I’m quite a busy person.

I’m a developer at Unboxed Consulting, I organize events at Geeks of London and (obviously) I write this blog. What this means though is that I end up attending a ton of events. Hackdays, conferences, PR events, conventions and meetups in all different shapes and sizes. Plus there’s the stuff I’ve got a hand in organizing too, like HACKED and BarcampBerkshire.

At most of those events I am Miss Geeky; my blog is my brand, my identity and my event persona. I’m constantly meeting and interacting with a lot of different people; promoting my blog, pitching my events and talking about my work.

So people are often quite surprised when they hear that I consider myself a massive introvert.

But why?

I realized that most people don’t have a good understanding of what introversion and extraversion is. Typically they think that being an introvert means you’re quiet and shy, while being an extrovert is seen as being social and outgoing. And that’s not exactly right.

For me, introversion and extraversion is all about energy: what recharges you and what drains you? Extroverts find energy in interaction: they recharge by being around people, by interacting with what’s outside themselves. Introverts, on the other hand, will get their energy from reflection: they recharge by looking inwards, by being alone. So this does mean that extroverts will be much more likely to be social and outgoing, and that introverts will be much more likely to be quiet and shy. But that’s not always the case. You can have extroverts that are shy. And you can have introverts that are social and outgoing.

My term for this group of social introverts: social caterpillars.

We’re like social butterflies, jumping from one event to the next, being social and outgoing, only: we have to work a whole lot harder for our moments of butterflyery-ness (that word works so much better when said out loud. And no, Autocorrect, I did not mean “butterfly princess”).

So how do you recognize a social caterpillar in the wild? For now, I’ve come up with 4 characteristics, but this is still a work in progress:

Cocoon

Every caterpillar needs a cocoon. At busy events, we will need a moment to retreat back into ourselves. Depending on the social caterpillar, this can manifest in different ways: a breath of fresh air outside, a long toilet break or even intensely staring at your phone pretending you’ve got something urgent to respond to (while you’re just checking Twitter). It’s all about having a moment completely to yourself, even if you find yourself in the midst of a crowd.

Antenna

We enjoy interaction, but this doesn’t necessarily have to happen face-to-face. Thanks to social networks, social caterpillars can move the energy draining activities to the online world. Plus it allows us to digest the interaction asynchronously, making connections before or after an event. We’ll also often be the ones live tweeting, photographing or blogging about the event, which as an extra benefit allows us to hide and retreat behind our gadgets.

Consume

Caterpillars consume their environment. My interpretation: social caterpillars will analyze their surroundings, using all their senses to their advantage. We’ll research the events we’re going to, figure out beforehand who will be there and what they do and who might be potentially interesting to meet. We’ll observe and listen until we figure out the best way to approach a certain situation.

Fly

We will have our moments of being butterflies. We’ll be social and outgoing, meeting and interacting with new people, talking about the things we love, organizing our own events and doing whatever we feel comfortable doing. And pushing ourselves to do things we might not fully feel comfortable with, like giving a presentation at an event and talking for 300 seconds about how you are an introvert…

So, yeah: I’m an introvert. And I’m a social caterpillar.

If you ever see me at an event and I’m running away in the other direction, don’t take it personally. I just need some space and time to become that butterfly.

I’m curious to hear from you now. Would you consider yourself an introvert or extrovert? Or somewhere in between? And all you social caterpillars out there: tell me your stories! What do you do during the events? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #SocialCaterpillars or leave a comment below!

Gravity

We’ve had to wait 7 years since Alfonso Cuarón brought us Children of Men, but his latest movie looks fantastic. Gravity is about two astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) who get stranded in space after an accident during a space walk mission. I’ve heard the movie opens with a single 17 minute long take… I think this could be epic.

Release Date: 4 October 2013 (US), 18 October 2013 (UK)

About Time

Ooh, a romantic comedy with time travel! About Time is written and directed by Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and A Funeral) and stars Domhnall Gleeson as a young man who discovers he can travel back into time and redo parts of his own life. I love how quirky, funny and sweet the trailer looks; I can’t wait to see this!

Release Date: 6 September 2013 (UK), 8 November 2013 (US)

Riddick

This looks like fun. I loved Pitch Black, the first movie in the Riddick series, and this 3rd movie looks like it will be in the same vein. The effects and production quality don’t look brilliant, but I think the story and action sequences will more than make up for it. Also: Katee Sackhoff! I don’t think she’ll ever get rid of her Starbuck image; we don’t see much of her character, but it looks like she’ll again be an awesome ass-kicking heroine.

Release Date: 6 September 2013 (UK, US)

The World’s End

It’s the final chapter of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy! Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were hilarious, so I’m sure this final movie will be just as awesome. Five friends attempt to redo an epic pub crawl in their old home town, only to discover an alien invasion.

Release Date: 19 July 2013 (UK), 23 August 2013 (US)

Ender’s Game

I again have to make a difficult decision: read the book first or watch the movie first? This time around I’m tempted to read the book first: what would you do? I do like the look of this though; I’m not exactly sure what is going on, but it looks like it could be a fun and action filled scifi.

Release Date: 25 October 2013 (UK), 1 November 2013 (US)

White House Down

The theme of 2013? White House Under Attack movies. We’ve already had Olympus Has Fallen and now White House Down (and I think there are two others as well). I enjoyed Olympus Has Fallen; it was a lots-of-explosions-and-fights action movie, but still quite fun. The trailer for White House Down makes it look even cheesier, which I should have expected seeing as Roland Emmerich is involved (Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012).

Release Date: 28 June 2013 (US), 6 September 2013 (UK)

Captain Phillips

This doesn’t really look like my type of movie, but it does look interesting. Captain Phillips is directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) and stars Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips who was taken hostage by Somali Pirates during the Maersk Alabama hijacking in 2009.

Release Date: 11 October 2013 (UK, US)

Thor: The Dark World

I know this came out like 3 weeks, but somehow I only got around to watching it now. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’m not really feeling excited for this movie at all. I liked the first one, and I really like Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, but I have the feeling something is missing…

Release Date: 1 November 2013 (UK), 8 November 2013 (US)

So today’s Me Wantz is obviously still Iron Man related: an Iron Man Arc Reactor pendant from etsy store LootStash. Awesome, right? On the one side is the Mark I reactor, on the other the Mark IV/V.

So to celebrate that, today is Iron Man Day on Miss Geeky!

