A break for procrastination.

This isn't a post I expected to be writing any time soon, as since I've been at Uni I seem to have been a master of procrastination, playing games, socialising with the flatmates, going out when I can, and generally trying to embrace the uni experience. However today, on a day where, taking me by surprise I have been rather homesick for some reason, I decided enough was enough, it was time to stand up against procrastination. So after a long session of playing Mario Kart, and watching films, I said to myself "Liam, get up stop being lazy and do some work", and I turned off the TV, brought my laptop upstairs, shoved some music on and stayed away from that procrastination inducing game!! Began to work aaaaaaand....have now found procrastination temptation in blogging....oh well, it was good while it lasted. BUT I'm sure I'll go back to working after this post, and I have done quite a bit of work....while also signing into skype...HEY! Laptops hold both my University work, and the possibility for educational development but also hold the most tempting and wonderful of all evils; The Internet, great and powerful in its own way, blogging, watching YouTube videos, skype friends, checking Facebook....oh the list goes on and it begins to build and build til I begin to give up on working. No fear there is always a solution! Insane half of me: "So sane half of Liam, you've written 3 film reviews since you've been up here, take your time, go on the internet for a little while, chill out, 'ave a cider, relax, put your feet up...fall over because your seat is too small for you to put your feet up without that happening.... then write one more review, go downstairs socialise...THEN WORK WORK WORK TOMORROW!! .... and procrastinate again because thats fun... Maybe do some writing, your course is about writing, that counts as work, right?! maybe...a bit of blogging...that's kind of writing, its creative....I suppose Facebook and twitter are also a type of creative writing... I mean just a look at all the imaginative bull some people write on them!" ... Just to explain this post a little bit, I'm a little tired, a little hyper, indulging in some procrastination so there is really no structure to this post what so ever, so that's cool. moving on from my insanity and to something a little more concrete, I'm going to end it here with this little message, with the hopes that other students like myself wont make themselves go insane with the fear of procrastination. Students everywhere, know this, working hard for a long period of time can be bad for you...in the same way that chugging alcohol til you fall over is bad for you in the morning, so don't fear what you might call procrastination, because chances are its not always so certain as that. You see, you can have breaks with work, it's not procrastinating its stopping you from losing your mind, no essay, no review, no blog for that matter is going to be of any considerably perfect content if you've exhausted your mind to the point of no return! A break is healthy. Procrastination is the complete avoidance of a task from the beginning, whereas, stopping working for half an hour or so is healthy, and is the correct way of going at things, you'll return to working with a more engaged mind, and a happier mood. So go forth students of this world and give yourself a break every once in a while!!

Positivity and Belief.

Another sentimental post coming up here guys... Don't moan, there's nothing wrong with a bit of soppy sentiment, and I feel the internet, with its social network sites that have a fair amount of bad media for cyber-bullying etc is currently lacking in a bit of good old happiness, and encouragement....Not that there isn't such people or blogs, there are just not as many as there should be!
So, specifically I'd like to write about positivity and belief, not just self-belief, but belief in general. I won't lie, I'm 18, 19 this year, teenage years haven't exactly been amazing all the time, and sometimes belief in situations, others and oneself can seem somewhat impossible to find and this can apply to anyone at any age. However, despite accepting I'm young and haven't experienced everything the world might throw at me, I've had enough happen, big and small to understand some basics.

It's also the most basic of things, for the smallest of problems that people sometimes seem to lose track of. There have been years, for myself, and for others I know, and undoubtedly practically everyone, where everything seems to collapse on itself, and where only the negative times and memories stand out, where they overtake some wonderful and fantastic moments. So we'll start there, it might happen, but if you realise that looking back on a year all you can remember is the negatives, then first of all work out where in the year there are gaps in your memory, and slowly go over the good memories, small or large. TRULY, you can be going through an awful time, and having a troublesome year, but if you can recollect the smallest moments of happiness; A conversation with a friend that made you laugh, or reminded you just how much they care for you, an evening with family that was enjoyable, a concert, a school trip, a lesson, a walk ANYTHING. ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING. Once you grasp one of these memories, you will have created, what I like to call a 'Catalytic Memory'. This is where you think of one memory that makes you smile, and it creates a dominoes effect where you start to remember other good memories, and it builds upon itself, when you do this, it will make you happy in the present time, for however long. Whether its a little while, or a long while, guaranteed it will make a difference. Once you've made this difference, it will effect you in the long term, because you keep recollecting and there'll come a time, where you're fed up of looking negatively, fed up of letting bad things ruin your mood, and trust me whether its a truly horrible situation you're going through or a smaller one, it should help you cope with whatever is going on. If you improve your mood, you are more likely to think more positively, if you think more positively, you'll be inspired to do something incredible, again big or small, if you do something for others or yourself it should make you feel better about yourself. NEVER underestimate the power you have, you can help others, you can help yourself. Positivity and Belief are big things, once you come upon them in the briefest of moments, you will have started to make yourself feel better. Belief = Positivity, Positivity = Belief.

Song of The Week: Joshua Radin - My My Love

On one of my music journeys, trying to rediscover a previously obsessed over song, I stumbled upon this gem. Originally the intention was to find a song by Joshua Radin that I could not stop listening to, I mean it was repeated as much as a top charter on mainstream radio, and that's saying something...I still havn't found it however, so if you read this and think "I KNOW WHAT SONG DIS  GUY'S JABBERING ON ABOUT!!" then go ahead and comment what it could be. BUT ANYWAY back to 'My My Love', there's something about it that seems really cinematic, as if I can imagine it playing over clips of sad lovers that have just had an argument or miss each other, as they dramatically walk along the streets, with upturned faces (scenes that without the right music can just look weird and slightly annoying). Now, don't fear contrary to popular belief, I may have an obsession with the kind of films that have these scenes but I don't go searching for depressing music that would fit it...All the time. Just thought I'd say that... Cool. It's a soft, relaxing melody, with a feeling that induces a state of daydream of previous times, it feels nostalgic, in a good way, as if even people with failed relationships, non existing relationship, little comprehension of what Love even is to people who have been happily in love for years and years could still understand the emotion its chucking out through its lyric and tuneage! So go listen to it, and all of his music, its so darn soothing!

