Clothes Shopping, or often just the word 'Shopping' is often enough to cheer a girl up and set a sparkle in their eye. There's nothing more relaxing than an afternoon of retail therapy ... NOT!
I was recently forced to venture out into the world of clothes shopping for some new jeans. I've only ever had two or three pairs of jeans at any one time and it just so happens that they both came in hole at the exact same time. So its either clothes shopping or having my foot come out of the hole at my knee every time I take a step (I think I may have exaggerated there just a little, but you get my point).
Anyway, I can honestly say that shopping for clothes that you actually need is way too stressful.
Just A Pair of Jeans
Going out to buy a pair of jeans sounds like a walk, or even an unassisted float in the park, but it isn't. All I was looking for was a pair of ordinary jeans, but the labels on jeans nowadays come in a variety of exciting colours and catagories and usually say something along the lines of ;-
Extra Skinny, Bootcut, Low-rise, Tight-Pocketed, Regular jeans. Great for partying, dancing clubbing, having fun with friends.
And thats just one label! What happened to 'A comfy pair of jeans with plenty of room?' In light of these ever so confusing and un-necessary labels I thought I would have a go at simplifying them. Here's what I came up with ;-
Extra-likely to be so tight that the circulation to your feet will become non-existent and you become paralysed from the waist down, but don't worry, your arse won't look big in them. Cut to go over your boots even though everyone conforms now and wears their boots over their jeans. Low enough to show any kind of underwear, so think twice before going commando. Pockets are tight enough to call people while you walk and send gibberish texts, then they will eat your hands when you try and retrieve your phone. Thoroughly irregular jeans. Great for keeping your legs straight and penguin impressions.
Or something like that.
The Fashion
I am far from fashion conscious, and am rather glad about that. In my opinion, as long as I'm comfy I really don't give a crap. Also I like to make my clothes work for their money, so I keep them until they have holes, have permanent stains or are simply too small. I can't be dealing with people who have to change their entire wardrobe every three months or so because they can't be caught dead in anything but the latest fashions. Pointless, money wasting way of going about things. I usually cringe when I walk into most clothes shops, seriously does anyone else think that most sleeves on tops these days look like the seamstress screwed up on the sewing machine? While most people see a menagerie of wonderful clothes, I see ;-
Clothes so creased that they put crinkle-cut chips to absolute shame, jeans so tight that Deep Vein Thrombosis will soon become 'the price of looking good', belts as thick as pillows with buckles the size of circular bin lids, or at least a decent vinyl record. Skirts that can actually pass of as belts if you wear them high enough, costume jewellry including rings as big as your face and looping ear-rings big enough for dolphins to jump through, and I don't think I even need to rant about Jeggings.
My point here is what happened to just being comfy? I'm sure people do find skinny jeans comfy, but I just don't see it myself.
All I wanted was a pair of jeans :)
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
I finally bought an Xbox
I always said that I'd never buy an Xbox. My friends would tell you that my Xbox rants were seemingly never ending. I hated them and I would always be a PS3 girl. Well, now I have an Xbox too.
The only reason that I decided to ignore the catastrophic fail-rate of the console is because I've managed to get my hands on a rather rare RPG that was never ported to PS3 in europe. So I bit the bullet and bought a 250GB 360 slim. So, was I right to rant so much about them, or has my mind been changed?
After owning it for around three weeks I can still say that there are more Con's than Pro's, but I'm still giving a fair review :P
The Design
Not too bad, though finger prints are in-escapable because of the shiny plastic shell, just like with the first gen PS3'S. It's useful that it stands comfortably when verticle, a downfall of the PS3 at least without a stand. Still, despite having THREE ventilation grills (one on either side and one on top), the console still gets hot at the bottom after a short amount of time and stays cool at the top. Mine stands vertically on a hard, flat surface, as does my PS3, so I don't see why the ventilation should be so unbalanced if it is perfectly acceptable to stand it upright.
The touch-sensitive buttons, while they do make cool swishy sounds, are a little impractical. Not so much the power button, but eject button. While reaching for something close to the console, I accidentally knocked the button very very slightly and it opened the disc-tray, costing me half an hours worth of field training. Most annoying with big RPG'S :/
However, I do find the ma-hoo-sive power charger to be rather useful as, supposedly, It allows the console to stay on for an extra two minutes after a powercut. But I'm not sure how much use that really is if the tele has gone off?
