Today instead of writing an extensive post, I thought I might as well make a video about a humourous event that occurred today.
And yipee I have finally figured out how to use HTML to embed a Youtube video. And please ignore my shrieking in the video - I was very excited.
Today I went to an antique shop in Boxmoor known as "The Swan". Then we bumped into these cows and went home. I should've brought a decent camera to take so shots as it was so lovely and sunny outside but my dad was in a bad mood so I didn't want to ask him. Instead I took some snaps with my phone camera, which is okay, but doesn't compare with my dad's Canon or Nikon. Nonetheless here they are:
This old man accompanied by his old dog was so cute!
Sigh, could've been so good if I brought a decent camera :(
Today, I decided to make profiteroles with my awesome friend MP. After the first few steps, I must admit, the choux pastry looked absolutely vile, but in the end it turned out pretty ay-okay.
The finished product!
Here is a video I made of the entire process!
Here is Youtube video that I got the recipe from.
And lastly, here is a funny video about profiteroles.
I now realise why no one ever makes profiteroles by hand. They are probably the most tedious and ridiculous things to fill with cream and dunk in chocolate - especially since ours were so diddy. Nonetheless, they tasted very yummy!
Unhello,
Rebecca x
P.S. I am uploading this post at 00.14pm, so technically I have broken my Blog Every Day in Half Term, which sucks! However, I got home at 10.30pm, and since then, I've been attempting to upload this video onto Youtube, which has decided to be a bum and keep crashing when reaching 93% uploaded. I also posted twice yesterday and I've also got another 2 planned to write later today, so please don't be too angry!
I was going to write a boring post about trains today, but then instead I thought to myself, who cares.... I'll do one of about my favourite Youtubers for BEDIHT day 3!
I far too much time on this website, as I am sure you do too. I am subscribed to almost 300 people on it, even though I have recently decided to unsubscribe to as many people as possible. It's just too tempting to click on a video on the subscription list, and then spend half a day going through all the videos on the channel. Plus, alot of the people that I am subscribe to, no longer interest me since my taste in videos have changed.
I think I first started watching Youtube videos in 2007-ish. This was when I first started getting into make-up and beauty, and at this point the beauty community was much nicer, less bitchier and I felt like I was actually learning about it from the videos. I am still subscribed to loads of those beauty "gurus", but I find that some videos are so repetitive, really poorly made and often unrelatable. There are make up artists (such as Lisa Eldridge) who have decades of professional experience in the trade making videos; I don't need a 14 year old girl to teach me how to do my eyeliner too.
Anyway, here are my favourites:
KickThePj
I think that his videos are all so fantastically animated, drawn and edited- it is obvious that alot of time and effort have been taken in them. And those eyes! Favourite Video?
It's so peculiar, I love it!
brettdomino
Brett Domino and Steven Peavis are the epitome of cool. Geeky is the new sexy. Favourite Video?
grav3yardgirl
I think that this is one of those beauty channels that I was just ranting about, but I think Bunny has to probably one of the funniest people I have ever come across on all the interweb. Plus her eyes and shoe collection is absolutely awesome. Favourite Video?
I don't have a favourite video - all of her videos make me feel happy -
but is a random recent one.
sortedfood
I think I can thank Sorted for helping me improve my culinary skills! Plus, whenever I watch their videos I get so hungry! Favourite Video?
This simply because I use this recipe so often for an instant chocolate cake!
ClothesEncounters
If I had to only watch one channel, this would be the one that I would chose. As you can probably tell at the moment, I am really into thrifting, fashion and clothes and Sarah has a fantastic sense of style. It's so inspirational. Favourite Video?
This is by no means my favourite video since I love all of their outfit videos. I want some disco pants, plus all of Jenn's platforms! I do miss Sarah's presence in their videos though. :(
I realise that probably not will be interested in quite a few of these channels, since they are often quite specific, but I hope you got something out of this quick blog post!
What are your favourite Youtube Channels? Tell them me in the comments.
I have kind of been sticking to my New Year's resolution of listening to more music, so here I am again with a list that I have compiled of new songs that I have been enjoying these few weeks.
