The Holiday Is over, the memories aren't

So I have come to the end of my holiday! I cant believe that it has been sixteen days since I had to get up and go to work and I also cant believe that these sixteen days have passed so quickly. The holiday was very fitting as I am about to turn another chapter in my life as things are all change. People in my life are moving away and new ones are entering. My holiday has been about change and doing things that I do not usually get to do and I feel like I have achieved some of these. I know now how to be prepared better for next time when I am going to hit it full on. Part of me is looking forward going back to work. To have a schedule, having things to do and working in general makes you respect the time that you have off even more. I visited my parents, I visited Bath, leant some things about myself and know what I want out of the next chapter of my life. 

I really want to focus on my portfolio and to develop into my next frame of work. I think I have been steady with it but that is not good enough, I need to put more effort into it if I am going to get something out of it. I want to see my family more. One day I may not have the opportunity to see them so I need to get the most with them whilst I can rather than regret it when its too late. I want to enjoy life! I have lived my life for so long in a routine of similar things. Recently I have tried new things, new foods, new places, new ideas and it has been brilliant. I need to be there for my friends more. Sometimes I think that I may live in my own little world. Whilst this is amazing I think that I am missing out on some great friendships. I always try to be there for my friends but I guess that it doesn’t always work out that way. Again, they may not always be there so make the most out of it whilst they are. I also need to take less shit. Sometimes I feel that I put the effort in certain things when no one else does. This is not really something that I need to do but need to stop. I am not here to be walked over so its another thing that I am looking to change. 

Okay so its a rather random blog today and I guess I am just speaking my mind. I am so glad that I have managed to get so much out of this holiday and lets hope that it sticks. 

Thank you for reading, signing out, Thatmfeeling 

My Visit to Bath

so a couple of days ago I did something that I have wanted to do for such a long time. I went out traveling! The place of choice was Bath. I have had a long fascination with the city because it stands out against most places in the UK. London has such a huge mix of architecture, its like cutting down a tree and seeing all the different rings over the years. Bath is different to this though and the city has such a distinctive look and style that is applied to the majority if not all of the city, this is what makes it so attractive (well attractive to me anyway) When I got off the train I had a rush of excitement “I have finally done it!” as I walked into the centre I could not stop smiling to myself. It seemed to get more and more beautiful the closer you got in and what really opened my eyes and took my breath away was the backdrop of trees and houses that were high in the hills. I have always lived on flat land so the idea that the city has a backdrop of something other than sky just really confuses me. My first stop was the Roman Baths and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The main bath is so publicised that I felt like I had been there before but it was the rest of the baths that made the journey worth the visit. There is so much more to the place than just a bath. The engineering, design, thought and building that went into this area is just overwhelming. To think that this happened so many years ago yet they have managed to achieve something so beautiful and amazing. Its a shame that they are not still used to this day. When you are there you learn about the story of how the bath house eventually deteriorated, flooded and then collapsed in on itself. To think that all that hard work just come crashing down in such a short amount of time is rather upsetting. One great thing however is that they have been recovered and even though they are not used how they were originally designed, you know that they are going to be there for as long as I could imagine! Just referring back to a previous comment on how its a shame that they aren't used to this day. There is now a building next to the main roman baths that has been renovated and built to be a fully working, thermaspa which has the same use as the original baths (its brilliant!) the swimming pool which is again naturally heated is situated on the roof of the building so that you can see the surrounding scenery and city no matter what time of the year. 

The second place that I visited was the Bath Abbey. I was in two minds about going in because I did stupidly think “Well I have seen a church before, if you have seen one you have seen them all” also I am not a fan of being a tourist in a building that is used for religious beliefs. I find it a little disrespectful and a bit like people just coming in to see my home. I did in the end go in and I left a donation and sat in for a religious reading so I could understand more about the church and more about the people that used it. To me it sounds odd but I have wanted to do that. I am not religious but I do like to learn about other peoples religions. After this I managed to boo myself onto the tower tour where I could go all the way to the top and see Bath from the highest building top (I think... I mean swear there was nothing taller around!) It was one of the things that I am so glad I managed to do. If I had come away and not gone in I think I would have forever been thinking “why” and if I had gone back and visited then I would have kicked myself for not doing it the first time! The view was like none I had seen. It did feel slightly like standing on the empire state building and looking down at the city (yet this city was smaller and not so tall) I have attached some photos of the view and my travel around the city. Any of you that are able to go and have not I seriously recommend doing it. I feel like I have achieved something and I know I will talk fondly of the place forever more (I will start to annoy some people too!!) all in all I enjoyed myself so much that I am already planning my next visit to the new spa and it has pushed me to experience other places around me. There is so much in our reach yet we fail to touch it!

