Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in secretive_bus' LiveJournal:

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Friday, May 9th, 2008
11:41 am	Crikey! Update of the Year Realised I haven't posted here in almost a year (which rhymes). Since June of last year a lot has happened, really, besides the fact that I'm now 20 and a half. So, in order: 1) Over the Fringe 2007 I acted in a show written by the director about Evariste Galois, the mathematician who gave us a form of algebra and got shot in his early 20s in the name of the French Revolution. Or something. It was rather good, I thought, and reviews were generally positive. It was on for 2 weeks and I enjoyed myself a great deal; I played an evil headmaster who hated Galois, an eccentric maths professor who frustrated Galois, a jailer who imprisoned Galois, and the bloke what shot Galois. Good fun. 2) Living in a flat was top notch, mainly thanks to my fab flatmates. At no point in the year did we ever have a bust up and nary so much as an argument. Woo! 3) Over the course of the academic year 2007/2008 I've written/directed two shows: a second Fairly Familiar Things sketch show, and The Penguin Play, a play broadly about a writer with no ideas who spends more time worrying about his future than about what's happening in the present. And it had a penguin in it. Lots of people enjoyed it and I got a fair review from one of the newspapers: http://www.journal-online.co.uk/articles/show/2808 I also had some small character parts in a production of "Guards Guards!", a minor role in "Of Mice and Men", and played the male lead in David Hare's "Skylight" in which I got to stomp around a bit, shout, have sex, wear an open shirt and cry on stage. Very liberating. All student theatre, of course, but it passes the time and develops the ol' skills. 4) Throughout semester 1 I had a girlfriend. She was rather wonderful, for a while. Then she wasn't. 5) Still doing Classical Studies, and did very well in semester 1 (got an A in Ancient History, which pleased me) but I didn't enjoy the subjects given to me in semester 2. Still, my modules for next year look better: next semester I ought to be doing Ancient Biography, Early Greek Philosophy and Ancient Greek Women. I'll also only have lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays, meaning I get 5 days off per week. Splendid. For the future, aha: - I have my own Edinburgh Fringe show this year! "How to be Horrid: A Sketch Show", on 11th-23rd August 2008 at the Roxburghe Hotel. I've got a fantastic, lovely cast and will be writing, directing and doing stand up bits inbetween the sketches. It'll be a hard but rewarding experience, we reckon. - I've also got shows lined up for early in semester 1 already; The Penguin Play is getting a repeat performance in September, so I'll be directing that immediately after the fringe run finishes. And in October I'll be directing The Very Dead Show, a Halloween themed comedy with a cast of 20. I'll be writing it too so I ought to get that done in June while I've got spare time... - Myself and a few other like minded types have the notion of breaking away from the student theatre for a while and attempting comedy gigs in some of the bars and clubs around the city during the next academic year. We'll give that a whirl and see what happens. Woo! So, yes. By October 2008 I'll have written 6 shows and directed 7 (all comedy or comedy/drama) within the space of 2 years, which is pretty good going. I want to pick up the pace in the next few years, though, even I will be entering the difficult phase of my degree. I want to leave uni with genuine prospects of where to go with my writing and comedy nonsense, after all. Current Mood: productive (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 30th, 2007
10:37 pm	Doctor 'Oo series 3 ranking nonsense Absolutely wonderful: Human Nature, Family of Blood, Blink Quite good: Smith and Jones, Utopia (JACOBI!!!) Average: Gridlock, Daleks in Manhattan, The Sound of Drums Oh dear: Evolution of the Daleks Absolutely diabolical: Last of the Time Lords Didn't catch: The Shakespeare Code, The Lazarus Experiment, 42 I must admit, aside from That Scene Where Tennant Did Fab Acting in "Last of the Time Lords", I reacted to the whole episode with a rather long sigh of "Yeah, I used to like this series..." Still, fantastic episodes like Human Nature and Blink keep me watching the show. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
11:16 pm	Woo! So, what's been happening in my life since last time? 1) "How to be Horrid" was a fair success. It took the audience a while to get into it but once they did they laughed at most of the jokes and performances. The tech was rubbish, with our tech manager screwing up most of the lights and sounds - necessitating a degree of improv which sometimes got extra laughs (like when I ended up splurting tea all over the star, who was sat directly in front of me and had to keep a straight face) - but overall things went quite well. I've learnt from some mistakes and I'm ready to attempt a better play next year. 2) As well as doing another of my sketch shows in Freshers' Week, I've been cast in a Fringe play for 2 weeks, which is nice. Have no idea whether many people will see it - it's a short dramatic biopic of Galois, a French mathematician - but it'll give me experience. The cast's decent too. 3) I have a flat sorted out from September onwards, and also have a summer flat for July and August so that I can be around for the Fringe. 