Game of Thrones: Season 3 Is Coming

(Note to readers: I've tried to keep this post pretty much spoiler free, so do not fret.)

After another wait that seemed as long as a Westerosi Winter, Game of Thrones is returning to our screens. I myself am currently rewatching Season Two before the showing of the premiere on Sky Atlantic tomorrow night. With an army of devoted fans Game of Thrones is said to be the most illegally downloaded show ever. I personally don't watch much television but Game of Thrones is the kind of show I travel across the country for so that I can watch the season premiere as it is on air (yes, I've done this the past two years)

What is it about Game of Thrones that has made it so popular? Many would point the finger and proclaim that the popularity of such a show lies in HBO and their willingness to bring forth sexual content to our screens. Though I'm sure this is an aspect of the show that many enjoy however I believe that the interest lies in the complexity of this show. Never before have I come across a show that has taken on such vast and complex content and explored it whilst remaining so faithful to the books on which they are based. This is a show that deals with very human emotions and situations to which we can relate but on the outskirts things beyond our mortal comprehension threaten the peace. White walkers, dragons, dark magic. It quickly bridges that gap between the reality we know and the magic of George R.R Martin's world. Game of Thrones is the kinky cousin of Lord of the Rings bringing a new wave of people into the realm of fantasy.  The scripts for the show remain captivating and complex. One could argue that the show demands a level of intelligence to keep up with the vastness of Westeros and characters, many of whom have similar names, and this therefore separates the wheat from the chaff in terms of nerdkind.


To other fans of the books, I must say that I have awaited this season with excitement and dread. I'm looking forward to the Red Wedding, I'm looking forward to The Boltons, I'm looking forward to MORE TYRION. I'm not sure if it'll happen but one character I'd like to see this season is Patchface. If we're getting Shireen Baratheon, I want to see Patchface because this is a character that when reading the books captured my imagination instantly.
I can personally say that this is my favourite show of all time. Never before has a television series captivated me so. Filmed over multiple locations with a rotating cast of well crafted characters I would go so far as to say that this show is an ambitious step in television history.                                                                                            
                                                                                                           

The show captures intriguing perspectives on the widespread impact of warfare and family ties. Even the villains can be sympathised with.
If you've not watched it, or if you were somewhat put off by all that sex in the first episode (like me - God was I really so prudish? Thanks go to my friends Taj and Ryan for simply telling me to watch the second episode), persevere and keep watching because you may be ruining a fantastic show for yourself.



Also my mother has informed me that when she was younger she was in a theatre company with John Stahl who plays Rickard Karstark in Game of Thrones. Does this mean my mother holds allegiance with House Stark?

Episode One of Season 3 starts in the UK tonight at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.
Do you watch Game of Thrones?
Who is your favourite character?
Which house would you pledge your allegiance to?

Links:
Click here to create your very own house sigil

Song of the Day: Liquid Lover by Bad Pollyanna

Bad Pollyanna are a wonderful band from Huddersfield that are rapidly gaining a cult following after playing Whitby Goth Weekend last November. I'd heard about them from a friend and began listening to them a few years back and I'm really glad to see them really starting to take off. At present they've been raising funds for a new album and music video. Watch the video below to find out more about what your funds could do to help the band and what you could receive in return. If you're interested in helping, even with a small donation, you can see by clicking here the kind of perks the band are offering for your help and participation. This is a hard working band made up of enthusiastic and talented performers. Their energetic performances and setlist of original songs along with awesome covers keep fans wanting more. They put so much effort and energy into their live shows and show so much care for their fans at/after gigs that they are really worth your attention and should have a way bigger fan base than they already have.

I'm calling it now: Bad Pollyanna are the next big thing in alternative music which is why you should be listening now!

So my pick for song of the day is the first Bad Pollyanna song I heard, Liquid Lover.

I immediately liked it and I hope you will too.
Below you'll find links to the band on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and more info on how to pledge towards the new Bad Pollyanna album.

Liquid Lover

Links:
Bad Pollyanna on YouTube!
Bad Pollyanna on Facebook!
Bad Pollyanna on Twitter!
Click here to pledge towards the upcoming album/video

Happy Easter, blog-ghosts!

