Prince in Las Vegas baby!

I recently went on my favourite website (housequake) and discovered with great joy that Prince is due to be playing in Las Vegas in the Hotel Rio Grande for an indefinate amount of time from next month. They basically pushed out the show that was playing at the hotel already and moved in! This has given me a great excuse to go to Las Vegas now, although my boyfriend is concerned about me gambling there!

If you go to www.3121.com you can see the acts he's got involved in it. A lot of fans are worried that he's selling out by playing in Las Vegas and following in the footsteps of Celine Dion and Elton John, but at least now he's playing, even if it is in one place so we have to go to him! I personally will be buying tickets and flights to see him once he has dates set up. I hope to see more Prince fans out there too from all over the world.

Remember, remember...

I love this time of year; the leaves on the trees turning a golden brown and falling to the ground, the chilly, dark nights where you have to snuggle up with your loved one on the couch every night (possibly infront of a nice fire), and generally a spooky atmosphere, especially around Halloween!

I generally like to scare myself on Halloween and I have no idea why! We saw The Grudge 2 years ago on Halloween and the cinema was packed and the whole audience were reacting as if we were one! It was crazy, and one of the most scariest things I've experienced.

Of course this is also the time of year for fireworks. I love the fact that it's only us Brits who have fireworks on 5th November - obviously being a British tradition! I remember from my childhood hating the loud noises they created, but for some reason always wanted to see a display. I can't ever really remember having fireworks in our backgarden, but I have been to a few home 'displays' too! I remember a friend of mine from school always going all-out and had a huge bonfire with a Guy Fawkes on it too. Then there were the times at Uni when a load of drunk students decided to set off fireworks. I stood well back those time! There was also the new year I spent in Holland where fireworks are a big business and they just set them off in the streets. That seemed pretty dangerous to me, as rockets were just placed in bottles on the pavement and not pushed firmly down into the ground.

A news item this morning has prompted me to write this blog, as the police (or at least one police officer in Newcastle) is suggesting that fireworks should be completely banned from home use. I can understand from a safety point of view and also legal point of view (lots of dodgy dealings going on with them), but not from a traditional point of view! It just wouldn't be the same without fireworks going off all over the place a couple of days before and after the 5th November. His argument was that there are plenty of good displays in local areas for people to go along to which are so spectacular, why would you need fireworks at home? I personally don't buy fireworks because I think they're expensive and worryingly explosive for me (or my boyfriend) to set off! Much better to just go along to a display up the road from me (Blackheath, 4th November, Saturday, 8pm) and enjoy the pretty fireworks for free. However, there are some families out there who don't live conveniently by a display and you can imagine how many people go along. The traffic is horrendous and there are a ridiculous amount of people there where small children could easily get lost amongst the crowd. I think we should have the option, especially for the sensible among us who can handle fireworks safely and carry on the tradition.

The Lost debate

I'm not talking about the black mist that carries people off, or even what that dinosaur type creature is, stomping around. No, of course not, there is something much more important than that...who is sexier - Jack or Sawyer?

Now, this is a very tough question for all the women out there, or even men! Now, in terms of character personality, Jack is obviously heroic without even wanting to be, he's a doctor, a surgeon even! (He must be raking it in!) So probably very good with his hands too! *Wink wink!* He has good morals and is in touch with his emotions (cries a few times). Very sexy.

On the other hand we have Sawyer who seems to be his complete opposite. He's a con-man, dishonest, a liar (his real name is James), doesn't let his emotions show, gets into fights and likes to alienate people away from him. And yet, I still find him incredibly attractive! It's that bad-boy, mean look he has on his face. Those eyes that burn through people, but also melt the girls' hearts! The long hair which sometimes covers his eyes. Good lord!

Anywho, I still can't decide between the two. Maybe Jack is the safer option in terms of a relationship, but his marriage did fail and his job would take up a lot of his time. Sawyer I can imagine is unreliable or unable to stay in one place for too long. Man, they both don't seem too attractive in terms of boyfriend/husband material! But who wants to fantasize about that!

P.S. I know this blog ended up being completely useless as I couldn't make up my mind, but hey, it was a good excuse to post some pictures of gorgeous men on my blog!

Insurance companies!

Oh man, can't live with them, can't live without them! I never really had a problem with insurance companies, until I had an accident that is! It was totally the other guys fault (we were in a car park and he reversed into us as we were driving past at 5mph!) but for some reason the twat is not admitting it was him. Apparently he was on holiday at the time of the accident - but funnily enough has not produced any evidence that proves this. Well, I've now got no years of no claims bonus and therefore my renewal quote has gone up considerably from last year, and a £300 excess that says otherwise, buddy!

