February

I know we're nearly at the end of March now and this post is rather delayed but February is something worth talking about.

It was definitely one of, if not the most, busiest months of my life.

Mostly, that came in the form of the film festival. This is what the whole point of my film group has been - preparing and getting ready for the festival.

We had the youth film festival, and the full festival followed on after that.

As a member of the group, I was lucky enough to receive free tickets for most films and over the period of both festivals, I saw 24 films. 23 being festival films, and one outwith that (The Woman in Black)

This was over a period of about 2 weeks. Was really emotional at the end having to say goodbye to everyone because I really came to love the group in the final few months. Will hopefully be going back next year, though!

But honestly, by the end of the festival, I was exhausted. (Did I mention that the festival took place at the same time I was sitting my mock exams in school?) Going into town every day was mad. Kinda lonesome as well since I didn't really go with anyone. I did meet a lovely, fellow film-goer called Simon however who I went to see a few films with.

My highlights would have to be: The Muppets, our premiere, that I actually introduced dressed as Kermit the Frog; a day I saw In the Family (a lovely LGBT film) followed by Wild Bill where I met director, Dexter Fletcher and actor, Will Poulter who you may know from Son of Rambow; and finally, a screening of Billy Connolly's Big Banana Feet. A 70's documentary on the man himself and only 1 print exists in the world.

Was the strangest seeing that. It coincided with Liverpool's Carling Cup final so I was sitting for the first part of the film on my brother's phone following the text commentary. Thankfully, we won (on penalties!) and the film was great. Went with my dad and brother.


It wasn't just the film festival that kept me busy, though. Still had a concert at the end of the month. Our Advanced Music class; another event we had been building to over the past few months.

It went great. We played 22 songs, hired a professional sound engineer and got to play some cracking music to a great crowd. We pretty much sold out the school. About 200-250 people.

I've never heard my bass playing sound so huge. It was routed through two sub-woofers and the sound engineer told me that he made it only a fraction of what it could have been o__O

I played bass for 19 of the 22 songs but started on guitar, although a few songs in, we played Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits (back on bass) and since only 5 of us out of the 20 people in the class were required, we stood up to play it (sat for the rest) The odd thing is that I wasn't really that nervous... we had only started practising it a few days before as well and there we were, just the five of us playing it live to such a crowd.

Maybe I just knew it would go well. Josh was on drums and he's a fantastic drummer so I knew he wouldn't mess up. He knows the song inside-out as well. Alex was on guitar and he's fantastic as well. Pulled off Mark Knopfler's solo with ease. It just went really well, as did the rest of the concert.

I've definitely caught the bug of performing live. That's only the 5th time I've played live music to a crowd, the previous 4 also being with my music class before Christmas, but this was the biggest and I loved it and I really want to do it again. Just don't know when or if I'll get the chance.
That's why the concert was so monumental.
There are a fair amount of people in the class who do perform live and will again on a fairly regular basis, but a good chunk of us knew this could be our one and only time so we all gave it everything and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. It gives me such a strange pleasure that I've never felt before. Just really something else. Here's the set:

Last Friday Night - Katy Perry (On guitar)
5 Years Time - Noah and the Whale
True Colours - Cindy Lauper
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free - Nina Simone
Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
Someone Like You - Adele
I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters
Everybody Hurts - REM (On guitar)
Swallowed in the Sea - Coldplay
One and Only - Adele
(Interval)
Walk of Life - Dire Straits
Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
Fix You - Coldplay
All Bets Are Off - Narina Pallot
Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine
Knocking On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan (On guitar)
She Belongs to Me - Bob Dylan
Make You Feel My Love - Adele (Bob Dylan cover)
One Day Like This - Elbow
(encore)
Hey Jude - The Beatles
With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker (The Beatles cover)



February was, in many ways a culmination of months of build-up. In both the film group and the music class we had been working towards this month since about August of last year. I'm glad it's over because it was hectic but I'm sad at the same time because it was like nothing I've ever been through. It was magic. It's a month that I will look back at in many years and just remember so clearly and vividly as being one of the best of my life.


Rowan <3







I think Joe Cocker's version is a fantastic cover (hardly a cover really) and I'm honestly quite surprised we managed to pull it off since it's pretty difficult to perform as a group - 6/8 time signature. Lots of concentration required but such fun to play and a true concert closer :P

Live Performance

Yesterday night I performed live in front of an audience for the first time in my life and I loved it :D

It was for our music class coz our teacher has this thing about the final exam being more a performance than an exam. Therefore, if we perform live we will be more used to it by the exam. I'm not complaining. It means we get more time to play as a class which I really enjoy.