Happy Easter, wonderful readers.



I hope that regardless of your religion or personal celebrations or practices on this day that it is pleasant for you. Though not wildly religious myself today has been a calm day of reading, chocolate consumption and snuggling up with this handsome little guy.

I've really enjoyed my current visit to the family home.
I've spent a lot of time catching up with my sister and being reminded of all the reasons I'm proud of her.

I've been taking this time to write a lot and I'm being incredibly strict in keeping to my own schedule.

Let me know in the comments - how have you been? How are you spending today?








Because, y'know, I'm just relaxing and sharing pictures of our cats...

Anyways I am going to continue the day with a marathon of Season Two of Game of Thrones before the start of Season Three which I am super excited for.

In fact expect Game of Thrones related fangirl blogging some time in the not too distant future.

Hope you're having a great time,
Ax

Response & Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green / Post 100!

Here it is! Blog post number 100! It seems good to hit 100 blog posts by doing my first ever review & response to a book or novel. I've said for some time that I was going to start reviewing books that I read, so let's get going. John Green is a writer I've mentioned many times before. Having watched his vlogbrothers YouTube videos for some time and read his recent hit novel 'The Fault in Our Stars' and thoroughly enjoyed it I decided to read all of his novels. Several weeks back I bought "Looking for Alaska" looking for something new and different to read after slaving away at my university dissertation and here is my response/review.

Looking for Alaska follows Miles Halter, a rather apathetic teen obsessed with the last words of famous people, as he moves from his family home to a southern boarding school called Culver Creek.
The book presents several wonderful characters, I particularly enjoyed the interesting proxemics between Miles and his room mate known as 'The Colonel'.

The book builds up an air of suspense from the first page with the book in sections, all labelled "One Hundred and Thirty Six Days Before" thus prompting us to read in pursuit of the question: "before what?"

It made me nostalgic as I cast my mind back to my teens and fun times I had in high school. For a moment this book made me feel a lot younger since my high school days feel a long time ago, but not long enough that I can't remember how they made me feel. I found myself wishing I'd gone to more school sporting events or spent more time just appreciating my time there because it was such a brief period in what I hope my life will be overall.



Things this book has taught or reminded me:

• What a bufriedo is (and if I wasn't trying to lose weight I'd totally try one)
• It reminded me of that old high school feeling of community, but with a combined dissonance; being unified, but different.
• I have never seen a green limousine, but I want to.
• Liquor shops are places that attend to our 'spiritual needs' - I'll hear no argument about it.
• That I wish I had played more pranks on people when I was younger and able to get away with it.
• That I totally want a fox hat like Takumi.
• The importance and impact of subtle foreshadowing. 
• This book reminded me of the importance of changing your surroundings - I went to two primary schools, two secondary schools and I moved across the country for university and I wouldn't do any of it over. This book shows that taking risks and changing your surroundings to 'seek a Great Perhaps' may be just what you need.
• A lot of famous last words

I totally recommend this book to teen readers, especially anyone currently in high school who is unhappy as this book really reminds you that you do not have to put up with being unhappy with your current situation. If you're currently in a school where you are bullied or unhappy this book serves as a wonderful reminder that you can have an active role in your life and education despite youth and that you can change your circumstances. If you're not happy in your current surroundings, migrate. It's a big world and there's space for you somewhere.


Though a lot of people find themselves drawn to the character of Alaska Young I think I'd have to say that my favourite character was Takumi. It took me some time to really get into the book but once I was about a third of the way through I found myself really beginning to enjoy it more. I'd like to say a lot more about some of the later events of the book, but do not want to give out any spoilers. This is definitely a book I would urge you, especially teen and young adult readers, to explore personally. It is a book that reminds us to have fun, but to care for those around us and to be attentive to the problems of our friends.

As a writer this book reminded me of the importance of crafting interesting characters. Every character
seems interesting in some unique way. I particularly like Miles and his interest in the famous last words of different people. This is something John Green apparently conceived when redrafting the novel and it has become one of the most important and favourable aspects of the story overall thus illustrating the importance of really crafting your writing. John Green has a way of masterfully articulating basic human experiences we may not even take the time to notice. There is a real dry humour throughout this book and the essence of real, fun experiences. It serves as an interesting tale that encapsulates a sense of youth and self exploration and, for us older readers, invokes a sense of nostalgia for our younger days.

