Conclusions

Hey there :) it's me (Katie) again.

Yaaaaaay..

 I realised something quite funny the other day- without any routine/ or doing anything during the day I start to get upset. I don't think this does my emotions any good. So I'm definitely happy to start doing more things in the near future, being busy means you think less and that is usually good. Especially if your me and you always worry about everything that could possibly be worried about.

However, I think this attitude is slightly strange- because a few years ago I would have hated routines because it meant I was going to School and well who likes School? Now I've come to realise just how important daily routines are- they keep you sane.  Of course, everyone needs a bit of excitement here and then. They need to be given the chance to do something they wouldn't normally do.

I've also come to the conclusion that School is too heavily based on exams which makes the majority of students not want to attend. Education is a very important aspect of life and of course it doesn't end after school! Being educated should be something every child receives and sadly that isn't the case. In this way, I kind of miss School and being educated in the way that you are- however I certainly don't miss some aspects of School!

We shouldn't take School and education for granted but at the same time, we are allowed to complain or get help for any issues that occur while at School. That's my opinion anyway.

Well I'm sorry about that- I just wanted to ramble on a bit about some stuff I've thought about recently, while I've had the time to think. Hope you all have a wonderful day.


Bye :)

A little book review!

Yo, it's me again :)

Today I wanted to talk to you about the Cherub series by Robert Muchamore. This particular series (which includes 12 books) has been a favourite of mine since I first read it like four/five years ago.

This series starts of with The Recruit (pictured here) and it begins by telling us the main character's story. Here's what goodreads says: 

CHERUB spies, 17 and under, hack into computers, bug houses, download crucial documents, and Do Not Exist. James, recently orphaned, is their newest recruit, and brilliant in math. After 100 days grueling training, his mission begins.

I really do love this series. It's definitely for children but young adults could still read it and love it if they find it interesting enough.  James is rather a hard character to love, especially at the beginning of the series but throughout he starts to develop and become a much more lovable person. The characters in this series, I think are the best thing about it. They all have different personalities and get on well with each other, well apart from a few...

One character that really grates on me is Lauren, James's half-sister. I don't quite know why? maybe it's because she can be really frustrating sometimes.. hmm.

Anyway, the series develops throughout the next 11 books and there are some I prefer to others certainly. But I can say that the series did not disappoint and the 12th book had a great ending. Don't panic if you haven't finished the series yet and you think your too "grown up" to finish it because the last few books clearly show the characters more grown up so you will be more likely to relate to them.

Please read this series as I would recommend it 100 times or more! Let me know if you've read it and what you think. 

p.s. Is there meant to be a Cherub film coming out soon or has that been delayed? 

p.p.s. Please subscribe to our Channel if you haven't already:  http://www.youtube.com/user/ANovelAdventure

Bye 
~Katie

Studio Ghibli

Hey Guys,

I want to talk about studio ghibli movies because they are the cutest bestest films ever. And if your wondering why I'm speaking like a 5 year old, that's because ghibli movies are anime kids films. You will have probably heard of some of the films even if you haven't heard of studio ghibli. For example, Ponyo came out in the cinema- I haven't actually watched that one yet.

They are basically feel good kids movies that make you feel all happy and child-like after you finish them. My absoulte favourite is Spirited Away:

A fantasy adventure about Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl who is leaving behind everything she knows to move with her parents to a new home. Along the way, they stumble across a tunnel that leads to a spooky, deserted open-air restaurant where Chihiro's parents sit down and begin to eat. But she is uncomfortable with their new surroundings and wanders off to explore further. She meets a boy, Haku, who explains to her that the world they have entered is a holiday resort for spirits who have left behind their exhausting earthly duties. After discovering that her greedy parents have been turned into pigs, she learns the number one rule of the new world she is now part of: laziness is not tolerated, and only working hard can enable her to break the spell on her parents. (Description from Amazon.co.uk) 

I feel like this is one of the more grown up films, not only is it a great story but you can see certain themes that ghibli wanted to get across. For example this is a world where they hate laziness and that reflects Japanese culture. But even if you don't care about the themes and analysing the movie, it's just a great film.

