Ever since I got an eReader last year, I have been reading a LOT. I mean, a couple of hours a day now, especially since I now commune to work every day. I also find myself reading a lot of books I would never normally bother with, some of which I have thoroughly enjoyed, some have been some brainless fluff to pass the time and the occasional e-book has been totally awful. I’m not trying to sell eReaders to anyone (though they ARE great!!!) but rather I wanted to discuss a discovery I have been made by a genre of books I never knew much about before and how much I don’t like it.

Paranormal romance.

Those two words together make me cringe, probably because I thoroughly enjoy picking on Twilight. For the record, I have read all of the books and didn’t hate them. In fact I kind of slightly enjoyed them, to an extent. But they are jolly good fun to tease and hate on. But Twilight isn’t it as far as paranormal romance is concerned. Oh no, there’s a LOT of it these days. And I thought I might enjoy some of it since I enjoy the paranormal and I’m not opposed to a bit of the ol’ romance and surely there are better authors out there than Stephanie Meyer! Oh how wrong I was.

Basically the “romance” in a lot of these books is just erotica. In other words, it’s Mills & Boon but with vampires, werewolves and all those trendy creatures. I’m not a prude at all, but I find this sort of erotica annoying and embarrassing. And overdone.  When I read a book, I like to be swept away with the story, I don’t need sex scenes interrupting the narrative or halting the action. I don’t find it sexy, I find it off-putting and wonder if I didn’t just grab a Mills & Boon book by accident (or in my case, download one in error). Basically, sex scenes don’t appeal to me in books. Maybe it stems from that uncomfortable moment in a movie you’re watching with say, your parents, when a sex scene comes on *cringe*

And then I found out about a new book called Fifty Shades of Grey. A friend heard it was really good and asked if I’d read it, and since I hadn’t I quickly started reading up on it. And let’s just say, I was not impressed. Naturally, I was instantly repulsed by the fact it started off as Twilight fanfiction. I have never been into fan fiction, as I find most of it tacky and dull. So to hear about a book that’s become a best seller that was originally a fan fiction… ugh, my mind boggles! Then there is the subject matter. Check this out:

The plot traces the relationship between recent college graduate Anastasia Steele and manipulative billionaire Christian Grey. Steele is required by Grey to sign a contract allowing him complete control over her life. As she gets to know him she learns that his sexual tastes involve bondage, domination and sadism, and that childhood abuse left him a deeply damaged individual. In order to be his partner she agrees to experiment with BDSM, but struggles to reconcile who she is (a virgin who has never previously had a boyfriend) with whom Christian wants her to be: his submissive, to-do-with-as-he-pleases partner in his “Red Room of Pleasure.”

WHAT. THE. FUCK?!

OK so maybe it’s the feminist in me who objects to this, but I really find the whole concept appalling. People keep claiming it’s “empowering” to women who want to take control of their sex lives. I’m sorry, but at what point does a book about a girl who is completely dominated by her horrible MALE boss empowering to any woman, ever? Fucking hell, what a crock of shit. I was considering reading the book to just make sure I wasn’t over reacting, but screw it, I’m not wasting my time with any of that clap trap.

So in retaliation to this nonsense, and to all of the nonsense that’s getting printed as books these days and somehow become best sellers, I have finally decided to live out a dream of mine from back when I was in high school. I am going to write a book! I actually used to be a fabulous fiction writer and I’m sad that I seemed to grow out of it. Probably because I never had something to motivate or inspire me. Well I’m bloody well motivated now! It will NOT be a paranormal romance, it won’t be inspired by another paranormal romance nor will it have irrelevant, vividly/whimsically detailed sex scenes. It will take me ages as I’m hopeless with time management but it was be an adventure and I am VERY excited! So…stay tuned, I guess!

Now, back to finishing the Hunger Games trilogy which, by the way, is one of the most amazing series of books I have read since Harry Potter!

