Happy Birthday [Insert name here]

On Saturday, it was the 21st January and yours truly reached the age of 19. The last year of being a teenager is upon me and I feel absolutely no different. Not surprising really but seen as at 19 nothing particularly exciting happens such as driving or anything becoming legal or anything like that, I shall tell you about my Saturday.

For my birthday, I went pottery painting and for a meal with a few of my friends who were around. I say a few but I was pleasantly surprised how many were able to come what with half my friends now being at university. I had a great day and it most certainly went by WAY too quickly.

Our pottery painting included a lot of fantasy, sci-fi and just general nerdiness as you can tell:

This is the inside of Jennie's mug that she painted. I'm still not quite sure how she managed it considering it was one of those tall thing mugs rather than a chunky one.

I kept on with the TARDIS theme, breaking away from the heavy sheep theme of my previous pottery painting trips....

 However, not completely... Still some sheep and still some plagiarism... sort of ;) I'd say it falls under "fair usage". I also got everyone to sign the back of my plate just to make it that little bit more special :)

 And of course I can't end this blog without introducing you to my parents. Here you have my mum and dad. Note how my mum has part of my sister's pudding in her left hand and is attacking my dad's with a spoon in her right hand. Maybe someday my mum will get her own pudding rather than nicking everyone else's!!

Live long and keep blogging =]

Whale watching

I'm currently sitting in the gallery above the mammal room in the natural history museum that famously contains the blue whale. There are five massive whale skeletons hanging in front of me and it really makes you realise just how small we are. A single jaw bone is longer than I am tall and its backbone is easily thicker than my leg. It's amazing to think that these creatures are swimming about in the oceans.

Even after a morning of filling in a worksheet for my evolution module, I can't help but see God's amazing creation in the creatures all around me. I can't help but ask how could any of this come about by chance? The creatures are too beautiful and too precisely designed for birds to have come from dinosaurs or mammals to have come from lizards. As I look at the bones of the whales in front of me, how could this gigantic creature come from a microscopic, boneless organism? The world I see just doesn't fit with the history I'm taught in lectures.

I know many don't agree; many will say I'm the crazy one for saying evolution didn't happen but I've tried seeing it from their view and it doesn't fit, so maybe they should try see it from mine?

Live long and keep posting =]

Fort Paradox Returns!!

Yesterday, Fort Paradox, a cross continuity web comic run by Matt, Tim and Sarah, for which I am occasionally allowed to draw, started up again in all its confusingly wonderful glory.

The first post back is actually one of the "Behind the Scenes" posts that have been going up on Tuesdays and this particular one returns with a plan of part of the Fort.

This caught my eye as there is one bit of concept art missing from the post. Yup, and the reason is that it was drawn by Matt on the back of the script for an episode I was in the process of drawing back at Roothill 2011. I actually have the simple (and slightly scruffy...) pen drawing stuck up on my wall at uni and I thought I'd share it with you in the light of the most recent post on Fort Paradox. Admittedly, it looks like a hand-drawn version of on of the diagrams, nevertheless, here it is:

I hope, if you don't already read Fort Paradox, this will wet your appetite and encourage you to head over to www.fortparadox.blogspot.com and catch up on the back story before the webcomic begins reposting actual episodes.

Live long and keep posting =]

Cello Wars!!

I don't want to finish First 12 for '12 and then just disappear again so I'm going to try keep up the blogging. Whether It's something fairly brief or a whole long rant, I don't want to disappear for three months again. Yeah, sorry about that...

So I thought I'd post the video I mentioned in a comment on one of Sam's blogs. It's basically an epic mix between a Cello duet and Star Wars. Oh, and who doesn't want to see Darth Vader playing an accordion??




Live long and keep posting =]

Back to the Past

So, for the last however long it's been since I posted, I've be reminiscing on YouTube. I'm not quite sure which video I started with but I've been watching a load of programs I used to watch as a child. I'm sure these old educational programs that got me hooked are half the reason I love science and learning so much.

Oh, there are so many programs I used to love as a kid and every single one of them was educational in some way. What is sort of odd is the fact that as a preschooler, I vividly remember thinking the Teletubbies was boring however all these schools programs kept me captivated.

