Went to see McFly for the 9th time last night. They played at Wigan Haigh Hall, which was awesome as it’s only 30 minutes from me. They played their Radio:Active set for the final time but with a twist in the middle – Tom and Danny did a short acoustic set.

Since it was a Monday the earliest we could get there was 7pm (I normally try to get to standing gigs at midday/mid afternoon.) I thought we weren’t going to be able to get near the stage, but we managed to get a pretty decent spot at the back of the crowd on Tom’s side. While we were waiting for the support to come on and leave, we laid on the grass and pretended to watch the clouds, but they weren’t much to look at since there was just one big slightly grey, threatening-to-rain cloud.. But it was still fun. And we had ice creams!

They promised us new songs from now on so I’m really looking forward to that! The only new thing they showed us was their new logo, although they did play a fraction of a second of a new song – although apparently that was too much. Pfft! Hopefully we’ve not got long to wait.

Something else I’m really looking forward to is Toy Story 3 later this month. How come we have to wait longer for this in the UK? I want to see it now! I love Ken already – can’t wait to see all the Barbie/Ken moments!

I’ve now got the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack as my new driving music, so I can pretend I’m riding my horse chasing after a bounty as I drive down the M62! >D

Not impressed with the fact I now have no John Marston to play with. If I want to continue the game as intended after the credits roll, I have to play as his son, Jack Marston. I quite like him, and I might keep playing as him for a while, but he’s missing the attitude that John had. I have a back up save as John to go back to thankfully.

I wasn't sure about getting it at first, mainly because I'm not a big gunplay fan and I don't really like anything to do with hunting animals (a big part of the game.. if you want it to be). But I got it anyway because I trust Rockstar that much: I've really enjoyed all the recent GTA games. I'm so glad I decided to get it - it's amazing.

The graphics and visuals are breathtaking. There’s a variety of different terrains, roads, plains to travel across and they all look stunning. This is enhanced by the fact that you travel almost everywhere on horseback. It’s so much fun, sometimes I play the game just to gallop around on my horse for a while and see what I can find.

Basically, anything that makes a great game is in Red Dead Redemption – but what makes it for me is the main character, John Marston. I’m not sure if this is because I never really have high expectations for Rockstar’s main characters so I was easily impressed by this one – I’ve never been that fond of any GTA character with the exception of CJ from San Andreas. I think liking the main character, the character you play/control, is one of the main things that keeps you coming back to the game and gives you the motivation to progress the storyline.

Marston is great to play. I love his whole attitude, his storyline, the way he reacts to the rubbish situations he’s put into – and he has manners! He’s one of the most likable video game characters I’ve ever played. He’s equally badass, intelligent and at times even romantic. I like him so much I’ve added him as a header in this website’s theme…

I haven’t finished the main game yet, but I really don’t want it to end. It’s a fantastic game and I can see myself putting lots of hours into it.

I especially enjoyed Romance Is Dead, where she pulled someone from the audience and serenaded them. Such a pretty song too, probably my favourite from her album. Doesn’t look like anyone’s uploaded this song from Liverpool, but here’s the same song at a Dublin gig:

I also loved the remixed version of Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful? – again, can’t find a video from Liverpool but here’s the same song:

She was supported by Elviin, who was also impressive. I bought his CD (since it was only £2!)

The weather has been fantastic this weekend (it actually went above 20c) so I’ve been out shopping in Southport today. I bought these cute heels from TK Maxx:

I also tried to buy Red Dead Redemption, but everywhere is sold out. It’s getting amazing reviews, so I’ll be ordering it off Amazon if I don’t spot it while I’m shopping next week.

I have next week off from work so I might just update here more than once!

Name a film that you have seen more than 10 times.

Big Fish

Name a film that you’ve seen multiple times in the cinema.

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. Saw it three times with different people. I just kept wanting to see it again!

Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a film.

Ewan McGregor

Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a film.

Harrison Ford

Name a film that you can and do quote from.

Back to the Future (the trilogy..)

Name a film musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

Across the Universe

Name a film that you would recommend everyone see.

The Legend of 1900

Ever walked out of a film?

Yes, Son of the Mask.

Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.

Up (Pixar/Disney)

Popcorn?

Yep.

How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

Once every few months?

What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?

Avatar

What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?

Action/adventure, kids’ films XD

What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?

The Little Mermaid? I think.

What film do you wish you had never seen?

None really, I just turn them off if they’re rubbish :/

What is the scariest film you’ve seen?

The Butterfly Effect freaked me out! And Gothika.

If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?

I don’t know.. Lara Croft XD

Total number of films you own on DVD and video.

