New Album #16-18: Rocking, jazzy pitch

I’m whizzing through the albums for the moment, and have listened to another three. The first and second were recommendations from Linsey my music guru of the moment. Are You Experienced is a pretty epic album by Jimi Hendrix. There were a few songs that I recognised, Foxy Lady being one of them. The album was great and Jimi Hendrix really is one of the masters of guitar.

Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album was the next album I listened to and I recognised quite a few of the songs from when they were first released. The ones that hadn't been released as singles were okay, but not very memorable.

The final album came courtesy of my friend Ro who I caught up with over the weekend in a trip to Northampton for a friend’s birthday. She had the Pitch Perfect 2 soundtrack so we listened to that on the way there….and on the way back. By the end of the trip my flatmate never wanted to hear it again after the trip as we had it on repeat. I got the first film’s soundtrack which was great, and this one had more songs and more mash ups which I like the most. 

New Album #15: Monkeying Around

Album number 15 is another recommendation from my friend Linsey and her attempt to brainwash her friends in a good way with all things Alex Turner (her future husband.) He has already featured in the challenge with the Age of the Understatement album. So I listened to the Arctic Monkeys Album AM and I have to say it was pretty good.

My favourite songs are Do You Wanna Know? which days after hearing it, is still in my head. The other song is I Wanna Be Yours and as soon as the lyrics started I recognised it. I text Linsey asking why did the lyrics sound familiar and she said it was from a poem that Alex Turner studied out school.

For some reason I kept my poem anthology from school and found the poem the lyrics are from. Its called I Wanna Be Yours and is by John Cooper Clarke.

As you can tell from my notes I said back in 2001 that it was meant to be performed and was written like a pop song. Great minds think alike!

New Food #18-20: Full of Bubbles

Over the weekend I tried Ginger Beer for the first time. My parents love the stuff and as you can see from the picture, my dad has started to like photo bombing! I wasn't a great fan of the taste, and the smell was of ginger was too strong for me.

I also tried passion fruit bursting bubbles which my mum bought me for Christmas. You can put them in drink or in yoghurt, so I tried both. They tasted quite nice even though the shell was apparently made out of seaweed. Once burst it was just like a passion fruit purée.

And on Sunday I tried olives. I remember on a holiday with my uni friends, two of them; Emma and Chris would get through a jar of them very quickly and eat them like raisins. The ones I had were part of a vegetable wrap and they were okay, but then the last one tasted disgusting and has put me off eating them again.

New Books #16 and #17: The biggest Contrast

I wouldn't have thought I’d read this book for the challenge, but after some persuading from my sister Lisa I did. For my 16^th book in the challenge I read Miley Cyrus’ autobiography Miles to Go. Now Lisa wouldn't say she’s a fan of Miley Cyrus, but she’s got 2 copies of the autobiography, one for craft purposes and the other to read. And after not including the Hannah Montana movie as part of the film challenge, she said I had to read the Miley book.

So I did and it was a challenge to finish it because it wasn't the best book, very laughable in a lot of places. I learnt quite a lot of trivial things about Miley Cyrus, for example she wants to be asked more about her hands in interviews! It would be interesting for Miley to read back what she wrote and whether she kept to anything she said back when she was 16.

In the biggest contrast possible the next book I read was Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife. I've only read one poem of hers before and that’s onion. And probably most people my age would've read it as it was in a poem anthology for GCSE English.

The concept of the collection of poems in The Wife is clever; it’s the view point of famous wives in history and literature. Darwin’s wife, King Kong’s wife, the wives of the Kray twins. However with a large majority of the poems, I didn’t have an extensive knowledge of the husband’s life to fully understand the poetry written. My favourite poem in the book was Mrs Fraust and that’s because of its quick pace and humour to it.

Meet New People #15: About Time

I’ve known my friend Laura since 2009. We met at my first job out of uni and she trained me in the role. We bonded over shoes and Neighbours, and even though we both left the company we both worked for, we've still kept in contact and see each other a few times a year.

