February 2020 – JMAC- The Blog Experience

Top Five Songs Of February

Okay, so this is becoming a monthly thing and I have been assigned to create this months edition, hope you enjoy.

Glimmer- Tame Impala. Tame Impala really outdid themselves with this album and it is making me really excited to go see them in May. I get really strong 80’s/90’s vibes from this song in particular.
You’re in love with a psycho- Kasabian. I always forget about how good Kasabian can be, but when I listen to it it’s like a blast from the past (again I discovered this band through Band hero on my Nintendo DS when I was eight). This song is something you can get up and dance and sing to.
Momentary Bliss- Gorillaz feat. Slow Thai and Slaves. They disappear for two years claiming they wont go on tour or make new music for the next five years and then they come out with this absolute banger. there is quite a lot going on but it is so distinctively British and Slow Thai really adds something to the song I never knew I needed.
Cars In Space- Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Again, really excited to finally see these guys in May. This tune has the statement Rolling Blackouts guitar riffs but they decided to spice it up in this new single with a little saxophone feature. Listening to these guys for the past two/three years all of their music is perfect for summertime and long road trips.
Oblivius- The Strokes. One of my top three favourite Strokes songs of all time. Basically I love everything about this song and would highly recommend if you haven’t listened to it before

The Best Episodes of Friends!

The hit sitcom friends is a staple show for most families worldwide. Throughout the ten seasons there’s been countless moments that defined how popular the show is in present day.

In my opinion and in no particular order, here are the best episodes of Friends:

The One With Ross’ Sandwich (Season 5, Episode 9)

The main focus of this episode is Ross slowly having a mental breakdown about his annual Thanksgiving leftover sandwich going missing at his work. We eventually find out that his boss ate only half of the sandwich and threw the rest away leaving Ross in a fit of rage. Also in this episode, Monica and Chandler convince Joey to keep their relationship a secret which leads to a series of unfortunate events that result in the friends believing that Monica and Joey were together.

The One With The Football (Season 3, Episode 9)

Being one of the most memorable seasonal Thanksgiving episodes in the entire show, this episode truly shows the deep rooted sibling rivalry between Ross and Monica when challenged to a game of football in which the prize is the ‘Geller Cup’. Throughout the episode it showed the lengths they will go to win (even if that means cheating). There’s also a side-plot which sees some competition between Joey and Chandler trying to win over a Dutch girl which adds to the sense of comedic tension throughout the episode.

The One With Unagi (Season 6, Episode 17)

In this episode we see Phoebe and Rachel take a self-defence class. Upon telling Ross this, he claims that the class is useless if they haven’t mastered the martial arts technique called Unagi which he describes as “a state of total awareness”. Ironically this backfires on Ross as Phoebe and Rachel prove to him brutally that he is lacking in Unagi. Another plot line in the episode involves Monica and Chandler in a rush to make each other their Valentines Day gifts that they forgot about. Chandler’s last minute gift is a mix tape which is revealed that Janice, his ex girlfriend gifted Chandler the mix tape when they used to date.

The One With The Embryos (Season 4, Episode 12)

The title of this episode is fairly misleading as the story line of Phoebe’s embryo implantation is out shined by the friends competing in a quiz to see how well they truly know each other which ultimately leads to Joey and Chandler winning Monica’s apartment. This is also the origin of many iconic quotes such as “Miss Chanandler Bong” and one of the best lines of the episode by Ross “What is Chandler Bing’s job?” which is followed by an awkward silence.

The One With the Thumb (Season 1, Episode 3)

Monica is quite reluctant to introduce her new boyfriend Alan to the friends as they’ve been judgemental of her previous partners. To her surprise the friends all love Alan but Monica breaks the bad news that she wants to stop her relationship with him. The friends reaction to this news brings a comedic aspect to the episode as they seem to be grieving more than Monica herself. The irony of this is that Alan never really liked the friends all along which is revealed at the end of the episode. We also see Phoebe become agitated when she accumulates over one thousand dollars so she gives the money to a homeless woman who buys her a can of soda as a sign of gratitude, however when she opens the can she finds a thumb floating inside of it. She receives compensation of seven thousand dollars whom she ends up giving to Chandler as a bribe to get him to quit smoking.

