Well now it’s time for the lads to set us girls straight.

Last night I asked a few friends on Facebook what they don’t understand about men.

Now girls being girls, they got a bit carried away and started ranting a lot about boyfriends and ex’s so it was rather entertaining for me.

Once I got a shed load of questions I then realised one thing- I’m not a guy, so I can’t really answer these…

Due to this minor complication I then decided to mix things up a bit and just ask guys to explain themselves straight up.

I asked two totally different guys to answer some of these questions us girls are all itching to know the answers too.

Now these guys will remain completely anonymous for their safety against women because some of the answers are rather brutal.

Girls sometimes the truth hurts so if you think you can handle it, read on, and see what men our age have to say for themselves!

1. Why do guys think it is impressive to sleep with lots of girls?

[guy 1] God knows? I think people forget that sex is quite fun…we all have needs! It’s our alpha male dominance coming in, we are all secretly still cavemen!

[guy 2] You get ‘lad points’ for it, guys like to look good in front of their friends.

2. Why do guys quite happily spend money on games for themselves but yet it’s too expensive to buy their girlfriends flowers?

[guy 1] I hate the gaming part, I cant stand it when my pals talk about xbox or ps3 it’s a load of shit.

[guy 2] We’d rather spend our money on something better than something that’s going to die in a few days time.

3. Why they can’t accept defeat when the girl is in the right?

[guy 1] Can girls accept defeat though lets be serious? No one likes to admit their wrong.

[guy 2] We like to keep our masculinity, I do admit when I am wrong but it’s not easy!

4. Why are guys so emotionless?

[guy 1] It’s a pride thing. We boil it all up and it usually comes out after a few beers anyway. Man hugs and bromance is big, I think I can tell my best mates anything!

[guy 2] We do have emotions, we just don’t show them in front of girls. We’re supposed to comfort the girl so it’ll never work if we’re both emotional wrecks!

5. Why are guys so immature and different when they’re with the friends?

[guy 1] Easy, it’s because its fun to muck about and act a twat with your pals!

[guy 2] Every man has an immature side, if they don’t then they’re just dull and boring and that is hardly attractive to girls.

6. Why don’t guys do things straight away?

[guy 1] We can’t multitask  apparently…

[guy 2] Sometimes it’s just not the most important thing to us at the time.

7. Why are guys never on time?

[guy 1] That’s not always true! I’m so OCD about timing, I love getting into work early and it proper annoys me when people are late.

[guy 2] If a guy doesn’t have a serious job then they don’t understand the importance of time. Before I had a job I was even late to my own girlfriends birthday but now if I have to be there at a certain time, i’ll be there!

8. How some guys can say they’re in love but still flirt with other girls?

[guy 1] Fair play some people may over do it but a harmless flirt does not mean anything at all if you and your girlfriend know nothing will ever become of it. I love flirting with my pals mums! Jackie

[guy 2] Sometimes it’s just their personality and we do it without even thinking it’s flirting. But, some guys do it just because they’re not really in love and still need approval from other girls.

9. Why do guys always compare sex to porn?

[guy 1] You learn more about sex in the year seven toilets bluetoothing filthy shit to each other than you do in sex ed classes.

[guy 2] It’s inspiration and sometimes we don’t even think about what effect it’ll have on the girl and how much they’ll like it!

10. Why can guys burp and fart but we can’t?

[guy 1] It’s just not lady like, simple.

[guy 2] It goes against all rules of being a girl, you’re supposed to appear pretty and sweet all the time not disgusting and dirty- that’s hardly going to turn us on!

If you haven’t noticed yet, it is in fact June.

You’re probably thinking right now- ‘its been June for 12 days now Kristy, why has it taken so long for you to blog?’…

Well I do hope you’ll let me off just this once because I don’t normally leave it this long to do updates but I have actually been on holiday and been rocking out at concerts.

About 10 days before we set off on June 4, Georgia and I did a really spontaneous thing and decided to book a week to Tenerife, because we can.

On the 1st David and I spent the day in London to see All Time Low, Kaiser Chiefs and Green Day (which was awesome), then all of a sudden it was time to go on holiday- hence why I’ve only just been able to write this blog.

The holiday however was a bit of a disaster in some ways, one thing after another went wrong.

