Hey there everyone! I’ve been super busy
with little to no time on my hands, therefore this feature is very short (very, very, very short),
because I simply did not have the time, nor the energy to think of something
clever and eloquent to talk about since a lot of stuff is going on in my family
right now and school is kicking my ass. I’m sorry but real life is more
important than this blog after all J.
I really am empty for ideas and I have
no idea what to talk about in this feature, so I’m just going to leave you with
this video and the wish of being just as flexible. Seriously, this video is
beyond awesome and cool and magnificent, so just … watch the fabulousness, you
won’t regret it (also, I want to be able to do that with my legs)! Again, sorry for the shitty feature but hopefully I’ll be up
with something much better next week.
Now I'm gonna go and wallow in self-pity because I hate my life.
It's Monday, school is kind of busy and I feel dragged down by fatigue and the fact that the weather can't decide whether it'll be winter-y or summer-y.
Why am I telling you this? Well, today I want to show you a musical that NEVER FAILS TO CHEER ME UP (yes, that needed to be in capslock) despite the serious topics it discusses. I never mentioned it on my list over my favorite musicals, but it should've been on it.
Original Broadway cast of Next to Normal
I'm talking about ... Next to Normal; a clever, clever musical with books and lyrics written by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. Through 37 extremely well-written and catchy song it tells the story of a dysfunctional family. The parents Diana and Dan lost their son 16 years ago and it has taken a great toll on both of them, and especially Diana who now suffers from bipolar disorder. Trying to fix what's left they get the daughter Natalie, but she is suffering from the fact that the son, Gabriel, never left. The ghost of him is always there in the house making sure that they, and especially Diana, will never forget him.
Next to Normal speaks up about a lot of different and serious topics that I haven't stumbled upon in a musical before. Bipolar disorders, how you deal with loss and grief, drug abuse and how you should approach modern psychiatry and the ethics concerning that; these are all part of our society and it's great having a musical that can convey these to the audience and make them question it but also educate them.
Alice Ripley as Diana Goodman
The gallery of persons in the musical consist of the Goodman family; Dan, Diana, Nathalie and Gabriel, the psychiatrists Dr. Fine and Dr. Madden and Nathalies boyfriend Henry, and while a lot of musicals have a huge cast, I don't think the story of Next to Normal would be the same without the simplicity it consists of. It is the raw emotions that drives the story and whether it's a rock-song, a soft ballad or a simply melody waving through the audience it moves you and there's always a song that fits your mood, thus bringing me full circle. It never fails to cheer me up.
Also, can we take a moment and appreciate the fantastic set-design? Simply and yet so expressive the three niveaus complete with staircases serve as house, school, psychiatry etc. Such a clever choice that fits the musical!
Set of Next to Normal
Eventhough there's 37 songs on the soundtrack and the story are told pretty much through song throughout the whole thing you never get bored. The songs are so nuanced that you will always notice new things when listening and it's just wonderful.
So yes, this is definitely one of my favorites as well and if you want, you can watch Aaron Tveit (Gabriel), Alice Ripley (Diana) and J. Robert Spencer (Dan) perform one of the most popular songs from the show at the Tony awards. It's definitely worth a watch! Just saying!
I hope you've had a wonderful weekend and see you all next Monday.
I'll go back to listening to my soundtrack and crying a bit over how perfect everything is! ;)
Okay, so I thought I might tell you a bit about how and why I started rowing today. You know, the lovestory about me and rowing.
Once upon a time (last summer) there was a young princess (yes, me) going on a canoe trip with her faithful esquire (one of my very good friends), not knowing how her life would change drastically once she got home. It was a very exciting canoe trip where the princess and the esquire had to fight their way past frightful weather and horrible monsters (some very VERY aggressive swans) and more than once they thought they would never get home alive (honestly, there wasn't a single second where we thought that). But eventually they returned safely to the castle where they lived, having had a very good canoe trip.
The princess was so excited about the trip that she started to follow the rowing tournament (the Olympic Games) because rowing is as close to canoeing as you can get. The princess found that rowing was much better than canoeing and one day when the queen (my sweet mother) got tired of the princess watching the tournament all the time, she said the following to the princess: "My dear, if you enjoyed your canoe trip so much, and if you like watching the rowing tournament so much now, why do you not start rowing yourself?" And the princess thought to herself, well, why not?