My Neighbour Totoro is another of my favourites and even if you haven't watched the movie you will probably have seen totoro toys and merchandice about because totoro is adorable and well loved. This is very much a kids film but no less enjoyable for adults.

Me and my friend watched it recently and both squealed at the cute parts.


While their mother recovers from an illness, Satsuki and her little sister Mei get away from it all in an idyllic rural retreat. Far from the bustle of the city, they discover a mysterious place of spirits and magic, and the friendship of the Totoro woodland creatures. (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

 Whatever age you are if you haven't watched these films before and your looking for a cute film to watch in this awkward period where it's still slightly to early to watch Christmas films, then you should definitely check out some of the ghibli movies.

~Louisa. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

Hey guys, it's me again! (Katie)

Just wanted to talk to you about Christmas... at the time of writing this post it is a month till Christmas (how exciting right?) and well I feel all Christmassy.

As you can tell I'm excited and listening to Christmas music can't help..

My favorites include..

and also Christmas films! oh how I love Christmas films (I need to stop saying the word Christmas before I get fed up of it).

Here are a few of my favorites:

Yes I do like a lot of Xmas films! Have you guys got any favourite films or music from the Christmas period? let me know.


Talk to you all later.

Bye!
~Katie

NEW VIDEO: Classic Attempt

Hey Guys,
If you haven't caught my new video yet, it went up last night. I introduce a new series Katie and I will be doing on our channel from time to time called classic attempt. This seires is basically trying to encourage myself to read more classics. When I get into them and understand them I really enjoy Classics but without an English Lit teacher spoon feeding me I rarely understand them, and give up part way through. So I thought in this series I would attempt to read the classics and then report back with how far I managed to get through each book, and a review of what I do manage to read.

For this first episode we kept the books simple with a couple of children's classics and Bridget Jones' Diary.

Please give it a watch, and subscribe for more videos if you liked it. It would mean a lot since I'm on 59 subs as I write this and I would love to get 60 (:
There's a nifty button on the left where you can subscribe.

Thanks for watching,
~Louisa

My problem with playing games

Hey guys,

So I am really weird. That's probably obvious but I'm going to explain one of the things that makes me weird: I like video games but I never actually play them.

I really like video games, games like assassins creed, the walking dead, final fantasy. I love all of these games but I haven't really played them a great deal. Granted I have played through one of the assassins creed games completely and got part way through another one but mostly I just watch play-through's of games on YouTube and never get round to playing them for myself. Even when I have the game. Like I've watched Hannah from the Yogscast's play-through of the walking dead, and a few months ago my friend lent me the game so I could play it for myself, and....I haven't even installed it on my computer yet.

It's mostly because I have a bunch of work to do for uni, I have my YouTube channel and this blog to keep updated and when I've finished all that I just can not be bothered to find the energy to actually play a game for myself- especially when there's a much more competent person whose already uploaded a play-through to YouTube. The main thing I like about the games are the story anyway, and I find that out a lot quicker when I don't have to rely on my abismal gaming abilities.

Is this a really bad thing? Am I missing out by not playing the games themselves?

If any of you guys like games let me know what you think in the comments (:

~Louisa.

P.S Don't forget our new YouTube video goes up today at 5pm UK time! If you press the subscribe button over on the left you will see when it's up. (And also make me happy )

Multi-Tasking Fail And Essay Writing

Hey Guys,

It's getting to that time of year where I have what feels like a 100 essays to write. And this year it's even worse because I have my dissertation to write, and my main problem is I'm just plain not able to do more than one thing at once. Like I know everyone says they can't multi task but I really can only focus on one essay at a time. And that is quite problematic when I have about 5 that are all in for the same week more or less.

The other problem I have is that I love Christmas, I don't want to be feeling miserable when Christmas comes around because I haven't finished all of my essays yet. I want to have as much done as possible so that I can be all festive and enjoy it. For some reason everything feels more christmassy this year, like even my mum seems more christmassy too. Every year I set her a baking challenge because she is rubbish and doesn't bake. Or cook. At all. Every year so far she has failed- but this year she has even booked a day off so that we can bake stuff before Christmas. So I want to get all of my work out of the way now, and that is making me stressed.

