In early 2020, the newest game in the Animal Crossing franchise was released for the Nintendo Switch console. New Horizons dropped at the perfect time, when people all around the world were locked in their homes in order to flatten the curve of COVID-19. Nintendo Switch’s flew off shelves during this time, and the cozy island life became a place for people to disconnect from reality and de-stress.

The game was a best-selling hit from launch day and became the most successful Animal Crossing game to date. New Horizons is no doubt a roaring success, selling more digital copies (five million) in a single month than any other console game in history and over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide (as of 2022).

Over the course of mid-late 2022 I spent hundreds of hours working on my charming island of Capeside inspired by some of my favourite tv shows such as One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, and Hart of Dixie. All three of these shows are set in a small town with lots of quaint charm, small town folk and lot of random festivities. I really wanted to encapsulate this energy on Capeside – after all it was named after the home base of Dawson’s Creek, although that show didn’t serve much inspiration for builds on the island.

Designed to be a peaceful small town with lots to do, I really wanted Capeside to reflect various aesthetics so it would distinguish each area, and give each of my villager a place to call home. Each villager’s house has renovated interiors which extremely fun and creative as we all know the villager homes are truly hideous. I also really enjoyed the facilities and vacation homes on Happy Home Paradise this time around and out lots of time and effort into them.

You can visit Capeside through the dream address: DA-3394-7093-4700

Please let me know if you visit, I would love to know!

I’ve been really inspired to create various things since I got an Apple pencil for the iPad at the start of October and it’s made my creativity soar. These beautiful songs have been very inspiring as I create and spend some time with me, for the first time this year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Click the play button below to listen to the playlist on Spotify.

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One of my favourite bands ever is The Lumineers. I decided to make a trip to Sydney on the way back from Melbourne once I heard they were playing an exclusive one-off show at the Enmore Theatre as I also love that venue and knew it would be worth a pit stop.

The Lumineers have been a staple for me ever since 2011 when I heard one minute of “Ho Hey” in an episode of Hart of Dixie – I became obsessed wit h the song and needed to hear more. Their music is so unique and different to anything else I’ve ever heard, but in case you have never heard of them before I would describe them as Americana indie folk rock band. You feel the music in your body and the lyrics resonate deeply in your soul, even if you’ve never experienced the situations or scenarios they are talking about. Their music is so well-crafted, and I have to say I am loving their newer songs to. They played a couple of new ones and my favourite from the new album III so far is”It Wasn’t Easy To Be Happy For You“. Of course the songs from their first self-titled album were absolutely incredible to hear again and the crowd went nuts during the likes of Ho Hey, Stubborn Love, Submarines, Flowers in Your Hair, Big Parade, and Charlie Boy. The Lumineers are professionals at what they do and although they remain quite private when it comes to their personal lives, there is no emotional distance between the crowd and the band when you’re at their show.

At previous gigs I’ve been to I’ve never liked the support acts very much, but this time around surprised me. I had never heard of Tyne-James Organ before but was pleasantly surprised by how professional he was and the songs were awesome. His style reminds me of British pop rock, kind of like Oasis, The 1975 or the band Williamette Stone from the movie If I Stay (which was led by a British actor who used The 1975 as inspiration). I would highly recommend the song Graceful as it has been stuck in my head since the show and I don’t want it to leave any time soon.

*Photos taken with Fujifilm X30 and edited in Lightroom.

Shawn Mendes first came to my attention back in early 2016. Somehow I missed the Vine phenomenon which is how he first blew up, but I found him as his sophomore album Illuminate was soaring through the charts and immediately fell in love with the album.

I decided to see him live in Melbourne and it was one of the best concerts I’ve been too (plus I was in the 3rd row so I had a great view)! He sounds just as good live as he does on the album despite his songs getting increasingly more difficult to sing as time goes by. For such a young guy he is so talented, personable, passionate and hardworking. 

His influences, namely John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and Justin Timberlake, definitely shine through on his self-titled album, Shawn Mendes, and he even collaborated with John Mayer and Ed Sheeran which must be a dream come true for a young artist.

I decided to get the light blue/teal colour vinyl known as “Cover III” and I am so glad I did. When the record finally arrived 8 months after the album was released and I got to see the colour in person, I screamed, “IT’S SO PRETTY” with glee. All the months of waiting and frustration was worth it in that moment when I saw the beautiful blue record. I don’t think I’d purchase through Merch Bar again as the wait time was insane, but the quality of the record is great and it was well worth the wait.

I think this record is one of my new favourites in my collection. I already loved listening to Shawn’s previous album “Illuminate” on clear vinyl but I think this will be one that gets a spin quite often because it is so physically beautiful, plus the music is good!

Onwards with the listening & review….