Signing out, Thatmfeeling 

Xfactor Season 8: First Impression

Yes the show that everyone talks about hit our screens on Saturday (20th August) even though I swear that it was only last week that it finished! so through to another year of punishment and attention seeking people screaming around the stage trying to impress the four judges, Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole.... oh wait.. only one of them made it back (and it just so happened to be the worst one!) so we are faced with three new judges and a crumbly old one. Kelly Rowland, Tulisa Contostavlos (wow we wont be saying that!) and Gary Barlow. 

My first opinions on the lineup before it shat onto the TV screens was that it seems to be a poor lineup and that the show would go down hill from now on but after watching the first program on Saturday I was pleasantly surprised! 

Louis Walsh 

I really think that the guy should have been let go with the other three judges. Bless him, he is not a horrible guy but he is just so annoying and could have been replaced with someone so much more “now” I really hope that if the show does have to go on then this will be his final series. 

Kelly Rowland

Well, she was the biggest surprise of the night. I LOVE HER! She was entertaining, honest, fun, live and anything else positive that I could throw at her! I think she has replaced Cheryl and oh how she will do so much of a better job!

Tulisa Contostavlos 

Well before this program started up I actually had no idea who she was. I actually like her. In a non offensive way I describer her as the grime of the xfactor. She is open and honest and I can see her being a lovely bitch but I just feel for her and really want her to do well. 

Gary Barlow

The second surprise of the night come from Gary Barlow. I actually hated him. I think he is trying to be a Simon rather than bring his own style to the show and because of this I think that he is the only judge that is going to damage his reputation. I round him boring, complaining, not fun and to be completely honest, older than Louis walsh!!

So how does the show compare with the other judges? DO you think it is better or worse 

Simon Cowell 

Now I love the guy but I am really glad he is gone. I think that it allows the show to develop into its own rather than him crushing it. I think he was a great judge but it is time for him to have a break 

Dannii Minogue 

Now this is one person that I am really going to miss! Dannii was amazing, stylish and just wow. I know that there are already two women but I wish that she could either replace Louis or Gary and then it would be the perfect lineup! 

Cheryl Cole 

I do not know the situation but I think that she shot herself in the foot. I am not a fan of her and I am rather glad that she has left. Yes she was beautiful but that was it. I think that she may find it difficult to keep herself in the limelight without the show and that the repetitive story of her and her husband will just because ever increasingly boring.

The Show itself 

The show itself I thought could have been improved. It was very entertaining but I felt that the whole intro was very unneeded and so long. Why on Earth after this many series do we need to know what is going to happen, how they search for contestants and what cities they go to. The show should have just introduced the new judges and started rather than flying helicopters around landmarks and talking shit (excuse my language but it was awful) The other thing that annoyed me was that the show only focused around four people and then it ended. A guy with tattoos on his arse cheeks... all I thought was “stupid fool” a really scary blonde woman that had far too many faces.. a complete dickhead that had been on it in a previous series which you knew 100% that was set up. and then a rather entertaining but far too long performance by a chinese lady who had swallowed far too many pills the night before. I wish that they had focused on one city first, a few more acts and then moved on. I guess we cant all have it our way though, 

