Modern Day Prehistoric

Stumbled across these two pictures and thought it was such a great way of representing nature and the way in which the Earth is built by it's former inhabitants. Das all.

Fear Doesn't Shut You Down, It Wakes You Up

I got the dvd Divergent for Christmas and it was great. Mainly because of Theo James. But then I watched it again two days later (did I already say I was a fan?) and started crushin' on badman Eric. Big time. FurtherMORE, Jai Courtney who plays the character is Australian. I know, contain yourselves ladiez.

He also stars in Unbroken which looks amazing. Aaand if you want to love him anymore, here is his interview with Esquire from last month (from which the above pictures were extracted) and here is his interview with Elle, also accompanied by some very handsome images.

But back to Divergent, a big draw for the film is also its soundtrack which is complete with a lacing of synthesisers to reflect the futuristic setting of the film. My top picks are I Need You / M83, Waiting Game / Banks, Dead In The Water / Ellie Goulding.

Insurgent, the sequel, is out in March, woo! More Jai Courtney!

19 Things I Learned From My First Semester @ Uni

Whaddup, it's me again! I think I'm going to start getting back into this thing. Will it last? Who knows but I have three posts in me head already so let's go from there. Here's what I've learned from my first half of first year:

1 Aldi is the best part of the week

2 Everyone is an alcoholic!

3 The north / south divide is real

4 From the Midlands? Yeah we have to choose one or the other (no matter how geographically impossible)

5 Netflix on 'in the background' does not exist, as you realise two hours later that you've only written one and a half sentences but managed to watch three episodes of Prison Break

6 Be prepared to remember a shitload of names

7 Super noodles are a food group

8 Food thievery is a real problem and whoever the fuck it is holds no prisoners

9 Number eight was a touchy subject

10 The term 'windmilling' has taken on a whole new, graphic meaning

11 Uni actually involves a load of work

12 You would be surprised by the ninja moves you are capable of when the club promoters appear on campus

13 No one cares what you look like (especially when you roll up for 9am lectures)

14 Urban Outfitters and Topshop are a thing of the past

15 The thought of getting up at 8am five days a week ever again is inconceivable

16 Girls' kitchens are so much more disgusting than boys' kitchens

17 You will become an expert procrastinator (and consequently will have navigatated every deep dark corner of YouTube)

18 Sacrificing food for alcohol is smart economics, not a first class ticket to Alcoholics Anonymous

19 Say YES to everything

Austria

At the end of July my mother and I went to Austria for a week. We had previously been five years ago and stayed on a lake, so we stuck to what we knew and did the same again but this time at Fuschlsee, a crystal blue aqua coloured dream near to the city of Salzburg. 

Fuschlsee (first three images) • My long lost tan • Selfie? • The cable cars that take you to the top of the Zwolferhorn • Me twatting out on top of a mountain • Paragliders preparing for lift off • Salzburg • The motherland: Mozart's House • I repeat, the tan • Pretty lamplights in the town

Being fresh (or rather the complete opposite) off the plane from Zakynthos, I was a little taken aback by the tranquillity of the area. Nonetheless, it didn't take long for me to appreciate the scenery. The lake has a trail all the way around its perimeter so the picturesque view is never far. Every so often we would come across a little alcoved 'beach' that that the locals had already found. And let me tell you, Austrians love a good lake when the sun shines. Situated just on the outskirts of the Alps, I was also able to take in the view from a higher vantage point on top of a mountain; specifically the Zwolferhorn that overlooks Wolfgangsee (a lake named after Mozart). There are five lakes all within close proximity so a short bus ride will take you from one to the other in no time. However, this journey can be easily complicated with the addition of two Brits trying to speak German with no knowledge of the language whatsoever: enter me and my mum. Like the well cultured people that we are, we used good ol' Google Translate to ask for our tickets. We were practically locals. Now, learning phrases is all well and good until the bus driver turns to you and asks "Kind oder ein Erwachsener?". Yeah, I had no idea either.

Measuring 1522m high, we took a cable car to the top of the Zwolfer, after successfully making it on the bus. It slowly ascended out of the trees and you could see the lake open up in front of you. At the top, there are various trails that we walked along to get a view from all directions. The most fascinating thing in my opinion was the paragliders. The sunny, docile conditions were perfect so it was hardly surprising the amount of daredevils that were taking off from the top. I have to say, aside from the perennial fear of falling to your death, it did look pretty peaceful to be swirling around up there.

We also visited Salzburg. The city's architecture displays such a majestic history, it reminded me a lot of the Piazza dei Signori in Verona. I was really excited to see Mozart's birthplace; it's very location in the city has inspired a burgeoning music student population. Whilst the history of the city was fascinating, there was something else that had captured my mind: GIANT CHOCOLATE PRETZELS. There was a bustling food market that sold all sorts of wonders. Every so often you'd walk past someone with brown chocolate smears over their face and you just knew what they had been up to.

All in all it was a lovely trip. On our final post-food bonanza stroll in Fuschl, we were treated to a youth orchestra from England playing in one of the squares. It reminded me of when I used to play, even though I never went on tour. Furthermore, we were lucky to only have two days when the weather turned stormy. I remember one early evening sitting on a lounger by the lake reading and slowly the grey clouds rolled in. You could see everyone preparing by putting on their clothes one by one. As soon as the first drop of rain hit, everyone darted. It was pretty comical actually. When it wasn't raining, however, the sunset over the water was unreal.