So she started to look into the business and discovered that: a) there was a rowing club in her kingdom (my town) and that b) the rowing club was having a rowing week for novices (kids between 11 and 17) just like her where they would introduce new people to rowing. The princess immediately sign up for it and for weeks she looked forward to it. She convinced one of her maids (yet another of my very good friends) to go to the event with her.The week finally came and for five days from 10 am to 3 pm the princess and her maid went down to the local rowing club and learned how to row.
How I felt after summer rowing school
When the week had come to an end the princess had to choose weather to continue at the rowing club or resign and never row again, there was no doubt in her heart. She had found her knight in shining armour and from that day on the princess and Rowing lived happily ever after.
So as you can see, it was love at first sight with me and rowing. If you understood nothing from my little fairy tale (I wouldn't blame you), here is a short summery: I went on a canoe trip and liked it a lot. I started watching rowing in the Olympic Games and liked it even more. I started at a summer rowing school in the local rowing club where I was introduced to rowing and the people down there. I loved it and joined the club. End of story.
Now one of you guys asked how the people in the rowing sport are, if they are reserved and very closed, and yes, to some amount they are. Rowers like their safe and comfortable community, where they know everybody and everybody knows who you are. So perhaps yes, a little reserved. At least reserved until you show just the tiniest interest in rowing. Then they come at you like hungry wolves and try to recruit you at all cost. That is what happened to me. When I went to the summer rowing school I met a girl who needed a partner for a double sculler, and she took good care of me (and still does). She showed me the do's and don'ts in the rowing world and I think meeting her and her unconquerable enthusiasm about rowing is part of the reason why I kept rowing after the summer rowing school. Of course apart from the total awesomeness of rowing, obviously...
I think I could keep blabbering on and on about the joys of rowing and why I started, but I suspect it might start boring you guys, so I better stop now while the going is still good. So, see you next week guys!
As funky as my title may sound, as funky the subject!
Or almost.. Because it is not quite funk I want to talk about today, but
instead my favorite band at the moment: Alt-J (∆).
If you do not know Alt-J, you may wonder what their name means. It’s actually kind
of cool!
If you know your Macs, you would know that when you
push the “Alt” and then the “J” key, it is a shortcut for the ∆ sign. (I must say I
did not know before I got interested in Alt-J, since I don’t own a Mac). Also; if you know your mathematics, you will know that the ∆ sign is called “delta”
and means change or difference, which can be either positive or negative.
To say a little more informative about the band, I can tell it consists
of 4 English men, who play guitar, bass, keyboard, drums and of course sing.
The first time I heard them was on the radio (of course, too much
radio). Their song “Tessellate” was played a lot for a period, and I fell
totally in love! Their sound are kind of indie meets rock meets alternative…
ish. They are such an artistic band, with a great talent of timing,
experimenting with sounds and the singing is nothing but amazing!
Where the wild things are
But the thing I love the most (besides the amazing sounds) is their
lyrics. Every piece of lyric contains so much emotion, history and feeling. They
make their own universes, sometimes by lending a piece of others. For example Breezeblocks,
where they are referring to the children’s book Where the wild things are by
singing "I’ll eat you whole", or in Matilda,
where they refer to the movie Léon throughout the song.
Matilda from Léon
They have gotten a lot of critique for their song Fitzpleasure though, because
the song is about a gang-rape scene from a rather harsh book called Last exit
to Brooklyn. I think the critique is absolutely unfair. Such a subject
as taboo as rape should definitely be discussed! I think it is very noble of
them to make a spotlight on the very serious subject, and I do not believe that
they praise the horrible subject; they rather make it a subject for
discussion, which is the way forwards.
But since I could talk about and analyze all of their songs to death, I think I’d
rather stop that talk here.
To end with some positive energy and good karma, here’s a picture of me
with a necklace I got from one of my best friends at my birthday. She bought it
in Alt-J’s merchandise, and it is of course their ∆ sign. To top it, I have
made their hand-sign, which I believe they have invented themselves! (That just confirms how well thought through the band is, doesn't it?).
I hope you enjoyed my post, and if you thought that at least some of this
sounded interesting, you should check out their debut album An Awesome Wave –
it is definitely worth it!!
