Weekly Update

Haven't updated this in a week so thought I better. I haven't completed any more things from the list this week however I am making slow progress and I hope that by the end of next week I will have 6 more things off the list:

Selling something on Ebay - I currently have my pool table and my old phone HTC Desire up on Ebay and I am confident both of them will sell. I think the phone should fetch about £100 and the pool table is a gamble and I'm hoping for anything between £50-100 but as its collection only it could go for about a tenner which would be rubbish

Buying something on Ebay - With the above money I'm hoping to make I'm going to buy a PS3, I have had a Wii for years now and its time to move on in the world so I'll give the playstation a shot and I'm looking forward to playing FIFA and COD.

Buying a Playstation 3 - As above

Golf driving range and Non league match - My mate is coming down from Scotland at the weekend (he is a bit of a d1ck but someone has to look out for him) and whilst he is down here we are going to go to the driving range and hit some balls and also take in Darlington vs York. Darlo are in serious trouble and need all the money they can get so going to this non league game and helping the club kills two birds with one stone.

Watch all series of Dexter - As you will see from one of my past updates I started watching Dexter from series 1. It is quite good and I'm enjoying it, I wouldn't say it was brilliant and it wouldn't make my top 5 tv shows or anything like that but its watchable and enjoyable. Im currently just starting series 4 so only got 2 seasons to go, so Im hoping to get them finished this week as well.

At the moment I have done 5/50 but hopefully all the above can be done by this time next week and I will be 11/50. Onwards and upwards

Another Two Completed

Over the last week and a half I have managed to complete another two from my list, have to say I am very chuffed with myself for my progress so far - if I keep this up I'll be done by June, however I am aware I'll hit a lull at some point and go a few months without doing any of them. Anyway on to my latest two:

Apply to be on a TV show

The above photo is me posting off the application form for a television show called 'Pointless' - it is on BBC1 Mon-Fri around 5pm so those of you that have a job may not have seen it. Its basically a general knowledge gameshow, which is the opposite of Family Fortunes. On Fortunes they ask 100 people a question and you have to name the most popular answers, on Pointless you have to try and find the most obscure correct answers that the people they asked didn't guess. Its a very good show and alot of fun and of course a chance to win some money and become a celebrity! My mate Rob will be joining me (you apply in pairs), I will update on the progress of the TV show through this blog however for the meantime - I applied so thats that crossed off the list.


Get a Cineworld Unlimited Card

I love the cinema and I love films so was a no brainer. The price to go and see a film now is bloody ridicoulous so even 2 trips to the cinema a month makes this worthwhile and saves you money. Now that I have the card I imagine I will take in a lot more as well. I work away from home at least once a month as well so boring nights in hotels can now be solved by a wee trip to the pictures. Being a nice guy and all that I decided to buy an unlimited card for the missus as well as a present to her, and it means she may feel obliged to pick up the cinema snacks on our visits.

Only slight downside is that our nearest Cineworld is in Middlesbrough which isn't very far, but it would have been nice to have somewhere within walking distance. Our local cinema in Darlington is an Odeon which wouldn't look out of place in Chernobyl. When I was last there I made a promise never to go back. Horrible place.

Apparantly our Cineworld cards will arrive in 10 days time so in the mean time they have emailed us temporary passes to use. Rather than my ugly mug as proof, below is a photo of Jo's temporary cineworld pass (card details and full name edited out in paint for obvious reasons) Thats another thing crossed off the list. Until next time......

Busy Bee

Yes that is indeed a picture of a busy bee, I apologise for the cheesyness but I couldn't think of a better photograph to accompany my update and it reflects on what I have been doing so far.

I decided to categorise and sort out all the things on my list and I have the majority of my nifty fifty planned in or ready to go when I am ready. Being a blog and all that, I will share all the things I have planned and booked in. My thanks go out to those helping me and joining me on some of them.

In progress
Reading the Dark Tower Books
Watching Dexter
Completing my Mario Game

Things I can do when I have the spare money
Buy a PS3
Get a Cineworld Unlimited Pass
Buy a new pair of Sambas
Buy something on Ebay

Planned In
Camping Trip - should be able to cross off Hill, Fire and Tree climbling at same time
Xscape - Should be able to do Climbing Wall, Bowling, Laser, Crazy Golf, Kids Arcade at same time
Stand Up Comedy - Booked in to see two different ones - Michael McIntyre and Daniel Sloss
Concert - Booked up to see Bruce Sprinsteen and Boyce Avenue so far
Basketball- Booked to see Harlem Globetrotters
EPL Game - Going to see Arsenal
Non League Game - Going to see Darlington vs York at end of month
Ice Hockey Game - Going to see the Panthers whoever they are!
Golf Driving Range - Planned in for end of month
Lighthouse - Going to see one in Sunderland/Seaham apparantly
Fishing - Planned in for summer with a few beers
Sticker Album - Going to have a bash at completing the Olympic one that comes out in a few months

Things I already have (and can be completed anytime)
A jigsaw
A Harry Potter Book
Cake making ingredients
Seeds to grow something

So with all that it doesn't leave alot still to plan in for the year, I should of marked it off as I typed this but off top of my head I still have to plan in:

Fortune Teller
Castle
Museum
Theatre - hopefully my mum will read this and take me as she is a big theatre goer

Thats all for now - I'm hoping to have my next thing on my list completed by later tonight/tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

3 Down, 47 to go....

So I was able to cross the first three things of my list today. The first one was 'do an internet blog' which of course you are reading right now so thats that one out of the way.

