Montana Vacation - Day 14

So this is the last day of 2012. It started with breakfast and watching the Downton Abbey 2012 Christmas special. I didn't even know they were doing one until I saw a few tweets about it a few days ago. I won't spoil anything on this blog since we won't be seeing it here in the U.S. for a few months, but if I were you and you watch Downton then move on to the next paragraph and skip the rest of this one. Because from the tweets that I saw I knew something big was going to happen (which kind of spoiled it for me) as Chris and I were waiting for the ball to drop with every event that was happening. We kept saying.. OMG they better not do this or they better not do that.. it kept us on edge the entire time but also when it finally happened the shock wasn't there.. but that still didn't take away the OMG moment and Chris and I just stared at each other. Have to wait a year before we get season 4 and it can't get here soon enough.

Afterwards we played a bit of Lord of the Rings Online... I know shocker...

We then went to lunch at Chili's before heading to the theater to see Les Miserables . If you don't know about this book turned play turned movie here is a brief synopsis. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables' travels with prisoner-on-parole, 24601, Jean Valjeun, as he runs from the ruthless Inspector Javert on a journey beyond the barricades, at the center of the June Rebellion. Meanwhile, the life of a working class girl with a child is at turning point as she turns to prostitution to pay money to the evil innkeeper and his wife who look after her child, Cosette. Valjean promise to take care of the child, eventually leads to a love triangle between Cosette, Marius who is a student of the rebellion, and Eponine, a girl of the streets. The people sing of their anger and Enjolras leads the students to fight upon the barricades.

My review... First of all I have seen the play when it was here in LA about 15 years ago but I really didn't remember much.. I mean I remembered the general storyline so going into this movie it was like watching it for the first time. One thing that caught me off guard and I don't know why because I knew it was based off the stage play, is that they are singing from beginning to end. They sing their conversations to each other..  I think there are like 10 words that are actually spoken. The other interesting thing the director did for this version of Les Mis was make everyone sing live while they were filming. Most movie that have people singing do ADR (that's when they go into the studio and re-record the audio and clean it up). But this director didn't and you can tell. Don't get me wrong these actors could sing (well most of them) but it's odd hearing someone sing on film and it not be sweetened and cleaned up to sound perfect.

I'm a huge Hugh Jackson fan and knew he can sing. I am not a fan of Russel Crowe at all and his singing was fine but you could tell he's not a singer. Anne Hathaway is getting praises from critics and friends for her performance and I have to say they are justified. She shined in this. Her performance as Fantine was incredible and heartbreaking. But the person who stole my heart was Samantha Barks who played the love lorne Eponine. She sings my favorite song from that play "On My Own". If you don't know the song you can hear it HERE. I can really identify with that song. I have loved male straight friends so much that it hurts but of course I know they can't return the love the way I need it. So when this part came on the tears started to flow for the first time. I mean I weld up and my chest tighten on several parts prior to this but this one got the tears rolling down my cheeks. Speaking of crying, the end almost killed me. You know how you get to a point where you are crying and you can't stop even if you wanted to.. yeah that was me. I had a hard time seeing the screen through the tears... it was that bad.

The movie is long and I don't know if I could watch it over and over again but I really enjoyed it and plan to see it again at least a few times (I got a DVD screener). I give this movie a solid B

When we got home we jumped back on LOTRO for a bit before making dinner. After dinner we had a glass on wine and went outside to smoke some cigars. Now I don't smoke.. never have but I did have a few puffs on a cigar about 20 years ago to celebrate a friends accomplishment and Chris asked if I wanted to have one to celebrate the new year and I said sure. Again I had a few puffs before putting it out, not a fan of the taste that it leaves in the mouth. We then went back to LOTRO and played until around 11:30. We then started a google hang out with friends Jen, Steve and Scott to bring in the new year. Steven already brought it in an hour prior with the east coast and Jen and Scott still had another hour. But Chris and I got Champagne and as the clocked struck midnight and the ball dropped we cheered along with everyone online and toasted 2013. Afterwards we hung out for another hour to bring in the new year with our west coast friends. At 1am the ball dropped again for them and we cheered for Jen and Scott.. it was loads of fun. Around 1:30am we called it a night and headed to bed.

