Thursday 18 September 2014

Best TV Show Openings

True Blood has not drawn its last breath in the television schedules and if you were a fan or not one thing that could be appreciated from its run is the truly fantastic opening credits, which stylistically were some of the best I have seen in recent memory and set up the dark undertones of the series. This got me thinking about other great TV openings and long I had come up with this list of favourites.

The Sopranos 



There is just something in the opening of The Soprano's that is just so perfect it is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. Firstly the theme song by Alabama 3 is fantastic, it encompasses the character of Tony Soprano so well ("one in a million cause you got that shotgun shine") then there is the his journey from the well known New York to the gritter New Jersey, a journey which represents his ties to the New York families as well as introducing us to some of the landmarks we come to know and love during the series and also in a way. His face covered in swirls of cigar smoke, this man is somebody and you want to find out who. Simple but oh so very effective.

True Blood


"I wanna do real bad things to you." Never has a song been so apt to the show it is introducing. Alan Ball's Southern Gothic drama introduced us to a world where vampires has come out of the coffin and into mainstream society, but it didn't mean they had to behave. The only hint of the supernatural element of the show in the titles is in the church sign which states 'God Hates Fangs', which the rest looks at the real underbelly of the South - who is to say one is not as bad as the other? The images of life and death and everything in-between are beautifully linked and the focus on the colour red speaks to the darker tones of the show.

Six Feet Under




Another Alan Ball show that this time focuses on those left behind after a loved one is gone (with no option to come back as a vampire!) The focus on the process of what happens after you have gone is off-set by an almost cheery theme song which isn't somber in the least, which fits so well with the show itself, although the focus is on death (after all the family run a funeral parlor and the opening scene is how that week's client met their end), there was also a focus on life which was offset with absurdest, subversive comedy. This is a title sequence most shows would be proud to call their own.

Dexter



I love the opening to Dexter, the music is almost cheery, catchy, but the actions of Dexter are dark and subversive just like his character. The opening credits really are just showing the morning ritual of the every man, wake-up, shave, breakfast etc. but each ritual just confirms the blood lust of the character, the drop of drop of blood while shaving, the almost blood orange in the juicer, the tightness of the laces while he ties up his shoes, they are all beautiful in their own way and just hint to the darkness that lies inside of Dexter.

The Simpsons


The theme, the chalkboard detention, Maggie on the conveyor belt, Homer and Marge driving, Lisa's Sax solo, Bart's skateboarding, the couch gag - everything in this opening works and the fact not much about it has changed in 25 years is testament to how brilliant it is.

The X-Files


This is a great example of how to simply and effectively do an opening title sequence. The spooky, supernatural music draws you in. There are flashes of odd occurrences, alien shapes, hints of government conspiracies and an introduction to our leads which is simply done via their FBI ID's. The titles inform us the view that the truth is out there, so we better watch and find out what it is.

Twin Peaks



Twin Peaks has to be one of the most deceptive openings of any show. The imagery is that of small town America, the industry that powers it, the beauty that lies within in, the population that fits nicely on the welcome sign, but that opening theme just hints of something off, although you can't quite put your finger on it, it is beautifully dark, subversive and Gothic in its own way and serves the show it introduces well.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air


If you are of a certain age like myself then you will be able to knock this lyrics out without any problem - but apart from being a really great catchy theme the opening of the Fresh Prince was really, really clever. For the loyal viewer it was a chance to rap along with Will Smith, which for anybody tuning in for the first time it gave a nice neat compact overview of the premise of the series. It is also widely funny.

True Detective




Make no bones about it, True Detective is a dark, dark show and the opening credits do not take away from that. The gritty, hazy image of Louisiana, the multi-projection over the main characters, the representation of sex and fire, all aided by Handsome Family's Far from Any Road does not in any way give you any sense of security. It perfectly offsets the main themes of the show and is one of the finest new credit sequences in recent years.

