Sunday 30 October 2011

Studying

Howdie readers! I am back from a long week of not posting (mainly because I'm being a wee geek and revising for my prelims) and man I'm pooped! But anyway, warnings to you all that I may not be posting as often due to the fact I want good grades. Can you blame me really? Seriously though, good grades are the foundations for the rest of your life, so study hard!

Miss B xxxx

Sunday 23 October 2011

Eczema





  You probably know the feeling, you might be in the kitchen, the garden, sleeping, at school, and suddenly you notice this persistent, annoying itchy feeling. You start scratching without even realizing you're doing it and then you look down at your arm/neck/hand, where ever you a prone to getting it and you just think 'oh no, not again!' 

I like many people around the world suffer from the skin condition, eczema. The word eczema is an umbrella term for many different skin conditions, mostly associated with dry, flaky, inflamed skin. Lovely. I have always had eczema, but it has never really been that severe, until about a year ago. I had a serious outbreak of eczema, which was unusual because it hasn't been that bad since I was practically a baby. It was horrible, I had a kind of ring of it around my neck, which one lovely person commented on saying it looked like I'd tried to hang myself. It wasn't just on my neck though, it was on my face, behind my ears, on my arms and hands. I have never felt so self-conscious. I received extremely helpful treatment, a heavy-duty moisturizer and an array of steroid creams. Within about a month and a bit it had all cleared up. Thank bejeebus. 

Steroid creams and moisturisation does help get rid of the eczema, but it is always going to be a part of my life, I'm just lucky I don't normally have a serious form. But because of this, and because of the fact it's getting on winter, which means my eczema is getting a little worse, I thought I would post some ideas on what may cause eczema flair up.

Well, first off, diet can be one of the key factors, things such as citrus fruits can set eczema off, i.e. oranges, lemons, tomatoes, and of course things like chocolate and sweets are bound to do it. Sometimes eczema can start up because you're allergic to certain food types, like dairy or perhaps gluten in bread. Mine was set up because of my minor allergy to almonds, which I have since grown out of. So try cutting things from your diet, I went on this crazy diet thing where I cut out gluten, lactose and attempted to eat less citrus fruits which is hard when you love oranges. Mmmm. Because of that I realised that gluten and lactose didn't affect me in anyway, though too many oranges was doing my skin in bit by bit. 

The next thing to look at is your environment. Believe it or not, dust, dust mites, dry weather, and pollen can all set off eczema as well as asthma. So its best to hover, dust and change your bed sheets more regularly, and perhaps consider investing in a humidifier. The use of heaters also has an effect as it dries out the air within the house, which is why a lot of cases come up in winter when heaters are being put on more regularly. There isn't really much you can do about the pollen part as pollen can be blown all over the place, even if it isn't wind dispersed. My advice is to make sure you have no plants in your garden which you know can upset your skin, and make sure when someone wants to buy you flowers, they know which kind to get! 

You can also set off your skin through contact with certain things, most commonly metals used in cheap jewellery, so watch out for things in high street fashion shops. Health issues can sometimes cause eczema. Really there are a whole set of things that can set your skin off, so it's best to inquire at your GP at getting your eczema diagnosed. I went for patch testing, because I insisted that they didn't need to take any blood (I hate needles!)  The tests concluded Dahlias and a few other things irritate my skin, but there wasn’t really anything concluding which is often the way with conditions like eczema. By that time my eczema had calmed down anyway. 

I hope this information will be useful to anyone who may read it. I just want to say that mostly diagnoses of specific causes can be sketchy with patch testing as I think that mainly diagnoses contact reaction. If you want more conclusive results and are somewhat braver than I am, get your blood tested. 

Thanks for reading! 
Miss B xxxx 





Pesky Dahlias!

Mmmm oranges :)

Humidifier

Friday 21 October 2011

Paranormal Activity 3

Recently I went to see Paranormal Activity three, the latest in the Paranormal Activity series, so I will do a quick review!

Well basically, its got a lot of the same scares and its filmed in the same way as before. If you've not seen Paranormal activity before then you should know they film it with a video camera to make it seem more realstic.

But this time there is an unexpected twist! But I wont spoil the surprise! Also this is the prequel to the second film...which is the prequel to the first. So if you've never seen them before, watch them backwards and they will make sense!

It includes a lot of tension and unexpected scares! So only for fans of scary movies! I would say its a lot scarier than the first two, and it has a lot more of a plot.

All together I would give this movie a four out of five!

Bobbie xxx

Saturday 15 October 2011

I Have A Facebook Stalker

Don't you hate it when you go onto your facebook and check your notices and... whats this? A message from who?

Yes I have a stalker on facebook apparantly... or someone who has randomly messaged me who I don't even know. Eeeps!

MissB xxxx

Friday 14 October 2011

H.J Lim

Last night I went to my first ever piano concert at the Perth concert hall. (For those of you who aren't into classical music, do yourselves a favor and stop reading.)

The lady playing was H.J Lim (Hyung-Jung), a young pianist from Korea, the concert was her UK debut, and it was amazing! I actually cannot believe the speed her hands moved at, they were just a blur as she played, and she just gave off this amazing energy that made you want to get up and start jumping around to the music. Maybe I just feel this kind of a connection because I play piano myself, but I'm sure that it's not just me, Lim has this essence that just captivates an audience. I would definitely come to another of her concerts, and hopefully not have to sit next to and old man who constantly makes weird slurping noises.