Here is my second attempt with nails foils. The purple foils I used last time were a limited success as nail foils tend to rub off towards the edges very easily, so after a couple of days it looked very nasty, especially since the purple foils contrasted so much with the black nail polish. So I tried some very different ones out and they’re super cute!

I originally did them on hot pink nails and applied them in the same way as I did with the purple foil but the spacing between the butterflies was too wide so I could barely get two on each nail. So I started over and used a lighter base (Napoleon Chandelier Shine in Casablanca) and cut out each butterfly individually so I could position them better and pick and choose the colours. It was fairly time consuming but over some red wine, it was actually kind of soothing.

As you can see it’s pretty hard to get the foil to stick perfectly so some butterflies are missing antennae or tips of wings, but for the most part it was very successful. I then added some glitter nail polish (Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Disco Ball) over top to distract the eye from any missing bits. I am definitely starting to love using nail foils!

‘Boyfriend’ by Justin Bieber

I haven’t done a music post for AGES. What the hell? OK so to be honest, this is going to probably turn a lot of people off. But I have a confession… I actually like Justin Bieber. Not enough to buy his albums (unless I saw them for $5 somewhere which I have not yet managed to do) but I don’t mind his songs. I don’t even care actually, there’s no shame in liking something “mainstream” or enjoying the music of a talented teenager that’s adored by millions of teen girls (even if 99% of them are bat-shit insane). I like pop music, I love RnB and basically anything Usher does music-wise is fine by me, his little Canadian protégé included!

Anyway, I love how sexy this song it. Reminds of mid 2000s Justin Timberlake. I am also pretty impressed by how much his new hairdo makes him look like Stefan from The Vampire Diaries. Sure, I like Damian better, but Stefan is pretty spunky too:

OMG GUYS! They’re like long lost brothers. Look at those full lips! Those pinchable cheeks! I’d maybe have to send Justin off while I have some “adult time” with Paul Wesley though ;)

Anyway, I am done with all that Bieber hatin’ e’ryone does. He’s talented, hard working, sweet and apparently does a lot for charity. Maybe his style of music isn’t your cup of tea, but you don’t really know til you give it a chance!

I absolutely love writing, which is why I started this blog in the first place a number of years ago. But I have been really bad at it. I am a hopeless procrastinator, so any wonderful ideas I have for a new blog entry are either forgotten or I piss fart around so much that by the time I sit down to write them out, they’re no longer relevant. I need to stop doing that and write ALL the time. I need to make  note of any new blog idea I have in my diary (yes I still carry around an old-fashioned, paper diary) or even better, in my damn smart phone! I need to stop worrying about whether anyone will like what I write or if I’m writing too much or if it’s too pointless. Who cares? It’s my blog and so I need to pour myself into it, not write what I think people might like.

So please stay tuned for more entries. I aim to blog at least three times per week, more if I can manage it! I will blog more about fashion and music since that’s what my life tends to revolve around, as well as movies, advice and my patented rants. I’d also appreciate feedback and suggestions, if anyone has any. Feel free to comment here or email me at rockfotze (at) gmail (dot) com.

Love and fist shakes!

One of my biggest pet peeve’s are people who stare. I’m sure most people share this pet peeve, but as a woman of multicolour (as in, I have pink hair and lots of tattoos and often wear brightly coloured clothing) I get it more than most people. I am going to assume other people who have lots of tattoos or piercings, unnaturally coloured hair or those just don’t dress like the vast majority of the general public, experience this too. Because we look a little bit different, we capture peoples attention and make them want to look as us. Sometimes it’s because they don’t like it, but I’d say most of the time people are looking at us in awe or with admiration. And both are fine, it’s perfectly natural to want to observe something different or unusual, everybody does it and it’s generally no big deal.

What I hate, are the people who can’t just take a second glance and move on with their lives, but just STARE and even when you catch their eye, they either look away briefly before staring again, or just don’t give a fuck and keep on staring despite the fact they’ve been caught out. I get it a lot more now that I live out in the suburbs and catch a train to and from work every day. The fact I don’t always catch the same trains each day doesn’t help, because I am exposed to a new range of people all the time.

