V Festival 2013 - put those arse cheeks away!

This year I won two tickets to V Festival. I then managed to persuade my very anti-camping best friend to join me. Not sure which one was more of a miracle. I was slightly apprehensive though. One of the things I had heard/read about V Festival was that it was very popular with chavs. I read some really awful reviews/blogs about peoples experiences. We decided to check it out for ourselves though and I decided to balance it out with this blog because honestly - it wasn't half bad. 

Camping - We decided to camp in the 'quiet' zone. Partly because it was the nearest field when we were dragging all of our stuff from the car and partly because it just looked far more civilised. We choose to camp next to a couple in their mid fourties because we thought they might be a bit more civilised. How wrong we were.....on the first night she got absolutely hammered, started singing Michael Jackson's 'You Are Not Alone' at the top of her voice in the middle of the night and then proceeded to vomit loudly in their tent for about half an hour. Someone finally asked her to 'shut the fuck up please' (no it wasn't me, there's no way I would have been that polite at this point) to which she replied that they should 'have some compassion'. The next morning we got a half apology which included her informing us that she wouldn't have been the only one in that state. No, you probably wouldn't, but the other morons were  30 years younger and not camped in the quiet zone. Anyway that was pretty much all we heard from them for the weekend - way to burn yourself out before it even begins. Our other neighbours were all very lovely. When walking through the other fields to the arena the tents were absolutely jammed in, there was rubbish everywhere and many tents had been damaged/pulled down so we were really glad we chose the quiet zone. The moral of this story is - the quiet zone is a safer/better place to camp but don't always judge your neighbours by their age.

Fashion - It seemed we didn't get the memo that the uniform was a pair of denim shorts with your arse cheeks hanging out the bottom. It doesn't matter how good your body is (and frankly most of the people wearing them didn't have the body for it) keep your arse cheeks covered. And while we are at it, just because it's popular doesn't mean you have to wear it. I couldn't tell if I was on the set of a cheap porn film or Attack of the Clones.

Toilets - Because we hadn't paid for tickets we decided to treat ourselves to the 'luxury loo' experience at a cost of 40 quid. I wouldn't have been happy to pay that if we had paid for tickets but as we hadn't we didn't mind. BEST MONEY I SPENT. These toilets were amazing - proper flushing toilets with toilet roll, hot water, mirrors, hand driers and attendants that were constantly cleaning and replenishing toilet roll. I didn't get a bad one all weekend. At some points the queues were too long but they had basically oversold the capacity. People were still buying wristbands all weekend which I took as a testament to how bad the portaloos were. Some of them smelt so bad just walking past I would never have been able to go in! That would be my biggest tip - if you can, buy that pass! Next year they said they would have more toilets so smaller queues but this was their first year and they didn't know how popular it would be. I (well me and the rest of the queue) actually watched one girl have a wee behind the box office for the luxury loos. 40 quid or your dignity? You choose. Stay classy festival goers.

Performers - Beyonce and Kings of Leon were headlining the main stage on Saturday and Sunday night respectively. I was pretty excited for both. Had to wait for Beyonce in the rain when she was 25 minutes late which was mildly annoying but it's not the first time a performer is late at a festival I'm sure. I loved her and enjoyed her whole set. I didn't really get what people were saying about her being disappointing until Kings of Leon the next night. They were just AMAZING. Totally rocked it - loads of energy. That's how you do it. I was quite surprised that the main stage area wasn't so rammed with a fair few people opting to watch Basement Jaxx (seen them before: didn't rate them) or Calvin Harris on the other stages. Fine by us - just meant we got closer to the front and the beauty that is Caleb Followill.

Verdict -  Maybe I'm just getting old but if I'd paid for the ticket I would have been disappointed. It didn't have the atmosphere or the quality of line up that Isle of Wight offered when I went and the crowd was definitely younger and heavily made up of chavs. However it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - we didn't see or experience any real trouble ourselves and the only people we encountered were friendly and out for a good time. The most important thing is who you are with. We were with a great bunch of people and had a really good time. I highly doubt I would go again but V Festival 2013: you were pretty damn fun.

We need to...... 'create education better'

Everyone is talking about Miss Utah. And not just because she is so hot. Although she is (naturally) and they are (naturally). It's because she managed to majorly fuck up her answer to the question she was lucky enough to be given at random. In case you are not up on pageant protocol (like me) or haven't seen Miss Congeniality (not like me, seen it a million times and still love it), each contestant is  asked a question which is deemed to be relevant to society at the time and has to answer it immediately in front of everyone. While we contemplate how doomed for failure most of us would be in this situation, I will fill you in on both her question and answer. She was asked: 'A recent report shows that in 40% of American families with children women are the the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?'. Ignoring the fact that it's a pretty stupid question and not really easy to answer in 30 seconds she could have said 'that it's fucked up', 'that it is dominated by men' or 'that it's not fair'', none of which would have won her the crown I think but then neither did what she actually chose which was this gem: 'I think we can relate this back to education and how we are continuing to strive to.....(long pause, beauteous smile)...figure out how to create jobs right now. This is the biggest problem and, I think, especially the men are seen as the leaders of this, so we need to...(short pause)...create education better so we can solve this problem'.

She is very beautiful though....