Definitely read this book if you enjoyed The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen by Dyan Sheldon, etc or shows/films that follow the lives of teenagers like Glee, The Breakfast Club, Easy A. 

Or if you've not read the books above, but enjoyed Looking for Alaska, then I highly recommend looking them out.

Links:
Click here to buy Looking For Alaska on Amazon UK Reader
Click here to buy Looking For Alaska on Amazon.com
John Green/Vlogbrothers on Youtube
JohnGreenBooks.com - Official Website
John Green on Twitter

Wowza!

Wow guys - a new record. Previously the highest amount of page views I'd had in a single day was 69 (Be cool guys. Be cool)

Yesterday we beat this record... with 77 page views!
An hour later and the page is still getting views.

I expect the blog will hit 800 page views by the end of the day.

Having only really started blogging properly this month I have to say I'm rather proud. My next blog post will be my 100th blog post; it'll be my long awaited review & response to John Green's "Looking for Alaska"

Hold steady, guys, continue to be awesome.

Song of the Day: Remembering Love - Super Heroines

Well, I hadn't done a "Song of the Day" in ages so I scrabbled through my old CD collection and found this beauty.

Close to my 100th blog post and 800 blog views. S'all very exciting. I hope you have your excitement pants on.
Also if there are any topics you want me to blog about I'm pretty open to suggestions... within reason.

David Wenham looks good in makeup.

So last night my sister and I were having a movie night with films that I hoped would make her cry. I put on Moulin Rouge! and holy heck, guys.

David Wenham, well known for playing Faramir in the Lord of the Rings films, plays Audrey in Moulin Rouge! and I never noticed.
For like.... 12 years.
Never.
Even.
Noticed.

Same dude, totally would not have guessed.

And I've seen both films a billion times.
Thank you IMDB for pointing that out to me.
Let me know in the comments section - did you notice this before or is your mind blown?

Poetry: 29/03/2013

Currently trying to write a poem per day so as to finish an entire collection of my own poetry by the end of April.

Boy, is today's poem going to be long.

Mostly inspired my the events of today that lead to an angry man currently wandering around the fields behind our house with a rifle and me boarded up in a room with two cats.

You're interested? Good, you'll have to read my poetry to find out what happened.

It'll be done in a similar way to "Clearances" by Seamus Heaney, like a collection of memories.

Anyways.... I'm busy writin', have a nice day y'all.

Game of Thrones: Create your sigil, join the realm.

I've just made my very own Game of Thrones family sigil and motto and I love it!

Click here to make your own Game of Thrones/Westerosi sigil

700 views!

Having only really started blogging this month I'm very glad to be at 700 views - and the month isn't even over.

I can't believe we've shot up so quickly - I'm really looking forward to reaching 1000 views and posting my 100th blog post very soon.

Thank you for reading - you guys are stars.

Working Abroad

Having gained a TEFL teaching qualification I'm looking for work abroad for the summer. I didn't manage to find anything last year as a lot of the places wanted people to have finished university and obtained a degree by the time they were out teaching. This summer, since I'll have my degree, I'm really hoping to find somewhere - even a ten day placement in Helsinki.


The main areas I'm currently looking at are France, Spain, Finland, The Czech Republic and here in the UK.

It would be perfect to be able to combine work and travel since my feet are itching to explore the world right now. If anything happens I'll hopefully blog about the experience.

Starting my applications with Helsinki as I've never been to Finland and it sounds like a fun opportunity.

Underrated TV shows: The Tenth Kingdom

What a wonderful yet underrated gem of a TV show this is. Now that Once Upon A Time is getting so popular I can't help but think of what came before but seems so unknown. In fact growing up only myself, my father and my best friend seemed to know what it was.