Finally, I find it extremely annoying that every time you unplug the console, or switch it off at the main, the date and time of the system reset it self. In my case to 2005. I'm not sure why it can't save such a small amount of information and yet it can save an entirely edited avatar and all your gaming files after a mains switch off?
Design Rating - 6/10
The Interface
I actually really like the Xbox interface. Everything is big, obvious and easy to use and it's very easy to navigate :P
Interface Rating - 10/10
Xbox Live
I'm afraid that I can't offer my opinion on this one. I have no intention of paying 30-40 pounds a year just to play online multiplayer, but thats my choice. I know that you pay for the quality, as it apparently outstrips the PS3's online capabilities, but I'm not prepared to pay for it.
The Controllers
Yet another money-making aspect of the Xbox. I brought a spare controller with my console, and while the one I bought charges it's own battery pack from the console, the one that came in the box runs off batteries. Now, I did get some duracells with it, but they cost a bomb to buy after that at like 5 quid per pack, and everyone I'm sure prefers duracell to most other battery brands.
My point here, is that if the extra controllers that are sold separately are able to charge from the usb port on the console, then why not make them standard issue? If you're caught mid battle or mid mission and your batteries go and you don't have anymore, what can you do?
Anyway, the controllers aren't as bad to use as I thought. I've found them quite similar to the Nintendo GameCube controllers that I used to/ still use alot. And they seem to have slimmed them down to match the console. Always a plus.
Controller Rating - 4/10
Well, that pretty much sums it up. It's a bit better than I expected but not as great as everyone seems to say it is. I've given it a good chance and a fair review. I enjoy playing it (though I think thats more the fantastic RPG than the console) but there are alot of impractical aspects about it on the whole. I think I will always prefer a good PS3 =)
Overall Console Rating 6/10
The only reason that I decided to ignore the catastrophic fail-rate of the console is because I've managed to get my hands on a rather rare RPG that was never ported to PS3 in europe. So I bit the bullet and bought a 250GB 360 slim. So, was I right to rant so much about them, or has my mind been changed?
After owning it for around three weeks I can still say that there are more Con's than Pro's, but I'm still giving a fair review :P
The Design
Not too bad, though finger prints are in-escapable because of the shiny plastic shell, just like with the first gen PS3'S. It's useful that it stands comfortably when verticle, a downfall of the PS3 at least without a stand. Still, despite having THREE ventilation grills (one on either side and one on top), the console still gets hot at the bottom after a short amount of time and stays cool at the top. Mine stands vertically on a hard, flat surface, as does my PS3, so I don't see why the ventilation should be so unbalanced if it is perfectly acceptable to stand it upright.
The touch-sensitive buttons, while they do make cool swishy sounds, are a little impractical. Not so much the power button, but eject button. While reaching for something close to the console, I accidentally knocked the button very very slightly and it opened the disc-tray, costing me half an hours worth of field training. Most annoying with big RPG'S :/
However, I do find the ma-hoo-sive power charger to be rather useful as, supposedly, It allows the console to stay on for an extra two minutes after a powercut. But I'm not sure how much use that really is if the tele has gone off?
Finally, I find it extremely annoying that every time you unplug the console, or switch it off at the main, the date and time of the system reset it self. In my case to 2005. I'm not sure why it can't save such a small amount of information and yet it can save an entirely edited avatar and all your gaming files after a mains switch off?
Design Rating - 6/10
The Interface
I actually really like the Xbox interface. Everything is big, obvious and easy to use and it's very easy to navigate :P
Interface Rating - 10/10
Xbox Live
I'm afraid that I can't offer my opinion on this one. I have no intention of paying 30-40 pounds a year just to play online multiplayer, but thats my choice. I know that you pay for the quality, as it apparently outstrips the PS3's online capabilities, but I'm not prepared to pay for it.
The Controllers
Yet another money-making aspect of the Xbox. I brought a spare controller with my console, and while the one I bought charges it's own battery pack from the console, the one that came in the box runs off batteries. Now, I did get some duracells with it, but they cost a bomb to buy after that at like 5 quid per pack, and everyone I'm sure prefers duracell to most other battery brands.
My point here, is that if the extra controllers that are sold separately are able to charge from the usb port on the console, then why not make them standard issue? If you're caught mid battle or mid mission and your batteries go and you don't have anymore, what can you do?
Anyway, the controllers aren't as bad to use as I thought. I've found them quite similar to the Nintendo GameCube controllers that I used to/ still use alot. And they seem to have slimmed them down to match the console. Always a plus.
