Classic me – I only watch a tv show after everyone has been raving about it for at least 2 seasons. This literally just happened again when I decided, you know what, I’m going to watch Orange is the New Black as it sounds pretty cool.

Spoiler: it’s BRILLIANT.

If you somehow weren’t aware, it’s about a typical middle-class American woman, pretty and blonde, engaged to a nice man. Only thing is, she’s about to go to prison for something she did 10 years ago – being part of a drug cartel with her badass then-girlfriend (the girlfriend of the main guy in That 70s Show, you know the one), back when she was in her so-called experimental lesbian stage. Not so typical, then.

This, of course, changes her as a person and begins to destroy the lives of those around her, starting with her fiancé. Instead of focusing on the outside, however, the show really delves deep into the psyches and past lives of all of the inmates, starting with protagonist Piper, whose backstory is surprisingly relatively tame compared to some of them. From the old lady dying of cancer who once robbed banks for kicks, to the sweet and pretty Morello who has some serious underlying relationship issues, to the fantastic “Crazy Eyes” who is slightly terrifying at first when she latches onto Piper as her unwanted prison wife, but you learn to love when you discover her struggles growing up in Season 2 as an adopted girl with social struggles and who becomes obsessively devoted to anyone who shows her affection.

A female-focused show (which still manages to attract large male audiences – perhaps partially due to the many instances of lesbian sex and female nudity but that’s just a guess), there is also a small cast of prison officers, including a few men whose lives we also get a brief peek into. There’s the two senior officers who seem strict but really are just trying to make real differences to the system, and of course Bennett, the one real glimpse of eye candy in the show – he’s good-looking, a little dim, but a real sweetheart, until he gets himself into a spot of, ahem, lady trouble. The other is Mendez who becomes a real villain with his ‘pornstache’ and complete lack of respect for all the women… or any person, ever, really. And he’s a correctional officer, brilliant.

The best thing about the show is its huge range of feelings it can provoke. You’re drawn into everyone’s story, and each episode you find yourself ingrained in the past life of whoever the show is choosing to explore this time, and sometimes you’re cruelly cut short before you find out exactly how they end up in prison, which is of course what we all really want to know. Although I found it strange that it was recently nominated for an Emmy in the comedy category, it IS hilarious, but also very, very moving, and I was almost moved to tears in several episodes, especially the season 2 finale which is at the same time extremely sad and extremely uplifting. 

Its other true triumph is how you find that, in the first episode, all the women in the prison are scary, unlikeable, unapproachable criminals, save one or two who show a hint of kindness to Piper. Yet somehow, halfway through the first series you stop seeing them this way and begin to see them as lifelike, troubled human beings who have had unfortunate circumstances and misinformed decisions plague their lives. It’s a little embarrassing but I’m sure I’m not the first to think at times that I wish I was friends with a few of these convicts (Nichols and Morello for sure!)

Worst thing is: I have to wait a year for the  next series. Arghh!

Review: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Yep, a vintage one right here! I finally got round to watching this just now, having been a Miyazaki fan arguably for 10 years since I first say Spirited Away at the cinema, aged 10 (the same age as Chihiro which made her my favourite person ever) and it became possibly my favourite film EVER. Over the years I’ve been watching his other films, and finally got around to the classic, arguably epic, Nausicaa.

Like most of Miyazaki’s films, it’s fronted by a heroic, fearless young girl. Nausicaa fights for her people, her valley, and the wildlife she loves so much. Like an anime Dr Doolittle she has an inexplicable connection with the terrifying insects that plague the land, and is the only one who doesn’t seem to be afraid of them.

It’s set in a post-apocalyptic type world where most humans have been wiped out. Like with most Ghibli films, some of the plot goes a bit over my head, probably as a Westerner without all the cultural spiritual references Japanese audiences have grown up with. Anyway, the earth was partially destroyed due to some giant scary demon things, or something like that. The point is, it’s not important. Thematic, again, is the film’s clear anti-war messages and its love for nature. Nausicaa repeatedly yells “no more killing!” and is only able to stop swarms of giant bugs by understanding them, not shooting them. The nature-loving I’m aware is part of Japanese culture, at least that’s what I learnt studying Japanese cinema during my course this year; oneness with nature is something many Japanese people feel should be reinstated, particularly in the modern era. It clearly is for Miyazaki, and in turn for Nausicaa.

She and her people end up in an unwanted war with another group of humans who take charge and wish to destroy their peaceful valley. When their beloved wind stops blowing, they know something is wrong, showing just how inextricable the people are from their surroundings.

Somehow this futuristic earth avoids seeming dystopian as the people of the valley seem happy when peace is restored and they are able to live side by side with the creatures they once feared. This paints an overall more positive image of a human-less future, which could be seen as a little scary if you want to see it that way. As usual the animation is gorgeous and you somehow admire the beautiful scenery and life within it despite it all being hand-drawn. Nausicaa does encounter a potential love interest (trivia lovers may like to know that in the dubbed US version he’s voiced by no other than Shia LaBeouf!) but unlike in Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle (another of my faves) there isn’t a somewhat soppy “ah true love has solved it all” resolution, but instead it’s Nausicaa’s love for living creatures and her people – she is their beloved princess, after all.

For me it’s not as magical and loveable as Spirited Away but maybe that’s just because nothing can ever really come close for me. It certainly is epic and if you don’t mind a bit of cheesy nature-loving (“Every one of us relies on water from the wells, because mankind has polluted all the lakes and rivers!”) it’ll certainly sweep you away. Oh, and her little sidekick pet (all of Miyazaki’s heroines gotta have one) looks suspiciously like Pikachu, which is an added plus.

Haven’t done one of these in like, a year! Nothing too groundbreaking here as honestly I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to normally spend listening to new stuff on Spotify but anyway, here’s some of my picks for the moment.

Nick Mulvey – Juramidam

I’ve been really into this guy lately and his acoustic guitar mellowness. I reckon this is my favourite track, and I’ll definitely be spending more time listening to all the music I can get my hands on when I get a chance. This is just a clip so head to Spotify for more!

George Ezra – Cassy O’

Similar-ish in that this is another young guy with a guitar. George Ezra looks about 12 but sings with so much wisdom and soul you’ll be shocked the first time you see him that his voice is coming out of his mouth. This song is just so classic and cheery. Another clip unfortunately – Soundcloud isn’t a fan of me today!

MNEK – Every Little Word

Something different now, more dancey I guess. If you don’t know MNEK he’s the guy who sings on Gorgon City’s Ready for Your Love, and this song has just been in my head for weeks as it’s so ridiculously catchy. This has been around for a while but like I said, I’m totally not down with new music at the moment, sorry!

I’ve also been listening to my beloved Lana Del Rey but her new album is yet to give me the same love the first one did. I loved West Coast but the follow ups feel a bit meh and listening to the album in the background, nothing leapt out at me. I will keep trying though!

What do you guys think?

Another throwback here, just a few months, as I thought it would be a good idea to publish on here all articles I submit to my University paper, The Boar, just so I can collate it all as mine and show it to a potentially wider audience.

So here’s a review I wrote back in April for Richard Ayoade’s The Double, a film I highly enjoyed and thoroughly recommend, as you will discover if you read on. I even did a preview of the film last September, blogging about why I was excited for its release, which is pretty cool!

