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Showing posts from April, 2010

Mattys Stag do in Sheffield - What a weekend

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Hey Guys, What a weekend! Quite possibly one of the best weekends of my life! And that's saying something trust me. Back to University city of Sheffield. It's been just under 5 years since we all were leaving University in 2005. Seems a lifetime ago! We have all kept in touch, not as much as always, but still had a couple of catch ups a long the way. But absolutely none were like this. I think it's definitely a sign of getting older when your mates start getting married and it's the first one out of the mates I had at university to do so. But obviously hasn't happened yet and we had the joy of the stag do before the real thing. But my weekend started on the Friday and I made my way up to Sheffield, remembering the whole way up there without the tom tom, and arrived in the afternoon. The city looks a lot different and there have been a lot more buildings been put up and the city is ever growing and turning into a really nice city. I started by meeting up with an old

Jeff Banks Presentation last Thursday

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Hey Guys, I am extremely sorry for my week off on the blog front, been a ridiculously hectic week I tell you, and about to get even busier too! Anyways big updates today and going back into a job a had last week on Thursday evening. Booked for a Jeff Banks presentation in Birmingham on Thursday. I have done one of these before in Bristol, which was extremely quiet, but a very easy job. Jeff Banks uses these presentations to sell custom made suits to people and offers special offers for people at the event inside Debenhams. My role in this is to stand in a tailored suit to my sizes and be on hand for Jeff to show potential clients certain aspects to the suit. I do this with one other model who happens to be Stuart who I was on Shipwrecked with those many years ago. So, for us it's nice to have a catch up. Arrive on the train and sit with the hair stylist who is absolutely lovely and have worked with her many times before, and the hair stylist, again a really nice person and very fri

Problem with Planning and the week ahead

Hey guys, Can you finally believe the weather has finally got better?! It's amazing! Not good for how my flat is which is like a Greenhouse when the sun is out! Anyways...so I thought I would write about a certain problem with my job and how it affects all parts of my life. It's the simple thing called planning. It is near on impossible to plan anything when you have my job, as things keep cropping up left right and center. I have to check in with my agency between 5pm and 6pm every day, this is to see if I have any castings for that day. Now some of these castings could be worth a lot of money if I get lucky and get the job, so it's vital that I go to as many castings as possible. This often means messing up plans made for the day afterwards, whether with friends, a girlfriend, even hospital appointments to do with my knee (which I have been referred to for an operation which completely sucks). It can become increasingly frustrating, but it is a sacrifice I have to make if

John Lewis Presentation - Friday

Hey Guys, I realised I had a good old moan about Gilette and the job I had on Southend Beach Wednesday, so here's me very happy with the job I did on Friday. It was a John Lewis presentation and the easiest job I think I have ever had. Paid on an hourly rate for this job as its usually 2 hours that they need you there for as I've worked one before. This time they wanted me there at half 9 (2 hours before the proposed call time), and I wasn't actually needed for my role in the presentation until 1pm!!! Simple. Result!!! And certainly brought about a big smile on my face. I had a small run through of what I had to do and it was extremely simple. Music plays, I walk down with a little girl in hand on one side and the female model walks down with a little boy in hand, all dressed in John Lewis clothes. We have to weave our way through all these people as it was a very big presentation and then stand on stage. Walk forward each in turn so the presenter talked through our clothes

Gillette - All the issues!!!

Hey Guys, So, as I said yesterday I had an interesting casting and it was for a Gilette commercial. Its worth a lot of money, a 5 figure sum which is unbelievable. However, Gilette, who are a world wide company and absolutely huge, are not very good at organising shoots, or making their mind up about who they want for a job. The reason for all this is that Gilette have TWICE confirmed me for a job and cancelled me. Now this is the most frustrating thing ever as they have all been commercials. And as you saw at the start of this post the sums of money we're talking are life changing (seriously can be). The first one wasn't too long after I started modelling. Big commercial, worth a lot of money. Confirmed for the job, sent all the details, hotel and flight details as it was a job in Prague for a week, told everyone about it (which is a lesson I have learnt to not do now) and all of a sudden on a Sunday afternoon day before the job I get a voice message left on my phone by the cl

M & M Direct shoot - Southend Beach!

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Hey guys, I'm going to be careful how I write this because I know that some people do not like their jobs, some people get a bit bored being stuck in an office and others just can't stand it. My job has so many ups to it I must admit, traveling round a lot, sometimes very good pay and get to meet some amazing people. BUT....................... This job was hard work!!! Southend Beach, when the wind is blowing and its freezing cold, modeling summer outfits, shorts t-shirts and flip flops, was such a nightmare. Honestly, when you work when your hungry its hard to get through. Same when your thirsty. Lastly, when your tired it's probably the 2nd worse feeling. But working when your freezing cold, shivering is ridiculous. To be fair the crew were all very nice and helped to cover me in a blanket at times, they were all very cold too. Was tough for everyone though must admit, as it was typical English weather and at the end of the day we needed to get the shots done. We had like

So Busy - sad weekend for me - but more work

Hey guys, Apologies for the delay in posting something. I have seriously been unbelievably busy since Friday. Went home for the weekend to see my family and more importantly play football. Which unfortunately for me has meant my season is over too as I have damaged my cartilage in my right knee and may require an operation. This has really brought me down I must admit and means I cant to any running on it at all at the moment either. This makes it hard going to the gym and exercising to keep myself in shape, which brings me down even more. Anyway, I know I need to look on the bright side, but its not too bright apart from presenting work being busy and the job I've got on tomorrow at the glamorous Southend on Sea ha ha. I was absolutely gutted to miss out on going to Majorca as my previous post said, but who knows maybe something big is just waiting to happen you never ever know. I've had an extreme lack of sleep the last few days, which is no good for anyone and certainly turn