Now, I am not such a whiney bitch to think that no one should stare at me EVER. I accept the fact I look different and it is going to attract some attention and I have developed a remarkable skill where most looks, glances, whisperings or stares go unnoticed by me. I mean, if I noticed every time someone looked at me, I’d be in a state of perpetual stress. I let most of it wash over me and it’s usually my friends or family who notice the stares or whispered comments and get agitated by them. But I do notice them sometimes, especially when they’ve transcended the realm of normal into just plain rude.

I’ve had arguments with people about this, some people think I deserve to be stared at because I chose to have pink hair and get lots of tattoos. In fact some go as far to suggest I want the attention since I look the way I do, and I should be more “normal” if I don’t want people looking at me. Now HOLD ON A MINUTE! I did not get one single tattoo because I wanted to have people look at me. My hair is not pink to freak people out or because I’m an attention whore, but because I love the colour pink and dislike plain coloured hair. While I acknowledged and accept I am not a “normal” looking individual, I am sick to death of being accused to wanting to be stared at all the time just because I am who I am.

Today I had an older lady who happened to be walking behind me on my way through the City running errands, tell me that I had “the most wonderful haircut”. I was extremely flattered and thanked her for her kind words. It’s people like her who help remind me that not everyone who I catch staring at me is judging me or being a jerk. Most of them probably think I have cool hair, or like my tattoos. I just wish people would articulate it instead of just staring, because it’s hard to interpret a stare as anything but negative. If you think I’m worth pointing out to your friend and whispering about, why not come up to me and say “Hi, I love your hair” or “I just wanted to say you have cool tattoos”. I won’t freak out on you, and I’m more than likely to engage you in conversation or at the very least thank you for your nice comment and walk away with a big smile.

So that’s my challenge for everyone who reads my blog. If you see someone who looks super cool or interesting, instead of just staring at them or nudging your friend to take a look, go up to them and tell them! Let them know you think they look awesome, have a cool style or you love their hair. It’s not creepy or weird when you’re genuine and are clearly not trying to pick them up (so probably best not to try this out at a pub while intoxicated). You’ll make their day and in return you will feel great for having spread some positivity!

And MY challenge is to catch the eye of the next person who stares at me and make a funny face at them. It’ll either stop them from staring or make them laugh and both reactions suit me fine :)

Wow I have been slack-as with my movie reviews. I don’t even know if I should keep them up? I see movies ALL the time but somehow always forget to review them. Worst blogger ever? Probably. Anyway, here’s the last FOUR films I have watched:

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

I will admit I saw this film simply because of the cast. I adore older, English actors and have a little bit of a crush maybe on Bill Nighy. The storyline seemed simple enough, some elderly Poms decide to go to a hotel in India for a retreat where they discover the over-enthusiastic owner (played by Dev Patel, the guy from Slumdog Millionaire) has embellished the advert somewhat and are faced with less than savoury facilities in the hotel. However (most) of them make the most of it and get right into making themselves at home and discovering their surroundings. Two of the characters have trouble aclimatising, one of which is there against her will (to get surgery) while the other is really just a whiney cow who never seems to be happy anywhere, much to her husband’s dismay.

The story is very sweet and definitely not too complex but very enjoyable. The characters are all wonderful and it’s always a pleasure seeing Maggie Smith plating a grumpy old codger. There’s an interesting/sad twist on the development of one character that is also kind of bittersweet. It also delves into the lives of young, modern Indian people who are trying to adapt to the new world while fighting off the predjudices of the old way. The scene with Maggie Smith’s character when she becomes friendly with the “untouchable” servant girl is especially nice.

