It’s been a bit busy on the site this weekend. There was my first YouTube effort, a round-up of Barcelona’s exploits, a new (hopefully) helpful page for those interested in my personal travel advice, and a new showcase of Barcelona photography. I’ve always watched Wild Cherry (2009), Limitless and Priest. The only decent one was Limitless. Oh, and I made this video.

The last time I was abroad was Cannes for MIPCOM in September 2011. It feels ages ago and while the UK’s been having a ridiculously mild winter, I’m still craving the feeling of sun. As mentioned a while ago, 2012 is a bit of a beast for travelling. I’ve been cutting back on drinking and games/DVDs spending to divert more funds towards fulfilling my travel dreams.

Friday 27^th January 2012 – 1.32PM, Standsted Airport

Anyway, Barcelona. Ever since The Japan Travel Diary, I’ve been keen to write about my experiences around the world. I wish I’d done a travel diary for America (or kept the site I’d created in 09). I have the photos, but a day by day account would have been interesting.

It’s particularly helpful for when you’re asked by friends what to see when they visit the same places as you. A friend of mine is visiting Japan in March and I just directed her towards my diary – there’s tons in there and while Lonely Planet helps a lot, there’s various things I’d recommend in the East that Lonely Planet misses.

Tracking back to the point at hand, Catalonia’s jewel Barcelona. I’ve been four times before, but never in a non-family capacity. It’s always been for christenings and weddings, and as a result, I’ve never really done the main sights. For example, Sagrada Familia – Gaudi’s famous unfinished church.

That’s top of my list for my sightseeing day tomorrow.

Sunday will be a bit more family orientated (considering my Uncle and Aunt are kindly putting me up for the weekend), but Saturday will be a lot of photography and walking. I’ve got a bit of a cold, which is bad timing especially with the wonderful food, but there are a lot worse things that can happen.

Anyway, I’ll love and leave you at this point. I have a plane to catch.

9.14PM, Sant Cugat

Aside from some sinus issues on the plane and deafness in one ear, the journey was pretty smooth. The bus was easy to find, as was the train – I had a little malfunction with the final stage of the journey but my sense of direction prevailed once again.

My Uncle and Aunt’s new flat is lovely – it’s a real suburban dream. I’ve planned my route for tomorrow using some iPhone tour guide which actually works offline. I used a similar one for Tokyo, but its GPS location features didn’t work. I prefer iPhone travel guides for actual navigation because you can look at your phone without drawing attention to yourself. Lonely Planet guides are good for planning a trip, but they don’t half scream tourist.

I’ve still got a book guide, a DK Top 10 to Barcelona in my bag, but it’ll stay there unless I run out of things to do.

Saturday 28^th January 2012 – 4.30PM, Sant Cugat

I’ll keep this brief. Annoyingly it rained the entire day, bar a small respite for Parc Güell. As days go, it was very productive. I got to Sagrada Familia early, avoiding the crowds and getting plenty of photography done. I paid for the audio tour, something I’d really recommend if you’re visiting the church. It was only four Euros more and well worth the money.

After that I caught the Metro to Parc Güell, Gaudi’s famous park. I’d personally not pay for his house – it was fairly expensive for what’s a tiny museum. You could be done in 10 minutes and it’s fairly dear for you actually get. Anyway, it was interesting and provided some context. The sculptures and the architecture in the park are very impressive, and it’s certainly worth walking around for an hour (an experience which would have been nice with a blue sky.

After that I walked through the streets of Barcelona to Casa Mila. Again it was raining, but there were plenty of opportunities for street photography. Case Mila, or more commonly known as La Pedrera, is wonderful. It was my favourite place of the day and it rounded off the sightseeing nicely.

There’s not much else to tell – the rest was family orientated, minus a small walk in Sant Cugat to its monastery and a stunning Cirque du Soleil performance before getting the EasyJet red-eye home. I’ll be going back soon.

Man of many talents they say. What’s left? Video! I’ve never done anything with video. Good Twitter friends Mike Bell and Lydia are two people who have inspired the above video. Recently I reviewed Shame but wanted to do something a bit different with yesterday’s The Artist. I’ve always been keen on trying YouTube and filming, so with a spark of inspiration sitting on the Tube back from the cinema, I hatched the above plan.

