Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “rant”

14 Mar 2019

Time For Strict Enforceable Rules on Recording In Theatres and Posting Images and Videos


Perusing Twitter in recent weeks there have been a number of tweets where audience members have been called out for recording or photographing during shows. It was reported that in one performance of Six, one of the cast members actually intervened to call this out. In other instances audience members themselves asked the perpetrator to cease recording.

Anyone attending the theatre know that they should not be recording shows or indeed taking photographs. Arguably the reasons behind these regulations have never been explicitly reasoned out and explained, nonetheless this is standard knowledge, and theatre goers do not come armed with cameras and recording devices.

The rules seem fair and obvious. Recordings of a show then uploaded to YouTube or indeed anywhere can do many negative things. The poor quality sound might make a performance look bad, the ending of a show might be given away ( many have quite intricate stories as part of the show, Waitress is an example). The actors/actresses are entitled to also make their money from cast recordings of albums uploaded to Spotify or similar and sold, and the sheer poor quality of the recordings does nothing to enhance the experience for anyone.

Six and Millie O'Connell

Six and Millie O’Connell

What however is less well known, and could be better advertised are that some shows do allow the audience to take photographs and videos during the curtain calls, as in Waitress or during a semi-encore, as in Six. I like this approach. As a photographer I too get frustrated to not be able to photograph, however I get it and abide by the rules as should everyone.

Aimee Atkinson in Six

Aimee Atkinson in Six

Having sat through the Brexit voting charades this past week, I would like to suggest a few things we might suggest or even vote on as solutions:

  1. In the foyer there should be clear notices as to what is and what is not allowed. This also can be part of the pre-show announcements whee one is reminded to turn off mobile devices.
  2. Anyone breaching the regulations should be removed from the theatre . A clear black and white punishment.
  3. Cast members where feasible can make themselves available post-show for photographs
  4. The show organisers organise out of show events where folks can come and photograph cast members with the obvious caveats these are not used commercially or promotionally. Funds raised might be utilised by theatre charities.

As I stated above the non-allowing of photography, I agree with and always wonder what my images might have looked like. The four solutions above may be a good compromise in this digital image world.

Lastly, the photos uploaded here were all taken post-show and were allowed, and of course all taken with the humble I-phone 8

Rocky Horror Woking 2019

Rocky Horror Woking 2019

Waitress 2019

Waitress 2019

Six and Millie O'Connell

Six and Millie O’Connell

Six and Millie O'Connell

Six and Millie O’Connell

Six and Millie O'Connell

Six and Millie O’Connell

Natalie Paris and six

Natalie Paris and six

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08 Apr 2018

Brentford overcome the anti-football team Ipswich town


The game itself was a hard fought fairly dire at times 1-0 win resulting from a penalty that might not have been given on some days. Brentford continue their march towards a play-off place, which is unlikely but certainly possible. 00002387

The game was sad to watch really . Ipswich came with no intent to actually play football and were the definition of anti-football. Many photos show some of the pulling and pushing, and although no side are angels, this was frankly quite bad. All the things I can recall from old division 4 football when playing some of the teams like Workington and Bradford PA.  There was endless pushing, pulling, shirt pulling, general fouling and little else. Much of the Ipswich training manual must consist of where to run to get a new tattoo judging by the decor on view.

00002430 The Ipswich fans generally did not much like McCarthy and many wonder why he has not walked now rather than announce his grand exit for the end of the season. If this is his style, then Sir Bobby Robson will be turning rather more in his grave than some of the Ipswich strikers did during the game.  I recall Ipswich well as a child and my claim to fame was spending time at Sir Bobby’s house ( where the lawn was in fact the extra turf from Portman Road following a build of a new stand), having him cook breakfasts ( they were superb) and him getting me into games by telling the turnstile guys I was an Ipswich youth player. But I also recall that they played real football back then. McCarthy

Luke Hyam received the expected welcome based on his nasty tackle two years ago, but more so on his refusal to apologise. Frankly he was poor and there was nothing to really show why he had been restored to the team. Alan Judge made his first home start also since his leg break. hyam00002391

I found the Ipswich fans generally amusing with chants like ” we are the numbskulls” presumably in reference to comments from McCarthy. McCarthy cut a sad looking figure, not so tall as I had imagined and generally looking worn down. This surely will be his last football tenure.