According to my Mum, I used to love watching Sesame Street. However, unlike some of the other programs I watched, I can't really remember much about it despite Sesame Street being one of the most iconic programs of the 90s. However, there was this one episode where I remember one of the characters (I wish I could remember which) was dividing up a shoelace sweet between him and another character however every cut made the half a little too short and this kept going until he had eaten all the cut off bits and there was so little left he finished up the whole thing! For a while I really wanted this to be the way to share up food! I also used to love Big Bird. I mentioned Big Bird in a joke the other day and my sister totally didn't get it. It seems she didn't watch as much Sesame Street as I did. Oh the difference 5 years can make.

There was another show which I love for three reasons: the cats, the theme song, and the dopey male character who was after the cats half the time. I found an episode on YouTube as well!! I used to love watching Cats Eyes. It followed a fairly similar format to Come Outside (which more people seem to have heard of and I think there are still early morning reruns) if I remember correctly and re-watching half an episode now, I'd forgotten how much I loved the cats' accents! Particularly the ginger one... yup, even when I was still in single figures, I still loved accents.

However, I think the program that sparked my love of maths was Megamaths. I almost thought I had imagined this program or it was part of a different program however I came across this rather shakey video and I think I even remember this exact episode.I used to love how the "Royal" cards were so bad at maths but the number cards were so good and I always wanted to be one of the kids playing those maths-y games. Oh the days before everything had to be animated. I also used to love the guy at the very beginning and in the games. The joker I believe? I'd love to know who he was played by because I'm sure I recognise him from something else... Then again, I may be wrong... Oh! and the funny hand puppet gargoyle things! Ah, I really enjoyed this show.

Oh, and Hotch Potch House. The cutest program from my childhood. Woolie had a fantastic hat and Nana had wonderful hair and I wouldn't be surprised if the wonderful collage house at the beginning had a hand in my obsession with keeping and sticking together lots of loo rolls and bits of cardboard. I also distinctly remember learning "The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hooray, the sun has got his hat on and I'm coming out to play" from Hotch Potch House. Ah, and the "I'm a Clown" songs from this episode. I'm sure I remember that! There seems to be a lot more Hotch Potch House videos up on YouTube than a lot of my other favourites so I could easily trawl through them for a lot longer.... Oh! I'd forgotten about the singing vegetables!! The lone onion in sunglasses... and all the different numbers of vegetables for each of the numbers.

The Magic Roundabout I remember as a child didn't have Doogle. My magic roundabout was one of the stops on the Playbus. I so badly wanted to be on Playdays when I was younger I even remember having a dream about being in the big blue bus and being on the show but alas, that dream never came true. However, the song from the roundabout stop has stuck in my head even until today. Although I had forgotten how much longer the song was beyond this "chorus" bit.

"Roll up and Ride on Rosie,

the magical, musical, merry go round"

Ah, Space Ark. I have to admit, not one of my favourites but I still used to love watching it. Luka is so sweet and always gets send down to earth to investigate! "On my way". Also, at the beginning in the title bit, I'm sure it looks like a toclafane. Russel T. Davies, I'm onto you!

Another program I'd practically forgotten about is Fourways Farm. In my head, the book Animal Farm is very much like this and I think that's part of the reason I don't want to read the book. I don't want to ruin my little, rather naive picture of the book in my head. Although those rats were really creepy.

So in conclusion... I miss childhood TV... I guess, in part, that's why I like the new My Little Pony, Friendship Is Magic. Yup, I'm part of 'that group'. A lot of the new things on TV for kids these days, as far as I'm aware, just aren't quite the same. Ruining Postman Pat, making too many things animated, oh how I miss the simplicity of my childhood TV....

Live long and keep posting =]

STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 12 down.... I may have scraped an early morning victory....

Latest film/TV watched: Fourways Farm... ahh, the memories...

Latest music listened to: Fourways Farm theme tune :)

Latest edible item eaten/drunk: A glass of milk

Predominant colour of current clothing: Grey mainly with bits of blue. Yup, I have exciting pyjamas...

Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger, YouTube - Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes

Competitive Streak

I'm competitive. Really competitive. I won't go down without a fight and I have to admit I'm not always the best of losers. I mean, I'm a lot better than I was at 7 but then I have learnt that it's not considered polite to start crying and screaming if someone beats you in a game. Sorry about that Mum and Dad :/

I remember in year 2 when my competitiveness stretched to the world of work. We used to have these maths work books that we would go through and as you got further through, the ticks on the back indicating which questions you had done would fill up and once all the boxes were filled, we could go on to the next workbook. I think these workbooks started earlier than year 2 but it was year two when the competitiveness really kicked in. Me and at least one other girl were noticeably further through the workbook series than the rest of our class and, at least from my perspective, it became a battle to see who could finish the workbooks first. As the year drew to a close, I came closer and closer to the very last available workbook and by no means was I going to let her overtake. I can't remember who finished first but I do remember that ridiculously strong desire to be first.

I think sports is the one exception to my competitiveness. Probably because 1. I find it so dull and 2. I suck at sport. With sport I quite often went to the opposite extreme and still do occasionally. I know I'm rubbish so I would barely try at all, do the bare minimum, and scrape through. I wouldn't want to try really hard and only come second so why try at all?

I'd like to think that I've grown out of this; or at least grown out of it enough. I no longer avoid doing something because I think I'll be rubbish, I generally at least have a go and I'm much more prepared to put in effort without the knowledge that there is a chance of being first. Sure, if there's a chance of being first, I'm going to strive for it but what harm has that ever done anyone? It encourages people to keep going. However, I think, in some cases, knowing where you rank isn't at all helpful. It puts off those who know they have no chance and can lead to those with a chance fighting for first. Sure, it can help some strive to be their best but their best doesn't always correlate with someone else's best.

I think what I'm trying to say is, I feel a bit bad blogging loads while my competitors are all sleeping. I want to just leave the last post and see what happens but the competitive part of me wants me to keep going, keep blogging and not let anyone else win. Maybe I'll blog once more before I sleep, maybe I won't. I mean, I'll quite happily stay awake for another hour knowing me and I haven't got anything in particular to get up for in the morning. I suppose, if I am going to do a last blog, I'll have to make it count, make it worth it, and make it long. Heck, I'm not going to cheat with some short waffle of a couple of lines that anyone could cobble together. If I win I want to win in style.

So now to see if inspiration or sleep comes first...

Live long and keep posting =]

STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 11 down, 1 to go

Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance

Latest film/TV watched: How I Met Your Mother

Latest music listened to: Hey Beautiful by The Solids which is apparently the How I Met Your Mother's full theme song

Latest edible item eaten/drunk: A glass of milk

Predominant colour of current clothing: Grey mainly with bits of blue. Yup, I have exciting pyjamas...

Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger, YouTube - Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes

The downside of education

I'm all for education. It's great to learn more, to discover more about the world, to ask questions and keep on searching rather than just sitting there and not being bothered. There's so much out there to learn and the more you know the more you know you don't know and so you keep heading forwards, searching for more information but there are some downsides to education. Namely the spoiling of songs.

Song 1: The Fireman Sam theme tune

When I was younger, I used to think the line went "driving down the sleazy street". Being preschool age and unaware of what sleazy meant I was totally happy with this for a while. It was just a 'happy' word in my mind and it wasn't until well after I started school that I learnt the true meaning of sleazy and that the line was actually "driving down the snoozy street". In my opinion, this has spoilt the whole theme. Learning that I was wrong, that what I sung every time I sang the theme tune was in fact horribly inaccurate made the magic of fireman same dissipate a little more than I'd like. Education spoilt it.

Song 2: The Tots TV theme tune

I used to love Tots TV. I think a lot of people my age did when they were younger and I was always fascinated by Tilly. I didn't realise she was French and just thought she was talking some sort of wonderful made up language so of course I totally didn't get what she meant by "Je suis un Tot" in the theme tune. However, with secondary school, that changed. I started French lessons and I learnt that "Je suis un" means "I am a". This has shattered the magic of Tots TV. The theme tune now goes "I'm a Tot, I'm a Tot, Tilly, Tom and Tiny" in my head and that's before I even get onto the whole magical bag bit. However, Tots TV wasn't the only thing learning French ruined.