We got to the apartment the morning we landed to find that the idiot in the house above had decided to leave his tap on.

That meant that the whole ceiling in the apartment was soaking wet and covered in mold, yuk.

Luckily enough we could stay in our other apartment next door so It could have been much worse.

On the plane journey there we met two guys called Andy and Liam from Southend (an hour away from us).

It just so happened they were staying five minutes away from us so we shared a taxi back to Christianos and ended up spending pretty much the rest of the four days with them.

Now if you’ve been to Tenerife or if you’re planning on going to Tenerife, you MUST MUST MUST go Siam Park- it’s awesome!

And that’s coming from someone who said last year they hated waterparks.

If you don’t go there, you’re missing out.

The end of the holiday was also a disaster and I actually ended up coming home WITHOUT Georgia.

As well as being delayed because of the air traffic strike in France, Georgia wasn’t allowed to get on the plane because her bag was apparently half and inch too big- which is a load of rubbish because it was the exact same bag she came with!

After what sounded like to be a bit of a showdown with some horrible Spanish airport people she told them where to shove their flight and has now got another four days free holiday as she’s staying with friends, lucky sod.

It’s all been drama drama so far this month!

I know I’m about five days late but OMG at BGT. I STILL haven’t seen it but how crazy was that final, I’ve never heard of something so crazy to happen on TV.

It’s defiantly on my list of catch up TV.

Talking about catch up TV- OMG at TOWIE!

Anyway I’m going to move on from TV and boring stuff now and actually talk about what June has in store for us…

Nothing.

Ha, I’m joking, if you haven’t noticed my brain is all over the place today, need to get back into the swing of blogging properly!

If you cast your mind back to before I went away I did a blog on the lovely Doug Panton.

He has now released his EP and is currently number 13 on the iTunes singer/songwriter charts!

That’s on par with artists such as Tom Odell, Nina Nesbit and Ed Sheeran so WELL DONE DOUG!

If you haven’t downloaded it already you should do it right now, heres the link- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/doug-panton-ep/id647840964.

Film wise I can’t really think of any films that are out this month so you’ll all just have to wait until July when Monsters Inc 2 comes out YAYYYYY!

Right I’m going to go now, I still haven’t unpacked my case, I have washing allllllllll over my bed to put away and still haven’t gotten dressed from the shower I had about two hours ago…

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Girls have I got a treat for you…

If you cast your minds back to December when I caught up with up-and-coming artist Sam Callahan, he told us all about his adventures with BFF’s District 3 and his new single ‘Runaway Train’.

Now he’s back with a brand new single and a somewhat ‘crazy campaign’ to promote it!

Sam has been doing a bunch of crazy things over the last month to promote his new track ‘Crazy’ and to also raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust.

In-between bungee jumping off bridges, zip wiring through quarries and eating giant pizza’s I managed to catch up with him and see what it’s all about…

Hey Sam! Last time we spoke was way back before Christmas, for me time has just flown by but for you it must have gone a lot faster, what have you been up to in the last few months?

Since we last spoke it’s been manic! It seems like it was only a week ago since I left my band back in 2012. I have been in the studio a lot, had a lot of radio interviews and air time, tonnes of different gigs but keeping me busier than anything is the Crazy Campaign for my new single and of course the ‘3eek Out Tour’ with District 3!

What was it like touring with Union J and District 3?

That was a great couple of weeks! It’s awesome to be touring with the D3 boys again this month too! It’s always different when you’re on tour with mates, because there’s no holding back with the banter! You all know each other inside out already! Union J are really cool guys too, when both the bands were on Xfactor obviously I was one sided with D3 because they’re my mates but there was no issues between any of the boys like the programme often made out and I loved touring with the both of them!

Did you get a good response from the release of your first single Runaway Train that was released in January?

Yeah, considering the way we released it, it went amazingly. I got told I was going to be on a certain major radio show and was going to sing to Calvin Harris and get to plug my stuff. This meant that we ended up putting Runaway Train out on iTunes well before we originally planned to. The radio show didn’t then end up being quite what they’d promised and it felt like a bit of a premature release, but we still got some major coverage and I was gobsmacked at the downloads. Just need to double it all now with the new one, Crazy!

Your next song Crazy, what is it about?

