If you know me personally, you will most likely know that another dirty little secret of mine is the fact that i'm a massive, fat, disgusting, reality TV junkie. If there was some form of Alcoholics Anonymous group except for reality TV addicts, i'd probably be bowing my head in shame, tears welling in my eyes whilst I would say, 'Hi, i'm Jess. And i've got a serious obsession with reality TV. This is my first step to recovery.'
Not that this scenario hasn't happened before. During my first arts tute for a course i'm taking this semester, the tutor made everyone introduce themselves, making sure that everyone included a 'special' fact about themselves (btw i hate these 'get to know you' games with a burning passion). Everyone went around the room muttering the same 'I like music', 'I love surfing', 'I love being a general fatshit,' but when it came to me, all I could say was 'I just really love reality TV.' At that moment, i'm pretty sure the whole room laughed at my deep dark word-vomitty confession. But hey, honesty is the best policy, and I blame old school MTV shows like Laguna Beach and Cribs for transforming me into the person that I am today.
I could go on and list all the shows that I watch/like, but I just can't be bothered. Use your imagination a little to think of what I would probably watch (but if you think i'm a Teen Mom kind of girl, you're barking up the wrong tree TV [excuse my poor efforts at being witty])
I have been to a couple of live tapings of reality TV shows, and I just think it's so cool to be a part of a live audience witnessing how magic showbiz works before your eyes. This week was no different. On Monday, I was lucky enough to score a couple of tickets to be part of the audience of the upcoming season of The X-Factor Australia. Most of the auditionee's were generally pretty good, apart from the occasional troll that the producer's chose just for laughs (pretty horrible if you think about it.) Plus, the judging panel was better than expected. New judges Dannii Minogue and LMFAO's Redfoo (yeah, seriously, i know you're thinking what the fuck, because i did too), were surprisingly not that shitty, even though I missed Mel B's presence.
Here are a couple of pictures from the taping (these were taken before the show started filming, so X-Factor please don't sue me ok):
So this past week, uni has completely taken over my whole life. If i'm being all metaphorical and shiz, I can only describe the past week using this random little anecdote that I just made up: i've fallen into a never ending black hole filled with endless assignments, 60 page readings, annoying groups to deal with and general crap (#firstworldproblems.) I've also been procrastinating heavily this past week by watching the Coachella live stream on YouTube (It's bittersweet. Obviously bummed because I wasn't there to physically experience it, but all the live sets I watched were just so damn good. Especially the 1901/Ignition mashup during the Phoenix set which is posted below.) But hallelujah!! After tomorrow, everything should somewhat be back to normal. Nevertheless, i'm way too tired to actually think and spew my emotions out online in a blog post. So I decided that a couple of gifs of my favourite Rebel Wilson quotes will suffice. She did a pretty damn good job hosting the MTV Movie Awards the other day, and she's just hi-larious to put it frankly.
Fun fact of the day: Rebel Wilson graduated from my uni a couple of years ago, completing the same degree that I'm currently doing. I was pretty chuffed to find out she was a past law school alumni tbh (ooOOoo.)
(The images above are not my own and are the property of the original gif-makers.)
And here's the glorious 1901/Ignition mentioned above:
Britney Spears once sang the line 'I must confesssss, I still believeeeee,' whilst prancing down a school hallway, and dancing like a boss in pigtails (with fluffy pink elastics that were the bomb-diggity) in one of her best songs ever, 'Hit Me Baby One More Time.' And, Blogspot, I know we only just met, and I think it's been a week since I started this blog, but I feel like I am comfortable enough to tell you the truth.
*Cue Usher singing 'these are my confessions' whilst the lights dim*
I was a massive JoBro fan back in the day.dun dun dunnnnn....
If you have known me since I was an annoying middle-schooler (bleurgh), this is not new information and you have probably endlessly teased me about it; but alas, here is my deep dark secret (LOL).
I must admit, my love for the Jonai did die down for a significant period of time due to their hiatus, and did turn into a bit of resentment (because they never once came here in the eight years for a single performance...and still haven't come to this day...yeah i'm not bitter at allll :/ ). But searching through my iTunes in the past Summer break, I finally decided to not skip past all their songs, and just had a massive JoBro listening session. And you know what? It was like no time had passed at all. You know when you listen to a song that you absolutely used to love and one that holds a special place in your heart, and when it comes up on shuffle you remember just how significant that song was to you and all the memories associated with that song come flooding back? Yeah, I totally had one of those moments. Pure hardcore nostalgia.
