The R word...

Revision.

Now the holidays are drawing to a close it's time to knuckle down and realise that something has to be done about the exam I have on Thursday. To be fair, I'm not one to sit back and forget about school until Sunday night at the end of half term, I'm more content with the 'little and often' approach when it comes to a massive brain-capacity-stretching subject such as physical geography. Now, however, I know it's time to knuckle down and make a mind map, and do some past papers. That brings me to the main element of today's post - how I revise... let's take this in chronological order.

Four weeks to exam:
It dawns on me that revision is needed. I may have been doing some light reviewing in the form of flicking through my book on the bus, mental tests whilst say... drying my hair, but now I start to sit down and start with the first topic. I'll write everything I need to know down and hope most of it sticks to my brain.

Another thing I do is CHECK THE SPEC (it even rhymes to help you remember). Although you're bound to be taught everything you need at school, but just in case you missed a lesson or are unclear, try finding the specification for your exam on the exam board website, or ask your teacher for a copy. That way you'll know that no question could possibly take you by suprise...

Three weeks:
I'll buy a revision guide. I TOTALLY recommend CGP. They are so tongue in cheek funny, it's hard to explain without reading one. The puns are so purposefully bad you feel like you have a comical revision buddy to help you all the way, something I find most entertaining up until the last few days before the exam...

(Remember to check if you have a specific guide needed for school, CGP is amazing but little use if the rest of your class is pouring, bored to death, over some other, not as funny, revision guide)

Two weeks:
Review what you've done so far, start a mind map, stick it on your wall, make flash cards... Whatever suits your style (you're bound to have done countless exercises at school on 'your personal learning style'. I, for one, am a visual learner with an interpersonal aptitude, so, in non-schooly English,  I like mind maps and learning with others :) )

Past papers!!! Find them online, or from your teacher. Actually, it may be an even better idea to start these earlier, but two weeks is the latest you should. This gives you time to check them with your teacher.

One week:
Mock. You'll probably already have had one at school but I always save one past paper and do it at home in timed conditions. If all goes well you'll know you're completely ready.

Now review your notes throughout the week leading up to the exam.

Good luck (and sorry about the boringness of this post, but revision is important!!)

Nail marbling - fabulous is it works, a complete disaster if it doesn't...

With it being the holidays and me stuck for jubilee fashion, I decided to paint my nails for the occasion. The original plan was simple red, white and blue. What could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, I'm prone to having big ideas, and decided to take it one step further. Nail marbling!

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, here's a quick video and picture to show you the desired intended effect:

Warning: Do not leap out of your seat with excitement and do it straight away, you'll just make a complete mess. Read the whole post to find out what happened to me...

And the desired effect...

Unfortunately mine ended up looking more like this...

Basically, I was unaware that the polish would form a film (which I now know to be the whole point) and on my first try picked all the film up on one finger and scrunched it into a mess. Wasn't going well.

Then, I realised that because I used glitter and normal nail polish from different brands, they weren't going to make a nice swirl. Instead, they each took their own side of the bowl and when I tried to mix them the same thing happened - the film clumped onto my brush and I had no choice but to (unsuccessfully) dump it onto one nail. At this point I'd exhausted all hope of doing my nails and was now cleaning the bathroom with my last remaining drop of nail polish remover (after knocking the bottle over) and trying to prise flakes of polish off my nails and the sink. What an epic fail, all for some nice nails...

So, before you try this. Think realistically. It probably won't work and you'll end up in a mess. On a more positive note, if anyone has had any nail art successes feel free to comment, I might summon you for a guest article on how to be a nail marbling hero...

Abandoned the blog :( BUT I'M BACK

Oh dear. The 'keeping up the blog' thing didn't quite work, but I'm back. I've had a quiet few months apart from various violin related ramblings. My exam is looming (3 weeks although I don't have an exact date) so I'm in crazy practice mode for that. I guess I'll have to start again with blog promotion and all that but that will be after I've done my practice. I have an exciting idea for a post, one which is very, very out of date but I've wanting to post for a while. I hope some of you read it.
Again, sosososo sorry for abandoning this, it was going quite well too :'(

Film Review: Titanic in 3D

Last weekend marked the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the titanic, and to celebrate the film makers decided to release it in 3D, so that we could watch the ship subside once again in a suitably modern way. And what a success it was!


Very, very quick overview in case you've been living under a rock for the past decade: Two people meet on the maiden voyage of a ship travelling to America, the girl, Rose, is from an upper class family but the boy, Jack  is from the American lower class. Of course their families don't get on but they don't let anything stop them being together, until the ship sinks...


