| Review: The Host By Stephenie Meyer |
[Tuesday . July 14th, 2009 @ 10:14am] |
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Wicked Game - Gregorian |
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I have 2 new icons! I collect them and have thousands stored on my work PC and at home but I requested a special one to be made by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) wicked_visions and the result is the one in my post now! I decided to get rid of the Death Note one as well and replace it with The Birthday Massacre icon as I've got TBM fever at the moment (for good reasons and all!).
Anyways...on with the review....
Book Title: The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Adult, Science Fiction, Romance, Drama
Rating: 3.5/5
I only became aware of Stephenie Meyer and her massive success ‘Twilight’ book series late last year, but I was introduced to the books several years prior without me knowing. I remember seeing the striking covers in my nearest WHSmiths, reading the back covers, thinking it was a Buffy/Angel rip off, and thought the series would eventually fade into the bargain bin like most of the young adult books. So I was surprised to stumble upon a fan site where the series was compared to Harry Potter and finding out the books have sold over 50 million copies worldwide! On top of that the world seems to be divided between worshipping the saga to hating it with a passion. After reading several reviews and discussions on the internet explaining the sexist issues of the series, the over-the-top descriptions of Edward taking up several pages as well as reading that the vampires ‘sparkle like diamonds’ in the sunlight instead of burning into ashes like they should do...I decided to not read the series for myself, it failed to impress me. Therefore I was surprised when I stumbled upon this novel for half price at WHSmiths and find myself liking the concept of Stephenie’s adult novel – The Host. So it is as sexist and badly written as her iconic Twilight series?
( Stephenie Meyer ‘The Host’ Book Review )
To see my other reviews on livejournal click here.
To find my old reviews check my MSN Space site here
And finally, see and rate my amazon reviews here
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| t.A.T.u. "Snowfalls" - First English Single from New Album |
[Monday . July 13th, 2009 @ 10:01am] |
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Snowfalls - t.A.T.u. |
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On 27th March, t.A.T.u announced they were splitting and both girls were going solo - although not without releasing their Upcoming Film and Special editions of their Vesyolye Ulybki (Happy Smiles) album in the near future. Although it was a sad day for t.A.T.u fans worldwide, it was also a relief that they wouldn't go without a proper send off and releasing material that should rightly be avaliable to the public.
For a while a fair amount of fans were worried that the English version of their latest Russian album 'Vesyolye Ulybki' would not be released as t.A.T.u. never clearly stated. Thankfully it seems that those fears have been settled as the English version of their 3rd Russian Single 'Snegopady' (Snowfalls) has just been released today.
Snegopady was one of my favourite tracks off Vesyolye Ulybki; so I was much looking forward to the English version. Although it still has the same attitude as the Russian version, the English lyrics don't flow as well and aren't the exact translation as the original version. I also don't think it was the best choice as the first English single either. Sure it's a great song, I can see why they picked this music video and song to release first as they don't sing a damn word of the song in the vid (so easy just to slap the English version on)! But I still stress that 'Fly on the Wall' would be a killer single if promoted properly. Although I know that closer to the film release we get, we're more likely to hear 'You and I' as the next song, shame really as it's the weakest track on the album.
My thoughts on the video? It's not bad, I felt like I was watching a cut-scene from Grand Theft Auto most of the time though. Sometimes I felt the sound effects were too loud for me too hear the music but it wasn't a deal breaker. The video was action packed and had nothing to do with the song - pretty much how most music videos are going these days.
You can hear the Russian version of this song here and to watch the special 'Heart Attack' edition of this music video (basically the video with no music, just sound effects) click here.
To view my review for their latest Russian album, click here
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Expect quite a few blogs from me in the next few weeks as I have 2 reviews to post, a post about the Danson Festival that happened 2 weekends ago and I got the Birthday Massacre gig this Thursday! So watch this space!