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The game itself had few clearcut chances from either team, though towards the end Dan Bentley made some excellent saves, that are probably routine for him. Brentford lacked creativity in midfield and seemed to miss Flo Jo. For me yet again Josh McCeachran looked average at best and not maybe the standards we need next season.  Yoann Barbet looked a composed footballer but needs to reduce the number of bad passes that accompany his array of excellent ones. The left back berth is his to keep until next season. Romaine Sawyers certainly had his most physical game for Bees and the fact he was marking Hyam may have had something to do with that. His push on Hyam almost into the dugout in the early minutes set the tone for him. He also defended far more than most Bees fans realise, including myself. It is only when looking at defensive photos that I noticed how often he is there often behind the central defenders. 000024111K4A1593

Some Bees fans still think we have a chance of the playoffs but for me we are in the top 10 teams but not the top 6.  Bees lack the physicality to be a play off team and the points dropped against the “big” sides are what has cost us in addition to the missed chances. The recent “addition” of Chris Mepham has helped hugely. 00002469

The look that Martyn Waghorn gives Chris Mepham here is priceless. Lastly, did anyone else notice Mick McCarthy and Nico Yennaris having a cosy chat while they walked out before the start of the game. Anything in that at all?

As always Barbet is an extra spirit in the side and adds something that is immeasureable. For me he might be the next Brentford captain. Barbet

Having said all that we did win and we do still have a chance of the playoffs. Onwards and upwards……

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31 Mar 2018
1 Comment

Australian Cricket Rubbing The World Up The Wrong Way. Is this one of the final nails in the cricket coffin?


The past few years has not been good for cricket and in fact has been mostly disastrous. A series of betting related match fixing events and generally fairly average if not poor cricket. Frankly there is too much of it, test series back to back with endless T20 and limited over games, that rarely threaten to fill even the most modest of stadia. Presumably all related to Sky and other purporters of live cricket ( with advertising slots assailing viewers ceaselessly) and the betting market ( with that nonsense phrase ” when the fun stops”…..).

For most cricket the fun stopped many years ago, the game has become too predictable and generally uninteresting to many fans. Fans are charged sometimes outrageous amounts of money to perhaps watch a game, dependent on the weather, the light, 2-3 day finishes in test cricket and other nonsense factors. Not surprisingly few fans watch test cricket as seen in the current South Africa v Australia series, and the New Zealand v England series.

Cricket has somehow survived until now. I have been a member of Sussex county cricket club for maybe 15-20 years but having nothing to do with the increasing cost am considering cancelling my membership . Mostly because the quality of the cricket is poor and often little better than club cricket. The players often seem disinterested. The sponsors are also moving away, as judged by the much reduced sponsorship seen for the Arundel cricket festival in 2017 for example.  The recent events in South Africa however just maybe might put a final nail in the cricket coffin ( unless we include numerous meaningless “bash” competitions, that frankly have as much to do with cricket as french cricket did at school).

The cheating displayed by the Australians followed by their refusal to tell the truth until confronted by video evidence , the lack of remorse and the general nastiness exhibited by the Australians in how they play the “game”, just might be that final nail. Lets examine the facts:

  1. The Australians were found cheating, lied to umpires, media and by default the paying customers, and it is not credible that this is their first time. It is equally not credible that only three players were part of this. Would a bowler not have noticed a change in the physical ball or the swing immediately?
  2. The alleged remorse is fake. The real remorse is that they have been caught and punished with moderate sanctions. I take a view that would be simpler. Any cheating should be a lifetime ban from that sport. Leopards do not change their spots. From a psychological or psychiatric view personalities are fully formed and essentially unchangeable by cricketing age, of course behaviours can be changed, but the underlying desire to take that risk means it is not credible that they would be “cured” of cheating tendencies.
  3. The Australian players have created theatrical press conferences with wives, family members and young children in tow, that are obscene. What was needed was a genuine apology and a clear statement from each along the lines that they voluntarily would step back from cricket and never assume any leadership role.
  4. This is match fixing. Commentators in the national newspapers argue otherwise, but they are wrong. Match fixing is an attempt to illegally fix a result. This is the same a doping, diving, lying and all the other kinds of pretence seen in sport.

