I feel angry ...yet contended at the same time. I'm angry because someone actually got away with taking my bike but happy at the same time thinking that it probably happened for the best.
I was in a meeting for One Nation in their offices in Curzon Road Luton, when i decided to go out and read the magrib prayers, (prayers after sunset). When i finished i decided i wanted to come back to the office since we left some boys in there to paint a One Nation emblem on the walls. Instead i joined the Mushwara in the mosque (which is basically a meeting discussing what problems that need solving for the mosque and also how Islam can come into the local peoples lives). Anyway after this finished (after about hour) i came back to Curzon road with another brother to find out my bike was missing. I had locked it up beside a large pole.
I then looked hurriedly inside my pockets to see if i still had the keys since i thought i might have left them in the lock and thus someone easily could have just taken it away. Then i find my keys and look even more puzzled. I go into the office, suspecting the boys in there had something to do with this. They immediately tell me someone apparently snapped the lock and rode away with my bike. One of the boys says he must have used some pliers to break the lock and ride away. He said to me he did try and chase him but it was useless, since the thief went really fast into the roads nearly crashing into the cars.
I looked at him in dismay, since i had a bit of a doubt in what he was saying. but then he explained to me more that another person seen the incident which made me know that he was telling the truth. What i was angry about if the fact that i couldn't do anything about it. If i see someone riding the bike i will obviously try my best to get it back. BUT as a Muslim i cannot feel remorseful over this. Everything happens by the will of Allah and so this incident probably happened for the best. I've never actually had anything stolen from me before so this is a first.I guess its experience...in the future i will take care of my things more properly.
The funny thing is i only recently started to ride the bike again. It was in my shed for about two years, then my mum started to complain saying if you you dont ride the bike i'm gona get your dad to sell it, and thats when i started to ride it again - well just to the mosque and back.
I reflect back in this incident and think of the things i could have done to avoid it. Like the lock for example. I actually got this bike lock for free, so its cheap bike lock which probably in hindsight should not have been used. But also the area i left it in was pretty quiet and open. Which is quite bad actually...but since i was coming back there i thought, "why not just leave it there...it's locked?". BUT even if all these precautions were taken the will of Allah cannot be avoided. It will always prevail. So I've decided to forget about my bike, it's gone!
...although IF i did see it on the streets with someone....lets just say....MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!
Monday, 29 June 2009
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
BBC Work - Flog It!
Today was quite an experience. I done a days work as a steward for the daytime BBC programme Flog it! And yes i got paid for it which is quite nice. Normally these kind of things don't happen. I got the chance to help the production team which broaden my experience in TV production, as well as doings lots of Steward jobs, such as being all nice and smiley, greeting people, ushering people to the right places etc.etc.
The shooting was to take place in Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, not far from where i live so it was ok. The day was quite sunny and warm - a perfect day to go the zoo, so i was expecting many people to come and get their antiques shown and evaluated. I arrived there early in the morning by taxi (since i don't have a car yet...) and was anxiously looking for the place to meet up with the film crew. My contact was Hannah Ford, who was a runner for the program. She was the person responsible for taking care of the stewards. Surprisingly most of the students who applied for this steward placement were from the University of Bedfordshire, which was quite surprising. I would have thought every media student's eye would have lit up when seeing something like this, or was it just our University of Bedfordshire students that knew about it? Well what ever it was, it was good for me!
Hannah gathered all the students around as the film crew were setting up their their equipment and gave us a briefing. We had to were the Flog it! t-shirts to let people recognise us as 'part of the team' as well advertising for the programme. We were told if we appeared in front of the camera, it wouldn't matter since we have the Flog-it! t-shirts on. Either way, I didn't mind, since my Celebrity Cash in the Attic Experience only had me in view from a mirrors refection! so being in front of the camera this time would be nice!
But who am i kidding, i never came here to be in front of the camera, i came here for experience! Afterwards we were all assignmed different task to do, some were to greet people outside and give them directions for the valuation place( where the antiques get an estimated price), and others had to usher people to their seats, take surveys from people, make tea and coffee for the film crew and presenters as well as help lift items to the main building.
The roles were always rotated after an hour or so by Hannah, who seemed alittle under pressure as the day went by. I guess this is wht the pressure of TV production can, since one small mistake can ruin everything, so as the runner (as the name suggest) she had to make sure we (the stewards) are all ok as well as make sure everything is running smoothly.
Some famous faces we met were Paul Martin, who wa sthe main presenter of the show. Evryone of his scenes were rehearsed and constructed, which wasnt no suprise to me since i had seen this before in my experience in Celebrity Cash in the Attic. He seemed like a cheerful guy, but also seemed nakered, mabe becasue it was a very hot and sunny day. At on point i thought i was going to get sun burn since i was positioned at one spot just outside the entrance ushering people to the building and just being smiley. The sun rays were like laser beams hitting by body making my sweat come down like rain. Maybe thats a bit too detailed but thats how hot it was.
When it was my turn making the tea for the film crew, i spoke to some of them and nearly all of them said they were freelancers, just working on contracts. So nothing seemed like it was permemant and they just got by when wrok was available. This made me abit worried. How will i fare out if theses guys are just about making there money here there thorugh contracts.
Hopefully though i will build my portfolio and skills to the highest possible leel i can take it, during my stay in University and then going for job interview shouldnt be that hard...should it?
All in all this experience did show me the tough side of working in TV. But hey, atleast i can say i've worked for the BBC and got payed for it!