Advanced Music honestly is just like being part of one big band of really talented musicians. It's easily the best subject I've ever taken in high school. We actually call it Advanced Bant (banter) because we don't really do any work, we just chat, have a laugh and play music.

Anyhow, we performed as a class to about 300 people yesterday. It was before the school's annual fashion show which wouldn't usually have a band playing as pre-show entertainment but it was to raise money for people going to Africa next year and to experience playing live.

There are, of course, people in the class who have performed live many times before but for a number of us it was the first time and I'm among them.

I played bass by the way, which I do for most songs we play in class since I like to think I play well and am pretty comfortable playing bass :P

Yet, I got quite nervous before going on. Someone earlier in the day said only about 50 tickets had been sold but there was a near full attendance of about 300-400 people.

Once we got playing though, I was fine. We've performed these songs non-stop over the past few weeks and I brought my own bass and amp so I felt quite at home, in a sense.

Since it was pre-show entertainment, we only performed a handful of songs. The setlist was:

Walk of Life - Dire Straits
5 Years Time - Noah and the Whale
Free - Nina Simone
Fix You - Coldplay
One and Only - Adele
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Walk of Life was a great opener and easy to play (for me) so I settled in nicely. I'd say we played it flawlessly, too.
5 Years Time was a bit messy i think but it's difficult to play it live as we tend to always speed up. Plus, the crowd wasn't great. A bit ignorant if i'm honest but by the same token, they probably didn't even know we would be playing and they were there for the fashion show. But still.
Free went well. About all I can say.
I was nervous for Fix You since I have a solo at the start (which is usually played on an organ I think) and I know I messed a bit of it up but no one else seemed to realise :P
One and Only was probably my favourite of the night since the girl who sings it has a great voice and the bass part is really fun... and coz Adele is brilliant xD
Obviously Fairytale was great, but then, it always is!

So there you have it. My first ever live performance \o/
Apart from a few little mistakes and an average crowd, I'd say it was a great first experience and I honestly can't wait to play again.
It hopefully won't be too long until that opportunity presents itself again. During the last week of term, we hope to be performing to each of the school's year groups so there might even be five shows in a week of about 10 songs each!
Looking forward to it.

But the big one is in February/March where we'll be putting on our own show, over 2 nights I believe, and will do about 20 songs. That will be something else because we can use the lights as we wish and we'll get a proper sound engineer in - we didn't have any of that yesterday so if last night was pretty good, this will probably be even better!

I'm glad the people I talked to who are used to performing were right. They told me I'd love it and the nerves would disappear after a minute or so and they were damn right. It was a great evening, and a great start to December after a pretty disappointing November if i'm honest. Perhaps up there with one of the best days of the year so far and that's saying something.


Rowan <3


P.S About the film group video I was in. I'm not entirely sure if the video will go on Youtube or anything. The reason being is that there are people under 16 in it so the guy who takes the group is hesitant to put it online. If that's why then i'm afraid there's not much I can do but either way, if i'm honest, I don't know if I want to post a photo or video of myself. I haven't so far. I'm a bit shy about how I look so i'm surprised at myself for ever volunteering to be in the video in the first place.

Thought I'd fill you in since a few people were asking ^^
Sorry if anyone finds that disappointing.

Music Exam

Today's music exam was always going to be hit and miss coz im honestly not brilliant at that side of things. More relying on a good mark from my performing.

Anyhoo, i got into school nice and early and went over some concepts with a people. Bryan put his ipod in my locker again, but did remember it afterwards this time :P

For the exam itself, i was lucky enough to be sat in seat 1, right at the front of the class. Oh joy.
The paper seemed quite difficult whilst sitting it. The literacy question was disastrous and there were a few other dodgy bits. However, "Ghost Town" by The Specials was featured as an excerpt which brought some joy, even if i didnt answer the questions on it that well, but one excerpt in particular made my day - Ballett, specifically the song i posted not too long ago (Now is the Month of Maying)

Me and the guy i sit next to in class have had this running fixation with the ballett all year and i joked if it came up in the exam i might just scream and well... i almost actually did. I sat there in silent fits of giggles. And afterwards i said to the guy, "It was great, a little bit of wee almost came out"
Okay, it didn't really :P
But it made my day and thats a certain 1 mark in the bag!