Track 1: In My Blood ★★★★☆

As everyone knows, In My Blood was the first single off the album, and it EXPLODED. It was essentially number 1 in every country in the world when it was released, and I can see why. The song is so personal and shares a lot more about what Shawn goes through sometimes. He isn’t trying to be a cookie cutter heartthrob and just portray what is expected of him. The sound is quite different than Shawn’s previous albums, but also feels like an organic development for him. A great album opener.

Track 2: Nervous ★★★☆☆

Nervous is a super cute and genuine song, however it is one of the least mature songs on the album and feels reminiscent of high school crushes. I think it’s a strange choice for the song following In My Blood which is so deep and heavy, but maybe it was a conscious choice to lighten the mood and to balance the tone of the album.

Track 3: Lost In Japan ★★★★☆

Lost In Japan is a jam but it’s also very much a song that an artist would write on the road, and is one not very many of his fans could relate to. The music in the pre-verse gives it a European quality, almost like he’s in France super far away from the person who he can’t get off his mind.

Track 4: Where Were You in the Morning? ★★★★☆

I’ve got to say, I absolutely love the way Shawn sings this song & I don’t think many other artists would sing it the same way. The instrumentals provide a heartbeat in the background whilst Shawn’s vocals remain prominent throughout.

Track 5: Like To Be You feat. Julia Michaels ★★★★★

As the only collaboration on the album, I think it is perfect, and perfectly done. John Mayer produced the track and I think the simplicity in the repetitive music allows the vocals to shine, and the guitar solo provides that little bit of rest in the song and allows it to build. Julia’s voice is so emotive and I love than Shawn’s voice is present but also allows her voice to shine more than his in certain parts, it is a true collaboration

Track 6: Fallin’ All In You ★★★★☆

When I found out Ed Sheeran was a co-write on this song, everything made perfect sense. I think this is something Shawn has to be careful with when collaborating with artists who are so big, and do write similar music to him. Ed has a very distinct style that is recognisable, even by people who don’t follow artists (look at Love Yourself by Justin Bieber which Ed wrote- there were people who thought it was Ed singing at first). Overall, the song is lovely but it does have a different vibe than the rest of the album and doesn’t quite sound like a Shawn Mendes song, at least not the 2018 Shawn Mendes that uses more electrical guitar than acoustic. Due to Ed Sheeran’s phrasing Shawn has to sing the song in a certain way that

Track 7: Particular Taste ★★★☆☆

Particular Taste is one of those songs that grow on you over time, or that don’t particularly (no pun intended) stand out at first, but it does have a funky beat that gets stuck in your head. For some reason all the songs about girls seem new and like he’s getting to know people, instead of being long-term, intimate relationships. They’re quite immature feelings in a way, being obsessed, playing games, acting like you don’t care about someone. It’s very much what teenagers and young adults are going through which is nice, as Shawn’s relationships and sexuality develops it is reflected in his lyrics.

Track 8: Why ★★★☆☆

This song reminds me a little of Only Angel by Harry Styles in the beginning 20 seconds or so, but then they take very, very different turns. I love the chill vibe of Why and I can picture a young girl listening to this song in her room on a Friday night if she needs a chill weekend. I’d love to see a contemporary dance routine to this song, it would be great to act out as there are so many emotions and specific actions you could do.

Track 9: Because I Had You ★★★★☆

A collaboration with Teddy Gieger and Ryan Tedder, this song is a winner for me. In a lot of ways it reminds me of songs like “Honest” and “Patience” from Illuminate (also some of my favourite songs) where Shawn isn’t afraid to be the bad guy in the story, which is ironic considering his reputation of being the perfect Canadian gentleman. It’s hard to describe why I like it so much, but it does have that “easy listening” quality that I love. Plus the falsetto in the background is pretty nice.

Track 10: Queen ★★★★★

There are a few female celebrities that come to mind every single time I hear this song, and I’m dying to know who it was actually written about. Following the theme of this album, Queen very much touches on celebrity and fame, and the shallowness of it within the exclusive community of celebrity.

Track 11: Youth feat. Khalid ★★★★☆

Inspired by current events, Youth takes on the millennial perspective of the state of the world. Rebelling against politics has become a large part of youth culture and the youth are standing in their power to have their voice heard – we won’t accept racism or sexist commentary anymore, we won’t accept homophobia, we won’t accept capitalism ruining the environment. It’s impossible not to be plugged into these things. Youth captures all of those important social and cultural changes that the young generations are bringing to the table.

Track 12: Mutual ★★★☆☆

Yet another confused millennial “love” song. With the amount that we communicate online these days, I think we are all more confused than ever and have no idea what anyone is thinking or feeling. Almost every young person who is dating gives half of themselves to of someone, and the other half is looking for someone else, someone better. It’s more prominent than ever and it’s interesting to have a song that completely represents millennial relationship dynamics.

Track 13: Perfectly Wrong ★★★☆☆

By the time you get to track 13, you have a pretty real sense of who Shawn is in relationships. For me, I think he chooses the wrong girls every single time, either he isn’t feeling it or the girl is cold & standoffish. I love getting to know this much of an artist through an album, even if I personally don’t relate to much of the content. As a teenager I had to relate to songs to love them (therefore I only listened to pop-punk bands!), but Shawn is so good that isn’t necessary.