Desperate Housewives 




The springy Danny Elfman theme suits this comedy drama down to the ground. The opening credits of the artistic interpretations of women through time is fun and very to the point. It screams Americana but is just touch in cheek enough to get away with it.

The Outer Limits


"Do not attempt to adjust the picture." the intro to The Outer Limits is etched into my memory, you were about to be shown something you couldn't imagine, a story that was supernaturally charged, that came from the deepest, sometimes darkest part of your mind. Borrowing heavily form its older brother The Twilight Zone, the imagery and voice-over used was fantastically bizarre and the music had a great, not quite creepy but strong build-up. You wanted to see what was going to happen next and really from the opening you had absolutely no idea what you were letting yourself in for!

American Horror Story



These is something completely unsettling about this opening credits. They seem to encompass everything that could possible freak you out when watching a run of the mill horror movie and you expect something to jump out at you constantly. You just see glimpses of things that could be sinister but all these glimpses do is unnerve you. Add to that the creepy as anything music which stays with you well after the credits are done and you are already on tenterhooks by the time the episode properly starts.

The Wire


What a theme song this is, Way Down in the Hole by Tom Waites, it is just so perfect for this show about the rotten, dirty criminal underbelly of Baltimore and those who try their best to battle against it. The opening credits split between scenes of the good and the bad with shots of Baltimore Harbor to tie it together, it is a classy opening to a classy show.

Mad Men



The style, the colour, the whole entire James Bond feel of this opening sequence just fills my heart with joy. Throw into that the symbolism of the lack of control and the nod to the upcoming subsequent downfall if its leading character, Don Draper himself would be proud of this.

Game of Thrones



A stylish opening which shows that sometimes simplicity is the best option when you have a show that is widely complicated. The map of the world is stunning with the effects used to show the different clans are top notch and the theme music is spectacular with the Celtic beat acting like a call to arms.

Sex and the City



New York has never looked so good and as it is the fifth star of the series why shouldn't it. I love how the opening sequence of the show introduces us to our guide and narrator through the series, Carrie, by showing that not everything is going to go her way, after all she gets splashed by a bus which is advertising her column on relationships and sex - if ever there was a visual representation of what was to come in a series that's it right there.

And those that had just the greatest themes...

The Addams Family




The A-Team




Battlestar Galactica




Baywatch




Beverly Hills, 90210




The Brady Bunch




Buffy the Vampire Slayer




Cheers




Clarissa Explains It All





The Cosby Show






Dawson's Creek




Doctor Who




Friends




The Golden Girls



Hawaii Five-0




Highlander




Knight Rider 




Magnum P.I.




M*A*S*H



Miami Vice




Mission Impossible




Murder She Wrote




The Muppet Show




The Odd Couple

Party of Five




Sesame Street





Star Trek




Step by Step




The Twilight Zone




Wonder Woman



Wednesday 10 September 2014

Getting Married


So when I was reading back on my very first posts to this blog I mentioned that I was getting married. Well we can fast-forward slightly there because I am now heading towards my fifth year of wedding bliss so we might need to do a quick catch up!

Overall it was a fantastic day! We got married in May and the day itself was unseasonally sunny and warm which was an additional bonus and took away the headache of where photos could be taken should the heavens open! We got married in a small, old church near to where we lived in the time (small fact - the church itself was that of the original Pilgrims that set off to America) and had our reception at a riverside pub which was literally next door to our flat so easy journey home, although we were greeted with a round of applause and some whoops from a class of French students staying at the Youth Hostel across from where we lived.

As people do say the day itself is a bit of a blur, you have to organise so much before hand before you know it, it's over and your hopefully planning to get away on your Honeymoon (we went to Canada but I'll leave that for another post.) So how do you get to the day in the first place? Well there is plenty to do so here are a few handy tips and hints for anybody thinking about planning their big day.

