Musician's Review #6 - Lau

Yep. You read correctly. Today's Musician's Review is of Scottish/English contemporary folk band 'Lau'.
Residing in Edinburgh, Scotland - the band's name derives from an Orcadian word meaning 'natural light' - they are considered 'The UK's Best Live Band' by The Guardian, and have won the BBC Folk 'Best Group Award' four times.

And to make this band even cooler (well, to me anyway...) never before have I ever seen someone play both the piano and the accordion AT THE SAME TIME!

If you're into an experimental-folk kind-of-thing then check out their song 'Far from Portland': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HhgbPF5fhg

And here's the band performing the incredible 'Ghosts'...
It's a bit of a long 'un, but is definitely worth it!

FGB x

Leaving on a jet plane

My first ever plane flight has been booked.
Never before have I set foot on any kind of aeroplane. Ever.
But now - well, July - I have a 3.5 hour journey to Athens.
And I'm not too sure how I feel about that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of heights, and I don't tend to have travel sickness or anything like that. And I have been abroad before. It's just, I've always travelled by ferry, on the sea. And I love the sea. 

I know I'll probably enjoy the flight. I've always kind-of wanted to fly.
But, I'm not going with my parents, or any of my family, so technically I'll be going on my first plane journey on my own.
And it's not the actual flight bit that I'm edgy about. It's the whole check-in and bag-check and scanners and everything like that. Which is stupid, I know, but I can't help it...

Hopefully I'll get a bit friendlier with the people in my group over the weekend, and then maybe I won't feel so on-edge.

Bow-ties are cool

So, it's half-term here with me, which means a week off school to catch up with sleep, and writing and friends...
I wish...
Instead, my half-term holiday will consist of:

• endless revising
•  a LOT of rain
• more revising
• more rain

I think you get my gist...

Anyway, Friday I'm going to a Briefing Weekend for my impending volunteer-based trip to Greece (more to come on this soon!) and I can't wait!

[Actually, I'm not completely excited, because the consent form I had to fill in mentioned 'outdoor cooking' - which is fine, as long as I don't have to do it, on a Trangia, by myself.  How I detest those things!!!]

And Jonathan Creek's back on Friday. I found this out yesterday and I got a wee bit excited.
Which is understandable... Alan Davies is cool. Detectives are cool. Windmills are cool.
What more do you need?!
(Apart from bow-ties, that is. Bow-ties are cool...)

Here's a short little trailer for Series 5 (I think?) for any fellow fans of the show (Creekians? Creeks? I dunno...) or any of you who fancy something a bit different...

FGB x

Musician's Review #5 - Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman

Cara Dillon's an incredibly talented, Irish folk singer.  Sam Lakeman's her equally talented British husband.
Individually, these musicians bring beauty and grace to folk music.    
Together, they create wonders that cannot be matched...

I came across the duo a few weeks ago whilst procrastinating  immersing in my love of folk music. Flicking through TV channels, I came across the Transatlantic Sessions, in which folk musicians from both Britain and America come together to create what is - in my eyes - somewhat of a musical masterpiece!

The below video is taken from the 6th series of the amazing Transatlantic Sessions held at Loch Lomond, Scotland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RPclRr2bh_M

Things To Do on a (Cold, Wet, Miserable) Saturday afternoon

So, today (for me at least) is a cold, wet, miserable Saturday afternoon.
The rain is hammering on my window. My neighbours' cats are getting wet. My neighbours' grandson is laughing at my neighbours' cats getting wet. 
It's just all happening here...

Anyway, if you're stuck for what to do - because, come on, what is there to do on a cold, wet, miserable Saturday afternoon? - here are some ways to beat those wet-weather blues:

1. Movie Marathon - Seriously, as much as this sounds like a cheesy Americanised pastime, movie marathons are actually incredibly fun.  Who doesn't like an excuse to get all soppy, snuggle up to that special someone (or cushion!) and eat shedloads of popcorn...

2. Make a Time Capsule - Something to look back on in 10, 15 years time. A way to pass the time, incredible fun and a walk down memory lane. What's not to love?...

3. Go camping, indoors - Come on, you know you want to... get those blankets out, and release your inner-child. You won't regret it!

4. Cook something new - Whether you're the most experienced cook, or a complete novice, dust off those cookbooks and leave your comfort zone...  Gain experience, broaden your palate, and, more than likely, it'll be healthier - which means you'll feel better for it, too!

5. Write - Anything. A story, a poem, a song, a blog post. Anything. Just write!

Et voila! I hope that these ideas may be of some benefit to you on any future rainy day.
And feel free to comment with any ideas of your own - how do you like to spend the rainy days?

Bye for now,
FGB x

Love You, Goodnight.

I'm not one of those people who can say "I love you" on a whim. I have friends, whom I love dearly, but I just find it hard to say it to their faces.  With a lot of my friends, it's fine, because we don't tend to express our feelings for each other - we don't hug or say "I love you".  Not because we don't feel anything towards one another, but because we're just not those kinds of people.

But, Friday night, I went to my friend's house for a get-together party, and there were a few friends there who decided to go to college, and so I hadn't seen for months, and it was nice to just chat, and forget about school for one night.

A few hours passed, and I'd texted my mum to ask whether my dad could pick me up at 10ish, which he did, and I went to put my phone in my bag and get my shoes ready to go.

As I left, one of my friends shouted: "I love you loads, Rhi!", and - for some reason, without even thinking, I replied: "I love you more! I love you so much. Goodnight."

And that was all that played through my head the next day.  Not the fact that I'm capable of so much love, but the fact that I expressed it. Openly. And truly meant it.

I'm not scared by this. I'm not scared by love. I think I'm just afraid that love will bring hurt - that if I tell someone that I love them, and they leave, I'll have to face it.  As clichéd as that sounds, I think it's true. But I can't be sure.

Is love something to hide? Something to fear? Or should we embrace it?
That, my friends, is completely up to you.

x

...No, I am Spartacus!

So, Outnumbered is back! Yayayayayayay!



For those of you who don't know, Outnumbered is a British semi-improvised comedy drama based around a family - The Brockmans - and their daily lives.
And it was basically the only TV show I enjoyed when I was 12.
And it's absolutely hilarious.
And it hasn't been on British screens for a few years now, so finding out Monday that it was back on was nice!

Anyway, I was watching this program with my family Wednesday night, and I had a moment of complete deja-vu.
In one scene, the eldest son - Jake, who's 17 - was having a debate with his dad over some petty thing, and suddenly it dawned that he embodied me.

Ok, so as likely as it may be that the writers are kind-of evil space-aliens who have hacked into the Government's files and have all our details and picked me to base one of their characters on (I wish...), I just felt such a connection with all the things he said and did, and in a way it was kind-of a relief.

I spend quite a large proportion of my time at the moment having debates with my dad. Mostly about pointless things like where a certain cheese comes from, or whether darts is actually a sport (apparently, it is...) And sometimes I wonder whether it's normal.

Ok, I know loads of teenagers have arguments with their parents and stuff, but not over how Hitler's dog died, or whether there's a principality called Sealand (There is. Just off the coast of Suffolk. In the middle of the sea. It has a football team. Google it. Please?...)

And now I have my dad trying to get me to join some quiz/debate team thing. For a laugh.

Wish me luck...

FGB x





P.S. For any of you questioning the relevance of the post's title...