So as you've probably read, I've finished high school (yay), and been accepted into a five-month program starting in March (yay 2x).
However, as you may notice, it is only February.
I don't start the program until the 7th of March, which gives me almost a month of no school or work (gasp).
Now what could I do with a whole month....
DISNEY MOVIE MARATHON!!!
About halfway through January, I decided that one of things I wanted to do this month before I left home, was to watch all of my favourite Disney movies in chronological order of when they were released. Now, I started to make the list and realized that it was just way too long for me to finish in a month. I like too many movies. Oops. So I had to narrow it down to movies released 2000 or earlier, and they all had to be cartoon.
And then I thought, "How can I make this into a blog thing? Because this really feels like this could be a blog thing." And I came up with the idea to do a "30 (or 40, or 50, doesn't really matter) Thoughts I Had While Watching ___________" post for each of the movies I watch, complete with gifs if I can find them. I'll scatter these with other posts as well, otherwise I think you and I would both go crazy.
Here's the list (in order because it's me, so of course it's in order):
- Pinocchio (1940)
- Bambi (1942)
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- Peter Pan (1953)
- Lady and the Tramp (1955)
- 101 Dalmatians (1961)
- The Jungle Book (1967)
- The Aristocats (1970)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
- The Rescuers (1977)
- The Fox and the Hound (1981)
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- Beauty and the Beast (1991)
- Aladdin (1992)
- The Lion King (1994)
- Pocahontas (1995)
- Hercules (1997)
- Mulan (1998)
- Tarzan (1999)
- The Tigger Movie (2000)
I hope you all will join me in rewatching some of the greatest cartoon movies of all time. What are some of your favourite Disney movies? Did I include them on my list?
I like stories. I'm sure that's no surprise to you all by now. I love the characters and the way they interact and develop throughout the story. And of course, I love the relationships.
Now, I have many favourite pairings.
Anne and Gilbert...
Katniss and Gale...
Kevin and Jane...
But my current all time favourite is Emma and Neal. Swanfire. (Spoilers for season three ahead. If you want to skip my ramble, but still want Swanfire feels, head to the bottom. There's my fan edit video down there. ^^)
*SPOILERS FOR SEASON THREE*
They're just so incredible! They have this intense past that makes them wary of love and trusting anyone. Then they create a deep history together. Then they meet each other eleven years later as broken, hurting people and realize that they're still completely in love with each other. And that terrifies Emma. The idea of loving the same guy that messed up her life earlier, even if he thought he was doing the right thing, is a frightening prospect. And for him, he feels hopeless. He knows he's done wrong by her. He can see the weight of his actions weighing on her shoulders. But he still loves her.
Then he "dies" and Emma is left grieving even more than the first time he left her. The first time he left, she was mad and angry and had sworn never to see him again. It was completely over in her mind. When they met again, hope and fear began to spring up inside her. Maybe it wasn't over. Maybe they had a chance. Maybe they could make things right. Maybe she was completely terrified that she still loved him after all this time. When he died, not only did she grieve over him, but over the chance that they had and then lost. She had spent eleven years thinking he didn't love her, only to learn that he had loved her, deeply, but wanted to do the right thing. The grief is mixed with a different kind of anger. More of a "what if?" kind of anger.
While Neal is "dead", she reaches out to other places, trying to fill the gaping hole that he left. She needs something to fill it. She's been with Neal again and it's only grown the pain and need for something in her life. Here, we see her with Hook.
I'm sorry Captain Swan shippers, but it is my firm opinion that to Emma, for a good portion of the beginning of their relationship, Hook was an attempt to fill a hole. I don't think Emma really had any strong feelings towards him until some time into season four.
It's funny, because Neal does the same thing with Emma. He has Tamara, who he tells Emma he "needs". It's my humble opinion that he's also trying to fill a hole. He can't have Emma, so he reaches out for anything that will numb the pain.
Echo Cave changed a lot in the dynamic of their relationship. For the first time since they met again, Emma is transparent with him, telling him exactly how she feels. I know she told Neal she loved him a few episodes earlier, but I think there's a really big difference between the two occasions. The first time, he was about to die. She didn't have to face any consequences of her confession. He would be gone. This time, she is telling him she loves him knowing that there will most likely be ramifications later.
After Neal gets out of his prison, he makes the bold declaration that he's never going to stop fighting for her, ever. He knows she loves him, he knows she's scared, and he knows that he's going to have to fight hard to win her trust back.
And this is where the writers did two horrible things wrong. They put Emma with Hook and they killed Neal. And I can't believe they did either. In my mind, Emma and Neal should have been end game. They'd been through so much and come so far, it seems unfair, cruel even, to have them not end up together. For heaven's sakes! They have a child together! Even if the writers had to stick Hook and Emma together, why did they have to kill Neal? It's just cruelty.
Anywho! If you've skipped my rant, my video is below.
Is anyone else really excited for season five to start??
Also! My sister Victoria and I have started up a book blog over at Sparrow and Acorn: Book Reviews if you want to check it out.