So what should happen. My view is that the players involved should voluntarily stand down from cricket for a year at minimum, that they should never have any leadership role again and finally they should donate their salary for a year to charity. Why are they receiving any salary still until June 2018? All these simple actions of humility would mean far more than fake tears of remorse. Lastly they should actually tell the truth and not hide behind the ongoing Cricket Australia investigations. It would be a good start to tell all bodies the truth and maybe start with the general public who after all pay their wages. Moving forwards sporting cheats should receive a lifetime ban, as who wants these characters in the sports that we love. They are paid huge sums of money to excel in their sports and by default be role models to some extent.

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07 Jan 2018
1 Comment

If John Stead Had Been Playing For Brentford Would The Score Have Been different? Thoughts After A Dismal Day


Although no-one likes losing a game, frankly this was a game that Dean Smith clearly thought little of. Despite his post-match protestations, this was a  truly abysmal ineffective Brentford performance. Few would disagree with that and most might go further and ask why this might have happened. 00001572 copy

A very different Brentford team with 8 changes found it hard to get going and a half time score of 0-0 was about right against a physical Notts County.  The difference between the sides was a well taken goal from John Stead who is having a superb second half of his career at Notts County. 00001545 copy

With so many new faces it was maybe harsh to expect the kind of football and passing we are used to simply because the players have not played before together.  Individually a couple of the players had nightmare games for different reasons. Josh McCeachran was not only ineffective but gave the ball away numerous times and had his weakest game in a Brentford shirt. For all his skill, it is difficult to see what he gives to the team and his absence of physicality makes things even harder. Neal Maupay worked 100% but it seems does not have either the talent to succeed or the confidence, either way he again did not score and in the second half with multiple balls coming from the right from Florian Josefzoon one might have expected a goal or two. It is difficult to see how he can turn this around frankly. Alan Judge came on and had a decent 20 minutes and Marcondes also seemed a little unsure of his positioning but did show some promise. 0000152100001571

The reality of the game was that it should have been 0-0. Notts County worked hard but did not inspire, and although they will undoubtedly gain promotion, my guess is they will have a short stay in League 1 unless they sign a few more creative souls. I was not pleased to see their brand of physicality  ( which translates to fouls).

If Dean Smith wanted to win this game then he could and should have made perhaps only 4 changes. What he probably learnt was that his ” reserve” players are not perhaps quite up to Championship standard currently.

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The body language at the end showed it all, disappointment  , but simply the side was not good enough to score against a team two divisions below.  John Stead looked a decent player and with the number of balls that got into the box in the game, my suspicion is that if he were the Brentford forward, he might have had a hat-trick.

JM00001542000015271K4A7847000015230000151500001538Alan Judge will most likely be eased back over the next few months and realistically will look to be 100% by the start of next season. On positive notes yet again Chris Mepham played well and Florian worked hard but his final balls could be better. As we enter the transfer window yet again we are all thinking we need to sign 1-2 strikers. The argument that we already score lots of goals is not a good one, as with a pair of different styled strikers we might score a lot more. Some unanswered questions might be:

  1. Why has Justin Shaibu not featured more this season?
  2. What is the plan with Theo Archibald? Has his off-field antics caused behind the scenes problems?
  3. What to do with Neal Maupay?
  4. How could Brentford possibly consider selling Lasse Vibe?
  5. With our midfield and defensive players often getting balls into the box, is there not a solid argument for having a large centre-forward as either Plan B option or as yesterday, Plan A?
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27 Dec 2017