Well. I'm stumped. I'm not sure that would make sense as an answer to any question and most certainly not the one it was in response to. Of course, whilst the clip is cringingly painful to watch, the answer is good to have a little laugh over. But as I said earlier, who amongst us could do much better? Aside from my joking provocative answers, who could put together on the spot an answer that is relevant, makes sense and addresses an important topic sufficiently in 30 seconds? Few I would assume. I have seen enough presentations both at university and in my work to know we all stumble occasionally when confronted with a judging crowd. Surely the issue at hand is why the hell these pageants still exist? And why they put in a gratuitous question and answer section in so they can pretend they are judging these women on something more than the way they look? Miss Utah came third by the way. So they obviously were not handing out the most points for brains. 

Without wanting to sound like a raging, bra burning (never) feminist, these pageants are outdated and I can't see what place they have in society. Everything I seem to see lately suggests that girls/women in society increasingly feel that all they have to offer is the way they look. Is it the rise of the internet and sites such as Instagram where we all (I am not immune) compete to get a selfie where we look as hot (and as least like how we actually look on an everyday basis) as possible and have it as our profile picture to show the world just how beautiful we can be. Don't get me wrong I can be a shameless narcissist and see nothing wrong with everyone wanting to look and feel the best they can, but this is something more. It is the feeling that our looks are the most important thing we have to contribute to the world. That's where the key word comes in: JUDGING. These women in pageants are judged by men and by other women, who decide who is superior based on how good they look in a swimming costume and evening dress. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? In everyday life SOME women judge others for the exact same thing. They do it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, internet forums, or newspaper and magazine articles and write disgusting comments about them based on their body, their hair or their outfits. Just what did this stranger do to incite their vitriol? Nothing it would seem, apart from look the way they do. Sad but true. It goes deeper than the old bitchy comment we are all partial to, no one is saint but this is another level of bitchy. Of course most of the time the women behind this vile web bullying are deeply unhappy themselves and so take it out on others in the only way they know best. And that is where Miss Utah's answer comes in: 'we need to create education better'. Switch it around to 'we need to create better education' and it's actually coherent (we will ignore the fact it is irrelevant to her question because it is answering mine). Until we educate young girls that they are worth more than their reflection in the mirror this cycle will not stop. 

It's not just young girls, although they are the future. Maybe we all need a reality check. When we die, people are not going to remember and talk about us because of how beautiful we were on the outside. They will remember how we treated them and how we made people feel. I have some physically beautiful friends, but that is not why I love them. I love them because they have a good heart. So come on, let's 'create education better' and leave the world something to remember us by other than our super hot Facebook profile pictures.

Les Misérables - C'est Magnifique!

I haven't blogged for a while. It's a combination of second year of uni keeping me busy and not having been inspired enough to write. As I type this I should be writing an essay and studying for an exam, but after watching Les Mis (to give it the luvvie name) last night I just had to share.

It seemed to be a given that everyone knew about the story before the film came out. Most people had been to see the show or at least heard about it. I knew nothing. My first ounce of knowledge came from the trailer and I thought I would check it out, not with particularly high expectations. So for those of you as clueless as me  (there has to be someone right?!), here comes the history bit... Les Mis was originally an 1862 novel by Victor Hugo. I'm ashamed to say I thought it was just a stage show but that came later apparently. It was then turned into a musical play in Paris in 1980, before coming to the West End in 1985. The rest as they say is history. I'm also ashamed to say I thought it was an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical but apparently not. That must be another one about poor people or something. So, now you know. When I said I knew nothing I wasn't being modest. Actually I think that may have helped because of the people who I have seen criticise it, it is because of comparing it to the show that they loved. So there are times when going in with no expectations is a bonus. I'm not going to describe the storyline for two reasons. One being that it doesn't sound as good on paper as it actually is and two being that it's fairly long and I'm too lazy. I will just say that your French doesn't have to be an amazing standard to get the gist of it from the title. It's not a happy story...

Not the main character but the hottest...

Light relief comes however, in the shape of Sacha Baron Cohen and the fantastic Helena Bonham Carter. There's something very Dickens about their character portrayals in this film. Let's be fair - you can't go wrong if you throw in a bit of Dickens. The rest of it is non stop emotion, great performance from Hugh Jackman (yes really), and there's even a hottie thrown in in the shape of the gorgeous Aaron Tveit who plays Enjolras. Who can resist a man in a cape? Not me. We were in a full cinema (it was the Sunday of opening weekend) and it got a round of applause at the end. Usually I can't bear that kind of cheese but this time it felt right. For me anyway, my best friend was still cringing and grateful that I somehow refrained from joining in. I was also informed by another friend that it got a round of applause in Brixton too. Enough said.

Anyway, I've really dragged this out but what I essentially wanted to say was go and see it. If the storyline along can't tempt you, the fantastic scenery portraying 19th Century France is stunning. It will be the best 158 minutes you've spent in a cinema recently. It's just won three Golden Globes and I'm sure there will be more awards to come. Here's a tip: take some tissues. I started crying around 7 minutes in and didn't really stop. I even gave up trying to wipe them away (until the end when I spent the round of applause frantically wiping my face so I didn't look like a complete emotional wreck). There have been some really good films lately. Fellow Oscar nominees Argo and Silver Linings Playbook to name just two. This quickly joins them on the great watch list. If you don't want to get up and join in the rousing rendition of 'do you hear the people sing' at the end of the film I'll eat my cape.