The Greatest Showman

Hi Guys,

I just posted a serious post but now I want to talk about something that I am loving. The Greatest Showman. It is an original musical that came out on Boxing Day and I have seen it three times in the cinema. I went with my family, I went with a bunch of friends and then I went by myself and I just love it. This post is probably a little bit useless now, if you want to see it in the cinema because, at least where I live, it is starting to leave the cinema or has already left it, but you can get it when it comes out on DVD, which I can't wait for. :):):):) And when I went to see it with my friends at the cinema, two of us knew all the lyrics already and we were just singing along and it was amazing. (No one else could hear us because we were sitting away from the other people in the cinema.) 

In case you have no idea what I am talking about, the Greatest Showman is based on the story of PT Barnum, the man who invented the circus and also the whole idea of show business. It has an amazing cast: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Keala Settle (who sings This is Me), Zac Efron and Zendaya. Before I say anything else, I think that it is safe to say that the film is LOOSELY based on his life. Yes, they talk about his wife and his children and the circus and the fact that he found 'unusual' people but, at the same time, they smooth over a lot of details. PT Barnum was about 60 when he started the circus and also the circus was not the best place, morally, in that sense. In the circus, animals and people had to endure horrific treatment and they were excluded from society for being different. If you want to see an accurate representation of the treatment of people who were different and shunned from society, I think The Elephant Man is a better film but, at the same time, I don't think that the purpose of this film is to accurately represent his life. I think that the point is to celebrate difference and uniqueness and PT Barnum definitely did that.

The soundtrack is the best bit, without a shadow of a doubt. In fact, even critics that don't think the story line is solid or believable, (although, personally I have no problem with it) admit that the songs are great. They are the kind of songs that you just want to start singing the minute that you leave the cinema and, once you have learnt the lyrics, they just have so much meaning and are so emotionally charged.

The theme song of the film is 'This is Me' and Keala Settle sings it and it is so beautiful and the song actually won a Golden Globe, earlier this month. And below is a video in which I think she sings it best:

And this one is amazing as well. 

So check it out, if you like musicals and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did :D

Clare 

Mayim Bialik: Being a Feminist in Harvey Weinstein’s World

Hi guys, 

I just wanted to share this article. It was published last October but I only came across it recently and I think that it is a very interesting read. A lot of people criticised Mayim Bialik, (who plays Amy Farrah Fowler on the Big Bang Theory, an American sitcom) for what she said but I personally agree with her. 

Hopefully, the exposure of Harvey Weinstein and the subsequent Time's Up campaign will show sexual predators that people are not going to let them get away with this abuse anymore and victims of sexual abuse and harassment will know that they can talk about their experiences, as this has not always been the case. Recently, Simone Biles spoke up and said that she had been sexually abused by the US Gymnastics Team doctor, Larry Nassar so it seems like society is slowly creeping towards the right direction, although there is still so much to do, in a world where the objectification and abuse of women is still so common.  

Anyway, you can check out the links below. 

You can read the article HERE

You can find out more about the Time's Up campaign HERE

Clare 

Fallen by Lauren Kate/Books vs Films in general/Bechel Test ???

Hi Guys,

Another book review.

I recently started reading Fallen by Lauren Kate. This is a young adult romance/fantasy novel based around the Biblical story of Lucifer's fall from Heaven.

I saw the film on Netflix and started watching it just from the description and I didn't really enjoy it. It had sounded very interesting and a bit like Hush, Hush, (which is also about fallen angels and is very good) but it was a bit slow for me and the script wasn't brilliant.

So, in typical ME fashion, I went online to read some of the reviews from critics and other people who had watched it, just to see whether I had missed the point of the film. I saw a lot of reviews from people on Goodreads and other websites, saying that the books were so much better and they hadn't liked the film because it didn't do the books justice. So, I was very excited, because, 9/10, I enjoy the book much more than the film and I find that the films often can't capture the unique nature of the book. (e.g. The Mortal Instruments, Eragon, The Percy Jackson Series ...


