The Best Thing About Today #2

This dance:

Happy Birthday JC

Happy Christmas!







I hope you have all had a really great day.

Today I went with my mum to help out at a meal that her church organised for people in the area who would otherwise be alone on Christmas. We helped serve the roast dinners, and my dad hid himself in the kitchen furiously washing up. We were there for about 5 hours, and even though I was really sceptical about going and was miserable for the first hour due to a combined cold and bitterness about not being at home opening presents, it was a great experience. There were lots of old people there that would otherwise have been without anyone, so I was pleased to be a part of something which seemed to celebrate a real spirit of Christmas. Getting old and lonely is such a scary thought to some people, so it was really lovely to see that people weren't on their own and could celebrate with other people and meet some new people. It made me realise what I actually have, and so I really appreciated everything after that, which made the day alot better!

It was a quiet Christmas for the rest of the day, but tomorrow it will be busy when all my family are coming to our house. I had several epic fails at the dinner table including pouring almost an entire bottle of wine over the parsnips, then dropping a load of carrots so they spilt all over the table, and then when I tried to cut a roast potato in half it flung across the room. My mum was convinced I was drunk and so sighed alot, probably not helped by the fact that I just couldn't stop laughing at all my stupid little fails. I got some lovely presents including a book and CD about this new project called CompassionArt which is a music related idea from Martin Smith of Delirious fame to raise money to tackle global poverty. I find him slightly irritating, but the project is wicked and the book looks great. Oh and today I also called the potatoes tomatoes. What a knob. After presents and food, I spent the rest of the day listening to this little beauty:





Which is the new Coldplay EP, Prospekts March. This I feel, has gone toward making up for the bitter disappointment that was Viva La Vida. It's got some really lovely songs on it.

Anyway, I digress. Merry Christmas all! And God bless us, everyone!


(NB: Not me and my dad after a couple of glasses of wine.)

The Best Thing About Today #1

This song:

Injustice.

Ignorance is such a killer in our society. Closing doors to things we don't understand or can't comprehend or don't know how to solve. Costing lives, and encouraging people to be foolish and uneducated about the world's issues and despair. Life is such a wonderful gift, such a massive privilege to be a part of and to experience, but a part of me wonders how many of us really know what it is to truly live. I am so guilty of focussing my attention on the self, and on what my ideals and goals in life are, and I too can't see past my own front door, or my own town or my own selfishness. I watch videos like that and I sigh and I think I can't do anything practically and I forget about it. But perhaps a part of doing 'something' is just being aware of it, not taking poverty and injustice as buzzwords but taking them seriously. Realising what we have, how lucky we are, being grateful. Maybe then the practical stuff can flow, people can begin to show love to the needy, take a real interest in current affairs, become educated about what is going on in the world. I wish I was profound enough to suggest a way that even I could make a difference to peoples lives who struggle with poverty and unclean water and disease and desperation. But maybe it starts with something smaller, something that is taken for granted and a word that gets thrown around to describe how we feel about the latest CD or film or website or celebrity.

Maybe it just starts with Love?

Massively Great Quotes #4

image from google images

"It does not do well to dwell on dreams & forget to live."
-Dumbledore, Harry Potter

Photo Post #1

Living On The Edge

image from Daily Mail online

Today I mainly watched the entire series of Living On The Edge. If you don't know what that is, then congratulations to you, you're a better person than I am. It's basically a very poor British imitation of 'Laguna Beach' or 'The Hills', 2 MTV 'reality' shows that center around the lives of hideously rich teenagers living in Orange County in America. In this version though, it's about a load of British rich kids living in Alderley Edge which apparently has alot of millionaires and I think is in Cheshire. See what they did there with regards to the title of the show? EDGY. I really don't know why I did this to myself, but somehow found myself truly sucked in to their lives, coveting their care-free walks by the sea and wondering how it is possible that they could all be so ridiculously attractive human beings in a 'we-are-rich-and-thin-and-need-a-haircut-real-bad' kind of way. It's quite clearly the most scripted thing in the world, just like the American version, yet strangely inviting for an unemployed twentysomething living in rural Dorset.

Things I found out from my highly educational day:
It's easy to get a part in Hollyoaks if you're on an MTV reality show playing a warped version of yourself being a 'struggling actor'.
It's also easy to get an internship at Glamour Magazine if you're on an MTV reality show wearing alot of Topshop clothing.
It's also easy to get a meeting with a top record company if you're on an MTV reality show and happen to be in a band. You could also be a model if cameras follow you around and you look a bit like Paolo Nutini.
Money doesn't buy you happiness, I mean these kids face all kinds of issues including having too much money, having fit boy/girlfriends, and getting all As in their A-Level results. Also, don't you think that getting a part in Hollyoaks or having your band 'discovered' or going to indie festivals is easy, because it is clearly not.
Oh yeah... Ugg boots are still fairly bad.

