The month of April...

There's a reason the beginning of April starts with a day devoted to pranks and stupidity. It seems to resonate through the rest of the 29 days. Here's it all broken down.

1. School - I have complained about this a lot and apologise if I'm pissing anybody off. But with less than 2 weeks to go until study leave and official leaving time I'm struggling with the urge to just pack it all in. The rector is getting at us for uniform even though we're not breaking any rules - he practically caled one girl a slut because she was wearing a short skirt with leggings. We're treated like 5 year olds and patronised to a level that nursery school kids wouldn't stand for. I keep my fingers crossed for beach day and can't wait for party day in RS. We're famous for our parties in that department!

2. Rob - He came up to visit me! We watched lots of TV, saw Son of Rambow, made butterscotch and generally had lots of fun. Lovely. :D

3. Arrested Development - One of the things Rob has got me into doing is watching this show. It's absolutely hilarious and so underrated. I love how some jokes take entire episodes to reveal the punchline. The cast are all perfect in their roles (my favourites being Michael Cera and Will Arnett). Silly BBC never put it on at a decent time.

4. Number One Ladies' Detective Agency - The literary equvalent of hot chocolate. It's simple, comforting, sweet and makes me happy. Mma Ramotswe is an excellent heroine and gives one for the larger lady. I'm about to start the 2nd book in the series. I also recommend the TV adaptation by the late Anthony Minghella.

5. Pushing Daisies - Not so much a will they/won't they romance as a can they/can't they? I thought it would leave the romance devoid of any real substance or emotion but it's so sweet and lovely. I love the ways they compensate for real contact - using plastic film to kiss, dancing in beekeeping suits. It might be too quirky for some but I adore it.

6. Alfie Allen - He was excellent in Casualty 1907 and had a small role in the fantastic Atonement. I'm glad he's building up a bigger profile and isn't just referred to as Lily's brother, or the one mentioned in that weird song with the creepy puppet. He's also adorable. Much better looking for the role in Equus than Dan Radcliffe in my opinion. Daniel Craig has said he's going to be the next big thing so I hope that comes true.

7. Cannes - This year it will be opening with the intriguing Blindness with Julianne Moore. Also being shown are The Changeling with Angelina Jolie, Che, the very ambitious 2 part Che Guevara biopic directed by Stephen Soderberg, and Two Lovers will also be screened! The Europeans seem to like James Grey more than the Americans. Hope this means a UK release date isn't far behind. Plus it's yet another chance for me to post a picture of Joaquin! Like I need the excuse!

8. John Sessions - Speaking of embarassing crushes I'll never live down and will regret ever mentioning in time, I'm pushing this one strong despite the 37 year age difference and the annoying fact that he's gay (you sure know how to pick them Kayleigh!) He's totally adorable and in his younger days was even cuter. He's like a big know-it-all with a cheeky grin. My friends at school are in hysterics about this - Pam has officially entered me into Club 55+. Meh, I don't care. Variety is the spice of life.

Confession Time.

First of all, this post will make room for a lot of laughs at my expense but I need to apologise to Pamela. For many years now I have laughed and joked about her love of the older man, such as Martin Sheen and Alan Rickman (but there is totally nothing wrong with the latter, his voice is pure sex.) Not one man on my crush list has exceeded 45. Until now. I'm in Pam territory now (love ya hun!) I've had a lot of creepy and silly crushes in my day (Michael Stipe during the Automatic for the People era, David Schwimmer, Niles from Frasier in season 1) but I think this one outdoes them all. To be fair he is cute in his younger days, but it's all years I like. Damn. He's a total know it all which appeals to me and is wonderfully funny. Damn channel Dave is spoiling me.
Well, I'm not saying his name out loud. This is him in the early 90s. He's the one at the end.



And this is him now. (hides in a corner ashamed)

23. Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme)

My sister was watching this today and that reminded me I needed to update my top 30. Continuing my surprising trend of films with darker undertones (I'm such a giggler, it doesn't fit me at all) is the benchmark for FBI/serial killer thrillers in the 1990s.