———————————————————————————————–

The Double (Richard Ayoade, 2013)

Richard Ayoade’s mind-bending black comedy is often disconcerting yet mesmerising to watch. Based on a Dostoyevsky novella, The Double is set in an unnamed time and place, with a range of actor nationalities and accents alongside echoes of a gloomy past with the inclusion of 1960s-style retro computer systems that could place the story in a dystopian other world. Jesse Eisenberg leads the cast with his socially inept Simon James who feels he is ‘like Pinocchio’, a wooden boy, a non-person. He is anonymous to everyone around him despite his best efforts; he has had the same job for seven years yet his boss doesn’t know his name, he is physically incapable of uttering a word to the woman he is fixated on and even his mother thinks he is a ‘strange boy’. His invisibility is literalised as he loses his work pass and the security guard refuses to let him in despite seeing him nearly every day and soon he disappears from the system entirely, essentially rendering him non-existent.

Everything in Simon’s life is grey: his dingy urban bedroom, his office, even his suit. Everything except for his beautiful co-worker Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) with her shining blonde hair and pristine white dresses. Although at times hard to sympathise with as she plays Hannah as a complicated yet unexplained character, Wasikowska shows a vulnerability and intensity that draws Simon to her.

“A feast for both the eyes and the mind, The Double confirms that Ayoade’s directorial career is looking more exciting than ever.”

It is not until halfway through the film that the surrealism truly begins with the appearance of new co-worker, James Simon, who just happens to be an exact doppelganger of Simon James. To Simon’s frustration, he is so irrelevant to everyone around him that they cannot even notice their similarities. James is everything Simon is not: confident, popular and a womaniser. One brilliant scene where their contrasting personalities become apparent takes place in a gloomy diner. Simon is indecisive and stumbles over his words when he orders, yet James demands the grumpy waitress make him breakfast despite it being dark outside; “Do you still have eggs here? Do you have a frying pan? Then give me the damn food!”  At first the pair forge a friendship but it soon becomes clear that James is out to get Simon, manipulating him into doing his work, stealing his reports and even charming Hannah. Eisenberg transforms himself in his portrayal of James as despite the pair being styled and even dressed in the exact same way, James exudes a cockiness and charisma you can’t imagine Simon ever possessing. It is clear why Ayoade claims that Eisenberg was his only choice for the film and that it would be inconceivable without him, as he plays both characters entirely convincingly whilst also maintaining that impossibly fast-talking, charmingly geeky persona we know and love from The Social Network (2010) and Adventureland (2009).

Fun is also to be had spotting all of the cameos from Ayoade’s previous work including Yasmin Paige and Craig Roberts all-grown-up from Ayoade’s fantastic debut Submarine (2010) and his partner Chris O’Dowd from The IT Crowd. The supporting cast are hilariously caricatured, from the detectives who deal exclusively in neighbourhood suicides who are unsettlingly keen on their jobs to the moody intern whose only desire at the office is to have inappropriate sex with James, who also happens to be posing as Simon at this point. As James continues to manipulate and blackmail Simon, what follows is a disturbing finale, with echoes of Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010), which is impossible to look away from as you begin to piece together how the film may end. Ayoade throws so many surprises your way, however, that you will find yourself still trying to make sense of it all long after you’ve left the cinema, which for me is always a good thing.

The film is interestingly shot and often unconventional with its camera angles and editing. Shot primarily at night and underground, The Double is appropriately dark and disorientating, any lights often too bright to look natural. Ayoade’s filmmaking is certainly quirky and at times you will find yourself unsure whether to laugh or grimace at the absurdity of it all. Overall it is a complex meditation on success, mental health, love and suicide as well as what it really means to live one’s life to the fullest. A feast for both the eyes and the mind, The Double confirms that Ayoade’s directorial career is looking more exciting than ever.

I enjoy Hadley Freeman’s Guardian columns a lot of the time but when I recently saw this article claiming that the 90s were the worst decade for fashion so should not be brought back as inspiration, I had to disagree! So, yes, she makes good points and a lot of these clothes were hideous looking back. I personally, being born in 1993, spent most of the 90s in babygros and later crazy flared leggings chosen by my mum but probably approved by me (love a crazy legging). But the decade is recently having a bit of a comeback in terms of everyday style so let’s look at some of the subtler trends that can be brought back without you looking like a tragic Britney Spears wannabe.

[Source: Pinterest]

Firstly, my personal favourite, and we’re starting from toe to head here, it’s the shoes. More specifically, jelly shoes. Boohoo and Missguided have some for really cheap, and the updated style has a chunky block heel rather than a flat sole so they can be worn on a night out rather than just to the beach, as an 8 year old. I can see why opinion may be divided over jelly shoes as they could be seen as tacky and cheap-looking to some, but I am a huge fan. I got a shiny black pair from boohoo a few weeks back and despite the fact that they cut up my feet (don’t let this put you off – my feet are sensitive and awful with new shoes!) I am a tad in love with them. They are misleadingly not the comfiest shoes in the world, however, so be warned.

Now… the accessory that will put a smile on your face whatever your outfit. Of course I mean the mighty SCRUNCHIE. Think oversized, wrapped around a messy high pony at the top of your head. Checked, patterned, plain, just make sure you don’t look like you’re wearing it as part of your primary school uniform, as I once owned a lovely bottle green and white one to go with my summer uniform dress. I personally have a bit of a craving for a velvet one right now. I do LOVE velvet for some reason. New Look have a good range for fab prices I noticed, a budget Topshop. Again, I feel this is quite a youthful trend, so as a 20-year-old I feel I can get away with it but my mum might get some strange looks if she wore one. Then again, wear what you want, 20 or 80, who am I to say?

Another of my personal obsessions at the moment is tartan. This may be partially due to my love for Clueless, the ULTIMATE 90s movie. Watch it and I dare you not to wish you had Cher’s computerised outfit co-ordinator. Also, who doesn’t secretly wish they could rock a matching yellow-and-black tartan skirt and blazer when they pop out to Tesco for some milk? Even if you’re not quite valley girl, tartan is still very much workable day-to-day.

Lua P, my favourite ever Lookbooker, rocks tartan all the time and forever makes me jealous of all the insanely cool clothes she owns. This has tartan AND Back to the Future, what more could you want?!

As well as just skirts, shops like Bank have some great other tartan pieces for sale, such as this cute collared dress, so think outside the box.

So I’m not saying go full-on Spice Girl. That’s best left in the 90s. But you can take inspiration from little things you did like. I’m still on the hunt for the perfect Cher/Lua style tartan skirt that doesn’t look like I’m back at school, and for more scrunchies to add to my collection before they pop out of fashion again, probably within a year. For now, SCRUNCHIE UP LADIES!

Hi guys! Something a little different today in the form of a review of a contemporary ballet piece I saw in London over the Easter holidays. I originally wrote it at the time to submit to my University paper, The Boar, but it never got published, so as not to go to waste I thought I’d post it here just in case anyone is into this kind of thing! I’ve danced, including ballet, since about the age of three so this just goes to show that I am also interested in a little bit of so-called “high culture” as well as popular culture (although I’ll be honest, it’s in a ratio of about 50:1!) So here’s my review, in case it ever tours or comes back to the stage at any point, or just if you like to read about this kind of thing.