Song 3: Les Poissons from The Little Mermaid

The whole song was so much more magical when I didn't know what the French bit meant. The whole song sounds so much nicer (if a little more crazy) when it's totally in a French accent with actual French thrown in but now I can't help but here "The fish, the fish, how I love the fish" in a rather posh English accent followed by an evil laugh even though that isn't even the next line of the song. Ah, French. If only I knew enough to be useful and not just enough to destroy songs...

Song 4: Vertigo, U2

Again, a song ruined from the outset by learning a language. I can't even get through the first line without Spanish lessons spoiling the lyrics and giving the impression that U2 can't count. Spanish lessons taught me that "Uno, dos, tres, catorse" is in fact "one, two, three, fourteen" instead of the logical "one, two, three, four". I don't think "because it sounds better" is any logical reason to take advantage of the majority not being able to understand and throw away all mathematical laws of counting. 4 comes after 3: it always has done and always will.

Song 5: Livin' La vida Loca

Once again, Spanish lessons changed a song from "cool Latin-y song you can do on dance mat" to another one of those songs that I can now only hear as the translation in a posh English life; and believe it or not, "Living the crazy life" just doesn't quite have the same ring to it. By the same argument you could say "Viva la Vida" has been spoiled however as that translates roughly as "Live the Life" it sounds grand enough in English that it hasn't really spoilt it and it's not like the actual song has them singing Spanish in it anyway. It is only the title after all.

Song 6: The Big Bang Theory Theme

So, I already knew that I disagree with the whole principle of the theme song. Life didn't start with "a big bang" unless there happened to be a loud noise like a bang when God proclaimed "Let there be light" and anyway, that isn't the sort of bang they're on about. However, the bit that made it worse was the learning of the meaning of the word "autotroph". An autotroph is an organism that is able to produce it's own food from inorganic substances with photoautotrophs such as plants and algae being the most well known ones. However, "autotrophs began to drool" just sounds even more rediculous knowing that. Surely from an evolution perspective, the idea of drooling plants or algae is just a little bit crazy....

I'm sure there are a couple of songs that I've forgotten however I'll leave the list for now.

Live long and keep posting =]

STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 10 down, 2 to go

Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance

Latest film/TV watched: The Big Bang Theory

Latest music listened to: Mitch Benn - Les Poissons from the Little Mermaid

Latest edible item eaten/drunk: A glass of milk

Predominant colour of current clothing: Grey mainly with bits of blue. Yup, I have exciting pyjamas...

Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger, 4oD -  Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes

Try before you buy

I was just fiddling about on Spotify (Josh's account is logged in or I wouldn't have it at all) and I was thinking about something someone mentioned in a vlog a while back. Most things in life you get to try before you buy. Cars you get to take for a test run, houses you get to look around and imagine your stuff in, clothes you get to try on, with YouTube and Spotify you get to listen to music before you decide on properly buying it, even if it hasn't been played on the radio, TV shows you watch before you decide to get the box set (Primeval series 5 is the exception but that's a different story) and laptops, phones, tablets, there is a whole array of test devices out in shops for you to play with before you even consider whether you need one.

However, with films, that's not the case. Sure, you get the trailer and reviews but you buy the theatre ticket before you've even seen the adverts at the beginning or collected your choice of confectionery. You could argue you're paying for the experience but if I'm honest, sitting in a darkened room at home even just in front of my laptop is just as good. I don't have to leave the house (well, except to obtain the film unless it's on iPlayer or something) and I don't have kids whispering, popcorn under my feet where the cleaners have failed, the occasional late comer or that awkwardly tall guy in front of me. The film is what you see on the screen and unlike music or TV, you don't get to try before you buy.

I guess that's partly why I rarely go to the cinema. I either have to be watching an adaptation of a book, have many many positive reviews, or have my ticket being paid for me. It also explains why I don't tend to buy a DVD unless it costs less than a cinema ticket or I've already seen it in the cinema so I know it's good and that I will want to see it again (Narnia being an example here although as my sister also likes them I've been unable to take them to university.)

