I've Been Thinking... - Things For This Week.

Hi!!!

Here's a collection of things for this week - things to watch, do, read and listen to - which will make your week go from good to great (or at least, better). Enjoy.

WATCH: Derry Girls on Channel 4 (on Thursdays at 10pm) and All 4.

Derry Girls is an utterly hilarious portrayal of youth, set against the backdrop of 1990s Derry in Northern Ireland. Full of very real characters, genuinely funny jokes and the effort and energy of a great cast and crew, you'll be doing yourself a favour if you watch it. It's easily one of the best shows I have seen in ages and I am the biggest fangirl of it. You can see the first two episodes HERE.

LISTEN: Swimming Tapes on SoundCloud.

I recommended some bands that I have been enjoying on SoundCloud recently in THIS post and Swimming Tapes were one of them. They are the band to go to for soft, dreamy guitar tracks which are the perfect way to inject bright and fun feelings into your life this week. Find their SoundCloud page HERE.

READ: Star Wars, The Debate Wars: Jedi vs Sith on Chronicles of the Red Herring.

Even though we have both been blogging for ages, my best friend and I have never collaborated on a blog post (at least not on our current blogs), until now. It took us ages to find a topic we disagree on but eventually we found one - I'm on the side of the Jedi, she prefers the Sith. In the post we discuss everything from weapons to memes - and I took the memes very seriously. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, it was great to work on something together, and if you're a Star Wars fan, I think you'll like reading our Light Side vs Dark Side debate. It might be going up here soon, too, but just in case or if you'd just like to get on with it and read the thing I've been rambling about, we'd both really appreciate if you went over HERE and read it - and as always feel free to share your opinions in the comments - especially if you want to talk about memes.

DO: Sign petitions to help protect the homeless.

This will take all of five minutes to do but it is so worthwhile. The council for Windsor want the police to remove all homeless people and rough sleepers from the area by May (aka the month of the Royal Wedding). THIS petition asks for a long-term solution to help Windsor's homeless population rather than the dehumanising proposed short-term measure. THIS petition asks for the repeal of the 1824 Vagrancy Act which makes it an offence to rough-sleep or beg in England and Wales. This law, despite being two-hundred years old, has been used as recently as 2014 to arrest and charge people. Poverty is not a crime or an inevitability - rage against it.

Thanks for reading - I hope I've helped you find some ways to fill your time this week.
What are your recomendations for this week? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Feel free to leave a comment below if you do.
I hope you have a great week - you got this.

GingerSnaps xxx

I've Been Thinking... - Three Spooky (Not Scary) Movies To Watch This Halloween.

Hi!!!

Today I have some movie recomendations for you. Halloween is fast approaching, and while I'm certainly not a fan of the scary and gory stuff, I do love the spooky and silly sides of Halloween. I'm sure I'm not alone on this and so, with this in mind, I've put together a list of some super fun, spooky movies for you to watch if you're a bit of a wimp like me (nothing to be ashamed of) or if you want to watch something that will be fun for the whole family, because it's far more fun when everyone is involved, isn't it? I've scoured the internet to find out all of your options for viewing these films, from DVDs to streaming services to showings on television channels so you have no excuse for not watching at least one.

Hocus Pocus.

After three centuries, three witch sisters are brought back to life on Halloween night, and it is up to two teenagers, a little girl, and an immortal cat to put an end to their reign of terror once and for all - and they only have until sunrise to do so.

Would it even be October without Hocus Pocus? It is a favourite for many, and it is very easy to see why - a Disney made, spooky comedy with an all-star cast (Bette Midler is a total STAR). It's absolutely hilarious and just the right amount of silly. I think it is a particularly good one to watch with friends - there are so many great lines to giggle at and then quote to each other for the rest of the year.
 Other big selling points are as follows: it

was directed by Kenny Ortega, who later directed and choreographed High School Musical, and it's full of autumnal colours and Bette Midler sings some jazz. It's a must see.

Get it on DVD here - it is also available on Sky Store and Netflix and is on Channel 4 at 3.20pm on Sunday 29th.

Hotel Transylvania.

Hotel Transylvania is a resort built and run by Dracula as a place for monsters to holiday away from the humans that frighten them and as a safe place to raise his daughter Mavis. Mavis is celebrating her 118th birthday with a party at the Hotel, surrounded by all kinds of famous and fabulous monsters. However, a human called Johnathon stumbles upon the Hotel, and ends up disguised as a monster so he doesn't make a scene. Everyone seems to like the new arrival, especially Mavis - but could Dracula deal with his daughter falling for a human?

This is an animated movie - I love animation as a medium and it makes this a really fun Halloween film. It's a really charming movie, full of all kinds of odd-ball characters, and Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) has a really great sense of style.

Get it on DVD here - it is also available on Sky Store and Netflix and is on ITV at 9:25am on Saturday 28th and ITV2 at 4:20pm on Sunday 29th.

Halloweentown.

This is the first in a series of films following the adventures of three children Marnie, Dylan and Sophie. Their grandmother, Aggie, comes to visit them on Halloween - she wants Marnie to start her training as a witch before her 13th birthday because otherwise she'll lose her powers for life. There is a dark force in Halloweentown and Aggie needs help to defeat it. The children follow their grandmother to Halloweentown, where they meet all kinds of supernatural creatures and where the adventure and fight for good really begins.

I am a Disney Channel child through and through and I've spent a lot of my life glued to Disney Channel Original Movies. Halloweentown was one of the first I watched when I was younger and I have loved it ever since.
It has become a firm favourite for me - there are plenty of spooky goings on, a fight to save a town, loveable characters and adventure. It's fun, it's a very entertaining story and it reminds me of being younger - what's not to love?

Get it on DVD here (U.S.A only) - it is also available through Disney Life and is on the UK Disney Channel at 11:37am on Thursday 26th.

This was such a fun post to put together, so I really hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you enjoy these movies if you do give them a try - sit down with a huge mug of tea or hot chocolate and work your way through them for maximum spookiness. 

Do you have a favourite spooky movie that I should add to my watch-list? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Leave a comment and let me know.

Have a wonderful day, I'll speak to you all soon.

I hope you have a spook-tacular day!

GingerSnaps xxx

I've Been Thinking - The Superhumans.

Hi!!!

As I'm sure you all know, the Olympics is currently taking place in Rio and the Paralympics are approaching. Channel 4 are providing the Paralympics coverage this year and they have obviously been advertising this.



The 'We're The Superhumans' advert is inspirational. It features Paralympics athletes as well as a variety of other people with disabilities. Multiple disabilities are shown in the advert.

Everyone in it is shown to be strong and capable of doing whatever they want to - be it sports or brushing their teeth or playing piano and so on.

The song, 'Yes I Can', and band that feature complement the feeling so well. They provide a powerful soundtrack to the actions of the people in the ad.

The first time I saw this ad on TV, I teared up. It was just so moving to see such a broad range of people given a chance to showcase their capabilities to the masses and celebrate each other.
There is a point in the ad when it cuts to a clip of a young man in a wheelchair being told "No, you can't". The next clip is of the same guy yelling "Yes, I can!" while playing basketball. It's heart warming and that is the best way to explain the sentiment this advert carries.

I wanted to share it with you because I want as many people as possible to see it and be inspired by it.

 

You can see it here.

 

I hope you enjoyed the post and enjoy the advert.

What do you think of the advert? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Talk to me in the comments section.

Thanks for reading!

 

Have a super day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx