Emergency Prep - Floods

''Fail to prepare, prepare to fail"

With me being, well…me, it would be unusual to think I’d be prepared for anything. Just the other day my manager gave me a funny look when I said ‘I’m not that last minute’. So it’s interesting to know I have a little ‘emergency bag’ all packed and at the bottom of one of my wardrobes – just in case. I don’t know why it seemed to be high on my priority list seen as: I’m not in a flood risk zone, the earthquakes we experience where I’m from don’t manage to wake me up and there’s never been a storm bad enough to cause that much destruction in my area. But I just wanted to make sure that I was prepared in case something happened and I had to leave in a hurry – like a fire, a fire seems plausible.

                I have a small hold-all (small enough to carry on to a plane)which is BRIGHT pink and contains the following: Some jeans, some vest tops in case it’s the summer, but some layered items (a jumper and a huddy) if it’s a chillier season.  A mac – no not the computer, but a little rain mac - like the ones you get in a theme park when you go on the log-floom  or some other water ride (am I making sense here?) then to finish off the clothing I have the usual essentials – underwear, socks..yada yada. Extra things I have in there for those  ‘just in case’ moments would be: hand sanitizer – you never know when you’ll be able to use soap and such again and it’s easy and compact enough to use on the go. A spare toothbrush and travel toothpaste.  An empty water bottle. Sanitary products – unless you’re a female, you wouldn’t realise how vital these are.  I have photocopies of my ID (birth certificate, passport and driving licence) and a few loose photos of my family. Maybe this might give someone out there some ideas on what they might want to put into a little emergency pack?

Now, it only makes sense for me to write about what I know.  That just so happens to be floods. I work for a water company so I’m basically first in line to hear about flood warnings, flood disasters and so on. It’s only expected. So I thought I’d use my own little space to put some things out there that just might help someone someday (I hope anyways) seen as its coming round about flooding season now.

These are going to be a few hints and tips instead of facts and figures cause not all of that would be relevant to some people that read this. So first things first:

1.       If you know you’re in a flood risk zone, keep  important things high up - on a higher floor maybe, or a higher shelf. I know it’s a little bit of common sense and probably doesn’t need saying but it’s best to put it front of mind. You don’t want lose important possessions.

2.       Remember your pets. If a flood hits your home, make sure you move your family AND pets to higher/safer ground. We sometimes forget about our fury companions but chances are they’re going to be just as terrified as us, if not more.

3.       Put the plug in – this goes for baths and sinks alike (then weigh these down with something heavy). On a similar level, plug water inlet pipes with towels if you don’t have non-return valves in your home. This will help stop water coming in through the pipes under your sink/bath and any other water pipes connected to your home.

4.       Avoid walking or driving through water – as little as 6 inches of water can knock an adult down,  and 2ft of water can easily move a car.

5.       As soon as water enters your home, turn off water, gas and electricity off at the mains, but do remember to not try turn off the electricity if you have to step into the water to do so…you don’t want to put yourself at even more risk.

I think they’re the most helpful ones that I can think of. You can find more, as well as creating a flood plan at :Prepare For A Flood

One last thing, I would like to draw your attention to a video I came across on TED about a project that some young people put together to touch up photos and save memories after the tsunami hit, enjoy: 

Fortress Tour 2013 - 22/10/13

I think it was obvious to anyone who saw me in person or that had some visibility of my online presence that I was over the top excited for the Fortress Tour 2013. I don’t see how you couldn’t be excited: first off there was Halestorm – I have the biggest girl crush on Lzzy Hale, I think she is pure perfection and I would give anything for a day with her. Second – Alter Bridge were headlining, this meant amazing people, amazing music and let’s be honest, Mark Tremonti’s guitar skills are enough to do strange things to a girls ovaries. But the best thing for me, the thing that really did make my heart flutter was that I was finally going to see my all-time favourite band – Shinedown.