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| Review: Kanon Wakeshima - Shinshoku Dolce |
[Monday . July 6th, 2009 @ 3:15pm] |
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Still Doll - Kanon Wakeshima |
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Album Title: Shinshoku Dolce
Artist: Kanon Wakeshima
Genre: Neoclassical, Gothic Electro-pop, Dark Ambient
Rating: 3.5/5
Kanon Wakeshima is a bright, cute, 20 year old Japanese girl with a huge talent - but if your parents named you after a famous musical term (canon) it’s hard to not think otherwise! From the age of 3 she has been classically trained and been playing the cello, it wasn’t till she entered Junior High school when she was introduced to other musical genres (such as J-pop) and decided to write her own music and lyrics, using inspiration from both musical influences. From her teen years she gained a rare ability to sing whilst playing the cello and had taken part in the Sony Music Auditions, she became a finalist and was eventually given a record contract with DefSTAR RECORDS. Since then her first 2 singles have gone on to become the closing themes for the gothic anime series; Vampire Knight and her debut album was released back in February. Like most of my music collection these days; I was introduced to her via the anime series and became enchanted by her unique sound which contained her beautiful cello playing with gothic electric under tones. I only found out her album was out last month, and didn’t hesitate to download it when I had the chance. So how does her debut album hold out?
( Kanon Wakeshima Shinshoka Dolce Album Review )
To see my other reviews on livejournal click here.
To find my old reviews check my MSN Space site here
And finally, see and rate my amazon reviews here
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| Showcomotion - Sheffield Ahoy! |
[Saturday . July 4th, 2009 @ 9:11pm] |
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So yesterday night at about 8.30pm I got back from Sheffield - I went there for 3 days on a business trip to Showcomotion. I mentioned it briefly and provided a link in my last blog so I won't bore you guys with too much detail - basically its where people who work in the Kids Media around the world all come together and hold mostly talks (some workshops) discussing different aspects of the Kids media - hoping to educate others and exchange new ideas.
I went with the head of Department, Mark Wilson, deputy head, David Kangas, our 2 new web site employees, Gemma and James, & finally David Murthy our business manager. We got the 10:55am train from St Pancras; it took just over 2 hours to reach our destination. We got a cab to the Mercure hotel, unpacked and then wondered down to register and to see the event for the opening ceremony. Firstly, to follow up on my previous entry about my rant of the Mercure hotel, things got more aggravating once I got to the hotel. I didn't sign the disclaimer in the end (the front desk didn't ask me, so I assume they forgot/weren't told) but I was told that there would be a fridge in the room for me to store my food. Sadly this turned out to be NOT true...there was instead a 'cooler', it only stores drinks - it doesn't reach the temperature it needs to store food. I went to the reception to ask why I wasn't given the fridge I was promise - all they could do was apologise and say that they don't keep fridges in the room for 'health and safety' reasons, since I didn't know the name by heart of who said there would be a fridge, I signed, I stored my food in their fridge and promised myself to write a stroppy e-mail to the owner of the hotel owner when I got home.
Despite the hotel qualms, the other worries I had about my diet went very smoothly. Such as our first meal out there (in Pizza Express) the staff were so nice and made a salad with ham just for me! And in the second evening we went to a restaurant of my choice, which marked on the menu which foods were gluten free! The staff were again lovely and the food was very nice, too bad they aren't anywhere where I actually live! Check out the site here: http://www.thewalnutclub.com/
Anyways, back to the reason I came there in the first place! The event started at 2pm on the Wednesday and ended on Friday 4pm. In between there were several interviews (including with Peter Salmon, the new head of BBC North) and conferences were many in variety, including talks about children's habits on computers, how much they spend, how children's animation was growing, how the recession has affected the industry, why gaming is so important to the kids industry and why they should invest in it more and so on...I could go on. Of course I checked out the video game based talks - feeding my personal endeavours.
One talk that caught my attention the most was where they were talking about how to get children creative using digital media, and one guy with the computer games industry demonstrated this game.
Sadly the trailer doesn't justify it enough, we had a full demo set up and played on the big screen through his speech, I was very impressed with the capabilities of the machine and the software for this game. Sure, I would probably get bored of it after a month if I bought the game, but it did look very cool!
Several conferences were interesting, some had people talking who were boring but had interesting slide shows to help me stay awake, and others just had boring people talking with no visual aids. There were a couple of talks that could've easily been condensed into half an hour, yet most of them were an hour to 2 hours, therefore I dipped in and out of the talks easily.
