TIL

It's been almost a year since I wrote anything on this blog, and that's mainly due to - well. It's mainly due to having a crisis about uni like every week and also organising a trip away and then actually going on it.

Two days ago I got back from travelling Europe for what were probably the greatest two months of my life, and I know it's super cliche to say "I went to Europe and found myself," but like. That's exactly what happened.

For many who know me, I'm not typically the most outgoing and confident person you will ever meet. In fact, I struggle with anxiety every day of my life, which is why it was a shock to my family when I said "I'm going to Europe. By myself."*

*Well, I got the plane over there by myself. That counts, right?

One small step for man, but one huge leap for Madolynkind.

I know people do it every day, but for me, getting on that plane and flying twenty four hours to the other side of the world, alone, was probably one of the most terrifying things I've ever done.

When I got off that flying death tube at the other end, the excitement was unreal. I had made it! This was the new me! It was time to #YOLO, #LWWY, and other hashtag acronyms that mean having a great time and potentially doing stupid things in the name of them!

After a few days exploring London with one of my best friends, whom I had only met once before in real life (that's the power of the internet these days, folks), it was time for another daunting experience: the first day, alone again, on my 24 day Topdeck tour.

Yeah, the first morning was pretty scary. But once we were on the bus, and our trip leader had danced down the aisle to the great classic hit 'Don't Stop Movin'' by S Club 7, I knew everything was going to be all right. (And it was. But how much I recommend you to go on a tour is a story for another time.)

Our tour group bonded like a family, but all too soon it was time to say goodbye, and hello to my old friends who were all just arriving.

Traveling with friends is, in my opinion, not something to be taken lightly, and I can't explain to you how fucked up my group of friends is and everything we've been through with each other. In summary, everyone has dated/liked/kissed/hated everyone, and before this trip, some of us hadn't actually spoken in months. Truly the ideal situation for a month of close proximity to one another in foreign countries.

Everything went (mostly) fine though, but band-aids don't fix bullet holes (right Tay?) and towards the very end, it all came out. This led to a little bit of patching up, but also to new holes being ripped. Honestly, I can't keep up with us either.

Now here's the lame part: what I learned.

• I am strong and confident and I can do things on my own. 
• I can solve problems and speak French well enough and pretend nothing ever happened so no fusses are caused and take internal flights even with the risk they might lose my bags
• I have a talent for spotting famous people
• Europe is full of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and now been
• I can't be trusted with my money in makeup stores

These lessons are all very heartfelt and important and I am so glad that I was able to learn them while I was having the best time ever exploring incredible places and meeting incredible people. Don't miss me too much, Europe, I'll be back soon!

#TRXYE

Being involved as a fan of Youtube means you get to see people you've watched for years achieve their dreams and shit safely from your very own bed, which often makes you feel insecure about your life and your age. So now that lil Youtube kid from Perth (I say 'lil kid' he's literally the same age as me), Troye Sivan, has released his music, and gone to #1 in like 55 countries, we should probs talk about it. 

I'm gonna start this off by saying I was a little apprehensive about listening to his music, and I've never watched any of the songs he's posted on his Youtube channel. The reason for this is that I have this weird thing where I can't listen to/read anything that someone I know has created, and I know that I don't know Troye, but weirdly the same thing applies to him. I'm interested to see if it will happen when Zoella releases her novel. It probably will, but I will push on!

Anyway, when I finally worked up the courage to listen to his first single, Happy Little Pill, I was a little (a lot) surprised. The sound is awesome, he's a good singer, but I was really taken aback by the lyrics and they still kind of make me uncomfortable. I don't really like it when I feel like the singer doesn't have a personal connection to the things they're singing about, and this song makes me go Troye????? What have you been DOING????? But also kind of like, this kid is 19 and Australian like me, what am I not seeing? Even though his life is clearly a lot different to most normal 19 year old Aussie kids.

Upon learning he wrote it about something his friend was going through (taking antidepressants) combined with the feeling of emptiness when alone in a big city (LA), it became easier to handle and I feel like you can really concentrate on the way it feels like travelling alone in a car at night time looking out the window as lights flash by along a busy night strip. 

