Boopedy Boop :)

I'm in quite a decent mood today. Despite the fact that today was the first time this (college) year that I've had to actually rush to the train station because I was late. I have been late to college but I'm not usually late for the next train... Whoops.
My new resolution is to be on time everyday! I suppose I'm not that bad, I do always do my best to get there on time. But anyway, other reasons I'm feeling relatively good today - I got my Spanish Oral work back and my Art essay - both don't need too many changes, it's all basically stuff I can do tonight. Yay! :) I thought I'd have to do a lot more work than I actually do have to.

Oh yes, Happy Chinese New Year for yesterday! (though I suppose technically the celebrations aren't just on the first day but for quite a few afterwards...)

I really should be doing homework at the moment... I will get on that soon, I'm just in the mood for blogging atm. In English today we were discussing spoken language and how it's different from written language - it was quite interesting to think about what sorts of discourse markers and fillers I use... I think that when I'm blogging I often type 'Yes,' as a random discourse marker. It has no particular reference to anything but is simply a way of moving on to a new topic... And I also use 'Anyway,' quite a lot. In actual speech I probably use 'Seriously,' a bit more. Hmm. Also, I use the fillers 'um', 'sort of', 'I mean' and 'you know' quite a lot. Lol.
Tomorrow we're actually going to have to record ourselves talking and then transcribe it and study it. We have to tell either our most embarrassing experience or our most frightening. I have no idea what I'm going to say. I can't really think of anything particularly embarrassing (I find a lot of things embarrassing for no particular reason so I can't really think of any experience that was especially embarrassing) and I really don't know about any frightening experiences. Might talk about the time I was on a very small plane in NZ (going from north to south island) and I could actually see it shaking, plus we had turbulence while we were up there and we literally were lifted off our seats. The only problem with that story is that I love flying and though it was kind of scary, it was also rather fun, lol. Oh well, I'll think about it.

I've been a bit obsessed with the song 'Paparazzi' by Lady GaGa for a couple of days. It's really catchy. The most annoying thing is that I don't know all the words (and can't be bothered to learn them all) so I just end up humming it all the time... Oh yes, I added it on my music player here, I also added a song by The Pussycat Dolls (I don't hugely like them but I do like this song) and one by Jesse McCartney.

In other news, I've now had another offer from a Uni. I'm not sure what I've actually blogged about in relation to this but yeah. So now I've had three interviews and of these I've had two unconditional offers and one conditional. I've also been rejected :( by one of the unis, luckily it was really just a filler uni, I didn't hugely want to go there (they didn't interview me). So now, I've just got one more interview which is... oh! um, it's next week. I didn't realise that. Well, there you go. Can't wait til it's over. I think I'm probs not going to apply for foundation courses, I was going to (just so I have the choice) but now I've considered, I really don't think I'd want to go through the whole applying process again. I should probably mention this to my parents but yeah... I'll get around to that.

Oh crap, I've just remembered I've got to practise piano tonight as well. I've got a lesson tomorrow and I've hardly done anything. And I'm supposed to be being good because I need to take my exam soon (like next month) or I can't take it at all. Also, on the topic of exams, I've got to sort out my driving theory - I've been reading up in the book but I haven't actually booked a test or anything. I feel a bit like there's too much going on. Yet I'm still making time to blog. Oh how confused my priorities are. Though I suppose you do need time to unwind a bit so this might be my method.

I also need to update my quotes blog, might do that later. I've got various quotes floating around scribbled in margins from college, hastily typed into my phone and written on scraps of paper (generally from art). Must get around to that. First step, update Spanish Oral.

Twilight Score/Soundtrack

I was just looking for the Twilight soundtrack on Amazon and I first came across the film score. I've been listening to the clips from it and they're really amazing! I think my favourite is probably 'Bella's Lullaby' because it's kind of odd and awkward but really beautiful or possibly 'Edward at her bed' because it's got the same oddness but also has more of a conventional bit. I probably wouldn't be able to say until I've listened to more than just the clips. I think I should start listening to film scores more often because I really do love them, I just never really listen to them. I loved the LOTR score (but then who wouldn't)...

