My mum posted this picture on my facebook the other day.....
This sort of thing means a lot....i'm a great believer in PMA......thought i'd share it with all you positive thinkers out there :)
Friday 20 April 2012
Positive Mental Attitude
Wow, Two blogs in about 10 minutes.....guess i'm thinking tonight!
My mum posted this picture on my facebook the other day.....
This sort of thing means a lot....i'm a great believer in PMA......thought i'd share it with all you positive thinkers out there :)
My mum posted this picture on my facebook the other day.....
This sort of thing means a lot....i'm a great believer in PMA......thought i'd share it with all you positive thinkers out there :)
Being a Thespian...
So, i guess i haven't posted a blog in ages.....but its late and i'm in a blogging mood so here we go....
I did a charity concert tonight, i was singing Someone Like You with my friend. For me it went really well but others ran into some technical issues....it made me think how much we rely on technology as singers.
Friend number one was thrown off when her microphone didn't work properly......this is probably the number 2 of the worst things to happen as a singer.....when you are performing in a big space, you need a mic, and when it doesn't work, it just ruins the performance.
Friend number two was using a backing track, it stopped about a quarter of the way through her performance and just simply refused to work after that! God did i feel for her, but she delt with it well, making a joke out of it to the audience, then she just picked up her guitar and played a different song....brilliantly!
That made me think, sometimes we rely on technology too much. Maybe all singers should have an instrument to back them up- she says, knowing she doesn't play- if friend number two couldn't have played the guitar, her performance would have been over. But, because she could, she could still showcase her talent.....something that every thespian enjoys :)
I did a charity concert tonight, i was singing Someone Like You with my friend. For me it went really well but others ran into some technical issues....it made me think how much we rely on technology as singers.
Friend number one was thrown off when her microphone didn't work properly......this is probably the number 2 of the worst things to happen as a singer.....when you are performing in a big space, you need a mic, and when it doesn't work, it just ruins the performance.
Friend number two was using a backing track, it stopped about a quarter of the way through her performance and just simply refused to work after that! God did i feel for her, but she delt with it well, making a joke out of it to the audience, then she just picked up her guitar and played a different song....brilliantly!
That made me think, sometimes we rely on technology too much. Maybe all singers should have an instrument to back them up- she says, knowing she doesn't play- if friend number two couldn't have played the guitar, her performance would have been over. But, because she could, she could still showcase her talent.....something that every thespian enjoys :)
Wednesday 14 March 2012
I need to blog more!
Pretty much what the title says really.......but it would help if i didn't realise this at 11:47 at night......well, there's always tomorrow, that should give me some time to come up with a blog post worth reading ;)
Thursday 29 December 2011
The Influence of Christmas Movies on the Festive Season
Well a slightly belated Merry Christmas to one and all :)
I don't know about you, but for me, a big part of Christmas is the traditional Christmas movie.
There are many classic full-length Christmas movies; classics include:
Now however, there are many Christmas films out there that create a contrasting view of Christmas, these films are maybe more common among people who don't have small children- therefore, don't have to worry about ruining their illusion of Christmas, Eg:
The 'Good' Christmas movies are part of what I call the Intravenous-Drip model- we are fed these kind of images of christmas from various different sources of mass media over the festive period so we believe that this the accepted image of Christmas. Then the 'Bad' Christmas movies come along and instantly make us question and challenge in our heads this 'perfect' image of christmas that has been 'drip-fed' to us. This is what is referred to as the Hypodermic Syringe model- rather than slowly influencing our brains over a long period of time, they provide an almost instant challenge theory in our brains- like having an injection straight into your bloodstream.
Some films take on the characteristics of both a 'good' and 'bad' Christmas movie though. Take this years new movie- Arthur Christmas. I went to see this in the cinema on Christmas eve, i just enjoyed it for what it was at the time, but now i'm writing this, it made me see it in a different light. You have the generalised 'drip-fed' image of Christmas (Santa, elves, round the world in one night etc) present throughout the movie but the whole film was a battle between modern and traditional- with 'GrandSanta' trying to prove that the traditional method- and the 'drip-fed' illusion of Christmas- is best whilst on the other side, there is this image of Christmas being almost like a military operation for Santa and the elves. I think it all depends on the movie as to how it influences you.
