marjorie73 | Entries tagged with blood

On Friday evening I went to give blood. I nearly didn't, as I had forgotten the appointment (which was later than I normally go), but I did make it.

They were very busy, so the wait was longer than usual, too (Apparently Management has decided that you can fit more appointments into an hour, with predictable results)

All of which meant that it was about 6.45 before I started my donation. All went smoothly until right at the end, when (probably because it was about an hour and a half later than I usually donate, and I hadn't yet had supper) I felt very slightly woozy just as they took the needle out.

So, I mentioned this, and they tilted the chair down so my feet were up and my head down..t which point the farcial element began. You see, the chairs evidently have some kind of catch or clip to hold them in place when they are moved to sit you with your feet up and head down, but mine was either faulty, or (more likely) the nurse couldn't quite reach the catch while simultaneously keeping pressure on my arm where she's just taken the needle out. And, as it turned out, the chairs must be designed to default to an upright-ish position, as it kept swinging back up... The nurse kept pushing it back down, it swung up.

At this stage I was (a) feeling entirely non-woozy (b) starting to get the giggles and (c) beginning to wonder whether sea-sickness was going to set in and (d) protesting that actually, I feel absolutely fine now, and would like to get up and have my free chocolate biscuit, please.

Which they let me do, in the end.

Anyway, all's well that ends well - they got my blood, I got my chocolate biscuit.

And, all joking aside, if you're eligible, do consider registering as a donor, or donating. Wonky chairs aside, it's pretty quick, and painless, and there can't be many easier ways to help save a life.

If you're in the UK, you can sign up, or find more information here.

Current Mood: altruistic

On Saturday morning, while checking Twitter, I saw Garth Nix tweet that he would be in Bath that evening, which sounded as though it might be interesting, so I went along.

I have enjoyed his books for several years now, particularly the 'Old Kingdom' ones, and I enjoyed his talk, too.

He started by talking about his name (not a pseudonym, despite what people may suspect) and about telling stories, and where he gets ideas from (unlike Neil Gaiman and others, not from a little shop in southern England, it would seem) and the process of making stories.

He also read us a little of the most recent books he has out; 'A Confusion of Princes' and 'Trouble Twisters' and also a short excerpt from what will, probably, be the prologue to a new 'Old Kingdom' book - 'Claribel: The Lost Abhorsen', which sounds as though it's going to be a book I want to read.

He then answered questions before signing books and chatting, which was fun.

I was slightly distracted during the talk by the fact that there was some decorative bunting up, which had clearly been made out of books.. This bothered me a little. I couldn't help but notice that the bunting was made from actual pages, not anything printed as bunting.

(It's OK. I went and asked one of the staff members after the reading; they explained it was made from a damaged proof copy of a book, so it wasn't destroyed specially)

I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through 'A Confusion of Princes' which I'm enjoying.

There are going to be more authors, soon. It's the Bath Kids Lit Fest next month, which should also be fun, and I have a theatre trip or two lined up.

And on an unrelated note, I went to donate blood today. Turns out it was my 50th donation, which means they give me a shiny brooch and a nice pen, and I was surprised at how chuffed I was about it!

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Bath

Isn't Twitter interesting? One of the people I follow is James Moran, and a little while back he tweeted about his film, Cockneys vs. Zombies and specifically, the fact that the director was looking for extra zombies, and that people were invited to apply.

I thought at the time, 'that might be fun' but I didn't get around to sending the necessary e-mails, then a bout 10 days back I sent hm a tweet meantioning that I'd failed to apply, he tweeted back to tell me they still needed Zombies, I applied, and so it came to pass that I found travelling up to London on Thursday evening, ready for a VERY early start on Friday morning.

The call was for 6 a.m., which meant leaving the hotel at around 5 a.m. It was too early for the buses, so I had a walk down to the tube station, which took me about 25 minutes. Turns out that there are lots of birds in London, and if you are walking just before dawn, when there's no traffic, you can hear them all singing their little hearts out. Also, the tube trains are lovely and empty at around 5.30, making for a very civilised journey!

With only a little bit of getting confused (which I am chosing to blame on the early hour and my under-caffienated state) I found the right spot..

Next came make up, getting checked over by the costume department (mostly checking that we were wearng clothes which we didn't mind getting blood on..

There was a fine selection of zombies, in various stages of decomposition.

Me, just before filming

One we were made up, we got to watch a short training video showing how a zombie behaves in the wild, and then, in small groups, we had Zombie school, to learn the finer points of Shambling, reacting to stimuli, and getting shot. Oh, and they added more blood.

There was coffee and sausage sandwiches around this point, too.

We were then taken to the location to start shooting. This was only just down the road, so we walked, getting one or two funny looks. Anyone would think that seeing a crocodile of blood-soaked zombies walking down the street is unusual in some way.

Once we got there, it was clear to see we were in the right place - several cars with smashed windows, random body parts strewn around the place (and they were very realistic. I just hope they remembered to pick them all up again afterwards)

We were mostly doing repeated takes of one scene (I won't say to much for fear of spoilers) I think I may reveal that it involved a fair few zombies, and some cockneys, and thet they weren't getting along.

Even Zombies chill out sometimes

Between takes, the make-up people were rushing about to freshen up our blood, including giving us fresh blood to put on our teeth and gums.