I'm talking about The Tenth Kingdom: a fantasy miniseries that aired in 2000. I still own copies of it that we recorded on videotape years ago - adverts and all. The tale follows a young woman named Virginia Lewis, a single waitress living with her father in their New York City apartment. Things seem pretty standard until we flash to the events of another world where the happenings of the fairytales we are all familiar with are events in history and a dashing young prince is involved in a dark turn of events that seem deeply rooted in familiar tales. As a portal opens that suck Virginia and her father Tony into this fairytale world the adventure that unfolds leads them through the Nine Kingdoms and shines truth on the fairytales we've so heavily appreciated within our society. It's a lot of fun and it got a lot of good reviews, but not so great ratings. Since then it has been shown several times on Sky One and currently will cost around £6 on Amazon UK or $9 on Amazon.com. There's also a novel version of the tale by Katheryn Wesley if you'd rather read it.

My favourite characters have to be the three clueless trolls: Burly, Blabberwort and Bluebell. Their antics across the Kingdom to try and catch Virginia, Tony and the Prince are so hilarious and they fail many times over. A real highlight of the entire season is when they are ported over to New York in the first episode. Their total fascination with our world is strangely adorable - especially when they find a CD player and find themselves addicted to the song 'Night Fever' which they then take and play all over the Nine Kingdoms. In fact I'd only just realised that Jay from Modern Family plays Relish the Troll King and... well now that's all I see when I look at him.

If you're a fan of Once Upon A Time, True Blood or films like Enchanted/Ever After or anything vaguely within the fantasy genre I highly recommend this show to you. It's so funny and such a wonderful miniseries. I'd really like to not be the only person who holds this show dear. Though a sequel was discussed and the cast were interested, nothing ever came about. In which case... I know what I'm gonna do if when I win the lottery!

I'll leave you with the beautiful opening credits to the show - I think it remains my favourite show opening of all time with Game of Thrones as a close second - enjoy!

Daily Smile: Michael Buble and Sam

This is a brilliant video that I wanted to share. It shows Michael Buble at a concert and a rather bold mother.

The reaction from Michael Buble is just.... well, you'll know when you see it.

ALso I never thought I'd hear Michael Buble says "Shitballs"

TV Appreciation: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

We seem to be in a bit of a literary vampire renaissance. Twilight and True Blood in particular have managed to get younger generations into the vampire myth. Having recently done a dissertation on the ongoing popularity of vampire fiction I wanted to take some time to discuss one of my favourite shows of all time: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fact at one point last year I found myself in a heated debate within a group of friends where the table was divided between Buffy fans and non Buffy fans where I ended up exclaiming "If you don't support Buffy, you don't support women!" because, you know, I'm a devoted fangirl.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a show that is currently shown on the SyFy channel, came out in 1997 and ran until 2003. The show followed young woman, Buffy Summers, who is a vampire slayer in the quaint town of Sunnydale.


"Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires,demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer."

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon: God of the Nerds, was an ambitious show with some really kick ass female characters. As a slayer Buffy took the stereotypical young, female victim often found in vampire books/films and empowered the image thus providing a strong, female role model. As the show goes on more complex and harrowing  villains are thrown her way and she, along with her friends, have to battle new foes. As the show goes on the villains, the plot, the characters etc all become more intense. Whedon and Noxon really know how to capture the attention of the viewer. As the series goes on it tackles a variety of problems: both demonic and human.


After the seventh season of Buffy, the TV show ended. Then "Season Eight" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out in comic book form via Dark Horse. Also whilst Buffy was on the air a spin off show based on the character Angel was created that ran concurrently with the events of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There has been a long series of Buffy comics, plus a handful of one shots, and a series of paperback stories from the Whedonverse.


Joss Whedon considered the Hollywood stereotype of 'the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie' and decided to subvert that idea so as to create someone who was a true hero. He explain that his main aim was to explore 'female power: having it, using it, sharing it'

Having been raised by two women himself, Joss Whedon creates strong female characters with complex emotions. His use of psychological theory, playful pop culture references and clever writing techniques are what make this show so special. If you've not seen it I highly recommend sitting down to watch it - especially if you're a fan of supernatural fiction. I can pretty much guarantee you won't regret it.