I’ll be bringing you a couple of posts all about our lovely Mr Stark. This first one is all about T-shirts: Threadless released 22 (!!) Iron Man tee designs and they all look great. I’m not going to show all of them here, but I will highlight a couple of my favourites. If you want to see them all, head on over to the Threadless site.

Melting Point

Rocket

Speed and Velocity

Go

Star Trek Into Darkness

I’m so excited for this! I’ve tried to stay away from most of the trailers, but I know it looks amazing. I loved the first Star Trek movie despite all the lens flares and I can’t wait to see how this sequel turns out. I’m still quite pleased with myself that I managed to book tickets to the IMAX on opening’s night next week. This is going to be awesome!

Release Date: Thursday 9th May

The Great Gatsby

I never really understood the lure of The Great Gatsby. I remember hearing about it as a teen and expecting it to be the most romantic book ever. Once I actually started reading though, I remember being bored out of my mind. I wonder what I’d think of the book if I read it now though… Seeing the trailers for the movie version makes me think I might have been wrong as a teen. Or is it just that everything Baz Luhrman touches looks epic and grand?

Release Date: Thursday 16th May

Fast and Furious 6

I’ve always enjoyed the Fast and Furious movies. They’re big not-particularly-bright action movies, but always a lot of fun. This latest instalment seems to be giving us more of the same: fast cars, awesome races, cool heists.

Release Date: Friday 17th May

Epic

Part of me still thinks this looks like a 2013 version of Fern Gully, but it still might be good.

Release Date: Wednesday 22nd May

The Hangover Part III

The gang is back in Vegas. What could possibly go wrong?

Release Date: Thursday 23rd May

Others:

• Dead Man Down – Friday 3rd May
• Mud - Friday 10th May
• Deadfall – Friday 10th May
• The Big Wedding – Wednesday 29th May
• Byzantium – Thursday 30th May
• The Purge - Thursday 30th May

Here’s the description from Amazon:

Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child.

Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child?

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod is £6.29 on Amazon.co.uk.

Today Upcoming is shutting down. And I’m feeling nostalgic.

We all knew it was going to happen eventually; nobody has properly used Upcoming for ages. When I heard the news, I didn’t really feel sad; Upcoming had seen its best days, why continue on with a service no one is using? It must have been something like 2 years since I last used it, so why should I care?

But then I logged in.

Looked at my past events.

And realized just how many good memories had their origin in a simple click on an Upcoming page.

In 2007 I moved to London. It was a huge move: new country, new city, new customs, everything was different from what I was used to. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know how I’d find new friends and people I’d like. I wasn’t really connecting with any of the other students at university, but beyond that I didn’t know where else to go. And then I came across Upcoming.

Thanks to Upcoming, I discovered the Girl Geek Dinners, the Geek Dinners, BarCamps, Hackdays and more. I found out about screenings, lectures and other cool things. When I visited Berlin for a few days, I found out what interesting things were going on.

Browsing through my old events, I came across the first Werewolf night I went to. It links to two videos where Ian is explaining me the rules of Werewolf, with the help of Tom, Sheila and Glyn. All four of them are good friends now, and it’s weird seeing that video of when they barely knew me.

I came across the first BarCamp I attended and remember how stressed out I was about presenting there. I came across the first couple of Geek Dinners I helped organize (and cringe at the copy I most probably had a hand in). I came across the first hackday I ever attended where I ended up creating a Torchwood swede. I came across the Girl Geek Coffee I organized, the first event I properly did on my own. And I came across the first BarCampLondon I helped organized, which kicked off all the event organizing I’m doing today.

Attending and organizing all those events have turned me into the person I am today, and I have to thank Upcoming for playing a role in that.

And that Upcoming list of all my past events? It’s the only real detailed record of my first 3 years in London.

Goodbye, Upcoming.

Thank you for all the memories.

Whether it’s nice weather or not though, this dress looks great. And with a name like Be Outside Dress In Delft I couldn’t not write about it. It’s available for $74.99 on Modcloth.

Answer: don’t choose.

I love the idea of the HP Envy x2: a notebook with a HD Touch display that can be used as a tablet as well. Sigh, this would have made my life so much easier back then!

So on a cold Monday morning I made my way to Embankment. First we got two short presentations by Sony and O2 Business, and we were handed each a Sony Xperia Z to use during the trip, which we could keep afterwards as well! After that we headed to the pier to prepare for epic boat ride. I initially thought it wasn’t that cold and I thought the layers of clothes and hats we needed to put on were a bit overkill:

Once we were actually on the water though I was so glad for those extra layers: it was freeeeeezing AND it had just started snowing! It was so much fun though. Up to Tower Bridge, the boat needs to stick to certain speed limits; after Tower Bridge: wow. By then it had started snowing more and it was just exhilarating going so fast and feeling the snow on your face. Plus the boat didn’t stick to just speeding in a straight line; it was doing all kinds of dodges and spins which I’m sure have much more proper technical sounding terms then dodges and spins. It was awesome.

The entire thing was also recorded. There were multiple GoPros aimed at us and a second speedboat with camera crew recording it all. Here’s the video:

Don’t I look wonderful? I think we spent an hour having fun on the water until we had to head back. As I said before, I hadn’t thought it was that cold, but once back on land I couldn’t stop shivering. Luckily we got some warn food and hot chocolate to warm us all back up.

So that was my awesome speed boat adventure, but I haven’t actually reviewed the Xperia Z yet. Now up till this phone, I haven’t been much of a fan of Android. I think most of the previous handsets have felt too clunky with too many buttons, ports and other stuff that just look tacked on, the OS has been too slow and overall I just have never had a nice experience with them. With the Sony Xperia Z though that’s changed; I’m really enjoying this phone.

I’ll start with the “main” feature: the waterproofness. It’s a bit of gimmick, but it does actually work. I don’t think it’s something I desperately want or need in a phone, but now that I have it I am sort of using it. Like whenever it’s snowing or raining outside or whenever I’m taking a bath or shower. It’s not the key attractiveness for me, but it’s a fun extra feature.

A direct consequence of the waterproofness though is the design of the handset and I am absolutely loving that. Every single port/slot is hidden away nicely behind watertight covers, turning the entire phone into a nice sleek gadget. There’s only one single button which I have to admit seems a bit out of place, but the rest just feels nice in your hands.