It was a very emotional up and down kind of day. Sadness from Downton Abbey then fun with Lord of the Rings Online, then heart wrenching sadness with Les Mis but we ended the day with friends and LOTRO. I couldn't have asked for a better New Years Eve gathering.

Twelve for twelve

If you're reading this... congratulations. The world didn't end on December 21st and we're free to live happily until the next planned apocalypse is due to take place (which, by my estimations, gives us at least another month or so).


2012 has been an eventful year. Finishing school, staring college, getting rejected from John Lewis, reviewing lots of fantastic live music events, celebrating the blog's 50,000th view, getting rejected from John Lewis, celebrating a number of my friend's eighteenths as well as my own, passing my driving test and... oh yeah, getting rejected from John Lewis. 

It's become something of a tradition of mine to sum up the year's events in a post. 

So, here's twelve of my favourite songs, albums, movies, quotes (from people i know/met) and days of the year.

Songs

1. 'Try' - P!nk
2. 'Sweet Nothing' - Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch
3. 'Bones' - Young Guns
4. 'Give Me to the Waves' - General Ghost
5. 'Breaking the Law' (alternative version) - Emeli Sande 
6. 'Terrified' - Among Savages
7. 'Closer' - Tegan and Sara
8. 'Chester's Burst Over the Hamptons' - Kishi Bishi
9. 'Floored' - Make Sparks
10. 'Fox's Dream of the Log Flume' - mewithoutYou feat. Hayley Williams
11. 'Black Chandelier' - Biffy Clyro
12. 'Little Talks' - Of Monsters and Men

Albums (and EPs)

1. 'The Truth About Love' - P!nk
2. 'Bones' - Young Guns
3. 'Give Me to the Waves' - General Ghost
4. 'Our Version of Events' - Emeli Sande
5. 'Go' - Motion City Soundtrack
6. 'Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind' - Among Savages
7. 'One Man Army' - Kassidy
8. 'Some Nights' - Fun.
9. '151a' - Kishi Bashi
10. 'Electra' - Marina and the Diamonds
11. 'Beacon' - Two Door Cinema Club
12. 'Coexist' - The XX      

Movies

The first six are my favourite movies that I've seen in the cinema, and the latter six are my favourite movies that I've seen at home. 

1. 'The Dark Knight Rises' 

"In Nolan we trust" was my motto for the first half of the year, and upon watching the conclusion to his Batman trilogy, you could see why. I still don't think that it bet 'The Dark Knight', but it was still an amazing conclusion to one of film's greatest trilogies.

2. 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'

I haven't been so moved by a film since watching 'Up'. I'm so glad that I watched 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' alone, because the amount of times that I teared up whilst watching this was insane.

3. 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' 

It's amazing how a film can make you feel nostalgic over memories you've never experienced, or people you've never met. 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' was easily one of the best movies of the year. I felt a little bit different coming out of that cinema screening than I did going in. It's not many films you can say that about.

4.'Silver Linings Playbook'

At the present moment, this film is underrated. Although, I suspect that this will be subject to change, once the academy award nominations have been posted. Some truly breathtaking performances are in this film, and I expect it to receive a few Oscar nominations. Fingers crossed.

5. 'Looper' 

Undoubtedly one of the best concepts of the year. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis in a film about time-traveling assassins? Count me in.

6. 'Ted'

My favourite comedy of the year had to go to 'Ted'. The way Ted shouted "BACK OFF SUSAN BOYLE" at that kid had me in stitches for weeks.

7. 'Shame'

I'd wanted to go see this in the cinema at the start of the year, but because I was still seventeen, I couldn't. It was definitely worth the wait however. As heartbreaking as it was raw, it was perhaps the most stunning piece of cinema I've seen in recent times. Fassbender, Mulligan and director McQueen were all very much overlooked at last years Academy Awards.

8. 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest'

I adore this trilogy. Fincher's remake of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' was great, but in my personal opinion, nothing compares to the original films. I loved the conclusion, it had me hooked from start to finish.

