Kangaroo Burger and Another Free Bar

This morning was a little bit all over the place as I left the house late and then forgot my receipts for my expenses claims so had to run back to get them then carry on my way to the station. I arrived late and caught a later train then normal and yet still arrived at the station at the same time? Is there some kind of time vortex then I keep going through on my way to work?

At work i was able to crack on with editing up some shows. I spent the morning adding in in idents and working out the best way to make it sound nice. I was doing really well, making sure I exported it to the correct folder with the right name and then dragging it into the appropriate area from the playout system to pick it up and broadcast it or to replace an on demand piece of audio. I also updated the show pages with the new playlists and relevant information. I was blitzing through it all and was able to work out some things i needed to do my self with out disturbing Lloyd or Steve on his last day. Before I finished transferring the last piece of audio to its correct folder there was suddenly a word spread from Marco that some shoes in the Office sale were at £0.00 and you only needed to pay for delivery. So we all dropped what we were doing and began for a shoe hunt to which Marco brought 5 pairs and Lloyd got 3 pairs and I got 1 pair. Whether or not we will get the shoes is another story as on the receipt I have they were free and only cost me £3.50 delivery how ever i’m sure they want to give the shoes away for free. I then left for lunch and headed down to bourough market for the last time.

When I got to the market after a nice warm walk, I took my time to browse the stalls and see what was on offer for my last buying at the market. There were massive rice dishes, german sausages and some weird veggie food bar but, int he end I went and got a thing and juicy Kangaroo burger just to say I’ve eaten a kangaroo haha! And to finish it off I got a fudge brownie and i just remembered that the other one is in the bag behind me… (midnight snack?)

Upon returning to work that was not much left for me to do so I went about searching for new music for my podcast tomorrow and to look for music to buy and download for my ipod. I found some really good songs and got them straight away whilst I waited for audio to export into the correct folders, the last of the weekend shows. Soon after a quick double check in the playout system all the audio had changed over fine. Everyone had started to gather in an area of the office so i got up to have a  look too and it was to be the speeches about Steve and Arnie leaving. But before I could watch I had Pavross grab me quick to do my expenses, he is a bit of a peculiar man but has a hilarious sense of cruel humor that is infections, he casually handed me over the money while mocking me in his obscure accent and colourful clothes haha. The speeches were very good and funny with Arnie almost crying bless him, over 14 years working there. They were presented with gifts and might fine ones at that then we half went back to not work and just got free beer and pizza haha!

Been there for just under a month and got 2 free bars out of it, not a bad turn out i’d say. It was pretty nice getting to sit out side with everyone and have a chat. I even got my self a free pair of MOS sun glasses! The party then soon moved to the loft part of the club where there was a live DJ and more free drinks that tasted like strawberry student night out drinks aha. I soon decided to venture and with a lovely good bye from Arnie both wishing each other luck and him not letting go of my hand… aha with parted with photos and his characteristic laugh. I then ventured off to find Steve to make sure I got to say goodbye to him before I left as I would not be seeing him Monday as he is finished at the mos after 5 years. He gave me some good advice of that an opinion is worth having now the key skill is knowing when to voice it and when to keep quiet and that 9/10 of the job is passion and that’s what you need to bring everyday. He also said that I’ve done a good job while i’ve been working with him and that i have shown I am capable and hard working and bring that passion that he was talking about. I shook his hand and wished him well and said thank you for all the help and then caught the tube home.

Another dull tube ride with me just listening to music and getting someone smiling back to me on the tube more then once! :O aha! Now for the weekend I need to get my hair cut for next week and look forward to going to a drum and bass arena launch party at MOS with some old uni friends and some from back home as I managed to use my MOS connections to get on the guest list and skip the que. So 3 days left, hope to make them damn good.

The Smiling Girl, Questionable Tapes and a Free Bar

The day started off with the train being delayed. But oh well just means more time to listen to some music. Eventually the train turned up and as it was delayed there was a whole host of people boarding. And as it went from station to station more and more people crammed them selves in. Everyone on the train looked miserable as usual and all I could do was just smile, trying to catch someones eye as I knew it would scare them to see another human actually being happy. As the train pulled up into Wembley Central I noticed a blonde girl with her back pack half full hanging from her shoulders as she wandered down the platform looking sort of lost. She turned around and caught my eye, but instead of doing the normal thing that most people seem to do in London which is pretend that your not looking at someone or to just turn away once you make eye contact I decided to smile at her. She smiled back looked away and looked back again and I was still smiling at her and she was still smiling too. It was probably due to me being the only happy person on the tube at the time and possibly my family guy ‘gigitty’ t-shirt but, as the train pulled away we were both still looking at smiling at each other and just before we lost sight of one another the smile had evolved into trying to hold in laughter and then eventually full blown laughter. Even though I will never see that person again she made my morning, even if everyone else on the train looked at me laughing and thought subtly to them selves ‘glad I’m not sitting next to him’.

