My Unpopular Opinions: A Blog Post Idea Stolen From Beth-Oh-La

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

As all of the big fans of this blog will be aware I have been all quiet on the blogger front for an extremely long period of time, however, with university well and truly over and having a fair amount of free time on my hands I am (hopefully) back and blogging it up.

Having taken some time off I found myself both overwhelmed with the sheer number of potential subjects I could blog about yet also struggling to settle on anything.  When I find myself in times of trouble plagiarism comes to me, singing words of wisdom, steal Beth's idea*.  And so it was through one of my nearest and dearest's blog's that I finally decided that the best way to reintroduce myself into the world of blogging would be a quick and simple post listening some of my unpopular ideas...  

Without further ado here they are:

1. Piper Chapman (from Orange Is The New Black) is not a terrible person/character and happens to be one of my favourite characters on the show.

2. In this whole Taylor/Kanye/Kim/Calvin/Katy/etc drama I'm totally on team Taylor - and just generally I like Taylor Swift as a musician and person.

3. Soy milk tastes better than cow's milk.

4. The How I Met Your Mother finale wasn't terrible.

5. Ranch goes well with pretty much everything..

6. Mac and cheese is disgusting (as is pretty much anything with cheese sauce on it #devilsauce).

7. Season 4 of Community was one of the best seasons.

8. Coke/diet coke/all similar coke products are horrible.

9. Adele and Beyonce are (unquestionably talented) but very overrated.

10. Ross Geller was the best character from Friends.

11. Hashtags are amazing.  You can never have enough.  You should also definitely talk in hashtags in normal face-to-face conversations. #Hellafun

12. 'Dad bods' are better than 'lad bods'.

13.  Less isn't more.  More is more.

14. Sketchers is probably the best brand of shoe #comfortgoals #memoryfoam

15. Taking pics/vids of every situation is often better than 'living in the moment' #picsoritdidnthappen

So there you have it, a list of my uncontroversial and pretty uninteresting unpopular opinions... 

Until next time
xoxo

*Link to Beth's blog post: https://bethohla.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/my-unpopular-opinions_27.html?showComment=1469113032140#c2376670545972061915

Ell-E Gee round 2 at London's O2 Arena... More Etherealness, More Party Petrol and More Centre Stage #moreismore

The Real Queen G

For my many many regular readers (and by that I mean all 0 of you) you will know that I went to see Ellie Lifegoals Goulding live in Newcastle on Wednesday the 16th of March and it was a truly celestial experience... The closest I've felt to heaven in my whole 21 years thus far!  Well B and I had such an incredible time that the day after we returned to Edinburgh, work and our drab reality we decided to blow all of our savings and book to go see Ellie for a second time in London.  As you can probably predict, both from the beginning of this post and from it's title, this post is dedicated to our second, and sadly final, attendance of the Delirium World Tour.

Wednesday 23 March 2016

I spent the day working a 12 hour shift and then returned to my flat at 8.30/9pm.  I messaged B to come through to my room so we could discuss the final plans for the next day (Goulding day) and so she came through, poster making supplies in hand, and we came to the sad realization that it would be a 4am wake up call for us the next day.  B and I had a quick catch up and then got down to business making posters for the concert, it was sheer carnage as glitter, super glue and black marker got everywhere but ultimately we ended up with 3 wonderful pieces of artwork and one John Newman appreciation poster.  

What are you some kind of artist or
something?

The posters read:

1. I've got Ellie On My Mind
2. Ellie's got that Fire Fire FiiiiiIIiiire
3. Ellie is Gould-en, she makes us Delirious 
4. John, I need to know now, know now will you Love Me?   

As you can probably tell we are hella original and I'm 100% sure nobody has thought of those phrases to put on their posters before, 100%!  The whole process took a while and before we knew it the clock stuck 12 and we had to accept that it was bed time.  I was so excited i didn't think that I would be able to sleep but in the end the 12 hour shifts caught up with me and I was in a deep slumber the second my head hit the pillow.

Thursday 24 March 2016

Too soon?

4am and my alarm sounds... "Come on Jessica, come on Tori, let's go to the mall you wont be sorry" as Robin Sparkles welcomes me into the day.  Everything hurt and I was dying, I knew that I was getting out of bed for a good cause, a great cause even but it was just so damn early!  As the blinding pain of exhaustion hit I thought of what Ellie would say, "Bite down on your lip, take another sip, dont panic!"  and just like that I was buzzing for the wonderful life making event that was mere hours away from me.  B and I reconvened in the hall and I told her about how I couldn't get Don't Panic out of my head, just like that "bite down on your lip, take another sip, don't panic" became the saying/song of the trip.  We set out for the tram and as we waited we discussed matters such as the UK early 2000 trend of listening to high pitched DJ music #DJCammyInTheMix2k6 and other equally interesting subjects and then we were en route to the airport.  It was 6.30am by the time we cleared security and I insisted on visiting the whiz palace before boarding the plane because airplane bathrooms are ew.  B was getting worried because our boarding time was 6.30 and she thought we were going to miss the plane, we had a slight difference of opinions as to whi

ch gate we were boarding from and then we decided to listen to me because I am always right when it comes to directions.  I was wrong.  After humiliating us by trying to board the wrong plane we set out towards the actual gate, B almost in a run for fear of missing the plane and myself trying to connect the the wifi in order to snapchat B saying "Bite down on your lip, take another sip".  We made it in time for our flight and before we knew it we were off, up in the air, on our way to see Ellie.