Probably about 30 or 40?

Last film you bought.

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. Don’t buy films that often..

Last film you watched.

I Love You Phillip Morris

Five films that mean a lot to you.

Big Fish, The Legend of 1900, The Last Samurai, Contact, Bridge to Terabithia

This weekend we’re probably going to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, which should be fun. I don’t think I’ve ever been before, maybe when I was a kid. I’m looking forward to seeing the Planetarium and they seem to have a lot about all the local train history which will be interesting. I haven’t been to a science museum for years! Hopefully the weather will be good too.

This week I went swimming for the first time in ages. I enjoyed it, but I was knackered after 15 minutes. So I’m planning to go once a week from now on to build my stamina and fitness up. I wouldn’t mind losing some weight too. I’d go more often but I can’t fit it in~ I leave for work too early in the morning to swim then, and I get in around 18:45 so I hardly have time then either. I’ll see how I get on next week! The pool is only a 5 minute drive from where I live so I was planning to have a 30-45 minute swim every week – then I still have the rest of the evening to relax~

So it was the Election results day in the UK today. I’m pretty disappointed with the results, I thought the Lib Dems would’ve got a lot more seats than they did. I’m also surprised the Tories got as many as they did. But I suppose a hung parliament is as interesting as it gets.

Thinking of buying The Sims 3 and putting it on my MacBook. I’ve never played a game on my Mac before, but I imagine it’ll handle it pretty well. I’ve always loved playing The Sims

I should start posting more pictures here – at least then I’d have something more interesting to talk about!

• I have a new car! A brand new car – I’m the first owner   It’s a Peugeot 207 Verve.
• I’m currently playing Final Fantasy XIII (on the 360). I’m 9 hours in, just started Chapter 6. Liking the style of the battle system, even if I do keep getting bad ratings for no reason.
• I’m now 22..
• I’m reading Tramps Like Us at the moment, and when I’ve finished the last volume I’m going to start the Harry Potter series again.
• I need to buy this! I love the idea of a Pokewalker!

Ugh I can’t believe that’s all I can think of. I feel like I’ve been so busy! Well I have been very busy in work. I told myself I was going to write a few articles/tutorials to put on here but I never got round to it. I’ll have to put some of my older work up when I have some free time~

Ravenclaw: wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure That’s the first time I’ve been sorted. I’m tempted to take a bunch of other tests now to see if I’m still a Ravenclaw with each one. The HP widget I use on my dashboard thinks I’m a Ravenclaw too. I don’t think I’d win many house points though

I’ve just randomly got some cute kao-ani smilies from kao-ani.com. I’ve always liked cute smilies, so I hope I don’t use them too much.

Think we’re watching District 9 tonight~

Our front garden at the start of the week, just before it started to snow more heavily. I still can’t get to work. Pfft!

And my dashboard on the same day XD

I had a fantastic time with my family and Vince’s family over the break. We went to Spain just before Christmas to visit Vince’s family. When we arrived it was 4 degrees! It’s never normally that cold around Christmas. It was still warmer than England though, since it snowed in Liverpool while we were away and the airport was closed a lot of the time, so we weren’t sure if we were going to be home in time for Christmas day. Luckily, we were on one of the only flights allowed to land the night we came back, although we had to drive through the horrid snowy roads back home from the airport.

We haven’t had such a good start to the year in work, since our new hard drive failed. However, hopefully we’ll be able to recover as much work as possible and it won’t make too much of an impact. Otherwise, I’m really looking forward to working this year. This is the first new year I’ve ever had where I’m not going back to school, college or university. Normally new year is just the start of another term, but this year it’s actually the start of a new year. XD;

I’ve been using Spotify over the last few days. I didn’t think much of it when it first came out, but I’d never actually tried it so I thought I’d at least do that. It’s a lot better than my expectations! I’ve been listening to all the Harry Potter film soundtracks since I downloaded it. 8D I’d recommend it if you use sites like last.fm and such but can’t be bothered constantly going on the site to change your playlist, etc. It’s a great little programme. The only problem is the missing artists and albums, and the random ads. But it’s free so I’m definitely not complaining about the ads!

It’s been snowing here for days! It might look pretty, but it’s horrible. I haven’t been able to get to work (but working from home is fantastic: no horrible motorway driving and no getting up at 6am!), we can’t have any shopping delivered, the postman hasn’t been round since last week – it’s rubbish to be honest. It’s now all turning to ice, which is even worse for driving. I’m really hoping it all starts to melt before next Monday. ._.

Mallory – your card arrived safely and I love it! It’s so cute ^^

Now I’m going to decide which film to watch tonight…