4) Exams were... OK. Classics stuff was fine, it's still the Christian Theology and Ethics course that remains a thorn in my side. I know I have to retake Christian Ethics exam, so here's hoping I didn't bugger up the Theology one too. Next year I can drop it all and concentrate on Classics and lovely Roman history. 5) I've missed half of New Who series 3, partly because what I have seen hasn't made me want to watch much of it. Turns out I missed a cracker tonight when I was instead watching my DVD of "Licence to Kill", so I'll catch the repeat tomorrow. It's vaguely telling that I probably won't bother asking the mater for the series 3 set as a birthday present as I did with series 1 and 2; I'd rather get that fabbo Key to Time set instead. Pirate Planet! Androids of Tara! Wahhh! 6) I rather like the 80s work of A-Ha. I think that's about it... Current Mood: full (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 12th, 2007
4:02 pm	University, och aye Back in Edinburgh after a mildly enjoyable Christmas and New Year. Went back to Portsmouth for a few weeks to see friends and family, and nabbed an award for best English Student at my old college. Spiffy. My lecturers for this semester are a pretty uninspiring lot who may indeed suck all the fun out of ancient Greek/Roman stuff, though I now have the complete series of "I, Claudius" to get me through - the best TV series ever made, surely? An utter masterpiece it is, it is indeed. I'm co-starring as Lord Henry Wotton in a production of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in February, which is fabulous as it's an adaptation of one of my favourite books and I'm playing one of my favourite fictional characters. It's going well so far; the cast and crew seem to like me and laugh at most of my jokes, so there's a good start. Playing the part is fairly easy, as he's basically me with a more interesting past (given that he sinned a lot, and I've still done nothing particularly dodgy at all, damn my eyes). I've finished writing "How to be Horrid: The Price of Principles" and indeed rehearsals have started already. I have a good cast, though I'm slightly apprehensive about my leads; they haven't really got into the characters of Reginald and Peter yet, especially as I can't help comparing them to the way that Ed and I played them in the sketch show. Ah well. The cast seem delighted with the script and their roles, so hopefully all will be well. If anybody's interested, here's the script itself: http://www.digitalbrain.com/simball2k/David/EDWARDIANETHICS-THEPLAY%5b1%5d.doc Otherwise, life goes on. Ho hum. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 23rd, 2006
3:55 pm	Comedy Stuff! "Hello, I'm David K. Barnes. The K stands for my middle name." Performed "Fairly Familiar Things", the sketch show, yesterday at Bedlam Theatre. It was a great success, with a wonderfully responsive audience who laughed at nigh on every joke. My cast were fantastic and felt a huge buzz from doing it and everybody really enjoyed the experience. It was great to do comedy on stage again. No rest for the wicked though - following the performances there was the company meeting to decide what shows should be put on next semester, and my proposal for the Edwardian Ethics stageplay, "How to be Horrid: The Price of Principles", was voted in 2nd out of 8 lunchtime proposals. So that felt good too. I just have to finish writing the bloody thing now; a Christmas holiday task there and no mistake. I already have quite a few actors wanting to be in it and people looking forward to the show itself! Hurrah! A farce of deception, marriage, murder and a foot getting bitten off; coming to Bedlam in March. Spiffy. Current Mood: ecstatic (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
9:11 pm	Theatrical Photos Just thought I'd pop in to blight you all with piccies of a theatrical nature, specifically to do with the ol' Barnsey sketch show being performed next week (gulp...). Things still fun, though stressy, and my cast are great to work with. Many of them are eager to work in my next play, should it be voted in by the company: "How to be Horrid: The Price on Principles" (Edwardian dark farce with marriage, manslaughter and somebody getting their foot bitten off). Still, as things go, here's the poster for the play, which should shortly be seen adorning walls at various studenty places around central Edinburgh: My goodly self as Reginald, Edwardian father, and his simpering son Peter: And Sir David of Bus surrounded by his cast: Cor blimey, yes. Current Mood: hopeful (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 16th, 2006
12:38 am	Oh, gosh, yes. Since my last post I have been avoiding work whenever possible, I have made quite a few new friends and I am directing and acting in a comedy sketch show I wrote, which is due to be performed at the Bedlam Theatre on the 22nd November. Blimey. Current Mood: accomplished (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 30th, 2006
