A whole book ago..

8 months ago, boy has a lot changed in 8 months. It's strange what time can do to you and what leaving can do as well. Since I've come to college I've noticed so many people that I knew in secondary school change, mainly for the better. It's surprising, strip someone of a uniform and put them in a new environment where they are free to make their own choices and boom new person. But it's nice, watching from the side lines, seeing people slowly come out of their shells and realising that you have as well.
I guess it's all part of growing up, realising that in the next 2 years (now that I think about it only a year and a couple of months) that you have to make all these big life choices:
Do I go to University?
Do I drop out only in my first year?
Is college for me?
Where do I want to be in the next 10 years?
All these questions swimming around in the heads of 17 and 18 year olds as they prepare for their future, whilst juggling exams, part time work, social lives, you've really got to hand it to them sometimes. I can only hope that I too can manage this, that I make the right choices.
Man that post was morbid.

Tips for panic-reduction

So I've been worrying a lot lately - mainly due to the fact that my final GCSE results will be opened in 17 days, I'll be starting college in September and I'm already panicking about what university's will be expecting of me! Today I will be sharing with you my panic-reducing tips...

Tip 1: Read. Even if you're not an 'avid reader' it can be anything - newspapers, fictional books, other peoples blogs! Reading focuses the mind on something other than what you're worried about, when reading a book you can imagine yourself in some strange land, far away from all your problems.

Tip 2: Music. I don't mean just listening to music (although listening does tend to help as well as it has been shown that your brain is at its most active when listening to music) playing an instrument, singing a little tends to release all that built up tension (I've resorted to this quite a number of times)

Tip 3: Decent Telly. It doesn't even have to be on your TV, go online find some TV shows that you don't mind re-watching, or watch the latest episode of your favourite programme. Mainly in my case I watched every episode of doctors 9 and 10 of Dr Who, although comedy will tend to help best (Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Black Books are a few good ones) as laughing releases endorphins which are 'feel-good' brain food!

Tip 4: Get up, get down and get outside! Make plans with friends to take your mind off things, even if it's just going round your mates for a good cup of tea and a nice chat.

So there you have it! A few tips to help you through what is going to be an anxiety ridden part of your year (if you are a student anyway!)

Blogception

So after many months of accidentally avoiding and unintentionally putting it off I watched Inception for the first time.

Why haven't I seen this film before?!?!

It was utterly brilliant and I can finally see why so many people raved about it; the effects were wonderful and the storyline was actually interesting, I liked slowly learning about the back-stories of  some of the characters - the mystery of them that made you want to know more. It was also surprisingly easy to follow despite how confusing the plot was meant to be and the ending, which everyone was so unsure of was quite clear in my mind. Although I'm not sure that my brain is right - I am slightly crazy (I laugh like an idiot through most horror films where I'm guessing I should be wetting myself with fear, the concept of someone being sliced in half by a door for example, is just laughable in my mind, I am convinced that I am mildly crazy)

This film has definitely made it onto my top 10 list though and is a definite must see.

So I have decided to go through all those films that I have been putting off in the hopes that my mind will become enlightened as to the 'improvements of the media' - this should be interesting.....

Marketing, advertisements, I hate them all!

So, I was walking along ye olde town (a name of whom I shall not name) when I stumbled upon this poster:

This annoyed me possibly more than the average passer by who would just shrug it off, drop their rubbish on the side walk and carry on with their lives. It got me thinking, how do they deem such a menial act as a sin? I've had enough Religious Studies lessons to know that dropping litter, at least in Christianity is not a sin, in comparison to something like adultery. It's the so called 'exaggeration for effect' thats meant to make an impact on the public and i just think its stupid.

It's not just random litter posters, it's the whole idea of the medium of advertisement. Pictures of thin models, half naked, advertising some new brand of perfume which surprise! Makes you smell like everybody else and only for the cheap cheap price of £70 for 50ml. Companies are going to extremes to get to the top of the consumerism food chain and all I see are increasing amounts of adverts between the re-runs of my favourite Doctor Who episodes!