Controller Rating - 4/10
Well, that pretty much sums it up. It's a bit better than I expected but not as great as everyone seems to say it is. I've given it a good chance and a fair review. I enjoy playing it (though I think thats more the fantastic RPG than the console) but there are alot of impractical aspects about it on the whole. I think I will always prefer a good PS3 =)
Overall Console Rating 6/10
Monday, 14 February 2011
Will you be my Valentine?
Valentine's Day is upon us again... such joy!
Now, while this day gives people a good opportunity to propose, or the courage to start up a relationship with a long time crush, does anyone else find it rather, well... pointless?
The Real Valentine's day
How many people really know why Valentine's Day is really called Valentine's Day? As it turns out, the original St.Valentine, renowned for his chastity, was actually martyred on Feb 14th of some distant year or another, and is entirely unconnected to the day's events. By 'the day's events' I mean the fact that the Romans took this day to hold their annual 'Lupercalia' which means festival of youth. During the festival, young people picked their sweethearts by lottery. The traditional also stands that the first member of the opposite sex that you see on Valentine's morning is, supposedly, your true Valentine.
This is where, in some glorious, far-off paradise of an afterlife, Freud is shimmying around and pulling funny faces at all those who discredited his work on the Oedipus/Electra complex; because, for most of us, the first people we lay eyes on in the morning are our parents :-/ (note to self; wear a blindfold on Valentine's day in future.) Anyway, my point is, the martydom of a Saint hardly seems relevant to our own, consumerist version of the Lupercalia.
Card Shops
If you walk past any card shop after, say, the 20th January (or maybe even earlier!) all you will see is a mass of pink and red cards, balloons, teddybears, giant love hearts and a menagerie of other badly-designed heart-shaped merchandise. Actually, I believe that Clinton's Cards are selling huge, fabric roses with floppy fabric stems, the bloom of which is about the width of your average car tyre. If anyone, anyone at all can tell me what on earth a woman would do with such a thing (within reason) then please let me know, because it puzzles me greatly!
Also, I'm not the 'greenest' person in the world, but surely making and kind of greetings card, for any oaccasion, uses trees? So why has no-one ever suggested cutting back on the amount of cards that are made? Is it really worth a whole tree to make a bunch of 'Happy Christmas, From The Dog' cards? I know that we have recycling now but please, has it really come to such a point that we need Valentine's cards to let someone know that we love them?
Woo, apologies, greetings cards by themselves are worth a whole blog! - Moving on ...
The Man's Role
It turns out that I am lucky enough to have a boyfriend who absolutely adores Valentine's Day more than most people I know, and i greatly appreciate the amazing bunch of flowers (including Columbian Roses! It was repeatedly stressed) and card that I recieved despite my lack-lustre approach to the day's festivities. Valentine's Day is possibly one of the most stressful days for men. They ask their girlfriends, well in advance, what they would like for the oaccasion and most women say 'Nothing'. And still the man has to face the angry/disappointed face when they give them exactly what they asked for - nothing. Unknown to men, 'nothing' actually means - 'A romantic surprise of some sort'. That in itself could mean a number of cliche scenario's involving rose petals, dimmed light, cheesy music and jewellry.
Why can't women actually answer the man's question truthfully?
A great Valentine's day for me would be a nice meal, payed for equally, either out or in, then home with some choccie to either watch a film/play halo together and then go to bed for some cuddles (and such). But unfortunately my lovely boyfriend studies away and went home yesterday =(.
Bi-polar
Valentine's Day is also a holiday that leaves the whole world thoroughly divided. One half croons at each other in overly-public places, being watched by the other half who skulk in dark corners, rocking back and forth with bitterness. So really they just get their faces rubbed in the fact that they are lonely, which isn't fair at all. There must be millions of depressed, single people out there on Valentine's Day and card shops and restaurants don't do them any favours.
Heart-Broken
I'm sure you get the general gist of my thoughts on the matter by now, but please don't consider me a party pooper =) By all means, be elaborate and whimsical, buy your partners heaps of presents and shower them in love. But ladies, if you asked for 'nothing' and got 'nothing', then be happy, because you have everything you asked for, and not many of us can say that. And Gentlemen, best of luck.
If you need Valentine's Day to assure yourself that you partner loves you more than anything, even when they probably tell you that all the time, then start listening a bit more instead of placing your confidence in giant fabric roses and badly rhymed verses in mass produced Valentine's cards.
In the words of Oscar Wilde, or at least the modern adaptation of his novel, Dorian Gray - Some things are more precious because they don't last.
Happy Valentine's Day!!
