Colour Preference

When people ask me what my favourite colour is (this doesn't happen as often this blog post would suggest), I usually answer 'blue or green' very unemotionally as I never really give it too much thought. Yet after closer evaluation, I have decided that my favourite colour is PURPLE...so underrated I feel.

I have a lot of sympathy for the colour brown...not sure I have ever met anyone whose favorite colour is brown....my search continues...

The Winner Takes it All....

I played in one of the most frustrating 'soccer' games of my life on Sunday. A conference game which ended at 1-1 after normal time. A good result for us against strong competition..... but that wasn't the end of it.

The normal 'league' games in our conference go to over time if the result is a tie, we ended up losing 2-1, with just 40 seconds remaining in the first half of extra time! Such a shame for us, the game got me thinking about the American way of life. It feels as though America likes to see clear-cut winners and losers. Nobody wants to see two teams tie.

Being a loser didn't feel great. I'm sure the drama of over time thrilled the crowd, but it left me feeling bitter and disheartened. I guess this approach helps to breed true competitors, a survival of the fittest method, the desire to succeed becomes even greater.

The History of the adidas Predator

Although I am traditionally a Nike boot wearer, I have always been interested in the latest adidas Predator designs, I can't help but feel that football boots are gradually becoming 'too flashy.' The image here shows the history of the Predators, my favourites are the 4th, 5th and 6th pairs (starting from the back.)

Logo No-Go

The conference in which I currently compete is now called The Sun Conference, having recently changed its name from the Florida Sun Conference. I was browsing their website today only to notice that the new logo is uncannily similar to that of The Sun newspaper's!? A dramatic change from their old logo, I wondered what had inspired the choice...

The Power of Advertising

My mum worked in advertising for a while and never stopped saying the phrase 'the power of advertising', it always made me laugh. I have always been interested in advertising and think that I really experienced its power one Saturday morning while I was in high school.

I had had a late Friday night and mysteriously woke up early (too early for a weekend), at around 7.30am, there was an advert for Twix on TV using the slogan 'Twix: It's all in the mix'. The ad showed the way the product is made while a smooth musical groove played in the background. It's strange because I really didn't feel that hungry, but I practically jumped out of bed and walked to the local shop for the Twix that I was now desperately craving! To this day I can't really explain my actions....we had food in the house, it was a cold morning, and I was probably tired enough to fall straight back to sleep had I given myself the chance.

It made me think of subliminal messaging and advertising, here are some notable instances:

Before the re-election of French president Francois Mitterrand in 1988, a subliminal picture of him was mixed in the title sequence of French national television daily news show, and it appeared for several consecutive days

The subject was also prominently featured in the 1999 film Fight Club. Pictures of the main character, Tyler Durden, flash onscreen at various points during the earlier parts of the film, before Durden is introduced. Also, Durden is shown at his job as a projectionist, splicing pornographic flash frames into a film he is showing.A picture of a penis flashes before the end credits.

During the 2000 U.S. presidential campaign, a television ad campaigning for Republican candidate George W. Bush showed words (and parts thereof) scaling from the foreground to the background on a television screen. When the word BUREAUCRATS flashed on the screen, one frame showed only the last part, RATS. The FCC looked into the matter, but no penalties were ever assessed in the case.

Red Alert!

Just went to get my laundry and saw a grey squirrel shuffle past me. Then the idea hit me that I may never see a red squirrel again in my life!! It's already been years since my last encounter with one (I can't recall dates and times.) Due to a huge decrease in numbers in Britain particularly, I doubt I'll get chance again. This makes me sad....had I known the last red squirrel I saw may be the last red squirrel I saw, I would have saluted him and most likely shed a small but genuine tear!

B-E-A-Utiful

Beauty is such a subjective matter; there are many things in life that I consider to be beautiful that surely others would find hideous!

The most beautiful place to go where I currently reside is here...

You can lose yourself at the dock, and sometimes that all you want to do. I will miss this place, but hope to find others just as beautiful in the future.

Mixed Chicks

Being a mixed chick myself, boy was I happy to hear that a range of shampoos and conditioners had been made for people like me. In a world where many things are clear cut with the whole black and white divide, I was impressed with this attempt to involve and include those with a multiracial heritage! Granted, it's taken too long for something like this to be available on the market, and it still isn't as widely available as desired but it's a start.

Say what!!?

I am taking a Rhetoric course this semester which covers public speaking for various purposes, I gave my first speech yesterday in class, an informative piece on English culture. I touched briefly on some statistics then discussed food, music, art, sports and fashion.

The opening to my speech discussed the fact that since I have been in America I have heard a number of ridiculous statements and been asked some equally strange questions with regards to my country of origin. Here are some examples:

You're from England? That's quite a big city isn't it?
Do you know the Queen?
Do they have black people in England?
Where in London are you from?
Did you know English before you came over to America?

:)

To some of these questions, all I could do was smile really!

Barack to the Future

The first Presidential Debate took place tonight between Barack Obama and John McCain, I caught some of it on TV. Unable to vote in America and having yet to vote in England I still take an interest in these political campaigns and policies.

The way the campaigns are run in America baffled me at first, I was unaware that candidates could speak so freely about their opponent. One foot wrong in the past or present could end election hopes for either party. I would like to see Obama win, yet fear that the pressure on him to change the country and its economic state quickly would be so immense. I'm sure he is aware of that...I just can't imagine why anybody would want the responsibility of running an entire country!

Obama's Pastor Jeremiah Wright was filmed making some very controversial statements about 9/11, Hilary Clinton and America, which created some problems initially. Sure, Obama will lose some votes simply because he is black, but so too will McCain for being 'old', I believe the election will be excrutiatingly close and look forward to the results.