Track 14: When You’re Ready ★★★★☆

I’ve got to admit, When You’re Ready isn’t a song I hear a lot off the album but it has grown on me a lot. One of my favourite Shawn songs ever was Understand, the closing song on Illuminate. Understand is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard and the perfect closer for his previous album. I’ve noticed most of Shawn’s music tends to be ‘in the moment’ or set within a short time frame, but his closing songs tend to be ‘bigger picture’ with reference to the future (eg. even ten years from now) which is great as it sets us up for the next album. I’m glad the theme continued into When You’re Ready.

Overall thoughts:

Shawn is a lovely person who is determined to grow as a writer, musician and human which shines through. With each album he grows so much and his songs become more complex. His musical style has evolved from pop, to pop-rock, to incorporating more RNB on his third album. As much as I love this album, Illuminate is still my favourite as the concepts are more relatable and the pop-rock sound is what I am most drawn to.

I can’t wait to see what he releases next.

When those electronic first notes of Dumb Stuff began and the crowd began to roar, I knew I was in for a good show.

I saw LANY last year in Sydney but unfortunately was sick and had to leave halfway through the show so I missed all the hits. When I heard they were coming to Brisbane I knew I had to get tickets and they did not disappoint. I personally thought the crowd was more enthusiastic in Sydney but Brisbane held up pretty well. As magical as the Brisbane show was for the crowd, it seems like it was just as amazing for Paul:

 

brisbane i have no words for what just happened in that room. top 5 maybe top 1 show for me. insane intimate indescribable. the love you gave tonight will carry my soul for weeks thank you x

— paul klein (@pauljasonklein) March 23, 2018

If you haven’t heard of LANY, you probably don’t have Spotify or a Tumblr account. LANY is an American alternative-indie-pop band that formed in 2014 and has risen to popularity over the last few years. They released their first album last year, and it was incredibly popular amongst young adults. Just last week, one of their most recent singles Super Far hit 10,000,000 streams on Spotify which doesn’t include the 19,000,000+ views the video accumulated (to-date) on YouTube.

With a lot of bands it’s about ego, but LANY is about connection. You might think that it’s about aesthetic and synth-pop if you look at their online presence, but being in their presence you realise they have a true love and passion for the music and performing live. The shared connection between LANY and their fans is through feelings, experiences, youth, and self-expression. Even if you haven’t experienced the exact situation or emotion that a song is about, you can still feel it and by the time the audience erupts into applause, it’s almost like you have experienced it.

Of course their first smash hit ILYSB closed out the evening. It was the first song I ever heard of theirs and it did not disappoint hearing it live for the first time.

I wasn’t expecting to like them as I’m not usually into that kind of music, but they really surprised me and I enjoyed their performance a lot. The lighting was also fantastic during their set which is a luxury for a support act but it made all the difference and got the crowd hyped for LANY.

Follow LANY on facebook, instagram, twitter, and their official website which is a tumblr account.

SKAM (translated to “SHAME”) is one of the most successful television programs to come out of Norway, if not THE most successful. There are two dominant themes throughout the series: first loves & identity. However, there is another theme that has remained present (albeit in the background) throughout the seasons: religion & spirituality. I will get to that soon but first I want to give a little background on the show and the characters.

If you have been living under a rock and never heard of SKAM, it is a series based on teenagers that attend Nissen High School in Oslo, Norway. It doesn’t sound ground-breaking when you read a one sentence synopsis, but the format of the show is unique and unlike anything that has come before it. Clips are released in real time throughout the week on the NRK website, and then combined into one episode that airs on a Friday evening. By doing this it targets both the teenage crowd (their target market) by allowing them to live their lives alongside the characters which keeps them engaged 24/7. It also targets the older crowd who are used to more traditional media and sitting down to watch an episode of a show on television each week.

To make the show even more realistic, we see their social media posts on screen. Messenger conversations, YouTube channels, Instagram posts, FaceBook accounts, and Tinder are utilised in a way that we use social media these days as millenials in a way that no other show has done yet. As a viewer you can follow the characters you love on social media for extra content, blurring the lines between the actors real lives and the characters.

You can compare television shows like UK’s Skins to SKAM’s format but SKAM is even better. It’s less gritty and peculiar than Skins, but just as juicy and entertaining. SKAM focuses on one character’s perspective each season, as opposed to each episode as seen on Skins. This allows you to dive deeper into a character’s story arc and follow their journey in-depth throughout the 3-4 months in which the season takes place.

All the characters make mistakes like any other teenager, but SKAM never judges or pities their characters, leaving you to come to your own conclusions and space to come up with theories to fill in the blanks. SKAM trusts that you are a smart individual and doesn’t treat you like you are an infant like some series tend to do. If I had to pick one word to describe SKAM apart from amazing, it would be heartfelt.

