You say Britain, I say Talent...


DJ Talent annoyed me like hell. But, and I'm ashamed to admit this, the "song" which he sung..or more appropriately rapped.. in the semi finals was actually not that baaad... And quite catchy too. I could see that coming on i-Tunes in the next few weeks... Just like Amanda predicted..


But anyways. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOSOSOSOsososososoooo happy that Diversity won! They were incredible.. and that Ashley Banjo guy is pretty cute haha. The choreography was incredible, the timing absolute, the dancing amazing, the look effortless... How the hell does someone get ideas like that!? It was so unbelievably imaginative and just.. interesting the whole way through! Oh and that little boy with the huge afro and glasses - Perry Kiely - I LOVE him to bits. He's adorable. And so funny! I love how they use him for all the 'stunts' - throwing him across the stage, picking him up by his legs and whirling him over, making him do all the backflips and frontflips - pick on the poor little boy with the afro why don't you!

And Flawless!? I was quite surprised they weren't in the Top 3. Serves them right for being so cocky I guess... Their dancing was impeccable. But just not as entertaining as Diversity.. Plus, it seemed like Flawless copied a few of Diversity's ideas. But thats just me thinking out loud......

Sean Smith was another favourite of mine. His voice is incredible - especially to the song he sung both in his audition and in the final. I'd buy that single anyday. It was better than the original I think! And it doesn't hurt that he's not bad looking too... I think the majority of his votes must have been from the teenage female population of Great Britain. Myself not included. (Diversity all the way :D )

And Aidan.. little Aidan. Poor guy - such a good dancer! Fantastic semifinal performance, he should have just done it again for the real thing. I don't understand how people don't realise when a performance they've done is utter rubbish or generally much worse than their previous performance - if he had done his semifinal performance again, I reckon he'd have come third. Instead of Julian Smith... who, I don't think should have been third. His sax sounded more like an oboe, and admittedly, the sound was beautiful.. But. Saxomophone... JAZZ. He should have done an upbeat jazzy piece with time for improvisation and wowed the audience with his incredible improvisation and brought them all to their feet in thunderous applause... But naaah. Quiet song, from WSS, which he already played in his audition.. But to be fair, at the end it was pretty impressive. And his performance was much better than at the audition. 

Stavros Flatley - no one can't not love them! Whats not to love about two "plump" Greek guys in blonde wigs and dancing topless... Mmm! I was laughing the whole way through.. Very amusing. Wouldn't have minded if they'd won.. But yet again, Simon Cowell predicted correctly about who would win BGT. 


I feel so sorry for Susan Boyle. 4 weeks ago, no one knew who she was, and now shes the centre of the media's attention. And not necessarily in a nice way either. I saw an article where Matt Lucas from Little Britain did an impression of her - it was so harsh and just unnecessary. She  never did anything to deserve those comments and the mockery of her, but some people are just incredibly shallow and want to pick on someone else's obvious faults and flaws, instead of acknowledging their own. I could go off on a different tangent here and rant about how disgusting I think Matt Lucas is, but I'll spare you, dear reader.


Lil' Hollie - glad she made it through the performance in one piece. I have to say, I had no idea what that song was, but it was hauntingly beautiful and she sang it very well indeed - a far cry from yesterday's performance. 2 Grand - I LOVE them. Especially the grandad, he's so cute. Reminds me of my own.. I so should have done a duet with my grandad! Ha ha. Not. But the granddaughter has an incredible singing voice - BUT. I don't think she would have gone through by just herself.. Its because it was her, and her granddad, and it was something unusual, thats why they got through. Not to mention the fact it was a good act, and they can both sing.. but she was way better. Shaheen - INCREDIBLE voice. I've used that word so many times already.. but it really was amazing. But.. I've heard rumours that he's already semi-pro, so technically, that's cheating.. He's done shows as a mini-MJ-sing-a-like. But he didn't win, so I don't careee... His voice is something else though. It reminds me a bit of Jennifer Hudson's voice - I dread to think how his voice will be spoilt when it breaks. :( 

This year, I have to say.. The competition was VERY close. Some really REALLY good competitors this year... So why is it that this year, the quality of BGT performers has increased incredibly (again..), but the quality of the competitors in The Apprentice has just... well. You know what I mean.. basically they're shit compared to the previous years. Obviously Sir Alan isn't as fussy anymore.. Desperate for another Apprentice - whoever she may be, whatever standards she may be at - in these oh so troubled times? Oh, and has anyone noticed that at the beginning of The Apprentice, the guy never says "Sir Alan's empire, worth over 5 million" anymore? He leaves that 5 million bit out now... Maybe Sugar's in a wee bit of economic trouble?

I can't be bothered to write anymore. Tired. Sleep :) goooooodnight cyberspace.

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From the bell-bottom flare to the ultra-tight skinny jean.

One of my good friends sent this in an email to me today. I thought it was quite interesting... Take a look for yourself.


