Brighton. A small town by the sea, directly south of London. Not big enough to be named a city, so it has to be twinned with Hove - anyone who has never been to Brighton might think 'Oh, fair enough, some towns are quite small' - but alas, it's more to do with the problem of urban sprawl, making Hove and Brighton blur into one large indeterminable bulk of city, pushing forwards but never being beaten by the mass of sea it looks out onto. Due to this blur, we now live in Brighton and Hove. It's impossible to know which settlement our house actually sits in. In the address it says 'Brighton', but I know addresses can be wrong: my parents address is ended with Suffolk. We live north of the waveney, therefore our house is in Norfolk. Damn Bungay for being on the other side of the river.
So, we've moved. It was a very emotional, sleepless few days in which every obstacle that we feared, we faced, and it seemed to be that nothing was going smoothly at all. But we powered on regardless of wind, rain and the fates challenging us, and finally we are here. We've yet to get internet, so this post is hopefully going to be a short one, so as not to cost too much. Life is looking up, things are happening, and those obstacles we faced feel like a test to see if we truly wanted and deserve this new start. And dammit, we do.
This place amazes me every day. I used to have this impending fear of being laughed at constantly for wearing something that made me look silly. Now, I'm more scared of leaving the house in my Jack Wills hoody than I am of going out in the birthday suit. The statement I'd be making would be far better than that of Jack Wills.
The sea is so fresh and ever-changing. A mass of greens, blues, purples and blacks, it looks the same every day yet it's always different. It's water from the carribbean, and from Florida, and it's got all the way here, just to smash against our coast and fuck off to spain for a while. It's amazing to think of the currents in the ocean, in the whole world, when all that you can see is the 7-mile distance from our tiny eyes: the horizon of water, the colourful sand banks and the massive ships that linger in the distance and thankfully, we cannot hear. Ships in Southampton are like chavs in Yarmouth: big, ugly, hang around in dodgy-looking areas and just blast out this incredibly rude, vulgar sounds all day and all night long. I'm so glad to be miles from both those entities.
So this is our new start. This is my life, starting, beginning in this beautiful city, where anything can and will happen, where people are so so keen for exercise, and more men have painted nails than women.
I wonder what will happen now...
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Friday 10 June 2011
No matter how many lives that I live I will never regret
This blog is just me saying how much I love 30 Seconds to Mars. I have a million different 'moods' to which I know what music will help: I can almost always listen to 30stm and feel better for it.
Their first album, aptly named '30 Seconds to Mars' (how did they come up with it?) is the best anger album I have. It tops so much of my other rock, because it's so... it's just so loud! It really hits the right nerves, so if you're in a stinking mood, sing it at the top of your voice and all that anger just comes out when singing, it's beautiful, it's like the cheapest therapy.
Second album, 'A Beautiful Lie', got them a lot of notice - especially with awards, and such. I remember seeing a clip of them live, not even knowing who they were, and being a bit gob-smacked. There's a lot on this album which makes me fall in love with Jared Leto each time I hear it: 'The Kill', their most famous song, done acoustically is beautiful. Also, after this album, they did a live tour which got them a LOT of emo-teeny-bopper fans, which is awkward, but hey - I'd rather they be at the gigs I want to go to, rather than make Justin Beiber famous...
This Is War, most recent album, is a stonker. Really fucking deep shit, I think. 'Hurricane' (NOT with Kanye West) is amazingly angry, and the video is WOW. It's been censored to shit, (and I'd like to point out that most, possibly all, I'm not sure, of their videos are directed / made by themselves). And the video for Hurricane makes me want to rape Jared. A lot. Also amazing videos for From Yesterday; The Kill; Kings and Queens; Capricorn; This is War; Closer to the Edge... all amazing. Also, this album is pretty much my gym playlist, it's very fun to run to.
Also, their cover versions of songs are incredible. They did 'stronger' (by kanya west) on Radio 1's live lounge a few years ago, which won the best song from that album, and more recently covered Lady Gaga's Bad Romance - quite bizarre, but an amazing take on such a pop tune.
All in all, I think this band makes me more happy than most bands. Every 'favourite artist' someone has will have at least one track which doesn't sit too well with them: my technical favourite band Muse has a whole bloody album of them - but so far, everything 30stm has done, I like. Plus, I love Jared, quite a lot, and have enjoyed all the films which I've seen him in so far. Admittedly, I feel like his brother and third band member, Shannon and Tomo, are massively shadowed, but I'm sure they're fine with it!
Next time you listen to music, and you realise you like a song: let it wash over you. People always try and pick apart their feelings, and their emotional responses to things, but music has no real definition, and no true meaning: take of it what you will, make of it what you will, and let your brain be drowned out by your favourite musical stylings.