I am currently looking up and listening to the actual soundtrack (from this channel on youtube). Ooh, I'm liking 'Supermassive Black Hole' - Muse. I think this was from the baseball scene. I like the intro of the song the most, though the whole song is fantastic.
Ooh! I think this one was one of the ones I wanted to find... 'Leave Out All The Rest' - Linkin Park. Good stuff.

Lol, just came across a great quote from Twilight - when Bella and Edward make their relationship public:
'You know, everybody's staring' - Bella
'Not that guy, oh, no he just looked' - Edward

I love 'Spotlight (Twilight mix)' - Mutemath, it's all bouncy and fun (though the intro is rather different - a bit too loud...), plus it's from the bit mentioned above. Actually, that's probably another scene to add to my 'Favourite Film Bits'. Ooh, and the bit where Bella first sees the Cullens - partly because of the music and partly due to the bit where Jessica says something along the lines of 'Apparently, no one here's good enough for him' about Edward to Bella and Edward gets that 'amused smile' as he's going to his table. 'Go All The Way (Into The Twilight)' - Perry Farrell is quite fun as well, though not as good as Spotlight I think. I'm not a huge fan of the intro to 'Tremble For My Beloved' - Collective Soul, but I do really like the actual body of the song. Mm, I like the intro to 'I Caught Myself' - Paramore, but the rest of it gets a little annoying after a while. Ooh, I like 'Eyes On Fire' - Blue Foundation, it's all calm and lovely. I think that might have been one of the others that I specifically wanted to find... I don't really like Rob Pattinson's song ('Never Think'), I do like the guitar music but it's just his voice that I don't hugely like, it's not really the style of singing I like - though he does have quite a good voice. Ooh! I've found another one that I remember loving, 'Flightless Bird, American Mouth' - Iron & Wine :). Yay, and they've got 'Bella's Lullaby' - Carter Burwell, at the end :). Ooh! I've just clicked that it's from the bit where Edward is playing the piano to Bella in his house. That's another favourite bit - mainly musically as opposed to it being particularly fascinating (as it has little dialogue though some rather nice shots).

Yes, so now I've listened to all of them, I think my favourite songs from the soundtrack are 'Bella's Lullaby' and 'Supermassive Black Hole' first, then 'Leave Out The Rest' and 'Spotlight (Twilight mix)' equal second (but still very close to first) followed by 'Eyes On Fire' and 'Flightless Bird, American Mouth' equal third. Basically I just love the soundtrack, lol. The most dancy ones are 'Supermassive Black Hole' and 'Spotlight' (after the intro). Yay! I love finding new fun music *grins*.

While I've been listening to these I've been tidying up my desk, I've now taken a photo of my finished wasgij puzzle and packed it away (it took longer than I though - the pieces like staying together). So now I've got some space to get on and do all the art work I desperately need to do!
Oh yes, and I had another Uni interview today which I think went reasonably well, no idea whether I got in or not but we'll see. I'm not too bothered as I've already got into the two that I wanted most but I would like to get the offer so that I'd still have the choice. And I'd feel less rejected, lol. So I must be off, plenty to do. Au Revoir!

P.S. I've now got rid of a few songs from my music player and added a few of the Twilight ones (to the beginning). I <3 Twilight music. Enjoy :)

Changed my mind about the books

I've decided that instead of getting the recipe book thingy I'll buy Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse from Waterstones. The reason is mainly because they're on a 3 for 2 sale thingy and I'm probably going to want to buy them at some point so why not while I'll get a good deal? I've cancelled my reservation of New Moon but not Eclipse as I won't be able to get my money back anyway so I'll wait until I've managed to buy Eclipse before I cancel it... Yeah.