No Mr Go Compare man, I will not buy your car insurance because of your ludicrous 'sketches' and no Injury Lawyers For You, coming on camera at stupid angles does not make me trust you, he who is claiming to be a 'real lawyer' let alone let you take my court case. Advertisements are useless to me, unless I suddenly hit a gold mine and send it to some random guy in an envelope. Horray for safety!

Disappointing Expectations

So, onwards with a unstructured, blog that lacks sustenance.

So a few weeks ago I went to go see Tim Vine (The almost bald guy on not going out) at my local theatre/stage/thing. I was thoroughly disappointed. What I thought at first would be a stand up performance featuring the one liners he's so famous for turned out to be a 'chat show' where he brought people out from the audience to tell their funny stories/moments. This as expected was not funny at all. I will give him credit where credits due, he did try his best to make their stories marginally humorous and managed to pick it up a little at the end by doing some of his weird songs. Still, I managed to come out feeling as though my life would not have been changed an inch if I hadn't gone to see him.

These are what I like to call unfulfilled promises. Well. Only in a slight way for Tim Vine (I did say this was unstructured!) It's like buying a really nice perfume in a tall box, only to find a short tiny bottle inside. Getting hyped up by film critics and friends about the latest film and coming out of it thinking it's 'all right'. I swear, I need to lower my expectations when it comes to the media and production lines.

Oooh a title box!

So for the first time today I played a sport called Lacrosse. For those of you who don't know it's basically throwing and catching balls with small nets on sticks. Kind of like those mini nets you get at the beach but more structurally sound. This was 'interesting' and a lot more vicious when you're playing with over-excitable, competitive 16 year old guys. Yes, I am getting to my point. So afterwards my friend told me a little fact about this 'sport'. You can LEGALLY kill people in it. Apparently because of the hardness of the ball, and the fact that you're flinging it at high speeds at head height it's fine.

So that got me into searching weird rules and then into weird sports, here are my findings!

• Ferret Legging: a sport where competitors tie the bottoms of their trousers, shove a ferret down there and pull a belt tightly around their middle. Whoever can last the longest with the ferret in their pants wins. Why would people choose to participate in this?? You'd have to be crazy!

• Wife Carrying: Men carry their wives on their backs through an obstacle course, the woman doesn't even need to do anything. A closer look at the rules shows that the wife doesn't even need to be your own!! To be honest this sounds like a lot of fun! I need to get married and find a crazy guy to do this with!!

• Rock, Paper, Scissors is an official sport... wait... I can win money doing this?

• And of course Quidditch, which I already knew existed in the 'muggle world' and fully intend to find the nearest team near me! Which is apparently the East Hampshire Quidditch Team:    Petersfield, Hampshire | South East England. I need to see this!

Fairy Tale Faux-pas

So it seems that while everyone was watching the football (a terrible play by Chelsea by the way but at least we won the FA Cup final) I was busy procrastinating through a method I like to call nostalgia. After a friend sending me an old Disney song (I won't say I'm in Love for those who are wondering) I decided to go watch some old Disney movies. The ones where the animation was amazing and you could see how long they worked on it. Soon afterwards I remembered reading this:

‎"Jasmine was in a forbidden relationship with Aladdin. Snow White lived alone with 7 men. Pinnochio was a liar. Robin Hood was a thief. Tarzan walked without clothes on. A stranger kissed sleeping beauty and she married him. Cinderella lied and sneaked out at night to attend a party. These are the stories our parents raised us with and then they complain our generation is messed up?"

To be honest, I couldn't disagree more! It is typical of our generation (me included) to blame others for our own mistakes. Saying that beautiful old movies like these influenced our behaviour is like saying that every kid who played Pac-Man spends every day running around in a dark room listening to repetitive 8-bit music and popping pills. The media does have some influence over our lives; but not this much. Don't blame Fairy Tales that taught us to love people inside and out, to believe that we could achieve anything, that there is always the possibility of a happy ending. 

This isn't who we are, as kids these stories were what kept our imaginations fresh, it is only now that we look back with our naivety gone that we realise such things. Just remember that we were innocent. That these stories were just a way to make the world seem like a better place.