I know, it's been at least a month since my last confession, sorry, post. It's been a turbulent month. Financial trouble still dogging me, and I've had to get another loan to help pass the time between now and when the house is sold. Part of the reason for this is so we can do the decorating the house needs to make it attractive to prospective buyers.

But enough of all that. It's depressing. So what else have I been up to this month? Well not much progress on the film. We are entering the time of the end of summer term at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and the grad shows are going up at the Bristol Old Vic. We've all been busy with that, even those of us who are not directly making the shows. I've spent some time filming dress rehersals for the archive, so I got to see the shows in person for a change. Most of the guys in my film are in an Alan Ayckbourn play called "Sisterly Feelings" which is really funny. Ayckbourn specialises in series of plays which are like movies shot from different angle. You see one play on one night then see the same play again from a different perspective, so when people go off stage in last nights play they come on stage in tonights, etc.

The other play which is on at the moment is "Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas, which frankly I thought was amiable but nonsense. It's fun to go on the ride but at the end you are thinking what the hell just happened. Apparently I'm informed by Welsh friends that being Welsh and coming from a small village helps. Okay I'm out of that club. The students have done a great job though. These are big plays in big spaces, proper theatre, professional shows. It all looks and sounds amazing.

Start of the month I had to turn the heating back on because it was like December out there. Mid month, I'm driving along the road in my 1995 burgundy Honda Accord (damn I love that car) wearing just shorts and a t-shirt with the words TRAILER TRASH on the front, smoking a Black Russian cocktail cigarette, flicking my ash out of a fully open window, which along with the sunroof stays open all the way to and from school even if I don't smoke on the journey. The road is dry and has heat haze on it. The music on my stereo has to be turned up loud to be heard over the growl of my engine. The landscape looks amazing, all blue and purple skies and green hills. When I get out of the car my hair is all tangled up in my sunglasses, which are now permanently either on my head or over my eyes. Summer is here, and it's trying to boil me alive. Musically I've been listening to soundtrack music, either music for my film by Dallas Takatimu, or music for Japanese Animes, like "Cowboy Beebop", or more recently "Kill Bill" vols 1and 2.

Mia went away to Finland for 10 days mid month and I watched both "Kill Bill" movies about 8 times apeice. Got really hooked on it. I even bought a kind of fake Samurai sword based on Uma Thurman's sword from the movie. I'm going to use it in my film, but I need some others too. Cheap £25 swords like the "display" sword I bought don't have the blade continue into the handle like a real sword. (It's called the TANG) So hit them hard enough and the buggers break off at the hilt. No matter, it's only stopgap for pictures and practice. I have a number of online stores which can sell me great swords when I have the money.

Speaking of swords I like Summer at school because the actors do their fight training in the car park and I spend many happy hours watching them, trying to steal some combat staging tips from our excellent combat tutor Jonathan Howell. He's told me he will give me a few sessions on Samurai sword so I can block the fights for my film. It's a shame because all the time I will be filming Jon travels. In the holidays he tours Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Finland etc., bringing his style of fight arranging to the Baltic and learning from his collegues in those fine countries. But you can bet I'll be leeching him dry of any hints and tips he can give me before he goes.

On an unrelated note, an ex student called Jon Edgely-Bond came by the school, and it turns out as well as being an excellent bloke, he and some friends are running a stage combat company, organising combat performances all over the place. Their web site is www.liveblades.co.uk. I heartily recommend that you hire them. :) He's put me in touch with some excellent fight arrangers who specialise in Japanese sword styles, so that might just come in handy as I'm making a vampire movie with lots of samurai swords in it. Hmmm.

Oh and we've had a couple of events. First we had the Grad Ball, which was held at Kings Weston House, a lovely little stately home venue to the north of Bristol. Everyone was dressed up, and it's the first time I've seen some of our techie girls in a dress. They all looked stunning. I wore a black suit and a bow tie. Looked very James Bond. Well, James Bond with slicked back hair and a pony tail. I have very long hair these days. People are starting to complain. Cool. That's why I did it!

The other event was just this last weekend, the 60th Birthday celebration of the BOVTS. The school has been 50 years at its current location on Downside Road in Clifton. Before that it was 10 years in another place in town above a grocers shop.

Former pupils from all down the ages came back for drinks, I met up with a LOAD of people I haven't seen for 2-3 years. Had a lot of hugs from people who remembered me fondly for all the help and encouragement I gave them while they were training. Which is more than I get for my trouble in the normal run of things. :) All in all it was a good if tiring event, and I re-acquainted myself with some really good people. None of the famous people I'd hoped would turn up actually came, like Patrick Stewart, Pete Postlethwaite, and Greta Scacchi for example... at least I didn't think Greta was there. Maybe I just forgot what she looks like... Actually you know looking at the pictures there was someone who looked like her... Damn!

Oh yeah, and I saw Samantha Lawson, a former student who I only really got to know just before she graduated a couple of years ago. She's been off working, and has had some success. But she reminded me that she was a really good fighter. I told her that I'd love to have her in the movie. She was quite excited to be asked. That's really cool, as I like her a lot and would love to have her involved. It's like all my favourite people are in this movie, now.

And finally there was a display of fighting for the assembled alumni, and guess what? All the fighters were the leading actors in my film!!! They put on a really good show, Ben Mansfield, my leading man, looked really cool, and Sam Swainsbury, Vicky Borham, and Matt Odell looked really great too. When they finished I went over to congratulate them on a wonderful performance. Matt wrily said, I bet you really got the horn to make this film now, don't you? I said, yeah!

Anyway, after all the excitement, trauma, bad stuff, good stuff, hard work and tough decisions, I'm hoping things are going to calm down now. Please god let me have a few quiet weeks because I'm so tired. I need like a 10 week holiday. Plus I'd really like to get back into making the film. As Matt so picturesquely put it, I'm "excited" to get started again.

More of that as it happens.