Saturday 8 December 2012

Buying tickets is a pain in my arse.

So I wanted to buy some concert tickets that went on sale today, they were released at 9am.

Now I don't do mornings, and by that I mean I REALLY don't do morning, I will stay in bed for as long as I can, so you can only imagine getting up at 9 does not suit me well.

However I knew I wanted these tickets so I set my alarm and was online by 10 past 9.

The first problem I encountered was Ticket master wasn't working properly, I didn't get through to the final screen for a half hour.

I digress.
The standing tickets weren't working from the off so I assume they sold out .... in 10 minutes!!
I managed to get through on the seating tickets but my seat is second row from the back.
So as I'm sure you'll agree I got a bit antsy about the whole thing.

Luckily I love the band so am willing to go even if I'm at the back, I want to make a point here, that I am fucking excited about going and am grateful I got tickets in ANY form, all I'm saying is I still find it crazy how tickets sell so damned quickly!!

I guess it goes to show how much music means to people, which will always amaze and impress me, especially as I too am one of these people for whom music is a driving force.

I know a lot of people that wanted to go to these shows will not have managed to get tickets, I am sorry and hope you all get to go soon.

But for those who are going .... I'll see you at the McFly show!

Laters.

x

Tuesday 13 November 2012

A very Warped Adventure.

So on Saturday I went to Vans Warped Tour UK. And it was fabulous!
Never have I seen so many vans, converse, skinny jeans, tattoos, peircings or band T's, and believe me I was not complaining (many pretty boys! YAY)

It was in Ally Pally in London so we left bright and early from Sophie's (as it's closer to London then our house in Bath) and got there in plenty of time as doors didn't open until 1.30pm.

To start with the negatives my ticket never arrived in the post, so I called them and arranged to pick it up from the venue which seemed simple enough. Oh how I was mistaken.

We asked about 5 different people where to pick it up from and they all said different places, one of them said the temporary building, we went over, there were two doors, one you couldn't get to and another that was open. I went in the open one and the lady had no clue where I needed to go, Thanks.

So I asked yet another person who said "queue up, go inside and the box office is on the left." We queued for 2 and a half hours, which wasn't too bad, we expected that as there were supposedly 10,000 people going.

As the line started moving and we approached the door I noticed we needed a ticket to get passed the door!! Shit.

So I explained to the lady that I didn't have it and needed to pick it up, she rather roughly told me to go back to the temp building I'd been at before and get it there. Really not pleased now! So Sophie and her sister went in and I said I'd catch them when I was in there.
I went back to the building and now the other door (previously shut) was open, okay so 1. Why was it not open before and 2. How did the woman in the room NEXT DOOR not know that's where they'd be selling tickets!? Anyway I got the ticket.
I then had to go back to the end of the queue and go through it again, luckily the line was moving at this point so it only took about another 40 minutes!

So not a great start but do not fear, it got AWESOME.


First off we went to the merch market (after much searching and thinking the only stall was the Vans one!) on the way we saw a line of people that were queuing for what looked like nothing. As we passed we realised it was none other than Max Helyer from You Me At Six and all these people were waiting to meet him.