Based on the Thomas Harris book (which I read aged 11) Silence of the Lambs combines tension, intrigue, cannibalism, sexual undertones, organs and unusual sweing skills and remains enduring with each reviewing. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a trainee FBI agent is assigned the near impossible task of extracting information from the notorious cannibal killer and genius psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, he offers to help her solve the case of women skinner Buffalo Bill. But it'll be at a cost to Clarice, both emotionally and personally. The film is much lauded and has been parodied so many times (see French and Saunders for one of the better attempts) but many people forget how good the film is, both technically and in terms of frights. I don't know a single person who didn't jump with fright at the scene with Hannibal in the cage. The combination of thrills and scares is perfect, leaving you both exhilarated and freaked out in equal measure. It's also a movie that looks the part. From the dark, delapidated cells in the asylum to the cluttered mess of Buffalo Bill's place (with the weirdest basement in any movie house), you feel trapped in the setting and it begins to get a little claustrophobic. Empire Magazine said that even if the film wasn't very good, it would still be given a place in movie history for one of the most memorable villains ever written or filmed. Hannibal is easy to mock (especially for the whole 'fafafafafafa' thing with the tongue) but he is genuinely scary. Both charming and repulsive, manipulative and helpful, the excellent Hopkins plays with these oxymorons to great effect and makes sure you never forget that role. He can be very hammy sometimes but it's just right here. Even scarier than Hannibal is the delusional Bufalo Bill, played by Ted Levine. My sister joked that you could never be scared of a man with a dog called Precious, but SotL proved her wrong! He's such a cold man and shows no remorse for those who he kills, and his reasons for doing so are weird beyond reason. But for me, the role of the film is Jodie Foster. Surely one of the best actresses of her generation, with a perfect Virginia accent and doe like innocence on her eyes, Foster nails Clarice in a way Julianne Moore just couldn't in the sequal Hannibal (sorry.) She has to get into Lecter's mind and race against the clock to solve the case, but ends up on the receiving end of a therapy session. I can't be the only one who thinks the relationship between Clarice and Lecter is faintly sexual. They barely touch, but when they do I think it's really sexy. (Don't judge me here!) It's just a shame the sequal laid it on too much. The book is even weirder. Breast feeding - yuk!

Thrillers are easy to mess up and often descend into cliche territory. But Silence of the Lambs keeps everything just right and feels fresh. It's a film I always enjoy. It sits well with my anti-hero love and hidden sexual subtitles. Many times imitated but never bettered.

Top Moments:

- Clarice tells Dr Lecter about the lambs.

- The hand touch.
- The climax in the darkened basement, as Buffalo Bill watches a terrified Clarice through night vision goggles.

Favourite Quote:

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

Pushing Daisies is love.

Officially the sweetest thing on TV.

Stand up for beach day!

To the people of my school in 6th year...don't give up! Beach day forever! They can't threaten us with expulsion for carrying out a sacred tradition, it's unfair and stuck up! We're not kids anymore so lets stop them from treating us like one!
Up with Beach Day! Down with SMT!

I'm sick of those jerks thinking they can be big and powerful when we only have 2 weeks left. We're not going to kill them all, but they act like that's our plan (Well, it isn't mine but you'd have to ask around.) I've put up with a lot of shit in that school and received almost no help, the help I did get was pretty useless. All that matters to them are grades, uniform and attainment (I hope I never hear that word again!) Forget respect or anything silly like that. When I walk out of that school, it'll be with my head held high and a pile of sand in my shoes! Up with Beach Day!

Pensive moment...

Have you ever sat down or done something that suddenly set off a thought in your mind? That happened today with me. My mum bought these 2 massive plastic boxes to pack away all my books in. Usually my books sit in a tall alphabetical pile against my bedroom wall, looking very imposing and wobbly. I like it like that because it looks organised and makes my reading habits look pretty cool. But mum decided now was a good time to pack them all away to (as she put it) keep them protected and dust free. But as we were packing them away, mum said "It'll be easier to take them to university like this to." Then I realised that all my book packing was the first proper step into moving out of home. Naturally, I freaked out.

Now I am excited about university and being independant, but I'm also scared witless about leaving my family. I love them to pieces (something a lot of people in school find unusual) and they're a huge part of my life. The thought of not having them around all the time is weird to me. It's only a few months away and getting closer by the moment. Sometimes I think too much about stuff like that and it gets me down. I'm just trying to keep my mind on the positives - my friend and I have applied to live together in Edinburgh, so that's something to look forward to.