Right, the rest of the EP. TRXYE features 5 songs, all of which flow really well together and construct a sound that is sort of electronic but really chill and so cool at the same time. It makes me imagine bright neon light shining through fog above a road wet from rain. My favourite song is Fun, beats me what it's about but who cares when it has such a great feel to it. They all feel very American, as well. Do you get that? I don't know, they just do.

I've been listening to the EP on repeat for a couple of hours now. His voice is smooth and so nice, on all the tracks, especially the deeply personal Gasoline. He clearly has an aesthetic in mind that he wants his image to ascribe to and it certainly does. From the album cover, where his eyes are covered, to the X in the name, to the Happy Little Pill video, which is so beautiful and, random owls aside, really keeps in with the blue/pink/everything/nothing/who am I theme-ish type thing. From here, I can only see him skyrocketing to stardom. Pedestrian.tv has already called him Boy Wonder, and frankly, he's so cool he makes us all feel a bit inadequate.

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel's newest venture that rolls everything you would ever need (Chris Pratt, a talking raccoon, Footloose references and a jukebox full of retro 70s jamz) into one crowd-pleasing outer-space adventure.

After a kind of sad cold open where his mother dies and he gets abducted by aliens as a young child, we meet a now adult Peter Quill, a self-proclaimed "legendary outlaw" that tries (and fails) to go by the name Star Lord, wearing a weird Cyberman mask as he moves seriously through the landscape of some random planet. He then unmasks, puts on his headphones, and presses play on his Awesome Mix tape, and proceeds to start having a lil dance. 

It's at this moment we realise that this is not just another cookie cutter superhero film. A world away from grounded Avengers, Spider-Man and the dark and broody Batman, this movie is making fun of itself while speeding through space and having a bloody great time doing it.

Peter travels through space fighting people who want the super powerful orb he's picked up, which is revealed to be a cousin of the Tesseract (Avengers link, oh yeah) and hooking up with a team of outlaws, assassins and green people to assist him in fighting people who want the super powerful orb (after they've broken out of prison, of course).

The plot was a bit confusing (what with all the villainous blue people wanting the orb and all) but it didn't really matter when it was really all about the ragtag gang of lead characters.

Chris Pratt, who has hitherto been known to most people as Andy off of Parks and Rec, made himself over big time to play basically a buffer version Andy off of Parks and Rec that is also in space. It works, though. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is awesome and green, a trained warrior and badass fighter with some light family issues (she kind of wants to kill her dad). Drax, played by Dave Bautista, is a revenge driven family man, whose straightforward thinking makes for some great comedy opportunities made out of misunderstood metaphors. Rounding out the team is Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his tree sidekick Groot (Vin Diesel) who literally can only say the words "I", "am", and "Groot" and only in that order.

Together, they were a hilarious gang and they knew it, we knew it, the moviemakers knew it. And that's what made the movie so great. There was one scene that was a spoof of the "badass team slow mo walking in preparation for battle" shot where they were all yawning or pulling faces or itching their nose.

The whole thing was just so funny, not only because it was full of wisecracks from Quill and Rocket, but also because the 70s soundtrack was just so juxtaposed to the action and it just made everything that much more of a good time.

Overall, this sort-of origin story that's a bit Star Wars and a bit so much better is awesome and it knows it. "We're not The Avengers" it screams, "but we're fuckin' cool anyway."

This Month: July

at the cinema i saw 

It was a slow month for movies, which meant I only saw three new films. How depressing. Probably an all-time low.

Jersey Boys 

I've not seen the stage musical of Jersey Boys but I really enjoyed the movie. The music was great and of course I fell in love with the asshole character, Tommy. As the story moves pretty quickly through time (the characters start out at about 16 and end up, well, old) I thought they were doing a pretty decent job of ageing the actors up, until I found out they were like 40 and they were AGEING THEM DOWN. What betrayal.

Calvary 

I suppose this was a good movie. I mean "the critics probably liked it" not "entertaining and I liked it." It didn't particularly move me in any way. Even the scene where Brendan Gleeson literally gets his brains blown out didn't make an impact. I didn't feel like there was much suspense, because I picked who the murderer was from the beginning, so I was just waiting for it to happen. Pretty, beautiful scenery. weird cameo by Brendan's (gorgeous) son Domnhall, but otherwise...you know. Kind of boring.

