Coming soon...

I saw Kylie Minogue on Friday so a review is on the way, also got some more up my sleeve.


It is very sunny in England at the moment so it is very distracting but do not fear the blog posts are on their way. I'm spending today with my sister but over the next couple of days no boyfriend as he is working so my blog will be getting my full attention.


Hope its sunny where you are, but keep checking back for further posts.

I am proud to say I have a job...

at the West Sussex County Times!


So happy!! Should start the beginning on May. Interesting times ahead...... I (will be) a real journalist!!


http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/


And I have passed my 100 words a minute shorthand!!

Hi, my name's Charlotte and I'm a Buffy-o-holic.

The nineties were all about girl power. The Spice Girls were the fore-runners and although I loved them and their pioneering girl power, there was always one female fighter who symbolised what it was to be a girl, with a no mess attitude who could dress pretty but kick your arse if she wanted. That girl was Buffy Summers.


The programme started in 1997 and seven series later it ended (2003). It propelled its stars, and a teen queen in the form of Sarah Michelle Gellar was born.

Buffy was unlike any other show out at the time, of course there was Dawson's Creek (which I did love), but that show sometimes was just too much, the teens looked about 30 and used a lot of very long words. With Buffy there were dramas but also demons, and the stars looked about the right age.


The show was just fantastic and some episodes were so dark and creepy. Episodes such as Nightmares or Hush where the creepy and frightening is brought in to the real world, but thank the lord there was always Buffy ready to fight to the death, which she did, I think she died twice.

She fell in love with Angel and lost herself to him to not only get her heart broken but I think he also tried to kill her. Toxic boyfriend on a major level, I think that is the problem sometimes with Edward he is just hormones whereas Angel was loving, tortured and potentially dangerous. (I will note here that I am a Twilight fan and love Edward, but it's always Angel).

For a show about ghosts and ghouls it was really relateable.  The teenage angst and problems were all that we could look at.

Even now watching the episodes although the clothes have dated and they use videos instead of DVDs, they haven't dated that much, well, the first season it a little dated but it was 1997. Buffy showed girls that you could be your own person and take no prisoners, she also didn't rely totally on men. Also even though she was pretty she was still on the outside and never in the 'in-crowd' so everyone could relate to her, she had her close friends and that's all she needed.

The love of Angel and Buffy, a love that was meant to be but couldn't. Whereas Bella and Edward are intense and all powerful, and a little creepy Buffy and Angel were passion and love. Soul mates.... I was devastated when they split, Riley never compared!

The script was fast-paced and witty, written to perfection. The show finished in 2003 but I still love it as much today as I did then. I have had a slight overload and been watching it constantly. I know this is sad but I honestly think I would be a different person if I had not watched Buffy in my younger days. It lost its way a little in season 7 but it was still pretty good.

It feels me with dread that there have been rumours of a Buffy film re-make, no SMG, no Alyson Hannigan, in their place Megan Fox............... I will boycott LEAVE IT WELL ALONE!

Josh Whedon was a genius! So come on then everyone Once More With Feeling... we love Buffy as it is so leave it well alone!

When Boy Meets Girl...what happens next?

I love When Harry Met Sally, it is a fantastic film. It can make you laugh and it can make your heart leap, and best of all if you have a boyfriend it is the type of film that you can watch without him moaning about how gushy it is.

As far as films goes it does bring up a lot of interesting questions about relationships and more interestingly relationships between men and women. Pretty much from the start Harry sets it out that men and women cannot be friends because sex gets in the way. Sally of course cannot understand this and he says that ‘Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her...it doesn’t matter (if they she doesn’t want to have sex with him) because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.’

In many ways the film does play to this in a way, Harry and Sally do end up having sex, and in the end fall in love.  It does make me wonder if men and women can be friends without sex getting in the way. I would like to think so, because how sad would life be if you couldn’t have a friend of the opposite sex.

Also the points he makes about partners getting worried, it really makes you stop and think. My boyfriend has female friends and I will admit I didn’t take to the idea as well as I would have liked, it just seemed initially strange to me that he would have female friends. Also I felt if he was flirty with them they would get the wrong idea, as I know what women can be like, hello I am one; therefore, I was initially a little green-eyed monster. I have now realised I am an idiot and I shouldn’t have worried, but I think anyone no matter how secure their relationship is would get a little stab of jealousy, there is a fear that he will share stuff with them that he doesn't with you.

However, if I had a good friend who was male and my boyfriend was like I was, I will admit I would not be very happy. To feel comfortable and trust a male who is not your boyfriend is a good thing, the advice you get from a guy is not the same as what you would get from a girl. Guys have a different view on situations they come at it from the guy perspective and don’t try to sugar coat anything, which means that although what they say might sting a little at first you know deep down that what they say is the truth and what you need to hear.

I think if both parties are single then it must be hard for a good friendship not to get confused with other feelings. However, if both are in relationships I don’t see what the problem is. I think sometimes the danger is that feelings may get out of control but if you have always seen someone as a friend why should your feelings ever change to anything else, they don’t with your girlfriends so why should they with your guyfriends? Especially as in many cases you have a very strong and close bond with your girlfriends.

I suppose as well if one is single and one isn’t, it can be hard. If the single one starts to look at the attached in a new way, especially if people start to notice and it gets a little awkward when you both realise your relationship has gone to another level. Or you get jealous when the once single now has a partner fearing you have lost your friend, although those feelings apply to your girlfriends when they get a new boyfriend.

