Train of thought #1
This is going to be a blog post where I’m not going to really think about what I’m saying and I’m just going to ramble and say whatever comes into my head so it’s just a big long train of thought. So first of all I suppose I could talk about what music I’ve got on at the minute – it’s a kind of classical Indian music by a lady called Hirabai Baredkar and it’s very very relaxing. The particular piece I’m listening to at the moment is about 14 minutes long but it flies by really quickly. In fairness, 14 minutes isn’t that long for a song as I love Pink Floyd so I’m used to tracks being 20-30 minutes long. Talking of Pink Floyd, I was in Derby the other day looking for birthday presents and I went into The Works (which is a bargain book shop) for a look at the cookery books and I spotted a whole unit of 2012 calendars all selling for 99p each. One of them was a Pink Floyd one so of course I bought it! I’ve not put it up yet as there isn’t much space on my bedroom walls due to my addiction to posters so I’ll have to find somewhere else for it. Also I already have a calendar up in my room, it’s of 1960s film posters, my Dad got it me for Christmas and I do rather like it. My room is really a big mess at the minute with clothes all over the place, random bits of paper and film magazines scattered and CDs and DVDs dotted about. I did start tidying it tonight but as I was having a break I checked Facebook and found a link to a blog called did-you-kno.tumblr.com and it really is very interesting so obviously I was on there for a few hours. I haven’t left my laptop since then and as I write this at almost 1am I’m sat on my bed that is piled with clothes that need putting away. I’m literally pushed right against the wall due to how many clothes there are on here that I haven’t put away yet. The fact that my room is a complete pig stye isn’t the only reason I’m tidying it thoroughly. It’s because I’ve bought myself a new bed frame with my Christmas money and my room needs clearing before we can take my old bed out and bring this new one in. The reason why I’ve bought a new bed frame is because the one I have now is a bit of a kiddies one. It’s one of those high up cabin beds where you have to climb a ladder to get into it. I do love the bed but I’m 18 in a month and a half so I’ve bought a more grown up one. It should look quite nice. Tomorrow is Thursday and I have film studies in the morning and then IT in the middle of the day. I might stay at school for lunch I don’t know yet. But I’ll probably come home in the afternoon so I can continue with this tidying malarkey. Well, I think I’ve rambled enough for tonight and I’m getting quite tired so I’ll end it here. Also, if you’ve managed to read this far, well done, but I’m sure you probably won’t want anymore in this post. So good night!
Ten Addictions
In no particular order…
Coffee/Tea
Music
Film
Internet
Being Lazy
Hugs
Woolly Jumpers
Chinese Food
Going to the Cinema
Playing Bass, Cello and Drums.
2012
It’s about four hours into the 15th day of 2012 (yes, I am one of those bizarre people who stay up late on the internet, writing). I haven’t made any resolutions – I don’t really believe in them. If you truly want to do something then you won’t make yourself wait until the 1st of January to do it. Although that said, I’m going to become healthier this year.
My Christmas wasn’t too bad, it came and went mostly argument-free. I experienced the annual event of being thrown back and forth from home to my Dad’s house, to my Nana’s house and back to home and back to Dad’s etc. I do enjoy seeing everyone but constant travel is one of the many negatives of having separated parents. It makes Christmas twice as stressful as it already is.
I received great presents and the presents I gave were much appreciated.
I received three lovely jumpers, some music, some films and some books. My Gran gave me a bottle of magnificent perfume and my sister gave me a tea cup and some more owl ornaments to add to my collection. I also received three different kinds of wonderful smelling soap.
Boxing day was good, I got to see all my family who I rarely get to see all in one place. I was really fun.
Then the few days between boxing day and new years eve were naturally lazy. The only thing I really engaged my brain in in those few days were intense band rehearsals. This was because we had a gig at The Three Stags on new years eve. On the day we went down in the afternoon and set up and did sound checks etc. Then on the night, it went very well. There were a couple of mistakes but nothing that we didn’t cover up well or make up for with witty remarks – mainly from me which I though was very fantastic of me seeing as I’m the drummer and traditionally should say nothing throughout the whole performance.