***Actually, on a side note, this is something that has always annoyed me about film adaptations of books. If a book is very popular and does very well with audiences, why would a film company think that they will have the same success by taking that name, (and everything that is associated with it) and changing the story line so drastically that it doesn't even resemble the book anymore. *cough, cough* PERCY JACKSON - SEA OF MONSTERS. That wasn't the ending in the book, why would you do that?!  I understand that a film can't include EVERYTHING, obviously, but it shouldn't try and make a new story and new characters, unless it explicitly says that it is only BASED on the book, and not trying to make an ADAPTATION. And, along the same lines, if it isn't trying to be explicitly about the book, they should make that clear to the audiences beforehand.***

Anyway, rant number one over. Moving on to rant number two. :) So, Fallen. OF COURSE, IN MY REVIEW, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

It is the story of a girl called Lucinda, (or Luce) and she has to go to a rehabilitation school, because of her association with the death of a boy that she liked. His name was Trevor. She can also see these strange 'shadows' that have followed her around for her whole life. She has been on medication for hallucinations and mental illnesses. At the school, she quickly meets two boys who both attract her, Daniel and Cam. Luce is almost immediately attracted to these two boys at the school. She feels a strange connection to Daniel but she can't explain it. He is also very mean to her. Cam is very nice to her and is clearly attracted by her in some way.

This was a very popular book when it came out in 2009. It was a bestseller and there was a lot of hype around the film etc. There are also great review in the book from other authors and so I was very excited to read it.

To be honest, I haven't finished reading the book and I don't want to make assumptions from the film but I have read about 2/3 and I have some opinions about it that I want to share. They know that they might be slightly harsh :/


1) I don't like the portrayal of the 'love triangle'. Luce is presented as a very insipid, needy, whiny kind of girl and all of her thoughts, all the time, are taken up either thinking about Daniel or about Cam. To put the extent into perspective, in one scene, she is at a funeral of a boy called Todd. Todd died in a fire caused by the shadows that follow Luce around. It is a very serious moment. It was the way that the other boy Trevor died. (Actually, in the film, this was one of the scenes I did like.) Luce's best friend, Penn, liked Todd and is distraught. And Luce is thinking about the flowers that Daniel sent her. She is still trying to choose between Cam and Daniel, right there in the middle of the funeral. I just find these types of female protagonists to be so annoying. I am not saying that every book needs to pass the Bechdel Test or be directed at a pure feminist crowd, but this persistent representation of (usually) girls who just lose their minds over a boy is just something so archaic to me that we should try and get rid of.

2) Daniel is so mean to Luce and Luce likes him anyway. In their first encounter, he gives her the middle finger and, every other moment they meet for about half of the book, he makes it clear that he doesn't want anything to do with her. She shouldn't like him or want to be in a relationship with him. It might sound very old fashioned or naive but I don't think that this is a positive message or positive idea about a relationship for our society. As they end up together, it almost 'justifies' the way he treated her and the way she obsessed over him and, personally, it just makes me annoyed.


I know that I am probably reading too much into it and, if that kind of romance genre and story line is something that you enjoy reading, then you may love this book. I will say that I have bought the second book in the series and I will finish Fallen, despite my complaints about it because I do want to give it a chance to redeem itself. However, I do stick by my opinion about the shallowness of the whole story, on the romance front and how much it annoys me. I just think that is perpetrates the stereotype that if a boy likes a girl, he has to be mean to her and that should keep the girl interested. I don't think that should be something that we promote.

Anyway, just some food for thought as always,
DISCLAIMER : I love books and I love reading and most authors work very hard on their novels and try and come up with something original and enjoyable and I commend that. :D

Clare 

Homemade Rice Bowl Recipe by Me :)

Hi guys, 

Back again with a cooking post! I am very excited about this one because I made it myself and it has taken a couple of failed attempts to get it right. It's a vegan rice bowl, but you can make it vegetarian by adding some scrambled eggs, for extra protein. It is great to take to work or school for a delicious and nutritious lunch or eat at home for dinner. You can experiment with different herbs and spices to make a combination that you like and even change the combination of fresh vegetables that you use to incorporate some that you prefer. (Personally, I don't like cucumber with rice because I think it goes soggy. :/) This dish serves two people, give or take. One person can eat it or it could be divided between three. It depends on how hungry you are! :D It only takes about twenty minutes to make (depending on how long your rice takes to cook) and it is very easy to prepare. :) Here goes. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients 

• Half a cup of rice (brown or white)

• Two tomatoes 

• One large pepper 

• One large avocado

• A few black olives (I usually put about 10 in mine)

• Salt 

• Pepper 

• Spices/Herbs of your choice. Think about using herbs and spices that you would put 1) in salad like parsley or coriander or even basil and 2) things that you would use to spice up rice like chilli or maybe a little soy sauce. I use a few chilli flakes and lots of coriander.

• (Vegan) Bouillon (If you aren't vegan, you can use chicken/beef stock. If you don't usually put bouillon in your rice, add some salt instead.)

• OPTIONAL: One egg and two tablespoons of milk to make scrambled eggs

Other Assorted Tools 

• One small saucepan 

• One strainer 

• A sharp knife 

• A large bowl for putting everything in.  