Set a Date


This may sound like the most common sense thing in the world to do but after the excitement of getting engaged and letting everybody know the good news it can slip aside a bit. Setting the date will help you know exactly how long you have to plan and if you need to save up - it's not a lie that weddings are an expensive business but if you give yourself enough time to plan things out you can do a lot of comparing and finding good deals while still getting everything you wanted. We got engaged in 2008 and decided to get married in 2010, not only did this make my OCD happy (nice round number) but it gave us time to enjoy being engaged as well as plan out things as we wanted and gave us enough time to get them sorted. You can lose hours of yourself in research so make sure you have plenty of time to do it in!

Pick a Venue


 The great thing about weddings now is that that can take place pretty much anywhere you want (licence permitting). We always knew we wanted to get married in a church but surprisingly it is not as simply as you may think. Firstly you need to find the 'right' church - now you would think each church is as much of a muchness as another but each building has its own uniqueness and more importantly the personality of the Vicar is what will help you make your final choice, we were so lucky to find Rev. Mark Nicholls at St. Mary's in Rotherhithe who not only presided over a lovely old church but had a great personality, a lovely sense of humour and actually took the time to get to know us as a couple.

The only hiccup we came across in the wedding process with the Church of England was that due to my soon to be husband coming from South Africa we needed to be interviewed by a third party Vicar to make sure we were genuine (sad fact was getting married made no different to my husbands status as he was on an ancestral visa and was pretty much almost through his process of becoming a British Citizen)  - we have a certificate and everything to prove our love is real. Father Mark did say we should frame it and put it in the toilet (see back to comment about Vicar's good sense of humour!)

After that is was a case of paying the fees, and here is a good place to point out that getting married in a church is not cheap - here is a link to the current fees you can expect to pay http://www.yourchurchwedding.org/your-wedding/the-cost-of-church-weddings.aspx

Choosing the reception venue was a little easier. I had looked at a couple of 'fancy' venues to host our guests, and I was very particular to The Globe Theatre but instead we went local and ended up with a great space in our local pub. We have the whole top restaurant area to ourselves as well as the wrap around balcony that  overlooked the Thames - as it was a sunny warm day it was just lovely. Food wise we went with a carvery as pretty much everybody had a choice of something they wanted to eat and the venue also organised a DJ for us that kept us in Rock, Pop and Cheese until the late evening. We also arranged a mid-session snack of sandwiches, teas and coffees to keep our guests energised for the rest of the night and a open bar to help them get there in the first place.

Remember church's and reception venues tend to get booked up pretty early so make sure you book well in advance!

Letting Your Guests Know


So once you have done all the hard work, sorted out your venue and timings the you get to make a decision on your wedding stationary. Thankfully we live in an information friendly age and there are plenty of on-line printers that offer a range of stationary for all types of budgets. Most will send you out samples for a small fee (and usually taking whatever you paid out already off your final bill if you place a final order with them) and it is so worth it to try before you buy.

There are plenty of options to pick from than just invitations - there is reply cards, orders of service, save the date cards, table plans, matching place names etc. so make sure you plan exactly what you require to ensure everything can match. We sent our invites out a good six months before the big day and told those travelling from overseas as soon as the date was set so they had plenty of time to plan travel as required.

Also always invite who you want to invite - your wedding day is about you and your future husband/wife and nobody else, so make sure you surround yourself with people you want to be there rather than who you think you should invite.

The Wedding Party

One of the best things about getting married is being able to ask your friends and family to be part of your day. We went with a mixture of the two for our wedding party and decided on two bridesmaids and two grooms men (OCD again...) and a male and female usher. The men were pretty easy to dress and I was lucky enough to come across a shop on-line that sold really lovely Bridesmaids dresses which could easily be tailored to more practical dresses after the event. I also went with some comfy silver kitten heels so they would actually be able to walk rather than hobble for the day! All outfits were finished with a little thank you gift for being part of the day, necklaces for the ladies and cuff-links for the guys.

Again this is your day so make sure your Wedding Party is made up of people you want to be there and not people who you think you should ask due to family ties etc.