Today I havea wonderful little animated film called ''In Between''that I want toshow
you, and at the same time talk abouta topicthat is veryrelevant in relation tothe film: Shyness.
In the filmwe meet a younggirlwho is having a meeting with some kind of therapy/psychologist, where she is diagnosed with ''a crocodile'' - The crocodile symbolizes hershynesswhich constantlypursuesher (as a crocodile).
As you follow the girlthrough hereveryday life, you soon realize that her severeshynessactually affectsher lifeto such an extentthat she can't function probaly in society: Shedon't dare topick up the phone, to present herideasat work or to greethercuteneighboor whom she has a little crush on.
As a result to all the problems her shyness created for her, she ends up collapsing in frustration - she realized long ago that she had a problem, but she doens't know how to solve it - because how do you solve shyness?
We get the answer to that question when the girlafter herbreakdownrealizesthat she shouldn't fight hershyness but rather embrace it(aka the crocodile) - theshynessis a part ofher, so she would never be able to make it dissapear, butshecan learn toaccept it: shecan learnto love herself (and her flaws).
At the end of the movie she cuddlesher crocodileand walks outto herneighboor withtwo cups of coffee - she's still shy, but she has never been stronger.
Today’s post is going to be a short one, since I came
home just a few hours ago, and am now very tired. I hope you don’t mind! J
Since I play a lot of video games, I need a source to
learn about new games. My source; let’s players! So I thought I should tell you
about my two favorite let’s players of all time!
First up: PewDiePie!
Source: Unknown - but it's probably Pewds' own photo
You don’t know him? Then go to YouTube’s front page,
and one of his videos will surely pop op somewhere. Those videos are everywhere!
PewDiePie, also called Pewds or Felix is probably one
of the most popular let’s players out there, since his fans and subscribers has
increased A LOT over the last few months. He plays almost all kinds of games,
but for what I know, he was made famous with his scary gameplays. Instead of
just being plain scared of the games, Pewds used to have and still has a great
kind of humor, making all the scary stuff in the games seem either humorous or
ridiculous.
Pewds is a positive guy, always joking, and always
caring for his friends and fans, the so-called bro army (which I am proud to be
a part of).
A negative thing about Pewds can be that he easily ruins
a good story in a game, since he, if the game is too tragic or sad, let’s the
jokes take over and therefore ruins the mood. But if you need a great laugh, or
are feeling down, PewDiePie is the best at changing the mood and putting a
smile on your face.
Here's one of PewDiePie's videoes - It's not a game video, but a kind of vlog, which he makes every friday (except he's always late), and it's called: "Fridays with PewDiePie!"
ChaoticMonki, the so-called Cry, whose real name is
Ryan is probably my favorite let’s player. Unlike many of the popular let’s
players, Cry hides his identity as much as possible, not having a face cam when
playing, and not telling the fans too much about himself. But that is probably
why so many people love Cry. He is a mysterious, but interesting guy with a
very soothing voice, if I may say so.
When Cry is playing video games, he manages to completely
put himself in the main character’s stead. He puts all of his heart into the
story, mood and characters, and he often ends up being very emotional. When bad
stuff happens in the game, Cry can become unbelievably mad (trust me – you wouldn’t
want to meet him mad!), when sad stuff happens, Cry sometimes feels so
emotional that he may start crying, and when good stuff happens, Cry acts like
the happiest guy on earth.
He is so earnest when playing video games, and puts
his everything into it, and I just love how sincere he can be. Aside from
playing video games, Cry also does a few “Cry reads” videos, where he reads
aloud scary stories, which isn’t anything but perfect for me!
His voice acting is amazing, and he manages to capture
every feeling in every word, he reads aloud – it’s like magic! But let me not get
started on his perfect voice!
A nice fact about Cry is that he does livestreams with his friends every Saturday night at the website:
I’m going to start this feature off with
a little something about myself. For months
now (and when I say months I mean years) I’ve been looking for the product, the product that would give
my skin the flawless finish as seen in the magazines and alike. I have searched
and tried different products and none of them gave me the result I wanted. I
have finally figured out why. The reason (besides the fact that those photos
are photo shopped and have gotten airbrushed the hell out of them) is that I
have freckles. Bum. That’s the reason. I have tiny little dots of miscoloured
skin all over my face, and I mean, all
over. Sigh. I must come to terms with the fact that that is something I,
unfortunately, cannot change. I will just never achieve the flawless complexion
of those models. And as I’ve read in my make up-book How to look pretty, not plastered one must never try to conceal
freckles, because then one will end up looking powdery and chalky. Trust me on
this one, I’ve tried.
