THE TOP THREE

NEW THINGS

2011-09-03T16:59:00.001+01:00

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this and any other posts of mine over the last year-ish. I've now made the decision to combine my this and my other blog together to form my new writing haven Storm and Fox. I will disable dreaming-of-blue-skies (all the dashes were getting annoying) in due course but I would like to invite you all to subscribe to my new blog. The Top Three will continue, and will be inter placed with other excerpts you hopefully will enjoy!

Thanks again, and please welcome to the world, Storm and Fox!
Alannah x

02-09-11 My Sincerest Apologies

2011-09-02T22:05:00.001+01:00

To not keep up to date with proceedings is so unlike me. My defence? It's been a CRAZY few months (A Levels, Travelling, Teqila Times and preparing to leave home in two weeks!) Anyway, with my new super-whizzy phone arriving in a matter of days all my blogs should be back in action, and back for good (hope you're also singing Take That.

Starting (again) as I mean to continue with a special one... Alannah's Top Three - Summer 2011

1. ROUND GLASSES

Ignore the posing, I've been working (not particularly) hard with my photographer friend this summer to work on her portfolio and get me out of the house. This image was taken close to Nissi Beach, Ayia Napa, last month. Look closely and you'll see those curvy frames. I'm on my fourth pair now (two are now resting in peace in my drawer in the vain hope that they'll magically recover from their wounds), so it's fair to say we've teetering on the cliff edge looking down at the sea of obsessive circular glasses purchasing.

Photo by Helena Rose Taylor http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenaaataylor/

2. PATTIE BOYD

Her autobiography, 'Wonderful Today' kept me highly entertained for several days on a family cruise this summer. She details her childhood in Kenya, her lifestyle in the emerging hip London scene in the early 1960s as well as her marriages to George Harrison and then Eric Clapton which placed her as the muse for songs including Something, Layla and Wonderful Tonight. She's down-to-earth and heart-wrenchingly honest about her youth and her marriage breakdowns. It was impossible to be tear-free at various points (not one for the daily commute, unless you want to secure an extra seat for your bag).

3. SUMMER SUMMARY IN ONE AND A HALF MINUTES

A lazy third choice? Perhaps. But nothing sums up my summer more than this video. The clothes, the music, the attitude. Enjoy, I'm all out of words.

NB. Another great one and half minute summer summary is Norgaard by The Vaccines, the new single from my current most-listened-to album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? To be completely honest, I could have a separate blog just to explain my love for this band.

PEACE, ALANNAH

judgment day is hopefully not in exactly four months

2011-01-21T23:02:00.000Z

UNO - Poetry.
It's an under-appreciated artform these days. Here are two of my favourites:
> Sir Phillip Sydney. Anyone that can compound four words and produce "long-with-love-acquainted eyes" is a genius in mine.
>Jim Morrison. My first crush, and here's why:

in terms of poetry, knock yourself out here: http://www.poemhunter.com/song/an-american-prayer-hour-for-magic-freedom-exists/

DOS - The Maya
Reading apocolyse theories is a passion of mine, along with forming rhyming couplets for sinister words (e.g mutiliate and facilitate, scream and dream). Anyway, I read a (hopefully) crazy Christian theorist's blog which cites May 21st 2011 as Judgement Day, with the Earth being engulfed in a chip pan fire on October 21st. Yes, I added the chip pan bit for laughs, but reading doomsday theories regularly is enough to at least mildly depress the Easter Bunny. Therefore, in a slight snub of my own religion, I have selected the Mayan prophecies as one of my top three favourite things. The reason is fairly simple: we have more time. BRING ON DECEMBER 2012.

P.S. This girl is great. She genuinely brought a tear to my eye when I should have been revising last weekend. It's a lengthy one, but worth a watch.

TRES - Finishing Exams
It doesn't matter if you fail, at least you don't have to revise/feel guilty for not revising anymore. THERE IS NOTHING MORE YOU CAN DO. So start raising funds for another retake, or commence revision for the June series.

2011

2011-01-04T11:45:00.003Z

HIPPY NEW YEAR ☮

Love From Alannah x

happy flu year

2011-01-04T11:00:00.006Z

hola and feliz años nuevo! sadly stuck at home and off college. what i thought was a bitch of a hangover turned out to be flu. therefore, my top 3 (and literary ability) is slightly warped...

