Update

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [9/100]

• Tropic Thunder - why did the Vietnamese speak Mandarin? Other than that, a good laugh out loud (or if you prefer, 'lol') film.
  
• Ponyo - see below
  

82) Go to a Morecambe match - DONE (23/02/10)






A cold Tuesday night consisting of trams, drunk Mancs, snow and a burnt mouth from eating my Balti pie too quickly. The football? League 2 standard. But I definitely wasn't let down by the atmosphere - something that Jack had told us about. A constant stream of chants, songs and war cries were accompanied with a bass drum for the whole 90 minutes. Even a chorus of "Shoes off, if you love Morecambe" left a group of people balancing on one leg. Shame I wasn't able to celebrate a goal. Maybe next time...when the sun's out.

92) Watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection - In Progress [1/19]
The number is just an estimate since a quite a few are TV spots or are Japanese only (some of which I've included anyways along with soon-to-be released films). I've seen about 5 already from when I was much younger so I am definitely looking forward to bringing back these memories.

• Ponyo - It annoys me when people are so closed minded when it comes to experiencing anything different - hence only four of us went to see this at the AMC. I wasn't disappointed and left the cinema with a big smile on my face humming the tune played over the closing credits. The animation was amazing but something which I've come to expect from Miyazaki with many similarities to his previous films. To those who would only watch a film if there's explosions or gore then, believe it or not, this isn't the film for you. This is a kid's film. But a brilliant one at that.
  

Update

3) Donate blood 3 times - In Progress [1/3]

Thursday 9th Feb - My first time
along with Danielle. Pretty straightforward and I was surprised how normal I felt afterwards considering I have had quite a low blood pressure since childhood. I'm not going to say no to free biscuits though. Giving blood has been high on my list for a few years but I've never gotten round to it. If you're the same then I urge you to book an appointment...now!

58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [7/100]

• No Country For Old Men - a very long...and slow...film... But good nontheless.
  
• Funny People - even longer. It felt like a full 90 minute comedy film...with an extra hour drama thrown in. I'd rather Sandler stuck to Zohan-esque films.
  
• My Name is Khan - Could a film possibly be longer than the previous two? Yes, but I didn't mind one bit (except for the numb arse). This was a brilliant feel-good film with bags of emotion and an ounce of humour. There was an abundance of overacting but what else can you expect from a 'Bollywood' film.
• The Island - Rubbish.
  

75) Find 10 'Space invaders' around Manchester - In Progress [1/10]
First one found on Sackville St. ...which I've walked down many a time and never noticed it before. Ah well.

101) Get back in touch with my artistic side - In Progress
My 'leave-it-too-late-to-get-a-decent-costume' t-shirts for Chloe's birthday night out. Shame I didn't have any fabric pens. Sharpies didn't do it justice.

Update

12) Get fit - In Progress
Moved onto at least 100 reps and 50 situps a day quite quickly. And now with hiking hopefully being a regular event, along with badminton and football, things are looking up.

15) Get someone else to make a list - Done (recently)
Not just one but two! Maybe a few more who seem interested. Seriously, it's something worth doing. Most of these things on my list are things which I've always wanted to do...but have never been motivated enough to actually fulfill. Now that it's written down, it seems a hell of a lot more manageable. Even if you're not convinced, give it a shot anyway - it won't do any harm.

30) Go hiking 5 times - In Progress [1/5]
Sunday 31st Jan - only decided the day before to go and, even in the morning, we didn't have a definitive destination. We ended up in Glossop, Derbyshire and spent a good 5 hours out covering alot of ground. Barbed wire fences, wet feet, ice, Peak vs. Lake District arguments and geordie cows. All in all, a decent hike.

41) Win Premier League with Hartlepool... - In Progress
Harry has broken Fifa. No further comments.

101) Get back in touch with my artistic side - In Progress
It's coming back slowly but surely. My snow penguin didn't turn out bad. The blog header is my rubbish attempt at using GIMP but it's a start at least. And thanks go to Paul for sorting out the HTML.

Amendments

Just thought I would make some changes to make things and bit more realistic/challenging.

