Sickness

Sickness is something that can not only bring down the mood of the person suffering but also the mood of the people around them. Sickness is a disease not only affecting the ill, but also their entourage. Ok, I'm done with making up meaningful sentences. What brings this sudden post about Sickness? Well my Mum has been in bed sick all day except for short spurts where the medicine kicked in and she was able to stand up and walk around. I actually found her on the floor this morning with Mockingjay (yay!) closed (no!) beside her because she had to lie down she felt so bad. She always gets bad headaches and now and again she gets bad migraines that makes her feel so bad she has to lie down. (This picture is not of her, obviously)

How does this affect those around her? Well, somehow when someone is sick it brings down the mood of the whole house which meant we really had a lazy day and I couldn't do my Methods because it was in her room (yeah, I procrastinated) and so me and my brother watched House for a while. Then I got my laptop out of Mum's room when she went outside with the dog (see down the bottom) and was doing some stuff on that. I updated my YouTube channel to the new YouTube One layout which meant instead of a channel background I now just have a header which is sort of like the Facebook Timeline Cover. So I spent another 2 hours (I broke for a shower and dinner, Dad came home) creating it using a combination of Word (to get rid of the backgrounds of two photos of me), Lego Digital Designer (to create my name) and Paint (to get everything together) as well as a template that showed the different sizes for the different views (Desktop, Mobile, Tablet and TV) therefore I could decide what to show on each (Mobile shows the name Legolukey in Lego [creative I know], Tablet shows a little longer version of this, Desktop shows the name plus the two photos of me either side and the TV view shows all this plus a bit extra black bit either side) to know what I mean you can visit my YouTube Channel or Facebook Page (I used it as the Timeline Cover). Well that is all I have for today but above I typed (See down the bottom) because I have a photo of Sandy enjoying a small rawhide bone on a beanbag which was funny because he would not get off and Dad had to physically lift him off it to put him to bed.

That is a Lego helicopter, not an RC helicopter as someone thought it was on Facebook.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow.

Procrastination

I have been procrastinating a lot these holidays. We haven't got a lot of holiday homework but what we do have is big. Basically we have a Science Assignment and a Methods SAC which is basically to complete all of Chapter 5 (A Gallery of Graphs [incl. Hyperbolas and other stuff I can't remember the name of]) which will take a while. I only started today and I was even procrastinating while doing that. I admit, I have a problem.

So what was I doing instead of my work today? That's a good question with many answers. I started off the day thinking I was going to start work straight away but then I felt YouTube call to me and I got 'stuck' watching some videos. Then, when I finally got out my work I had to download something and where did I go first, Facebook of course. Now, what did I do on Facebook? Well, I played a lot of SongPop and people were online playing too so I didn't run out of matches for ages which meant I just kept playing.

I finally ran out of matches and I started my work which I did for almost an hour and a half before I stopped for Lunch. While having lunch I thought I should have a break and decided to watch just one episode of Community. However, that one episode turned into two.. and then three.. and then four. This was always because of the mindset "just one more and I'll get back to work".

Finally, I finished watching Community and went back to my work... where I proceeded to play SongPop for another 10 minutes. Finally I got into work and proceeded to work solidly until I had to get ready to go out to dinner with my family. Now I'm back and decided to continue working tomorrow. So now I am procrastinating watching Biggest Loser: The Next Generation.

Then we'll probably watch Elementary, followed by The Voice season 2 Premiere which we recorded.

Then we'll probably watch the TV week Logies which is on after The Voice which means that it is also being taped at the moment. So yeah, I can procrastinate when I don't want to. I'm actually procrastinating from procrastinating by writing this blog post at the moment. This is actually the earliest I have ever wrote a post on this blog (8:22pm) because I usually write it around 10pm but today I decided to do it earlier because I can and I'll know I'll probably forget it.

Anyway, on the Biggest Loser at the moment Rosemary (Blue) has just flipped out at the trainers (because tonight they are the ones choosing who will go home), especially Michelle, and just stormed out announcing she is going to leave but Kevin (the biggest contestant in the history of the Biggest Loser worldwide) is stuck in the middle because he doesn't want to leave but his mother is a little bit, for want of a better word, feral and is definitely not in the best mood and even if she does come back the trainers will have a hard time deciding who to vote for to send home. Interesting! Now the trainers have decided not to vote so the couple with the lowest weight loss percentage are going home. *SPOILER ALERT* It's Rosemary and Kevin's time to go home. But when they show what they look like a certain amount of time later Kevin is looking really good, so is Rosemary.