Compared to an iPhone 5 the Xperia Z is a bit on the large side, but it doesn’t feel too big. I do feel a bit weird taking phone calls with it, but for me that’s not what I do the majority of the time anyway. It’s got a great screen for watching videos and the camera in it is awesome. I love the sharpness of some of the photos I’ve taken with it; it’s my favourite phone camera so far.

I wasn’t expecting to like the Sony Xperia Z that much, but now that I’ve gotten my hands on it for the past few weeks I have to say it’s a great phone. It hasn’t replaced my iPhone yet, but that’s mainly cause of certain apps I’m using (like Messages, Mailbox, Reminders). I am taking it everywhere with me nowadays and I do notice I’m mainly grabbing for the Xperia whenever I want to take photos.

Thanks again to O2 Business for the awesome speedboat experience and for the awesome phone!

A Late Quartet

This one isn’t really my cup of tea, but I’m including it cause I know my dad will be reading this post and I think it will be something for him (*waves* Hi Dad!). It’s about a classical string quartet approaching their 25th anniversary, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener and Imogen Poots.

Release Date: Friday 5th April

Oblivion

I loved the one trailer I saw for Oblivion. Tom Cruise, an interesting possibly twisty story and gorgeous scifi visuals. It looked like the type of movie that could be spoiled though by seeing the wrong type of trailer, so after that first one I’ve stayed away from any videos/clips/etc. Fingers crossed all my effort was for something.

Release Date: Friday 12th April

The Place Beyond The Pines

Before writing this post, I hadn’t actually looked up what this movie was about. All I knew was it starred both Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, meaning I of course have to go see it. It’s about a motorcycle-stunt-rider-turned-bank-robber (Gosling) as a way to provide for his lover (Eva Mendes) and their newborn child. It puts him on a collision course with an ambitious rookie cop (Cooper) navigating a department ruled by a corrupt detective (Ray Liotta).

Release Date: Friday 12th April

Olympus Has Fallen

This looks so over-the-top-ridiculous, but I so want to see it! It stars Gerard Butler as the ex secret service member who’s the only one not captured when the White House is attacked. Aaron Echkart plays the President, while Morgan Freeman plays the Speaker of the House.

Release Date: Wednesday 17th April

Iron Man 3

Suit up!

Release Date: Friday 26 April

Others:

• Dark Skies – Wednesday 3rd April
• The Odd Life of Timothy Green – Friday 5th April
• Spring Breakers – Friday 5th April
• The Expatriate – Friday 5th April
• Scary Movie 5 – Friday 12th April
• Evil Dead – Thursday 18th April
• Promised Land – Friday 19th April
• The Look of Love – Friday 26th April

So to celebrate the return of the Doctor to our screens I thought I’d share with you guys some cool Doctor Who stuff I found online:

Tardis Ring – $12.50

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey – $19.95

Bigger On The Inside Scarf – $26.00

Gallifrey Cuff Bracelet – $28.00

Doctor Who Teapots – £42

Doctor Who Cookie Cutters – $6.50 (each)

Via 9to5Mac

What do you need to do to enter? Simply fill in the following form:

You’ll also get an extra entry if you mention the giveaway on Twitter with the hashtag #missgeeky, and another extra entry if you like this post on Facebook. The competition is only open to residents in the UK. The winner will be drawn randomly and I will contact them on Tuesday April 3rd.

So what did I think of the game? Short version: fun yet brutal game that somehow doesn’t feel like “my” Tomb Raider.

I used to be a huge Tomb Raider fan. It had a strong kickass female protagonist, featured lots of spooky ancient places and the main gameplay was focused on solving puzzles. I wasn’t very good at it, but it was fun and the part of me that loved ancient history enjoyed seeing the myths and tombs come to life. I could walk around the ruins of an ancient Indian temple or explore the catacombs of a Egyptian temple and it filled me with awe and wonder. I loved how you could pull a random lever, hear a click and not know what the effect was, leaving you wandering around trying to find what had changed. I loved how you had to battle dinosaurs, mutants, gods, and other weird things that inhabited those ancient tombs.

Jump forward 16 years (!!! wow, now I feel old) and we get the rebooted version featuring a younger more innocent Lara Croft. This new story is all about putting this unexperienced Lara into a deadly dangerous environment and seeing her “grow” into the Lara Croft we know. She’s thrown into this terrible situation and does everything she can to make sure she and her friends survive.

As I expected there’s a lot about this game that feels like Uncharted: ancient ruins, phases of corridors of enemies just shooting at you and the standard jumping and climbing traversals. Once you unlock your special rope arrow ability (also: who the hell went through all the effort of tying ropes around all those bits of trees, doors and pillars?? Someone on that island must have been bored) the game traversal gets a bit more interesting and the use of fire provides some fun puzzle solving.

The problem I had with those “puzzles” though is that they never felt too complex; every single time it was pretty straightforward on how to solve it, I never had the feeling the game was challenging me. I can understand that the main storyline should remain easy and solvable for all, but why couldn’t some of the optional tombs be a bit more trickier? Why couldn’t they bring back the levers, hiding some of the challenges behind secret doors?

Next to that I was missing that awe and wonder I had with the older games. The graphics are way better now, so I was expecting to be blown away by awesome and awe-inspiring ancient ruins. Instead the creators went down the shock and horror route. The game is full of impaled corpses, bloody altars, chunks of unidentifiable slabs of meat hanging off hooks, and piles of skulls and bones. The environment feels bland and brutal, and I felt uneasy the entire time playing.

What it comes down to is that to me the game didn’t feel like the Tomb Raider I grew up with and loved. I wanted a game that makes me feel like I’m a kickass archaeologist, solving tricky puzzles, exploring gorgeous abandoned tombs and discovering awesome artefacts. Instead this Tomb Raider is all about surviving: surviving the harsh environment, surviving the brutal island inhabitants, surviving everything that is thrown at you. I get that that’s what they were going for, I just wish that besides all that surviving Lara had also learnt a sense of wonder and excitement for discovery.

By the end of the game, I don’t think Lara has turned into the Lara Croft of the previous games; instead they’ve rewritten her history so much, that she’s turned into this other unrecognizable Lara with a different personality and motivation, a Lara that I’m not sure I want to see more of. As much as I enjoyed playing the game, I miss “my” Lara and I miss the Tomb Raider of old.

I always thought I had played DuckTales as a kid on the NES, but turns out that was DuckTales 2. Which had pretty much the same gameplay as far as I can tell. I can’t wait to get my hands on this remastered version!