I highly admire Joss Whedon for tackling the infamous interview question:
Q: So, why do you write these strong female characters?
A: Because you’re still asking me that question.

Links:
Interesting Buffy Facts!

Song of the Day: These Foolish Things - Emmy Rossum

I shan't lie - I've been a little bit in love with Emmy Rossum since her performance in The Phantom of the Opera. Here she is getting a little jazzy with a song from her new album...

Bath time

I think the picture says it all.

I've done a lot of writing and planning and I think I need a well deserved bath.

500 words of story, written.
Poem, started but practically finished.

Goodnight and take care of yourselves, blog-ghosts.

Personal Demands.

So to meet my aims I'm currently writing 500 words of novel a day. But to also complete the short book of poetry I'm working on I've started to try and write at least one poem a day.

I've always had difficulty working to deadlines, so setting myself deadlines that I have to meet each day most certainly provides and interesting challenge.

If you'd like to read one of my more recent poems, I have one posted on a creative writing website that you can see by clicking here - let me know if you enjoy it.

I've wanted to write poetry and have my poetry published since I first read "Keyways" by Owen Sheers.

I rarely post any work online as I'm often worried about people stealing work, but I was particularly proud of 'Weight' and wanted to share it.

I highly recommend looking up Owen Sheers or his work.

Click here to get "Skirrid Hill", a collection of poems by Owen Sheers
Click here for the Owen Sheers website

Staying Calm and Going Back To Work

I stopped writing for like.... 2 minutes.
Went onto Facebook.
This turns up in my newsfeed.

I'll take it as a sign.
A good omen.

Hunting.

And thus, with my dissertation over and my feet aching to travel, I find myself looking for a job and thus the bumbling, dull process which serves as the bane of my existence begins anew. Glorious...

I had forgotten how horrible and uncomfortable this process is. The joys of rejection and having to perpetually justify yourself to strangers... I just hope I find something soon. It took so long for me to find my last job, I'd really just like to get something sorted soon...

Song of the Day: Take Me I'm Yours by Tim Curry

Because if Tim Curry actually asked you to take him, you probably would without question.

I've been in a bit of a Rocky Horror mood and I just saw a short article about the film Clue which features Mr Curry. Let's all take a moment, just for today, and bask in his glory.

Tips for a New Writer

I know it seems a tad premature to be dishing out tips to aspiring writers when I myself am not even published (yet - but it will happen) but I didn't have any other ideas for what to post today. 

It is said that everyone has a novel in them. So here are some tips for someone starting out as a writer or considering writing a book/novel/collection of poems.

1) Take a notepad with you everywhere. This is something pretty standard within the writing community. Almost all creative writing tutors will tell you to keep a journal of creative thoughts or to keep writing materials on you at all times. This means that whenever you have a good thought you can jot it down so as not to lose it. I tend to keep one by my bed, in my bag etc. 

2) Read a lot. You want to be able to read a lot of books as style models for your own work and to understand the market. 


3) Avoid the cliché. Does your writing sound familiar? It might therefore come across as cliché or typical of the genre. This is fine. This is where a lot of writers start and this is how we learn. When we start out our knowledge of writing and how to craft our creative work may be basic and therefore we just repeat what we know. 

4) Find inspiration everywhere. We are human beings are constantly creating and constructing stories. "Oh this funny thing happened the other day..." "The strangest thing once happened at my old house..." "One time when I was out with my friends..." Just ask yourself whenever you think back to an old story 'Can I write about that?' You may find you could write an entire collection of short stories just based on your life experiences.

5) Join writer groups. I recently joined figment.com which is a place where you can post your work and have it read whilst doing the same for other writers. It acts as a bridge for creative minds. Other places are wattpad and The Writer's Circle on Facebook. Something about conversing with other creative people can really help you to consider and develop your ideas whilst inspiring you to keep writing.

6) Write the sort of thing you'd actually want to read. Make sure it's something good, something compelling, and nothing too similar to something well known and pre-existing. 

7) Ensure your characters are interesting. Nobody wants to emotionally support a dull character.

8) If you feel like you have Writer's Block try to set yourself the challenge of writing 50 words. Just 50. You may find that this breaks the ice and sets you free from your block. If not you're still 50 words better off...


