Drive

A couple of weeks ago, my friend introduced me to the song 'Drive' by Gretta Ray. I had the intention to write about it last week but never got the chance, but since I was told about the song I've been excited to share it with others because I realised that she was one of the singers who was performing with Japanese Wallpaper when I went to the Melanie Martinez concert just over a month ago. At the concert, I remember thinking that she was a really talented singer and really enjoyed the performance and when I ended up buying the Japanese Wallpaper album, I was a bit disappointed that she wasn't singing in the songs. So when my friend told me about 'Drive', I immediately purchased it.

It's a really light, content sounding song. When listening to it, it makes me happy and I think I described it to my friend as the type of song that makes you want to drive with a group of good friends on a lovely day and just being carefree and going to  the beach or the country. Just somewhere where you can explore and have a fun day with the people you love. I imagine it on a warm day, with the sun shining but not burning. It's been so cold for ages now and at the moment it's pouring with rain, but hopefully in the near future, I can actually fulfil this imagining.  But for now, I'll listen to the song and look forward to when the Summer holidays begin, while being in awe of her voice.

Bridget Jones' Baby

Firstly, I'm sorry for not writing on Monday, but I've been having friends over every day this past week because I had the house to myself, which has been so much fun. Because of that though, I'm so exhausted because late nights and socialising, plus essays and early mornings for uni and I've lost track of days. 

Last Thursday I saw the brilliantly hilarious new addition to the Bridget Jones films. I've been so excited about seeing this film since I found out that a third book was released, even though the books are completely different to the movies. I love Bridget Jones so much, first watching it with my parents then sharing it with friends (like the time last year when my flat mate and I watched it while eating nutella straight from the jar). 

Bridget Jones is now 43 years old, single and living in her apartment in London (which is my dream apartment) doing well at her job but still as clumsy as ever. Her and her friend go to a music festival where Ed Sheeran makes an appearance and she meets American millionaire Jack. A few days later she encounters her the love of her life, her ex, Mark Darcy. And here begins the confusion of who is the father of her unborn child. 

'Bridget Jones' Baby' was fantastic! I literally skipped out of the cinema; feeling so happy, with a massive grin across my face and just wanting to watch it again. The entire time, my friend and I were laughing so much that at one stage I was crying from laughter, and at one point we accidentally head bumped because we were laughing so much. I can't praise this film enough. If you are a Bridge Jones fan like I am, I don't think anyone could possibly be disappointed and if you haven't seen the films, watch them all! 

The Secret Life of Pets

Last night a group of friends and I saw 'The Secret Life of Pets' at the cinema. I remember when I first saw the trailer I thought "this looks like a really bad movie. I'm not going to see that", but when I got asked, I went just so I could go out with these friends and I'm really glad I did. I don't know if it is partially because I went in with such low expectations, but I thought the film was so funny and so much fun to watch.

It is about, as the title suggests, the secret life of pets, or rather, the extraordinary events that happen to a group of pets in one day. Set in New York, terrier Max has a great relationship with his owner, seeing them as soul mates, until new dog, Duke is adopted. This leads to a whole chain of events, including sausage factories, going underground where they meet the slightly deranged and aggressive bunny called Snowball, running from the revolutionaries as well as the dog pound.
I sort of understand why the trailer didn't do it justice, because my attempt of explaining the plot is pretty atrocious, but I can definitely tell you that it is really fun to watch and not a disappointment at all.

My favourite character would definitely be Chloe the cat. She has some of the funniest lines because she is dry in her delivery and sarcastic and extremely blunt. Perfect representation of a cat, and for that matter, each character is a perfect representation of their respective animals. This film may not be a cartoon classic, but it certainly is one of the animations that I could watch again and still enjoy.

Bang Bang (my baby shot me down)

Monday mornings are always hard, but this morning was so dreary. It was raining, 12 degrees and I had to catch the bus. It's hard to believe that this time last week it was warm and sunny and was wearing a tee-shirt... actually it's hard to believe that only a few days ago it was warm and sunny and was wearing a dress. But today it was back to winter attire including a thick coat. However the weather suited the song that was stuck in my head this morning.

