Bet you look good on the dance floor

For ages now, people have told me that I should listen to the Arctic Monkeys because "you'll like them." And usually I'm then straight away on youtube to listen to different songs because I love discovering new bands, but for some reason, I just never did look them up.

It was only a couple of weeks ago at work, when an album was playing which I thought was so good! It was upbeat, playful and the tunes were all really catchy, and I was like "who is this?" and my co-worker was like "it's the Arctic Monkeys first album." And I just couldn't believe that it took me that long (years and years) to finally listen to them.

'Beneath the Boardwalk' is their first album which is post-punk revival, and as I am a fan of punk, I loved it so much and as soon as I got home, I got the album and danced around the house and the other day I shared these songs with my dad, who also enjoyed them. I have to admit that I haven't listened to any of their later albums, but that is because I'm loving this album so much that I don't really want to hear any of their other stuff at the moment. I know that doesn't make sense and is probably a really silly approach, but one day, I promise I'll listen to the other albums too.

'Bet you look good on the dance floor' I have decided to be the song of the day, because the entire album is filled with great dancing songs, so the title in itself is just so fitting. One of the other aspects of the songs that I really love is that you can hear their accent (I have a weakness for British accents).

The French Film Festival 2015

Last Sunday, a group of my friends and I went to the closing night of the French Film Festival, which was a really enjoyable evening. It began with canapés in the foyer, which were so delicious and I wish that I could've eaten more of them. Luckily, no one really liked the pastry with duck pate one, so I got to eat theirs because I thought they tasted really nice. There was also a smoked salmon pate creamy puff thing, which was so delicious too, however, my favourite canapé was these mini pumpkin and pine nut quiches. So it was really fancy and very different to what I usually eat as a snack on my Sunday nights (fruit and then later, a cup of tea). And then it was time to enter the cinema...

Paris, Je t'aime consisted of twenty short films, all of different genres- some funny, some sad, some cute and some just plain weird- and I loved every single moment of it. The majority of the films were in French (being a French film festival and all) with English subtitles, but a few were in English. All films were set in Paris, as each film was inspired by this utterly romantic city. I have always wanted to go to Paris, and I am determined to go there one day; I absolutely love Rodin's sculptures so it is one of the top things on my bucket list to go to the Rodin Museum, and I also really want to visit the famous cemetery (which was featured in one of the films coincidentally, which sparked my desire to go there even more!)


My favourite of the films is one that features Natalie Portman. This is it:

I can't write about every film we saw, so instead, I'll just give a brief synopsis of my other favourite ones, which hopefully demonstrates how eclectic each piece was:

-It was about a man who was having an affair, and the day that he was going to tell his wife that he was going to leave her, she tells him that she is dying from cancer. So he stays with her and pretends to be a loving husband, but at the end, he falls in love with his wife all over again and nursed her until the day she died- it was so sad, but so beautiful.

-This artist goes to a printing place where he believes he found his "soulmate" which he tells him. He declares how there is some connection between the two of them, and it is so poetic and emotive, all the while, the other guy is sitting there in silence. The artist then leaves, giving his number to the guy, and then the boss asks the guy what happened, and then the guy replies in English saying that he didn't know because he doesn't understand French- that ending made me laugh.

It was a great experience, especially as I didn't know what to expect before going, so I wasn't disappointed.

The awkward moment when... #2

I would like to point out that all of these are true things that have happened to me (unfortunately)

"The awkward moment when..."

• You're walking up a steep hill and the person behind you stumbles and their hand flails and goes up your bottom crack

• You get a part in a play and it's only when you turn up to the first rehearsal that you find out you are actually the lead role

• When doing personality quizzes with a friend, and one quiz: "what novel describes your love life", and instead of getting 'Winnie the Pooh' like you expected, you get 'Fifty Shades of Grey'... EXCUSE ME!? WHAT!? 