She’s getting married in September and it dawned on me that I hadn't actually met her fiancé Rob! On Friday I went round to have a girlie night watching Gerard Butler and Ryan Gosling films and I got a chance to meet Rob as well, who's a great guy.

I’ll be seeing Laura before the wedding, and I’ll next see Rob on the big day itself.

Reconnecting #18 and Meet New People #14: Cricket Traditions and a Bowling Cameo

Today my dad and I went to Lords Cricket Ground to see the first day of the England vs New Zealand test. The day started with a bit of reconnecting. We go to the cricket once a year and for the past few years we start the cricket day with getting a Boots Meal Deal from Baker Street station Boots. And every year we get served by the same guy, and today was no different. We got talking to him and even got a picture with him. His name is Islam and no doubt in a year’s time we’ll be served by him again!

Cricket wise it was a great day, England ended up scoring 354 runs after starting off 30-4 which was a great achievement. They announced that in the tea break Steven Finn would be signing autographs. Steven Finn is an England bowler who used to play test cricket but now plays ODI cricket. So I went up to him at the stand he was at, got an autograph and then got a picture with him. He’s the 4^th cricketer I’ve met and for some reason I always get nervous around cricketers, so I barely said anything.

And you may think I look particularly small in the picture, but Steven Finn is 6’7!

New Album #14: Turning to Broadway

My other sister Lucy is a big musical fan, and in particular Broadway musicals. When we went to New York a few years back, the trip was timed so she could attend the Broadway Flea Market, where she could buy lots of memorabilia.

                                                  Us on Broadway a few years ago

Lucy recommended I’d listen to the Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack. Now it’s a first to listen to a soundtrack to something I haven’t seen before. And with most musical songs they are very narrative based. I read a quick synopsis about the show and sort of got the meaning of the songs. The vocals are really strong and Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t falter. I believe the show was in the West End a few years ago, so I’ve missed my chance to see it, but if ever came back I’d like to go.

New Album #13: The DJ recommends

I’m a big fan of the Radio 1 DJ Greg James. Have been for years and one year my sister wrote to him asking for him to write me a birthday card….and he did! My friend Linsey also designed this fetching mug a couple of years ago for my birthday as well.

Linsey saw on his Facebook that he put up a post about the Maximo Park, A Certain Trigger album being 10 years old. She recommended that I’d listen to it for the challenge and that’s what I've done.

I recognised a few of the songs, Apply Some Pressure being one of them. And considering it came out 10 years ago which was when I started uni, most of the songs were probably played at LRV our student union…..and that alone makes me feel very old!

New Album #12 and New Book #15: A country double

For the latest album and book I’ve read I have to credit my sister Lisa as she is a huge country music fan and the large majority of the country music albums I listen to are hers. Country music for her started with Taylor Swift and it grew from there. In 2012 we even took a holiday to Nashville, which is one of the best places, the people are so friendly. It was part of a music holiday for me and my sisters and a way to mark the end of the Harrold sisters’ education. The second part of the holiday was to New York as my other sister Lucy is a huge Broadway musical fan.

It was in New York that I spotted Brad Paisley’s book on sale and Lisa being a big fan of his also, got his book and it’s the latest book I’ve read for my challenge. Diary of a Player: How My Musical Heroes Made A Guitar Man Out of Me is an autobiography or as Brad says a life in progress. It shows how he got to where he is.

The book is a good read and by the end of it, it made me want to jump on a plane and go back to Nashville! It was interesting to read that Brad got a D on guitar at college and his story about how his sons try a press down on the strings of the guitar while he is playing reminded me that either me or my sisters did that when we were younger when my dad played guitar.

Going back to Taylor Swift, I listened to her new album 1989. Having listened to all her previous albums thanks to my sister, I have to say it wasn’t as good as her previous albums. Red currently is the standout album for me. The songs on 1989 were okay, Shake It Off and Blank Space were both good, but the others not so much. For me it felt like some of the depth in the songs was lost in transition from country to pop. It’s good that she’s ventured into a pure pop album; as a result it might strengthen her country songs as a result.

 The Gulch where Taylor Swift was apparently living when we visited Nashville back in 2012.

