Happy December!

It's official, Scotland has snow!

It arrived on Sunday evening to much excitement of children...and much annoyance for myself! I hate to sound like a Grinch but I'm really not a big fan of the snow. Yes it looks beautiful and yes you can have fun making snowmen, snow angels and snowball fights but to me it's just not practical when you need to get about and it's incredibly dangerous for drivers. All the same, it seems to have given most people around a boost and helped them find their Christmas spirit and it looks beautiful...even if it is a pain!

My weekend!

As I told you in my last post the first weekend in December was full on for me. My wee cousin's birthday, my Christmas night out with the work, Girl's Day Out in Glasgow and, of course, Christmas shopping.
My wee cousin Connor became a teenager on Saturday Dec 1st, he's turned the ripe old age of thirteen. How time flies, I remember the day he was born! He's grown up to be such a handsome little chap with an incredible talent for art, graffiti art in particular. His big hero is the anonymous, mysterious and miraculous graffiti artist and political activist 'Banksy'. Connor recently had an art exhibition at his high school displaying some of his work. You can definitely see where the Banksy inspiration comes from.



Amazing work, Well done Connor!


Saturday night was the Christmas night out with my colleagues to the Mercure Hotel for our 'Black, White and Diamond Night' themed evening. I had all day to get ready which was wonderful and very relaxing. I dyed my hair 'Mocha Brown' from the Garnier Nutrisse selection. My natural hair colour is dirty blond which is not a particularly photogenic colour and in some pictures can sometimes look like a mousy brown or even grey! I've had enough of that thank you very much! So I gave this colour a go. I left it on for a lot longer than i probably should have to be honest. The instructions advised it should stay in for 25 mins, but I may have left it in for at least an hour. By the time I washed it out it was super dark! Darker than I've ever had it before which is risky for me as I have such a naturally pale complexion. But I like it and i think I'll keep it this shade for a bit. So with the hair mocha'd up I then blow dried it and pinned it back so I could start on my make up.


This is the hair dye I used. Neither my hair nor my face resemble the model in any way!

 I love getting ready to go out! Is it just me or is that sometimes more fun than the actual party? Call me insane but I love it. So as I was saying, the hair is half done and now on to the make up. I always start with the matte foundation before adding the powder. I have very pale skin so I need a foundation that doesn't leave me looking orange. The idea behind foundation is to enhance your skin and you should always stick to a colour that makes it look like you are not wearing any make up at all, unless of course you wear fake tan and like to look like an Ooompa Loompa then knock yourself out. I recently switched my foundation from Rimmel to the Body Shop's own brand. I went for the Ivory choice and I must say they don't look too dissimilar to each other, the Rimmel one had a a slight orange tint where the Body Shop one has no tint. I applied the matte by hand then touched it up with a foundation brush I bought from Wallgreen's 2 years ago. I applied the powder using one of my new brushes that I got as part of my 32 piece Wowcher set. What a buy that was, I would highly recommend getting one if you are into make up. But don't go over board with the price, I only got it because it was on offer.



I love my 32 piece make up brush set from Wowcher. Retail price £75, I got it for £15. Booya!

 For my eyes, I always go with a sixties style. I live and love the retro look so it involved the 'panda eye style' with a lot of mascara and eye liner. I don't think I could live without eye liner, fact! After the war paint had been completed I then got to work on my hair, mainly straightening it then backcombing with a hint of hairspray. My dress was recycled, I wore this dress to a hen party a few months back but it fits the bill perfectly as it's black with a hint of white! A few piece's of 'diamond' jewellery here and there I was ready and willing to go. I was the third of my party to show up. I felt a little intimidated as i saw other company parties arriving for their Christmas night out, they all appeared to have taken it a little too seriously as there were women wearing tiara's and had big long trains on their dresses while the men came dressed as either James Bond or Rob Roy. Our party was booked to be a small one as only 7 of us were due to go and unfortunately two of the girls were sick so there was only 5 of us. We were seated at our little round table and in the middle, our 'centre piece' was a box full of goodies! Hats, balloons, feather boa's, tiara's, party poppers etc. To be honest, this was probably the highlight of the night...



Our table with the goody box in the middle



On with the hat!



Stand and Deliver!