I didn’t want to miss out on anything so I took a few days off work, and myself and a friend travelled to Manchester on Monday night and stopped in the Holiday Inn Express until early Wednesday morning – the first mistake was letting me be in control of the map, I’m not very good at navigating around Manchester in the dark. But after a 15 minute walk we made it. The hotel was super lovely and the people that worked there were amazing, they really couldn’t have been more helpful and the rooms were gorgeous. I was in love with my walk in shower, the shower was awesome. But anyway, let’s not get into too much detail about my hotel room – not the time (though I do recommend The Holiday Inn Express in Manchester Centre if you ever want a cheap little get away / somewhere to stop over)

            After a day wondering around shops and being reunited with my beloved bobo tea, it finally hit the time to go and get to the arena. Being lazy and looking at the weather forecast, I suggested a taxi (even the guy behind the front desk was a little taken aback when I asked for a taxi number, he replied with ‘oh…it’s…um…really not that far’). Though it was a good call because it absolutely chucked it down just after we left. We bumped into a couple in the lobby who were wearing Tremonti/Alter Bridge merch, so offered them a taxi share after over hearing their talk on walking. It’s such a nice thing to experience people that have such close interests and have similar tastes, so much so that getting into a taxi with complete strangers didn’t feel awkward at all. The female even offered to pay the £3 taxi fare for our kind offer for the lift – see this is one of the reasons I’m into the music that I am, it’s a weird connection between fans that you just don’t get with mainstream music.

            When we got into the arena, I went absolutely crazy on the merch stalls. I bought myself an Alter Bride long sleeve sweater, a Shinedown shirt, guitar picks, a shirt for my friend – gig’s all in all put you ridiculously out of pocket! But I don’t care, I treasure them completely.

            A family (mum, dad and son) were in front of us and we instantly got chatting. They asked if we knew anything about the supporting bands – they had obviously come just for Alter Bridge. After expressing my love for Shinedown, we waited for the verdict after each set. After Halestorm played, they turned to us and gave an appreciative head nod and a ‘not bad, not bad’ kind of response. But after Shinedown: ‘THEY WERE FUCKING AWESOME. I DON’T KNOW HOW I’VE NOT LISTENED TO THEM BEFORE. YOU WERE RIGHT, I CAN SEE WHY THEY’RE YOUR FAVOURITE. THAT FRONT MAN IS A PROPPER SHOWMAN ISN’T HE’. It was like a sense of pride just washed over me. Its so lively when people appreciate your favourite things. And yes, Mr Smith is one heck of a Showman and one hell of an inspirational speaker.

            Jumping back a little here, but to Halestorm’s set, they started off with ‘love bites-so do I’ which was fantastic. I’d been singing it all day around the shopping centres so it was such an unreal experience to go from mumbling it to myself then to having Lzzy Hale screaming it back at me. As amazing as Halestorm was, with an incredible drum solo mid performance, nothing made me more excited that when they started the set up for Shinedown to come on. I was practically buzzing and I couldn’t stay still.

couldn't get over the amount of people
who share the same passion

            Then it happened. On they came. My heart could have imploded there and then. The best thing is that they sound the exact same live as they do on a recording. One of my unfeasible wishes is to have Brent Smith sing me to sleep every night, because golly gosh is that man’s voice a thing of the gods, but after hear him speak…it’s now a dream to have him just talk to me…all day. I felt so inspired. Everything he said had so much meaning and heart…I found part of his speech on tumblr, he changed it a little from venue to venue but here’s the gist:

So, why are we all here tonight? For the music, for the songs. See, the way we look at it is there are so many different genres of music all over the world, so many different styles. But, you see, it’s never gonna stray too far from drums, bass, guitar, badass vocals and a killer song, am I right? You see, what I’m talking about is the beauty of rock and roll.

Think about how many times rock and roll has been there for you when you needed it most; when the world and everything in it, and everyone in it, didn’t just quite understand who you were and where you were coming from. What were those songs that lifted you up? That made you feel alive again? What were those songs that made you want to fight?

Now, you see, when someone tells you that rock and roll is just a genre of music, you say, ‘No, my friend, no. Rock and roll is a way of life.’ ”

I remember him adding: there’s something in the room right now. You can’t touch it, see it, you can’t smell it or even hear it. But it’s there, and it’s in each one of us. Its love my friends. It’s pride. It’s strength, it’s hope, IT’S HONOR! IT’S ROCK AND ROLL. AND IT’S A WAY OF LIFE. Every one of us has this, you are never alone.’ And it was so god damn passionate that you couldn’t do anything but cheer and I swear to god I almost cried. It’s that kind of emotion that I’m talking about right there.