I just finished all of the Once Upon a Time that has currently been released to date and I'm so flipping mad at how the season finale ended! You can't just leave people like that be and be like, "Ta ta! See you four months! Enjoy the stress." Anyways, I'm trying to remind myself that this show is pretty good at throwing all sort of things at you and they (usually) work out. And honestly, I do like the plot twists. They keep me on my feet. So! I've decided to do a countdown of the top five plot twists in the show so far.
5. Marian is actually Zelena.
Ooh, this was frustrating. Immensely so. Regina was finally going to get her happy ending with Robin Hood and be happy and good. Not only does Zelena completely mess with Robin and Regina, but she places a wedge between Regina and Emma who were finally starting to get along. I was trying to figure out how to kindly or heroically kill Marian off because she wasn't a bad person and the only reason I didn't like her was because she was married to Robin. And then we find out she isn't actually Marian and the real Marian is dead and I just want to rip her head off. But, with all that frustration being expressed, I must admit, I didn't expect this whatsoever.
4. Lily is Maleficent's daughter.
Okay, I will admit, I did figure this one out before it happened. It was really clever of them to place Lily in Emma's past and I love the way they managed to weave her character into Emma's present time. When we originally learned that Emma had been friends with Lily seasons ago, I really hoped that she would find Lily again to at least make up if not be friends. And then when Maleficent's egg got sent to our world and survived, at the same time Snow was pregnant with Emma, I was pretty sure the egg would be Lily.
3. Little Red is also the wolf.
Not the biggest of plot twists ever but so cool. I don't remember if I figured this one out before it was revealed, but I was definitely impressed with the cleverness of this one. I was sorry she had to kill Peter to find out she was the wolf (Peter and the Wolf, eh?? Should've seen that one coming...), but it made her character so much richer and so much more interesting. It also helped to explain Granny's brutish attitude.
2. Baelfire and Neal are the same person.
This one is only less cool than the first one by like a sliver of a fraction of an inch. I mean, it related everyone to each other and my mind was blown. I mean, we knew Neal was Henry's father. And we knew that Bae was Rumple's son. But for Neal and Bae to be the same person introduced a whole new level of "WHOAAA!" I think I figured this out as soon as we started seeing Neal running away from Emma in New York. So just a second before we actually saw who he was. And I'm sorry, but I will never ship Captain Swan nearly as much as I shipped SwanFire and nothing can convince me otherwise. Neal was just amazing.
1. Peter Pan is actually Rumplestiltskin's father.
Whoa. Just "PFFFFT". That's the sound of my brain exploding. I didn't figure out this plot twist ahead of time. In fact, it took me a few minutes after the episode to try and get it all straight in my head. I mean, the fear on Rumple's part suddenly made sense. And so did the weird familiarity Peter had with Rumple. It amazed me to no end and that's why it sits at the the top of this list as the coolest plot twist.
Do you ever have one of those days that just goes so perfectly that you can't imagine how it could have gone any better? Last wednesday was one of those rare beautiful days. I'd been volunteering at a theatre camp for kids aged 8-13 the previous week and then that week from 9-4 every day, so my perfect day started with sleeping in until 10:30.
Around noon, my mum and I got on a bus to go down to Toronto, an agenda for the day in our minds. First, we'd look at where I'd be going to film camp/school in August, then look at my top University choice, Ryerson. After, we'd spend the afternoon walking around downtown Toronto, go out for dinner and then go to see Marianas Trench at Nathan Philips Square.
We started at this place called Honest Ed's because being the snowman I am, I needed sunscreen if I didn't want to resemble a tomato lobster at the end of the day. Two warehouses long and three floors tall, it was like a giant flea market/dollar store. The whole time we were in there I just thought, "I'm definitely coming back here when I need to go dorm/apartment shopping."
They had pictures of celebrities who'd visited this place
all over the walls.
After Honest Ed's, we subway-ed over to Ryerson to look at the campus, which I thought was pretty cool. We stopped for coffee in one of their little cafes.
One of the campus entrances is right on a main street in
Toronto, but when you walk in, it's like stepping
into a whole other world.
Om nom.
The coffee shop we stopped at was connected
to the school I'm hoping to study at.
After we left Ryerson, we had most of the afternoon to just hang out, walk around and take in the city.
Pretty. ^^
And it just so happened that whilst walking down a wonderful, blessed street called Queen's street, I see two people casually eating sushi outside the restaurant. I pause. Gee, they look awfully familiar. My heart stops when I realize who they are. Mike and Ian from Marianas Trench. Sitting there, eating sushi. In the middle of the afternoon. Casually, as if they have no idea they are part of one of the coolest bands in the world.
"Mum, those guys are from Marianas Trench," I nudge her.
"What? Really? Where?" She begins to look around.
"Behind us."
"Do you want to go say hi and ask them for a picture?"
"Yeah."
Slowly and fairly nervously, I approach them. We meet them and talk for a few minutes. We talk about Pop 101, one of their songs that we love. They ask where we're from and we tell them. Miraculously, they actually know where it is. My town's pretty small. I ask for a picture and they oblige happily.
And I shook wildly for the next hour as I tried to regain any sense of sanity still left in my brain. They were so nice!
