Friday the 13th - Spoilers!

I took a break from packing boxes last night and ventured out to the cinema. I wanted to see "Friday the 13th", the boyfriend did not, I won. Now I've seen the original, I wouldn't call myself a fan but I can certainly see it's charm, and it has some great effects. Jason is undoubtedly a horror icon and although he doesn't really appear in the original, deciding to remake the film with him as the actual killer was always going to work (if you think the film should have been remade at all that is).

After the usual asbo's settling down to start their conversation, having a quick chat on their mobiles and security arriving to tell them to shut up or get out we finally managed to start watching the film (luckily it didn't take much concentration or I might have missed a few key points of the story thanks to those little fuck-wits at the back).

Now I haven't seen the original in years so I may have missed a few nice little references here and there but I'm pretty sure there weren't many of them, if any at all. I was really impressed with a few of the deaths, being tied up in a sleeping bag over the camp fire was pretty nasty (although a little un-Jason like if you ask me) but most of the stuff had been seen and done before. Jason did seem to pop up everywhere, very quickly which worked well I thought and made any form of escape seem unlikely...which in most cases it was! There was a load of gratuitous breast flaunting, which I quite enjoy in a slasher pic although it did verge on the ridiculous as this isn't an exploitation b-movie, or even a small studio movie, it's a huge Hollywood production with Michael Bay at the helm, he's no Tarantino so doesn't quite get away with it.

Stuff I didn't like about the film. As with all of these remakes (often Michael Bay related) they try to over analyse the killer and they can't resist unmasking him! Now I know we've seen glimpses of Jason before and I know he does have a back story but they really over played it here. This isn't "Psycho"! Also why would he keep Whitney alive in his lair (which I'll come back to in a bit)? You're kind of made to assume it's because she resembles his mother which again just doesn't work and gives Jason too much of a heart. I don't like it, he's a mental killing machine for God's sake! On to the lair. Oh my God why do all these new horrors have underground lairs, full of rats and maze-like layouts? Do you really think these dudes have the time or the inclination to dig out miles of tunnels under their houses so that they have somewhere to brood and hold women hostage?! Oh course they don't, the whole point is that they're creepy guys who live in the woods, or the middle of nowhere just waiting for their next kill. They inhabit places we'd normally feel safe or at least familiar with, that's what makes them scary and what in turn makes these underground dungeons so unscary! These new films see the victims looking around weird houses covered in items belonging to the killers childhood far too much. This is where remakes like "House of Wax" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" just go too far, I just want my killers to have no motive, pop up anywhere and everywhere and cut up naked girls, I don't need a back story, I don't need a lair and I don't need them to have a heart!

The film was okay, nothing spectacular but a decent Saturday night out. If you've never seen the original (like my boyfriend) you'll probably enjoy it more but people with a bit of classic slasher knowledge will find it a little lacking. Word on the street (okay Empire magazine) is that they're remaking "A Nightmare on Elmstreet". Noooooooo! They're not using Robert Englund and that man is Freddy Krueger. I can tell you now that film will be terrible, Freddy is the greatest horror icon on all, you don't fuck with Freddy! Jason, it's too late for you my friend.

Soon To Be A Camdenite!

In less than a week I move to Camden. This has been a dream of mine for about 15 years and it's finally coming true. I can crawl out of bed and walk to work (10 minutes), drink in the Hawley every night if the fancy takes me (which I'm sure it will) and buy pink tutu's from the market to my hearts content. Unfortunately I first have to get through the stress of the move. We've been living in the words smallest flat surrounded by rather large boxes for weeks now. We have no sofa as we were running out of room to hold the boxes so we took it to the dump, this means sitting on rather horrible wooden chairs, not what you want after a long day at work.

I also had a rather strange girl knock on my door yesterday asking if this was the flat up for rent, when I said it was she asked to look around and promptly grabbed her mum and her nan, who had been hiding around the corner, and came in. Since, as previously mentioned, I live in the smallest flat in the world and it's full of boxes there was a moment of panic as I tried to fit them all in to my tiny bathroom. Suddenly I realised they weren't here with the landlord (my brother-in-law) and I'd usually be at work at this time of the day (I happened to have a hospital appointment so was working from home), so why the hell were they here? I had visions of being tied up as they pinched all my MCR merchandise, the nan stuffing my Gerard Way doll in her handbag, or the dim daughter stealing my prized "New Kids on the Block" vinyl and chillin' to "I'll be loving you forever" whilst I'm still bound to the radiator. I hurriedly got them out, they weren't impressed with the flat anyway, surprise surprise, and I called my brother-in-law. Turns out they were legit and were simply meant to be looking at the outside, they'd knocked on the off chance someone was in. Phew!