I've discovered that I'm not very good at sitting and concentrating for very long. Or at all. I blame YouTube for this as I have been watching 15 minute long videos for years now instead of watching hour long films, and now I'm not very good at sitting still and concentrating. So I basically write a paragraph, do something else and come back later and write another paragraph. Whilst this system works it's not exactly optimum efficiency, is it? So I've been trying to sit still and concentrate but no luck so far.

Can someone teach me how to concentrate?


~Louisa

Better late than never..

Hey all, sorry today's post is rather late but I got so caught up in the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who and the fanfiction I was reading I forgot to post... go me.

However!  These things have inspired me to do this blog post so silver lining am I right?

First thing on the agenda is the 50th: So I and many others watched this special episode of Doctor Who about an hour or so ago and boy did it blow me away! The way they tied everything together and in such a clever way was brilliant. I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil it (it's only just been on I mean c'mon who do you take me for? :P) but WOWZA that crushed my emotions.

P.S. Make sure to watch the adverts after its finished you may see something amazing..

Second on the agenda is fanfiction which I might.. just might be addicted to.. yeah I need to stop reading it. Urgh I just love it so much and some of these fanfic writers are so good that they could be authors one day, no joke. I might be doing a video on this, so keep posted guys!

Talk to you later :)

Pixar Theory

Hey Guys,
So I was planning on writing a post about the new Google+ integration with YouTube, but fuck Google+ right? Pixar theory is far more interesting.

So I was volunteering at a shop, and the guy I was working with had not heard of Pixar theory. So I attempted to explain it as best I could, whilst trying to suppress the fangirl in me. Basically as Pixar are so freaking awesome whenever I talk about it I tend to get very excited, and it makes me sad to think that there might be Pixar fans yet that haven't heard of Pixar theory.

This isn't the website where I first found out about it but it explains it pretty well http://www.pixartheory.com/
This is the rather in depth post where I first found out about it http://jonnegroni.com/2013/07/11/the-pixar-theory/

I'm going to leave all of the explaining to the links above because for me to even try to explain it would be doing pixar theory a massive disservice. All I am going to say it I hope your minds were blown like mine was when I first heard about it. I love it when movies have Easter eggs so the fact that all of the Easter eggs might combine to mean something is just completely amazing.

I'm not going to say  any more than that because I don't want to ruin the awesomeness for anyone that hasn't read about it yet so I am going to leave it there I hope to hear how your mind has been blown in the comments.

~Louisa.

My Music Taste..

Hey there guys! It's me Katie (: happy Thursday! hope you are all well.

Today I thought I'd talk to you all about the music that I listen to and in particular the music that I don't like to admit to listening to..

Since 2009, I've been a massive fan of The Killers- I like pretty much all of their songs (albeit a few) and have seen them in concert, which was incredible by the way. Since 2011 I've also been a massive fan of McFly after my friend persuaded me to listen to their music. I've seen them twice in concert and I was blown away both times by just how great they are. I also may have bought their autobiography and fan-girled a bit but who wouldn't? I don't mind admitting to liking these bands and in fact I'm proud to say I like them but I do listen to some stuff I wouldn't mind keeping behind closed doors..


OK. That sounded worse than I meant it to be. When I'm feeling unhappy I like to listen to Glee an awful lot because the cheese just brings the happy. I don't usually mind saying I listen to Glee but I'm starting to lose interest in the show as it carries on with it's fifth season (fifth!).  I know a lot of people don't like Glee full stop so that is why I'm tempted to hide away the fact that I listen to Glee on full blast.

I also like to listen to Steps. Yes that "pop group that existed like 10 year ago"! My favourite song is Tragedy,  be honest here who doesn't like Tragedy? that song is a classic!

Another favourite guilty pleasure of mine is The Bangles, they did such songs as "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Manic Monday", I have that album on my phone and listen to it regularly.  I try not to think that this was what my Mum and Dad were listening to like 15 odd years ago..