I have to add here that he was not on the bill to play, I think he was simply there for his merch stall.
Back to the day, Sophie's little sister is a huge YMAS fan so obviously we had to get in line and meet him, I filmed the whole situation for her as a momento seeing as how she was all kinds of excited. All I can say is he was adorable, he was such a nice guy and even apologised for us having to wait even though he didn't have to see anyone and really needed to pee (he let us know this!).
We reached the merch market after about 40 minutes more of queuing! We spent lots of money, it was good.
So then the music that we wanted to listen to began (at about half 4 after buying the extortionately priced food and drink). Man overboard and Dead Sara were first and were both incredible if you get the chance go and listen to them because it's well worth it.
Next was the "Secret" act that no one knew who it was until entering the festival, it turned out to be Charlie Simpson of Busted, Fightstar and then solo fame. We were, as you can imagine, very happy about this and so stayed to listen to his set which was brilliant, he was lively and very very talented.
Next was Funeral For a Friend, who I had never really listened to before but after their performance definitely will do now, again no disappointments there, the guitar solos were amazing and the energy that they produced was undeniable.
So lastly we had the co-headliners, Bring Me The Horizon and Lost Prophets. Neither of which I saw! I'm not a massive fan of BMTH (I do love Oli Sykes though, he seems awesome) so I went and watched Less Than Jake on my own, they were good and really funny so I liked that. I also missed Lost Prophets because I stayed at the same stage to watch Bowling For Soup. I told myself I could always go into the main stage and watch a bit of Lost Prophets if I felt like it. I didn't.
BFS were insane I genuinely can't fully explain how enjoyable they were to watch, you can tell they've been in the business for a long time. Their talent shone through but not only that they played all the songs that people have come to love and although they were the last ones on that day they got everyone's energy up and we all danced and screamed and crowd surfed (well I didn't do that, but many did).
They were definitely my favourite of the day. So thank you.

And then we headed home and looked back on the awesome day that was Warped.

I am already looking forward to next year, which it has apparently been said that there will be 6-8 shows in the UK and Europe opposed to one which is great as it was such an experience.

I urge you all to go.


Bye x

Tuesday 6 November 2012

There and back again....

So I finished The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien as I was determined to read it before the film came out.

I haven't read the LOTR trilogy yet but I shall at some point in my life, even though I have been told it's pretty hard going I'm convinced it would be worth it.

However back to the point. I finally finished The Hobbit, I've been fairly busy with work and uni so it did take me a little longer than normal but it was definitely worth a read.
I'm not saying it's the best book of all time because there were parts of it that dragged on and weren't as easy to ready but overall it was interesting and pretty awesome!

It was strange reading it and comparing it to the LOTR films, there are a few characters that appear in both stories and they were all quite different really. The little you see of Bilbo in the films he seems the most similar to the film version of his character.

The strangest and most different I think was probably Gandalf, although in the films he is powerful and strong when he needs to be he is also very gentle and a lot of the time a Grandfather and friend figure that you find yourself really emotionally attached to. In the book he didn't play as big a part as I assumed he would, in fact he is absent for a lot of the journey. The times he is in the story he comes across as brash and even rude, I can't say I was a big fan of him, he wasn't a bad character but there was a serious lack of any connection.
Elrond was briefly in this one and what's funny is he was the opposite, he seemed morose and angry in LOTR, I can appreciate that as his daughter wanted to give up her immortality and all that, but in this book he was happy and a really likable character ... so yay for him.

There was a severe lack of a character that you really relate to and feel most attached to, a true protagonist, that I think is the one thing I disliked about the book, the adventure and the story were interesting and you do feel invested in the outcome and want to read more, so in that respect it's definitely a book worth reading. Saying that though I missed a character that I really gelled with and related to as Bilbo often also irritated me I'm not saying I disliked him though, overall I enjoyed reading about him and I liked him! This sounds like a massive bashing which it isn't really, I think it was the kind of feeling Tolkien was going for as Bilbo was meant to be completely out of his comfort zone and Hobbits are not designed for adventure so it made sense, it just would have been nice to have had some light relief (but that's just me).


However! I did like the characterisation of the dwarves as they were just as you'd imagine, strong, bold, hard headed, slightly weak minded and overly proud at times. You really got a sense of knowledge about the race and although some of these words I use to describe them don't necessarily sound like a good thing, they are. I grew rather fond of the dwarves, even when they made bad decisions, especially Balin who had the best relationship with another character as him and Bilbo connected on some level. Throughout most of the book the adventurers don't show much emotion towards each other so the few moments you get are all that more important and poignant especially at the end.


So there you go a brief summary of what I thought of this book.... without giving out spoilers, aren't I nice!


I shall leave you with an urge to read this story, it's interesting, exciting and fairly easy to read, it definitely made me want to read the trilogy even more.


Bye x



Saturday 3 November 2012

50 shades of me (stolen from Tumblr)


1. What is your best friends name?
Sophie http://solittletimeforbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ and she’s fucking awesome if you know her then come check me out (I would say check her out but she’s like totally blogger famous so you know .... plug myself!) 