Now, while this day gives people a good opportunity to propose, or the courage to start up a relationship with a long time crush, does anyone else find it rather, well... pointless?
The Real Valentine's day
How many people really know why Valentine's Day is really called Valentine's Day? As it turns out, the original St.Valentine, renowned for his chastity, was actually martyred on Feb 14th of some distant year or another, and is entirely unconnected to the day's events. By 'the day's events' I mean the fact that the Romans took this day to hold their annual 'Lupercalia' which means festival of youth. During the festival, young people picked their sweethearts by lottery. The traditional also stands that the first member of the opposite sex that you see on Valentine's morning is, supposedly, your true Valentine.
This is where, in some glorious, far-off paradise of an afterlife, Freud is shimmying around and pulling funny faces at all those who discredited his work on the Oedipus/Electra complex; because, for most of us, the first people we lay eyes on in the morning are our parents :-/ (note to self; wear a blindfold on Valentine's day in future.) Anyway, my point is, the martydom of a Saint hardly seems relevant to our own, consumerist version of the Lupercalia.
Card Shops
If you walk past any card shop after, say, the 20th January (or maybe even earlier!) all you will see is a mass of pink and red cards, balloons, teddybears, giant love hearts and a menagerie of other badly-designed heart-shaped merchandise. Actually, I believe that Clinton's Cards are selling huge, fabric roses with floppy fabric stems, the bloom of which is about the width of your average car tyre. If anyone, anyone at all can tell me what on earth a woman would do with such a thing (within reason) then please let me know, because it puzzles me greatly!
Also, I'm not the 'greenest' person in the world, but surely making and kind of greetings card, for any oaccasion, uses trees? So why has no-one ever suggested cutting back on the amount of cards that are made? Is it really worth a whole tree to make a bunch of 'Happy Christmas, From The Dog' cards? I know that we have recycling now but please, has it really come to such a point that we need Valentine's cards to let someone know that we love them?
Woo, apologies, greetings cards by themselves are worth a whole blog! - Moving on ...
The Man's Role
It turns out that I am lucky enough to have a boyfriend who absolutely adores Valentine's Day more than most people I know, and i greatly appreciate the amazing bunch of flowers (including Columbian Roses! It was repeatedly stressed) and card that I recieved despite my lack-lustre approach to the day's festivities. Valentine's Day is possibly one of the most stressful days for men. They ask their girlfriends, well in advance, what they would like for the oaccasion and most women say 'Nothing'. And still the man has to face the angry/disappointed face when they give them exactly what they asked for - nothing. Unknown to men, 'nothing' actually means - 'A romantic surprise of some sort'. That in itself could mean a number of cliche scenario's involving rose petals, dimmed light, cheesy music and jewellry.
Why can't women actually answer the man's question truthfully?
A great Valentine's day for me would be a nice meal, payed for equally, either out or in, then home with some choccie to either watch a film/play halo together and then go to bed for some cuddles (and such). But unfortunately my lovely boyfriend studies away and went home yesterday =(.
Bi-polar
Valentine's Day is also a holiday that leaves the whole world thoroughly divided. One half croons at each other in overly-public places, being watched by the other half who skulk in dark corners, rocking back and forth with bitterness. So really they just get their faces rubbed in the fact that they are lonely, which isn't fair at all. There must be millions of depressed, single people out there on Valentine's Day and card shops and restaurants don't do them any favours.
Heart-Broken
I'm sure you get the general gist of my thoughts on the matter by now, but please don't consider me a party pooper =) By all means, be elaborate and whimsical, buy your partners heaps of presents and shower them in love. But ladies, if you asked for 'nothing' and got 'nothing', then be happy, because you have everything you asked for, and not many of us can say that. And Gentlemen, best of luck.
If you need Valentine's Day to assure yourself that you partner loves you more than anything, even when they probably tell you that all the time, then start listening a bit more instead of placing your confidence in giant fabric roses and badly rhymed verses in mass produced Valentine's cards.
In the words of Oscar Wilde, or at least the modern adaptation of his novel, Dorian Gray - Some things are more precious because they don't last.
Happy Valentine's Day!!
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Coasters?...
... No, not the kind that protect precious surfaces from a ring of tea of coffee, or the type that Bernard Black eats in Black Books, but a different kind of coaster altogther. Allow me to give you a scenario ...