1:46 pm	The Edinburgh Bus Since my last post, when things were at a very uncertain and low ebb, things have gone quite well here. I'm no longer stuck with the absolutely horrific English Literature degree course that I originally had; now I'm doing Classical Studies, which is far more interesting and enjoyable. As of this moment I'm doing Classical Literature (so copies of Homer's works that I bought at Newquay came in useful) and Ancient History, though am still lumbered with the tedious Christian Theology and Ethics outside course to make up enough points on the thingymajibbit. However, hopefully by year 3 or whatever I'll be specialising on my joyous classical things (which could include the Fall of Rome, Greek art, Homer's works, Greek philosophy and Roman Law). I've made a fair few friends around here, including a group of people who live in an annexe just around the corner from me. It's very difficult to actually get to know anybody on the courses, though. My accommodation is rather nice; single en-suite room which was designed for wheelchair access, so it's massive and three times as large as my bedroom back home. The food is not entirely wretched either. All in all, rather good. I ought to be doing far more reading than I actually am at present but most of the past few weeks have been spent at the Bedlam student run theatre, doing various workshops and the Fresher's play. Ah, indeed, the Fresher's play. Seven groups creating, scripting and performing a sketch each, supposedly inspired by titles of Shakespeare plays, most of which push and go beyond the boundaries of taste. I was in The Merry Wives of Windsor as Charles Windsor, a charming gent proposing to his lady love but who turns out to be a bigamist. Basically me looking aghast as various girls wandered on and made smutty puns, groped me, beat me up or burst into tears. And plenty of opportunities for me to talk to the audience. Performances went quite well overall. Monday and Tuesday were quite good, Wednesday was fantastic, Thursday I was off on my timing and then there was yesterday. Friday. The last performance. It's apparently a tradition for the last performance of the Fresher's play to be a complete mess, with the technicians playing jokes on the actors and everybody being drunk. The mini-directors took the cast out and got them sloshed, though they went too far as some people were too drunk to go on stage (including a French girl in our group, who came up to me and said "Do not worry, I am going to give you a big surprise," before promptly passing out; another girl took her place at the last minute and managed to beat me up very well). I, of course, was the only person boringly sober so was fearing the terrors of what would happen in our piece. Things altered, either by technicians or by the rest of my all-female cast, included: - The basket which was meant to contain plates, tea-cups, a teapot etc. had now been filled with cucumbers (a running gag for the play) and contained two large metal weights meaning that I couldn't pick the thing up, much to audience approval, and owing to the lack of props most of the lines had to be cut or made up on the spot; - cucumbers danced down from the ceiling on strings; - the girls' theme songs as they entered the stage had been switched round; - the first girl who came on rushed up and gave me a kiss on the lips; - said girl also poured milk on me after the "Could I have a splash of cream, darling?" line, though I managed to get my own back by dousing her with it too; - an American girl who was very drunk snogged me a few times and made certain that I noticed that her breasts were very nicely shaped; - some technicians rushed on and pretended to hit me and succeeded in pouring another liquid substance on me; - we now had a hot, lesbian kiss in the scene, which went down very well; - and, to end it all, I was dragged down again and rubbed and kissed in various places. All in all, quite a fun experience. I learnt that other sketches hadn't been tampered with nearly so much, either due to growing audience restlessness or because they didn't know how certain actors would react. Still, I enjoyed myself. Couldn't help it, really. And, if nothing else, I've got my face shown at the theatre. I'm going to have to check out the improverts, and some writers/performers for an occasional sketch show called News Offensive want me to do stuff with them, having read some of my sketches and seeing me "in action". I didn't get into any plays auditioned for this month but I'll keep trying there. And, in the mean time, I ought to do some work. Yes. I ought to. Lego Star Wars 2 is a very fun game. Just so you know. Current Mood: Cor blimey (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 2nd, 2006