It’s about finding that person who is just right for you and who you want to go mad and experience all those ‘Crazy’ things with! Hence why we did a whole bunch of ‘Crazy’ things for the campaign… Shame I didn’t have that special someone to do it with me, eh!?

What inspired you to write it?

I wrote it about someone I was head over heels about at the time. It’s always a good topic when you’re a 19 year old boy- the world is your oyster!

What is different about this song to Runaway Train?

I wrote Runaway Train about a really serious time in my life. I got shown everything that I could have had, then reality struck and I realised no matter how much work I was going to have put into it, I had to take it upon myself, turn my back on a potentially massive opportunity and 4 people who I loved and go it alone. Sometimes you have to take a risk. On the other hand the new single, ‘Crazy’, is a catchy song with a fresh, summer vibe. It’s much more of a feel good song which, let’s face it, we all need in our lives!

Why did you choose Teenage Cancer trust for your Crazy Campaign?

Before I was born my Nan had cancer, 20 years later she’s bright and bubbly as anything. I know I wasn’t around but I am fully aware of the effects that it had on my family. I as a teenager am equally aware of the difficult time that people go through at this time in their lives. It’s hard to be a teenager, no we don’t pay tax, no we don’t have to fend for our family etc. but it is certainly the time in our lives where we are the most vulnerable. You get judged as a teenager in school and out and hormones are off the scale! All of these things on top of having something like Cancer, must be a living hell. I’ve supported various charities over time and once we’d decided on doing 15 crazy things to promote the new single I thought about the fact that some people only do one of those things for charity. I have to do this for a good cause! I’d love to be able to help people more. Who knows, one day if this all works out maybe i’ll be able to make a bit of a bigger difference.

Who picked the challenges?

My family and I! I picked the cool ones like, Sky diving and jumping dirt bikes, then everyone was like, ‘you can’t just look cool, you have to look a muppet too!’ and that’s how, pole dancing, Morris dancing and crossing London dressed as a Spartan came about!

Which challenges have you completed so far?

LOADS! It’s easier to list what I’ve got left… I have yet to, jump a clear round on a horse (bare in mind I don’t ride!), jump a dirt bike over some of my friends and skinny dip in central park … I hope the weather brightens up for that!

How did the others go?

So far… I’ve stayed in one piece, there is still time however! Sky diving was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. The hardest was by far the 26” pizza that was sickening. The scariest was the bungee. Everything inside you goes, ‘Sam don’t jump off a bridge you nut case!’ yet you still have fight that voice inside and just go for it.

Have you had a lot of fans turning up at the challenges to cheer you on?

Yes, I’ve been really impressed! Most of the time we get about 30 or 40 fans come to each event which is nice. I do have to mention though, the 100mph Zip Wire in Wales was pretty much half way up a mountain! On the way we were saying, ‘there is no way that anyone has come to see this up here!’, but they had! I was shocked!

As you become more and more famous have you had anymore strange experiences recently?

Errrrrm, I guess so, I am getting used to weird stuff though, haha! I was on a tube train the other day and someone had put a sticker of me on the Tube Map which was funny. Also I get things shouted at me a lot. Some very inappropriate things! It’s all fun though, just try to avoid shouting at when my grandparents are around please!

Lastly, have you been working on an album, if so when is it out?

Yes, I’m always writing and recording but there is no confirmed date as yet! But hey, check out the new single! Here’s the trailer and event page!!!

facebook.com/events/502694136464862/

Watch the videos for all of Sam’s Crazy Campaign events on his YouTube channel.

Read Sam’s first interview with misskristyanna.com here!

]]> http://www.misskristyanna.com/2013/05/31/sam-callahans-crazy-campaign-interview/feed/ 0 http://www.misskristyanna.com/2013/05/28/60-seconds-with-doug-panton/ http://www.misskristyanna.com/2013/05/28/60-seconds-with-doug-panton/#comments Tue, 28 May 2013 11:15:57 +0000 Kristy http://www.misskristyanna.com/?p=2612

This week I’ve caught up with Singer/Songwriter Doug Panton.

Doug is another incredible up and coming artist from Essex trying to break out into the world of music.

He tells us all about his new EP which is out on June 10 and how it all started…

So Doug, for everyone that doesn’t know you yet, tell us a bit about yourself!

Where are you from?