The next two I was able to do together - decided to embark upon a 12 hour movie marathon of films I had never watched and incorporated within this was watching The Godfather which had a place on the list itself as shamefully I had never seen it all the way through. I started the 12 hours at 9.30am and went right through to 9.30pm at night. During this I managed to consume 6 cups of tea, 2 packets of monster munch, a peanut butter sandwich, a packet of haribo and some awful chocolate whisky liquer things (can you tell Im now at the rubbish end of my christmas sweeties). Anyway on to the films:

First up was The Godfather, this is a film I have had on dvd for about 6 years and never watched all the way through, tried and failed about 3 times - got bored every time. The thing is I always know that deep down I would love it and I just need to give it a chance and watch it fully. Well I was certainly awake at 9.30 in the morning when I put it on - watched the full thing and I still found it a bit....meh! Don't get me wrong it wasn't a bad film or anything, I just kept thinking how over rated it seemed to be. There was some great performances in the film - no more so than Marlon Brando but by the end I was disappointed. Doesn't inspire me to watch the second film or watch this again. 6/10

Decided to switch to war for the second choice of the day with Inglorious Basterds. I have had this in my collection for around 6 months and yet to watch it, I'm a huge Tarantino fan so I actually suprised myself that I hadn't watched this until today. In a complete contrast to The Godfather, I loved this film! I'm a big Brad Pitt fan and although this isn't one his greatest 'acting' performances he is very good in this film and his character is brilliant. I liked the story, the gruesomeness, the soundtrack, the comedy moments. For me the star performance was from the French lass in the leading female role, thought she was great. 9/10

That was going to be a hard act to follow and Ice Age didn't really stand a chance. In general I'm not a huge fan of kids films or any of the animated films (Shrek 2 being the exception). This film was fun however and an easy watch, there were no laugh out loud moments but it served its purpose and was pretty much as I expected. Also watched this on Blu Ray and the picture quality was sensational 6/10

Leonardo Di Caprio has fast become one of my top three favourite actors over the last 10 years and I make a point of watching any film he is in as it almost guarantees a great film! Unfortunately that can't be said of the next film I watched Body of Lies. I thought this film was total guff from start to finish. I thought it was hard to follow, the storyline didn't quite flow, Russell Crowe was pants and it was just all over the place. Di Caprio was ok in his role but even he wasn't up to his usual high standards. Probably the only film of his in the last 15 years I haven't enjoyed 2/10

The final film for me to watch was Goodfellas, like all the rest it was another long film and after the diappointment of The Godfather this morning, I had my doubts over this. Again its another 'classic' film that I should have seen way before now but for one reason or another I had never watched it. Thankfully this was alot better and ensured my night finished on a good film. An interesting storyline, some superb acting performances and some quality killing scenes made this a great film. I love the way the film was narrated and the soundtrack was also very good. It probably went on 30 minutes longer than I would have liked and there was a bit of boring filler in the middle but I guess thats me just being picky. 8/10



So thats the first three things done from my list, onwards and upwards from here. I am going to start on watching Dexter tomorrow but I'm only starting series one so I'll be a while before thats finished, the same can be said for the Stephen King books on my list that I plan to start on tonight. All in all a positive start to the nifty fifty.

The ball starts rolling......

Ok well I haven't actually done any of my 50 yet BUT I have started planning alot of them and have a few of them booked up which I think is a good start.

I am booked to go see Bruce Springsteen in Sunderland in June and The Harlem Globetrotters in Newcastle in March. I would like to thank Mr Rob Johnson for agreeing to participate in both of these events with me. If any single good looking girls are reading this - Rob is a legend and is highly recommended.

I received some more good news today when wee Scott Hastie agreed to take me to an Arsenal game, providing he can work his magic and get some tickets. The price I had to pay was give him a mention on this very blog.

I am due see Michael McIntyre this year on his new tour and also have someone who is 'going to show me their local lighthouse' - should I be scared?

Still looking for volunteers to help me/accompany me on the following:

Going to a zoo/safari park
Fishing
Camping
Day at Races
Ice Hockey game

Interested? Or any of the others on my list ----------------->>
Please get in touch

McGregor over and out

Nifty Fifty 2012

Ok, so the basic premise is that I have chosen 50 things to do this year and the aim naturally is to complete all 50 of them before the year is out.

Some of the things on the list are things I have never done, some are things I haven't done since I was a wee lad and some of the things I just love doing. The purpose of doing this for me was to have a realistic set of 'things to do' for the year.

I shall update this blog each time I have done something from the list and hopefully include a photograph where possible. This could be a total disaster and I may get to December and still have about 40 to do, but I will give it a bash and try to keep this updated.

David