Overall I found the trip interesting, mostly because it was something I needed to experience. I needed to experience travelling with colleagues 'cos I'm in an industry where I would need ot travel every now and then with them. I was nervous when travelling with them, and there were times when with them that I felt uncomfortable (like when I want to go to bed at 11.30pm yet they gave me that look that said' "why aren't you networking?") yet I survived it! So I can handle trips with colleagues in the future with ease(er).
My boss said that the event would be inspiring; I didn't get that at all. But I think I know the reason why; I made my decision when I started looking for jobs last year to move out of kids. It wasn't something I wanted to stay in the long term, 4 years was enough for me. If my decision was different prior to coming here, if I was passionate about Kids Television, then this event would've interested me more. But because I don't, to me, the talks bare no relevance. Its shame, but it's how I feel. If, for whatever reason and if I'm still at GMTV, I get offered to come again, I would decline. Pretty much everyone in my office would have benefitted more than I did.
To wrap this up; I surprised myself by enjoying Sheffield! I wasn't expecting to hate it or anything, but I thought I'd just go there without much thought to the place after leaving. But I ended up liking the place a lot. Here's a picture I took from my window of my hotel room.
We stayed at the centre of the city, which of course has many shops, restaurants and here we have a fountain - where all the kids were playing in 'cos of the hot weather. Sheffield seemed to have the 'busy London vibe', with all the executives rushing to work, but it was much cleaner and the people were lovely. Also; it reminded me of Greenwich, it had the combination of modern art (with lots of fountains and glass panes) and golden oldie charm (like the Tudor styled pub and cobble roads). Funny thing is that, due to my horrendous Geography skills, I had no ideas where the area was before I came here. But it's only 2 hours from London! I've actually seen media jobs at Sheffield advertised, so who knows? Maybe I would consider checking out the area more in the future?
Anyways, next week, I'll update with the weekend life updates and hopefully a CD review that I've been putting off for a while...hope everyone is well and enjoying the lovely sunshine we've been having!
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[Tuesday . June 30th, 2009 @ 10:18am] |
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I'm currently not very happy. Tomorrow I'm off to Sheffield with some work colleagues for 3 days, the reason being is that we're attending Showcomotion, an event which people from the kids media industry all over the World come together and hold various workshops and press conferences. It'll be my first time to this event, to Sheffield and the first to travel with co-workers...so I'm already nervous yet somewhat excited already. My allergies and diet add to the stress as it's very difficult for me to eat outside of my home, therefore when I travel I have to provide my own food, and if I stay the night somewhere it needs to be a place where a kitchen/fridge is available, either to store my food or to cook my own. I'm not like every other person who can go into their nearest McDonald's and grab a burger when they're hungry. My dairy and wheat/gluten allergy make it hard to eat most of the food out there in the world, but it's gotten easier other the years and I'm ok if I plan meals in advance and I stay in places I know will cater for my needs - therefore I feel safe.
Anyways, the hotel we're staying in for the duration of the event is the Mercure St Paul's Hotel and Spa. This isn't some unknown hotel, they're a huge chain going across the country, and it's 5 stars. So you'd think that they'd be able to cater for a 21 year old dietry needs? Sadly no...
I contacted them several weeks prior; firstly to give my list of allergies so they could have food prepared for me and asking whether there was a fridge in the room to store food in. If not could I restore food in their fridges for when I need it. They responded several days later stating that the Head Chef couldn't cater for my needs. Basically stating they couldn't guarantee that the food they serve is safe for me to eat and that they couldn't store food in their freezers incase it came into contact with theres, but a fridge is available in the room. Fine, I thought, not the answer I was expecting, but I'll bring my own food and eat in the hotel room whenever I can (mostly breakfast and lunches). I'll just have to find restaurants in the area that would cater for my needs to cover my dinners.
To rub alcohol in the wound; I got another e-mail this morning stating that the hotel want me to sign a disclaminer before I come. The disclaminer says that if I get an allergy reaction during my stay, I cannot blame the hotel, they will not take responsibility. I cannot help but feel insulted and angry at this. I've stayed with plenty of hotels since I discovered my allergies 2 years ago and not one has treated me this way! At a hotel you're meant to feel welcomed, not a burden. If I was a celebrity with a fad diet that's being awkward for the hell of it then I'd understand the reaction, but this isn't a lifestyle choice! I either avoid the foods I love and stay healthy, or eat them and be ill the rest of my life...NOT AN OPTION!