So it starts off with the phrase "You know you've got Desi parents when..." (for those of you non-indians out there, just take it as indian.). Then, there's a whole list of reasons..:

1. You can't go out without telling them where you are going and with whom and when you'll be back & who's driving
2. They call you 24/7 and if you don't pick up the phone, they'll leave you TONS of voice mails
3. If you are a girl and don't know how to cook, then you're going down the drain and no one will marry you
4. The only way your life will get better is if you get MARRIED
5. Your mom is very nosy
6. Your parents don't know what the word "privacy" means; it will NEVER exist in their dictionary
7. If you are a couple of minutes late coming home, they'll call you tons of times!
8. If you don't become a doctor, engineer, pharmacist then you're a failure
9. If you make anything less than an A grade then you are a failure as well
10. If you pick your own spouse, then you've committed a horrible mistake
11. Parents care about what the society thinks more than your feelings
12. If you are a girl, you can't be yourself because some aunty is always on a look-out for a girl to become her son's wife
13. Your friends have to be approved by your parents
14. When you hear that their experience has made them way more knowledgeable than you..."mujhe tum se zyaada pata hai!!!" every time you do something wrong!
15. You spend too much money when you haven’t shopped for an entire month.
16. You spend way too much time with your friends (and the last time you saw them was at school...between classes)
17. Anything you do...just isn’t right...forget it...might as well go bury yourself
18. They think they have the best kids when you wear shalwar kameez to school (kids, don’t try this...you will officially be labelled a FOB...good for parents, bad for society)
19. If you date/marry anyone outside the desi culture...you're going to hell
20. You are asked to eat something every half an hour. You may eat like a pig, yet they never seem to think you eat enough!
21. You get cussed more than u get told they love you
22. You learn that racism has a whole new meaning because they're racist against their own kind..."mein tu abne betay ke liye gori bahu laon gi!"
23. When they automatically somehow magically know if you're talking to a girl on a phone.
24. Dark skinned girls are pressured to put on 'fair and lovely' to get lighter!!
25. Girls: your parents start looking for "ache larke" when you’re still in high school!
26. Your parents want more than 100 %. And when you get 105 %, they STILL expect you to do better.
27. If you’re a girl...guys and girls can’t just be friends...you’re not allowed to talk to guys
28. Your parents always wanted to buy your clothes a larger size just so you could use it till you DIE
29. They have lil desi kids who can’t keep their trap shut who help the parents let us not live our life the way we want even more
30. You go to India they tie a rope around your suitcase...
31. You make chai for you parents at least 3 times a day!
32. They always make you go places wit them or make u talk to people you don’t want to so you can be friends with them because they are "good kids"
33. They always ask who you were with there names and how old they are and if the person is driving they have to see them first
34. Girls can’t wear revealing clothes unless it’s Indian clothing
35. Girls have to make sure they clear the table and be all nokhrani when guests are over
36. They call you up every 20 minutes when you're with your friends to ask you what you've eaten
37. Your mom calls you fat one day and the next day she makes you eat till you explode
38. They brag about you to all their Indian friends, then turn around and tell you what is wrong with you
39. You know you have desi parents when vacation means going to relatives’ houses in different cities
40. They always want to know what you’re doing on the computer
41. Your parents wont buy you stuff unless it’s at least 40% off
 

Looking through that list, I can see about... 22 things which apply to me. Now considering I am probably one of the most ignorant people about my culture (i.e. I can't speak much Hindi, Punjabi or Tamil, I hardly ever watch Bollywood/Indian movies, I hardly ever listen to Indian music, the last time I went to India was when I was two years old....), its pretty ironic that this email could still apply to me. Although, I guess not, seeing as my parents were both brought up in India/Africa/Malaysia/wherever else thats not England... But hey.
It's weird that I have...this... in common with a girl who lived in India until she was 10 and then moved to England but still has an accent and is a complete.. well.. freshie, for want of a better word. (My best friend by the way...actually, there's 2 of them exactly like that!)

But anyways. See how many you score on that list.. I reckon it's not just about Indians, but any culture which is relatively similar to ours. The principles are all the same - overprotective parents, no sense of privacy with them, strict rules you HAVE to follow, otherwise you'd probably get disowned... ha ha. One of my mum's favourite lines is "Back in my day..." and whenever she uses that line, it's usually about how girls and boys "used to behave proper", and the length of skirts and tops nowadays compared to her golden years, and how we should still be behaving like her generation did.
Everything was so different then... The crazes, the standards, the morals, the fashion, the hair, the lifestyle, the music, the entertainment... I'm sure it was almost an "abnormal" sight to see an interracial couple walking down the street. I'm sure it was definitely "not done" for a lady on live  black-and-white television to get her tits out on stage and pull a cord, dangling from the ceiling, to release water over her busty curvaceous body.... 

