Do it all over again

I have never been a fan of any of the 'High School Musicals.' I watched the first one when it was released (I think I was eleven) and I didn't see what the big fuss was about. However, I've finished watching the British series 'Britannia High' which is (in my opinion) an improved version of 'High School Musical.' It is about a group of students who attend a performing arts college and of the dramas between the friends/ rivals, with occasional songs that are set in a music video style. The story line is much more complex and deeper than High School Musical and the songs are so much better too- in fact, it can be seen as completely different- so much for that comparison.

Anyway, there are such fantastic songs in the series, which I've been listening to over the past few days, one of which is called 'Do it all over again'  which is sung by the 'mean' girl character, Claudine (played by Saphire Elia), when you realise that she actually is an insecure person who just wants to find her place in the world and to be loved. I've listened to this song on repeat, it's poppy and just stays in your head- the lyrics are excellent and so is the tune- I really love it and despite listening to it probably around fifty times in the past two days, I am not sick of this song one bit and I agree with the lyrics completely.

So, not only is the soundtrack really enjoyable to listen to, the series was nice and easy watching, and at times it is really corny, but believe me, it was a welcome distraction from the stack of essays that I needed to write.

Some of the other songs that I really like from the 'Britannia High' soundtrack that I recommend are:
-Growing Pains
-The things we don't say
-Proud
-Confessions
-Without you

Les Miserables

Today I saw the stage production of Les Miserables, and I have to say it was fantastic! Unfortunately every now and then I would compare certain aspects to the movie, as that has been my only other encounter with the story. But overall, seeing Les Miserables live was a wonderful experience, which I got to share with my amazing friend, who I went to see the movie with last year.

When the movie came out at the cinema, my friend and I decided to see it together, and it was a day in which both of us remember so distinctly. It involved us planning to meet at the train station together, but I ended up being a minute late and missing the train, and her just arriving on time and quickly hopping on the train thinking that I was already on it, then realising that I wasn't when she arrived at the cinema by herself and me waiting at the train station for her, and both having the horrible realisation that we didn't even have each other's phone numbers. It was a mini drama, but finally we managed to meet up and enjoy the movie together (after immediately exchanging numbers for future), where we were both deeply moved and me crying the entire time because, as you can probably guess from the title... it's a really sad story!

Today was a bit more successful in terms of meeting up- well, at least it was better than last year's confusion. I was getting on the train a few stops before her, and then we were going to meet on the second carriage. However, when it was her station, she didn't get on the train because she missed it, so she had to try to catch the train from another station, which she got at the end, but a different carriage, so when we were both were on the train, the next stop we both got off our separate carriages (me near the front of the train, her near the back of the train) and ran towards each other and met in the middle carriage. If that sounds confusing, I'd just like to point out that the rest of the day, our organisational skills greatly improved, having lunch and then not getting too lost on our way to the theatre.

Back to Les Miserables though: the cast was so talented, their voices were truly incredible, filled with such emotion and able to take my breath away with how powerful it was. If you aren't familiar with the story of Les Miserables, it is based on the novel by Victor Hugo published in 1862, a historical fiction that covers the period of the French Revolution and is written in five different volumes, beginning in 1815 until the 1832 June Rebellion. My grandma actually read the novel and said it is an epic, and one day I aim to read it, however, she refuses to see the stage production or even acknowledge the movie because she can't imagine it being turned into a musical- but believe me, it works so well as a musical. Her idea of a musical involves happy songs, and Les Miserables does not have that many happy songs, however, there are some lighter songs, but with dark undertones. My absolutely favourite song would be the famous "Do you hear the people sing" which I think is so stirring and motivational.

I do have other favourite songs, which include "On my own," and "I dreamed a dream," both of the lyrics are so sad and so poetic; the imagery is beautiful and the music is just as beautiful. I also absolutely love "The ABC Cafe/ Red and Black" which is another stirring and motivational song- I think it would be great for when I'm studying actually. I also really love the song "Empty chairs and empty tables" which is the song that prompts the tears every single time, as it speaks of the friends that Marius (one of the main characters) have lost in the barricade.

Gavroche from movie

My favourite character is undoubtably Gavroche, who is the little boy who is part of the revolutionaries group. He reminds me a bit of the character Dodger who is in the musical Oliver (based on the novel 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens), as he is street smart, mischievous and playfully charismatic. He is a vital character in the plot, although his part is small, he stands out the most for me and I'm sure for many others too.