9. 'American Psycho'

Very few films are as ballsy as 'American Psycho'. You've got to watch it to believe just how utterly insane it is, and even then, you probably won't believe that a film could be so utterly insane. Christian Bale is fantastic as Patrick Bateman and the film has became a cult classic for many different reasons. I'd elaborate more, but if you'll excuse me "I have to return some video tapes..."

10. 'Little Miss Sunshine' 

Instantly fell in love with this film. The chaotic representation of family life was probably more true to reality than most films this decade. A great script teamed with a fantastic cast resulted in this absolute must see. Oh, and Abigail Breslin? I pronounce you Queen of quirkiness. 

11. The Help'

Another film that I was dying to see at the start of the year, in the cinema but completely missed. That makes me sad, because I could have never have anticipated just how beautiful this film is. The acting, the script, the message... it was all perfectly concocted into this little gem of a film. There was a good mixture of moving moments and hilarious situations, it truly deserved all of the Oscar nominations and critical praise that it received.

12. 'Goodfellas' 

Quite possibly my favourite Scorsese film, 'GoodFellas' was a stunning portrayal of a gangster lifestyle. Just annoyed at myself for taking this long to finally getting around to watching it.

Days

1. Paramore show

The 21st August 2012 marked the second time that I was lucky enough to see my favourite band performing live. This time was a little bit different than last. The main reason being that the band now only have three members, instead of five (Josh and Zac Farro left at the end of 2010, just after I saw Paramore live for the first time). The other reason was that I travelled down to Edinburgh for the gig by myself.

That didn't mean I was at the gig by myself however. I met up with a lot of people that I have been speaking to on twitter for ages, and became acquainted with others that I had never spoken to before at all. Beautiful day.

And then, of course, the gig itself was amazing. Couldn't fault it in the slightest. I was smiling all the way from Edinburgh, back to Aberdeen.

2. Emeli Sande and Nandos with Halle

That's a link to the review by the way, and not a post on the day because I was clearly too lazy to write one. 

The good people of Flares 'n' seagulls gave me two reviewers tickets to Emeli Sande's homecoming gig at the music hall in April, and I obviously jumped at the chance.

So I tweeted Halle and we decided to go to the gig together.

We went for a Nando's first, and she introduced me to the magic that is a Mango and Lime wrap. Best thing on the menu, endlessly yummy.

When we got to the venue, we realised that we had some really great seats.

Only a few metres away from her parents.

Claim to fame. 

3. Bowling with the gang 

One of my favourite days of the decade, let alone the year. I love hanging out with this group of people so much, and it's days like these that makes me feel grateful for everything (and everyone) I have in my life.

4. Passed driving test

The greatest achievement of 2012 (other than learning to juggle) was passing my driving test. Mum and Dad taking me out for Dinner to celebrate was just the icing on the cake of a truly great day.

5. English night out at Rustico's

Sara had an unbearably strong desire for crutons, Dougal showed off how sophisticated his tastes are by ordering swordfish, my English teachers drank themselves into oblivion and I mistook a fork for a spoon. 

It was a fantastic night, but we outstayed our welcome. At half eleven, the waiters tried to kick us out by heavily hinting that it was time to leave. The lights went off, the tables were cleaned, the music was switched off and they all stared at us with hatred. The teachers were too drunk to notice this, so we continued to talk into the small hours of... well, midnight.

6. Nandos with SALAD, 'Dark Shadows' and Yo! Sushi with Kelly

SALAD's (Sara Andrew Lauren Andrew Dougal) semi-regular day out. This time, we went to Nando's. Who was to anticipate that Dougal would end up working for the chain a few months after this visit?

Rounded off the day by seeing Kelly, who introduced me to the magic that is crispy M&Ms. Love.

7. Kyle and Rachel's 18th

 Kyle stripping to LMFAO has been eternally etched on my mind after this night.

8. Yo! sushi with Kelly, Pret a manger with Kristina and the torch relay concert with Halle, Gemma and Lucy

An insanely busy day. Laughs were had, friends were made, and food was demolished.