Next, we went to have dinner at this place called Marche's, which is kind of like an indoor supermarket of restaurants. That's the only way I can think of to describe it.
I could have gone much more fancy with my food,
but I wasn't super hungry, as any appetite had disappeared
after meeting Mike and Ian.
Then we walked over to Nathan Philips Square to get standing space so the band didn't look like ants.
This is what the square looked like three hours before the concert.
Finally in our spots.
In the end, I was super happy with where we were and as you'll see in the pictures below, we were pretty close. I have like over 150 pictures, so it was pretty hard to narrow it down to nine. ;) They were incredible and I would definitely go to see them again. In fact, I am in October!
During Ever After.
Mike rocking out.
Josh's facial expressions were the best. I have a collection
of my favourites in my photo library.
The whole stage.
During the first couple of songs the hat, scarf and jacket
were lost.
Then a bra was generously donated by a screaming female
fan. Pants a little low there, Josh?
They stopped in the middle of the concert to do a
four part a cappella song, which was beautiful. They
got the crowd to be completely quiet and it was amazing.
Love this picture.
Yes Josh, reppin' the home
country.
It was such an incredible day. One of those days when you're just super happy to be alive and here on the planet. Ooh! And bonus, I didn't get sunburnt. Not even a little.
Hello Lovelies, So I was doing some looking through blogs recently, just scrolling through the internet. And I came across a blog called "chimera" and she did this tag called "The Soundtrack of My Life" tag. I'm sure you know by now, I love anything to do with music and this looked really interesting so I figured I'd do it! And I'd love to see your guys' answers! Looking at other people's music always makes me really happy!
1. Songs you listen to when you’re happy?
I have a few songs that are my happy songs that I listen to when I'm in a great mood. A few of those are "Waiting for Superman" by Daughtry, "Mrs. All American" by 5 Seconds of Summer, "Dance With Me Tonight" by Olly Murs, "Don't" by Ed Sheeran, and "Desperate Measures" by Marianas Trench. There are tons more, but those are my happy songs right now. When I'm in a good mood, I love listening to music with a good beat that's pop-y and happy. Something I can dance and jam to and sing loudly with the windows down.
2. Songs you listen to when you’re sad?
I don't know if I listen to music when I'm sad or mad more. But I think when I'm generally like that, the songs I listen to are "Backseat Serenade" by All Time Low, "Familiar Taste of Poison" by Halestorm, "Don't" by Ed Sheeran (yes, I know that one's on my happy list as well), "Give Me Love" by Ed Sheeran, and "Don't Let Me Go" by Harry Styles (I know this isn't actually an official song, but I may or may not have downloaded it off of youtube). I guess, looking at this list, lots of songs about being alone. I wonder what that says about me...
3. What was the last song you listened to?
The last song I listened to was "English Love Affair" by 5 Seconds of Summer. I love that song.
4. What’s the most musically involved you have ever been?
Well, I've been in my fair share of singing recitals and I've been in a few plays, but I think the most musical thing I've been involved with is something I'm currently involved with, which is recording my own EP! Which I'm insanely excited about.
5. Name four or more flawless albums.
Ooh, this is tough! Hmm, I'd have to say Baptized by Daughtry is definitely one. That album is just beautifulness. X by Ed Sheeran. And Ed Sheeran is flawless too so I love that one. 5 Seconds of Summer by 5 Seconds of Summer (10 points for originalness boys). And their live album, LIVESOS is truly flawless. Oh! And of course! An album I grew up on, Come On Over by Shania Twain, love that album. Hmm, what else... I quite like FOUR by One Direction, although I don't know if I'd call it "flawless".
6. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
Hands down, Anne of Green Gables OST. Hands down, 100%, no debate. That soundtrack makes me feel... things. And I love this gif. :)
7. What was your last musical “phase” before you wisened up?
Alright, I'm not gonna lie, this is still pretty hot.
Oh dear, definitely One Direction. And I don't just mean, I liked their music. I mean, I would reblog pictures of Harry Styles' arms or Zayn's pout. I would get chills when they'd sing "Rock Me" because that was the raunchiest song they had. I still like their music, but oh my word, I was truly obsessed. *Hangs head in shame*
8. What’s your “guilty pleasure” that you hate to admit to liking?
Hmm, I actually don't know about this one. I don't really feel like I have a "guilty pleasure". I mean, it's always hard to admit to liking these guys:
Or these guys:
It's just hard admitting it to music snobs, who many of my friends, God bless them, are.
9. Song that makes you lose your shit at a party?
Pfft, definitely Anaconda. ;) Shaking my little, white behind all over the place. No but seriously, I have no clue. I don't even know what type of music is played at...gulp... parties. I mean, my type of parties are Disney karaoke or Doctor Who fests. So, according to my sort of party, I'm gonna have to go with Make a Man Out of You. 'Cause when that song comes on, errbody better move outta my way because I know all the actions to it and I even know the Doctor Who version. Don't. Mess. With. Me.
10. Song you play on your headphones when out and about?
Usually "September" by Daughtry or some sort of All Time Low.
