Great Ormand Street Hospital

Does anyone whenever they see the advert on television for the Great Ormond Street Hospital not feel that they should do something to help improve the lives of these children by donating at least a few pound once a month, or should send in a soft cuddly toy to cheer up a sick child and bring a smile to their face, this as we all know is not a lot to ask for, how much effort does it really take to pick up the phone or open a web page, or even to seal an envelope, that's right it doesn't take a lot does it? I know plenty of people who when they see these adverts they say out loud, "if I could do something I would" well what's stopping you? Donate something now; I will even dial for you.

When I see things like this I feel quite sad, because when I moan about something and say my life isn't great or why does it always happen to me, well I cannot imagine just how much pain and stress these young children must be going through, especially at such a young age, and I have so much respect for them because they have gone through so much in their young lives that most of us will never and say gladly experience in our lives as we would most likely not deal with it the way the children do.

I always knew about how the hospital worked around the clock to find cures and treatments for the cases that go through the buildings doors everyday, but didn't realize just how much we the public needed to do to help fund the organization and how we can help improve the lives of the patients within its walls. Like I have already said we can donate how much money we like to help fund for the equipment and help that goes on their, as well as sending in a toy or two, but we can even go a stretch further by possibly sponsoring a child and get in touch by sending a letter once a week or month just to make a friend, it is little things that we can do that would have a great impact for so little.

I do think that it is good when shows such as the X Factor donate part of their profits to a charity, this years charity for the show is the GOSH, and events such as Children In Need and Red Nose Day, but do we need only just a few days of the year to make us realize just how much we are needed to help save lives, how much that doctors and nurses shouldn't always have to be the ones to help the sick, we can do our part for them too. After all these children at GOSH suffer so much and we suffer so very little, can we not all just care a little more?

Forgetting Problems

Tomorrow our class are being assessed on our life drawing sketchbooks, so for this I am going to mention my views on life drawing. Well I find it to be quite enjoyable, NOT for the nudity involved in it but because I find just sitting down and drawing something is quite relaxing and to be honest can calm me down if I am in a mood or have been stressed, it creates an atmosphere that makes you concentrate and think about something else for a change, allowing me to forget anything that is currently on my mind, and because you are drawing a piece of art I feel personally that it is something that you are in control of where if anything is on your mind you cannot control properly what you are think and feeling, it is you and only you.

I am not just saying that this is just in life drawing but since I left college I have started to draw more often and have a personal sketchbook where I will easily sit and draw whatever I am in the mood of creating, and feel that my drawing skills have indeed improved since starting this as it keeps me in the reunite without being worried how it will turn out if I haven't drawn in some time. I do feel though that I am best suited to drawing in normal and coloured pencils rather than in coloured pastels or chalks as I enjoy doing the shadows of a person or object but never seem to get the face quite right and end up with a strange smudge towards the top of the image.

So all I have to say is that if you are feeling stressed from finishing off work for university, revision for exams, even doing a presentation or two then just pick up a piece of sketchbook and a pencil a let your mind ease into the paper.

Radio Talkers

Everyday I put on the radio on my way to university and everyday is the same old useless rubbish on almost every radio station, and they are all on about the same things as well. I only have a limited amount of stations to listen to, theses being Radio 1, Wave 102, Tay fm, Kingdom fm as well as a Gaelic station and a classical music station. I normally spend the whole journey from my house to where I parked trying to find a decent song as the journey normally takes me about 30 - 40 minutes and am very lucky if there is at least one good song played during this time, as all of the radio host just speak non stop, and they talk about pointless topics that just are not funny or interesting. The worst for this without a doubt is Chris Moyals who just will not shut up, he loves the sound of his own voice and thinks he is just absolutely brilliant at everything he does, just from listening to what he says you realize he is an arrogant, irritating man who thinks he knows best about everything.

