This Week Vol. 6

I haven't done a This Week post in a while, but I couldn't not do one after the week I've had. I spent the entire weekend (20 hours!) on a TEFL course, learning to teach people English, and it was so incredibly awesome. I was soooo nervous beforehand, I had a full on anxiety attack and was so close to just turning back at the door. Thank goodness I didn't though, because it was so great, and I think I've found my calling. It was a fantastic weekend where I met some really cool people and learned so much about what it takes to be a good teacher! 

I've been listening to this song repeat, it's very quickly working its way up my Most Played list.

I loved this couch gag from the first episode of season 26 (what?!) of The Simpsons! I thought it was so funny, and so weird that it was just perfect (I actually cried from laughing so much). It's just a shame the episode was pretty shit. I know this is old news now, but I started writing a Friday Favourites post aggges ago and never had the space to upload it.

I saw Nightcrawler and Interstellar this week, and both of them were great in their own ways. Nightcrawler was my kind of film, it was dark and creepy and really made you think. It was similar to Breaking Bad and Dexter in that the protagonist is not exactly the nicest person, but I really like that. It gives you something to think about. Interstellar was also pretty great, it was quite slow to begin with, then it seemed like it was trying too hard to be Gravity, but then it got good and I have to admit that I did shed a tear right at the end.

I loved reading Elise's series 'this is my business story', where she documented her not-so-usual story of building her business. I'm way back at the beginning of her story, just graduated and looking for jobs, but reading about how Elise managed to turn all this around to become a successful, self-employed woman doing what she loves, is really helping me not to get caught up in my failures.

I also met up with my school friends this week and we went to go and visit one of their universities, SOAS. It was strange going to a University in London because it was just so different from mine, but it seemed quite lively and political which was cool. They also advised me to go ahead with something I've been thinking about doing for a while, which is uploading videos of myself singing to YouTube. I really love to sing, and have been told I'm quite good (*blushes*), but I'm just waaaaaaay too shy to ever sing in front of people. I'm not sure if I'll be any better on YouTube, I might get too obsessed with how my hair looks or how my mouth makes weird shapes when I sing and not end up uploading anything, but I'm hoping not. I'm planning to film my first video this week because I've not got much on, and from next week I'm starting my new job at Paperchase (wooo money!), so, you heard it here first! I think my first song is going to be 'His Eye is on the Sparrow' from Sister Act 2.

Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' if you like what you're reading!

Top Five Episodes of Community

Community has a fairly simple premise, it's about a Community College Study Group. It may not sound that funny, but the writers are geniuses, and make every episode a lol-fest (I didn't know how else to put it). The characters are so well written and developed that even an episode that revolves entirely around a lost pen can be one of the best.

Remedial Chaos Theory

This is hands down the best episode of Community ever, but it wouldn't be half as good if you weren't already a fan, and weren't already incredibly familiar with all the characters, as it is ridiculously character based.

Digital Estate Planning

This episode is seriously funny. It involves the gang being transformed into video game characters, and is so well done. Again, like most Community episodes the humour comes from the characters, like Pierce not knowing how to play the game and Troy jumping the entire time, if you weren't a fan of the show, these things might not be quite as funny.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

I really enjoy the episodes of Community where the majority of the time is spent around the study room table, and this is no exception. Watching the different members of the study group deal with Dungeons and Dragons is hilarious. 

Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design

Lolwut?! That was my first reaction to this episode, and my second and my third. I still don't really get it, and that's exactly why you should watch it. Over and over again.

Competitive Ecology

Todd and Chang. That's all that needs to be said about this episode. (But mostly Chang.)

(Note: the formatting on this post seems to have a mind of its own, sorry!)

Top Five Paramore Covers

Over the years Paramore have covered loads of great songs, from hardcore rock songs to country slow jams. They're all fantastic, but these are my top five!

Sunday, Bloody Sunday | U2

  
I heard this version before I ever heard the original, and while both of them have their charm, I really like the way Hayley's sweet baby voice contrasts to the raw lyrics.

Use Somebody | Kings of Leon

   
Like most of the covers in this post, this is from the brand new eyes era, when I was seriously obsessed with Paramore. If you go back to the week of this cover in the comments on paramore.net, you'll find that I correctly guessed that they'd be covering this song in the Live Lounge. One of my greatest achievements.

Long Distance Call | Phoenix

   
At the time of this cover this kind of song was pretty un-Paramoreish. It had a funky vibe that we hadn't really heard before. Thankfully we got more of it with tracks like Ain't It Fun. Also Hayley's voice sounds so great and husky here. 

You Ain't Woman Enough | Loretta Lynn

   
Watch this and tell me Hayley Williams isn't one of the greatest singers of our generation. You can't can you? This was filmed about a month before the first time I saw Paramore live and made me 100 times more excited to see this in the flesh. 

My Hero | Foo Fighters

   
Paramore recorded this cover in 2006 for The Sound of Superman album, but only got round to performing it live in 2010. This is one of my favourite songs, and I love seeing it covered by my favourite band. 