As i said, the rest of the paper was come and go but i felt a lot better about it afterwards. My teacher was giving pupils what she put as answers for the paper and it would seem i did better than i had originally thought. I took note of her answers coz i knew my mum was bringing the paper back (she invigilates at another school) and i would be able to check my answers.
Well, after doing that i'd say my mark was about average. Between 24-28 out of 40 at an estimate. However, there were 4 or 5 careless mistakes i made which could have bumped me over 28 and into the A category. But who knows, this paper combined with my practical might still bloody well get me an A!
I hope so. I'd be disappointed with a B in music of all subjects.

After the exam was quite fun. I went back to Rob's house with another friend and we played Rock Band 3. He has pro drums i.e an electronic drum kit that can be used to play the game so it's insanely realistic but also insanely difficult.
And insanely fun.
I don't even have the game let alone an electronic drum kit but it has persuaded me that i must get the game. I've been delaying on it for too long.
But that's another issue: money. I've been saving up for a laptop for my birthday and will have to put about 200 quid towards it. That's all fine. I can afford that.

However, i've also made noise to Bryan about going to the Saturday at Leeds Festival and perhaps the Sunday at Reading which he seems quite keen on. It's mostly coz im afraid Muse will play a poor set at Leeds, and then a great one at Reading. But even if they dont, i could get to see one of my favourite albums played live twice, and spend a whole weekend with Bryan instead of just s a day or two ;)
Anyhoo, that would be an extra 100 odd quid (tickets on Viagogo are surprisingly cheap!) and would mean that i cant really spend much on anything else. So im afraid Rock Band 3 might need to be put on the backburner, as well as my desire for a new xbox...

Agh, i hate managing finances! It's so stressful. But most things i spend my money on anyway is to do with music so it's all for a good cause :D

I've strayed from the music exam... Well i don't have much else to say about it actually. It went ok. I have my grumbles but i also have positives to take out of it, like the ballett and at least im quite certain i passed the thing which is something at least!


Oh, lastly. Its seems Dave the Rave has sadly departed Blogger. I never got to read his final post, just a preview of what it said, "Honest someone pointed out to me that most of the people who comment on my blog declare themselves as older wiser and trustworthy they are anything but they spend all day tracking our posts."


Woulda been interested to read all of that one... 



Rowan <3





The ballett that was in the exam ^



This was also in one of my favourite films ever - Shaun of the Dead. Completely forgot about it!

A Lil' Update

So the past couple of week have been fairly busy to say the least. They've had their pros and they've had their cons.

The best thing to come out of the past few weeks is probably the fact that i got an A in all my prelims i sat last month which i find quite overwhelming. I didn't expect that at all.

One of the most surprising things was the subject i thought i'd do worst in, English, is the subject i did best it in. I got 82% overall.
Elsewhere, i got 76% and 77% in Spanish and French respectively.
75% in Media Studies.
Another thing that surprised, and disappointed, me to a certain extent was my music mark - 70%. Just scraping an A :/

It's coz i rely to much on the practical element of the subject, in which i try (and often succeed) to be a perfectionist. It was my below par listening result of 22/40 that brought my mark down.
However, i cant just rely on my playing skills to get me an A as was shown today. My guitar exam.
I only had 2 pieces to play, as opposed to 5 on bass 2 weeks ago which went superbly.

I know im a lot weaker on guitar, having not played it as long as bass but my performance today was average in my opinion. I don't know if it was nerves or what but my first piece i messed up some chords and my rhythm was way out at points, something i knew the examiner picked up on as well - I seen her scribbling away a few times when i thought i messed up.

The 2 pieces only lasted five minutes overall. 1 was a full play through (my average play) but the piece that was sampled is the one i'd have preferred to play in full. Im much better at it and the solo is great but i wasnt given the opportunity to showcase that.
Overall, i'd give piece one 6/10.
Piece 2 - 9/10 but unfortunately i only played about half of it.

Anyway, as i said, i strive to be a perfectionist in my playing so perhaps i was disappointed but maybe it was ok from another point of view. My teacher said i played well...

Enough ranting about music. My marks elsewhere were brilliant so i shouldnt worry too much, just gotta hope i can put in a similar performance for the final exam.


Apart from all the stress of the past few weeks which i actually consider to be tougher than the exam period itself, it's been fairly subdued.