I’m from Essex, UK

Where did you go to school?

I went to Honywood community science school, Colchester

Are you at uni now?

No, I chose to pursue a career in the music industry

Now for some music questions!

How long have you had a passion for music?

Ever since the age of 11 really… My mum and I started piano lessons together and I picked it up really quickly. To me it was always a little competition to see whether I could learn the pieces quicker than my mum, she then soon stopped having lessons and I carried on progressing.

When did you know music was what you wanted to do as a career?

I think toward the end of high school I knew a career in music was what I wanted to do. I soon learnt at college that no other subject interested me the way music did, I just love the creativity.

What’s the biggest crowd you’ve played to?

I played in-front of 15,000 people at the International Jamboree 2012 which was intense!

Tell us a bit about your new EP!

What can we expect?

You can expect handmade songs with poetic melodies and lyrics with thunderous percussion.

What inspired you to write these songs?

I wanted to write songs with lyrics that would resonate within people through different stages in their lives. Most of the songs are drawn from my own relationship views and dictate stages throughout my relationship.

When is it out, where can we buy it from!

My 5 track EP will be available on most major online stores for around £1.96 on June 10^th worldwide!

WORLDWIDE?! WOW!

You’re pretty huge on YouTube too…

How many video views have you had?

I can’t remember of the top of my head, i think it’s about 100 thousand!

Have you been pleased with the response?

I love posting videos on YouTube and seeing the response given. It’s a great place to share content and meet new people.

What would you say is your biggest musical achievement so far?

Creating this EP! I have never been more pleased with anything I’ve ever made before.

Who is the most exciting person you’ve worked with so far in your career?

I worked with a producer in London last year who wrote songs for “Steps” and other really famous artists which was an amazing experience.

Who is your idol/biggest inspiration?

It’s got to be Jamie Cullum. Although I really like artists like Ben Howard and Bruno mars… diverse I know!

What would you want to do if you couldn’t pursue music as a career?

I honestly have no idea. Music is all I ever want to do!

Lastly what are your plans for the future? Is there an album in the pipeline?

Lots of shows, festivals and studio time! I have lots of things in the pipelines that may determine my future in the industry… but you guys will just have to follow me to see what happens.

dougpantonmusic.com

facebook.com/dougpantonmusic

twitter.com/dougpantonmusic

Rock, Pop, Dance, Dubstep the lot.

However I absolutely love dance-hall, reggae and all sorts of Afrobeat sounds.

Carnival in Jamaica is at the top of my bucket list purely for the music and as soon as Sean Paul or anything similar comes on in the club I go MAD.

This is half the reason why I’m so obsessed with Kisstory on Kiss- back in the 90′s dance-hall and funky reggae music were big.

However thanks to the evolution of music, no body cares about bongo drums and dancing any more and it’s all about making dance tracks that sound the same as everything else in the chart.

As soon as Justin Timberlake announced his return at the beginning of the year I knew this year was going to be a good one.

With Justin and now Daft Punk bring back some old school sounding tunes to the music scene, dance-hall and reggae sounding music is slowly creeping it’s way out of the woodwork.

Music is changing back to how it was in the good old days but that doesn’t mean everything is going to sound old.

A new genre of music called Azonto is hitting the charts and it’s proving to be just as popular.

Azonto is a dance and a music genre originating from Ghana.

If you remember a few weeks back on the Britain’s Got Talent auditions, we saw three girls called CEO Dancers take the stage.

Not just the usual dance act, these girls took the crowd and judges by storm with their African inspired dance moves.

I know I certainly loved it!

If you’ve been listening to Kiss FM a lot lately you would have also heard a song called Antenna.

This new song, Antenna is by London artist Fuse ODG.

In September 2012, Fuse ODG launched his EP called “The Buzz!” which gave him his first Australian number 1 with the track  ’Azonto’.

Azonto quickly become an anthem for the Ghanaian dance craze of the same name.

Fusing commercial pop sounds with an African rhythm and distinctive percussion it results in an infectious ‘afrobeats’ sound that you just can’t help but dance to!

He then started a campaign to promote his new song Antenna- this was a dance competition where people posted their videos on YouTube of them doing the Azonto dance to the new song.

The viral videos gained over 1,000,000 views on You Tube in less than two months.