Hair and Make-Up

I don't have a huge amount to add around this - I was lucky enough to know somebody who is a professional wedding make-up and hair technician so I knew I would be in good hands! Make sure you do your homework in this area, speak to previous clients, have tests done and make sure you really talk through what you want. Also take samples of your wedding colours - you wouldn't want anything to clash!


The Dress

I'm going to be honest, I was completely dreading going Wedding Dress shopping. I have little patience when it comes to trying things on and I honestly couldn't think of anything worse than doing that with tons of lace, taffeta and silk! Luckily I managed to find the perfect dress on my first outing and although it needed a few fittings (dreaded changing rooms again, this time with added pins!) I was really pleased with my choice, considering it was totally a 360 from what I had in mind when I went out in the first place. I was thinking of something very simple with arms and no veil - what I ended up with with a totally sleeveless dress with quite a few layers, decorated on the back with a longish train and a veil! My advice would be to go dress shopping with something in mind but don't let it rule you completely, try on a few different things and you never know - something might surprise you.

Most dry cleaners offer a wedding dress cleaning service - my dress is currently in a special box in the loft surrounded by acid free tissue paper!

The Flowers
As with the dress, I wasn't totally stressing over a choice of flowers for our big day. I'm not a very OTT person when it comes to those sort of things and I what I wanted was something very simply comprised of my favourite flowers, Daisies. I spoke with a few florists and and soon as you mentioned the word wedding the prices shot up and simple arrangements were beginning to seem like a distant dream. Eventually we decided just to do the flowers ourselves as I have a very talented Aunt who can put these sort of things together. So the morning before the wedding we went down to Covent Garden Flower Market ad bought everything we needed for a Bride Bouquet, Bridesmaids Bouquet, Lapels and a few other things in between and all at a fraction of the cost. The local florist to my mum did us a very good deal on a more complicated corsages and button holes and in the end I got exactly what I wanted.

Car Hire

Go with your gut instinct and as log as you can afford it go for it. I didn't want a traditional wedding car for the day because as a true London girl I wanted to arrive in a old fashioned London Taxi. Some internet searching later and I found the perfect car from a great company and it really did help make the day just that little bit extra special.

The Cake

Neither my husband or I are huge fans of traditional wedding cake or in fact the style of traditional wedding cakes, so instead we found something that was closer to our personalities. Again some internet searching took place and we found a local bakery that made the most amazing Birthday and Wedding Cakes. We went with a traditional vanilla/jam/cream sponge covered in fondant icing and also bought a single layer of fruit wedding cake from M&S so those expecting a more traditional offering had a choice. Always shop around and see what the best deal you can find for you is, also make appointments with bakeries if you want to try before you buy!

The Extras
Once you get the big things out of the way you then think about all the little things you need. I found the fiddly extras one of the most stressful things to deal with. Once we had the Bridesmaids dresses sorted and the colour scheme was locked down we had to go ahead with trying to find the exact same colour to match (we picked Teal which was harder to match than you might expect, who knew there was so many shades!) We needed bows and ribbons to decorate the aisles of the church, ribbon to wrap around the flowers, table confetti, little bags to put the favours in - all in the same colour. We also bought some additional customised favours (little chocolates and plant seeds) and also needed to arrange centrepieces (we went with candelabras). This is where the internet and on-line shopping really came to our rescue as did ebay! Wedding shops in London are abnormally expensive but they came in very useful for us to browse and then look for items we liked on-line afterwards. There are plenty of family run businesses all over the country that can supply you with pretty much anything you need, for a fraction of the price of the larger, chain stores. I found plenty of these trading on ebay and not only did they save us money but they provided us with a fantastic service. 

After the big day I ended up using ebay again to sell all the items I no longer needed and was so happy that the candelabras were going to another wedding up the country! 

 Photography 

My biggest stress in the build up to the wedding was finding somebody to take photos, after all you hear horror stories of all the things that can go wrong. Luckily I have a very close friend who is also a wonderfully talented photographer and she arranged everything and we ended up with so may fantastic photos that not only looked great but were taken with a lot of thought and emotion. If you are not lucky enough to know somebody close to you to do this make sure you do your research and don't be afraid to talk to previous clients - you want to make sure the memories of the day are captured in a way you can treasure after.