(Why the Feist icon? Don't know...I just think it's cool, She rocks.)

This week in numbers.

17 - The amount of books in my To Be Read pile.
63 - Days until my 18th birthday.
3 - Amount of e-mails I sent to try and win Mighty Boosh live tickets.
7038 - The length in words on my English dissertation.
2538 - The amount of words I had to cut from my dissertation.
3 - Weeks left until I leave school.
98 - Percent highest score I've won on Guitar Hero 3 so far.
52 - cards in a pack, being taught how to cheat at blackjack today.
8 - Times I've listened to Fascination by Alphabeat in a row.
11 - Tracks on the new REM album, Accelerate.
27599 - Words in a fanfiction I've been writing.
38 - Amount of reviews said fanfiction has received.
5 - Months until I move out to university.
2 - Amount of Oscars my favourite movie ever was nominated for.
3 - Hours it took for my mum to clean my room (it's all my sister's mess, honestly!)
199 - Amount of posts I've made on this blog, including this one.
1 - Amount of episodes it took me to get addicted to Pushing Daisies.

Awesome kids books that adults can read.

You can never have enough books and since I currently have about 4 on the go, I thought it was time for another books related post. You're never too old to read kids books and I laugh at anyone who says otherwise. Here are the ones I recommend to people of all ages. If anyone has any other books they'd recommend, please say so and I'll put it up here.

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling

Pretty much a no brainer here, everybody on the planet should read these books. Not only are they wildly imaginative and original, they have a boundless amount of characters, one for everybody. I personally love Draco and Luna, but I know so many people love Snape, Tonks, Lupin and too many others to name. I remember the first time my gran read the book and how much she loved it, so I found my HP partner! It's got something for everybody, is full of action and goes by at a great pace, sucking you in. If you haven't already read these books, what's it like on the moon?

The Wind On Fire Trilogy - William Nicholson

Written by one of the screenwriters of Gladiator (woo!), I read these books when I was 11 and have loved them since, shoving them into the laps of anyone willing to read them. Think His Dark Materials but much darker and weirder. It's set in a walled city called Aramanth, where everything is controlled by extremely strict rules and a system where everything in life - school, work, even toddler's lives - are graded by points. A rebellious girl called Kestrel and her twin brother Bowman run away and try to find the voice of the wind singer, which will free the city. I'd go into more detail but I don't want to ruin it all. Kestrel is a little annoying but gets better over the series, which ends with an emotional kick. I'm surprised it hasn't been made into a film yet, but having heard of the mess they made of Northern Lights (I refuse to call it the other name) I'm apprehensive.

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

The theological children's fantasy that became so much more. Forget all the anti God stuff (yes it exists, Pullman is a notorious athiest in the Richard Dawkins league) because it's more about a girl's journey into adulthood and how she changes everything. Lyra stands up as one of the best female characters in modern day literature and Will isn'r bad either. The idea of a daemon is so superb, I wish I'd thought of it myself. Don't judge these books as kiddies fare, they get pretty complicated.

The Sally Lockhart Quartet - Philip Pullman

I've not quite forgiven BBC for casting Billie Piper in the role of the witty, brave and unconventional Sally, an independant girl trying to hold her own in Victorian London. Pullman is fantastic at writing strong female characters, Sally is a great example of this - clever, a little stubborn, perceptive and wholly likeable. I read these before HDM and they hold a lot of memories for me. When I first started High School, I didn't have a lot of friends, found it hard to talk to people, was recovering from a bullying experience and had a counciller on stand-by. Books were therapy, an escape, and just a way to feel better about myself. In first year, I read 64 books. Apparently it's a record. Sally was an idol to my 11 year old self, and she still is. Just not the TV version.