Warning: This post will contain spoilers up until episode three of season four.

“It’s 2016 and the world is progressing.
Don’t you get that it’s [religion’s] nonsense?”

The first season focused on Eva; a girl who had no friends apart from her boyfriend and his best friend. We follow Eva’s journey while she finds a new group of friends and navigates her messy, seemingly perfect teenage relationship. Eva never mentioned her religious, spiritual or personal beliefs and most of her moral compass was influenced by the people around her. Spirituality was not a factor in Eva’s season apart from the offensive remarks made towards Sana who is a Muslim girl in Eva’s friendship group.

Fan-favourite Noora was the focus of season 2. Noora is a strong feminist and loyal friend that we fell in love with in the first season. We followed her journey of falling in love with the teenage heartthrob/fuckboy, William (aka Willhelm). We mostly see her struggle with her feminist identity and navigate her way through her feelings for William as her judgement is clouded by love and she feels not like herself. Unlike Eva, Noora’s moral compass is completely internal which is why she found it so challenging when William challenged her views. Spirituality and religion was not much of a factor for Noora either as she was so self relient and introverted when it came to her values. When Noora began questioning her own ideals during her relationship with William, Sana gave her the following advice: “If you say you’re in favor of a world full of peace you actually have to try to understand why others think and act the way they do.”

Note: Season 2 also deals with darker themes that may trigger some people so please be sure that you will feel safe watching.

“If you say you’re in favor of a world full of peace you actually have to try to understand why others think and act the way they do.”

Season 3 was the most popular by far and focused on Isak who is struggling with his sexuality and home life so he moves into Noora’s old room once she leaves to move to London (spoiler: she returns). His relationship with new student Even is complicated, messy, on and off, and devastatingly beautiful. To quote Ronan Keating, life is a rollercoaster for Isak. Although Even is not the first boy Isak has had a crush on, he is his first real relationship and like Eva and Noora, we watch him navigate the waters of his first love.

Isak’s mother is very religious and sends him regular Bible passages via text message, causing Isak to roll his eyes and question if his parents will accept him if he is gay. He stands up for Sana (his biology partner) when a teacher calls her hijab a burqa, but struggles to understand her faith himself. He once asked her, “no offence, but why are you actually religious?” Towards the tail end of the conversation Sana asks him what he believes in, his reply is “I believe in science. The theory of evolution. Nothing else.” Despite not identifying with any religion, Isak is still somewhat interested in the metaphysical and has his own beliefs about parallel universes and infinity.

Towards, the end of the season Isak finds out that his boyfriend Even once memorised the Quran in Arabic. Although this has not been discussed further in the show yet, there are many fan theories about what this could mean in the context of the fourth and final season with Sana as the main character. Even’s secret past at his old school has not been exposed yet, all we know his that he “acted crazy” and was friends with Sana’s older brother at one point. This is going to cause a lot of drama between Isak and Even as they have never talked about it and Even continues to hide what happened even when questioned about it.

“Can’t we just agree that there’s a lot between heaven and earth none of us know about? Instead of sitting here criticising my religion, just respect that we have chosen different beliefs.”

After being a scene stealer in the first 3 seasons, Sana is now the main for season 4. Sana is a muslim girl who is a badass, a fiercely loyal friend and an all-around adorable munchkin (but don’t tell anyone). Continuing the theme of the show of ‘first loves’, Sana’s season seems to be heading towards being about her first relationship (she is not in a relationship as of the time I am writing this during episode 3) as she is crushing on her older brother’s friend, Yousef. Yousef is a sweet, caring, funny, smart, attractive boy who works at a kindergarten and wants 12 (yes TWELVE) kids so he can have his own football team. Being an introvert, Sana keeps her cards close to her chest and doesn’t let on to her friends about her crush.

In her own words, Sana’s main struggle is being “a muslim girl in a faithless country”. Balancing her home life, her spirituality, and her friends is a continuous juggling match and she is going to drop the ball eventually. She is on a russ bus with her friends and has not told her mum about it yet. Her friends have no concept or idea of her culture and beliefs; her friend Vilde in particular has made offensive comments in the past (Sana just glares, rolls her eyes and moves on as she is used to it). In previous seasons Sana has been an enigma; we have had jokes made about her “magical hijab”, reflecting just how naïve most of us are to Muslim culture.

Julie Andem, creator of SKAM, said the following in relation to creating a character like Sana, “The point was to make a character that chooses her own relation to her religion. She has strong faith, but she doesn’t need to relate to the whole package the culture is trying to push on her.” It’s incredibly interesting as the season 4 trailer when reversed plays the song “Don’t let me be misunderstood” which was performed by a women who converted to Islam.