At work Marco had already told me what I needed to be doing today and that was sorting through an assortment of tapes, write them up and then box them. Sounds pretty easy? Yeah I thought that too. But by the 7th box my forearms were killing form all the typing up of the names, some of the hand written tape names were impossible to decipher and it all had to be done by three! Marco came over with an old video camera that could play the tapes and he said if you find anything interesting have a look. Upon discovering a tape titled ‘Sex Advent’ I showed Marco laughing and he goes ‘well lets have a look’ and well with his Italian accent it was hard to say no. We looked at the tape footage and well… ummm… it was the weirdest thing I’ve seen, just a woman dressed up as a naughty elf and with one of those giant foam hand finger things slapping about a male elf while trying to pose sexy. Marco and my self were in fits of laughter at the confusion of what was going on and it got even better when the male elf started to scratch his bum with a blow up saxophone and the girl was still trying to look sexy. How this is related to the MOS I have no idea but the tapes got more and more concerning. Marco with the excitement of a school boy then pulled out the ‘Bade Casting’ tape and flicked through an assortment of women dancing on camera. He turned the volume up really loud and then just left with the words ‘enjoy’. I had no idea how the camera worked so could not shut off the damn thing, and with women making questionable noises on the tape in an office of people that I did not really know at the time, it was awkward as hell! Marco then came over and got a tape called ‘Sloggy UK Best Bum’ and yeah it was exactly as it sounds, just a lot of bum on the camera. Marco had actually shot this footage and when I asked him is this the type of thing you like to film, he replied, ‘well you know it is more, Italian style’ he chuckled and left me to carry on sorting the tapes but it seems as long as you add ‘Italian style’ at the end of things you say it makes it sound alright.

I carried on sorting the tapes until I came across something that made me stop in my flow of work. A tape titled ‘BTS KID CUDI JOSH TAPE’ This must have been something that Josh had filmed while he was here at MOS. In fact it had suddenly hit me that most of the tapes here were probably filmed by him. I put it in and had a flick through to see what it was all about and it was as the title suggested some behind the scenes footage of the film set. Looking at his work and then at the tapes dated to the time at which he was working here I just wished I could of got to of known the guy, I had yet to meet anyone who worked with him yet or knew him. People knew of him but no one I had met yet actually knew him. Something I said to my self I wanted to change.

Plowing on with the tapes all through the afternoon Marco came over to help me on the last few boxes of which there were 18 in total. We rushed through the last few and got them done in no time and then went off to have a company meeting. We were all sat in the main room of the club with lights on and all and the CEO of MOS (I believe) started talking to us all about the budget, losses, new prospects and targets. A very interesting insight in to the company. After that all finished and we had left I went and sat back down in the office only to see people leaving. So I got up and followed them out side to the court yard and all I could hear was music and all I could smell was BBQ.

Around the corner the whole courtyard had been transformed into a summer party with fake grass on the floor, a giant connect 4, live DJ, BBQ and a new concept for me of a free bar! Everyone was there and the atmosphere was buzzing. I had Marco introduce me to the free bar and then Lloyd telling me to go and meet people, so I did. It started off with a little hello here and there and then got better as the free bar kicked in. I was chatting to people from all various areas within MOS and getting to know as many people as I can. One of the interns that started the same day I did was having her last day and she felt the same as I did about MOS that it is such a wonderful place to work! I got chatting to more and more people and met Katie (CD girl) who works in compilations. Turns out she is really into her drum and bass too and she DJs which meant we had a lot to talk about. Then she drops a bomb and says she has sung on a few tracks, I thought that’s awesome so what tracks you sung on to which she replies ‘well I work under the name of Katie’s Ambition’ …wut? No way I have you on my iPod! She has recently worked on a track with Rollz titled ‘give it time’ and I’d been listening to that before I even knew who she was! I met with the reception sisters, Gabie and Franchesca so I can now say hi to them in the morning other then just smile. Had a good chat with Davina too which was hilarious, then they did the awards.

The awards ranged from most likely to get on it on a Friday, person most likely to confess their weekend sins on a Monday and sports team awards and other various categories. After all that I ended up joining the people dancing and got to meet even more people. The significant thing about this group of people I met however is that they actually knew Josh and one even used to live with him before he went off traveling. I heard stories of what he was like and what he used to do, and one of the nicest things that was said was ‘it’s good that you’re here’ It makes me feel that me actually going through this scheme and working at MOS is more meaningful then just a simple internship, it’s about getting as much out of it as I can for someone who has unknowingly given me so much and making sure that I can always look back at this time I spend here as a time that I pushed myself to make the most of everything.

The evening continued and I met up with more people still and got talking to another intern who is here for three months in comparison to my 1. She (Rachel) DJs and even taught someone how to DJ who now DJs at the club, it seems that everyone at MOS DJs  which is pretty damn cool. The party then moved up into the Loft area of the club and I had no idea if I was going to be staying out all night or if I was going to try and catch the last train home. Were were up in the loft and the time was approaching half ten and the free drinks were still going, or was it half 11? Anyway we were all still dancing and drinking and talking and everything was just as unbelievable as you’d expect from a staff that work for a clubbing brand. I kept getting kissed on the cheek and getting told to get another drink while in my mind I was debating if I should stay or head on home and have more of a plan for my first night out in London. After entering the VIP area and having a little chat with people in there I decided I would head home as I did want to wake up tomorrow and get somethings done, so I headed down to the station with Rachel who was heading back too and after some confusion in the office about being allowed in or not to collect our stuff we got out past the bouncers and down to the tube station.

Now a slightly rum influenced tube ride from what I discovered is actually rather fun as it feels kind of like a roller coaster except you  can put your feet up. I got off at Queens Park in the fresh air and then hopped on the next train to which it was a slightly less enjoyable experience as I had not eaten anything even though there was a free BBQ (bellend) so my empty stomach was not too pleased with the current unfolding events. The last 2 stops before mine were a test of endurance of the mind, trying to focus on not feeling unpleasant while trying to look relatively normal so I just acted like I was really tired, I think it fooled everyone… My stop came and the fresh air took away my unpleasant feeling and I felt beaut again. Getting in and having a pizza and some potato really helped to truly sort me out. I reflected on the day and could almost not believe it, all the beautiful people I had met and things that had happened I would not believe if I had not experienced it first hand but, it did happen and I just could not help but smile.