Also, I've borrowed 'The Chocolate Lovers' Diet' from the library. Should be good, or something.
Been reading up on Driving Theory stuff too, not quite as bad as I expected.
Ech, lots to do.
Well, now I've got to go get ready as I'm going out for drinks with Dan, Kat and Gemmel, should be fun and I haven't seen them in a while.
Adios.

Twilight <3

I managed to see Twilight at the cinema this afternoon/evening. I realised yesterday that it was the last couple of days when there were varying times (before going to just one showing per day - late evening) so I thought I'd better go very soon if I wanted to go. I completely loved it. Having read the book so recently meant that I picked up a lot more of the similarities and differences - I was interested to see where they had given a line from one character to another, changed some details or missed out some sections entirely. I think that the book was still better, simply because it had significantly more content (obviously they had to cut it down for the film).

Characters

Kristen Stewart isn't the first person I would have thought of in the part of Bella (though I'm not sure who I would have thought of - I'd already seen the ads for the film before reading the book) but she was awesome in the part.

Oh my goodness, Robert Pattinson, loves. Lol. I thought he was brilliant in the part. I think the best part was his fantastic ability to mood swing - when he grins it completely changes the atmosphere (and he's very good at the sarcastic/sly grin). Not too hard on the eyes either, lol.

Alice Cullen was definitely my favourite character despite the fact that she didn't talk that much. Ashley Greene was perfect for the part, exactly as I imagined her. I loved the way she did the ballet-style kicks before bowling in baseball.

Nikki Reed was an excellent Rosalie Hale - I think she got the tenacity of the character over very well. Unfortunately in Twilight there isn't a lot of Rosalie so you don't get to develop the character much.

Kellan Lutz was very good as Emmett. He wasn't quite as big as I expected (though I think that the more lithe sort of figure does reflect the whole 'vampire' image) and I have to say I found him kind of loveable - I thought he should possibly be a little more menacing but I still loved him anyway, lol.

I have to say that Jasper was the only one that really went against my image of him. In the books it said that it was impossible to be uncomfortable with him around, I expected him to be more friendly but wary and keeping his distance rather than simply blank, stand-offish and a little creepy. It's hard to see what Alice sees in him in the film though hopefully the character will be a bit more developed in the next film (having not read the book I don't know if he's involved much). Oh yes, I have nothing against Jackson Rathbone acting the part of Jasper, I think that he could fit quite well in terms of appearance, it's just the way he (or possibly the director) has chosen to act the character.

Peter Facinelli and Elizabeth Reaser were wonderful in the parts of Carlisle and Esme Cullen, I thought that the compassion and love came across beautifully (particularly with Esme of course).

Eric and Mike were not quite as I expected but I'm not quite sure what I expected so I simply accepted it and thought they were rather good.

Jessica seemed a bit too shallow, not quite sure exactly why - I know that she was rather shallow in the book as well but even so. Loved the character of Angela though she did seem a little more outgoing in the book but I suppose that was mainly to save time for more important scenes in the film.

I loved Billy and Jacob Black - Taylor Lautner is cute! And a great actor of course :).

Billy Burke was a perfect Charlie Swan - I thought that the way this actor was portrayed was very true to the book. Nice when that happens, isn't it :). Also, Sarah Clarke was rather a good scatty mum.

The 'other' vampires - James, Laurent and Victoria were portrayed very well. I think that Rachelle Lefevre is really rather beautiful, for some reason I expected her to have slightly more evil (or at least more smirky) expressions but she was reasonably serene.

Things that niggled at me

The exaggerated blowing of Bella's scent - mainly the bit in Biology with the fan. The fact that Edward covered his face with his hand etc. seemed rather exaggerated when more uptight behaviour would have probably done... I guess it's because it's hard to show that it was her scent that was making him crazy without actually saying it (seeing as they removed the scene later where he explains it).