Were Aston Villa that bad? Or were we that good? Thoughts after the night before


A very wet evening heralded an excellent game of football that even torrential rain could not dampen nor actually have much effect. A sell out crowd of 12,000 including 1,600 Villa fans saw an end to end game that at times could have gone in any direction. IMG_6569

The scoresheet will confirm that Brentford won 2-1 but that hides a lot of the game. The few minuscule words that The Times chose to post about the game really were both clueless and gave their readers no feeling of anything about the game. So lets go back to the start. Brentford have a whole series of injuries that have disrupted their starting eleven for around 2 months now, yet even with players out of position and squad players coming in, the results have been quite superb. So looking at some of  the players who were absent from last night: Egan, Henry, Dalsgaard, it is clear that the Bees defence was not first, nor second choice but maybe third choice. Nico Yennaris at right back and Joann Barbet at left back, two players not always first choice this season, playing out of their regular positions. On paper this was a team that Villa managed by the ever increasing frame of Steve Bruce should have been looking to beat comfortably. Certainly thats the view from their hordes of fans on social media. In fact Brentford looked the most comfortable they have all season in defence, with the exception of the Villa goal scored too easily. 00000513

Brentford have turned into a hard working and maybe fitter side than earlier in the season, and are playing as a team. They are also some of the best football I have seen at Griffin Park over the years. The players have a game plan and it works. The return from injury of Sergi Canos has been crucial as has the return to form of Florian.

The pitch is now in excellent condition considering the recent weather and rainfall, and yet this is Brentford, were before the game smiling stewards were trying to sweep away the rain behind the New Road stand but at a slower pace than the rain that was falling!

The return of Alan Judge to the bench was warmly applauded and we might expect to see him starting a game soon.

My impression of Villa was actually positive. They were a hard working team in the first half and probably shaded the game on points. Always a threat when coming forward but as the game went on they failed to have a plan B and arguably gave up after Lasse Vibe’s 52nd minute winner. The last 10 minutes were the usual panic stations and especially as both Brentford central defenders were off the pitch with bloody head injuries, with goal line saves keeping Villa out. 00000487

Despite negative comments on social media my impression was they are a side that will be in the playoffs. The fans are shouting to maybe have Bruce out but they might look at their alternatives and instead stick with him. Do they really want a Pulis, Warnock or Pardew? Their football was not as good as Brentford and on the night it showed, but on other nights they will beat similar teams because of their speed in attack and physical size. What however surprised Brentford fans was the odd role given to Hogan. We know he is a good player, but we also know he is a confidence player, and a player that needs service in the box. He could slot back in at Brentford in the correct role and start scoring goals again. But a real lesson for not only Villa but also Birmingham and Norwich, do not just buy the best player, but look at the system they have been operating in and why they have been the best player. The simple reason why Canos, Jota and Hogan have not flourished after leaving Brentford. IMG_6583

The football played by Brentford was superb last night, there were no defensive errors ( bar one that we got away with) and we made good substitutions at the right time. The other thing we learned last night was that we do need to give Lasse Vibe a new contract. For me he has vastly improved this last 2 years and has at least another 2 years left of Championship football. He also is a stable influence on the side and is likely to feature in the World Cup in 2018. Nico Yennaris for me had his best game in a Brentford shirt, not only his positional sense but his cajoling and encouraging his team colleagues. Could this be his best position? I would not be alone in thinking that Henrik Dalsgaard would be better in midfield . Chris Mepham was superb and a casual observer would be surprised to learn he has only started a handful of games. Sergi Canos had a superb game despite his Malfoy like hairstyle, and is getting better by the game. Romaine Sawyers also had one of his best games and also looking better each game. Even Keith Stroud had an average game, when our expectations are that he will ruin any spectacle. A question to ask him is his interpretation of the advantage rule though.

Villa do not need to panic and although automatic promotion is beyond them, the playoffs certainly are not. Their hope might be that they do not meet Brentford there. This was one of the great nights under the lights at Griffin Park and when we move to Lionel road this is what we will miss.