• Forks and spoons for stirring 

• OPTIONAL: A frying pan and mug for the egg

1) Put one teaspoon of bouillon and half a cup of rice in a saucepan and fill with boiling water. Cook at a high heat. 

2) While the rice is cooking, chop up the tomatoes, pepper and avocado and put them in the bowl. Add the olives. Don't stir everything until the rice is added at the end because it can get 'soggy.' *TIP* Cross-hatch the avocado while in the skin and then scoop out with a spoon for nicely sized pieces. 

3) OPTIONAL:  Break the egg into a mug or small bowl. Add two table spoons of milk. (Add some pepper and coriander  - or the spices/herbs of your choice) Scramble at a low heat. Add to the bowl.

*If you have time, you can wait until the rice is cooked before scrambling the egg. Put some oil and onion in the frying pan, add the rice and pour the egg on top. Fry at a low heat and then add to the bowl.*

4) Add the spices/herbs that you have chosen to the bowl. I've added two pinches of chilli flakes, coriander and lots of pepper. (I love pepper :))

5) Once the rice has cooked, strain it well and add it to the bowl. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top

6) Stir well! 

Enjoy! 

Clare :) 

Rebooting, Reviewing and Cloning

Hey guys ...

Long time, no see. I'm kick-starting this blog again. With a book review. I just finished reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while and I finally got around to reading it. First of all, I had to persevere with it. In fact, when I first starting reading it, I stopped because I didn't get the story line but then I came back and I can assure you it is a very good book. :)

A little synopsis: Never Let Me Go is set in a skewed modern English society. It follows the lives of three children, Kathy (the protagonist who narrates the story), Ruth (her best friend) and Tommy, growing up in a boarding school called Hailsham. Hailsham is completely isolated from the rest of the society. From the beginning of the book, you can tell that something isn't quite right about the school and the society that they grow up in from the way that Kathy recalls her childhood and subsequent teens there. Through the book, Kathy reveals what the society is like and raises very interesting moral issues, questions and dilemmas about the modern world.

Okay, a heads up. I am going to discuss some of the most interesting themes for me in the book but that means that there WILL BE SPOILERS. So maybe go and read the book first and then come back or proceed, whichever you prefer. :)




The most interesting part of the book for me was the question about clones. SPOILERS!!! In Never Let Me Go, the children in Hailsham are clones of members of society and, when they get to a certain age, they start donating their organs and they eventually die. So, basically, they exist solely to harvest human organs. During my Spanish and French A level courses, I had to do some research into animal cloning and human cloning. Is it okay to clone humans? Should we clone ourselves in order to have a 'second chance' at life? Is it okay to use clones to harvest organs, as in this book?
In our world today, people clone their pets in order to have more time with another identical version of their dog or their cat and animal cloning is widely used in different industries. The key issue when discussing human clones is whether they deserve the same rights as 'normal' humans and whether they are capable of experiencing the same things as humans, on a physical and emotional level. Now, if clones are NOT capable of feeling or experiencing the same emotions as 'normal' humans, perhaps using them as donors and harvesting them as such is okay. Food for thought ... Personally, I don't agree with using cloning like that because, for me, it assumes a higher place than what humans should have.
But, the thing about this book that was quite chilling for me, was that we didn't discover that they were clones until we had seen them experience the same complicated emotions that we do: anger, happiness, frustration ... etc. Also, they were already resigned to their fate. They had no realistic aspirations for their lives because they knew how they would play out and how they would end, from very little children. They would joke around about being a doctor or a movie star or even a secretary or assistant and a teacher would say that they had to stop thinking like that. Their lives and their purpose was predestined and there was nothing that they could do to change that. Just think about that. Imagine waking up and knowing that your whole life had been determined and none of your hopes and aspirations meant anything.