Song of the Week: A Song for You - Donny Hathaway Version

Throughout generations of music people have written songs that have later on been covered over and over again by completely differing artists, some that just have such fantastically original takes on them. This weeks 'Song of the Week' is one of the covers that has been implanted into many peoples heart permanently since its release; 'A Song for You' by Donny Hathaway. As I'm from the 90's and Donny Hathaway died in the late 70's, unless someone in the future invents a time machine, I will not be able to ever experience how this beautiful song would have felt to be heard live by Donny Hathaway himself, but even listening in my bedroom through the recorded version via Spotify it has a large effect on me. One of the best genre's, in my opinion to ever EVER grace this world is Soul, and his version of this classic has so much soul, and it kind of makes doing whatever I'm doing impossible to continue. Multiple times during writing this post, I've kept repeating this song, and writing this has taken so much longer than normal because I just want to sit here and take it all in, theres just so much depth in it, and it has this feeling of a well experienced, and tired narrator that has been through so much, and seen so much and is finally alone with either this truly loved person or some sort of 'Ideal' thats personal to him. THAT is the primary thing that I love SO SO much about this, is that it feels like it truly is personal to Hathaway, himself and its so easy to visualize a whole entire life that has sparked this song. I can imagine myself, as an old man in my arm chair, whatever has become of my life is irrelevant, I can still see myself there, with this song playing and it would be a perfect summary song of a life. I've barely even started this 'Song of the Week' series of posts and its still making me feel better about current music, because I've got this golden oldie that is absolutely incredible, and yet a song from this year from the lovely Ellie Goulding is ALSO incredible, despite the complete differences in content, genre, tone it shows how my generation arent just surrounded by crap. So don't give up on music yet, throughout generations there's always those golden tracks that wonderfully represent each.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Aaaah as much as I adore films and the impact every single element can have on one singular person and the plethora of movies that I love, there are only a few that can truly enchant me so much, and make me feel so connected as Steven Chbosky's masterpiece - The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's quite possible  part of me will change when I read the book in relation to how I view the film because unfortunately sometimes it just happens, books can be better than films, films can be better than books. But for now pre-reading the book, it is THE most watched film I've known, I've watched it at least a good 8-9 times between having it recommended to me under a year ago. It contains so many of my favourite aspects of a good film, including one of the most important (in my opinion) ones; it is relate-able. Without giving too much away, whether your childhood wasn't that great, whether you've had some kind of trauma in your life or in fact if you've ever had friends or encountered school then you will be able to relate to this film. Its genius. Add aspects that the majority of people will relate to and you instantly have an emotional connection that will spark something in them, where suddenly the film seems to glorify or vaguely portray their life at a specific time. One specific scene, repeated at the beginning and to conclude the film (with slightly different elements) is always stuck in my mind, my goodness it is one of the most incredibly emotionally freeing and gratifying moments of any film I've encountered. It's called 'The Tunnel Scene' (or at least that's how i refer to it) and you can visually see, not so much in the first scene unless you've watched the commentary how much this scene means to the character and/or in Emma Watson's case, the Actress! There's something so beautiful about watching such an incredibly moving, and emotionally exhausting piece, that is then concluded by such a comparatively slower and quieter scene. The addition of the voiceover from the main protagonist makes you understand the complete journey they've been on. EVERY single time that film finishes I have such a feeling of well being as if I've been through the steps of those characters, and now have this freedom and broad selection of options to where I go. Truly one of my favourite films that I have constantly found tricky to stop watching. If you havn't already, watch it! It will be a fantastic decision.

Song of the Week: Ellie Goulding - Dead In The Water

Right I really wanted to keep this blog continuous, and I think part of the reason I haven't so far is a) because of the holiday period but also b) because I don't have a specific thing to continuously stick to, so I'm adding my 'Song of the Week' because there's always one song that gets constantly repeated during a week, and it makes me go crazy for it and want to tell the world, so that's what I'm going to do...or those in the world that happen to stumble upon my blog, then you can go check it out and become equally addicted!
This week there were 2 songs that just made me want to talk about them, and hence gave me this idea, both by the wonderful and beautiful Ellie Goulding from her Halcyon Days album. Now, for some reason I hadn't really listened to much of this album before but I heard the song 'How Long Will I Love You?' and now I'm just going through them all and absolutely loving it! Originally I wanted to say something about that song but after looking through the album some more I found 'Dead in the Water'. Well.... "Goodness Gracious" me it is an absolutely superb, beautiful and in a way chilling song. I love songs that build some form of an atmosphere and resonate such a large amount of emotion, some people manage to get some of the most incredible lyrics but then the pace and tone of it seem to lose the emotion seeping out of the lyrics, whereas this song has both lyrics and emotion. I can hardly call myself a musical genius, because that would be a huge lie, I don't have any musical talent, I can't sing or play an instrument and so am not speaking from an expert opinion but from the view of someone who massively appreciates music, and has used music so much, personally and in aid of educational projects, it is a fantastic creation, and I truly do love it. Again I say that I originally was going to say something about 'How Long Will I Love You?' and I strongly urge you to listen to both tracks, its just the chilling feeling that I got from Dead in the Water just gave me goosebumps at the first entrance of Ellie's voice, both have been and will be on repeat for a long time now. In fact check out the entire album. Absolutely beautiful.