Instead, people were swooning over Bjorn Borg and George Clooney (that probably hasn't changed). People were watching Princess Diana marry Prince Charles in her fairytale wedding. Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't known for Titanic, but for his character on Growing Pains. Michael Jackson wasn't white. Ronald Reagan was president. The USSR was still the USSR. Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were the Sienna Miller and Kate Moss of today, and of course, who could forget Elvis Presley...
And the fashion. Oh the fashion... incredible. Legwarmers, flares, shirts tucked in to long billowing trousers... skinny trousers, girls with cute short bobs, guys with extremely long hair, girls with big hair and skin tight leotards... It's pretty much all making a comeback now. 
And thats just England... Just imagine how other cultures, other countries, across the world, how people have changed. How iconic figures have risen and fallen... How fashion has changed, or not changed. How the music has changed. How technology has changed... So much has changed.

Yet, if you look back at that list... I'm pretty sure almost all of those 41 items could have applied to Indians (obviously not the ones concerning advanced technology..) in the 60's.. in the 70's.. in the 80's. If not more.. rules were much more strict then. Society considered certain things that are considered normal today to be "improper" and not how "young ladies and young men should conduct themselves". I should know, since I've had so many lectures about this from my mum and my grandma... But hey. Thats just part of the charm of the stereotypical asian parent/grandparent.

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"Where the girls are, there are no spider's webs."

The Catalonians' couldn't be more right. What is it with girls and spiders!? Today, as I was sitting in my room doing some work and talking to a friend...(multitasking - women do that too - very well) I saw, out of the corner of my eye.. a HIDEOUS huge eight legged... THING which was crawling tentatively up my whitewashed walls with its long gossamer-thin spidey-legs. Ughhhh. Just looking at spiders makes my skin crawl. And my vocabulary descriptive.



^ Eeeyuck. The type of spider I..dislike.. the most. And one happened to be on my wall.. Coincidence? I think not! After thinking out loud about what to do with said beast for 10 minutes, I eventually came up with the brilliant idea of sucking the little sucker (aha) to kingdom come with the hoover. Genius? Indeed. And it meant I wouldn't even have to touch the thing! Admittedly, it took me the best part of 20 minutes to eventually find the dratted thing again, under my table and all, but at least it meant I didn't have to sit in my study psychotically obsessing over where it was after that.

Then, whilst doing my work, I began to think. Why is it that we fear spiders? Girls in particular... I can say this because it's a fact. You don't tend to see boys screaming and running to their parents/siblings/whoever else in the middle of the night just because there's a spider in their bed. Nope. Girls would though... I definitely have. But what is it about these...creatures that scares us so? Ultimately, they're a help to the household...eating flies, which means we have less chance of fly eggs being laid on our food...and less chance of getting fly germs. Ew. But.. they're just so DISGUSTING!
I think its a psychological thing.
For me, I'm pretty sure I know why I'm scared of them. I'm an extremely sensitive person.. in terms of touch. The lightest touch for me tickles... I remember once, when a spider actually was on my arm, feeling its legs moving up my arm really quickly.. I just panicked. I keep thinking it'll go inside my clothes, and then I won't ever be able to get it out unless... well. Unless I got naked. Which would be a travesty if I was with other people...

I can't believe I've managed to write a whole post about spiders.. My my my. Just shows you can write about literally anything... But seriously. Why can't spiders be cute!? Like this little critter...

Guaranteed he isn't real. But hey.. I'd rather see that on my wall than some... hideous creature! I guess we can consider ourselves lucky we don't live in the Middle East and have to have these little bundles of joy they call camel spiders in our back gardens. If they ever had gardens in the desert.


So, no, I don't really like spiders all that much. Well, not at all, to be quite frank. With one exception - that one radioactive genetically modified spider that bit Spiderman? Hats off to him. Otherwise we'd never have seen the cute-yet-slightly-geeky Tobey Maguire scaling walls and shooting cobweb from his wrist. Gotta love it.

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My First Blog.

Well hello there.. to anyone who's reading this. My first blog entry.. and I don't have a clue what to write. Maybe I should begin with why I've suddenly decided to write a blog... So.


I'm in the middle of some important exams right now... really important. Like my whole life depends on them important. Its probably not the best idea to start writing a blog now right? But I did.. moment of insanity? Possibly. But hey.. I see it as an "outlet" for my... creative mind.. juices.. to flow. You can't really get creative with Biology, Chemistry and Maths.. Music I guess but those exams are already over. Sigh....

Ooh I'd also like to share something with you.. anyone who's reading this. Its a beautiful beautiful poem.. actually a song, a French song. Its called "Après un rêve" by Gabriel Faure, and its a French "melodie".. One of the pieces I had to analyze in my Music exam. The lyrics are in French, but the English translation is also very beautiful..

In a slumber charmed by your image

I dreamed of happiness, ardent mirage;

Your eyes were more tender, your voice pure and clear.

You were radient like a sky brightened by sunrise;

You were calling me, and I left the earth

To flee with you towards the light;

The skies opened their clouds for us,

Splendours unknown, glimpses of divine light ...

Alas !  Alas, sad awakening from dreams !

I call to you, oh night, give me back your illusions;

Return, return with your radiance,

Return, oh mysterious night !



So, I think thats about it for my first blog... Better get back to revision. And sleep.. lots of it. Ciao my fellow bloggers.

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