Signing out, Thatmfeeling

The Little Visit, Macro Photography

Well it has been a little while hasn’t it!? I am currently on holiday from work yet I feel like I am actually busier now than I am when I work! So there are a few things that are going on with me! I have not that long ago come back from my parents. I really do love going home, it happens so rarely that I do have to cherish every moment as it happens. I only went home for two days as my parents are always oober busy traveling around the UK (and now Europe) but t was very nice. I always get stuck in a situation when I go home. I am there and I miss London so much. Even if I have just arrived back, it takes a couple of hours and I think “Oh. London is really far away” but I can get over that with seeing my family. When I get back I then get upset because my family are so far away so I am stuck between two things that I really like (and need) and neither of them are willing to move to one another! So, I went home and I took my camera. My mum thought I was being really weird when I was taking photos of some random things but what she doesn't realise is that they make really good photographs (she should realise this by now as I gave her a book that I had published of my photos for Christmas which she really liked) When I got back home (London) I had a little look at the photos and I am just so happy with the outcome so I thought I would show you

This is my favorite of the photos. This little windmill thing is actually really gross but the camera has picked up the fading colours so well!

A rather painted / drawn photograph of some Gladioli (I think that is what they are called!) 

I really love this photo! some good old Lavender (now I know that is correct!)

This looks like a jar but it is actually a broken light that has smashed onto the decking.. you cant take children anywhere

Love the colours in this photo... Again look at me knowing my plants this is of a Bay tree 

Loving the deck chairs! it reminds me of holiday even though my mum moved them into the kitchen because it was raining!

The vase that the Gladioli are in! love the way that the stems have been cut roughly to give that texture

Anyway I hope you enjoy and I will keep you up to date on my holiday times! I am looking forward to next week as I am visiting Bath for the first time. Its a place that I have always wanted to go! 

Singing out, Thatmfeeling

London Riots: Part Two

And so it continued! once I had finished writing my blog about the riots in London yesterday more unfolded! It honestly felt like there was some sort of contagious disease spreading and we were watching the news to see if it was spreading towards us. Luckily it did not but for the places it did break out in, well there are no words to describe in how shameful it was. Croydon was by far the worst in my eyes. To watch a furniture store that had been there on that site for hundreds of years literally melt to the ground was just horrific. I managed to google street view the building just as the fire broke out and then earlier this morning I saw the aftermath of the building and to know that it was burnt down as some sort of game, because they could or because they were just simply bored gives me no hope for some people that live in this amazing city. All through Facebook that evening it was like watching a news stream. Friend update after friend update you could see what was happening around the city which is really odd to think that we were actually living the news story that was being broadcast around the world. There were also two other smaller news stories that come out of this that made me smile and gave me a little more hope and that was that of a group of people that live in a close (a building area where there is only one way in and one way out) They put their children to bed and walked to the end of the street and stood shoulder to shoulder to make sure that none of the rioters managed to get into their street. The other news story was the clean up operation in Clapham. The community managed to arrange a mass clean up operation and the amount of people that turned up with their brooms was amazing. Its nice to know that under all this nastiness and thuggery (that is my new favorite word) that there are still people that care and are proud to live where they live. I stand by my city and am proud to live here. Its just a shame that not everyone has this same opinion. As I have said before I pray that the people that have caused this damage face very harsh consequences. My thoughts today are with the people around the UK that have had to witness such thuggery that the people in London had to witness yesterday 