Our options have been put in front of us for next year and ive been a bit worried about what to pick next year. I'd already settled on *one* language. Only one because i have been doing two simultaneously for the past 4 years and its just not funny anymore. Next year im doing one and that is final - it's looking like it'll be Italian at a similar level to my Spanish and French this year.
I think that would look good on any CV - 3 languages all at the same level. Variation.
Would also like to do Advanced Music simply coz i love music xD

Now the last two im really not sure on. There's a course in Video Editing but im not 100% on it yet and im also considering going back to Modern Studies and taking it a Higher level.
I've got until the 25th to make up my mind so i can discuss it with my guidance teacher more if needs be.
But definetely Advanced Music and Italian at a higher level. Also, Bryan's picked them xD
Don't have a go at me! Im not picking them coz he is. He actually surprised me with the Italian which i had already settled my mind on and i was always going to be picking Music anyways!
I put it down to luck :P


I'm sorry this post was dominated by school news, it's just really all thats been going on recently. If you're sick of it, just think about poor old me!
However... there is something un-school related.
Got home today to find that Wolfmother are coming back to the UK!
Tickets don't go on sale till tomorrow but i worked my way through and got tickets on pre-sale ;)
The only problem is that they're playing a bit further afield than they did last time i seen them and i don't know if Alex will go with me like he did last year.
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it i guess but it makes up for me losing out on Queens of the Stone Age tickets: the Wolfmother gig is a few days after it!


Rowan <3




Posting this simply coz i've been quite obsessed with it recently. Don't worry i'm not tripping acid or smoking pot :)


YET!!!! MWAHAHAHAJFOGSHGJSDGSLDHFKLSDHGJKL walrus

The Homophobic Music Exam and Other Daily Doings

Intrigued?

:P

It wasn't intentionally so, but i found it rather strange.

Before i talk about the "homophobic" part of the test, i'll let you know that it went fine.
There were some tough parts, easier parts, but overall a fair exam.
I didn't feel nervous up until around the hour before it started but once i sat at my desk (single file, in one line) i was ok.

Waiting is the worst.

So, i should talk about what i discovered in the paper.
In one part of the paper, there was a section where we had to tick 3 columns, labelled A-G.

(See where this is going? :P)

My answers, in alphabetical order were A-F-G
But the order i wrote them in was F-A-G

I only realised after i ticked it and i had to do a double-take lol.
To be honest, i found it rather humourous and who knows, they might not even be the correct answers, i doubt the examiners are anti-gay.


Wasn't the only homophobic thing that passed me today.
Yep, Steven....

I'm getting quite fed up with him.
Not just his homophobic nature but his attitude to racism and other general things too. If he keeps it up, he wont get far in life.
At this moment in time, i am actually quite looking forward to seeing him leave after Christmas.
Harsh?
I dunno.

But today he was on Alan's back (behind his back too) and i stood up for Alan.
Alan owed me some money from something a few days ago and he gave me 10p extra by mistake, to which i commented on to Steven.

I said "Oh there you go, Alan gave me ten extra pence...."

Steve "Coz he's gay"

"Excuse me?"

"Yeh, he is have you not seen the way he sits and talks"
(Which by the way is no different to anyone else)

"No, i haven't....how can you just assume he is?"

"Just....how he is, he's a big bummer and you're standing up for him"

"Listen, im just saying that you can't go around assuming someone might be gay when you have no idea if they are or not. Just coz he doesn't talk about girls doesn't mean anything"

"Look at you standing up for the gays"

By this point i got the feeling that things were heading into deep and dark territories so i left it there.

He called me a poof and i told him to fuck off.

I was extremely pissed off with Steven but happy with myself that i was able to stand up for Alan. It would seem now, that i am not the only one who has suspicions that he might be gay. However, as i said, he acts no differently to anyone else, doesn't sit differently or anything. I just have a feeling about him, but also, i, unlike Steven, don't take the assumption that he is gay.
After all, assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups....

But at least after this coming together between me and Steven i received some good news in the form of my other maths result.
It wasn't as impressive as my previous 86% but still respectable, for my standards anyway.

It was a non-calculator paper and i got 18/30, which is 60%
On the two calculator papers my combined score was 43/50, which is 86%

So overall that works out as 61/80 and 76%

Category - A

One word.

Chuffed.

In the past 8 weeks i have gone from 40% to 76%.
These extra classes have had their comeuppence without a doubt, if only my maths teacher could see me now, sitting on an A a few weeks before the final exam.
She would hit the roof.
I hope i see her again before the exam comes around, apparently she's ill at the moment.
Who knows, she might have got wind of my mark and tht made her violently sick lol.