I've been loving...
Jack White – Love interruption
Jack White is back with a solo album after The White Stripes announced their split. I am very excited to hear the rest of his album! I find the picture really funny too in the background of the video, reminds be of Edward Scissorhands, but in a good way.
Band of skulls – Sweet sour
I mentioned Band of Skulls on my blog post yesterday and since then, I've discovered this song and it's awesome. I can image it being epic if it was background music for an advert for Toxic Waste sweets.
Beyonce – Love on top
No one can deny that Beyonce is such a power-house. When I first heard this song, I couldn't take it seriously, due to borderline ridiculous, sheer amount of cheesy semi-tone key changes. Just when you think the song is going to end, it just keeps on going higher and higher. I can imagine this song being played on an infinite loop forever for torturing prisoners, until it reaches dog pitch. On a serious note, it is really good song; I am liking the retro/Jackson 5 vibe to it.
Madeon - Icarus
The French definitely produce the best electronic music producers (such as Daft Punk). It's crazy to think that the guy who produced this track is only 2 years older than me, and in pictures he looks like he's younger! This record reminds me flying through space, rainbows and shininess. His song "Pop Culture" is also very good, as he mixes in samples from a variety of popular records. Definitely one to look out for in the future.
Young Guns - Bones
I must say, I'm quite uneducated when it comes to Young Guns - I haven't heard many of their songs, but this has been playing alot of Radio 1 recently, and I'm liking it. Good, solid rock song.
I have been hating...
Cover Drive - Twilight
No need to elaborate. It's s**t. I'm not even going to post a link to it, as it's that bad. And to think this was the UK best selling single last week. There is no hope!
Ed Sheeran - Drunk
...
Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A - Give me all your
lurvin'
Madonna is back with this terrible, terrible song. "Every record sounds the same", yes they certainly do Madge. This song bares huge resemblance to Nicole Roberts' "Dance to the Beat of my Drum", possibly the worse song produced in this century so far (yes, even worse than Rebecca Black's "Friday"). Oh please, Madonna, can you stop singing songs intended for girls half your age? And please explain what on earth is happening at 1.46, are you attempting to breast-feed a doll or something?!?! That is something that could mentally scar young children - it has already scarred me!
On the flip side, I actually (surprisingly) thought that Nicki Minaj's rap was really quite good, and M.I.A was a nice bonus, even though they should've featured far more heavily. Has anyone heard M.I.A's new song, "Bad Girl", can't decide whether I love or hate it! The video is quite bad-ass though.
Speaking of this song, did anyone see their half-time performance of this during the Super Bowl last night?
Even though she is in her 50s, wow she can still put on a good show! I hope that when I am that age, I can still do handstands, flips and ride LMFAO's shoulders... Shame that it was all lip synced, but I'm sure it would've been impossible to have done such an energetic routine and sound that great as well. "Like a Prayer" was by far my favourite song that she performed; Cee lo Green is so awesome! There has been some controversy around this performance though, since apparently M.I.A put her middle finger up at the screen, even though didn't see it when watching it back. I think this is absolutely ridiculous, surely seeing a 50 year old dancing "sexily" is far more damaging to the general public than a middle finger! Ah, why can't major British sporting fixtures have such "exciting" entertainment during the breaks - you would never see Justin Timberlake ripping Janet Jackson's dress to expose a naked boob during the FA cup final, would you?
What I'm looking forward too...
In 30 minutes, Lostprophets are going to announce and debut their first single from their up and coming album - "Weapons" on Zane Lowe's radio show. I am so excited, even though their last album from two years ago was quite underwhelming.
Just finished listening to it and eeek it's so good! The song is called "Bring 'Em Down", but it should be renamed "How to Count to Ten". I must say, the chorus is very powerful, with lots of harmonies and texture. There is also the inclusion of some synths, which I am not too sure whether I am liking or not at the moment, but I think that it is a good choice for them to start experimenting with more types of sounds. Listen to it from Zane Lowe's blog for free for a week.
Hello there. Similarly to Tuesday’s post, I’m going to show
you some other really awesome things I have
liked in the last few days.