Signing out, Thatmfeeling 

London Rioting

I was very shocked a couple of days ago to turn on the news and see a double decker bus on fire. As the news story unfolded I just could not top watching in horror as Tottenham was being set ablaze. I learnt that this was all in protest of a guy that got shot by the police, that is when my heart sank. The fact that these thugs are using this as an excuse to loot and set fire to buildings, cars and bins is just ridiculous. I cant believe that there are so many stupid people out there that are willing to set fire to places that they live!  In an earlier blog of mine I spoke about the student protests and how these people barely even knew what was going on, they just used it as an excuse to latch onto and create damage around them. This is another one of these situations and as someone that would class himself as a Londoner (even though I have not lived here for a huge part of my life) I am sickened and disgusted by these people as young as ten years old and the destruction that they are causing. These news stories always frustrate and confuse me because I can not understand what goes through these peoples heads when they are acting like this. I never thought it was cool so set a car on fire and have never had the urge to (well maybe once when it is an ex that you really hate but I would never have completed the act!) As many people that live in London would be able to do, I could have easily predicted the places that would be unsettled and would be prone to “copycat crimes” in the following days. Hackney and Wood Green would have been my first point of calls as I have lived near and in one of these places for a year. Watching Hackney on the news was so much more upsetting than seeing Tottenham on the news because I have lived it, not the violence but the area, the people and the buildings. To think that these are peoples homes, peoples cars, even peoples lives that these mindless idiots are destroying. If it was in reverse and this was their cars or homes that were being destroyed then they would be the first people to complain. I know that all I am saying is what everybody knows anyway but it never ceases to shock me how some of these people live, how they go about the lives that they live and hold the opinions that they have. I do not think that I have ever met anyone that could commit these acts and to be completely honest I am rather glad that I have not. I guess that it is a good thing that this shocks me because if it did not then I would be even closer to these horrid people. I hope that at some point in their lives that they can look at what they have done and hang their heads in shame, take a look at their lives and try and do something about it. I am actually watching the news as I am typing this and what surprises me even more is that there are grown “normal” (ish) men that are actually taking part in this. They do not look like they belong to any gangs, do not look like its a regular thing for them yet they are joining in! I mean these people should be setting examples. These are the people that the ten year olds are looking up to and learning from. It really makes you doubt people and I am so thankful that I am not one of them. 

my thoughts are with the people that have lost items, had property set fire to, stolen and have been affected by this completely pointless riot. 

Signing out, Thatmfeeling 

The Tate Modern Extension 2012

now so much is going on in London over 2012 as you may all be aware but there are some things that have not taken centre stage as much as others. One thing that has interested me for as long as I have known about it is the Tate Modern Extension project. This project has not really been covered by the media that much as I guess it has been overshadowed by the construction of the Olympic park, The Shard and the other “biggies” that are being build the north of the river. Today I decided to do a bit of information hunting on it to see exactly what is going on. All of you must have heard about the Tate Modern. The modern is an art gallery that is hosted in an old power factory that is to be honest as ugly as Hell. It is a huge space and holds so many great pieces of art and exhibitions. Even though the building is rather ugly, people grow to love it and I have to admit that I am one of these people! It just suits the area and when you see it you do not automatically think “oh there is that ugly factory” you think “oh look its the Tate Modern” and I guess that was the intention when it was renovated to become the gallery it is today almost eleven years ago! Now anyway enough of the Tate modern, its all about the extension! You would assume being a modern art gallery, the Tate would have a modern glass building to contrast with the rather dark brown power station but no, this is not the case. In true Tate Modern style they decided to create something rather different and striking. The final plans are a building to me that resembles an urban pyramid. The building is clad in brick which again is rather surprising because barely any builds of this scale use brick and what I think is great is that the brick matches the brick to the original building. There are gaps between the cladding on the building which reveal more larger windows which you can only truly see from the outside of the building at night when it is lit up. Personally I Iove it because there will be no other building like this because if it was built anywhere else other than next to this factory it would look plain hideous. It has a relationship with the original building in a way that not many extensions do (they usually just look exactly the same or completely different) The one thing that excites me the most about this building however is not the exterior, not the new interior but what lies beneath it. The three oil drums that are situated below this extension and to the side of the main building are going to be used as special exhibition spaces. W all love going to the Tate for the turbine hall for the special pieces or art that it hosts and now we will also have this to marvel at too. Could anyone even imagine when the Tate first opened that we would be going to see exhibitions in the oil drums under ground! its just classic and such a great idea to make art stand out.

One thing that intrigues me about the planning of the build is that it says (in news articles only) that the building shall be complete ready for the Olympic games however after seeing live pictures of the site one has to remain very pessimistic about this. I know that people said it about the Shard and in a month it grew to exceptional heights but this building still remains underground! I really hope that it will spring up like a ward on a dirty kids hand but I have a feeling that it has been delayed and no website that I have looked at can tell me any information about this.

Anyway have a look at the pictures and tell me what you think! more information on this can be found at the Tate’s website

happy building, Thatmfeeling