Next to the awesome cover though, it looks like a cool book:

From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala. It’s a city built upwards not across–where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings, A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can’t hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan – this is going to hurt.

Fade To Black is available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.59 and on Amazon.com for $10.19.

The BassBuds are officially launching this month on the 23rd and to celebrate they’re holding a huge competition! As sponsors of ‘The Show Tour’ they’re giving people the chance to celebrate with them at their big launch party. They’re hosting an exclusive celebrity pre-party including a live fashion show and live music from some of the greatest RnB groups of the last 3 decades.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning one of over 100 other prizes, simply head on over to the BassBuds competition page.

Here are the prizes you could win:

The Deluxe BassBuds Dream Package:

• 2x tickets to the BassBuds UK Celebrity launch party
• 2x VIP tickets to the ‘Show Tour’ concert at Wembley
• 1 Night stay at a London Hilton
• 2x BassBoomz
• 4x BassBuds

The Super BassBuds Package

• 2x tickets to the ‘Show Tour’ concert at Wembley
• 2x BassBoomz
• 2x BassBuds

Twin Buds and Boomz Packs

• 2x BassBoomz
• 2x BassBuds

Besides those three main prizes they’re also giving 100 sets of BassBuds away! So head on over to the BassBuds competition page for your chance to win!

I loved the marketing for the first movie where they focused on the kooky couture of the Capital, and I’m quite glad they’re doing that here again. Eleven portraits have been released of the main characters, each wearing the latest high fashion. I couldn’t find a full list of what designers were used; does anybody know?

Two weeks ago I got invited to the Science museum for a special hands-on preview of the upcoming Star Trek game. Now I hadn’t heard much about the new Star Trek game; I kind of assumed it was yet another cheesy movie tie-in game, but seeing as it was held at the Science museum I thought I’d give it a chance. And I’m glad I did. It looks like a fun game and a good addition to the Star Trek universe.

The event started with a presentation by Brian Miller, senior vice president of Paramount Pictures and producer of the Star Trek game. Hearing Miller speak so passionately about the game, you really got the sense that this isn’t just a movie tie-in and cash-in. Development started three years ago, and they’ve worked hard to create a game that belongs in the Star Trek world. Unlike most movie tie-in games, the plot of this game isn’t just an obvious rehash of the upcoming movie (which I really dislike; why “spoil” the movie by playing the game first or vice versa?). Instead the game has its own new standalone storyline set between the two movies, although I suspect that the end of the game might give a reason as to why the start of the upcoming movie seems to be set on Earth.

So what is the new game about? From what I can piece together the Enterprise is called to examine haywire experimental tech on a Vulcan space station and when Kirk and Spock go on an away mission to investigate things go wrong. Obviously. Miller stated that most of the game would take place on New Vulcan and that the main enemy is the Gorn, but how that exactly relates to the initial away mission I’m not quite sure.

You can play the game completely as Kirk or Spock, and each character allows for different gameplay techniques. Spock, for instance, will be able to mind meld with enemies and use the Vulcan nerve pinch on them. Besides playing it on your own in single player though, the game will also allow co-op, which I’m quite looking forward to.

All the actors in the movies were involved lending their voices to their game counterparts. Miller added that they gave Simon Pegg free rein to improvise whatever he wanted during the recording and that they did their best afterwards to include most of those bits into the actual game.

After the presentation, I got to try out the game myself. There are parts of the game that I so far really like and other bits that I don’t. For starters, I love the look of the Enterprise. I didn’t get to explore that much, but I think it looks great; you really feel as if you’re walking around a proper starship. I didn’t like the look of the characters though. The likeness of all the actors were used and yes, they do look like them, but there’s still a bit of uncanny valley going on.

Gameplay is obvious, but still quite fun. The demo mainly had us running around traversing stuff, but we also got to try out the handy tricorder. It pretty much works like Batman Arkham Asylum/City detective mode, giving you extra onscreen info about people, locations (== find secret places) and weapons (== giving you extra bonuses). There’s also an in-game “hacking” puzzle, where you have to match up frequency signals (I wonder how quick this gets old though). We were told that there were over 20 different weapons in the game, but the demo level that I tried out didn’t involve any battles.

So far I quite like the look of this Star Trek Game. It not’s going to be the-best-game-evah, but it’s definitely a step up from the typical movie games and something I think is worth investing my time in. It feels like the team have done their best to make it part of the Star Trek world and from what I can tell I think they’ve succeeded.

Well, we now finally got a trailer. And it looks great:

Chloe Moretz looks awesome, Aaron Taylor-Johnson looks buff and Jim Carey looks almost unrecognizable. What did you think of the trailer?

I am tempted though by these tops from the official Tomb Raider store. I love that for once there’s quite a good range for women, and not just the obvious tee. I think my favourite is the Sisters of Artemis pullover; I think that would look great with shorts and boots!

Icon T-Shirt ($20):

Sisters of Artemis Slouchy Pullover ($40):

Shield T-Shirt ($20):

Skilled Fighter T-Shirt ($20):

Survivor Dolman ($24):

Escape Raglan ($32):

Again I kind of want to get one of these tees, even though I still haven’t played the game yet. Which one is your favourite?

The dinosaur silhouette is hand pierced/sawed/filed sterling silver and is then tumbled for durability. The pendant is then connected to a sparkling sterling silver chain and finished with a sterling lobster clasp. The dino pendant itself measures roughly 3/4″ high. It’s so cute ($55):

I also like this love potion necklace from the same store ($55):

And this camera ring ($85):

Almost all the items in this etsy store are cute, adorable and geeky! I’m tempted to get the dinosaur one…

Designing your own case on IdealCases is pretty simple. First you need to select which gadget you are making the case for. They allow for quite a range of devices: Apple iPhone/iPads/iPod, Samsung Galaxy, Blakcberry Bold, Kindle and Nook. Then you need to choose which type of case you want. This does depend on what gadget you’re creating a design for; not every case is available for every gadget. As far as I can tell, for most smaller devices you can only choose their plastic clip on gloss case (£12.49), while the bigger “readers” (like the iPad, Kindle and Nook) also give the option of a faux leather flip case (£29.99 – £39.99).