SO when I am journeying to university I do nothing but skip the channels, as I find it very uncomfortable to drive in silence and as my CD player is broken ind that I have no choice but to listen to the radio, is a very strange thing to complain about this when I can keep the radio off but I love to complain about things so this helps with that, but I would prefer to hear some music when i am driving.

When the radio host is not speaking or letting us listen to boring adverts they play the same music as the other radio shows, and nearly every morning they play at least one song all at the same time, that is four music channels that i skip to that are playing the same song, and it is normally a very bad song that makes you turn off the radio in disgust but have to turn it on again because of the silence. It does get worse though and this is when somebody does play at least a half decent song but is timely ruined when on of them and the Radio 1 team are truly awful for this and it is when they start speaking through the rest of the song, normally about halfway through it, and even start singing to it but with their own words, what the hell is all that about, there is surely no need for it at all.

Now I would hopefully say that this ever going on discussion that these people have on their show goes on for the duration of my journey but is goes on for the whole day where the other big names on radio only ever talk instead of playing music, that is what music channels are for, to play music, they should move to another station if all they want to do is talk, and I and hopefully a lot of people would be fine if they were on a channel that was meant for discussion and not songs which are very rare on the radio.

What is just as bad though is that obviously there are many radio hosts throughout the day on the channel they all seem to play the same songs, so you will most likely hear the same 4 songs though the whole day over and over again, I know this because ewe used to have Radio 1 on all the time in college but this was mainly for background noise to pass the time. I think that they should cut back to the utter nonsense that these people go o about, if I could I would listen to Radio 2, 3 or 4 but sadly I can't because at least what they talk about is points of interest that do not drag on for about twenty minutes of the same old thing with them trying so hard to be funny in the middle.

Gone are the days when real music was played on the radio, gone are the days where we showed interest of the Radio DJ, sometimes I wish and excuse this lame attempt at a quirky comment but shame that "video didn't kill the radio star".

Dragon's Den Presentation

Right it is Sunday night right now and I am currently righting down a few key notes for a Dragon Den style presentation that I have to do tomorrow for presenting my Hells Angel quince seal packaging. Our class has to present our products to a panel who will access our product and our presentation as a whole in a lecture theatre in front of them and the whole class and I can easily say that I am in a polite way of putting it scared beyond belief, not of doing it in front of the class but of standing in front of strange people who have been in the business of graphic design for some time now so they will know exactly what they are on about and will most likely question my product till the point where I will doubt if it is good enough, or they will praise it and make me think I have created the most amazing thing in the world, it is going to go either way.

I do however realize that this is a requirement and will help everyone in the class build up their presentation techniques and confidence as this is something we will all have to do quite regularly if we are to succeed in the business after university.

Because I have already done a HNC and HND at college I should be used to this sort of thing by now but sadly I am not, usually at college we presented our work to the class sitting down as a casual talk to one another, or if it was the graded unit we did it on our own in front of our tutor and another member who did not know what the product and piece was about, this was a bit easier as it was to two people I was presenting to and can handle but as there will probably be four people I might find it a little nerve racking.

But it does have to be done, all I have to do is just get on with it and take all the criticism I am given and just not think about everyone else that is there, so will finish my noted just now and only hope it goes the way I want it to tomorrow.

The Hobbit

When I was writing the previous blog I mentioned The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, and this got me thinking about one of my favourite books of all time, The Hobbit or There and Back Again. This is the book I can never get tired of reading more than once, it never gets boring, even though I know all the characters and have read it over and over not for a few years admittedly but it never gets dull or repetitive, seems like a new story every time I read it, which is mostly the reason of why I probably read it over and over, the magic of the book never dies which is why to me it is such a special book me, it reminds me of when I was younger, it was the book that got me into reading as I used to hate it so much and never even picked up a book simply because I thought it was boring and would rather have watched the television instead, but when my mum got me this book as I had to read a book for class to draw a picture for it I had never been so captivated, I had never wanted to keep reading page after page before, it was and still to this day one of the best books I have ever read and I do not really care that it is a children's book.

