THIS PAST WEEK #15 WHO YOU GUNNA CALL?

I’ve kicked off my Halloween week in the right way, on Sunday evening I went to a showing of Ghostbusters at a local drive in. Seeing Ghostbusters at a drive in Movie Park was a lot of fun, for someone who preaches her love for cinema I will ashamedly admit that I hadn’t previously seen the spirit fighting classic. I am so excited for Halloween this year; I have had my costume planned for weeks now. I just hope that all my amazon and eBay orders that make up the costume will come on time. I’ll save the rest of Halloween talk for Sunday.

Last week I talked about how I had tried to be productive and failed miserably due to food poisoning. This week I have tried so hard to be productive, spending hours in the library to get through that to do list. Is there anything more satisfying than swiping out a point on a to-do list? Even if my lists mainly consist of ‘wash clothes’ and ‘write blog post’, still feels good. (I’ll apologise now for this post coming three days late, I have no excuse.) Recently I’ve felt like my life has been so busy and the weeks are flying by at an alarming rate. With assignment deadlines looming, searching for placements and work experience and actual fun stuff on top of that I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t worried that second year would get on top of me. I’m determined to not let that happen though, even if it means solid 8 hour stretches in the library. 

Being responsible has hit me with a brute force this past week, one of the jobs on that fateful to-do list was to email Sheffield council about wheelie bins. I employed my best PR and writing skills to craft a ‘strongly worded’ email about a lack of bin space, an issue that is a particular sore point in my house of nine people. My adult life apparently contains a lot of deliberating what can be recycled and the strict rules of waste collection. 

This gave me an idea for a post on searching for a student house that I thought might be helpful for any first year students reading who will beginning their search soon. I have been involved in a student house search twice in my life, I have only lived in one (my current home) but my search was far from perfect. It’s a little bit of a different post, straying from the film related, but I am going to try and write down my thoughts on the whole process. Look out for a post soon.

I hope you’re having a lovely week!

4 HORROR FLICKS TO PUT A FRIGHT IN TO HALLOWEEN

Horror is most definitely not my genre. This isn’t even because I’m easily scared but because horror films rarely interest me. I enjoy a story of the paranormal that is well executed and well-acted but unfortunately I rarely see horror films that I think meet these criteria. Once a horror film descends in to constant gore or slasher, my interest disappears as fast as the fake blood budget.

Since it is almost Halloween (I’m actually a big fan of Halloween) I thought I would look back at some horrors that I’ve seen and would honestly recommend to you. If you’re too old for trick or treating and costume club nights aren’t quite your thing, grab some Halloween candy and your best friends to celebrate this hallows eve with a scary film. 

Please feel free to leave other film recommendations below. 

Psycho (1960)

Is there anything more iconic than that shower scene? Alfred Hitchcock’s classic will always make an appearance around this time of year. Take a trip to the eerily atmospheric Bates Motel to revisit the ill-fated Marion Crane and the mad Norman Bates.

‘A boy’s best friend is his mother…’

 

Oculus (2013)

The unique plot of Oculus is what makes it memorable. It’s a fresh take on the paranormal genre starring Karen Gillan and Brendan Thwaites. It follows Kaylie Russel as she tries to prove her brothers innocence by proving the power of a supernatural phenomenon.  It’s smart, trippy and deserving of some Halloween love.

The Conjuring (2013)

The conjuring is truly scary. Bearing the line that immediately amplifies the fear factor of any horror “based on true events”. It’s a brilliant meet-in the- middle of classic horror and modern paranormal cinema.

Zombieland (2013)

Ok ok, so Zombieland isn’t strictly a horror… But this horror comedy hybrid is still Halloween appropriate. Jesse Eisenberg is hilariously critiquing what we love to hate in the zombie genre, Woody Harrelson is looking for the last Twinkie and there is one the best zombie cameos you could ask for. Zombieland is the perfect Halloween viewing for those who prefer to leave the scares outside. 

THIS PAST WEEK #14 THE PRETTIEST VILLAGE IN ENGLAND

My Mam always says that bad things happen in threes. I think that unfortunate rule of three has struck me this week. On Monday I dropped my iPhone 6 on the floor at the end of a lecture and the screen broke. I will admit that I am quite clumsy and its little wonder it hasn’t happened earlier but having a large crack in the right hand corner of my screen and the expense that follows is not a great start to the week.   

Wednesday began with a perfectly innocent plan to make macaroni and cheese for dinner. Unfortunately, after cooking at lunchtime and then not refrigerating before reheating to have again at dinner time I got food poisoning and spent Wednesday night hanging over my bedroom sink (yes, sink). Now the idea of what was once one of my favourite foods turns my stomach. Since moving back to university, a little over four weeks ago, I have had tonsillitis, a cold and now food poisoning. Throw in a few hangovers and nights of poor sleep and you’ll understand why I’m feeling so happy to be fully healthy again. I’ve mentioned how hard it is being away from home when you’re feeling ill, either in a student house or halls of residence. There is not much worse than feeling very poorly while listening to eight healthy people just outside your door. I had planned to have such a productive week and it is so frustrating when something puts the brakes on that. Being ill on Thursday also meant that I had to miss a ‘crash course in creative writing’ at Hallam FM. I attended an hour long session on ‘Delivery Drive Time’ radio at Hallam FM on Tuesday which was really interesting. It was really annoying to miss the session on writing, as interesting as radio is creative writing sits much more with my career plan. C’est la vie.

