Last night in numbers....

1 - pre-drink event that included me drinking a cocktail from a Costa mug, loud renditions of Rammstein songs and the Pokemon theme tune and stories of being caught by your parents watching porn.

1 - drunken fight outside Reflex in Bristol which resulted in a girl being pushed onto the pavement by her boyfriend as she tried to estrain him from lashing out.

2 - gorgeous cocktails inside Eton Haze - a Strawberry Margarita and a White Russian. Both highly recommended.

2 - ridiculously priced Jagerbombs in Mr. Wolf's. I know to some places this would be cheap, but I've only ever seen Jagerbombs over £3.40 at music festivals.

1 - golden quote from me where I mentioned that a friend's situation with a guy had pissed me off 'more than the price of these Jagerbombs!'

20 - cigarettes smoked over the course of the evening.

1 - horrible bouncer who was pretty nasty towards me when I tried to make light conversation. Not what I'm used to at all...

4 - dance-offs back inside Eton Haze including me and various other people.

1 - night bus back to Fishponds from the city centre, which resulted in...

32 - minute walk from there to my campus. No night bus actually stops at Frenchay, so I wanted to get back to somewhere familiar in order for me to navigate my way round easily and not get completely lost.

3:30 - the time I finally rolled into bed last night.

Today's venture is to Clifton for a tech rehearsal for the play I am doing. I am catching a train there in about 2 hours time and will proceed to be there for the afternoon. I may update later on this evening too.

Laters xx

Horrible night...

...just couldn't get to sleep. Admittedly I forced the 3am bed time on myself (well, I PARTLY did), but I certainly didn't ask for waking up at 4 and 6. No wonder I turned my alarm off and didn't wake up until 11.

The reason I didn't force upon myself was Skins. Skins is a teenage drama series set in Bristol, UK (where I'm living)and last night saw the airing of the first episode of the new season, Season 5. I started watching the show at the beginning of Season 3 and loved it. Now I realise that  Seasons 3 and 4 were terrible in comparison to Seasons 1 and 2, but anyway.

Being the budding actor that I am, I geared myself up over the course of Season 3 and 4 to audition for number 5. Knowing that the actors were all older than the parts they were playing (18-20 year olds playing 16-17) I was hopeful that I could get a part, despite the fact that thousands of teens auditions for a gang of about 9, because when auditions came round I would be 17/18.

But then the audition details were released and it was stated that you had to be born between July 1st 1992 and July 1st 1994 to audition, thus rendering me a mere 40 days too old to audition. Needless to say, I was devastated and was left angry and bitter about the situation in hand. I made a promise not to watch the new season - the acting has generally been sub-par, and I knew I would watch as a critic as opposed to a fan and pick out all the faults in the characters and explain, to myself or anyone else in the vicinity, how I could have played that particular bit ten times better than them.

Well, of course last night Facebook and Twitter were swamped with people going on about Skins left, right and centre, and thee bitterness re-engulfed me. What became the final nail in the coffin was a Tweet from a friend of mine saying how he saw a few of his friends in the episode as extras, something I had also applied unsuccessfully for. The world crashed around me (or so it felt) and I was left sitting in my room upset at the fact that I had not made it. It's a feeling that I know well - one of my Drama teachers seemed to have something against me and I felt held me back from letting me show my true potential throughout my time at school - but it still gets to me. I just want a chance, one chance, to prove myself and prove my ability. That's all. I know the time will come, but I can be such an impatient bastard, and this is one of those things that I can't help being impatient about.

The other factor was a friend's breakup from his girlfriend. Not a great friend I admit, but a friend nonetheless. His change of status on his Facebook promptly set off a 200+ comment argument as somebody said his ex was better off without him and we all rallied around him to defend him. That went well into the night as well, but eventually I tore myself away from the laptop and went to bed.

With regards to today however, it has been a lot better. I had a training day for a volunteering project I am involved in with my uni's Drama Society running workshops at a local primary school. That went well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also tried on my costume for a one-act play I am in that is showing at a local theatre next week. I am to be an Ancient Greek, however I also wear a big chef's hat wth a crown around it. If I get a picture I will be sure to post it on here.

I am going to get an early night in tonight, as I have a rehearsal tomorrow for ANOTHER play and a party in the evening. I will try and find the time to blog on Sunday, but that day is the tech rehearsal for the play mentioned above, so I may not post until Monday. I will endeavour to, however.

Laters xx

I guess...

...I should give you more information on me, given that I really didn't do so yesterday. All you got was my name, how old I was, where I was from, where I was living and what I was currently doing. So, more about me.