If you love flash mob style videos you’d love these.

Now available to order on iTunes, Fuse is setting the scene for what is going to be a big year for Afro-pop.

Here are a few of the top ten video competition entries, hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

www.fuseodg.com

This suddenly had a light bulb moment and remembered something I saw on a friends Facebook a few weeks ago.

As it actually starting to look a lot like summer, I though I might share it with you all because its so hilarious/true.

BBQ RULES by Phil Bowyer.

We are about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity . When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

(1) The woman buys the food.

(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.

(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – beer in hand.

(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:
(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

(6) The woman goes inside to organise the plates and cutlery.

(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat

Important again:
(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.

(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes

And most important of all:
(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ‘ her night off ‘, and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.

Aspiring to be Iron Man and making as much noise as possible, local director/friend Dan Allen reveals all his adventures of being a multi-award winning film maker at just 19.

You’ve read the article in the paper but now you can read the whole interview…

So Dan, tell us a little bit about where you’re from etc.

I live in Kelvedon, Essex, I went to Honywood School in Coggeshall, Colchester Sixth Form and now study Literature at UEA in Norwich.

Tell us a bit about your new film Audition.

It’s a short thriller film that goes a bit like this: On a cold British evening, Cherry smith goes for an audition at first-time director Beaufort’s Bladamir’s house, whose passion for realism pushes the boundaries of cinema, and Cherry herself.

Sounds exciting!

Where did you get the idea from?

This was the first project I developed that I didn’t write myself, but I knew about autumn last year that I wanted to explore screenplays elsewhere, which also helped me learn about myself, how I work and how I write. The screenplay caught my attention immediately and I could instantly envision it.

So how old were you when you got your first video camera?

I think I was about 10 or eleven. I have some memories of making videos earlier than that. I was always fascinated with the production process of making a film. Me and my brother used to pretend to make films like jumping onto mattresses into gardens pretending we were shooting stunt scenes and things like that. I have a DVD with a lot of this material on which I actually credited my dad as the director; I’m not sure why although he was in my early films and I even sneak him into my newer films.

When did you first realise you had a passion for film making?

I think I always knew I had a passion for films, and stories. I used to line up my toys and act out movies with them which was fun. But I’d be very particular. I think I had Digimon toys and for me the fun was not letting them ‘digivolve’, but building up the suspense. For the nonexistent audience… When I was 12 or 13 my parents allowed me to spend A LOT of my money on a student license for Adobe Software, which is still very expensive. That was one of the key moments when I realized I was really attacking film.

You won an award for your first film that was titled End, what was it like when you won your first award at just 15?

Amazing really! I had just recovered from illness and during that time which had incapacitated me through most of year ten I could really think about things, reflect and plan ahead. So that’s when I actually made my first real short film with an actual story, and next minute my parents had booked tickets to Belfast off to the award ceremony and winning was amazing. There were about a thousand people there and having my name called out made me realize more than anything that this was what I wanted to do and I could do it!

Since then you’ve gone on to win more and more awards, what others have you won?

Education for Leisure, inspired by Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, was my most successful film I believe. I was young so I wasn’t familiar with the whole festival deal but it won top prizes at the Coca Cola Cinemagic Film Festival and then The No Limits Prize at the No Limits Film Festival. It’s also done the best online, over 100,000 views which is amazing! Husky went to the Abruzzo Festival in Italy and a few other films won nominations and awards in Canada and America.

Were you pleased with the great response Husky got last year?

Definitely. I can’t not be. It didn’t get welcomed with open arms to that many festivals as I had hoped, it’s a slightly surreal film and perhaps it is too surreal. But it has really taken off on YouTube now, about 30,000 views, which is still 70,000 short of Education for Leisure. But both are getting amazing response from a large audience, which I couldn’t be happier about! I really try to engage with comments as well because the internet can kill some of the personable, intimate edge you get with festivals so I’m trying to make up for that!

Do you think Audition will be as big?

I think so. And by that I mean it’s an easier sell in the way it has a strong genre edge, but what I love about it is that it’s unconventional. It’s extremely character based in the way that there’s an intense dialogue between the two main characters which really establishes the dynamics between them: Lauren Shotton and Carey Thring are amazing. If you’ve seen the trailer you know what I mean on Carey’s part. Because of this I’m hoping it gets a better festival reception and if it can do as well as Husky online then I’ll be best pleased. I’ve got a bit of a campaign planned for it to help this happens.

