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... - What I Saw at the Cinema in January: Rogue One and La La land.

Hi!!!

I've said this a lot recently, but last year I really got back into going to the cinema. I really want to continue that this year, because I really enjoy it, and I made a good start by going twice in January. Here's my thoughts on the movies I saw last month, both of which are still running at most cinemas.

The first film I saw at the cinema in 2017 was Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which is set shortly before the events of ‘A New Hope’, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and reveals how the Rebellion got their hands on the designs for the Death Star with the help of former criminal Jyn Erso.
 I went with my Uncle B - we hadn't been to the cinema together in about a million years so it was lovely to spend that time together.

I love Star Wars, and this is one of my favourite films in the franchise.

I find that during most of the Star Wars films, I get bored for at least fifteen minutes or so in the middle, but that didn't happen with Rogue One. I found it engaging, entertaining and I really liked the plot and I think they have the pacing for this one spot on,

The characters were all interesting and individual and I'm really glad I went to see it. I was concerned it would take away from the actual main Star Wars films, but I think it just adds to them - its nice to see more of that universe.

When I first saw the trailer for La La Land, I very excitedly told my best friend Elf Girl about it because she loves musicals just as much as me. It follows the lives of Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a jazz pianist, and the romance that begins between the two of them, which is threatened when they finally find success.

 I enjoyed the film a lot. I think the characters are great, I really like the songs and the score in general and I like that it features dance routines like those from old school Hollywood musicals. There are gorgeous moments in this movie.

 I wasn't keen on some elements of the cinematography -  namely the ridiculously fast, makes-your-eyes-go-out-of-focus panning - but other aspects of it I found to be really beautiful. I'm not mad about the structure - its split into seasons - and in some ways I don't think it is quite all that certain reviewers, critics and people in general say it is, but I did like it all the same and would recommend you go and see it.

There are links here and here to screening times for Rogue One and links here and here to screening times for La La Land.

I hope you enjoyed these mini reviews of two of January's biggest films.

Have you seen these movies? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future content? Please leave a comment below and I'll get back to you.

Thanks for reading, and if you go and see either of these films, I hope you enjoy them.

I hope you have an incredible day!

GingerSnaps xxx