Yep, its that time of year again where we think "we can do this!" Yes this year my pancakes will look like those served at restaurants and funky coffee shops. My housemate set about buying some ready made mix for me (the worst cook ever) and the normal ingredients for her, she really wanted to make american style ones.

This obviously did not go as planned...

My first one was so thick and gooey it was described as a mash potato pancake, straight in the bin.

One bottle of pancake mix is supposed to make 6 pancakes, for a normal person. for me it made one large failure and 4 small thin crêpes.

Don't even get me started on the flipping part... flipping awful! ( if you pardon the pun)

2 hours and one very messy kitchen later our masterpieces were done!


Let me know how your pancake day went, tweet me at @_AlannaJade  x

As me and my friend walked back after our intense eight hour stint in the library at 10pm, we thought it was funny how only in uni is it completely normal to walk past people who are pissed outside of the pub as you are walking back from the library and tomorrow that could be you, depending on how many looming deadlines you have. 




Time at uni is different from normal human time, bed time is study time, 5 hours sleep is considered brilliant, 8 hours in the library is considered normal and breakfast?! more like grab your coffee and run. 



So for the rest of the walk home we each came up with quirky things that most students find completely normal that would be weird in normal day life, here they are..... 

1. Coming back from the library as others are going out and vice versa.

2. The Divide between the Students and Locals is bigger than the North and South divide.

3. Making a big pot of food and having the same meal four nights in a row.

4. Convincing yourself that because you need to walk everywhere it means your super fit.

5. Handing in the work a whole day before the deadline date and feeling like you're on point.

6. Finishing off your essay whilst getting ready to go out.

7. Pasta Is Life.

8. Sleeping in the library more than your bed.

9. Not getting out of your pyjamas for the whole day.

10. Anything can be  classed as breakfast, mainly crisps according to my housemate.

11. Finding different hangover cures is like a science experiment.

12. Going out with 78p in your bank account and coming home drunk.

13. Mum and Dad visit, Food Shop!

14. All semi-dieing in one persons bed to try and piece together what happened last night.

15. Coming downstairs to find someone asleep on the couch and shouting "who's is this?!" 

I am what you would call a film nerd. Studying TV and Film Production at college before coming to uni opened my eyes to a world of looking at a film, not just for the storyline, but for the directing, the score, the camera work, everything you would miss if you didn't know what you were looking for. Of course this does mean I can no longer look at badly made programs or films without huffing and tutting like my granny at a restaurant. I could blog about my love for films till my eyes were square but I don't have the time and I don't think anyone would have the patience. So two recent films I've just only just in the past week have been 'Birdman' and 'Into The Woods' so I thought id write about them. 



Birdman 
I personally thought the trailer looked a bit 'lad-ish' when my boyfriend said he wanted to watch it, but I am a lover of all films and open to all genres so after a really cruddy day we decided to go watch it, mainly so I could choke down my stress of uni with some minstrels and full fat cola. The films storyline was about a man who used to be really famous for playing a superhero (Birdman) in his younger days and never shook of the image, so in an aim to become famous again he directs, and stars in his own play which is stressing him and everyone around him, showing the hectic run up to opening night. 

Now thats all fine and dandy but as a sideline he somehow has the powers of Birdman like the control over objects and the gift of flight, its hard to decide if this is just him struggling to let go of his character or if he actually has those powers, most likely not but still. Oh and did I mention he has a voice in his head that talks to him and gives him careers advice? Yeah, he seems to be having an inward battle of being a good person and accepting he is a has-been or screwing everyone over for his craving of the stardom he once had. Aside from the deep and confusing storyline that was slightly bordering on pretentious, the cinematography was excellent! Using only invisible editing to look like the whole film was one continuous shot made it flow well and made it look more realistic. This coupled with the solo drum soundtrack keeps it different and quirky, more like a film you would see at a hip young indie film festival. 

This is definitely a film that is hard to put my finger on but I would still recommend it if you like phycological films about other peoples egos. Defiantly a film for film buffs and actors or people who  work in that industry and can relate. l'd give it a 4/5 for directing and camera work but a 3/5 for storyline and entertainment. 


