✈️ vou voar ☁

It's virtually impossible for me to construct a concise list of my favourite tunes roaming around the SoundCloud. But a little surfing through my "liked list" enabled for me to throw together this little playlist of tunes I've luckily managed to stumble across. Hopefully they'll give you a surge of energy whilst doing chores like they do to me, or maybe they'll just make you want to tap your feet, click your fingers or shimmy and shake.

Guess who's back? Back again. MJ's back, tell a friend.

*blows dust off of keyboard*

Yes, my handful of readers, I, MJ, am back to smack you in the eye with my witty one-liners and random anecdotes....not really.

But yes, it has been a while. Honestly I have been quite busy with my studies, and other extra-curricular activities. But A LOT has happened since my last lengthy post.

So, as I currently procrastinate from studying for my Japanese exam, I will enlighten you to all the goings-on in my humble and reckless life ^^

Quick Polaroid of us baring the winter wind whilst waiting for Bombay Bicycle Club

Well, late last year I got to see one of my favourite British Indie acts in the flesh and it was super duper awesome. Yes, I got to see the wonderful Bombay Bicycle Club....and yes, I was yet again in the front row. Me and my best bud Lisa seem to have luck (let's not jinx this) *knocks on wood* when it comes to standing spaces at concerts, we're always in the front row. Well, I think it's due more to technique and planning, we always get to venues roughly two hours before the show, and when the gates open, we rush to the front (with a calm demeanour and finesse of course, lol). But yes, once again we were blessed with a live front-row performance from one of our favourite groups.

Here's a little vlog we managed to film for our YouTube channel 'mjandlise'.

I had forgotten what it had felt like to sing at the top of my lungs, I had also forgotten how rowdy and crazy concerts can be, me and my bud happened to fall down within the crowd, and fuelled with the adrenaline and British rowdiness we simply laughed and continued to get our groove-on. We still explode in guffaws at the thought of that fall, *wipes away tear*.

LEAN BACK, LEAN BACK, LEAN BACK, LEAN BACK

Over the course of the year, I worked on a couple of projects with my friends and a couple clients, it was great to get back behind the camera as a cinematographer, and also as an editor along with acting. Here are a few pics documenting snippets of what I did. Make your guesses ^ ^

It was really refreshing to actually put my skills into practice once more, and to create outside of the academic classroom. Doing some actual work, got me even more motivated and inspired for potential careers in the future.

I also happened to bump into blogger of Shirley's Wardrobe, Shirley B.Eniang.

LET'S TAKE IT INTO RETROGRADE

During the summer, my best friend invited me to go and celebrate Holi the festival of colour and love. And it was a heck of an experience, there's something extremely liberating about throwing colourful powder in the air and watching the colours blend, fuse and blow away in the wind....that is, until it gets into your eyes and mouth, haha. Oh great, now Pocahontas's colours of the wind is playing in my mind. Anyway, enjoy this wee vlog, haha.

After we were all partied out and virtually unrecognisable walking rainbows, we decided to grab a quick naughty McDonalds snack and made our way to our humble abode. And if you were wondering, haha, the colours washing of my body in the shower were more than magical, haha. 

And here we are before we got smacked by the unicorn's multicolour sneeze.

BACK IT UP, BACK IT UP, BACK IT UP

Let's take it back a few months to an event my and my bud attended at the exact same venue that the Bombay Bicycle Club concert was held. That's right! Earl's Court Exhibition Centre....corr, that's a mouthful.

I and Lisa got tickets to the Hyper Japan festival, which was awesome. It was really cool, we took polaroid pictures with Harajuku girls, learnt about some Japanese history, played the latest nintendo games due for release, played old arcade games, watched traditional and contemporary performances. Nom nom nommed on some food, and drank some boba tea. All in all, it was a great convention. Next on the list, visit a Korean Cultural festival.

TICK TOCK, WHERE WILL THE CLOCK STOP?

If we were to rewind last years summer a little more, we can go back to the time one of my high school chums invited I and Lisa to Thorpe Park for a day of screams, shouts and splashes, and a beautiful coach ride home, haha. Thanks Elisha ^^

Now I had never been to Thorpe Park before this outing, and hadn't been to a major theme park since I was in high school, so I was pretty pumped. Other than having the summer sun beaming excruciatingly on our bodies, the day was awesome. Unfortunately I didn't really take any snaps at all (I know #FAIL ) but I was too busy having fun to document myself having fun, (well I did post a little instagram post) hehe. 

A little known fact about me is that, I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, given the opportunity I am more than willing to sky-dive, bunjee jump etc, but thrilling roller-coasters are enough to satisfy my urges for the time being, haha. Stand out rides have to be: (Triple S) The Swarm, SAW The Ride and Stealth. I also really enjoyed Colossus (where we were given half-price fast-track tickets) ^^

After the fun day at the theme park, some of us decided to head on over to Five Guys in White City and grub on the American style burger. The burger had me like......too tasty to handle.

FAST FORWARD TO TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN

Last year I decided to participate in collegiate sports, specifically cheerleading which one of my buds, Tiya encouraged me to join. So I went ahead and tried out, and lo and behold I became a cheerleader, haha. Training was pretty intense, and I began to use muscles I hadn't used since gym class at my Sports specialising high school.

Stunt team shenanigans

I competed at my first cheer competition earlier this year in Birmingham, and it was great. I forgot how much I like to perform infront of an audience, the last time I had performed to a crowd this big was when I had performed at a Shakespearean festival with my drama class in high school.

The buzz, the energy, the pep, the flair. Everything was just so awe-inducing, and I loved every second of it. Joining the cheer team has been a great way of socialising with other students outside of class, and it's something I always look forward to whenever I'm in a little slump.

