Showing posts with label belfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label belfast. Show all posts

Sunday, 22 April 2012

SUNNY APRIL


Helloooo,
I can’t believe I only have TWO weeks at uni left! Where has the year gone? It makes me sad - wish it could go on until June like school - I find summer long, tiresome and boring. Hopefully I’ll get a job sorted or else it’s going to be as unproductive as last year’s. Yes it’s lovely to have a break - but I like having a focus on something too, and I desperately need money.
Titanic Sounds

This month marks the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic - as you all should know, the Titanic was built in Belfast and the anniversary being marked as an opportunity to celebrate. I think the reason as to why it is being celebrated was because it was a magnificent and beautiful ship that Belfast men built, not the thousands of lives which were lost in it’s sinking. 
Belfast and MTV organised a small concert for the opening of the Titanic Quarter. This was called MTV Titanic Sounds and was held on the 13th April. Pixie Lott, Rizzle Kicks, Katy B, Sean Paul and Olly Murs performed. 
It was a great night and the atmosphere was fantastic. MTV were there recording the show because it is going to be featured on MTV World Stage later in the year.

Coleraine Holiday
I was back at university last week, but I didn’t mind because I had guests! From Wednesday - Friday, Emma, Kerri, Elizabeth and Amy stayed over - it was lovely to see them since we didn’t see each other much over Easter due to work, study and other commitments. 
When they arrived around 2pm, I gave them a tour of the campus and we went for a walk to the Daffodil Gardens. (I honestly didn’t know the place existed?!) They called the campus numerous names, including a train station, hospital and mental institute - but they admitted they liked the place. (Queens students...*rolls eyes*)
Elizabeth made the best spag bol ever and then we went to C.U.

After my seminar on Thursday, we took the taxi to the Strand in Portstewart. The weather was beautiful and we took some photographs. 
We walked to Morelli’s and got ice cream - yummy! 
That evening we went to the Jet Center and had a go at bowling - I didn’t do as well as I hoped. We had a wee meal after that but we were stuffed. However everywhere we went, even on campus, was incredibly empty - where was everyone?
It was like a holiday for me too despite being back at work - I hoped they enjoyed it as much as I did - Thank you for visiting! I’m glad you came do do do doo doo do do... ♫

Friday, 9 March 2012

INVINCIBLE

Hey,
I feel I must speak of my adventures this past week.
I’ve had an extraordinary week filled with fun and festivities - I feel much better since my last post here. I was really getting depressed for a while but I think this week has definitely made up for feeling so crappy.

First of all, I got my driver’s test! Hoorah! If you know me at all you’d be aware about how much I HATED learning to drive - it was a despair - I was on the verge of giving up. It’s not that I wasn’t any good, I just couldn’t master it. Then I booked my test in late January after much deliberation and persuasion from my parents. Within a month and a half I bloomed into a pretty good driver, which also boosted my confidence.

I took my test on Monday morning (5th March). I felt nauseous - it was terrible. I was so nervous I couldn’t remember the answers to the question that the examiner asked me, and at one point I panicked so much I couldn’t put my poor wee car into gear. Although this cost me two minors, I successfully got through the rest of the test without any problems. I was delighted and still quite shocked that I passed!
Hopefully I’ll get a run out tomorrow because I haven’t had the opportunity from being in Coleraine all week. 

I also had my first deadline this week for my course. I had to create a Motion Graphics piece using Adobe After Effects on a topic of my choice. I chose myself.. sounds a bit egotistical but I was inspired by P.J Ligori’s video.
Here it is, posted below, you can have a look. There’s a couple of mistakes, yes, but it’s not the final version. There’s lots more to be done. I worked for 9 hours on this for only 30 seconds of footage - it’s ridiculous how time-consuming animating is.
I thoroughly enjoyed making my wee illustrations on Photoshop, and if you have any feedback it would be much appreciated! 
Thirdly and finally, I must tell my tale of my evening with 5 lovely men - The Wanted!
The Wanted are a British boyband who’s hits you are likely to be familiar with: ‘Glad You Came’ and ‘All Time Low’.
They are near the end of their first Arena Tour and Belfast was on the list - Kathryn, Kerri and I ordered tickets. I am pleasantly surprised at how AMAZING of a show they can put on! Seriously, highly recommended. The atmosphere in the Odyssey was fantastic and we were all singing and dancing along!
The highlight of the night was spending 2 and a half hours outside the back gate patiently waiting for the tour bus to drive out - anxiously anticipating that we may see them again.
The persistence prevailed - at 12:30am they appeared! They walked up and down and kindly took photographs, signed autographs and offered hugs and kisses. Totally worth the wait. We were, as you can imagine, in hysterics.
First of all we met Jay - my favourite, such a cutie. We were so excited though we didn’t get photographs separately with him. :( However I’m peaking out of this photo with Kathryn.
We met Nathan next - which was a lot more successful - we got individual pictures with him and he gave us a hug. He was so adorable and down-to-earth. This is the best photo I think.
Lastly we met Max - Kathryn got carried away and our photographs didn’t turn out great - as you can see I’m not sure who looks more scary in my photo! 
Alas, we didn’t get to meet the almighty beautiful Siva or Tom either - but hey, maybe next time? ;)
It was an amazing experience though and none of us expected to have such a brilliant night! I’m still buzzing with excitement and it was almost 24 hours ago! 