Castings Update

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Hey guys, So today I found out that unfortunately I did not get the Sony job in Mallorca. Very gutted cause would of been a great trip and a really good job to do as well. But good thing is one of my mates I model with who is at the same agency got it, so happy for him, would certainly rather miss out to a mate than to someone I didn't know. So its Southend bound for me on Wednesday! Slight problems with my job on Wednesday. This is where the industry at the moment can be very frustrating and where the problems of the credit crunch last year are continually showing their affects. A year ago I did exactly the same job for this catalogue and was paid a certain amount. Now, they are trying to make me take a cut for the job because their budget has dropped. Now, this is a tough situation to be in, because yes it's still a job and it's good to keep working, but its like someone in a full time job taking a pay cut to do the exact same job as they were doing a year ago, you wouldn

Thank you for all the messages

Hey guys, Just want to quickly say thank you to those of you who have messaged me saying they are enjoying reading my blog. Means a lot to know people are interested in what I'm writing. If there is anything you would like me to answer or talk about then feel free to put a comment on, or send me a message on fb or twitter as a lot of you have done. Thanks again James

3 Castings Today - Mixed Bag completely!

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Hey guys, As I spoke about castings a couple of days a go and what to expect, well I had 3 of them today. 1. For M & M Direct. Now, I have worked a lot for M & M before, and recently quite a lot too. I have done a lot of work for their catalogue recently and if you ever saw the March issue, you will see when I say a lot, I mean a lot! I was fortunate to be stuck up at their offices and studios in Leominster, Herefordshire, when we had all the bad weather. This meant I stayed up there for a few days extra and shot loads for the,. Really nice people to work with as well. Ive also shot the front cover and a few pages inside on locations for them before as well. And this is what the casting was for. The good times to casting is when you get there, know the people casting as I've worked with them before and you can talk on a much more personal level with them. The shoot is going to be in Southend -on-Sea (glamorous hey?!) ha. After trying on some clothes and chatting about what

This week - Castings and what castings are about

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Hey guys, So got myself in a bit of trouble today as I decided not to go to my castings today and it happened to be one where the casting director phoned the agency to tell them that I hadn't showed up! Nightmare. Said so many sorrys after that was untrue. Now your probably thinking why I didn't go to my castings, because of course it means I'm not going to have the work from them. Well all castings are different for different jobs and some are for smaller jobs that are not actually request castings. Quite simply enough when the agency just sends you along even though the clients have not requested you. Now today's castings were one where they wanted everyone to show their bum's?! And the other was asking for lovely teeth. Now this job was a very low pay, with a less than guaranteed buy out too it. With it being a fairly open casting, I felt I would give it a miss. Sometimes I look at the details of the job and have to assess whether they are worth going to or not.

My Religion

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Hey guys, So I hope you didn't think I was going to go spiritual on you then?!? ha ha. But I kind of do consider this as a very important part of my life. Yes some people will think its sad, others though will know exactly what i mean and probably feel the same about their teams. Well the mighty Arsenal have been my team since I was brought an Arsenal kit for my 4th birthday from my late Grandpa. (so nearly been supporting them for 22 years now!) God I'm old! Right, those of you who have had the distinct pleasure of watching a game of Arsenal with me will know what I'm like. Its like an experience you will never forget! I show passion, positivity, negativity, emotion, frustration, anger, exhilaration..and it could go on. Basically I scream and shout at the TV and at the players who of course cannot hear what is coming out of my mouth. Yes I am biased in favour of my team, who isn't, but I am a nightmare. My language during games is terrible, plenty of dreadful words get

Easter Sunday - Family time

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Hey guys, I wish you all a very happy Easter and hope you all have had a great time with your family and friends cause thats whats this time of year is all about. It was great to spend some time this weekend with my family on Sunday and some family friends who we havent seen for a while. Always great to catch up and get together and I feel so lucky to have an amazing family behind me, supporting me in every way and to share some amazing moments with. This weekend produced an amazing moment for me when my gorgeous niece, pictured above, started saying my name. And she kept on and on and on saying it and it was truly amazing! Loved it so much and it was so cute. She really has grown so much recently and is walking, running and talking as much as her mum too! Which isn't a good thing with the amount my sister talks I tell you! ha ha (those family members or people who know her will know exactly what i'm talking about ha ha).] I decided this weekend to give my family and friends an

Never go to Work with a Hangover! - tip of the day

Hey guys, For the first time since I started presenting on SmartLive Casino, I worked the day after the night before. All I can say is What an error! Serious mistake! Thursday night was a night in London called El Nocturnal. My mates run the night every couple of months and basically gets a lot of guys I model with and girls to party hard, with some quality music in a cool venue. Was a very messy night and I was horrified the next day when I realised how much I drank, you would be amazed with how much I consumed. But I had 7 bottles of beer and a vodka cheery ade before getting to the party. Then 2 corona's (my favourite drink by a long way) followed by about 8 ameretto and cokes with 8 more corona's and a shot of sambuca! I promise you, I'm not bragging about this or think this is brilliant at all. Its just the truth! How I do it I will never know, but thats probably why my mates call me "no limits", I seriously do not know when to stop. So as you can imagine the