The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line (Season 4, Episode 7)

This episode places the viewer in a difficult position, part of them is secretly rooting for Chandler and Cathy to get together meanwhile the other part is feeling guilt towards an oblivious Joey. Throughout the episode we see Chandler and Cathy’s relationship blossom from innocent flirting to the betrayal of Joey when they finally kiss. The other story line that lightens the mood from relationship troubles is Ross going back to his past where he expresses his love for music and performs his ‘sound’ for the friends. Phoebe is the only one of the friends to appreciate Ross’ bizarre composition of layered sounds from dog barks to helicopter noises.

Crazy Colour Hair Dye

If you ever even think about dying your hair an unnatural colour you’ve probably came across crazy colour. When they’ve got over 40 shades it’s easy to be over whelmed. However not all the colours are good? Here are three of the best and worst that I have used.

Pinkissimo

So let’s start of good. While crazy colour doesn’t have a lot of pinks it does have pinkissimo. While it is a bright, and I do mean bright, pink it can be diluted with condition. Personally I’ve used it undiluted and bright pink but also used 1:2 dye to conditioner ratio to a pastel pink. Its best isn’t the best but it does fade pink with slight purple undertones.

Marshmallow

Please, and I mean please, do not buy pastel crazy colour dye. They fade, they don’t stick, and there patchy. I’m yet to find one that works like it is supposed to. Please just buy a brighter colour and dilute it. It’s not worth it.

Hot purple

Pretty much everyone who died there hair without bleaching it went ‘purple’ which was basically red. Hot purple is an actual purple. It’s basically the same colour as the braiding. It’s a more violet purple however it does fade blue. And I do mean fade. It goes blue, though a nice blue, within 3 or 4 washes.

Bubble-gum blue

Another pastel, see a trend? While bubble-gum blue is better than marshmallow it still isn’t great. It’s not the poppy blue on the bottle. It looks faded out of the tube. Please just buy sky blue and dilute it. Please.

Orange

Is orange a weird colour to dye your hair? Yes. Will people judge you? Yes. Will you be asked if you are having a mental breakdown? Probably. Is it worth it? Yes, for me at least. Call me crazy (colour! Get it?) But orange was one of my favourite colours. The orange however stuck. Anything with red in it will stick. While it started to fade eventually it wasn’t till I went into the sea that the colour got striped. And yes, it went yellowy but it was worth it.

Peacock blue

PEACOCK BLUE IS A LIE. It is green. The biggest critic of crazy colour is a lot of the colours aren’t exact matches to the bottle. I get it though. They probably did it on bright white hair and I’m dying over a pastel-y faded colour. However when I stripped my hair to the point it was almost white and used peacock blue it was green. It wouldn’t of been that big a deal if wasn’t for the fact the name has BLUE in the title.

If this article has taught you nothing listen to this: do a test strand.

Review : Everyman Cinema

I’m not a fan of drastic change. I would much rather go with the safe, well known option, like the Vue cinemas. I would take the Vue cinema over the Showcase or Cineworld any day but recently I came across a hip, modern, luxury take on your average cinema trip, the Everyman Cinema. Prices are relatively high for the income of your average 17 year old but if you’re feeling fancy you do get a great service for your money (especially if you are a pensioner). The cinema consists of three small screens with around 60 sofas replacing the standard cinema seats. your snacks or food – as its attached to a small cafe- are brought to your seat by a member of staff – on slate trays and the likes, totally instagrammable if that’s your cup of tea. Once everyone is fed and watered a member of staff comes in and gives a brief overview of the movie and you are left to enjoy only the highest rated movies in comfort and style.

Overall, due to the price of food and the ticket itself I wouldn’t go out of my way to make it my go- to cinema destination but as a treat or for a special occasion it definitely works.

Mirror Journalist Returns to her Roots

Geraldine McKelvie, former student and investigative journalist at The Daily Mirror visited the JMAC class and other students with an interest in moving towards a career in journalism and the media.