Into The Woods
If you have seen the film you would have just sang that subtitle... Yes this is the new star studded musical to sing its way into our brains and then bug us for the next few weeks. However it is not your typical happily ever after shimmy shimmy musical this is like someone took all the classic childhood fairy tails and shoved them in a blender with Les Misérables. Based on a theatre production which is based on the original Grimm brothers tails, its a blend of dark and twisted parts with your favourite childhood stories such as Cinderella, Jack and the beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood. I love the way all of the stories are linked in some way by this one woodland area that seems to possess a sickness that makes people act foolishly, très clever.

It also has some sharp witty humour which keeps it alive for people who think it maybe a bit too cheesy for them, the effectively make fun of themselves in a way. Although a lot of my friends said that it didn't live up to their expectations I toughly enjoyed it and can't stop listening to the soundtrack and the singing itself by the actors is marvellous and compelling. It did start to get a little confusing by the end, I don't want to ruin it but you really do have to concentrate on what is going on, its one of those films where if you pop to the toilet you will have no clue what is going on so eyes peeled. Cinematography nothing particularly different but the look and the feel of the film really did make the whole thing, if it was done in a slightly brighter and childish way the film would have gone so far that it would actually turn into cheese. 

Brilliant acting, Brilliant Singing, Brilliant script, I loved it. Would really recommend to anyone that loves musicals and twisted tails, all the actors are amazing and the stories are too. 7/10 for me because personally nothing can beat Les Misérables or the classic Chicago, but it is a really good film to watch if you just want to forget about everything and amerce  yourself in another world for about two hours.

I find myself always wanting to write a blog when I am at my family home. I don't know if it's the fact that I feel like I have more time or its a step back from the norm, time to reflect and what not. 

I haven't wrote a blog since March and I wasn't quite sure what to write about. 

Has a lot happened? Not really, working over the summer has sucked up most of my time like nunu on redbull (teletubbies reference). A weeks holiday in Turkey was a bliss romantic flit, I wish I could of stayed. May do a blog on that later. 

Things going on in the world? Yes; War, death, natural disasters, political scandals, Brain washing adverts. However my knowledge on these subjects are not nearly enough to warrant a full blog post without backlash. 

The best idea that I can think of would be about this past year and the big changes I have encountered. I moved from my home in Washington just outside of Newcastle where I have lived all my life to Study at University 'Christ Church Canterbury' in Kent, The other side of England, six hours by car and 4 by train. 

The north and south divide is never something I really thought about before I moved. Living in the north east it was as if everything that came out or that happened in London took a while to get to us and if a big artist was doing a 'UK tour' you could bet your ass that they would get to Manchester and decide that was far enough north. It's always cold but that doesn't really bother us but for me that was normal. Growing up it was a hindrance to your popularity if you were smart and actually went to class, although that might have just been my school. 

A few of the most instantly noticeable things were that people are right, the South IS where things happen! You can get everywhere by a high speed train, TV is more relatable and you have a lot more freedom to express yourself in fashion and such, without the usual 'ugh nice hat ha ha' or something like that shouted by boys in their (one of twenty) tracksuit bottoms. People are generally more open minded down south, in my opinion (don't hate) unless you have a strong regional dialect and therefore are asked to repeat yourself a fair few times before they get what your saying. 

Living away from home has been a big step for me, I am an only child and I have a very close relationship with my parents. Looking after myself was a brilliant thing, doing what I want when I want, I know that I took advantage of this in my first months by gaining a little bit of weight but I quickly sorted out my diet and time etc. I also swore to myself and mother that I would focus on my work and not get distracted by boys, I met my boyfriend the second week there and we will have been together a year in November so what worked... 

I fell in love with Canterbury the second I stepped off the train on my open day, it is a beautiful place and I am so happy to be studying there. My course is called 'PR, Marketing and Media' which is extremely vague and after a year of study, I'm not one hundred percent on what PR exactly is but by the look of it no one else does either. 

With this type of course the south is the best to study and work, most major companies are situated in London or thereabouts and there just is not the same opportunities in the north. 

Most girls in my year from school are either with child or toddler, stuck in a dead end job or 'dossing about' as some call it. Very few have gone to Uni and even fewer and moved away to study. I seem to come from a place where everyone hates it but no one ever leaves and where everyone knows everyone else and their business. which is not as nice as it sounds, believe me. 

In short, but not so short, moving down to the south was the best decision of my life, although I feel like I now have two places I call home. I have met some of the most amazing friends, fell in love, learned about myself and grew up an awful lot. 


Until next time  x