New Book #14: Sisters are doing it for themselves

I have 2 sisters; Lucy and Lisa, both very creative and talented. Lisa did fine art at uni and is currently a teaching assistant. She’s kept up her art with her great blog Always Arty and she has just written her first children’s book, which I of course I read for my challenge.

It’s about a little girl called Lucy (I'm hoping I'm a character in the next book) and she wonders what it would be like to live in different places.

The story is great for children and the illustrations are amazing. If anyone is interested in buying a copy let me know!

New Album #8-11: A random Music Marathon

After my weekend of reading lots of books I decided to have a weekend of listening to lots of music. It started with Olly Murs’ Never Been Better album. It’s his 4^th album and I've got the first 3. There were no surprises with this album and he stuck to the same formula as his albums, a few ballads, few album fillers and very catchy ones that would be singles. Stand out songs for me were; Did You Miss Me? and Beautiful to Me.

           At the X Factor Concert in 2010 where it all began for Olly Murs.

The second album was lent by my sister and was Regina SpeKtor’s FaR. I've heard the odd song of hers before but never an album in full. It was a very whimsical sounding album, but there weren't any stand out songs for me. Potentially there were a few songs that could be growers so maybe I’ll give it a 2^nd listen.

Following this album was The Age of the Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets which features Alex Turner, my friend Linsey's favourite. She lent me the album and I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved it. The whole album could have been a soundtrack for a very stylish film, or any of the songs could have been Bond themes. The songs were narrative based and I could easily imagine music videos for every one of them.

The final album was also recommended by Linsey who until this challenge I didn’t realise what a variety of music she was into! Led Zeppelin’s Mothership album is a very lengthy 24 songs, could it count for 2 albums on the challenge?! The whole album felt like a master class in guitar riffs and their songs have been used for so many things. Whole Lotta Love is a great song and I got really excited when I heard Kashmir as that is sampled on one of my favourite songs called Come with Me. So it was great to hear the original.

So 4 completely random albums, and I enjoyed listening to them all. 

New Book #13: Great Shot Don’t Get Cocky

Years ago I was a big fan of Question of Sport, but now A League of Their Own has taken its place for favourite sports quiz show. I used to watch Question of Sport every week with my dad and even when I was at uni we’d Skype each other so we could watch the show together. My house mates eventually got used to my dad’s voice shouting out of my laptop random sportsman names.

During our prime viewing years one of the captains on the show and still is, is Matt Dawson and I decided to read his autobiography due to my interest in rugby earlier this year.

The book was a really good read and Dawson didn't candy coat what went on. He went through the highs and lows of his career and his view on the 2003 rugby world cup final. What I felt was refreshing with the book was that Dawson admitted when he was cocky and arrogant and when he put a foot wrong.

Having read a Paralympic, cricketer and footballer autobiography for the challenge, I think it’s time to retire the sports books. Although I could quite easily read more sporting books…but then it wouldn't be a challenge would it?

Reconnecting #17: Casting my vote

I’ve only voted twice before and the last time I voted was around the time I was at uni. The reason I stopped voting is you vote for change, but I didn’t see any change in my life after both times of voting.

But with the challenge making me more open minded I thought I would give voting another go. I did my research and read through the summaries of all the party manifestos and highlighted all the points 

I supported. Then the party with the most votes I voted for which I thought was quite educated.

I guess time will tell whether I will vote again!

New books #10-12: Reading Retreat

Evening all. I hope you all had a good bank holiday. With nothing planned for Sunday and Monday I went to my parents house and spent the entire time reading. For the most part I left my phone in their house and sat in their summer house and read! And it was great, no distractions just being in my own little world and reading.

I finished a couple more books in the weekend which I’ll mention in other blog posts. On Sunday I finished The Very Best of Frasier which was a book of 15 of the finest Frasier scripts. This was a really good book because a) I only got into the show in the final few episodes, and b) from a screen writing perspective it was like a lesson in how to write a great comedy.