• When lining up for something, and you start talking to the person next to you because they look really familiar but you can't remember where you met them, and it's only afterwards that you remember that she was the girl who was drunk at a party you went to, and she tried to look up your dress

• You're reading out loud and you accidentally say a different word and it turns the meaning into something dirty... and you were being recorded at the time 

• You have a mental blank on your name and have to ask your friend what it is

• When everyone is saying what colour that dress is (you know which one): blue and black or white and gold? And you see blue and gold... how is that not an option? My eyes were really the ultimate compromise

• You meet someone for the first time who is your friends friend, and because you hugged your friend 'hello', you feel obliged to hug their friend too, but because they weren't expecting it, they move and you end up clashing lips 

• When you say something you shouldn't and in complete embarrassment, you go into foetal position and are like that for about ten minutes while the other person is laughing at you 

• You have to kiss someone in a play until the lights go down, but one time the lights just didn't go down

Sorry, I couldn't resist adding 'Jess' for facial expressions again

There are so many more, and some of them are just too awkward to even put into words

God Help the Girl

Starting from today, I'm going to be posting more regularly again. But I apologise for my inconsistency over the past month or so; things were a bit hectic. And during that time, I have so many new awkward and embarrassing and downright humiliating true stories that have happened to me, some of them will be featuring on my next post, but others I think are just best to not share because they are far too cringe worthy. But even though my life is a cosmic joke a lot of the time, I can always find the perfect song to suit a moment, and I think I have finally decided which song is the perfect 'post-cringeworthy-moment-song,' which is the always brilliant song "God Help the Girl".

(I've been wanting to see the movie for ages, but it didn't come out in cinemas, so I guess I'll have to wait until it is available at the video library. I actually mentioned it when 'Take Shelter' was featured on Music Monday.)

The reason why I have decided it is the perfect 'post-cringeworthy-moment-song' is because it has a wonderful uplifting beat that automatically makes you feel like dancing around. I remember once when I was washing the dishes, I was listening to it on repeat and I was dancing around while washing (and it works so well because one of the lines is "I think of him when I'm doing the dishes" and "I think of him when I'm looking in the sink"- dishes and sink! that was my life in that moment!) and singing into various objects like wooden spoons, tongs and even a frypan. Anyway, so I was listening on my iPod, and dancing around and looking ridiculous and then I turn around and notice that my dad was there and laughing at me and impersonating my truly ridiculous dancing. But I didn't care, because it's such a great tune with hilarious lyrics, that you would look more ridiculous if you didn't dance or bop along.

So, because I experienced a cringeworthy moment today (I think I actually physically cringed) I didn't hesitate to listen to 'God Help the Girl' a few times, and sure enough, I recovered with a massive grin across my face, and hence making it the song of the day. I highly recommend this song whenever you feel like you need to un-cringe. Enjoy!

Dollhouse

Ohmygosh! I completely forgot what day it was. My mind is seriously scattered all over the place and I just happened to realise it was Monday and I have no idea what song to choose! There are so many to pick from- but before that, I would just like to let everyone know that Marina and the Diamonds' new album 'FROOT' has just been released! Which means, I've already listened to it multiple times and absolutely love it! I've already promoted two of her songs from the album: 'Froot' and 'Happy', so I won't go on about my love for her music. It's just more of a heads up if you are interested in buying the album.

Moving on... another artist who I am a fan of is Melanie Martinez, who apparently was on the American 'The Voice' which I haven't seen, but I love her 'Dollhouse' album that was released last year. I found out about her through one of my friends, who played me one of her songs, "Dollhouse" which I instantly became obsessed with. Her music is truly haunting and a bit creepy, with the "tick, tock" horror soundtrack feel to it. I don't think I'm making much sense with that vague description. Some of her other songs are called 'Carnival' which sounds like what you imagine to be playing at a haunted fairground, while 'Dead to me' begins with a grainy quality as if it is playing from an old record, which then becomes more clear and with a brilliant beat to it. That song is probably my favourite one in the album, but today I'm going to stick with 'Dollhouse' as it is of the same name as the album and is also the first song I heard of hers.

The lyrics of all her songs tell a story, being unafraid of speaking about the truth of what 'perfect' actually is: being lies that are constructed to appear materialistic and ultimately plastic to cover up the ugliness of the world. It's just so blunt and her voice is so sweet which contrasts greatly with the darkness of the songs. I seriously have an addiction to dark, twisted, psychological or sad songs- so I can never get tied of listening to this album on repeat.