9) Consider writing out a plan for your book/story. Sometimes just knowing where you're going helps you to explore the terrain that eventually leads you to that end point. 

10) Try to avoid creating characters that appear to be the embodiment of perfection. "He was rather tall.  His body was wonderfully slender, ever so toned and his hips jutted out a little in a strong way. To summarise: he was nothing short of a Greek god. " I read that recently and couldn't help but think "Really?" Perfection is boring, almost overrated. I like characters with quirks and flaws, I'm sure most would agree that makes someone more interesting as a character. 

11) Ensure you write a good first sentence. That is the way you introduce a reader to the story and most decide within the first page if they want to read the book or not. This is why you want your first sentence, and then your entire first page, to be good. Try setting up questions that the reader wants to have answered and such answers can only be found by reading the book. Catch them off guard from the very start by throwing something wacky or arcane in their direction.

12) When crafting your work try to get some feedback on it. Allow someone to read it and give you their honest opinions. This way you'll get some perspective from a reader. 

13) Read your work to yourself out loud. Does it make sense? Are the sentences nice, varying lengths? Does it drone a little? Reading it out to yourself will allow you to understand how the mind of the reader will process it. 

14) Don't force romance. Maybe it's just me but when people force romance into a novel or the novel is just about romance and the portrayal/situation is weak my attention is lost almost automatically. I get it. Love happens. But I'd rather read something interesting. Come back to me when you've written a novel about anything else. Mechanical octopus battles or some shit. I don't even know.

15) Write your work. Blurt it out. Let it flow. Then go back and cut, edit, tweak and perfect it. Don't think you can get by without crafting your work. 

16) Read similar books. Don't steal from them, maybe let them repel you. Try to fit into the genre but make sure your work is different from other books in the genre.


17) If you're writing poetry try to go to poetry readings to really experience contemporary poetry. Sometimes hearing a poet discuss and read from their work can bring a new perspective to the process. 

18) You finished your work, sent it to a publisher and it got turned down? Yup. That happens. A lot. What you have to remember is that not everyone will like what you do, but someone out there probably will. It will take someone equally as determined for you to fail as you are determined to succeed. It would take you being turned down from literally every literary agent and publisher in the world, and believe me there are a lot of them. It's really tough, I know, but keep trying. If not, why not try self publishing?

19) If your novel requires a specific setting/epoch/situation with which you are not familiar, do your research. You want to write a book about Victorian England? Do research. You live in England but you want to set your novel in rural Japan? Research. You're trying to write a novel about a specific breed of bird? Research. It's the best way to ensure that your work is accurate and interesting.

20) Stay calm. You're the writer, you are the controller of your own fictional world. Remain calm and all should be fine.

21) ENJOY IT. There's no point in writing if it isn't an enjoyable experience. In fact I find writing to be curative, therapeutic... Perhaps it can be the same for you. 

Some of the greatest works in history took years to complete so don't worry, you'll get there eventually. Always save/back up your work if you're writing digitally, keep it safe if you're working on paper. 
Click here to go to Figment.com!
The Guardian's "Ten Rules for Writing"
The Guardian's "How To Write A Novel in 30 Days"

NaNoWriMo website

The List.

First of all I'd like to say that I've only really been doing any sort of serious blogging the past month and this blog is almost at 700 page views. I know I'm constantly thanking you. You're probably tired of it. I don't care, I'm grateful as Hell.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...




So guys.
My dissertation is over. I'm now starting to focus on that ol' list of mine. For those of you who've not read it click here to read my epic to do list of personal things I want to achieve over the next four years.

So far I can already admit I've tackled one of them and I'll do a blog post about it soon.

Also if you click here you'll be taken to my 'To Read' list that I said I'd start on after the dissertation hand in. I've already started reading and when I finish each book I'll blog a review/response of the book. I'll be starting with something really popular right now, John Green's "Looking for Alaska" and then something a little more classic, "Mrs Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf. Expect the review of "Looking for Alaska" by the end of the week. What I'm going to try to do is read a book a week and then post a response/review but with university work still to go I'm afraid that will probably prevent me from doing it weekly until at least mid-April.