Another very interesting theme for me was the role of art and creativity in the book. As someone who has always preferred more creative subjects at school and wants to be an author, creativity is very important for me. In Hailsham, creativity played a crucial role. The children were valued by the teachers and by the other students based on the quality of what they could create and write and draw. One of the main characters, Tommy, isn't very good at all of these things and he is bullied, quite viciously for it. But, the key thing here is that the teachers were looking at their art work to reveal their souls. I know that sounds overly dramatic but, in other words, they were trying to work out whether the clones had the emotion to create art, in whatever form that took. In the book, it is revealed that there were other boarding schools like Hailsham  but none of them used art in the same way. Hailsham was an experiment in itself, to prove that the clones had the ability to be like 'normal' humans.
At certain times throughout history, in Communist Russia and Franco's Spain for instance, the teaching of art and creativity was prohibited because it encouraged people to think outside the box and challenge ideas and therefore the government. There is a very interesting story about a Russian composer who wrote a piece for a orchestra that was literally three or four notes and the last page was a page of the same note, over and over again. Looking at that, we see huge restrictions but it shows the extent to which we, as humans, create and appreciate creativity.
At the moment, there has been a lot of talk about cutting school funding for creative subjects and pushing forward Maths and Science. For me, this is very sad. I have never been good at Science and I was abysmal at Maths. I don't have a very logical brain and I think that by cutting that funding, we limit, as a society, the ability to do something that makes us inherently human.
The society in the book saw clones as evolved computers. They could function by themselves, they could live a 'normal' life but they couldn't appreciate things as humans. Hailsham saw them as more than that and that's where the importance of art came in. The clones could create beautiful things and appreciate the world around them in a way that is exclusive to human beings, showing that they were more than just donors. They could be people, like everyone else.


Anyway, I hope that made sense and I hope that it made you think about a few things. I just read through it and realised that it is a lot of rambling but hopefully you took a few things from it.

I believe that there is also a film of Never Let It Go with Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. I've never seen it but maybe that is something that you would like to look into before/after reading the book.

As usual, thanks for reading,
Clare

Tanya Burr's Healthy Chocolate Brownies ... by Clare

Hello everyone,

Easter is finally upon us (yay!) which means that I can eat chocolate again (YAY!). And I was browsing the old videos of my favourite YouTubers when I came across this video by Tanya Burr where she makes brownies that are apparently 'healthy'. (Obviously, not as healthy as vegetables but healthier than the classic brownie in the supermarket.)

Normally, I don't like cooking videos because the skill of being able to cook and enjoy it has eluded me and graced other members of my family. But this one I was interested in because when I see online tutorials for anything and then attempt them, their finished product is so much different to my finished product. But this one I tried. I'll link her video because I changed three things about her recipe: I used LO Salt instead of Himalayan Salt, brown sugar instead of coconut sugar and half a cup instead of two. This was because I didn't have Himalayan Salt when I was making them and my family as a whole don't use a lot of sugar in our cooking, even if they say we should.

Tanya's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtwBjpFoZow
Apparently, the recipe is also available in her book which you can get here

Ingredients I used:
1. 300g of organic Green and Black's Dark Cooking Chocolate
2. Half a measuring cup of pure virgin coconut oil
3. One cup of FairTrade light brown sugar
4. Two cups of ground almonds
5. A pinch of salt
6. One capful of vanilla extract (a capful being the cap on the vanilla extract, not the measuring cup)
7. One teaspoon of baking powder
8. One mashed avocado (a soft, ripe avocado would make this easier. You can't taste it because it is a second substitute for butter.)
9. 3 eggs

Other stuff (because I always find this useful in recipes so that I can get it ready)
1. A large saucepan
2. A wooden spoon/spatula
3. Measuring cups of different sizes
4. Three spoons for scooping and stirring and mashing
5. Two bowls (one for eggs and one for avocado) OR One bowl (for avocado) and one mug (for eggs)
6. A baking tray (made for cooking brownies, NOT cakes)
7. A knife
8. Oven gloves

Instructions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
• Pre-mash the avocado. The best way to do this is to cut it in half, take out the stone, scoop out of the flesh of the avocado and put it in a bowl. Use a knife and spoon to mash it and chop it as much as possible but don't worry about chunks because once it is stirred in and cooked, you can't taste it anyway.
• Pre-crack and beat the eggs, depending on your ability to do this. I am very bad at cracking eggs so I did it before starting.
• Use the spoon to put half of measuring cup of coconut oil in the saucepan
• Break up the chocolate in good sized chunks and add it in to the saucepan
• Melt the chocolate and oil together on a LOW HEAT and stir with the wooden spoon/ spatula so that it doesn't burn
• REMOVE FROM THE HEAT
• Add in the brown sugar and stir
• Add in the ground almonds, baking powder, vanilla extract, salt and avocado, stirring well after each ingredient to ensure the mixture is as smooth as possible (by this point it will not be completely smooth)
• Add in the beaten eggs and stir. (I found a folding motion to be the best way of doing this. It also means you can mash any stray chunks of avocado that are particularly and ominously large.)
• Pour into the baking tray and put it in the oven for 26 minutes.
• Leave ten minutes to cool and then chop them up into good sized brownies.

NOTE: they are very rich in consistency so keep them small.

My ingredients

And there you are! You wouldn't believe how much difficulty I had trying to put all of these pictures into this blog post. :/ It was a struggle.

Anyway,

Thanks for reading, 

Clare