Anyway! that's a few of my guilty pleasure music stuff. If you want to comment and tell me yours, that would be lovely. Talk to you all soon,

Ta-ra!

NEW VIDEO: Too Much Information- Part Two

Hey guys so last week Katie did the TMI tag so this week it was my turn. I apologise for the fact that I look like Gandalf to Katie's Bilbo in this video height wise that is.

Please subscribe if you liked the video- There's a button over there you can press to do so-------->

Thanks
~Louisa

Thor: The Dark World and Other Things

*Please note this post may contain spoilers.*

Hey lovely followers! It's me (Katie) again :) hope you are all well.
I had a little think and thought that today I'd do a blog post about the latest Thor movie and Marvel films in particular. Recently, I've noticed that a few hardcore Marvel comic book fans seem to think that you can't enjoy a Marvel film without being this hardcore a fan. Obviously, I disagree. See, I enjoyed the first Thor film an awful lot without knowing what it was about- I also enjoyed Avengers Assemble, Captain American, Iron Man and of course the latest Thor film. The general consensus seems to be that Thor TDW is a brilliant film and I don't think everyone watching is either a Loki fan-girl or a hardcore comic book fan... so they must be doing something right.

Now moving onto the film itself..

What I found about this film in particular is that (and wait for it!) I preferred it to the first Thor film! I loved the first one but I found the sequel added more depth and comedic effect which made it better in comparison. The acting was superb and yes I'm a fan of Tom Hiddleston so don't get me wrong I loved every minute he was on screen. But I must mention that all the other actors (I can't bothered to type out all their names- have a look on IMDB) were also wonderful and I'm not surprised this is the top grossing film at the moment.

The story was shown in depth and there were many a surprises (and yes I'm talking to you Hiddles) along the way. Don't watch this film if you want to keep your emotions in tact. I'm not even kidding. Make sure to bring some tissues because there's a few sad scenes and a surprise cameo. Make sure you go to see it if you have the chance to because you won't regret it.  I saw it last weekend and I'm already desperate to see it again.. it's a shame the DVD won't come out for months yet...


Hope you enjoyed this post and please make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube! (there's a fancy button over there >)


Bye and keep smiling x

NEW VIDEO: Katie's Too Much Information Tag

Katie did Carrie Hope Fletcher's TMI tag video. If you are anything like me and you like to be a bit nosy, then you should definitely watch this video and subscribe to our channel!

Which you can do by clicking on the cool new YouTube button over on the right. I am finally learning how to technology.

~Louisa.

Television Times

Hey guys! It's Katie here, I'm not feeling that great so I decided I'd do a blog post while I'm sniffling away. 

Today I wanted to talk about a TV show that I've been loving ever since it started.

Now I say love it but the funny thing is I was very reluctant to start it simply because of the amount of hype surrounding it... you may think I'm strange because hype often means it's good right? For some reason I'm like this with a lot of films, TV shows and what have you. I think it's simply because I don't want to be disappointed. 

Anyway, onto the show... Orphan Black (OP) is a fab fabbity fab show on BBC America (which has just recently finished on BBC Three over here in Blighty) about a woman called Sarah who accidentally wanders into someone else's life while uncovering nasty secrets about herself and others. 

It is very well acted and without giving the story away, one person's acting skills are well above what you would expect for a TV show nowadays. It's set around a topic that interests me greatly (I'm sure you can research it yourself, I don't want to spoil it for you!) which of course helps to keep me interested in the show as it develops. OP has so many twists and turns to keep you hooked onto the series until it reaches its finale. It's also rich in comedic value which is always good for a TV show! 

I'd love to talk about it more but I'm worried about spoiling it for you. All I have left to say is... Go and give it a go and see what all the fuss is about- trust me you won't be disappointed! :) 

Talk to you all soon,

bye.