Lest We Forget (Review)

“Lest we forget”, a phrase from Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘Recessional’, is now often used in remembrance services as a plea to never forget the sacrifices of those who fought and lost their lives for our country. This forms the basis of the new performance from the English National Ballet, made up of four different interpretative dance sections from very different choreographers in order to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the First World War. The ENB’s first ever programme at the Barbican theatre in London runs for three hours overall including two intervals but it feel much shorter as the audience is drawn into four emotional performances that each help us to remember those soldiers who lost their lives in their own unique way. It is often said that words are not enough to describe the horrors of the war, so how can ballet provide us with an understanding that poetry or prose cannot?

The first performance, No Man’s Land choreographed by former Royal Ballet dancer Liam Scarlett, is classical in music and style. Set to a sombre orchestral performance of Liszt’s Harmonies poétiques and religieuses, Scarlett focuses on seven couples and the idea of leaving loved ones behind. The loss and sacrifice each man and woman feels is evident through the desperation in each couple’s dancing as they cling to one another against a backdrop of factories and trenches. At times it feels a little under-rehearsed as one or two dancers seem out of time when performing together as a group, but the raw emotion Scarlett is trying to convey shines through each couple’s dance and the traditional-style ballet shows undeniable skill and strength.

George Williamson’s Firebird was the least enjoyable for me and it was easy to understand why many reviewers felt it out of place in the context of the show. The firebird herself embodies pure nature and the other characters in the ballet try to steal her power and beauty, yet this is only a storyline I fully understood after reading the synopsis in the programme. Though not directly about war or its consequences, Williamson argues that it is connected through its depiction of man’s desire for power and the sense of animalistic senselessness. Although the costumes and ballet itself are beautiful to watch, I felt the link was tenuous and found myself put off by my failure to understand the story behind the dance, which may be my own fault or Williamson’s.

The third piece, Second Breath, is by contemporary choreographer Russell Maliphant so is inevitably different in style. As a fan of contemporary dance I was moved by the recurring motif of dancers being lifted into the air then falling, crumpling to the ground, over and over, a tribute to those who rose and fell during the war. His use of twenty dancers in the piece, the most Maliphant has ever used, is again a reference to the sheer volume of people affected by the war, and his use of the body and lighting are expressive and mesmerising to watch.

My favourite piece was also the last, Dust, and having already seen work by the choreographer Akram Khan in the past it was also my most anticipated. More contemporary than ballet in style, it begins with a man on the floor facing away from the audience so all we can see is his rippling, bare torso as he writhes around on the floor, representative of the physical and mental torture suffered by the men who spent time in trenches. The exquisite movement of his body is at times difficult to watch but simultaneously impossible to look away from. The second part focuses on women as female dancers, all dressed alike in modest, dirty clothing and headscarves to remove any trace of sexualised femininity, take the stage in a powerful dance interpretation of the physical labour women faced with the need to create weapons that would kill other women’s sons and husbands. The piece ends with a man and woman dancing through an emotional range of loss, suffering and anger as their compelling performance is somehow more heartbreaking than any of Scarlett’s couples, and Khan once again proves that dance can move an audience emotionally more than some words ever will. Khan’s unique use of the dancers’ bodies and the shapes they make is indescribable and something that needs to be seen in person.

A diverse visual treat for ballet and contemporary fans alike, Lest We Forget is a fitting tribute that seeks to remind us of that brutal war through the medium of dance aided by music and real audio recordings that manages to hit home more than many other war tributes can hope to.

Well look at that, I surprised even myself by keeping to my promise and only three days after promising to start posting again, here I am!

My exams are over and in two more weeks I will be back in London having finished my second year of Uni, which feels insane.

Anyway, what I’m here to write about today is Her (Spike Jonze, 2013), the film I finally got around to watching a couple of weeks back after wanting to for ages (originally it was out in cinemas on Valentine’s Day but not showing in my local one so we had to watch Lego Movie instead which was of course a blessing in disguise!)

Before watching I had preconceived opinions, of course: I had heard it was good from various people, I already love Scarlett Johansson and although I find Joaquin Phoenix odd to say the least (largely based on his performance in The Master which I watched as part of my Hollywood cinema module a few months ago) I do recognise he’s a good actor. 

The film itself, despite what one may think from reading the synopsis, is not a dystopian satire type, which is one of the things I liked most about it. Although I like that kind of thing – Charlie Brooker’s TV series Black Mirror is one of my favourites – it was refreshing to see the topic treated as a love story rather than a criticism of the way technology’s going. That isn’t to say it isn’t creepy at times, however, especially since I read only this week that scientists are actually developing computer personalities not dissimilar to that of Samantha (I tried to find the article to link it but unfortunately couldn’t, sorry!). If you’re unaware of the story, it follows a lonely man in the middle of a sticky divorce who gets a new computer operating system, Samantha (with ScarJo’s irresistible voice of course), one of a range of highly advanced systems that can learn and mould its own personality over time and interact almost like an ordinary person. Throughout the film we see that he is not the only one who begins to develop a relationship with his computer system, who he carries around so she can see the sights of the city and explore as he explores through the portable version of the computer, complete with its own camera. Many people wander around absorbed in their own worlds as they talk and laugh with their own operating systems, only slightly less alienating as we are used to people walking around using hands-free tech.

The story doesn’t turn to any kind of robot-takeover, or of people eventually becoming so involved with their OS that everyone becomes completely isolated from society, but instead focuses on the self discovery and growth of Phoenix’s character. It is clear he has to come to terms with his divorce and move on in his own time, something Samantha really helps him to do. The flashbacks that haunt him of the deterioration of his marriage along with the talks he has with Amy Adams’ character who doubles him in many ways are touching for anyone who is in or has ever been in a relationship as Jonze meditates on the reality of relationships that sometimes just will never work out. It is an extremely emotional film, but not in an overblown, Titanic-esque fashion but in the way that we truly come to believe that Phoenix’s character is in love with this computer system, and the way that we end up rooting for their love. Admittedly it’s not for all and many may struggle with the authenticity of his feelings for Samantha, but I was fully drawn in and became completely invested in his love life, and of the entire concept of love, this huge thing that Jonze manages to put a new spin on.

SORRY! It looks like I arrived back at uni for second year and completely ran out of time to blog This was also because I was asked to become a student blogger for the film department in order to encourage potential students to the university and provide info for those who had already applied, which is cool! Along with essays, lectures, work and cheerleading, I just didn’t have time for this at all.

Fortunately, it’s nearly summer time again! I am completing a digital marketing internship with a small company which is awesome news BUT hopefully I will have enough downtime, in evenings, weekends and breaks to get back on the wordpress bandwagon. That is, if I’m not sick to death of all kinds of social media by the end of this internship! I’ll also have a little more free time in 3rd year due to more coursework modules and dissertation which means I have less contact hours so will hopefully try and carry on blogging, even if it’s just once a week or so, as I really did enjoy running this thing last summer.

So this is really just an advanced warning that I’LL BE BACK… and hopefully some of you are still around to witness this.

See you on the other side of exams folks! xo

Me with an angry bird… obviously

Hello there! I haven’t posted lately as I was in Madrid for the past week with my best friends from University for a final holiday before we return to the land of the lectures. As I’m moving into my new student house tomorrow it’s been pretty busy so today I’ll just have time to post an update of the music I’ve been into this past week or so.

This month has been all about the new album releases for me: The 1975’s self-titled debut is my favourite as they are one of my favourite bands at the moment, and I’m so proud they got to number one in the album chart. If you haven’t listened yet… where have you been?