And that was about it.

Folie A Crap?

Am I the only one who is like :| at the new Fall Out Boy album?

Tell me it's a grower?

Me & My Friends #1

Hayley O'Toole

Me and Hayley became friends during our first year of Univeristy. We were at a student lunch at one of the churches in Winchester, and had the same t-shirt on in different colours. She made some kind of sarcastic remark whilst we were getting a jacket potato and i distinctly remember thinking how mean she was. Then someones cardigan had a hole in it and she got out a sewing kit (!!) from her bag and fixed it. Then I remember thinking how mental she was. Who carries around a sewing kit? Er yeah. Then after Christian Union one night we were walking to the pub and I was singing a song which she promptly joined in with. I remember thinking then that she was probably alright. After that she came to my halls and we talked for ages and ages about loads of things. Pretty much from then on we weren't really apart during the first year of University. I used to think we worked really well as mates because we were similar, but we aren't really similar at all. Maybe that's why it works. We've done loads of things together in the 5 years we've known eachother, including holidays, gigs, days out, and countless memories which would take far too long to mention. She usually wins @ life and she even went to help starving kids in Bangladesh in the summer. Wow. Although she's not so graceful when she falls off the bed when dancing to Paramore. Video evidence to come.

Massively Great Quotes #3

image from google images

"It's weird that whatever else is on your mind, whether it's the downfall of global economics or terrible environmental troubles, the thing that always gets you most is when you fancy someone."
- Chris Martin

Wicked Cool Bands #2

"You cut me out in little stars
and place me in the sky.
I lose my sense of time."
- Kaleidoscope, Kate Havnevik

Kate Havnevik is a Norwegian solo artist along the same lines as Imogen Heap (okay so this is Wicked Cool Bands but she still counts thnx). Her comparisons to Imogen arise mainly because she's great as is Imogen, but mostly because she too has worked with Guy Sigsworth on her debut album Melankton. Guy Sigsworth is well known for working with Imogen in the electronica/pop outfit Frou Frou, in which he produced and Imogen Heap sang. Noteably their most famous song is 'Let Go' which was used in a very poignant and lovely moment in the Zach Braff directed film Garden State. They sadly only released one album entitled 'Details', but Guy continues to produce music for such wonderful musicians such as Kate and even massive artists like Madonna and Bjork have had him involved in their writing and music making process.

I was introduced to Kate by two of my old housemates, both massive fans of Imogen's work. What struck me about Kate is that she has a really haunting voice similar to Imogen's which sort of lingers, all whispy and breathy. It's beautiful, and although lyrically her songs are quite simplistic, if you like the sound of her then listen to her album Melankton now. Right now.

Christmas vs. New Year

Essentially Christmas is awesome.

I don't think I felt very Christmassy until the weekend, when I walked around Winchester and Southampton consecutively in the freezing cold seeing all the markets and decorations and hearing lots of great Christmas sounds. I also went on a walk up a hill with a great friend of mine called Hayley, but because we were lazy/tired/sensible (delete as applicable) we decided to walk about a tenth of the way up and then go back down again because we weren't wearing appropriate shoes. Still, it was beautiful walking towards the hill, and very very cold and lovely. I love Winter. I love smelling mulled wine, and cinnamon and orange and mince pies, and eating too much and the general feel. And then of course, after Christmas is the monumental evening of New Years Eve.

I lived in Weymouth for 13 years and New Years is pretty much a massive deal. The whole town dresses in fancy dress, anything and everything, and it's said if you don't dress in fancy dress you get thrown in the harbour. Knowing Weymouth, this probably happens. For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of the great New Years Eves of the past. Ignore severe drunken glazed over faces.

New Years Eve 2005-2006: some superheroes, some greeks, some pilots, a mexican and little red riding hood.


New Years Eve 2006-2007: some pirates, and some playboy bunnies




New Years Eve 2007-2008: some burglars, a mexican, a french maid, a school girl, cleopatra and peter pan.

This year we are having a circus theme and it will be WICKED.

Massively Great Quotes #2

image from google images

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events and in the total; all of these acts will be written in the history of this generation."
- Robert F Kennedy