During the visit she spoke about her 11 years of experience in the journalism industry. After leaving university she worked her way up from small local newspapers to her current position working for a national tabloid in London. Geraldine is now a top investigative reporter who always has to carry her passport with her as she never knows where in the world her next assignment will be

Jack McClung, a senior pupil in the JMAC journalism class said “It was really inspirational to see someone from our school community move on in life to become a successful journalist. It was also interesting to hear about all the projects she has worked on”.

Miss McGrogan, head of the English department also commented “It was fabulous to see a former pupil of mine doing so well in a field related to English. It was fascinating to hear about the very important work she does. It was also really good to hear about what journalism is like in the modern world with social media and how it’s changing”.

Geraldine commented “It’s really encouraging to see that even though journalism is going through a transition, there’s still so many young people potentially interested in going into a career in journalism”.

Top Five X Factor Auditions

5/ Angels

Starting off at the top of our list is the girl group, Angels. Although this is not one of the most memorable moments in the long history of the show, it’s still an iconic audition in its own right.

The trio performed “Whip my hair” by Willow, they even put together their own choreography. After they had finished performing the judges told them that they weren’t good with Tulisa, a one-season wonder judge telling them ” i think all the energy and the dance moves is to cover up the fact that none of you can really sing”. This savage remark sent one of the girls into a rage, she snapped back with “it’s a bit rich coming from you”. True mic drop material.

4/ Ablisa

In the number four spot we have none other than the legendary duo, Ablisa (AKA Abby and Lisa) . This pair auditioned in 2011 and this audition has remained a favourite of ours ever since. The two began to argue on stage when they had barely even stepped foot in front of the judges. It was clear that the duo did not have the best attitude towards performing and when the audience began to boo them Lisa yelled into the crowd telling them to shut up.

But it wasn’t over yet. The girls walked off the stage and it was clear that Abby was very angry at Lisa’s outburst, however they walked back onto the stage and performed their own rendition of a Shane Ward song. When the judges told them the bitter truth about how bad their audition was Lisa retaliated yet again by shading Dani Monogue saying “sorry but who even are you?”. This led her best friend Abby to punch her in the face and storm off of the stage in anger at her rude behaviour.

3/ Dawn “The Apprentice Jockey”

This girl sent the judging panel into fits of laughter when she came on to introduce herself as Dawn, “The Apprentice Jockey”. From the get go she had judges Sharon and Louis giggling away in their seats until they were eventually asked to leave by Simon Cowell

When Sharon was leaving the audition she got smacked in the face by the door and this sent thew both of them into a laughing fit causing Simon to yell at them to shut up.

2/ Zoe Alexander

Zoe began her audition by announcing that she works full time as a pink tribute act, she then continued to say that she wanted to “step away from the pink thing, and be Zoe Alexander” , then she continued to sing a pink song, the judges were confused to say the least at her contradicting audition.

When they asked her to sing a song other than pink she reacted in an explosive way screaming that they “told her to sing a pink song!” threw her microphone on the floor and left the stage like the icon she is

1/ Ariel Burdett

In at our number one spot is none other than Ariel Burdett, this girl stunned us all as we watched our tv screens in 2008. The most memorable audition in the entirety of the show.

Sadly, ariel Burdett passed away in December of 2019 at the age of 35, however her legacy remains in our hearts.

Top 5 Songs of January

A little late but here is your next music list. Last month apparently I was feeling pretty alternative according to my deezer so here we go:

Original Me – Yungblud feat Dan Renoylds

Yungblud x imagine dragons? Yeah I’m not exactly going to forget about that quickly.

Anagram all of the letters
Tellin’ me that I’m gonna be fine
Cleaning the world is out of my mind
Piece ’em together and dump on the sides

2) Telephone – Waterparks

No I’m not talking about a child’s water park when I ask if you know who waterparks is. The sound of the song and upbeat tone kind of disguises the meaning of the song but I wouldn’t want the song to be any different.

I know we only just met
So why do I feel invested?
And do you feel it too?

3) Put the gun down – Andy Black

The black veil brides singer Andy Black is somehow able to be in the band and have his own banging solo career. The slowed down style from him is class and lets his words come through and music has always been a great coping method for mental health.