Sherlock (parody)
| Chris Kendall
Crabstickz is probably one of the funniest Youtuber out
there. His impressions and accents are so hilarious, and this video is probably
one of his best, simply because it’s about Sherlock.. I was literally laughing
out loud for probably a good 10 seconds after finish watching the video, which,
for me, is a rarity.
Jamie N Commons -
The Preacher Official Video
I found about this dude from the BBC Sound of 2012 list,
something which I look forward to each year, since it always has some AMAZING
artists on it. I haven’t managed to listen to many of the artists on the list
this year though, but I have heard a few songs from this band and I am honestly
so excited to hear their album. This is my favourite song so far and www.abeano.com describes it as...
“ A dusty, stomping ballad about religion and death
performed with a five piece band, it’s stormy wild west meets Jack White’s
Detroit (with nods to Johnny Cash and Nick Cave thrown in for good measure).
There’s only really one problem; I’ll need to see a birth certificate to
believe that he’s only 22 years old. Jamie sounds like he has been glugging
whisky for years.”
All he needs to do is grow a beard and do a duet with Laura
Marling (this song is very similar to Devil’s Spoke – one of my favourite songs
– since it’s a powerful ballad about such a dark subject matter), then my life
will be complete.
Onra
ft. Jin - The Learn Chinese Anthem (Mashed up by Mo Ellah)
Onra is a French hip-hip/beat maker/ producer sort of
musician. The beats he makes are super cool, and in his album, “Chinoiseries”,
where old 60’s Chinese and Vietnamese samples are used- two genre’s which
juxtapose surprisingly well. The beat used in this remix –The Anthem – is quite
well known as was used in a Coke advert for the 2008 advert. I quite like this
mash-up with this random rapper, even though I don’t know he is... Oh well, it
has Onra’s beat in it, and I think he’s seriously good looking.
Nice Year 7s
What? That's right, some year 7's these last few days have actually been so nice! In our glee club rehearsal, this one girl printed off some lyrics for me, even though I didn't ask her to. Also, yesterday, I was doing my eyeliner in the loos and this random girl who I've never seen before told me that I was "really pretty"! Awh, perhaps behind the giant rucksacks, they are actually nice people.
Ukuleles
My new ukulele has finally arrived. I am so happy! It’s a Lanikai LU-11, and I love it.
Aren't they pretty?
Quick Review and Comparision:
Mahalo:
Price: £15
+Comes in rainbow colours
+Plastic coated covering, sound is not as good, but makes the instrument very durable
+Geared tuners are shaped like dolphins
-Sounds like turd as the intonation is quite poor
Lanikai:
Price: £50
+Surprisingly loud and resonant considering the size
+Aquila strings are lush
-Lack of attention to detail: Lanikai logo and rings around sound hole look quite tatty
-Made out of plywood, which is going to chip/flake off
In conclusion, basically, if you want a uke to simply look cool, get the Mahalo. If you want to play music, get the Lanikai!
Buying ukuleles is actually so addictive, I want to expand my collection further!
Time to take a break from the hair posts, and present to you
some cool things I have encountered on the internet over the past week or so.
Jeff Buckley- Grace (BBC Late Show)
Grace is one of the set works which you have to learn about
in the GCSE music course. I do like quite a lot of the pieces, but this is the
only one that I would truly listen to for my own choice. I was just searching
it up on Youtube for some further listening and found this version of it. His
performance is generally so intense and amazing, plus it’s pretty hilarious
when he lifts his hands up when his is said to also share his father’s “extraordinary
vocal elasticity”, at 00.28. Shame both father and son had such early deaths,
we can only imagine what great music they would’ve produced.
Lykke Li & Bon
Iver doing 'Dance Dance Dance' in L.A
Lykke Li is one of my favourite female artists, along with
Florence & the Machine and Regina Spektor. She with Bon Iver (match made in
heaven!) simply jamming and dancing in the street with their sleigh bells, kazoo
and accordion is so organic and delightful. I remember seeing this video a few
years ago, it’s only recently I just rediscovered it from Jazz’s blog, which
may I say is absolutely beautiful – I wish I could produce such amazing
illustrations!