I thought that writing this would help clear the relationship fog that has descended while watching one of my favourite films. However, I must say I am even more confused. I suppose I like to think that men and women can be friends without sex getting in the way, well I hope so anyway.

I Love Lily Allen

Just watching the last episode of Channel 4's Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags. I love Lily Allen I have seen her twice and she is just amazing.


I think her songs resonate with young women, who hasn't listened to Not Fair and said "I know that feeling", her songs make a lot of sense to me and I think she is the voice of the next generation of women.


As I have said I have seen her twice in Bournemouth and Southampton for the It's Not Me, It's You album. She is amazing live and has a fantastic voice. In one gig she even had a Guinness pump on stage so that people on the front who had secured a place could still get a drink. She also performed Britney's Womanizer, which was just brilliant live. I hope she comes back to performing.


Watching From Riches to Rags shows a side to Lily that you don't get to see when she performs on stage or is interviewed. I think that on the show with her sister she has let her guard down. I just think there is a vulnerability to her and my heart just breaks watching the last episode when she talks about her miscarriage. I know I don't know her and never probably will but being of a similar age to her (she is about a year older than me) her songs resonate with me and I suppose there is just something about her which makes me feel a connection. I just love the fact she is so honest and she has put up with so much shit over the years. I know I cannot comment because I don't know her but I think she is an amazing woman and is very influential.




I feel she is a reluctant celebrity, she sung and performed because she wanted to. She is doing the shop because she wants to. I love the fact her and her sister Sarah argue, like normal sisters do. I also love that she isn't a kiss arse she says what she feels about who she feels it about.


At 25 she has gone through a lot and I really look up to her, ok she can come across as a bit spoilt but she is an amazing woman and seems like a really nice person, I just love Lily.

Update in the world of me

http://letsthinklocal.co.uk/magazine/ April issue: what to do with the kids at Easter and the magic of the theatre - both me.


So the other day I did my 100 words a minute shorthand, fingers crossed I passed, I really think I got it down. A couple of words I have got wrong I think but with a nine word error leeway I hope I have done it.


I have a couple of job applications to do, so hopefully something will come up. College is all done with, which is very scary, twenty weeks all done with. I've met some really great people on the course who I really hope I stay in contact with. I've made some amazing friends.


Now I am back to being unemployed and writing for pleasure rather than for money but going to pursue and become a full fledged reporter.

Katy Perry, Bournemouth International Centre, 31st March 2011

***SPOILER ALERT***


Just to pre-warn you that this review does include details of the gig including the opening song and other songs she sings, so if you are going to see her and don't want to know, please do not read on!


Ok, warning over let the review commence.


First when we got to the venue there was a distinct smell of strawberry cupcake. I had heard that she perfumed the venues but I didn't actually believe it to be true until we got there.  It was a fantastic concept though; it got me thinking about what other singers would have, Lady Gaga? Bieber? The mind boggles as to what others would choose.


Anyway back to the gig if Gaga is showing the dark side of pop with the angular features and skeletons in Born This Way, then Katy Perry is certainly the sugary sweet side. Her set was made up of big lollipops, cupcakes and pink clouds.


The gig started with a little film about how she used to be butcher's helper but was sacked and while walking past a bakery she fell in love with the baker’s boy and bought a cupcake. Once at home she has a dream that her kitty disappears through the cat flap, she follows and ends up in a sugary dream world. The tour follows Katy's journey to find her kitty and to the baker's ball, a bit different from Gaga's Monster's Ball but equally as brilliant. It is very dreamy like and full of pastel colours, if it went on for longer than two hours you get an instant sugar rush and need a sit down. It is a feast for the eyes on your sweet tooth.


She came out to Teenage Dreams, I was really surprised as I do think its a good song but I didn't think it was as up tempo as say California Gurls or Hot 'n' Cold, which I thought would get the crowd ready for action. 


Perry sang a range of songs from both albums and delivered each note-perfect. Her voice is amazing live, you can really tell that she used to be a gospel singer, the quality of her voice carries around an arena like the BIC and I am sure that when she goes to the O2 it will carry there.

During the middle of the gig she said she would act as a jukebox and asked for people to throw a pound on the stage so she would sing any song they wanted (one pound hit Katy in the head, another hit the guitar). Apparently the crowd requested Rihanna Only Girl in the World, a Jay Z song, Lady Gaga Born this Way and Willow Smith Whip my head. She gave the songs a new twist and Born this Way was just mesmerizing! Her voice brought a new quality to the song, which made it heavenly.

Known for her crazy costumes she had about sixteen changes in total, she had about seven in one song. And one wig change from black to blue.

Fans from the beginning were not disappointed as she sung I Kissed a Girl, Hot 'n' Cold, You're so Gay, as well as new songs such as  California Gurls, and Fireworks.

She crowd pleasers, which seemed to get the room jumping, songs such as  Last Friday Night T.G.I.F, Waking up in Vegas and new song  E.T. At the same time her voice could change from a rocky number to the more melodic captivating, Not like the movies was sung on a swing and the emotion was raw, you can tell she is a woman in love.

Katy Perry talked to the crowd and seemed like a genuinely nice person. She told the crowd how she felt very British and how much she loved My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and that over Christmas she gained two stone eating beans on toast and watching The Only Way is Essex. She's a true Brit, that’s for sure. J

Overall, Katy Perry is a stage performer with a heart. You can tell that she loves what she does and loves the audience. Her voice is amazing, she looks amazing and if you get the chance to see her, go, she puts on a fantastic show, not many shows have bubbles, fireworks, confetti, and beach balls.

Katy Perry is the kitty's pyjamas.

all photos were taken by me.