9. Yo! Sushi, Kilau and Pizza hut and 'Fight Club' with Megan

Yo! Sushi seems to be the thing that most of my favourite days of 2012 have in common, right? Wonderful day. Perfect way to send Megan off to Glasgow. And for what it's worth, this was definitely the best pigeon run of the year.

10. Dean's get-together

Far too many inappropriate conversations were had on this day, and I loved every single one of them. From grammarical errors in porn adverts, to that infamous mince and tatties comparison, this day was legendary.

11. Pub quiz with Dougal, Dean, Alison, Jim and Ryan

I've been wanting to do a pub quiz for years, and thanks to my college friends, I finally got the chance. 8th November will forever be known as Jim Day.

12. Florence and the Machine

So glad to have finally seen Florence and the Machine perform live. I'm glad to say that it exceeded my already high e"That's a melon. It's from Brazil." "I know, Igot it today. It was a long journey." "Did you go by pedalo?" "Idid. I'm so tired."xpectations. And I'm also glad to say that I saw them with Sara and Sarah, the lovely ladies. I raise my cup of IRN BRU to you both.

Quotes

1. JOEY: *said everytime he served us in Starbucks* Wheeped creme?

2. ME: Why do you think the laughing cow is laughing?

SARA: It's because he's got awesome earrings. And because he's only a head, so he can't be made into burgers, or be milked!

3. SARA: It looks like where Pingu lives! 

ANDREW: An igloo?

SARA: Yeah.

4. LEONARDO (AT THE BEACH): Oops, didn't mean for that to happen... good job I brought my eraser! 

5. KELLY: *falls over pot-hole, turns around and screams at it* I DON'T LIKE HOLES!"

6. HAZEL: *referring to the penis intermingling involved in snail porn* I would cut that off and hang it somewhere! That's beautiful.

7. MUM: I had one liqueur... And a wine gum. I think the wine gum was one too many.

DAD: That's what you get for mixing your drinks.

8. CAPTAIN CAMERA: *trying to come up with memory tricks for the figure of eight polar response* You can remember this by... thinking of it as a bird's eyes view of two Mexicans talking to eachother, whilst wearing sombreros. Looking the other way, with big noses.... having a Mexican stand off with two pirates. *draws lines from ovals* Whilst holding their arms out.

9. MEGAN: It's like going to a strip club and only seeing one bum cheek.

10. DEAN: There's plenty more fish where that came from.

11. ME: That's a melon. It's from Brazil.

MUM: I know, I got it today. It was a long journey. 

ME: Did you go by pedalo? 

MUM: I did. I'm so tired.

12. NIKKI: *text to her boyfriend* I put more energy into Paramore's performance tonight than I have shagging you 

I hope that 2012 was as good to you as it was to me, all the best for 2013!

Lauren xxx

Montana Vacation - Day 13

Well this is going to be an very easy blog today.. Chris and I played Lord of the Rings online all day long. Got up at 8am, showered and ate breakfast. Started LOTRO at 9am and played none stop until 1ish and took a half hour for lunch. Then started again at 1:30 and played until 7pm and once again took a half hour dinner break and started back up at 7:30 and played until midnight. By the end of my night my left hand was killing me and my fingers were so tired of hitting A,S,F,W on the keyboard. Yeah I know.. I'm addicted and I love it. I really hope my internet is fast enough to run this when I get home.. if not I will be bummed.

Montana Vacation - Day 12

So I'm addicted to Lord of the Rings Online... got up early, showered, ate and jumped online to play. We played for a straight six hours before taking a break to eat some lunch.

Now it's time for Downton Abbey season three, this is why I shared Downton with Chris during this vacation as I had not seen season three yet and have been dying to watch it. We watched all eight episodes back to back to back for eight hour straight. Now onto my season three review, I know it doesn't start in the US until early January so I won't put any major spoilers only my thoughts on the season overall.

I felt this season overall wasn't as dramatic as previous seasons, I remember with I watched seasons 1 & 2 I was yelling and screaming at my TV and I was angry/frustrated at characters. I mean there is one HUGE event that takes place (which I was spoiled on) but other then that it's just some minor ups and downs. I mean I was still angry and frustrated with these characters... so that's good. It was great watching my favorite characters continue to live their "oh so dramatic" early 1900's lives.