So now all I have to do is ditch my car (anyone want one for scrap?), call the utility companies and get through what may turn out to be the most stressful week of my life. Then the gigs start!!! "The Bronx", "General Fiasco" (with my mates band "Acacia Snow" as support - woo!, "Scarlet Harlots", "Gallows", more "Acacia Snow" and then Camden Crawl. I can't wait. If you see a tattooed, drunkard walking the streets of Camden over the next few months or slouched in the Snug at the Hawley it's not Ms Winehouse, it's moi!

Comic Relief Pin-Ups

I love pin-up girls and unsurprisingly so does my boyfriend. He took great pleasure in telling me that "The Saturdays" are dressed up as pin-ups for their new video which is also the new comic relief video. "The Saturday's" are really quite bad, a poor man's "Girls Aloud", the video is okay but the sexy vibe is lost every time one of them turns to the camera wearing a giant red nose....which is probably the point actually.

Seeing as it's for a good cause and because elements of the video are quite cool I've decided to embed it.



By the way, the last comment left when I viewed this video was simply "cumed". Nice.

Desolation Row

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this cover and how much I adore this video. "Watchmen" is going to be too good. Frank looks like he did in the "Revenge" era and Gerard is looking full of enthusiasm again.
My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row

Spaceman

I just love the new song and video by "The Killers". I love that Brandon is happy to just walk around in a red leotard, giant shoulder pads and a cod piece. He comes across as so serious most of the time but totally dresses to impress with no shame. That's Vegas for you I guess.

The song is one of my favourite songs they've ever done. It's about fame and celebrity....or anal probing. You decide ;)
Spaceman

Snow Day!

I don't know if you've noticed but it's been snowing outside....snowing a lot! I, like so many others, am snowed in and I'm having to work from home. This is actually a real pain in the arse and I don't recommend it. I lost access to our server, had to try to communicate over MSN and my mobile has terrible reception because it's an iphone and O2 is pants. Plus my beloved is also sat next to me trying to work, hogging all my internet and slowing me down even more. The bulk of the day seems to be consumed with arguing over who's going to make the next cup of tea (him, trust me) and me stretching and groaning as our sofa is ancient and I have the back of a 90 year old. This is all made worse by the fact that in 3 weeks I'll be moving to Camden and will be living just 10 minutes from the office, the snow came just a little to soon.

I shouldn't grumble, at least I can work from home. Although if I couldn't I still couldn't travel in so could at least enjoy the snow. We walked to my mum's for lunch yesterday as our cupboards are bare and I needed to stretch my legs. It was lovely out. Everyone was walking their dogs and sinking in the piles of snow. We even managed a very small snowball fight, I've not done that in about 20 years! You can bet your life it will all just be a slushy mess by the weekend and there'll be nothing left to enjoy.

On the plus side, and totally off topic, I saw this yesterday. I now want a wedding cake (when the day finally comes) made up of these and these alone! To cute....and a little worrying.

Show Your Support For Your Favorite unsignedAct Finalist.....And Go To The Final

Click here http://orangeunsignedact.competition-badges.com/ for voting badges, videos and photos and you'll automatically be entered in our competition!

Tommy Reilly at Proud

I'm a bit of a reality TV fan, at least I would be if I had the time to watch it nowadays. One show that I've been dipping in and out of is Orange unsignedAct. I like that the acts actually write their own stuff and seem to show some passion for music rather than fame, which is rare in reality TV. Don't get me wrong, talented people with some musical integrity do enter shows like The X Factor but we never get to see these artists truly shine on a show like that because they're singing songs chosen for them. Will Young has gone from strength to strength mainly because he showed a true talent on the show and then backed it up by writing his own material afterwards.

