, amused said 'You seriously talking to a fox?' then, the fox walked down the path to the underpass tunnel.

After that we got excited and waited to see if the fox had actually gone through the tunnel. After about 10 minutes, there it was. The fox came through the tunnel and casually walked towards us before deciding to disappear through a garden fence. So now I think the foxes understand me or it could have been a fluke, either way, it was awesome!