The first three episodes of Season 4 were quite peaceful but most of us knew it wasn’t going to last as Julie Andem said, “shit’s about to go down”. She wasn’t wrong. At the end of the third episode, Sana finds out that Yousef (the boy she’s been crushing on) is not Muslim like she had assumed he was. Although it remains to be seen how she will proceed knowing this news, it’s safe to say that it will cause a lot of inner turmoil for Sana.

But I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood

As someone who identifies with new age spirituality, attended a Lutheran high school and has mostly as athiest or agnostic friends, I am incredibly fascinated by Muslim culture and Islam. All I have heard about Muslims prior to SKAM is what is depicted on the news or shared on social media which is incredibly racist and xenophobic. There is a lot of fear in Australia about Muslims and I am so grateful that a show like SKAM exists and has reached me on the other side of the world thanks to the internet. This season of SKAM has come around at the perfect time. We need to be educated and we need to have our eyes opened instead of living in segregation and ignorance.

One of the most interesting things is how SKAM plays on the prejudices we have internalised so much that we don’t even realise how judgemental they are. This is shown through the character’s own prejudice. Isak has internalised homophobia and despite questioning is his sexuality and living with his roommate Eskild (who is an openly proud gay man), he claims in Pride (click and scroll for full clip translation), “There’s nothing wrong with being gay, it’s just that I’m not gay gay. […] You understand what I mean. You talk about sucking dick and Kim Kardashian and lavender scents out loud. I mean, I totally respect that you’re taking the gay package all out, I’m just not like that.”

Instead of Eskild having an immediate hot headed tumblr-like reaction, he takes the time to educate Isak in a calm, quiet way, ending the conversation by saying, “and now I don’t really want to talk more with you, so now you can just sit here and think about what I said”, then calmly leaves the room. There was no shouting, yelling, accusing or abuse. In such a simple yet thoughtful way SKAM shows us how to treat each other and how to have important conversations with the people in our lives. Isak is not a villian for saying what he said which was quite offensive and thoughtless, but he is flawed like the rest of us. Flaws do not mean you’re a bad person. Being uneducated does not mean you’re a bad person. It just means you have something to learn.

“Islam says the same as always. That all people in this world are of equal worth. And that no man shall be slandered, violated, judged or ridiculed. If you hear someone use religion to justify their hate, do not listen to them. Because hate doesn’t come from religion, it comes from fear.”

SKAM’s success is unprecedented, especially for Norwegian entertainment. One-fifth of Norway watch SKAM on a weekly basis, and in 2016 it became popular worldwide thanks to social media (Tumblr in particular). Unfortunately, it was recently announced that season 4 was going to be SKAM’s final season. The fandom remains confused, devastated and in disbelief at the news as SKAM was perfectly set up for six seasons, but we keep on carrying on and are enjoying this season while it lasts.

A US version of SKAM called SHAME is currently in development. This has caused both excitement and concern amongst the fandom as SKAM is a precious series that is dear to our hearts. We hope that SHAME does justice to the original, whilst not being a direct copy. It will be interesting to see how they approach the spiritual and religious themes portrayed in SKAM, as America is a very religious country with 70% of the population identifying as Christians, 30% being agnostic or atheist, and less than 1% identifying with Islam. The United States are known to be a very racist and intolerant country when it comes to Islam and depending on the team hired to write the show, they may fail to straddle the line between depicting the racism that Muslims face, and being downright offensive.

If you’ve watched SKAM please come chat about it with me in the comments below! I would love to hear your theories, analyses and straight up fangirling about this wonderful show. If you’ve never watched or even heard about SKAM, I hope I’ve inspired you to watch it and I hope you love it as much as the rest of us do.

I’m so excited about sharing my Top 10 records of the year with you! To clarify, these are my top 10 purchases, the albums didn’t necessarily come out in 2016. There were some I wanted to include but I realised that I got them late 2015 so they didn’t count.

Over the last few months I have noticed that I’ve stopped writing in my journal and listening to records. I was all about it at the start of the year but because I’m at the end of a cycle, life has been about cleansing and internally setting intentions for 2017. I’ve needed a lot of quiet in this half of the year, and maybe that’s why I got the job that I did in May (it’s a very quiet, masculine and cold work environment).

Hopefully I’ll get back into records in 2017 and have even more to share with you!

Ed Sheeran – Multiply (2 x 12″)
Colour: Pink. This was released as a part of Ten Bands One Cause.

The 1975 – I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (12″)
Colour: Clear Frosted

Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (12″)
Colour: Black

The Fray – How to Save a Life (2 x 12″)
Colour: Butter Cream

Oh Wonder – Album (2 x 12″)
Colour: White

Zayn Malik – Mind of Mine (12″)
Colour: Green

The Lumineers – Cleopatra (2 x 12″)
Colour: Grey Marble

Lukas Graham – Self Titled (12″)
Colour: Black

Fifth Harmony – 7/27 Album (12″)
Colour: Black

Ed Sheeran – Songs I Wrote With Amy (12″)
Colour: Black

I am always up for hearing about music or record recommendations, so leave me a comment with your favourite songs & albums below!