You then get to choose whether you want one of their pre-designed cases or a personalized one. If you want to personalize it, there are several ways to design your case: upload photos to grid layouts (which allows you to pull photos from Facebook, Instagram and Flickr), freestyle, or DIY Fan Art. I went for the Freestyle one opting for an uploaded image of my MissGeeky logo:

The above case looks great, right? The iPhone clicks nicely into the case and you have easy access to all the buttons and ports. Unlike some of the cases I’ve tried, it is obvious that you’re using a case, but I love how unique it is and how it’s a great piece of marketing material for me.

I do have to mention though that this wasn’t the first case that they sent. In the first one the colour somehow got wrong (it was a bright pink!), but for the rest the look and feel of it was pretty much the same. I do like how quick IdealCases were to respond and fix the mistake.

I love how the case turned out and I always make sure I’m using this case whenever I go to events. Each time I’m at an event and take a photo, people will notice my Miss Geeky logo!

Disclaimer: The IdealCase was provided to me for review, free of charge.

I love the look of Red Dawn; I think it’s going to be so cheesy, but a lot of fun. It’s a remake of the 1984 movie of the same name, which starred Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, and this time they’ve got quite an awesome cast as well. It stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Avengers Assemble) Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), Josh Peck (The Wackness), Adrianne Palicki (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Friday Night Lights), Connor Cruise (Seven), Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen, Grey’s Anatomy).

So I’ve got 5 pairs of tickets to giveaway. The special screening will be at a Central London screening room at 18:30. To enter the giveaway, just fill in the form below:

You’ll also get an extra entry if you mention the giveaway on Twitter with the hashtag #missgeeky, and another extra entry if you follow @Red_DawnUK. The competition is open to everyone, but you’ll be expected to make it to a Central London on March 11th at at 18:30. The winners will be drawn randomly and I will contact them on Friday March 7th.

When it comes to games the past two months, I think I mainly played in the first 2 weeks just after Christmas. I was pretty much playing Assassin’s Creed III and Darksiders II simultaneously, cause I had to share AC3 with Cristiano. The more I play though the more I notice how easier it becomes to switch to different controller controls: it just takes time!

Assassin’s Creed III

I’ve always enjoyed the Assassin’s Creed series. I loved the overarching scifi-y story with Desmond, the scrambling over rooftops and monuments with Altair and Ezio, and just that sense of history while you’re playing. And while most of that was in AC3, it was also the first game in the series that I’ve been disappointed by.

I wouldn’t say it’s a bad game. There are some annoying glitches, but overall it’s a fun game to play. I think the main reason I was disappointed by it is because of the protagonist Connor. He’s just so booooring and bland, there’s just no way to sympathise with him. Part of me wonders how much that’s got to do with the bad voice artist; would Connor have been more likeable in the hands voice of someone else? Or is it really a problem with the story? You never get a real story reason to do anything beyond the main missions. There’s this weird disconnect between the main and side missions, as if each side was written by someone else who had different ideas of who Connor was.

Despite that though I did spend hours wandering through the forests hunting animals and navigating the high seas completing missions. Both of those were a lof of fun and surprisingly relaxing. It’s weird though that it’s the new elements that made me like this game, while the old elements left me rather disappointed. Today’s news of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag sounds like it will be focusing more on the parts I did like and will hopefully be better than this one!

Darksiders 2

I can’t talk about Darksiders II without first mentioning how sad it is that Vigil Games is no more. I really liked the Darksiders games and would have loved to have seen a Darksiders III, especially cause that one would finally feature Fury, the whip wielding female Horseman of the Apocalypse. It’s such a shame, cause I think they had some great ideas and they were definitely games I enjoyed playing.

In Darksiders II you get to play as Death, our second Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Just like in the first Darksiders, the game is a nice balance of fighting battles, traversing areas and solving puzzles. As the story progresses, Death finds gadgets granting him special abilities like grappling and portal jumping. I loved discovering the new abilities and trying to use them to solve the different puzzles. Some of the puzzles can be quite tricky, and I quite like that most of them aren’t completely obvious at first glance. The fighting I struggled a bit more with, but once you get the hang of it, it can be quite fun.

Bioshock 2

I still haven’t finished Bioshock 2, but so far I’m sort of liking it. I mean I think I’m only about one third in, but from what I’ve played it seems very much the same as the first Bioshock. Weapons? Check. Magic Plasmas? Check. Tonics? Check. Research Camera? Check. There are some minor tweaks in equipping abilities and skills, but again most of it seem pretty much copy-paste from the previous game. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I was hoping for something a bit more than just a rehash of the first one.

I again love the look and feel of the game; it’s so cool exploring the different sections of Rapture and they’ve again managed to create some creepy yet gorgeous locations. I just wish there was something new, something innovative, something a bit different, than just the “same” game again.

I know there have been lately a lot of smart watches, but I honestly think those do too much. I’ve already got a smart phone I’ve invested in; the device on my wrist should simply notify me to check that phone. My own initial idea is a simple leather cuff that vibrates when your phone goes off, but it’s one of those projects that I wasn’t really sure where to start to kick it all off.

Well, it turns out I’m not the only one with that idea. There’s currently a Kickstarter project for just that: the EMBRACE+. It’s a bracelet that connects to your smartphone and notifies you by flashing different colors for different apps and contacts.

The bracelet isn’t exactly as I envisioned it, but it’s definitely the type of bracelet I’m looking for, so I’ve backed the project. They’re currently only at 13% of their target though, so I’m curious to see if they manage to fund it completely. Here’s their Kickstarter video:

What do you think of the smart bracelet idea? Do you think it could work?

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks

This is the third book in Kerrelyn Spark’s Love at Stake series and again it’s a lot of fun. I’ve only just discovered her books and with thirteen books in the series I’ve got some serious catching up to do! So far it reminds me a lot of Lynsay Sands’ books: they’re funny, entertaining reads with a cool vampire world that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This one is about the general of the vampire army falling in love with a vampire slayer.

Lord of The Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier

I struggled a lot with this book and it was almost a DNF (did not finish) for me. I already had bought the following two books though, so I thought I should at least give it a shot. The concept sounds interesting: a teenage girl, Kes, finds out she has the ability to heal griffins. I really wanted to like this book, but nothing about it stood out to me. The characters aren’t that likable, the story is pretty predictable and the world didn’t feel fleshed out.

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks

I’m in two minds about this series. The first book starts off with a pretty harsh world, which only gets worse as the story progresses. Rape, incest, cannibalism… those aren’t really the things I look for in a book. Plus there was a certain lack of storytelling and world and character building; I constantly felt as if there was more to these characters and their backstories, but I just wasn’t seeing it. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled lately by books like The Name of The Wind, but I was missing the beauty in the way a story can be told.