School is very crazy at the minute but I’m still enjoying it. There are three big projects on the go at the moment: my film, my Stanley Kubrick research script and my cinema website development project. It’s quite mental balancing everything evenly and it’s quite stressful, especially when one of my favourite things to do is just to sit down, listen to music and think. I’m hoping it’ll all be done on time – I’m putting in quite a lot of effort as I’m desperate to get into university.
Anyway, it is silly o clock so I must get some sleep as it’s another filming day tomorrow and I need to have a sharp mind.
Goodnight!
Christmas Survey From Quizopolis
Christmas This Or That Survey
Get kissed under the mistletoe or in the snow? – Snow
Santa or Rudolph? – Rudolph
Stocking or presents? – Presents
Egg nog or hot cider? – Hot Cider
Angel or star? – Star
Decorating the tree or putting lights on the outside? – Decorating the tree
Warm cozy fires or sleigh rides? – Warm cozy fires
Family time or friend time? – Both
Expensive presents or presents that come from the heart? – Presents from the heart
Snow ball fight or snowman? – Snowman
Coal or present? – Present
Open presents quick or slow? – Slow
Caroling or christmas stories? – Both
Snowy days or ice days? – Snowy days
Red or Green? – Both
Christmas Wishlist
I know this is a daft idea and it seems silly writing it so close to Christmas day but it’s 9:30am on a Saturday morning and I’m not up to much till later on this afternoon so I though I’d have a go at writing one! There’s not a lot I’d really like for Christmas to be honest. Well not a lot that’s realistic anyway, hehe. I’d love a Status Graphite Bass but that isn’t happening in a month of Sundays! Not unless we win the lottery. However, here are a few bits that I’d love.
♥
Corderoy Trousers
Big Comfy Jumpers
Patchwork Blanket
Barry Lyndon Screenplay
This is England Screenplay
Thick Socks
Angel Perfume by Thierry Mugler
Lush Soaps
Conversations with Scorsese Book
This is England ’86 Box Set
This is England ’88 Box Set
Pink Floyd, Level 42, The Smiths & Jazz Fusion CDs
DVDs
I hope everyone has a great Christmas!
Dvolver Philosophy Homework
My Dvolver Philosophy Animation
Click on the link to see my animation I made on Dvolver.com
This was the actual homework set from our teacher, haha!
A Level Results!
As you probably know, a couple of days ago most people aged 17-18 all over the country were nervously opening A5 brown envelopes and unfolding a piece of paper on which the contents beheld their futures. Of course I’m on about A-level results. Apparently the amount of A-level passes are on the rise in the UK, some say we’re getting smarter, other more pessimistic people claim the exams are getting easier which they really wouldn’t be saying if they actually saw how hard we work towards them.
I walked into the main hall in my school at 11am on the morning of results day feeling hopeful but a little nervous. My hopes were immediately crushed as I spotted a girl in my year clutching a now crumpled piece of paper crying into her friends arms. I stopped for a minute as I felt the anxiety creep in and hurried on before it completely took over. Shuffling nervously further into the hall I spotted the table where the results were presented – I also saw the boxes of tissues evenly spaced between them which quite frankly I found disheartening – what did they expect of us? I was greeted by my philosophy teachers and one of my IT teachers who surprisingly were looking pleased and excited to see me, they promptly presented me with my envelope and told me to “Open it now as it was good news,”. I felt relieved and startled as I didn’t expect the teachers to know the results before we did. However I ripped open the envelope, pulled out a wad of papers of varying sizes all stapled together and tried to decipher some kinds of grade from the coded nonsense that was laid before me.
After seconds of glaring at gobbledegook I found a breakdown sheet that was lots easier. Then my heart sank. But not immediately.
Film Studies Exam 1: A
Film Studies Exam 2: B
ICT Exam 1: A
ICT Exam 2: C
Philosophy Exam 1: B
Philosophy Exam 2: B
At this point I was actually over the moon. All exams cashed in and added together, I’d managed to get Bs in all three subjects. Excellent! However it was when I read this when my heart actually hit the floor.