For dinner Chris made a leg of Lamb and brussel sprouts, neither of those have I had before. I enjoyed the Lamb it had some good flavor. And the brussel sprouts weren't bad. I wouldn't eat them on a regular bases but I had three tonight and they weren't horrible.

Kobo Mini eReader

Shhhhhhh!! Don't tell Miss Pinky I got myself another eReader (but of course I'm keeping my old one! I promise!). It's a Christmas gift to myself (bought it last Sunday) for all the hard work and stress I've had in the past year. Miss Pinky hates me for being so technological AND being a multi-tasker. I can't help it! ^^

I bought this one because it's light and easy to carry around, unlike my iriver eReader which is heavy... and just heavy... ¬_¬"" But the good thing about my iriver is that it's very good at showing comics / manga and jpeg files which the Kobo Mini is not that good at.

Seriously I'm in love with my new Kobo Mini . It was £49 in Argos (and I thought it was £49.99 - the lady at the till also thought the same too!!). 

The only trouble with my Kobo Mini is that it can't read the Waterstone books I bought because they're protected by Adobe DRM. Boohoo! Will I have to purchase the books again? Or will have to read them on my iriver? Oh, the trouble of finding a good eReader!!

The one good thing that I really like is that it fits right into the palm of my hand, and I really have a small, chubby hands! :D

I am very happy with my purchase, and I hope to read loads of books next year!! ^^

p.s. I found a way of reading my Waterstones purchased ebooks on my Kobo Mini and Kobo phone app too!! :D... Follow this YouTube video ^^ (You will need to use a computer to do this!).

Montana Vacation - Day 11

So here I am at Day 11 of my Montana Vacation... the day started like the previous 10 days. Got up, showered, did dishes and ate breakfast.

We started our day with watching Downton Abbey, we finished season two. For lunch we went to Cafe Rio again for some very tasty burritos. Then we played Lord of the Rings Online for about six hours before making some leftovers for dinner and watching a screener of Silver Lining Playbook to end the night.

Here's a brief synopsis for Silver Lining Playbook: After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

My review... I have to say when the movie started I was not enjoying it. It was hard to watch this person try to deal with "real life". About halfway through the movie I actually started to enjoy it and by the end it was a fun entertaining ride. Would I want to watch it again? No, I think once is fine. Am I'm disappointed that I watch it in the first place? No, thought it was rough at the beginning the ending defiantly made the movie for me. I give this movie a solid C

Montana Vacation - Day 10

Day ten of my trip to Montana to spend the holidays with my best friend Chris. Today like every morning we had breakfast, this time instead of making it ourselves we went out to a local "hole in the wall" Looked like a house converted into a diner.. the prices for breakfast were about $8 to $10, but man they gave you a ton of food and it was so yummy.

After breakfast we came home and Chris surprised me by downloading an MMO that I've always wanted to play but because of my crappy internet I haven't been able to. It's the Lord of the Rings MMO online game. We spent the next two hours setting up our characters. I of course went with a Hobbit and since Chris is awesome and wanted to play in a fellowship with me he also created a Hobbit character. We went through various names but I wound up with Drialdo and Chris went with Perugrin. It was fun going through all the different looks and making him look exactly as I wanted. Chris has done LOTRO before so he showed me around and went over some of the instructions on how to do things. It was everything I was hoping for and more. I was instantly addicted to the game as I expected and will be bummed when I get home and not be able to play with my slow internet connection. Guess that means I'll have to get in as much play time with the game as I can before I leave.

We pulled ourselves away from the game just long enough to make some lunch before jumping back on and playing until Chris had to go into work. So in all we played about seven hours total for my first day.

Chris went into work but only had to work an hour so he came home fairly early so we got in a few more episodes of Season two of Downton Abbey. Hopefully we can finish off this season tomorrow.

Called it a night around 11ish ...  Chris and I talked about going up to Canada since we're only a few hours away and I've never been. Calgary is the closet big city so that's where we plan to go. Gonna leave early on Sunday and spend Sunday and Monday there, then come home on Tuesday and I fly out on Wednesday.  Hope those plans pan out... I'll keep you posted.