Hell even the PIZZA EXPRESS (which is like an landmine for me) where we've having our first meal out there have said they'll cater for me - yet some 5 star hotel chain can't possibly make an effort.
I'm angry, upset and becoming less looking forward to this trip as each minute passes. I'm just waiting for the hotel to say I can't bring my own food for 'health and safety reasons' and that'll be it for me - I won't go!
Mercure, you may be big and expensive, but you can't cater for 1 dietry requirement? I can say it now that this will be my first and LAST stay I'll have with you. I'll stay at hotels that are kind enough to make me feel at home and not like a hassle. Like The Steam Packet Inn in Devon - they were lovely when Andy and I stayed the night during the proposal weekend. They stored my food with no worries and even made a lovely fruit salad for me for breakfast so I didn't sit there looking bored whilst Andy ate his big fried-brekkie.
Ok...I feel better now. Rant over.
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| Learning is Fun! |
[Sunday . June 28th, 2009 @ 6:47pm] |
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Beautiful World (PLANiTb Acoustica Mix) - Utada Hikaru |
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This weekend has flown by for me - mostly because I have been stuck indoors and not had much of one! Well, I have in the sense I've done stuff, but not in the sense that I haven't had a lie in at all and didn't get a chance to enjoy the lovely weather (although I did get a front row view of the HAIL, yes hail pouring in my neighbourhood on Saturday night! One hour is was blazing sun, next it was large ice burges raining on my roof...wierd...
Anyway, this weekend I did a training course for an editing software called 'Final Cut Pro'. The story behind I chose to do it is simple; I've been looking for a new job for over a year now and easily over 70% of the companies I've applied for required me to know this editing software. When appyling for jobs I've clearly stated that I don't know it but I'm very happy to learn and I can pick up new software quickly. Sadly, I haven't got very far with that, so I decided to take charge and learn it. So that hopefully I can get more interviews in the next coming months!
The course was run by the London Academy of Media, Film and TV - they have TONS of media relating course; including acting for camera, editing, make a music video, DV camera training and much more. Plus they range from weekend, evening and summer course - so no matter what your schedules like you can fit yourself in! Take a gander at what they offer here: http://media-courses.com/
The course I went to took place in Euston - so an hour's worth of train journeys and getting out of bed by 7am. There was originally meant to be 5 of us, but strangely 2 of them never turned up, and the courses aren't exactly cheap so their loss! In my class was Adrian and Paul - both really nice lads and we all seemed to be on the same wavelengths (as in all beginners to Final Cut Pro) so we all got on.
On Saturday we covered the basics; such as importing clips, marking in and out, pasting them onto the timeline, etc. We had to use clips of an old interview with this woman named Christy from Atlanta as she talks about her shark diving. There was also clips of her in the water with the sharks and such so our task was to clip them all together and make them run smoothly so it's like a real interview on TV.
On Sunday we got more technical by using all sorts of effects, looking at varies ways to achieve them and all. This time we had to create a small 'music video' type thing with a fast paced piece mixed with extreme sports clips. We also got a chance to put both sequences we created onto DVD for us to keep! And we got a certificate saying we completed the course for good measure!
For me, Final Cut Pro was very easy to grasp - it was, to me, like the 'cliff notes' version of Avid Media Composer (the editing software we use at GMTV, the one I use on a regular basis). For Avid you have to click on 3 buttons to do one thing, for FCP it's just one! The software was very user-friendly too as the 2 lads I did the course with had no editing experience at all yet they grasped it quickly too. I found that a lot of the shortcut keys for Avid were used in FCP too.
So I hardly got any sleep this weekend, and didn't get a chance to catch some rays, but I now have something to add to my CV and I've grown quite fond of MACs! Sure, I only fiddled around with it on a basic level but whilst before I had no interest in them, I now wouldn't mind learning more about them! Overall, a productive weekend.