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17 Dec 2017
2 Comments

Brentford v Barnsley. What did we learn from this festival of football? Talking points


  1. Never knowingly watch Barnsley ever again. Another club in the lower reaches of the championship  who seem to think that mathematically drawing each game 0-0 will preserve their league status. The time wasting tactics we saw yesterday ranging from their goalkeeper wasting time two minutes into the game, and  added to by curious injury delays towards the end, were very much old league four behaviours. Simply dire.  As a footballing side they were adequate when trying to come forward but little better than that. In 2017 this kind of gamesmanship has no place and one wonders of the mentality of manager Paul Heckingbottom or his assistant Jamie Clapham.
  2. Never undertake the role of Barnsley performance analyst (Alex Bailey, what exactly do you analyse? Minutes of time wasted when score 0-0?)
  3. Brentford are not improving at knowing how to unlock defensive minded teams. We are a far better side in terms of skin levels yet seemingly not any better than teams like Sunderland, Burton and Barnsley, with disappointing home draws in recent weeks. The team seems not set up to do this and importantly no sign of a Plan B either.
  4. Josh McCeahran had a poor game and is not suited to playing in front of the defensive unit. He did not tackle and gave the ball away in highly dangerous situations. This was a curious decision by Dean Smith. It is difficult to argue that he should be starting games as he also offered little in attacking options either.
  5. Team selection and tactics. To put Kamo and Nico on the bench was perhaps an odd selection. Players need to be played who are in form and both are in the best performing 11 players at present. Ryan Woods is out of form and this worries me as is reminiscent of the form of players like Tarkowski and Toumani shortly before their departures. Why is Florian not playing? A player in good form and a set ball expert. There is plenty of room for both Sergio and Florian in the same team. 00000198
  6. Route one football at Brentford? We have never been known for this style of football. Our current squad are also not suited not frankly capable of playing this way, yet against Barnsley and Burton, for periods of the game this was our style. Justin Shaibu is the only squad member capable potentially of playing in this style ( and why has he not been on the bench recently?).
  7. Neal Maupay. Enigma or unlucky? The season has not gone well for him and some fans are starting to turn on him. He should have scored more goals but yesterday his level of service was zero. He is not a midfielder yet was having to win the ball to be able to do anything with it. For me he has the potential but needs the team set up to provide far more crosses into the box. He also I suspect is a confidence player.
  8. Is Dean Smith getting the best from his squad? Putting aside the few folks with persistent negative views, others are questioning his team selection, tactics and ability to out manoeuvre the opposition, especially when changes need to be made during the game. His choice of central defenders have come under scrutiny  and I am a critic here too. Our central defence is the weakest for many seasons regardless of international players we have playing there. As an ex-central defender he must see that too and I would like to see changes in the transfer window.
  9. Are we going anywhere this season? My opinion is not. We are a mid-table side. We will not make the top six, and unlikely to be in the bottom six either. We should take this opportunity to blood the youngsters or move them on. Chris Mepham should be starting and Ilias should be given a run of 4-6 games to assess potential.
  10. Why do the half-time draw sellers stand both outside the gents toilet ( for their sake, the smells are not lovely) and blocking the entrance to the steps up into the stand in New Road?  I do not much like this way of making a minuscule amount of money and £2 a ticket is a lot of money frankly for a small prize. The simplest way to make a sensible amount of money would be to make catering available to supporters in their seats in the stands. Trays of hot drinks and burgers etc. All priced sensibly maybe with pre-paid vouchers. To sell 300 extra hot drinks and 300 extra burgers would make a decent amount of money and provide a service.
Neal Maupay

Neal Maupay

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05 Mar 2017
2 Comments

Ipswich 1 Brentford 1. A good point for Bees but should have been three . Some good signs for next season


Being fortunate enough to photograph the game one gets fairly close to the action and able to see some of the little things that might get missed. Let me start with the highly supportive nature of Dean Smith to all his players after the game, and also the embrace between Toumani and himself.