 After these delightful pictures were taken the trouble started. The person who organised the night out was unable to attend which was an issue as we had no receipt to say how much money we had behind the bar. The person with the clip board who was on hand to answer any queries we had tried to out £60 of our paid budget! After an argument it was discovered she was wrong and updated our tab plus gave us a free bottle of wine for the table. To add to the other problems we had, our dinner was late, the soup was cold, the queue for the bar was out the door with 4 staff members behind it. I had to queue for 30 mins and wait another 20 mins for the drinks to be delivered to the table which meant we had no drink during our starters! The meal was nice it has to be said. We didn't all have the same but everyone enjoyed what they ordered. We all had soup to start with followed by melon slices. For main course I had the traditional turkey with all the trimmings. It was fabulous. The desert was a little disappointing. I ordered white chocolate cheesecake which is one of my favourites but it literally tasted of nothing! A trip to the toilet was disgusting as the facilities were not up to scratch. It was in the bathroom that I overheard a woman from another party in the same room as us saying she had been to The Mercure the year before for the Christmas night out and it was even worse. Why come back? We certainly won't I can tell you that much. The dance floor was tiny too, I got the feeling when we were boogieing that they may have overbooked on the first night of December. All in all it was a very disappointing night. I don't know how but we managed to make it look fun in the pictures!



Me & Muirial



Yay! the drinks have arrived!



Seat dancing with Mags!



Party on Teresa!



Don't think that's how it's supposed to be worn

A lot of feathers on the dancefloor

Angela or Queen Victoria?



The King and Queen



It's a bust off!

 We left the party at 11:45, none of us wanting to stay any longer and annoyed at the poor service. Still, at least we gave it a go. The idea sounded much better than it actually was. I didn't mind going home early anyway, I had an early rise on Sunday...

Sunday morning, 8am and my alarm goes off. I need to get ready to attend Girls Day Out with my girls in Glasgow! I left the house and headed for Harthill bus station to get the CityLink coach into Buchanan Bus Station in Glasgow's city centre. My friend Claire is ill and unable to attend, my friend Jileen is also under the weather but will come along later but luckily I have The Beatles to accompany on the journey.

I arrive at Buchanan bus station at 9:45am and I get a taxi to the SECC which only takes 5 minutes. It's there at the front door that I meet my friend Fiona who is just as excited as I am for the event. We head inside as Sunday morning is the coldest it's been so far this year, we head to the ATM for cash then off to Costa's for a coffee while we wait for Jileen.

Poor Jileen, she's so unwell when she gets here, but like a trooper she drops her American ways and keeps the very British motto of 'Keep Calm and Carry On'. We head into the SECC hall which has been appropriately decorated in girly pink with novelty over sized shoes and cocktail glasses to pose for pictures like a roadside attraction. It's warm and very welcoming! We of course head straight to the back of the hall and get our free goody bag.


Our cute wee goody bag



The highlight of the goody bag, 3 No7 nail polishes

The goody bag was completely free with 3 No7 nail polishes, a No7 eyeliner, a sachet packet of low fat milkshake, low fat sweeteners, shampoo and conditioner samples, face masks, a low fat biscuit, Britney Spears perfume sample and lots of leaflets about Girls Day Out plus 2 vouchers for a free cocktail and a free red wine. We of course headed straight to the bar to cash in our drinky vouchers. While we were chatting and drinking, trying to conjure up a plan for the day our concentration was interrupted by a group of hunky, barely dressed dancers who took to the stage for our entertainment! We were lucky we had such good seats.


The dancers prepare themselves...



Things start to heat up...



Free goody bag, free drink and now free porn. What a lovely start to a Sunday morning.

 After the dancers finished and walked off we stopped drooling, got ourselves together and took a wander around the stalls. We were harassed with leaflets and looking for samples and freebees. We did spend a lot of time around the Pinky Vodka section it has to be said...personally that was my favourite stall! We spent several hours gazing through the clothes, shoes, jewellery, make up and perfume offers. I managed to bag 6 bottles of perfume for £20 plus many free samples. Not bad except that I had to carry the bag around with me all day, my neck and shoulder was killing me! Fiona treated herself to a new pair of black knee high boots and a gorgeous handbag from a recycled clothes store. Each item of clothing bought from the recycled stand are all unique, we managed to go at the right time of day as prices were being slashed as the clock ticked on. Jileen did not buy herself any items but she did have a 20 minute back, neck and shoulder massage. As she was not feeling too well to begin with this was a welcomed break. It certainly put the colour back into her wee cheeks. She also left the stall with a leaflet on how to organise massage parties, I expect my invitation will be on its way sometime after Christmas...