I haven't listed any supplier details, but if you do want to know where anything came from drop me a line!

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Bill Murray Day

ok so technically I am a few days late with this, but how could I let such a momentous day pass, so here is my short and sweet list of my personal favourite Murray Movies,

5. Zombieland 


Technically not a Murray starring vehicle, nevertheless this has to be a true contender for best cameo appearance in anything, ever. The movie itself is a broad comedy about a gang of thrown together misfits trying to make their way across Zombie infested America in search of hope and Twinkies. Murray appears as himself, dressed as a Zombie to try and fit in and throw the real zombies off his scent so to speak so he can relax and play golf. I honestly have not laughed so hard or so long at something in a very long time, everything about the set-up and execution of his scenes is so well thought out and is in many ways a filmic love letter to Murray and his career.

4. Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2


When you think about ensemble comedy it honestly doesn't get much better than Ghostbusters, I mean just look at the cast, Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, Moranis - you couldn't even start putting together that kind of talent in one movie today - and they managed it with two! Out of all that talent though, Murray really does shine through as the brightest light, playing the somewhat skeptical and sarcastic Peter Venkman. He is a bit of a ringleader, he can talk the team out of tight spots and he is the main love interest of Sigourney Weaver's Dana Barrett, he also isn't too bad at toasting Marshmallow Men or making the Statute of Liberty walk! I've always had more of a fondness for the second movie, maybe because I watched it far too many times as a kid, but as I have gotten older I can truly appreciate what both these movies really are, which the holy trinity of comedy, well written, acted and directed - it's true what they say, they just don't make them like this anymore.

3. Groundhog Day

If you ever wanted a masterclass in comedy, just grab a copy of Groundhog Day and watch it again and again because the 101 minutes are a true lesson in everything you ever wanted to know about being funny. Murray's performance as Phil Connors is just so perfect and the movie itself just gets better and better with each viewing, I'm not sure how many other films can make such a claim.

2. Lost in Translation


Having been used to watching Murray in comedies I was in for a sharp change of pace when I sat down and watched Lost in Translation, nevertheless it is one of the finest dramatic performances I have seen committed to film. Murray is actor Bob Harris, slightly washed up but still making money from advertising whiskey in Japan. He is a shell of his old self until he meets Scarlett Johansson's Charlotte. Both have been slightly abandoned emotionally by their partners and they find some sort of inner peace and stability by being with each other so far away from home. It is a love story, but not your typical one and lets you see a side of Murray that is both heartbreaking and breathtaking.

1. Scrooged 


Along with Santa Claus: The Movie and The Muppet Christmas Carol this is the finest Christmas movie ever made. A very 80's version of A Christmas Carol, Murray is Frank Cross, a TV executive who soon learns that being a scrooge is not very festive at all! As he is taken through the Past, Present and Future by an eclectic mix of ghosts, he learns to put a little love in his heart and become the kind man who has always been lurking inside. It is a Christmas Eve staple for me every year.

Wednesday 3 September 2014

Why The Last Leg is the Best Show on TV Right Now


This Friday marks the last episode of the current series of The Last Leg on Channel 4. If you haven't been watching it then what an Earth is wrong with you? It is probably the best thing on TV at the moment! Why? Well because,

The Hosts are Awesome 
 
Before beginning to watch this show, I had never heard of Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker but it is fair to say I am now firm fans of them all. Hills and Widdicombe are both stand up comics with Brooker being the 'stright' man of the three (he is better know as being a sports reporter) but the dynamic they have on screen is electric. They play off each other so well and they always look like they are having the best time - just hanging out as mates rather than presenters, it just so happens that millions of people are watching them in the process. I probably couldn't name another panel show where the chemistry between the hosts is as honest and as funny as those on The Last Leg.