The set for the stage allowed for you to completely absorb into the story being told, the costumes, lighting and visual affects were also well done. It sounds horrible saying this, but the most affective effects were the death scenes, of the battle at the barricade, where the lights were dimmed and just before a character was shot, the spotlight would light that person up and then you would hear the gunshot and you would see them react and fall. It was a really powerful and moving technique they used there, another time was during the song 'Empty chair and empty tables' when the dead characters came out and held candles that represented their life, which they all blew out at the same time, while Marius was singing about the loss. It was so sad... it was "miserable."

I am so glad I saw 'Les Miserables' live, as it is a completely different experience to watching it in movie form and I do recommend going to see it if you get the chance. 

From page to screen: "Divergent"

As soon as I finished reading the book, I was curious to see which faction I belonged to and was quite surprised to get Dauntless. I then did another quiz to double check the result, and this time, I got Amity and I thought "this sounds a bit more accurate." But I took another version of the quiz, as this was the tie-breaker and I got... Dauntless.

For those who aren't aware with what I'm talking about, these 'factions' I've mentioned are from the books by Veronica Roth, 'Divergent' which where then adapted into a movie that was released earlier this year. Being behind in the times, it was only recently that I read the first book in the 'Divergent' series and only even more recently that I saw the movie and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed both. It seems at the moment there is a hype about dystopian story lines, so before anyone says "Divergent is like the Hunger Games," I'd like to point out that it is in the same genre as the 'Hunger Games' however the premise is slightly different:

Like all dystopian plots, the world in which 'Divergent' takes place is set in a future time that has a corrupt/ broken society, surviving in the aftermath of a world changing event (a post-apocolyptic society) that had taken place previous to when the story is told. In this particular world, society is broken up into five factions based on their characteristics: abnegation (the selfless- where our protagonist, Tris is originally from), Erudite (the intellectuals), Candor (the honest), Amnity (the peaceful) and Dauntless (the brave) and each play different roles in running the city; in this world, the idea of "faction over family" is introduced. It is when people are sixteen, that they go through a test to see which of the five factions they are best suited to and this is followed by a ceremony where the person has to choose their faction and they have to stay with for the rest of their lives. If they do not choose, they become 'factionless' which means they are homeless. However there is also a sixth and secret result, called 'Divergent' which means that a person has qualities of more than one faction, and because of this, they are seen as a threat (for those who know about Divergent) and are killed.

Tris is a Divergent, but when it comes to the choosing ceremony, she chooses to join Dauntless and she knows that she has to keep her true result a secret. The novel predominately is about the initiation process of Dauntless: where the new recruits are tested and eliminated. The book is written in such a way that you cannot put the it down, as you experience Tris's anxieties, her determination and her fears while going through initiation and trying to understand who she really is, and all the while, unrest is building up in the city, with plots for the government to being overthrown... I really couldn't put the book down, and the characters are so interesting to read about, seeing what motivates each person and how they respond to the different tests.

The movie was not a disappointment at all- it stuck true to the book, and it too made me feel anxious for the main character. I really think it is a nail-biting, edge-of-seat movie as you urge for your favourite characters to succeed: you don't get bored when watching. This is pure coincidence that so many of my 'from page to screen' posts are featuring Shailene Woodley,  but she has proven herself to be a talented actor, and I was impressed with her portrayal of Tris. She was able to express the fears and insecurities, as well as the strength and determination of the protagonist.

It was strange to see actor of Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) now playing Woodley's brother, or actor of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) now playing Woodley's rival/ antagonist after both played a romantic role with her previously, but that didn't deter the enjoyment of watching the film at all. Theo James played an utterly beautiful Four, suiting the role perfectly and it was nice to see the relationship between Tris and Four with such skilled actors. The relationship between these two characters were one of my favourite parts of the novel, and like a nerd, I have a favourite chapter, which was chapter 25. So if you haven't read the book, I urge you to read it because it is a really engaging read- I was a fan of dystopian novels when I was fourteen-fifteen, loving books like 'The Declaration' for example, but I thought I grew out of it, however 'Divergent' reawakened my enjoyment for dystopian novels, and I'm really looking forward to reading the second instalment.


Returning back to the faction quizzes I took... I would not have thought myself as Dauntless at all, however, before taking the quiz, I was discussing the different factions with one of my greatest friends who knows me so well and we were saying which faction we thought we'd be in and what the other would be in. I thought that she would be Abnegation, Amity and Erudite- so basically Divergent, because she is so caring and smart and puts up with me, which shows that she has patience. And she said that she could see me as a potential Dauntless, and I was like "ummm..." but I guess that shows that she knows me better than I know myself, because it turns out she was right (told you she was smart).