9:51 pm	And now, with less than seven days left to go, things are finally sorted. My father is now definitely accompanying me to Edinburgh, which is good, and so there's now no more uni related things that I can do until I arrive there. In the mean time, every day is a succession of goodbyes. My gran and "uncle" John on Thursday, an aunt yesterday, and today i've just come back from my nan and aunt Kim's house. I have been to their house near enough every Saturday, every year of my life. A true tradition, down to watching a film in the evening whilst we eat dinner. It didn't really feel like the last time today. We watched The Time Machine in the evening, which has been my favourite film since I was 5, and a film they like a lot too (and we even watched "Doctor Who: The Rescue" before that, because my nan likes William Hartnell!). All very apt and such. In fact the last half hour of the evening was spent with me mocking that "Grumpy Old Women" programme on BBC2 (an absolutely inane and tedious show in which only Maureen Lipman seemed dignified) and them laughing. They've always appreciated some of my more acerbic jokes. It seemed strange saying "See you at Christmas!" I must admit I was surprised that nan, a very strong woman, actually cried. So did my aunt. Hum. I still think of it as strange that people will miss me, even when those people at my relatives. It just doesn't really occur to me at all. I know that they will, and it's natural and obvious, but... I really do have very low self-worth. Fortunately that's backed up by confidence and theatrical bon mots. Current Mood: weird (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 30th, 2006
1:25 pm	Uni accomodation! Well that's finally sorted. Single ensuite room in the Pollock Halls, in Holland A Block. Apparently Holland House has a small library. Super. Any Edinburgh types here know any more about it? And the sort of stuff I need to take (aside from obvious things like clothes, books, explosives etc.) But moving in is on Saturday 9th. Hmm. I rather wondered if they let in people gradually over the week. Apparently some people can move in earlier under special circumstances. I might look into that; would be easier for me and my parents... Current Mood: Gosh (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 29th, 2006
12:51 pm	Sir Tom of Baker Surely these are the most exciting and dramatic television advertisements ever made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbBiwJZjje8&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Pycl_Ak2M&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZROVe66wtU&mode=related&search= I don't even know precisely what it is they're advertising. Current Mood: ditzy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 27th, 2006
4:29 pm	The Myth Makers You know, I've just realised how much of a spoof "Doctor Who and The Myth Makers" is, and that several of its main jokes are completely lost unless you've read (or know a good synopsis) of "The Iliad". A spoof of 8th-6th century BC Greek Literature in a 1960s science fiction series. What the Hell was Doctor Who up to? I do wish it did it more often. Current Mood: Cor (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 26th, 2006
9:27 pm	And in a strange turn of events... ... I've just come back from a highly enjoyable holiday in Newquay. It was really nice to be around all my mates and living with them for a week, not to mention the enduring fun of caravan v caravan bitchfests (as the group had to be split into two). Much food was consumed and in-jokes created. And once again I was approached for relationship advice (why?) and spent my final evening with an inferiority-complex-ridden girl, leaping around a roundabout at midnight and shouting about how great they were. Which was fun, and diverted traffic twice (whoops). Mum telephoned me to say that I'd got my C in Italian, so that means I'm off to Edinburgh University in less than 14 days. Oh, and I bought some Penguin Classics for the sheer fun of it all: "Picture of Dorian Gray" (which I have already as part of a massive "Complete Works" but wanted a paperback to take with me to uni), "The Woman in White", Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (long Russian names agogo - I bought it simply because it looked interesting and I was on a spree) and Homer's "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". Splendiferous. "Iliad" was going very well until an eight page section giving laborious details of every ship in the Greek and Trojan fleets. Still, things could look up after that. So there we are. Current Mood: cheerful (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 18th, 2006
2:11 pm	Spooooon Despite creating a cunning new username at Youtube - conservativecoach (oh the wonder)- I still can't upload my 4 Who videos, as the City trailer was rejected as soon as uploaded, so I can't get by the system. It irritates me that all Who vids like that were forbidden for a time but people can just upload as many as they want now. My lovely Hartnell tribute will never be watched again. :-( Regarding my educational future, I've phoned an Edinburgh Uni person but it seems that they still won't consider accepting me fully until they've got the Italian GCSE - the AAA isn't enough. However, the problem is that they won't get the GCSE result automatically; I have to send them the relevant papers, which I won't receive until 24th Aug (and won't be able to send until the 26th/27th). And that begins the stream of administration nonsense that results in me hopefully getting to the Uni; Edinburgh gets the GSCE papers, they check their system, accept me, send on word to UCAS, they send me a letter I have to reply to, then Edinburgh sends me more letters hopefully letting me know about my accomodation and stuff like that. That's 4 postal journeys in 2 weeks, and I have to get up there in time for the 11th Sep. This really isn't very well organised. And Heavens knows what'll happen if I've failed Italian like I'm sure I have. See, this is why I don't (and didn't) celebrate getting AAA at A Level. In the meantime I'm off on a week's holiday tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it. Current Mood: worried (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 17th, 2006