Jileen enjoying her massage

Fiona with her complimentary cocktail

My favourite stall of the day. The Gastric Band Clinic directly across from the Chocolate Fountain stand.

After circulating the entire room at least 3 times we decided to call it a day and leave Girls Day Out behind. We really had a fantastic day and to anyone in the UK who has the opportunity to go along to this then I would highly recommend this. Mothers and daughters or a group of your best mates you will have a great time at the event...provided you have just been paid of course. We will definitely be heading back next year.

Poor Jileen was still unwell so she decided to call it a day and headed for home. Fiona and I were starving and made our way into Glasgow's Buchanan street to meet up with Kris (my big cousin and Fiona's boyfriend) for dinner. Kris led us to a newly opened restaurant in Sauchie Lane called NYC. It's a very homely and welcoming restaurant with a nice decor and pleasant New York theme (yellow taxi cushions, themed cocktails and a Friends DVD playing in the background). We all love American styled food so this place was ideal for us. I ordered the biggest burger on the menu, Fiona went for the low fat burger and Kris couldn't resist the foot long chili dog with chili chips. Utterly delicious food which we made sure was accompanied with some fruity cocktails. A grand way to end the evening and a pretty exhausting weekend for me. I had time to chill when I finally got on the bus heading for home. not to mention it was pretty bloody freezing too. Holidays are defiantly a-coming!

Peace and Love
TT

Thank Haggis it's Friday!

Happy St Andrew's Day Bloggers!

Yes, November 30th marks the feast day of Saint Andrew, the patron Saint of Scotland. Tonight will feature a traditional Scottish supper of haggis, neaps and tatties with a wee dram of whisky and then sleeping naked! (A rather bizarre tradition is for unmarried women to sleep naked on 30th November and they will dream of their future husband. Not for me I'm afraid, it's minus 7 where I live, that's way too cold to be sleeping without my onesie!) St Andrews day, as of 2006 is a bank holiday in Scotland. Not for me unfortunately as I am sat at work as I write this. All the same it's making my day go in a lot quicker.



The Scottish Flag, also known as the St Andrew's Cross and the Saltire.

 Exciting weekend planned. I have my Christmas night out with the work tomorrow. We will be attending a 'Black, White & Diamond Night' at The Mercure Hotel. It sounds very fancy, but not too fancy. We will be arriving at 7pm and greeted with cocktails at the bar, no doubt chatting about how glamorous we all look in our black and white dresses and (fake) diamond jewellery (it's an all girls night too, I should add). We get seated for dinner at 7:30pm where we will tuck into a four course meal and more cocktails. I have looked at the menu on the website and it seems very inventive with vast choices, but I will of course be opting for the traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Gotta love a big fat Christmas dinner, nice way to start December! The rest of the night will be followed by cocktails and dancing until the early hours. Don't know how long I'll be staying as I am busy Sunday too. Very much looking forward to this shindig. Pictures and full review to follow.

On Sunday, my friends and I are heading into Glasgow to attend Girls Day Out at the SECC Auditorium. I'm very much looking forward to this. I have a friend who is currently attending the event as we speak. She has already sent me a text to tell what a great time she is having and how much us girls are going to love it on Sunday. The event is scheduled to start at 10am and end a 6pm. I'm still not sure whether or not to be there for the 10am opening or show up a bit later. Need to make my mind up soon though. When we 3 Queen's leave the event we are heading into Glasgow City centre for a nice big dinner and probably some more cocktails and maybe a wee wander through the shops and markets. Thoroughly looking forward to this!! Again, a review followed by pictures of this coming soon to the blog!

Recent purchases in the last few weeks include my new BlackBerry. It's never a phone I thought i'd ever own as it's never really taken my fancy but when Vodafone gave me a good offer then I'm not going to refuse it! It's a BlackBerry Curve 9320 in violet no less. I have to say I'm absolutely loving it and i'm using it more than any other phone that i've owned (mainly because this is my first ever SmartPhone)

My violet BlackBerry

I was supposed to go Christmas shopping with my good friend Jileen and her son Aedan one beautiful Sunday afternoon, but ultimately I just ended up buying stuff for myself :-)
Whilst shopping in Matalan, I couldn't help but spot the bargains available in the sale section of the store, including a selection of trilby hats for £1 each. I bloody LOVE a trilby hat, so I bought myself 2!