Ha-ha, I procrastinated then by writing that.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow

Doctor Who

So I have come to find a new obsession, Doctor Who. Well, it isn't really an obsession but I do love the episodes. My brother bought Season 1 on iTunes so I downloaded it onto my Dad's iPad and have watched a few episodes. I'm up to the Dalek episode but I haven't started it yet so I've only watched the first five episodes of Season 1 so far. I really like Doctor Who because it is a Sci-Fi show with some comedy and a really good story line. It is one of those shows where each episode something different happens which adds to the story line and your understanding of the characters (sort of like Elementary), I just wrote text instead of characters accidentally. I've been doing too much English Text Analysis.

I have two friends really obsessed (well, maybe not obsessed but they love the show) with Doctor Who and when I saw an episode at my school Library on the last day of Term I knew I would want to see more, because I did. I had already had a small look into Doctor Who around the start of the year when I was bored on YouTube and researched some Doctor Who monsters (Weeping Angels are really scary!) but I lost interest because I couldn't find any episodes. Now, having seen a few episodes, I realised I really liked it  and am now watching episodes from iTunes. Through my researching I have looked forward to the new doctors to come and I can't wait until catch up to Season 7! I found that David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as the Doctor's Assistant to be a funny period in Doctor Who history and I can't wait.

I am also excited because in the latest episodes (just released at the end of last month) the new assistant (Clara Oswald) is played by Jenna-Louise Coleman who I know from the BBC mini-series "Titanic" in which she was really good. I don't why this makes me excited to see her in Doctor Who but maybe it is just because I have seen her in other places. All I know is that I can't wait until I catch up to those episodes.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Oz The Great and Powerful and "Kid" Movies

So today I went to see Oz The Great and Powerful, late I know. I went with my father as he had a day off today and everyone else was working. I just loved the story-line and although some people found it aimed at a younger generation, which it was to a certain extent, I loved it and was enthralled in the story behind Oz and the struggles of that great land. As this is based on the actual Oz series by Frank L. Baum (Yes, The Wizard of Oz isn't the only book in the series). It is a prequel to that book (and movie) and shows the power struggles for Oz and how the Wizard became, well, The Great Oz even though he doesn't have any magic like the Witches. It also shows how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be. Of course, it was not as good as Wicked but then nothing could really live up to that expectation in my eyes.

Oz The Great and Powerful is a successful mix of comedy, action and drama with no singing like in the 1939 MGM film, "The Wizard of Oz" and I am definitely buying that DVD when it comes out. It was fascinating to see the struggle for Oz between Evanora (Rachel Weisz),Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), the Witches of Oz, and how Oz (the magician [James Franco]) was stuck in a lie between them. What you think at the start of the movie is completely different to what you witness by the end and it really changes your view of Oz and the Wicked Witch of the West (not as much as Wicked but still, a valiant effort).

This movie shows that you can never be too old to enjoy a good fairy tale. This brings me on to my next point about movies that are aimed at the Younger Generation, or "Kids". I just have to say that I have enjoyed some animated films more than my younger cousins who are at the age where they like the movies but feel too old to admit they like the movie. For example, Wreck it Ralph was a genuinely funny and good movie that my grandmother and I both really enjoyed more than my younger cousins who were watching it with us. It shows that even though these movies are aimed at the younger generation it does not mean that teenagers and above can't enjoy them as well.

Coming out later this year is another kids movie I think is going to be really good and I want to see (probably with my younger cousins so it doesn't feel so weird) it because I just do, live with it. It is, of course, Monsters University, the sequel to the well-received Pixar Film, Monsters Inc. I don't care if I am above the intended age of the audience, I want to see it because I really enjoyed the first one. Also coming out further down the track is Finding Dory, a movie just announced a few days ago set to be released in 2015 (the year I graduate from High School, yay) which also happens to be the year Mockingjay Part 2 is set to be released, the final installment of the Hunger Games saga! I just want to see what happens next in "Finding Dory" which is apparently set in California a year after the events of "Finding Nemo" and is about Dory reconnecting with her family. Should be funny since Dory was such a funny character in "Finding Nemo" plus Ellen Degeneres' comedy just adds more layers of humour.