On Saturday, I also went round Brian's house in the evening with mum and Daniel to show off my engagement ring to my lil' bros, Brian and Miranda. Miranda thought the ring was lovely, the boys were unimpressed (well it's not anything relating to Power Rangers or Ben 10 is it?) and Brian seemed happy.
How was your weekend?
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| Proposal Weekend |
[Friday . June 26th, 2009 @ 8:40pm] |
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Star Trek The Next Generation Theme |
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On Friday 19th June I got a train to Totnes - the last time I'd be making that journey (well until I go on holiday there or something). I booked days off to spend a long weekend with my then-boyfriend as he was performing at the Dartington Arts Festival, and there was a summer ball - so wanted to me come. At the end each year there's a festival that takes place at the college where all the students do their 'end of year' performances. So naturally Andy wanted me to see his last performance at Dartington.
I got the train from Paddington at 2pm and eventually arrived at Totnes not long after 5pm, where Andy was waiting for me. We chilled at his apartment for several hours until we headed to the college to see his friend Jai perform. Jai is a pianist whose part of a band named Ramajiim who has a female fronted vocalist. The performance started at 10:20pm, so late at night. The audience got shuffled into this small hall where we all sat on cushions with the bad set up on the other side. The hall was full of fairy lights, therefore a romantic setting. The band was very impressive actually; there was a piano, drums and a string quartet (who were not part of the original band) but they all sounded beautiful and harmonic together. During one of their ballad songs (entitled 'Shine'), Andy whispered to be; "I didn't just come home last week for your birthday".
I looked totally confused until he pulled out a small box and opened it to reveal a diamond solitaire ring; "I had to get permission" he said.
And, like the baby I was, cried with happiness, and of course said yes when he asked to marry me. We listen to the rest of the set and I was so happy, Andy held me in his arms as tears of pure happiness continue to fall from my eyes. Then, at the end of the band's half hour set, the pianist announced to the audience; "Congratulations to Andy and Sarah who just got engaged!". So the whole audience clapped to us, I had the biggest smile ever!
After we got outside I called mum and told her the news (Andy had asked both my mother and father's permission). Daniel and Mum were both very happy for me, and Andy mates who came for the performance said congrats too. We walked back to the apartment, it was very dark, chilly and my feet ached - but I didn't care 'cos I was engaged! :D
On Saturday; we chilled in the morning but by the afternoon we were quite busy as Andy was preparing for his finale performance and needed to clear the studio he and his group were in. I came along to help in any way I could; including clearing up after the performance before them, putting props away and moving audience seats around the studio. After helping I then got front seats to 40 Less Winks - Andy's last performance. It was an interesting half hour, it wasn't liner like a normal play, most of it was in chunks but somehow connected with each other. My favourite parts revolved around the use of the projector and screen as they were both used effectively. And there was one scene that used music from Final Fantasy 9 that I was very excited about! I knew was the music was the moment it came on and the guys were impressed I got it straight away!
After the performance we went to the beer tent where another band were performance. Unlike yesterday band where the music had strings and jazz influence - this group was indie/alternative rock - so lots of energy was in the tent, and plenty of dancing!
The next day, despite a late night, we didn't get a chance to rest much as Andy had to go tech (as in help set up lights, etc) another groups performance that morning. I was originally planning to come and help but I was feeling a bit unwell due to lack of sleep, so I requested I stay back at the apartment till the afternoon. When the performance was over at 2pm, it was time to check into our hotel room! Yes, we booked a hotel for the night as I wanted to have a shower, relax and just chill before the Summer Ball - and I couldn't really do that at his place.
After dinner we got ready for the ball; wanna see my outfit?
Andy was pretty much gobsmacked when he saw me - which I was glad about as this is the 2nd time I've worn a dress, both times being for him. I was really glad he liked the outfit and the effort I put into it. The theme of the Summer Ball was 'Midnight Summers Dream' but I already bought the dress when the theme was decided so to compensate I wore my Celtic necklace and earrings (to somewhat keep with the theme). Andy did take come nicer pictures of me in the dress but I haven't had them yet.
