Just before Christmas last year I went a little crazy and bought all three seasons of the original Star Trek on Blu-ray, I watched the first two or three episodes and was quite impressed with the restoration work done on the episodes, the enhanced special effects were another thing however, I do rather like some of the new digital effects that were created for the show but some of the new effects are just too over the top for a show of Star Trek's age more disturbingly there has been the occasional new effects shot that was just terrible and makes me wonder why they bothered if that was the best they could do.
One of the great things about the Blu-ray release is that you have the option to watch the episodes with the original effects if you'd prefer and I'm sure thats what a lot of the fnatical purists do, I wanted to and still want to see how the show has been restored and reinterpreted for the high definition age.
Of course the great thing about Star Trek is the stories not the special effects and I've been enjoying seeing these old episodes again.
I've finished watching the first series of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes on DVD and I have to say I was very impressed with the show, I wasn't terribly keen on the animation style at first but that eventually grew on me and I thought that for the most part it was an extremely well written series, I really liked how the major characters all got an introduction episode and origin story that still contributed to an overall story arc that built up to the assembling of the team. I for one can't wait for season 2.
So much to do in London! So many Chinese and global events too. Eason Chan (Hong Kong singer) had a concert on 23rd April, but I couldn't go since it was on a Monday at the O2 Arena (which is so far) but I had already gone to his concert two years ago at the Royal Albert Hall. Oh well. So in the end I decided to go to one of my favourite theatres in London during that week - The Globe Theatre.
I remembered when I was a teenager the new Globe Theatre (a bit further away from its original location back in the 1600's - 230 metres away) had just opened, but I didn't go to see any shows at that time. So in the past few years I try to go to at least one show a year! I got a couple of brochures posted to me and a lot of e-Newsletters about an international event of Shakespearian plays being performed in 37 different languages... The Globe to Globe Festival. So obviously I went and booked for the Cantonese play first which is on Friday 4th May, but later on I decided I still needed to improve on my listening skills in Mandarin so I booked a ticket for the first showing of Richard III 理查三世 on Sartuday 28th April.
Inside the Globe Theatre
I left an hour early before the show started, but the bus was slow due to traffic (anyone going to London Bridge should get off the stop before - coming from the South side, and walk the rest of the way - traffic was murder!). I literally had half an hour before the show started - but it was also unfortunate that they're doing pavement work along the sidewalk!! How annoying. It was like that a month ago!!!!! How long does it take to finish a pavement?
The Box Office area after the play
Anyway, cushion - check; programme - check; seat found - check; photos taken before the play started - check! Phew!
The mini leaflet about the play
At the start of the play the Globe Theatre's Director came out to introduce the play and explain that the actor's costumes had been shipped 7 weeks ago but hadn't arrived yet, so they had to improvise.
It rained throughout the whole play :( but the show still carried on! :) The play itself was brilliantly directed and translated. The actors played it like a true Shakespearian play with a Chinese twist, although Richard III was not depicted as a hunchback and didn't have a squeaky voice. The Globe was even cool enough to add digital signs to help those who didn't speak a word of Mandarin (and other languages) to tell us what was going on (I'm very grateful - as I haven't read the play).
The digital screen display
The Throne during the interval
My favourite parts during the play were: 1. Richard III trying to get Lady Anne to marry him 2. The executioners - they were so funny - especially when they tried to kill Clarence (Richard's brother) 3. Loved it when Richard said: "我爱我自己。" (I love myself) - so funny! 4. I think they kept to the play - keeping the character's names and the places i.e Tower of London (this was mentioned a lot in the play!). My least favourite part was Lady Anne's Chinese opera. It was very high pitched. And sadly Chinese opera never agrees with my ears. But that's one of the Chinese twists in the play! Unlike the Shakespeare Company who would usually perform a dance right at the end of the play, they came out several times to bow to the audience. Heheheh. These group of actors are really cool.
The actors / actresses from the National Theatre of China at the end of the play
Actor Zhang Dongyu 张东雨 who played Richard III
Another round of applause with the Chinese Director Wang Xiaoying 王晓鹰 ^^
The End
One thing that The Globe should complain more often about is the noise from the airplanes and helicopters that fly past the theatre. It's distracting and I couldn't hear the actors. Plus one annoying thing was that I was sitting near the door, so I heard a lot of people coming in and out... :( I'm now in the mood for more Shakespeare! I can't wait to see the Cantonese one!! ^_^ Website: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/ p.s. I forgot to mention about the sound effects, the percussionist and the coin bag throwing attempt was brilliant too! I'm pretty sure the whole audience loved it very much!
In moments of monumental change, you can always depend on at least one person to lapse into state of reflective nostalgia.
Being the person that I am today, that person is me.
So this post goes out to my fellow sixth years.
This post goes out to my friends.