So my year so far has been more than eventful, slightly chaotic but I'm thankful for all the opportunities and events I've been able to do and participate in, here's to an even more eventful 2015!


Okay, it's time for this kittykat to hit the sack.

5 most memorable songs of the 90's-00's

When I say nineties, I really mean late 90's and early noughties. 

Since I was only born halfway through the nineties and my core childhood was lived during the noughties, I thought it would be fun to write a little throwback post.

I remember being allowed to watch TV after finishing my homework, and after watching a series of cartoons like cat-dog, Hey Arnold, Pepper-Ann (I could go on forever here), I would switch over to the music section.

MTV Base and VH1 were my go-to channels where I would (innocently enough) groove and bop to x-rated and phallic hip hop songs, along with robotically choreographed 'groups' and cheesy pop songs, headbang and shake every limb of my body to rock music, whilst also embodying precocious heartache with the likes of Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. 

Was I the only one? 

The 90's to me, was a time where music was pretty diverse and great, and although we did have our fair share of hyper-sexualised videos, it was a little more cheesy fun and games, along with overly sentimental serenades.

I will now relieve you of all my nostalgic ramblings and list out my top 5 most memorable songs of the '90's to Noughties.

5. Blink - 182 // All the Small Things (2000)

Probably one of the first alternative rock groups I ever got into. There's something so 'noughties' about this video, seriously. The fact that they were parodying boy bands, was hilarious. These guys just didn't really care to fit the mould. And I would pump up the volume and jump around my house like a caffeine fuelled chipmunk. *sigh*

4. Lucy Pearl // Don't Mess with My Man (2000)

This tune is filled with spunk, funk, groove and soul:  the perfect recipe for a great boogie. Seriously, whenever this song came on, not even really taking note of the lyrics, my sassy inner black female would be released, and boy would I wreak sassy havoc upon the atmosphere with my killer finger wagging.

A confrontational yet reserved message, Lucy didn't need to call anyone a hoe (take notes Beyoncé and Nicki) she simply states 'Don't Mess with My Man'.

3. Janet Jackson // All For You (2001)

For some reason, this song to me symbolises the turn of the millennium, I remember listening to this song on the radio in my dad's car circa 2001-2003.

The break-down, oh the break down at 03:00, exclusively for the video, this sort of dance break was all the rage in hip-hop-esque pop videos, and I would almost pull a muscle thrusting my arms and legs in every direction convinced that I was one of Janet's backing dancers.

2. TLC // No Scrubs (1999)

The costumes, left-eyes rap, the sheer bluntness of the lyrics.  As a kid I was just fascinated by the whole silver sci-fi space suits with the über thick platforms. The best part of the video, has to be left-eyes rap, at the time....I would just spit a little gibberish, but now that I actually realise how smart her lyrics were. Just wow. The chorus is super catchy, and as soon as I hear the little guitar strums, I'm thrown back into the awesome 90's.

1. Rusted Root // Send Me on My Way (1995)

I believe I first heard this song on the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda. Something about this song releases your primal nature. I'm not sure what it is, but the instruments and Glabicki's singing, just go so well together the song sounds so ethnically diverse, whenever I heard this song, I would dance around the living room like a member of an indigenous tribe. And I still do.

There is an endless list of 90's music that can take me back in time to my childhood, and that I'll still (surprisingly enough) be able to sing along to. Whilst writing this post, I can assure you that I had many a boogie. Maybe I'll delve into the 80's next?

Top 5 YouTubers

I've compiled a short list of my 5  current favourite fashion/beauty YouTubers. I hope you grow to like them as much as I do, or simply just check out their awesome channels.

5. Tasha Green

I love how Tasha puts her outfits together with a carefree attitude, she simply wear what she likes, and that's why I like her. She seems very natural and personable in front of the camera and it's always great to see and hear what she has to say about certain products and pieces.

4. BubzVlogz

Bubz (formally known as Lindy Tsang) videos always make me laugh, and I mean ALWAYS. She never fails to show us her genuine, carefree and personable nature, and I think that's why she has such a great following. Not any one of her vlogz are the same. She has this talent to turn mundane household chores into fun little chit chat sessions with minute philosophy as she entertains us with a little cute anecdote here and there. It's always fun to see little Domo and Chubbi get up to their canine antics, whilst Tim joins along with his dorky quirk, and the newest little addition to the family Isaac is oh-so adorable.

3. Shirley B Eniang

I can always count on Shirley to deliver spotless and seamlessly organised videos. Her set-up just seems so organised and desirable, yet she is super personable. I actually happened to bump into this fashionable blogger, she was really sweet in person too. I love how she manages to add a little African twang in her videos, and the fact that she makes simple and inexpensive items of clothing look super luxe is just the icing on the cake!

2. Claire Marshall

Oh hai claire! Claire is awesome. Her genuine, laidback and carefree attitude is what drew me into her channel. Not to mention her creative and innovative editing. I can always count on her videos to have a sprinkle of attitude, a pinch of rock and roll, and a whole lot of sarcasm. She's not your typical YouTube gal being covered in tattoos and all. And I love that she doesn't feel the need to follow the crowd. And we can't forget little Brucifer Lee, her trusty sidekick and companion.

1. Clothes Encounters

Where can I start with Miss Jenn Im.......her concise, articulate yet creative and personable videos are what drew me in. Her ability and willingness to try different pieces, and strut around in her 5"1 stature is awe-inspiring, her editing is fresh and clean and the music choices. Oh, the music choices. She seems to always find a way to "justify", or make a story for her outfits and I admire that ability.
Honestly this pint-sized Korean-American beauty is a force to be reckoned with, I can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

These 5 lovely ladies of the YouTube have made a big impression on me, and constantly motivate me to continue with my YouTube videos.

*Check them out by clicking on the links above their pics*