Aah, it's been yet another long and strenuous day and i just wanna retire to my bed now, fairly happy, might i add.


Cheers guys,
Rowan


In a good mood so tht means a Queen song is getting posted.
I know i say this a lot, but this is one of my favourite Queen songs. It isn't that well known i don't think but it has to at least be in my top 3.

Feel like a millionaire!

Funday and Tuesday

Right, i am lying a little, Mondays are never "Fundays" but yesterday was probably one of the best Mondays i've ever had, definetely the best of the year so far.

As usual, i was hit with Sunday Sleep Syndrome but it didn't really affect me an awful lot when i got up.

So, what made it so good?

Well, the answer to that is down to various test results i received.
I didn't have any to receive in music but we went over a listening paper and i scored quite high marks.

But now the test results.

*drum roll*

I got a pretty good mark in a media test, it was analysing the film "The Untouchables" and i got 31/40 so i was pretty happy with that.

Next, English.
Last week we did two essays and i had a feeling a performed better in my first essay than my second one. Boy, was i wrong.
My first essay, Jekyll and Hyde, got a fairly repectable 18/25.
That's still in the "A" category. Anything 18 and above on an essay and i'll settle quite happily for it.
But i was blown away with my second essay....

23/25

My highest mark ever on an essay and one of the highest in the class (exception of Alan who scored the first ever 25/25 :P)

I was so chuffed, i couldn't quite believe it.

But it only added to the awesome maths score i received earlier in the day.
We still don't have our normal teacher back but when the other teacher handed the paper belonging to the guy behind me (who is also no whizz at maths) i heard a "whoop"

He got 90%

It increased my nerves but i still felt confident that i passed and yes i did.

86%

One of my highest marks ever in maths.
Now, this is for the two calculator papers combined, its not my final mark but it is 43/50 so far. The full thing is out of 80.
My non-calculator result still hasn't been returned although ive been told i have passed.
I'm desperate for that mark tho and ive been chasing various teachers for it to no avail. I might get it tomorrow, i can speak to my head of year about it.

My bliss didn't continue into today however, it was cut short by my biology mark - 36%
Very poor indeed, i know.
But, i think, (and i hope) that if i can turn maths around, i can do so with biology. I have 4 weeks to save it and i will try my best to.
I still don't know how certain i am with maths, these extra classes have been helping tho without a doubt. I am glad to see they are paying off.

For now, my attention is turned to my music exam tomorrow. I feel quietly confident about it, i have been answering questions well in class and i am familiar with a good amount of the concepts.
I am better with practical music but i am definetely not going to fail the subject. I did really good in the practical a few weeks back and the theory and listening exam tomorrow will hopefully just boost my mark.
An "A" would be wonderful, i would be content with a 'B" however.
It's at 2pm British time btw, in case you were wondering and only lasts 45 minutes.


Anyhoo, im going to leave it there for now.
This whole post has been about school and tests so im sorry if it was a little dry, just like to keep updated ;)
And, of course, i will post about the music exam tomorrow.
Need to get some sleep now, to be in the right frame of mind for my first ever written exam....

Here's hoping.


Hugs,
Rowan


Appropiately titled Kasabian song :D




P.S Looking forward to a new arrival soon....

Gotta Take the Good With the Bad

So on Tuesday, i didn't go into school in the morning even though i said i would....

Oops.

But i did go in.....in the afternoon.

I woke and still felt like crap, slightly better but crap overall. Then i had a realisation. All my tests were in the afternoon, so i suggested to my mum if i could just go in for the afternoon so i didn't miss the tests. She didn't like it for some reason but my dad did and so it eventually ended up that way.

I went in and did the 1st part of the maths paper. I thought i would be sitting the one i missed on Monday but i just slotted into doing the same (calculator) test with the rest of the class, which was an annoyance coz i was more prepared for the non-calculator.
But i needn't have worried. The paper was pretty easy, and for me, thats saying something. I answered all the questions and i felt quite good about it, was only the first half but at least i did my best.

Music theory test came after this and it was bareable. Difficult enough but not to the point of impossible.

I don't need to say anything about biology apart from it was crap.


And so, today.

2 tests.

Maths part 2 was the 2nd half of the calculator paper and it was a lot harder than the 1st half. Loads of angles and volumes and triangles and circles.

Ugh.

Think i did ok but i wont get my hopes up yet.