Music Performance: C
Music Composition: E
Music Theory Exam: C
I had managed overall to get a D in Music. The subject I adore the most. And most of all, my composition that I had worked on for days on had been given an E. That’s one off a fail. But the thing is, my music teacher had read and listened to it and predicted it a B or a C. So clearly the examiner just didn’t take a fancy to it. Another thing that bugged me is that my performance had been marked a C by the examiner. My music teachers marked is as an A. So either my music teachers were being overly kind or the examiner was a complete arse. I’m guessing it’s the latter as my teachers aren’t the type to be overly kind with marks – they’d rather be genuine with us to try and help us improve and learn. So there we go.
So to round it all off, I have had to drop Music as an A-level for next year. I was kiiiind of given the choice to keep all four subjects on which I was intent on doing before everyone I spoke to persistently recommended/forced me to drop music and focus on my other subjects. My philosophy teacher even went as far to say she’d do anything if I dropped music and focused more on my other three subjects. So now she’s taking my philosophy class to the cinema in September. Silver lining.
But really, putting what I personally want aside, dropping music was probably the best thing to do. I barely scraped through it this year, I had to work so hard to understand the theory and the pieces we were studying, I did find myself lagging in my other subjects because of the extra time I had to put in with my music theory. And next year, the theory will only get harder. Soooo, you know. It’ll break my heart to not be part of the music class next year but it’s for the best. Also it’s not the end of music for me. Not at all, it’s my life and my passion and lack of an A2 in Music is not going to stop me. I’m still studying it at uni and I’m still making myself a career in it. If my life didn’t have a full involvement in music in it then I wouldn’t really exist at all.
So that’s it. My life has turned an unexpected corner as of a couple of days ago, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. It’s made me feel quite excited for the coming school year in a weird way, I can fully focus myself in my other three subjects now without the constant worry and stress of being the worst in my music class. Also, I can’t believe it’ll be my last year in school! I’ll miss it so much.
Impending Summer
Summer is on it’s way so what better time to begin blogging again? Well, winter would be a better idea I suppose; staying in glued to a computer during warm weather is often considered antisocial and rather sad. But nevertheless, I’ve decided to begin rambling about my life online again to an approximate audience of 0.
The other main reason is that I’ve just finished taking my first batch of A level exams and I can relax a little bit. I think they went quite decently. Some As would be lovely but if I’m honest I’d be off my tits with Bs. Or even Cs in some cases. The subjects I’m studying are Music, Film, Philosophy and ICT. I actually really love school and the subjects I’m taking: I love the class discussions, the coursework we do, the mind-blowing things we learn, awesome debates, researching the weirdest stuff and discovering some excellent things. I suppose you could say I’m a 100% nerd for school but I’m absolutely fine with that. If people want to hate school to conform to what they’re expected to think, then they can do that, although I feel sorry for them.
In music, I’m still playing my bass, cello and drums and I still adore them SO much – obviously! I’m in a few bands with friends and a few in school. It’s still my number one passion and always will be. However another passion has come into play. Ever since I begin Film Studies last September I’ve been completely obsessed with film! More so than before. I’m subscribed to Sight & Sound the film magazine, I spend all my wages on dvds (and cds) from amazon, I keep little bits of newspaper and articles mentioning certain films, I sprawl the web searching for cinematic news and obviously, I watch a lot of films! My favourite directors are Shane Meadows and Martin Scorsese who completely blow my mind.
That’s it really for now, I can’t think of anything else to say! 
BASS
I’ve started writing some poems. This one’s about the bass.
Press it into your mind. Seep through every pore and opening. Let it swim through every tunnel and crevasse. Fill up every gap and leave no void. Indulge in a fibrous coat.
Swallow it down. Let it expand. Explode. Euphoria.
Live in a gel. Breathe in molten sound. See a sea of lightning fuzz. Feel the waves.
Hear ecstasy.
Pushing your eyes and dancing in the peripheral.
A trillion particles pulsate under your skin.
Notes drip from the stave.
Forget the crippling Monday that stains your clothes.
Wash in blue and rinse in thunder…