1:06 pm	A Level results English Literature: A (571/600 - three exams with full marks and full marks on a coursework) Psychology: A (265/300 - full marks on coursework) English Language: A (528/600 - full marks on both courseworks) That'll do nicely then. Could have got into Oxbridge after all. Heh. (20 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 15th, 2006
9:00 pm	The Purple Rose of Skaro - animation Found this linked to in an OG thread. The Purple Rose of Skaro It's a rather fabulous animated story starring Davros and the Master and a whole host of other Who-related monsters (including delegate Sentreal, who nobody's ever heard of!). Unfortunately most of Davros's dialogue is nigh on impossible to make out, but it's still well worth a watch. Current Mood: amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 13th, 2006
5:18 pm	80's Porn Sylvester McCoy A while ago in Britain there were occasional live events that were called the Secret Policeman's Balls, started by John Cleese. They were a collection of music and comedic acts intended to raise money for Amnesty International. People like Peter Cook, the Monty Python gang, Rowan Atkinson, Peter Ustinov etc. all took part in them. I have the DVDs and, to be honest, the shows aren't very good. And one of them, the fourth show, presents the viewer with the glorious spectacle of Sylvester McCoy walking around the stage wearing nothing but a big grin and a pair of white pants (or "underwear" for the non British readers). Sylvester McCoy in his pants. Thank you, DVD box set. I may have to burn you. I'd post a screengrab to haunt you with but the disc unfortunately (?) doesn't work on any of my computer DVD players for some reason. I shall have to suffer alone. Though I think JR Loflin has a screengrab of it somewhere, which could avenge my now tainted soul. Current Mood: scared (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 10th, 2006
7:28 pm	Zoidberg, Zoidberg! Tennant! Woop. Well, one week till I get my A level results. The days are still going by without incident. I haven't been this inactive since I was released from my mother's womb. Nothing happening, nothing happening, see some friends, drink some beverages, nothing happening... And in other news, Doctor Who is now dressed like a postman. Current Mood: bored (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 6th, 2006
9:50 pm	I'm still alive. Just a brief note for those who were worrying that I might be dead. I may well be in a few weeks or so but I'm not at the moment. In this current limbo of results suspense my life consists of watching episodes of Futurama and MST3K whilst playing old Sega games on an emulator, with occasional pauses to read the assorted adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and whilst constantly saying to myself: "Why haven't I written a play yet? I have some ideas. Why haven't I written a play yet?" At least I finally managed to transfer the broadband from the old Win 98 machine to my mum's somewhat newer XP computer. That was something, I suppose. Setting her up for when I bugger off to uni. Still, despite constant boredom (and most of my friends are too poor at the moment to do anything, as they're saving everything for our holiday) at least I have a vague event schedule. 1. 10/11 days of continuing boredom; 2. Get A level results on the 17th. Find out whether I've failed on the first hurdle; 3. On the 19th I go away on holiday until the 26th. 4. On the 24th, during the above, I get the GCSE Italian thing. Assuming I haven't failed any A levels, this will be the second hurdle. 5. A maximum of two weeks until University starts on the 11th Sep, assuming I haven't failed any subjects. During this time I'll obviously be moving up to Edinburgh to get my life resorted. So, hopefully a maximum of 5 weeks left in England. Hum. And now to eat golden syrup cake. I might watch another episode of "Smiley's People" for more Sad-looking-Alec-Guinness action. In episode 3 he visited a German brothel whilst looking nervous around topless women. I doubt things will be as interesting in episode 4. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, July 29th, 2006
11:07 am	Yay! Make up! Had a good time at an 80s themed party last night celebrating the birthday of a close friend o' mine from college. Just a large group of us in a rented out club type establishment, eating, "dancing" and touching each other. And the world goes on. A good laugh, och aye. I didn't even have a costume after ages of searching and just went in my normal black trousers and a silvery, sheen type shirt. But, hurrah, my mum did lots of make up for me to accentuate the eyes and give me an Adam Ant sort of style. All purply silvery. With some sparkly bits. And adjusted my fringe a tad. My friends thought it looked great and I can safely say I was the only hetero male to go wearing obvious make up. It felt rather nice, actually. The mascara complemented my long lashes perfectly, y'know. Look at that superb, sexy... dragged up idiot. Gosh. When I think of it I touch myself. Current Music: Spandau Ballet - Gold (16 Comments |Comment on this)