There you are in the Uni library surrouded by books splayed open on various pages, paper strewn everywhere, there's even a sheet of bibliographical references stuck to your head as a result of your hourly lament which ivolves you lying, face down on the table in pure academic depression. Sheets of quotes from primary, secondary texts and ponces masquerading as literary critics, all of which have not produced anything remotely useful to you. Which, after two hours, is slightly discouraging. However, in the midst of your fully recyclable mound of unanswered questions, a coaster flounces passed with a comparatively un-creased brow, not a care, book or piece of academic material in sight.
Now, everybody knows a coaster, at least one, anyway. If you happen to know or work with more, then you have my condolences. A coaster, as I have named this strange breed of human being, is someone who applies to university, agrees to spend over £12,000 to get a degree and then does one, two, or perhaps even all of the following;-
A) Do a course that they know involves a lot of reading and then doesn't buy or read any of the material.
B) Turns up to lectures on a minimal basis and yet some how still manages to remain on the course, considering that three consecutive abscences usually gets you the Boot.
C) Turns up for lectures without a pen or paper.
D) Is often asked to leave seminars on account of not reading the given texts.
E) Tells you frankly and proudly how they did all their assignments in one day, or in some other ridiculously short amount of time and still reckon that they have decent marks.
Do feel free to add any more ...
Now, does anyone else find this slightly frustrating?
And don't even get me started on the coasters role in group projects. I myself have been landed with coasters a few times, through college and uni, for group projects and I assure you that you have my sympathies if you have had a similar experience. Their work is usually about a useful as a highly un-coordinated water-skier. Not only are they being dragged behind the boat, they are struggling deftly in its wake; and if the water-skier falls into the sea, the boat has the turn around and fetch them.
As far as I'm concerned, there are plenty of people who have missed out on a place at university that would have put the effort in, and these people were rejected (unknowingly) for coasters who don't give a frisbee about their course. It's a waste of a coasters money, which could be better spent getting plastered or buying things they don't need, and it's a big disappointment to hard working people who have been denied a great oppurtunity. This isn't the Universities fault, anyone can write a convincing personal statement to some degree whether it's honest or not. It's the fault of the coasters themselves and their attitude towards University in general.
If you want to be here, then put the work in, if you're tailgating for the hell of it, then give someone else a chance.
I thought I may as well jump into the blogging world with a bit of a rant :P
There you are in the Uni library surrouded by books splayed open on various pages, paper strewn everywhere, there's even a sheet of bibliographical references stuck to your head as a result of your hourly lament which ivolves you lying, face down on the table in pure academic depression. Sheets of quotes from primary, secondary texts and ponces masquerading as literary critics, all of which have not produced anything remotely useful to you. Which, after two hours, is slightly discouraging. However, in the midst of your fully recyclable mound of unanswered questions, a coaster flounces passed with a comparatively un-creased brow, not a care, book or piece of academic material in sight.
Now, everybody knows a coaster, at least one, anyway. If you happen to know or work with more, then you have my condolences. A coaster, as I have named this strange breed of human being, is someone who applies to university, agrees to spend over £12,000 to get a degree and then does one, two, or perhaps even all of the following;-
A) Do a course that they know involves a lot of reading and then doesn't buy or read any of the material.
B) Turns up to lectures on a minimal basis and yet some how still manages to remain on the course, considering that three consecutive abscences usually gets you the Boot.
C) Turns up for lectures without a pen or paper.
D) Is often asked to leave seminars on account of not reading the given texts.
E) Tells you frankly and proudly how they did all their assignments in one day, or in some other ridiculously short amount of time and still reckon that they have decent marks.
Do feel free to add any more ...
Now, does anyone else find this slightly frustrating?
And don't even get me started on the coasters role in group projects. I myself have been landed with coasters a few times, through college and uni, for group projects and I assure you that you have my sympathies if you have had a similar experience. Their work is usually about a useful as a highly un-coordinated water-skier. Not only are they being dragged behind the boat, they are struggling deftly in its wake; and if the water-skier falls into the sea, the boat has the turn around and fetch them.
As far as I'm concerned, there are plenty of people who have missed out on a place at university that would have put the effort in, and these people were rejected (unknowingly) for coasters who don't give a frisbee about their course. It's a waste of a coasters money, which could be better spent getting plastered or buying things they don't need, and it's a big disappointment to hard working people who have been denied a great oppurtunity. This isn't the Universities fault, anyone can write a convincing personal statement to some degree whether it's honest or not. It's the fault of the coasters themselves and their attitude towards University in general.
If you want to be here, then put the work in, if you're tailgating for the hell of it, then give someone else a chance.
I thought I may as well jump into the blogging world with a bit of a rant :P
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