They Don't Shy Away from Real Issues

The whole premise of The Last Leg is that it takes an irreverent look at the weeks news. Viewers can tweet in their questions under #isitok  and generally there are plenty of laughs to be had. However for a comedy show it doesn't shy away from the big issues playing out on the world stage that week, in fact they often put together short videos around the big story of the week, whether is be civil war, terrorism or any other sort  of none amusing issue. 

These shorts break down the issues into bite sized chunks of information which are easily understandable and digestible and explain in layman's terms what actually is going on. They also discuss these issues in a serious manner which in turn opens the door for others to have conversations around these issues as well. I think it is really impressive that a show that is supposedly light-hearted manages to do this and do it really, really well.

They are not Afraid to Call People Dicks

There are plenty of people out there who are dicks, we come across them throughout our lives and more often than not we won't call them out on it because we are either too British, afraid of getting fired and/or punched in the face. However The Last Leg is not afraid to call out people or associations who are in fact being giant dicks. Below are just some of the rants that make the show so brilliant,

Westboro Baptist Church One - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ETdhgLA8U
Westboro Baptist Church Two - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrBZbdQdPzE
Kate Middleton OK Magazine/Baby Weight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5WcLeBxKws

They Don't Pander to Their Guests

Now don't get me wrong I totally get why show hosts need to pander to their celebrity guests, they want to keep celebrities on side so they will come back and after all the bigger the name the more people are likely to tune in and see them. What I love about The Last Leg is that this doesn't really seem to be a concern and they will ask and act pretty much how they want. For example few weeks ago Carrie Fisher was on and she ended up with her head in Alex Brooker's lap, Noel Fielding was inside a tent for the majority of his appearance and Daniel Radcliffe was doused for the Ice Bucket Challenge. They ask their guests opinions and this makes for far more interesting chat than the normal I'm only here to sell my latest movie/CD/DVD, it is refreshing and very, very funny.

The Challenges 

Three blokes together are always going to be competitive but really, these challenges are brilliant and most important of all, hilarious,


and finally they have the very best end of the show songs 



So what are you waiting for make sure you tune in on Friday!

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Those Photos...


So I am actually really annoyed today. Yesterday some dick with a laptop decided it would be a good idea to hack the accounts of well known female celebrities, find any type of risque picture of them and put it out onto the internet for the whole world to see. Now not only is this a huge invasion of privacy and cause of embarrassment to all the ladies listed and indeed whose pictures have been splashed around the internet, it is also just another case of the warped ideals of how women are 'supposed' to behave.

Now firstly let's look at the list in question, I don't see any male names on there, and if history has taught us anything it is that if there is some way in which to capture/draw/photograph the male form there will be somebody doing it, why? Because if a man was to have naked pictures leak it would be a joke, he would be patted on the back and everybody would have a laugh over it and not at the person in question.

If your a girl though, heaven forbid, you are a slut, a heathen, the reason why society in general is falling apart around our very ears. It seems whenever one of these nude photo leak's happen a large majority of people seem to think we have all suddenly transported back to the 1950's and that a woman's place is in the home, to be seen as an accessory rather than her own self, after all if we had stuck to this ideal then none of this would have happened right? This is what travelling down the dirty road of Feminism will do for you, eh?

It is this ignorant blanket response that annoys me whenever something of this ilk comes out. All these women are strong, independent, successful ladies. Take Jennifer Lawrence, she heads up one of the biggest franchises in cinema, has won an Oscar and is one of the most honest and open Hollywood stars out there at the moment, who should give a rat's ass what she gets up to in the privacy of her free time. Is she hurting anybody or herself? No.

The fact these women are shamed by certain members of society for daring to take such pictures in the first place makes my blood boil - least we forget these are all consenting adults we are talking about, all of whom have made the decision themselves to take these pictures. It is their own private property which somebody has taken such a careless, selfish and criminal attitude to. Imagine if this were pictures or personal letters or diary entries that belonged to you or somebody you loved. Something so private and personal that was never meant to be seen by anybody else, imagine how awful that would make you feel. Being a 'celebrity' does not protect you from that kind of personal invasion.