The flight was spent listening to music, chatting and then writing a letter each to Ellie, the 02 arena website stated that there was an information desk where you could hand in letters to singers and this was not an opportunity we were willing to miss.  My Letter went a little like this I (give or take the wording of the first section):

Dear Ellie,

I am currently on a flight from Edinburgh to London with my main man Beth to see your Delirium tour for a second time and I am so excited.  Although this is my second time seeing the Delirium tour it will be the 5th time I have seen you live.  I also seen you at T in the Park in the King Tut's tend many moons ago, at the 02ABC in Glasgow for Halcyon, at Hyde Park for the British Summertime Festival and now Delirium twice...(more ramblings)... 

To sum up what I really want to say is that if you were Harry Potter then I would want to be your invisibility cloak so that I could shelter you from all of the worlds evils.  If I was a 2 horned unicorn and you were a horse I would give up one of my horns for you.  If I was Dr Meredith Grey and you were a patient who was coding then I would for sure push one of epi for you!  Here is a joke:  2 fish are in a tank, one fish turns to the other and says "do you know how to drive this thing?" haha love Gemma *inster twitter account name here* xoxo

legs for days

We arrived in London and I practiced my English accent and we made our way into the city centre.  I wont go into how we spent the first part of our day before we could check into our hostel because I will write a separate London post so let skip forward to 2pm, check in time at the hostel.  We walked in circles in the rain for a dogs age before finding the hostel and I must say the 4 hours sleep almost got the better of me when I almost went off on one at B... I had to remidn myself to bite down on my lip and take another sip!  I had to continue to remind myself to do this after arriving at the hostel as the man on reception had no idea what he was doing and took forever and a day to check us in.  B and I raced to our dorm and began to get ready for Ellie as quickly as we could after the delay at reception!  I was ready before B so I grabbed my straighteners and began to use them to curl one side of her hair as she tackled the other.  As I came across a knot in her hair I began trying to juggle my tangle teezer, straighteners and B's hair between my two hands which ultimately resulted in

my straighteners bouncing back onto my arm and leaving a massive burn (burn burn burn gonna let it burn burn burn).  There was no time to nurse the wound and I grabbed the essentials: purse, phone, ipod, wireless charger, happy thoughts and a pocket full of sunshine before skipping to the underground for a one way trip to the one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  

"still pee but run"
"Actually run now!"

We arrive at the 02 by 3ish and claimed our spots in the line.  There were already a fair amount of people waiting to see Ellie and I was a little nervous about our chances of getting the exact spot we had been dreaming of for the past week but once again I bit down on my lip and took another sip.  B and I had 3 and a half hours to kill in the line and so after we had our spot I sent B on a one woman mission to get snacks and boy did she deliver... B got us salt and vinegar crisps, diet soda, cream eggs, cereal bar and a magazine.  Around 5pm I took my turn of leaving the line for a final pre-Ellie bathroom break, I climbed over all of the people behind us in the queue who were obviously at least just a little bit less fans of Ellie than us and as I made my way to the bathroom I passed a bar that was playing the Delirium album on a loop.  I. WAS. SO. FREAKIN. HYPED!  I returned to the line and then B left of her turn emptying her bladder.  While B was away I listened to Ellie on my ipod until the line, which consisted of fans sitting on the cold hard ground, raised to their feet and I instantly sent B 5000 Milliom texts requesting that she return to the queue immediately.  She ran back from the toilets and then we had another hour to wait until the gates actually opened... lolgoodtimes.  

We made it into the London Snapchat
Story

The gates opened at 6.30 and before we knew it we were in, we had exchanged our tickets for orange wrist bands and we had handed over our letters for Ellie to a woman who promised she would try to get them backstage to her (I may never know if Ellie actually received them or not).  The next hurdle was bag check, just our luck for B and I to be stuck behind someone who took ages to get checked.  B swapped lines and then I got through and she was delayed again, a bunch of people who had been behind us got in first but it was fine because B and I got in there to the exact spots we wanted (slightly behind the people at the barrier rather than actually at the barrier but not a bad achievement nonetheless and still the best spots in the house imo).  The only issue was we were stood behind 2 girls that very quickly became me new enemies, so much so that they put me off buy a Delirium beanie because I didn't want to be associated with them.  To sum up they took up so much space with their elbows, they just stood there, didn't dance, didn't sing.  I put my hand on the barrier for support in between acts and she shoved me back out of the way ugh just the worst.

So 6.30 turned to 7pm and Lany graced the stage.  The hair was still a mop and the confidence was still 0/10 but I have to say as Lany sang their hearts out they won over mines.  The slow song was still sleep inducing and I was a little pissed off on behalf of the guitarist when the lead singer told the crowed that "this guy (the drummer) is my very best friend!" and failed to acknowledge the third and equally as important member of their little group.  Lany stepped it up from Newcastle though and I wish them well on their journey from unknown to slightly less unknown band.  I officially added 3 of their songs to my spotify playlist, I'm feeling their music rn. They sang until 7.30 and then they stepped of the stage never to be heard of again jokes I'm a huge fan no hate all the best lads.