2 Trilby's for £2. Happy Days!

I literally have an entire shelf in my wardrobe for all of my hats, so these two will make a nice little addition. My little shopping buddy Aedan and I were having such a good time together while we let mother goose, Jileen do her shopping undisurbed by us two scoundrals! I have to say Aedan was very well behaved and a fun little companion who was loving the hat sale almost as much as I was. I hat to treat the little dude to his own...

Could this picture get any cuter?

My choice of nail colour this week has been a very bright pink from Rimmel again. I'm not sure why I picked this colour as it does not match the weather scheme or the mood that most people are in right now. Still, i like it!

My nail polish of the week. The only thing it seems to match is my watch!

Peace and Love
TT

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas...

Still no sign of snow (thank goodness) but that doesn't mean Scotland hasn't got any Christmas spirit.

I was in Glasgow last night as I had planned to go to the cinema with my big cousin and his girlfriend. I live approx 35 miles from Glasgow and I work on Wednesday so after I had my half day granted I went home for a wash and change of clothes then headed out west on the M8 (motorway/highway) to the glorious city of Glasgow! The three of us had decided to make movie night a double feature by going to see the new Bradley Cooper movie, Silver Linings followed by our first official cinema Christmas movie, Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger.

We arranged to meet outside Cineworld at 5pm so I left home at 3pm. On the way I pulled over at Coatbridge for a cheeky McDonald's at the drive thru. Whilst in the queue I notice that they have updated their normal menu to the festive menu so I couldn't help but treat myself to a potion of Cheese Melt Dippers. So scrumptious.



I LOVE the festive McDonald's menu!

 I was worrying about my time keeping as I was fully aware it was about to hit rush hour traffic. I decided to complete my journey by driving through as soon as I had finished eating thinking I would make it in good time. I couldn't have been more correct, literally 13 mins later my car was parked and my parking ticket was placed on my dashboard. I had arrived a whole hour early! The car park is a good 15 minute walk from Cineworld so I decided to take a longer route and go a little walk on my own.

At this time of year, Scotland (and the rest of the UK) starts to lose daylight at about 3.30pm and in the last few weeks it has been getting mighty cold! So with my bobble hat, gloves and new BlackBerry phone I headed out in search of Glasgow's Christmas decorations and light displays (I was desperate to give me new camera phone a go).

I headed down through to George's Square, a popular landmark in Glasgow all year round, but never more popular than at Christmas. The whole Square is glittering with lights, a huge Christmas tree, the full Nativity set, an ice rink, a Helter Skelter, the Chair-o-planes, plus food and clothing stalls! I had to resist my temptation to go for a wander around the whole square as I have made plans for later on in December to come back and sample everything here. So I walked along the side of the road taking pictures with my new phone. The pictures turned out well I thought...but in real life it is something else!



The famous George's Square lights. They have remained unchanged for as long as I can remember!



The white gazebo where the Christmas bar is. You can see the Helter Skelter in the background.



The fairground section of the Square

 


The Chair-o-planes! A favourite in my family.



It looks beautiful from every angle

I spent a while taking in the view before heading over to Buchanan Street. I stopped along the way to get a Christmas coffee at Costa's - a creme brulee latte. Yummy, plus it kept me warm! I took a short cut so I could pass through the side street next to the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art. This is what I walked under...



The GOMA. Not sure if you can see the statue of the Duke of Wellington at the front. He is wearing his traditional traffic cone hat.



The gorgeous light canapy



The colour of the sky made this perfect to walk under.

I headed through to Buchanan Street which is always busy no matter what time of day. The lights are up and people are Christmas shopping with friends and family.

This used to be a real working police box until they became dysfunctional in the 1980s then it was used as a coffee stand AKA 'The Coppochino'. Since the revamp of Doctor Who in 2005 it now stands as a tourist attraction. There are several all over Glasgow, including a red one!

Happy but cold Christmas shoppers in Buchanan Street



Something for the kids...