I’ve been wanting to do a “Top 10 Vinyl Records” post for a long time now, but I had no idea how to classify them – should I pick my favourite albums, the records that were hardest to find, or the ones that had the most value personally. I decided to choose this specific Top 10 based on rarity, colour, and price.

When purchasing records I always look out for any exclusive or limited edition versions. For example, a couple of months ago ‘Purpose’ by Justin Bieber was released on vinyl. I had preordered it on Amazon and it was a standard black vinyl edition. Just before the release date Urban Outfitters announced they would be releasing an exclusive clear vinyl of the album. I immediately cancelled my Amazon preorder and purchased the Urban Outfitters version, even though it cost a little bit more. I really love coloured records and although I included a few picture discs in this post, I’m not too fussed on those.

There are two records I am dying to get: English Rain by Gabrielle Aplin (Blue), and A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! At The Disco (Gold). They are both astronomically expensive so if I ever see them at a decent price I will pounce on them straight away. But for now, here is my Top 10…

 

What I Paid: Not sure exactly but it was around $120

 

Fall Out Boy – Infinity on High (2 x 12″)
Hot Topic Exclusive
Colour: Clear with Blue with White Splatter
2500 copies pressed.
What I Paid: $24.55 USD

Joan Jett – Bad Reputation (12″)
Hot Topic Exclusive
Colour: Transparent Purple/Opaque Lavender split
What I Paid: $18.99 USD

Clueless Soundtrack (12″)
Urban Outfitters Exclusive Picture Disc (still available)
Colour: Yellow Plaid
What I Paid: $35.98 USD

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Soundtrack (12″)
Urban Outfitters Exclusive
Colour: Transparent Green
What I Paid: $22.98 USD

5 Seconds of Summer – Self Titled (12″)
Limited Edition Record Store Day Release
Colour: Picture Disc – album cover on one side, graphic design on the other
What I paid: $40-60ish on eBay

Justin Bieber – Believe (2 x 12″)
Limited Edition – only 1000 copies pressed for the VIP package on his Believe tour.
Colour: Picture Disc
What I Paid: $50 for the record + full merch pack from when Justin was in Australia. The insert is signed. It now goes for $500+ on eBay.

Ryan Adams – 1989 (2 x 12″)
Barnes and Noble Exclusive
Colour: Seafoam Green
What I paid: $30.60 USD on eBay – Available for $18.99 at Barnes and Noble

One Direction – Midnight Memories (7″)
Limited Edition Record Store Day Release
Colour: Picture Disc

Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane (2 x 12″)
Limited Edition – 500 copies pressed
Colour: Red/Peach/Black Swirl
What I Paid: $105.12 USD

I’d love to do my Top 10 Records I own in the future so do let me know if you are interested in that. Please leave me a comment if you are a vinyl collector – I’d love to hear about some of your favourites in your collection.

For over two years I’ve been wanting to write about this show but there was one problem: how do you write about something that has impacted your life so greatly?

Firstly, if you’ve never heard of the Channel 4 television series My Mad Fat Diary, based on the real life diaries of Rae Earl, here’s a quick run-down.

Set in 1996 in Lincolnshire, the show tells the tragic and humorous story of a very troubled young girl Rae, who has just left a psychiatric hospital, where she has spent four months after attempting suicide. She begins to reconnect with her best friend Chloe and her group, who are unaware of Rae’s mental health and body image problems, believing she was in France for the past four months.

The series finale of My Mad Fat Diary airs today (I watched the advanced premiere yesterday) and it conjured up many feelings and memories for me. The episode took me back to the first series when I was a lot like the protagonist, Rae. I have a lot in common with Rae: my father isn’t in my life, I’ve struggled with mental health (although not the same illnesses as her), and I have been overweight the majority of my life. There was a lot I learned from watching her story unfold in that first series – I took the lessons she was learning and applied them in my own life.

I’m such a happy person now that it’s hard to think back to when I watched the first series and related to her depression and mental health struggles. Watching Rae and Kester’s (her therapist) sessions made me decide to see a psychologist myself. I hadn’t seen once since I was about 9 years old and really struggling to cope with my dad’s death. I remember going to see that lady and sitting in the corner and crying. I wouldn’t talk, and I wouldn’t draw anything like she was asking me to as I had no drawing talent. I just wasn’t ready to open up and begin to heal at that time when the pain was so raw.

Around March 2013, one month after series one had aired, I decided to look up psychologists in my area so I could start my own healing process. I came across a picture of one close by that I could tell I would get along with. I continued to see her every couple of weeks for a year and a half. That’s the best way to find a therapist or psychologist – look them up and trust your intuition. I could tell from the picture that she was a warm person who would listen to what I had to say, without being condescending. Everyone has different needs for a therapist; I didn’t need one that would tell me all the things I was doing wrong, I just wanted someone to listen and ask me questions that would lead to self-growth and acceptance.