Saying this, there are actually a few films I'm looking forward to seeing. Then again, any number above 1 is quite a few when it comes to films I actively want to see with me. Firstly, The Hunger Games. I'm actually quite excited about this because the trailer looks awesome and I loved the books. Admittedly, it being an adaptation means it's open for me to shout at the screen going "THAT WASN'T IN THE BOOK!" or "[insert character here] DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THAT!" or even "THAT'S NOT HOW THE QUOTE GOES!" but I actually find I rather perversely enjoy doing that...

The other film I'm looking forward to is a new Star Trek film. I loved the most recent film adaptation and actually bought it on DVD and have watched it multiples times and I enjoyed watching one of the older films too (although I can remember less than I'd like to about it: Josh, we need to re-watch it). I have no idea when it's meant to be out but I do know three things about the new film. 1 - Benedict Cumberbatch is in it as a bad guy; 2 - The guy who played Mickey in Doctor Who is in it; 3 - The same actors are coming back to play the roles of Spock and Kirk. Those two things plus the fact that it's Star Trek means it's probably going to be great although I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch....

Live long and keep posting =]

STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 9 down, 3 to go

Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance

Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot

Latest music listened to: Mitch Benn - Chambers of the Heart

Latest edible item eaten/drunk: A glass of milk

Predominant colour of current clothing: Grey mainly with bits of blue. Yup, I have exciting pyjamas...

Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger - Spotify, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes

Video Editing

One thing that I got for Christmas that I've been wanting for a while is video editing software. When "Lessthanthreenerds" was a thing, I was using a trial version of Sony Vegas and loved it and then my trial period ran out and I decided that I hated Windows Live Movie Maker. With a passion. So for a while I've been wanting a replacement and lo and behold, for Christmas Josh got me Sony Vegas. :)

So, since Christmas, I've been wanting something to edit, something to test it out on and then today, when I was going through my pictures, I remembered I'd filmed a little bit of the question and answer session at Westfields with the Doctor Who cast. So there was me, footage and software, so I thought, why not? Why shouldn't I test out the new software with this footage?

Now I remember why.... The footage is VERY shakey, has rubbish colour, doesn't cover much of the Q&A (I somehow managed to film all the bits where they were talking about River Song and NOTHING ELSE) and I don't really have much of a clue how to use Vegas. I mean, it was ages ago I used it for the lessthanthreenerds stuff.

So, in short it was a flop. A rather big flop; and my conclusion is:

1) I need lessons
2) I need a better camera
3) I need to shake less when filming stuff...
4) I need to appreciate that when they say it's going on youtube, it's going on youtube...
5) I need more lessthanthreenerds stuff to practice on or something similar

However, I'll put my poorly edited video here. You can criticize it, give me tips, tell me to leave the editing to Matt all you want.

STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 8 down, 4 to go

Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance

Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot

Latest music listened to: The Doctor Who Theme

Latest edible item eaten/drunk: dinner - concluded with a chocolate biscuit...

Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual

Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger, YouTube x2 -  Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, 

Fedne

One thing I've noticed with all this excessive blogging and consequently excessive comment writing, is that those little "I am human" verification words are ridiculous. I mean utterly bonkers. I understand why they're there (however annoying they are) and I get that making them real words might mean word recognising software can understand it or something but blogger seems to have this weird half-way place between "random mix of consonants and numbers" and "real words" where all the letter combinations have enough vowels to be pronounceable but not at all logical.

For example: 'fedne' Most definitely not a word. (Wait, I feel like I should officially check.. *types it into google* well... results but officially not a real word.) Most verifications would give you F3dN7gY or something equally unpleasant on the eyes but blogger, well, every now and then, their choice of verification word amuses me...

It's like a geek but less intelligent and more gawking. Well, an ex gawking geek...

It's how a northerner might say 'Gracie'

First word this reminds me of? Intron. Yup, say hi to the science geek.

This should be the new rofl. Or something...

A kind inteliegent fib?

I feel like this is actually a real foreign word....

Maybe this is what I'd call my version of Facebook if I ever made one... Or say the new version of Facebook was called Sparkle or something then this is what you call it when your friend uses and abuses your loggin

This one is just fun to say...

I feel like this should become a word. Not quite sure what for but either something cuddle related or to do with handles....

Oh, and yes I did just spend an age refreshing a comment.... But seriously, the number of times I've been amused by one of these and laughed and then looked around going "no one is around and not even the internet will understand..." So I've decided to just throw it at you anyway...