Finally, on Friday my watch stopped and I need to replace the battery. Not exactly a disaster but for the sake of this silly rule, let’s hope that’s the third shall we?

This weekend I visited my sister and her boyfriend where they live in Warwick with my parents and our doggy.  It was a very nice weekend, perfectly relaxing and autumnal to recharge my batteries and see my family.

On Saturday we visited Bourton on the Water, the small village was once awarded the title of ‘prettiest village in England’ and is known as the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’. As promised it was extremely pretty. A very photogenic place, even with my limited photography skills, I hope you enjoy the photographs I’ve included in this post.   

 

Although the day was very cold so after a walk around the winding streets and in to many gift shops we retreated to a small café for tea and cake. I only wish that I’d been fully recovered from my food poisoning and could have enjoyed it more. When I utter the words ‘I don’t fancy tea’ you know there is something up. Like everyone I hate being ill and I’m impatient to get over it and get back to doing fun things. This often means that I push myself to do things before I am fully well, mostly doing more harm than good.  On Friday when my stomach was still raw, an incredibly rich sausage and mash with red wine jus is probably not the best idea. 

 

It's never too early for Christmas when your ornaments are this pretty...

A little gift from my Mam; my favourite A.A. Milne quote

As university work kicks in I have recently neglected my blog but I am keen to get organised and have many new posts planned, watch this space for a Halloween themed post coming next week.

I hope you’ve all had a great weekend!

RECENT WATCH: THE MARTIAN

Based on Andy Weir’s bestseller of the same name, ‘The Martian’ is a sci-fi adventure about a botanist stuck on Mars and the team of people trying to get him home. The Martian is set in the near future where NASA is on to its third successful Mars mission. Presumed dead, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind when his team aborts the mission during a storm. He awakes to find himself alone on Mars, needing to survive on a planet where nothing grows.

First it has to be said that Mark Watney is a great character, carrying the story, he needed an actor with a strong presence that Matt Damon definitely brings. Watney is very likeable and it’s just so enjoyable to witness his determination to survive. In a story that could so easily slip in to a morbid tale of barely cheating death, the dry humour and positive attitude of Watney keeps the tone warm and often inspiring. The Martian is a lot of fun but doesn’t forget the underlying death-at-any-minute threat to build up much needed tension. 

On earth, putting a focus on the media frenzy over an abandoned astronaut kept everything realistic. In a time where the media is often filled with death and destruction, it is so nice to witness (fictional or not) the world coming together for something positive. Kristen Wiig does a great job playing the Head of Media Relations for NASA during one of the hardest PR jobs ever.

Although often an intimate character study of our titular Martian, the ensemble cast pulls together some of the best acting talent from across the globe. The cast includes Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara and Sebastian Stan to name only a handful. With only about ten minutes of screen time together and the equivalent of instant messaging for communication, Ridley Scott still manages to develop a convincing relationship between Mark Watney and his fellow crew members. The idea that these people have spent years working together becomes truly believable. 

For a plot that literally spans across worlds, what I loved about The Martian is that the plot remains pure and simple, a quest to bring a man home. It’s this simplicity that works so well, keeping the focus on people in the most extreme of settings is the best way to keep science fiction engaging. Of course there is mind bending physics and chemistry that goes way above my head but this is explained without crossing the fine line in to patronising.

In the end The Martian is a glorious celebration of one man’s will to survive and the value of human life. It is easily one of the best films of the year.

THIS PAST WEEK #13 FREE TEA, HAPPY ME

Shout out to Lucy for coming up with the title for this week’s post. It’s a good’un.

Let’s get extremely British right here. I got a free cup of tea today and it was the best.  It may have required that I pretend to be part of the university open day (that I’m a second year student at) but it was so worth it. Going to the library on a Sunday morning isn’t so bad.

Tea anecdote included, I have had a splendid week. On Monday I went to a kick boxing class with a couple of my housemates. I have never been sporty and have never tried kick boxing or anything like it so I was very nervous when we walked in to the boxing gym and I felt completely out of place. The hour long class was absolutely knackering and it took me until Thursday for my legs to recover. For a good three days stairs were my worst enemy. It is such a good way to keep fit though and builds up upper body strength. I’m going to try the class a couple more times to see if I enjoy it more but maybe Zumba is more my forte?

I find exercise classes much better than going to a gym, it is too easy to pay for a gym membership and never utilise it. I made myself go at least twice a week in the spring but I will admit that, with nobody to push me, I would often stand on the cross trainer texting. My thumbs are in great shape.

Last night I went see The Wombats perform at Plug, a Sheffield night club. I’ve heard from a few people how good they are live and the gig was really good. They played a good mix of tracks from their new album ‘Glitterbug’ as well as the older crowd pleasers. I don’t go to many gigs since I don’t pay attention to tour announcements or ticket sales but last night was a lot of fun. 

Post library (and did I mention the free tea?) this afternoon I went out for lunch with some friends. What do you need to finish of a great week? Answer: a delicious Sunday roast. Being away from home makes me appreciate a Sunday roast more than I ever used to. We went to ‘Anchorage Bar’, an American East Coast style bar in Sheffield city centre. It was a lovely place to eat, comfort food at its best with reasonable prices and friendly staff. It was a Sunday treat that didn’t break my student budget.

I hope you have a fab week!