THE HUNGER GAMES

So apparently I am in the minority of people I know who actually liked this film. In fact, I will go as far as saying I loved it! I decided not to read the books before seeing the film as I am sick of being disappointed by a film because I went and read the book right before it. I am very eager to read the books after seeing this film because I thought it was fabulous. With the exception of the main premise of the film, I want to live in that future! The colours, the fashion, the futuristic-yet-old-fashioned styling ala Blade Runner (but much cleaner and sparklier). It was a total feast for my eyes!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the storyline revolves around Katniss, who volunteers herself to enter the Hunger Games in place of her little sister. Basically, there was some apocalyptic event that destroyed the USA after which there were rebellions from people in the poor areas surrounding the capital city, called “Districts”. To punish the districts for their rebellion there is an annual game called the Hunger Games where two children aged between 12 and 18 are picked to represent the district in a battle to the death. Grim, I know. It’s a big televised event and big bucks for the people who run the show. Katniss and a boy she went to school with are trained up and it’s soon learned that Katniss could possibly win the games due to her cunning at archery and her fiesty attitude.

I don’t understand why people didn’t enjoy this movie. Not just those who’ve read the books either, I got bad reviews from heaps of people. I thought it was shot beautifully and full of suspense and have thought about the film a lot since I walked out of the cinema. If you didn’t like the film and can elaborate beyond “I just hated it”, please explain why!

BATTLESHIP

Ahhh this movie was pretty fun. I didn’t have much in the way of great expectations when I went to see this film, in fact after the abysmal wreck that was Transformers 2, I was kind of expecting it to be high-action rubbish (which isn’t such a bad thing). But it as actually pretty good. It actually could have done being in 3D which I’m guessing it was meant to be in, but maybe we just lucked out in Australia. And that’s a big thing because I think 3D is over-rated and pointless in most of the films I see it used on. Or maybe I am just so used to seeing EVERY ACTION FILM EVER in 3D these days.

The plot is pretty simple, the main character Alex is forced to join the Navy by his big brother Stone (played very handsomely by Alexander Skarsgård) after fucking up his life one too many times. Alex is about to be booted out of the Navy by the father of his fiance because he is a turd who never obeys he rules. But first, RIMCPAC! Which seems to me to just be war games between US naval forces which Japan also joins in on. Meanwhile we discover there are satellites in Hawaii that are beaming out radio signals to a planet in a distant galaxy that has very similar conditns to Earth and therefore probably hosts living creatures. Obviously it does and those damn satellites probably woke them up early on a Sunday morning so they come to Earth and bring their terrifying battleship to fuck shit up with us humans.

Cue epic battle scenes, encounters with very human-like aliens and lots of witty one-liners. Unfortunately Stone doesn’t last long so it’s all up to deadbeat Alex to save the day. Very fun indeed.

THE AVENGERS

I just saw this last night and LOVED it! I am partial to all Marvel comic book adaptations so I knew I’d enjoy it, but had no idea it would be this much fun! Before seeing this, you need to have seen Thor because it’s almost a carry-on of it, and maybe also Captain America for good measure. If you haven’t seen Iron Man or Hulk before then it’s no biggie because they basically explain their parts in the early scenes of this film.

Loki, the angry, disillusioned brother of Thor has decided to come to Earth to bust shit up, partly because he wants power but mostly because he wants revenge on his perfect sibling. He has an army of vicious monsters to help him out but first he needs a fancy cube called the Tesseract which will create a portal for them to come to Earth. Once he has the cube, it’s up to S.H.I.E.L.D. to get Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America to form together to combine their powers and stop him. Thor turns up since it is his brother causing all the fuss and this the team The Avengers is born. They start off hating one another and fighting a lot, which works to Loki’s advantage, but they all manage to pull together and do what superheroes do best – bust the bad guy.

I loved the dynamic of all f the characters. Iron Man and Captain America are polar opposites so they fight a lot. Thor is just his handsome self while I really liked how Hulk was portrayed by Mark Ruffalo. Oh and I was surprisingly impressed with Hawkeye. Looks like archery is going to be the new in-thing thanks to him and Katniss! The action was awesome the final battle scene was nice and long and made the 3D worthwhile (thank god). Definitely one to see, ya’ll!