Live long and keep posting =]

 STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 7 down, 5 to go

Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance

Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot

Latest music listened to: The Sound of Drums - Chameleon Circuit

Latest edible item eaten/drunk: dinner - concluded with a chocolate biscuit...

Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual

Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger - Windows Media Player, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, Steam, Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11.0, Skype

The Doctor, The Witch and the... wait...

So, for the life of me I can't remember the proper title of the Doctor Who Christmas special without looking it up but regardless, I thought it was great. Full of Christmassyness, aliens, snow and the right sad/happy balance for Christmas. It was nice. Which is good for Christmas.

I think what I liked most about the episode was the lack of "I AM FAMOUS" when it came to choosing the guest actors. Even if it did contain Bill Bailey, Alexander Armstrong and 'the mother from outnumbered' who I keep forgetting the name of. It felt more like they were chosen for their acting abilities rather than the novelty of having them on there *cough Kylie Minogue* and it was refreshing. I don't think we've properly had that since the first Christmas Special. (The End of Time part 1 doesn't count in my opinion because that doesn't really feel much like a Christmas episode, it is very much a 'goodbye 10' episode... or the first part of a the finale of a very short but stretched out series... anyway...)

I think this Christmas special was possibly one of my favourite. The Christmas Invasion still remains my favourite, and last year had a fantastic plot but this year felt more homely, more Christmas-y. Then again, I'm still not sure where it stands compared to my previous choice of second favourite Christmas special: The Runaway Bride.

I don't want to be all spoiler-y and I think I'd have to re-watch the episode for a better review however I do have a few questions for next year:

1- Are we going to continue with the theme of using book titles as episode titles?
2- Is the lack of emphasis on famous actors going to be kept up?
3- Will any kids in next year's special be more easily scared?!

Live long and keep posting =]


 STATS
"First 12 for '12" Status: 6 down, 6 to go
Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance
Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot
Latest music listened to: Peeking through the window - Skyway Flyer
Latest edible item eaten/drunk: dinner - concluded with a chocolate biscuit...
Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual
Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger - Windows Media Player, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, Steam

Reverting back to Childhood

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to the Doctor Who Experience for the 2nd time just before Christmas. After utilizing Rosanna's large uni room for a nerdy sleepover (complete with Doctor Who monopoly until goodness knows what time in the morning), we went to the Doctor Who Experience.

If I'm honest, I wouldn't have cared if they hadn't changed a thing. It was just so great to be able to look at everything again, look at the walk through experience bit of it from a slightly different angle and actually notice where The Face of Boe was this time... However, the fact that they had updated it a bit too was fantastic. However I don't remember there being any Silence...

I think half of the fun was being able to share this experience with one of my friends who hadn't been round before. Getting to tell her to "wait for it" during the moment before stepping through the crack in the screen into the experience and just getting all excited all over again by the fact that she was seeing it all with fresh eyes.

Furthermore, those odd bits which I'm sure were there before but I just didn't notice... like in the Dalek bit of the experience, when we were "being scanned" they actually had a live image of us come up on the screen amongst the other things that were obviously there every time. Oh and I got scared by the 3D section all over again... There was a little boy who came out absolutely petrified afterwards (he can't have been much more than 5 or 6) and I felt like telling him "don't worry, I was scared and I've seen it all before!"

You know, I should really have a look at all the photos I took... Well, I guess that's what I'll be doing after this blog/dinner!

Edit: photo time!

Live long and keep posting =]

      STATS
"First 12 for '12" Status: 5 down,7 to go
Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance
Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot
Latest music listened to: You're All that I Have - Snow Patrol
Latest edible item eaten/drunk: still that ice-cream...
Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual
Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger - Windows Media Player, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, Steam

I still live in London. London is still cool.

So, living in London, I've been trying to make the most of it. Get to as many things as possible, experience the fantastic opportunities London provides (excluding every single club and drunken night out) and just generally having a good time. I may have been slacking in keeping my blog up to date with all the cool things I've been doing but I have been keeping my scrapbook up to date. Keeping tickets, train tickets, sticking in photos, obtaining as many signatures as possible, you know, the normal things...