Nova Scotia

The band Magic Man was introduced to me by one of my really good friends a few months ago, and when I first heard their song 'Paris,' I absolutely fell in love with it, and bought it straight away. But yesterday I finally bought the entire album 'You Are Here' which is home to the song 'Nova Scotia' which has incredible lyrics. They are so poetic, which create vivid imagery, for example:

Opened your, opened your, opened your eyes

and the ocean slipped through the floor

when you woke up along the shore

forget everything...

And the music itself sweeps you away into a sort of daydream in the first bars, then builds up with a beat that is perfect on a blue-skies-and-sunshine day. Nova Scotia is a place in Canada and other than that, I have no idea about the place, so I'm sorry for my limited information about that, however, Magic Man are from Boston and are a synth-pop band who are relatively new, their debut album 'Real Life Colour' released in 2010, followed by 'You Are Here' being released last year. I personally still think 'Paris' is my favourite song on the album, with the incredible opening with the piano that then is joined by the full instrumental/ synths- it just sounds amazing and I highly encourage anyone to listen to it, but for today, here is Nova Scotia, another fabulous song:

  

Sarah Kay

I thought it was about time that I should write about the person who inspired me to put pen to paper and begin to write. Her name is Sarah Kay, and she is a spoken word poet from America- and she is absolutely incredible!

As soon as a teacher mentions poetry in an English class, almost everyone either groans or whispers "not again!" and wish that they were somewhere else, but I'm a nerd and have always loved poetry. I remember in junior school, I used to borrow the same Oxford book of poems over and over again, because I loved reading them so much. I also saw from the borrowing stamp, that I was the first person in twenty years to borrow that book. Once again, I repeat: I am a nerd, but proud of it! But I had never thought of writing my own poetry until one lesson in high school, a few years ago, we were shown a Ted Talk video and it was featuring Sarah Kay. And it was in that hour that I truly appreciated poetry as an art form and started writing, and haven't stopped writing since. And because of her, I, along with many other people I'm sure, aspire to become great writers or poets just like her and that is why I really wanted to share this with you, in the hope that she could make a difference to your life in some small way. You know when you look back on your past and you can pinpoint some life-changing experiences? Well, that introduction to Sarah Kay was a life-changing experience for me, and now I can divide my life into two sections: life before that Ted Talk, and life after that Ted Talk.

Here is the very same clip that my teacher showed our class, it's a bit long, but I think it is worth watching:

Going too far

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, ‘Going too far’ by Jennifer Echols. The tension and dynamics between the main character, Meg and the (in my mind) utterly gorgeous John, is superbly written, to feel the ups and downs of their unsteady and unique relationship. Meg is a seventeen year old girl who gets caught by the police for underage drinking and found trespassing on a train bridge. And as her punishment, she has to spend her spring break accompanying the police officer who arrested her, on his nightshift patrol. And he is the professional, charismatic nineteen year old, John After.

“Criminal” meets straight laced police officer; it is a perfect concept for a perfect teen novel. The writing is through the point of view of Meg, and the reader is entertained with her thought process- the witty and sarcastic comments that are said and unsaid- as we discover why both she and John behave in their particular way. Meg has claustrophobia, whilst John has an obsession with the bridge where Meg was caught, and it is explained to us at the end of the novel, but throughout the story, Echols has provided prompts to keep the reader occupied in guessing what the whole truth is. It is just an entertaining light read.

Like many of the books I read, it is a teen novel that isn’t that well known. It just happened to be something I picked up on the shelf at the library at random, read the blurb thinking it sounded good, so thought I should give it a go.  And I’m glad that I did, because I didn’t want to put it down and finished it within a day.

8/10

(Note: I also just finished reading 'Spirit Bound' from the Vampire Academy series- 9/10) 

Wake me up when September ends

It is the first day of spring and typically, it is pouring down with rain. It is the month where essays have to be written and countless assignments are due and when you realise just how much of a procrastinator you really are when your to do list just gets bigger and bigger and yet you. It is the month where no other song is more perfect than

"Wake me up when September ends".

This is one of my favourite Green Day songs (I have many favourites though), where "here comes the rain again" is literally so true. However, my shallowness at the moment should be abandoned, because this song is actually really meaningful, about the death of Billie Joe Armstrong's (lead singer of Green Day) father, who passed away when he was a child. The song addresses the idea of  the pain of losing the ones you love and how time sometimes is irrelevant in terms of moving on. It speaks of the loss of innocence, implying how it is a fragile state that will inevitably vanish one day.

Okay, this is starting to sound so morbid, especially as I'm in a good mood, so I'm just going to proceed to the song. It is such a beautiful song.