The following week Arctic Monkeys released AM which was on repeat on my travels;  I still haven’t picked a favourite song but I definitely love it as an album. Less frantic and more mature than their past albums, it’s still lyrical genius.

And finally, today marked the release of one of my all-time favourites, Kings of Leon’s new album Mechanical Bull. As I have literally only just downloaded it, I haven’t got much to say as of yet apart from there are no real standout tracks so far which is a tad disappointing but I’ll always enjoy Caleb Followill’s voice and the band’s sunshine rock.

Apart from these three albums, here are a few other individual tracks I’ve been into:

Jake Bugg – What Doesn’t Kill You [skip to 0:40]

No doubt that this is Jake Bugg… I am still in love with his unique voice. This is, however, pretty different from the previous album with a fuller band sound, more electric than acoustic and a more energetic, frantic sound. It won’t be for everyone but I instantly liked it on first listen and I’m now even more excited for his follow up album. It still depresses me that he’s younger than me though I feel as if I should have achieved more with my life by now.

Crystal Fighters – Solar System

Late on the uptake here I know as this is actually from their debut album a few years back, but I recently downloaded the whole album after having only previously heard a few songs (Plage is insanely catchy). These guys are a folky-indie-pop Spanish band but some songs, like Solar System, have an edgier,  more dancey twist, which is why this one caught my eye (caught my ear?)

Twenty One Pilots – House of Gold

These guys have been heard on Zane Lowe’s radio show recently which means they’re cool and most likely going to be big. This is a very cheery song with building momentum, perfect for these autumn days as summer draws to a close for good. Promise it’ll put a smile on your face!

The Double just had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. After watching the trailer, reading the credits and getting very excited about it, I thought I’d compile a list of reasons why:ay

1. Richard Ayoade is directing

If, like me, you know Richard as the socially awkward computer technician from Channel 4 Brit Comedy The IT Crowd, you’ll know just how funny he is.  Recall when his character, Moss, got invited into a secret cult exclusively for Countdown elitists; this is just one moment from one of so many hilarious episodes made perfect by Ayoade’s characterisation and comic timing. Be assured, however, that he also knows a thing or two about being behind the camera: he directed awkwardly quirky coming-of-age comedy drama Submarine in 2010 which came complete with an original soundtrack by Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. To top it all off, a quick scan of his Wikipedia page tells me that Richard was also born at the same hospital as me… as if he could be any cooler!

2. The cast

Jesse Eisenberg has been fantastically dry, witty and sarcastic in everything I’ve ever seen him in: Adventureland, Zombieland, The Social Network, Now You See Me. He’s funny without being over the top. Mia Wasikowska has been in some great smaller films as well as Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, as is still on the rise. The film also stars Yasmin Paige, who played the love interest in Submarine brilliantly, still a teenager herself. The supporting cast also have a multitude of huge movie roles to their names, promising some flawless acting.

3. The plot sounds brilliantly insane

Based on a Dostoevsky novella, I have gathered from various snippets of reviews that it revolves around an introverted man, Simon James, who one day discovers his doppelgänger, James Simon, has been following him around. Thus he begins to be driven insane by said doppelgänger. It sounds ridiculous and right up my street, as I do love a good psychological drama which involves one or more characters who doubts their sanity as their life begins to spiral out of control. I mean, who doesn’t?

4. The trailer itself

It’s super trippy and doesn’t give anything away apart from the premise of the doppelgänger. At least half of it involves Eisenberg simply walking down a corridor. Where is he going? Who knows! That shot of Eisenberg turning a corner to find, well, himself, sitting there grinning at him, is both hilarious and terrifying. You learn nothing about the characters, and all they seem to be doing is laughing at him. No wonder he goes insane. Nothing gets me more hyped up for a film than a good, snappy teaser trailer, and this one leaves me wanting more. In a good way.

5. It reminds me of Black Swan

Black Swan (2010) is one of my favourite films, and when I saw it in the cinema it took me a few minutes to recover at the end.  What did she imagine? What was real? Who was Mila Kunis’s character really? The plot was similarly twisted and crazy, involving both physical and mental gore as Natalie Portman’s Nina fought her way to dance as the lead swan. She, too, begins to lose her mind and the viewer’s understanding of reality becomes distorted as much as Nina’s does.  The film wasn’t for everyone but got generally positive reviews and even won an Oscar. Could The Double follow in its footsteps with an added touch of dark humour?

Last night I watched Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring (2013), just out on dvd. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’d heard it condemned by celebrities like Rachel Bilson for somewhat glamourising crime, but was intrigued by the story and the cast. This somewhat contains spoilers but only to the extent that I am assuming that the vague outcome of the films is fairly obvious, as there wouldn’t be a film had the real life teenagers the film is based on not been caught.

Overall I was pretty underwhelmed throughout… despite being a short film I felt it dragged and wasn’t as daring as it could have been. A few weeks back I reviewed Spring Breakers and in my opinion, this film could have done with a bit of Harmony Korine. Both films are about potentially controversial so-called “realities” of American teenage life when taken to the extreme, and seek not to commend such behaviour but show the dark side of such a life. Whilst Selena Gomez’s character, and the worrying end of the film, achieved this in Spring Breakers, for me The Bling Ring remained fairly… well, meh. What I mean by that is, none of the characters in the film seemed particularly emotional or even affected by being arrested and sent to jail, meaning that there was little or no connection between the characters and the viewer. We didn’t learn how it impacted their lives or their families, and instead the characters, especially the females, came across as shallow and unsympathetic. This is fair enough if Coppola was simply trying to make a documentary-style portrayal of the events, and if the evidence pointed to this being the actual reactions of the real life “bling ring”. However, there is obviously some creative license throughout the film, and I think there should have been more to the extent that it at least provoked some kind of reaction from the viewer; instead, I was left feeling that the celebrities deserved to be robbed for being so careless and stupid, and that the kids deserved to be jailed for longer just because they hardly seemed to be punished at all.

The acting in the film itself was okay and the young actors managed to make many of their lines seem natural and unstaged, despite much of the “realistic” dialogue often getting annoying as in certain scenes all anyone seemed to say was “that is so sick” and “oh my god I love this, oh my god” in whiny LA drawls. I wanted the film’s style itself to be more creative; whilst the party scenes in Spring Breakers were eye-wateringly saturated as characters danced in slow-motion to a dubstep soundtrack, the scenes in The Bling Ring where characters went to nightclubs and took cocaine seemed tagged on without much thought, as if someone suddenly thought, ‘oh quick, we need to make it look as if their lives are a bit edgy and glamorous between all the burglary’. Whilst those crazy scenes in Spring Breakers were inevitably leading up to danger, from incredible highs to incredible lows, the scenes of the teens having fun in The Bling Ring didn’t look particularly enviable or even worrying. One of the girls gets drunk, crashes her car, everyone gets out unharmed, no-one questions their underage drinking, and she has to pick up some rubbish. Even when another girl finds a gun it leads to nowhere… I expected something more like the outrageous bikini-clad gun teasing of James Franco in Spring Breakers. Sorry to keep comparing, but it’s hard not too as the films have similar themes but just don’t have the same impact.