We are leaving a school this week that we have spent the last six years of our lives at, and I suppose that we are all just searching for that one moment of sentimentality that perfectly describes our experience at the school, and the time that we have all spent together. I think that’s what we’ve always been searching for:
Reason, belonging, understanding and that one, perfect valediction that sticks in the mind for the rest of our lives…
The sad truth is, there’s no such thing. We all expect a huge farewell, a meaningful scene reminiscent of that of Hollywood movies. It’s not going to happen. Moments like this happen all the time, across the globe, and everyone expects a big deal to be made about their specific moment because it's different to everyone else's... and do you know why it's different?
Because they can feel it. They can see it. They can taste it and hear it and comprehend it and they can do that because it's their moment. The world only exists within our heads after all, or rather, the world as we see it only exists within our heards.
On Friday, I'm going to go into school with a level head. I'm not going to expect fireworks or a scene from a John Hughes movie, but rather a bunch of teenagers excited about facing their uncertain futures and a group of adults terrified of the pranks that we have planned (and believe me, we have some planned).
So many people out there tell you that your school days are among the happiest of your life. That's debatable. But for our year group, I'd be tempted to say that this is probably true, despite what some of the people in it will tell you. We've had our minor disagreements, our little accidents and our indisputable differences, but another thing we've always had is each-others backs.
I've made some amazing friends at that school, ones that will be my friends for many years to come, and I'm so grateful for having the chance to meet them.
You see, adults forget that the most important part of schooling isn't the education that they provide you with, or the support that they give you during your time there, but rather the opportunity it gives you to make friendships and the memories that they allow you to make because of this.
Exam results are just numbers on a sheet of paper. Memories are tiny fragments of your life that you can relive whenever you feel fit.
What one do you deem more important?
I'll stop tormenting you all with these scattered thoughts, and post something about the last couple of days at Kincorth later on in the week.
It's been a while since I've written a blog post that centers on my life, and the reason that has been the case is... I haven't really done that much.
Didn't do that much today either to be brutally honest, haven't jumped out a window, or zip-lined off the roof of the school, or went cow-tipping
"If there's an udder, no need to shudder"
Cow-tipping's official motto.
Nope, instead I woke up (as you often do in the morning), looked outside, saw the rain, groaned, and then dragged myself to school.
TIP: Fall Out Boy's Pavlove is 92% likely to get to motivated to move in the morning.
Met Andrew on the bus, we talked about the Lostprophets gig last night (a review of which will be making its way to your screens shortly) and the craziness of this video:
It's five people playing one guitar.
At the same time.
STUDY
Me, Sara and Andrew decided to be anti-social and go into our own wee study room.
Not that much studying was done. You know how it is.
Sophie came in to tell us about her job interview yesterday... if you could call it an interview.
You see, she went for a job interview at the party place in Aberdeen's Market.
Three things you need to know about Aberdeen's Market
It's sometimes known as Aberdeen's new Market
It isn't new. At all.
It smells of food poisoning and broken dreams
Of course, party places are not judged by their surroundings. Mainly because party places RULE.
Then again, I consider any place that has pinatas to rule.
After all, nothing screams 'party!'
quite like an evil sith lord pinata
This man has not discovered the force.
Anyways, back to Sophie and her interview... the manager was a bit of an idiot.
SOPHIE: What will I be doing?
LADY: Well, you're not eighteen, so you'll just be hoovering the store.
SOPHIE (to us): The store's like a third of this classroom, and there's only a few tiles of carpet... I can't hoover all day. But then she said:
LADY: Hmmmm, what else can I tell you that is bad?
Pretty sure you're meant to be psyching people up for the jobs... not trying to put them off!
But hey, I can't speak, I'm unemployed!
Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. Just going to walk into my next (i.e. my first) job interview and say stuff like:
ME: Why do I want the job? Why does anyone want a job, MONEY! I'm not really wanting to work here but hey, I'll probably just skive the days I can't be bothered coming into work. Maybe I'll pop in to steal some money from the till and then push over a small child. After all, YOLO.
Kidding, kidding! I want a job to feel as though I'm contributing to society and to further my personal development, I never skive and I've only stolen a mars bar (that doesn't even count, because I was six and didn't understand the concept of paying for food).
Oh yeah, I'm also not big on pushing over small children.
Those huge, bambi eyes just stare right through you.
Go on. Stare into his eyes.
We got a little bit controversial after that, in a discussion that I will feel guilty for until exams are finished probably. I do that a lot, feel guilty over tiny little things.
Should probably work on that.
FREE
Spent free period doing three things (after all, three is the magic number):
Sitting in the hot bar excitedly saying hello to everyone who walked in. Where did I find the energy to do this? You tell me.
Helping Lewis with the mundane job of tallying hundreds of sheets regarding school uniform changes.
Debating with Laura over whether or not standing was the best option for concerts, which it obviously is.
The mundane job of tallying the questionnaires was made more enjoyable by some of the things the younger kids had written on the papers.
For example:
"Should girls in S1-S3 get the oppurtunity to wear cardigans?"Yes/No
Pupil's answer?
I'm not a girl.
Or
"What kind of shirts would you like to see S1-S3 wear?"
Pupil's answer?
None.
And another guy signed his name as "Wall-E" from Class A.
Class A? Classy.
Won't go into the argument. It's long winded and unresolved, but we did go around the table to try doing a sort of poll.