Expect more soon. Very soon.

There are very few films which prompt me to put pen to paper so quickly. Shame, the latest humanist-exploration-flick from Steve McQueen, is a stark portrayal of a man in crisis. His debut film Hunger, a meandering prison drama following the method hunger strike of Bobby Sands was of a similar vein. A powerful piece of filmmaking, from idealistic beginnings to malnourished end, it showed McQueen’s adeptness behind the camera.

Thankfully none of his skill has been lost with his fictional second feature. Michael Fassbender is quickly cementing himself as an entrancing, yet mild actor who’s capable of real confliction and crisis.  On the surface, Shame’s protagonist is a successful executive living a bachelor lifestyle many men would be envious of.

Under the surface, plagued by sex addiction and unable to show any connection to another human being, is a scary and often graphic depiction of the modern era. Empty of emotion, driven to regularly pleasure himself on work time, in the shower and at home, with pornography and chance encounters driving the false lust, Shame shows us just how alone someone can be.

Regardless of regular sex, whether it is city bar conquests or paid prostitution, Shame’s lead is alone. Even his similarly damaged sister and her constantly cries for help cannot break the cycle of devastation.

At the end we have no indication of redemption. It’s a cold film, peppered with graphic sexual imagery, suggestive taboo undertones and realistic depictions of the human body in all its fragility. Shame, much like its portrait-subject, won’t leave you satisfied. There’s no light at the end of metaphorical tunnel of love.

However, what it will do is cement both actor and director’s entrancing ability to bring an audience into the lives of dysfunction personified. The film’s score is particularly haunting, merging with questionable material and painting a picture of ruin.

A man on a downward spiral with nothing to stop him but an empty live devoid of warmth.

Depressing, motivating and essential cinema from start to finish.

Hurray! I made it to the zoo and yes, the photography came out OK. The Frog vs. Snake one at the top is one of my all time favourites, along with the monkey family. Anyway, it was another weekend of films, beating last week by one. I ended up watching six in a weekend:

• The Sitter (Cinema)
• The Red Balloon
• Cyrus
• Total Recall
• Bad Lieutenant (2009′s)
• The Big Lebowski

Love both of these. I’ll start a new 2012 showcase soon. They’ll also be posted on Faces of London. More here and here.

Time to go back to the past again. It’s Sunday which means another post from Home Management 1964. Last time was eating habits – today’s the magical world of kitchen improvements and the supposed science behind it. Yes, people did studies into the perfect kitchen layout (in all honesty, they probably still do), but a well designed kitchen was a larger deal when it was the women’s destiny to occupy it. It really is amazing how the world has changed for the better in 50 short years. Yes, cutlery draws really were an amazing invention once…

Talk about the definition of a lazy weekend. I love films and recently I’ve been taking full advantage of Sky Go. Everyone’s been harking on about Netflix’s arrival in the UK and while it is indeed a good service, Sky Go has a huge selection of constantly changing films available. This weekend I’ve watched (all for the first time):

• The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
• Daybreakers
• Africa United
• Hanna (DVD)

Last weekend it was:

• The Other Guys
• Howl (DVD – it lived up to my expectations).
• The Book of Eli

Have you seen any of the above? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below. I’m hoping to see The Artist soon.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. People often say you don’t appreciate your travelling experiences until you’ve returned. That’s a lie – I had a great time in Japan and while there I really did enjoy myself. Having returned to England, I appreciated the amazing experience even more and it spurred me on to make the most of my youth, health and life. Seeing the world is the aim of mine (or at least it is at 23) – everything I do goes towards the next trip. Having just booked some more flights today, I thought I’d share my confirmed trips for 2012.

• Jan – Barcelona Weekend (to see my Uncle)
• March – Lisbon Weekend (with friends)
• June – Rail Trip Round Spain (solo mini adventure)
• Oct/Nov – China 3 Weeks (The Big One)

Yesterday I introduced the 1964 book, Home Management and today I continue with its dated words of wisdom. This post needs little explanation – supermarkets did indeed move towards conveyor belts, but only at the end of the shopping process. Calories have been cut by around 1,000 – presumably because of the  movement to desk-based work. Finally, the majority of people do indeed cook ready-meals and yes, we all do freeze our food (amazing). For shame. The above image of an old Supermarket is fantastic!