And yet, despite all those things the story itself was pretty compelling; I managed to finish book one and two in 3 days, picking it up whenever I could find the time. It actually managed to surprise me; the first book alone has at least 4 twists towards the end (one of which I saw coming, the others were proper “OMG!” moments). It’s not the most brilliant series out there, but it’s definitely a good read. Interested? Why not enter my giveaway for the first book in the series?

My Lady Mage by Alexis Morgan

This is the first book in Alexis Morgan’s new Warriors of the Mist series. It’s a fantasy romance: it’s got your typical romance tropes, but it’s set in an interesting fantasy world. The “warriors” from the series title were damned by the gods to fight evil; they lie dormant under the mists of the river until they are called upon by those in need. In this book they are awakened by Merewen to save her people from her uncle’s cruelty. And obviously she falls in love with one of the damned warriors. The book manages to properly balance the fantasy and romance elements, turning it into a fun read. Each warrior is linked to an animal avatar and it’s fun discovering their backstories. I’m very curious to see how this story continues!

The first giveaway winner was drawn randomly and will receive two Babylon 5 DVDs: The Gathering and The Lost Tales.

Drumroll, please! The winner is:

Jane!

With the comment:

I once wrote to Patrick Stewart to ask him to do a book signing at the retail shop I used to run. He refused as he didn’t have the time but was so lovely about it. How could anyone not adore him?

With the second giveaway I was giving away two copies of Skyfall, one of which was for the “best”/most creative/fun answer and one of which was drawn randomly.

Drumroll, please! The first winner is:

Steve!

With his comment:

Easy. It would be about a chainsaw wielding gang of giraffes called ‘The Long Horses’ who run riot around London bumping into people without apologising, standing on the left of the escalators, asking for Big Macs in Burger King and so on. Turns out they are simply misunderstood and are protesting the lack of tall, edible trees in the city and they just want equality for all giraffes.

I’d have Tom Selleck play the lead giraffe.

And the second winner is:

Jo!

With her comment:

I’m no good at thinking up movie ideas – something kick ass and inspiring, something you could watch to cheer you up, or motivate you. Maybe something with FemShep

Congrats to all the winners and enjoy your prizes! For those of you that didn’t win, why not try out my latest giveaway for The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks?

I actually managed to watch all the movies from the main six categories (so Best Picture, Best Directing and the 4 Best acting categories) before the ceremony and came quite far with all the others. I tend to struggle with “Oscar” movies: some movies are just too depressing and serious, while I just want to relax and be entertained. I do end up watching things though that I most probably wouldn’t have given a chance and end up loving, which is the main reason I do this every year.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is that type of movie that I think I normally wouldn’t have watched or if I had attempted it, I think I would have switched off twenty minutes in. It’s about Pat (Bradley Cooper), who after a stint in a mental institution moves back into his parents place to try to get his life back on track while dealing with bipolar disorder. In that first half an hour his character is just so unlikable and unrootable for; you just have to cringe at some of the things he does. Once Jennifer Lawrence’s character is introduced though (a recent widow with mental health problems of her own), it becomes a really sweet and interesting movie.

Beasts of The Southern Wild

Okay, I did not like this movie. I get what it was going for and I can see what people liked about it, but for me it just didn’t resonate at all. Beasts of The Southern Wild is about six-year-old Hushpuppy, who lives with her father in the Bathtub, a flood threatened bayou community. I think what I didn’t like about this movie is that to me it felt like it was glorifying poverty, turning the avoidance of using common sense into something magical and wise. Quvenzhané Wallis does give a stunning performance as Hushpuppy, but I never felt I cared for her or her father through the entire movie.

Amour

I loved Amour. It’s a sweet, but also brutal and harrowing tale about the final stages in a couple’s life. Georges and Anne are retired music teachers in their eighties, when Anne suffers a stroke paralysing half of her body. Both Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant give great performances as Georges and Anne, and you really feel for the suffering both of them go through.

So what’s the giveaway for? One lucky reader will receive a copy of The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. I just read the entire series and it’s great.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment behind with your favourite birthday memory. You’ll also get a second entry if you’re following me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway with the hashtag #missgeeky. The competition is open to everyone and it will end on March 3rd after which I’ll randomly draw a winner.

I’m going to at least try to review all the Best Picture nominations. I already blogged about Les Miserables, Life of Pi and Argo (read that blog post here), so only six more to go! I’ll do three today, and hopefully the remaining three tomorrow or Sunday.

Django Unchained

Here’s a confession: I still haven’t seen Reservoir Dogs or Jackie Brown and I didn’t really like Pulp Fiction. But I loved Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds, and now also loved Django Unchained. Tarantino’s past three movies have been all over-the-top, odes-to-certain-genres, unique movie experiences, and I can’t help but admire his style.

In Django Unchained, Tarantino manages to blend the elements of a spaghetti western with 70s blaxploitation. And bizarrely that works. Jamie Foxx is excellent as the titular character Django, who turns from slave to bounty hunter. But it’s Christoph Waltz that again shines; there’s just something about the combination of him and Tarantino’s dialogue that makes it all awesome.

I know some people don’t like Tarantino’s movies, cause of the bloodiness and gore, but actually? I think it’s so over-the-top to the point of unrealism that it’s not gory. Blood exploding in a fountain after one shot? It makes me ponder the tech they used to get that effect and once I start thinking of all the gore in terms of special effects it all becomes laughable. Am I the only one that does that?

Lincoln

The West Wing meets American History 101. That’s the way I heard Lincoln described to me. And they weren’t wrong. I have to admit I think I normally would have struggled a bit with the background politics and history, but having just played Assassin’s Creed 3 I actually had recently read up on that bit of history (I know we covered it in high school, but it’s been a while).

Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance as Lincoln is awesome. It’s impressive how he breathes life into this character, without it turning into a caricature which I think in the hands of a lesser actor would have very easily happened. He fully deserves the Oscar this year, so I’ll be rooting for him on Sunday (although I don’t think my rooting is needed, he seems to be winning every award this year!).

Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty was one of the nominated movies I was least looking forward to. The topic just didn’t seem like something I’d be interested in and I wasn’t a huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow’s previous movie The Hurt Locker either. I have to admit though I was wrong and was pleasantly surprised by Zero Dark Thirty. Although “pleasantly” might be the wrong word. Zero Dark Thirty is a great movie, but it’s one I wouldn’t say is “enjoyable” or “fun”; it gives a stark, harsh, visceral look at the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.