I can’t wait to find out about that!

So do you think you have what it takes to be the next Stephen Spielberg or Alfred Hitchcock?

That would be nice! I mean I want to make films that have a large audience just so I can share stories with more people. I really like thriller, which is the closest thing I have to a niche, but I’ve really enjoyed recently playing around with conventions; creating a comedy and a drama through the frame of a thriller.

Who do you aspire to be like?

As a person? Iron Man. As a director, I think it would be lovely to make a living doing what I do. I’ve always been in love with the process and I don’t want that ever to change. I wrote a quote once that ‘the finished film is but the icing on the cake I thoroughly enjoyed baking’. Its slightly pretentious maybe, but it rings true. I have so many stories bottled up inside of me that I am just desperate to find the platform to share them.

Talking of superheroes, do you have any local or international heroes?

I have a lot of musician heroes. Music inspires a lot of my work. There are many directors I admire, Christopher Nolan, Hitchcock, but like I said, music is a big inspiration. Jason Lancaster, for those that know who he is! His music seems very personal and creates a sense of himself and the place he is at, although he’s in a band (Go Radio); it’s not that I am looking to make personal movies, I don’t think I have ever done that, it’s just I like encapsulating a certain mood or atmosphere that says this person’s life is like this, these are the textures and this is the atmosphere. My composer Chris Hanson helps me achieve that as well.

You’ve worked with a lot of people, name some of the best.

Ooooh… I’m trying to think if I can namedrop here… I mean I like to work with local people as much as professionals because it creates this hybrid atmosphere on set where everyone is professional and incredibly enthusiastic. It’s amazing. I worked with Glen Murphy (London’s Burning, Lost in Italy) on Lost in Italy, I helped them make a trailer which was fun. Lauren Shotton was in Harry Potter and I love harry Potter so she immediately gets a gold star.

Anyone who you enjoyed working with the most?             

Arrg… I’d name everyone if I could. Really, I work with a similar crew a lot who know who they are and they are all amazing! Lily Staff has probably been in more of my films than anyone else but she has run away to Cambridge and is producing shows and studying. She is being quickly caught up by Louise Ann Munro though.

Haha, what is your most amazing film-making experience so far?

I got to go to Canada once to develop a film idea with a friend which was awesome. Audition was the biggest thing I have done personally, in the sense that there was a lot of people involved so it was all very exciting. I remember being so physically drained (because I was ill at the time) and from the long, long hours, three days shooting Audition, and then just sitting back, eating a Chinese and realizing how much fun it really was.

Wow, so come on then, what are your plans for the near future? Any little secrets you can let us in on?

I can tell you what I am doing? I am currently writing my second feature screenplay, which has been written in mind to make a cost effective, high-impact film with the resources which are currently available. Whether that all goes swimmingly I’ll have to wait and see. I’m putting the finishing touches on Audition as well. I really want to take that next leapfrog and tell a narrative which expands across a longer, feature length duration. I’ve been very acute to ensure that my work of late offers a sense of story and progression that mirrors the likes of a longer story. It’s just finding the right people to help make that happen.

Lastly where do you want to be in a decade?

In a decade I’d love to be making a living directing. That’s hurdle number one. I make a bit of money from YouTube but it’s all injected back into new films. I’d love to be in a position where I can pitch some of my ideas and people will listen. I’m just trying now to make as much noise as possible I suppose.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DAN ALLEN FILMS HERE

danallenfilms.com

danallenfilms.wordpress.com

twitter.com/asproductions

facebook.com/danallenfilms

youtube.com/danonabouncycastle

Now to be totally honest with you, I really wasn’t looking forward to working at a newspaper but you never know what it’s like until you try it.

Surprisingly enough, I loved it.

I got there on the first day and within an hour I’d already done my first piece of writing.

I then went out with the crime reporter to find out some information about a teenager who fell through a warehouse roof.

It just so happened that it was my boyfriend’s sister’s ex-boyfriend’s best friend AND my cousin knew him too.

So within two hours I’d written my first story and succeeded at my first piece of investigative journalism which resulted in a lovely article written by the crime reporter himself.