As you know, one of the first things I did when I arrived in London was visit the Globe Theatre and meet Arthur Darvil however I've done much more since then and here are a few that I have in picture form...

Early on in the term, I went to a book signing with Josh and met the wonderful but utterly mad Maureen Johnson and listened to her talk about her book "The Name of the Star". It was great to actually meet this prolific twitterer and I highly recommend her book. It may have been because of her book that I decided to take my Dad on a Jack the Ripper tour for his birthday in November without getting bored at all. Maybe a little grossed out and reminded of just how close to Jack the Ripper's hunting grounds my uni accommodation is but we had a fantastic guide.

 I've also been going to a number of radio recordings. The Now Show and Mark Watson's Live Address to the Nation to be specific but I would have been to more if I'd had the time or the tickets. I also went to a comedy club thing near Oxford Circus where the Now Show's Mitch Benn was taking part in the musical comedy shenanigans and hopefully the lack of evening lectures next term (I think... I hope..) Will mean there will be fewer clashes and I can go to more with Rosanna, starting with January!

Talking of Rosanna, when she came to my end of London, we had a rather Who-filled day. This included visiting the Who Shop (the same place where the Chameleon Circuit signing was held in the summer) and spending way too much time and money there and still wanting to buy more, eating fish fingers and custard (see, I'm totally doing a good job of feeding myself at university...) and playing an epic game of Doctor Who monopoly. Somehow Josh got both the TARDIS and Galifrey and started building on them to bankrupt us all, well, at least Rosanna who landed on both in quick succession.

Talking of Doctor Who, a mere few days after the day of Whovianness with Rosanna, I went to Westfields for something a hundredfold more awesome than shopping: a Doctor Who signing and Q&A session. I've been wanted to mention this for a while actually but the fact that I got Josh a signed series 6 for Christmas due to this event, I've been keeping it a bit hush.
However... look who I met! Even if ever so briefly and the silly body guards made it impossible for me to actually have a photo with them... Also, I met a fellow Nerdfighter and Chameleon Circuit fan there. Then again, I couldn't miss him considering he was wearing his Chameleon Circuit t-shirt. Oh how I love Nerdfighteria.

 So, I'm loving London, as you can tell, and, as I think there is enough Who-ness to last you a while, I think I'll save my return to the Doctor Who Experience and the Doctor Who Christmas special for another post.

Live long and keep posting =]


 STATS

"First 12 for '12" Status: 4 down, 8 to go
Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance
Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot
Latest music listened to: Forever Yours (Live Piano Version) Alex Day
Latest edible item eaten/drunk: still that ice-cream...
Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual
Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger - Windows Media Player, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, Steam

Birthday Bounce

It has got to the time of year where I start getting excited about my birthday. Christmas and New Year have been and gone and it is officially less that three weeks until my birthday. That day dedicated just to me (and however many other people dare to have their birthday on the same day) and I get to demand to be given things.

However, this year I can't really think of anything in particular I want. It's either way too expensive to legitimately ask one person to buy it for me (unless someone really does want to buy me a nice android tablet?), too big physically for me to get it back to university on the train (anyone want to help me get a minifridge on the tube along with all my usual luggage for a weekend home?) or someone has already "bagsied" getting that for me for my birthday (The Fault in Our Stars by John Green). Nevertheless, I think the one thing I do want for my birthday that is potentially achievable you cannot put a price on - seeing my friends.

Ok, so considering how this year people are even more scattered and it's a bit too close to my birthday to be organising anything large scale, I doubt last year will be topped however seeing my friends is probably one of the best birthday presents I could have considering so many of them are so far away when I'm at university. I don't care if we're sitting in a field shivering from the cold (OK, maybe I do) but it is always the simplest pleasures that please me the most.

So, I better get organising hadn't I?

Live long and keep posting =]


 STATS
"First 12 for '12" Status: 3 down, 9 to go
Latest book read: Bible/Inheritance
Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot
Latest music listened to: Hang on to You - Delerious
Latest edible item eaten/drunk: still that ice-cream...
Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual
Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, blogger - Windows Media Player, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, Steam

Essaytastic

So, while I've been busy regretting leaving an essay to the last minute, my fellow "First 12 for '12" competitors have been streaming ahead, making me panic (and adding to the process by distracting me) however, no fear, my essay is completed and sent off and I am back in the running! (Well, I will be soon I'd like to think...)