New thing learned : blood has a minty-fresh taste. Maybe this is why the zombies like it?

Actors including Honor Blackman , Alan Ford, Michelle Ryan were all there - although of course mostly (except when we were trying to kill them) they were at a distance.

There are more pictures here (I wouldn't normally link to a Mail story, but needs must... this is the same place we were filiming, although a different day so none of the zombies in those pics are me, although I do recoognise several of them!)

We spent a long time on the same scene, which was (as far as I could tell) being shot from lots of different angles. It was very interesting to watch, and to appreciate just how much time, hard work and painstaking attention to detail is involved in making a film. Also, from the little I heard of the dialogue it sounds as though it'll be entertaining. should be worth seeing for reasons other than to try to spot myself!

Hungry Zombie

Part way through we had to stop and wait as a tourist boat came through, and had to wait for the lock/bridge to open so it could go through. watching the looks on the faces of the passengers was entertaining, and I like to hink that they enjoyed being waved on their way by a bunch of living corpses..

We worked all morning, then back to base for lunch, then back to the same location for another, much shorter scene (I think this was mostly a long distance, panning shot in which I and the other extras will feature a distant blobs, but I may be wrong)

A small cohort were then driven away to be in a further scene, but I wasn't among them, so after getting most of the blood off my face, I was free to go, at about 3 p.m. (It was tempting to leave it all on, and see what reaction I got on the tube & at the hotel, if I remained covered in blood, but in the end I felt it might give people the wrong idea, so I didn't!)

Zombie Me

I had a lot of fun - I'm very glad I did it - I enjoyed chatting to the other Zombies, and I'm really glad I've had the chance to be in a film, and to be a Zombie, and I have a newfound respect for those who do this all the time - I was exhausted after just one day!

So, after getting back to the hotel and showering to get the dried lood and grit out of my hair, I took myself out for an early supper, and went to bed, to dream of those juicy, tasty braaainssss.

If you want to know more, the film has it's own twitter account and James Moran has listed various other twitterers associated with the film on his blog here.

Current Mood: weird
Current Location: London
Current Music: Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton

I realised yesterday fternoon that I had booked an appointment, before christmas, to toddle along and give blood yesterday.

I wasn't feeling overly enthusiastic about it: after several days of mild, but very wet weather the cold has returned, and heading out again after achieving the sanctuary of home was not appealing. But hey, I said I'd go, so I went.

Even when you book an appointment, thwere is always a good deal of waiting around, while they double check that you know who you are, and that you haven't been doing anything risky, like stabbing yourself with rusty nails, or sleeping with the wrong people (which always bugs me, as while I understand the rationale, I'm not convinced that the evidence still supports a view that gay/bi people present a greater risk, justifing refusing their blood. But boycotting the Natonal Blood Service would result in their being even less blood availbale for those who need it, so I don't)

Anyway, I passed the "not being anaemic" test, and got as far as the needle being stuck in (which isn't easy. My veins are tricksy and always awkward to find, but they usually manage.) and got to the point of some of my blood coming out, then the nurse decided that I was starting to bruise, so she stopped it.

Here's the odd part: although they had only got about a teaspoonfull at this point, it appears that (i) because they actually got the needle intto the vein, they aren't allowed to try again in the other arm, and (ii) becasue they got a little bit of blood, they have to treat it as a donation which means I'm not allowed to donate again for 4 months, just as if they'd got a whole pint.

So, a rather frustrating evening all round. (and she was right. I do have a bruise. although I do bruise awfully easily)

Oh, and despite my annoying evening, if you're eligible, and you don't already give blood, do consider doing so. You can register here

Current Mood: cranky

So, today I finally made it down to the civic centre to give blood. It's the first time I've managed it for over a year, as I've kept having colds, and chest infections and things at the times they've been in town.

I was most upset to discover (after they got their hands on my precious blood) that they had run out of chocolate biscuits! I mean, what's the point of giving them my blood if I'm not going to get a guilt-and-calorie-free chocolate biscuit afterwards...

And tomorrow, of course, is Election Day, and I shall have to go and put my cross in a box at some point. My polling card never arrived, but it appears that this is a postal problem, not a sinister attemt to deprive me of my vote (I spoke to the council, who confirmed that I am definitely registered and that I don't need it in order to vote)

I keep spinning between hope and fear about what the results will be. I have a horrible suspicion we're going to end up with a Conservative government as people decide to punish Gordon Brown for being in charge when the economy tanked, and for generally eroding our civil liberties and betraying the pricipals the Labour Party used to stand for, but the problem with that is that voting in the Tories instead is a bit like hammering spikes through your eyes to try to cure that mild headache... They've cosied up to the far right in Europe, have said they will scrap the Human Rights Act (because it's not as though having legal protection for our Human Rights is important or anything...) they have made it clear they don't intend to bring in any electoral reform, and any tax cuts they make will benefit the rich at the expense of the most vulnerable in society. and they have spectactularly failed to critisise or disown the candidate of theirs who believes people are gay because they are possesed by demons and can be cured by prayer.

I really, really hope that isn't what we wake up to on Friday morning.

Current Mood: aprehensive

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Entries tagged with blood

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In Which There is an Author

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I Faiil to give blood

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