And the media exam which counted for 20% of my final exam result was after lunch. I found out we had to leave english 15 minutes early, that was good, we got an hour to do the paper.
45 minutes just isn't enough and the extra 15 were really helpful.
Still had to write quick but i got to fill in some of the gaps after i finished. Didn't really stop writing at all so i have quite a good feeling about it although analysing the front page of The Sun isn't really anything exciting.


I was so relived when i plonked myself down on the bus after that test. Still got a sore head and i feel quite tired but the only thing i have to worry about now is the other maths paper tomorrow.

So, when got home i thought, due to the majority of my tests out of the way i would play my bass for a bit, some Muse, always cheers me up....



EXCEPT WHEN THE FUCKING NEIGHBOURS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE NOISE!!!

Which btw, they've done before.

I hate our neighbous on both sides. We live in a terraced house. 4 houses joined to each other. Pretty small, we're one of the middle houses which sucks coz we're surrounded on all sides.
If we had one of the houses on the end then i could make more noise but as only one wall divides our houses, it alters my bass playing.

That pisses me off greatly.

I'm in the middle of having pretty much the only fun i'll get today then my mum tells me i have to stop.

All coz of our moany neighbours, who, i shall say, i have never got on with and i never will. And the thing is, i've played it louder than i was playing it just there and they haven't said anything....

But getting interrupted like that really puts you on a downer. I'm actually quite angry right now.
I'm quite surprised they can hear anything being that fuckin old but there ya are....


To be honest, the title of this post doesn't really make much sense. Should be more like "Gotta Take the Bad With the Bad" coz this week has been nothing short of awful really.
I've missed tests, missed important school work, been feeling ill and now i can't even....reward myself.

And now i'm probably making everybody else feel bad coz they've got to read about me feeling bad.
Sorry, wasn't quite what i had intended. This post was going to look a lot different up until half an hour ago.

Thank my neighbours.


Cheers,
Rowan


Times like this calls for some loud, angry Rage.
I know i've posted this song before but turn that shit up!

Bass Exam

Just a short post :P


It couldn't have gone better.

Honestly, i headed up at half eleven where i got to practice a little next door, with my own bass that i took on the bus with me.
Practice went well.

So then it was my turn, my teacher and i went into the room with the examiner and got things set up.
But...

He didn't have the sheet music that i was playing.

So my teacher had to run off and quickly print some stuff and i got to sit there and have a nice chat with the examiner, he was really nice. Just talking about music, subjects and the likes.
In a way this kinda settled my nerves so that was all good.

Teacher returned ten minutes later and the examiner went over the procedure.

I play 1 song all the way through and sample the other two.

He picked me the one to play that i would rather have not. But it didn't matter, i played through it perfectly, no mistakes that i can recall, timing seemed fine as well as my dynamics.

The other two pieces were the same, no hassle.

So that's all that really happened. I thanked the examiner and me and my teacher exited the room, my teacher shook my hand and told me it was a really strong performance!
Chuffed.

But it's what the examiner thinks at the end of the day and coz it counts towards my final exam i wont get the mark back until i get all my exam results back, in August....

But anyhow, i think i did really well and i'm very pleased with how things went, as i said, i don't think they could have gone much better.

Thanks for all your encouragement guys.

Just gotta practice now for the Guitar Exam which is two weeks today.


Now i must skedaddle. I have homework to do and i'm going to some sort of careers meeting at school tonight.
If i have time when i get back i'll post about other things that happened today.


Cheers,
Rowan


P.S  Here's a little picture for you guys :-)

My bass guitar.

Moving Into March

Wow, where the hell did February go?

I only just realised tomorrow marked the start of March and it surprised me, i seem to be losing track of my days.

But February really went quick.


A lot has happened, on the blogs here and in general.

School has been freakishly busy for one. But on here, things have just flown.
I've found a lot of new people this month, such as JJ, Rhyn, Raron, Matty to name a few and that's been great.
Meeting more people is always nice.
Recieved quite a bunch of new followers too, so i suppose this month has been pretty good on the whole.

Wonder if that will keep up?


Next month, i expect, will just be just as busy, if not even more so.

School work will intensify, as this month sees the beginning of exams.

Music and Media

They are the final exam, but not really the final exam if you get me.
It's like, they count toward the final grade, so they are vitally important but the exam timetable starts properly in April.

But the busyness start this week in fact.
With the month beginning on a Monday i think it feels a lot more fresh, dunno how, just the way i think of it.