Anyways, i'm rambling. The simple story is, the brother's Jonas are back with new music, and I thought i'd do a little review on it. When I first heard that the title for their comeback single was 'Pom Poms', the first thought that popped into my head if I recall correctly was, 'what the actual fuck?'. Then I heard a leaked clip of the song, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed at all. I just thought it was a mess of horns and brass playing in an ugly sounding minor key. However, the music video was released, and damn, were my initial reactions to the song completely and utterly wrong. The edgy marching band/high school cheerleading theme was entertaining and fun to watch (it's like a semi-twerk video tbh), and the song itself, is ridiculously catchy (it's a really good workout song, if you're one of those people who don't listen to electronic or hip hop genres when werkin'/dying on dat treadmill.) Plus, the riff played by the brass band and the chorus of the song is one that drills itself into your brain after a while. I must state however, that the lyrics aren't the best. So if you're after some good ol' fashioned pop, give this song a listen.
Also, my 13 year old self would probably be hyperventilating and crying right now, since I managed to get a ticket to the Jonas Brothers Live Tour show in Toronto that's happening in July this year (just to state, I was originally going to America and Canada during this period, but it so happens the tour dates coincided with the dates of my trip! #happydayz!!!) But I guess you could say my 18 year old self is pretty damn excited to see them for the first time ever as well, if i'm being completely confessional.
Things have been a bit slow on the blogging front on my behalf, and that's because I totally just went to Tokyo for a couple of days over the weekend (you know, just casually)!!!! Check out the snaps below:
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JUST JOSHIN WITH YA DUDES! HAPPY APRIL FOOLS 9 DAYS LATE!! (think of this as a belated hoax that isn't funny at all). The photos above were actually taken at a bookstore in Sydney's CBD called Kinokuniya, which I am a massive fan of. Due to the fact that it's Japanese owned, there are sections dedicated to all things Japanese. You literally feel like you're in a department store in Japan, minus all the over-enthusiastic salesgirls in Japan that scream at you to come buy their clothes (irashaimaseeeee, irashaimaseeeee), and the fact that on the other side of the store, it just seems like a regular Angus and Robertson. At Kino, they sell stuff ranging from Japanese fashion magazines [which are seriously the bomb], to manga, to really cool gadgety stationary, and books about Japanese craft and knitting, with happy, well dressed cute Japanese babies on the front of them (cue the awwwwwssss). Looking at the glossy magazines and flipping through them, you can't help but love the vibrancy and super modern vibe of Japanese pop culture.
I must admit that every time I step into Kino, I end up feeling a little nostalgic. Memories from my experience being an exchange student in Nagoya back when I was in Year Ten, and the not so recent high school graduation trip with my friends at the end of 2011 totally come flowin' back to me. During that graduation trip we travelled all around the country via bullet train--and I swear on behalf of my love for FroYo, that I have never had to leg it so quickly from platform to platform lugging a massive oversized suitcase--stopping and staying in major cities such as Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto. We also stayed overnight in a traditional Japanese inn, in a tiny town/UNESCO world heritage site called Shirakawa-go.
(PS: Note to anyone who wants to go to Shirakawa-go, it's an absolutely stunning site, but it takes you endless hours to get there. I can't even remember how many times we changed busses and trains, it's just all a massive blur to be honest.)
(PPS: Also, if you stay in an inn that provides meals, don't be ashamed to eat the whole thing. Yes, it is massive, but the shame and endless teasing resulting from eating the whole meal is totally worth the tastiness of it all.)