 I enjoyed my little detour but the clock was ticking and it was time to see these movies. I met up with Kris and Fiona outside Cineworld then we waited in line to get the tickets to see the movies. Kris and Fiona are both members of the Cineworld movie club so they pay annually to attend the cinema as many times as they want for a full year. I on the other hand had 2 Orange Wednesday codes with me so my trip to the cinema was totally free...apart from the stint at the concession stand :-S

The first movie we saw was Silver Linings, this was my pick! I must be honest, I hadn't seen or read anything about this film I just wanted to see it because the lovely Bradley Cooper was the star and Robert De Niro was playing his father. The film is based on the novel of the same name. The main character, Pat, played by Cooper has just been released from a mental hospital after a 9 month stint. He was an undiagnosed bi-polar patient who had a severe mood swing when he discovered his wife had been having an affair. He is released from the mental hospital and taken to live with his parents as his wife has had a restraining order placed on him and moved out from their martial home. The story is about him trying to battle his mental illness and get back to his wife but on the way he meets the sister in law of a friend who has recently lost her husband. She has also had issues dealing with her husbands death and needs his help as much as she needs him. I really enjoyed the film. It had a lot of heart in it and was very funny at points and it had a Christmassy element which was a nice wee surprise.

The second film we saw was Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger. This was a communal choice as we all wanted to see a proper Christmas movie, plus the star of this film is the lovely David Tennant! Having never seen the first Nativity I didn't really know what to expect (apart from the obvious Nativity). The only person in the film who I found genuinely funny was the cameo appearance of Jessica Hynes playing a Welsh Opera diva. The rest of the film, I imagine, was mainly to be aimed at kids. The plot was full of holes and poor jokes and was trying too hard to be sickly sweet. It went on far too long despite having a load of really cute kids in the cast. Overall I really didn't enjoy the film and would only recommend you go and see it if you are taking children. I'm glad I didn't pay to see it.

Despite the disappointment of the second film I had a fantastic (half) day in Glasgow. I enjoyed spending time with Kris and Fiona, I loved my solitary walk around the Square and I loved the first film.

I am definitely in the spirit for Christmas now. I just hope this inspiration helps me get my Christmas shopping done!

Recent Purchases

It's November now, the month before Christmas and statistically speaking the busiest month to do your Christmas shopping. I'm not one of those brilliantly organised people who had all of their shopping done by the end of July so I am right in the thick of it now! But along the way as you pass by all the shops and see all the 'stuff' on sale you just can't help but treat yourself to a few little bits and bobs can you? Or is that just me?

I went shopping with my friend on Sunday, who is as equally as disorganised as me (if not worse as she hates a spending spree) and as you can imagine our local shopping centre was mobbed (for any non-Brits reading this, that means busy). Groups of people: friends, parents, families etc all out and about shopping for the best bargains and Christmas food. I love shopping, especially at Christmas and in a busy shopping mall. I love when all the display windows and restaurants are covered in fake snow and tinsel. I love when the outdoor and indoor walls are draped from top to bottom in white lights. I love the 'centre piece' of a mall where they have the biggest tree in town surrounded by fake presents and little kids getting their picture taken next to it. I love going to a restaurant or a coffee shop and find that they have added new flavours or renamed drinks to get customers 'into the Christmassy mood'. I love driving to the shopping mall during the day and leaving at nightfall when all the Christmas lights have been switched on. As Bing Crosby once sang, 'It's the most wonderful time of the year'. He was so right, I absolutely love Christmas and I love that warm feeling I get every year when I see all of the above.

My friend Claire and I had an idea of what and who we were going to buy for but unfortunately Claire wasn't feeling too well and wasn't in a mood for shopping so it was really left to me to get what I needed. I was very good at first, buying for other people including the person I got for Secret Santa at work but then in relapsed and spent most of the day shopping for me...oops!

My great aunt from Glasgow had given me £40 for Christmas despite the fact that I keep telling her that I'm too old for all this but she never listens. It was very kind of her so this kind of gave me an excuse to treat myself. I went to Primark and got myself a green military style jacket which is just new in the store. We then headed up stairs to the underwear dept and there I saw something I just had to have...a Minnie Mouse Onesie!

My Minnie Mouse Onesie!



I even have a tail on my arse!



And a hood with Minnie's face and the iconic polka dot bow!



It's super cute and super cosy, plus it makes me look cool!?!

After buying the most stupid thing in the store I headed to The Body Shop. Previously this had never been a place I visited often but a friend at work has taken a keen interest in Body Shop products over the last few months and has introduced me to a whole new variety of body butters, shower gel's and even make up! They have lots of great offers on for Christmas and lots of gorgeous little stock fillers, one of which I treated myself to: 5 different flavoured lip gloss' in a lollipop stick gift set. It's absolutely beautiful the way it has been presented and the 5 flavours are so delicious. I'm currently wearing (and licking off) the orange flavoured gloss.