Hey John

7.30 turned to 8pm and and John bounced out looking alive and slightly less like he was buzzed on ecstasy than he had in Newcastle.  Somehow this was my third time seeing John live, I guess you could call me a big fan...He sand all of his best songs: Come and get it (ahnanananaohh), Tiring Game Tarrengale, Cheating, Blame It On The Night, Not Giving In and others.  As he did in Newcastle John finished with Love Me Again ft a walk through the crowed and B lost her mind (see this video: https://youtu.be/buxApIT42gA).  I will admit that when the gruesome twosome on front of us leaped forward to touch John I did try to claim a space at the barrier beside them but then when they came back I slipper back behind them for fear of being killed by murder after the show.  John put on such a great performance I really love him now such a great performer!  He left the stage at 8.30pm.

8.30 turned to 9pm and the lights dropped as the beautiful harmonies from Intro (Delirium) begin to play.  I freak the fuck out and B can't stop saying OMG.  The beginning video transitions of Ellie's face were amazing and as the intro ends and blends into Aftertaste I know Ellie is only seconds away from appearing right there on the stage on front of me.  The first few songs were sang, each one amazing.  Aftertaste will forever take me back to the moment Ellie first appears on the stage, the first song she sings.  Something In The Way You Move (which I hope does well in the charts) had an amazing dance routine and Goodness Gracious has always been a fave of mine, she really got into it by the end and hit some amazing notes!  

The concert was completely amazing, Ellie stopped to talk to the crowed and, like in Newcastle, she did explain to the crowed that she had water and party petrol on stage with her.  Unlike in Newcastle the crowd did not request Ellie down the party petrol and in London after Ellie said she had water on stage with her she did the most adorable little giggle I ever did hear (which sadly was drowned out a bit by the crowds adoring cheers and laughs in the video I took).  As she knelt on the catwalk and began explosions I was prepared, I knew she was about to make her way straight down the catwalk to me.  

Angel in every way

Ellie abso killed Explosions, hitting every note out of the park and then she stood up and walked onto stage in her knew 'Ellie-proof' dress which she explained was a but short so she wouldn't trip over it.  The first song she sand on the mini stage was How Long Will I Love You and it was so beautiful (Link to video:https://youtu.be/nn403IKVEQ0 ).  After HLWIL ended with her singing "as long as stars are above you, and longer if I may" she stated "to be fair that is a realy long time" and then she stopped to talk to the crowed.  She talked about how fun but scary it was being on the mini stage because it mean she was "in us" and then she realised that a fan in the crowed has just gotten engaged during HLWIL which she thought was amazing, "aw it is that kind of song isn't it!" and she went on to say "Everybody's getting bloddy married!" she asked the girl how she was feeling and if she saw it coming and then she said she was feeling very emotional so she better just get back to singing.  Finally she asked "Anybody else getting married tonight?" to which B responded, quite loud and desperately "I WISH!" (https://youtu.be/KXRgOkDHuWE see full thing here).  She went on to sing Army (watch video here and note her adorable smile at the start of it:https://youtu.be/q3wFEOt-9dI ) and then they rest of the show went on.  The whole show was breathtaking and just too good for words and just everything else complimentary that I said about the show in Newcastle x100000000.  She asked everyone to put their phones away while she sang burn and it was involuntary, like she had a power over all of us and we couldn't help but put the Iphones away for even just one song.  

Ellie is such an amazing talent and she is so beautiful and the definition of goals, I mean someone get that girl a frame because she belongs in the Louvre #workofart.  Which leads me nicely into a future post of mine that I will be working on shortly about my week as a Vegan (which I am currently on day 2 of in hopes of feeling harder, better, faster, stronger and all in all a little more Ellie).  I would gladly go see Ellie again, not the UK delirium tour because I have seen it twice now and I'm not made of money but I cant wait to see clips from the next stages of her tour (even though I know Ellie prefers people to watch her rather than film her at concerts) and after she has taken her break from music after this tour I'll be front row at her next one waving my hands in the air like I just don't care.  One day I hope to attend a concert that goes on all day and all night (with reasonable breaks for Ellie of course) where she just sings every one of her songs to me, maybe Taylor Swift can come too and they can swap about with one another during breaks.

Hey Ellie

Anyway, after the concert B and I went to the bar that was playing Delirium and had a brief dance about before accepting that we had to leave the o2 arena.  We went back to the hostel to look at our picks and I was very unsociable (perhaps even a little rude) with anyone that tried to talk to me because I just wanted to bask in Ellie.  The next day we returned to the O2 arena because we do what we love and we love what we do.  We did some cool stuff which I'll talk about in the London post and then we ended up in the "Chill/refreshments room" (which I dubbed the Ellie Goulding room) at the Nissan Innovation experience place which was like an out of body experience.  As we stepped in they were playing all of Ellie's music videos on loads of screens, there was a table set up like one in a dressing room and it was like stepping out of the real world into our very own Ellie Goulding-esqu paradise heaven.  We stayed there for a while and then as we left I said a final farewell to the o2 arena and it's weird and wonderful temporary Ellie-centric world.

Finally, on the train home we were more than just delirious from exhaustion.  B and I played Ellie Goudling/Delirium tour/Our trips to see Ellie themed hangman and pictionary, probably too loudly for the other passengers at times.  I was so content.  When we got back to the flat it was like back to reality whoop there goes gravity and it was really hard to believe everything that had happened Ellie related over the past week had actually happened.  As I said the o2 was like another world dedicated entirely to her and it was magical and celestial and as ethereal as the woman herself but it just didn't feel real.

I dont know if I'll ever feel like that again, it truly was a strange yet perfect experience.

The moral of the story is in times of trouble bite down on your lip, take another sip and DONT PANIC!

classic G collage

xoxo 

Queen G.