Travelling between the main cities and small towns, you can never escape Japan's rich culture. On one hand, you have the cities that are filled with vibrant neon lights and billboards, masses of people and insurmountable amounts of Purikura stores (Japanese sticker photos.) In complete contrast, Japan is filled with beautiful temples, shrines and towns that are filled with great historical tales. I just wrote this post, because flipping through my photos from my trips (totally not done whilst procrastinating working on my media article...) I just wanted to share why Japan is just so friggin' awesome. And also because i'm pretty damn excited that i'm going to Tokyo for a couple of days this coming winter break. Here a couple of legit snaps from my 2011 trip:
I’m gonna be blunt. Today's music is becoming increasingly
shit. I’ve had enough of hearing the ‘omG, lemme sex you up and touch you everywhere inappropriately, whilst we snort
coke off each other and become soooo crunk that we projectile vomit on the
floor’ lyrics often featured in dubstep-infused clubbing crap (yes, I’m looking
at you Mr Worldwide/305 and Flo Ridaaa always featured on David Guetta
tracks.) I also have a disinclination towards such music because (excuse me if
I’m being overly stereotypical), I’m sick of hearing lads and gangas singing
along with their windows rolled down, in their zooped up cars with the whole
‘doof-doof’ bass sound system going on. #STOPIT.
However, I don’t totally hate all of today’s music. By no
means am I some music elitist with immense musical knowledge-- lets be real, I love boy bands-- these are just my useless opinions (lolz).
There are occasional shining lights that stick out amongst crappy clubbing top 40 anthems, and that shining light goes by the name of Mike Rosenberg, or Passenger as most of the world knows him. I had heard the name 'Passenger' floating around the interwebs and on a couple of music blogs a few years ago, however never truly paid attention to all the praise and hype that was slowly developing. However, in February this year, I learnt the true beauty of Passenger's music, seeing him play in the Sydney Entertainment Centre as an opening act for the 'Ginger Prince' himself, Ed Sheeran. I was instantly in love with his unusual voice, witty lyrics and catchy melodies.
Fortunately yesterday, I had the chance to see Passenger busk in Pitt Street Mall, and it was honestly such a great experience to see the man in action doing what he does best: playing an acoustic set--just pure angelic vocals and a guitar. It was also a massive plus that my friends and I were pretty close proximity-wise to him in a crowd of a couple hundred people. Here are a couple of photos from today (I apologise for the crappy photo quality and heads of hair that can be seen. Teen girls are just so darn tall these days, and iPhone picture quality isn't that flash peeps.)
Apart from singing a wide array of tunes from his 2012 album 'All The Little Lights' and older record 'Flight of the Crow,' he whipped out a couple of covers. My personal favourite was his folkish rendition of Bruce Springsteen's beloved hit, 'Dancing in the Dark' that had me awkwardly bopping along. Other crowd pleasers included his freestyle of Taylor Swift's [feat. goat noises] 'I Knew You Were Trouble' (Video of the original goat version here. Trust me this is a nugget of Youtube gold) and Haddaway's 'What is Love (Baby Don't Hurt Me).'
Amongst his original tunes, my most treasured of the day were the songs 'I Hate' and 'The Wrong Direction.' 'I Hate' is one song that never fails to make me LOL/LMAO/ROFLMAO (i'm being metaphorical here, i don't actually roflao or lmao in real life...and if you do, I ain't judging, but there is a large chance that I will pull the :/ face at you). Whilst, 'The Wrong Direction' is just a super fun little tune to awkwardly dance to. However, the most popular of the day hands down, was the super lovely ballad 'Let Her Go.' It had everyone singing along--the dudes singing an octave low and off pitch (oopz), whilst teen girls sang like they were part of the Australian Girls National Choir singing 'I Still Call Australia Home' in all those cheeseball Qantas ads. Nevertheless, it was a super kawaii and intimate moment between Passenger and his fans. My video footage of 'The Wrong Direction' and 'Let Her Go' is below, so check it out yo! (Again I apologise for the crappy video quality, I filmed everything on my iPhone and it kinda sucks unfortunately. But nevertheless, they still showcase just how good his voice is live.)
Let Her Go
The Wrong Direction
Before I ramble on, let me state an important fact here: Passenger currently holds the number one song in Australia with 'Let Her Go,' yet played a free intimate gig for his fans. If this doesn't make you see him as some sort of angel or make you coo "awwwww, what a nice guy" than I can tell you're a tough cookie to please. From what i've seen of him, Passenger is just a cool, endearing dude who just loves his music, and wants to thank his fans as much as possible. I also found it especially cute how in awe of the crowd he was, especially due to the fact that he used to busk in Pitt Street Mall a couple years back, where he said he basically had no people watching him (the pigeons were his main audience.) *cue Hilary Duff singing "hey now, hey nowwww, this is what dreamsss are made of" from the Lizzie McGuire movie*
Essentially, what i'm saying here is check out Passenger. If you like really chilled out, acoustic music by an amazing lyricist (think a la Ed Sheeran), he's your man. Plus, this dude is incredible live, and he occasionally busks for free when he's in town (whadda bonus!!!) Here's an official live version of my #1 favourite, 'I Hate.'
