London Grumblr

As I am currently on a year out, the days of the week don't really seem to matter to me in the slightest but being surrounded by people who are working, I realise that today was Monday and Mondays do not equal fun. Sooooo I have decided to share my favourite website with you in an attempt to make the beginning of your week perhaps a tiny bit better (at least).

I discovered "London Grumblr" via Twitter which is actually probably where I find out about most things these days. (It is an increasingly wonderful tool for researching as well e.g. product reviews/news)

London Grumblr is a website documenting Londoners' gripes and problems through photos, gifs and very witty lines. Very good for a cheer up :)

Here are a few of my favourite ones:

Walking through Westfield during the school holidays

When two people start to have a fight on public transport

and everyone else is like...

When some guy tries to take the last seat before I get to it

Source of all gifs: www.londongrumblr.co.uk

Hope you all have a lovely week
x

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Saturday's Dry(athlon) Update

Thanks to your kind donations, Team 'If Carlsberg Did Fundraising...' has raised over 70% of its overall fundraising target already. I have also reached my personal target of £50 so thank you very much for your donations. They are going to a great place.

Avoiding alcohol has been heavily aided this week by falling ill and not actually being able to leave the house but I did turn down a glass of fancy red wine at dinner the other night. You know, the nice stuff that grown ups drink.

In other news... I read a bizarre article on BBC News which contained the following quotation but lacked any mockery surrounding it (that's truly dedicated unbiased reporting for you there) - "It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak."  - Wise words from the man who arrested a cat for attempting to smuggle luxuries such as drills into a prison... Made me laugh anyhow! 

Today, in my unproductive state, I have also:
- watched a great episode of "Don't Tell the Bride" which featured our beloved Cheam Village <3 Ironically, the main bit in Cheam was at the bride dress shop, which looks ever so cute, historic and lovely when sitting at the 213 bus stop but from which the chosen dress was a disaster. Might not go there for mine as I planned I would do aged 13. 

Loveeeee this. (not from the show) Source: weheartit.com

- watched the final episode of BBC 3's "Him & Her" - "The Proposal" - which exceeded expectations given that I have not enjoyed this series as much as previous ones. It has been getting a little too disgusting, which I suppose is the beauty of the show really in some ways. But yes, this was the best episode of series 3 in my opinion and almost brought tears to my eyes, something which the show has never done before. Nicely done. Russell Tovey is also a phenomenal actor.

Source: Guardian website

- eaten half a tub of Ben & Jerry's and whilst I did so, could only think of back in the day when Emily would rush over with a tub of Phish Food and the Moulin Rouge DVD each time I'd "had my heart broken". Ha. Man up 15-year-old Beeta. Having said that, ice cream does make everything better and I am feeling less ill as a result. Win win win. 

- taught my Mum about sloths. Did you know they can sleep for 20 hours a day, eat leaves and fruit and only go to the toilet once a week? Ridiculous.

Source: weheartit.com

- discovered many new blogs thanks to "The Totally Awesome Blog Hop". Wonderful.

Think I am going mad.

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Cancer Research UK's Dryathlon

Last year when I couldn't walk I made a list of things that I wanted to do when my legs decided to be a bit more useful (you can find this list here). One of them was to do Cancer Research's Race for Life which is a 5km run but unfortunately this wasn't a possibility. I am still hoping to do that race when I start running and get my fitness back but for now, I have found an alternative way of raising money for Cancer Research.

A few friends and I are participating in the Dryathlon, giving up alcohol during January (and perhaps beyond...) to help raise money for Cancer Research UK. Our team, "If Carlsberg Did Fundraising..." can be found at http://www.dryathlon.org.uk/dry/teams/info/irTwG We all have our targets but very keen to raise as much money as possible.

The idea is to be sponsored for not drinking as well as using the money I would have spent on a drink to make a donation to the charity. So for the whole of this month (in addition to my ban on crisps/chips) we will be swapping the Sambucas for smoothies, Amaretto for apple juice, Mojitos for milkshakes and pints for Pepsi (yuck).

You can find out more about the work that Cancer Research UK funds on their website here. They really are a fantastic charity.

If you are able to make a donation, it would mean a lot to us. Spread the word and get involved - you are able to sign up to be a Dryathlete yourself until the 6th January 2013 if you would like to participate in the event yourself.

Thank you and happy new year!

If Carlsberg Did Fundraising...*

*Please ignore the wine!

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Florence and the Machine at the O2 Arena

Source: weheartit.com

Last night Michael and I saw Florence and the Machine at the O2 Arena. A Guardian reviewer only gave it 2 stars today but I can only disagree with his conclusions and report that the gig was wonderful. Florence herself has great stage presence and her voice is one of the best I have heard live. Each note carried throughout the arena flawlessly. Florence's presence is majestic and what is striking is the level of respect she has for her own music. That may be a weird thing to say as I am sure most artists respect their musical creations but the way Florence and the Machine ensure that their performance of each song reaches a state of sheer bliss and ecstasy is unique.

Florence loses herself in the words and chords, striking mystical poses to separate her, the performer, from the audience watching a magical spectacle. This artistic barrier was reinforced by Florence's almost regal  gesticulation, stretching her limbs to form statute-like figures, to interact with the spectators. As an audience we respected her and the lack of verbal interaction for the first third of the set left us in awe.

Florence is a brilliant front-woman but each member of her band and the orchestra was indispensable also. The stand out songs for me were "Only if for a night", "Shake it out" and "No Light No Light".

Source: weheartit.com

We were also told of Florence's last visit to the O2...back when it was the Millenium Dome and on a school trip! Although the aforementioned barrier was broken slightly as Florence revealed little anecdotes, including another about the relevance of "Shake it out" (a song about a hangover), she was still a fairy to us, floating from one side of the stage to the other, jumping and spinning all set.

Oh and her outfit was beautiful!

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