Ellie Goulding's Delirium World Tour: A Tale of Party Petrol

Hello darkness my old friend

I have just recently returned from an incredible cross country journey to Newcastle ('Newcastle: The Incredible Journey' post to follow in due course) with my person B.  Although I'm sure Newcastle is a fine place to visit for no particular reason B and I were drawn to Newcastle for a very special occasion; the Delirium World Tour.  When my mother dearest asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year I knew exactly what I wanted... Ellie Goulding had released a new album and I was certain a tour announcement would follow promptly.  Not only did my mother manage to secure me 2 tickets to see Ellie but when she was only able to get seating tickets for Glasgow she recognized that seating tickets are reserved solely for the elderly, the very young, the lame and for those who were not fast enough to get standing tickets, and so she took her money elsewhere and purchased two standing tickets for Newcastle, Goodness Gracious she's amazing!

G, B and E

 Pre-Show

I wont go into much detail about the journey to Newcastle because this post is dedicated entirely to the ethereal angel princess that is Ellie Goulding.  So skip forward to Wednesday the 16th of March 2016 at 5pm.  Tensions were starting to grow a little as myself and B had still not quite perfected our concert looks and it was no longer an option to turn up to the Metro Radio Arena 4 hours early (in hindsight turning up anything more than an hour early would have been a little redundant) although I was doing a great job of Elsa-ing my feelings up #ConcealDontFeel.  I would like to point out that at this point I had British Summertime Festival flashbacks on a loop On My Mind (last summer my little sister prevented me from turning up 4 hours early, which totally wouldn't have been entirely redundant on this occasion, to see Taylor Swift in Hyde Park.  I thought I was going to miss Vance Joy (which I did, but oh well) and Ellie Goulding (Which I didn't thank god!).  

Ellie on the catwalk

B and I left the hostel entirely under dressed, warmed only with our excitement and our heartsong (Our heartsong is I Do What I Love by Ellie btdubs).  I thought I was going to have an aneurysm as B and I faced the classic conflict of getting a taxi despite the traffic vs walking despite not being certain of the directions, all the while I was becoming more and more aware of the time... Were we going to make it early enough to get good standing spots?  Were we going to have to claw our way to the front (#OnlyTheStrongWillPrevail) Was I going to cardiac arrest before we even got there due being emotionally overwhelmed?  Spoiler alert: we made it like 40 mins early and as we waited Outside for the doors of the arena to open (similar to the gates to heaven in my eyes) B and I began to speculate what Ellie was doing at that moment in time, Was she having a pre-show work out?  Was she having a pre-show freak out? was she preparing to invite B and I back stage?  I mean Anything Could Happen right?  I think I can speak for myself, B and  a girl standing on front of us that I will fondly remember as 'old smokey' due to the fact she lit up like 5 million times while we waited in the queue (I know what you're thinking and yes I can confirm that as The Platters would say, smoke did get in my eyes) It was all very exciting.  My blood had turned to ice and my goosebumps had gooebumps but then it was 6pm, the doors opened and we made our merry way into the arena.

Into the woods Metro Radio Arena.

B and I made a brief stop off at the whiz palace before joining the queue for the standing area and then suddenly I felt the weight of the responsibility we had for choosing our standing spots.  B and I concluded that we would place ourselves front row at the side of the mini stage near the end of the cat walk (This allowed us to get much closer to Ellie than front row of the main stage, this decision was also made in roughly 1 second as everyone quickly filed into the arena trying to claim the best spots... it was a lot of pressure but as Ellie would say: Don't Panic!  

No zoom needed

The first support act dawn the stage unannounced taking us all by surprise.  Their name was Lameeeeey Lany, their hair was attractively arranged was similar to a kitchen mop. Lany had their fun and honestly sang much better than I could have, however their music, to me, felt kind of generic and when he took it down a notch and sand a slow song all I could think was ugh We Cant Move To This #moodkiller.  John Newman was the next act, I had seen him before at the British Summertime Festival where he also sang before Ellie Goulding (my high school history teacher really was right when he said the past is always destined to repeat itself!).  Johnny boy came out and did a 10/10 job of pumping up the crowed, he sang all his hits #LoveMeAgain and walked through the crowed (I missed my opportunity to touch him as he passed because I was too busy trying to catch the moment on snapchat... 21st century probs.  However, B did manage to cop a feel and she can confirm that his arm felt like an arm, nothing more nothing less).  John Newman was good, he is hella talented and put on quite a show but I have to admit I was hit with a jot of excitement as his set concluded and he left the stage because this was it, it was Elleeee time!



A truly delirious experience

Hey gurl hey

So as they prepared the stage for her excellency I was becoming more and more delirious, the excitement was so much; I wanted to scream, laugh, cry and punch everyone else in the arena in the face and then hug them all at the same time.   As the lights began to dim and the Intro (Delirium) echoed through the arena I looked around at my fellow concert attendees and felt this great enlightenment; we were all about to embark on a spiritual journey together, its not every day you can say that!  As if by magic Ellie appeared on stage and the journey was underway!  I decided almost instantly that Ellie had the best legs I had ever seen, they were like study tree trunks but in the most beautiful way,you just knew they could support her throughout each dance routine, thighs as solid as a diamond!  Initially I was Holding On For Life to the barrier refusing to lose my amazing spot but it became apparent early on that this crowd was far more civil than the one at Hyde Park in the summer, I had marked my territory at the barrier and everyone seemed to accept and respect that.

