HSC and Website news!

English: Pretty sure I failed the only two units that counted
Music: Actually pretty happy with how I went.
Modern: Lucked out immensely. I selected pretty much half the dots points on each syllabus, skipping a lot of major ones because the cramming was getting a bit intense. LO AND BEHOLD the questions given were based on exactly the dot points I used. HELL TO THE YEAH.

TO BE COMPLETED
SOR: Fuuuuuuuuuuuhhh. Not looking forward to this at all. Stupid. Just....stupid
Society and culture: As much as I love the subject and what it has given me, the content and individual analysing is insaneeeeeeeeee.
Art: lol yeah.

Anyways I am literally in the middle of creating my new review blog! It's going to be a mix of television, film and novels, not separate like Mark's. HE FINISHED WATCHING THE BUFFY SERIES AND THE WHOLE PROCESS WAS BEAUTIFUL. I know that I get a little REALLY emotional when it comes to fiction so I'll probably be more sob-by and less witty. IT STARTS ON THE 9th OF NOVEMBER.

Things that made Mumford and Sons concert perfect:

• Even though I was alone for the first hour, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros made me feel insanely happy
• Alex Ebert constantly moving. Jumping, stomping, dancing, running, walking across the stage and with the front row of the mosh pit
• Alex Ebert and Jade. 
• Alex Ebert chasing Jade with a tambourine and shaking it over her head like a weird halo
• Their opening song was the song that made me love them: MAN ON FIRE
• Mila coming just in time for Home
• The hipster indie boy drinking game. When you see a guy who is dressed indie and/or hipster, take a drink. This includes: beanies, plaid, weird print/pattern shirts, backwards caps, beards, long hair tied, skinny jeans etc.
• Mumford and Sons sounding and being perfect
• The megascreen shooting hipster indie angles of the band e.g. with light shining around them, obscure shots of their tapping feet and the whole thing being in BLACK AND WHITE. 
• The lighting was perfect. 
• The couple sitting in front of us swaying in the cutest way in their seats
• The communal effort by the whole stadium when it came to Little Lion Man and The Cave
• The couple slow dancing at the front of the aisle
• Buying matching Mumford and Sons shirts with Milly

Basically. Perfection.

"Little Lion Man" (Mumford & Sons) - James Alan

In light of the fact that I'm in love with his voice, covers and that I'M GOING TO MUMFORD AND SONS ON THURSDAY!....here's a video =]

p.s. HSC started

I think the biggest motivation for me to get through this crap is so I can get away from here.

"Home" - Philip Phillips (ft. James Alan)

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Everything in this video is LIVE and in ONE TAKE. The audio and the video were recorded together. We shot four of these in one night, so be ready for more to come! Special thanks to Speakeasy Sound for letting us shoot and record in their amazing studio.

HOLY CRAP, MARRY ME, SIR.

Could really go for a Sherlock rewatch right now. But I know that if I watch it now, my Sherlock feels will be renewed and dominate my mind over the HSC. Wahhh I miss Benedict and Martin. Tumblr gifs and photos just aren't cutting it for me anymore.

I'm also falling in love with classics. Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Fred Astaire and Ginger Roberts, Alfred Hitchcock. I think I'd like to be an upper class young white female in the 50s just so I could meet them somehow. The films back then were just amazing, classy, sophisticated and just so entertaining. Quality acting and no need for cheap shots (ignoring the "Asian" in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Fred Astaire's blackface).

I am now a download junkie. Downloaded Vuze. And then proceeded to download nearly everything else. I regret nothing.

My HSC Schedule

Monday 15th of October: Advanced English Paper 1
1.50-4.00 p.m. (2 hours and 10 minutes)
It all starts today. How fitting hell should begin with my most hated subject. Here lies the horrors of short text, belonging and creative writing.

Wednesday 17th  of October: Advanced English Paper 2
9:25 - 11.30 a.m. (2 hours and 5 minutes)
Of course this would drag on and be my only subject that requires to exams. Of course. They say that hitting yourself with a hammer should be done for a long amount of time so that it feels better when it stops. Hopefully it applies here. The hammer in this case is called the Fiftieth Gate, Blade Runner, Frankenstein and Gwen Harwood.

Thursday 18th of October: A possibility
Maybe it will feel better because I have been offered a (lowered price) ticket to go the the Mumford and Sons concert ticket whose supporting act comprises of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and Matt Corby. Pretty much a near perfect concert. To rock or not to rock to folky, alternative, indie music?

Satuday 20th of October: A wedding
Dress up time at a party to celebrate the union of two people I don't really know while smiling and speaking broken Cantonese to family member who I've never met or don't remember. Note: Only occasion to keep siblings close.

Thursday 25th of October: Music
1:55 - 3.00 p.m. (1 hours and 5 minutes...thank God)
Aural skills. Listing what is obvious does not come naturally to me as it seems. I suck at this.

Monday 29th of October: Modern History
9.25 - 12.30 p.m. (3 hours and 5 minutes.....JFC)
The one subject I would worry most about. WWI, Germany from 1923-1937, Conflict in the Pacific and Japan. While I enjoy learning about such things I do not think I'm prepared to write approximately 5000 words in three hours.