This is a beautiful blog by a beautiful girl, but I
especially love this blog post. Her hair is so striking, even Arial from The
Little Mermaid would be jealous!
"Copy-cat!"
Go Beyond The
Cover: Behind the Scenes
A very simple, yet effective advert, where Zombie Boy (a man
covered with head to toe tattoos) has his entire body of tattoos covered with
some concealer, inciting ideas about “judging a book by its cover. I find it
really interesting, and is it odd I find him kind of attractive?!
I first found this video on OogleMakeup’s blog, probably one
of the eloquently written and insightful blogs dedicated to make up and beauty.
My favourite posts of her’s are usually about consumerism and the beauty
industry as a whole, as they are so often very thought provoking about society’s
perception of beauty.
That’s it! I really do hope you look at some of the
videos/pictures I have linked, as I find them so interesting!
Today, in English we started our Spoken Language element of
our GCSE language coursework. Now, usually hate English with a passion, I
wouldn’t even think about it outside the context of our classroom, but today I
was compelled to write this blog post about it. Bizarrely enough, I actually
found what we were studying really quite interesting (I can’t believe I’m
saying this, what has the world come to?!).
We commenced by exploring what actually is spoken language.
It is not just when you have a conversation with someone or if you give speech,
but then could also be an online conversation. That means that it’s anything
which is intended to be said out loud first rather than written down and edited.
In that aspect, I suppose my blog is spoken language, considering that I simply
just write down whatever the train of thought is in my head. Some of my friends
at school even mentioned today that when they read my posts, they read it with
my voice in their head.
Next, we moved onto accents. People associate them with
foreign people and dull (what is the opposite of funny and witty?) comedians,
but everyone has an accent. Even in our class there were a variety accents,
however there were a few which were most prevalent and reflective of our entire
year group (all images copyright WANG)
1.The majority of the people just have a southern
estuary accent; however laziness in annunciation is common.
2.Some people have Home Counties accents with
perfect diction and speak eloquently, but are slightly audacious and arrogant.
It is clear that their parents probably whipped them every night to make sure
they don’t drop their T’s.
3.Other people have been whipped by their parents
to speaking in Received Pronunciation, due to peer pressure, attempt to add in
slang, (such are “bare” and “allow”), thus sounding rather ridiculous.
4.The FOBs. FOB stands for fresh off the boat,
i.e. they have just moved to this country from another. Most common FOB accents
in our school include American and Australian accents.
5.A few people have a London “youth accent” in
order to seem “hard”. I don’t get it either. (sorry the picture is a bit stereotypical!)
As I was writing these categories for my school, it struck
me that an accent is not only the way you speak or where you come from – it can
also suggest social status and stereotypes. It’s amazing how something so
intrinsic can have just a prominent affect on how you are perceived to be like.
However, this is not always a negative; everyone has their own unique accent
and style which is almost like a vocal fingerprint. The English language is
constantly developing and accents can often offer meaning beyond just the
letters. If everyone had to speak in RP, what a monotonous world it would
be. I think regional accents provide
personality.
So, what category do I fit in?
Being a BBC (British born Chinese), my parents hardly ever
communicate to me in English, thus they would not have influenced my accent in
anyway. This must mean that my accent has been mostly affected by my schooling.
1.I always drop my T’s, probably because almost
everyone around here does. After our English teacher pointed this out, I
attempted to perfectly pronounce my T’s, but in the end, I thought I sounded
slightly silly.
2.I used to always say “f”, when it’s supposed to
be “th”. For example, I used say “f”ursday, instead of “th”ursdays, probably
because this is a trade mark of being brought up in “emel. I remember my sister
always used to tease me about it, so I tried to change it. Another reason could
be because, in the Chinese language (Mandarin), there is no “th” sound at all,
so I probably grew up not using it in both languages, since it wasn’t used in
one. I still find it slightly hard to pronounce to this day and sometimes the
devilish “f” does still creep in out of habit.