I am a Christian. I have been brought up in a Christian family, with both parents and the vast majority of my extended family Christian too. I made a commitment to Christ on the 20th August 2007 at a Christian festival called Soul Survivor, and for me this is the greatest decision I have ever made in my life so far. I was baptised in February of 2009, which is the SECOND best decision I have ever made in my life so far. I will tell you now that the one way to TRULY and ROYALLY piss me off is to take a dislike to me on the ground that I am a Christian and on nothing else. If you don't like me for my personality, fine. If you don't like me for something I have done that has hurt you, fine. But if you don't like me because I have a faith, then you will be very sorry indeed.

I am also a big fan of heavy metal music. This is not to say that I listen to heavy metal exclusively. If somebody gives me a song to listen to, I will do so with an open mind. Through this I have got into such artists and groups as Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, The Black Eyed Peas and Lady GaGa.

However, if you gave me £100 and told me to spend it in HMV, I guarantee you the vast majority of the CDs I bought would be heavy metal. Buying CDs is a great love of mine. I get a huge sense of satisfaction in physically owning a band's entire catalogue in CD form and having the works sitting in my CD rack. I take particular pride in owning more than 20 Iron Maiden albums. Maiden are my favourite band and probably always will be. I have seen them twice and will be seeing them in Birmingham, Cardiff AND London on their upcoming UK tour this summer.

This leads me nicely on to my gigging. There is no greater experience than seeing a band you truly love live. I must have spent over £500 on gigs and festivals ALONE in the past 3 and a half years, seeing over 50 notable bands in the process (well, notable to me). Along the way I have seen Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, U2, Machine Head, Rage Against the Machine and many more. I also had a ticket to see Michael Jackson at one of his 50 dates at London's O2 Arena before his untimely death. This blog will also be used as a way for me to review the gigs I attend as well.

I am also a football/soccer fan, and have supported the mighty Chelsea F.C for over 15 years now. They are my true love in sport and always will be, through thick and thin I will support the self-proclaimed 'Pride and Joy of London' until the day I depart from this Earth. Watching them crush Wigan 8-0 at the end of last season, thus winning the English Premier League title, score the most goals they have all season and take the total amount of goals scored that season to 103 was a great thing to watch. Playing soccer, I am strongest as a goalkeeper, but can play anywhere with mixed results if necessary.

My one true passion in life is acting. I have wanted to be an actor since I was 8 and auditioned for a place in Drama School for tis educational year. I was unsuccessful and so came to my currnt university in order to have three years of useful teaching and prepaaration for another crack at Drama School in 2013. However, I also have a knack for being exceptional at English, proven no better than when I opened up my envelope on Exam Results Day to find that not only had I achieved an A for my English, but that I had scored 118/120 in the exam. If my acting fails, then I will use my English skills to go back to uni and study Journalism instead.

My nickname is Elmo. If you want to know why, drop me a message and I will explain.

I was born on May 21st. This has given me two star signs, Taurus and Gemini. I have traits of both signs, however I consider myself more of a Gemini.

I have ankyloglossia, also known as tongue-tie, which means I cannot stick my tongue out of my mouth. I also have a 'condition' known as Pecta Excavatorum, which is essentially a big dent in the middle of my chest.

I play guitar, albeit at my leisure and not very well. Nonetheless, I enjoy making stuff up and learning little bits and pieces from various songs. I took singing lessons for a year too, and would love to be the frontman in a band.

I reckon that'll do for now. I'll probably post some more stuff tomorrow but for now - laters xx

Introductions, Me, Myself and I

Morning all.

The time is now 1am GMT on Thursday 27th January 2011, and I, thanks to my friend who ALSO has Blogger, have decided to write a blog on my goings on from now until whenever. But first, a little bit about me.

My name is Ian Jackson. I'm 18 and live in the United Kingdom. Originally from Gloucester, I now live in Bristol and study Drama at the University of the West of England. Don't try and find me though, because you won't.

Entitled The Chronicles of a Young Adult Thespian, what will be posted over the next few weeks/months/years is a record of my time here at university - my triumphs, my tribulations and everything in between on my way to graduating with (hopefully) a BA(Hons) Degree in Drama with Creative Writing in the summer of 2013. If you wanna come along for the ride, feel free to do so. I'm a very sociable person and could do with the company.

As it IS very late and I am trying to get my sleeping pattern back into SOME sort of order, this is all I will be posting today. However, tomorrow I will fill you all in with more about me, along with the days' events and such.

Laters xx