Darren Shan series - Darren Shan

Okay, these are totally guilty pleasures. The editing is terrible, they're a bit childish and there's 12 of them ,but god I love them! I read the final 6 books in 3 nights (thank you Laura!) and realised they're pretty well thought out. Things happened that connected everything together and I fell back in love with Darren (my 2nd book crush ever). It starts off in Cirque Du Freak, when Darren is a normal kid who visits a freak circus and ends up falling in with a vampire who becomes his mentor. The books are life page crack to me, short, sweet and highly addictive. Maybe not everyone will love them, but it's too much fun for me to ignore them.

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

Another nostalgic flashback here, described by the writer as Die Hard with fairies. A pretty apt description. This contains my first ever book crush - Artemis! A slimy, pretentious, selfish genius (sound familiar?) who plans to steal a hoard of gold from a group of hi-tech fairies. It's a fantastic premise, handled with humour and excitement. What is it about anti-heroes that does it for me?

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

I'm a huge fan of the vampire genre and Twilight takes a highly cliched concept that's been done many times before, both well and terribly (girl falls in love with a vampire) but made it awesome. Bella Swan moves to the dark and depressing Forks to live with her dad, and ends up becoming involved accidentally with the devastatingly handsome Edward Cullen (oh...my...god, he is hot, even in literary terms.) It sounds a little girly, girls will prefer it, but I recommend it to all. There's a lovely air of mystery around the book, and it manages to be effortlessly sexy. I've still not read the sequel New Moon but I'm dying to. Edward is being played by Robert 'Cedric Diggory' Pattinson in the film - interesting choice...

The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot

Anything by Meg Cabot gets my vote here. She's such a fun, unpretentious writier and actually writes stories from a teen perspective well. Sure, it's as predictable as a Julia Roberts rom-com (though the 9th book surprised me a lot), but Mia and her life is so funny and loveable to push aside. Her other books are like that too - you know she'll end up happily ever after, but it's the journey you enjoy most of all. I know a lot of people grew out of the series but I never did. You don't grow out of fun.

Just In Case - Meg Rosoff

I just remembered this book today in Waterstones and how much it freaked me out. David Case becomes totally obsessed with the thought that fate is out to get him. So he changes his name to Justin Case, makes a new identity for himself and moves away from home at the tender age of 15 (or so). It's a black comedy at heart but also has a fainlty disturbing edge. You don't know if David/Justin is really being pursued by fate (who makes an occasional appearance) or has deeper problems. It's not just for kids, and it really got to me for some reason. It also has the very cool character Agnes.

Piratica - Tanith Lee

A kid's book, well not really kid - young adult - that I like is Piratica. It sounds stupid, but it is, in fact, fantastic, one of my favourite books tied with the Harry Potter series. It is THAT good. It has such an original and quirky way of writing, and the characters are so funny and lovable, and the heroine, Artemesia, is wonderful. The second book in the series is sorta not as good, very sequel-y, and the third is pure rubbish. It was AWFUL, I hated it. But the first is perfect, read it if you can!!! (Anahita)

Old Kingdom Trilogy - Garth Nix

If you enjoy Harry Potter I would recommend Sabriel-by Garth Nix-part of the Abhorsen trilogy. Its not really in the same league as the Harry Potter universe but it comes pretty close. (Arooj)

Storage - English work.

Stupid school computer. It wouldn't let me send the remainder of my dissertation to my school e-mail because 'it contained banned words'. *sigh*. So this is my last option because I don't own a USB.

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While his love for Ennis under such circumstances is admirable, Jack exhibits a selfishness towards others. He doesn't consider his marriage to be worth anything, whereas Ennis is adored to the point of obsession - after Ennis gets divorced, "Jack misunderstood the reason for the call, had driven twelve hundred miles north for nothing." Out of the two, Jack feels the most intensity in the relationship and the most longing for the other when they're apart. He has built everything of importance in his life around Ennis and their occasional meetings, evoking sympathy from the reader because it is equal parts sweet and pitiful. For Jack, their love is consuming him and ruining his life. He can't bear being apart from him but when they do meet, he can't help but fantasise about a future that will never happen:

"You wouldn't do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain. Everything built on that...Count the damn few times we been together in twenty years. Measure the short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and then tell me you'll kill me for needin it and not hardly never gettin it. You got no fuckin idea how bad it gets...You're too much for me, Ennis, you son of a whoreson bitch. I wish I knew hot to quit you."