Even though you know how it’s going to end (well, I’m assuming most people would know how it ends) it still is exciting to see the entire story unfold. The first half of the film features a brutal and unsettling depiction of torture, making you aware of the disturbing lengths people went to to obtain the truth. Jessica Chastain gives a powerful performance as the CIA operative who is relentless in her search for bin Laden and in her belief of this one flimsy lead. Bigelow has managed to create a movie that is intense and exhilarating to watch, keeping you at the edge of your seat the entire time.

I’m sure there are plenty more, but I came across this awesome sounding one God Save The Queen. Queen Victoria as a vampire? Current day steampunk? Werewolves, vampires and goblins? Comparisons to Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye series? I need to get my hands on this book!

Here’s the description from Amazon:

The Year is 2012 – and Queen Victoria still rules with an immortal fist.

She’s the undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where technology lives side by side with magic, where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath) and Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day.

Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it’s her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But things get complicated when her sister goes missing. Xandra will not only realise she’s the prize in a dangerous power struggle – but she’ll also uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire itself.

God Save The Queen by Kate Locke is the first book in the Immortal Empire Series. It’s available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.59 and on Amazon.com for $11.55.

I love some of the designs Olly Moss has created in the past, and this year he’s worked with The Academy and Gallery 1988 to create the official “85 Years of Oscars” poster for the 85th Academy Awards. It features the golden statue as the Best Picture winner of each year.

It’s awesome. I recommend having a look at the large version to see all the details.

How many Best Picture winners can you recognize?

So obviously I love these pendants from etsy store Land of Rapture. Which one would you choose? Paragon, renegade or in between?

I’d have to go with the Paragon one. As much as I’d like to go with the Renegade one, I’m more of a stick-to-the-rules type of gal.

The Capulet iPhone 5 wristlet has a silky Italian leather casing and a soft suede lining. It comes in a wide range of colours/patterns: copper, gold, green, tan, sunset red, seashell white, powder blue, cobalt, jet black, snakeskin and python print. Depending on the colour it can range from £169 to £249. It’s a gorgeous and luxurious case; it feels so soft and smooth!

Inside there’s space on the left to fit your iPhone comfortably. It’s designed to fit an iPhone 5, but I think it should work for previous iPhones as well. On the right there’s slots for four cards with a pocket behind it for money and other flat stuff you might want to carry. Finally, on the back of the wristlet is a small coin pocket.

I love the look of this case, but it’s just not what I look for in an iPhone case. I almost brought it with me to the BAFTAs, but I also wanted to bring along extra batteries and lipstick. I can imagine it being perfect though for a night out where you only want to bring one small case/bag/clutch with you. It fits all your basic essentials: phone, keys, money.

Disclaimer: The Capulet iPhone Wristlet was provided to me on loan from Capulet. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About a week before the big night I got an email from Evian’s PR team asking whether I’d want an unforgettable red carpet experience at this year’s BAFTAs. I initially interpreted that as standing in the press pit at the BAFTAs which I had never done before and thought would be pretty awesome to do. After responding though I soon realized that this was a bit more than that: I’d get to walk the red carpet and attend the ceremony, dinner and after party. Wait, what? Seriously? Me? YES!

I can’t properly describe all the emotions I felt leading up to the BAFTAs. Shock. Disbelief. Happiness. Nervousness. Excitement. Panic. Part of me was freaking out about what to wear. None of the dresses I owned were any good, and I had no idea what to do with hair and makeup. And what was I supposed to with coat, bag and shoes? I wasn’t prepared for a black tie event; I’ve never been to one before, what’s the protocol? Another part of me was wondering whether this was all real. Or was this a joke, a prank, a very weird PR stunt? I kept imagining all the worst-case scenarios. It’s in my nature to stress, so stress I did.

Of course in the end it all turned out okay. I managed to find an awesome dress (see my post here). I talked to a wonderful makeup artist at the Lancome stand at Debenhams who gave some awesome tips. And I managed to find a nice clutch that fit most of the stuff I took with me. I’ll do another blog post with the makeup I wore, but the one thing I need to point out here is the nail polish: it’s Skyfall from O.P.I. Awesome colour and super appropriate for that night.

I was all set for the BAFTAs. And I looked awesome.

On Sunday afternoon I made my way to Covent Garden, all nervous and excited. The main thing that had me worried was that I hadn’t actually gotten the ticket. The idea was to meetup with the PR in a pub an hour before the ceremony started. I didn’t quite want to believe I was actually going until I had the actual physical ticket in my hands.

It didn’t help that my careful and anxious planning meant I arrived a full half an hour too early. Cue me with my floor length evening dress sitting in a pub filled with tourists and Irish rugby fans. That half an hour was the third longest wait of my life (first: waiting for the result of my thesis presentation and defence, second: waiting at the ER to hear about my Dad).

I shouldn’t have worried. Eventually I was joined by Deola, the PR from We Are Social/Evian, and two other lovely bloggers, Alex from Alex Loves and Emily from Fashion Foie Gras. And I got my ticket!

The Red Carpet

Once the group was complete, it was time to head over to the Royal Opera House. It was pouring with rain outside and I was struggling terribly trying to balance all the stuff I was holding. Umbrella in one hand, clutch under my armpit, while desperately trying to hold my dress up from all the puddles and rain. Soon we were at the ticket gate, adding yet another object to the equation: umbrella, clutch, dress, ticket. I’m not the most coordinated or graceful person, and juggling those four things was a dance of deftness I hadn’t yet mastered.

Before I knew it I was on the red carpet, still striving to not make a fool of myself by stumbling and falling. It was surreal. On the left were crowds of fans screaming for their favourite stars, on my right the press pit and the celebrities being interviewed. It was a whirlwind of umbrella dodging, object juggling and celebrity spotting (I was in arms reach of George Clooney, Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper), all while being pressured to make our way down the red carpet. I wish I had time to relax, take some photos and properly appreciate where I was, but all too soon it was over. My glamorous red carpet experience was completed.

There was no time to mourn the end of my red carpet affair; it was time to adore the awesomeness that is the Royal Opera House. I’ve only been to their meeting rooms before, so this was the first time I was actually in the auditorium. It’s gorgeous. My seat was in the highest part, the amphitheatre gallery, but I didn’t care. I was at the BAFTAs. Down below, all scurrying in the stalls, were the stars I had been admiring the past weeks, each anxiously waiting to hear if they had won. And I was there with them.