But generally, makeup is a pretty
wonderful thing. It’s incredibly how a bit of colour here and there can
completely chance one’s appearance. It is indescribably cool. I’ve worn makeup
since I was about fourteen or fifteen years old and the reasons behind the
cosmetic use are simple: My sister was wearing it, some of my friends were
starting to wear it and I thought it was cool and pretty. I wear makeup pretty
much every day. It doesn’t matter whether I’m wearing a really fancy dress with
my high healed boots or wearing my most comfortable sweats with a hoodie, I
will always, without fail, be wearing makeup. Why? Because it makes me feel
pretty and I feel put together. So even though my clothes might not be up to
scratch, at least my face doesn’t look like a ran-over rat or something that
has slept under a rock for ages. Because that is how my face looks like without
makeup and I’m not lying or exaggerating, I really do look like s***. My
everyday makeup routine is nothing fancy: A bit of concealer, some foundation,
a bit of compact powder and mascara – BOOM! Done. But seriously, to me, make up
is kind of like art. Your appearance can change completely just by applying some products here and there.
Even though makeup can do all of
that, makeup shouldn’t really be about changing your appearance or making you
look picture perfect. To me, makeup is about enhancing and accentuating your
best features! So if you have really big eyes, why not enhance them with
eyeliner and mascara; if you have really prominent cheekbones, highlight them!
Makeup is about making you look your best – be the best version of yourself
that you can. I’m not saying you have to wear makeup – I’m all for the natural
look which I can’t rock myself because of my very prominent and always present
blush, but there is no reason why you should wear makeup if you don’t want to.
I just think that if something makes you feel more confortable and confidant,
then why not utilize it? If it makes you carry yourself taller, makes you feel
attractive and on top of the world, like it does to me, then you should defiantly
take advantage of it. Wearing makeup does not make you fake – just like not
wearing makeup doesn’t make you sloppy. When it comes to makeup (and a lot of
other things in life) I say ‘to each its own – that’s what makes the world go
around’. But I will always be wearing makeup not matter what. Funny enough, its
when I wear makeup I feel the greatest.
As always, courage,
Laura
PS Sorry for the late posting … I
suck. Also, grammar.
A new week has begun thus meaning that I have to write an entry on here. Last time I gave you an overview over my absolute favorite musicals and hinted that I'd be visiting a certain green troll in his swampy home with his faithful companion, Donkey.
As you might can guess from my hints... Yes, I went to watch the Danish production of Shrek: The Musical with a couple of friends including Sofie, Christine and Laura from here (it was actually a birthdaygift to Sofie).
I love the story about the green troll and it has always been one of my favorite movies; one of those you could always return to knowing you'd be cheered up instantly. The wicked and funny characters really makes an impact on you, which is why I was quite excited to see how the musical would be.
My feelings about it are quite mixed. I like the spin they took on the original movie and I really digged the minimalistic stage-design with three big, oval shaped scenes upon each other which served both as a castle, a hill and the swap when being lighted up by projecting pictures. There wasn't anything wrong with the actors as well; they were really good and I loved the costumes and their voices! Especially Maria Lucia's, who played Fiona, but I think I've always had some sort of musical-crush on her.
I wasn't exactly blown away though, and it kind of really annoys me since I have had so many expectations to Shrek: The Musical. The production lacked intimacy; it may have to do with were we were sitting (quite in the top actually) and the venue (Forum Copenhagen is one big no-go when it comes to musicals) but it doesn't change that fact that I was left with a quite empty and anticlimactic feeling when we had applauded for the last time and the actors had gone off the stage. No, I do not demand getting dragged onto the stage so I physically can be a part of it, but I just wanted to be invested in these characters and feel like I was tagging along with Donkey and Shrek on their adventurous fare even though I was just sitting in my seat. Because that's what the story is about; it's about watching these three total different people form a friendship. Most of the time I caught myself thinking that this could be a movie; I did not feel like I was watching something live.