After such a successful morning who would have thought the rest of the day would have been even better.

When I met with the Chief reporter a few days before my placement started he told me to think of some ideas for stories, so I did.

I pitched it when I got there and by the end of the day I had my first story ready to go into the next day’s paper!

The rest of the week was pretty much the same.

On the Tuesday I went  to court with the court reporter and saw some rather random cases and gave my shorthand a little bit of a practise.

When working in a daily newspaper it’s completely different to working in a  magazine because it’s so fast paced you don’t have time to record every interview with your Dictaphone then transcribe it, so shorthand is used a hell of a lot.

When you haven’t used your shorthand in four months this is a bit daunting to start with but as time goes on you start to use it more and more.

There’s also a huge difference with shorthand exams to using shorthand in real life.

In a shorthand exam you’re trained to get down every single thing that has been said but in the real word doing that would just be ridiculous so you learn to just listen out for the good facts and quotes and get them down.

It suddenly dawned on my halfway through the week that the reason why I was loving working at my local daily paper was because I’m really nosey.

I’m forever being told by my boyfriend that I’m so nosey and have to know everything first, which is true, and that’s why I loved working locally!

Over the week I kept feeding them ideas and from that I got more and more stories which was great for both me and the paper.

I really enjoyed my last week of work experience and the amount of cuttings I got from just five days was insane!

A word of advice to those who think they’ll only like working in magazines, just go for it- Get a week at your local paper, bring loads of ideas with you and even use the things your friends are up to for story ideas, you’ll have an amazing week, meet some great people and get lots of bylines if you’re willing to put in the work.

To see all my stories from my week at the gazette head to the Portfolio page now!

For now, my adventures as an intern have come to an end and it’s time to get a job.

I have some exciting interviews coming up so wish me luck.

Ooooh! Also before I forget, that horrible PA exam I had to resit- I NAILED IT!

Have a great week everyone.

NEW SITE? Have no fear, everything is still here!

Over the last few days, I’ve spent more time inside building this new site than I have outside!

But finally the wait is over.

Now I know it doesn’t look all that different but I’ve actually now moved over to wordpress.org instead of wordpress.com which for all you geeky people out there like me you’ll know this is going to make a HUGE difference to my site for both you and me from now on.

So why misskristyanna.com?

Well, after launching my competition last month I got loads of really cool interesting ideas come through to my inbox which was great!

Some were really adventurous and some were extremely random but in the end the simple ideas were the ones I seemed to like.

The whole point of relaunching and renaming my website was to make it more professional so simple seemed like a good idea.

It just so happens that someone popped up on facebook to me a few weeks ago and suggested to keep it simple, something along the lines of kristy.com or kristybimbo.com. That person just so happened to be an old friend from my first year at college, Joel Ivell.

Now I knew straight away I was dropping the ‘Kristy Bimbo’ as that isn’t very professional.

But kristy.com still seemed a little boring…

This however inspired me to build onto it a little more.

kristybarber.com? Nope, my last name sucks and everyone will think its a hairdressers…

kristyanna.com? Na, too much like my email address…

misskristy.com? Nope, it still seemed too short.

Finally one day it hit me whist sitting there at a desk on work experience.

misskristyanna.com, I knew from that moment that was to be the new name.

I pitched it to boyfriend and mother and they both liked it so that was that.

So I know what you’re all thinking, the competition didn’t really pan out the way it was meant to BUT as Joel was behind the inspiration for the name I think he deserves the prize.

JOEL WATCH OUT £20 ODEON VOUCHER COMING YOUR WAY, just in time for Fast and Furious 6 next week, lucky sod

I would also like to thank my little worker mice from pipemediadesign.co.uk and smallbusinessesresources.com who have helped me a great deal over the last few days and without them I wouldn’t have even known where to start!

I hope you all like the new website and all it’s new fancy features, keep an eye out over the next week for some exciting interviews and I’ll also be updating my portfolio in the next few days so stay tuned.

The masterofteasing.com will still be live however from now on you will automatically be redirected to here as this is where the party is at!

One last thing, REMEMBER TO HIT SUBSCRIBE, everyone who is subscribed to themasterofteasing.com will no longer get email updates as I’m no longer going to be posting anything on there so hit subscribe now so you don’t lose out.

Have a good weekend!