Sex Tape

Heaps of fun. Especially the parts when they were flustered about the Cloud because same. Literally what is the Cloud???? Never trust the Cloud. I don't really know what else to say about this movie other than I had a good laugh.

i watched

In The Flesh A super cute zombie drama with a super cute main character (Kieren, played by Luke Newberry) with actually a lot of social commentary and metaphors for social issues woven in. We follow Kieren as he tries to settle back into his small, close-minded town after rising from the dead, and the members of the town as they come to terms (or don't) with the presence of Partially Dead Syndrome sufferers in their lives. It's a miniseries, three one-hour episodes in the first series and six in the second, so it's a quick binge watch that will also conveniently tear your heart out at the same time. 

The 100 Another CW YA sci fi show??????? Sign me up. About a century after some sort of something that made earth uninhabitable for humans, the space station carrying the last of humankind is running our of oxygen and supplies. Their only hope: send 100 underage prisoners to the ground as guinea pigs because it doesn't matter, they were going to be executed anyway. It's another one of those shows where it's really all about the teenagers but they try and put in a storyline about the adults that literally nobody cares about. The first season basically covered the 100, led by beautiful heroine Clarke and kind-of-an-asshole-but-still-really-hot Bellamy, struggling to survive, govern themselves, and find and keep supplies, and discovering that there actually are people that have been living on earth this whole time! Exhilarating. Plus, Bellarke. Watch it, you'll see what I mean. 

i listened to 

Taylor Henderson My fave from last year's X Factor Australia just released his second album (well, first proper one. The X Factor cover albums don't really count) and it is so lovely I haven't stopped listening to it all month. I saw him live at the end of last month and he is just so fantastic it hurts me. 

i read 

The 100 by Kass Morgan I obviously read because I had just finished the TV show and I really wanted to know if Bellarke happened. What I found was quite similar to the show, however there were a few characters added or changed for the show. There was a storyline I LOVED in the book that they cut out of the show and decided to replace with the aforementioned crap token adult storyline, God knows why. Why? Why. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this and I'm excited to see where both the book and the show go on from here.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is the sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer which I read last month. This one got INTENSE. I loved it. In this one, Mara is struggling to deal with the fact that she can kill people by thinking about it, obviously, and the fact that everyone around her thinks she is mad and are constantly institutionalising her. On top of this, she knows her ex-boyfriend Jude, who was supposedly killed in an accident she caused pre-book 1, is alive, and coming for her. These books are crazy and creepy and exciting, plus the romance isn't the whole focus, even though it is great. They just lazily bicker and banter all the time, it's so entertaining.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me is Mindy Kaling's biography, basically, full of anecdotes about her life growing up and working her way up to being a writer on The Office. This is pre-The Mindy Project, but if you've seen that you'll love this book. So funny, laugh out loud funny, and mostly very relatable, this was a quick but very entertaining read.

I Am Juliet by Jackie French is a book I am probably too old for, but when I heard that it was giving life and mind to one of my favourite characters of all time, I had to read it. It's basically Romeo and Juliet from Juliet's perspective. You probably haven't thought about it too much, but Romeo and Juliet doesn't really tell us all that much about Juliet (which is potentially why so many people misread it and dismiss her as a stupid little girl) and this book was an opportunity to delve into her thoughts, her life, her routine as a young noble girl in Verona at the time. It was quite simple, but for an R&J fan like myself, a really fascinating read. Loved it.

i got obsessed with 

Musicals! 

Living in Australia, we don't have anything like the prestigious Broadway or West End experiences, where many shows run simultaneously for long periods of time and the big ones never close. We get limited runs, usually one at a time, of random shows and sometimes you have to fly interstate to see them. I've seen almost all of the musicals that have had Australian productions since 2007 and I have loved them, but this month was my first time delving into the world of Broadway and getting into shows that haven't played here.

I thought, to ease myself in, I'd start with Newsies. What I found was that there is no "easing in". It's all or nothing, and with Newsies I am ALL IN. I've watched it so many times in the last month I know all the words to everything and all I listen to is the soundtrack, driving round belting out Santa Fe in my tiny red Suzuki Swift. Of course, being me, I got invested in a show that is closing next month and all my hopes and dreams of one day travelling to America to watch it are dashed. Prayer emoji it gets picked up by someone to start an Australian run. SOON.

So far I've also watched Matilda, which is coming to Australia next year, Next to Normal, and Heathers. All are excellent and have excellent music, which means I never get them out of my head. "Candy Store" from Heathers is such a bloody tune.