In My Mad Fat Diary’s series three finale, Rae has to deal with moving on – not only moving to a new city, but moving on from her therapy sessions that she has so heavily relied on for two years. My sessions ended last November, but for a few months before that I could tell that the sessions weren’t worth going to anymore; I was better, and that was hard to accept. I was in denial and disbelief for a while because ever since my dad died over 15 years ago, I never thought I wouldn’t be miserable and grieving. What do you do when you finally realise you’re happy? That happiness isn’t a fake emotion people put on for show? That you’ve healed yourself?

I’ve always found moving onto a new phase of life really difficult. Leaving high school in particular was really hard. Even though like most people I didn’t love going to school or many of the people there, it was still hard to move on without having any direction. Fortunately for me, fate took over and all of a sudden I was 18 and studying at University. Watching Rae take control of her future in this final episode was inspiring and goes to show that no matter what your struggles are, you can do whatever you want and follow your dreams.

There’s many lessons to take from this show, but the most important one is that you have got to love yourself, first and foremost. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, good and bad qualities, and we’re all trying our best to grow and be good people. You’ve got to look at other people and see the beautiful things about them, but you’ve also got to look at yourself the same way. We’re all our own biggest critics and we need to let a lot of that go and treat ourselves well.

If you’re dealing with any of the issues that were brought up in the show, please seek help. You don’t have to struggle alone and there are people that want to help you get better. I truly believe that just letting your thoughts be heard and getting that negative energy out of your body, is the most healing thing of all. You’ve survived 100% of your worst days so far and you’re stronger and better for it. 

There was a lot more I wanted to say about the show but these people say it better than I do:

Really Funny – Rookie Magazine

In Praise of My Mad Fat Diary – Emzae Music

My Mad Fat Diary Has Gotten It Oh So Right! – Retro and Thrift

My Mad Fat Diary – interview with screenwriter Tom Bidwell – Nicola Doherty

If you watch it please let me know what you think. I’d love to chat with you! 

Keegan Allen’s Life.Love.Beauty was my favourite book release of last year. It’s hard to describe just how badly I’ve wanted a book like this to be released – I’d always hoped John Mayer would create a similar book, filled with photos, words, lyrics and much more, so we could gain insight into his unique and creative brain.

Predominantly comprising of film photos and poetry, the book give an insight into both Keegan’s professional and personal lives dating back to his childhood. He experiments with various types of photography and 35mm films – it was great to see him utilise Lomochrome Purple as you can see is true love and passion for photography. If you follow him on Snapchat (lifelovebeautyb) you will see that he’s made many videos about cameras and photography which I love.

The quality of the pages is decent. It’s not a high quality photo book that you would pay up to $100 for. I suspect that due to Keegan’s fan base being so young they wanted to keep costs down to make it affordable for that age group which is understandable. The paper pages are thicker than a regular novel, but they are not high quality photo book paper.

I’ve got to admit that I’m a sucker for hardcover photo books that are great on a coffee table, and this is one that I will always have out for other people to look at. I think anyone who loves photography and emotions will love looking through this book. It’s great to look at just a few pages, or to read as a whole.

I would highly recommend this book for any PLL fan and anyone that’s interested in seeing a book made purely of love and passion. Please let me know your thoughts if you’ve picked it up – I’d love to know if you loved it as much as I did.

Last month I was fortunate enough to see Passenger perform at the Brisbane Riverstage! That venue is notorious for raining on the night of a concert but fortunately it was beautiful weather and there was not a drop of rain to be seen.

The highlight of the show was Life’s for the Living and the encore – Holes which you can watch on his FaceBook page (I highly recommend it).

It was just a quick post today but I hope you enjoyed it. If you get a chance to see Passenger live, please do so – you will love it.

Last night I went to see James Bay perform up in Brisbane. He’s wasn’t an artist I was desperate to see (the final act I ticked off that list was The 1975 last month) but I enjoy his music and knew he would be good live based on some YouTube videos I had seen. I’m happy to say that he surpassed my expectations – he’s an incredible performer and knows how to work a crowd. That venue can be a bit of a weird atmosphere sometimes but he controlled it really well and got people into it.

My favourite part of the concert was when he called out everyone in the seats to stand up for a song and to be like this one lady wearing black who was clearly in her 60s who had not sat down the whole time.

If you’re interested in seeing him I would highly recommend it. You can see how much he loves what he does and how grateful he is. There’s some people that you see in concert and think “they are not a star” – I did not think that at James Bay. He has something special about him. 

I cannot express in words how much I love this band. There are very few concerts I go to that I don’t want to end – in fact, I think there’s only been three of them in my whole life (I’ve been to a lot of concerts), but this was definitely one of them. I had such an incredible time at the concert with my friend Monia and just did not want it to end. In honour of the album coming out in one week(!!!) I thought it was about time I posted these photos and shared my experience seeing The 1975 live.