Before I read this book I was aware of the story of Lord of the Rings as I had the original cartoon on video but never knew that there was a book before it and never knew that that itself was a trilogy of books, which after I read the Hobbit had to read The Fellowship of the Ring, which I got for my seventh birthday and was surprised just how different it was, at how more grown up it was, the language used and the whole style to me at the time had completely changed and I was reading a whole new set of books. I did however take me a few years to get through all three of them as I was a slow reader and at first couldn't understand them a lot of the time but still I kept at it and still managed to enjoy the story.

The Hobbit is a story of a little hobbit called Bilbo Baggins, who live in his house under the hill of Bagend in the town of hobbitton, and won day a tall wizard, Gandalf the Grey goes past Bagend and through some trickery persuades Bilbo to join him and a company of dwarfs on an adventure of a lifetime to the Lonely Mountains to work as an accomplice and given that task of the burglar of the group so that they can reclaim the treasure that the dragon Smaug has kept hidden by his side for so long. Along the way they encounter three trolls, Beorn ( a man who can turn into a bear) goblins, Elrond and the elves of Rivendale and Mirkwood, and even an encounter with the creature Gollum where Bilbo acquires a ring that can turn him invisible as set the course for the future all before the reach there final destination and the treasure that awaits.

What I really enjoy about the story is that it is so full of magic and adventure and just how you wish you were actually in the book traveling with all of these characters, I was extremely upset when I found out Balin had later been killed in The Fellowship of the Ring during a battle in the Mines of Moria, was devastated. there was just so much that went on in the book that you wanted to know more about it and all involved in it, that to me is the sign of a truly great and wonderful book.

When it was announced that the trilogy was about to be released into films I was ever so excited and jut could wait for them to come out. It was even better that these films were released just a few days after my birthday taking me back to when I got the first book on my seventh and again was sad that when The Return of the King was released and after I had walked out of the cinema, realized what I was I going to look forward to every year now. But now I am waiting for the Hobbit to be made into film, which is scheduled to be released for 2011, and am so glad it is being split into two films so now they can get in everything from the book along with added features that could explain where Gandalf went when he left the group for some time.

I assure you that I will be seeing this film when it comes out.

What The Hell? SuBo and JedWard

Is anyone else not getting fed up with the whole, how amazing are Susan Boyle and John and Edward, it has all gotten well out of hand now, normally I would say that it was the press which have had their hand in all this by nick naming these three very strange people more so to the twins as I cannot stand them, waste of space and have no talent what so ever. But it is also down to Simon Cowell and the producers of The X Factor who play the public into this whole con, which most of the time is only a one hit wonder. apart from the exception of Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke who are the Two only good singers to actually win the competition, the rest we have never heard from again.

As we all know, John and Edward cannot sing, and definitely cannot dance, so were does there talent lie? Well the answer to that question is very simple, they have none, they only got through the first audition simply because they were very cheeky to Simon Cowell and the other judges wanted to see more of that, then they only got through the next stage because as per usual Louis Walsh was acting like a big baby and insisted they go through because well they were a group and are Irish, so he Walsh as it has been proven from this show is pretty much a useless and just as annoying person, who now because of the face lift he has now had is left with only one very creepy expression as it looks exactly the same when he's annoyed and smiling.

So back to the twins, why is it that they kept getting voted through, clearly no one likes them, as people I know, in the paper, they all hate them, from what I saw the only people who actually did were little girls between the ages of 5 to 12, and then it has been said that they would be good as children's television presenters. Sorry but I find those to to look very strange looking, like they are on something, very pale and have strange eyes. If I had any children I would never let them watch them just because of how sadistic I think they look, also because of how annoying they were on the X Factor.

