5 television shows that defined my childhood (and made me into the person I am today)

Dear blog, I acknowledge that I have abandoned you terribly in the last few weeks, and I apologise for doing so. However, this week was one of great productivity for me (I didn't even realise I was capable of doing so much in one week? Who knew I could get shit done when I need to?!), so don't rain on my parade. Anyway, I thought i'd just do one of those countdown type posty things. So here goes my list of: "5 television shows that defined my childhood (and made me into the person I am today... not really)"

1. Sailor Moon

I remember watching 'Sailor Moon' when I was a little girl, and everything about this anime was just awesome at the time. Even though Serena was pretty annoying in her human form, I always wanted to be her. The transformation scene just looked so cool (it was all multicoloured and bright and had bubbles in the background!!!), and i'm sure if a time machine was invented, a little girl with a bowlcut (mini Jess) would have been chanting the phrases 'moon, prism, power' and 'I'm Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon, i'll punish you,' at her TV screen. Plus Tuxedo Mask was an absolute catch. 

2. Sabrina the Teenage Witch

If you didn't think that Sabrina Spellman was the coolest onscreen teenage character in the late '90s and early 2000's, I shake my head at 'ya, and not in a good way. Sabrina was a witty, sassy, teenager, and I loved the fact that she always managed to find a way to use magic to mess up (and then eventually fix) a situation. I still await the day when I am granted my magical powers on my 16th birthday, sent to live with my aunts, and have a talking cat as awesome as Salem (btw i'm joking guys...not rly.) Not gonna lie, even the animated version of this show is still awesome to watch, and I may or may not have played the Sabrina computer game when I was younger. Oops.

3. Lizzie McGuire

How do I explain the awesomeness that was Lizzie McGuire? Out of this list, this show was probably my favourite when I was just a wee lass, because:

A) Lizzie and Miranda always had the coolest clothes (and if you didn't play the Lizzie McGuire dress-up game on the Disney website, you're a liar, because everyone I have talked to did when they were kids) B) Gordo and Miranda were the best-est friends anyone could have, C) the story-lines in each episode were absolutely hilarious, and Lizzie was just the most relatable character for a young girl at the time. To this day, I still remember going to my local video store, where I would rent endless seasons of Lizzie McGuire DVDs, and I would stay up late to watch them (I was a little badass clearly.) I also loved Hilary Duff so much, that I made my dad line up outside of a music store when she came to Sydney when I was in Year Four, so she could sign my copy of her CD 'Metamorphosis.' And who could forget the brilliance that is the Lizzie McGuire Movie?!!

4. The O.C.

Last year I totally felt nostalgic and just had a massive The O.C. Season 1 and 2 binge-watching session. Everything about this show was perfect, from it's theme song 'California' by Phantom Planet, to its dramatic storylines and loveable characters (apart from Julie Cooper and that nut-case Oliver; they sucked.) To this day I still defend my OTP Summer and Seth, because nothing was more heartwarming than their blossoming relationship (especially when Seth declares his love for Summer on top of the table of the common room, the infamous Spiderman recreation, and any scene involving Captain Oats and Princess Sparkles.) I do have to admit though, that Marissa's death totally ruined the show (and Mischa Barton's acting career oops.) However, most importantly, SETH COHEN Y U NO REAL?!?!?!?!

5. That's So Raven

'That's So Raven,' never failed to make me double over in laughter, mainly because Raven had the derpiest, funniest reactions ever, and everyday I strive to derp as well as her when i'm Snapchatting. 

Also runner's up: The Amanda Show (WHUT HAPPENED 2 U AMANDA?!), All That, Drake and Josh, Recess, Pokemon.

Concert Review: The Kooks

I remember the first song I heard by The Kooks was 'Ooh La' in 2009. I'm not sure where or how I heard it, but i'm glad I did. Since that first listen, The Kooks and the infectious guitar riffs and choruses that feature in every single one of their songs, have had me bopping and singing along.

Last night, I saw The Kooks play live at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, and they were pretty darn awesome live if I do say so myself. The opening act were pretty snoozeworthy (I literally closed my eyes and had a little nap during their set). It was the first time I had seen The Kooks play live, and they are one of those bands that sound exactly the same live as they do on their CD (I guess I should be saying mp3's, since basically no one buys or listens to good ol' hard copy CD's anymore). It was pretty great to know that they aren't one of those 1000% over-autotuned bands/artists (*not naming names, but said overtuned artists like cough Selena Gomez cough!*)

Luke, the lead singer was just so energetic and reminded me of a combination of Mick Jagger and Road Runner from the Looney Tunes when he danced. He literally pranced and worked the front of the stage like a true frontman should. Let's just say that he was shakin' his (hipster) moneymaker and his mass of hair/fro? like crazy throughout the show. Hugh the guitarist was also amazing, he literally just shredded the shit out of the songs.

Basically the concert was kind of like a performance of The Kooks greatest hits album (if they had one). They played their most beloved songs like She Moves In Her Own Way, Shine On, Seaside etc. My personal favourites were Always Where I Need To Be (which had literally everyone standing up and just dancing and screaming/singing along in my case), and Naive (I legit bought tickets so I could witness this beauty performed live since it's a song that I will always love). They also played a couple of popular songs from their third album Junk of The Heart, but I was left disappointed when they didn't play some of the best tracks from that record (aka. Eskimo Kiss, Rosie, How'd You Like That). Also, I was pretty p'd off since they only ended up playing for like an hour and fifteen minutes...but it's pretty much impossible to feel sad when you're watching The Kooks because their music is so catchy that you can't help but dance and feel happy.

My photos are pretty horrific unfortunately, since I was sitting pretty far away from the stage (basically at the back) and using an iPhone (taking my DSLR along was not an option yesterday unfortunately since I went to the concert straight from uni), but nevertheless here are a couple of shots:

'Why do you think you have the X-Factor?'

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):

Waddup shitty lighting in the arena. 

Uni: a never ending black hole.

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:

#fangirllyfe (blast from my 13 year old past)

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.

Why Japan is the bomb diggity.

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:

................

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:

Shirakawago

A little (now famous) busker named Passenger

 "Well if you agree, then come hating with me,

And feel free to sing along."--I Hate, Passenger

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.'