I don’t mean to alarm you all… but my DREAM JOB is up for grabs! I have wanted to be a VJ or music TV presenter ever since I discovered how wonderful music videos were as a young’un. After all I am not exacty musically gifted and I did drop out of uni before I completed my Screen Production degree which I was panning to make me into a famous music video director. But Channel V is currently looking for a new presenter and I am KENN AS MUSTARD to get the position. So I am asking you, as a dear, beloved and valued reader of my humble blog, to please help a sister out by clicking” like and/or the little heart on my audition video!

Please note, I do realise my video freezes at one point, Youtube is a mean beast and I’m hoping it doesn’t work against me, but the audio is still fine so fingers crossed! I will be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL for you support in helping me attain my ideal, dream job :D

My good friend Kim and I headed down to the Gold Coast on Friday night where we stayed in a family members holiday unit so we wouldn’t have to drive the hour + drive down each day. I went as  Hufflepuff student as I was sorted into Hufflepuff on Pottermore (much to my dismay, as I’m Gryffindor through and through) but figured everyone would be in Gryffindor so I’d at least stand out. Turns out I was wrong as Hufflepuff seems to be the new in-thing, but oh well! We battled the Gold Coast public transport system with limited success, arriving at the Gold Coast Convention Centre about an hour later than planned. After skulling some Smirnoff energy drinks for an energy boost/buzz we lined up in the glaring sun with lots of sweaty cosplayers, wondering when it got so hot all of a sudden. Within about half an hour we were inside and absolutely shocked by how many people were there! I don’t know if it was just my imagination but it seemed WAY bigger and busier than the Brisbane Supanova. You could barely move for all the people and god forbid you got caught doing the wrong way up and aisle as it was like swimming upstream of a very geeky river.

After looking at all of the stalls, I started the lengthy process of lining up for photos and autographs with the Phelps twins. If you don’t know who they are, they are the actors who played the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter films. And in case you didn’t already know, the Weasley twins are my absolute favourite characters, followed closely by Ron. So naturally, I was VERY excited to be meeting them! I spent most of the Saturday in lines for a photo with them and then their autograph, which was hideously boring but I made the most of it by people-watching and chatting to the Harry Potter fans around me.

And then our first day was over!

Sunday my sister came down for the day despite being sick as a dog (that’s the spirit). I decided not to dress up and just went for over-the-top kawaii with lots of pink, black sequins and some Minnie Mouse ears to top it off. She chose to dress as Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood, in her Merlotte’s diner uniform. Super cute! Thanks again to the Gold Coast’s public transport system we arrived an hour later than planned and only had enough time to look at half of the stalls before we went to line up for the Phelps twins seminar. Unfortunately they don’t filter the fan questions so there was some excruciatingly awkward moments when some fans asked some terrible questions that the boys literally couldn’t answer. CRINGE!

Afterwards we went and lined up for our photo with the twins which was the best thing ever. We were warned yet again not to hug them and that we just had to go in, have the picture taken, and move on. So Erin and made the most of our limited time with them and walked in, said hello (hello again, in my case) and grabbed a twin each and posed. I admit I grabbed James pretty close, in fact we probably had about 80% body contact and if I’m not mistaken, our boobs were touching :D What can I say? I’m sleazy for the Weasley’s!

Anyway, here are a few photos I took on the day. Hover over them for the description!

  

My first Nailin’ It vlog! I finally tried nail foils which I think was a succsess for a first time effort! This tutorial is ore of a “this is how I did it” sorta thing because it wasn’t until after I finished my nails that I realised I really should have blogged about the process.

I bought my nails foils and adhesive on ebay from Shardee Designs.

I ended up using Revitanail top coat which didn’t affect the foils at all and is by far my #1 choice of top coat for all nail art!

I can’t wait to try out all of the other amazing colours and come up with some awesome/cray designs!