The musical had its magical moments, yes, and Martin Brygmann who played Lord Farquaard was absolutely genius, but I think I have to say that it wasn't really down my alley. I had some laughs, a few chills, and the songs were okay ... but they didn't really make an impact on me (beside thise one) and, unfortunately, neither did the musical.
Weekend at last! What we have all been looking forward to all week has finally arrived and it is now time to relax, have a nice time with your friends and family and most important of all sleep. A lot. Or at least, that is what I suspect most people will be doing, because that is not exactly what I am doing. I woke up at 7 am this morning and while I am sitting and writing this I am getting mentally ready for a way too early training session at 9 am. I honestly have no idea why the trainers in my club want us to train so early every goddamn weekend. I mean, who on earth is ready to go train the hell outta you at 9 o'clock in the morning??? As you might have guessed I am not. Even though I always wake up two hours before training I am still not mentally awake and I suspect I look more like a zombie then a person. I think the deal with this early training session is that we can get training over with quickly and afterwards be able to do stuff in the afternoon and evening with our friends and family. I do see the point and it is rather sensible, but honestly the first thing I usually do after a morning training is go home and sleep or do nothing productive at all because I am so tired...
Well, enough of me complaining about the ungodly hour of my training in the weekends, what I really wanted to show you today was this video I found on youtube. It is the Austrian rowing crew just being awesome to even more awesome music. This last week I have watched it very, very many times and every time I see it I can't help think "This is why I row". I mean just look how awesome they are! You can almost feel how the boat moves with every stroke they take, and the perfect water and just how f***ing fantastic rowing is! Okay, I might be a bit too excited, but what the hell, I like it.
Also, I thought this little video might give you an idea of what rowing is, if you were wondering. I mean, before I started rowing I had absolutely no idea what it was, how you did it or what the boats look like. So here you go. And also, all creds for the video goes to the Austrian crew. I wish one day I will be just as good at rowing as these guys are! At the moment I am just trying to stay in the boat and avoid falling in the water but I suppose it will come soon... My tainer told me that I will be a good rower when I have rowed 4000 km. At the moment I have rowed 130 km in total. I have a long way to go...
Okay admitted, while I wrote this, I might have listened to the video... More than once... Actually three times... I should really use my time for more productive things than watching rowing videos on the internet... I should probably train instead, so I can row my 4000 km and be good.
Also, I should probably go now or else I will be terribly late for training.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and please drink responsible everybody
Yes that is right! It is now Friday, which means that I today will present the absolute climax of my week - and I must definitely say that it was this Wednesday!
The time that I had long waited for, had come - Imagine Dragons' concert in Denmark! I went there with my lovely friends Rebecca and Sofie (aka Miss Monday and Miss Thursday) and it was an incredible experience!
Mont Oliver
We came early and saved ourselves some good spots, and I must say that I am impressed of how much we actually were able to see. The support for Imagine Dragons (chosen by the music venue, Vega, I suppose) was a very new danish band called Mont Oliver. They played some cool beats in a mix of hiphop and indierock, and you sure felt the music - literally! The bass was pumping trough my chest and the musicians were giving it their all, still looking all cool. Mont Oliver had a very new sound I think we will hear more of in the future, especially with their first single comming out in May and them playing at the SPOT festival in Århus.
Imagine Dragons
After Mont Oliver, we waited for 30 very long minutes, hoping for Imagine Dragons to show their pretty faces any time. And our expectations were met when they stepped on stage and pulled on the h*** of a show! Very energetic they started their indierock sound with Round and Round with lights dancing, big drums beating and the crowd going wild. The audience were surprisingly dedicated, and we were singing and dancing and jumping in every single song. The band did a great job as well involving us, the audience, by dancing and encouraging us to sing along. Their party on stage sure did affect us, the audience!
Imagine Dragons
Spellbound by the beautiful voice (and body) of Dan Reynolds I got some new favourites among their songs, since I have always loved the uptempo-happy songs (Underdog and On Top of the World especially) more, but seeing the different songs live, I got a bigger love for all of them! Especially Bleeding Out and their last song Nothing Left to Say made their way to my heart! The sound was just way more beautiful live, and I loved the intense drumplaying that made an almost marching sound through most of the songs, which still is stuck on my mind by now. But what can one say? It was a wonderful experience, that I shall not soon forget!