Anywho, this claim has been going on since May! That's almost 7 months now! We have phoned our insurance company many times to find out what they are doing about it and everytime it seems they are going to call his insurance company again next week, or send out another letter next week. Well, tell me, what good is that going to do? Seriously, it's obvious the guy doesn't want to admit it was him, and yet we're the ones suffering from his stupidity! I want some serious action to be taken against him. Why can't the police go knocking on his door or send him a solicitors notice to pay up or be sued? I just don't understand why it should take this long! Why can't people be honest and admit when they've fucked up? If I hit someone in my car I wouldn't have the nerve to lie; I'd have to own up and pay out. At least I could sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that I haven't screwed anyone over.

Upcoming movies I can't wait to see!

As I've been reading the latest Empire, I'm getting rather excited about some upcoming films. The first is The Prestige which is directed by the brilliantly talented (and English) Christopher Nolan, and stars the equally talented Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and a brief appearance from David Bowie! (I used a still from the film as the poster looks pretty poor!) Basically Bale and Jackman play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers. The title refers to the product of a successful trick. It looks amazing and the story is very intriguing. It's based on a book, but Nolan says not to read it before seeing the film! Darn it!

The second film is Hollywoodland with Ben Affleck playing George Reeves (actually looks quite like him! I guess he didn't mind eating some pies for this role! What dedication as an actor!) - the original Superman from the 50's TV show. It's a uniquely compelling exploration of fame and identity, inspired by one of Hollywood's most infamous real-life mysteries. I became aware of Reeve's mysterious death around the time of Bryan Singer's latest Superman movie where there were a few television specials about the history of the character. It seems even more interesting by the fact that it looks like Adrien Brody's character reveals what really happened to him. I love to see films based on real events - I think The Black Dahlia looks interesting for the same reason, although I'll probably wait to see that on DVD.

The next film is a comedy starring the amazingly funny Will Ferrell - Stranger than Fiction. It's about Will's character constantly hearing his life being narrated by Emma Thompson. I can just see him flipping out now! I know I would if that happened to me! Should be a good laugh around Christmas time!

The next film I have chosen is Babel. This looks like a pretty complicated storyline as all it says on IMDB is: "Three stories set in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan. The story begins with a tragedy striking a married couple on vacation." That couple is Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett - so two good reasons to see it, plus Gael Garcia Bernal! Yummy and amazing! Plus it's directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (sorry I don't have the ability to put accents on the letters!), who directed one of my all time favourite films - Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch). I think it will be in the same vein as that, and I guess a bit like Crash too.

Films I will be seeing in the next following weeks are The Departed (hopefully tonight), The Grudge 2 and Borat!

The Overpowering Power of Teleshopping!

I don't know about you, but for some reason everytime I happen to come across teleshopping I start laughing at people's stupidity for actually buying the crap they're selling, but then feel strangely compelled to buy it myself! This has happened to me twice now, and it's actually scary how the feeling takes over you. Luckily both times I have stopped myself from picking up the phone and buying the rubbish I'll never use! The first instance was a 'lateral thigh trainer'! It seemed perfect for me. I have large thighs and it targets them perfectly. It looked like so much fun from the infomercial and so easy to loose inches off of your thighs and bum. I immediately called my boyfriend instead of the number on the screen to say 'I've seen this exercise stepping machine on TV which looks great for me, but tell me not to buy it!' I think they said it was £80 and I knew that was a bit too much for me to justify, and ended up getting the same kind of thing in Argos for £50 - which might I add I never use anymore; turns out it's not as fun as it looked on the ad!

The second instance happened to me before work the other day. Again it started with 'you can buy this and this for only *blank* pounds and then you can get this and that for just *blank* pounds!' I didn't know what they were selling for about 5 minutes as they were pitching all the stuff you could buy...but then the infomercial started from the beginning again and it was Anthony Robbin's motivational lectures and seminars on DVD's and magazines. (If you don't know who he is, he's the guy who makes Jack Black see Gwenyth Paltrow as skinny in Shallow Hal. This is his website.) As he started to describe why his DVD's are so good for people's confidence and self believe, I began to think 'yeah, that's exactly what I need.' Lately I've been a bit depressed in my job, and don't really have much confidence in my myself and my abilities and I thought to myself I need to get some inspirational words of wisdom from Anthony Robbins and then my life will be great...but then I had to finish getting ready for work and turned the TV off! I recognised I was getting sucked in, and quickly moved away from it, just like before. The DVD's might have actually helped me, but I don't need to buy it through a television - I have the internet to find stuff like that!