Another thing that annoyed me: there seem to be far too many pointless shots dotted throughout the film of the characters taking “selfies” of them with their friends with their phones, then we see them uploaded onto Facebook. It’s as if the writers just thought that these shots needed to be added because that’s what young people do nowadays… it may be true, but what’s the need for it in the film? It makes for tedious viewing.

The lasting impression I got from the film was the inevitable urge to Google the real life “bling ring” and find out all about what they really look like and where they all are now, which actually proved more entertaining than the actual film. Sorry if this turned into a rant, I’m just trying to convey that although an easy watch – you probably won’t hate it and it makes an interesting point on our obsession with celebrity culture – the film just could’ve been so much more. Leave your opinions if you’ve seen it!

I decided to do my first fashion post today as I’ve been um-ing and ah-ing over what is seemingly a new trend – the kimono. If, like me, you’ve been reading your fair share of new autumn magazine spreads telling us “what’s hot” for the next season, you many have noticed the likes of plaid and kilts, both seemingly wearable, a mish mash of new coat shapes and textures, and the potentially confusing one, which is the light, kimono-style blouse which could potentially be the perfect cover-up our transitional wardrobe needs. Because we may have survived the heatwave but it’s not time for fluffy jumpers just yet.

Yet until I start to see them worn on actual people that actually look nice, kimonos remain an uncertainty to me. It’s nice to feel on top of trends, so I’ll take a look at the evidence so far. Will it make me look super trendy or like I just stumbled out of the Hyper-Japan event at Earl’s Court?

UK Online High-Street brand Boohoo have already pioneered the look on their instragram, making the kimono available to the masses on their website from only £15. I would totally invest if I looked like these models, but the more important issue here is weather; as a beach cover up these look great but as the nights get darker, has this new trend come too late in the year?

To answer my question I began to trawl lookbook.nu, the fashion bloggers’ site I turn to when I’m bored or looking for inspiration before a shopping trip. Although glamorous, the user looks are often much more accessible and practical as they are real-life outfits, which means they are fit for real weather, especially if you find ones from the UK or a similar climate.

I love this Canadian girl’s look, and she proves that the new, colourful kimono style can work with opaque tights and boots. This is something I would genuinely wear… though perhaps with less of a heel. I like to be able to walk, sometimes.

The next kimono is from River Island, and its owner proves they even work with jeans and can pretty-up an otherwise plain, everyday outfit.

If I was still unconvinced, ASOS have a huge selection of kimonos in their new season range. If you’re not feeling brave enough yet, try their cardigan kimono, an item that jazzes up the traditional cardi and also looks pretty comfy. The Stardust Print, however, is my personal favourite…. look how it swishes! It’s like a summer rainbow sky on your back! Donations welcome as it’s £40. I would say it’s worth it but I’m a student and feel outraged when Tesco is out of its Every Value 30p pasta bags.

I’m going to Primark in the week for the ultimate test: if it’s in Primark, you know it’s made the mainstream. Which for fashionistas is probably the worst an item of clothing can be, but for me it simply means that I can go out with £20 and come home with change. The internet has worked its magic… it’s a definite Kimoyes from me. Sorry about that, but you really should’ve seen it coming.

MEMOIRS OF A TEENAGER:
So tomorrow I am turning twenty years old. TWENTY!! Wasn’t I just organising the balloons for my 18th at the local rugby club? Wasn’t I just receiving that 13th birthday present mug saying ‘Top Teenager’? Don’t I just recall reading a card saying ‘Wow, you’re 10, double figures!’ Excuse me while I set up my pension plan.
As a reflection on my teenage years I thought I’d list some reasons to be excited about being a proper adult… because, let’s be honest, though a legal adult at 18, you’re also still just a teenager.

1) Cheaper car insurance!!! Okay, so, in theory, turning 20 will be cheaper to insure a car than if I was to get insured at 18 or 19. So, despite passing my driving test back in November, I haven’t gotten behind the wheel since. I’ve finally managed to convince my parents that they should let me borrow their car sometimes which obviously involves getting be insured under their policy. So if you’re ever driving around North East London and hear someone in a Prius yelling “I CAN’T FIND THE CLUTCH!!”, there’s a 99% chance it’s me.

2) Emotional stability. Only teenagers wake up feeling as if they never want to talk to anyone ever again. Only teenagers mourn the deaths of TV characters as if they were their own family (JUST KILL ME TOO WALDER FREY I CAN’T LIVE ON) Right?

Sorry if you haven’t watched Game of Thrones and you don’t get what I’m on about. Also sorry because your life clearly sucks.

3. Real grownups don’t wake up at 1pm because they’ve been watching films or playing The Sims 3 until 2 in the morning. They get up and do important things. Imagine how much work I’d get done if I woke up in the morning even if I didn’t have a morning lecture that day! Soon, I won’t need to imagine. Because with my 20th year I will also gain an adult bodyclock. I can’t wait!

I’ve just finished the third series of GoT if you haven’t already gathered. I’m not even sorry for all the references.

So Happy Birthday to me!!!! And if one more of my friends says to me, “eww how are you twenty already, that’s so weird,” I will just laugh in my grown up way at the silly children and drive off in my (parents’) Prius. HAH.

EDIT: My mum called the insurance people and they don’t insure under 21s. A third of this post is basically void. Excuse me while I cry into my wrinkly old hands.

She once taught us that you should do what you love, that nothing is more important than friends and family, and that there’s no place like home. This week, Miley Cyrus has taught us how to “”twerk”” (still don’t know what exactly that means) against/on/with a man who has released one of the most controversial, perhaps-sexist-perhaps-not music videos of the year. Coincidence? Obviously not. Was it planned? Obviously.

“No Daddy, of course I won’t be having a quarter-life crisis, look at me!”

People rattling on about how Miley is “trashy” and a “bad influence” clearly don’t get the point. She’s not on Disney Channel anymore, which is obviously the aim of all this, as she is a grown up performing on a TV Channel not aimed at kids. In fact, I used to watch Hannah Montana when I was fourteen and she was a year or so older, just for light-hearted entertainment. Granted, much younger fans probably watched it then but that still would make them teenagers now and, despite of course still being easily influenced, teenagers aren’t as stupid as some people think they are. Rather than going out to buy PVC underwear and trying it on in front of the nearest 30-year-old man in a striped suit, they’re probably the ones blogging about how awkward and embarrassing the whole display was. Just like the rest of us as, undoubtedl. There is no-one who could possibly have watched that performance and not felt at least a tiny bit of a cringe. I personally was mouthing ‘make it stop’ at my laptop screen, not because I was offended or disappointed in her, but because it was just so, so embarrassing in every way.

“I have no idea what I’m doing right now but it’s edgy….. right?”

The main issue for me, here, is not that Miley is being a bad influence, or indeed that she’s just experimenting and doing what she loves without giving a damn, but that she obviously is going through a bit of a crisis. From the very strange entrance from a giant teddy bear in that crazy suit with her tongue sticking out for no apparent reason to the terrible, terrible live vocals, to me it seems as if Miley is very, very lost. Of course part of the reason she spent the duration of nearly two songs dragging a giant hand between her legs was for publicity, but really it was all very desperate and a little sad. It was pure car crash TV, which is why no-one could take their eyes off of it.

Robin Thicke is also to blame, of course, and I agree with everyone having at go at those who are blaming her for sexualising herself but not him. Especially since he’s… wow, 34, even older than I thought, according to Wikipedia. He obviously had a part in this arrangement. But at the end of the day, he’s the one who released that Blurred Lines video, another arguably insanely great marketing tool; has a day passed every since where you haven’t heard him on the radio muttering, “What rhymes with hug me??”