Before the film I was slightly apprehensive of sitting through three hours, but the story is told in such a detailed yet well moving way that it doesn't feel too long at all. The film is split about fifty fifty between the exploration of character interactions and class (of course the relationship between our two lovers but also the relationship between Rose and her mother) and the actual sinking of the ship (from the moment it hits the ice berg until the end of the rescue operation). All is nicely encased in a back story of an old Rose helping scientists explore the wreck.


The actors are magnificent, Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo Di Caprio) gel brilliantly as a couple, as well as members of Rose's family, crew of the ship and the wonderful string quartet delivering some great lines.


My favourite moment had to be when Rose and Jack were dancing in the third class lounge, it looked like they were having so much fun, and the way it was filmed made it feel like we were there.


As for the 3D, scenes that were made particularly impressive included the exploration of the wreck and the scene when the boat was upended. It made it seem a lot scarier and definitely added an exciting touch to the film.


Every time this week when I have told someone I had never seen the titanic before last Saturday afternoon they look at shocked and horrified as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Now I know why, the film is such a classic everyone has to see it sometime. So if you haven't, see it. NOW. Whether you go and catch it in 3D while there's still the chance or rent a DVD from the library. You'll love it, and that's a fact.

Exciting Update!

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while, but I have a few exciting posts planned for this weekend! Yaay, the weekend! This post is just to give some great news: I'm totally delighted that I was able to do a guest post for the blog Into Geek. My post is about stereotyping in the world of technology,which I guess is more serious than what I normally blog. If it gets good reviews then I might start writing more opinionated articles, I'll see how it goes. Anyway, again I'm sooo pleased that I got to do this post and hope it shows that I can blog in a more in depth way. My guest post can be found here.


In the meantime, please look back soon because I'll post some of my latest blog entries once I've actually written them...  (I'm going to write one now, may be up this evening)


Thank you to everyone who's reading my blog, whether you're a regular or have just stumbled across it. It's been a very successful first few weeks!


Have a nice weekend and remember to come back here for more posts!

What I'm listening to right now

I'm a musician, so inevitably my iPod is a complete jumble of pop music to folk and classical. I don't really believe everyone is confined to a certain music taste, and I think there's much link between what I like. I bet even if I were given a case of heavy metal CDs I'd find something I like.  Just make sure it has a strong melody and powerful lyrics (if it has lyrics at all) and I'm sure it gets a place on my random selection of music :)


So here's what I'm loving at the moment:


In the pop side of things, I UTTERLY LOVE Lana Del Rey. Her voice is so powerful yet sweet, and all the songs have wonderful meanings. My favourite song by her has to be 'blue jeans'. I think it is such a strong and mysterious song I find it so powerful to listen to. Have a listen and see what you think (and the video's pretty cool too):

Not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that I just watched the titanic but I also love Florence and the Machine's song 'never let me go'. Also, I read this great book with the same title, by Kazuo Ishiguro, a wonderful read. It really reminds me of the titanic story, and I think it was used in the recent BBC adaptation as well as being a lovely strong song. One of her best:

I play violin in a folk band, and this is one of my favourite pieces we play. I don't know much about the piece or the band, but I think it's a great introduction into folk music for someone who doesn't play it, and a great piece for someone who does. Even if this isn't your kind of thing, have a listen and hopefully enjoy this gorgeous tune (Bouree Les Poules Houpees, At Tambur):

So I hope you liked my selection of current 'most played' tracks. Comment your opinion and share some tracks of your own!

Easter Cupcakes

Ok, so it may be a little late, but what's Easter without a good recipe. If you're bored of chocolate, this could be your lucky day.


I found this recipe on the Good Food Channel website, and thought they look so nice I'll post it to my blog. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the cakes:

• 250 g unsalted butter, softened
• 250 g caster sugar
• 4 eggs                                                          
• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 185 g self-raising flour
• 60 g plain flour
• 185 ml milk

For the icing:

• 250 g white chocolate chips
• 300 ml soured cream
• raspberries or sweets, to decorate

Method

1. For the cakes: preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease a 12-hole 125ml non-stick muffin tray.

2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla and beat until well combined. Sift the flours together and fold in while adding the milk. Stir until almost smooth.

3. Divide the mixture between the muffin holes then bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10 minutes in the tin. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool.

4. For the icing: while the cakes are cooling put the white chocolate in a bowl over gently simmering water.

5. Once the chocolate has melted stir until smooth and remove from the heat to cool slightly. Gently beat in the sour cream until you have a thick creamy icing.

6. Spread the cooled cakes with the icing and top with raspberries or sweets.