Cute kids destroyed by video games!

There has always been an issue in the media about kids being influenced by graphic video games and films since the nineties, but as an upstanding member of the community and having my fair share of violent images through my childhood, I never really took it seriously. I guess I just thought it depends on where you're brought up and how close an eye your parents keep on you which determines how you behave. However, I'm beginning to think otherwise. What got me thinking about this was this article I read recently:

"Teenagers are committing muggings and robberies as part of a violent initiation game it emerged today. Points are scored based on the degree of violence used, the type of victim, the property stolen and whether the attack is filmed on a mobile phone. The development comes amid increasing controversy over violent computer games such as Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto. A recent study claimed playing such games casued changes in the brain that could lead to aggresive behavour and risked desensitising youngsters to real-life violence." - London Lite 12/10/06

Now I know London Lite isn't exactly The Times, but they still have a good point and it's worrying how much crime and violence is being committed by kids, and you have to think about why that is. I think video game makers are getting away with a lot more today, which is fine for adults (sensible ones that is!), but an 18 rated game is only going to make the kids want to play it more. I think parents need to be more responsible for what their kids are doing and who they're hanging out with, rather than just simply placing the blame on all video games which have an ounce of violence in them. I still think the area you raise your kids in and the school they go to definately has a big influence on their upbringing, so I will personally make sure my kids (when I eventually have them) will be going to a good school and living in a nice neighbourhood, that is if there are any left in London in 2020!

The trouble with old people!

Okay, so I just posted a blog about me feeling old, but boy do I feel young in comparison to my grandparents. I just spent the weekend with them and my parents in one of the most stressful situations we could have been in with them - travelling to Spain and then having to drive for 3/4 hours to our destination once we'd arrived at Madrid airport. Now, my grandparents, you can imagine are not as sprite as perhaps they once were, but to be honest, they're pretty much imobile! They both have walking sticks, but my grandmother doesn't even like to use that for too long, and needs to sit down every 5 minutes. I swear she has a chair radar! I don't mean to be disrespectful, I appreciate all they have done for me in my life, but this weekend was so much hard work, I wish I hadn't bothered. Not only was it tough to get them in the car, they lost their passports hours before our flight and my grandfather is completely senial and kept asking basic questions. Even when we were in the police station within Madrid airport to fill out a report, my grandad said 'give me my passport', not understanding we were there because he didn't have it! Even driving to my cousin's wedding he was asking who we were going to see. Scary stuff, but it makes you appreciate life and your memory much more. I just want to make the most out of my life and see as much as I possibly can before I become too old and tied down to do so!

Man I'm feeling old!

I'm not sure how to start this blog. It all started when I was comparing some single friends of mine to myself and another friend who have been attached to our boyfriends for quite some time. Basically my single friends have forgotten about us, and are behaving like I was when I was around 16/17 years old; going out to nightclubs, meeting guys and generally having more of a social life than I am now! As a result, I feel more like I'm in my 30's than 24; discussing marriage and mortgages! I find myself enjoying staying in rather than going out clubbing or drinking, and if I do go out I don't want to stay out too late, or go to places where the music is so loud I can't even hear myself speak! My ideal night at the moment is to spend a night in with my boyfriend and our mutual friends to have a drink, watch a DVD and possibly play some friendly poker. We've even had dinner parties at our house in my vain attempt to be a good host and feel as though my boyfriend and I are already a married couple! I'm sure once my single friends find nice blokes, they'll be happy to sit in too, but that will probably be when I feel as though I'm in my 40's!

In a recent conversation between us, he told me he equates mortgages with growing up, and he wasn't ready for that. I've felt like every big step in my life has been towards making me more 'grown up'; exams, learning to drive, University, a career, a long term relationship! I guess I just feel as though the next natural progression is to buy our first house.

I just wonder; am I growing up too soon? Should I be starting to think about mortgages and marriage at the age of 24 now that I've been with my boyfriend for 5 years? Or should I go out and enjoy my youth while I still have it? What do you think? Is 24 still too young to behave as though you're in your 30's?

Ohhh very superstitious...

Okay so I'm quickly becoming a blogging junkie! But it feels as though I have a lot to get off my chest at the moment!

I can't post this tomorrow (when it would be more appropriate) as I'm off, jet-setting to Spain to see my cousin get married. I just wanted to mention that tomorrow is Friday 13th. Great set of films, but I don't understand why this particular day has landed such a bad rep! I mean, it is a Friday after-all and everyone loves Fridays!

I have been reading about why it's supposed to be unlucky from this website and one of my favourite quotes is "Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended." Okay, so me flying to Spain tomorrow isn't such a good idea then?

I guess I've always been a little bit superstitious, there's always that doubt in your mind that says 'maybe I shouldn't walk under this ladder' or 'maybe I should try and get around that black cat before in walks in front of me' - but seriously people, window cleaners and owners of black cats aren't injured anymore than the rest of us...are they?

My nose trouble!

So, I have had problems with my nose for almost a year now - and believe you me, it gets me down. Imagine having a permanent cold for 10 months?! That's what it's been like for me. All those people saying 'cor you sound awful' and me either having to explain it's an allergy, or, no I'm fine, I just have problems with it, blah blah blah! Well now I've seen a surgeon and he's given me his expert opinion - that I have the symptoms of someone who is allergic to something without actually being allergic to anything! He gave me my options too - either do nothing (not an option - why did I bother paying this man £150!), have surgery which costs £3000/4000 as I don't have health insurance, or medicate using steroids and antihistamines - which is the option I have decided to go for for now. It is helping but obviously it's not as permanent as surgery.

Another thing he suggested though was avoidance of the things which would irritate anyone's nose. I'm talking about smoke, fumes, dust, air con and central heating. I think you'll find I come into contact with those things at least a couple of times a day! I work in central London, full of people smoking and cars with their fumes whizzing past me, working in a air conditioned basement and then coming home to a dusty, spiderweb filled house (don't get me started on that now!) and putting on the central heating! Yeah, I'm not feeling too positive about the medication now!

My Name is...Kate!

So I might be a bit slow in terms of watching the latest series of stuff coming out of the states, but I saw the first three episodes of My Name is Earl series 2 last night, which is still as great as ever, but looks as though they had a focus group in the Summer break and people love Joy - so Joy's getting more airtime. Sweet! Although everytime I watch My Name is... I end up talking with a Southern American accent! Odd when I've lived in London all my life.

Me, You and Everyone We Know

I recently watched this film, which I'd seen on Film 2006 earlier in the year and thought it might be quite an interesting indie film to see, and was delighted to see it's already playing on sky. Basically here's the plot summary from IMDB:

'Me and You and Everyone We Know' is a poetic and penetrating observation of how people struggle to connect with one another in an isolating and contemporary world. Christine Jesperson is a lonely artist and "Eldercab" driver who uses her fantastical artistic visions to draw her aspirations and objects of desire closer to her. Richard Swersey (John Hawkes), a newly single shoe salesman and father of two boys, is prepared for amazing things to happen. But when he meets the captivating Christine, he panics. Life is not so oblique for Richard's seven-year-old Robby, who is having a risqué Internet romance with a stranger, and his fourteen-year-old brother Peter who becomes the guinea pig for neighborhood girls -- practicing for their future of romance and marriage.

I know it sounds really odd, and I can imagine not too many people would enjoy this film, but I found it interesting in terms of capturing a bit of real life and looking into the lives of random people who somehow become connected through the film. I think the most disturbing bit of the film is in the first 5 minutes when the father (Richard) decides to set his hand on fire using lighter fluid in front of his kids as a party trick! He remembers his own uncle doing it to him, except with alcohol which burns away.

Prince - sex God!

One of the first things you must know about me is my absolute love of Prince. His earlier stuff is definitely better anything he did during the nineties, but I'm quite impressed with his recent efforts. 3121 was a great album and I'm looking forward to something new hopefully in 2007 - especially as he's going to be playing at the Superbowl half time in February. His latest song for one of the many CGI films that have come out recently (obviously the boom started when Toy Story took off) is pretty cool - called Song of the Heart you can hear it here

Also if anyone is interested in updates and archive on Prince the best website I know is www.housequake.com - it's a must for die hard Prince fans, especially seeing as his official website is currently offline with problems about copywriting!

Here's where I live

So I couldn't find a nice enough photo of me yet to use for my profile so I decided to use this shot taken just by my train station (Westcombe Park). I love the south east of London, I've lived here all my 24 years, and I intend to stay here for quite a few more years to come!

So here I go...

...following the trend that my other geeky friends are doing at the moment. I don't usually go for things everyone else is into, but it's only because I'm feeling bored and I do like to rant quite a bit, so at least this way, people can chose whether they want to hear it or read it!

I'm not sure who will read this, or if I'll even keep it up. I'll probably piss about with it til I find something more meaningful in my life that will take up my time, like a new job which (heaven forbid) I might actually enjoy! Or possibly a new home, or TV, whatever comes first (I have a feeling it might be the TV). However, that just might give me more to write about.

I can tell I'm boring you already, so I'm going to stop now and check out what else this baby can do!