So to round up, in my opinion, the main influence of Christmas movies on the festive season is to attempt to create a generalised image of Christmas that we believe to be correct. However, Christmas movies are also just there to get you into the spirit- on a par with Christmas trees and Christmas songs (A whole other blog topic in themselves!)
Oh, by the way, Christmas movies after Christmas do nothing. They are brilliant in the festive season but don't provide the same impact at any other time of the year :)
So yet another deep-thinking, ridiculously long, rambling blog. If you've got this far through my deep sociological thought process I shall leave you with a light hearted list of my personal top 6 favourite christmas movies :) What are yours?
6. A Christmas Carol- The Musical
5. Merry Madagascar
4. The Polar Express
3. Prep and Landing
2. Arthur Christmas
1. Miracle on 34th Street
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!! :) Have a very happy new year :)
I don't know about you, but for me, a big part of Christmas is the traditional Christmas movie.
There are many classic full-length Christmas movies; classics include:
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Miracle on 34th Street
- A Christmas Carol
- The Polar Express
- Elf
- Prancer
- The Santa Clause Trilogy
- Merry Madagascar
- Shrek The Halls
- Prep and Landing
Now however, there are many Christmas films out there that create a contrasting view of Christmas, these films are maybe more common among people who don't have small children- therefore, don't have to worry about ruining their illusion of Christmas, Eg:
- Bad Santa
- Silent Night, Deadly Night
- Black Christmas
- Gremlins
The 'Good' Christmas movies are part of what I call the Intravenous-Drip model- we are fed these kind of images of christmas from various different sources of mass media over the festive period so we believe that this the accepted image of Christmas. Then the 'Bad' Christmas movies come along and instantly make us question and challenge in our heads this 'perfect' image of christmas that has been 'drip-fed' to us. This is what is referred to as the Hypodermic Syringe model- rather than slowly influencing our brains over a long period of time, they provide an almost instant challenge theory in our brains- like having an injection straight into your bloodstream.
Some films take on the characteristics of both a 'good' and 'bad' Christmas movie though. Take this years new movie- Arthur Christmas. I went to see this in the cinema on Christmas eve, i just enjoyed it for what it was at the time, but now i'm writing this, it made me see it in a different light. You have the generalised 'drip-fed' image of Christmas (Santa, elves, round the world in one night etc) present throughout the movie but the whole film was a battle between modern and traditional- with 'GrandSanta' trying to prove that the traditional method- and the 'drip-fed' illusion of Christmas- is best whilst on the other side, there is this image of Christmas being almost like a military operation for Santa and the elves. I think it all depends on the movie as to how it influences you.
So to round up, in my opinion, the main influence of Christmas movies on the festive season is to attempt to create a generalised image of Christmas that we believe to be correct. However, Christmas movies are also just there to get you into the spirit- on a par with Christmas trees and Christmas songs (A whole other blog topic in themselves!)
Oh, by the way, Christmas movies after Christmas do nothing. They are brilliant in the festive season but don't provide the same impact at any other time of the year :)
So yet another deep-thinking, ridiculously long, rambling blog. If you've got this far through my deep sociological thought process I shall leave you with a light hearted list of my personal top 6 favourite christmas movies :) What are yours?
6. A Christmas Carol- The Musical
5. Merry Madagascar
4. The Polar Express
3. Prep and Landing
2. Arthur Christmas
1. Miracle on 34th Street
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!! :) Have a very happy new year :)
Thursday 22 December 2011
Why are cats attracted to christmas trees?
Or is it just my cat?
We put our christmas tree up at the beginning of December and boy do our cats love it. Top 3 most annoying things about my cats and the Christmas tree:
3. Knocking off Decorations
We cannot put any decorations on the bottom row of the branches. We're not just being pedantic, those two mad creatures would have those baubauls off before you could say the word baubaul!
2. Using it as a hiding place
Like most cats, ours hate going out in the cold in the winter, so after us chasing them around for a while they run round behind the christmas tree and sit in the very back corner (our tree is against the wall) and just look at us. They will not come out until one of us wriggles round the back!