In the wake of recent headlines there are plenty of other 'celebrities' out there doing things that make your blood run cold, how about we shame those instead of picking on those who are themselves a victim of crime. We should salute these women for being successful, for embracing their sexuality and for not wanting to spread every little detail of their lives in the public domain.

Time will pass and people will forgot this even happened, if only the prejudices surrounding this issue were so easy to make go away.

Monday 1 September 2014

Guide to Paris



Ah Paris, the city of love, home of the Mona Lisa and where you can eat as many crepes as you can stuff into your face. I headed over there in 2006 and I have to say it hasn't been my favourite city to visit, although I do plan to head back one day and give it a second chance, however I do have some tips if you do decide to head on over to Gay Parie.

- If you are travelling from the UK just take the Eurostar, it is so much easier and far less stressful, take some time to also check out the recently updated St. Pancras Station - it is delightful.


- Paris can easily be done in a weekend, but make sure you plan out everything you want to see and check it is open!

- Do the most touristy thing ever and go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, you get great views over the city and for a few moments you can pretend you are in Superman II. Also make sure you check out the light show of an evening. 


- Go to Parc de Belleville for great views of the city - best viewed just as the sun is setting.


- Have a wander down the Champs Elyees and look at all the high end fashion shops (ladies make a small purchase in Chanel - when in Rome etc.) and take in the Arc de Triomphe and the crazy traffic lanes that surround it!



- Go and see the Mona Lisa at The Louvre although she is smaller than you may think. Also make time to say hello to the Venus de Milo - she is absolutely stunning and very impressive to see in person.


If you can't quite stretch to seeing a show at the Moulin Rogue (it is very expensive!), take a look at the fancy outside and belt out a bit of "Come What May".


My favourite thing to do however was walk to the top of Norte Dame. The cathedral itself is impressive but at the top you get to see up close and personal the gargoyles that guard the city. They all have their own character so give them plenty of time.


- Although I would never fancy snails or frogs legs I can heartily recommend Nutella Crepes as source of substance while hitting the streets. 

- Paris is a very expensive city so make sure you think ahead budget wise, when we went we easily paid £3 for a coke - outrageous!  

- Ride the Paris Metro for the door opening system alone - it is an eye opener for anybody used to the London Tube System.

As always enjoy yourself and bon voyage!

Friday 29 August 2014

What I've Been Reading Recently

Ever since I can remember I have been a total bookworm. I was probably the only kid who got her pocket money on a Friday and raced up to W H Smith to get the latest Sweet Valley/Babysitter's Club book or whatever else took my fancy that week. Book tokens were the best thing I could receive on Christmas or Birthday's and in fairness that hasn't changed too much as the years have passed (although sadly I don't get pocket money anymore).

The first six months or so of the year I had a bit of a book drought and read little to nothing and spent my commute playing Candy Crush, which thankfully I have now gotten out of my system and since coming back from holiday in May I have been knocking it out the park book wise and this is what I've been reading,



I am a big fan of autobiographies, I read more than a few in any given year and mostly stick to those of people who are in the entertainment industry (although I own and will one day tackle Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela's). As it happens two of the books I read over the last couple of months were for comedians, Lee Mack and John Bishop. Both are comedians who fell into comedy rather than perused it from a young age, Bishop especially as he didn't really start on the circuit properly until he was 40.

Bishop's book is very open, very honest (painfully at times) and really lets you see the measure of the man, while Mack's is dry humored and very honest about the craziness of comedy and TV and how hard it can be to crack both while staying true to yourself. Both are definitely worth a look.

The first book I actually read when I came back from my travels (and which I bought while browsing Barnes & Noble in Baltimore) was the latest from Kevin Smith. I am a huge fan of Smith's work to begin with and have enjoyed his previous books and this is no exception. He recalls funny stories, talks about how he managed to get from film student to successful indie director to showdowns with Bruce Willis and much more. He can be a little crude, but hey, what can you expect from the man who created Jay and Silent Bob?