Looking for a stocking filler for a girly girl? You can't go wrong with this!

We then headed to HMV, my home away from home to pre-order Liverpool comedian John Bishop's new Blu-ray (out the next day). I had gone to see that very show in October and it was fantastic. I went back into Livingston the next day to pick him up.

The brilliant John Bishop's new Blu-ray

Having spent nearly all of the money my aunt gave me, I still had enough to purchase a new (and cheap) nail polish from Boots. It's not normally a colour I wear but I did think it was cute and Christmassy so I got it. I have to admit, it does look too bad.

GOLD!

We ended the day with dinner at Chiquito's. Both Claire and I love Mexican food so this place a is a real favourite of ours. Claire was starting to feel better now so we enjoyed our meal. Claire had jalapeno poppers to start, followed by spicy chicken and chips washed down with a ginger and cranberry mocktail. I had nachos to start with then chicken fajitas for my main course washed down with a cranberry and apple mocktail. Delish!

A good day was had but I'm no further forward in completing my Christmas shopping. I imagine Livingston Shopping Centre will be seeing a lot of me in the next coming weeks!

In other shopping news, my tickets for Girls Day Out arrived! They were very quick i have to say. I ordered them on Tuesday and they were delivered Friday. I texted all the girls to let them know and we are all very excited. I'll keep checking the website to see what other activities have been added and other goodies that we have to look forward to.


Looking forward to a girly day out!

My make up brushes, ordered through Wowcher, have not arrived yet. It'll be at least another 2 weeks before I get my hands on those!

Titanic. It really is a masterpiece.

***This may contain spoilers of bonus features on the new Titanic Blu-ray. I will try not to give away the ending to the film :-)***

I love James Cameron's Titanic. I was only 9 when it was released so I was too young to go to the cinema to see it. It was hailed as a masterpiece even then, with my mother raving about it after going to see it with a group of her girlfriends. The trailers and TV spots made it look so different to any other film released at the time. It really didn't look like the type of film I would enjoy, old fashioned, actors that I had never even heard of, over 3 and a half hours long and I already knew how it ended. But I'll never forget the excitement of the Friday afternoon when my mum brought home the newly released video - in wide screen no less!

It was planned that my mum, dad and I would have a family night on Saturday and watch Titanic together. My dad, who had never seen the film was a big history buff (I too would later become one) and was looking forward to seeing this film, especially after all of the Oscar wins. My mum was still in love with the film after seeing it at the cinema and she confirmed with my dad that it was ok for me at 9 years old to watch it. So Saturday night arrived, we ordered a Chinese take away and ate that whilst watching the typical Saturday night 1998 schedule (including a new show called Who Wants to be a Millionaire?). Then at 9pm, we pulled the couch closer to the TV in the living room, switched the lights off and the 3 of us cuddled up together, fast forwarding all the trailers as my mum was all too aware that Titanic was long and there wasn't any time to watch them and the full film. The 3 of us sprawled out on the couch, unable to move after such a big dinner...then it started. The sepia coloured screen accompanied with that hauntingly beautiful soloist, people happily waving from the doomed ship in slow motion before the camera pans over the Atlantic ocean and the name Titanic appears. Already the excitement of watching the film has disappeared and replaced with a sadness in me. It was that exact moment that it hit me that this is a
true story and I actually started to dread what was to follow.

It took an unsuspecting turn for me, I wasn't expecting Titanic to start in the modern day terms and in a submarine. I was slightly confused, were we watching a documentary? I'll never forget that image
of 'the ghost ship'. Beautiful yet frightening, this was the real deal, I was fascinated.

The Ghost Ship

The story starts with with a crew of men who are desperate to find 'The Heart of the Ocean', a rare blue diamond necklace that had allegedly gone down with the ship 84 years ago. Whilst searching for, and not finding the necklace they come across a portrait of a nude young woman wearing the necklace that had been drawn the night Titanic sank. The picture hits the news which is seen by an elderly Rose DeWitt Bukater, who contacts the crew straight away as she is the young woman in the picture. Rose is brought aboard with the treasure hunters, accompanied by her granddaughter Lizzie. She is shown all of the trinkets that the crew have discovered and retrieved on visits down to the ship, some of which rose recognises as her own. It's at this point that she has an extreme case of nostalgia and tells the story of Titanic from her point of view as a First Class passenger travelling with the fiancee she does not love and the mother she despises.