If I remember, I'll do a blog on Muse.
Their first album, aptly named '30 Seconds to Mars' (how did they come up with it?) is the best anger album I have. It tops so much of my other rock, because it's so... it's just so loud! It really hits the right nerves, so if you're in a stinking mood, sing it at the top of your voice and all that anger just comes out when singing, it's beautiful, it's like the cheapest therapy.
Second album, 'A Beautiful Lie', got them a lot of notice - especially with awards, and such. I remember seeing a clip of them live, not even knowing who they were, and being a bit gob-smacked. There's a lot on this album which makes me fall in love with Jared Leto each time I hear it: 'The Kill', their most famous song, done acoustically is beautiful. Also, after this album, they did a live tour which got them a LOT of emo-teeny-bopper fans, which is awkward, but hey - I'd rather they be at the gigs I want to go to, rather than make Justin Beiber famous...
This Is War, most recent album, is a stonker. Really fucking deep shit, I think. 'Hurricane' (NOT with Kanye West) is amazingly angry, and the video is WOW. It's been censored to shit, (and I'd like to point out that most, possibly all, I'm not sure, of their videos are directed / made by themselves). And the video for Hurricane makes me want to rape Jared. A lot. Also amazing videos for From Yesterday; The Kill; Kings and Queens; Capricorn; This is War; Closer to the Edge... all amazing. Also, this album is pretty much my gym playlist, it's very fun to run to.
Also, their cover versions of songs are incredible. They did 'stronger' (by kanya west) on Radio 1's live lounge a few years ago, which won the best song from that album, and more recently covered Lady Gaga's Bad Romance - quite bizarre, but an amazing take on such a pop tune.
All in all, I think this band makes me more happy than most bands. Every 'favourite artist' someone has will have at least one track which doesn't sit too well with them: my technical favourite band Muse has a whole bloody album of them - but so far, everything 30stm has done, I like. Plus, I love Jared, quite a lot, and have enjoyed all the films which I've seen him in so far. Admittedly, I feel like his brother and third band member, Shannon and Tomo, are massively shadowed, but I'm sure they're fine with it!
Next time you listen to music, and you realise you like a song: let it wash over you. People always try and pick apart their feelings, and their emotional responses to things, but music has no real definition, and no true meaning: take of it what you will, make of it what you will, and let your brain be drowned out by your favourite musical stylings.
If I remember, I'll do a blog on Muse.
Wednesday 1 June 2011
No matter where you are, Starbucks is the same. (22/05/11 - 10.20am)
I've realised how much I dislike cities. When first moving to Southampton, I never thought of it as 'moving to the city', because uni is such a separate bubble, and every uni is based in or near a city anyway, so it was inevitable. Watching my sisters, however, is scary. I don't want to live in a big city like this. I didn't like London, I didn't like the idea of New York for more than a week - and I'm already wanting to say goodbye to Singapore. Nothing is relaxing. The most I've felt at home is sitting in a Starbucks. And it's not exactly hard to be here: everyone speaks English, I know the food, the MRT is simple and the city is easy to figure out, clean and safe. But still, my head is spinning as I glare at the concrete-gray skyline, each building mirroring the next in their sky-blue windows, 'close proximity' not defining the compactness well enough.
Most of all, I can't stand the busyness. The escalators move faster here, I'm sure of it. No one can stand still for longer than a second. The MRT is very busy all day long. They unashamedly stare at Westerners, and try sell us things in the next second. I've always been interested in the old Asian temples, the classic Chinese philosophies and the wondrous buildings, statues, Buddha shrines and all the fascinating history which far surpasses the Western world. But Singapore doesn't have these things. It feels like a city put together by Westerners, with a hope of seeming Asian. It's backwards and bizarre and yet, as the cleanest, safest and probably most advanced city in Asia, I can't enjoy myself here. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's the city. Maybe it's all the contrast with being in Australia. Maybe it's because of Helen. Who knows. Either way, I wouldn't want to call this place home.
Most of all, I can't stand the busyness. The escalators move faster here, I'm sure of it. No one can stand still for longer than a second. The MRT is very busy all day long. They unashamedly stare at Westerners, and try sell us things in the next second. I've always been interested in the old Asian temples, the classic Chinese philosophies and the wondrous buildings, statues, Buddha shrines and all the fascinating history which far surpasses the Western world. But Singapore doesn't have these things. It feels like a city put together by Westerners, with a hope of seeming Asian. It's backwards and bizarre and yet, as the cleanest, safest and probably most advanced city in Asia, I can't enjoy myself here. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's the city. Maybe it's all the contrast with being in Australia. Maybe it's because of Helen. Who knows. Either way, I wouldn't want to call this place home.
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