What I love about The 1975 is how vastly different each song is from the last. They have a very eclectic sound which is very enjoyable. Their staging was impeccable – the lighting and graphics reflecting the mood of each song and making each one a stand out. My favourite songs live were So Far (It’s Alright), Menswear, You, Girls (everyone went off during this one), Change of Heart and of course, The Sound – even Matty was surprised at how into that song the crowd was.

My only complaint for the entire show was that they didn’t perform their most recent single at the time, UGH! as I love that song and was looking forward to hearing it live. I would’ve preferred to hear that song than She’s American, Medicine or even fallingforyou. I just thought it was bizarre to sell a shirt with UGH! on it and then not even perform the song.

I cannot wait to see them again. It was incredible to see them in such an intimate venue – the same one where I saw One Direction for the first time. It’s always good to be left wanting more, than to wish it was over sooner. 

We all have those bands that have a monumental affect on us throughout our lives. For me, one of those bands was Australian rock band Kisschasy. A few months ago they announced their farewell tour – the final tour before they all go their separate ways and move on to whatever the future holds.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see them perform live twice before; once for their Hymns of the Non Believer tour in 2008 and the other tine as a support act for Good Charlotte back in 2007. I remember standing in the crowd during Black Dress, touching my necklace with my heart-shaped locket – I felt so connected in that moment which is a rare feeling for me.

Seeing them perform live for the final time was incredible. It feels amazing and very cathartic to stand in the second row of one of your favourite bands and get to scream out every word that has meant so much to you throughout the last 8 years of your life.

Unfortunately for me I had a really irritating girl behind me throughout the majority of the gig; she was absolutely smashed and kept hitting me in the head, touching me and trying to talk to me. I ended up having to elbow her away at one stage but she was so plastered I don’t think she even realised what was happening.

The highlight of the night was Black Dress when a bunch of guys from the support act appeared on stage wearing black dresses, stopping Darren Cordeux in his tracks, unsure of how to continue on.

Spray on Pants was a crowd favourite as we screamed out the lyrics drinks are cheap and vinyl’s cool, what do you think of my new shoes?

All good things must come to an end but Kisschasy are forever in my brain.

Last night I went to see The Lumineers in concert. I went to see them last March and they were incredible so when Tom (my brother) said they were coming back I knew I had to go. It’s my birthday on Wednesday so he bought my ticket as a birthday present.

We had a bit of a disaster getting to the venue – the concert was at The Tivoli Theatre – I’ve been to a few concerts there before and knew it was in the middle of nowhere so we decided to get a taxi as we were quite far away. The taxi driver had no idea where he was going so he dropped us over 1km away from the venue so we had to walk there which was really annoying, especially as I wanted to get a good spot in line and knew we’d be standing for at least another 4 hours. Anyway we got there around 6:25 pm and doors were to open at 7 pm. The line wasn’t too bad so we ended up getting in the third row right in the middle. I definitely recognised some people around us from the last concert – the couple in front of us were to my left last time.

It was an exciting moment when they brought out this drum.

The support act came on at 8 pm – they describe themselves as ‘Porno Country Folk Cabaret’ and they definitely lived up to their name. The Good Ship were really fun and so much better than the support act The Lumineers had last time who quite frankly bored me to tears.

Finally The Lumineers came on at around 9pm and they were incredible. Honestly every song on their album is a hit and I cannot wait for the next album. I think Ain’t Nobody’s Problem was my favourite song at this concert & Stubborn Love was great too. If you’ve never watched them live I definitely recommend checking out either this video or their iTunes Festival 2013 gig.

Woody Allen Duet (Fallin’)

Dead Sea

Charlie Boy

Jeremiah & Wesley

Darlene

Flapper  Girl

I would watch them every day if I could. 

Last night I went to see One Direction’s Take Me Home Tour in Brisbane! I was lucky enough to catch their last tour in April last year and hoped and prayed I’d be able to get tickets again this year. For days before they went on sale I felt ill at the thought of not getting tickets. I wanted to get Soundcheck tickets and hoped there’d be some left so when I logged in and clicked the link and saw that there was soundcheck tickets I was ecstatic! Then I bought them and realised I was to be seated in Row AA – the front row! Five hundred and some odd days later I was sitting pretty much right in the centre front row with three lovely girls either side of me (they were all 16 so I felt a little old) waiting for 5 Seconds of Summer to take the stage. But lets rewind to Sound Check – I met a lovely girl called Melissa there who I chatted to for most of the soundcheck portion of the evening.

I had a awkward moment with Harry. I was wearing a necklace and it felt kind of annoying so I had my arms around my neck trying to fix it and then Harry kind of looked at me and then crossed his arms around his chest kind of mimicking what I was doing which was funny. It’s like he was teasing me. Harry is so freaking charismatic it’s ridiculous. His eyes bore into yours from across the room. There’s a reason he’s the most popular one of the group – his charm is undeniable.