Will anybody watch me?
Is someone gonna stop me?
This could be my last mistake
Put the gun down, just put the gun down, down

4) Howl – Alexandra Savior

I need to give my friend Shannon credit for this one but that doesn’t mean Alexandra Savior isn’t amazing. Seriously, check out The Archer album. Just cause its indie doesn’t mean its bad.

Sweet revelation, bitter wine
I’m dreaming but mostly I’m falling behind
Hold a little tighter boy ’cause I
Am falling from behind

5) All that matters (acoustic) – Tom Walker

While this one is not quite like the others on the list sometimes you need some lighter hearted music. Easy listening. Or maybe I’m biased since I’m going to his concert this month but oh well. Somehow the acoustic version is better and ‘all that matters’. Get it?

Can’t spend your money when you’re dead
Can’t live this life again
Yeah, it’s messed up, but we got love

Strathclyde University Language ambassadors!!

St.Aidan’s Modern Languages department received a visit from three students from Strathclyde University. The students all study languages and came to discuss with second and fourth year pupils the benefits of languages and also university life.

The ambassadors talked about their personal experience of languages and when deciding what they wanted to do in the future they decided to go for languages as they were a good foundation for any career they became interested in for the future as its considered an ‘added bonus’ by most employers.

However, for pupils who didn’t feel the academic pathway to languages was right for them the ambassadors reminded them that there was other more practical ways of learning a language e.g. taking up a job in a foreign country.

The ambassadors prompted the second and fourth year students to participate in the talk and went on to discuss the differences between university and high school life (contact hours, work load etc.) and then also told the pupils about their experiences spending a year in a foreign country as part of their studies and how different it was compared to living in Scotland.

Speaking to one of the ambassadors – Paul Farrell- he commented on why he decided to study a language “At first it was kind of an accident, it was only after I started studying the course that I realised how much I enjoy it. For anyone who’s going into it I’d just say it’s very practical and interesting.” Paul also commented on why it was important to share their experience of languages with the younger pupils “I think especially here there’s not a lot of awareness about foreign languages, a bit of an attitude about it. I’ve had people say to me they’re not keen on learning a language because “everyone speaks English.” I don’t think that’s a great attitude, I think some people are scared of learning languages because they may find it difficult or a waste of time. I’ve personally found that not to be the case, it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I’m here to get people to be more aware of it and more relaxed about it. I think it would do us the world of good.”

Greggs : The Vegan Adventure

As an employee and consumer of one of Britain’s biggest fast food/ bakery chain. I feel it is only right to discuss Gregg’s latest move to include more vegan options within their menu. Last year they made headlines with their introduction of the vegan sausage roll. It claims to be composed of 96 layers of puff pastry – just like the traditional sausage rolls – and Gregg’s own bespoke Quorn recipe.

Gregg’s has shown commitment to a high standard of baking and selling procedure of all products, especially vegan products. It has been said that the vegan sausage roll tastes better cold but in my ‘professional’ opinion it tastes decent either way. If you are questioning the accuracy of the sausage roll taste let me also inform you that it tastes not dissimilar to stuffing.

The success of this vegan delicacy has been put down by many – including the BBC- to the uptake of ‘veganuary’ – the roll was released on the 3rd of January 2019. The vegan sausage roll resulted in a 13.5% increase in sales and a £7 million bonus to be distributed amongst 25,000 staff.

Hoping to continue this streak of success Gregg’s has again expanded their vegan range by adding a vegan glazed doughnut, vegan soup and the vegan steak bake.

However, The bake labelled as a ‘steak bake’ has caused some controversy. Many think it should be labelled something more general like the ‘vegan bake’ as the word steak is essentially too ‘ meaty’ and doesn’t convey the true vegan properties of the bake – but sausage roll is OK? The bake has been so successful Gregg’s designed an exclusive ‘PR’ style box and even had to take the bake off of smaller shops to meet the demands within busy city centres.

The Vegan steak bake – taste wise – is the same as a ‘healthier?’ crispy pancake. If that’s you cup of tea a vegan steak bake will be a clear choice for your next Gregg’s order.