Ellie sang some songs, as was expected of her, and then she stopped to chat with the audience.  Now this was my 4th time seeing the spellbinding angel princess live and I can confirm that she has become far more confident over the years #bless #TheyGrowUpSoFast.  One of her first exchanges with the audience went a little something like this:

Ellie: "I have 2 bottles on front of me... one is labelled water and the other is labelled party petrol!  Which one shall I drink?
Adoring fans: "Party Petrol!!!!!"
Ellie: "Okay I was trying to work out the vibes in here tonight but now I know *drinks party petrol*"
Adoring fans: "DOWN IT!"
Ellie: "I am not going to down it!"
Adoring fans: *chanting* "Down it down it down it!"
Ellie: *Not even entertaining the idea of downing it* *starts singing next song*
(Newcastle's irresponsible attitude towards alcohol made me feel like I was back home in Scotland)

And in her eyes I saw the answers to all of life's questions (Aka Codes blue, I'm dead)
The moment I had been waiting for finally arrived!  Ellie walked her way down the catwalk and right into my heart.  Ellie was right on front of me.  We were breathing the same air.  The only thoughts I had while she was standing before me were I Don't Need Nobody but you; You are the most ethereal person my eyes have ever had the pleasure of gazing at; I cant stop staring at you; I love you soooo much I Need Your Love in return; if not your love then I will settle for a simple smile and then she turned around and looked me directly in the eyes and all of my thoughts were Lost And Found.  

Ellie: *looks at me and B*
Me: *Dislocates jaw trying to express all of my feelings through the biggest smile there ever            was* *stares* *shakes* *waves* *Forgets all words*
Beth: *stares* "I love you Ellie!"  "You are so beautiful" "Your songs are so good!"

Actual angel #reversezoom

It was such an amazing experience being front row, within touching distance of the stage, at a concert (especially a concert for a singer you admire so much!)  It all seemed a bit surreal to see someone in the flesh that you are used to seeing on the TV or internet.  I was also vaguely aware that she really was just a person like anyone else, however; I cannot emphasize enough how ethereal Ellie Goulding is, there is honestly just something very heavenly/angelic about her.  Plus, having a singer look you in the eyes, ever briefly, while they perform makes you feel like every song is Your Song and she is performing it just for you and nobody else.   Anyway, after the brief eye exchange we had my heart burst and I died (#codeblue) and then moments later my heart did Heal and I was back to maximum enjoyment.  

Every song performed was gold, there was nothing I could do but scream, sing and Keep On Dancing, I felt like I had party petrol running through my veins! (I wonder if Old Smokey was enjoying herself?).  All of that dancing must have Burned off at least half of the calories that I consumed before the concert, at least!  Ellie's vocals were on point, her dancing was on point (Ellie there is just Something In The Way You Move, it's mesmerizing), her accent was on point, everything was 10/10.  I Figure 8 had she been more confident she might have spent more time out on the catwalk or the mini stage but part of Ellie's charm is her shyness and I honestly couldn't fault any part of the concert!  A particularly special part of the show was getting to experience Ellie perform Army live right on front me with B (a pivotal member of out own little 3 woman army which comprises of myself, B and L).  

The Aftertastemath
The concert concluded with Love Me Like You Do with Ellie performing on the main stage, catwalk and mini stage.  As the song ended there were Explosions of confetti from the confetti cannons which were positioned right on front of myself and B.  It was like showering in unicorn tears as the golden confetti smothered me and as the show came to an end B and I danced through the golden confetti as it rained down from the heavens.  We walked part of the way home singing all of our fave Ellie hits and that could have been the end of it but the story doesn't end here.  B and I do what we love and we love what we do, we weren't ready to let go of the Goulding magic yet and so after spending every day since last Wednesday talking about how much we want to see her again B and I booked tickets to go down to London to do it all again (if that isn't Devotion then I don't know what is).  And so it will be that in less than a week we will be seeing Ellie again in London and I cannot wait!  Some would call us crazy, I would call us young and irresponsible with out money but most importantly fun.

A classic G collage

So Ellie How Long Will I Love You?  I am going to say at least for another 84 years because thats how long Rose loved Jack and then maybe in the Aftertastelife we can reunite on a boat and everyone will clap and we can take that over that boat, one shot of party petrol at a time, Delirium World Tour 2K16 style!  Until then, I'll just see you on Thursday.

The moral of the story is:
1- It is kind of hard to fit a whole concert set list into one blog post
2- Do what you love and love what you do

xoxo 
Queen G. 

Links to some short clips of the concert:
Love me like you do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LemzJfcsJyI
Army: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Qg1tw4vbc
Explosions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS5DeLmOSyQ

Things I'm lovin' To Watch Right Now

Good morrow fair gentles...  It has come to my attention that in my previous blog post I was sorely mistaken when I stated that I would be back in the blogisphere on the reg.  There are two good reasons that I have not been blogging it up down on the tennis court like yeah, yeah:

1. I have been super busy with university (ugh lame)
2. I have done roughly 0 blog worthy things since I last blogged (Actually since the summer hahahaha its funny because its true, my life sucks hahaha laugh through the pain.

The rumors are true... I'm back

So anyway, I decided that in keeping with the 2016 tradition of the world giving people what they want (Leo got his Oscar, the cast of friends had a reunion of sorts, cats continued to exist and the existence of mermaids was confirmed -lol jk mermaids arent real or at least thats what the government want us to believe!) I have decided to return to the 21st century type writer and chronicle my life again - this will also be a great assistance to the forward thinking being that decides to write my biography.