Astronomy

As part of college in America there seems to be more of an attempt to give students an all-round education, which is an aspect of the system I really like. While studying for a business degree I have taken art, humanities, political and now a scientific course. I am enrolled in General Astronomy this semester which I was quite skeptical about at first, yet after a few weeks of class I am starting to really get my scientific groove on as it were. Many students don't take such courses very seriously but so far I have been intrigued by the material, and while I may not use it directly in later life, I feel like it's good stuff to know and interesting to learn about.

Here is one of my favourite pieces of knowledge so far:

The ancient Egyptians (3000 years ago) knew that a year was 365 days, but only observed a 360 day year, with each day representing 1/360th of the circle made by the sun. This is the origin of the 360 degree circle. The Egyptians decided not to count the remaining 5 days, and instead spent them partying.

In your face

I was lucky enough to visit a good friend of mine in Boston in March. A great city, I really liked everything about the place...except for the cold weather at the time. There were a few things I noticed while I was there:

There are so many zebra crossings!! Nobody paid much attention to them though, so crossing the road was like being in a live game of Frogger!

America runs on Dunkin'! Dunkin' Donuts is on every corner in the north, most of the people I hung out with were always craving that next caffeine boost, such a fast paced lifestyle compared to the senior citizens I am used to kickin' it with in Florida!

The North Face brand and logo is thrust in your face at every opportunity, I couldn't turn around without seeing someone wearing a North Face jacket or hat, it amazed me that a brand could be so prominent throughout a city.

Turkey Time

The best part of my summer was undoubtedly my trip to Turkey for 2 weeks! Had an amazing time and so much fun. Made me want to travel round Europe a whole lot more. The boat trip on the Mediterranean and indulging in a mud bath were my favourite parts of the holiday. We were also present when Turkey made it through to the semi-finals of the European Championships which was incredible...shame England couldn't have done something similar :( I would love to go back there one day.

Let's watch a mooooooovie....

I tend to watch quite a few movies over the summer and this one was no exception. I am a big film fan but have a tendency to fall asleep halfway through....mainly because I start watching them @ around 1am....must change that habit! Some notable ones I have seen recently include:

Wall E- A great job by Pixar, I was truly captured by the story and really liked the soundtrack.
The Dark Knight - The best of the Batman films so far, Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker and deserves all the recognition he receives.
Pineapple Express - Just a funny film...if you like that sort of thing.
No Country For Old Men - Fantastic visuals and suspense, a great piece of cinema.
In Bruges - Not usually a huge Colin Ferrell fan but this film impressed me.

But by far my favourite film of the summer is somewhat of a 'hidden gem', a documentary called The King of Kong. It follows the lives of two hardcore gamers, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe as they battle to hold the high score in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong.

Cans Festival

I spent a day in the summer at the Cans Festival in Waterloo, thought it was a great idea and was visually very impressive. A whole tunnel was allocated to graffiti artists to do with the space whatever they pleased (they would not be prosecuted for using the space.) The images were inspiring, I took Art at GCSE and A Level but sort of lost interest (and time) when I came to university. I received a sketchbook for my birthday and have since been drawing a little more, its a passion I would most certainly like to have back!

Soccer Mode

So I'm back in the USA now playing soccer and studying. I am very passionate about football and if you ever catch me in 'soccer mode' you'll wish you hadn't. I have liked playing over here in America, the style of play is slightly different but on the most part I think it suits me. One thing that has bothered me since being out here is that all the Americans call it 'OFFSIDES' as opposed to 'OFFSIDE' and for the life of me I couldn't tell you why! Plural? Why? Just why!!!?

FFC

Fried Fish Curry? Funny Folks Centre?....Football Fans Census....This is where I interned during the summer, @ their office in Central London. It's a football research company and I was lucky enough to get some experience in sales and marketing there from May-July. I really enjoyed my time at FFC, it solidified my interest in marketing and advertising. I was not as keen on the sales aspects of the job, but lessons learned will no doubt aid me.

I worked from 10am-6pm...sounds appealing? It wasn't ideal for me! The fact that most shops on Oxford St open @ 9am ensured I spent far too much money on clothes before work had even started! The internship was unpaid too which didn't help my situation! But I truly enjoyed the hustle and bustle of fast paced city life, I travelled in from just north of London so my days were a bit longer than usual. The journey to and from work usually amused me, I love awkward situations, there's almost no better place for them than on the tube. Discrete stares, sweaty commuters and crazy drunks pretty much sums up an everyday underground trip.

When I began blogging I was very much confused with my future, this position gave me some sense of direction of where I want to be next year once I am a college graduate. I am currently considering pursuing a postgraduate degree in Marketing but am also going to apply to some graduate schemes at organizations that interest me. I had two interviews for positions over the summer and was offered both which was a great feeling, it gave me confidence in my abilities. I have yet to face a great deal of rejection in my life but imagine that once I start applying for more jobs rejection is inevitable. I am looking forward to facing such challenges and beginning a new chapter of my life.

Bad Mother Blogger

It's been months now since I last blogged and I'm ashamed of myself! A whole summer has gone by since I was last writing on here..but I'm hoping to get back into it all! One of the things (other than writing) that I wanted to do more, was read more. I purchased the book 'The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch last month, not quite finished yet but so far a moving story that I highly recommend. It really makes you appreciate life and teaches you to be thankful for everything we take for granted. Death is one of my greatest fears, Randy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, with death a certainty he lived his last months to the full. Such an admirable figure, he has taught me a few things about life and death.