So yeh, this week is already set up to be quite busy.
Particularly Thursday as i have my final Bass Guitar exam and then a Careers Evening after school. So i'll tell you all how that goes, as always of course.
But school is always busy, in fact, i've just remembered that i have to sit the 2nd part of my maths test coz i missed school on Thursday last week and i don't have math on Friday.
So there's another thing to add to the schedule.
Along with just general school stuff that is inevitably busy.

A few birthdays coming up this month too, a few family members and a certain someone else :P
Need to decide what to do for them.


I also wanted to mention what happened at dinner tonight.
We all sat down and i asked my mum that if any Stephen Fry books came into the shop she works at, if she could pick them up for me. She said ok and then my brother went, "Oh, the gay one?
I said, "Yes, the gay one" *rolls eyes*

The my mum said, "I don't care"

So i took the opportunity to agree with her, that made me smile.

A hint, perhaps, that my mum isn't bothered about people's sexual preference :)
I always had a feeling that she wasn't and now i'm getting an even stronger feeling.

Oh, another thing i just remembered. (Remembering a lot at the moment :P)
Today me and mum were talking about possible subject choices for next year and i said i'd rather not do Spanish next year coz i'll have the same teacher, be studying french as well and i could possibly be the only boy in the class next year.
She wants me to do spanish but after i mentioned that she said, "Get lonely in class with no boys around?"

Wow.
A complete WTF moment indeed.
She hinting at something?
I don't think she has any idea but maybe i'm wrong.....


So, anyway i hope you all have a good March and an enjoyable one :D

Cheers,
Rowan

Week Recap (50th post!!!)

50th post woo!

:P

This week for me was, as expected very busy, eventful and amazing!

Don't worry, i'll explain.


Tbh, it wasn't as busy as i expected it to be, it was busy enough but i still had the time to come on the computer etc.
But i thought i would leave it all for one big post.

So, on Monday i had my first prelim.
In Music.
Had to get there early so me and Alex arranged for his mum and my dad to taxi us to school each day coz the bus can be unreliable sometimes.

But the Music prelim wasnt really a proper test. It was more like, "Let's just get this out the road, eh?"
So, i did my test working on a hardback book resting on a xylophone :P
As i said, not really a test.

But i learned most the stuff and from the attitude the teacher took, we all did fine.

Good times. :)


Tuesday brought about French.
This is where it started, Music was like a preparation to settle into the week but French was full on.
Not that i had any problems as it is one of my best (although disliked) subjects. Found no problems with the reading paper, listening paper or my writing piece.
The listening was the toughest really, but nothing major, so all good in the French department.

Spanish on Wednesday was the same. One of my best but hated subjects and i don't think anything went wrong.

Thursday and Friday were the most challenging days tho. They saw the prelims in Modern Studies and English, if you don't study for them, you're in trouble.
So Wednesday and Thursday night i studied like a madman.
And it is difficult to gauge how well i think i did in both.
You can tell with languages but you can't really with these two.

They both pretty much consisted of writing for 2 hours non-stop, that was quite something!
I finished both papers which is good but i doubt i got full marks or anything.
Modies looked at subjects like British Parliament *yawn*, Crime and Law in Society and American Culture so i needed to know my stuff there and i answered all the questions but i still dunno how the results will be.

English consisted of writing two essays. One Prose (a novel) and one a poem.
My prose was Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (i book i find i can very much relate with) and my poem was To a Mouse by Scottish poet Robert Burns. *yawn*

Jekyll and Hyde essay went very well i think, wrote non-stop. But i was a bit more hesitant on To a Mouse and i think i started rambling a bit. (Like right now :P)

But anyway, in terms of tests last week, they went very well.
Although on Friday i woke up feeling dreadful but i knew i had to go into my Prelim so i grinned and beared it. Went home straight after and went to bed. I'm better now tho.


Well thats all for school and tests but there's something else that made my week very exciting.


Thats to say, the Discussion Page on "A Rent-Boy Named..."

It started on January 18th actually.

On the FAQ page, a poster named JJ started having a discussion with one of the site's most known readers...G.


I didn't think anything of it first (i wasn't spying on them lol, i usually read most comments posted)
But then JJ revealed he was 13, and everything halted.


13. Wow.

I thought i was the youngest RB reader! lol.

Nah, thats not it.

