Sunday June 13th 2010

Hi there folks I'm back again with some more products and 'stuf' I've been Road Testing!!

Watching?

This week, the 2009 film ‘Dorian Gray’ based on Oscar Wilde’s 1891 genius. I read the book in college and when I say read I meant I was forced to study every single sentence until I thought I was going to pass out from boredom. So I was slightly dubious to how great the film would be. I was very surprised to find that the film was fantastic! If you don’t the story I shall give you a small synopsis; Dorian is very good looking (fit!), and on inheriting his Grandfather’s estate he moves to London and meets Basil Hallwood, an artist who wants to capture his ultimate beauty on canvas. Basil introduces Dorian to a gentleman called Lord Henry Wotton, who prizes beauty and youth above all things, and sets out to mould Dorian into technically a ‘player’. When Dorian sees the painting, he feels jealousy that the figure in the painting will be young forever, while he will grow old, he sells his soul to the devil and its all downhill from there for Dorian, who commits mortal and inhumane sins, but never grows old or ugly. The painting which holds his soul changes into a monster.

Back to the film, the film is dark and gothic, the painting is really creepy which I didn’t expect but liked about it, Colin Firth as Henry Wotton is fantastic, Ben Barnes is gorgeous and brilliantly dramatic as Dorian, and Ben Chaplin (relation to Charlie?) plays the tragic and desperate character of Basil Hallwood brilliantly. All in all it is a brilliant creepy and dark film, and a brilliant Ghost story.
Dorian Gray gets a 8/10


 Reading?
Right as I have not actually finished last week’s book, I will tell you about another book I read recently; ‘The Book Thief’ by Marcus Zusak. I borrowed this book from my Dad, as I needed a break from Uni work, and thought it would be an interesting read. And ‘my’ is it interesting.

The story is set in Nazi Germany in 1939, and it follows the miserable life of Liesel, a little girl taken away from her mother, and adopted by the Hubermans, who live on Himmel Street. She is taught to read by Mr Huberman and finds a way to escape from this misery of the war happening around her in books and the power of words. The first book she steals is the Grave Diggers Handbook, taken from the early graveside of her little brother, and throughout her life she takes more books and falls in love with the stories. The interesting aspect of this book is that it is told from the perspective of ‘Death’ itself, who is very busy of course during the years Liesel lives on Himmel Street. This book is a wonderful book, it’s brilliantly written, has an exciting and dramatic storyline, and deserves a read just for another perspective. Once I picked it up I didn’t put it down until I finished it and it is one of my all time favourite books.

The Book Thief has to get my highest score of 10/10

Wearing?

This week I have been wearing some new sandals from New Look. I bought them as they were the same metallic shade of gold as my favourite ones that snapped. They are described as the ‘Cage sandal’ and have lots of detail around the foot, and a zip at the back which helps keep my feet still and in check and were only a measly £16.00. I personally really like them, they have been described as slightly over the top by my friend but I don’t mind standing out a little bit sometimes. They’re really comfortable and don’t have a toe thong which is good as that can rub sometimes and come in two colours, gold and black. . They do have flaws but which shoes don’t? They can be very slippy when wet on the street, and on the shoe itself from your foot, and when I first wore them I felt a bit like I was Paddington Bear in his wellies!

All in all I shall give New Look a 9/10 for their shoe section as the prices and designs of the shoes are fantastic, and I give my new summer sandals a 7/10.

Listening?

This week I have been listening to the new album ‘Fleshtones’ by Kelis. I was surprised when I started listening to this album, as her first album wasn’t really my sort of thing. She’s completely changed her sound to incorporate the new trend for electronic dance pop music (don’t know how else to describe it). The album has her brilliant single ‘Acapella’ and in between each song there is a short piece of music which sets the mood for the next song. My two other fave songs are ‘The 4th of July’ and ‘Song for the Baby’. Its a really cool summer album and worth a second listen to ‘get it’.

Kelis gets a 8/10

Eating?

This week I went to ‘Slug and Lettuce’ with my housemate for lunch to celebrate the handing in of essays and dissertations. Slug and Lettuce is one of my favourite places to eat, the menu is always versatile and changes to suit the season. They make wraps and sandwiches, burger, grilled meats and steak, a delicious baked lasagne, and baked linguine cabonara. This time I had fish and chips which was gorgeous, and my housemate had a Mexican burger. They also have lots of deals and this time it was £10.90 for any bottle of wine, so we got the most expensive one we could but it only cost £10.90! perfect! They also have 2 for 1 desserts which we en joyed!

Slug and Lettuce receives 6/10

Using?

This week I’ve been using Shockwaves Boost it! Heat Defence Volumising Mousse. I’m so bored of my hair at the moment, as it’s inbetween cuts and dye, so I decided to go for a bigger volume look in my hair, also to ease back combing for nights out. First of all it smells gorgeous, and doesn’t leave a sticky mess in your hair like other products can, it adds volume to your hair really well and it lasts until the evening. It would be nice if it lasted longer instead of having to put more in and risk greasiness. Since using the product I have also noticed less split ends and so it does work for the heat defence part of it.

Shockwaves Mousse gets an exciting 7/10

Purchasing?

This week I went for a different magazine than usual, and went for Glamour, not because I need to be more glamorous or anything like that, but because they had free Benefit makeup! Now that’s a bit mean to Glamour magazine, but this month they have either a ‘Badgal Eyeliner’, ‘Eye Bright’ eye pencil and the ‘It stick concealer’. On the website these products are all worth £14.00 each, but Glamour magazine is letting it go to the public for just a measly £2.00. I’m going to get all three! However the magazine itself is ok, it’s a slightly awkward shape and I’m not sure whether it s supposed to be a book or a magazine, and there are adverts inbetween each page which is not good.

Glamour magazine get 5/10 but the fact that it’s letting us get Benefit makeup for £2.00! puts its score up to 6/10

Doing?

This week I’ve been counting down the last three days of my degree, and its now all over, so to pass the bordom I’ve been playing lots of online arcade pc games. I downloaded a Hp Games add on ‘Wild Tangeant Orb’ which allows you to play and download free trials of some arcade games. My favourites are Farm Frenzy, Super Granny, and Build a lot. They all involve doing lots of different tasks at once, by looking after animals, children etc etc. They’re really fun and really addictive, and you get a free trial to play twice before you have the option to pay for the download of the game, or buy wild coins to play the full version and own it. I prefer the free option to just play a game twice, so it doesn’t get too boring and you can have lots of different games.

Wild Tangeant Orb games gets 7/10.

Overall this week has been a bit slow, but I have managed some road testing and trying out of new things for you! Now I’m off to handle the M62 back to Manchester! Next week here I come!