Dolly On ... Modern Day Celebrity

Forever celebrities have been those perfect, unattainable figures that you will never meet, never be friends with, and never capture looking less than a million dollars. However, with the rise of Twitter, and YouTube, the way we see celebrities, and the celebrities themselves have changed, and it’s messing with my mind. We all know I’m emotionally unstable (before writing this I wrote 1000 words that ended with me ‘wanting to cut off my face’), and this new style of celebrity is killing me from the inside out. Allow me to explain …

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. AKA the fall of the Great Wall of Celebrity. Since Twitter moved into the mainstream and celebrities started jumping on board to seem more ‘real’, the wall between normal people and famous people was seemingly demolished. We now knew that Hayley Williams was watching Dexter at the same time as we were, or that Rihanna was smoking a joint as we were scrolling through Tumblr, just as Harry Styles was eating a banana. We were in on these people’s lives, and over time it started to feel like we were friends. I could go on Misha Collins’ Twitter, hear another hilarious tale of him doing something embarrassing, and think ‘OMFG! I do that too! We’re basically the same person’. We started spending a lot more ‘time’ with the people we admired, feeling like we were getting to know them personally. Everything was fantastic. It was a win-win. Celebrities could show their fans that they were ‘just like us’ and fans could form even deeper, more personal bonds with their heroes, leading them to buy more albums and T-Shirts. Fantastic right?

No! It’s all a lie. We will NEVER be like them. We will NEVER be friends with them. They will NEVER know who we are. It is this revelation that puts us in an even worse spot that we were before. Granted, I was sad back in the day when I thought Busted would never be my boyfriends, but not as sad as I am now. I’ve got to know these people online and I KNOW that we would be friends if we met in real life. We have SO much in common! If only I was famous too and could show them how cool I am. (If you haven't had this revelation yet, don't worry, it's coming.)

This phenomenon is ten times worse with YouTubers, because they were never unreachable in the first place! They started off in the realm of ‘I’m just like you’ (celebrities have always been at least a step above us normal people). We’ve grown up with these people on YouTube, they feel like friends, but they may as well be fictional characters. We’re never going to meet them. They’re never going to be our friends or our husbands. They’re never going to like us. It’s really hard to think of it like this when you know they’re just sitting in a room, however far away from you, filming themselves talking to you. The fact they are just normal people, and there is an actual possibility that we could’ve been friends is just an added heartbreak.

Let’s be honest, I’m writing this mostly for myself, as I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos recently, from Zoella to DanandPhil and Crabstickz, and it’s made me really depressed. I know I have an addictive personality (self-diagnosed of course), but it just seems so much worse when there’s the added imaginary possibility that I could actually be friends with these people. At least when I’m binge watching Supernatural and feel sick to my stomach being away from it for too long, I know they’re not real. I’m never going to meet and marry Dean Winchester (as much as I want to).

One last point I’d like to make about YouTube is the vicious cycle of having no friends. I have no friends, so I watch videos on YouTube of cool people who talk about how they have no friends. By watching these videos I don’t end up going out and meeting new people who could become friends, but I feel OK about this because the people I watch on YouTube have no friends either. Why do I need friends? Danisnotonfire says he has none. But, let’s be honest, they do, and even if they don’t, they’re getting paid to tell you they don’t. There’s only one person losing out in this relationship and it’s you (me). The worst thing is that you then you come to rely on them as friends and then they go and disappear for months on end (Crabstickz).

Phew, that was miserable. Sorry guys, but as you can tell I’m having a pretty rough time at the moment, and I need to take it out on someone. YouTubers seemed an easy target.

To read the rest of the Dolly On ... series, click here!

The artRAVE!!!!

So I saw Gaga last week and bloody hell was she amazing. We were sat right at the back, so these pictures are taken on the maximum zoom of my little Panasonic camera. Seeing her live has made me want that Lady Gaga tattoo even more (the BTW unicorn on her leg). 

I Bought a New Lens!

I bought my current camera around Christmas time last year, the Canon 600D, and I love it. However, since I bought it I haven't strayed from the kit lens (the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DC III Lens). All the pictures, unless stated otherwise are taken with this lens. Don't get me wrong, I love my camera, and have had no problems with the lens, I just wanted a bigger zoom. Not because I'm a stalker, or a Private Investigator, and not because I'm too lazy to move closer to my subject. I wanted a bigger zoom lens because the things I want to photograph always seem to be far away, whether it's animals, trees, people or whatever, I always want more zoom. So I invested in the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III Lens, because I saw it on Amazon for £60!

The photos below show how different the two lenses are; I am sitting in the same place for all four. The first one is taken at the widest angle on my 18 - 55mm lens, and the second is taken at its most zoomed in. The third is the widest on my 75 - 300mm lens, and the fourth is the most zoomed in. i.e. the first photo is at 18mm, the second 55mm, the third 75mm and the fourth 300mm. There are no effects on these pictures (hence why they're so grey). 

If all that confused you, here's all that information squeezed onto one picture. I've not had this new lens for long at all, but will keep you updated with how I'm getting on with it. So far I love it, it's just a little heavy.