I woke up with the Nancy Sinatra cover of  'Bang Bang (my baby shot me down)' which apparently is played in 'Kill Bill' as one of my friends told me when I mentioned which song I had kept thinking of. I haven't seen it but I've been told it's a good movie, I just know 'Bang bang' is a great song that I first heard when I was 12. I remember distinctly because there was a girl in my year level who was a trouble maker and bullied one of my friends and someone made a parody of this song saying "bang bang you shot me down, [inserted her name] is in trouble now", which now looking back is really not nice of those people. Wow, tween girls can be mean.

But back to the itself song: It's simple in the best way possible with her sweet voice not really needing extravagant accompaniment as she narrates the story about her and a boy growing up and playing games. and the ending is quite sad. It's perfect on a day that you just want to stay inside and ponder around.

The Awkward Moment When... #7

To make up for my lack of posts recently, here is the accumulation of horrifyingly embarrassing and cringeworthy moments that have occurred in only a matter of three months since my last "Awkward Moment When..."

-You have no awareness of political parties so come election day your only judgement is "the leader that has the same shirt as my dad" vs "the leader who doesn't know how to eat a hot dog correctly"

-You watch the movie 'Unfinished Business' with your parents (doesn't sound embarrassing, but when it features a lot of male nudity and glory holes it becomes a whole lot of awkward laughing)

-You're staying at a friends house and next morning are woken up by him walking into the room playing loud music and wearing just his underwear because he forgot you were sleeping on the couch.

-When your parent's friend tells a story of the time they were in France and asked if the bread they were buying had any preservatives in it. You are the only one (as well as the storyteller) who is laughing because it's one of the few words you know in French.

-When your dad is laughing for ten minutes uncontrollably at the cinema and everyone is staring at you and him

-When you get freshers flu but you're in your last semester in final year

-When it's late at night and you're exhausted. You're teasing your friend online and then they log off. You say "did I push it too far?" At first you are concerned that you hurt their feelings, but then your personality takes over and you can't help but add a "that's what he said" and start laughing so hard that tears are blurring your vision

-You set aside a whole day to start writing your essay. It's 8pm and you're still sitting on the floor and only have written 29 words (only the first sentence) and listening to Linkin Park's 'Numb', when your parents come in and ask how you're going and you have to fake a huge smile and act as if you're nearly finished. 

-You're at a party and one of your friends is upset and doesn't want to dance. To cheer her up you give her a lap dance 

-It's a sunny day at uni and you and your friend are hanging out on the grass lying on beanbags. You're lying on your stomach and you move and your top and bra stretch down. You find out that you completely flashed your boob at your friend... who is a guy. Like, completely bare full on flashing

SOS

The reason why I haven't written for ages is because I spent every night last week performing in a play. And the week before were rehearsals all day. After two months of intense rehearsals with an incredible director and such a talented cast, our hard work paid off. Out of the six performances, four of them were sold out and we had to add extra seating, and the other two nights were almost sold out, which is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. I'm so proud of my beautiful cast family and I love them so much, I couldn't have asked for a better lot of people to work with.

Now the great revealing of the play title... 'Slut'- which as you can imagine, allows for countless jokes and innuendos throughout the entire process. It's been so much fun, and we really needed that contrasting humour, because in reality, this play is extremely intense. Written by contemporary Australian playwright Patricia Cornelius, 'Slut' is about a young girl called Lolita who develops early in life and from there, develops a reputation of being a slut. It's a brutally raw and honest depiction of the treatment of women's sexuality in modern society and sadly, rings so much truth watching the rise and fall of Lolita's reign as 'slut'. It's a uniquely written piece which is highly chorus based, so rather than actual events playing out in front of the audience, four chorus members are telling the story of Lolita, starting as her friends who admire her and envy her, then they turn against her viciously.

One of the scenes in the play is recounting the events of a party. Without giving any of the story away, while speaking to the audience we wanted to set the scene of a teenage party, so we played Rihanna's 'SOS'. Along with that, we also choreographed a little dance piece to do while speaking, which was so difficult, but once we got it, it was extremely effective as it juxtaposed with what we were saying and how the scene ended.

On our final performance, our cast and the cast members from other plays had an after party, and 'SOS' came on. All the members of 'Slut' rushed to the dance floor and did our pretty epic routine and then everyone else joined in. A beautiful moment and a great way to celebrate the end of a wonderful two months