Monday 5th of November: Studies of Religion 1
9.25 - 11.00 a.m. (1 hour and 35 minutes)
My second most hated subject. A pointless, waste of a unit. I wish I dropped to Catholic Studies. I can't deny I need this unit though. Do not underestimate SOR. People who say this is easy marks is an idiot. Christianity (Baptism, St Paul, environmental ethics) and Islam (Hajj, Rabia, environmental ethics).

Tuesday 6th of November: Society and Culture
1.55 - 4.00 p.m. (2 hours and 5 minutes.....surprising)
It was fun and interesting and valuable for after high school. Kept me on my toes and out of bed while staying up and doing my PIP. It's nearing the end and I'm glad this was one of the last subjects for me to say goodbye to. Whoever thinks it's a bludge.....buddy you're in for a ride. Surfing, China and their education, work and leisure, futurism (not to mention Core knowledge which includes definitions and research methods)

Thursday 8th of November: Visual Arts
And I conclude on this note. Hopefully I'll be at the top on my A-gam to bullshit through 4 booklets worth about the use of colour, brushstrokes, gallery space and post modernism. Leaving on a high note.

Possible, flexible plans for after high school

These are more wanted and desired plans but what the hey:

• UTS: Bachelor of Arts (media and communication)
• COFA: Bachelor of Fine Arts
• Get two part time or casual jobs
• Start a television, film and novel review blog like markdoesstuff
• Learn how to cook (pinterest, justtaste)
• Exercise (dance, home but not the gym. I'm not a work out in public kind of person. Except maybe a few yoga or zumba or pole dancing lessons.)
• Road trip or holiday (that doesn't count Bali where Ray and Filia are getting married!!!!!)
• Concerts
• Continue art, no matter what
• Get a tumblr.
• Get Final Cut Pro and do all previous challenges by So You Think You Can Vid as practice.

List of things I want to be when I grow up.

• Journalist
• Film/television/novel/food critic
• Writer (of any sort)
• Teacher who specialises with gifted children
• Editor of a magazine
• Psychologist
• Chef
• Married with kids and a pet
• Accomplished
• Happy

All this needs a crap load of money though. OH WELLS. 

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros marathon while studying recipes to cook after HSC exams I have not studied for. I'm quite married to my music, books, food, television and film. Does any kind of occupation encompass all of that? I think I'd be in heaven if there was. I think it exists between the place where you can eat all sorts of things and still look amazing and the place where the buses and trains ran on time. If I'm going to procrastinate, I guess it's better if I do it here, on my too-neglected-but-loved blog. Help my english skills out or something.

I'm going to do some random posts. About what high school taught me. Instead of one massive post.

"Everytime I join a new fandom I feel like I'm ripping my soul into another horcrux"

"I haven't really decided to be an actor yet. I started doing plays when I was about 15 or 16. I only did it because my dad saw a bunch of pretty girls in a restaurant and he asked them were they came from and they said drama group. He said: Son, tha tis where you need to go."

--Robert Pattinson

Say what you want and think what you want about the man but I admire him as a person. In fact, this was going to be an appreciation post on him because so many people judge him solely on his personal life and Twilight. Now it's going to defend the cast of Twilight.

Let me say first of all that I hate the films. They were poorly made and directed. The novels, after much consideration and reading Mark's commentary, it's a horrible message for young teenage girls. At first I fell into that thought that what Edward and Bella were doing was the most romantic and healthy relationship. It's the opposite.

Movie's wise. The films are a joke. Lets face it. Horrible dialogue, costume design and direction. Cinematography sometimes good. The thing is, when Twilight first started, it was excitin. It was the biggest literary turn novel phenomenon since Harry Potter. And look how Harry Potter turned out. But then the movie came out. Everyone turned from hot to cold so fast on the franchise, I wouldn't have known that people loved it if not for the Twihards.

I think the blame lies with the director and the story. I don't blame the actors. It was going to be the next big thing, a massive project. And if I was an actor at that time, I would have wanted to be part of it really badly. When you're done with a massive project that had a lot of hard work in it, you're proud of it. Even if it sort of sucks. And since it's a franchise I admire the actors for sticking with it, even with all the criticisms about it and how they seem to be the butt of all the jokes on the internet.

If you look at the actor's filmography/repertoires, most show great acting ability in other films. Robert Pattinson in Water for Elephants, Remember Me and Cosmopolis was praised in his performance even if the films themselves weren't highly acclaimed. Kristen Stewart's one dimensional role as a needy completely non depth character doesn't really give her much to work with. I haven't seen her other films but when I am going to, I'm sure she'll display a plethora of emotions. Maybe not a plethora...

You have to admit, their willingness to stick with the weirdest love hated franchise despite having the options to leave, it's pretty admirable.

All I have to say is, crap franchise but good people who got stuck with it, pigeon holed with it and are doing their goddamn best.

I don't feel like posting this anymore but I spent some time on it so what they hey. Not like anyone reads this.

Can I just please drop out of school? Or at least have English and SOR as optional subjects? Or have creative writing as a separate course? Or just eliminate the state of mind thinking that our worth should be measured in numbers. That we have to do this ridiculous things called the HSC to do some sort of audition, fire hoop jumping to get into university?

HSC should die in a fire. Or at least Studies of Religion and English Advanced.

Everything is pointless. So utterly and fucking pointless.

A Finger, Two Dots Then Me

Will never not love