The Ceremony

The lights dimmed, the curtains were drawn and the stage lit up. The ceremony was about to start. I won’t go into any lengthy details about the ceremony here; by now I’m assuming you all have seen it and know who has won what, who said what and who wore who. I loved every bit of it. Stephen Fry was great as a host and he never failed to get the audience laughing (my favourite: “Life of Pee by Ang Lie”, it doesn’t work as well though written down).

I tried live tweeting the entire thing, but it’s tricky! It also still sucks that it isn’t broadcast live; in this day and age they should be able to. Maybe not on BBC One, but why not stream it completely online at least or on BBC Three? Part of me was hesitant about tweeting everything and I didn’t want to spoil it for people and yet… I was there, how could I not tweet about it?

I still need to rewatch the actual broadcast ceremony. I’m quite curious to see how it’s different from what I saw and which bits they edited and cut. There were only a couple of things that really stood out to me as things you don’t experience when watching from home. The obvious one is the camera people on stage; with almost each award presenter and acceptance speech there’d be a camera person following and twirling around them. Besides that if you paid attention to the stalls, you could see seat fillers running around and kneeling in between shots. It’s something you know that happens when you watch at home, but never get to see.

It was so much fun to experience the ceremony live and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. My favourite acceptance speech of the night was Christoph Waltz’s; he was sweet and his shout out to Quentin Tarantino was awesome (“You silver penned devil, you”). I’m still not a fan of Argo; I get what people like about it, but from all the movies nominated this year, it’s the one I enjoyed the least.

I’ve previously written about the poster designs by Jonathan Burton (see my post here). Each of the five Best Film nominations got a gorgeous design to be used on the BAFTA programmes and ever since hearing I was going I’ve been curious to see which one I’d get. I was surprised to find that they weren’t being handed out deliberately; instead, at each entrance of the seating galleries were stacks of the programmes just lying on the floor. The one near our door was the programme for Zero Dark Thirty, but on our way out I managed to grab an Argo one as well!

Grosvenor House

And then the ceremony was finished. We were all reminded that transport to Grosvenor House would be taken care of and if we could all make our way to the coaches outside. Looking at the timestamps of my tweets, I realized it took us about 30 minutes to only get out of the auditorium, out of the Royal Opera House and into a bus.

It took us at least another 30 minutes to get through central London to Grosvenor House. Add to that the bustle of getting inside, showing my ticket, queuing for the cloak room, manoeuvring between the maze of tables and people and figuring out where my table was, and it was about eleven o’clock by the time I finally was seated.

It’s no wonder though. On the night I did a quick calculation: I saw a table “163″ with each table seating 8, so there were at least 1300 people. Then someone pointed out some tables fitted 20… Once home I finally found some stats: the Royal Opera house seats 2256 people and there were 1920 guests dining at Grosvenor House. That’s an amazing amount of people to move around and manage.

The Dinner

The dinner took place in the Great Room and it looked amazing. Every table was dressed with one of five centerpieces, each representing the five Best Film Nominees. And they each had placemats with scenes from the corresponding movies. It all was stunning and really gave the feeling I was dining in Movie Wonderland.

I was a bit hesitant of wandering around the tables in the hopes of bumping into celebrities. I had been struggling with my dress the entire night (it really was too long and people kept stepping on it; it’s a wonder I didn’t trip up) and I’ve never really like the idea of going up to stars when it’s their special night. I still managed to see some of them from a distance, but maybe I should have gone up to them and told them how much I love their movies.

My table was one of the Zero Dark Thirty themed ones. I loved the details in the centerpiece. I’m guessing they basically grabbed a ton of toy tanks, jeeps, planes, helicopters and action figures, spray-painted them and glued them randomly to a lamp. It looked great though! I was also happy with the placemat I got: Jessica Chastain looking cool.

When dinner was finally served, I was starving. The food was delicious. For starters, we got Bradan Orach Smoked Salmon, pickled fennel, granny smith apple, baby watercress and crème fraiche (I forgot to take a photo of this). The main course was… interesting: roasted loin of Bolton Abbey lamb with shepherd’s pie, pea puree and glazed carrots. Yep, shepherd’s pie, although a shepherd’s pie unlike any I’ve ever seen. Finally for dessert: salted caramel cremeux with Hotel Chocolat 70% chocolate mousse.

Again I realize just how much coordination is needed to arrange such a dinner. 1920 guests. Woah. It’s astonishing just how much work and money went into creating this entire experience.

After the dinner, we all made our way to the Disaronno After party, where delicious cocktails were served alongside chocolate-dipped fruit. By then I had stopped taking photos and tweeting, and just attempted to relax and enjoy the party atmosphere. The Noisettes gave a great performance; this was the second time I saw them live and lead singer Shingai Shoniwa has such a bouncy and fun stage presence.

It was almost nearing three when I was all partied out. I took a cab home, unpacked all my goodies (the programmes, the Zero Dark Thirty placemat and perfume and mascara from Lancome) and crashed on the couch with my laptop. Of course I was too hyper to sleep; I had just been to the BAFTAs!

The next day I was delighted to find a thank you gift from Evian: a limited edition Diane von Furstenberg Evian bottle.

Thanks so much to Evian for giving me this opportunity. Attending the BAFTAs was truly an amazing experience and as I said at the start of this blog post it’s an evening I’ll never forget.

Next year again?

CharityBox is a browser extension that allows you to raise money for charities by shopping online. Links to online shops are automatically turned into affiliate links and if you buy something from that shop a percentage goes to charity. Beyond that though the extension also shows voucher codes giving you discounts and special offers.

It’s currently available in Chrome and Firefox, so try it out and let us know what you think! We’re working hard to get a Safari one up and running, plus we’re constantly adding new features. For now, we’ve chosen one charity to which all the raised money goes to (this month it’s Dogs Trust), but we’ll be adding the ability for you to choose your own charities soon. We’ll also be adding a more social element to it all where you can see how much your friends have raised and for which charities.

If this all sounds slightly familiar, you’re right: I’ve written about CharityBox before. Two years ago we won the second CharityHack with this idea and got flown over to San Francisco. Back then we couldn’t find the time to take the idea further and create a stable version. Well, now we finally have!

Do you like the idea of CharityBox? Go ahead: install it, try it, tweet about it and raise money for charities!