1. LEMSIP
the best hug in the world, and my current substitute for alcohol.

2. In the Night Garden
traditionally aimed at young children of pre-school age who won't go to sleep, it's my current substitute for education.

also, it has the most beautiful theme tune in the world, which has the possibility of making a fantastic wedding song. i don't care if i lose all credibility...

3. Moody Blues - Go Now
at least one of my New Year Top 3 should actually be good/sensible. my most listened to song (according to spotify) this week. takes us back to a simpler time. paracetemal is affecting my sentence length and complexity, so i'm taking the easy option and posting a video (i am completely in love with this song, however). excellent for when you need a substitute for In the Night Garden.

Crazy Spanish Bands, Girl Power Lyrics & My Fringe

2010-11-09T09:36:00.006Z

Alannah's Top 3

1. CRYSTAL FIGHTERS
Anyone that can merge dubstep and ancient basque instruments (I'm talking bashing blocks of wood and stones together) gets my vote. Crystal Fighters is a prime example of the reason I always make the effort to pay attention during support bands, rather than swaying around the bar. After some research I found they have a rather interesting history. The band formed after the lead singer found her late grandfather's eccentric diary in his home in northern Spain. It included details of an opera he was writing, called Crystal Fighters of course. Anyway, touring currently with Foals, I was fortunate enough to see them dancing like pagans in Brighton last night. Picture the druids at Stone Henge with electronica, and you're getting close.
www.myspace.com/crystalfighters

Sorry, I couldn't pick my favourite!

2. THE LIKE'S LYRICS
Few girl bands do very much to express the real modern day role and lifestyle of women as well as The Like. I would simply like to thank them for the girl power, and document a few of my favourite lyrics.
-"when I'm through with him he will be wishing he was dead" (Wishing he was dead)
-"Takes a flash to figure it out
But in your memory you might find some holes
Oh, like the last 6 hours
That made you realize you're sleeping on the floor
On someone else's floor" (Walk of Shame)
-"Hello stranger, what is your name?
And can you tell me where we are
Oh god oh no. Tell me we didn't... Oh
Thank god ok well now I've gotta go
I've gotta get home" (Walk of Shame [again, but it just makes me laugh so much])

3. HAIRSPRAY
I'm 18, and I think I've just discovered hairspray (NOT the musical/film/excuse for mothers to gaze at Zac Efron while treating their daughters). As a result, I am now holding less negative feelings towards winter. I have a fringe, you see and it's naturally curly (not as reminiscent of a bird's nest like the rest of my mane)and this causes problems EVERY time it rains. Problematic in the UK. But now I feel liberated! It is not a perfect hold, but it is sufficient, and after Day 1 of gale force winds and torrential downpours, the curling is minimal. Bring on the hurricanes.

Make Music for Adverts, Make Up & Make a Fool of Yourself

2010-11-02T22:07:00.005Z

Alannah's Top 3, 2nd November 2010

1. ALLIE MOSS - CORNERS
Recognise the song? Unless you exist without television, or stick to the BBC because you don't like adverts, you'll know this is the song from the BT advert (I don't know what they're actually selling for I spend the advert singing along and admiring the shooting star things rather than reading the small print). It got me thinking about other great songs that the majority of us heard first on an advert... The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition, anyone? (thank you, Channel 4, for bringing this into my life through your V Festival 2009 coverage). Anyway enjoy the enlightening little tune. It'll brighten your day.

2. EMBARRASSMENT
Needs more explaining, but here's my account of the event. I was informed that my canteen had been refurbished. It had indeed, and is now the swanky and continental 'Cafe Nuevo'. A little over-excited, I bounded into the room (complete with the Cossack hat), and exclaimed "WOW". Enthusiasm was evident. Embarrassment was prominent. I no longer feel I can purchase food at my college, and since I have no idea who was in there at the time, I no longer feel I can travel around the local area unaccompanied for fear of ridicule. I may have to write to an agony aunt to get over this difficult time.