UnsignedAct showcases an artists full potential from the very start and I like that. One young man who has really done well this year is Tommy Reilly. He's a 19 year old Glaswegian with a very unique voice and singing style and an incredibly sweet character. This week I was lucky enough to meet Tommy at his gig at Proud in Camden and see him perform. Whether Tommy wins or not it doesn't matter, he a real star and is destined to succeed. He was extremely chatty, looked genuinely pleased to meet me and was hilarious in the most natural, interesting way. Telling me stories of his time working in Tesco (if you ever meet him ask him about Jaffa Cakes) and the manic pace of London that has him a little panicked. He was completely unfazed about performing and when it was time for him to take to the stage (at 11pm!) he was on great form both singing and chatting with the audience.

If you've not checked out unsignedAct this year then give it a watch this Sunday (there are three shows left) and take a looked here, there's definitely a nice mix of finalists this year. Here are a few photo's I took at the gig.

Goodbye 2008...

It's New Years day and I'm sick in bed debating whether to go to the doctors tomorrow or not...and I'm a little bored to be honest. I feel I've neglected my blog for a while so I'm going to try and get something down.

2008 was a good year for me, I'm not sure 2009 holds as much promise so far but then I am the worlds biggest pessimist so we'll see. "What was so great about 2008?" I hear you ask, well let me try to tell you.

First off things took off for me at work. I started at Band & Brown in September 2007 as an admin assistant and I can honestly say it was the best job I've ever had and I think I ever will have but in 2008 I got promoted to the CEO's Research Assistant, it was a huge leap for me and it's a role that has since opened a lot of doors for me and seen me take on yet another new role as a Project Manager for Brando Digital. After spending three and a half years in limbo living in Coventry and feeling I amounted to nothing 2008 really made me realize I could achieve something in my career. Plus I work in Camden which is home to me, I swear I spend more time there than I do in my own flat. On that note the Hawley Arms was rebuilt! After the terrible Camden fire in February the iconic pub's future was really uncertain but it reopened at the end of October and I couldn't be happier. All our friends are back and I can enjoy my favourite houmous and a pint of chips every lunch time again. I even managed to have my birthday party there and it was brilliant.

Secondly my favourite band, 'My Chemical Romance', had a quiet year for the most part which meant I had a lot of time to listen to new stuff. In April I found 'One Night Only'. Now I've said it before, they're not the best band in the world but they make me happy AND it's not just about them it's everything that goes with them. Through going to their gigs I've met some amazing people that I can't imagine my life without now. Friends that I now wouldn't dream of going to a gig without and that I spend hours talking to online and texting when I don't actually get to see them. I've also met friends that I can talk to about music and tattoos and share stuff with and I know they won't judge me, friends who have really inspired me and continue to try to introduce me to cool music. So through a band that nobody else seems to like I've really gained something in my life.

But I've not forgotten 'MCR' and I've had two new 'MCR' tattoos done this year that mean a lot to me. I think I'll write a post about the meaning of all my tattoos later but I just want to say that in a year where 'MCR' have been really quiet, doing their own personal stuff and just getting on with their lives they've still managed to be important to me, inspire me and keep me sane.

2008 saw some awesome films come out too. 'Dark Knight' was out of this world and I'm so gutted that we'll never get to see Heath Ledger play the Joker again. The Joker is the best villain ever...EVER, and I think I'll be getting a Joker/Harley Quinn tattoo at some point in the near future. 'Twilight' was cool too, although the books are a million times better. The film was a pretty honest adaptation and I think any flaws with this one will be ironed out in time for 'New Moon' which should be ace.

I never usually do new years resolutions but I think this year I may try. I'm going to try my hardest to move to Camden by April at the latest, this will give me more time to spend with my friends and loved ones rather than being sat on a train commuting. I'm going to lose a few pounds, the diet has started and my new tattoo on my ribs is the perfect excuse to get trim and toned for the Summer (not that I'll be flashing my ribs off, I stopped all that when I hit 21). I'm going to work my arse off at work to really try to prove myself and get the most out of having a career. Most importantly I'm going to stay true to myself this year, I'll stay the same little tattooed, pierced, obsessive little Camden freak that I've always been and not care what anyone thinks of me. Maybe 2009 won't be so bad after all.

Last one I promise

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