The time is currently 10:41pm, and my eyes are begging to close; but alas, my good friend Passenger's soothing voice is propelling me forward in a delirious state to write this post.
Today's exhaustion--and I am sure to sound like a certified fatty-- is most likely attributed to today's feasting (yes, I did just say feasting, and boy am I serious.)
It was my friend's 20th birthday (woohooo!!) last week, so today, for the purpose of celebrating her graduation from teenage-dom, my pals and I decided to splurge. We ended up going to Jamie's Italian in Sydney's CBD. Jamie's, yes, a restaurant by the Naked Chef himself, is a bustling restaurant with a generally chilled out atmosphere, (apart from the occasional scream by the waiters who can deafen people in Africa with their screams: 'SERVICE!!!!~!!') friendly service, and DAMN GOOD FOOD (it was so good, it has to be expressed in CAPS, and you know shit is real when caps are used.) Here are a couple of snaps.
Black Angel Spaghetti
Wild Truffle Risotto
My friends according to their pseudonyms (lolz): Sparkling Lights, Little E + yours truly
The classiest bunch: Mojojojo, Miss T
In retrospect, i've never heard so many collective "oooo that's soOOoo good" and general mumbles/ noises that people make when food is just so friggin' tasty. Unfortunately dessert at Jamie's wasn't on the cards because we all had food comas by that euphoric, heavenly stage.
But, of course, we all agreed dessert was essential (as Marie Antoinette once said 'let them eat cake,' and eat cake, chocolate and other goodies we did!) The Lindt cafe in Martin Place was our destination/general slumming place for approximately 3 hours [oops!!], and i'm pretty sure five consecutive groups of customers seated next to us came and went by the time we finally decided to get off our booties and walk all that chocolate off. Although the first taste of chocolate is super, there is an acknowledged limit when you start feeling the chocolate coursing through your veins, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is when you know you should put that fork down right now. Unfortunately, that limit was after a few bites and sips of what we ordered.
Also, if you're one of those people who are like '~omg! don't be silly, no-one's gonna steal your umbrella!!~' in a collective piles of umbrellas at the door, there is a very high chance your umbrella will be stolen by the umbrella fairies, and I will laugh in your face. KARMA YO.
Lindt chocolate shared platter
Overall, I must say today was just generally fun. It's pretty great to hang out with friends, some you haven't seen in a while, and have it be like good ol' times. Just laughs and stupid banter. And of course a food coma helps. #godimsocheesy
It was all rain and darkness, and an excuse to whip out my Chip 'n' Dale onesie and drink copious amounts of tea, whilst procrastinating working on my court report. It was a black + white kinda day, if you know what I mean. But while everything was dull as heck, there was a little colour and spontaneity -- besides making this blog of course. Basically, my newly P-plated friend drove us around the suburbs in the rain, while we contemplated where to go (*cue the sarcastic 'how exciting!!'*). Even though our little trip didn't end up being as adventurously adventurous and exciting as planned, it was still fun to have a little light hearted banter with friends on a gloomy day. (Also, a note to anyone: don't mix choc chip and raspberry gelato, it doesn't taste swell.)
Just a couple of pictures of my favourites in black and white. ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿
Hola, I'm Jess. And this is my first blog post.
I'm terrible with introductions; but nevertheless, first impressions last a lifetime, so here it goes. I'm currently eighteen years young, a second year Media/Law student living in Sydney, and the type of person who starts to type in ~CAPS WHEN I GET EXCITED!!~.
It's weird writing about yourself, so here are a few things people have told me about myself:
I have a constant expression that makes me seem as if I don't like the world at large- it's not true, its just my face. I can't help it. Normally i'm thinking of rainbows and sunshine but it doesn't translate I guess.
If I were a Powerpuff Girl, Buttercup would be spirit animal.
I'm an avid boyband lover. Sue me.
Essentially this blog is just whatever I feel like writing or posting about.