A fairly wet night and a fairly boggy pitch certainly not of the Griffin Park standard. Ipswich is a very friendly club and when arriving to collect press pass one is greeted by a serious of smiling and mischievous souls in the ticket office, all wearing smart clean blazers and ties. In fact I cannot fault the Ipswich club at all. Nice people, who deserve a good and decent football team. Whether they deserve mick McCarthy as a manger is a separate question. The fans I spoke to were mixed in their views.  Inconsistency of the team was a common theme. As a negative though the entrance price of 35£ for adults is excessive, 25.50£ for concessions, and 24.50£ for under 20. There is no need to charge these prices.

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There are plenty of good match reports online so no need for me to repeat much. This game was not a classic but was fully competitive until the last kick of the game. Although both sides are truly mid-table and arguably satisfied with a point, even in the 4 added minutes both pressed for a winner.

The goal was a nice pass from Romain Sawyers and a neat finish from Yennaris.

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Nico Yennaris scores

Brentford played the better football. Ipswich did a lot of shirt pulling and pushing and a few dubious tackles and manoeuvres . Maybe someone in the FA or the Referees select committee can explain to me how this “rugby league” tackle ( illegal even there and seriously punishable in the NFL in USA) was not given as a foul. The role of assistants talking to the referees arises weekly. How this was not given as a foul against Vibe I am unsure.

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An interesting style of tackling from Ipswich 

Brentford looked well set up with Woods looking more solid and winning more than his share of the 50-50 balls. The full backs looking better with every game. Maxime Colin has improved enormously this season.

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Maxime Colin demonstrating an interesting style of tackling

00007689 Bjelland went off injured, without having an inspiring game, and Barbet came on, who still looks suspect to me. 0000767300007763

Justin Shaibu had 20 minutes and as against Rotherham caused all manner of problems to the Ipswich defence and was unlucky not to score. The days of Hoffmann are truly over and he needs to move on. 000077610000774400007746

So I take away a lot of positivity in this team and performance. The sort of game a while agao that Brentford would not have drawn. The worry remains over the number of goals conceded. This will improve.

Sergi Canos is such an exciting talent and could be a truly great player.

0000770200007703Rico Henry looks a class player and fast coming forward.

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Rico Henry

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08 Oct 2016

My Breakfast Is Finished Said The Cat. What else do you have for me?


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02 Mar 2016

Greetings from the Younger Bushe


A brief intoduction from the ‘younger Bushe’ – I’m Elena, the 15 year old talked about on these blogs, so instead of being talked about on here I decided to write my own to see what this whole blog writing lark is all about. So, as from the title, I promised a rant. Well, you are going to get one. Or maybe a few. We’ll just see how it goes I guess.

So one thing that really bothers me, being a tall girl with a disproportionate limb to body ratio, is when people walk slowly infront of me. Now maybe these people simply cannot walk any faster, and they are merely walking as fast as they possibly can and it is just me being irritable but as much as I’d like to believe that, I can assure you that that is not the case. In the mornings at the lovely time of about 8:00 am I can usually be found walking to school with some friends. I can also usually be found stuck behind a group of slow walkers. Thats the thing with people with attributes or habits that annoy you, isn’t it? When they crop up (quite frankly more often than any of us would like) they are never by themselves, oh no, they quite helpfully feel the need to enlist the help of others to help them in their quest t0 disrupt the journey and day of others. And if thats not bad enough, another helpful attribute these slow walkers seem to have picked up is to become completely oblivious to the fact that there is a growing-more-annoyed by the second tall 15 year old taking half steps behind them while they talk about whether they are going to hockey club after school or not, which, quite frankly, I do not care about and I would be very appriciative if you could just let me squeeze past you so that I can get to school and start copying my Physics homework which, regretfully, it appears has not been done the night before, and is now due in in approximately 20 minutes. However, you must not panic for I have picked up a technique of my own to deal with these small year 7’s (so small I genuinely worry about accidentally crushing them with one of my gigantic limbs), and that is to simply make myself appear to be a moody, tall, grumpy year 10 who will purposefully shove you off the cycle path into the long grass. This might not sound like a menacing sight to you, but believe me, it terrifies them. So, after gearing myself up to sound like the biggest, baddest year 10 that ever lived, I utter those two fateful words that no year 7 wants to hear: “Excuse me.” This is usually greeted by mass scurrying to the sides of the path while the three big, scary year 10’s stride through and then all assumes its usual air of calm. Apart from myself who still has to do her Physics homework.