But yeah, that’s me all caught up once again! 
Lots of Love,
Claudia

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

BRITNEY WHO?


Here comes a short post about the absolute brilliance of BIGBANG. 
Big Bang were nominated for the Worldwide Act in MTV European Music Award. This year it was held in Belfast. 
The Kings Are Back
They were up against Britney Spears and WON! Oh yeaahhhh!
May I add, they received 58 million votes alone. And only 168 million votes were casted altogether.
You’ve no idea how PROUD I am! It is such an achievement to be even nominated. K-Pop is becoming well known all over the world now. And c’mon, it’s Big Bang. They are my favourite group, so yes I’m very proud of my boys!!

The closest we got to Big Bang...
James, Emma, Mary-Jane and I travelled down on Sunday to do some stalking. We had a wonderful day, the atmosphere was lively and it was exciting to see how Belfast was holding such an significant event. 
Outside the Odyssey 

Of course, every day has it’s bad points. I think the worst part about this day was that Zico from Block B was wandering about the Odyssey promoting K-Pop but by the time we arrived, we were too late! Emma had a mental breakdown because she’s a big Block B fan, and I was also gutted because that would have made the day perfect. Mary-Jane got excited to meet someone famous. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Instead, Mary-Jane, Emma and I were interviewed for SBS (Seoul Broadcasting Station) who were filming outside the Odyssey before the show started. Again, it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. The Korea interview and camera women were just standing across to us, so I bravely went over and asked if they were there for Big Bang. They replied enthusiastically “Yes! Are you fans!?!” Before we even nodded, the camera was rolling and questions were being fired at us! It was funny because they didn’t even ask if we wanted to be interviewed. It was kinda scary but lots of fun!
So perhaps we’ll be on Korea’s TV? There’s going to be a Big Bang special aired in a few days so we might be featured then. It’s also more likely we’ll be aired because we are western which proves to Korea that that Big Bang and K-Pop is being recognised worldwide.



TOP touched this CD!!
The interview is APPALLING, I think it’s hard to understand what we are saying. However, I was able to tell them T.O.P was my favourite. To thank us for our efforts, the man gave us an AUTOGRAPHED Big Bang ‘Tonight’ CD! Saying that, he only gave us one, but Emma and May-Jay kindly said I could have it since I was the biggest fan. (Thank you!!)







All in all, I had a superb time - but I feel I could have tried harder to meet them. But I’m very happy indeed. And I’m very, very glad that they won their award. 


Other BIGBANG music videos you should check out:
Lies
TONIGHT
....there's more, but that's some to get you started. ;)

- Claudia

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

DREAM LOG: JULY

9th July: Day out in Belfast.

Mum, Dad, Jared and myself were going to the cinema in Belfast. The film was some comedy but that doesn’t matter. We were all then told by staff to leave, because the building was unable to remain open anymore. When we got outside we had to make our way to the fields outside Belfast. (For those who were at the Tall Ships last year, it was the fields were the cars were to be parked.) Mum, Dad and Jared went to fetch the car but I got caught up talking to Rachel H, so my family left without me. I asked Rachel for a lift but unfortunately her car was full.

Then I met these two Korean girls who appeared to be tourists. They were both frightened (Understandably, because Belfast was now being evacuated, people were fleeing)

I felt like I had to help them so I called a bus and thankfully it was heading out to the fields.

When we arrived there was one big tent so I went inside to find my family. Members of Westlife were sitting on the floor playing board games with members of the public. There was also Enrique Iglesias there. (I remember making a mental note to tell Laura that I saw him.) I found it very exciting to see all these pop stars because I thought “Wow! I’m going to have a lot of autographs for my collection!”

The finale was Shakira performing on stage. A typical Shakira performance, except the best bit was she was singing, dancing and filling in a large sudoku square at the same time! Everybody was roaring in applause, except by the end of the song, she hadn’t finished it. Jared also pointed out she got most of the answers wrong.