When Bella did the whole 'I know what you are' thing they had a lot of the silence with focusing on her breathing strangely, it meant that when she said she wasn't afraid it seemed far more like she was just saying it rather than that she actually felt it. Same with the scene in the ballet studio with James - there was no relief-at-her-mum-being-safe-without-caring-about-her-own-situation thing

The scene when the Cullens were making dinner for Bella - it was rather sweet and I did kind of like it but the whole Rosalie-breaking-a-bowl thing and the fact that Bella already ate etc. niggled a little.

It was far too easy for Bella to get away from Jasper and Alice - for people who were supposed to be watching over her they didn't do a very good job.

I liked the fact that in the books there was less gore and simply a short explanation of what happened rather than a description. In the film they showed a bit more of that (such as the ripping James to pieces - though there wasn't too much of this) and also they showed the struggle with Edward sucking the venom out of Bella's arm. I quite liked the fact that there was not really a description of that in the book but I do kind of understand why they put it in the film.

Things I wish they'd kept in

My favourite scene in the book was Edward's 'confession' (the bit where he told her how he'd felt when he first met her etc. and explained all the contradictory feelings etc.) and they didn't have it in the film, they simply scattered the more important bits of that scene into other scenes.

There was no explanation of Carlisle's (or much of Edward's) history. I quite liked that stuff.

I think there was a bit less sarcasm/slight skepticism on Edward's part which was a bit sad as I found it very entertaining in the book.

There wasn't really much hand-holding which I really liked in the book as it created more of a sense of... fondness? I guess that's what I'm aiming at.

Favourite film bits

I loved the montage of Bella and Edward in Bella's room talking/sleeping.

I also loved the bit of a montage with them lying on the grass in the woods next to each other.

There were plenty of other scenes in the film that I loved but I won't list them all here...

Anyway, overall it was a fantastic film. I loved it and I very much want it on DVD so will be getting that when it eventually comes out... Also when I have time I'd quite like to look up the soundtrack for Twilight because there was a song in the credits that I really liked :).

Hmm, it's really time I was in bed now. I've got a full day of college ahead, *sigh*. I've been reading 'The Chocolate Lovers' Club' by Carol Matthews today. I think I'm about two thirds of the way through. I'd quite like to finish it today. It's not a bad book actually, though there are a few dodgy bits (as there often are in her books) and I think I've figured out a couple of important points but I'll see if I'm right (such as the fact that I think Lucy's boyfriend is actually Chantel's gigolo... yes, a bit weird; it's not all like that). So I must be off now, plenty to do, I hope that if you've read this far that you've enjoyed my whole movie spiel... I like doing these things but I never really expect anyone to read them, I simply like putting my views out somewhere where I can come back to them another time if I really want to. And where, if people want to, others can give their opinions on the same topics...

Must sleep now. Or read. Or possibly watch QI. Lol. Whichever, I must go. <3

Update!

Well, I've been so busy I haven't managed to blog! Finally I am a bit less busy. Mainly because I've just thought 'stuff it, I can't be bothered' more than anything. There's plenty of things I should be doing but I'm feeling rather apathetic this week. Hopefully that will change soon as I will be in a very bad situation otherwise. I'll have to force myself to do work today...

Right. Let me think... important bloggingy things (or not so important, but you know, still bloggingy things).

Oliver! We (Me, Carol, Sparkle) went to see Oliver at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. It was fantastic! Jodie Prenger was wonderful as Nancy, we had Gwion as our Oliver (which was rather weird, a Welsh accent to go with the life of London - still good of course), Burn Gorman was a powerful Bill Sykes (and got lots of boos at the end when he bowed, lol - I 'whoo'ed!) and of course, Rowan Atkinson was simply amazing as Fagin. It was a lovely experience all in all, though we were up on the balcony bit which meant a hell of a lot of stairs - by the time we got to our seats all I could do was sit down and not move for a while, lol. Going down was far easier :). We went to Pizza Hut afterwards which was fun.