3. PARTY MAKE-UP
The party season is fast approaching (I know you're sick of people/furniture companies/Boots telling you this, but it's November now, and you can't deny it any longer). This gives us all (even boys, it's the 21st century - go and buy some guyliner)the perfect opportunity to do the make up you've been too scared/mellow/sober to try out all year. So, here's my personal favourite party make-up. Taken at Woodstock in 1969, the look can be achieved with liquid eyeliner and some dark eyeshadow (black or grey works best). I actually adopt this at any vaguely-appropriate event (Gay Pride, my birthday etc) and it does actually work. But take your time with the dots, and have a cotton bud and make-up remover within a suitable distance - you'll soon realise the look is not for the faint-hearted.

Alannah's Top 3, 01/11/10

2010-11-01T21:14:00.002Z

Welcome to day 2 of Alannah's Top 3! More excitement, and your chance to find out what's entertaining/impressing/being admired by me today.

1. HEADWEAR
- Apparently hats make their wearer appear confident (or like a complete idiot), like wearing heels (but they just make me feel uncomfortably tall and awkward). I confess to being a bit of a headwear fan right now. There are just so many varieties!
Alannah's Top 3 Head Adornments...
- One - The Fedora = 70's chic and all that. Pretty much compliments anything except trench coats (unless you're going for the much-coveted detective look)
- Two - The Floral Headband = for ultimate hippie credentials, and don't listed to anyone who says they're just for festival season.
- Three - The Cossack = My current favourite, and not to be reserved for when the British winters turn Russian. They look best when the shade blends with the wearer's hair colour, and if black like mine, you'll even have the opportunity to look like a member of the queen's guard. Lucky you.

2. TEA TOUR
- For when you've got the travel bug and Costa Coffee is no longer fulfilling your tea leaf needs. Go travelling! It's my new idea (one of many)... visit the country, immerse yourself in the culture, drink their tea. I believe people (bored students) do this with beer in their localities. Okay, that's just a pub crawl, but imagine that on a global scale, getting drunk on caffiene and high on life. It's Costa cardholder's dream. One that needs to be realised. Or maybe we could just stick to cider...

3. MISO SOUP
- It's £1.50 at the sushi bar at my train station, and it's practically minus calories. Plus, it actually tastes good (and according to my friend smells like fresh bread). For about a month now, I've been forcing fellow commuters (by this I mean friends, I'm not one of those crazy people on the train that starts talking to you, or my own shoe) to try this Japanese wonder liquid. The verdict? So-so, but one thing is for sure, my friends are not cultured people...

a new venture

2010-10-31T10:58:00.004Z

I come up with bizarre ideas all the time, but this one feels like a winner, it really does. Part self-indulgent, part interesting (hopefully)...

May I present to you 'Alannah's Top 3'. You're gonna LOVE it.

So what am I appreciating this week? What is pleasing me? (aside from meeting George Craig, from One Night Only - wow, literally WOW)

(here's me seizing the photo opportunity)

Anyway, I'll compose myself.

In at number 1:
CATHERINE THE GREAT.
- I admit to being a podcast enthusiast, (stay with me on this one) and at work this week I lost myself slightly in a triple bill all about the Russian Empress, Catherine. She is best known for the myth of her equine-based end (there is no evidence of this, she suffered a stroke and died shortly afterwards), but Catherine is the original Cougar! Her first husband, The Grand Duke Peter liked playing with toy soldiers and had little interest in sex. He was assassinated not long after their rise to the throne, leaving Catherine to rule on her own. She then had several lovers at a time for much of her life, including two toy-boys (in their twenties) when she was in her sixties. A legend for feminism.

Number 2:
THE FAT MONICA SONG.
- It's half term, I have a certain amount of disposable time. Therefore, I've watched a substantial amount of Friends. Here is a great bit of Euro pop (it's from Australia, actually). Sadly, the song is not available anywhere! Apparently it was produced solely for the show. I sound like such a geek today...

Number 3:
YOKO ONO
- Controversially, I'm a Beatles fan AND a Yoko fan. I admire that she's continued with the ImaginePeace campaign, after John's murder. And, last week my parents were lucky enough to meet her (I don't know if this is on an par with George Craig or not?!). Here's a picture of them (John and Yoko lookalikes) with the real Yoko, and George Harrison lookalike, Glen Knowler.

Well, that's Alannah's Top 3 for this week, let's see how long I can keep this up for!

congratulations!