I had heard rumblings for awhile about The Fault in Our Stars and wanted to read it before the movie adaption came out, needless to say I adored it, it was one the best books I had read in a long time and was really glad I got to the last seven chapters while I was at home so the travelling public did not have to witness the crying mess I was to become (this sadly did not happen when I read Never Let Me Go - I can only apologies to all those travelling on the DLR to Island Garden in August 2010). After such a positive experience with the book I went out and procured the rest of Green's work and I have to say of the two other's I've read so far I've been disappointed. Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines both lacked truly likable characters and without those I really wasn't invested in what was going to happen to them, thus making the plot a little pointless. I hope my next foray into his work will yield grater results.



For something a bit lighter in between I have read both books currently in the Geek Girl series. They took me each two days to read, are funny, sweet and instantly forgettable once you have completed them. The Geek moniker is very 'in' right now and I'm not sure I would really call the lead character as such, but for sheer silly enjoyment you can't go very wrong with these books.

 Two very different relationships are looked at in the next two books I read. Eleanor & Park looks at first love and all that comes along with it. Set in the 80's it isn't your usual run of the mill romance, with both characters getting well rounded back stories and situations to deal with that are never normally covered in this type of book. Rainbow Rowell has now shot up my list of authors and I can't wait to read the rest of her work.

Paper Aeroplanes again looks at first love, but that of the love of finding that first friend who really understands you. Renee and Flo are fantastic characters, both suffering from loss and not really fitting, who find each other and themselves in the process of their final year at secondary school. For a first time novelist, Dawn O'Porter did exceptionally well and I have the sequel, Goose in my pile of to-read's.

Two of my favourite funny ladies next. I had read Bossypants in 2013, but figured it needed a re-read in 2014 as it was just that damn good. Tina Fey is one of the most creative, funny and inspirational ladies in the entertainment industry and her book just backs up why she is as successful as she is, dry, self-deprecating and very, very funny, Fey tells it how it is and in a very memorable chapter answers back to some to some not so nice internet commentators.

Then there is Sarah Silverman, a lady who tells it exactly like it is and isn't afraid of what you will think of her. Her book is brutally honest and funny. In it she speaks of her crippling depression as a teen, her chronic bed wetting and how she went from a one season series writer on SNL to the star of her very own, off the wall, comedy show.  

Much like the TV series that is based upon it, the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries (or True Blood series) have come to an end and I finally got around to reading the last book. In fairness I have no idea why the internet went into such a meltdown over it - all the clues were laid out in the previous book as to how it all might end and I certainly didn't feel cheated or upset with how the characters finally ended up. In many ways I'm glad the series came to an end as it did feel like everything that needed to be said or could have happened did about three books ago, but I will miss the craziness of Bon Temps every now and again.

Another quick read the book before you watch the movie, Divergent is very much akin to The Hunger Games  with a dystopian future, strong female lead and evil government to overthrow. I very quickly finished the first book in the series and started straight away on the second with the third in my to-read pile. Although not as fully rounded a character as Katniss, Tris is really interesting in so much as you actually don't know if she really wants to survive though it all. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it ends and if the movies can live up to the books.



My favourite book recently though has been Maya Van Wagenen's Popular. Over the period of a school year Maya decided to follow popularity tips from Betty Cornell's Glamour Guide for Teen's which was first published in the 1950's. She then documented in her diary how well these tips went which eventually ended up as this book. I really connected with Van Wagenen while reading this book, her writing just took me back to being a teenager again and how difficult and sometimes miserable it could be and again my emotions got the better of me as I was in tears by the end of it because she just reminded me so much of myself at that age.

The book is amazing, you will cringe, laugh and hope with Maya as she sticks not only to the rules of the guide but to herself, which even if doesn't make her a truly 'popular' person make her a spectacularly awesome one and I know which I would always rather be.