12th July: Terrorists.

Ok this dream started off when I was getting out of school and heading for the bus. Shannon L started walking behind me and wanted to speak, but we only did for a minute or two because then she got in her taxi to go home.

I then followed another girl, who I’m pretty sure was Anna Annett, to make sure I’d get the right bus home. Then she started flirting with a bus driver (a young guy who I also recognize but don’t know by name)

Then it flashed forward to me not even getting the bus, but arriving at home, where nobody was present, except for Mrs Stevenson who was tutoring a young 5th year lad out on work experience? They were both stripping the wallpaper for the walls to be painted. I wasn’t impressed by this but when I tried to persuade Mum to stop them she just laughed and said it would teach the boy a lesson.

I decided to go back to school because I was told Mrs McCullough and my friends all had digestives (which James remarked “These are incredibly high in fat”) and mint vienetta and was throwing a small party.

Kerri, being Kerri, asked if she could leave and retrieve more food from the shop so I accompanied her. It was a good weather so we decided to walk round the harbour.

However, when we reached the harbour, the military had taken over and there were a number of cars blocking the road.

When we were walking past the Nautilus Center, Julie-Anne and Emma J jumped up wearing balaclavas and SHOT ME ON THE ARM!!

Kerri was unhurt but I had a massive indent on my right arm. (No blood though, lol)

We returned to school and I started to complain to all the mothers who were standing outside. Nobody really cared though because everyone liked Jules and let her get away with it.

Jules and Emma reappeared and I slapped Jules across the face because I was really mad. Then I was shouted at by everyone for assaulting someone. Sigh.


21st July: Reality sucks.

I don’t remember much of this dream, but I was at a end-of-exams pool party on holiday which had a Hollister theme. Nobody was wearing Hollister but some of the guests were writing the name ‘Hollister’ on the walls instead. Then I met this blonde guy and started going out with him. He was cute although I don’t like blondes much. I woke up smiling then scowled shortly after in disappointment.


23rd July: Marriage.

I went to Victoria Square car park with some friends. I distinctly remember Amy being there. We needed to get up into the fancy area of House of Fraser but first needed to get past the beefy security guards.

When we finally arrived, (now it was only Mum, myself and a few others I did not recognise) I realised that we were actually there to purchase a wedding dress.

Turned out I was getting married! Nobody, not even myself, knew who the groom was. I think I was meant to know because others kept asking me about him but couldn’t remember at all. The strangest thing was that not knowing who my husband was did not concern me, however finding a dress was more important.

Most of the dress hunting was a blur, but I recall I was talking to Alison F for most of the period Mum spent picking dresses for me to try on. She picked me out a black dress? (Which has a certain similarity to the Lipsy one in my wardrobe!?) and insisted to get it.

We then went to get flowers for the wedding next, but again I was distracted talking to people.

However when I went to pay for the flowers I opened my purse and found a photo of Kim Hyun Joong from SS501? Then I became afraid that I was marrying a Korean pop star and didn’t tell Mum because I thought she would get cross I was wedding a foreigner. Then I woke up.



Unfortunately that’s all the dreams documented in the log. Some of the time I don’t remember my dreams until I wake up and a big percentage of the time I don’t dream at all.

Hopefully August’s log will be more interesting.


- Claudia

Thursday, 10 March 2011

I'M DESIGNER


Very chic- love the bag

Love it

Nice for a wedding

Think this clashes a bit but the picture turned out well

Another nice wedding one

I like this photo

Def in my top ten favourite outfits, this jumpsuit is gorgeous

At the end, they done a Swan Lake presentation looking at make-up and hair. This is one of them. She looks to be wearing an Alexander McQueen dress.
The back of her hair- looked very cool!

And to end this series of photos, here is the other one, she looked CLASS. She had wings.

MORE MORE FASHION BABY

Kerri's dress

Gorgeous

Favourite Photo- She's so happy!

The good looking one

Very stylish- love this

Love this shot

Unusual- suits her


OH SO GLAM!

One of the first to do the catwalk- I love how I just managed to get this photo. I quite like this outfit, but I do love high wasted trousers!

I LOVE JUMPSUITS.

Lol, when we were reading in the little book it said one of the guys were wearing pyjama bottoms and boxers, we didn't know how that was going to work!
Gosh this girl was SO skinny. :S

Yuck.

Accidental close up on a dress. Camera was slow. But I like the detail on this dress. It looks very glam.

Her fringe annoyed me.

Lookin' smart!