                I was incredibly jealous of the girls at the barriers for when Brent decided to hand out roses. With special little comments like ‘oh I do love a red head, here you go sweet heart’ and ‘you, don’t be shy, come closer. Has anyone told you that you look beautiful tonight? I think you look absolutely stunning. Would you like a rose?’. His way with words is phenomenal. It’s gotten to the point where I think I should stop because I’ve rambled on so much about complete nonsense because I just can’t articulate the way I felt that night.

                Oh, one other thing was it inspired me to start making music again. My guitar has finally come of its corner and started to be played again. I’m even looking into getting myself a Custom PRS Tremonti - which if everything goes to plan, I will be able to order on the 15^th. 

Books Vs Films - Warm Bodies

As a first thought, these posts may be quite biased because I know in my head that a book will always be the victor. Nothing will ever beat or even come close to the picture you’ve painted in your head through the description from a writer, so either way you’re going to be somewhat disappointed by someone else’s idea of what it may look like. Saying that, there is some films that have come pretty close to what I excepted it to be visually; The Amazing Spiderman for example – the character portrayal in the comics and the character brought to life on screen by actor Andrew Garfield came pretty close in my mind.

                I’m going to continue this post by talking about a specific book/film. Warm Bodies. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the misfortune of seeing the film first (don’t know how I didn’t realise it was a book beforehand, must have been living under a rock). So I purchased the book and started to read.

The basic story line is similar: there’s a plague that has turned the human race into ‘corpses/zombies’ apart from small herds of people that are surviving on very little, and there’s a zombie names ‘R’ that falls in love with a human and turns back again. Yea, that’s the same plot, right? But reading into it, it’s so different. So much so that I was a tad bit disappointed.

I wasn’t disappointed in the film, I absolutely LOVE the film, think it’s brilliant. I was just disappointed about how there was so many things in the book of which I would have loved to have seen come to life. For example, the ‘bonies’ have such a bigger role in the book. I would have loved to have seen their ‘meeting room’ where they went around taking polaroid pictures of the remaining civilisation and plastering them all over the walls (the camera of which in the book: Julie steals. In the film: Julie finds in an abandoned house); or how they all congregate to a ‘church’ type area within the airport and have a distinct noise/groan and gathering. These things I would have loved to see, just to see how a director would have translated them to the screen.

The casting for R, in my opinion, was perfect. Nicholas Hoult makes the perfect zombie teen and I can definitely picture him while I’m reading. He’s a fantastic actor and portrayed the role incredibly well and I think matched the description of the character almost spot on. But ‘R’ as a character in the book is so much deeper (personality wise)…he’s not just interested in the girl; he’s battling inner demons, mulling life over, having constant battles with himself over hurting those around him. You don’t get that kind of depth in the film. In the film he just simply kills Perry off and feels a bit bad about it later on when he realised he was Julie’s boyfriend…but in the book, Perry becomes a big part of R’s subconscious – Perry is actually kind of vital to the story which I didn’t think he would be after watching the film.

Moving onto the next character, Julie. Bloody hell! How deep is she ?! She has such an interesting and hard-done-by past that you never get into on screen. You find out about her mom, about her run in’s with drugs, about charging for sex…all sorts. I really do have a strong and empathetic bond with her character in the book, where as I thought she was just a bit whiney in the film. The character development in this book is fantastic – even Nora has a great background story. I really feel like a lot was cut out and lost about Julie in the film which is a huge shame.

Don’t even get me started on the ending. Now if the ending in the book was done in film that that would have been award winning right there. The ending chapters are where things change. The story line isn’t the same in the slightest (well it is vaguely in that R becomes human again) but I never would have guessed that the kiss between Julie and R has an effect on both of their beings, and that Julie’s father breaks down entirely. I can honestly say that the last half of the book had me gripped and I found myself reading it whenever I could because there was always new surprises and twists.

So if I had to choose my favourite between book and film, in this case I couldn’t really. I like both for different merits, and I really couldn’t compare due to the amount of differences between the two. All I can say is that I love the movie and recommend it to anyone wanting to watch an easy going, heartfelt teen. In contrary wise, if you’re wanting an emotional, deep and physiological story then I would HIGHLY recommend the book – I think it’s one of my new favourites.

(after having a non-working laptop for a few weeks, this post is far later than I planned but I know exactly what I’m writing about next – Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Halestorm!) 

Deaf Havana - live in Manc, CD signing

Today I met the heroes of which make up Deaf Havana. Had a brilliant time so thought, hey…what not blog.
 