Come on Bill, you must have SOME wisdom to share amongst those luscious locks??

So Miley’s escapades got her the publicity she wanted, with VMA ratings soaring as well as her position in the music charts. She also proved once and for all that she is no longer Hannah Montana. But at the end of the day, she is fast losing respect from anyone who once gave it to her. Billy Ray Cyrus is seemingly yet to comment but all I know is that most people, myself and all of my friends included, would be mortified for my parents to see me perform onstage like that. But if she doesn’t care then hey, why should we care? As long as the next stop isn’t total unexplained baldness (hey Britney) or repeat stints at rehab (hey every celebrity ever) maybe her, ahem, temporary lack of class really is just a phase. Maybe Emma Watson should give her some advice on how such a phase can, in fact, stop at cutting one’s hair short and getting a sophisticated film role, and doesn’t actually need to involve PVC and awkward, out of time grinding.

Okay, I changed the title from ‘la musique of the week’ as I decided it was awful and cringey. Feel free to suggest new, less tenuously rhyming titles for this column. Can blogs have columns? If it’s a recurring feature, I don’t see why not.

Sleigh Bells – Demons (Diplo Remix)

I can’t remember what lead to it but I started listening to Sleigh Bells last week on Spotify and subsequently fell in love with them. I’d listened to a few of their songs in the past but never got properly into them, and like most people I’d heard Infinity Guitars and Riot Rhythmn in numerous adverts, tv shows and anywhere else that needs an intensely punchy soundtrack. I chose this song because despite not even having heard the original, I thought this remix was awesome and if it ever came on in a club I would lose my mind. I literally have no idea what genre this is or what else Diplo has done as the extent of my knowledge about DJs and EDM music is pretty much limited to the fact that Skrillex is no longer going out with Ellie Goulding.

Not one for background listening… turn it up loud!

Drenge – Bloodsports

I first read about Drenge because the Guardian wrote an article about them being liked by someone unexpected like Ed Miliband. Very weird, weirder once you’ve listened to them. They’re angsty and angry and 0% romantic. I haven’t managed to listen to their whole album much yet but this song is the iTunes free single of the week in the UK at the moment so if you like the sound, pop on over and download it now as I have a feeling they’re going to be big pretty soon.

Arctic Monkeys – Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?

Because I’ve been a fan since Dancefloor and since I first heard this new one and Do I Wanna Know? they’ve been on repeat in my head 24/7. Their next album is one of my most anticipated of the year and if it’s anything as good as the first three singles off it (unless R U Mine? isn’t on it, of course) I’m sure I’ll love it. Their new sound is grown up but still sounds authentic to me. I’ve chosen to post the video here because it’s a cool one, very trippy and stop-start. Worth a watch if, like me, you love to view certain music videos as short films and really appreciate the creativity involved.

So like most visitors, I turned up at the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford, London last week an overexcited fan as the books and films were pretty much my childhood. My mum read me the first book just before the Philosopher’s Stone film came out in cinemas, I used to make potions from shampoo with my friends and run around the living room with the kitchen broom between my legs. I joined every online Hogwarts in existence and always doctored my sorting hat answers to make sure I was in Ravenclaw (I liked to think I was a child genius).

So although the tour and seeing all those props and sets in real life were magical for me, I’d like to talk about something that many others my age may not have thought about… how important “tourist” attractions like this are for the film industry and just how eye-opening they are.

By this I mean, the sheer vastness of what goes into the tour is reflective of the thousands and thousands of people that work on a film franchise like Harry Potter, and even that work on any film. We don’t have this kind of thing much in the UK; having been on a A-Level Media Studies trip to Hollywood last year (it was educational, honest) I was lucky enough to be shown around many of the movie industry’s biggest studio lots and soundstages. Some people might never have even thought about what lies behind the finished product of a film.

Of course, on the tour there are hundreds of props and recreated sets from each of the eight films: the Knight Bus, Hagrid’s Hut, Gryffindor Common Room, The Nimbus 2000, to name but a few. But one of the great things about the tour is that, before you get to see all these wonderful things, there are boards explaining the roles of many of those behind all these objects, like the art directors, the set designers, the producers and directors themselves, the screenwriters… there are so many crucial jobs.

As a film student even I was uncertain about many of these roles, and I began to think about how important all the art direction in such a film is. This huge team of people create pretty much everything you see on camera, from the detailed architecture of Harrys’ broom cupboard to the hand-written labels on every wand in Ollivander’s shop. They even had artists hand paint every portrait in Hogwarts!

This leads me to Hogwarts itself. Step into one room on the tour and you will find the walls decorated with incredibly intricate architectural designs that I could never even imagine trying to draw. There are also tiny scaled-down versions of all the sets themselves, including a white paper Whomping Willow tree. Can you even begin to think about all the work that goes into such designing?

One of the most breathtaking parts of the tour is when you are lead around a dark corner towards the end, unsure of what to expect behind the wall, only to find a huge room taken up solely by a huge, beautiful scale construction of the whole of Hogwarts, from Hagrid’s Hut to the Astronomy Tower. You can literally hear gasps as people turn the corner to be confronted by this model. My camera and its useless flash don’t really do it justice so here is a picture from the Telegraph’s website:

When you look at such a creation, it really makes you think about how much thought must go into designing such a castle, and subsequently how long it would take to design entire sets, props, costumes and creatures for not one but EIGHT of these films. With the greatest respect to JK Rowling (like many of us, I’m sure, she is one to be worshipped), the writing of those Harry Potter novels was just the beginning. Next time you watch a film, stay til the end of the credits and marvel at how many people work on one single film, whether it’s a blockbuster or a low-budget indie.

I leave you with the time-lapse video of the creation of the Hogwarts model… it’s only 30 seconds so worth a watch!

Yesterday’s movie night – Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012).

I decided to watch this despite it having a very low IMDB rating (5.6/10) as I remember actually reading some positive reviews of it and, if I think a trailer looks cool, I will watch the film despite any bad press. So after the first fifteen minutes I was intrigued as it did seem like an artsy music video with prolonged slowed-down footage of anonymous teenagers dancing in bikinis and swim shorts on a beach to a Skrillex soundtrack. Maybe just because I knew roughly. The narrative isn’t linear and it’s edited so both shots and lines of dialogue are repeated throughout the film it quite ominous ways, like ‘Feels as if the world is perfect. Like it’s never gonna end.’ Obviousy the world isn’t perfect in Spring Break land and it will end.

I really felt for Selena Gomez’s character; she seems to be the only one living in the real world and who has an appropriate recation to the fact that a strange hustler/rapper with scary metal teeth and scary tattoos has more or less just kidnapped them. That guy is of course James Franco in one of the creepiest characters I’ve seen for a while… as soon as you meet him he just makes your skin crawl, and as one of Hollywood’s hottest Franco does incredibly well to play this character with seemingly no redeeming qualities. That is, to the audience and to Gomez’s character, as the other girls are for some reason drawn to him and his lifestyle.