So why did I leave my essay until the last minute? Because it had the dullest title in history. After "Write a 30000 word essay on the process of watching paint dry" I think "Using a range of different examples explain the importance of structure in relation to function in biology" is in the running for second most boring essay title. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised with some of the things I discovered in my trawling of Creation Ministries and online databases for inspiration and credible references.

One of the most interesting articles I actually came across was on the Creation website. (I have to admit I didn't go much further than reading the abstracts on most of the journal articles I looked at. Seriously thank goodness for abstracts.) This article was on the chemical composition of tears. Wait! Wait! I know I can hear some of your brains audibly clicking off with the mouse hovered over the back button but this article is really interesting. It's basically saying that there is truth about the whole "crying makes it all better" theory.

It turns out that crying when your stressed actually gets rid of the lot of the toxins that build up in your body when you're stress along with molecules involved in pain. Yup, crying really does make you feel better. In fact, it was discovered that holding in tears actually makes us more stressed!

Furthermore, there is a real, scientific reason why girls cry more than guys. Yup, girls have higher levels of those toxin-y things in their body in the first place so of course girls will have to excrete these chemicals more frequently.

Yup, who said science was boring? *glares at person trying to raise their hand at the back*

"Fun science, fun science, fun science is the science of fun!"

Live long and post often =]


 STATS
"First 12 for '12" Status: 2 down, 1 to go
Latest book read: The Bible/Inheritance
Latest film/TV watched: Young James Herriot
Latest music listened to: Please Just Takie These Photos From My Hand - Snow Patrol
Latest edible item eaten/drunk: Cadbury Button Ice Cream. Yup.
Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual
Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, Blogger, the article mentioned above - Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, Steam Chat, Windows media player

Challenge Accepted (and a grovelling apology)

*cough* erm, hi? Do you remember me? I won't be offended if you don't, three months is a long time in the world of the Internet. I'm Hannah. I used to frequent this blog on a regular basis and I though I'd pop back in. Well, when I say that I really mean I've been pushed back in, poked back into blogging by a challenge from the one and only Colclough.

I'm sorry. Really sorry. I kept meaning to blog. Genuinely and honestly. I kept saying to myself "you should blog, Hannah" and I even made wallpapers for my laptop to remind me but, uh, it didn't really work... evidently... I mean, I've been busy! With university, reading week, Doctor Who experience (again), Christmas, New Year, TV... YouTube... games.... Ok, ok, so I would have plenty of time but... *trails off*

So, new year, new start. Remember First 11 of '11? Well, Matt has challenged me (and anyone else who wants to join in) to 'First 12 of '12'. An extra year, an extra post requirement, and I've been forced to pull myself together and put myself in gear for a revived set of posting.

So, I should have a lot to talk about. I mean, I haven't posted anything on here for a while...

....

I'm going to have to think of something quick for tomorrow....

Live long and post often =]

            STATS
"First 12 for '12" Status: 1 down, 11 to go
Latest book read: It must have been Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I haven't read in a while :/
Latest film/TV watched: Some Armstrong and Miller thing on 4oD yesterday I think...
Latest music listened to: The Best Day by Taylor Swift as part of a video my aunt posted that my cousin made for her for Christmas. So sweet! :)
Latest edible item eaten/drunk: A chocolate... I think we may see a theme reappearing here...
Predominant colour of current clothing: Blue. As usual
Programs and web pages currently open: Chrome - HanNav v1.0, Facebook and the Whovians of Highworth Origins page, A White Horizon, Numb3r5's Blog, Tim's blog of Interesting Stuff (Yes, I know it's not got any posts atm...) 3xYoutube pages, YourPants (I think I'm not going to explain why I'm currently looking at YourPants and just revel in the childish joy it gives), 5xCreation Ministry pages, Web of Knowledge (a journal searching database), a journal article about the irreducible complexity of structure related to functions in biology, google, and a blog accessed from google that I was hoping would give me some help for this essay that I'm obviously procrastinating from writing  - PowerPoint, Word, Windows Live Mail, Sticky Notes, and I think that is actually it! Phew!