The beautiful, yet fictitious Heart of the Ocean

The story kicks off and the element of falling in love has started. People have often mocked Titanic for being over-the-top-romantic, but what's wrong with that? Some people really do fall in love that quickly and would happily sacrifice their own life for the one they love. That's what Titanic is, 1/3 history lesson, 1/3 love story and 1/3 disaster movie. It's so epic and glorious that I really can't bear when people dismiss it as a 'multi million dollar chick flick'. There is so much more to the film than romance, not to mention the ground breaking CGI special effects (the latest in movie technology in 1997/1998) which still stand out today. The thing that got me as a 9 year old watching this film, and had a lasting effect on me for some time was the scene after the sinking, the image of passengers who couldn't get on a lifeboat floating around in the calm ocean. The make up that had been applied to these men, women and children was outstanding. Frozen corpse's, some of whom had their eyes opened were covered in ice and frost and their skin colour had become a whiter shade of pale. It gave me nightmares for years after first seeing this film, the thought of all those real passengers who had succumbed to such a horrible, terrifying death. It didn't help that as my parents and I were watching the film on the couch in the living room I suddenly became aware that it was like we were in the film. The couch the three of us were lying on became a lifeboat, the blue carpet of the living room became the cold dark water of the Atlantic ocean, and with the lights off it was like the middle of the night with no-one around to see or hear us. It's amazing the way a child's mind can play tricks on them, if anything it just made the film more real to me. I had never felt like this when watching a film, I became so involved and very emotional. The hardest part of the film for me to watch was the scene during the sinking that involved a family being torn apart. The old rule 'women and children first' meant that several families had to go on without the man/husband/father/bread winner of the house. The scene where 2 little girls are sobbing as they are being put into a lifeboat are crying for their father who has to remain on board. The father can be heard saying, 'It's goodbye for a little while, there will be another boat for daddy's to get on shortly'. I found this heart breaking and still do. We know, he knows and his little girls know there won't be another boat for daddy. It was at that point that I started to well up but tried to hide it from my parents, but I had to voice my opinion as I did not agree with the situation. 'I think it should be families first, not just women and children!' I said through a breaking voice. 'Oh, so that's me getting on the boat then?' my dad answered sarcastically. 'I WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT YOU ON THAT BOAT YOURSELF DADDY!' I screamed as I couldn't hold back my tears. It's funny when i think about it now and really quite sweet, but that's the effect of a great movie. If you can get through to the mind and heart of a little girl then you've really made a good effort in my opinion. It's remained one of my favourite's ever since and I know I will love it forever.

In April 2012 Titanic was re-released for the 100th anniversary of the ship's maiden voyage and sinking. As I hadn't been old enough to go to the cinema first time around I made damn well sure I was going to attend this time and make it better by upgrading to IMAX (arguably, the greatest ever cinema experience). Nothing has changed in 15 years, I still love it and cry in all the same places. It was extraordinary seeing it on the massive IMAX screen in Edinburgh's Cineworld with my aunt, cousin and his girlfriend, 3 other people who also love the movie. It was a complete sell out on the day we went which was the week of the anniversary. I was extremely impressed with a young family who were sat in front of us. A mum and dad had taken 2 young kids who must have been aged between 8 and 6 equipped with sweets and pop corn managed to sit through out the entire film! No-one fidgeting or needing to get up and go to the bathroom, they sat silently, glued to the film for over 3 hours. That's impressive!

Later on in the year, in September the Blu-ray was released. I used my lunch break from work to nip to the local shopping centre and purchase the film. I thought it looked great at IMAX, I got home and put the Blu-ray on...it...is...GLORIOUS. As well as the digitally enhanced picture quality of the film you are also treated to a whole new set of bonus features. Including documentaries, trailers, production note and unbelievably, deleted scenes! Imagine how long the film would have been had these scenes been included in the final cut? Some of the scenes that were not included in Titanic add a bit more depth to the movie and give extra details to the more famous scenes of the film i.e. what happened to Jack and Rose when they were being chased by David Warner's character back into the drowning dining room? That explains why, in his last scene where the ship splits in two, he is covered in blood!

Over all, a fantastic piece of cinema and a wonderful Blu-ray to add to my collection. Highly recommended to all movie and history buffs!

Peace and Love

TT