                So the day started out getting up later than planned (having the day off work= instant refusal to get out of bed before 9:30am) and catching the train into Manchester Victoria. I’ve been looking forward to this day for some time but it never even registered in my head that ‘hey Carys, you don’t know Manchester at all, why not look up the address’… but luckily the extremely chatty man in Starbucks gave me wonderful directions (I don’t do directions well at all – or maps – so well done Starbucks man!)

            After getting to HMV way too early, the time between then and the acoustic set was spent buying headphones, drinking bobo tea and meeting up with people who are going to Uni in the city – all in all pretty productive, but let’s move on. We returned back to HVM at half past four to try miss the flow of traffic that would be turning up at five and queued for a half hour. One of the greatest things I found about people who listen to Deaf Havana is that they’re so friendly. I didn’t meet one rotten person in the que/inside. Everyone was lovely and helped each other out (a big thank you to Aiden who let me stand in front of him so I could see). Going in alone was the most terrifying thought but I met two other people on their own and we stuck together and chatted as though we had met before. Lovely!

                To get in, you basically used Deaf Havana’s new CD (Old Souls) sort of like a ticket, you showed that you had it on the door and went into the little staging area. It was such a cute little space so the acoustic set really did feel pretty intermit. I absolutely fell in love with James Veck-Gilodi’s stage presence just by the way he talked between songs.

                Happy to say I have a few half decent pictures and videoed a few songs. You can really tell when my arm starts to go dead in all the video’s I recorded, but the achey arm was definitely worth it to get a little memento – especially seen as they played one of my favourites (Hunstanton Pier).

                The signing was great, my cd case now looks all decorated. And talking to the guys while getting it signed was wonderful. I love when bands really interact with their fans and they really did seem so humbled by the amount of people who actually came to buy their album. It’s always refreshing to see that people still care about the music they produce and about those that listen to it.

I’m glad I didn’t say anything too awkward, though. I’ve met guys from bands before and blurted out the uttermost bollocks that has just pooped into my head. The most I said was ‘I really don’t know how to talk to you, little awkward’, in which James responded ‘HEY ME TOO! Hence my ramblings between song just now’. I politely asked to take pictures and BOOM, the day was over.

           The Ringmaster Festival of which I was going to for my birthday got cancelled this week so I’m really glad I managed to get to see Deaf Havana today (seen as they were in the line-up for next Friday). All in all, pretty happy.

18th Excitement

I’ve never been one for birthday celebrations. I don’t know why exactly, it just never appealed to me. So much so that I used to say ‘I don’t like my birthday, it’s too much fuss over what is essentially just another ordinary day’. I think I really did have a hatred for my birthday at one point. I’ve never wanted to grow up – much like the female peter pan. I want to be as young as I am for as long as I can – impossible, though I can always dream.

But this time it’s the ‘big one’. My 18^th. I don’t think that it’s much of a big deal over in America with the drinking age being at 21 and all, but over in England it’s definitely the biggy. I don’t know though, so if I’m wrong and it is a big thing, I’d love to hear about it.

So as expected, I have everyone at work, all my family members and my few friends asking the question: ‘SO WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED?!’. Until now, nothing. It’s seriously not really even crossed my mind that I might actually do something. At one point, I kind of gave in to the guys at work and just let them plan a night out and I’ll just tag along and we’ll all say it’s for my birthday. That’s how all my nights out go – I’m not much of a planner.

Though lucky me, I managed to come across a website for the Ringmaster Festival which just so happens to be the day after my birthday and include a line-up which I’m in love with (featuring bands such as Deaf Havana, The Blackout, Hadouken and We Are The Ocean). I managed to coax a friend into coming with me and camping and I have to say I’m dead excited. I really can’t wait for my birthday to come around and it’s a wonderful feeling.

I really had forgotten what it felt like to be genuinely excited for something. And it seems as though all the things that make me happy are coming in leaps and bounds. I’m in love with music so my next few months are packed with bands, gigs, and appearances which I’ll be sure to blog about and document because hey…it’s so much easier to write about something you’re passionate about/enjoy.

I’ll leave some links bellow to some of the things I’m going to just in case anyone out there wants to tag along too.
·        Thursday 19th September – Deaf Havanaacoustic set and cd signing
·        Friday 27th September – The RingmasterFestival
·        Tuesday 22nd – Shinedown, Alter Bridgeand Halestorm (Manchester)
·        Saturday 15th – A Day To Remember(Manchester)