We went back to the college for the ball and I was quite surprised by the layout of it. Instead of being in one huge hall like I imagined it would be - it was instead divided into section. You had the outside grassy area which had a burger bar and some entertainment (such as fire juggling), as well as a tent were some strange...errr....experimental dancing (for lack of better term) was happening. Inside the event was split between the 2 studios - one containing the bar, seats and small stage area was where most of the rock bands performed. Then the larger studio which had more of the experimental/varied performers (such as hippy and rap groups). I thought the set up was great as no matter what music you were into or what you wanted from the ball you got! You weren't all forced into one room and had to listen to the same music.
One great thing about the evening was that I had so many of Andy's friends (he's a very popular man) come up to me and wish us congratulations for our engagement! Many had heard via his facebook profile and some knew he was planning to propose - most of those who came up to me were strangers but it was so nice having people congratulating me and asking to admire the ring. Good times!
We eventually left at midnight and spent the night at the hotel, the next morning was quite relaxed until 11am when we had to check out. An hour and a half later I was on the train back home.
So, weekend out of 10?...how about 15/10. Ok some of it was rushed and involved helping out performances that had nothing to do with me but I still had a great time, and the engagment pretty much cancelled anything bad that happened that weekend. I'm still currently walking on cloud 9! I've told pretty much everyone I've seen this week at work - some of my colleagues were shocked, others were very happy for me! And I got a congrats balloon and card from my mother too! So big massive smiles all round.
To those who are wondering; no we haven't set a date yet. Andy wants a job, I want a BETTER PAYING job and to move in together before we set a date. We both want financial security before the big day, so we're talking about a couple of years yet to be realistic. For now I'm enjoying being engaged, and looking forward to Sunday when Andy comes home for good - as in no more long distance relationship! We'll be within driving distance as of Sunday evening for good! Woohoo!
See all the photos I took at the weekend here: http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p284/goddessofanguish/Dartington%20Proposal%20Weekend/
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
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| I'm a Murder Tramp, Birthday Girl! |
[Wednesday . June 17th, 2009 @ 9:58am] |
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Happy Birthday (Live) - The Birthday Massacre |
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Yesterday I turned 21, I'm now officially a grown up! No more blaming my (lack of) drinking problems, drug habits and gambling on my teenage hormones - 'cos now I'm an adult and I now take responsibility for my own actions...but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate my coming of age!
Despite the birthday being yesterday, I started my celebrations on Friday 12th, after work with a small shopping trip to Bravissimo and a meal out in London with my mum and bro, Daniel. We haven't been out for a meal in ages due to the recession and my allergies making it difficult to eat anywhere without me having a reaction; but I discovered a couple of places that cater for gluten allergies so we decided to give PJ Grills a try!
The restaurant was lovely, the food was delightful (no reaction! YAY!) and the waitress who served us was very understanding. She made sure I was ok and when she serve my mum and brother bread, she gave me some rice cakes so that I wouldn't feel left out! Overall I was just glad that I managed to eat out without my allergies getting in the way.
On Saturday 13th I had chores to take care of in the morning whilst mum was out shopping, then I met up with Miranda and Brian at H Samuels in Bexleyheath as they had vouchers to use for the jewellery store and thought about buying something nice for me! They had some very nice earrings and such there but I eventually went for a silver set of earrings, bangle and necklace, the set was quite elegant and had a small diamond in the centre of the design. I could've picked something more expensive and extravagant but I like things that are simple, and I'm fond of sets as I can wear them together when I go out. So I was happy with my choice.
Then I was planning to relax for the rest of the weekend...but that didn't happen as Andy came home for the weekend! Him and mum planned the surprise for my birthday, I was so shocked to see him I kept asking; "What the hell are you doing here?". I knew mum and Andy were planning something but I didn't imagine it would be this, I thought they were just planning to buy a physical present together. It was funny though to see mum go out shopping and come home with Andy in tow! So I did pretty much relax with the rest of the day, but with Andy by my side; we watched Red Dwarf, played the Wii and had some kisses/cuddles. And Andy even stayed the night!
After waking up in Andy's arms, on Sunday 14th we all got up and went to Greenwich! The weather was lovely as we strolled through the market. I found a small stall that sold wheat and dairy free cakes & cookies! I bought a couple to have for pudding over the next few days. We then took a wander over to the University and discovered that a Tudor style festival was going on. Apparently it was the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII coming to power, so an event was taking place to celebrate it. It included a Tudor style play, varies items being sold including weapons (made of sponge), Celtic jewellery, dragon statues and wine! Here's a picture of me holding up one of the weapons on sale for a laugh.