The film itself does well to both glamourise the ‘spring break’ lifestyle and equally make it seem terrifying. I was both drawn in to the seemingly carefree, crazy all-night parties and disgusted by the way the men and women at these parties were behaving and treating one another. I don’t know how factually accurate these scenes are; being a student in the UK we don’t have the same ‘spring break’ culture and tend to just go to nightclubs rather than wildly illegally bikini parties due to the fact that a) we can legally drink and get into clubs and b) there are about 2 days a year it would be appropriate to wear a bikini out in England and that’s only if you live in Cornwall and are going to or from the  nearest beach.

The film is also obviously voyeuristic which is at times indulgent but really it simply reflects the voyeurism of this lifestyle, as you can tell how the men at these parties are viewing the women around them, and often the women don’t even seem to care. Without the voyeuristic bikini shots and frequent nudity the film wouldn’t be as shocking and therefore wouldn’t work as well at what it’s doing best: alerting us to the shocking reality of how the party scene can take its toll. Although part of me did want to roll my eyes at the start of every scene when I noticed that, yet again, all the girls were in bikinis, or perhaps a pair of tiny shorts or a string vest on top of that. You’d think a sympathetic prison officer would have given them a hoodie or even a jumpsuit at some point to help preserve some of their dignity?!

Despite the fairly unbelievable storyline – two teenage girls somehow rob hundreds of dollars from a store wearing neon booty shorts and never even seem to get chased at any point – and inability to see into the female characters’ minds (aside from Selena Gomez’s Faith who seems to have some kind of sense and is merely attracted by the idea of having fun, wild best friends) – the film was enjoyable and I especially have to give credit to the cinematography. As a film student I guess I notice a film’s style more than most, as at times I’ve pointed something about the camerawork in a film we’re watching back in halls  and my friends have just looked at me funny. But the colour and the creative editing style of Spring Breakers was what really made it for me.

The film’s ending also deserves a shoutout… I won’t give anything away here, don’t worry! But there is a scene – however far-fetched and ridiculous it sounds – involving two of the girls in matching yellow string bikinis that almost glow in the dark and homemade pink balaclavas, carrying massive guns. I don’t really understand what or why they’re doing and what we’re supposed to think of the girls, but the whole thing is shown in slow-motion and it’s hard not to watch it and think it’s pretty damn cool. That scene alone, in my opinion, deserves iconic status!

So I finally got around to writing a post all about T in the Park festival in Scotland which was now two weekends ago. The plan was to wait until my disposable cameras got developed but apparently Boots take 700 years to do that so I’ll stick with some bbc photos or something just to break up my meaningless rambling.

We arrived on time on the Thursday afternoon and seriously, IT WAS BAKING. And we were in SCOTLAND. This is crazy stuff. After queueing for like an hour to get on our bus from Glasgow (which, FYI, we booked a set time for but no that didn’t matter to whoever organised this transport) we arrived at an old Airfield in Kinross which looked very big and very dry. As I heard a member of Everything Everything say in a radio interview the following week, ‘it was like post-apocalyptic Mexico’. Imagine that if you can.

After setting up tent without problem in a nice spot – not too near the toilets, near enough to water points, somewhere not on a 45 degree hill – we decided to head out somewhere to stock up on food and drink as our long long journey and weak backs could not manage to bring much besides all the clothes and essentials we were already carrying all the way up from England. Sensibly, we went up to a Help Steward and asked if there was a supermarket we could walk to (at Reading everyone treks down to a Tesco Metro to stock up on beer and cereal bars… and to use the one toilet) only to be told by that “um, I don’t think you’re allowed to leave the site? I have no idea!” Which was ridiculous but no-one seemed to know anything and it was too hot to bother so we just went to the tiny supermarket in the camp village which sold pringles in every flavour and toilet rolls for 60p (everything you could possibly want!!) Despite the festival being about 95% Scottish people, a big group of boys from London happened to pitch right next to us, like we had some kind of stench coming from our tent attractive to the English and repulsive to the Scots.

That night we had a barbecue with some of my friends from school who were volunteering at the festival so were camped in a really posh place separate to our campsite with showers. This was only after another confusing conversation with the help stewards who didn’t know what fire lanes were and couldn’t seem to be able to understand my accent. We cooked some dodgy-looking sausages and every single person who walked past, no exaggeration, felt the need to yell something at us like “Yer not supposed to be doing that ooh yous are naughty!” or “I AM STARVING PLEASE CAN I HAVE A SAUSAGE OH MY GOD” (we gave him a frankfurter which really aren’t made for barbecuing).

Later we headed onto Sunset Strip, the entertainment area, to see some guys called the Lords of Lightning throw electricity at each other with their heads, and to wait for my friends to queue up for a vomit-inducing ride which turned out to cost £10 so we went and got nachos instead.

The next day we woke up at 7am because it felt as if we were in an oven thanks to the scorching heat and the fact that we had a black tent (clever move). Somehow managing to kill time before the arena finally opened at 4pm, we headed inside the tent to watch Imagine Dragons for the second time after seeing them in Liverpool earlier in the year. The tent was packed and yet again they put on a really fun show with everyone singing along to the catchy choruses of It’s Time and Radioactive. Afterwards we saw Everything Everything and then Jake Bugg on the Radio 1 stage who received chants from the crowd of “Na na na na na na na na na na na Jakey Jakey Bugg Jakey Bugg JAKEY JAKEY BUUUUGG!” which was the least explicit of all the chants the T crowd tend to use. Afterwards it was Chase and Status at the main stage; amazing atmosphere with everyone dancing BUT it would have been better if it was dark as they are that kind of act, really. Mumford and Sons headlined and we stood at the back to hear some of their songs after dinner but let’s be honest, most of them sound the same.

The next day we began with Swim Deep, one of my favourite new bands (see last post!) and The Strypes who were incredible and filled the smaller tent with the stage confidence of a band who have been together for 15 years rather than being 15 years of age themselves. Peace, who I have seen before, were great once again and we heard the uplifting songs of The Lumineers, including Ho Hey from afar as we chilled at the back of the main stage area. Noah and the Whale are also one of my favourites and they did not disappoint with their slot on the Radio 1 Stage. Later we headed into the tent for Twin Atlantic, a band I used to really like, and surprisingly they brought in a massive crowd and, being Scottish I guess, had nearly everyone singing along. The crowd’s powerful rendition of acoustic Crash Land was one of my highlights!

Saturday’s headliner were the ones I’d been waiting for: Alt-J. We battled our way to relatively near the stage and their entrance to that rap song that goes ‘rack city bitch, rack rack city bitch’ combined with their rather nerdy appearance was hilarious.

The best part was the fact that everyone was singing along but really, like me, I don’t think anyone actually knew most of the words because the singer is just very difficult to understand. That was probably what made Breezeblocks so impactful because you could so clearly hear EVERYONE in the crowd yelling along to ‘please don’t go, please don’t go, I love you so, I love you so’. This band are one of my favourites and the headline slot in the tent really really lived up to my expectations.

The final day began with Lewis Watson who has a really beautiful voice despite probably being younger than me (then again so is Jake Bugg which is kind of depressing).