So yes, in conclusion, I believe that spoken language is
something which should equate to more than a measly 10% of a GCSE. The way you
speak/talk is just so imperative to every walk of life – that is unless you
decide to move to another country and never utter another word in English ever
again. Apart from grades and what is written down on your CV, the second most
important factor when in an interview situation is the way you converse and portray/sell
yourself with your words. Therefore, English teachers, I think you should teach
us less about pointless poetry and make us write fewer critical essays, and
teach us the skills that will be invaluable all throughout our life.
Here is a hilarious video of this one guy attempting 24 English accents. By the way, it contains lots of swearing.
Wow, I can’t believe I wrote an entire post about English.
“F”anks for reading!
Rebecca x
P.S. I am planning to blog every other day this month! So
far, I have managed to stick to this goal, and it’s something I really do want
to keep to throughout the year, so check back regularly for more content!
This is going to be a blog post about why you, YES YOU,
should join our glee club. (Unless you
don’t go to my school, then that’s a slight hindrance/bummer.)
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS:
Q. Are you a Glee
appreciation society?
A. No. We are not a Glee appreciation society. We are not
associated with the Fox TV show in any way, shape or form, apart from sharing
the same name.
No!
Q. Then what on earth
are you, and what do you do?
A. We are basically choir, where we sing songs, mash ups and
medleys.
In the past we have sung:
1)Starlight by Muse, with a little bit of Firework
by Katy Perry
This term we are planning to sing:
1)SHREK MEDLEY, including the likes of
a.All Star, by Smashmouth
b.Funkytown by Lipps Inc.
c.I’m a believer by The Monkees/ Smashmouth and
Eddie Murphy
d.Accidently in love by Counting Crows
Q. Who is it for?
A. Everyone! Glee is open to all years, from 7 to 13 for anyone
interested in singing together in a choir.
REASONS WHY YOU
SHOULD JOIN:
1.You get to sing super awesome songs. +1!
2.You will become amazingly popular and famous
(not guaranteed). +1!
3.You will have fun. +1!
4.You get to participate in the spring concert,
thus get to miss lessons. +1!
5.You will be fed cake at regular intervals. +1!
COUNTER ARGUMENTS:
Q. But what if I hate
the TV show “Glee”?
A. Again, as stated above, we are not affiliated with the TV
show, Glee. We purely chose the name people “Glee” is an adjective which
describes and feeling jubilant delight or euphoric pleasure, something that you
will definitely experience if you come (!)
Q. But what if I can’t
sing/ read music/ never heard of those songs/ am utterly tone deaf?
A. Not a problem, no sight-singing is required, as it will all
be taught to you. The whole point of a choir is that it is a group of
people singing together, so if you don’t think you sing very well, it doesn’t
matter as you’ll be covered by everyone else.
Q. But what if I
don’t want to /can’t dance?
A. No dancing ability is necessary, vastly because we won’t be
doing any dancing, at all.
Q. But what if I’ve
got exams *insert date*? I don’t have enough time.
A. Rehearsals for Glee are only 30 minutes long, I’m sure that
you have at least that amount of time free each week. If you don’t, I seriously
think you should reconsider what you are doing with your life.
Q. But what if
singing is for losers? I’m too cool for glee club!
A. I bet you at least sing in the shower. Plus, if you read my
blog, you can’t be that cool anyway, JOKES!
~BONUS NUGGET OF KNOWLEDGE~
Have you ever wondered
why you sound so much better singing in the shower? Showers also have a
great acoustic isolation - steam. The little drops of water in the air absorb
the echoes from your singing, and make it sound a bit better. Usually
bathrooms are tiled, adding a bit of reverb to your voice, which helps to mask
a few of the mistakes.
Q. But where and when
is it exactly?
MONDAY, BREAKTIME IN MU1!
(The one opposite the tech corridor)
So suppose now, you have no more excuses.
And if you don’t come, here is a funny video, which you can
put on repeat, which will make yourself feel better when you are trying to
forget the sorrow of missing the fantastic opportunity that is joining glee
club.
SHREK DANCING
BABIES:
So I guess I’ll see you there!
Rebecca x
P.S. I'm being deadly serious in this entire post. ;)
P.P.S. I've finally worked out how to use the youtube uploader woop!