I did mean to blog about all this when I got back that night but I was unfortunately violently sick. Dad was as well that night, and mum had been on the Friday (and still wasn't brilliant). Luckily all the throwing up was only for one night. I didn't get much sleep as I woke up every 15 minutes to half an hour through the night to throw up. Lovely. Anyway, I spent all of Sunday in bed (when I had desperately needed to finish work before college started again) and ate barely anything (1 piece of toast and half a banana). Drank lots of water though. Good stuff.

Managed to drag myself out of bed for college on Monday, finally found my train pass (I spent a bit of Sunday evening looking for it once I could get up) and dad drove mum to work and me to the station. We then proceeded to try and buy my half-term ticket but they said they weren't selling them so I had to just buy a week ticket. That's reminded me, I need to go get the ticket today... Anyway, yes, so we got that, but then dad said he could drive me to college as there was only a minute until the last train I could get (to get there on time) and I'd have to go to the other platform and through the barriers so we went to the car. The car then decided not to start so I had to grab my stuff and hurry to the other platform, as I was crossing the bridge the train left so I went back to the car. After a while (some poking of things under the bonnet and a bit of prayer) dad basically gave up but tried one last time to start the car. And it went :). So he drove me to college, I just managed to be on time. And then I was really depressed because Nadine wasn't in Art and we also didn't have a new teacher (as we were told we would have) we had Crazy Lindsay again. We won't be getting a new teacher until our exam project. It's not that she's not a nice person, she's very well-meaning, it's just that she doesn't seem to have a clue about what she's doing and I really need to get at least a B! She's constantly giving us sheets for AS Art and when we point this out to her she keeps saying that they're still relevant (which they aren't really as they're doing a different project to us with a significantly shorter essay and fewer artists to study). I kept correcting her when she was lecturing us the other day about all the work we have to do. It was quite amusing though after a while she stopped replying to me but simply correcting her sentences, e.g.:

'...a thousand word essay-'
'Three thousand word'
'... yes, three thousand word essay looking at two artists-'
'Three artists'
'-three artists who are relevant to your project...'

I was in a strangely good mood that day (despite the fact that I normally bug her because I'm frustrated and moody) but I felt I was being a bit annoying so I was nice for the rest of the lesson. I've decided to be good for the rest of this project, it's only a few weeks, I'm sure I can be friendly for that long. At least I get on with everyone in my class, we have such a lovely class :). Me and Nadine are always chatting, Holly and Jess are always chatting (and we sometimes merge this chatting), across the other side of the room there's Alex, Louis, Abby, Neesha, Lucy and Alix, they've always got something interesting to say. It's rather a nice small class really. I'm quite amused that this year there are so few boys in my classes, there's just Louis in Art, Martin and Luke in English, Nathan and Matthew in Spanish and Ryan, Peter and Peter (there are two) in Sign Language. Last year I had that many boys in one of my classes rather than in all my classes. It's quite fun being in predominantly female classes.

Anyway, yes, so I've got lots of art homework at the moment as I did basically no art work this week. I've been a little bit ill this week, mainly in the form of sleeping a bit too much and having some concentration problems (hence the lack of work at home). I need to do lots of piano practise as well, I have decided I'm going to pull my socks up in the piano department. Either I do it now and take the exam or I don't take the exam at all and I'll be really pissed off if I end up doing that.