1. Using it as a Toilet!
Not the actual tree itself but the floorspace behind it which is very difficult to get to! It happens at least once every December and normally me and my brother laugh and watch my mum clear it up. This year, it was me who had to clear it up, now i know how irritating it is!
So there you go, a more light hearted blog :) I will leave you with a picture of the guilty culprits- then maybe you will understand why, despite all these annoying things they do, we still smother them with affection and love :)
We put our christmas tree up at the beginning of December and boy do our cats love it. Top 3 most annoying things about my cats and the Christmas tree:
3. Knocking off Decorations
We cannot put any decorations on the bottom row of the branches. We're not just being pedantic, those two mad creatures would have those baubauls off before you could say the word baubaul!
2. Using it as a hiding place
Like most cats, ours hate going out in the cold in the winter, so after us chasing them around for a while they run round behind the christmas tree and sit in the very back corner (our tree is against the wall) and just look at us. They will not come out until one of us wriggles round the back!
1. Using it as a Toilet!
Not the actual tree itself but the floorspace behind it which is very difficult to get to! It happens at least once every December and normally me and my brother laugh and watch my mum clear it up. This year, it was me who had to clear it up, now i know how irritating it is!
So there you go, a more light hearted blog :) I will leave you with a picture of the guilty culprits- then maybe you will understand why, despite all these annoying things they do, we still smother them with affection and love :)
Wednesday 21 December 2011
What is the point of Shakespeare?
I know, a rather heavy subject for a first blog- and just before christmas at that! But anyhow, i'm sitting here at 12:02am 3 days before christmas with the thought of having to complete an essay on Shakespeare's marvellous tradgedy 'Othello' before the end of the christmas holidays niggling at the back of my mind. Much as i do like Shakespeare- i've read and performed many of his plays- i have to ask myself the question: Is Shakespeare overrated? i'm not too sure- this question seems to pop into my head when i have an essay to write on one of his plays and no motivation to do it!
Spending several hours a week studying 'Othello' in ALevel English, the depth of analysis that is reached during class discussions does help me to appreciate Shakespeare a lot more- for example- the huge but subtle influence of Iago's manipulation on the deterioration of the good relationship between the eponeymous character (Can you tell i was quite pleased with the learning of that term!) Othello and Brabantio- Desdemona's father. Now i never would have figured that out on my own!
However when i am sitting, normally at 11pm the night before the essay is due in- trying to understand what is on the page in front of me, i find myself thinking that these plays- written in a very different English to what we are used to today are overrated, i ask myself: Why are they still studied? and i start to find myself wondering what school would be like if Shakespeare had never existed...what would we be studying then?
So it seems my opinion on Shakespeare changes depending on the amount of motivation i have to actually do the work at that moment in time but it does raise the question of what schools would study if Shakespeare didn't exist. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
So, a very heavy first blog! I'm normally more light hearted and less philisophical than this but this is the kind of random thought that comes into my head in the early hours! Maybe i should find a less heavy topic for my next blog....Christmas maybe?
Spending several hours a week studying 'Othello' in ALevel English, the depth of analysis that is reached during class discussions does help me to appreciate Shakespeare a lot more- for example- the huge but subtle influence of Iago's manipulation on the deterioration of the good relationship between the eponeymous character (Can you tell i was quite pleased with the learning of that term!) Othello and Brabantio- Desdemona's father. Now i never would have figured that out on my own!
However when i am sitting, normally at 11pm the night before the essay is due in- trying to understand what is on the page in front of me, i find myself thinking that these plays- written in a very different English to what we are used to today are overrated, i ask myself: Why are they still studied? and i start to find myself wondering what school would be like if Shakespeare had never existed...what would we be studying then?
So it seems my opinion on Shakespeare changes depending on the amount of motivation i have to actually do the work at that moment in time but it does raise the question of what schools would study if Shakespeare didn't exist. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
So, a very heavy first blog! I'm normally more light hearted and less philisophical than this but this is the kind of random thought that comes into my head in the early hours! Maybe i should find a less heavy topic for my next blog....Christmas maybe?
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