Tbh a lot of the things that I'm loving right now are fairly similar to the things I was lovin in October because like an dolphin I am also a creature of habit - dolphins are undoubtable creatures of habit because for the past 400 years there has not been one report of a dolphin choosing to leave his or her comfort zone, the ocean, for a life on the land.  Silly little vegan sharks, bless em!  And since I haven't really done much of interest as of late I narrow this post down to things that I am loving to view right now.

So without further ado here are the things that I am loving to watch right now...

TV

1. Some opening thoughts on Netflix

I can only assume she is talking about Netflix UK

Netflix continues to be a big part of my life, however; there is no doubting that the way the head honchos over at the Netflix headquarters abnegate us Brits of all of the best TV shows is sheer tyranny.  Sure they like to tease us a little, make us feel appreciated and special but Netfix are 100% corporate fuckboys!  They find give us How I Met Your Mother, How To Get Away With Murder, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and (for any poor people who have not been able to escape the trainwreck that this show has become) they gave us Pretty Little Liars too.  We see their offering and even though we know they have so much more to give we decide to commit, maybe we can change them!  We decide to sign up for the month free trial which is basically the TV subscription of a date and then afterwards we agree to pay £6 a month but... the next thing you know you are sitting there waiting for them to update their TV show selection feeling like you slept with them and they never called you back, you feel cheated and used #classicfuckboys.  Eventually you accept that this is just how things are but you can't cancel the subscription just in case one day they decide to give you want you want and deserve ...  

2. Grey's Anatomy

The Carousel Never Stops Turning

Grey's Anatomy is a wonderful, magical gem of a show!  It's about Meredith Grey working her way up from surgical intern to legit surgeon and the people she works with at Seatle Grace Hospital (AKA Seatle Grace Mercy West Hospital AKA Seatle Grace Mercy Death AKA Grey-Sloan Memeorial Hospital AKA the only hospital in the world where the surgeons are more likely to die than the patients).This show has everything you could ever want in a TV show; happiness, sadness, tragedy, death, cute couples, suspense, death, explosions, surgery, carousel metaphors, infidelity, death, eye candy and miracles.  It's a just such a good show and even after 12 seasons its still just as strong and true as it always was.  To sum up I was forced at gunpoint (just like many doctors on the show) to pay £60 for the Grey's boxset because Netflix UK has been denying me of this show, the same as denying me of a basic human right if you ask me!  It's a small price to pay to be able to step into the lives of the worlds most talented and attractive surgeons (actually it was a huge price to pay, also now I'm broke).  I basically eat, sleep and breathe Meredith Grey and co. I briefly considered applying to med school but decided to settle for just playing Mer in a home video version of Grey's which is currently underproduction and stars myself and B.  

Rating of my fave Grey's characters:

1. Meredith Grey
2. Arizona Robbins
3. Derek Shephered
4. Mark Sloan
5. Amelia Shephered
6. Callie Torres
7. Lexi Grey
8. Jackson Avery when he is part of the Plastic Posse  

Rating of the worst Grey's characters  

1. Erica Hahn (SP? WHO CARES? Of all the people to survive why her!!?)
2. The Plane that crashed that one time
3. Adele Webber (Richaaaaard Pls)
4. The truck that killed McDreamy 
5. Jo Wilson
6. Dr Burke
7. Every character during their musical numbers in that godawful musical episode

. 

Rating 10/10

Best Method of viewing Binge Watch so either Netflix US or DVDs

Fave Episode Season 6 final 2 episodes

Worst Episodes The musical episode 

Best Character Meredith Grey

Worst Character Ever = Erica Hahn. Current = Jo Wilson 

Best Couple Meredith and Derek. Callie and Arizona

2. Parks and Recreation

We all fell into the pit

Another show that Netflix UK is denying me of!  How do the ownders of Netflix even sleep at night!? (Probably on a bed of money because this is the 21st century - if you don't have a Netflix account are you even living?  Also considering everyone hates the fact that Netflix UK is pretty awful nobody can bring themselves to end their subscription, and so instead we wait and wait and wait hoping one day it will pay off and Netflix UK will be great again.  Okay so Parks and Rec is basically about Leslie Knope (who is the most adorable human beings ever) and the people she works with in the Parks department, its a documentary style sitcom like The Office.  Highlights of the show include the fact that it is set in a town that basically worships a tiny horse; Anne and Leslie gave a new meaning to friendship goals; Chris Pratt is the lead singer of a band called Mouse Rat and so much more.  The first season is a little slow but it gets better and better as each season progresses.  It's a really cute feel good show that's easy to watch and you end up caring about the characters a lot more than you initially think you will.   I started watching this show many moons ago, cant remember why I ever stopped watching it but I am 100% invested again. I only have a season left and I'm starting to mentally prepare myself to say goodbye to all of the characters

Rating 8/10

Best Method of viewing It's super easy to watch either as a binge or not.  

Fave Episode Undecided as I haven't finished the show yet - However the telethon episode                          was fun as was every episode with a town meeting... Basically TBC.

Worst Episodes Something from season 1

Best Character Chris Trager?  Again TBC

Worst Character Crazy Ira and The Douche (Just found them so annoying) 

Best Couple Andy and April, Ben and Leslie and Chris and Anne.

3. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

They alive dammit it's a miracle 

It's basically about this girl (Kimmy) who was kidnapped and kept underground for 15 years living as part of a cult who being rescued and adapting to life in New York City.  With her childlike wonder and enthusiasm she meets lots of fun people and gets into random situations.  Its a super stupid show with an average first episode but it really does improve and I couldn't stop watching.  The show is 100% quotable and introduced the world to two of the most catchy songs that have ever existed: Pinot Noir and The theme tune.  There is only one season out so far, and god bless all that is holy it's even on Netflix UK, so it is definitely worth the watch.  There isn't too much more to say about this show because you kind of have to watch it to understand the hype.

Rating 7.5/10

Best Method of viewing Weekend (or one day) binge.  

Fave Episode Probably Kimmy Goes To School because Piot Noir

Worst Episodes The First One

Best Character I Like Kimmy, Lillian and Mrs Voorhees

Worst Character Maybe  Xanthippe Voorhees 

Best Couple N/a

4. SNL

I made left one extra hole for it's hopes and dreams

Okay So I don't Legit watch SNL but I have gone through a phase of like binge watching SNL clips on Youtube and found some firm faves.  B and I tend to differ on which ones we like as I am a big fan of kristen Wiig's charcters Sue and Penelope whereas she just found them annoying.  Firm fave clips that I would recommend everyone to watch are:

• High School Theater Show with Elizabeth Banks
• The Real Housewives of Disney
• Being Quirky with Zooey Deschanel 
• Taylor Swift's roommate clip and parent driver's clip
• The Ryan Gosling clip about being abducted by aliens where he has a breakdown.

5. How I Met Your Mother

Haaaaaaave you met Ted?

 I want to clarify that I still love How I Met Your Mother but I dont want to go into it too much because I already spoke about it in my last post.  Basically it is the best comedy show there has ever been - yes even better than Friends and that is a truth fact!  It's about a man in 2030 telling his kids the story of his life in New York living with his friends and all the decisions he made that led him to meeting their mother.  I am also a solid supporter of the shows finale and I think the show might even be better than salmon and cream cheese bagels.

Rating 10/10

Best Method of viewing All day every day (but as a binge first time round).  

Fave Episode So hard to choose! Maybe Sandcastles In The Sand?

Worst Episodes The from the final season that was set during one slap...

Best Character IRobin Scherbatsky(AKA Robin Sparkles), Ted Mosby and Marshall           Erikson

Worst Character Maybe Zooey or Stella because they are evil 

Best Couple Ted and Robin, Robin and Barney and Lily and Marshall.  

 

Film

1.The Walk

He alive dammit it's a miracle

This film tells the true story of how great CGI and one man's love for wire walking resulted in a movie scene which almost gave my dearest mother who is terrified of heights a panic attack... I can't remember the last time I wanted someone to come down from a wire so badly.  It's a really great film that is completely worth committing 2 hours of your life to because the second half which focuses on how Phillipe Petit and friends attempy to illegally rig a wire between the twin towers so he can do the worlds most dangerous wore walk.   I was 100% invested in this film, I completely forgot that it was cgi, I screamed multiple times and I remembered how much I love Joseph Gordon Levitt. 9/10 - would recommend.

Honourable mentions worth a shout out are:

• How To Get Away With Murder
• Deadpool

The moral of the story is you don't kick a dressage horse after a failed pas de deux

Until next time

xoxo

Queen G

The Squad Take Islay Day 1

The squad

On Thursday July 17th I woke up at 6am and then proceeded to work a 12 hour shift at work, now usually after my 3rd 12 hour shift of the week I come home, grab a snack, eat it in bed and then go to sleep and sleep for a million years.  On this particular day I returned home from work, grabbed your passport and my hand my rucksack and then B and I jumped in the back seat of S's (a fun friend who was quickly upgraded to a member of Edinburgh's more exclusive friendship group) car.  B and I both chose to sit in the back of the car because neither of us were feeling brave enough to battle with the constant intimidation that S radiates quite yet.  We journeyed to the far off kingdom of almost Glasgow to L's house and then after some very tense board game playing we retired to bed for the night next 4ish hours.  at 04.45 B's alarm sounded and she raised like a phoenix from the ashes to get ready for the great journey that lay ahead of us.  I was so relieved that I didn't have to get up yet and so I went back to sleep feeling #blessed.  At 04.53 my alarm sounded and I got up feeling far more refreshed than I had 8 minutes previous.  We had to leave L's house at 05.15 to start our journey and so at

#IWillGoDownWithThisShip

05.30 we were finally ready to go, 15 minutes late classic us.  We made a quick petrol and snack stop and I bought 2 multi packets of crisps, Irn Bru, a fun duck wrap and then panic bought belvita bars (#regrets).  I had been given full control of the music for the trip which was both exciting and terrifying since great power comes with great responsibility.  We started with some Leighton Meester to soothe us gently into the day, and let me tell you this: that song really builds.  By the end of Blue Afternoon we were all excited and ready to partay.  We were finally on our way, spirits high and music deafeningly loud. 

Thar not one whale blows

During the 3 hour drive to the ferry docks we learned many things such as that Loch Lomand is far larger than any of us had first imagined, that I am a far better DJ than any of them had first imagined and that S is actually far less intimidating that we had first imagined.  We were the first people to arrive for the Ferry, L and S went into the ticket office to collect the tickets and B (bladder bursting due to the fact she had chugged like 6 Pepsi Maxes during the drive) and I (bladder bursting because I hadn't peed in 3 hours and I'm only human) went to the rest room.  During the 30 minute wait for the Ferry to arrive I yelled "THARRR SHE BLOWWWWWS!!" more times than anyone had hoped for, by the 30th yell I think the saying had grown on everyone and they had learned to love it.  