2010-10-02T21:18:00.002+01:00

Here's a video that speaks for itself. It's not MGMT's official video for Congratulations - it's better. Made by an American student for a documentary class, the film has been created for the purpose of enlightening the citizens of Arizona to the troubles in the world, and all to the backdrop of another mind-bending wonder by the Brooklyn band.

I was lucky enough to see MGMT this week at Brixton Academy with my best friend, Helena (www.twitter.com/xhelenarose). Extraordinary, ethereal and emotional, we left somewhat inspired. People have critized their live abilities, however their music wasn't originally planned for live performance. Electronic psychedelia is really for recording and editing, the case in point being The Beatles- Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (which never was played live). Regardless, in my opinion, and not just because I have a long-standing crush on Andrew VanWyngarden, they completely pulled it off. And from where we standing (the front, of course!) it was a euphoric experience. Tripping without drugs.

kittens!

alarmingly, britney spears seems to have a lot of relevance in my life

2010-08-06T21:43:00.006+01:00

I feel like I'm getting old. After all, I'm 18 in exactly one month. This means I'm almost an adult, like I'm actually at that crucial crossover period, pretty much the one Britney Spears so articulately presents in "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman" (really NOT a fan.) The lyrics are bang on though, for her. This is because clearly in Britney's case, she's done quite a lot in her few years. The album sales weren't exactly struggling, she was travelling the world and she was dating Justin Timberlake. Now while JT has never done it for me, there were a lot of teenage girls broken hearted thinking they'd lost their blonde-tipped, poodle haired questionably-named boybandland citizen to the former sexy schoolgirl. She had it all. An enviable position? Well I really wouldn't exchange her life for mine. After all, I'm a fairly satisfied brunette, and I would never wear the red PVC catsuit (sorry boys). But the older I get, the more I feel like I'm not achieving.

Don't get me wrong, I've done a fair amount in my 17 years and 11 months. I've lived in thirteen houses, had (apparently) life-threatening spinal surgery and indulged in the 'model lifestyle' since I was thirteen and decided the size of my thighs were a problem on a par with famine and global warming. On top of this I've found I do enjoy learning, and it's okay to be a geek, because they're the ones we'll all end up working for someday. Be nice to them now so they'll give a job you're unqualified for in the future, without having to sleep with them.

Aside from such pearls of wisdom, nothing I emit could be completely without a distinctly darker undertone. For everything I've learnt, seen, achieved, it's impossible to not feel like you're missing out on something. Grass-is-always-greener thinking is in practise over here, and I'm preparing to start trailing off in avoidance of the point I know I have to make. You can appear to have it all, much like the girl described in Britney Spears' "Lucky". She's got the looks, the success and presumably a certain amount of brain cells, but she's still not happy. She's young, and she's achieved all and more than society tells her she should, but there's a part of her that's not fulfilled.

Eventually, everyone realises that no matter how supposedly beautiful, intelligent, or even wealthy you are, it doesn't make you satisfied with your life. You can have a plentiful supply of friends and acquaintances, yet still be lonely.

I've achieved a fair amount, and it's been a good 6544 days, but in the last couple of hundred of those days I've seen that academic success isn't everything. A bit of romance probably helps. I'm saying probably, because I'm an unreliable source with that kind of information. The eternal singleton, you may say. It's okay though, I'm going to wait till I hit the big 4-0 before I buy cats- until then I'll stick to a Bridget Jones alcohol-infused existence. (It's late and I'm all alone, I'm allowed to be a bit over-dramatic). And so in the end, for all of Britney's 'poignant' lyrics, it was the Beatles that perhaps said it best with "all you need is love".

Dead-end Street?

2010-05-20T19:01:00.003+01:00

I'm on a return journey. And a return journey is always a mildly depressing one. An oxygen-deficient tube journey to London Victoria feels like the furthest two stops known to man when you're standing, awkwardly leaning over a creepy Stringfellow wannabe, praying that you won't topple when the train jerks and make his day.

Following this, I transfer to Platform 17, and the Southern service stopping at all the useless stations in Sussex. Here, you're graced with another suited Stringfellow, this time with a Macbook which, thanks to the smirks on the face of the man squished next to him, is not being used for business...