I've been reading a lot recently, I read 'The School for Husbands' by Wendy Holden, which I realised I'd read before when I got to the end - but I think I must have kind of skim-read it as it was only little bits that I properly remembered. That was on Tuesday. I was reading 'Divas don't knit' by Gil McNeil during this (well, not literally - I just started it on Saturday and then didn't get around to finishing it til after Tuesday). Then I gave that back to Carol (who got it for Christmas then lent it to me - she also got the sequel) and borrowed 'Needles and Pearls' which is the next book, I finished that yesterday. Also, yesterday I picked up 'Twilight' which I reserved from the library ages ago, I just read that today - it was AMAZING. Or at least 'Very Good'. With Capital Letters. Sarah told me to read it but I didn't because she described it as a 'vampire book' which it is but it's more about the relationship between the two main characters. I was only reminded of it more recently because there's been loads of hype about the film (which I really want to see now). I've just been on the library website and reserved the next three books in the series. Hopefully I'll get the earlier ones first... Also, I reserved 'Double Cross' by Malorie Blackman (I've read the first three in that series a while ago - brilliant) and 'Necropolis' by Anthony Horowitz (ditto). Now that they've actually got some copies of the books the reservation is only 20p rather than a pound. But yeah. So I owe the library £1 now. Well, actually £1.40 because I borrowed 'The Nanny Diaries' on DVD and having watched it, lent it to Carol who meant to drop it off on Monday but forgot so I had to drop it in a day late. And unfortunately she didn't get to watch it :(. It was rather a good film actually...
Anyway, I really want to start creating a list of all the books I've ever read at some point (I wouldn't remember all of them, I'd probably just start with all my favourite books and then just write down when I read a new one). I do wonder how many books I've read... A few hundred I'm sure.

I've almost finished my Wagij puzzle. I've done all the interesting bits, I've just got this little beige patch that I'm having trouble with because they're all exactly the same colour... and I think I've put some of the current pieces in the wrong places so I may have to redo some bits... It was quite fun really. You don't really need a picture with a puzzle like that - just a few hints (via the box) and go with the colours. It was still rather difficult, but enjoyable.

Hmm... Other news. Oh yes, I went clothes shopping on Friday as I'd been meaning to do for ages. I got a couple of new tops, a much needed pair of new jeans, a pair of zebra-striped gumboots with bright pink edges and soles and a pair of 'Doctor Who' shoes except they're shiny and silver (yes it's a bit weird, but they're quite comfortable and they were only a fiver from Peacocks...). Also, I got a lovely dress from New Look, unfortunalely I can't find a picture on the website... but it's dark blue and turquoise in a kind of indian pattern with a really nice, deep V neck, kind of edging on a sweetheart-style neckline. I think I'll wear it over jeans, and I'll have to wear a tank top underneath I think. But yes, that's my favourite purchase of the day. So, I've spent all the money mum and dad gave me for Christmas and a bit of my own money. I still need to get another jumper but it took me forever to do this shop so I have no idea when I'll get around to doing that... As long as I'm semi-warm most of the time I think that'll do.

I've been wondering what to spend the Waterstones giftcard Dan gave me for my birthday on. I think I'm probably going to buy this recipe file, I spent ages thinking about what I should get, I was thinking more a proper book but I don't really feel like a Terry Pratchett at the moment, I've got quite a few in my shelf and I'll get out 'the Bromeliad' trilogy when I've got time, I was considering getting 'The Gift' by Cecelia Ahern but I wasn't sure... also, I'd quite like to read 'The Duchess' at some point, or at least see the film. I might get that out from the library at some point. Yes, and I'd have quite liked to get a humour book. I was considering an art-based book but I think that I can just get them from the library, though there was a very interesting book on drawing the figure dynamically, in a kind of illustrative manner. Anywho, yes, probably the recipe file and if I've got any money left (out of the £15 - I'm not sure how much the file is in the shop) then I might buy a little humour book. But I'm not going to worry about it at the moment I think because I've got so many things to do and I've just wasted rather a long while writing this blog when I should have been writing my art essay. Or going to work to get my phone which I accidentally left there yesterday (but mum's got the key so we'll go pick it up later). Or going to get my train ticket for until half term. Or practising piano! I keep forgetting.

Right. Work. Or I might just put on a DVD and try and finish that little bit of my Wasgij puzzle... maybe not. Work.