The final line is probably the closest Jack - or any other character in the story - comes to saying "I love you." It displays his conflicting feelings of love, resentment and yearning that have taken over his life. His zenith of happiness is encapsulated in one moment where they embrace by an open fire:

"Later, that dozy embrace solidified in his memory as the single moment of artless, charmed happiness in their separate and difficult lives. Nothing marred it, even the knowledge that Ennis would not then embrace him face to face because he did not want to se or feel that it was Jack he held."

Present is Jack's joy and content state at being with the man he loves, but also the sadness that accompanies them and makes their relationship impossible. While Ennis remained cynical until the end of their relationship, Jack's enthusiasm and undying hope is at the heart of their love and remains with the reader throughout the novel.

The object of Lady Chatterley's affection, Oliver Mellors, is a working class gamekeeper employed by the Wragby Estate to look after the grounds. When Connie first encounters him, she notices how his attitude does not fit in with any particular boundaries laid down by class:

"...he seemed so unlike a game-keeper, so unlike a working man anyhow: although he had something in common with the local people. But also something very uncommon."

His contradictions isolate him from others, similar to Connie's loneliness and unease from residing in Wragby. Rightaway, the reader notices the connection between the pair, Mellors already seems a better match for Connie than her husband. He is polite and welcoming to Connie and sees something in her he is attracted to. The barriers of gender are pointless to him, but the restraints of class are still very constricting to him:

"Think how lowered you'll feel, one of your husband's servants."

Mellors has a great deal of affection for Connie but, much like Ennis in Brokeback Mountain, is afraid of the possible consequences that will arise when others find out. Much of his fear is for Connie, who he does not wish to harm and be left excluded by society:

"He had a sense of foreboding. No sense of wrong or sin: he was troubled by no conscience in that respect."

His fear is not a result of guilt, because he truly loves Connie and does not regret being with her in that aspect. This makes him an admirable man in the reader's opinion, a welcome contrast to the unlikeable snobbery of Clifford. But Mellors' fear is a creation of the unfair boundaries of class:

"...he know that conscience was chiefly fear of society, or fear of oneself. He was not afraid of himself. But he was quite consciously afraid of society, which he knew by instinct to be a malevolent, partly-insane beast."

These are the restraints that Mellors has consen to avoid, similar to Connie's disillusionment which also contrasts Clifford's ideals. He is a queit man who "wanted to keep his own privacy." What makes Connir connect with Mellors so well is he can give her the meaningful physical contact that she has been denied by Clifford. It's the foundations of their relationship, whereas Connie's marriage is grounded in discussions and mental matters. His Derbyshire accent makes him incomprehensible at times to Connie, so they only talk briefly, building their relationship through more physical love. The accent also serves to show the differences in class and unbringing between him and Connie:

"Ah mun ta'e th' lantern...The'll be nob'dy."

At first, he is apprehensive of the relationship because he has suffered through a string of unfulfilling love affairs, most notably his ex-wife Bertha. For him, Connie is not just another chance at love, but a way of redeeming himself of his unsuccessful love affairs. By the novel's end, Connie and Mellors are apart and he is working to divorce his wife and be with the woman he loves. He no longer has the physical contact with her but is content with that:

"I love being chaste now...I love this chastity, which is the pause of peace of our fucking, between us now like a snowdrop of forked white fire."

Mellors has finally become content with himself and enjoys the fulfilment that has come with his new found love. He no longer feels the need to have sex constantly because the connection he has found with Connie is more meaningful than any sexual relation he has had before. Their relationship formed through sexual compatibility, seen through the scene where they orgasm together, and this shows Lawrence's belief that matters of the body are just as important as matters of the mind. Mellors is so perfect for Connie that it's impossible to disagree with their relationship, even if it formed under less than conventional terms. He is a man that Connie must be with, and the reader understands this fully.