3) Donate blood 3 times
11) Go skiing/snowboarding
21) Use Twitter/Buzz

39) Go watch Newcastle Utd in a final win a Premiership match
42) Punch a whale Do the coast to coast walk

45) Complete a Final Fantasy XII

47) Win a bet on the football
54)Be vegetarian for ONE three days

Unfortunately, DayZero doesn't have an editing function for the tasks so, when changing them, the numbers will be different. I'll be using the blog as main reference for the list.


"What time is it?"

"Halloumi cheese time!"

Update

24) Stay off Facebook for a week - DONE (17-24/01/10)
I'm not going to stop there, I plan to have many more Facebook-less weeks coming up.

32) Get a 1st in my degree - In Progress
Well, my January exams are finally over. The exam periods each year seem to get longer and longer but I'm glad I can relax...for 2 days before next semester kicks in. These exams were the toughest so far so I'll be happy if I average a 2:1 over the 4 modules. Got to get my arse into gear next semester though.

49) Finish a large Pizza Hut pizza in one night - DONE (24/01/10)
Didn't eat anything after dinner (that's lunch for any southeners reading) in preperation. Had half a large cheesy bites meaty BBQ and half a large stuffed crust 7 sins pizza. Pretty straightforward but thought I needed to try it at some point. The disappointing bit (other than the medicore meaty BBQ) was the fact I didn't have any leftovers for morning pizza. Gutted.
58) Watch 100 films I haven't seen before - In Progress [3/100]

• Mongol - alright, didn't live up to it's hype.
• Zombieland - really enjoyed this one. On par with Planet Terror methinks.
• The Wicker Man - strange but not bad.

67) Buy 10 scratchcards - In Progress [1/10]
Bought my first ever scratchcard...and won -£2! Oh, wait, it doesn't work like that does it?

96) Get a double chicken burger with cheese from Geminis - Almost
I had to create a new 'Almost' category just because of this. Coming back from Footage, all psyched up for my first visit to Geminis in a long time (too long), I ordered the beastly chicken burger. Good ol' Ali even threw in chips in the burger leaving me to attempt to dislocate my jaw to fit the burger in my mouth. Well, after eating about 3/4, I noticed something terribly wrong. There was...NO CHEESE. NO CHEESE dammit! Looks like I'm making another trip to Geminis at some point. Maybe it's not such a bad thing after all...

Update

20) Finish writing this list - DONE (23/01/10)
Finally...only 11 days since I started writing it. I can see myself making some changes soon (punching a whale seems unlikely). Then again, I could just leave it on and there's a guaranteed £2 to charity. Well, make it £4 since seeing Newcastle Utd in a final seems just as likely as me sparring with the ocean giant.

24) Stay off Facebook for a week - In Progress
Started on the 17th and it's nearly been a week. And it's been...easy. I mean, really easy. In 20 years time, looking back, I don't want to remember the 'good ol' days' by tagging photos, liking statuses and writing on people's walls when they're a mere phone call away. I want to remember going out and living my life. I remember using Facebook in '07 (yes, Facebook has been around for more than a year...) just to keep in touch with relatives. Simple. There was none of this 'rushing back to the laptop to check if my crops have grown' or "Ooh, I'm gonna put this on my status as soon as I get home" bullsh*t.
The ironic thing is that I'll be using Facebook to advertise this blog. Well, I guess that's where everyone will be.

Update

Just an update on what I've done so far:

12) Get fit - In Progress
At least 50 reps and 20 sit-ups a day (to start with).

32) Get a 1st in my degree - In Progress
Unlikely if I don't get some revision done soon. Oh the irony.

65) Cut someone's hair - DONE (13/01/10)
Well, I might have slightly cheated with this one and put it on after I did it...but it was something that i've wanted to do - and Harry let me do it. It was a laugh, and my plan to shave off one half then just leave him almost worked. He now looks like a bowling pin with sideburns. It's true.

76) Get photo taken with 3 famous people - In Progress
Another slight cheat this one, met Bill Bryson at my sister's graduation today (he's the Chancellor of Durham Uni) so thought I would attempt to mingle with the celebs (yes, I know he's not that famous...but it still counts).

77) Make a blog to keep track of this - DONE (15/01/10)
Big tick for that.