2. What color underwear/boxers wearing now?

Black with red roses on and a red bow....

3. What are you listening to right now?

Watching the Food Network channel, as per.

4. Whats your favorite number?

10, I don’t really know why.

5. What was the last thing you ate?

Roasted Mediterranean veggies with paprika chicken (yeah we’re domestic goddesses) 

6. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?

White because then you can do the awesome paint thing, it’s like magic.

7. How is the weather right now?

Hard to tell it’s quarter to nine, already dark and the blinds are drawn, woops but I’m assuming freaking cold! 

8. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

Uuuuum, lemme check ... apparently sophie, oh wait someone literally just called me so Hayley from work.

9. The first thing you notice about a person?

Generally hair actually, if it’s a guy then arms maybe.

10. Do you have a significant other?

Hahahahahahaha, wait that wasn’t a joke? No, no I don’t.

11. Favorite TV show?

Oh this is tricky it changes a lot but right now it’s probably Once Upon a Time as it’s one of the few show I’m up to date with. Or anything with Adam Richman in....

12. Siblings?

Yup 1 older sister.

13. Height?

4 foot 11 (no laughing please)

14. Hair colour?

Mid-brown with blonde bits at the front.

15. Eye Color?

Greenish

16. Do you wear contacts?

Nope but I have glasses

17. Favorite Holiday?

Florida (DISNEYWORLD) although I was only 6 so the memories are few and far between so maybe my cruise round the med...

18. Month?

December because CHRISTMAS.

19. Have you ever cried for no reason?

Yeah but only a few times.

20. Last film you watched?

Monster inc. about half an hour ago.

21. Favorite Day of the Year?

25th December because CHRISTMAS.

22. Are you too shy to ask someone out?

Hells to the yes. (Runs and hides)

23. Can you do a headstand (not using the wall)?

Haha nope although I’m an expert on the sofa. (in a totally non dirty perverted way obviously!)

24. Hugs or Kisses?

If you’re offering both please?

25. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Depends what mood I’m in.

26. Do you want your friends to respond to this?

Why not.

27. Who is most likely to respond to a text from you?

Sophie, hands down.

28. Who is least likely to respond to a text from you?

My boss ... grrrrr

29. What books are you reading?

The Hobbit

30. Piercings?

Both ears, belly and nose.

31. Favorite movies?

Again tricky as depends on my mood but generally, Disney, LOTR, 10th Kingdom and Rent (but I could list a shit tonne load, let’s go watch films together!)

32. Favorite football Team?

What is this football you talk about? It happens outside and involves running?  I don’t want to know. Nah I’m more of a rugby girl.

33. What are you doing right now?

Watching the food network channel with my housemate whilst answering this.

34. Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn?

All and any.

35. Age?

20

36. Study?

Biology (third year uni)

37. Dogs or cats?

I don’t discriminate.

38. Favorite flower?

Daisy, they look so happy

39. Been caught doing something you weren't supposed to do?

Probably but nothing note worthy or funny enough to put here.

40. Do you have a best friend of the opposite sex?

I do indeed and he is the bestest.

41. Have you ever loved someone?

Other than family and friends nope, don’t think so. (Wow I never really thought about that before it made me sad)

42. Who would you like to see right now?

Probably Guy (the afore mentioned male best friend) or if it can literally be anyone as always my granddad please?

43. Are you still friends with people from kindergarten?

Well from Pre-school yup quite a few actually. (I am from the UK sorry)

44. Have you ever fired a gun?

Not sure when this would have arisen but it’d be pretty cool to do.

45. Do you like to travel by plane?

Love it, take me on holiday now!

46. Right-handed or Left-handed?

Right.

47. How many pillows do you sleep with?

2

48. Are you missing someone?

A number of them actually.

49. Do you have a tattoo?

NO but I really, really, really want one.

50. Anybody on Tumblr that you'd go on a date with?

Many many people.


Thanks if you read all of those! Just a little insight into me!
x