Alice in Wonderland and Splintered Review

Hey guys,

I don't know if it's just me that experiences this but I tend to go through phases. So for a while I'll be completely obsessed with reading anything I can get my hands on and then other times I'll be really into watching YouTube and TV. Recently I've been really into TV and YouTube and haven't had much time for reading, and I don't know if this happens to anyone else but when haven't read a book in a while occasionally no matter how much stuff I had to do that day I'll just have a sudden need to read.

Well this happened to me the other day. I have a lot of coursework to do and I was planning on getting a lot of the reading for one of my assessments out of the day, maybe even start writing the essay but then I just got the overwhelming need to read a book. So I ended up doing no work whatsoever and reading all day instead. Which means I still have a ton of work to do. The bright side of this is that I have a review for every
one.

When I gave in to my need to read, I as usual took to GoodReads to look at my to read list. I'm already reading Salem's Lot- Stephen King, but I wanted something much quicker that I can read in a day. Splintered is a book I've been hesitant to read for quite a while, so I thought what the heck and decided to give it a go.

Splintered is an Alice in Wonderland based book, and I've mentioned this in a video before, but Alice in Wonderland is one of my all time favourite things ever. Not just the book itself but it's the one thing that I'm totally on board with all of the different adaptations. I absolutely love the Alice in Wonderland cross with Gothic/horror/steampunky type things as well as the more innocent Disney version, so I knew this book would be something I'd either really love or really hate.

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

I have to say it did have an eerily similar feel to it as the game 'Alice the Madness Returns' which is not a bad thing in my book because that game is so good, the dresses, the creepiness, the mental illness. SO FREAKING GOOD! In splintered the Wonderland world feels very similar, in that the creatures are not quite as friendly as how they seem in the book, but Alyssa is a lot more typical YA American teenager than the quite bad ass and scary Alice in 'Alice the Madness Returns.'


 If you have played that game and enjoyed it then you will almost certainly like 'Splintered,' and vice versa if you have read the book.  I thought the Tim Burton movie would have been more similar to this kind of Gothic madness based on 'Sweeney Todd' (Which is by the way one of my favourite movie's ever. I absolutely love Tim Burton movies) but he kept his adaptation very children's fantasy- which I love too, but I'm glad these creepy versions of wonderland exist along side it.

SO ONTO THE REVIEW!

Splintered had a good storyline in my opinion, it was very much a cross between typical YA fiction and Wonderland. It did seem to contrast a little bit when Alyssa first leaves the real world and goes to Wonderland. Like it didn't quite flow perfectly from one thing to another but after a little while it picked up again and it was easy to get caught up in the storyline. Like I mentioned above I did really like the creepy wonderland creatures, I like the idea that Alice was a child so she just saw the white rabbit as a bunny instead of a creepy creature etc. 

I was less of a fan of the young adult-y beginning and the romance but it wasn't overwhelming. The author kept that in the background and the Alice family curse in the foreground. There were still bits about it that were a little irritating, like the 'skater girl' nickname seemed a little forced and cringe worthy  like there's one scene at the beginning where she is skateboarding, and to me at least it seems like that's in there literally so he can call her skater girl for the rest of the book. Which is a little bit sickening. 

 I thought the world building was pretty well done. I particularly liked that it's insects and flowers that speak to Alyssa and all the woman in her family since Alice. That's quite random, it fit's with wonderland, and I can see how that would drive people mad. 

All in all I felt this was a pretty good adaptation and fits nicely alongside all of the other Alice in wonderland adaptations. If you are a big Alice fan then you should definitely give this a read.

NEW VIDEO: Perfectionism & Update

Hey guys, on Monday we put up a new video on our YouTube in which ramble a lot. Would be great if you could check it out (:

I basically just say what's happening with our videos and why we haven't posted in awhile. I'm still trying to write out my own good videos but since I won't have as much time being in my last year of University I'm having to compromise and do more tags. I guess most people don't mind tags, and it's probably just me that thinks there not all that creative but I don't know.

What do you guys think? Would you prefer to see weekly videos even if sometimes they will be tags or would you prefer to see more creative videos that I've put a lot more time and effort into but less often?

Please do let me know your opinions in the comments either here or on the video.

Thanks, talk to you guys soon.

Louisa.