Now onto Susan Boyle, who yes I will admit has a really good singing voice, but when you watch her on the TV you can clearly see that she thinks in her head, I so deserve to be hear and has a look about her where she thinks she's perfect, that is my opinion and only what I think, but what really gets me about her is that everyone and also when she is being promoted is saying how amazing her story has been of how she has got to where she is today, people she only went on e television show, that is all she didn't do anything stressful or groundbreaking to get an album made, she only sang on Britain's Got talent, I have no idea just how stupid a lot of people can be to believe half the thing the papers make up and how the producers make them out to be a couple of saints. I have also noticed that Susan Boyle isn't exactly the smartest of people, as she never answers any of the questions given to her, she has to really think hard about what the presenter has said and comes away with something entirely different from what asked, such as on Sundays X factor where Dermot asked her how great was it to make the album and said how terrific she was, her response was, Aye I'm glad to be here, and she had no idea what he had just asked her, I only laughed at this while everyone else in the room hadn't even noticed.

But why is it that the press and the public have to nickname these people, SuBo, JedWard, Beniffer, Brangelina, is it so difficult to just let them have their own names nowadays, what is the obsession of it. Today in our present time musicians are no longer musicians, actors are no longer actors etc there are all only a celebrity, long gone has it been where people had a general talent, they are still about but are cast aside more so for the celebrity rather than for their talent, an example of this being in the Lord of the Rings films when I asked a few of my little brothers friends who they all like din them and they all said Orlando Bloom because he was the best actor out of the lot of them, I originally thought they were joking but they were serious, I then had to asked what they thought of Ian McKellen, to which they said, who? Again I was shocked and said Gandlaf, oh he was alright. I worry about where the future of talent is going and how it will be replaced by shear annoyance and talentless wannabes, John and Edward beating Lucy in the sing off where Simon let the public vote and Lucy go out, this yes was partly his fault but the public did vote and only barely voted for them in future weeks so they could say I'm not like everyone else so I won't vote for them this week.

Christmas

Well we are now a month away from that time of the year, that which I speak about is Christmas, December 25th, we all know the date, not a single person on the planet doesn't know when Christmas is, it is impossible not to notice it, it is everywhere, and to be honest it is getting more and more annoying how early it is starting every year. It is no longer a holiday that we cherish anymore, it has become a necessity.

I work in Sainsbury's and what really got on my nerves was that we started stacking shelves for Christmas in the beginning of October, at the same time as the Halloween stock came in and before the fireworks, it was unbelievable, it was sickening to be honest, it is supermarkets and stores just cashing in on this occasion only for the sole purpose to increase their profits, along with getting people to spend more and more cash and cheat people out of their money without them even realizing it.

For me I try not to think about Christmas as early as that, I tend to think about it closer to December, so right about now to be honest, this gives me time to think about what I am getting people and allow myself enough time to buy them, or Christmas for me is mostly beginning when I first see the Coca Cola advert, then the time for getting excited is really coming, that is when it all begins for me, non of this months and months before it.

A few little traditions I have on the day are obviously like everyone else opening presents, and you are a liar if you say you don't get excited about that so don't deny it, I also tend to watch ever since it came out on VHS, I know VHS, shocking, The Muppet Christmas Carol, the best Christmas film to ever be made without a question, along with Miracle on 34th Street (both of them) and It's a Wonderful Life, they are the classics that I cannot wait for year after year, I have to watch them, but only on Christmas as this makes the actual day seem a bit more special. Then there is my favourite part of the day, the meal. We normally have two starters, prawn cocktail followed by homemade soup (the best soup in my opinion), then we start on the actual main course, before we have a selection of 3 deserts, Trifle, Christmas pudding or ice cream, followed a yearly argument from the grandparents, ah special times indeed.

This year I am really looking forward to Christmas as this year I am going to the Dundee Rep to see this years Christmas Panto, this years one happens to be A Christmas Carol, so I have to watch it on both days. I have not been to a Panto since I started the cubs when I was about 9 years old, so I am really looking forward to reliving a part of my childhood. CANNOT WAIT, is going to be amazing this year. So Merry Christmas for this year as I will most likely forget to mention it closer to the time and because I am writing this so am Mentioning it now.