So you are never to old to see Kid's movies!

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Beautiful Creatures and Catching Fire

As I wrote in a previous post, for Easter Mum buys us books and this year she bought me "Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. It's a great book and I am hooked. Once I pick it up it is hard to put down. I'm only up to page 250 and already there have been quite a few shocks and a lot of suspense. I really recommend this book and, guess what, it was made into a movie which was released in February of this year! It has some great cast but the damn trailer spoilt a part of the book for me I wasn't even up to yet! That's annoying but now I have something to look forward to when I finish the book. Which shouldn't be too far away! But the DVD is not out yet so I'll probably have to wait. So far Ridley is my favourite character (even though she hasn't been it very much so far). I just have to say that I hate how Blogger corrects my spelling using American English which has slight spelling differences to Australian English (the Americans love to drop letters) so I have all these red lines all over the place which makes it hard for me when I edit the post because most of the red lines are for American spelling or names which just really annoys me because I miss the real errors because of this (somehow). Anyway, Beautiful Creatures is a stunning book which I recommend you read (before watching the trailers, not even a damn spoiler alert! What they reveal is meant to be a shock, I'm halfway through and I don't know it yet except for in the trailer!).

The next thing I want to talk about is the new Catching Fire Teaser Trailer! The full trailer will be released on 14th April (JUST 10 DAYS) and this was a teaser trailer for it. It was all over my Facebook, Twitter and YouTube feeds this morning and I thought it was a hoax, but no, it was super real and super cool! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! (I warned you right in the first post that I would fan-girl all over Catching Fire, don't say I didn't warn you) You can check out this awesome clip by clicking here. I am so excited for Catching Fire to come out and so I was super excited to see this. Also, yesterday, I saw an image of Katniss' pre-Quarter Quell interview with Caesar Flickerman in which she was wearing her Wedding Dress which is awesome. Here is the photo:

So cool!!!! Can't wait for November 21st (Australia gets it before the US, YES!) and I am also excited because I got my Mum into reading the series and she only started on Monday and is already halfway through Catching Fire. I also inducted my cousin into Panem and she started on Saturday and has already finished the series. Just shows how addicting it is! So get ready for the April 15th Post (15th since Australia is ahead of America so when they get the trailer on the 14th it will be the 15th in Australia) because I will probably be fan-girl-ing like crazy over the new trailer!

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

YouTube's April Fools Antics

So, as you may have already heard, YouTube played a little April Fools prank on its many users just two days ago (1st April). It took the form of a video titled "YouTube's ready to select a winner" and not only did this appear on the official YouTube channel but an email was sent out to all users that claimed to have a "big announcement from YouTube". This email included the video and it was quite a convincing one.

The video basically said that YouTube was actually a competition for the best video of all time and that every video uploaded (regardless of view count [yes! I was in for a shot]) was an entry into this competition. It then went on to say that on midnight of that day YouTube would literally stop allowing uploads (or "entries" as they put it) and would be shut down for the next ten years in order to find the best YouTube video. In 2023 there was to be an official relaunch of YouTube with all videos deleted besides the winner's. This was made evermore convincing as, following this video, there was a 12 hour live broadcast (yes, I will link this down below) of two "hosts" reading out the nominations (I actually feel sorry for those people as the video went for over 12 hours!). They also had some YouTubers also discussing the competition in the original announcement video which gave it a bit more credibility. So yeah, I was pretty worried (I mean, where else can I offload all my crappy videos? Vimeo? Coolvid? I have standards) but then I re-watched it on the computer and they had added a "Happy April Fools Day 2013" thumbnail and that was also in the description so I started to think it was an April Fools joke, which it was. YouTube you got me, you bastards. I actually did some research (by this I mean frantically reading the Wikipedia page on YouTube) and what I learnt about their April Fools Day antics calmed my nerves.

Link to YouTube's "Announcement" Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H542nLTTbu0

Link to the live nominee announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGeMGqVKD6A

I learnt that YouTube had featured an April Fools prank every year since April 1 2008.

In 2008 the prank was that all links to videos on the YouTube home page were redirected to Rick Astley's music video: "Never Gonna Give You Up". This has since become known as Rickrolling

In 2009, when you clicked on a video on the YouTube Home Page the whole page flipped around (Like Google did for the search "How to do a barrel roll"). YouTube then claimed that this was their new layout.