The shooting was to take place in Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, not far from where i live so it was ok. The day was quite sunny and warm - a perfect day to go the zoo, so i was expecting many people to come and get their antiques shown and evaluated. I arrived there early in the morning by taxi (since i don't have a car yet...) and was anxiously looking for the place to meet up with the film crew. My contact was Hannah Ford, who was a runner for the program. She was the person responsible for taking care of the stewards. Surprisingly most of the students who applied for this steward placement were from the University of Bedfordshire, which was quite surprising. I would have thought every media student's eye would have lit up when seeing something like this, or was it just our University of Bedfordshire students that knew about it? Well what ever it was, it was good for me!
Hannah gathered all the students around as the film crew were setting up their their equipment and gave us a briefing. We had to were the Flog it! t-shirts to let people recognise us as 'part of the team' as well advertising for the programme. We were told if we appeared in front of the camera, it wouldn't matter since we have the Flog-it! t-shirts on. Either way, I didn't mind, since my Celebrity Cash in the Attic Experience only had me in view from a mirrors refection! so being in front of the camera this time would be nice!
But who am i kidding, i never came here to be in front of the camera, i came here for experience! Afterwards we were all assignmed different task to do, some were to greet people outside and give them directions for the valuation place( where the antiques get an estimated price), and others had to usher people to their seats, take surveys from people, make tea and coffee for the film crew and presenters as well as help lift items to the main building.
The roles were always rotated after an hour or so by Hannah, who seemed alittle under pressure as the day went by. I guess this is wht the pressure of TV production can, since one small mistake can ruin everything, so as the runner (as the name suggest) she had to make sure we (the stewards) are all ok as well as make sure everything is running smoothly.
Some famous faces we met were Paul Martin, who wa sthe main presenter of the show. Evryone of his scenes were rehearsed and constructed, which wasnt no suprise to me since i had seen this before in my experience in Celebrity Cash in the Attic. He seemed like a cheerful guy, but also seemed nakered, mabe becasue it was a very hot and sunny day. At on point i thought i was going to get sun burn since i was positioned at one spot just outside the entrance ushering people to the building and just being smiley. The sun rays were like laser beams hitting by body making my sweat come down like rain. Maybe thats a bit too detailed but thats how hot it was.
When it was my turn making the tea for the film crew, i spoke to some of them and nearly all of them said they were freelancers, just working on contracts. So nothing seemed like it was permemant and they just got by when wrok was available. This made me abit worried. How will i fare out if theses guys are just about making there money here there thorugh contracts.
Hopefully though i will build my portfolio and skills to the highest possible leel i can take it, during my stay in University and then going for job interview shouldnt be that hard...should it?
All in all this experience did show me the tough side of working in TV. But hey, atleast i can say i've worked for the BBC and got payed for it!
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
The dust settles...assignments are OVER!
Thank the lord, I'm finally free...free from the burden of assignments deadlines. Well i actually i was free about a week ago but today was my last exam . It was a multiple choice based exam so it wasn't that bad - about media law and politics. Quite a combination eh? Well as a journalist I'm supposed to know my boundaries, as in what i can and cannot report. So it this whole media law module was very insightful.
As for my other assignments, well lets have the grades do the talking shall we? The magazine assignment and the documentary assignment were both group work and i think we managed to pull it off quite well, with MY persistence of course. I don't want to blabber on to much about this though just in case i jinx myself and my grades end up worse. I don't really believe in the jinx stuff of course but just in case...
Last week, the University of Bedfordshire had its student union media awards. And guess what? yup you've guessed it, i won an award! YAAAAAAY! I know you may be thinking: "What a...weirdo", but this actually meant quite a bit to me. It was held in the student union bar, so at first i was a bit reluctant to go but i knew i may have been up for an award so i went anyway. Obviously for me it was weird since, i've never really been in a 'bar', especially where people are gulping down alcohol. Luckily my journalism lecturer was there and she kept me company for most of the part. While i drank my J20 orange drink, (which i was cautious of for any spiking) and my lecturer was drinking a glass of champagne, we talked about my future and what i could do as a special project for my third year.
And then came the awards part. I was quite anxious at first since so many people were getting awards yet i wasn't getting anything. Then right near the end i heard my name: "2009 News Writer of the Year...Imran Choudhury!" My patience had paid off. I went onto the podium, hoping i wouldn't do a disastrous trip up the steps and grabbed my award. Fantastic. My grin was bigger than any clown I've seen.
As for my other assignments, well lets have the grades do the talking shall we? The magazine assignment and the documentary assignment were both group work and i think we managed to pull it off quite well, with MY persistence of course. I don't want to blabber on to much about this though just in case i jinx myself and my grades end up worse. I don't really believe in the jinx stuff of course but just in case...
Last week, the University of Bedfordshire had its student union media awards. And guess what? yup you've guessed it, i won an award! YAAAAAAY! I know you may be thinking: "What a...weirdo", but this actually meant quite a bit to me. It was held in the student union bar, so at first i was a bit reluctant to go but i knew i may have been up for an award so i went anyway. Obviously for me it was weird since, i've never really been in a 'bar', especially where people are gulping down alcohol. Luckily my journalism lecturer was there and she kept me company for most of the part. While i drank my J20 orange drink, (which i was cautious of for any spiking) and my lecturer was drinking a glass of champagne, we talked about my future and what i could do as a special project for my third year.
And then came the awards part. I was quite anxious at first since so many people were getting awards yet i wasn't getting anything. Then right near the end i heard my name: "2009 News Writer of the Year...Imran Choudhury!" My patience had paid off. I went onto the podium, hoping i wouldn't do a disastrous trip up the steps and grabbed my award. Fantastic. My grin was bigger than any clown I've seen.
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