G suggested they move to the discussion page and this is where i disappeared for a few days for studying.
I returned to find G asking on the page if i would like to talk to JJ, and of course, i obliged.
This was after some misunderstandings between people but then it sorted itself out.

The reason for my last post was to let JJ get my email address and i was delighted when i got an email from him.
The whole reason for these emails was that JJ was able to ask me questions tht he didn't want to ask adults.
And boy did he ask!
I'm not the best person for asking advice but i think i did myself proud on answering JJ's questions.
He said i explained as well as G! And if you know what G sometimes says then wow!
That made my day when he said that.

So the emails went back and forth for a couple of days last week and i suggested MSN to him, which he didn't really know about but then his....special friend, (M, we shall call him) helped him out and i stayed upto 3AM on Saturday morning talking.
But man, it was worth it. JJ and M are great guys.
That doesn't even say enough.

They are special.

They have found each other at such a young age, and they both know that each other is gay and i don't doubt that they will have many years together.
So i was talking to them again last night and got a little teary thinking about alot of things.

That is - With all the hatred in the world, all the killing and wars, if there is a God, how can he let that happen?
But then you see something like these two boys finding each other in a small town and it makes you happy. You thank God for things like that i guess.
It made me happy anyway. The relationship between the two is just....phenomenal. I hope it never ends.

It makes me happy that they have found each other coz they can be open as they like.
And at the same time, it makes me sad coz i don't have anyone like that i can speak to.

But one day, i will move away from where i live in now. (it's not too bad, but i don't really like where i live)
And go somewhere else.
I've always thought about returning to California coz i remember it well from when i went there on holiday....

Anyway, that's a wrap people.

Thank you if you have read this far, i know i have typed a lot.

Cheers,
Rowan


This song sums up my week in a nutshell. It's a lovely song and fits perfectly with the week i had.
Hope you like it.

Past few days

the past few days have been fairly average to be honest

Monday was a holiday, for some reason, so i met up with a few friends and we just had a laugh

Tuesday was back to school, which i was dreading.
The day was fairly average to be honest apart from one thing that i feel i must mention

It's about my guidance/support teacher lol (he's a tool)
Once a week, on Tuesday mornings we have one fifty minute "lesson" with him (all classes do with their respective guidance teachers)
The blazer is not part of the dress-code in our school, but he seems to think it is so he enforces it
if you show up to his class without a blazer (which is maroon btw) then he wants to know why.
The simple answer : they cost about 60 or 70 pounds.
I refuse to wear it (as do many others) and even my mum backs me up on this one!
She said "why should i go and spend that amount of money on something that is only going to be worn for 50 minutes each week?" to my teacher over the phone.
I was so proud of her that day lol
So anyhoo, when i show up nowadays i don't need to be questioned about why i don't have a blazer........thanks mum :D

So that's about it for Tuesday,
Today was good fun....
Spanish wasn't
P.E wasn't
RE wasn't
Maths wasn't.....

but Enlgish and Media Studies saved the day!
You may not think that having to do a timed essay is good, but i was sooo happy that i managed to get it finished in the given time ; it was our first timed essay and i seriously didn't think i would finish it, how wrong i was. I even had 5 minutes to go back and look over it again!
Media Studies was the fun part
My kind-of friend sits beside me (we used to be best friends, but he hangs out with other people now.) and over the weekend he became a youtube hit! In our school anyway.
For the wrong reasons but it was a laugh anyway.
There's a video of him (sorry i won't post the link) lying on the ground failing to stand up coz he's drunk. When he does he just staggers around and collapses. I didn't find it funny at the time of watching but the whole class made good light of it today and he was extremely embarrased, while the teacher had no idea what everyone was joking about, lol. Good times......
(btw, i don't drink just in case you were wondering)

It is my first Music Prelim on Monday in which i will be performing on bass guitar, (which i like to think i'm good at coz i do play it outwith school.) The songs we have to perform to are just backing tracks which are easy enough to play but of course i'm not looking forward to it.

Prelims, if you didn't know, are like mini exams, to give you a taste of what the final exam will be like and to give a final guide to the teacher of how the pupil is performing. So it's quite a big deal.

Bass should be easy for me, but you need to perform on two instruments. My other is guitar, which i am not as good at, but thank god that isn't happening until near the end of October!!! I'm actually rather confused why the Music Prelim is so early because all other subjects are in January and February :S
Oh well, just have to grin and bear it.

I will let you know how the English and Music results go, but i'm sure i will post again before then.

So from a fairly content Rowan, cheers and see ya later!