In 2010, YouTube released a feature called "TEXTp" which translated the colours in the videos into random upper case letters. YouTube claimed this was to reduce bandwidth costs by $1 a second, they sure fooled somebody.

In 2011 YouTube celebrated its "100th Anniversary" and released a "1911 Button" as well as uploading some silent films of the early 20th Century

In 2012, a DVD icon was added next to the YouTube logo which lead to a video about "The YouTube Collection", a collection of every YouTube video for home delivery on DVD, Video Cassette, Laserdisc and Betamax tapes.

You already know what YouTube did this year. So yeah, I wonder how many people YouTube fooled but I found this year's to be the best so far with so much intricate detail included.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Easter Holidays with the Relatives

So, as you know, I haven't been posting for a while and that is because I have been at Phillip Island for Easter with the relatives (on my Mum's side). This was far from boring with a fair load of things going on. Anyway, to start it off with, Happy Easter!

This holiday was made evermore fun with Sandy (our dog) coming along with Dad to stay overnight on the Saturday and come home with Dad on the Sunday. This was great and Sandy really loved his time, he provided a lot of entertainment as he kept walking into things (it's amazing how many times he can walk into the wall) because he kept getting distracted, this kept us entertained most of the time he was down.

So our holiday started on the Saturday when we arrived and the first thing to do was unpack and then get ready for church. Oh yeah, my family is Catholic. So yeah, when we arrived at Church it was raining but, as always, the church was hot and so we had to open the windows. This was a problem because during the mass we light tapers (candles for each person) and there was a wind coming in through the windows, guess who sat near the windows? Yeah, we did. So every so often our candles would blow out and we would have to relight them and quickly block them from the wind. Then, just as we let down our guard, the wind would build up again and we would lose the flames again. Another downside is that the only Priest down there is a bit of a cranky ass which can get annoying. He literally said: "Keep the windows open and if you get cold either suck it up or move" and I was just like "what's new?" Then, halfway through what seemed to be the longest mass ever (even for Phillip Island) the Priest announced there would also be a baptism. Needless to say, by the end of the 2 hour service we all had had enough and were ready to head home. From there we watched part of Home Alone (the first one) and then went to bed. Just so you know, even though Home Alone is one of the family favourites I hate the movie because of the kid (main character) which I just don't like which puts me off the whole movie. So yeah, that was Easter Saturday and it was time for bed before Easter Sunday arrived.

So then it was Easter Sunday! We started the morning with our Easter Egg exchange where lots of chocolates were given but Mum always gives us books as well which is really good as now I am reading Beautiful Creatures which is really good! I also got my Mum to read The Hunger Games and she is really enjoying it so score for me! Anyway, back to Easter Sunday. The thing with Sandy is that he is very spoiled and gets gifts for his Birthday, Christmas and Easter. Our pet before him was lucky to get one gift a year! So Sandy is a very spoiled dog and my eldest brother got Mum a sign for Mothers Day that we hung outside our front door which reads "A very spoiled dog lives here" which couldn't be more accurate! So Easter continued and we had an Easter Egg hunt (for my Younger Cousins) but we also collect all our eggs together and split it evenly so it's fair and they enjoy it. It was a great day overall and Sandy was tired by the time he left for home with Dad. We finished off the day by watching the original Annie movie which was actually very good (I hadn't seen it before).

Now we come to the day after Easter which was Monday (Yesterday). This was more of a quiet day with less things to do but we still had a lot of fun. We went for a walk along the beach and I played Halo with my cousins to keep them entertained. That night we decided to watch the whole of Home Alone (for we had only watched part of it on Saturday) which was actually funny because of my Italian grandfather (my Mum's father) who was making some pretty funny commentary. He didn't mean it to be funny but he always likes talking about something like a TV show or movie when it was on and so for Home Alone he kept saying things like "Oh, footprints in the snow" (fascinating I know), "how sweet" and "ouch, that might have hurt a lot". It was things like this which made me enjoy the movie evermore and left me going to bed smiling.

It now comes to today which was basically a day of tidying up before heading home. Nothing interesting really happened today besides going to the beach for a walk when the water was right up to the rocks which made for an interesting dash between the waves to try to avoid getting wet. It provided the walk with some entertainment and when we got back to the house we did some more cleaning and got ready to leave. We got home and I am now writing this post about my time and am watching The Biggest Loser (Australia of course) with Sandy and the Parents.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!