It turns out we're on a splitting train, something that has a habit of causing more than its fair share of inconveniences, since, no matter how many times the friendly tannoy man assures us of our respective carriage and it's corresponding destination, mild panic and hysteria will always break out among select passenger groups (women, old people etc).

Looking around, this is a train of somewhat depressed people. Many are in suits or at least well-dressed. These are not poor people, nor people that haven't succeeded. These are people in their prime. They know this is as good as it gets. The funny thing about train journeys is that for the short time that we're all together, we are all equal. Me, Peter Stringfellow man, obnoxious German lady with mobile phone, and tangoed-girl listening to Taio Cruz in the seat in front. We're all different (thankfully), but yet we're all the same in the fact that none of us actually want to be here. This is not in a suicidal way (questionable with emo girl seated a few rows away, who appears distinctly not cheerful). We would just rather be somewhere else. Grass-is-greener thinking? Possibly. Ridiculous dreamer? I certainly am, but in the words of my hero, John Lennon, "I'm not the only one". This is a train full of them. Many trains are full of them, my 07.33 Southern service to Brighton being an excellent example. As highly as I think of Brighton, no one wants to be plucked from a dreamy sleep and forced to walk up steep hills by 8.10am. All I'm trying to say is that of course it may seem crazy, reckless and impossible, but only to those too afraid to break the mould. That's the problem with the train people, they're too fearful of their dreams not working to follow them and risk failure. Therefore it's easier to mock and not support those that do.

So follow me on my quest to break the status quo, to leave this town (and this train) and travel. And I invite, and hopefully inspire you, to follow you own dreams, because the only thing that should limit you is your own imagination.

ciao

bienvenido

2010-05-19T15:20:00.001+01:00

This is not a diary.

That would eliminate any attempt at light-heartedness - something that this absolutely should be. I'm not necessarily implying that any diary of mine would be especially dark, but I'm not stupid, posting a diary-style extract from my head would cause a minor catastrophe. Excuse another contradiction, but I'm really not all that complicated. I'll repeatedly protest that at least, but I'm convinced that some people will go out of their way to make the most straight-forward (and generally mundane) 'problem' into something likening to nuclear war. This, I swear, shall be nothing like that.

In addition to my apparent hypocrisies (well at least I'm able to admit my own faults), there are many uninteresting things that you could know about me. A few general facts, or nuggets of information, if you will.

My first name is Alannah, of Alannah Myles fame. My middle name is Lawrie, reportedly invented by my grandmother, although suspiciously in circulation prior to 1992.

I have brown hair and brown eyes, which makes me fairly average.

I'm 5'8.5" - the extra half-an-inch makes little difference since I almost never stand up straight enough to make the most of it.

I'm scared about the future. The only thing I'm certain of is my desire to travel. Everything else is played out on a day-to-day basis, with a loose connection to a variety of horoscopes (it depends which one is best- i.e relationship-based on that day)

I study English Language, Modern History and Spanish (I've just dropped Media Studies, previously known as the most boring thing in my life, while also a source of mild humiliation among people I consider to be friends. A long story, but it's good to say good bye to that subject)

I live (sleep) in Worthing. To be truly honest, I think everyone is sleeping here. After all, there is nothing else to do. However, as my closest friend recently expressed, by growing up here, we're able to appreciate how much better it will be when we leave. She speaks wise words.

I live (learn/sit around/commute) in Brighton. The chosen seaside resort of many victims of England's South-East who are looking for a step-up from Southend-on-Sea, with pier amusements loosely comparable to the casino of Monte Carlo, yet all on a working-class budget. We do have some nice hotels though...

I'm usually on a train/waiting at the train station/desperately sprinting to catch a train. And I almost always make it.

I have an approximately 8 inch metal rod in my lower spine. I had visions of the metal detectors going into hysterical over-drive at airports. But no such luck, it's titanium. On a brighter note, I technically shouldn't be capable of touching my toes. I can... and I'm pretty smug about cheating the laws of science.

Finally, I have a life governed by routines. Routines which I despise. And as far as I can predict, it's these life-limiting obligations that will become a significant feature in this, as the desire to leave them all becomes an increasingly prevalent and frequent thought.

Join me on my quest to leave my hometown, and my monotonous, average life behind.

And I'm not looking for the big lights. Because I prefer moonlight, candlelight and tail lights.

hasta luego