By the power of Greyskull!
In the afternoon we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and sit outside for a few. Daniel, Andy and I played a few cards games before dinner, which consisted of Roast lamb (with all the trimmings) and the cakes we bought that day for pudding. This is on top of the colourful conversations we had and drinks that passed around the table. I dropped Andy off in the evening at his home as he had to get a train back to Totnes the next morning. But I was very glad he came all the way home just to see me for a few days, and it was a wonderful surprise, thanks to both Mum and Andy for your forward planning and such! I really appreciated it!
On Tuesday 16th in the morning (my birthday) I woke up to find a balloon for me in the living room and a selection of presents for me to open, mum and I agreed to open the rest in the evening as we both didn't have enough time in the morning to open them all. When I got into work I got several calls and texts from Katy, Andy, Andy's parents and my grandparents, I even got sung to! Then I got several 'happy birthdays' from work colleagues which surprised me as I was sure that none of them knew. I then got a card from Linda's (my colleagues) son Jake - we share a common interest in heavy metal/rock music so we chat often - but still it was very sweet I got a card from him. All went like a normal work day does until the late afternoon when I came into the meeting room and was greeted with the happy birthday song, a giant card and a allergy free birthday cake! I received a similar treatment last year but this one seemed to be much bigger; with the party poppers, a balloon and everyone making a big fuss of me as it's a 'big' year! The cake I received had a picture of an anime girl on it, take a gander..
The company who made the cake (The Heavenly Cake Company) also made a small card out of the anime image so that I could keep it! I thought that was a lovely touch.
On top of that I received a big card from the office, made by the Art designer herself (Anna Saunders), I thought the cover was quite humorous myself!
I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! By day I make promos for the GMTV kids department, by night I race around in the blue and kick Robotnik's arse! Apparently most people in the office didn't get why I was blue but I saw it straight away, a job well done Anna! I got some amusing birthday wishes too - check out my photobucket album to check them out and for larger versions of the images on this entry here.
After work I came home to dinner and Miranda, Brian, Robbie and Oliver drop over some more presents for me to open, on top of the presents I had left to open. As well as munch on another gluten free cake my mum made and open a lovely card from Katy (it came in the end, thanks darling!)
Here's a sneak preview of what I got for my special day, I won't include everything but I did love all the gifts I received:
4 x silver photo frames - I got 2 from Andy's family, 1 from Linda (family friend) and another (engraved) from my little brothers. Too bad they're all too big to frame the one picture that needs a frame! Oh well, I got a lot of events coming up so I'll find a use for them one way or another.
Silent Hill (PS1), Koudelka (PS1), Shadow Hearts (PS2) and Legend of Legaia (PS1) - I got a nice collection of old Playstation games, and all of them quite rare! I got Silent Hill 3 last year for my birthday, without realising that I had to play the first game to understand it! Despite a remake in the works, I wanted to play the original. Koudelka is actually a prequel to the Shadow Hearts trilogy, although you don't have to play it to understand the series, Koudelka is actually a survival horror/RPG - a combination of my two favourite video game genres - how could I say no? And Legend of Legaia is an RPG I had years ago as a pre teen and loved, and stupidly sold thinking I could get it back at any time. Now it's rare and finally managed to have it in my possession again, sadly mum didn't realise that she bought me the American copy of the game, so I can't play it! However; I have been thinking about getting a chipped/American PS2 for a while as quite a few games I want to play but weren't released in the PAL regions. So who knows? Watch this space!
The Birthday Massacre Live CD 'Show and Tell', tickets for Camden performance and 'Blue' DVD - Both from Andy and his family, I put the live CD on my ipod as soon as I could, need to check out the DVD some point. I knew about the tickets months before but I'm still excited that I'm going to see them a month from now with Andy and my best friend Katy!
So out of all my presents, which was my favourite? Well, it was a close call, but I'd have to say the personal Chlamydia test courtesy of my Doctors!