Note: this video is a bit creepy

Perfect Day

Today I found out what the opening song will be for the play I'm in, which is exciting and I have to say, it is an excellent choice: 'Perfect Day' by Lou Reed. 

The fantastic thing about this song is that it can be interpreted to be a hopeful, uplifting and sweet song or it can be seen as reminiscent, depressing and ironic. I guess it depends on how you are feeling at the time, but either way, it is a beautiful song. Today in one of my lectures ('Music in theatre') actually spoke about the different techniques of using music in theatre, and because I'm a nerd and really enjoy lectures (well, that may be because I'm doing amazingly interesting subjects, not going to lie) I found it extremely interesting, especially now that we have incorporated in this song in the play. Don't you love it when after many years of learning pointless things, like trigonometry, in high school, once you go to uni you finally get to learn things that are applicable to what you do in real life!

Anyway, back to Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day': was released in 1972 as the B-side to 'Walk on the wild side', which is probably one of his most famous songs, if not his most famous. 'Perfect Day' opens with the piano and the slow beat of the drums and his voice is so gentle, that it really does evoke a strong emotional response. The lyrics are so simple, but that is part of the songs brilliance, because even with the statement-like phrases, eg. "feed animals in the zoo" you can visualise everything, but each individual listener will respond by imagining their own personal experiences with each of these activities. Hence, the janus-like interpretations and probably why so many other great musicians have performed their own cover to this song. 

Sorry for being slack

This is just a short post to apologise for being really slack recently with posting things. I've got so many things I want to write about (I've actually written a long list of things I have to say) but I've just been so exhausted these past few weeks and seem to run out of time. Apparently there are 24 hours in a day, but for some reason I feel like I only have two.  I know that this is not a good excuse, but I'm not trying to look for an excuse, I'm just stating facts and I seriously think about this blog every day, so it's not as if I've forgotten about you lovely readers.

I'm really sorry, but I promise I'll get back to regular postings soon. It's just a bit overwhelming at the moment (I know this is a massive contrast to my last post of 'Bulletproof'- call me a hypocrite) with uni back and I have this massive pile of readings that I have to do before Monday that I have neglected completely and have just dumped the printed readings on the floor. I also have the electronic readings and also a few plays I have to read and also a whole novel by next Friday... which is when I'm performing in a play, which I have final rehearsals for every night until 10pm in the lead up. And the day after closing night (which is the following week), I have a 2000 word paper due which I also haven't started. Okay, this post was not meant to be my venting ground- I'm so sorry. But this is just to let you know why I might be a bit silent for a while.

some of my readings for this week which I have just thrown on my bedroom floor and hoped it didn't exist... I'll face reality tomorrow 

So my mind is a bit of an explosion right now, but I promise when all of this stuff is done and I have worked out a good homework routine, as I said before, I will post regularly again. Please be patient with me, because I feel bad for not writing stuff and I have so much I want to share with you. For example, I just finished reading a really cute book (I'll write a post about it eventually), called 'A little something different' that I recommend to people who like Rainbow Rowell (I'm thinking of a particular friend of mine who I think should read this book) who wrote 'Fangirl' as it has the same feel of an adorable love story that is classic but also unique.

Bulletproof

It was the first day of classes at uni, and I'm so excited about this semesters subjects, but I'm already feeling the overwhelming workload. That is the only downside to uni: the excessive homework, essays and etc. However, I think I found the perfect song to tackle the slight bewilderment that all uni students must be feeling with the new subjects, new rooms, new subject guides and new systems of doing things. And that is La Roux's 'Bulletproof'

It is a motivational song that makes you feel as if you can tackle anything that comes your way (as it implies in the title, of being bullet proof). It is quite rightly a popular song, which came out in 2009- I for some reason thought it was a much more recent song, but I guess that just shows how time flies by so quickly, that sometimes I feel like the 2000's were last yearn, when really this song is six years old! I feel old now!

If you were to look at the lyrics, you can easily pretend that the person being addressed is actually all stresses and workloads that uni entails. Or maybe that is just me, because this year, I know it's going to be even more intense when it comes to my studies, so this is definitely going to become one of my 'determination songs', because (okay, get ready for the ultra corny line) "I'll be bulletproof" (yep, it was a predictable lyric to throw in- sorry if I made you groan)