I’m going to fit in another rant because that one just was not long enough for my liking.You might think its long enough, and so might my mum but I do not, and so the story continues.

One thing I really dislike about being a teenager is the fact that most people will stereotype your music taste based on your appearance. Or your personality based on your music taste. And I for one find this extremely frustrating. Picture this: Me, an almost transparent white girl with lots of freckles, sort of mousey golden coloured dead straight hair with bright blue eyes. Based on this appearance, the most common stereotype I get is being into pop music. While I have absoloutely nothing against pop music, it is not a genre of music that I listen to (apart from the deep dark depths of my music taste that includes the Backstreet Boys, young Cody Simpson, The Vamps and 5sos, but we won’t talk about that) My favourite genre of music is definately Alternative or Rock or Pop-Punk but we aren’t supposed to use that term because the god of music (AKA Billie Joe Armstrong) has decreed a strong dislike for that term. If you are looking for examples, one might find some in the way of Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco, Halsey, Good Charlotte, The Cab, Twenty One Pilots, Sleeping With Sirens, The Maine and many more. I also have a passion for electro chill style music which suprised me greatly but it is fabulous and I recommend listening to it (particularly a song called Circles by the Eden Project and especially the rain and thunder muffle audio of it, that is top-notch.) Also I have a secret passion for a certain artist known as Charley Marley whose songs never fail to make me smile and I am proud to say that I will be seeing (and hopefully meeting) this guy next week. Anyways, when I first tell people about my music taste, some are quite surprised. More recently though, people who I’ve told have smiled and nodded and said “Oh yeah, I’m a fan of them too.” which results in lots of in depth conversations during lessons and then being asked questions by the teacher and having to rely on the helpfully whispered answers from the rest of the class.

Since I am so new to this blog writing lark, I have no idea how to finish so I hope you enjoyed my little rants and I don’t know, maybe if you liked them leave a comment as I am considering starting my own blog but I just don’t know if the things I write about are interesting. – Elena ^-^

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30 Apr 2012

Heathrow airport is the Worst Airport in the World


This is becoming like a mantra. Each time I visit I forget how foul the whole experience is. This ranges from the awful signage, the expensive food, the sour-faced staff, the delays but mostly the cynicism of it all. Today I saw a huge advert outside a currency exchange bureau that said ” great exchange rates”. This intrigued me as in the pharmaceutical industry where I work, this kind of claim would firstly not be allowed but if it ever were watered down, there would have to be clarity over what exactly ” great” meant and compared to what. On my I-phone I have been following the euro exchange rates as soon will be heading off to Spain. Recently the rate is around 1.22 euro to the pound. This “great” exchange was more akin to the great train robbery, if I were to give them 1.38 euros they would kindly repay me a pound. However if I were to give them a pound they would give me 1.11 euros. A disgraceful exchange rate that does not even stop there as there would be a minimum £3 commission. This equates to something like a 20% mark down in their favour. This is not great and in fact should be considered illegal practice. The end result as usual is that not only would I not ever make this exchange at any UK airport but feel the need to stop others. It is the same story with the food, expensive prices for ordinary dross. Long queues to get what most travellers want, a cup of tea and sandwich, but no queue for the silly restaurants with stupid names like ” giraffe”. The staff generally are miserable and unfriendly, the queues for security are somehow always longer than their alleged BAA surveys claim. Today there was a grand claim on the departure boards that 95% ish of people clear security within 5 minutes. This is clearly not true. The only way to achieve this would be to pole vault over the top. End of rant. In contrast today, Glasgow Airport. Civilised, tidy and what I wanted was readily available. Result,  I spent money there. 

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