Is This What Hell Is Like?

At this moment in time, I am living in a limbo of hellishness. There's five days left until I start university again. This weekend is San Diego Comic Con, which I live and breathe through social media every year, and is great and exciting but sometimes just too much is happening all at once and I can't deal with it.

And to top it all off, my internet isn't working. EXCELLENT.

I'm literally in a near state of panic thinking about everything I will be missing this weekend and it's terrifying. Everything has come down to this final weekend and I probably won't be able to experience it due to an unknown problem with the fucking wi fi. Will I even be able to publish this post?

I've been on holidays for near two months now, and as my freedom slowly draws to a close I'm realising just how bored and lazy I truly am. Isn't that always the way? And I feel like I have been particularly lazy this holidays. I haven't written a blog post in weeks simply because I just kept putting it off, which just added to my boredom and led to a perpetual state of "I'm so bored and there are things I could be doing about it but I'm too lazy so instead I will just lie here and think about how bored I am." As you can imagine, this isn't a particularly fun way to be living life.

I feel like, though, these holidays have just been Supremely Boring, and it isn't even things that I've done (or not done, as the case may be). There's outside forces conspiring against me this time.

Where are the It's-Summer-In-America blockbuster films??????? There's been like nothing at the cinema for weeks, and everything there is came out in May or June and I saw it back then. Going to the cinema is my favourite activity, and I'm getting restless from the withdrawals. What is even coming out in the next few weeks????????? I can't deal with this. I may be forced to go and watch the new Transformers. Step it up, America!

Actually that's mainly what I have to complain about. A movie drought. That, and the internet not working, which is a real bummer if you spend most of your life online like I do. You might actually think it would be good for a person like that, as it might force me to read a bit more (something I used to love but fell a bit behind in after I signed up for that goddamned blogging website) but no. I just think about all the books I could and should be reading and then I get overwhelmed and I just don't read them. When your life centres around movies and internet, it becomes glaringly obvious how crap life is when both those things are taken away from you.

I don't even really know what this post was, but I felt I should post something. For the sake of regularity. Or something. And I only swore once!

June: This Month...

at the cinema i saw 

The Fault In Our Stars 

A great book-to-film adaptation, however since I didn't really like the book in the first place it didn't really do much for me. I still teared up in the very end though, okay? Okay.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 

You guys know I loved this. My full review is here.

Edge of Tomorrow 

I really enjoyed this movie. A lot of fun, heaps of action, heaps of Emily Blunt power. I really felt like they didn't need the kiss at the end though, but what can you do.

Grace of Monaco

You can put Nicole Kidman in Monaco, but you can't take the Nicole Kidman out of the Nicole Kidman. There were a bunch of really weird shots and it was awkward. Very disappointed in this film, can they stop slaughtering real life princesses with crap biopics yet? 

Sunshine on Leith 

Again, LOVED this. So much fun, so much music, so much Scotland!

22 Jump Street 

A great sequel, it was just making fun of itself the whole time, and I love how they use romantic relationship clichés as running gags to express the relationship between Schmidt and Jenko. Laughed the whole way through. Stick around for the credits!

i watched

Reign Late to the party with this one but I caught up on all the episodes in a few days. The show (loosely) follows the story of Mary Queen Of Scots and her life at French Court. Despite its glaring historical inaccuracies, it's a bit of fun and I actually really care about all the characters, even if they are wearing outfits completely incongruous with their time period. Also, my ship is canon, which is super exciting (even though I know historically it didn't last), and there's pretty men and powerful ladies everywhere you look. Plus, they've already killed the love triangle and it's only the first season.

Penny Dreadful This is a horror series that includes all your favourite Gothic characters teaming up against evil. Eva Green is fantastic as Vanessa Ives and the rest of the gang (Dorian Grey, Victor Frankenstein and newcomer Ethan Chandler) are all really attractive and dark and twisted and hurting. You never know what's coming next on this show, and I can't wait for next season.

Orange is the New Black Again, super late to the party, but it's a great show to marathon. Set in a women's prison, the first season follows new inmate Piper Chapman as she learns about life in Litchfield, and the second season ventures off more into the storylines of the other girls. The best parts of this show are all the women and the comedy, the worst parts are the bits about life outside the prison. NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU, LARRY!

i listened to 

Broods I saw Broods live as a support act for Ellie Goulding, and I immediately went home and downloaded all their music.  It's often haunting but lovely at the same time.