Here is a list of what Lim played...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
Piano Sonata in C K330 
Allegro moderato 
Andante canatabile 
Allegretto 

Fryderyk Chopin 
Four Ballades 
No 1 in G minor 
No 2 in F major 
No 3 in A flat major 
No 4 in F minor 


Sergey Rachmaninov 
Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor (revised 1931) 
Allegro agitato - Meno mosso 
Non allegro - Lento - Piu mosso 
Allegro molto - Poco meno mosso - Presto 


Claude Debussy 
Poissons d'or 
L'isle joyeuse 


Maurice Ravel 
La valse 



In my opinion, Lim could go far, and I really hope she does because she deserves to, and I think she has the talent for it. I did find it a bit of a shame that more people didn't turn up, there were about fifty folk in the audience (including myself) and most of them were older, so I think she could do with building up a younger generation fan base here in Scotland, as well as a bigger all round fan base, though I suppose that is a hard thing to do when you're not a well known artist.

I thought it might also be a good idea to put in some information about Lim, which was provided my the program I received at the concert...


  • H.J Lim began her musical studies at the age of three, and at 12 she moved from Korea to France 
  • She studied with Marc Hoppeler and became the youngest person to gain the Diplome d'Etudes Musicales Completes at the age of 15 
  • Her international career began in November 2009 when a video of one of her recitals was uploaded to YouTube 
  • All this makes me feel incredibly underachieved 


And if you want to know a little more about Lim, just click the link: H.J Lim biography blog 

Miss B xxxx


Thursday 13 October 2011

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark Film Review

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! This film is so good it's unbelievable. Okay, so it has an exceptionally gory beginning, but that only lasts about two minutes. The rest of the film really grips you! It's about a young girl called Sally who is sent to live with her dad and his girlfriend Kim. Sally and Kim get off to a rocky start, but the relationship smooths out as the film goes along, and also as the plot thickens. Basically, below the house is a secret basement and in it is a kind of fireplace or coal cellar thing which leads into another world, and Sally unwittingly opens up the gateway, releasing these gremlin like fairy creatures which have a particular taste for children's teeth. Yum. These creatures start out by trying to trick Sally into being friends with them and lure her down into the other world, but she doesn't fall for it and the fairies become more and more violent towards her. The film ends with a sudden unexpected twist, which is quite...skillful I suppose.

All in all I really enjoyed this film, and I have decided to do a kind of film rating thing, so I'm giving Don't be afraid of the dark a seven out of ten.

Miss B xxxx





Wednesday 12 October 2011

Notice To Readers

Oh yeah, and before I forget...
Expect a new review post some time soon on Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark because I am going to see it today. It should be interesting...

Miss B xxxx

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark Trailer

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Rugby



Both my brothers are in to rugby, a sport that is ever so slightly more violent than football....okay, a lot more violent than football and in my opinion a lot more interesting to watch. A quick sob for the fact Scotland has never won the rugby world cup, ah well, there's always next year. Anyhow, back to what I was posting about, my aunt happens to be an avid photographer and she took some pretty cool shots of the twins playing rugby...though they look a bit strange because of their gum shields. Oh and for those of you who want it, here's the link to the Official RWC 2011 Site...
 RWC 2011 Site

Miss B xxxx





















Walking With The Family

I thought today I would post at the ridiculous hour of 7.11am (I couldn't sleep) about the joys of going walkies with your family. My family has always been into walking and I don't mean walking down to Tesco and back, no, no, I mean like serious hill walking and trail hiking and whatever else it can be called! Yup, and for the past few days we have really being going crazy about walks in Newtyle.




So far we have completed two walks, one up this giant hill to see a folly. That was some crazy shizzle people, let me tell you, I stood in a bog and it tried to eat me! Then I had to walk the rest of the way with one of my shoes filled with mud. And don't get me started on the sheep poo. The other walk we have completed is called the railway circuit (I think) and it is basically a flat walk, meaning no giant hills. The whole walk as the name suggests tries to follow the old railway line, and it really is quite a nice walk. The scenery is beautiful and on the day we went, the weather was perfect, which is an essential component to a walk. Speaking of which, here are a few photos...

Miss B xxxx

















The hill we had to walk up...
















Monday 3 October 2011

Who Does That?

Well, the first thing you should know is that this is Bobbie (hey!)

The second thing you should know is that you should never. Ever. Under any circumstances. Phone Miss B. Dont say I didnt warn you!

Today I phoned her, to discuss this blog actually, and I was greeted by an extremely convincing french accent.  At first I wasnt fooled, but then, when I innocently repeated
'Hello?'
and her response, again in a very convincing accent was,
'Ello?'
I bought the act. Yes indeed, I am very guillable. So I did the only thing I could think of, and hung up. When I recieved a phone call five minutes later, it was Miss B. She was laughing. A lot.

So, in conclusion, just dont phone her.

Bobbie xxx

Saturday 1 October 2011

YAY!

YAAAAYYY!

Another random post brought to you in a fit of utter joy, this time to tell you that the blog has received its first ever comment! And hopefully we will be receiving a few more in the near future


This is a milestone people! :) 


Miss B xxxx

I Finally Get New School Shoes!

Hi readers! Just thought I would randomly post in a fit of utter joy that I HAVE A NEW PAIR OF SHOES!!!

Ah yes, you are probably thinking I am overly materialistic and uncaring about other things. Let me tell you this, when you have been waiting since the beginning of term to get a decent pair of shoes you are over joyed when you receive them. This is mainly due to the fact the other pair of shoes I was bought got wet and started to smell weird and no amount of shoe spray or perfume made them smell any better. Sad face!

But now of course I am thrilled to bits with my new shoes! And my random post about shoes is complete and you don't have to read another word of randomness after the full stop. The next full stop.

Miss B xxxx