Romance is a notoriously difficult genre to write well, and the more unusual strands of love that stray from the typical boy-meets-girl synopsis are a bigger challenge. For stories based around relationships of paedophilia, homosexuality and extra marital affairs to succeed in telling their stories in a sympathetic manner is a particular triumph of literature. For me, the most successful version of the three novels is Brokeback Mountain. The most celebrated love stories end tragically, like Ennis and Jack's story, and Proulx managed to take the much mocked possibility of a gay love between ranchers and create a wholly beautiful and deeply moving tale. Ethics and my own morality automatically deemed Lolita's 'love' as wrong, unlike the others. They all showed that, while love may not conquer all, it can make someone extremely happy for a short amount of time.

Things that annoy me...

Another day, another rant. Level-headedness has left the building...

* WAGs - What do they actually do? I'm a firm believer in working to provide for yourself and a bit of a feminist, so WAGs go against everything I think is good. There's something really sickening about seeing an ultra tanned bimbo in too many accessories carrying more shopping bags than is necessary. Apparently Wayne Rooney's fiance Colleen something has an autobiography out. Did she do something important while I wasn't looking?
* Favouritism - In my school, you get ahead by being the kid of a teacher. Of the 8 senior prefects in my year, 4 are daughters of teachers in my school. Unfair, completely unfair.
* The BRIT awards - Giving Mark Ronson Best Male Solo artist?! Orson Best International Act!? (this was a couple of years ago.) Kate Nash Best Female Solo Artist? (I know someone got at me for hating her but I just can't stand her!) In terms of credibility in the music business, BRITs sold out a long time ago.
* James Patterson novels - As much as I love the occasional trashy novel, his stuff isn't my thing but my main problem with him is that Patterson is a self confessed businessman, desperate to completely conquer the writing market from every angle. Writing isn't about figures and sales, a real writer cares more about making a good piece of literature. And the titles bug me too.
* The Sun newspaper - It's the only paper my dad buys, and it's sexist, mindless, trivial, misogynistic crap. Page 3 is wrong, just wrong. I'm so sick of it that I've started buying my own copy of The Guardian!
* Trolls - The internet kind, not the ones under the bridge. Look through IMDb and you'll see what I mean. I've stopped going there because I was so annoyed with them, they ruin everyone's fun and just spend their time insulting people they don't know, the coward's form of bullying.
* Soap Operas - About as far from real life as Jupiter and even further from entertainment.
* Raisins in curry - Why? They make me vomit and taste out of place in a curry. It's a silly thing but it really effects what I eat.
* The Fact that Crash won Best Picture - Do I really need to add anything else?
* Lowri Turner - The very definition of stupidity and intolerance. Read THIS article she wrote regarding her own mixed race daughter. It's fitting that it was posted in The Daily Mail. You'd think that in the 21st century, we would have made progress with multiculturalism and tolerance, but she is proof that we are as ignorant as ever.

Women in music.

A very silly man (my dad) once said there was no such thing as a great female rock-star. We ended up having a huge argument about it and I decided to go and prove him wrong. Luckily Q magazine this month dedicated the majority of their issue to women in music. Several musicians were listed and a piece was written about each of them by another female artist. some I had never heard of and others were some of my favourites. Here are a few mentioned:




Debbie Harry (written by Kim Gordon) - I love Blondie, some of their songs are so iconic. I think that's mainly down to Debbie Harry because she had something very alluring around her. They were just cool, no question about it. (my favourite song - Heart Of Glass)

Kate Bush (written by Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan) - I really don't know anything about her outside of Wuthering Heights and Hounds Of Love. Q recommends 5 of her albums so I might pick something up.

Dolly Parton (written by Norah Jones) - The article itself was a bit dull and short but thje point was true. Dolly is a fantastic musician. My grandparents love her so I have some memories of her being played around the house. Despite her less than natural appearance, she always comes across as warm, friendly and a wonderful song-writer. She's definately Queen of Country as far as my knowledge extends - but Q also has a lovely article on Emmylou Harrism who my gran says is excellent too. (my favourite song - Travellin' Thru)

Kate McGarrigle (written by Martha Wainwright) - She's automatically excellent for being the mum of 2 great musicians, Rufus and Martha, but sadly I've never had the pleasure to listen to her music. The article says "...there's a consoling, nun-like quality in those pristine high notes, albeit with a sad darkness behind..." which sounds beautiful. I think it's really sweet that Martha Wainwright thinks so highly of her mum's music, she's added to my must listen list.