Also I'm a pretty lousy reader. I get completely distracted by arbitrary factors. Mainly shiny things.

If you have a suggestion for me to add to my 'To Read' list then please let me know in the comments.
Today I bought "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green and "The Carhullan Army" by Sarah Hall.

Underrated TV shows: Flight of the Conchords

Why aren't there more FOTC fans? Srsly guys.
It's such a subtle, entertaining show and it's really refreshing.
So much of comedy these days seems to be about pointing fingers, offending people and garnishing it with expletives. Flight of the Conchords provides two protagonists that, in a way, make fun of themselves. It's a thoroughly entertaining show full of brilliant songs. I own their CDs, DVDs of both seasons - they're great.

Centred on two New Zealanders who move to New York to pursue fame as musicians they only have one fan, the ever excited Mel, and their band manager Murray. It's a really light hearted and entertaining show. I highly recommend checking it out if you have HBO or getting the DVDs. This show has some great tunes, some wonderful lines and came up with the best excuse ever: David Bowie told me to do it in a dream

I actually first found out about Flight of the Conchords in sixth form when I was around 17 and a teacher played their song 'Foux du Fafa' in a lesson as 'educational material'

Below are a few FOTC songs, enjoy.

Click here for the Flight of the Conchords website
Click here for their Wikipedia page
Click here for their official merchandise


I made this blog post because...

Tea.

Are you a fan of tea?

I've noticed tea becoming more popular in recent years. Perhaps this is because of the overwhelming popularity of BBC programming with British shows like Sherlock and Dr Who that have made typically 'British' quirks more appealing.

It may sound like a dull question but... what kind of tea do you like?
How do you take your tea?
Leave responses in the comments section below.

Personally I like a good green tea with a slice of lemon. I often buy Green tea with cranberry or green tea with lemon from Twinings - I also enjoy their breakfast tea.

If you're interested then click here to order two free sachets of tea of your choice.

Chick Flick Faves: Legally Blonde

I'm not anything near the typical chick flick fan.
In fact I usually loathe them for their ridiculous nature of repackaging and selling the same plot but in different wrapping. I tend to remain in my comfort zone of glorious nerdiness.

That said, there are a few 'chick flicks' that I enjoy and the main one that comes to mind is Legally Blonde.

For those who don't know the plot of Legally Blonde it follows blonde sorority girl Elle Woods. Elle is the typical party-loving, cutesie young woman. When her boyfriend leaves her she is crushed. Not too long after she realises that the reason he left her was because he was set for Harvard and an ambitious law career. So to win him back she aims to get into Harvard to prove that she is the smart kind of woman he wants.


After a lot of intense studying she gets into Harvard, only to turn up at the university and find that her ex boyfriend she's been seeking the attention of is now engaged to a childhood friend.

The reason why I feel I like this film so much is that it has an inspirational message behind it. Though Elle initially aims to get into Harvard to win back her ex boyfriend she proves to herself in this process that she is an intelligent, confident young woman that doesn't need that ex boyfriend of hers.
This film is a positive, feel good film about pushing yourself to achieve something that you never thought you could do. I must admit that it's one of the things that inspired me to consider a law degree when I was younger. That said after three days filing out dull paperwork I realised that only a small percent of the world of litigation is criminal law, a lot of it is incredibly dull. That said I got to authorise the names and paperwork of several boats. Hopefully some man is sat out at sea on The Poseidon because of me.

It's a film that promotes a strong-willed, determined outlook on life and the drive to achieve what you want to reach your goals, a message we can all do with every now and then.

Also it really made me want a chihuahua.

600!

We've reached 600 blog views!
Any time we reach a milestone I like to thank you, the readers, for giving me a disembodied audience to write to. You really make me smile so thank you. I am repaying you with an image of Thranduil looking fabulous

Also further love to whoever has read this blog from France - merci a tout les amis nouveaux. (je suis desolee pour le francais mal.)

Ahh, those days...

There was a time in which my hair was all the same colour, and applying dye to individual root areas was an easy chore. Ahh, how we are slaves to beauty.

And yes, this is me... being casually vain.