Then Deap Vally who I just want to be. Seriously. HOW COOL ARE THEY. Aftewards Tom Odell came on and explained that he had a chest infection yet still managed to sing two songs so I have the utmost respect for him, especially as his voice still sounded near perfect! We then stuck around for The 1975 as they are one of my favourite bands so we headed to the front of the crowd. I’m convinced the camera filmed me loads but I barely saw myself in the iPlayer highlights which was a bit of a let down considering I knew ALL THE WORDS. As they finished their set with Sex we rushed off to catch the end of Bastille at a different stage. I expected Bastille wouldn’t be great live just because I find their songs, however catchy, a bit same-y and the lead singer, Dan, doesn’t have the strongest voice. Sure enough, they were alright and Pompeii obviously got the crowd going, but I’m glad I stuck with The 1975 and didn’t sacrifice any of their set for Bastille’s. Another of my favourites up next, Frank Turner, such a charismatic and lovely guy who even tried to get the security guards involved in his huge singalong to Photosynthesis at the end: “I won’t sit down and I won’t shut up. And most of all I will not grow up!”

After dinner it was time for Foals who brought an atmospheric yet energetic set to the Radio 1 Stage with lead singer Yannis heading into the audience to crowdsurf several times. With the sun shining and the wind blowing this felt like the perfect warmup for the festival’s climax… THE KILLERS ON THE MAIN STAGE. I WAS VERY EXCITED AS YOU CAN TELL.

We couldn’t make it to the front but we were fairly close to the stage in terms of how big the crowd was (hint: it was huge). When they finally came on, Brandon Flowers looked ecstatic to be there throughout. They played a lot of newer songs which I didn’t know so well but also loads of the old classics and they were probably the greatest headliners I’ve ever witnessed personally. After heading offstage we knew the encore was imminent and they’d left the two best songs til last. Of course, they all came back on, beaming, and the crowd roared along to When You Were Young as the sun was setting. When they finally launched into Mr Brightside it was possibly the most excited I’d ever been at a concert and it honestly felt as if there wasn’t a single person singing along to every word for those few minutes. It is and hopefully always will be one of my favourite songs, ever! The fireworks at the end rounded off the weekend and TITP’s 20th anniversay ended magnificently.

After an unforgettable weekend of music and sunshine, even the ridiculously disorganised and slow queue for the buses back to Glasgow couldn’t dampen our moods. The bus ride was the funniest I’d ever witnessed: five minutes in, I looked around as the air was completely silent and saw every person leaning against the person next to them, their eyes shut. We weren’t the only ones exhausted after a few hours sleep each night and days filled with dancing, jumping and more dancing.

I cannot wait to get my pictures developed and watch those Killers highlights we have recorded on TV to relive it all! T in the Park or not, fingers crossed I’ll be able to make it to a music festival next year as there really is nothing like them.

Time for some more music recommendations! *applause and excited cheers from everyone*

So this week it’s been really really really hot in London and Britain in general so it’s been all about the sunny tunes whilst I’m relaxing in the garden.

Swim Deep – King City

Firstly is a band from Birmingham called Swim Deep who I started listening to a couple of months ago after finding them as a recommendation on Spotify. I then caught their set at T in the Park and they had a really great atmosphere despite looking like the 70s just spat them out (think matching chin-length wavy hair with centre partings and flared trousers… yes they are all men). Since then I’ve downloaded a few more songs and decided they are part of my essential summer soundtrack as they sometimes make you forget that Birmingham is about as far from a Californian beach you can get.

This one’s a bit of an anthem doncha know.

JAWs – Surround You

Continuing with a theme, this band are pretty similar and have a similar sunshine vibe. Surprise surprise, I just checked their Facebook and they’re from Birmingham too… wouldn’t be surprised if I saw them, Swim Deep and Peace all wondering around the BullRing asking for directions to Venice Beach. They must all be friends, surely.

Peace – California Daze

I guess since I’m here I might as well carry on and just put a Peace song up. This is the first song I heard by them, and as soon as their album came out I was quick to download it. A few of my friends and I went to see them at a small venue called Kasbah in Coventry near my uni and they put on a great live performance so I managed to catch them again at T. Oh, and since it’s relevant I can post my Polyvore set inspired by this song underneath. Such a chillout tune!

Last night I finished season 2 of HBO’s Girls. Yes I know I’m months late but I’ve become so obsessed with it since I started watching a few weeks ago that I feel this warrants a post despite the fact no-one cares anymore… at least until season 3 starts.

The weird thing is, I watched the pilot when all the hype was going on last year and didn’t find it funny and stopped watching halfway through the episode. Now, there are two possible reasons for this:

1) The pilot wasn’t great but the episodes went uphill from there – possible, and I can only decide this if I decide to rewatch the pilot again at some point.

2) I matured so much since I first watched Girls that only now have I reached the level of emotional maturity to really appreciate it – quite possible as I was an innocent fresher the first time and now I am many months older and wiser after completing my first year of University, gaining new friends and becoming much more independent. See, now I GET Girls!

One of the reasons I think Girls is so successful is that the characters, for most people like me anyway, are all relatable in a way but all equally dislikeable much of the time. Take Lena Dunham’s Hannah, for example: she is self-obsessed, like the other characters often point out, and sometimes annoyingly over-dramatic and self-pitying. But her awkwardness around men and constant identity crisis as a recently graduated young woman with ambition but no direction is familiar to so many. Similarly, Marnie is often just as self-involved and brattish but when her life crumbles when she loses her long-term boyfriend (I cried then – what if this is me in a few years’ time?!) and then her job you can’t help but feel sorry for her. She, too, has no idea where her life is going. Jessa is the glamorous free spirit I think everyone wants to be – I even asked my friends if it was too late to switch from calling me Jess to Jessa, and contemplated moving to America for a few years just to get her weird, hybrid accent – but something about that Irish dude from The IT Crowd’s rant at her when their marriage breaks up is very true, and she often drops her friends completely and fails to be there at their times of need. Shoshanna is probably the most likeable character, despite being the most annoying and stereotyped as the pure product of the ‘OMG” generation.  Her desperation to seem cool and to fit in with the older girls is awkward to watch (as is nearly every other scene in the show!) but also probably familiar to most, especially throughout our teenage years.

Even the men have the same love/hate relationships with the viewer. At first, Adam comes across as a bit weird, then loveable, then a total psycho. However, by the end of the second series he is the hero we’ve always dreamed of, running through the streets of New York shirtless (as always) whilst Facetiming Hannah in her moment of crisis. My personal favourite scene is a few episodes before when he is on the phone to that new girlfriend of his – I can’t even remember her name – when he first asks her out on the recommendation of her mother who he meets at an AA meeting. The entire phonecall is filmed from his end so we can see his whole body as he talks, and he moves his limbs and head so awkwardly and oddly throughout in that way that no-one ever does in normal life but that we always seem to do when making a scary phonecall. I laughed the whole way through that scene and recalled the times when I’ve been on the phone to someone and ended up standing on the bed tapping the ceiling or lying upside down without any recollection of why or how I got there.

What I’m trying to say is, if you’ve someone not already watched the first two seasons of Girls, start now, and if the pilot doesn’t vibe with you, persevere, because I’m so glad I did. If you’re a guy I’d be even more interested to hear what you thought of it as the only people I know who love the show are girls my age, so I don’t know how universally appealing it is. I have to say, whatever you think of the storylines and characters, the cringingly awkward conversations and sex scenes abundant in every episode are worth it just for that feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Oh, and the scene where Hannah and her gay best friend take cocaine in order to write a story about it the following day and she ends up writing all over her walls and switching tops with a guy in a string vest top in a club. The show is hilarious, just trust me.. and trust all the EMMYs, Golden Globes and BAFTAs that it’s won!