Bjork (written by KT Tunstall) - Sometimes Bjork is a little too off the wall for me, I'm not brave enough to buy one of her albums and give her a proper listen. She's a real iconoclast of music. I do love It's Oh So Quiet, even if it is one of her more conventional numbers. (my favourite song - It's Oh So Quiet)

Nina Simone (written by Corinne Bailey Rae) - An amazing talent, both in her singing and piano playing. I could listen to Sinnerman all day. She was a fantastic figure in the civil rights movement (although I'd consider Billie Holiday the main figure over her.) She could bring down buildings with that voice. (my favourite song - I Put A Spell On You)

Courtney Love (written by Brody Dalle) - Finally, some genuine credit for the woman. Frget the drugs and weird behaviour, she is an excellent grunge rock musician. It's not about her guitar playing or her voice, it's about how she holds herself and gets on with the business of playing. I hope her new solo album goes well. (my favourite song - Celebrity Skin)

Stina Nordenstam (written by Martina Topley-Bird) - I had no idea who she was until about an hour ago. But the article about her convinced me I HAD to listen to her. She is so vulnerable sounding, like if she allows her voice to get any louder, she'll shatter. Apparently she hates all promotional work so she isn't very well known. But this song is beautiful. (Little Star)

Regina Spektor (written by Kate Nash) - I am saddened that such a lovely singer could have such a crap article written about her by a so called musician who can only hope to have half the talent Miss Spektor has. I can't stand Kate Nash's music (Foundations made me want to shoot myself). It sounds like she hasn't even properly listened to any of her songs, and I really didn't want to know about Kate eating cheese and ham toasties (!?). Oh well, at least Regina Spektor is cool, my sister is utterly obsessed with Samson and listens to it every day. (my favourite song - Samson)

The magazine also contained an interview with Madonna, who was asked questions by people like Michael Stipe, Elvis Costello and Debbie Harry. It cemented my belief that the woman is just a complete bitch. She was rude, inconsiderate and complained about the questions being boring and stupid. Newsflash to Ms Ciccone - you're not the Queen! I've never liked her music anyway so when she's lauded as a hero of music, it irritates me. And who really wants to see a 50 year old thrust around in a leotard, she looks like a man.
There were some people I'd like to have seen on the list, like Etta James and Billie Holiday. Hope I've proved my dad wrong!

The books that changed my life...

I posted this on a forum I help mod, BooksAndChat, and thought I'd do it here too, but with pictures! I've always been a book fan and consider them to be one of the most important things in my life. It's my ambition to write full time and maybe encourage others to read as avidly as I do. These 2 books played a huge part in my life.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

I was 8 or 9 when I saw this advertised on Blue Peter. I asked my mum to buy me the first two books which she shockingly did. It was the first time that I realised one person could completely create their own world just from their imagination. I realised that maybe one day I could do that too, so I credit it with getting me writing. Also Harry Potter started my book obsession. I thought "Wow, these things are actually quite good, I need to read more." Since that, I've read anything and everything I can get my hands on. But the most important thing about the series for me was how it helped me through a lot of stuff. I went through a lot of shit in school and felt like I'd been dragged through the mud, but Harry Potter books were always there for me. It was one of the few constants in my childhood and felt like I could always rely on those books to cheer me up. I'm older and wiser now but still maintain a high respect and love for these books, evident more because I'm still in mourning for the end of the series. Some people accuse the series of being unoriginal, but I don't care about the criticisms. To me, the series signifies real excitement, loveable characters, twists and turns to rival the best, and a completely different world that I could only hope to live in.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

This is a more recent case. It's only about 110 pages - a real case of quality over quantity - and I finished it within half an hour while sitting on a floor in a university building. I couldn't believe how amazing this was. Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote the book by dictating each letter one by one to a lady by blinking his left eye. He had suffered a stroke and it was the only part of his body he could control. The sheer determination, spirit and patience was astounding enough but it was also fantastically well written. It's proof to me that nothing can destroy the human imagination and puts my cynicism to shame. I wanted to go out and celebrate after reading that!

# On April First... #

April Fool's Day is pretty pointless for me, but it's an excuse to post a rather apt song by my favourite singer, Rufus Wainwright.