After this book I then hit a classic, Animal Farm. I didn't realise how short it was, and to accompany the reading I listened to the Inception and Skyfall soundtracks, just to give it more drama. I can see why people regard it a classic, but it didn't do it for me. I am glad I read it though.

The final book I read was Still Alice, which is what the film of the same name was based on. It won Julianne Moore and Oscar, Bafta and any other acting award earlier this year. It’s about Alice, a 50 year old Harvard professor who has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. I chose to read this book because of my time working in a dementia unit in an old people’s home part time for 5 years. The book was a really good read. It was really interesting to see how the Alzheimer’s developed and more importantly how Alice’s family responded.

There were a couple of observations that rang true to my time working in a dementia unit. The first being how they had to keep the codes hidden to keep the unit locked. This happened with my work as residents would stand behind you while trying to leave and they would memorise them and try and escape. The other observation was how some residents wouldn't have any family or friends visit them and how residents were often forgotten. I wouldn't say this was the case with all the residents I saw, but a fair few of them had no visitors. It would be really interesting to see what the film is like and how Julianne Moore portrays somebody with Alzheimer’s.

New Comedians #10-12: Did you hear the one where my teacher became a comedian?

Last night my flatmate Charlotte and I went to the Comedy Club at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage. There were 3 comedians; the first was a Canadian guy called Peter White who was completely bemused by Stevenage and thought the audience as a whole were pretty quiet. Me and Charlotte laughed at him quite a bit!

John Scott a Scottish comedian followed and he was funnier. He was similar to Frankie Boyle’s style of comedy and as we’d seen him a few weeks ago at the Albert Hall it wasn't that shocking to us.

The final act was a guy called Geoff Norcott. He was the main reason for going as he was my media teacher in 6^th form in 2003-04. Back then he would spend about 15 minutes teaching media and then the rest of the class trying out jokes. His jokes weren't great then, but last night he was really funny. I was really impressed and one of the funniest comedians I've seen on the challenge so far. Although there were moments were it was a little bit awkward….do people really want to hear about their old teacher’s sex life?! He’s definitely a better comedian then teacher.

                          What Mr Norcott wrote in my yearbook in Sixth Form 11 years ago!

29 films done and dusted, what have I learnt?

When I started the challenge I had a feeling that the film part of the challenge would be the first part that I would complete, and I was right.

                      None of the films I watched were as great as Shawshank Redemption

I’ve seen documentaries, epics, historical, comedy, cult, romance, films that had a lot of hype and films that were so bad they were good. Some were forgettable; others I wondered how they got made in the first place, a few were disappointing and didn’t live up to hype and others I wanted to see again as soon as they finished.

Particular highlights for me include Love, Rosie and even though romantic comedies are no longer my go to film, I think because it was based on one of my favourite books I was pleased with how it turned out.

The Imitation Game was surprisingly gripping as was Headhunters. 21 Years was motivating and I was impressed with how Birdman was made. Indecent Proposal was another surprise and I really liked it. And although I’m not a fan of period pieces, I liked Gone with the Wind and Suite Francaise.

So what lessons have I learnt from the films? Joan Rivers and Richard Linklater taught me to not stop working. The Judge, Delivery Man and The Descendants told me that family loyalty is important. Birdman and The Second Exotic Marigold Hotel showed that it’s never too late to have success. Perhaps the best lesson and quote from all the films I watched comes from The Imitation Game; ‘Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.’

There really hasn’t been a pattern in the films that I’ve watched, and as a result I’ve been looking at my dvd collection and wonder which films I should chuck out as some I haven’t seen in years. So in the future my film collection may look a little different. Thanks to everyone who watched the films with me as part of the challenge. 

New Recipe #12: A Landslide

I haven’t baked in a while, so I thought I’d try a new recipe with Key Lime Pie. The recipe was fairly simple, a buttery biscuit base and then condensed milk, egg yolks and juice and rind of limes, and voilà a pie was made.

It tasted really tangy so I got the flavours spot on, and it looked good. However the next day I looked in the fridge to discover the topping was a bit of a landslide. I was going to take it into work, but I don’t think they would appreciate a near cooking disaster. Oh well more pie for me!