Ok, I don't have any STDs but apparently this test is being sent to all the 18 - 24 year old youngsters in the Bexley area, but the fact I received my test on my birthday just made me laugh! Thanks Doc! Glad to know you're thinking of my vagina on my special day!
So is all the birthday fun over? Far from it! I've got a lot more celebrity things happening within the next few months. Including visiting Andy this weekend in Totnes for his Summer ball, receiving presents from Katy (whose currently at uni), seeing the Birthday Massacre live in Camden (tickets were part of my birthday present from Andy!) and my joint party with my brother whose turning 18 in August!
I'm a very lucky and happy 21 year old. :-)
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| Review: Cardcaptor Sakura, Princess Tutu and Pretear |
[Monday . June 8th, 2009 @ 3:36pm] |
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Suna no Oshiro - Kanon Wakeshima |
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It's Magical Girl Monday!
That's right folks! You don't just get 1, or 2 but 3 (yes THREE) Magical Girl Anime reviews! Woohoo! Let's take a look at some of the best Magical Girl series that the Anime library has to offer...
Title: Cardcaptor Sakura (TV series)
Genre: Anime, Magical girl, Fantasy, Romance
Certificate: 13+
Rating: 4.5/5
Cardcaptor Sakura started off on the wrong footing in the Western side of the world; the series originally aired in Japan as a magical girl anime TV series with romantic sub plots being the highlight of the series. But when Cardcaptor Saura was bought by Nelvana and aired in America they decided to remove the romance all together, skip several episodes to cut the slow introductions and edit the show to centre around the main action-based male – Syaoran Li. The English dub, renamed simply Cardcaptors, wasn’t very well received from viewers, from the anime fans (for butchering the series) to Christian groups (stating the Clow Cards resembled tarot cards and the magic used promoted witchcraft). Eventually; Cardcaptor Sakura was given a second chance when Pioneer released all 70 uncut episodes and the 2 films in 2004 in America. Despite the much stronger reviews and praise from the anime fans for finally being able to see the series in it’s true form, the DVDs went out of print in 2006.
I used to watch the dub episodes when I was much younger, it was one of the series (alongside Sailor Moon and Pokemon) that lead me on the path to the anime fan I am today, so when I heard that there was an uncut version, I had hoped one day that I would be able to watch it. Thankfully, late last year, I managed to grab the entire 70 episodes and 2 films for just over £100.
So how much was actually cut from the original show? Is it that good that it had to be released in its uncut form? Is it the Clamp masterpiece that everyone claims it is? The answers are a lot, yes and hell yeah!
( Cardcaptor Sakura TV Series Review )
Title: Princess Tutu – Complete Collection
Genre: Anime, Magical Girl, Ballet, Fantasy, Romance
Certificate: 14+
Rating: 4/5
Any gamer or anime fan who lives in the Europe/Australia territories will know how hard it is to be one in the PAL region. The PAL region is often known from getting games and anime series years after the release in Japan and America, and it’s not unheard of having some games/anime series not released in the PAL region at all! The poor UK residents are often cheated out of great classics and highly rated forms of media from across the globe. One example for the anime fans is Princess Tutu – an obscure magical girl anime that will most likely never see the light of day in the UK. I discovered the series when Katy showed me a delightful AMV on youtube and had been fascinated with the series ever since. When Andy went to America for a couple of months, I wrote a list of anime series I wanted for Xmas. To my delight he picked up Princess Tutu. So are the publishers doing the UK anime fans a favour but not bringing this series to them? Or is it another hidden treasure that the UK has missed out on?
( Princess Tutu Complete Collection Review )
Title: Pretear – Complete Collection
Genre: Magical Girl, Romance, Comedy
Certificate: 12
Rating: 3/5
I came across Pretear by accident when I was researching Princess Tutu on amazon.com; it seemed to be getting 5 stars all around on the net so I decided to take a gander at this series if and when I had the chance. That opportunity came on London Expo day when the series was on sale, being quite hard to find in Region 2 in the UK, I decided to grab the box set whilst I had the chance. So is it worth the 5 stars it seemed to be receiving? Not exactly...
( Pretear Complete Collection Review )
To see my other reviews on livejournal click here.
To find my old reviews check my MSN Space site here
And finally, see and rate my amazon reviews here
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