Of course, the majority of people said standing (duuuuuh, because standing is the best) and when we got to Claire, who is one of Laura's best friends and possibly the sweetest girl I have ever met, she said this:
CLAIRE: Well, if you're seeing a band, you kind of have to stand!
SARA: WAAAAAAH!
I just bow down to Claire. Nothing else for it.
Sara was eating digestives and laughing cow cheese for her break, otherwise known as 'fine dining' for Kincorth Academy.
I stared into those cow's dark eyes and I saw the devil.
And I want to make it unequivocally clear that I'm talking about the laughing cow's eyes, and not Sara. Sara is not a cow. If she was any animal, she'd be a giraffe.
Who said zebras and giraffes can't
hang out?
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!
After I had stopped laughing:
ME: That cow definitely has something to hide.
DOUBLE MATHS
Poor Abie gave herself a lip-burn.
Apparently, if your lips are sore and you proceed on putting shaving cream on it... yeah, that's a bad idea.
I never would have thought there would be a farm in the city heart of London. Well, there are farms on the outskirts of London like around Heathrow, but I have never seen a city farm before! My manager told me about the Vauxhall City Farm, as she went there with her grandson during the Easter break. So I thought I should have a look as I adore all things cute and adorable - and yes, Miss Pinky and Master H came along!
Front Entrance of the Farm
I was amazed that Vauxhall had such a secret farm so hidden away (and I don't live far away from it either - although it's been there for thirty odd years!!!!). This was probably better than going to a zoo where you would have to walk miles just to look at all the animals... But in Vauxhall City Farm, although there isn't much walking to do their animals are so cute and amazing!
Here's a lot of pictures of the animals we saw that day and thankfully it didn't rain....
First off are the chickens, roosters and rabbits.
Those roosters are really loud!
So many cute rabbits ^^
We then went into the Ecology Park to look at some insects, but couldn't see any, and didn't see the frogs at the pond either.
The Ecology Garden
We saw one of their lovely horses with 2 different eye colours.
Horse with 2 eye colours - very rare to see!
Here's a couple of beautiful ponies with their brilliant hair styles ^^
My Little Ponies ^^
The pigs are so cuuuuute!! :) I wanted to pet the big one, but it looked like he/she was happy being left alone with its partner in the sty... There were also a lot of other farm animals - a massive turkey, cows, a sheep, a ram, a few lambs and a duck pond.
Kawaii Pigs ^^
So many farm animals
The Duck Pond
A few lambs (and a pidgeon) having a rest
I thought this was a lama, but I was corrected... It's actually an alpaca. Is it winking at me?
Wink for the camera!!
This is the wash area and a couple of horses were coming back from their riding lessons in the park...
Wash your hands before you leave
The Park. Can you name that building on the left hand side?
And last but not least, their range of flowers and trees are awesome. They have a big area of home grown vegetation!
This is a must-go-to city farm!!!!! And I hope no city fox will try to get in :)
So I finally saw The Hunger Games and it was OK, I probably would've enjoyed it a lot more if it wasn't for the constantly shaking hand held style camera work, even though I find it annoying I can understand using it during a very intense action sequence but I'd much prefer it it they just pointed the camera at the subject and just showed me what was going on, I'm still interested in reading the book but I have to admit to being a little disappointed in the movie.
It looks like April Showers have really kicked in this year! I don't think we had any last year, but that kicked out in June!
After a very dry 3 or 4 months and posters on buses and bus stops to say "we're in drought" (whatever). It has rained non-stop for the past 2-3 weeks weeks!! :(
Every time the UK brings a hosepipe ban, rain falls like there's never been rain before! We've had thunderstorms nearly everyday, but I it's all worth it for the lawns, parks and dirty streets of London... Look at how this patch of green has sprung up daisies and dandelions...
Let's hope that these showers will bring out more pretty flowers... Apparently there is a saying about April Showers: "April showers bring May flowers". ^^
I was so bored by this movie for it's first half that I nearly gave up and stopped watching and thats something I rarely do, thankfully something actually happened inn the second half to partially redeem the movie.
I've been trying to hold myself back to write about the BBC's The Apprentice for the past month... Argh!!
Oh.My.God.
Are these people dimwits (I'm sure they're not like that).
But come on!! These people really need to think about their market and look at their finances.
On the latest episode (Episode 5) the two teams needed to make a new fitness regime for gyms. And Team Phoenix decided to use costly equipment, hoola hoops etc, but the gyms wanted to know how they were going to store and bury this equipment in their gym! Well, as a non-gym user, I think I would've known about that... and how will they be replaced as they are used over the years... who will fund all of that!!
Anyway, on the other team, the video was TERRIBLE!! Fitness regime sounded good... But... hmmmmm... I think if they had time, they would've been able to improve it.
So which team won? Well, that's for you to find out and for me to kip my lips sealed!
Did the right person go? Yeah, I think so. But in my honest opinion, I think the team leader on the winning team should've went!
The BBC really like to choose the dominant and cocky type to go on the show..! Lord Sugar, please choose the right person that shines in this series!!