5 Seconds of Summer #FINALLYA5SOSALBUM and it's so worth the wait. The album is full of catchy choruses and pop punk jams and lyrics that are real, relatable, and also make you think about a 17 year old boy in a way that you probably shouldn't.

i read 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin was basically just like Twilight until about 3/4 of the way through, when it really started to come into its own. It's about a girl who has the power to kill people just by thinking about their death, and she meets a boy who can tell when someone is in trouble. Or something. I'm a bit confused. I can't find the next one at my bookshop, so I'm waiting with baited breath to find out what happens next.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell was supposed to be the "new John Green" but you know, I didn't really like it. It was just your average kids in love story, except Eleanor, the main character, had a tough home life which complicated everything. I feel like it was just so basic...maybe I should start to move away from the YA section of Dymocks.

i was inspired by 

ViviannaDoesMakeup is my new favourite beauty Youtuber. I've been watching her for a while but this month she really struck me as someone who's relatable. Apart from her eyes, she has similar colouring to me so I really believe in all her recommendations, and she regularly uses drugstore products which helps me out a lot. I just love watching her videos and she's inspired me to improve my makeup skills and widen my collection this month.

Top 5: Feel Good Films

The other day I went to the cinema by myself to see a film called Sunshine On Leith. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life. I was laughing and crying and laughing and smiling the whole time, and when it was over, I left feeling exhilarated and just so, so so happy. So, I thought I'd write this list of my top 5 feel-good movies, because even thinking about them makes me happy. 

It was very difficult for me not to fill this entire list with musicals, because apparently some people don't like musicals???? (what????????????????????) I'm 100% sure there is a direct correlation between the amount of super fun musical numbers and the happiness that is extracted by the audience. Unless you're someone who hates musicals. They're probably the same kind of people who enforce "compulsory fun" and create computer viruses.

5. Mamma Mia! (2008)

This movie is full of ABBA classics that everyone knows, plus it's set in beautiful Greece, so it's bound to be a good time. The story of a girl's quest to find her father by inviting all three possibilities to her wedding on a tiny island is a recipe for humorous disaster and the perfect time to whip out a little bit of Voulez-Vous. The cast is incredible (Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, to name a few), it's full of lighthearted fun and did I mention the ABBA songs????????

4. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)

This coming-of-age British comedy about a weird teenage girl and her weird friends and her weird family is just one big fun fest. From the olive costume to the eyebrow shaving to boy stalking to the kissing lessons, this film is so ridiculous but so real at the same time, with the added bonus of a cute Aaron Johnson pre-witch wife situation to make you even more happy. Cheesy sometimes, yes. But what's wrong with that?

3. How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Animated movies are also usually pretty feel-good, but this one takes the cake. Dragons! Vikings! Flying! Dorky freckly boys! Dragons that are basically giant cats! Dorky freckly boys becoming best friends with dragons that are basically giant cats and then flying them to save the rest of the Vikings! Stunning animation, beautiful scenery, comical voices and well timed jokes make this movie exhilarating. It feels like you can fly.

2. Footloose (1984)

Who doesn't love a bit of Bacon? When Kevdogs moves to the small town of Bomont and discovers they've put a ban on dancing, he's got to do something about it. So, with the help of the priest's reb daughter, his dorky new best friend, and Sarah Jessica Parker, he rallies the teenagers to convince the council to let them have a prom - but not before he has an emotional and angst-filled dance break in an abandoned warehouse. The soundtrack to this movie is full of amazing 80s power ballads and also possibly the best song of all time (Footloose, duh). Plus: dancing! 

1. Sunshine On Leith (2013)

I love this movie. As soon as it started and I heard the music I was hooked and I didn't stop smiling the whole time. It's set in Scotland which means amazing funny accents and it's a jukebox of Proclaimers songs, which means you just know it's gonna close with I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) and when it inevitably does, you are just feeling so GREAT about everything you just want to jump out of your seat and sing along. Literally the happiest I can remember being after a movie. I'M ON ME WEH FROM MISERY TER 'APPINESS TERDERRRR UH HUH UH HUH UH HUH UH HUH