Eventually after we had done our waiting, 12 years of it, in Azkaban it was Ferry Ho! thar she legit blows and it was time to board.  Driving onto the ferry was kind of terrifying due to the fact that S couldn't 100% guarantee she would manage to drive over the ramp and that there was a slight possibility we were all going to end up at the bottom of the ocean - sleeping with the fishes if you will.   Spoiler Alert: we made it.  We were going on a trip in our favourite ocean ship!  I sat by the window eyes pealed with keen anticipation for whales.  Along with attempted whale watching we spent the boat journey playing card games and charades.  At 10.30 L accused B of rigging the cards for snap so that she would

#FerryWankers

win, B had not rigged the cards.  At 10.45 I had still not seen a whale.  At 11.00 I decided i would make my 11.11 wish to see a whale.  At 11.11 I wished to see a whale. We also spent this time discussing what havoc we were going to inflict on Islay because The four of us always come home from nights out with some kind of crazy story and without a fun/outrageous story we aren't satisfied with how the night went. 15 minutes before arriving in Islay we decided to ascend the staircase to B deck aka deck 6 and we spent our final moments on the boat outside on the highest deck recreating scenes from Titanic, looking out for the whales and continuing the "THAR SHE BLOWS, WHALE HO!" chant.   Finally we were approaching Islay and it was time to return to the car, the thing is that B deck was far more slippy than you'd first imagine and so upon descending the stairs back to the car L fell not ones but twice and I couldn't contain my laughter... and then mid laugh I slipped, fell and hit the cold hard ground.  Now nobody on the ferry could contain their laughter and I felt like a fool.  I tried to keep my head held high and I told myself to conceal don't feel. 

We had no idea where we were going once we got off of the ferry. The initial 'lets just drive around and see what happens it will be so fun' mood wore off quicker than you would first expect when an hour later the four of us were lost in Islay with no signal and no idea how to get to J's house.  Our mainland brains were evidently ignorant to ways of island life and we had just assumed that Islay would be so small that we would

L recreating the great fall
of July 2015

just coincidentally end up at J's house if we drove long enough, this obviously was not the case.  We ended up in a small village and it was clear that everyone else in this village knew each other, this was made clear when we walked into a small cafe and everyone customer stopped eating to stare at us, open mouthed, cutlery dropping to the ground, young children pointing and the odd person taking a picture of the fresh new mainland meat.  I was sure we were going to die in that town, I felt like I was in one of those horror movies and I was certain that it was the case that once you visit the island you never leave the island.  Immediately I missed the busy rush of the city where nobody knows anyone, nobody wants to know anyone, nobody has time for anyone, and the only communication you have with strangers is mumbling profanities at them when they bump into you on the streets.  We found an empty hotel restaurant and we sat timidly at the table, on edge the whole time.  We ordered a chicken burger (minus veggie B who had some soup) and B, L and I ordered a vodka cranberry or vodka lemonade (fun fact, L received a glass of flat lemonade and this almost pushed her over the edge right into tear town).  At lunch we also made a deal with eachother, we were city girls through and through and if any of us showed too much of a taking to Islay life they were going to be asked to leave the friend group - in fact they wouldn't be allowed back onto the ferry with the rest of us.  Just to be extra precocious we decided that every time one of us aid something really nice about Islay or showed any indication that they wanted to be a farmer we would punch them (this was put into action several times over the weekend because Islay was very beautiful and it was hard not to comment on it and yes if S, B or L read this post they do have full permission to punch me, lightly, because of that last comment).

Pano

2 hours after arriving on Islay we finally made it J's house.  It was raining - some would call it a perfect storm.  Luckily we were privileged enough to earn ourselves a nice warm bed for a much needed afternoon nap.  After the most wonderful sleep ever, we rose like phoenixes once again and headed down to the kitchen for some baked potatoes.  B (not so stealthily) fed one of J's dogs food off of her plate and my plate while I (not so stealthily) filmed her) and then after dinner we  proceeded to accompany J to decorate the hall for the party which was taking place the next night - #friendgoals.  After a fleeting period of helpfulness L, B and I began to practice our dance moves and Bar Mitzvah lifts in the hall while J, S, B and M (B and M are J's friends who had just arrived...) continued to be productive.  We then returned to J's abode and had a quick whiskey tasting before retiring to bed for the night.  Before drifting off to sleep we lay together, four in a bed, recapping our day, sharing anxieties about sleeping in the marquee the next night during a perfect storm (#Marqueewindhorrorstories) and just generally keeping B awake as she tried desperately to sleep.  

I'M AN ADULT!!
#ONTHEGROUNDDD

I'm trying to conceal my disappointment about the whales

What would happen the next day?  Would we meet Hansel the horse?  What would happen at the party?  Would we get to see the beach?  Would we do something stupid at the party and get banished from Islay forever?  Would we ever be allowed to leave Islay or were we officially lifers?

All of this and more will be answered in part 2 which is coming at some point or another although I'm only human and I have to work since my job pays and this does not (there's not much justice in the world)

The moral of the story is never base your life happiness on the amount of whales you spot on a ferry trip to Islay because you'll only be left feeling empty and dispirited.

Until next time,
xoxo
Queen G